So, some bad news...

When I had my pre-op appointment with Dr. Polo, my blood pressure was 190/110. WTH?? My normal is like 117/75. Suddenly it's skyrocketed? Had an appointment with Dr. Urbanc, she said until my blood pressure is under control, we will have to put off the surgery. I burst into tears. I hate this bleeding everyday bullshit. She said, better that than having a heart attack on the operating table. Well, I couldn't argue with that. So I set out to find the culprit. Turns out my Meat Lovers breakfast bowls have over 1000mg of sodium!!! Wtf! And I was eating those almost every day! A little internet research made me realize that the ramped-up alcohol consumption in quarantine is also a contributor. And of course, the ever-present stress. So first, I stopped drinking. Easy enough. The next step was eliminating as much sodium as possible. No more breakfast bowls, back to making my breakfast burritos from scratch. Also, Dr. Urbanc added a 2nd blood pressure med and increased my levothyroxine slightly. Then my mom recommended beetroot and potassium supplements. Managed to find those at Freddy's. Check. She also recommended Ginger Root supplements (got them, haven't taken them yet), and turmeric supplements (the beetroot and turmeric were both hella expensive so I just got the beetroot one).
So it seems its already starting to work. My blood pressure this morning (I've been checking it twice a day) was 140/93. Still too high yet, but DEFINITELY better. Fingers crossed it's back to normal by Tuesday. Not sure if that means I can still get surgery on the first or not. Dr. Urbanc seemed to think not, but they haven't pulled it off the schedule the last time I checked. I guess we'll see. I'll have more info Tuesday. In the meantime, continue to work on getting the BP down.
Oh yeah, here's my low carb/low sodium dinner I made the other night: Chicken breast seasoned only with garlic powder and pepper, broccoli seasoned only with unsalted melted butter, and jasmine rice with mayo instead of soy sauce:

It was a little bland, but not too bad. I'm making coconut curry stir fry tonight. I wanted to do a different one, but that one had a sodium count of 210 while all the others were 460 or above. 😕
I will try to remember to update after my doc appointments on Tuesday.

Upcoming surgery...

So July 1st I am having a total laparoscopic hysterectomy (well, not *total* total, they are taking the uterus and fallopian tubes but leaving the ovaries.). Recovery time is 4-6 weeks. Already talked to my manager at Party City, he agreed not to call me back to work before I was recovered. I'm just going to be SO HAPPY when it's all over. I have been bleeding to one degree or another since April 22nd, and I am OVER IT. Today is a good day, almost like it stopped, but I no longer trust my reproductive system. My doctor managed to get OHP to waive the nicotine test requirement (THANK GOD... I mean, I know I need to quit, I'm just not there mentally yet), so I don't have to have the stress of trying to quit on top of the stress of having an organ removed from my body (the uterus is an organ, right? Or is it some other designation? Hmm. I'll have to google.) I find myself getting anxious about it, but then I remember my lumpectomy, what, 6? years ago? and how it went pretty well (except the part where I woke up to my left boob being WAY SMALLER than I was expecting). I wonder if removing my uterus will help with the belly pooch I can never seem to get rid of? Dr. Pollo said I had an "oversized uterus", so maybe it being gone will help. All I know is NO MORE PERIODS, HUZZZAH!!! Pre-op appointment is June 19th, I should know more by then. I wrote up a list of questions to ask so that I go into the procedure well-informed.

In other news, geez, so much other news in the world I don't know where to even start. For now, how about BLACK LIVES MATTER, COPS ARE ASSHOLES, WE NEED CHANGE NOW, and BERNIE WOULD HAVE WON.

More later on those if I feel up to it.

Let me share a few stories about my dealings with police officers.

In 1974, my stepfather was pulled over for running a red light in LA. We lived in Lake Isabella and went into LA once a week to do laundry, grocery shopping, and I, being 4, got candy that was supposed to last the week. We were "long haired hippies" so the cops handcuffed all the adults and threw them in the squad car, threw our clean laundry all over the freeway, and went through my candy piece by piece, presumably looking for drugs. I was held with my hands behind my back outside the squad car. I was crying for my mom. I was terrified. The memory is burned into my mind, even 46 years later. When they found no drugs, they let us go. We had to pick up our laundry off the road, I cried over my destroyed candy, it was fucking ridiculous.
1987, Kailua-Kona Hawaii. I was babysitting for my boyfriend's sister in law, who had a newborn. While she was still out with friends, her husband, my boyfriend's brother, came home shitfaced drunk. He wanted to take his new baby out and show her off. I refused. I said no way was he getting near the baby when he was so drunk. He proceeded to beat the crap out of me *while I was holding the baby* to the point I saw stars for the first time in my life. I called the cops. Small town. Cop managed to convince me to not press charges because "this is a family matter". I regret that every day of my life.
If you ever want to know why I don't trust cops (other than reading the news fucking DAILY), now you know why. Fuck the police.