FineIn09

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Helllllo! Happy 2010!!! Well, it's been a while, hasn't it?  I'll update you.

My daughter is doing a LOT better.  She can eat virtually anything now, which is good and bad.  Good because she isn't constantly nauseous....bad because she can eat things that are not healthy.  I am concerned because after the "honeymoon period" the weight will no longer come off.  I know it will be all too easy for her to gain back weight because her eating habits have not changed.  I have tried and tried to get her to understand that she must take this time to relearn how to eat healthy--and then if you want a goodie you can still do that but in small quantities every now and then...NOT every day!  But, she is young...17...and doesn't want to listen to reason.  I fear for her future.  She has lost 90 lbs to date, which is awesome...but the big picture is what worries me.  I can only pray and hope God gets through to her.

Now me.  I am stuck at 180.  Have been for 2 months now.  While I am THRILLED to have lost what I have and am now in size 10, I really want that scale to move!! Dr DelaCruz says I need to try to really focus and lose the remaining weight (30 lbs) as soon as I can because after about a year it will be much tougher.  My one year surgiversary is in June, so I guess I will need to really step up on the exercise and watch my carbs more.  I hope when I update again it will be to say that I am verrrry close to goal!!

First, I will tell you the good news.  I am now under 200 lbs--196 to be exact.  It seemed like it took me FOREVER to get into the 100s again! I have eaten a few carby things, like pringles and a couple bites of cheesecake.  Nothing too big, just wanted to get a little taste.  No dumping--but of course I kept a rein on it so it wouldn't be a problem.  Yesterday I had one too many grapes (about 10) and I fell into a deep sleep right after.  It reminded me of my diabetic days...I will NOT be doing that again.  I am now in a size 14 pants and 12 top.  I haven't been that size since I was 24!  It's weird though cuz when I last fit into 13/14 I weighed 150.  I'm much more than that now, yet fit into the same size.  Makes me think sizes have gone up.  My shoe size has also gone down from a 10 to a 9! AND my ring size has gone from 10 to 7.  I love getting such great compliments, especially from people that haven't seen me in a while.  It's always a morale booster.

Now...onto my daughter.  She has been nauseous each and every day since surgery.  Today is exactly 4 weeks.  The surgeon will be performing an endoscopy on her tomorrow morning to make sure she doesn't have a stricture or ulcer.  I am praying it's nothing...just her body getting used to the changes.  If you are reading this, please pray for her.  She has lost 44 lbs to date which is just amazing.

Tomorrow is the day, the day my daughter's life changes forever, as mine has, through gastric bypass surgery.  Even though I know she is in good hands, I cannot express how nervous and worried I am.  In front of her I am cool as a cucumber, but behind the scenes I cannot stop crying.  I don't know what I'll do if anything happens to her.  My feelings are running the gamut today.  Why did I allow her to get this heavy?  Why couldn't I have been a better role model?  What else could I have done to prevent her from getting morbidly obese?  The guilt is eating me up. 

Don't get me wrong.  I am happy that she was approved.  I know this is the help she needs.  I just can't help but feel that I could have been a better mother. 

I am going to stop thinking this way.  Tomorrow I must be strong and confident for her.  I am now being the role model I should have been since she was born.  I do trust the surgeon, I simply must.  Her life is in his hands tomrorow.  God, please guide him and heal my daughter quickly.  I love her so much, she is my very world. 

Hello all! Just thought I'd update you on what's been happening with me.  It's been about 6 weeks since surgery and I'm feeling fantastic! Life could just not get better! I have lost to date 40 lbs, which includes 10 I lost presurgery with the Optifast shakes.  I am now at 206 and will be reaching onederland by next month, I hope! I am thrilled to have made the decision to carry through with gastric bypass.  No regrets!!

I have another bit of good news.  My daughter was finally approved for gastric bypass! Hers is coming up on August 24th.  I am thrilled for her, but at the same time, extremely nervous.  Judging by how well I did I should not worry, especially knowing she's in great surgical hands...but all the same I am feeling Mama nerves.  I have been praying constantly that everything goes well for her.  I am thinking positive thoughts.  She started her shakes last Sunday and has already lost 13 lbs.  Goal is to lose 17 by surgery date, so she will have absolutely no problems.  She has complained about the shakes since Day 1, but I have to keep reminding her that this is best to make the procedure as safe as possible.  Poor thing is having a really bad time with this, but she is doing her best.

I have been buying a few clothes here and there.  My starting size was 20 and today I bought size 12/14 tops.  The bottom is still large at 16, but I expect as much with my abundant hips, lol.  My goal is to fit into 6-8 and I'd be happy with a 10 on the bottom.  Hey I got an apple bottom, I accept it!! lol  I've got bags and bags of clothes I've already vacated from my closet.  I'm saving them for my daughter and when they're too big for her, goodwill will get them.  I went them out of the house for good!!!

