Today I hit my goal of 161 lbs.!!!!!!!   I dont know whether to celebrate or freak out.  I still have not hit a plateau.  I have lost 213 lbs. in 14 months and 27 days!!  I still have a tummy tuck that I am approved for, that will take a good 10 lbs. off me according to surgeon.  Am I going to get too thin??

I had my 1 year update with my surgeon on Thursday.  Things went really good.  He was quite proud of me as I had lost way way way more than they ever expected!! He told me that in order for someone to be at great accomplishments for the 1 year mark, they would lose about 125 lbs.  And that would be doing very well.  Well, I came in with a 191 lb. weightloss so far!!!!  I am now down to 183 lbs.  as of Thursday, at 13 1/2 months out from surgery.  Infact, they didn't even recognize me anymore.    I had a long conversation with him.  Explained everything that has been going on, etc.  On Tuesday, I have to go in for an ultra sound of my gallbladder.  They think that I may have some gallstones which are giving me problems.  If that is not the case, they are going to have to go in and do exploratory surgery on my intestines.  The reason for this, is because when you lose so much weight so fast, apparently the intestines can get kinked and twisted and turned and that might be what is also causing alot of my problems and pain.  If it turns out to be gallstones or gallbladder issues, they will go in and remove my gallbladder and then at the same time they do that, will go in and do the exploratory surgery anyways to check everything out.    I also asked him about my dumping and passing out.  I was told that my blood sugar levels are dropping so rapidly down to nothing while I am dumping, that is why I am passing out.  Not good!  But they told me to drink some orange juice or eat some cheese or some type of carb when I am dumping like that.    I told him about my possible publish to a magazine for a website I belong to.  He was very excited and proud of me for that and wants me to send him copies if they do happen to publish me.  He kept calling me a "star" while I was in his office LOL.   They also gave me a prescription for my ulcer as that is consistently giving me problems.  Thankfully they did, because it is way way way cheaper than buying Prilosec OTC.    Funniest and most embarrassing part of my visit was the fact that I had to go in there and talk about my butt LOL.  I have been having problems sitting as it is extremely uncomfortable.  It actually feels like I am sitting on tennis balls.  So the nurse and doc all felt my butt as they thought it was funny and could touch someones butt legally LOL.  Anyways, turns out, that as I thought there was a bunch of fat mass in there, it really only turned out to be my tailbone!  How embarrassing LOL when I didnt realize a tailbone was supposed to hurt when you sat on it!  But the surgeon told me that it would eventually settle down after I get used to it.    We also discussed how much longer I would continue to lose weight.  My weight has slowed down dramatically over the last two months.  He figures I am about done, but will still continue to lose some yet.    While I was in there, my surgeon asked me to come talk to the guy in the other room next to me who had just had the surgery two months ago and kind of cheer him up some and give a brief account of what I had gone through over the last year and how much my life has changed as this guy was feeling quite depressed about the whole situation.  I was glad to talk to him and turned out that he knows one of the ladies that I know who had surgery at the same time I did. And he had already seen my pictures, etc. as my friend had been showing me off to others.    Now, I am waiting to hear from the insurance company for a tummy tuck.  The surgeon says it takes a week to get approval.  After that, I have 1 year to go have a tummy tuck done.  I have a lot of lose skin hanging around my stomach and back.  He explained to me the whole process of the surgery and what it involved, etc.  I will be hospitalized for 2 days.  I am debating on whether to do it before the end of the year since basically our deductible has been completely met, or wait til sometime next year to have it.  I also have to pay out of pocket for a belly button, as insurance will not cover the cost of a belly button.  And I guess I would like to have a belly button, as I do not want something else to give me a low self image or self esteem.  I was very upset though, as I thought all along, that having my arms, butt and boobs done was covered under insurance.  There is a chance that my boobs will be covered, but not sure yet and will have to be by an outside surgeon.  Otherwise, in order to have everything else done, would run about $2,000 each.  So I guess I am SOL on the other areas that need to be done.    So my visit went well.  I just need to do the ultrasound and go from there.  And once the approval comes through for the tummy tuck, then I can schedule a date.  Once again, other than the few side effects I am having from eating, etc.  I am still glad that I did this. 

