By an ounce or so, I'm here. I weighed 199 yesterday morning! I think the last time I was at this weight was probably high school about 25 years ago.

They are too tight to wear, but I can squeeze myself into size 12 pants, and button them!

I'm going to the eye doctor this afternoon. Besides Dr. Moein, this is the doc I like to go to. Not only is he GORGEOUS, but I love picking out new glasses. I also like that I get to keep all my clothes on, lol. My glasses are way too big for me. So, I'm looking forward to getting a new pair, that I don't have to adjust when I need to read. 

I'm so excited to be going on a cruise in September. My only small, and I mean small, disappointment is that I can't really start shopping for it. Any clothes I would buy now, wouldn't fit me in September. My clothes size is dropping so much faster than even the scale is.

I've been scrapbooking a little the last few days. It relaxes me.

I love my OH family!

Count with me my friends. Only 10 pounds to go to ONEderland. I was 210 when I weighed myself this morning. 

Another 2 weeks or so, and I should be there. A good friend bought me a Coach wristlet, which I was going to buy for myself as a reward for losing my first 100. I am not going to use it, if I can control myself, until I am 199.  I am blessed to have great friends, offline, as well as on.

I went shopping again last weekend. Not because I needed anything, but because a friend of mine asked me to go along with her for the ride, and because it feels so damned good to walk into a store, that doesn't even carry plus sizes, and fit everything you try on. I did want to get some black pants, and found 2 pairs at rock bottom prices at the Geoffrey Beene outlet.

I decided on the picture that I just uploaded to my profile as my "official" before. It was taken last summer, but I didn't gain any weight after, and didn't lose anything to speak of either. In fact, I was wearing flip flops because my feet hurt so bad in shoes, I couldn't walk in regular shoes. I was at my  most miserable, and most likely my heaviest.

In 10 pounds, I will have lost 1/3 of me.

I'm READY!

Scrapbook, that is, lol.

I had a great time, and am looking forward to striking out on my own, and coming up with a few pages to get my WLS journey scrapped.

I found a good picture to use as a "before". Even though it is several years old, it's still a good almost full-body length photo. I just have to get it scanned in.

I uploaded the group picture, which is already in Darla's profile too. I am so honored to have met Jo, Cira, Mo and Robin (I had previously met Darla at support group). What a wonderful group of ladies, and we all looked amazing! I know everyone is looking forward to future events, and meeting even more people.

My only "excuse" is that I have been very busy at work. But, time has really flown by since I started the whole process to have my WLS.

My one  month post-op visit (well, it was actually 1 day shy of 6 weeks) put me 42.5 pounds lighter than my final pre-op visit. Even Dr. Moein asked me "doesn't it blow your mind" to have lost so much. I have to say, like I did to him, that YES is a little mind blowing. I remember losing this amount before, and thinking I would never gain it back. I did, and I WAS very upset, but I'm not any more. Now, I'm just optomistic. I look forward to more successes, and feeling better all the time.

The majority of the time, I feel GREAT. I have no complaints, and would whole-heartedly recommend surgery to anyone who feels they want or need it. I would do it again tomorrow with no hesitation. My only complaint, which I am sure is the same for just about everyone, is re-learning to eat is a b*#&@, lol. I never expected it to be very easy, and all of my pre-op research and all of my friends at OH have helped me more than words can say.  It has gotten easier!  

I was really tested last week. My roommate was going to take her brother to her work after holiday party (we work in retail, no time for Christmas parties). He had to work at the last minute, and she has been feeling a little, well, un-loved at work, and didn't want to go alone. I cant' blame her. BUT, it was at a Chinese buffet restaurant. For the first time since surgery, I felt very left out of the eating. At home, she can eat anything in front of me, and I never feel like I'm missing out. But, at a buffet, with huge plates of food passing me by all night, it was rough. But, I will say that knowing I would feel disgusting if I overate was motivation enough for me to take it easy. I had a nice sized crab leg, a few sauteed shrimp and the broth from wonton soup. It was a test, I feel that I passed, and hopefully it will be a long time before I need to do anything like that again. We haven't had our post holiday party at my store yet, but tonight I found out we are going bowling,  not just eating, so I am looking forward to it. Last year we did the same thing. We ate pizza, but that is easier for me, as I can eat only the cheese and toppings and be quite easily satisfied by it.

