That sounds like a good approach, Steph.

I'm seeing the hand surgeon again tomorrow, probably for another steroid shot, but possibly to discuss surgery. And I've got to get up way early so that I can drive out to his office in the suburbs, because that's the only one where he had an appointment free. (The office where I saw him last time is right near campus.) And then driving to campus to get work done. I really need some rest, but I'm behind on everything, and rest isn't going to be happening soon.

I guess this is the time to see doctors. I'm seeing a new GP in the morning so I'll probably get a full physical, but my specific reason for going is that I think something is up with my thyroid. Then I get to go to work for half a day before I go to the dentist for fillings.

Good luck with all the doctors. I am hiding from mine and avoiding them. At some point I have to head back to Florida and face them. It is trickier with my doctors being my customers. They don't hesitate to give me lots of well deserved grief about my weight. My hopes for long walks in the mountains and healthy eating this summer never happened. Blah.

Well drat, a work thing didn't work out in our favor, so the follow on work for one of my current projects is going to another company. Had we won the work, I would have been the project manager, which would be HUGE for me, work-wise. I haven't decided how i feel about this other than feeling kinda bummed.

Crowley is trying to use my hand as a chew toy, even as I'm typing this. Life with a puppy.

Well, I drove out to West Chester to see the hand surgeon (about a half hour drive), and the appointment lasted about five minutes. I got another steroid shot, and if it doesn't work, we'll consider surgery. Then I stopped at two other doctors' offices to pick up prescriptions that have to be on paper, and then I finally got to work. And then a student who's been struggling emailed me, saying she wanted to go over some material with me, and the only time she could meet was 5:15. So, OK. Then, at 5:06, she emailed me to say that she'd be right there, because she had to run across campus from a lab. She got to my office at nearly 5:45, and stayed until about 6:30. Then I had to make some photocopies that I hadn't done earlier, so I didn't leave until about 7. That was a ridiculously long day, but I did get stuff done, at least.

Steph, I hope you get some definitive answers from the elimination diet.

I totally agree with Laura:

It does seem better to schedule the surgery while you feel okay rather than having to do so in an emergency situation.

BUT, not having to have a procedure at all would be even better.

I provided my first, practice hypnosis session for my certification today, and can say that I have only one thing to be concerned about...Loving it too much!

I purposely chose someone who believes she cannot be hypnotized and worked with all of her objections with deep respect. The second I went off script and allowed myself to relax into it, she went down in about 30 seconds. It was amazing.

We talked entirely too long about it afterward. If I'd been charging for it, I would have eaten up my profit in analysis and capturing the various moments. It was great.

Yesterday, I delivered the keynote I have been working on for months and it went really well. I adapted to the news from the night before and the audience really seemed to appreciate it. I had the pleasure of finding out that Brene Brown, who went on right before me, did the same thing.

Can I just say, I had a skype-based hypnosis session with someone from a different program 3.5 weeks ago. Since then, I've lost 10lbs and had zero stage fright before or during my speech.

The conference center put dessert on the table before serving the main meal...very efficient...so I ended up looking at that cheesecake for about an hour and a half and never even considered it. Not resisting, just not caring. That would NEVER have happened before.

Yay!

That is fabulous, beekaytee! I'm apparently very hypnosis resistant! But your enthusiasm is making me consider trying again.

I've never been successfully hypnotized by a human, but I can be hypnotized in nothing flat by the glowing box.

bee, all of that is wonderful, and I'm glad things are going so well for you!

Steph, I have no helpful info re gallbladders, since mine seems to love fatty foods, as does the rest of me. Best outcome ~ma with yours!

ffs, just get a robot body and be done with it, yo

I have been fighting off the Black Dog of Depression for a couple months. Not really surprising, all things considered, I guess. BUT! I found a good doctor, at least so far she seems to be a good doctor. She upped my ADs, which is helping, and she actually listened to me. (I told her I don't want to take a statin ever again. She gave me *professional* side-eye. We agreed to argue about statins later.)

Also, I've lost 17 pounds since the end of April, by basically not eating much.

My ankle remains stubbornly stiff and swollen. I'm told it could take a year before it gets back to normal. Ugh. I don't have an effective painkiller that doesn't also put me to sleep, so that's unfortunate.

That is fabulous, beekaytee! I'm apparently very hypnosis resistant! But your enthusiasm is making me consider trying again.

Laura, I'd be happy to do a facetime/skype session, if that would be fun for you. It would be good practice for me and no obligation, beyond time, for you.

Zen makes a good point. We've all experienced hypnosis in one form or another. If you've ever been on a long road trip, or a common commute and 'woken up' to find that you've traveled farther than you realized, you have experienced a hypnotic state. In that state, you don't feel weird or different, but you CAN feel tremendously relaxed...and what could be bad about that?

The technical definition is "The bypass of the Critical Factor of the conscious mind, combined with the establishment of acceptable, selective thinking." (I'm being tested...gotta memorize) The Critical Factor is the analysis portion of your conscious mind.

We work really, really hard to maintain our defenses around self image. If you've thought all you can think about a habit you want to change, hypnosis can really help. It diverts your attention away from those old and painful patterns.

All that means is relaxing the mind enough to unclench certain expectations, thereby making it possible to adopt new thought patterns.

For example, for the last few years, I've been practically pathological around crap food. Sugar and fried foods, specifically. Racing out the door to get to the CVS by 10pm to snag a Heath Bar, Red Vines (a lifelong favorite), chips, etc.

At this point, I'm not thinking any creepy stuff like sugar is of the devil, or imagining sweets as [fill in the blank] disgusting thing (aversion therapy never sticks). I just simply don't care about it. My relaxation around the topic is unprecedented.

The next two topics I'm working on for myself are procrastination and installing an interest in exercise. The first one I can easily imagine changing, the second one not-so-much. It doesn't matter! I don't need to have a desire to exercise, all I need is a willingness to let the relaxation and new suggestions work.