I have been very busy with my regular job, my second (income tax) job, professional activities and working out at the gym. Somewhere I also had to work in time with family and friends.

Tomorrow is a big day - my lower body lift. After six months of waiting, I didn't think the day would ever come... I think I am looking forward to just being able to slow down for a while.

I appear to be done losing weight. I have lost only about two pounds in two months. I did, however, lose 4.5 inches off my waist in the past four months, as well as 1 off the hips and 2+ off the chest. I have visible muscles in my arms and legs and am hoping the abs will look as good after a few weeks. My goal was to have the abs as tight as possible before the LBL so they wouldn't need to do any/much muscle work.

I'm four pounds short of where I wanted to end up, but I'm certainly pleased with the outcome of my RNY, so what difference does four pounds make! I'm currently wearing mostly 14s, some 12s and I even have a size 10 dress. My upper body is out of proportion now and will be even more so after the surgery. I probably will need to consider some upper body PS if I want to be able to wear the smaller sizes. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

I am humbled again by all the people who care about me. I had lots of well wishes, calls, hugs, and emails today from friends and coworkers. Everyone at work is pitching in to cover my job while I'm gone. My current trainer gave me a hug and the old one sent flowers to my work. My mom is spending most of the week with me at my house so I don't have to go somewhere "foreign" to recover. I am blessed to have such wonderful people in my life.

I'll post more after surgery and let you know how it went.

05/15/05
I had my reduction of skin on abdomen, hips, and butt on 5/11 and came home on 5/13. I had worked out hard so I wouldn't need any muscle work and I didn't. Only complication was that my BP bottomed out for no reason. We had to wait until it got in a reasonable range before he would send me home. My hemoglobin did drop from 12.6 to 8.5, but it didn't require transfusion.

I have four drains - two front and two back. I think the two on left will come out next week, but the others will probably be with me for a while.

The pain has been much less than I expected. I had a morphine PCA pump for two days, but didn't use it much after the first day since it gave me a terrible headache. They added tylenol for the headache and that seemed to control the other pain too, so I dropped the morphine. Vicodin was good for day two, but now tylenol is adequate all the time.

Ambulation was much different than the WLS too - I wasn't allowed to have my head above 30 degs for the first day - ever try to eat laying down? - heartburn!

Be sure your hospital/surgery center is straight on the food issues prior to surgery. They didn't ask me and I assumed that the surgeon told them I was a post-RNY patient. The first meal I got was clear liquids - regular jello, popcicle, juice. Good thing I don't dump! It was too much sugar for my diabetes though... After that they switched me to a regular diet, which is 3 meals per day. I felt like I was obsessing about food since I couldn't eat much of what they served me and was always asking for extra or substitutions. The dietician finally came to see me at noon on day three - when I was going home. (AND THIS WAS A HOSPITAL I WORK FOR!)

I was prepared for a jump in weight and I sure had it. I left home at 165 and came back at 179! I'm down to 169 this morning, but know there is a lot more fluid left to shed. (They took off 8 lbs of skin and fat.)

I can look straight down to see a place that is foreign to me (and shaved from the surgery to boot) - boy is it droopy! Evidently that lift isn't part of the LBL. My butt appears high and tight though, and that was the part that bothered me the most.

All in all, I am pleased so far with the results. Hope I continue to be pleased.

05/23/05

I'm two weeks post PS now and doing really well. The surgeon took 1/2 the staples and 3 of 4 drains out at my one week visit. I hope to have the rest out tomorrow. I estimate that I had about 120 staples, plus stitches around my relocated belly button and where the two incisions crossed in the front.

Pain has been very minimal. I am controlling with Tylenol, but that is mostly for the headache that I have had for two weeks now. I'm not sure what is causing it, but could be the weather. I've also had what seem to me to be hot flashes. Surgeon says nothing he did would have caused hormonal rushes, so it's probably just my body's healing process.

I have walked at the gym a couple of times this past week. I walked a lot slower, but for 30 min. Saturday I also did another mile at the Cancer Relay for Life. I was pretty whipped by Saturday night.

More problems with my trainer. My current trainer is now gone again!)I believe he had some problems with the legal system and was compelled to return early to his home state. I'm beginning to have a complex! The trainer that I had who had been fired from my gym is now working elsewhere. I will pursue a reconnection with him as soon as I'm cleared by the surgeon.

As of today, I AM NORMAL and AT GOAL!!!! I weighed in at 158, normal for my height, having lost all my post-op fluid retention and some of the weight that was cut off. I now have a BMI of 24.7. I know I have not been a normal weight since I started grade school, and I'm not sure about prior to that.