Finding The Answers: Mono and My Tonsils

recovering from tonsillectomyMy, my, my. It has been a crazy few months. Crazy difficult.

I haven’t felt like myself for months. Starting in May, around the time I went to Vegas, I began feeling extreme fatigue. I’ve dealt with fatigue several times before, but this was significantly worse. I though it was caused by a vitamin deficiency, so I got all of my lab work done. But everything came back unremarkable, and the rapid mono-spot test came back negative. My doctor ordered additional tests, and there was still no answer to why I was so dang tired.

I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety for years, and the summer months tend to be difficult for me. I will get into a summertime slump, and try my best to just make it through my seasonal mental health woes. This summer was difficult, but it didn’t feel like the past few years. I had a hard time staying awake through a full day at work. Despite my best attempts to focus and be productive, I felt like my brain was in a continual fog. I would get home from work, zone out, and not accomplish anything else for the day.

Stress was high because our family knew that a cross-country move was on the horizon. Taylor was transferred to Detroit in March, and it became evident that our family needed to relocate to be with him. I wore myself out trying to apply for jobs for months, and nothing was working out. I was discouraged, in addition to feeling like a blob of fatigue.

In late August, some friends invited me to try a yoga class. I’ve heard that yoga is good for stress reduction, so I figured it couldn’t hurt. I didn’t love the class, but I gave it a good effort. The next morning I woke up feeling toxic. Over the next few days, I started developing swollen glands and a one-sided sore throat. I don’t know if this was caused by the yoga, or the toxins released by the stretches, but the timing is suspect.

recovery from tonsillectomy

As the pain and swelling worsened, I decided to get checked out at urgent care. The rapid strep test was negative, but the swelling was large and abnormal. I was diagnosed with peritonsillar abscesses, which can be caused by both bacteria and viruses. I went through courses of IV antibiotics, antibiotic shots, two rounds of oral antibiotics, and a whole lot of steroids. I spent weeks in pain, in bed, and missing work. I visited with my ear, nose, and throat doctor, who said that if they abscesses didn’t resolve themselves on their own, surgery was the next step.

Over a weekend, things got worse. I was in more pain, the swelling increased, and I was very dehydrated. I went back to urgent care, had another negative strep test, and the doctor diagnosed me with infectious mononucleosis. He ordered a large battery of viral testing, told me to avoid contact sports and saliva contact with people, and urged me to get a tonsillectomy ASAP. A few days later, the results came back. I indeed had mono, even though my earlier rapid strep test was negative. I was positive for herpes simplex 1 virus and Epstein Barr virus, with an active infection for 5 months. The only way to resolve the mono was to get the tonsils removed. As soon as my ENT could get me in, I had a surgery date scheduled.

I will not lie. The tonsillectomy was horrible. I wrote a very detailed post about the nitty gritty of an adult tonsillectomy on my other blog. Two weeks of pain, discomfort, swelling, and misery. But it also was a turning point for me – I knew life was about to get much better. I started to feel a spark in me that had been absent for half a year. After months of unsuccessful job hunting, I started getting job interviews. And then I quickly was offered a job. Things were starting to fall in place for our family to move, and we’re now in the thick of the moving process.

I haven’t been writing about my weight loss surgery much because my other health concerns have been far more important lately. I feel like I’m in my groove as a bariatric patient, and there’s not a lot of new things to write about. I have gained about 15 pounds through this mono/steroids/surgery/moving debacle, and I’m looking forward to being back on a schedule once we’re in our new house. I still feel the effects of mono fatigue, so I’ve been very careful to not overdo it with exercise. I do some moderate walking, but avoid anything excessive. I have far too much stress to manage to push myself physically.

I apologize if my future posts are less frequent. I haven’t give up this blog, but I also have greater responsibilities to fill my time (like my new job). I still plan to lose more weight and document it here. My journey is far from over.

But for now, I’ve at least figured out why I’ve felt so awful for half of a year.

