charlene1

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I can't believe it's almost the middle of August.  I'm seeing my primary care doctor tomorrow.  Haven't seen her in almost 6 months.  Man is she going to be surprised and excited.  For once I'm not going to dread getting on the scale.  Granted I have a lot more to loose but to know I'm under 250 for the first time in...well I can't remember. 

We appealed our home owners insurance company's decision to deny our water damage claim.  Just waiting to hear from our agent who actually came out to see the damage for him self and he couldn't figure out the denial.  Hope to get something done soon.

We moved our daughter to Greensboro 2 weekends ago but she went back to Boone to work before school starts. Brought our 2 "grand-cats" home with us so we've had 4 in the house.  Taking them back to their "mommy" tomorrow after work.  Spending the weekend in Greensboro so we'll see what we can get into.  Any reason to get out of town for awhile is a good thing. 

The insurance company adjuster finally called me yesterday afternoon to let us know our claim has been denied.  I was totally pissed.  I just don't get how they can say that a water pipe burst that was spraying water between the flooring and the insulation isn't covered.  It's not like we could see it or anything.  The adjuster just kept saying that it was a leak and had been going on for some time to have caused the damage.  It's hot and humid where I live and that will make mole spread quicker.  I called our plumber yesterday afternoon and he completely disagrees with the adjusters decision and is going to call and talk to him.  Hopefully he can get the decision reversed.  Regardless all the damage has to be torn out and replaced to the estimate of $8,000.  May not seem like much to some people, but we just had a new roof put on the house earlier this year and just don't have the extra money laying around.  What would life be without credit cards?

The good news in all this is..... I've been really stressed this month because of all this and was quite "angry" yesterday.  If this had happened before surgery  I would have probably turned to my old friend "food" especially junk food and ate myself silly.  Yesterday was different, I didn't want to eat, didn't feel like I needed to eat.  None of the "throw myself into the pantry to see what I can eat" feeling.  Nothing.... I just dealt with it.  At that moment I didn't need food.  What a great feeling.  Maybe this was my first WOW moment. 

I'm feeling pretty good about myself right now!

I just realized I hadn't posted anything since my "Who said the 4th of July is Happy."  First, nothing has been done to fix the water damage to the house.  A adjuster came out, took some pictures of the damage and was gone in 5 minutes.  I just don't understand how an adjuster can submit a report with an estimate of cost without actually going under the house and looking at the damage.  Anyway, 2 estimates later, which is higher than the adjuster I've called the insurance company to find out how we proceed.

Now the great news....I was 2 months post op yesterday and with the weight I lost the month before surgery I've lost a total of 57 pounds.  My clothes are getting bigger, well they aren't getting bigger....I'm getting smaller and it's a great feeling to be able to begin to see the difference.  I believe seeing the difference in my clothes is better than seeing the weight on the scale.  Speaking of scales, they haven't moved in a 1 1/2 weeks.  Kind of dis-hearting, but I've decided not to pay as much attention to the scales as much as how I feel and fitting into a smaller size.  Scales play just a mind game and I'm not  to playing this one anymore. 

Also celebrating my 2 month post op, my husband and I decided it was time to really get serious about exercise and went to the gym yesterday.  57 pounds lighter also made a difference on what I could do and not get tired or having my knees or back hurt.  My goal is to hit the gym 3 more times this week. 

I love my RYN 

Happy 4th of July????  Who said it was happy.  This has been a very stressful week.  Thank goodness I had RNY and can't eat that much or else I'm afraid I would have gone over the edge this week.  Earlier this week our air conditioning went out.  Not just one unit but both of our units as we have a two story house.  Along the NC coast it's hot and humid.  Hot isn't so bad I just can't stand  the humidity.  We scrambled around and found someone who could come out to look at them.  Of course the worst possible thing that could happen?  They couldn't be fixed so we purchased 2 new units. 

Did I say that was the worst possible thing that could happen.  Guess again.  The AC guy went under the house to check the duct work and discovered we had a water leak.  On a Friday evening, the day before the 4th what's the change of finding a plumber who won't charge a arm and leg to come out.  I called a plumber who we've used before and has always been very fair in pricing.  I left a message and he called back and said he'd stop by July 4th morning.  He's been covered up with work and was working that day anyway. 

July 4th morning he came by and discovered we had a busted water pipe under the house and apparently had been busted for awhile.  He turned off the main water connection, replaced the pipe and went back out to turn the water on, but discovered the meter was still running.  Another pipe busted so he had to replace that one.  I was okay with this but........

My meltdown came later when my husband came in and said we had more problems.  From the first busted pipe we have a lot of mole and water under the house.  Floor joist are damaged and we may have to have flooring torn out and replaced.  I normally deal with things really good, but this one just hit hard and I just sat down and cried and cried and cried.  I was only thinking about how much this would cost and that we couldn't afford it.  I managed to pull myself together and started feeling better after the plumber mentioned our homeowners insurance would probably cover the cost.

Our plumber put us in touch with someone who repairs this type of thing and he's coming out Monday or Tuesday to evaluate and give us a estimate at which time we can contact our insurance company.  I'm feeling a little better about that possibility.