Sept. 15^th, 2009

Today is my one year “surgiversary”. The last year has flown right by! So today I am going to do a one year update for everyone to show my progress.

Let’s see, I started out a year ago absolutely miserable and depressed. I was not able to care for myself, dress myself, take care of household duties like cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, dishes, etc. I had all I could do to walk through the house. At that time, I was completely dependent on everyone around me, our housekeeper, my walker, cane, wheelchair, scooter and all the other handicap equipment that is spread throughout the house from bars on the walls to raised toilet seats and bath chairs. It was a life that was not any fun whatsoever!

A lot of the above things are a result of the degeneration in my lower spine, but with having major thyroid issues from going from having Graves Disease (severely overactive thyroid) to absolutely no thyroid at all, I gained massive weight. With the back issues, it definitely did not help that I was not active at all. I was completely dormant and stuck in any chair that I sat on and did nothing. When I went to the doctor because of severe swelling and edema in my legs, ankles and feet and found out that I was on the verge of congestive heart failure and diabetes, my family doc really stressed to me how important having gastric bypass surgery was. Because of my immobility, he thought that was the best way for me to go as he had no other solutions for me to lose weight. And if I didn’t lose any weight, the CHF and diabetes would definitely set in along with many other health problems. So he gave me the name of a very highly certified bariatric surgeon.

It took me awhile to contact this surgeon as even though I wanted the surgery and had looked into it in the past and had actually started the process of things that needed to be done prior to surgery while we were still living in Illinois a year prior, I was scared to death to do it. So, I finally contacted the surgeon and went in for my informational session to gather all the information needed prior to being able to actually visit with the surgeon. I did everything I needed to and thankfully I had the hardest part over with already that I had started prior to be approved by the insurance company. After all this was complete, which included a dietician visit, a psyche evaluation, visiting with the surgeon, etc. I was finally approved for the surgery and the date was set!

I had my surgery Sept. 15^th, 2008 in Bismarck, ND. The surgery went well with the exception that I was only suppose to have laparoscopic surgery with 6 incisions, but ended up with laparoscopic plus open surgery. So I was unfortunately sliced all the way down the front. Because of this I ended up having to stay in the hospital for 6 days instead of being able to go home after 2 or 3. At the time of surgery, I started out at 374 lbs.

Since coming home from surgery, I have had many ups and downs and a lot of mixed feelings and emotions about the surgery. I have had constant issues with eating ever since I had the surgery. There are only a few foods that I have been able to eat on a consistent basis over the last year. Those pretty much include homemade soups like bean soup and beef vegetable soups. The only meat that I have been able to eat on a consistent basis is steak and I can eat just about any vegetable only as long as it is steamed. Everything else I have had issues with either on and off or it just does not agree with me at all. And the majority of food does not agree with me at all. I cannot eat any kind of breads, pastas, boxed foods, processed foods, etc. Everything I have eaten has been pretty much homemade. I have done awesome with staying away from sugar as that is a big no no with this surgery as it will make you extremely sick. Once in awhile I have cravings for certain desserts, etc. but it isn’t something that bothers me and I can definitely do without. My tastes changed drastically since I have had surgery. Everything tastes completely different. I have never ever been so picky about my food in my life as I am now. Which definitely makes going out to eat a royal pain. I cannot eat a single thing at any fast food restaurant. The only restaurants I can go to are the ones that serve steak. Oh, and did you know, steak isn’t cheap by any means!!! So as you can see, I deal with many emotional feelings when it comes to eating. I am getting sick of eating the same things over and over, the costs are not fun as I live on steak and fresh produce, the not knowing if I can eat something without getting extremely sick from it, as well as trying to make sure that I am getting enough protein in, as that is top priority with this surgery, with the limited foods that I can eat. About 4 to 5 months after surgery, I unfortunately developed an ulcer at my surgery point. So now I have to deal with that as I am not sure if it will ever heal up or not. I take medicine daily to keep it under control, but when I forget, I definitely pay the price.

