tassie
I guess this will start just like most of the others. I have fought with my weight for al long as I can remember. Growing up I guess I was not fat but always the bigger girl. I struggled many times with Weight Watchers (48# most lost) and at one time Weight Loss Clinic. At Weight Loss Clinic I seemed to be sucessful for a while You go everyday and weigh in. By the time I was finished I went from 210 to 111. I was 111 for one day. I was miserable. I was consuming less than 500 calories a day and working out twice. I would eat a chicken breast and a salad. That was it for the day. I felt that I was very close to becoming anorexic. That was about 25 years ago. Since then it has been a roller coaster ride up and down and up and down. I am now going to be 50 years old am very scared of winding up in a wheelchair in the next few years. I have been diagnosed with RA and it seems to be mainly in my hands hips and feet. Up until the beginning of this year I was able get around fairly well. I have a small poodle and bichon mix dog and I was going to agility classes with him. I was great excercise for me and him. This past winter I was not able to keep up with him. We quit class. I also took him for 1-2 mile walks, we go about 6-8 blocks now. I do not have any children so this is my so called child. I miss doing all these things with him just like you may miss doing things with your children. Well all that is going to change now as I have gotten a surgery date of October 17th. I am so scared, nervous and anxious. I have a large family most of whom are behind me in this and the ones that are skeptical I will try to educate more so they will see what a great thing this is. 25 days to go......
October 1st---- Just 16 days to go. I am not too nervous yet but each day I am thinking more and more about this. Am I doing the right thing, what will the outcome bring. One last nutrition class to attend. This one will tell me what I will be allowed to eat after surgery.
October 9th...... 8 days to go. Getting nervous. I am having more problems with finding a protien drink that I can tolerate that having the surgery itself. This to me is the scariest part. Now it seems that sometimes when I eat (my regular meal still) that i feel a little nausea after. It does not last long but it is there. Everyone at the hospital has been great. My friends have been very supportive. Some of my family support me but do not think that I am doing the right thing. They talk about it when I am not around. I am trying to educate them as much as possible but I think that when they see the end result they will be okay. Time to get to work.
October 13th----4 days till the big day. I can't even begin to tell you the emotions that I have running thru me. Sometimes I can't stop thinking about it and other times I feel like it is never going to happen--something will come up that will stop it. Mostly I can't wait till it is over.
October 16th----Tomorrow-tomorrow-- the big day is tomorrow. There are no words to describe how I am feeling. I wish it was this time next week. It will be all over. I have kept busy all day but now it is evening and it is winding down time. Take care and will see you post-op.
Sunday October 21st--4 days post-op YEA!!! it is over and I am doing fine. I want to thank all of my well wishers and especially my best friend and angel Bonnie. With all of you it has made this journey much easier. I am doing well. Experimenting with the allowed foods. Trying to figure out just how much I am able to hold. I really do not want to over do it. I was able to sleep on my right side for a while last night, it was wonderful. I am only taking a half dose of pain meds when I go to bed. I seems like I still swallow alot of air when I sip water. I will have to see about that. Don't know if it is normal. I am able to walk my dog down the block and back ( slow ) but I get it done. Three of the lap holes are alresdy starting to itch like crazy. Healing?? Still kinda hard to cough. I will update more info as it becomes available. Again, thank you all for all of you support. Love ya Bonnie .
Tuesday October 23---- Well here I am, one week post-op. All things are well. Better than I could have expected. I am waiting for the shoe to drop. There has to be something that will spoil this. I don't know if having a high tolerance for pain has made recovery easier, or going in with so much info and a positive attitude. I got a call from the bariatric nurse on Monday. Need to try to push more water. She said that maybe I won't have a set back. Lots of people don't. What I really want to do more than anything else is to lay in bed and stretch. Or stand up throw my arms in the air and just reach for the sky. That will be my next milestone. I can walk around the block, but am a little tired when I get back. It feels good. I can tell that the more I move around the better I feel, the sleep serum is leaving my body. Sorry I am not even going to try to spell the other word. Well I will post in a few days with more updates.
Wednesday October 31st---Well here I am 2 weeks post-op. Still have two bandaids on the two larger incisions. The other three are gone. I was not going to update till tomorrow but I have hit a milestone in my journey. You see I do not own a scale yet and am waiting for my three week appointment to see how much I have lost. As I was getting ready for bed I thought to myself I wonder if any of my old rings fit on my finger yet? I chose the smallest one and it slipped right on !!!!! I can't tell you how I felt. 
I havent worn that ring in a long time. I needed to update tonight. Well I have early appointments tomorrow and need to sleep. Have a wonderful day.
Saturday November 17---Sorry about the delay on updating. I was computerless for a while. The cable company drilled through my internet line. Well here I am one month post-op. I was down 20 pounds on my 3 week appointment. I was really surprised, it didn't feel like it. I am really not having any problems except that I can't seem to get all that water in. I think that I need an I-V. Well it is late and I need to go. Will update more later.
Friday January 18th----- Well it is 3 months post op. I am down 50 pounds. Wow I can't believe it. It seems like yesterday but it also seems so long ago. I don't seem to be having any problems with any food except for pasta, rice and bread. If the bread is thin and I toast it I can manage it ok. I still try to get the water in. It is a chore since I am back to work. I seems that I dropped a lot after I went back. I guess that I move around a lot more there. Well I will close for now, will post soon.
Thurday April 3rd---- Well all is good. I am down 65 pounds!!!! I can't believe it. I have not been this weight since high school. So long ago. It is great. No problems from surgery that I can complain about. My arthritis bothers me more but I am limited to the meds I can take now. I will figure this out also. It will just take some time. Not much more to report until my 6 mothe check up in two weeks. See you then.
