One Month

Aug 01, 2009

I just passed the one month mark. I don't feel like I've been through major surgery, so that's a good thing. I've been able to exercise 6 days a week, 3 days walking, 3 days mild hiking (about 2.5 miles). There is a little hill in the hike that I thought would kill me the first time (okay, first through fifth time), but I made it! That was a great victory for me because I had not been able to do it in about 5 years. I also signed up for a line dancing class (no partner needed!), and though I totally suck, it is fun. The ability to laugh at myself is still there.

Another mini-victory was walking into my great-aunt's house. She passed away just before surgery and the family is in the midst of the estate sale. When I walked into the house, my mom did a double take. That was pretty cool... just a glance and then, "Hey, wait - that's my daughter!"

From pre-surgery weight (June 15th), I am down 34 lbs. I've lost 4" in my waist, hips, and chest (4" in each area). I'm hoping to do just a once a month weigh in and measure from now on. I still haven't been able to put the scale away, but I will only count my weight on the 29th of each month.

Food issues have been non-existent. I can eat a scrambled egg, cottage cheese (4oz. container), regular cheese, refried beans, and deli lunch meat (turkey breast). I still have to have a protein shake (or two) during the day to be sure I'm getting in enough protein. I also indulge in SF popsicles. The scrambled egg is my fav. I want to venture further to see if I can handle a real piece of chicken or steak, but I don't want to push it this early out. I have added benefiber to my liquids to help with regularity, and it truly does help.

My energy has been pretty good, but I find the more I interact with others, the more tired I become. Just going through my aunt's things (no lifting, just sorting through boxes) and talking with others can make me exhausted. No problem with an hour+ of exercise every day, but interactions really take a toll. This has me a bit worried because I'm a teacher and will be interacting with A LOT of people for many hours a day in about  a week and a half. A lot of this probably comes from living alone - I value my alone time - and when there are a lot of things to attend to, it's difficult to stay on top of it.

Physically I've had two periods in less than month - not real happy about that. My surgeon says it's from the stored estrogen in my fat cells. As I burn fat, the estrogen is released and I have another period. Totally makes sense, but doesn't make me real happy. I've had some abdominal pain but have learned to live with it (can't get a refill on my prescription - wish I hadn't tossed the rest of that bottle when I felt I wouldn't be needing it!). It's much milder than it was two weeks ago. Overall, I think things are pretty good at a month out. If I can get that energy part up before the kids come, that would be fabulous. The beginning of a school year is always like taking a sip of water from a fire hose - wish me luck!

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