Another thing that I am having many mixed emotions about is clothing. It all started that it took over 6 months and losing over 100 lbs. before I could go shopping for new clothes. I went through so many emotions not understanding why I couldn’t go shopping and why my clothes were not getting bigger on me. It was torturing me. But, finally that time came! And so I went out and bought some outfits. Needless to say, that put a huge strain on me and my family financially as the clothes I was finally able to buy, were only fitting for one wearing or none at all, and they would be falling off of me. I went from wearing 4X/5X to a XL/L in a little less than 2 months time. At this point in time, the clothes I am wearing now have been fitting well for a good few weeks and I can actually get some wear out of them. So right at the moment, I am not stressing so much over my clothing.

Ever since surgery, my life has completely changed. I am much more mobile now. I can get around so much better with all the weight gone. I do not use my walker anymore, but I am definitely reliant on my cane. I only use my wheel chair or scooter when we go somewhere that involves a lot of walking. I still cannot walk around in like Wal-mart for instance and have to rely on their scooters, but I am definitely a lot better than I was a year ago! I have since then started doing the dishes on a regular basis again, although I have to sit on a stool as it kills my back to stand. I have been able to help out with the laundry although I can’t carry the baskets as well as helping out with some of the cleaning here and there, certain things. With all that being extremely positive things, I do still definitely deal with chronic pain on a daily basis from my back as well as my fibromyalgia. There is hope that one day I might be able to walk on my own again without the assistance of a cane, etc. As I so much want that to happen, I do not know if it will ever become a reality or not.

Now that I have kind of reflected over the last year, and unfortunately there is a lot I left out, otherwise you would be reading for ages, and I do not want to torture you anymore, I will get on with the actual physical effects of having my surgery.

I started my weight at 374 lbs. and as of today, I am 199 lbs. A total loss of 175 lbs. My ultimate goal is to be at 161 lbs. which puts me right in the center of my BMI for my height and weight. In total, I have lost 78.25 inches on my body!!!!

I am so glad I had the surgery done. I am a much happier and healthier person now. I am still continuing to lose weight, and not sure how much longer it will continue, but was told by the surgeon that most people lose up to 2 years after surgery. But the weight is coming off very slow now, which is expected. I do not know when or if I will hit my ultimate goal or even go below it, but I am definitely satisfied with the results so far. Even though I have many emotions on and off, it was the best decision I have ever made in my life. At this time, I should be having m 1 year check up with my surgeon, but I put it off until Oct. 22^nd as that is most convenient for us to go to Bismarck. At that time, I am sure I will be discussing my surgeon my future of most likely 3 more surgeries that need to be done, possibly 4. These are all covered under the insurance thankfully as they are the result of extreme weightloss. But those surgeries will involve having all the excess skin around my stomach and back removed, a boob job(woohoo, cant wait!!!), the excess skin under my arms removed and I need to talk to him about my rear, as I have so much excess skin there now too that it is becoming extremely uncomfortable to sit anymore. I will update you all again after that visit to inform you of what the next plan of action is, etc. if any.

Just a quick note on my way out: I want to thank everyone who has supported me through this and helped me to cheer up when I was down about this or that. Thank you!!

9/6/2009 - As of today, I am officially in ONEDERLAND!!! WOOHOO!!!   Just shy of my 1 year surgiversary.  Another goal to knock off the chopping block!!! 

7/28/2009 - Let's see, where do I start. I have so much to say. I will start with the fact that my weightloss is going exceptionally well I think. In 10 months, I have lost 161 lbs. My goal is to lose another 52 lbs. to hit my target weight of 161. That puts me right in the middle for my BMI for my weight and height. If I lose more than that, awesome, but that has been my goal since I started this journey.

