November 2012 pictures

Yeah, I'm a little behind on things.  I have sold off most of our winter gear on eBay...finally.  It's a project that's been on my plate since mid 2011.  Completing this project has given me piece of mind and a sense of accomplishment as well as a cleaned out closet!

I'm posting my pics from November, December and January for me as much as for you.  For me, this blog is like a scrapbook.  It's fun for me to look back at the last few years of my life.

I am hoping to get back to blogging and will try to do it regularly.  I've got a lot of things to say about running, workingout and a few adrenal insufficiency rants!  You know I've got pictures out the ying yang.  Enjoy!

Random animal leg on the sidewalk

So many tchotchkes!

Interesting mailbox

Blue heron

Wood stork (endangered) and egret

I can find trails no matter where I go!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunrise and fog on the Peace River

Disgustingly huge bug.  BTW, I'm trying to wear all of my running shoes down to the insoles.  1 pair down and 3 to go

Someone went all out in decorating this mailbox.  This was a custom manatee outfit

I could swear this was from July but it was in my November picture directory.  Another decorated manatee mailbox in a completely different town.

Classy way to keep the mailbox attached to the post

Paul's Aunt and Uncle live right on the Florida Trail.  The Florida Trail goes from the Panhandle to the Everglades.  I think it's about 1,400 miles long.  Orlando, Florida

Artwork on the Florida Trail in Orlando

We went to NJ for Thanksgiving and were supposed to stay at Paul's mom's house.  She had some troubles with the Super Storm Sandy and got a big tree in her bedroom.  Ocean, NJ

One of three enormous rubble piles right by the beach in Long Branch, NJ

I went for a run at Port Monmouth.  Here's what one neighborhood looked like.  This is a couple of blocks off the beach.

I picked up a tiny little shell while I was running on the beach near Port Monmouth.  When I got back to Paul's sister's house, I emptied my pockets and this little guy crawled out of the shell

Boat washed up on the shore near Port Monmouth

Medical paralysis, fear and its consequences

WARNING:  for those of you who are healthy, this will be really boring.  Those of you with thyroid problems may find this interesting.

2012 was a year of changes. 

I went from:
Climate
Teton Valley has an average annual precipitation at the 6,100 ft. level of 15.9 inches (2004). The average snowfall is 73.7 inches. In July, the highest average daily maximum temperature is 81.7°F. In January, the lowest average daily minimum temperature registers at 6.4°F.

To:
Climate:
Port Charlotte has a warm humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification: Cfa) bordering on a tropical wet and dry climate (Köppen climate classification: Aw).^[10] The summers are long, hot and humid with frequent afternoon thunderstorms. The winters are mild to warm with a pronounced drop in precipitation. Year round, the diurnal temperature change averages around 20 degrees Fahrenheit (11 degrees Celsius).

It's been noted that there's a seasonal variation in thyroid hormones.  I went from nearly perpetual winter (summer days Idaho were often colder than the coldest winter day here) to perpetual summer.  Medically, my Free T3 and Free T4 went up when I moved here.

Here's the medical paralysis and fear part.  My Free T4 was about 1.3 in Idaho during 2011.  In January 2012, it went to 1.4, July of 2012 1.5 (with high FT3 both times).  Because I was switching doctors and because I didn't think a rise in FT4 that small could actually make a difference in how I felt, I left my thyroid meds right where they were.  I was actually hoping that I'd go a little hyper and lose some weight (didn't happen).   I've gone hypothyroid when lowering my thyroid meds before.  I become a mass of crying Jell-O.  I hate that feeling and wanted to avoid it at all costs.  I turned a blind eye to all of my negative symptoms (hair falling out in a disgusting amount, digestive difficulties, wanting to exercise a lot and then being really tired, I was greasy, sleeping like the dead, loss of period for the most part), but the worst was that I couldn't think straight.  I was afraid to make a change because I thought I was going to get worse.  I was wrong.

The hair loss became so frightening that I stopped washing my greasy hair because when I washed my hair, it would fall out in large amounts.  Finally, I had to make a decision, I had to stop being a martyr.  I lowered my thyroid meds.  That was six weeks ago.

About a month ago, I began to come out of my fog.  I was like, "Holy CRAP!!! This is it!  Now, my life will really change."

Today, I'm happy I finally overcame my fear of change, lowered my thyroid meds, have hair and can think.  Medical paralysis and fear have slowed down the last year of my life.  I am feeling so much better.  Watch out world!

Rant: Martyrdom won't get you well. Putting on your big girl panties will.

I've put my big girl panties on!



Martyrdom as defined by Merriam-Webster is:
1)  the suffering of death on account of adherence to a cause...
2)  affliction, torture

When it comes to people with adrenal insufficiency, both diagnosed and undiagnosed, there's more of a chance that we will die than someone without it if we don't have a consistently healthy lifestyle.  I run a forum for people with adrenal insufficiency who want to get diagnosed and who want to live a healthy life once diagnosed.  I believe in education of the person with the disease, sleeping and waking at consistent hours, taking the least possible amount of meds you need to be healthy,exercising if possible and acceptable and don't drink sugared or diet soda (that's another rant!).  I do not believe in suffering, affliction or torture.

The Addison's Support Forum has one rule:  "...don't ask for help if you're not interested in working with your doctor to find new solutions to your problems, no martyrs."

This is what I hear from martyrs:

"I can't go to bed and wake up at the same time every night."

"You are making me feel bad by telling me the same thing over and over."

"I can't...retain information, get help, go to the doctor or make time to walk for 10 minutes a day..."

"I'm not disciplined enough."

"I've always done it this way."

"The doctor said to do it X way but I'm scared and chose not to."

Do you hear yourself in there?  I hear me.  I'm changing.  I'm done with fear, I'm done with lack of discipline and I'm done feeding martyrs constant need for attention and those with Munchausen by Internet.  I spent the summer feeding the Munchausen Martyr, speaking to her via email, FaceBook, Runkeeper, my forum and Skype.  I dreaded my dinner time because that's when she was waking up.  I feel sick right now thinking about how badly I've violated my own principals by not standing up for my own rules!

Being a martyr, when it comes to your health, will kill you.  You will be ill all the time because you'd prefer the attention you get from being sick.  You can change if you want to.  It won't be easy but it will be worth it.  Take the bull by the horns and put on your big girl panties. Join me in stopping martyrdom in its tracks!  Stop saying you can't and start doing, you'll have a lot less time to suffer!  Yeah baby, I'm going to have a lot more time on my hands starting now.