I saw my normal doctor yesterday. I like the surgeon, but I have more faith in my normal doc. She takes exceptional care of me.

I explained my pain issues and then the issues that I think are hormone related (feeling naseated, being depressed.) She told me what everyone has been telling me - that it will take time for me to heal and I need to be patient. She switched me off the Climara patches to the V dot and dropped the dosage. It was funny because she called the pharmacy to check on cost and the pharmacist explained that she was on the dot for her HRT and it is the BEST!

The best thing about HRT is that I don't have to wait MONTHS before I can tell if it's working or not. The doc said I'd know in a day or two if the dose was ok or not. With my thyroid meds we had to wait months to check my TSH levels before we could change my dosage. It took years to get me correctly regulated. I can deal with the HRT! Besides, the side effects are not near as bad as the stuff I went through with thyroid meds! I was actually excited to hear that I can change my dose if I need to - immediately. If I start to have hot flashes or night sweats I just pop on another dot. If I feel like I'm getting too much I can call and she'll give me the .75 dose (I've got the .5 now.)
I hope this is as easy as it seems!

My doc also wrote me referals so I can start PT (as soon as the Physical Therapist says it's ok to start) and also for massage. There's a wonderful massage therapist that can work on my neck with me laying on my back so I should be able to get massage soon!

It's great to have a doctor that gives me hope. She's helped me to view this as a positive lifestyle change. I've made so many changes during this period of my life. I grew up eating junk food and soda pop. I haven't had any soda pop for two months, NO CAFFEINE for a MONTH (!!!) and have changed my diet to increase the whole grains and fiber in my diet. I didn't really eat many veggies growing up, used to drink a couple of sodas a day, visited Starbuck/etc esspresso stands practically every day, and always ate white bread. I just didn't know any better.

Today I had acupuncture. She was really careful and just concentrated on my normal neck pain. Last week she tried to help with my tummy pain and I ended up in more pain after the acupuncture. She said it was probably too much too soon.

Well, I better get to sleep. We're going down to Portland Oregon tomorrow to have Dim Sum and visit Powells book store (the most awesome book store I've ever been to!)

I will be cautious. I told Bernie I plan to sleep in and we couldn't leave until the afternoon. Powell's has an awesome coffee shop so if I get tired I can just sit and people watch.