I am starting to feel a boost in my self esteem. I am not quite at an all-time (at least in my memory) low adult weight, but I am closing in on it. I cross my legs a little now, even without thinking about it. I feel like I was meant to all along, but just couldn't. I bought a few pairs of size 16W and size 18 misses pants, and they are starting to get loose on me. All of my size 3x work shirts (I could have fit into a 2x, but always wore my pre-op clothes very loose) have been traded in for XL.

I'm looking forward to a scrapbooking class this weekend with some OH friends. I can't wait to meet all the ladies (and any gents who might pop up) from the Maryland board who will be coming. I'm also excited to finally stop just collecting supplies, and really start using them.

I'm putting my digital camera in my bag as soon as I sign off, so I have it to take a group shot on Saturday. I'm even going to scrap a page in my WLS album for that picture that I will treasure. I'll post it here too.

My next appointment is 3/13. I will be 3 months and 8 days post-op. I will try to blog more between now and then.

It wouldn't be right to sign off without saying thank you to all my OH family. It is because of you that I've been even more successful at this process.

Well, to start off the day of surgery... I woke up fairly early, but not because I was nervous. I was still very excited. I never really did get all that nervous. I think not knowing what to expect really worked in my favor.

I got to the hospital at 8:30, the time that they said. I went upstairs, and signed in. They had me registered within minutes. They are very efficient at GBMC.

I only waited a few minutes in the General OR waiting room. There was nobody waiting for me, but if there had been, that is a nice place to wait. I was only there for about 5 minutes when a volunteer came back to escort me to pre-op.  I got dressed, and my pre-op Nurse came in a few minutes later.  The questions seemed to take forever, but I think it was because she wasn't that quick with the computer, lol.

My IV was set up on the first poke, which is a pleasant surprise considering I have always needed several tries to get blood taken. The setup was pretty sloppy, and she did have to dig around a little which hurt. But, I was still glad to only get one stick. They gave me a shot of heparin, which didn't hurt at all.

Dr. Moeinolmolki came in to tell me again what he was going to do. He autographed my belly, lol. They made me go potty in a cup for a pregnancy test. I told them it had been many years since the last immaculate conception, but I understand why they do the test.  Unfortunately the OR Nurse came to get me while I was going potty. I don't think that delayed me very long. I think I was in pre-op for about about 2 hours total. I watched TV, and tried not to listen to the other people around me, which worked out very well.

The anesthesiologist came in asked me if I ever had a reaction to anesthesia before. I told him that I had never had surgery before. He said he didn't anticipate any problems, and he'd see me in the OR.  The Nurse came back a few minutes later, and had me sit in a wheel chair. I have to say I'd much rather be wheeled into the OR like that, than on a bed. We went into the OR, which of course was freezing cold.  I looked around, and thought that might freak me out a little bit, but it really didn't.  They gave me blankets that they must have in a warmer, because they were soft and warm and very cozy.

They started putting the leg compression things on, but stopped for some reason.  But, then Dr. Moein came in, and he put them on me himself. He was talking to me about what they would do, and reminding me that I would be walking later that night. He is such a great guy. Very quiet and unassuming, but obviously very caring.

The anesthesiologist must have slipped something into my IV by this time, because I felt very tired all of a sudden. I closed my eyes, and woke up in recovery.   I have no idea what time I got to recovery. I was still very tired.  They woke me up, and I gave them my parents phone numbers (dad and birth mother, both out of state). I managed to get both numbers right, I'm pretty proud of myself, lol.  Dr. Moein made the calls, which I thought was very nice of him. They said there wasn't a room available yet upstairs, so I just went back to sleep.  I woke up a few times, but since nothing was going on in recovery, I just kept falling asleep.  I felt much better than I would have ever expected. My IV pain meds definitely did the trick, without any extra shots from me. My mouth felt like I had licked sand paper. The nurse brought me a sponge lolipop, lol. It wasn't the perfect solution, but at least I could get the sandpaper feeling out. Dr. Moein stopped by one more time, probably on his way home.  It was comforting to see him. He told me he would see me in the AM, after my leak test.

They brought me upstairs about 6pm.  I was in room 4834.  Luckily my bed was the same one from recovery, so I didn't have to move.  Nick, a NST (I think that stands for Nursing Services Technician) came in and introduced himself. He is one of the nicest, and most helpful people I have ever met. I hope he's planning on furthering his career. He'll make a great Nurse or beyond someday. He changed the dressing on my drain sight, and pinned the hand grenade to my gown so I could move around without rolling onto it. He got me a fresh sponge, and some lemon glycerin swabs to keep my mouth moist till I could get my leak test and drink water. 