Oh, by the way it doesn't end there.  The plumber also told us we had piping/plumbing in the house that is under a class action suit because it's faulty.  The class action suit is for 15 years and our house is now in the 15th year so he said we needed to file a claim as soon as possible because they will have to cover having the entire house re-piped.  Apparently this had happened to one of our neighbor's and there's was just re-done.  The plumber said to think of it this way.....You'll end up with just about a new house.    Nice to think of but the inconvenience of having flooring torn out, kitchen cabinets, possibly everything in the bathrooms downstairs if the entire 1st floor has to be redone.....I may need nerve pills is this happens.

Oh well,  Happy 4th of July!  

My husband and I purchased the Active for our Wii and I decided to try it out this afternoon.  My daughter recommended it since she has one and loves it.  You can pick the exercises you want to do or start the 30 day challenge.  My daughter recommended I start with the easy setting on the challenge and she was correct.  I did 15 of the 16 exercises.  My knees started hurting on the squats so I skipped it.  The total time was 22 minutes and I burned 160 calories.  I do believe I'm really going to like this!

Today was my second visit to the doctor since surgery May 19th.  The PA was pleased with my progress so far and said I was doing great for not quite 1 month post op.  I'd been taking a blood pressure pill and a fluid pill before surgery but my surgeon took me off the fluid pill after surgery since I needed to retain all my fluids.  So far my blood pressure is great without that pill and hopefully the more weight I loose I'll be able to come off the other blood pressure med.

I talked to the PA about my fluids and protein and she agreed I should stay on soft and pureed foods for a little longer then start experimenting with different foods.  She reminded me as I start adding veggies and fruits to make sure I eat my protein first.  She also told me I could start going to the gym late this week or the beginning of next and not to push it in the beginning.  I asked her about the terrible taste I always seem to have in my mouth and she said that could still be from the anesthesia.  My late afternoon tiredness can also be from the anesthesia, surgery, and not having enough protein.  I tend to have normal to low blood sugar readings and most of the time I know when I need protein but it seems I'm just exhausted after working and running around the office.  That will get better as well.

Now, according to their scales I've lost 36 pounds since my first visit to the doctor to see about having surgery.  My scales from April 19th (1 month before surgery) is 41 pounds.  I'll take either, it doesn't matter.  One thing I know for sure, I feel so much better already and am noticing my clothes are a little looser.  

This is only the beginning of a new me..........

My nutritionist responded to my email and suggested I might want to go back to full liquids for another week since I'm unable to get my fluid and protein goals on the pureed food stage.  According to the nutritionist at 3 weeks post op I should have been having 3 oz pureed foods 3 times daily and drinking 8 oz fluids in between, also a snack mid morning, mid afternoon and in the evening.  This just wasn't working for me.  I felt like I was stuffing myself and that's probably the reason I got sick Monday.  Anyway I've decided I'm going to incorporate more of the protein shakes to get more fluid and meet my protein goals.  I'm still going to try a little pureed foods, just in a smaller amount that I was trying.  Hopefully this will help. 

Yesterday wasn't such a good day.  I had tuna salad for lunch which seemed to go down pretty well.  About 1 hour later I took a sip of tea (no sugar) and almost immediately started feeling pain like really bad heart burn.  Felt like I could throw up but didn't.  I immediately turned to my OH family since this was the first time I've experienced this.  Thanks so much to all of you you send messages so quickly.  Everyone here is amazing! 

I felt pretty bad much of the afternoon, missed my nutritionist meeting and my support group.  I was afraid to eat, afraid to drink but finally ate a small amount of sugar free pudding.  Not long after that I did get kinda sick and hit the bathroom.  This morning I'm much better and really taking it easy on what I'm eating and the amount.  I also emailed the nutritionist about the sheet I was given for weeks 3-4 post op.  There's no way I can consume the amount of the recommended fluids and foods at this point.  We'll see what she says, but as I said I'm taking it easy on the amount of foods now.

I started pureed foods Friday which is suppose to last two weeks.  So far so good, but I am finding it's still hard for me to get in the required fluids and protein.  Any way this morning I asked my husband if we could go out for breakfast.  I think he was a little hesitant but we went to this little place close to our home.  I ordered 1 scrambled egg and grits.  It took me a good 30 minutes to eat the egg and about 1/4 of the order of grits.  It was wonderful, but I think I might have eaten just a little to much.  Even so, it was nice to eat somewhere else besides the house.  I have a nutritionist appt. tomorrow at 4:30 and support group at 6:00 so it's going to be a busy day.

Today is the last day of May and has been a beautiful one.  My husband is feeling so much better for which I'm thankful.  We sat on the deck this morning enjoying the sun and light breeze.  He's helped me so much with planting flowers in all kinds of pots so there's flowers everywhere and we've rearranged our out door furniture and have put out the tiki torches. 

It's hard to believe my surgery was only 12 days ago.  Honestly I don't feel as though I've had surgery.  I've been walking everyday since I came home and today walked 1 mile on the treadmill.  We're going to get out the Wii Fit this afternoon and see what I can do.  The doctor said nothing strenuous yet so we'll see what I can do.  I'm still on full liquids until Friday, then it's pureed foods.  Something doesn't really sound so good about pureed, but I'm getting use to the idea.  I've had several suggestions from others from this website (thanks to everyone).  This website is a great sorce of infromation and support and suggestions from other's who've already gone through this process. 

Take one day at a time and make each day count!