I'll update again next month. 

I am now 10 days post op and feeling mighty fine!  I feared things would not sit well with me as I read how others struggled, but I have not gotten sick once yet.  Knock on wood! I am getting my fluids in most days and have tried some soups, lentil and black bean to be specific.  The lentil soup gave me some rip-roarin' gas and fumes!!! Ughhh! Much as I love it, I cannot have it if I am to be around people! lol I also tried some baby food, the meat types and veggies.  So far I've had chicken in chicken broth and green beans by Beech Nut.  It settled very nicely in my pouch and gave me no gas.  That's a keeper!! Even though the doc advanced me to soft foods, I am sticking to this for a while.  No sense in rushing, I have a lifetime of eating ahead of me.  I am up to 600-700 calories a day now, with a minimum of 80-100 grams of protein and 64 oz of fluids.

I am losing at a rate of about 1 pound a day.  Yipee!! I am trying soooo hard not to weigh myself every morning, but I have lost that struggle every day, lol.  It's just so exciting for once to see that scale move in the right direction! My plan is to just weigh myself on Friday mornings from now on so I don't get discouraged when the 1 pound per day thing ends.

I was given an exercise to do for my flabby arms since I can't really get to the gym right now.  (even though the surgeon said it was ok, I just do not feel comfortable at this particular time)  I am lifting 5 pound weights up and down. It is quite a workout and leaves me out of breath.  I do not have much energy so it saps the little I do have.  I was also given a tip to use an exfoliant on the flabby areas and then a firming lotion contaning Q10 in it.  I will try everything possible to tone these bat wings!!

I am so very happy I decided to have this surgery.  It is honestly the very best thing I have ever done for myself.

I had my gastric bypass surgery on June 30th.  Here are the details:

My surgery was at University of Miami hospital (formerly Cedars).  I went in with my hubby at 10:00am to register and my surgery was supposed to be at noon.  Well, noon came and went and they still hadn't called my name, so I went up to the patient care rep to ask what was happening and she then immediately took me in.  After I got settled into my hospital gown, they took down my vitals, I got hooked up to an IV, got a heparin shot and something else (can't remember), THEN proceeded to wait almost 4 hours! Turns out there was a problem with the humidity level in the operating room, so all these patients were backed up waiting their turn.  While waiting, me and my hubby had some long conversations about all the changes that would be occurring.  I was very positive about entering my new life and I was so happy that he and my family were so supportive of my decision.  When I was finally wheeled in, a split second later my eyes shut and that was that.  When I woke up, I was in my room and screaming, "PAIN!!!"  They gave me a morphine shot right quick and that eased it immediately.  I remember seeing my hubby and my daughter, but my eyes just couldn't stay open.  About 2:00am, I decided I wanted to go for a walk, so I took off my vibrating booties (you wear this to keep the blood circulating and prevent blood clots) and grabbed my IV pole and started down the hall.  That is, until one of the nurses saw me and stopped me from walking alone, lol.  She helped me that first time, but by the following morning I was on my own, just like I wanted.  They did a leak test first thing in the morning.  I got to see my new baby tummy as I drank the liquid they gave me, so very cool.  After that, I was wheeled back into my room and given water, crystal light and jello.  I had brought two whey protein bullets with me (42 grams of protein each), so I started drinking those straight up.  They weren't the best tasting on their own, so I mixed it with water to make it more palatable.  I got 84 grams of protein in the first day! Later that day, I was released home and boy was I on top of the world! Later, I found that those bullets did not sit well with me, as I had really bad diarrhea and my pouch was painful.  So, I discontinued them til a later date. 

I had gas pains until yesterday, but have been walking steadily, so I am feeling so much better.  Me and hubby went to the mall on Thursday and walked 1/2 hour without stopping.  I broke a sweat, but I wasn't out of breath or overly tired as I normally would be.  This surgery is absolutely amazing!! 

Yesterday we went to the 4th of July parade down the block from us.  Hubby brought a beach umbrella to keep things nice and cool for me.  I brought my bottle of water and was good to go.  It was so much fun and I was so happy to be able to attend in spite of just having surgery.  Last night we went to see the fireworks.  I can't remember them being so beautiful.  :)

I'm saving the best for last now:  My blood sugar is now in the normal range!! I am running from 102-109 steadily! I cannot express how unbelievably ecstatic I am about this! This was my main goal with this surgery and I accomplished it within 2 days.  God is good!!