During the last 10 months I have had many ups and downs. Both physically and mentally. I have been dealing with eating issues pretty much since day 1 of my surgery. There are pretty much a handful of foods that I have been able to eat at any given time throughout this process. What I can eat seems to change all the time, but still only a few foods that I can manage to keep down at once. The only two foods that I have been able to eat on a consistent basis is steak and homemade soups. Needless to say, I am starting to get very sick of both of those foods! But they are pretty much what I have eaten over the last 10 months. And of course, steak is not cheap. I have started buying beef roasts and cutting them up into small steaks to save on money that a friend of mine gave me the idea to do. Chicken has been random. Some days I can eat it, most other days, I cannot. I went through a phase of eating pork, but haven't been able to for a long time. I am actually going to try pork again tonight for dinner and see how it goes. I have not been able to eat turkey, ground beef or any type of shredded meat since my surgery. I miss my salads. I seem to be able to eat just about any kind of vegetable, as long as it is steamed or in my soups, but I cannot handle eating lettuce. I used to live on salads during the summer prior to my surgery, but cannot eat them anymore. I also miss sandwiches. Oh how I would love to eat a turkey sandwich with lettuce and tomato on it. But ever since surgery, I cannot handle bread. Infact, I have not been able to eat any type of bread from biscuits, rolls, etc. The texture of it just makes me sick to my stomach. I have actually eaten more fruit in the past ten months than I ever have in my life. I was never a fruit eater prior to my surgery and I have been living on watermelon the last few months along with my steaks and soup. Eating has been extremely frustrating since having my surgery. I keep trying new foods all the time, but 99% of them just do not agree with me and cause me to either be sick to my stomach just looking at them or to end up in a dumping episode. It is so hard to sit and watch my family or others enjoying a nice fresh salad or something as simple as a sandwich. So that has definitely been tormenting both physically and mentally.

Moving on to a new part of my life that has come into play over the last couple of months. Another very frustrating aspect. When I had my surgery, I could not wait to lose the weight. Yes, I did lose weight and still am losing weight! Hooray for that! But I sat waiting forever to be able to go buy new clothes. I had lost well over 100 lbs. before I could actually start shopping for smaller clothes. For the longest time, I could not understand why I didn't need smaller clothes yet. For quite a long time that really bothered me. Well all of a sudden, I needed new clothes because my old ones were finally starting to fall off me. So out I went, shopping for new clothes, of course at a somewhat slow pace, because by no means am I rich, and clothes are expensive! I needed everything, from bras to shirts, pants, etc. I was happy about being able to buy some new stuff. But now the true frustrations have set in with clothes shopping! For starters, we had our big vacation coming which happened last week. I bought two very nice expensive outfits to take on vacation with us. I also bought two new pairs of shoes to take on vacation. I packed all my clothes up for vacation and we headed out. When we got to our destination and each morning that I got dressed, I found out that all of my clothes were TOO BIG for me. I mean to the point of falling off me and not even pinning them up would have helped. Turned out that I ended up having one pair of shorts and one pair of jeans that fit me half way decent while we were on vacation. Even my shoes ended up being a good inch to big for me!! So there I sat, on vacation, having only a pair of shorts and a pair of jeans that fit me. I ended up buying a bunch of T-shirts while we were on vacation, so I had shirts to fit me. I also ended up buying a pair of shoes. I went all of a sudden from wearing a men's 11.5 shoe to a women's 11 shoe, which I have never been able to wear women's shoes. They said that your feet could shrink some from having this surgery, well they sure were right, of course at the worst possible moment it could have happened, like overnight! A few weeks ago, I was also specially fitted for bras at JC Penny's. I bought one bra that fit me perfect and one that was the next size smaller for when the other one would become too big. Well, needless to say, both bras are already way too big for me. All the clothes that I bought in the last two to three weeks are all too big for me. I have spent soooooo much money on clothes in the last two months, that I have only been able to wear once or maybe twice. What a waste of money!! I just want to scream!! I have been also going to every rummage sale I can find to buy used during this phase, but I am having no luck finding anything in my sizes. I only have access to one second hand store, that also never seems to have my size. What I am to do? I can't walk around naked until I hit a time when my clothes sizes will not change every 3 days. So yet again, very frustrating both physically and mentally.

