Hi All! I have been out of touch for a while. The Yangtze River cruise we took was awesome!!! So freaking beautiful. We climbed what seemed like 500 hundred stairs (but as only 200) to an acient Buddist temple in a name I can't remember because I am sitting in the club floor in the Intercontinental Holet in Hong Kong and don't have my diary with me. When I post my pictures I will be sure to include all the names of things. We also saw the Three Gorges Dam - quite an engineering feat - but I am not sure that it has not caused more harm than good in China. There are three species in serious trouble now. And the water level has been raised so much on the upper part of the river that ancient tombs have been lost and entire villages had to be moved. It has stopped flooding in the lower Yangtze area though and that is a good thing. They also supply a lot of power to China which helps to cut down on the smog that is so previlant here. 

We went on a boat ride through the Lesser Gorges and it was absolutly beautiful. But not as beautiful at Guilein. This was my second favorite part of the trip next to The Great Wall because it is the closest thing to "Old China" that we have seen. There was no pollution and for the first time I could Breath Fresh Air. The huge mountains were breathtaking and seeing the fisher men fishing with the birds (I think called Kumeran Birds) was so cool! 

We are now in Hong Kong and today we went to the highest point in Hong Kong called The Peak. What a beautiful city! We went on a harbor cruise last night and it was free drinks so I decided to try some wine. One glass and I was a bit tipsy. Woo Hoo - cheap date! Everyone told me that with this surgery the booze would go right to your head. Some see that as a negative, not me! 

There have been so many wow moments on the trip. Here is a funny one... The toilets here in China are a hole in the floor - we call it The Long Drop toilet! I found myself waiting in line for the handicap stall (sit down western toilet) everywhere we went. It isn't so bad if all you have to do is pee, but I have to wonder if Chinese women ever have to go No 2 because that is f*cking difficult! I found myself in that awkward situation only once when there was no handicap stall. I was able to do the "squat" thing and not fall on my ass or "go" all over myself. I definitely have to add this to my list of things I would not have been able to do had I not lost 100 pounds! E-Ghads! One of the tour guides told us that sometimes you can go into the stall that have the western sit down toilets and find footprints on the seat because many Chinese women prefer to stand. LOL! 

And yes, I said lost over 100 pounds! Thats right!!! I am not posting anything official because I will only go by my home scale or my surgeon's scale - but according to the scale in Shanghai, I am down 103 pounds. How awesome is that!? On Thanksgiving we were on the Yangtzi River Cruise and had Duck for dinner. Hey, at least it was a bird! And I had to give so much thanks to my parents for makeing my RNY surgery possible. I could not have done half the things I have done here were it not for my RNY. 

Life is really really good. 

Home it 3 days and I have to say that it has been an amazing trip. I am excited to get home though. We miss our doggies and we miss our own bed. 

 

Two days ago, I CLIMED THE WALL !!!!!!

Thats right floks, I climbed The Great Wall Of China and it was GLORIOUS! I started crying at the top because I was so happy that I had done it. Of course that made my mom cry too. I never would have been able to make that climb if I still had those 90 pounds on me. We got to The Wall and took a gondola ride to the top. But not really quite the top. There was a hike to get on the actual wall. We had to go down some steep stairs then along a rocky path and then up some really steep stairs and then down a steep ramp until we were on The Wall itself. It was not an easy venture, but I did it with no problems. It was beautiful on top of The Wall. We took a lot of pictures and I can't wait to post them all for you to see. Troy and I bought a beautiful artist drawing of The Wall for our living room to remind us of this wonderful day. 

We are really having a blast over here. We have been to the Zoo and seen the Pandas. It made me kinda sad though - I wish we were going to the part of China where the Pandas live in the wild. But it was great to see them. They are so adorable! We have been to the Lama Temple and The Temple of Heaven. Both were so beautiful and so old. I love seeing old places. We also went to the Summer Palace where the Dragon Lady resided during the summer months. I must rent The Last Emperor of China when we get back as it is her story. 

Again I have to say that I am so happy I had this surgery. I never would have been able to do all the walking I have done and all the climbing and everything else without it. It is AWESOME and Life is Good!

First Post from China!

We are here, our luggage is not!!

