Hashi what?

Today was a great day!  Why?  Because I FINALLY have answers.  Since 2011, I've felt like crap...to be quite honest.  I know a lot of people who say they are tired all the time, and they have normal stressors in life like a tough job, kids, busy schedules, etc.  I chalked up my lack of energy and feeling sluggish to these things as well.  However, mine got progressively worse.  There have been several days where I have fallen asleep behind the wheel of my car.  I have 2 kids in the backseat.  Holy cow.  Praise Jesus for always keeping us safe.

So after months of blood work (12-14 tubes drawn at each appointment), today I was given a definitive diagnosis.  Hashimoto's Disease.  Hashi what?  My dear friend asked if I was turning Asian.  Haha!  She said my nickname would be Moo Goo Gai Pan...but for short, she'll call me Moogy.  I'm diggin' it!

Hashimoto's thyroiditis or chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis is an autoimmune disease in which the thyroid gland is attacked by a variety of cell- and antibody-mediated immune processes. It was the first disease to be recognized as an autoimmune disease.^[1] It was first described by the Japanese specialist Hakaru Hashimoto in Germany in 1912.

Hashimoto's disease is a condition in which your immune system attacks your thyroid, a small gland at the base of your neck below your Adam's apple. The thyroid gland is part of your endocrine system, which produces hormones that coordinate many of your body's activities.

The resulting inflammation from Hashimoto's disease, also known as chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis, often leads to an underactive thyroid gland (hypothyroidism). Hashimoto's disease is the most common cause of hypothyroidism in the United States. It primarily affects middle-aged women but also can occur in men and women of any age and in children.

You might not notice signs or symptoms of Hashimoto's disease at first, or you may notice a swelling at the front of your throat (goiter). Hashimoto's disease typically progresses slowly over years and causes chronic thyroid damage, leading to a drop in thyroid hormone levels in your blood. The signs and symptoms are mainly those of an underactive thyroid gland (hypothyroidism).

Signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism include:

• Fatigue and sluggishness
• Increased sensitivity to cold
• Constipation
• Pale, dry skin
• A puffy face
• Hoarse voice
• Unexplained weight gain — occurring infrequently and rarely exceeding 10 to 20 pounds, most of which is fluid
• Muscle aches, tenderness and stiffness, especially in your shoulders and hips
• Pain and stiffness in your joints and swelling in your knees or the small joints in your hands and feet
• Muscle weakness, especially in your lower extremities
• Excessive or prolonged menstrual bleeding (menorrhagia)
• Depression

My endocrinologist did an ultrasound of my thyroid gland today and found mine to be, in her words, huge and diseased as seen in classic Hashimoto's.  She said the ultrasound confirmed what she suspected with the lab results that came back on Monday.  So, time to start Synthroid, a very commonly prescribed drug to replace TSH in my body.
In addition to my thyroid issues, I also have a pituitary tumor.  Your pituitary gland is located in your brain.  Now, technically, that would make it a brain tumor.  However, mine is a very common and very benign microadenoma...or teeny tiny tumor.  Haha!  More specifically mine tells my pituitary gland to produce prolactin which is the hormone found in breast milk.  So, despite me not breastfeeding per doctor's orders, I still produce breast milk.  I also don't have a cycle.  In order to stop my pituitary gland from producing prolactin, my endo also prescribed Cabergoline to be taken twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays.  I'm a little nervous about this med just due to the side effects...nausea, vomiting, dizziness, lowered blood pressure.  So that's why they start you at a low dose and only twice a week.  Prayers that my side effects will stay at bay are greatly appreciated.  

Answers are good!  Now I know what to do to make me feel better.  I can't wait to have energy again and not want to sleep all day and night.  It's crazy how much I want to sleep.  When I don't I can't focus at all which makes my ADD crazy.  Maybe that will improve too!  I'm also ready to work out and eat right and actually see results.  

Here's an Irish toast that was on all of the glasses when Randy and I worked at Bennigan's.  Slainte!  It means, to your health!  

Hit it Mr. Marley!

Facebook or Cocaine?

So I deleted my account on Monday this week.  The reactions I received were very mixed to say the least.  I was, however, pleasantly surprised by the number of people who texted, called, and/or emailed me to tell me how proud they were of me and how they plan on either cutting back or quitting themselves.

Wait, didn't I just quit a social media WEBSITE?  Then why does it feel like it was cocaine or some other addictive drug?  I mean, the comments I've heard sound eerily the same as those you would tell someone struggling with drug addiction.  See above...."cutting back" or "quitting".  INSANE!!!!!


It was easy to find several images such as this....that says something.  Think about that for a minute.

You don't realize how much Facebook can suck the life from you until you eliminate it from your life.  Now, let's take care of the big pink elephant in the room.  Yes, I created another Facebook account.


Some of you are thinking...


Relax.  I am a Senior Ambassador (recently promoted, what what!) for Plexus, Worldwide.  Unfortunately, meetings and training are oftentimes held on Facebook on our team pages.  I now have a team of my own, and Plexus asks that you create a Facebook team page where your ambassadors can come for resources and help.  This is why I haven't accepted your friend request if you aren't a customer or ambassador of mine.  Am I doing this to be rude?  No!  I simply do not want to see news feeds, pictures, etc that once drew me in for hours at a time.  I'm on Facebook now as a business related need to know basis.  It brought in a pretty little penny for our family this month and has increased from the month before each time.  If you want to come to the Plexus side, I'm happy to add you.  Plexus Kelli is my username.  www.iheartmypinkdrink.com
See how I snuck that in there?

