Crackintoes
Surgery gave me...life!
Mar 04, 2012
Hi
I haven't been on in a while. Amazing how I started taking care of me and next thing I know, I'm not sitting in front of the computer 5 hours/day. I hesitate to start writing this blog because it's 10:36pm and I've been wanting to head up to bed for over an hour but just wanted to catch up a bit.
So I'm almost 10 months post-surgery and I'm down 111lbs. I'm about 20 from my goal weight. The scale has been really tricky this past couple of months so I haven't been getting on it very often. I'll get on one day and be down two pounds and get on it the next week and have those two pounds back plus another. It's fluctuating up and down but I'm not one bit concerned because I can see/feel it in my clothes that I'm still going in the right direction. I can officially shop in normal stores and to my incredible amazement, the store I've been doing a great deal of shopping at is SportsMart & SportsCheck. WTF!?!!?! Who'd a thunk it!?! :)
I went on a bit of a spree at one of their store closeout sales so I've got my golf balls for this summer, my first pair of roller-blades ever (I used to roller skate as a kid but the blade thing is different. I also got a pair of these for my boy so I can drag him out with me). I got a beautiful tennis racquet. (I don't know if I mentioned in another blog but I took a tennis course with another member this summer and I'm absolutely hooked!!! I love it.). I also got three pairs of running shoes. Pre-surgery, I had one pair of $14 Walmart running shoes that I'd had for about 5 years. Now I'm one of those crazy people who buys the really pricy pairs (but always make sure I get a good deal! eg. $170 pair for $75...)
Anyways, for the winter months I've taken up playing volleyball (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE) and badminton (like but still not great and playing with a very competitive bunch) and also working towards my goal of running the 5K in Ottawa Race Weekend in May. I started with a walking club in November and a learn to run club that started three weeks ago. We get together on Sundays and we repeat that week's challenge 2-3 times/week on our own between Sundays. I'm not fully convinced that I'll be able to run the full 5K but I'm going to give it my best. So far I've been able to keep right up with the running club and that in itself is amazing so who knows...maybe I'll be able to silence the lying voice inside that keeps trying to tell me "I can't". I'm feeling really quite proud of myself for today. That's a new feeling for sure.
Other than that, I do some ice skating and swimming with by son and do a lot more cooking/eating at home that we ever have in his 9-years.
I've had a few health issues. I've developped reactive hypoglycemia and I'm also having some pretty severe bouts of dizziness and vertigo (which it turns out are different things). Not sure if that's surgery related or not but I just took off a holter monitor today after 48 hours (it's like an ecg that you wear for 48 hours). Of course, I didn't have any symptoms while I was wearing it!!! The other two consults I'm waiting on in this investigation process is ENT as it may be ear related and Vascular as (and I think this is the true cause) it may be related to restricted blood flow at the back of my neck. The vertigo is pretty brutal when it strikes and can knock me on my ass for a day or two but fortunately it's only happened four or five times. Fingers crossed that it just works itself out while I wait to see the other specialists.
Other than that and trying to be vigilant with my diet and food choices, things are pretty fantastic. I've joined a psycho-educational group that's offered through the WMC to try to deal with some of the issues that don't get removed surgically (denial, self-talk, etc) but to be honest, I'm finding it...meh! Most of the people in the group seem really closed off and one of the two group moderators/leaders (a very young and obviously inexperienced psychologist) is not helping matters with her anal-retentive approach. Her nervousness and tension is not conducive to having folks open up. Oh well, if nothing else, I've learned a few things and I can be grateful how far I've come already with the head stuff.
I didn't realize how severely at the time but I was really quite isolated physically, mentally and spiritually by the baggage I carried. It's so amazing to rejoin society and feel proud of my efforts and accomplishments. Every day isn't roses but I feel so lucky and blessed.
Damn...I knew if I started I'd never shut up!!!! It's now 11:03 and I've got to get to bed. Sunday is a very heavy day for me and sadly it's followed by Monday so I best get some good sleep.
Wishing you all happy and healthy days ahead.
C
