Menopause makes you hangry

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Must stop eating! Cannot resist holiday sweets! 

 Okay...My internet was down for five days. There was issues with the company for two and I needed a new modem because mine is obsolete. The dude showed up Monday evening and all is right with the world. 
I finally got a call from the neuro and yesterday I was emailed the report. My brain is fine. There are no aneurysms or stenosis or any at all. The neuro said that I show no damage from IIH either so he is back on the * you dont have it* bandwagon. He said the bad news is we dont know what is wrong with you. He is sending me to a neuro ear doctor on Dec 4th. My surgeon is a neuro ear doctor. I am just going to look at this as a 2nd opinion. Maybe a fresh set of eyes will see something the others dont. I have been told by people on boards that my opening pressure with my spinal tap was not borderline. 26 is a high number. It isn't super high but enough to say that I DO have IIH. I am not taking the Diamox. It makes my chest hurt and I feel like I cant breath. I have to control this with diet and use the pills therapeutically.  I get a letter confirming my appt. It said it was from the Yale Stroke clinic. Freaked me out a tad. I think this neuro works in area. I cant dwell on that. That appt is the first Friday of December. 
  The contest voting ends on the 20th. A couple more days and I will find out if I am a finalist. Wish me luck! I really want the grand prize. 
  If it isnt nailed down, I am eating it. It has got to STAHP! I am eating lower sodium but carbs are calling this diabetics  name. I gotta add some fruit and veggies to my life. I refuse to gain the weight I lost cause of a lack of estrogen. I dont make excuses. I pick it up and eat it and I shouldnt. Stop it Heidi! Stop it!

  I have almost all of my Turkey day foods. We are having a turkey! I decided and that is that. I have to pick up my free ham that I will use for Christmas. You spend $400 in groceries during a certain time and you get a freebie as in turkey or ham or chicken or vegetarian lasagna. They used to offer a tofurky but they arent this year. Damn! I was really looking forward to it.  *lol* We will do a marinade on the bird the day before. My mom`s sausage stuffing. Broccoli casserole. And twice baked potatoes. We need a veggie platter too.
This grocery shopping trip will be all about the veggies. Mmm! I lurv Turkey Day!

 ummmm.  Oh. All the junk is gone from the patio and side of house. Blessed be! I hated looking and smelling it. The next project is painting the livingroom. The kid is gonna help. Yes.


So that is all with my saga filled life so far. Looks like fun, huh? 
  

Still waiting for results

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  I am still waiting to hear from the neuro. Probably today and I will update. I am also getting rid of a Malware on this dinosaur lappy. So I will go, fix that and come back when I have news. Damn Dell from Hell. I gotta get a cheap Chromebook at some point.

Tube tomorrow

I enter the tube tomorrow. I am trying not to fret. I have two valiums that will help me deal just fine. I will be having a MRI/MRA/MRV of my brain. It could take about 30 minutes or so. Being loopy and droopy will help me deal with the anxiety.
Wish me luck and send some thoughts/prayers.


 The contest so far has been very positive. I had one person give me a back handed compliment. You know what, if YOU think the other recipes are so drool worthy but you voted for me anyway, keep your votes. I dont want them from you. You have been a bitter bitch from day one. Keep it moving. I have people that love me that will help me get there. Geez. People can never keep the negative to themselves. Always have to stab somebody.

Anyhoo...If you would like to vote again for my Walnut Pesto Pork Chops..go for it. If you dont want to, that is okay. At least you are being honest.

I am going to make some pumpkin bread today and watch the leaves fall out the window.

My Fresh Twist Fisher Contest

Fisher nuts photo credit

It has started! I am the recipe for Walnut Pesto Pork Chops. Here is the link for the whole contest.  You can vote once a day from today until 11/20/2015. You have three votes to cast each day. You could use all three votes on my pork chops. Purdy please. I am getting doubts in my head. Some of the other recipes are amazing and so elaborate. What is it about mine that had them pick it for the vote?

Stop it! There will be no bad juju. I have to try to be positive so that I could possibly win this. You all know my digits so there is no hiding now.

OMG! I cant believe I am in a national contest!

 So leave yourself a note and every day cast me a vote.
Thank you!

