havoc103

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 Still around!

 

10 months out from surgery and 115lbs down. I’ll take some updated pics and get them posted by the weekend.

I have been doing great, no problems. I eat what I want and very few things have given me any trouble. I stared in a size 24-26 and now my size is a 14 but that seems to be wanting to change soon. Come on 12!

Last time I posted about worring about riding the rides at 6 Flags, well that was so much fun. I love amusement parks now. I can’t wait to go back to Knott’s Berry Farms and ride all the ones I wanted to but couldn’t last time.

WOW #1: I don’t flaot! And yes, that’s a good thing. I love to relax in our hottub but ever since we got it I had been complaining that I couldn’t sit in the deep jetted seat. I thought I needed to get seatbelts installed, LOL. But now that I have lost so much weight I see that it was just my fat rolls that kept me floating out of the seat. NOW, my bony butt sits in there just fine, all except for that if I put the jets on high, they now have more power to push me out of the seat.

WOW #2: Another funny thing is that I CANNOT walk out great dane. He now has the strength to pull me wherever he wants to go. We took a family walk the other night and he wanted to go meet another dog that was barking at him from behind the fence and no matter how hard I dug in, I had no control. Tone and I had to switch dogs. Lady, our 12 yo lab/pointer cross) is only 45lbs, where Diesel is well over 100lbs by now.

I try to run every morning, which usually ends up ever other morning. I take Lady with me, she’s a great mush dog. When I start slowing down she keeps pulling me along.

Most days I feel great but then there are some days that I feel like I look so old and my body is so saggy and baggy that how could I possibly go out like this. Thankfully there are more good days than bad.

OK, well theres my ramble, but I just wanted to get an update posted.  Thanks everyone for the encouragement, it means the world.

Howdy lovelies!

Well 6 months out from surgery and 97lbs down. I’ll take some updated pics and get them posted by the weekend.

I have been doing great, no problems. I eat what I want and very few things have given me any trouble. I stared in a size 24-26 and now my size 16’s are getting loose. It is such a trip.

We are planning a trip to visit friends and family over spring break and I can’t wait to see everyone and reveal the new me. My father has always been a health nut and I know he has been ashamed of just how out of shape I had become. He had been a fan of me getting the surgery even before I made the jump. This will be an interesting visit. I have TONS of energy and wow; I really don’t take crap from people like I did before. I have a newfound self-confidence that allows me to stand up for myself and refuse to let anyone walk over me. But, I am having trouble with one thing, here it goes… One part of our spring break trip we will be doing the theme park, 6 Flags over Texas and I must say I am still scared that I won’t fit into the seats. I have the fear of having to take that dreaded “Fat Girl Walk of Shame” like I did so many years ago when we were at Knott’s Berry Farms. I love to ride the rides but do I pay for a rider ticket and risk it, or do I just pay for a visitor ticket and wait until next time…?

On another note, I reached two great goals!!! I no longer qualify for weight loss surgery based on my bmi, AND I now weigh less than my husband! I really don’t remember the last time I could say that, surely not in the 12 years we have been married. Maybe in high school, before we were together, when we were just friends.

I still exercise everyday and even RAN, or jogged a few times. Sometimes I am walking so fast that I just have the urge to pick it up and when I do it feels GREAT! I did this the first time over the New Years holiday and my son loved running around the park with me, his “poor, wittle, weggs” got tired before mine! It was the best day ever; I remember it like it was yesterday. Oh and I got this really cool thing to help with my exercise program. It’s called the Nike+. Well I didn’t even know I had the shoes already but my hubby pointed out that Nike had this contraption that fits into a pocket of your shoe and a receiver that plugs into your ipod. Then, while you are listening to your play list the Nike+ voice comes on and tells you your stats like “5 minutes reaming”, or “300 calories burned, 1.6 miles,” stuff like that. Then when you plug in your ipod to the computer, itunes automatically sends your workout info to the NikeRun website and it’s great. Kind of like this site but for exercise only. Totally cool. I highly recommend it.

Anyhow, I better get this posted before I get sidetracked and it doesn’t get done again.

Well not much to add. But I just added some before and after photos.
Pretty revealing, still look huge to me but the complements have been flying by with great things from from everywhere I go. Even strangers. I had the worst stall over the past 2.5 weeks. I was STUCK, nothing happening, so I actually STOPPED working out for three days and whoosh,..down another 5lbs  in a blink of an eye. Not to say that is the right thing to do but I just think I needed to change it up a bit. I am going to try Jazzercise instead of the gym. A friend is an instructor at Jazzercise and she said that going to the gym, I have just been doing the same things over and over so I needed to change it up and she gave me a few coupons for free classes. She said that at least in the class setting they are always changing up the routine and that should help the weightloss start back up again. Wish me luck!!! I'll let you know how it goes!

Friday, 11/7 was my 3 month check-up with Dr. Syn.
The dreaded 5 hour drive each way wasn’t too bad. I meet up with another lady who had her surgery just  hours before mine nad we drive together, Well, her husband drives and we visit.
I am officially down 50lbs according to his scale. That is 6 lbs heavier than my home scale but I guess who cares. He was happy. He said it was a bit slower than most but good anyway and to keep up the good work. He also commented that perhapse it was my extra gym activities that is building muscle and that is weighing more than the fat.
So back to work and back to the gym. Dr Dyn gave me a goal of another 47lbs gone by my next visit,…2/6/09! I’ll be doing that elliptical while I sleep.

OK, where do I start? Well things are going good. Seems a little slower than most. Maybe?! I’ll know more when I see my surgeon for my checkup on Friday.

