A half hour of typing just deleted itselt, wtf?!

[vanillafluffy]

Okay, the short version, since the techno-gods have conspired against me:

Tuesday, Gastroenterology. Consult so I can get pre-surgical endoscopy and colonoscopy done.

Wednesday, Bariatrics: Discussion of what I still need to get done. In addition to above procedures, lab work and headshrinking.

Thursday, Cardiology: Chemical stress test, which I passed with flying colors, go me. I now have my cardiac clearance for surgery, which is a big hurdle. Really not as stressful as all the horror stories I've heard make it out to be. Granted, everyone is different, but I felt fine the whole way through.

Friday: Almost had a kitchen table--saw one in the pix for an estate sale, but GK went and looked at it, and it was bigger than my kitchen. Not to mention waaay more than I was prepared to pay even if it had been what I need. *sigh* I'm so tired of that damned card table!

Complete change of subject--Was reading an online article about remakes of series, most of which I didn't watch to begin with, but it got me thinking....

I'd like to see a reboot of "Green Acres". This time, though, instead of being middle-aged, Oliver and Lisa would be millennials. It would be more relevant, and it would still be one helluva fish-out-of-water comedy. Oliver, you see, is a hipster who got tired of paying outrageous prices for organic produce at Whole Paycheck, so he decides to turn the tables, return to the land and grow his own. Meanwhile, Lisa is a Goth princess-type--think Lily Munster with an iPhone--who is absolutely aghast at landing in Hooterville, which not only doesn't have any nightlife, they don't even have Starbucks. Oh, the horror! The locals are divided between helpful and hostile. Oliver isn't sure who to trust when it comes to farming advice--it's more complicated than he thought!--and Lisa has similar problems with gossipy neighbors. Recycle the old theme song with a revved-up track by Flogging Molly, and away we go!

Is that all? I think that's all. The version that got swallowed whole was more garrulous, but this will do. Love to all, and have a good week.


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Comments

[pwcorgigirl]

I love the idea of remaking Green Acres! My name for all the inept handymen at St. P's was Eb, after the one on GA. :-D

Glad to hear that progress is being made toward your surgery. *hugs*

[vanillafluffy]

The other day at Walmart, I met a gent with the *sweetest* service Corgi named Misty (I have no idea what his name was!) and thought of you.

Ah, the halcyon days at St P's! I still remember your comments about the Padre's handwriting, and how my name would probably come out as "Varullaflurfig"....

Sort of progress...the blasted gastroenterologists can't get my tests done until APRIL. Grrr! Early April, granted, but at this rate I'll be lucky to get the surgery itself done until May or even June.

To be perfectly honest, while I'm looking forward to the results, I'm anxious about the complete change in lifestyle. It's a big deal, and permanent. They're saying my new stomach is going to be the size of a boiled egg...and I'm the gal who can go through a half-dozen deviled eggs at a sitting and then have a couple Pop Tarts for dessert. Just ONE egg?! It almost doesn't seem worth eating. Although I suppose that's the point--eat to live, not live to eat....

.

[pwcorgigirl]

I saw this great quote the other day, which I can't reproduce exactly, but the gist of it was that for overweight people, eating is simultaneously a comfort and a punishment. So it is going to take a while for you to shift gears in your head and look on food as fuel. Your new gas tank is only going to hold X amount of fuel, but it will be enough to keep you going.

The other attractive plus side of the surgery is that it usually cures Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol right away. It's also going to do amazing things for your arthritis, so that you are going to be more mobile again. When the pounds AND the pills start to fall away, I think how you think about food will also change. That one egg is going to taste six times more delicious, hon. *hugs*

[vanillafluffy]

*hugs back* That IS a good quote...I once referred to it as "Suicide by fork".

My dietetic counselor says I'll be off ALL my pills by the time I leave the hospital--I take that with a grain of salt--I don't think the A-fib is going to clear up just like that. But even if I just lose the sugar-specific pills, that's three fewer. The rest...we'll see. I'm on something that's supposed to help with my foot pain...it doesn't do much--if it was JUST the neuropathy, it might be more helpful, but with everything else, it's minimal (I've gone without it off and on a couple times, so I can tell how little difference it makes. The fact that it does make a diff is why I'm still on it, twice a day. It was prescribed for 3x a day, but it made me dizzy AF, so I cut back.) Anyway, I'm going to keep my fingers crossed for a positive outcome!

