Hey there... Happy New Year to everyone out there in OH land... I went for my 3 month follow up appointment on January 2nd.  I lost 49 lbs. according to the Dr.'s scale!  Hallelujah!  Thank you Jesus!!!!  All glory and honor to our Mighty and Awesome God!  Without Him, I would never be where I am today.  I joined the gym last week and I have gone spinning the last 2 days... I feel wonderful!  I love spinning... It gives me such an adrenaline high that lasts well into the next day!  Only 1/2 hour class and it does wonders!  I would encourage anyone who hasn't already tried spinning, to give it a try... It's an awesome cardio workout and it will also strengthen your muscles as well.  

God Bless! 
Amy

Hi Everyone... It's been over a month since I last posted on here. I joined a gym a couple of weeks ago and have been going a few times per week. I love the feeling I have when I'm done working out.  It's been a very emotional couple of months.  I find myself crying at the drop of a hat for no apparent reason. I guess my hormones are changing along with my body. I am so grateful to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for bringing me here and keeping me safe and sane.  This was a big decision and He has given me the strength to get through each day.  The holidays are about the toughest time for me throughout the year because I don't have my parents.  The pain of their loss is still as raw as it was years ago.  But God is my Rock and my Salvation... He never leaves me nor forsakes me.  He shows Himself to me daily and I desire to walk with Him all the days of my life... I am going through some difficult emotional things right now, but God is sooo good... I sought out a therapist last week through my insurance and I received the names of 5 women.  Well, the one that I made an appt with happens to be a Christian!  Only God could have set that all up!  I'm so very grateful no matter how I'm feeling... 

If Jesus set us free, then we are free indeed! 
Amy

Hey everyone, 

I went for my first post-op appointment yesterday and I lost 13 lbs. since my surgery less than 2 weeks ago!  Praise the Lord!  I'm now on the pureed stage!  Yeah!  I had a scrambled egg with cheese this morning for breakfast... it was tasty... So, I'm very pleased and grateful for the outcome so far and I'm looking forward to being the woman God intended for me to be!  

Thanks for all of your support! 
Amy

Hi everyone... today is October 4th.  Tomorrow will be one week post-op.  I cannot believe how it feels like just yesterday that I was getting wheeled into the OR.  Wow... what a day that was!  I got to the hospital around 9am and the surgery was at 11:15am.  I prayed almost the entire time right up until I got knocked out by the anesthesia.  The one prayer that kept coming to my mind was Psalm 23... It was so fitting for that situation... When I woke up in the recovery room, it was like I never even had surgery... I wasn't in excrutiating pain and I was up on my feet shortly after they brought me to the room. I had a roommate who had the exact same surgery right before me by the same Dr.... Now how good is God!  It was cool cuz we were going throught the same things practically at the same time.  I could not sleep for more than like 15 minutes at a time. I kept getting up and walking around the nurses station and going to the bathroom... They had me on morphine every 4 hours. It helped with the pain, but kept me awake ... I'm so grateful to God that everything went well. Dr. Valin came in after the X-rays were done to tell both of us that everything looked great on our reports.  I didn't realize he had a sense of humor until he came in and said that we would be getting our testicles removed before we went home!  There was this hand-grenade looking thing that was there to drain out any fluids from the incision and another round ball that held some numbing medicine... I thought that was pretty funny.... My awesome family came to see me on Friday evening and brought me flowers.  My sister took such good care of me the last few days.  Now I'm at my brother's house down the road from my sister... anyway, I am so happy that everything is going well and I've had no complications.  I am really excited to start on the next stage of pureed food... yum...scrambled eggs!   Ricotta cheese!  I bet they will taste like heaven when I get a chance to eat them!   

I feel like I'm detoxing from a drug to be honest. I've been very emotional the last few days.  Crying like a baby... but it's all good because I never knew that food had such a stronghold on me.  The enemy is a liar. I'm grateful for this tool that has allowed me to become the woman I was meant to be and to serve God in ways that I never imagined... This is a new day and a new Amy is emerging from her cacoon! 

Peace! 
Amy