He let me sleep for a few more hours, and then came back to get me out to walk.  He showed me how to roll out of bed without causing myself undue pain. It worked out very well, and wasn't all that uncomfortable.  Walking went better than I would have expected.  I felt a little tired, and a little unsteady at first, but it wasn't painful. I took one long loop around the hallway and was ready for more sleep, lol.

They came in at 6 AM to take blood, which was a PITA. Taking blood from me is never easy.  It was a little painful, but they got it on one poke again, so I will not complain.  The paper tape that they used caused a little bit of  a rash on my arm, but it wasn't that bad.  I can easily fall back to sleep after vitals, but not so easy after blood draw, since it makes me a little anxious, based on prior experiences.  I did fall back to sleep though.

They came to get me around 9, I think , to go to radiology. I got taken in pretty quickly, and the two techs were very sweet. They explained what they were going to do, and where to stand, etc. I didn't have a problem standing up, and I wasn't uncomfortable.  I had given myself an extra boost of pain meds a couple of times overnight for a pretty nasty headache. It wasn't really touching the headache, but I'm sure it made standing and walking around in x-ray a lot easier, lol. 

The Radiologist had NO personality whatsoever.  That barium was really nasty tasting.  The stuff from the upper GI I had previously wasn't fun, but at least it was tasteless.  Dr. Moein was in radiology when I was there, so he said good morning, and asked how I was doing.  I told him I felt good, and was looking forward to some water.

When I got back upstairs my daytime Nurse, Cindy had some raspberry aquafina already waiting for me. I have to say, she was absolutely the sweetest, nicest, friendliest, I can't say enough nice things about her. She explained how much water I could drink, and brought me my 1oz. med cups. She brought me a cup of ice, since the water was warm. She told me I couldn't drink the ice, so I poured it over the ice, and then into the med cups.  She also gave me a shot of toridol (sp?) in my IV for the headache.

Dr. Moein came in after I got back from Radiology, and told me everything was OK.  He told me to make sure I walked, and explained that the pain pump was going away, and the IV was getting slowed down.  Not long after he left Cindy came in and disconnected the pain pump, and changed the settings on the fluids pump.  Then lunch came.  It was just what I expected, chicken broth, a SF popsicle, SF jello and decaf iced tea.  I did eat the broth, which didn't taste great, but at least it was something to put in my mouth. The jello tasted too sweet, but the popcicle was great.  I would go on to eat mostly the popcicles for the rest of my stay, lol, with only a little bit of broth. I was never hungry, but my mouth was so dry.  I walked twice around the hallway with Cindy ( I may have had one more in me). Then later in the afternoon I was bored, and had to get up to potty anyhow, so I took a turn around on my own.

Dr. Moein came in on Thursday, late afternoon. He asked if I wanted to go home. I was pretty sure that I wanted to. But, then he asked me if my prescriptions had been delivered, and I said no. So, he went out into the hall, and didn't come back.  So, I quickly figured out I wasn't going to get to go home that night.  I didn't mind staying, and was glad to know he felt that I was progressing well enough to go home early.

I got another nasty headache overnight on Thursday.  The night Nurse wasn't very attentive, but she did bring me meds.  I think she said it was Roxicet.  It was in a pre-filled med cup, and didn't taste all that bad. It didn't do much for my headache though.  I just fell back asleep, hoping to sleep it off.  She let my IV bag empty all the way out, and the machine started beeping really loudly at about 2:30am. She didn't seem to know how to reset it after she replaced the bag, and it must have beeped for about 10 minutes. Long enough to wake me up all the way, unfortunately. It took me awhile to fall back asleep that time.  She must have also turned the volume back up, because I was having to pee every 90 min. after she changed the bag. Thankfully, it came out when Cindy came in on Friday morning.

Dr. Moein came in around 9 on Friday morning. He gave me instructions for discharge. He "lectured" me about not staying in bed and not acting sick. He didn't know me that well, I guess, lol. He finally made them fax my prescriptions down to Neighbor Care, and said he would see me in a week.  Cindy came in and gave me another dose of Toridol, bless her heart, since my IV was going to be disconnected shortly thereafter. She also gave me my final shot of Heparin.  People balk about those shots in the stomach, but I didn't think they were anything at all. The needles are so tiny. I don't think I even felt any of them.  She explained how to empty my drain, and then close it back up to create the draining effect.

