ObesityHelp

 For the first time in my entire life I didn't have to dread gaining weight in the holidays.  I was turned onto a little helping tool called the Baratric Bowl...it is tupperware that helps you measure out an ounce of food without a scale.  Needless to say I took it to my family gatherings and it helped portion out the huge feast to where I didn't overeat.  Sure I got some crazy looks from relatives when I didn't use the fine dinnerware, I didn't care.  I stayed in control.

WIth the weight loss (at 105 pounds lost right now---I know I need to update all my stats) the new year is full of truly new possibilities that havent been there in the past.  I feel free to plan vacations, look into walking a 5K, and just being more active in my daily life.  I look forward to what the new year brings and for the first time in quite sometime I am embracing life rather than shying away from it.

 Yesterday when I got home I met a neighbor I had chatted with a few times in the parking lot.  We walked up the stairs leading to the complex together and when we reached the top of the stairs my pants feel down around my ankles.  All I could was say, "That was embarassing."  She said "At least you had on underwear."  I told her "If I hadn't it would be life changing. "  

I guess it is time to swap out the old belt with new holes in it for a new belt! LOL.

 I had the roux en y bypass a little over a week ago.  The surgery went off without a hitch; however, I developed a horrid gout flare three days post-op that has left me bed-ridden six days.  I have never had a flare this bad before.  The pain was so intense that I couldn't even breathe at the worst moments of it.  The E.R. doctor pumped with high grade narcotics and sent me home, only to have the pain start to return hours later.  Luckily my surgeon and my pcp gave me meds to start working the uric acid out of my joints (yes joints--rare for gout but I had symptoms in five joints--now down to two).  I try to look at it all as birthing pains into a new life where gout won't be such a big figure in my joint issues.