Sweat Hog

, I am old enough to remember "Welcome Back Kotter," which means I could be menopausal. However, I don't think that's the explanation for my hot flashes.

We are having a heat wave in Portland, with temperatures expected to peak in three digits tomorrow. But our house is cool, and I've been spending the majority of my time indoors.

It's been a bitch trying to regulate my body temperature. I think this is a residual effect of all the heavy-duty drugs introduced into my formerly drug-free body over the past several weeks -- epidural, general anesthesia, oxycodone, oxycontin -- as my body tries to detoxify. But it seems to be taking forever!

My last Oxy was 5 days ago, and I did experience two days of withdrawal-type symptoms (nausea, headache, irritability, inability to sleep, sweating). The only remaining symptom now is the hot/sweat/cold cycle I'm in. It's far worse at night, when I wake up drenched, throw open the windows, throw off my clothes, and then become freezing cold. I load up on blankets, and the cycle repeats. All night long. In between I'm able to sleep, but every morning I wake up soggy and, well, smelly. And unhappy.

It could be worse. My hip pain is really minimal, for which I'm grateful. I'm just taking occasional Tylenol for pain. My last Fragmin injection is tomorrow (YEAH!) I get to ditch the lovely TED compression stockings tomorrow (YEAH!) Overall I feel fantastic. I just wish I could stay cool, or warm, or somewhere in between, and remain there.

I got on the scale this morning to find I'd lost just over 10 pounds since my PAO, which is not something I expected. I had gained 10 lbs. from date of diagnosis and was able to lose 5 of that before surgery, so now I'm 5 pounds below my weight before all this started. Perhaps it's all water weight, although I've been careful to stay hydrated during this sweatfest. I actually look a lot thinner, especially my legs and rear, and I think I may be losing muscle mass, which is not something I want, but would explain the severe weight loss. I can't wait for physical therapy (starting in September) so that I can sweat legitimately and start building those muscles back up.