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[pwcorgigirl]

Yeah, I also don't think the A-fib is going to go away right away. Especially since heart trouble may run in your family.

What helped my feet (I have bone spurs in my heels) is Mobic, which is an arthritis drug in the same class as Celebrex, but it's safer to take with heart issues. It does raise my blood pressure a little, but it beats all hell out of limping and cussing when I walk.

I've had to replace all my shoes in the past year because of my feet. It's been an expensive year.

[vanillafluffy]

My ears have perked up--is Mobic a generic, do you know? I'm interviewing a new primary in a few weeks (old one retired on me with no warning), and I can ask them about it. Currently on Gabapentin, which is, as I mentioned, not terribly effective.

The A-fib didn't show up until after my old primary put me on Z-pack antibiotics for last year's bronchitis--I read an article after the fact that that's sometimes a side-effect. (Before that, my cardiologist had run assorted tests because I had a pulse like a hummingbird--130-140 bpm--but she admitted that the tempo was spot on. No A-fib at all.)

[pwcorgigirl]

The generic of Mobic is meloxicam. I consider it a wonder drug! With it, I can gallop up and down stairs. Without, I can barely move. You can't take Alleve or ibuprofen with it because of a risk of stomach ulcers, but it otherwise seems to have no bad effects.

My husband has idiopathic peripheral neuropathy -- like a diabetic, but they can find no cause for it. He said Lyrica works better than Gabepentin, but our insurance will not pay for Lyrica. They tried him once on Cymbalta, the anti-depressant, for nerve pain, but he said its nickname of "Cymbarfa" is well-earned since it made him sick to his stomach.

[thru_the_blinds]

SO glad your surgery is well on its way to becoming a reality for you this year! I never had an eating/weight issue until after my divorce. I didn't realize it right away but now I realize I was all about 'comfort' foods -- bread, mashed potatoes, macaroni & cheese, etc. That, a desk job and my advancing age has caused me to gain nearly 30 pounds in the last 10 years! Was just starting to get a handle on it and then all the recent stress (job lay-offs, having to move, health concerns) kicked in. Ugh. Here's hoping BOTH of us are a lot healthier in 2018!

Oddly enough, though I remember Green Acres being on when I was a child, I don't recall ever watching a single episode of it! Petticoat Junction, same thing.

[vanillafluffy]

Your "comfort foods" pretty well describe my default dinner menus. When I'm tired, don't feel like cooking or don't have anything in the house, a pouch of instant mashed potatoes with butter, cheese and some bacon crumbles--three minutes and I'm sitting down with the big mug and it's hot and tasty.

My weight has yo-yo'ed for years...when I came to ABQ for that "two-week visit" in 2013, I weighed about 260. Then two things happened: I was diagnosed and put on meds AND I started eating a lot more regularly than I had in Florida, because I'd been out of work and penniless for so long. It jumped up to 280, then crept up to 310 by the time I got back to Florida. Was in that neighborhood until late 2016-early 2017, when I started retainuing water like a sponge. I'm still wrestling with that, despite water pills, and that's part of the reason I'm trying to get the surgery--the older I get, the more I have to struggle for even minimal results. Thanks for the mojo!

I'm still thinking good thoughts for you, that the new home and new job will both be fabulous. I mean, the house sounds pretty amazing all by itself--I really home your life there is equally wonderful.

I was so-so on Green Acres back in the day, but I adored Petticoat Junction. At one point, I even wanted to own my own hotel--this was pre-B&B popularity--but my dad talked me out of it, bringing up things like liability and security and so on. What a buzzkill! But he wasn't wrong about the amount of work, darn it--not that I'm up to it these days anyway.

[cbtreks]

I never liked Green Acres, but your idea sounds pretty good and quite funny. That one I'd probably watch!

[vanillafluffy]

Thanks. Good to see you over here!

[cbtreks]

Thanks! I'm seeing fewer posts from friends over at LJ, so I'm trying to remember to check in here more regularly.