My daughter has finally had her 6 month visit, so hopefully tomorrow we will be submitting to insurance.  I am praying that her approval goes through as quickly as mine and she gets on this road to better health.  I am so glad I did this first so that she could see everything involved.  She has said she is very ready and I am so proud of her.

Started on the shakes today.  They are very similar to the Medifast plan shakes I did 2 years ago.  They fill you up for like...ummm, 10 minutes.  I'm drinking Crystal Lite and water in between to keep me from getting ravenous.  I like the chocolate and french vanilla shakes but the strawberry tastes kinda weird.  I'll just have to gulp it down I guess. 

Everything makes me think of food today.  I was even reading an article today where they mentioned the word "hashed" like when you hash out a problem and all I could think of was hash browns! Am I pitiful or what???!!! To top it off, we had a power outage for a couple of hours today during dinner hour and I was a little stressed about that.  It was getting pretty hot in the house...and if you live in South Florida you know you can't be without a/c for very long.  In other times, we would have just gone out to eat til the power came back on, but I can't do that today!! Actually, I have to just change my mindset right now or I'll just want to keep dealing with stress the same way as always--by stuffing my face.

Since I knew today was the beginning of no solid food for a long time, we went to eat Italian food both Saturday and Sunday.  Saturday was at Olive Garden with my  hubby, daughter and cousins.  Johnny Carino's was yesterday.  I had a 16 layer lasagna and nice warm bread and topped it off with some decadent chocolate cake with ice cream for dessert.  I left feeling content but sad at the same time. 

One of the cousins we had dinner with is also having gastric bypass.  Her surgery is June 24th, about a week before mine.  I think she's having last minute jitters.  I don't blame her, this is a very major life change.  She has a small child and will benefit so much from losing the weight.  I remember when my daughter was little and how difficult it was keeping up with her being heavy. 

Well, I gotta get out of this funk I'm in today.  I'm mourning my old friend, food.  It'll pass.  Writing about it is making me feel better.

I had a really bad vertigo attack this morning.  I've been eating foods with too much sodium and caffeine and this is what brings on the attacks.  It starts with buzzing in my left ear and culminates in the attack.  Thank God for my husband, I don't know what I'd do without him.  I'm feeling a lot better after sleeping all day.  I take antivert and xanax to calm the symptoms.  I am hoping and praying that this will all stop after surgery.

Also, my Dad is in the hospital again.  Congestive Heart Failure is rearing its ugly head again.  I am praying so hard that he will be okay.  I can't imagine going through surgery when my Dad is not up to par. 

Also, my daughter is having second thoughts about surgery.  I really feel like she needs to have this to help her.  She has tried so many plans and nothing works, it only makes her gain more weight. 

I am putting it all in God's hands.

Wooohooo! I can't believe it only took ONE day for approval!! I'm telling you, Dr. de la Cruz's office knows what they're doing! I got my date yesterday.  Surgery is June 30th.  They said they are giving me 4 weeks to recuperate.  I am hoping right after my daughrer sees her doctor 2 more times, with the 2nd visit being July 1st, then we'll submit her papers and hopefully it'll go as breezingly as mine.  I am hoping she'll have her surgery no later than a month after me. 

I am psyched!!!

I will do Optifast for 2 weeks, from 07-15 thru 07-28, then clear liquids on 07-29, then surgery date 07-30.  I must lose at least 5% of my weight in the two week period, or guess what--surgery is postponed until I do! Talk about pressure!!!
 
But I am STILL psyched!!!

Well, looks like my daughter will have to see her pediatrician 2 more times before Dr Munoz's office will submit for approval.  She had a two month lapse, March-April, when she changed her mind about the surgery and didn't go see the doctor.  So, now they want her to see him In June and early July before they try to get insurance approval.  Actually, this is fine since she has to go to summer school anyway for one month to make up a credit she needs to advance to the next grade. 

As far as me, it looks like mine is a go as soon as my PCP's office sends the doctor's notes.  She was supposed to send them on Friday but even though she promised she would, she never got around to it.  So, of course now it's the Memorial Day weekend and I won't be able to bug her til Tuesday, lol.  I expect if things go quickly with approval, I should be on the loser's bench in mid  to late June.  Yipee!!

My daughter and I had been planning on having surgery the same day and stay in the same hospital room, but after much thought, it's going to be better if I have mine done first.  That way I'll be pretty much healed and will be able to help her better when it's her turn.   I thought she'd be more upset when I told her the news, but she took it ok. 

My cousin is also having gastric bypass.  It's cool that all 3 of us will be doing this pretty much together.  We'll be able to help each other and share our victories and hopefully not too many struggles!