Pre-op update, weight loss update, and more!

CW: if the title wasn't enough advance warning, I'll be discussing medical tests and procedures, weight loss, my (healthy but very large thanks to lipidema) breasts, and Medicaid/SSI Disability.

Today is the last day I can take my Meloxicam. Pray for me 😅😅

Especially considering a storm system came in yesterday, and the minute the pressure dropped, the migraine started. As the pressure hasn't let up yet... I feel like shit.

I have a CT angiogram this afternoon, not surgery related, and then a blood draw, that is surgery related. The pressure is supposed to lift by then, of course. I'm looking forward to feeling better, but kind of mad the scan will miss the worst of the symptoms.

I was also craving Salisbury steaks yesterday, and purposefully made way too much refried beans and polenta for dinner tonight, so I officially have five frozen dinners pre-prepped for post-op! I've also figured out my instant noodle soup base recipe, which I'm thinking about pre-portioning into an old meds calendar dispenser, not that two powders and two liquids are difficult to assemble in the moment...

Same with fish and rice bowls in my rice cooker. And that's food all set. Far less drama than last December!

I'm also going on a cocoa butter, weed, and pain med run after the hospital trip this afternoon, and then I'll be set to hunker down for the next seven weeks.

In body weight news, I got the bright idea to weigh my breast tissue with my kitchen scale, since that's obviously not going to go away without surgical help. Nine pounds. Five on the right, four on the left. According to this website, that is equivalent to:

1. A Gallon of Milk

2. A Bass Guitar

3. Nine Cans of Soda

4. Two Standard Bricks

5. A Domestic Cat

6. Three Bowling Pins

7. Nine Basketballs

8. Four to Five Pineapples

9. Three Toasters

10. Two Laptops

11. Three Bags of Apples

12. A Small Dog

I'm carrying that around strapped to my chest 24/7. With hypermobile neck and shoulder joints. Yeah. And while I didn't lose any size to my breasts thanks to the tissue distribution, I did lose fat, my breasts are noticeably lighter than they used to be. I was likely dealing with 10lb tiddies.

That also brings my actual weight down to around 190lbs (for reference, I'm 5'10"). I do still have around 5lbs each in the lipidema pads on my hips to lose, and I'm guessing once my uterus isn't a factor anymore, I'll drop a fairly substantial amount of water weight from my abdomen (which is starting to show looser skin lately). And while BMI is bullshit (see, my boobs), that'll actually put me in the healthy BMI range for the first time in my adult life.

For a non-scale victory, I wore a pair of linen pants the other day that were tight in the thighs and a little short when I bought them last fall, nowadays they're perfectly baggy, and because my hips aren't stealing length anymore they're the perfect length. I wore them with a size XL top from Delia's that I found at swap (so, it's Junior's XL, more like a women's L), and it was a little tight in the chest (no surprise) but otherwise fits beautifully. I got a lot of compliments on my outfit!

I also got the official notice in the mail yesterday about the Medicaid work requirements, as well as the new every six months renewal process. Considering how fucked the annual renewal process was last year... I'm sure doubling the renewals is going to go swimmingly!

I theoretically qualify for the work requirement exemptions, but I'm not going to know until I'm able to re-apply in October, and they review my case. I mean, it's Medicaid, I would hope THEY would know how many specialists I see, and disabilities I have...

But if I do get to keep my health insurance, I actually have a chance at taking that nine pounds of breast tissue down to a reasonable size, once my number comes up. In like three years.

I'm also going to be re-applying for disability during my recovery period. This time with a different lawyer 🤞🏼🤞🏼