July 20, 2005 Happy Birthday to Me!!

I am 44 years old today. This is my last birthday as a Fatgirl. I weigh 303#s, down from my high of 318 last summer.


August 30, 2005
Met Dr. Jean-Baptiste today for the first time. He seems very confident and competant. I'm sorry I am having my knee surgery in two weeks as it delays my RNY by that much and more. I'm hoping that I get a date in late October or early November.

I am now 296.5 #s, down 22 from my personal high.

December 16, 0225

Sorry I've been silent for so long. Been very busy.

Breezed thru the Psych Eval with no problems.
Had an Upper Endoscopy for the GI Eval. Cleared that one too.
The pulmonologist wanted a sleep study. During that they discovered that I have sleep apnea. Had a second sleep study with CPAP, did well. Now I have a CPAP machine next to my bed and I'm cleared for surgery.
Cardioligy wanted both an Echocardiogram and a Stress Test. The Echo showed no problems. I was concerned about the Stress test since I just finished with PT for my knee. Had a treadmill Stress Test anyway. Cardiology cleared me for RNY.

The request for surgery went to Aetna on 12/12/05. I'm waiting to hear.

I am now at 277#s.

December 25, 2005

I'm still waiting for approval. I've informed my family (mom, in-laws, etc.) of what's happening soon. The reaction has been mixed. No-one has reacted overtly negative, but most of them have no concept about WLS. They are cautiously supportive of my decision.

With no decent scale to weigh myself I have no idea what I am now. My last offical weight of 277#s is about where I usually stop losing on regular diets. I'm getting frustrated with the food limitations when my stomach still wants more. I can't wait till my stomach wants much less.

Happy Holidays, All.

December 28, 2005

I HAVE A DATE!!!!!

My new life begins on January 5th. One week away. Hurrah!!

January 4, 2006 HAPPY NEW YEAR

I'm counting the hours now. Just 24 to go. I'm drinking all the fluids I can now 'cause I know once I start taking the pre-op meds at 1pm I won't want to put anything near my mouth. My latest official weight is 274 but I checked out a health club yesterday and on their scale I'm 267.8. Wonder what I'll be tomorrow before surgery?

January 8, 2006

Here I am on the losing side. I kid you not, it hurts!!

I got to the hospital on Thursday 1/5/06 around 11am and checked in at the surgery office. I was brought in, weighed, IV'ed and put in hospital gowns. The scale in the pre-op area was totally off and said I weighed 260#s. LOL

Around 1pm I was given a "sleepy" med and really don't remember much else until I was in my room around 8pm. My 1.5-2hr Lap RNY took almost 4 hours. I felt better after my open C-Section.

I dozed until almost 11pm when I insisted on getting out of bed to pee. I still had a catheter in but the pressure of it was terrible. I got the night nurse to call my doc to get the order to remove it. I felt much better after that. I didn't sleep much but being able to walk around the room and go to the potty was good.

Friday I was very uncomfortable almost all the day and night. I was taken to Physical Therapy midday. I thrilled the therapist by being able to walk unaided and walk up 3 stairs. Yahoo.

I felt very behind the 8-ball on fluids all day and didn't want the IV to be taken off. We (the medical staff and I) played with different pain meds to see what worked best and what I could take by mouth in preparation for discharge.

Saturday morning I was beginning to feel slightly human. I took a shower, got dressed and was discharged to home around lunchtime. I feel better about the fluids and have a better handle on the pain. I weighed myself on the scale on the floor before I left. What a joke, this scale said 280#s. Like I gained 20#s in 2 days! LOL

Today I've been doing better still. My home scale said 280#s on Sunday morning. I haven't taken any pain med today. I think most of my pain is gas related and the pain med I'm on won't help with that. I did take it to go to sleep last night and I slept most of the night. Heading out for a walk this afternoon while the sun is out.

January 11, 2006

To quote the Beatles "I have to admit it's getting better, a little better all the time." I've been walking at least once each day, not long or far but more than I did presurgery. My home scale says 270#s. That's 10#s in 6 days. WOW!!

Most of the pain is gone, just some achyness remains. I'm totally bored with the clear liquid diet. My nutritionist said I could advance to full liquids this evening. A protein shake never looked so good.

My f/u appt with my PC is on Friday. I will let you all know what her scale says.

January 13, 2006 (Friday the thirteenth)

My PC thinks I'm the incredible shrinking woman. I weighed 261.5#s in her office this morning.

I'm really enjoying the full liquids. Yogurt, pudding, yummy!! I tried the Sylvester Stallone Protein Pudding, not bad at all. 20gm of protein in 100 sugarfree calories. Mmm, mmm.

My f/u with my surgeon is on Tuesday. I hope he thinks I'm doing as well as my PC does.

January 16, 2006

I learned a hard lesson this weekend. Don't overdo, it will come up and bite you in the end.

I went shopping on Friday after seeing my MD. I obviously did too much too soon 'cause on Saturday morning I wanted to die. The pain was horrendious, I couldn't warm up and I just wanted to sleep forever. Unfortunately my in-laws were on their way to visit. I forced myself to stay concious till they left around 4pm, then took a percocet and went to sleep. Sunday was much better.

On my shopping trip on Friday I bought a new scale. Tomorrow I will corrolate it with my surgeon's scale.

January 18, 2006

My surgeon and nurtitionist were pleased with my progress at the office visit yesterday. I'm disappointed that the scale in his office and my new one don't match up well. My home scale is almost 4#s lighter than his office scale. Oh well!

January 22, 2006

Down to around 251#s now. I've advanced in my eating to mushy foods. I can't wait for my first scrambled egg. My husband (DH) is making Black Bean Soup for dinner, his recipe is fabulous. I'll actually get to eat what the rest of the family is eating. I'll have to blend up mine of course but still the same meal. Hurray!

