I get those catalogues, too. I was digging the ubiquitous wrap dress, but the new stuff is bad.

The new clothes really suck--way too high school (aka, 1980s) for me. I'll probably pick up some polo shirts to replace the ones I got last year (they were cheap, so they shrunk a bit and got pilly in the past 12 months). I'll get those cheap again this year since I'm hoping to be a size or two down this time next year.

The echocardiogram went all right, although it was a bit more of a saga due to the extra body fat getting in the way. Also, if I lie on my side for too long, the blood flow to my leg gets cut off and it starts to fall asleep, so I kept trying to shift off the side before the nurse wanted me to.

When they injected me with the stuff that made my heart race, I started having my very first ever panic attack! I was really freaking out over my heart going so fast. Even though my rational brain knew what was happening, my lizard brain took over and had me tearing up. The doctor and nurses liked it because it got the rate up even higher.

It never hurt, but it was something I definitely don't want to have to go through again anytime soon.

it was a bit more of a saga due to the extra body fat getting in the way.

Did they handle it okay, though, ultimately?

Oh, yeah, it just took a little longer and required something called Definity to enhance the pictures. They added that to the IV before they started with the heart-racing meds.

Oh, yeah, it just took a little longer and required something called Definity to enhance the pictures.

That's good. I get my fat activism on big time when people have bad healthcare experiences due to idiots who don't treat them well because of excess weight.

I did get a little ticked off when one of the nurses, who I had been chatting with about losing three pounds since last week and how I was doing it, asked me, "How did you let yourself go like this?" But, I figured I'd opened the door to comments about my weight due to the conversation we'd had. She's on Weight Watchers herself, but that comment got my back up a bit.

That was the only even close to negative comment out of anyone there, though, so I wasn't too bothered.

one of the nurses, who I had been chatting with about losing three pounds since last week and how I was doing it, asked me, "How did you let yourself go like this?"

Uh, NO. That is NOT cool.

But, I figured I'd opened the door to comments about my weight due to the conversation we'd had.

Absolutely NOT. All you were doing was talking about the fact of your weight loss; she made a judgement on your weight -- "let[ting] yourself go" -- which is NOT EVER appropriate for a healthcare professional to do. EVER.

t edit It's not cool for anyone to do, but healthcare professionals really need to back off the judge-y shit.

Some very freaky and disturbing (but not all that gory) photos: Suicide bomb blast in Sri Lanka caught on camera

This remarkable sequence of images shows a bomb going off behind a group of people in Sri Lanka. See video and read more about the blast here

Absolutely NOT. All you were doing was talking about the fact of your weight loss; she made a judgement on your weight -- "let[ting] yourself go" -- which is NOT EVER appropriate for a healthcare professional to do. EVER.

Yeah, that was completely out of line.

Roger Federer is going to be a daddy.