Aside from all this frustration, as far as my health goes, I have improved greatly. I am able to get around a whole lot better than I could even 3 or 4 months ago and of course a huge change from 10 months ago. Ten months ago, I could not take care of myself, dress myself, could hardly get around, needed help to get out of chairs, etc. I was pretty much completely dependent on my son and hubby to do all of this for me. Since then, I am now able to do all of this on my own with some help needed at times when I am in severe pain from my degeneration in my spine or when I am in a severe fibro flare. I can also walk a lot farther, although still with the aid of my walker and cane. But I have pretty much been able to give up my walker now and I am basically using my cane only on a regular basis. If we go somewhere that involves a lot of walking, I still use my scooter, like I did while we were on vacation at a few places we stopped at. My breathing has gotten a ton times better, and I feel 100 times better. I have a lot more energy. I have been working my butt off at the gym with some pretty rigorous workouts, well for me, since I have not exercised for over 5 years plus. I am dedicated to my workouts and make sure I get them in. Some days I do not want to go at all. After being on vacation for the last 11 days and going to workout yesterday, it felt like I was starting all over again with exercising. It was very hard to get through my workout yesterday! I am definitely feeling it today too! But I will keep on going! I have also been able to get back into doing some minimal housework, for example dishes again, although I have to sit down to do them because of my back, and I have been doing a lot of cooking, although I also need help with that when it comes to lifting hot pans out of the oven or over to the cupboards, table, etc. My life has definitely changed since having surgery. Most times the goodness of the surgery definitely outweighs the bad that I am dealing with and has been worth it, but again at times, sometimes I sit and wonder why in the world I ever did this. Then I have to force myself to sit back and say, this is why I did this and it IS definitely worth it!

Another aspect of this journey that I am having a hard time dealing with is the compliments I have been receiving. After being severely depressed most of my life, I have a very hard time accepting compliments. I am starting to get used to it some now and telling people thankyou, etc. and the really cool part, I am finding that it lifts my spirits. Imagine that! Who would have ever thought after years of self hatred. My hubby has told me a million times over the last month how good I look and I would just say, ya right, I am still the same 'ol ugly me as usual. But I am actually starting to have a different outlook on that and my life as a whole.

My life has definitely changed, from every emotion to every aspect of it. It has also changed my family. And these were things that were brought to our attention prior to having surgery. It would be a total life changing event, and that it has been! My family now eats a lot healthier, as all of our food is now fresh and homemade, nothing canned, boxed or processed. Myself most importantly as well as my family has a different outlook on life too. Most importantly though, I do not how I would have gotten through this without the awesome support of my family. They have been there every step of the way for me and I know they will continue to be. I look forward to what the future holds for myself and family as I continue to go through this journey. And this journey will not end when I hit my goal weight, but will be lifelong!

03/21/09 - Tomorrow night I am headed to Bismarck after hubby gets off of work.  The last two weeks, when I eat, I have been getting a feeling of being like overstuffed after only eating 3 or 4 bites of food and cannot even think about eating anything else.  My liquids are not going down the best the last couple of days either.  Judy finally got ahold of me on late Thursday and we discussed what was going on.  She told me she needed to wait for Deb to get back from rounds with Dr. Bruderer in order to talk to her to see if I should come in.  We both figured I would need to come in.  But she called me back after hours Thursday night and told me I needed to make an appt. because I either have a stricture or because they say I have lost more weight than anticipated that I may be starting to get a hernia.  Judy told me she would call me back Friday morning with a day and time.  I wanted it to be put off until next week Wed, Thurs. or Friday, but Judy told me I could not wait that long.  Judy called me back Friday morning and my appointment for a stomach X-ray is scheduled for 9:30 am on Monday.  Depending on what they find from the X-ray will depend on what kind of procedure or care I will need after that.  I will either have to have the stricture reopened back up again or I am not sure what they do if there is a hernia started.  I was kind of shocked that they had not anticipated I lose this much weight by now.  I thought I was doing really good, and turns out I am losing more than I should be.    And here I thought I could be losing so much more, because when I have problems with my eating and not staying in me, I noticed I do not lose any weight.  But when I am eating, I lose weight pretty regular.  Wonder how much more I would have lost if I could eat normally with no complications since my surgery?!?!  So I am a bit confused.  Anyways, I will update when I get back from Bismarck.  Hopefully I will be back home Monday night, although hard to say since they are calling for 1 to 2 feet of snow between Monday and Tuesday

