"F" Words... (from SparkPeople-Monday, 2/22/10)

Before you get any bad ideas, the "f" words I'm thinking of are the ones that were spoken to me (rather glibly, I might add) when I was diagnosed with gallstones: "Female, Fat and Forty." These were said to me as a sort of foregone conclusion, as if it were expected. Oh, and this, by the way, was a diagnosis I received a few years BEFORE I turned f-f-forty!

Now, I face another (perhaps) foregone conclusion: sleep apnea. I constantly remind myself that even FIT people can have this (my friend Earl is a great example), but most of the people I know who suffer from this are of the Portly Persuasion. This, somehow, lends an air of shame to this diagnosis. I haven't even been officially diagnosed, but I go in for a sleep study tonight, which is making me fret just a bit. Add to this the banning of (GASP!) HAIR PRODUCTS, and my humiliation may just be complete. (If you know me personally, you will know that conditioner is my bff, and mousse is my lover - without which I look a bit like a patient with a terminal disease).

I have never really considered myself a high-maintenance person, but having thought through my preparations for Camp Apnea, I may be RE-considering. "Do-rags" notwithstanding, there are many other things I have planned on packing, including a stuffed dog I will try to convince the staff was sent with me by my children, and the specific music I feel I need in order to get all my winks. (Not to mention my "good" pillow with the "right" pillowcase and an extra for between my knees so the pain won't wake me up) Sigh...

Female, fat and forty. I am officially ALL of those things. However, I no longer want those things to define me.

Well, maybe the "female" part: I like being a girl! :)