Monday, March 16, 2009

Thyroid function and git, git a-goin'

I had my TSH drawn and results are "normal". The bummer is that I went from 1.2 to 3.6. That's a THREE fold increase! For those a little fuzzy on thyroid function. TSH stands for Thyroid Stimulating Hormone. Basically the lower the number (up to 0.2) the better your metabolism. The normal range is from 0.2 to 5.5, but more recent studies indicate that maybe that range is too wide and should be tightened down from 0.2 to 3 or so. And being of the mentality that laments anything about myself that's not quite as good as it used to be (aka: getting old sucks), I really want my TSH to be less than 2. Like I used to be. Maybe that's asking too much. Afterall, I did just have HALF of my thyroid removed. I can't expect just half the organ to suddenly pick up the slack and work as hard as the whole thing used to. But really, I am. So I'm going to have it tested one more time next month and see where it settles out. Then I'll decide if any more action needs to be considered or decide to count my lucky stars that I did't have cancer, I still have a healthy half of a thyroid that functions "normally", and honestly, I feel fine. The other worry is potential weight gain. I've only bumped up 2-3 pounds, but having been 50 pounds heavier in in my 20's, I'm fearful of things getting beyond my control. Yep, control of myself is something I like.

Plus, I've got 6 weeks before I have to be in decent shape for The Relay. This is a really fun relay race that's 199 miles long. But it's WAY more fun, if you can actually run all three legs without exquisite pain or injuries. I meant to start getting in shape for this in January, but time slipped away. And then February was about surgery and recovery. And now March is halfway over and still I haven't done more than race T to the car. The biggest hurdle is trying to find the time (and energy) to run. I can't do it when I have T. Although someone just gave me an idea that he could ride his bike while I run--and hopefully he will stick close and listen to me so we both stay safe. I'm better about doing AM workouts, but there's just no time for that on school days. At night, I'm just DONE and won't find the energy unless someone knocks on my door and says "Let's go" while bringing a sitter for T.

I vow to go and run 2 miles now, before I need to be volunteering in T's class and start up the sweating before I think about it too much.

UPDATE: I did it! I actually ran (OK jogged) 2 miles. Can you say "chest pain"? (just a litte out of breath!) And I even squeezed out a wind sprint or two. It took 20 minutes, when it used to take me 15, but whatever! I gotta start somewhere. I wonder how much pain tomorrow will bring....

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