3/15/2009 - I can't believe it has been 6 months already since surgery!  It has been quite a struggle with my eating ever since November and still continues to be.  I have problems eating many foods that I should be able to eat.  They either turn my stomach before I even eat them just by either looking at them or thinking about them, or they do not agree with me once I do eat them.  I miss sandwiches and salads very much.  I cannot handle bread or handle eating lettuce.  I mainly live on steak, very thin cut pork loins, finally chicken in the last couple of weeks and tomatoes.  Since surgery my tastes have changed alot.  I love, love spicy food, the spicier and hotter the better.  I am also eating pickles like crazy too and haven't really been able to eat them since I delivered my son 14 years ago. It is getting a little old eating the same old stuff, but as long as it stays down, I am eating it.  I keep trying to introduce new foods in, but most of them give me a lot of problems.  I also live on a lot of homemade soups.  I cannot eat canned soup for anything, but the homemade ones go down really nice.   

I am officially down 113 lbs so far and have exactly 100 lbs to lose yet to reach my personal goal of 161 lbs.  I imagine from this point forward, the weightloss will start to slow down and come off at a much slower rate.  I have found that those with this much weight to lose, it usually takes up to about 2 years to completely lose it all.  I am starting to feel a little better, and can get around a little bit better too.  I am back to being able to dress myself again and actually able to do the dishes again, although I have to sit down to be able to do them.  But those are two huge improvements that have taken alot of strain off my hubby and kid.  I also notice that I can stand a little bit longer than I used to be able as well as walk a little bit farther, although I still rely on my cane, walker and scooter/wheelchair to get around.  I am hoping in the future I can eliminate all or a couple of those aids.  Only time will tell with that.   

In the last 2 weeks, I have finally after losing so much weight and going insane wondering why my clothes were not getting big on me, was able to go do a little shopping.  I was shocked when I tried on a shirt at the store and it was 6 sizes smaller than what I was wearing.  It was like all of a sudden the major inches just dropped off my body.  I am also wearing 6 sizes smaller in pants.  I was never in between on the sizes, just went down that much which seemed instantly.  A huge huge change in my clothing was my boobage.  Just as the other clothes all of a sudden changed, so did the boobage lol.  I went from a GGG/HHH to a DD!!!!!  Unfortunately the hubby is crying lol, but it is the best thing for me, especially my back!! It is really cool to be able to look down and actually see my feet and legs.  I don't recall ever being able to do that.  I am looking forward to going on a few shopping sprees with my Christmas presents I got, but the really weird thing is, now that I can, I am afraid to after all the agony and wait and anguish I put myself through waiting for this point in time.  I don't know what to buy or if I should wait a little while longer yet or what.  Ok, so I am just a basketcase ha-ha.   

Ok, just wanted to update you all quick.  Even though I struggle each and everyday with my eating, I am so glad I had this surgery done. With the congestive heart failure and diabetes starting to set in prior to surgery, it was the best thing for me, and wiped those conditions out of me immediately.  So far this is one of the best decisions I have made at possibly changing my life.  I do hope in time I can reach my personal goal of weightloss and can be so much more healthier in the future. 

2/10/09 - I am finally doing an update.  I have slacked from this site for so long.  As of today, I am down 99 lbs and decided to take a couple of pictures and also check my measurements.  I will post the measurements below after I finish updating. 