I also received a few messages of almost panic from friends and family stating that my profile was still active and that I "liked" something.  When you delete your account, you receive an email that says that it will be deleted within 14 days.  It doesn't disappear immediately.  So that looked great for my valiant move I was trying to make.  Let me tell ya.  I love how some "friends" never clicked like or commented on anything I posted, but as soon as I say I'm leaving Facebook and I wasn't gone right away, they were the first ones to point it out.  Wow.  Just wow.  ::shakes the haters off::

So what's it like without Facbook in my life?  Quiet-er...in a great way.  I used to think in Facebook.  I would be cooking dinner and think "Cooking dinner for the fam. #yumtastic".  Or sitting in church "Enjoying the sermon this morning. #PrestonTrail".  I mean, really.  It's a wonder I didn't burn the house down strolling through the news feed instead of paying attention to that dinner I was cooking.  And was I REALLY enjoying the sermon if I was on Facebook in the middle of it?  Was I really devoting my heart and mind to God as He so deserves?  I think not.  I could give countless more examples of how I used to "think" in Facebook.  That's just sad.  I still catch myself doing it, and I just laugh and go about my day.  I feel like I see and hear more now.  More of what's important in life...like my girls giggling together without me running to post about.  I now sit with them and enjoy it.  We have awesome dinner table conversations.  That's how it should be.

Was it hard to kick the habit?  A little.  I do miss seeing posts from certain people that were uplifting.  You know what that means?  We have become lazy in our communication skills.  What did we do before Facebook?  We picked up a phone, sent a text, emailed, mailed a letter, or had some good face to face time.  I went to have frozen yogurt this week with a dear friend and our kiddos.  It was marvelous.  The best part?  I didn't pick up the phone while there.  I didn't need to.  Before I left Facebook I posted that I wanted everyone to email me all of their contact info so I could make a conscious effort to stay in touch.  You know how many people actually did that?  I can count them on one hand.  ONE HAND!  Yet, I had hundreds of "friends" on Facebook, or Fakebook as another dear friend referred to it.

Am I bashing everyone else for not leaving Facebook?  ABSOLUTELY NOT!  It was a problem for ME.  Randy has an account and rarely gets on it.  I know several people who have an account and aren't on it on a daily time consuming basis.  To each his own.  For me, it was poisoning my life.  It was robbing me of my joy.  Therefore, it is now gone.  I'm happy to report that it is totally gone and no longer showing up as of today according to a friend.

I googled "quit Facebook".  I have found so many fun little graphics and blogs that are just AMAZEBALLS! This is my favorite blog that I found of another person who deleted their account.  I must find this person in real life and give them a warm hug, Olaf style.
You can read it, here Why I Quit Facebook

Well, now that I put all of that out there, time to go get ready for my appointment with an endocrinologist.  My thyroid lab results came back way wacky.  Praying for some answers with this!  I leave you with my beakup song to Facebook. Enjoy!

Have an awesome day!
XOXO

Hey Facebook. We need to talk...I'm breaking up with you.

Hi sweet friends and family,

After much thought, and prayer, I have decided to leave Facebook.  I have been on Facebook since I was in college when it was www.thefacebook.com and it was only open to those with a ".edu" email address...college students.  You can imagine how something that has been in my life could quickly and easily become a major part of it...as much as I use email or my phone.  Currently, it consumes way more of my time than I care to admit.  Well, you can all SEE how much of my time I have let it take up as pretty much EVERYTHING gets posted that I do.  That's embarrassing.  No lie.  I really think it's a bit of an addiction, really.  

Facebook helped me stay in touch when I was working from home doing childcare and when I was in the hospital on bedrest with Logan.  It was my connection to adult conversation.  Ha!  I now have a family and priorities that I have let fall to the wayside.  More importantly, I have a relationship with God that is suffering because instead of spending any quiet time I have with God, I spend it on Facebook scrolling through a news feed of people who I haven't talked to in years or don't talk to very often.  I find myself coveting what others have and do.  I then doubt myself and just sort of spiral into a depression when I have SO MUCH to be thankful for.  The people I truly care about will be there for me with or without Facebook in my life.

I know that to some of you this is stupid.  It's hard to comprehend how a silly website can get someone addicted.  Well, for me, it has done just that.  I want more time with my family, friends, and God, most importantly.  So feel free to laugh or poke fun.  Just please know that this is important to me.  

I will still check my email daily and my phone.  Maybe I will create a new account one day, but until I learn to better prioritize, it's best that I delete my account.  I ask for prayer...prayer that I will learn to focus more on God, my family, my friends, and my health without any unnecessary distraction.  There's more to life, y'all!  LOL!

So, to those of you who stay in touch with me for the most part of Facebook, PLEASE, stay in touch with me another way.  My relationship with you is important.  

Psalm 119:37, ESV Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.

Luke 12:22-34 ESV / 47 helpful votes

And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?

Deuteronomy 6:5 ESV / 37 helpful votes

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

Want to stay in touch?!?

Please send me your email address and phone number if you know I don't already have it to....

kelli.mcbrayer@gmail.com

My phone number is  214.335.0784

Lots of love.

xoxo