Elizabeth M.

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 Wow can you believe it! Only Eleven more days until I start my new life. That is if my insurance appoves me. I talked to the insurance specialist Patty and she told me they denied my surgery because there is no clause in my insurance that covers revisions. But she assured me that the doctor was going to call and take care of it because my surgery is medically necessary. The rupture in my staple line in my stomach has to be fixed. I haven't heard from her today. I will give it until Monday maybe Tuesday and if I don't hear from her by then I will call again.  Goodbye for now.
Tedi

I got my CPAP machine yesterday. I slept with it on last night. I hope that I will feel better than I did this moring. I woke with a headache about 3 AM so I check to make sure the mask was fitting tight and that the air was coming through the machine. It was but I still woke up sleepy this morning and caught myself dozing of at work. The man from Health Care Solutions called to check on me today and I told him how I felt. He said that with some people it takes time. I sure hope that it  helps because I am sick and tired of feeling sick and tired.
Tedi
By the way only 20 more days to go!

Last night I had my 1st sleep study. Judy the Technician was very nice. She helped me to try on a few of the head gear for the CPAP machine. If I tested positive for Sleep Apnea  I would need to come back for a second night to wear the CPAP Machine while monitored so that it could be adjusted to my specific needs.  Each of the peices of soft plastic adaptors were different in shape and size. One was a soft rectangle that fit directly under my nose, the second one fit over my nose incasing it. Judy told me to breath only through my nose and to keep my mouth closed. It was okay when I inhaled but exhaling made me feel as though I was going to sufficate. It was very unconfortable. The third mask covered both my nose and mouth it was a little less irratating then the other two but at least I could breath through my mouth if I needed to. Judy then hooked up the electrodes to my scalp, face, and leggs. The wires led to a flat panel that was a wireless remote to the computer that read the information while I slept. The test was video taped and there was a microphone attached to my neck to detect snoring.  The test was done at a very nice Holiday Inn Express so I felt comfortable and didn't have much trouble falling asleep. Staying asleep in a bed that isn't my own is another story. I have 3 bulging disc in my lower back at L3,4 &5 the pain makes me roll over from my side to my back off and on all night. I remember waking to roll over at least 2 times. Around 1 AM Judy returned and I asked her if I had stopped breathing at all. She told me a few times which had corresponded with me waking up and rolling over in the bed. She explained that because I had stopped breathing she was going to fit me with the CPAP machine and monitor me the remainder of the night. Since the night was split in two I may not have to go back for the 2nd night to adjust the CPAP to my specific needs. I remember waking a few more times to roll over. Judy returned at 5 AM and told me I did well and to call the office for the results next Friday. I will write more when I find out the results.
Tedi

I talked to Patty today August 18, 2008 is the new date for my surgery! 29 days and counting!

Wow  can believe it has been so long since I wrote in this blog. I got a call from my Surgeon's office today! I had an upper GI done on Thursday July 10. I certainly was not expecting what she told me. I have a rupture in my staple line! Patty the nurse that handles the insurance explained that because of the rupture it precludes all of the requirements that my insurance requires for me to qualify for surgery. She wanted me to schedule my surgery for July 30. I would love to do it but I just cannot get the time off of work. So I set up a tenative date for August 25. That may change to August 18 after I speak with my boss tomorrow! I am
EXCITED SCHOCKED  SCAREDREADY TO PARTY

Who says lighting doesn't strike twice in the same place! I have so much to do before this happens! It is only 4 weeks away.
Tedi

OH MY GOSH! i CANNOT BELIVE THIS!  I lost 5 pounds in 1 week!
I have been exercising every day M-F. I go to the gym everyday before work. I also make sure to update my info on FitDay.com  I just love that website.
It make me responsible for what I put in my mouth! Can you believe this. I have lost 14.5 lbs in one month IN ONE MONTH. WOW!

Miriacles are My responsibility!  

What does the word Miracle mean to Me? Simple... I have a responsibility to create miracles in my own life.  The responsibility lies on my sholders. I cannot blame anyone else, and I cannot look outside of myself for someone else to create a miracle for me.

