Wow!  Have I really not posted in two months?  Time has been flying by!!

I posted my 3 month pics in my album if y'all are interested in taking a peek.  I can't tell y'all how great I am feeling these days.  50 pounds gone has made a HUGE difference.  Great energy levels.  Less depression and mood swings.  I'm just happier in general.  I've even noticed that people will actually look me in the eye and smile with me as I'm walking past them.  I don't know if it is my new, cute hairstyle or the fact that I'm thinner or maybe I just look happier and more confident.  I dunno, but its awesome.  I can't remember the last time I passed someone on the sidewalk who smiled at me genuinely rather than smiling at me out of politeness or out of feeling sorry for me because I was so morbidly obese.

I'm noticing a bit more hair falling out when washing and styling it, but that is to be expected.  I'm getting enough protein, but despite that, hair still has a tendency to fall out around 3-6 months post op simply because of the changes the body is going through due to drastic weight loss.  I'm going to start taking extra Biotin (there is already some in my multi-vitamin, but I haven't been taking extra) and see if that helps at all.  I'm not that concerned about the hair loss because a) I knew it would happen eventually, b) it will come back, and c) I have enough hair to begin with, so I can spare a little. :-)

I've been pretty busy lately.  Hubby left for about 6 weeks or so on July 5 and I headed to MS to visit friends and family.  I've been searching for a job for several weeks and finally got a position at a coffee house on base.  I started working this past Monday and boy have I been pooped when I get home!  My feet are feeling the pain too LOL 

Weight loss - 18 lbs
Total inches lost - 10 1/4 (measured at neck, chest, bicep, forearm, waist, hips, thigh and calf)
Jeans - down from size 26 to a size 22  (woohoo!!)

Initially, I could only see the difference in my neck/face, even though my clothes have been getting looser. Now that I see the pics side by side, I really see the difference in my waist. I can see more of the bookshelf behind me which is why I took the pics in front of it. It's actually recommended to take before/after pics in front of some sort of object (bookcase, door, etc) so that you can see yourself shrinking within the frame of that object.  (I'm sure y'all all know that already.)

Oh, I've also gone from a 26 jean to a 22!!!!! Tops are only slightly smaller. I'm really hoping the girls will shrink along with the rest of me. By this time next month, I hope to be in my first goal outfit. Mind you, this is an outfit I bought almost four years ago shortly after DH and I got married. My reason for getting it then is that I had weight loss goals in mind, but I never reached that goal even though I did manage to lose a little weight while in England. But I will be in that outfit soon and will be sure to post pics!!

For the longest time, I've had pain in my lower back and hips when walking. It was always worse after a slow gain of 10 lbs or more. Then as my body adjusted, I would be ok for a while until I reached that arbitrary weight gain again, and the pain would come back.

I'm so happy to say that I walked two miles today at a brisk pace (brisk for me - 2 miles in 35 minutes and I have short legs) with NO PAIN!! 10 lbs lost in the two weeks before surgery and 12 lbs lost since. What a difference 22 lbs has made!

And I'm doing very well!  I am getting in 80-100oz of water a day plus 80-100g of protein a day.  I've been faithfully taking my Bariatric Advantage supplements.  I haven't had any nausea issues.  The only pain I am experiencing is some minimal left-sided pain.  I've been trying to walk every day and have only missed a day or two.  I feel GREAT!  No buyer's remorse here. 

I've lost 10 lbs since surgery day, which brings me to a total of 20 lbs lost since April!! 

I'm finally home! And so glad to have a shower! My surgery went very well on Monday. I spent Monday night in the surgery ICU and was then moved to a regular room once the swallow study was normal Tuesday morning. I felt great all day Tuesday. I was doing well with the 1oz of water every half hour. Wednesday I was able to have some broth, sugar free jello and crystal light!   I was having a lot of pain that day because I wasn't able to pass gas but they gave me some chewable tablets and I just kept sipping away at water and trying to get as much in as possible. It was difficult because of how full and bloated I felt from the gas. Dr Chasen came in and I was just bawling my eyes out in misery. He said "well, NOW you look like the average gastric bypass patient." I replied "what? You mean I looked like a better than average one before?" He said "yep!" So since I was having a little bit of trouble, they decided to keep me another night. By the end of Wednesday after lots of walking I had finally passed a little gas, YAY!! I felt really great this morning and was able to toot quite a bit more. So they let me come home. I haven't needed any pain medicine since Tuesday night  and hope to not have to take any at home. I had my first  postop BM when we got home and am happy that it went well.  I've got some liquid colace to take for a while to keep things moving.  I'm doing really well and am sipping on some beef broth at the moment. I have had absolutely no nausea or vomiting and have found that my pouch does NOT like cold liquids.  I can't wait to progress through the post op diet and finally get onto some solid food! 

I'm very excited and very calm all at the same time.  I have a sense of peace and am ready to start this new journey.  Keep me in your thoughts and prayers.  I will post/blog again as soon as I feel up to it.

That's when I need to show up at the hospital Monday morning.  I'm assuming my surgery is scheduled for 8, so I'll be the first case for Dr Chasen.  I'm so freaking excited and just a wee bit nervous.  This is the first bit of nervousness I've felt so far.  My hands are even sweating.  That NEVER happens to me!  I doubt I'll even sleep on Sunday!

that I've been feeling absolutely fantastic this past week!!  (Aside from my little emotional bump in the road the other day.) I don't know if it is because I'm so excited about the upcoming surgery and am at peace with my decision (and the possibility, however tiny, of not making it out of surgery). I don't know if it is because over the past month I have been more diligent than ever about taking my meds EVERY day (I'm on meds for high BP, high cholesterol, allergies and depression) and have added a daily regimen of two chewable Centrum vitamins and a B-12 sublingual tablet. I just feel great. I'm happy. I haven't had "down" days like I'm prone to have. Maybe it's all this beautiful GA sunshine. I think my depression was worsened by seasonal affective disorder during the three years we lived in England. We rarely had anything other than a gray sky. I feel like things are right with the world. And I'm ready for my rebirth.