Struggling

My Lap Band surgery went great, and the weight came off nicely in the first 10 weeks (4 pounds a week!).  But around Week 8, I developed a fibromyalgia flare-up (soft-tissue pain everywhere, utter exhaustion, brain fog).  I'm a walking zombie.  I went in for a fill on Tuesday, and the wait was kind of long, so I climbed up on the exam table and fell fast asleep. My PCP put me on Lyrica, which has decreased the pain level.  But one side effect is weight gain.  Most days, I'm too exhausted to get to my calorie target of 1200, but other days my appetite is insane.  Even so, I've never gone over 1600 calories.  Yet I've already gained five pounds in two weeks.  Eeeeeeeeeeeek! I figure the weight gain will level out -- I'm not taking in enough calories to account for "actual" weight gain (particularly not 5 pounds, which would mean I'd taken in 17,500 additional calories in 14 days -- 1250 calories over my calorie goal of 1200.  And that's just impossible; I track my calories carefully.  So I suppose eventually this will level off and I can count on a return to the trend of weight loss. But this is very frustrating after all I've gone through to get to a healthier weight. At the same time, my immune system is in complete and utter chaos.  And my blood counts gave me a big scare yesterday.  I'm seeing a new primary care doc while my regular PCP is off to a conference, and he was giving me results of my recent lab work.  His face was white as a sheet, and he sat me down and said, "I don't know how to tell you this.  I'm very concerned about your white count and some other things here.  I know you've been seen at the NC Cancer Center, and I think we should send these results to them and talk with your hematology oncologist."  My heart just about fell right out of my body.  But then I looked at the lab results and explained to him that I know I have a chronic leukemoid disorder and that, in the scheme of things, the blood counts aren't all that bad.  Even so, they're not where they were a few weeks ago.  Next month I'll have the labs done again at the Cancer Center and we'll see where things are trending.  I don't want to have to undergo another round of treatment, but unless things calm down, that's were I'm heading. I'm just so exhausted. 

((((Kim))) I'm so sorry for what you're going through. I'm holding you in my thoughts in prayers. I hope all turns out well. Keep us up to date.

Thank you!  *muah* 

Kim I am so sorry for the trouble you are having. I will be praying for you and your lab work. I hope everything will turn out good for you and the weight will once again start to fall off. Hugs! Melissa

Thank you!  I'm sure things will get back on track.  I'm just having a little whine with my lowfat cheese.

Kim - All I can offer is prayers and hugs.  - Iris

Iris, prayers and hugs are even better than pain meds!  They go a long way.  Thank you.

Kim I hope to see you on Saturday so I can give you a big hug and something special to cheer you up.                                          Annie

Awww, Annie, that's so sweet!  Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to attend on Saturday.  :-(  I'm bummed about that. But next month!

I am sorry you wont be with us tomorrow Kim but I will save the special gift till next time.                                          Annie