It's Already October!

It's already October!  Fall has started, and this weekend is supposed to actually start feeling like fall in Houston, which will be incredibly welcome.  And Miles is turning 10, and I get to see my bestie!  Good things coming this weekend!

Things have been very busy around here lately.  Gisèle has cheer and/or theatre every day after school, and Miles has taekwondo 3 days a week.  He has been asked to join the JV team/class, also, which will add a Saturday class starting about a week and a half from now.  With drop-off, pick-up, and activity chauffeuring, I spend a lot of my day in the car.  Joggers, tees, and flip-flops for the win!  (And coffee.  Lots of coffee.)

Jamie loves his position at Halliburton, and we're really enjoying our church and community group together.  We have good friends there and are trying to take the time to have a date night together whenever we can.

Health-wise, side effects have been tolerable lately.  My rheumatologist says I'm showing markers of RA (rheumatoid arthritis) and Lupus, but don't have enough markers of either to have a diagnosis.  I do show definite inflammation in my joints, though, which explains why I hobble every time I get up.   This is very normal post-chemo, and with Lupron, so it's nothing special!  I've also gained weight with the forced menopause, which is extremely frustrating.  I'm about 30 pounds overweight at this point, and it all seems to be settling in a tire around my waist.  It doesn't seem to matter how much/what I eat, or that I'm working out regularly and doing daily crunches.  Somehow, I need to figure out what to do about it.

In other health news, I was diagnosed yesterday with sleep apnea, so that'll be interesting to explore.  Jamie let me know that I've been making a weird sound in my sleep for a few months now - I sound like a woodpecker - so he recorded it and I played it for my dentist when I went in.  She did a 3D xray that showed that my airway is down to 0 - the worst she has ever seen - so put "bumpers" on my back teeth and sent me home with a sleep study device.  The x-rays are still being analyzed by doctors for a full diagnosis, but the sleep study doctor came back the next day with a diagnosis of sleep apnea.  After I have the results from the scans, we'll discuss next steps to take care of it.  (Possibly a DNA, which is a device to widen my lower jaw to make more room for my airway.)

To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, here is an xray of the previous worst case my dentist had seen in her office, and then my airway.  Take note of how far up each airway goes, as well as the red (narrow/bad) areas.

The worst case she had seen before me

My airway

She wants to use my xrays in studies and share them with colleagues.  Just once, I'd like to be in such great shape that a doctor is amazed, instead of so broken that they are intrigued!