Wordless Wednesday: Roadtrip Almonds

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Wordless Wednesday: Polysomnography Testing

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Connecting on Social Media For Weight Loss Support, Outreach, and Accountability

Earlier this month, I presented at ObesityHelp’s 10th Annual National Convention in Anaheim. I was luck y enough to kick off the event by being the first speaker. My presentation was on how I’ve used my blog and social media for weight loss support, outreach and accountability. I’ve been asked by several people to give an overview of my session for those who were not able to attend, and for those who want additional information and resources.

 

Blogging and social media have been an important component to my weight loss success since gastric bypass surgery. In this presentation, I reviewed my history in blogging and social media, and why I chose to start a new blog to document my weight loss surgery experience at Beauty and the Bypass.

A Tale of Two Personas • Cute Culture Chick and Beauty and the Bypass

When I decided to have bariatric surgery, I was already a well-established blogger, with a blog focused on pop culture, travel, family, and personal memoir. Although I did talk about my health, I didn’t feel like my whole gastric bypass experience was a good fit for Cute Culture Chick. So I decided to make a new blog to document my surgery, and that is how Beauty and the Bypass was born. It was a lot easier to come up with content back when I was in the rapid weight loss phase, but I still find topics that are relevant to the WLS community, as well as my personal journey. I am more active on my Cute Culture Chick blog and social media accounts, but I find ways to balance both personas.

Facebook Fan Pages
While a Facebook fan page isn’t a good fit for every weight loss surgery patient, it can be a great way to connect with other WLS patients (and people who have an interest in bariatric surgery in general). If you don’t want a fan page, be careful about starting a personal page with a WLS nickname – Facebook has been cracking down on anonymous/duplicate accounts. Here are some ideas of content to share on Facebook fan pages.

  • Weight loss updates
  • Non-scale victories
  • Comparison pictures
  • Sharing articles/blog posts

Twitter

  • Follow hashtags to find relevant users and news (#WLS, #RNY, #GastricBypass, #VSG)
  • Be conversational
  • Share confidential information over direct message (DM)

Pinterest

  • Make boards for recipes and food ideas
  • Share your transformation photos
  • Connect with other WLS patients by commenting, liking, and repinning

nicole instagramInstagram

  • Show a visual glimpse into your life (what you wear, where you go, what you eat, etc)
  • Be involved in memes (eg. Throwback Thursday #tbt)
  • Don’t use too many hashtags
  • Like, follow, and comment

YouTube

  • Record in landscape
  • Upload in HD
  • Use keyword-rich titles and descriptions
  • The most successful videos are under 2 minutes

Fitness Apps

  • MyFitnessPal
  • Nike
  • Fitocracy
  • RunKeeper
  • Strava
  • FitBit

Dark Social (non-public communication online)

  • Facebook Messenger
  • Twitter Direct Messages
  • IM
  • Email

selfie tutorialSelfie Tutorial

  • Mind your lighting (not too much direct light or backlight)
  • Angle (position camera higher than head, with head slightly tilted)
  • Steady Hand (brace arm against body/wall/tree for a clear picture)
  • Crop (mind the rule of thirds)
  • Take more than one pic (just in case)

Social Media Advice from the Trenches

  • Take it offline – become friends in real life with your online connections
  • Pre-approve pictures before tagging
  • Don’t abuse #hashtags
  • Focus on quality over quantity (you don’t need to be friends with everyone)
  • Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should
  • It’s okay to take a break – return when you’re ready

Wordless Wednesday: My Shadow

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Wordless Wednesday: Only Two Short Years Ago

before gastric bypass surgery nicole bullock

Wordless Wednesday: Fun in the #OH2013 Photo Booth

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Oh2013 Obesity Help Photo Booth

Wordless Wednesday: Down 130 Pounds

130 pounds lost gastric bypass

I’m Speaking At ObesityHelp in Anaheim

speaking at obesityhelp 2013 in anaheimTomorrow, I’m heading to Anaheim to speak at the 10th Annual ObesityHelp National Conference. Last year, I attended the ObesityHelp event in Atlanta, and I feel honored that I was selected to speak at this year’s event. My session is titled “How to Connect for Support, Outreach, and Accountability.” Here’s a quick session overview from the event page:

Learn priceless tips on how to amplify the use of social media to help you make lasting connections during and after your conference experience. Nicole will talk about Blogging, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and food and fitness tracking systems. Discover strategies that will help you connect with others on your journey for support, outreach and accountability. You’ll walk away with a list of actionable tips that you can put to work right away at the Conference and for the long haul of your journey.

nicole bullock obesity help 2013
I’ve been told that my session is sold out, which might be because I’ll be giving out a Nexus 7 tablet in my session. I’m not sure if those not registered will be able to sneak in. You may need to bribe someone at the door. If you can’t make my individual session,  I will also be speaking on a post-op panel with Beth Sheldon-BadoreTerry RowMichelle VicariChris Waffle, and Jessica Stockton.

So much of my success I’ve achieved in my weight loss has been through the support I’ve felt online. Many of these online connections have become real-life friends and confidants. To be honest, I feel like a bit of a hack lately for being chosen for this topic. The support and outreach I felt so confident with in the first year of my weight loss experience has waned in the last 6 months (due to some health problems I plan to address in a post in the near future). It’s crazy how when you’re not feeling well, it’s harder to reach out for the support you need (which, consequently, is when you might need it most). Connecting over social media has given me an important link to the weight loss world while I had to take a break from blogging. I’ve decided that it’s okay to take a break, and I’ll be talking about that in my session.

It’s not too late to register of ObesityHelp in Anaheim. You can sign up on their website, or register at the door. Tickets are very affordable at $75, and include two days of education, entertainment, food, and fun.

Checking In and Catching Up

nicole summer selfieOver two months without a blog post? Guilty. I have so much to catch up on, I decided to dust off the blog and catch up on my summer so far.

As I mentioned in a post on my other blog, I tend to struggle in the summertime. I’ve had some significant depressive episodes in summers past, but depression hasn’t been as much of an issue this year. I have been feeling a lot of anxiety, and I often feel like the anxiety is worse when I spend a lot of time online. I do my internet thing while I’m work (since I work as a social media manager), and then I am largely offline through the evening.

I’ve also been struggling with an unusual amount of fatigue. I’m always tired, sleep isn’t restorative, and I have a hard time concentrating on anything for an extended period of time. I usually have creativity and ideas bursting out of my brain, and now I struggle to even write a paragraph without distractions. I met with my doctor, and we both expected the fatigue to be related to a vitamin B-12 deficiency. I got my results back, and I actually had an above normal reading. He ordered a bunch of thyroid tests and checked for mono…but those findings were normal. The next step is to meet with my sleep specialist about my sleep apnea – I’ve been using my CPAP machine, but I feel like it’s not helping me feel rested. He guessed that after losing 80-100 pounds, I’d likely not need to use the CPAP anymore. Now that I’m down almost 130…I’d like to know definitively if it’s needed anymore.

I’m working on getting back on track with weight accountability. I haven’t been as obsessed with numbers lately, which is part of why I think I haven’t been losing. My current weight is 244. I was in a plateau between December and April, then I had a spike up to 261 around the time I went to Vegas. I got into bad habits while figuring out my carb intake to manage reactive hypoglycemia, and now it’s hard to go through any meal without something carby. When I returned from Vegas, I decided to get back to a stricter eating plan, and was able to drop that 15 pounds of regain in about 6 weeks.

fitbloggin trout lake farm tour
At the end of June, I went to Portland (my hometown!) to attend FitBloggin’ 13, a blogging conference for health, fitness, and weight loss bloggers. The first day of the conference, I went with a group to the Nutrilite Trout Lake Farms to see the world’s largest organic herb farm. We also made a stop at Multnomah Falls, which is one of my favorite places in the Portland area. I got a dose of “nature” before being inside a hotel for the majority of the weekend. I got to spend time with a lot of my blogging friends, and presented my session on SEO.

What’s coming up next for me?

This week I’m going to Phoenix for the Obesity Action Coalition’s Your Weight Matters Conference. I’m participating in the Walk from Obesity on Sunday with Team Bariatric Bad Girls. In October, I’ll be speaking at Obesity Help’s National Conference about connecting over social media for support, outreach, and accountability for weight loss. If you see me at either event, be sure to say hi!