And Lo And Behold, The Mighty Thyroid Hath Laid Me Low...

I realize that my posts have been few and far between recently, but there are good reasons for this.

In 2007, I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, but in early 2009, I was re-diagnosed as hypothyroid.

Basically, my body overcompensated for being hyper, and nuked it into being hypo. The thyroid, as it turns out, is a huge gland, and it has all sorts of impact on the human body.

Dating from 2007, I've made nearly ten trips to the ER. Being in the age range of 48-50, when chest pains hit and your left arm starts to numb out, well, nobody fucks about with that. Turns out I've been having panic attacks (which is a symptom of my previous condition, not my present one). The thyroid can cause all sorts of upheavals: it can prematurely turn your hair grey, panic attacks (again, previous, which makes this so weird), simulate heart attacks as well as cause arrhythmia (I actually had one nurse measuring my disturbances, asking "Didja feel that one?"), heat intolerance (this is murder on me in the Bay area in the summer, and I can't get anywhere near a barbeque), and in general runs amok.

I am now on an antidepressant, thyroxine, Advair (for my mild emphysema), a cholesterol blocker, and something that treats peptic ulcers.

I've always despised medication: like most men, I consider these things to be the venue of the hypochondriac. But hey, who's got the medical degree? Not me. I realize this sounds like I'm en route to being a human shambles, but I'm still pretty much the laughing philosopher. And I'm fairly strong for a 'frail' old man of fifty. At least, that's what I hear from my martial arts classmates.

I've quit smoking, going on four months now.

One of the more frustrating items I've come across, is the weight. I'm well over 220 right now, at six feet tall. So for the last 2 months, I've been doing 40 leg lifts almost every night. Not only are the six-pack abs not manifesting themselves, my rotundity is simply getting firmer, and stronger, but not smaller. I'd bet I can knock over a grown adult with a simple shove of my pot belly.

So that's the travails I've been experiencing in a nutshell. I'm adjusting, obviously judging from my sudden loquacity, and I intend to go compete in Berkeley, and maybe add to my collection of medals that sit in a drawer somewhere. I still practice Tai Chi, about an hour and a half six days a week.

Anyways, thanks for lending an ear, and I'll be more prolific in the coming months.

Cheers.