I Could *Almost* See Myself Gafiating at the moment

Last night, after having been to a convention where I had a less than normal good time, and reading about the issues at Baycon which seemed a bit too close to some issues with DucKon (issues that, for what it is worth, I'm very frustrated and torn by -- I've got good friends on both sides and suspect that there is more than enough right and wrong on both sides to go around), there was a while that I was almost seriously thinking about gafiating, at least for a while.

In the light of morning, I see that some of this is probably because I'm tired and frustrated. And very likely some of it is because of the balance of the chemicals in my brain. So I'm certainly not making any plans to either quit attending cons, nor stop helping with the cons (and related activities) that I'm committed to.

( this is running longer than I expected at first )

(And I hope I'm spelling "gafiating" correctly. For some reason the Chrome spell checker doesn't know this word)

Health Update

This afternoon I had an appointment with the endocrinologist to discuss my thyroid treatment. Our decision was to go forward with one course of radiation treatment. But before they can dose me with the radioactive iodine, I have to metabolize the thyroid hormone in my system. This means that for the next three or so weeks, I'll be off my thyroid replacement until the levels of a related hormone (one which, as I understand it, is used to signal the thyroid to produce more hormone) are high enough. During this time I'll also have to be on a low-iodine diet.

As my body runs low on thyroid hormone, I'll probably suffer some or all of the symptoms of hypothyroidism -- which can include weight gain, dry skin and mental symptoms.

I'm also a bit worried about avoiding iodine. In addition to iodized salt, I have to watch out for dairy, anything from the sea, certain additives in baked goods, one of the red dyes, and foods that have a lot of added salt including cured meats. This may limit my choice of meals -- and keep me from eating most of the shelf-stable prepared foods that have been most of my lunches for the last few years. I'll have to see what the cafeteria will have that is safe. This will also make my travel tomorrow and Thursday a bit trickier.

In other news, I've confirmed that I'll be moving offices and buildings on Friday. The timing could be better. But I'm mostly packed and will get the last bit (my computer) on Thursday night as I drive past on the way home from the airport. The good news is that I get a window. Of course I'll have to figure out how to position my desk to take advantage of it -- its not that big.