I have been struggling badly with my eating.  I have not been able to keep food down and I finally called the doc again a few weeks ago and they figure I am going through ketosis.  I had only been able to keep a handful of different kinds of foods down and since working on jacking up my protein some as per docs orders, I have been very slowly introducing new foods into my diet again.  Things are going slow with it, but I am not bringing the food back up anymore.  But I have only been able to introduce a few more foods than what I was eating back into my diet so far.  Through the last 3 months I have struggled with whether this was the right thing that I did or not, but now being down 99 lbs, I guess it was the right thing to do.  It is extremely frustrating not being able to eat a variety of foods though and I should be able to just fine.  So I have a long ways to go yet before that will happen most likely.  It hasnt helped that since I was majorly sick the last week with a combination of the flu and strep throat to work on getting other foods incorporated in.  But I am slowly working on it.  I also have slacked on my exercising due to being sick as well and am waiting for my body to become a bit stronger and better yet before I jump right back into it, as I am not completely 100% yet from being sick, but getting there.  Since my surgery, I have had only ONE dumping episode and OMG, I never want to go through that again.  I thought for sure I was going to die. This was about 3  weeks ago and it was no fun.  I think I had every side effect possible according to my book when I went through my dumping episode.  I was so thankful I was at home when my dumping episode came on.  I would really hate to be out somewhere and have it happen.  So other than all that, I have just been living life as best I can and slowly watching the weight come off.  I am still a bit depressed that even with the drastic measurements I am about to post, I have not been able to go out on any shopping sprees yet I believe I am about at the point though where I might be able to do it soon!!!  So my gift cards I got at Christmas will come in handy soon!!

                                              9/13/08                 10/23/08       2/10/09
Boobage                                               62 in.                              59 1/2 in.                      54 in.            
Waist                                                    57 1/2 in.                      55 1/2 in.                       48 1/2 in.
Hips                                                      63 3/4 in.                      63 in.                               52 3/4 in.
Thigh(RT.)                                           33 in.                              29 3/4 in.                       26 1/2 in.
Calf(RT.)                                              20 in.                             17 in.                               17 in.
Neck                                                     18 1/2 in.                      17 1/2 in.                       16 3/4 in.
Arm(RT.)                                             18 1/2 in.                      18 in.                               15 1/2 in.
Forearm(RT.)                                      15 in.                              13 in.                               13 in.
Wrist(RT.)                                            9 in.                                8 1/2 in.                          8 in.

11-11-08 - Weigh in today has dropped me another 7 lbs and also dropped me below a 50 BMI!!!! I am so happy to be out of the 50 BMI category!!  I also increased my foods yesterday from 1/2 C to 3/4 C.  I had a serious feeling of being full last night at dinner!  I was so full, I could hardly drink anything the rest of the night and I was so thirsty.  My eating is going a little better since my last post, but still could be much better.  There are still quite a bit of foods that I look at and it turns my stomach.  I have been using the medicine on my wrist before I eat still, but I am not sure if it is making any huge impact, as there is still some of the food turning my stomach after I eat it as well.  I plan to post my new measurements maybe tonight, otherwise sometime this week.  My clothes still do not seem to be getting bigger on me, and I do not understand that part of it.  I do know that when I weighed this much prior, I still wore the same size I do now. 

11-07-08 - October 31st was my 6 week check up.  On Thursday, I found out my grandma had passed away and we decided that we were going to go to my appointment and then go to Wisconsin for the funeral.  So we packed up for a long trip.

We left early Friday morning and headed to Bismarck for my appointment.  We got there and I saw Dr. Bruderer and a medical student.  He said I was doing great, had great weightloss and that my stitches were healed enough to get in a pool!! I was kind of saddened that our plans had changed and knew I would not be in a pool that night, due to traveling to Wisconsin.  Anyways, I explained to Dr. Bruderer that I have been having a lot of problems eating.  If I don't look at food and it turns my stomach, then eating it turns my stomach and makes me bring it back up.  Right away he mentioned that bad word "Stricture".  He told me that on my way back from Wisconsin, to stop back in to have a barium X-Ray and that he may have to go in and opening up where my esophagus and stomach are sewn together.  I told him that we would definitely stop back on our way back through town.  He also told me to go back to a semi liquid diet until then. 