I am going to break down the word "Miracle", beacause I have a responsibility to understand WHY I want to lose weight.  It is my goal to take responsibility and realize that I have the innate ability to create miracles.

M-Means Momentum..., which is created by me. I must create momentum in my life for myself,  for my family, for my sucess, for my health. I create Momentum! No one else will do it for me. I am not a surfer waiting for the next wave to come in. I and only I can create my own Momentum to drive myself toward creating my Mircale!

I-Stands for Incentive...! I must have something inciting me to action...my ultimate "WHY?". Why do I want to lose weight? An incentive builds the foundation that keeps me focused on my Miracle. No doubt about it! But, again it is my responcibliity to determine what my incentive is and how it will dirve me toward my Miracle!

R-Stands for Revelation...! As I write this today, I will get a Revelation! It is my responsibility...no one eles's. It doesn't matter who I am or where I come from or how much weight  I have to lose... I will get a Revelation! I can and will create Miracles.

A-Stands for Action...! I have heard this before but I will print it out and decided that I am going to take Action to create Miracles. Once again, no one will do it for me! I will take the Action that I know that I need to take to create my Miracle!

C-Stands for Commitment...! Finally once and for all I will dive right in and get commited to my weight lost...my Miracle! I will commit! I will go for it!

L-Stands for Love...! I must Love myself. I must Love the Miracle that I am focused on creating. If my Miracle is about just losing the weight I will fail! My Miracle cannot be based on weight loss only. My Miracle must be based on what I can to to impact my health and how that can help me to help others, which will produce true Mircales! I will not let anyone else tell me what I must do to lose weight. I have to Love me enough to create my own Miracles!

E-Stands for Energy...! I am going to need Energy to create my Miracle. There is no such thing as it "falling in my lap", "Luck", or "winning the Lotto so I can have Lipo" in my mindset of success. It will take hard work! I need the Energy to take those daily action steps to create my Miracle. Again, it is my responsibility to maintain my energy to create my Miracle. 

My Miracle of  weight loss is my responsibility!

I like Dr. Hosseini she is very nice and really wants to see me succeed.   She took my bp and checked me out all over. She wants me to get a mamagram and see a gynocologist. She also recommended a therapist for me talk about why I use food as a comfort. I will have to check to see what my copay is for that before I make an appointment. 
She took copies of my food journal, weight/bmi I brought from Trim for Life. She seemed to be impressed with what I was doing and said as long as I continue she would have no problem writing a letter of recommendation for WLS. I am very excited about all of this.  I hope that I can keep it up somedays I just want to quit but then I think about how good I am feeling and how much better I am going to feel The goals that I want to accomplish helps to motivate me to keep on going too.

This website has been a God sent for me. I have never been self motivated to do much of anything least of all diet & exercise.  I pray everyday for the strength to stay committed.
Tedi

I have a new pcp and my first appointment is Thursday 4/10/08. My insurance requires me to do 3 months of physician supervised diet and exercise. I felt I needed to change PCP because I had to travel a long distance to go to my old doctor. This new doctor was recommended to me by Judy Owens she is the director of the Trim for Life program I joined at our local hospital. Trinity Hospital used to have a bariatric program but it was discontinued becasue of lack of support. The doctor I am going to see was part of the program so she is aware of the requirements that must be met by me and has had to write letters of recomendation for Weight Loss Surgery. I am a little nervous about seeing a new doctor but I am sure everything will be ok. 
A fellow OH member told me about another website called fitday.com it is a free diet and weight loss journal. I started mine today. I hope to be able to print it out the food journal part and take it with me to the doctor. I suck at trying to write all that I eat down. But with Fit day I can enter it on line at home or at work. It also helps me to keep track of my exercise and gives me charts on Calorie intake VS Calories Burned that is so cool. It does a lot more but haven't had time to check it all out. I will write again after I see the doctor.
Tedi 

Hi ,
I just thought about it I didn't post my weight loss! I went to the gym for 5 days last week Monday-Friday. Monday I weighed 346lbs I had to stop myself from getting on the scale until Friday. Being patient is something I have always had trouble with. I have a magnet on my frig that says "God grant me patients but, please hurry!"  I was able to wait until Friday 3/28/08 and it was worth the wait I LOST 4 LBS! I couldn't beleive my eyes I wanted to cry! 