I never thought I'd have so much trouble keeping up with the fluids. I'm still not getting anywhere near the 64 oz. mark. Hell, I'm not getting near half of that.

I'm walking up to 1/2 mile a day now. That may not sound like much but considering I started at NOT WALKING at all, it's great.

January 31, 2006

Signed myself up for a "Fitness test" a local "curves-type" gym is doing. It's basically a free 3 week trial membership. I've been going for one week. I hate it. I'll keep it up for the three weeks then I'm going to join somewhere else.

Saw the surgeon and nutritionist today. I'm 248#s at 26 days post-op. They are thrilled at my progress. I'm in "hibernation-depression". Nothing is thrilling me this week. My best friend says I'm pushing myself too hard. Good thing I have a shrink appt. on Friday. LOL

February 11, 2006 Snow Day!!

My shrink agrees with my best friend, I'm expecting too much from myself too soon. I'm trying to lighten up (PUN totally intended). I've experimented with a protein/PB/candy "thingie" that is based on an old WW recipe. It's not bad. Allows me to feel like I'm cheating when I'm not.

I finished my "fitness test" and am off to another gym for a free one week trial. I have a third gym free week trial set up for the week after that. Then DH and I will make a decision on which gym to spend the money on.

I'm now around 245#s. At services last night a lot of people who haven't seen me since Thanksgiving noticed the weight loss and commented. The two women who run the shul kitchen were very impressed. I still have a hard time seeing how far I've come. I see how far I still have to go. Maybe hindsight isn't 20/20 in a mirror.

February 25, 2006

Joined a gym. It's local, full service and very comfortable. I'm now 238#s and right on track according to my surgeon.

I re-upped at summer camp for the end of July and the first few weeks of August. I'm camp nurse at a sleep-away camp. I enjoy it and my kids get a great summer for very little money (out of my pocket).

I'm settling in to the new lifestyle, I think. Not so overwhelmed as before.

March 20, 2006

Today is my 18th wedding anniversary. Most women can't fit into their wedding dress after 18 years of marriage, but I can't because it's TOO BIG on me.

I'm back to work part-time and becoming a real 'gym-rat'. I'm at the gym 5 or 6 days a week. Psychologically, I need to think of reshaping my body as work.

I don't recognize the woman in the mirror as me. The woman in the mirror has a jawline and clavicles. I've never had a jawline or visible collarbones in my life. This is weird for me but I'm getting some great reactions. My daughter's friends are just astounded at how I look and have told me so twice in the last week. That's Kewl.

April 9, 2006

I've been getting the family and the house ready for Passover. I'm a bit unnerved by the Holiday coming up, lots of food changes on the new pouch.

My weight loss has slowed to a crawl over the last few weeks. I'm supposed to be under 218#s at this point but am at 223#s. I think my body is giving my brain a chance to catch up with the changes.

Sorry to be so boring but my life is really all about the gym and eating. I have nothing else to talk about at all.

April 18, 2006 WAHOOOOOOOO!!

My scale this morning said 217.6#s. I have made it into the Century Club! At least naked and first thing in the morning, LOL.

Full steam ahead to Onderland.

May 16, 2006

It's been almost a month so I figured I should update this blog. I had a wonderful Mother's Day. I went clothes trying in a mall. I bought nothing but tried on a ton of stuff to see what sizes I fit into now. I'm down to a 20 on the bottom and a 16/18 on the top.

Life is still all about excersize but I am actually working more. It's great to be earning something. As for the weight, I'm at 210#s. I'm hoping to hit Onderland by my birthday.

June 19, 2006 CALL ME ALICE

Yes I said call me Alice 'cause I now live in Onderland. My weight as of this morning is 198.6#s.

I went shopping a couple of weeks ago in preparation for my summer job as camp nurse at a sleep-away camp. I bought 2 bathingsuits in size 18. One of them is a Tankini. WooHoo.

As the old song says: "I feel good, I knew that I would!"

July 20, 2006 Happy Birthday to Me!

One year ago today I wrote: "July 20, 2005 Happy Birthday to Me!!
I am 44 years old today. This is my last birthday as a Fatgirl. I weigh 303#s, down from my high of 318 last summer."

Well, I am now 45 years old, weigh 195#s and am 6 months post-op RNY. I've lost 108#s, 10 clothing sizes and uncounted inches off my body.

This last month has been difficult. My weight loss has kinda stalled and I'm somewhat stressed out. I haven't found a new coping mechanism to deal with my stress as I used to do with food.

I leave on Sunday for camp. I'm hoping the reactions I get when I see everyone there again are a positive reinforcer for me. They haven't seen me in 108#s.

Wish me luck at camp. It's my first solo eating adventure and it will last 4 weeks.

August 18, 2006 Home from Camp

Camp was an adventure. I had a blast, proved to myself that I can eat healthy in long-term public situations, can excersize without the gym membership and lost 11 more pounds.

I took myself shopping at an outlet mall near camp. I am now the size of the average American woman over the age of 30, a size 14. Yes I said a size 14, not 14W. I bought a designer skirt and two dresses. I finally enjoy shopping for clothing.

I'm finally beginning to feel "normal". It's kinda nice to be average.

 11/8/06

I had a WOW moment today that's kinda weird. 

I had put on knee-hi stockings with my outfit for work, after the gym.  They just kept falling down every time I took a step.  I ran into the local supermarket to pick up dinner and purchased a pair of pantyhose there.  I changed into them in the Ladies Room in the supermarket, standing up.

That's when it hit me.  I actually fit into cheep supermarket pantyhose.  No running around like a crazy woman trying to find something  that will go over my thighs and butt.  I had to sit in my car for a bit and cry, I was so overwhelmed.

I just knew you would understand.