My weight loss is going well!

I have now lost 5.5kg since I weighed myself on March 22 this year. That's an average of a kilogram a day! I'm now overweight instead of obese, with a BMI of 28.7. I'm using a relatively new weight loss program called Bodytrim.

Check out the Bodytrim website!
This is not advertising; I'm just a very satisfied customer - oh, and I haven't paid them a cent since the original purchase!


Recent weight loss history
2004 DD was born (9 lb 10 oz and no stitches)
2007 (74kg) January - started weight watchers
2007 (62kg) May - reached goal weight (but kept losing.... and not feeling healthy)
2007 (56kg) August - started taking an anti depressant
2007 (61kg) October - started counselling
2008 (65kg) January - Joined CalorieKing.com.au - trying to stop gaining weight.
2008 (68kg) September - saw a naturopath, diagnosed with zinc deficiency and functional hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)
2009 (76.8) January - after returning from holiday visiting inlaws
2009 (77.1kg) March 22 - Finally maintaining. But I'm now obese.
2009 (71.6kg) April 29 - 5.5kg lost since started Bodytrim March 22. Yay, Bodytrim!

Bathers quest, and a new mobile phone

DS stayed overnight at his friend's house again. I made big plans to make a dent in "Mt Foldmore" in the living room. But then I realised DD's bathers were missing. They'd been in my other Mt Foldmore (on the dressing table) all week! Where had they gone? (There were two full sets, one a black bikini and one apricot shorts with a floral tie on top).

Found the shorts under our bed... probably the only reason I found them, because the other three items have completely disappeared. I think DH has put them somewhere 'safe'. Fortunately, as I was putting away some other clothes today I found her size 3 top... it's tie on, so it will do. Big phew! I thought we were going to have to go bathers shopping when I went to pick up my new Samsung SGHZ170 ... see opposite.

It's charging now, it's pretty, and I haven't figured out how to delete when you mistype in SMS... but yay, it's shiny & new and mine. I don't think I've ever had a new phone before!

Friend T was very excited to hear she could have my old phone. I also have a new vodafone SIM I don't need, but we do need to check the reception at her house, as DH has had trouble contacting me before on it, which is why I needed to get a new phone, where I can more easily adjust SMS ringtone, etc. My old phone isn't locked to a network, so she can use any prepaid system she likes.

Pets: I need to be responsible for them

11:00am
We've had the kitty for a week, and she hasn't been to the vet for a checkup yet.

Worse, I had a dance (not intentionally) with our 14yo Siberian Husky yesterday, and stood on his very sore toe... which then bled every way. I am taking him to the vet now, but he should've been back ages ago. I keep relying on DH to take them to the vet, because they're "his" pets. But how can I rely on him when he is suffering pain and depression?

So, I'm going to take responsibility for the pets vet visits, injections, etc. DH can do feeding, watering, exercise, and medication, i.e. the daily stuff.

Update 1:30pm
It's good news for our Husky... the sore toe was mostly scar tissue now, so we just need to keep it clean, and give him some pain killers for a few days. The vet gave me some anti-inflammatories to use for a few days, which will help with any toe pain as well as his arthritis. He also said we can try a quarter of a Tramadol XR 200mg (which I just picked up for DH, and he won't need the whole pack) and see if that helps. If it seems to help, we could try a whole tablet.

Next pay (more than 3 weeks away) I will take him for a course of cartrophen shots for his arthritis. The shots aren't expensive (will cost approx $110 for four shots over the month), but we've already had lots of unexpected expenses.

I also booked the kitten in for a checkup next Wednesday to determine her age, and what worming and vaccination needs she has.

Update 10:40am The Next Day
Well DH, didn't give the Husky his first dose last night, so I did this morning. I've put checkboxes on the calendar for the next 5 days. I also ensured DD fed the dogs. So, I guess I'm also taking on supervision of meds and food.

He's run out of painkillers again....

DH normally takes oxycodone for his pain (from fibromyalgia). He is only allowed enough medication to last a month at his appropriate dose (which we will be increasing next week).

When DH runs out of his normal painkillers we have two issues: unmitigated pain and opiate withdrawal symptoms.

The unmitigated pain causes him to become extremely depressed. I have rung his GP to get a script for an alternative pain killer (tramadol) which does not require authorisation from the government; of course, it also doesn't work as well as the oxycontin he normally has, but it's much better than anything else we can get until Tuesday when we see the GP.

From Wikipedia:

The symptoms of oxycodone withdrawal are the same as for other opiate based painkillers and may include "anxiety, nausea, insomnia, muscle pain, fevers, and other flu like symptoms."

Well at the moment, as well as depression, he also has anxiety, nausea and flu like symptoms. Fortunately, these are manageable with the tramadol.

I hope the higher dose is more effective so he can stop running out before he is supposed to. And my depression / anxiety are now very manageable, so I think it's time I took the drugs back and dole them out to him. And keep track of how long each pack should be lasting. We'll get there!

A new pet can bring peace to your household

Late on Saturday afternoon, we took the kids to the park. There was a big Maori family celebration over at the BBQ shelter, and lots of kids playing in the wooden adventure playground. We were there for a while before we spotted a cluster of kids near the see-saw, looking under the wooden structure of the playground. "There's a kitty in there!" they said, pointing to a small hole between the tan bark and the structure. Sure enough there was, and she came home with us. (She's about half grown. And that's not her in the photo.)

I could see DH was in love with the kitty after he put her inside his jacket, and she ended up poking her head out of his sleeve... but we said to the kids, "You guys have to be good if you want to keep the kitty." What cruel parents we are!

When we got her home, the kitty was very friendly - everyone wanted to play with her. She loved being petted, and the house was very peaceful for the first few days. Please can I pet the kitty? Can the kitty sleep in my room? Please? etc. I'd forgotten how much I like cats (our previous cat, Baby, died about 2 years ago). They're small and cuddly (whereas our dogs are enormous), and petting them makes both you and them feel good - see Pet Therapy on Wikipedia for more info and resources.

Having the cat has definitely reduced everyone's stress levels.

Introducing me

Hello readers

I'm really writing this blog for myself, as an online journal. But I find I'm learning so many life lessons along my journey that I would like to share them with others.

For example, I've only recently realised that I've had Generalized Anxiety Disorder at least since I was pregnant with my daughter. Not surprising, considering my husband's ADHD and anxiety issues were not diagnosed back then. Oh, and he was used to his chronic pain, so didn't realize it was helping make him depressed. (I didn't list depression, as it is part of the Fibromyalgia, which also wasn't diagnosed back then.) I treated it once with Lexapro and a counselling psychologist, thought that was it, but it came back...

I don't have time to tell you all about my family's history in this post. I'll write our story another day.

Conventions
I'll use the following terms in this forum alot: DD (Darling Daughter), DS (Darling Son), and DH (Darling Husband); I want this to be anonymous except for those very few people that know both my anonymous and real names. For relatives, friends, neighbours, etc... I'll come up with something and come back here later.