We boarded our flight from OIA on Jet Blue at 6:35 and I sat in my seat and NO SEAT BELT EXTENDER NEEDED! Wa Hoooooo!!!! We are all set to go when DISASTER!  Out plane would be delayed 40 minutes. Well, that's ok. 10 minutes later.... DISASTER!! We now won't have wheels up until 9 PM. Our flight to China is to leave at 12:30 am out of JFK and now I must start thinking of a plan B. I called mom and dad and started working on our back-up plan. There were two stewardesses who were amazing in helping us - Katrina and Tina. The pilot called Asiana air to let them know there was tower trouble in Jacksonville and we would not leave until 9:00 pm and mom called their friend who just happens to be the CEO of Jet Blue to see if he can help. We end up taking off at 8:50 pm and that would put us at JFK at 11:00 pm - it will be tight, but there will be enough time to get our luggage and make the flight. Then... DISASTER!! We are put in a holding pattern over JFK and don't land until 11:35 pm. We must make it to the ticket counter to check in by midnight or that coach is turning into a pumpkin and we are stuck in NYC for 2 days. The entire plane stayed seated and let us off first and then we hauled ass. Katrina and Tina would make sure that our luggage was put on Jet Blue storage for Stephanie and Joel (sister & Bro-in-law) to pick up when they take the same flights we did in two days time. And off we went. I ran like I have not run in years. I could not have don that 90 pound ago. That is for sure. We got through baggage claim, out side, accross the street, around the corner and catch the Air Tram to the international terminal. I call the desk at Asiana air to tell them where we are. We make it to the check in counter with 7 minutes to spare!!! Hooray! We them get to the plane and in our seats with 10 minutes to go until take off. So, here we are in China with no luggage. Good thing I packed all my vitamins in my carry on!! 

Today we slept in and had a wonderful breakfast on the club floor of the Peninsula Hotel. We went to the Cultural Park this afternoon and saw some wonderful traditional dancers. 

One thing I can't get over it the smog. It is so thick here that you can see it from space. And I thought LA was bad....

Some other WOW moments. I could run through the airport. I could bend over to tie my shoes after taking them off to go through security. Of course, no seat belt extenter. And I can fit into the hotel robe! Woo Hooooo!

Steph and Joel will be here tomorrow and then the real sight seeing will begin. And we get to change our clothes! Life is good!

Today is FINALLY here!!! WE leave for China tonight! I can't wait! And to think that when we planned this trip I had no idea I would be getting WLS! We started the planning a year ago and I thought I would, ya know, lose the weight on my own! LOL! As If! I had my wonderful RNY in June and now I go to China 92 Pounds Lighter!!! Yes folks, BONUS weigh in day!!! I know it isn't Wednesday, but I just had to mark my weight the day I left. So, 92 Pounds GONE FOREVER!!! Woo Hoo!!! 100 pound loss..... somewhere in China!

   

Another piece of Awesomeness - I got our Bon Jovi Fan Club Tickets last night! Woot! Troy and I will be going to the Bon Jovi show in Ft. Lauderdale on April 26th. We bought the package where we get to go up on the side stage for three songs and seats should be in the first 10 rows. Troy laughed when I told him about going up on the side stage (it is done in groups and Jon comes over and does high fives and stuff) and said he just couldn't do it because he has... ya know... as set of balls. LOL! But we are looking forward to the show. We are going to spend the weekend at the beach. And the best part (in case you didn't grasp it from last Wednesday's post) is that I will be able to FIT into a concert shirt! Woo Hoo!!!! 

  

I am Pretty F*cking Happy with my life right now, and it is only going to get better. I SOOOOO LOVE my RNY!!

I will try to log on once or twice from China and give an update. I will miss you guys!!!! 

 

11 pounds in 9 days? Not gonna happen. I only lost one pound since last week. But who cares? I am still 90 pounds down! 90 Pounds GONE FOREVER!!!! And really, that is all that matters. I exceeded my China goal by 10 pounds and I am pretty proud of that.

So, this weekend I got my hair cut. I cut off 5 inches. There is a lot of hair loss, my hair dresser confirmed it. But she also confirmed that the new hair is already starting to grow back. Thank You Biotin! If you have WLS, take Biotin. It won't stop your hair from falling out, but it will help a lot with re-growth. I really like my new hair cut - even though it still feels strange not having it all there. The bangs are much thicker because the hair loss was really thinning out my already wispy bangs and they were out of control. Now the bangs are heavier and have an easier time of staying in place.

Soooooo, on a fun note, Bon Jovi is coming to Florida on April 26 and 27!! 



Troy and I are going to the Sunrise FL show on the 26th because it is a Saturday night and we can stay over and go to the beach the next day. Cool Beans! I was stressing earlier in the week because they kept saying that Fan Club tickets (first 15 rows) would be on sale soon, and I was so nervous that would happen when I was in China. Well, the Fan Club tickets go on sale tomorrow so I won't have to worry about that while I am gone. *Phew* I think I am most excited to go to the show and actually be able to buy a tour shirt because it will actually fit! How cool is that? I just love my pouch and I just love my Weight Loss Surgery. It makes all things in life more awesome than they were before.

3 days until we leave for China. Woo Hoo!!