17 month anniversary! Got quite a surprise on the thyroid ultrasound! My thyroid has a dominant solid mass on the right that Dr. K wanted biopsied. OMG. I guess I’m really being tested as to how much stress I can deal with given losing my old job, trying to get a new job, losing Molly, getting a new puppy, maybe having to move and leaving my dear house, and now, maybe having thyroid cancer. For 2 awful weeks, I had to wait for the biopsy to be done and the results. WHEW! Thyroid biopsy was negative for malignancy! What a relief! Stress, stress, stress. 

At least I’m pretty stable with the weight now, 132-135. Still nervously eating sf mints until I have such stomach cramps and diarrhea I can’t stand it! Lost 3 lbs in a week down to 132 at this late stage which is too much in my situation. I really am eating. Made a wonderful Thai chicken with low fat peanut butter and a honey substitute that was still a lot of calories for me. And I am munching more, taking extra spoonfuls of my fruit salads and entrees. Even ate out at Applebee’s having a wonderful parmesan tilapia, rice, and veggies. Ate it all over 2 meals, including all the rice. Go figure. Might be all the stress I’ve been under, but I truly am eating just as before, if not more, calorie-wise. Sometimes close to 1200 calories. I hate to hear myself say it, but I really must gain a few lbs! Mission accomplished. Went back up to 133.6, LOL. I’ve been fluctuating between 132 and 135 since Feb so I guess this is where I should be. Not hungry, but stress snacking has reared its ugly head. I’m choosing good snacks, though, with crinkled carrot chips or zucchini slices with my no-cal ranch dip or sf popsicles. Not every day, either. Doesn’t look like I’ll be able to be on metformin alone. Blood glucose goes up to the 140s pre-lunch if I don’t use a little Humulog with breakfast.
 
Quite a bit of progress in resolving when I lose my job. It looks like it will be the end of April!! Wow, all of a sudden probably less than one month left. It is still unconfirmed, but MDI staff were told they’ll be out by then, so, if logic prevailed, so will we. Also with the teleconferences we held with the new company it was clear the other company wants the transition sooner rather than later and can handle it, too. The transition of the dept to Atlanta is finally taking a few steps forward, still with an end of Apr goal. 

Busy time on the new job front, too. In addition to the company near Gurnee where I’ve applied for 2 different positions and interviewed for one, I sent my CV to 3 other companies, two local jobs and another in northern IL in Deerfield. Heard from 2 of the companies and had phone screen interviews within a week. After the phone interview I was invited down to Deerfield for one of the jobs, and had a full phone interview with the hiring manager for the local job the following day. The Deerfield interview went fantastic and the job went up to #1 on my list past the other Chi area job. They called back twice and said I’d hear about next steps early next week. The phone interview for the local job was quite interesting, too, moreso than I thought, and the chief medical officer wouldn’t let me off the hook when I said I wasn’t that interested in hands-on CRO work again, since he was extremely interested in my background starting a new dept. So I told him I’d let him know of my interest to take the next step of an onsite interview in 7-10 days. I’m leery about the travel that would be involved with that job, even though I’d be able to stay in my house. And I heard the work-life balance at GE Healthcare was very slanted toward work, work, work. Hopefully I’ll know more about the timeframe for the Deerfield job by then. Then I got another onsite interview from the first Chi job prospect, but decided to wait until I hear more from the Deerfield job. I’d only been waiting 3-4 weeks for them to schedule an interview! 

I’ve been getting weekly pictures of the puppies, still not knowing which is mine. 

I'm certain I wouldn't have had the confidence, looking the way I used to before WLS, to really interview well, concentrating on my experience and value to the company instead of how fat I was, sweating, and huffing and puffing walking between appointments. I used to be so obsessed with 'oh, I'm so fat' all the time before WLS. Even people at work now say my personality has changed, more open and engaging, smiling all the time. I don't notice it, but others sure have, I guess.