Things changed so fast it made my head spin.
So while I was out trapping near SLO, as mentioned in my previous post, I got a call from my boss who had received an email from personnel that said I had exhausted my days and only had 13 available to work in May and June. This the same day I was telling my co-worker he needed to keep track of his days and that I needed to take a look at mine to make sure I didn't run out. Like I did in, well it must've been October 2009 though a quick check indicates I didn't blog about it.
We were already committed to at least another day at that site (needed just four more mice, so of course we caught 20!) but I was able to cut off the last day and conserve that. Only four days into May and I'd already used about a third of what I had left.
A frustrating situation, but at least it meant that I could take a break without feeling too guilty. I started formulating ideas about having the time to jump online to hang out with people or contact others and start planning a camping or road trip.
Meanwhile, the results from my blood test the week before came in and, after a little phone tag, I talked to my doctor's assistant who said some things very clearly but what I heard was, "Wakka wakka wakka START ON MEDICATION IMMEDIATELY wakka." (I was going for the adults from Peanuts but it came out Pac-Man. Oh well.)
I was like, "Whoa whoa whoa. WHAT." and then, "...can I make an appointment to talk about this?"
And so I did and here's the deal:
My thyroid is working double time.
The active thyroid hormone in my body is half of what it should be.
This is hypothyroidism and it seems the confusing results of the initial blood test(s) in January were due to my body being in transition from borderline to hypothyroidism.
So I get to take synthetic thyroid hormone every day for the rest of my life pretty much.
The good news is that once we find the right dosage* I should feel a lot better.
I hadn't realized I was feeling crappy, exactly, but then...
...well I don't seem to have the energy I feel I should have. This has been true for a while.
And there's some weight gain generally associated with hypothyroidism and the medication should counteract that, so there's that.
The bad news is that the medication binds with everything forever so it needs to be taken on an empty stomach (alright, soon as I wake up, that's not too bad...) and I need to wait at least an hour before eating or drinking anything other than water (whaaaaaaaaaat noooooo but I'm staaaaarrrving and have to eat in the morning!!!)
I've had essentially a week off to start getting used to it but I can see this being a little tricky to remember to plan around during, say, trapping.
Which I'm back to doing. Because this past week, while I was taking advantage of having No Days In Which To Work to do my portfolio for ASL II** I got a call from my boss about how it suddenly occurred to him that I would run out of days completely in July (?) and that he talked to personnel and they would allow me to alter three previous time sheets in order to gain back some days (...that feels dishonest but okay you're the boss) so that I can focus on getting ALL the trapping done before July (!!!) because after that I would - and maybe these aren't the right words, he said, and I should talk to personnel - be laid off. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Yeah, that wasn't a fun phone call.
So I haven't called Fresno yet, because I was busy with the portfolio and some other things and also what the hell could they maybe contact me? This seems important.
(But I will call!)
And I'm all set up to go back out to Paicines starting tomorrow.
Except, you know what it did?
It rained. It rained pretty good yesterday and today and it's supposed to rain tomorrow.
If the roads are wet, we can't get out there. (OR, we try and get stuck)
So instead of hanging out with friends and catching back up with things and having a less intense May and June, I get to be HELLA BUSY.
AGAIN.
At least I got my portfolio done.
*This seems to be a trial and error thing. I've been started at the lowest dosage and am to go back for another blood test in two months. Those results will determine if it needs to be increased.
**I think I was feeling guilty for not working on it incrementally during the semester like we're supposed to and did it all in the three days leading up to the due date. It came out to 99 pages. But I rocked the presentation. Possibly because I didn't have a damn thing about cochlear implants while every single other presentation did.
Guys, she said those sub-headings were examples. And that she appreciates new things instead of reading the same info over and over. Mine had CATS.
(Yes they were deaf cats.)
We were already committed to at least another day at that site (needed just four more mice, so of course we caught 20!) but I was able to cut off the last day and conserve that. Only four days into May and I'd already used about a third of what I had left.
A frustrating situation, but at least it meant that I could take a break without feeling too guilty. I started formulating ideas about having the time to jump online to hang out with people or contact others and start planning a camping or road trip.
Meanwhile, the results from my blood test the week before came in and, after a little phone tag, I talked to my doctor's assistant who said some things very clearly but what I heard was, "Wakka wakka wakka START ON MEDICATION IMMEDIATELY wakka." (I was going for the adults from Peanuts but it came out Pac-Man. Oh well.)
I was like, "Whoa whoa whoa. WHAT." and then, "...can I make an appointment to talk about this?"
And so I did and here's the deal:
My thyroid is working double time.
The active thyroid hormone in my body is half of what it should be.
This is hypothyroidism and it seems the confusing results of the initial blood test(s) in January were due to my body being in transition from borderline to hypothyroidism.
So I get to take synthetic thyroid hormone every day for the rest of my life pretty much.
The good news is that once we find the right dosage* I should feel a lot better.
I hadn't realized I was feeling crappy, exactly, but then...
...well I don't seem to have the energy I feel I should have. This has been true for a while.
And there's some weight gain generally associated with hypothyroidism and the medication should counteract that, so there's that.
The bad news is that the medication binds with everything forever so it needs to be taken on an empty stomach (alright, soon as I wake up, that's not too bad...) and I need to wait at least an hour before eating or drinking anything other than water (whaaaaaaaaaat noooooo but I'm staaaaarrrving and have to eat in the morning!!!)
I've had essentially a week off to start getting used to it but I can see this being a little tricky to remember to plan around during, say, trapping.
Which I'm back to doing. Because this past week, while I was taking advantage of having No Days In Which To Work to do my portfolio for ASL II** I got a call from my boss about how it suddenly occurred to him that I would run out of days completely in July (?) and that he talked to personnel and they would allow me to alter three previous time sheets in order to gain back some days (...that feels dishonest but okay you're the boss) so that I can focus on getting ALL the trapping done before July (!!!) because after that I would - and maybe these aren't the right words, he said, and I should talk to personnel - be laid off. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Yeah, that wasn't a fun phone call.
So I haven't called Fresno yet, because I was busy with the portfolio and some other things and also what the hell could they maybe contact me? This seems important.
(But I will call!)
And I'm all set up to go back out to Paicines starting tomorrow.
Except, you know what it did?
It rained. It rained pretty good yesterday and today and it's supposed to rain tomorrow.
If the roads are wet, we can't get out there. (OR, we try and get stuck)
So instead of hanging out with friends and catching back up with things and having a less intense May and June, I get to be HELLA BUSY.
AGAIN.
At least I got my portfolio done.
*This seems to be a trial and error thing. I've been started at the lowest dosage and am to go back for another blood test in two months. Those results will determine if it needs to be increased.
**I think I was feeling guilty for not working on it incrementally during the semester like we're supposed to and did it all in the three days leading up to the due date. It came out to 99 pages. But I rocked the presentation. Possibly because I didn't have a damn thing about cochlear implants while every single other presentation did.
Guys, she said those sub-headings were examples. And that she appreciates new things instead of reading the same info over and over. Mine had CATS.
(Yes they were deaf cats.)