Wednesday Weigh In: Downer

I'm up two pounds this week.  That's right, UP.  I know it's not because of something I did.  If anything I improved my eating habits last week by adding fruit to daily diet.  I’m not completely miserable about the small gain, but I am rather downhearted.  I’m in lower spirits.  Not my chipper, positive self.  Things are somewhat out of my control right now and I hate that feeling.  I hate it. 

Goal for the week of November 15: New fruit

First, you may have noticed there was no Friday Confessional last week.  I couldn't get my act together in time so I decided to just let it go and get back to the Confessional this week.

Today, Monday, is goal day.  Last week's goal: SUCCESS!  I did it.  Fruit every day.  With other parts of my life out of control lately, I felt empowered taking charge of a goal and sticking to it.  This week I'll add another layer to my November plan to introduce Leigh to the wonderful world of fruit.

Goal for the week of November 15: Eat at least three new fruits

I'm no stranger to apples and bananas, but along with orange juice, these are the only fruits I would typically consume.  This week I'm going to try new things.  I'm actually nervous, but also optimistic that I will find something I really love. 

Wednesday Weigh-In: Sigh of Relief

Before I could chicken out, I stepped on my scale as soon as I woke up this morning. After reading so much about people gaining weight after thyroid surgery, I was relieved to see that I didn't gain an ounce.  I re-stepped on the scale two extra times just to make sure the number was correct.  My weight was exactly the same as it was on my last Wednesday Weigh-In, two weeks ago, before my thyroid surgery.  Big sigh of relief.

Hey guess what?  I saw Cpt. Kirk today and he removed my Frankenstein staples.  He said, “Your head didn’t fall off, so that’s good.”  Haha.  I felt so much better afterwards, physically and mentally.  I'm a great deal more comfortable without the pinching every time I move my head and I can see that the scar on my neck is going to be way smaller than I expected.  I'm happy.  Cpt. Kirk, the brilliant and talented surgeon, is officially cooler than a rock star to me. 

An apple a day keeps the doctor away?

Fruit update:  I, the fruit avoider, have stuck to this week’s goal of one piece of fruit per day.  Today's fruit du jour was a big, shiny red delicious apple.  

Does an apple a day really keep the doctor away?  Curious about apple nutrition facts, I visited the British Columbia tree fruit website and learned that apples are full of health benefits.  They are high in fibre and vitamin C, boost our immune system and reduce the risk of several diseases, including cancer, Alzheimers and diabetes.  They even whiten teeth!  And they’re so darn yummy.  I like apples.  Why didn't I eat them more often?  Well, I will now.

Goal review and the fruit thing

I haven't re-visited my goals for a while so let's do a quick review.  The first two months of The Mambo Project concentrated on simple weight loss math: 
Eat Less + Move More = Lose Weight

September - East less.  Check.  I got my food intake under control and this continues.

October - Move more.  Start exercising.  Nope.  I had some wonderful suggestions from my fellow bloggers and I did start adding steps to my day at the beginning of October, but my effort faded mid-month.  I will re-visit exercise again as soon as I get the ok from my trusted MD Dr. A. and/or Cpt. Kirk.

So let’s go back to food.  In November I am going to work on adding variety to my diet.  I don't eat enough fruit.  I never have.  I'm just not a big fan.  It's a texture thing.  I enjoy the taste of most fruits but I can't stand the texture.  Oranges are my best example.  I should love oranges.  The smell of oranges makes my mouth water and freshly squeezed orange juice, mmmmmm, I can drink a big glass of it.  But an actual orange?  Uh-uh.  I cannot stand the squeaky sound an orange makes when I bite it.  Sounds a bit crazy, right? 

This week's goal:  Eat a piece of fruit every day

But even the fruit I can handle, like apples and bananas, I very rarely eat.  Seriously.  Almost never. I suppose I have just never made eating fruit a habit.  Isn't that silly?  So this month I am going to concentrate on fruit.  The goal for this week will be simple.



Goal for the week of November 8, 2010 - Eat one piece of fruit every day.

Eddy and Coby both love fruit therefore we always have plenty in our house.  (Haha, as I type this I can hear Eddy biting into watermelon.  See?  He's always eating fruit!)  I ate a banana today so I'm off to a good start!

Friday Confessional: Surgery

When I started The Mambo Project blog I decided I would speak openly and honestly about weight loss.  Not just weight loss triumphs but my struggles and fears as well.  This week I contemplated a specific recent event and wondered whether or not I should write about it.  I hesitated because it’s quite personal, but Eddy convinced me that I need to include it in my blog because I did promise candidness.  He’s right.  And, furthermore, its inclusion is important because it may be something which affects my weight loss for a time. 

On Monday, November 1st, I had a thyroidectomy, surgery to remove my thyroid, the butterfly shaped gland at the base of the neck.  In spring I was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer.  I know.  Scary word.  But it sounds far scarier than it is.  While there is no “good” cancer, papillary thyroid cancer is one with a very good survival rate.  This type of cancer rarely spreads and with surgery the survival rate is more than 95%. 

A lot of people have asked me how I found out I had thyroid cancer.  About one year ago I felt a lump near the base of my neck on the left side.  I thought it might be swollen lymph nodes and expected to be getting a cold or something.  When after three weeks I was still feeling well but the lump didn’t go away I decided to pop in to see the doctor-on-call at my clinic.  Straight away he said, “That’s your thyroid” and scheduled blood tests and an ultrasound.  The ultrasound showed solid nodules in my left thyroid.   The next steps were an appointment with Dr. A. (my trusted MD), a thyroid uptake scan, a visit with an endocrinologist, more blood work, an ultrasound guided fine needle biopsy, the official diagnosis of papillary thyroid cancer and an appointment with a surgeon. 

My surgeon is the amazing Dr. Kirk, whom, at home, we respectfully and affectionately refer to as Captain Kirk to make the whole idea of surgery slightly less scary for our kidlet Coby.  Cpt. Kirk removed the cancerous half of my thyroid in June then completed the thyroidectomy five days ago.   He said the surgery went very well and now, after a couple of nights in hospital, I’m recovering nicely at home.   

Recovering nicely at home



I feel strange.  Have you ever stayed up all night then tried to function normally the next day?  That’s sort of how I feel.  Dreamlike.  Spacey.  I felt down on Thursday when I changed the dressing myself and got my first glimpse of the incision.  Cpt. Kirk is skilled and I know I’ll heal well, but right now I look quite a bit like Frankenstein with a neat row of staples across the bottom of my neck.  I am not the slightest bit vain so I don’t mind that I’ll have a visible scar.  When I do start to feel sad about it I give myself a reality check:  I’ll take the scar over cancer, thank you very much.

Are you wondering how all this might affect The Mambo Project?  The thyroid produces hormones which regulate the body’s metabolism.  My mind immediately does the math:  no thyroid = no thyroid hormones = no metabolism = no weight loss.  I am oversimplifying, obviously, but weight gain is one of the side effects of a thyroidectomy.  Eventually medication will be prescribed to replicate the thyroid hormones and I fully expect to lose every ounce I may gain, but at this moment I’m frustrated knowing that my scale may move in an unwelcome direction for a couple of weeks.   I am hoping that if I continue to eat properly I won’t see a gain.  The idea of Wednesday Weigh-In was stressing me out like you wouldn’t believe so I decided to not step on my scale this week. 

I need to stop this.  I mean, come on Leigh, give yourself a break.   Step back.  Consider what you went through this week.  Perspective.  A couple of weeks of slight weight gain are not so bad when you consider that it means I am cancer free.