Hi folks, I’ve never done a vlog before; this is my first one (below the fold). I don’t think I’ll publish many of these on the Blend, so you’ll have to subscribe to my YouTube channel to see when a new one goes up, or follow me on Twitter.
I guess I’ve just thought of vlogging as yet one more thing I’d need to keep up with besides the blog, Facebook and Twitter — all are part of my routine to keep y’all up to date, and all take time to do it right.
In this case, I think vlogging will be a good therapeutic outlet for me as I walk through my ongoing health issues, rather than boring people on this blog. I know it’s my personal blog, but it’s also seen as a resource for political content now more than the former, so I have relegated most personal stuff to the slow-traffic weekends. Besides, writing takes more effort, and I really, really don’t have any more time to squeeze out of the day.
I face a major health decision soon, hence the vlog. More after the jump. TMI alert. Move along to another post if you don’t want to deal with talk of surgery and the like.
So for this first vlog, I figured I do the Cliff Notes version of the backstory by writing up some of what I discuss in the video in a diary, then move it straight to video only.
1. I have uterine fibroids that are wreaking havoc on my quality of life. As non-cancerous tumors, they are often not even a problem for most women (as many as 1 in 5 women have them)- they may not even be aware of them. Unfortunately, in my case, one of the three that could be seen on ultrasound is basically doubling the size of my uterus. My cycles are not only painful, but the amount of bleeding is outlandish in volume and duration.
2. Options: right now it’s down to two choices: a) endometrial ablation (basically burning/eliminating the lining of the uterus – stops your periods, you can no longer have kids) b) hysterectomy: variations of removing your reproductive organs.
3. Complicating factors: I have polycystic ovaries, fibromyalgia, and insulin-dependent, insulin-resistant diabetes. The latter is most relevant regarding higher chances of complications and infection for any surgery.
So if I have more invasive surgery, I may be offline for a while, but I’ll know more after this week, and perhaps I’ll have a date soon.
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One thing I didn’t mention in the video is my strange weight loss. I have spent most of my adult life dealing with the inability to lose weight. Not yoyo-ing. That would require me taking it off in the first place. Having to take insulin and having PCOS are big factors in making weight loss hard.
Then starting about six months ago, roughly coinciding to the monster inside my uterus growing and really making its presence known, the weight started coming off for no reason. No change in eating habits, no increase or decrease in exercise. I did have less of an appetite more often than before, so perhaps I would skip a meal, but that was never unusual when I was unable to lose weight.
That does not mean that the fibroid has anything to do with this; it just happened around the same time.
Anyway, here I am, 5 sizes smaller, 40 lbs lighter without trying. I’d love to say that’s great news, but when you’re not sure why, that’s a tad disturbing. I’d just like an explanation that makes sense.
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BTW, someone on Facebook thought it would be a loss not to include the vlogging as front-page entries since health care is a critical issue and I could expound on that in my videos. I told her that I’d put up a poll to see what regulars think. Obviously I don’t think my vlogs will need to be on PHB, but maybe some of you do. Weigh in.
Pam’s House Blend – Front Page