I got my vitals taken right after that, and my temp was 100.6, and my blood pressure was elevated.  Damn! I got a little nervous that I might have to stay longer. I figured it was just from all of the activity, and that my room was really damn hot. Turns out I was the only one who thought it was hot, lol.  Cindy said they weren't going to keep me longer. She said as soon as they brought up my scripts, I could go.

They brought up my scripts about 1pm.  Turned out, they didn't have my prescription card on file, so there was a problem. When they finally got in touch with my regular pharmacy and got the number, they then asked for my credit card.  I didn't bring anything but my photo ID with me, as the pre-op instructions said.  So, I waited a couple hours, and didn't get the scripts.  Turns out my insurance doesn't cover the Previcid prescribed anyhow, and that was the only one they wanted me to start right away.

I got home about 2pm on Friday afternoon, and slept for a few more hours.  I didn't have any pain, but I felt worn out. My sleep in the hospital wasn't bad, but it was a few hours here and a few hours there.  So, being in my own bed, I finally got a nice long sleep.  I woke up from that feeling great.  No pain, no nausea, no headache (I believe the headaches were caffeine withdrawal). The docs office closes early on Friday, so I couldn't call for a replacement for the Previcid until Monday anyhow. I felt fine, so I wasn't worried.

By Saturday morning, I was feeling almost normal. I had some broth for breakfast even though I wasn't hungry.  I wanted something warm.  By lunchtime, I was so bored of broth.  I tried straining all of the veggies and noodles out of some soup I had in the cupboard.  It tasted better than the broth.  I also put a drop of sesame oil in some chicken broth, and it tasted kinda like wonton soup broth.  But, I was very ready to be done with the whole broth thing.  I had one jello cup, but even that just wasn't cutting it.  I went to a toddler fashion show at work, and I felt fine.  People were very surprised to see me. The only downside of the whole day was everyone offering me food. I know that our society revolves around food, lol. But, I was surprised that so many people thought that I would want to eat pizza, cake and candy 3 days after bariatric surgery.  Did they think that the surgery was going to be so easy that I could eat anything and lose weight?  So, I know I am in for it with some people when I go back. It's a good group of people, I won't have any problems once everyone learns what my way of eating will be from now on.

I've gotten out of the house every day since being home. My apartment is 1100 sq. feet.  Nice size, except when you need to walk around.  So, I've gotten out, done a bit of shopping, gotten my needed prescriptions (never got pain meds or nausea meds), walked a bit just for the hell of it.  It's been a good week! My binder from the Nut said I should go from clear liquid to full liquid after being home 48 hours, and the discharge papers said 5 days.  Since I felt good, and was about to puke at the sight of the broth can, lol, I followed the binder.  I had a few ounces of an Atkins vanilla shake for breakfast on Monday, and it was DELICIOUS!

Thursday was my first post-op visit to Dr. Moein, and thank goodness drain removal day.  I was floored to have lost 18.5 pounds (I think 1-2 of that was from my last month of pre-op). Dr. Moein said it was too much.  I have to laugh at someone telling me, at the young age of 40, for the first time in my life, that I lost too much weight.  He reminded me about my water requirement.  I've been working on that.  It's a real lifestyle change for me to drink when I am not thirsty.  I am a water drinker, but pre-op, I would drink it a bottle at a time, not a sip.  So, I'm learning. It gets better every day.  He said I could go back to work on Monday, since I feel ready (yeah!).  I got my script for bloodwork for 1 month out, and an appointment for 1/15.

Having the drain out is AWESOME!  My other incisions are healed very well.  That one looks a little weird, but I think it's ok. It was weeping a lot before the drain came out, so I was worried it was going to be difficult, but it hasn't been.  It isn't at all painful, and appears to be healing very quickly.

Tomorrow is my last day before going back to work.  I might go see a movie if the weather turns out to be OK.  Time really flew by!  But, it's been near a picture perfect experience.

I'm looking forward to introducing pureed food on Wednesday!! The liquids have gone well, but they are a little boring, and I'm starting to feel hungry sometimes.

Thanks to anyone who read to this point. I didn't expect to ramble on like this, lol.

It wouldn't be right to end a post without thanking my OH family on the MD message board. Your love and support has proven to be priceless. You all helped me to know what to expect, and to not be nervous, and to heal quickly.  In case I don't post again this week, I hope everyone has a beautiful, happy and healthy Christmas.