So we left for Wisconsin and while on our trip, eating was difficult.  I called ahead to my parents, where we stayed and had them pick me up so pot pies, as I knew I could keep the insides of those down, fudgesicles and a couple other things.  The rest of Friday, I tried eating a couple different things like jerky, etc.  I couldn't keep anything down except for mashed potatoes.  Saturday all I could keep in me was my Crystal Light, mashed potatoes and after we finally got to my parents, I had a pot pie.   Until Monday, I lived on mashed potatoes, pot pies, fudgesicles and Crystal Light.   Tuesday we left for home and before we left Wisconsin, we had to stop and get some cheese!! We bought a bunch of cheese curds, some cheese spread, string cheese, crackers, etc.  I was able to eat some crackers and cheese spread while we were on the road.  Later that night when we stopped at the hotel, I tried some more cheese spread and crackers, but could not stand to eat it at all.  It instantly turned my stomach.  So I ended up eating some soup that we had picked up.  I struggled with it, but it stayed down.

Wednesday, we stopped back at Dr. Bruderer's.  I had called ahead to let them know when I would be there and they set up the X-Ray.  I went and had the X-Ray done and went and waited to see Deb when I was done.  They finally called me in and told me they had not received the report yet, she asked me again what was going on, and asked me if I wanted to go ahead and just do the Upper GI Endoscopy because it definitely sounded like I possibly had a stricture.  So I agreed to it.  She also then gave me a prescription for Promethazine, this medicine that I have to put on my wrist 1/2 hour before I eat to help with the nausea.  I can only use it up to 4 times a day.  We then headed over to the Day Surgery area, where they prepped me for the Endoscopy.  I had to have an iv put in so they could give me some pain medicine and knock me out.  For the first time ever in my life, the nurse managed to get the IV in on the FIRST try!!!! It was in a really bad spot and I couldn't move my hand at all, but at least she got it in.

They then sent me down to surgery.  I was only in there for about 15 to 20 minutes.  They knocked me out and did their thing.  But I believe I started waking up way too soon, because I remember waking up to gagging and choking and not being able to breath.  I remember them flipping me onto my side immediately and telling me to breath through my nose, which I couldn't do because it was all stuffed up.  Then I remember them pulling this long something or other out of my throat.   They then took me back up to the Day Surgery waiting area to get changed and pulled the IV out and I was on my way.  They did find a small stricture and opened it back up some. Dr. Bruderer said I was clear of any hernias, ulcers, etc. while he was in there, so that was good.

I slept all the way home from the pain meds they had given me.  When we got home, I was in massive pain!! My chest hurt so bad, my whole neck hurt, my throat hurt.   I couldnt even breath because it hurt so bad.  I had my hubby call Dr. Bruderer that night and tell him what was going on.  I couldnt even talk.  Dr. Bruderer asked if I had pain meds left from my surgery and told me to take 2 of them.  So I did.  They knocked me out pretty fast and seemed to take away quite a bit of the pain.  Yesterday and today, I still have alot of tenderness in my chest.  It hurts really bad when I cough and sneeze and sometimes when I swallow. 

As far as my eating since I have been home, the medicine to put on my wrist seems to help some.  I ate some pudding today that instantly made me sick.  So no more pudding for awhile again until I get the nerve to try it again.  But I have been putting that medicine on my wrist before I eat each time.  I was given 3 refills on this medicine, but hopefully I do not have to take it for real long.  My eating has been driving me insane and been real depressing dealing with it.  I hope it gets better now. 

I am down another  4 lbs.  as of typing this and at a 50 lb. weightloss so far!!