I had a turkey feast

    I am up uber early this morning. Hubs has to work 630-3pm this week and the beater car still needs brakes (next week).I take him to work and bring him his lunch. That is gonna change. He will get a coffee cup and insulated bag. It will save on gas. Hopefully these hours dont become a thing. It will suck in the cold.
   I wanted to share our Halloween. (Turn up the volume!) We had 15 kids total. We scared a few with our layout. Imagine the darkness of the back yard. hehehe Yes, 15 is sad but if you have read here enough, you know that 15 kids was a hit! And those kids will tell others for next year. Kid #2 did most of the decorating and she was proud of herself. She did a good job.

  We had a whirlwind blow thru last two weeks. I went to see the neuro. He wants me to have a MRI/MRA/MRV done of my brain. That will be done this Friday. He wants to see if I have a malformation of vessels in my head that could be causing the pressure. They need to call back because I will need drugs for that. 
 Then I saw the gyn. He told me that I am starting the process of perimenopause. My period is MIA and I have hot flashes. Like all the fucking time. I never experienced this before. It is awful. He said that if it continues, I can go on a short course of estrogen. I have to wait a couple months. I also have to have a ultrasound. It is a pain issue I have been dealing with since my ablation. I might have a hysterectomy in my future. I am partly ready for it cause the pain is enough to warrant it but I will do research first. I have two choices. The pain will go away with full on menopause when...early 50s. Or have the uterus taken out. Yup. Yup. Yup.

As I was leaving the gyn, I got a call from Cambridge Ma. It was the geneticist`s office. They had a cancellation the next day for me. Kid #2 and I gathered up our courage and set off at 530am the next morning on the Amtrak to Boston. We got on the T to Cambridge and we had a good visit. He feels because of my age, we cannot physically prove that I have a connective tissue disorder. I am too stiff. I used to be able to do all the tricks (hypermobile) as a kid till up to my 30s. He needs enough proof so the insurance company will pay for the blood work. He sees a couple variants in me and my family history. BUT he feels that Kid #2 definitely will pass the physical tests. Her blood work will go through and he will have a better case for them to accept mine. Let`s just hope it happens before January.  We did good. We went on a trip and navigated and didnt freak out.  They gave me her March appt for my followup. They will squeeze her in for a cancellation. I hope I have the cash to pay for it. I have been socking money away for it.

 Oh wait until you read this shit......Okay. So I like to enter contests. I have won some pretty neat stuff. I never have the expectation of winning the grand prize. If I can win anything else, that is cool. Odds of winning top prize are slim. Except this time. I had entered a recipe contest for Fisher nuts. You had to submit recipes using one of the Fisher nuts (walnuts, pecans, or almonds) I wanted the prize of getting all three of those in big bags. I was thinking of the holidays. I entered my pesto pork chops.
 I get a call at like 8pm at night from Illinois. I was going to ignore it but they called three times so I answered. Good thing I did! I am a finalist!
 I am one of 20 that were chosen. There will be a national voting of our recipes from the 3rd-20th. After that, the three highest voted will be judged by a panel which includes Chef Alex guarnaschelli.  The winner gets a 3 day/2 night trip to nyc, hotel, meet Alex, eat at her place, Butter, and a bunch of other stuff. The other 19 people get her new cookbook and those bags of nuts. In my eyes, I am already a winner!

  I will post the link tomorrow and if any of you want to help me win, I would be so grateful. 

I had some stomach yuck the past few days. I am feeling oh so normal today..at least for me. I am going to make some pumpkin bread this morning and possibly pull out my winter clothes. With these hot flashes and hot body...I will probably just be wearing t-shirts all winter. 
 As for the turkey feast...They dont like turkey at all. We will probably have a chicken for unthanksgiving. So they obliged me yesterday. We cooked the hotel turkey breast I had in freezer. Mashed tatos, stuffing, and veggies. I was in heaven. I LOVE turkey. I know they love me cause nobody made a face. And there are leftovers!

BTW..I had 3 hot flash moments while typing this. 1. I need a new computer cause it took way too long with all the letter n and e issues. 2. I told you they were bad. Damn hormonally challenged.

Happy Monday!