I had my grand kids over for the weekend we went to the movies to see Horton Hear's a Who. It was fun. I had some popcorn and a big cup of cherry coke. I haven't had any pop for months. We went to Applebee's for lunch and I couldn't finish my lunch as usual but that's ok I am learning to listen to my body about when it is full. I saw a commercial on TV for a program called 
'I can make you thin." The man that is the host of the show is named Paul McKenna. I went to his website and he has a lot of information on there about the people that have lost weight by following his program. He has what is call the 4 golden rules. 
1. When you are hungary Eat!
2. Eat what you want not what you think you should.
3. Eat CONSCIOUSLY and enjoy every mouthful.
4. When you think you are full, STOP eating.
The rules are simple but there is a little more to it if you would like to look it up his website is www.mckenna.com
The reason I am telling you this is because I have been doing it. The only thing I found that I didn't agree with is that Paul is a hypnotist and I do not want to be hypnotised. So I didn't  listen to that part of the website. But the rest of the site is cool.
Anyway I haven't been overeating and I am feeling better everyday. I noticed today that my pants feel a little loser. . 
I have been making small changes in my habits over the last year and a half, doing my best to break some bad habits and replacing them with good ones. 
The very first thing I did was get rid of all of the processed foods in my cupboards. I gave them to my kids and some I cooked I just could not afford to throw them away and then replace them. But when I bought more food I replaced it with good healthy food. Nothing I buy now is processed. I cook all my meals from scratch.

Next I used up all the canned veggies and started replacing them with fresh or frozen.  I found out that frozen veggies are actually sometimes better than even the fresh ones. Frozen veggies are not picked until they are at the peak of ripness and then they are flash frozen to keep them fresh. Fresh veggies are picked before they are ripe and ripen on the way to market in trucks so a lot of the nutrients that would be in them is lost because they are picked to soon.  Therefore they are not as healthy as frozen. 
I also realized that I am a carbohydrate addict!  so I went though my cupboards again and got rid of anything with white flour and replaced it with Whole Wheat Products. 
The next step I took was to make sure of what I was allergic too by aliminating foods from my diet and adding them back in. I found out that I had a possible allergy to wheat  it was causing me a lot of problems with diarreah. I later comfirmed my allergy with a test from my doctor.  That was a tough one to give up. I am such a carboholic. I replaced my  wheat with Tahi Jasmine Rice and Indian Balsam Rice. I also look for products made with rice, soy and oats. There are a lot of products made from soy even PASTA NOODLES!  a fellow OH member turned me on to a cool website called hungarygirl.com  I found a lot of gluten free product information on that site.
I have also slowly been drinking more water. It was very rare for me to drink even 1 cup of water a day. Now I drink no less than a 1/2 gallon each day. I started by putting a gallon of water in the frig and trying to drink as much of it as I could thoughout the day. I start first thing in the morning with a 12 oz glass of cold water as soon as I get out of bed, even before my 1 cup of coffee that I drink everyday. (I have never been a big coffee drinker but it gives me the little boost I need in the morning to start my day.) I bought myself a 1-liter bottle that I can take with me and I fill it up at least twice a day. It wasn't easy to learn to drink that much water or make any of the changes that I have made but I didn't do them all at once and I didn't expect myself to change over night.

That brings us to the most resent change in my life EXERCISE! As I said in my last Blog I am finding that I actually like it. I am really proud of myself for making all the changes I have made. I feel better about me and I think it shows in everything I do. Even if I don't get approval for my WLS it won't be the end of the world. WLS is just a tool to get me to my goal faster. I will lose this weight even if it takes me 5 yrs to do it and I intend to keep it off. I didn't get fat over night why would I think I can get healthy overnight.
I hope that this blog helps anyone who has a chance to read it. 
A jouney of a lifetime begins with the first step.
Very Truly Yours,
Tedi