Hey guys! So 2 weeks down, ~8 to go. This week was ok, probably one of the more grueling for testing, but I think it'll be smooth sailing (test-wise) from here on out. Today was kinda shitty, but I'll explain that later.
Anyhow, so on Monday I did a Doubly-Labeled Water (DLW) Test. It's to measure free-living energy use by measuring the amount of calories you burn under normal home cnoditions for a 7-day period. So, while fasting, I drank this special water that has extra-heavy hydrogren and oxygen atoms. Then, over a 4-5 hour period they collected urine samples. That was pretty easy. On Tuesday I had a "Fasting Chamber," which means I went into the chamber and did not eat at all for 24 hours. It wasn't bad; but on Friday, I had to do an "Overeating Chamber"...which was ROUGH! Cuz the food in the chamber is DISGUSTING, so even if I'm starving, I still cringe with every bite. It was a TON of food too. Thursday was probably the roughest day of them all...the muscle and fat biopsies. It wasn't horrible, but it was definitely something I would love to never do again. I'm still a little sore near the sites, but it's bearable. Oh ya, found out I have marbled fat...I told the doctor that "I'd be a very expensive chunk of meat for a cannibal" hardy har har! :-D
Anyhow, I got out of the overeating chamber this morning and here's where the drama started...
So, immediately after leaving the chamber, I'm weighed and then they draw 2 tubes of blood from me before breakfast. Today was the first time this nurse, Jenetta, started an IV to draw blood. So she inserts the needle and has a hard time getting blood out and asks me to relax. So though I already felt relaxed, I tried to relax even more. Still no luck. So she FREAKS out and starts telling me "If we can't draw your blood, then you'll have to leave the study!" I'm thinking "whoa nelly! How is it MY FAULT the blood won't come out???" Anyhow, so she proceeded to tell me that I'm too tense and my blood vessels are closing in response to it. I didn't say anything though, and just went along with it. So she left the room, came back with a heat pad, and I kept that on my arm for 10 minutes to help with the blood flow. Then she stuck me again in a different vein, and nothing came out...so she re-stuck me in the same vein as earlier, and blood came out perfectly fine. Funny, cuz I was MUCH more tense during the final blood draw than I was during the first. Anyhow, I didn't care much after it was over. I ate my breakfast and went about my day. Then, at dinner, I didn't eat my entire meal. I got in trouble for that. I wasn't aware that I was supposed to eat everything on the tray on days other than chamber days. But now I know, and it's cool. I also found out today that I may be discharged come Monday if I don't start eating all of my food (understandable), and that they have to stop getting complaints about me from Jenetta. I was totally caught off-guard with that. The nurse that explained everything to me is a really sweet lady and she told me that Jenetta was a complainer and told me that apparently Jenetta had been complaining that I was laggin in the mornings for weigh-in, and that I was freaking out before every test. I was soooo irate at this because 1) the second she comes in to wake us up and weigh us in, I'm out of bed, off to pee, then straight to get weighed (which is what we're supposed to do)... and 2) I've NEVER freaked out over a test. What the hell is there to freak out about?? I had a biopsy on Thursday which I was nervous for. But I didn't complain, or make the procedure hard, nothing! I did everything I was told. The morning of, I asked Jenetta what I should expect pain-wise, and she went off about how it was gonna hurt and then kept going on and on about how if I can't handle this, then I shouldn't be here. She went off like this for like 5 minutes...when it was a simple question that did not need such a rude and complex answer.
Well, needless to say, I'm at my wits end with this woman...and I honestly don't know what I've done wrong or what I've done to make her feel this way toward me. I was feeling ok about this 10-week stay in "solitary confinement"...but now, I can't get my mind off the fact that I'm gonna have to walk on egg-shells so that witch doesn't complain anymore, so I don't get kicked out......which of course, makes me feel like this stay is going to be a heck of alot more miserable than it should be...
Back in the States
16 years ago
What a snaggly hag! Jenetta is bi-polar and needs to participate in a study of her own.
ReplyDeleteSo what kind of food do they give you? What do you do when you aren't being poked and yelled at? This is super interesting!
Have you lost weight?
Hi Stacey! It's been better now that I've been avoiding that lady. I mostly play pool or dominoes w/a couple ridiculously hilarious guys that are in other studies or stay in my room keeping busy, studying, and downloading music...with occasional dancing...alone...thankful no one walks in ;)
ReplyDeleteAs for the diet...well, it's crazy drastic, but I still get my daily nutrients needed from the meals & a vitamin supplement. It's a liquid diet, Ensure Plus. It actually tastes pretty good chilled. I really like it. I do miss chewing, and of course the variety of yummy foods outside of the study...but it's ok. I still consume around 1200 calories, so I don't feel starved. As for weightloss, well...I'd lost almost 5 lbs. during the baseline period, but they made me gain it back before the weightloss phase started on Monday (7/20). But since Monday, I've lost 4 lbs.
Thanks for following my blog! It's cool to know someone's reading it! :-D