Since being home I have lost, according to my scale, 60 lbs. I have gone from a size 24 and some 26’s to a comfy 20 and some tight 18’s.  And shoes, they are starting to feel big and fall off my heels when I walk.

I have been pretty good about getting in all the pills and protein. Eating has been good for the most part as well. I have had a few dumping episodes. Once was with some baked beans. I only had a couple bites but that’s all it took. Then there was the chicken nugget, my son loves McDonald’s so my hubby took him and I just ran in to meet them before we went home and since I hadn’t eaten I grabbed on of those nuggets and whoa, not good. I had to go home, lay on the bed and cover up from the chills.. I haven’t thrown-up from anything though I sure wanted to that day.

Then for about a month, maybe all of October I have had this BURNING pain just to the right side of my incision area and it hurt so bad. I put back on my binder and wore it forever. I couldn’t sleep on my side, I couldn’t get up using my right arm, I couldn’t do anything that required any abdominal strength or use of my arm without feeling like I was being stabbed with a burning knife inside. So with my trusty best friend, my binder we got thorough it. I wore that binder everyday and night. The firm pressure helped and kept me from getting to confident and reminded me to be careful. I just took off my binder this past weekend when I noticed there wasn’t any pain after taking a bath so I haven’t had it on since and everything seems to be fine and pain-free. (knock-knock on wood).
 
I have a few wow’s to share:

Wow #1: I was called into my boss's office. And when I sat down in her guest chair, (one of those pesky conference table type chairs with the metal arms) I didn't have to squeeze... I just sat down; and was actually comfortable, not touching the sides. I just smiled my biggest. It didn't matter what I was there about or what she was going to tell me, I was having a moment.

Wow #2: notice my new profile pic?? Well for the first time in my entire life I took a picture that I thought I actually looked pretty. No double chin, flawless skin and white teeth.

Wow #3: I actually went camping! I haven’t been camping since I was maybe 15. Well I guess it’s my new found sense of adventure but I arranged a family camping trip and we fished, we hiked and spent quality family time together.

Wow #4: I LOVE THE GYM! I caught the working out bug and I love it. I am out the door by 4:15am for 45 mins every workday morning, again after I get home from work. Each visit to the gym is at least a 45 min cardio workout. Then while at work, I take a 30 min walk for my break and just to get out from behind my desk. Then on Saturday mornings, it is Carson and mommy mornings out. We both get ready in out workout clothes and go to starbucks for a coffee. We chat about what else we are going to do that day and then we head off to the gym. He is 3 (will be 4 in two weeks) and they have a FitKids class that he loves. He does his class while I sneak in one short 30 min cardio workout and off we go about our day. I’m so happy to be including him in my new healthy habits. He has even been reading food labels and looking at sugars and fats before he makes his choice at the grocery store.

Well, so that’s about it for now. I have been going through my closet and trying to organize my old clothes to get rid of to make room for the new ones. I have been buying up “goal clothes”. I got this cute chocolate brown with light pink piping skirt that I can’t wait to get into. One day…

Thanks for letting me ramble, I’ll try to update more often so it’s not so looong.

Well my surgery went perfect. Easier than I imagined. I was getting a little crazed waiting but as soon as I got the "Margarita 6-pack" in a shot as I was rolling into the OR I was basically out. Next thing I remember is vague/foggy vision of the mask coming down over me and then waking up realizing that it was done, the shock that this had really happened and there was no backing out now, I was bandaged up and DONE! My wake was a little rough just because I didn't know what to expect really. Everyone had tales but as usual everyone is different. I kept saying I don't feel good but never got sick.
My surgery was about 11:30am on 8/7 and I was released from the hospital by 10:30 the next morning. Dr Syn said my surgery went great and didn't even make me wait around for the post-op test, he said everything went good and I have been up walking around the hospital that it was better for me to just get on out of the hospital.
So my first week appointment I had lost 10lbs from my pre-op and, as of today I am down 22lbs from my stating weight.

Today is my first day back to work. I was going nuts staying home. I was shopping instead of relaxing and resting so I need to MAKE $ not spend $. I told them I would come in today and see about half days at least and just see how it goes.

My first appointment was for the gall bladder ultrasound. It was scheduled for 10am, I thought that since I also needed blood work that I would get there at 9am to get that done first. Well no need. But I was able to get started on everything early and was walking out of UMC by 11am. The did the blood-work at the nurse's evaluation. Everyone was so nice. I have never had such a great experience at a hospital. Anytime I asked someone where something was, instead of just sending me down the hall to be someone else's problem, they not only answered me with a smile, they even got up and walked me to the next office and got me checked in. I feel blessed to be having such a life changing event surrounded by such great caring people. Thanks for the prayer, must have helped!
Then I met my friend for a light lunch, since I still had to weigh-in on Syn's scale at 1:30. My visit there started with a weigh-in (down 9lbs officially) blood pressure (which was finally down I think due to passing my weigh-in test) then a meeting with Dr Syn. He looked up the test results from the hospital that morning and went over things. I have gall stones so he said he would take my gall bladder out at the same time. He scheduled my surgery, said I was 2nd on his schedule on the 7th so to check in at the hospital at 6am. Asked if I had any questions for him and that was that. Then I had to wait just a bit more to vitis with the NUT, basically go over everything again. Give some more tips and let me know how much protein I am to shoot for daily after surgery. She had some more info on things that I need to get like vitas and where to find a few of the protein mix's I had read about. Then I was sent on my way.

Heading out tomorrow for my pre-op testing.
Since it's just a quick trip I am going alone, just hopping on a plane tomorrow evening and have hospital tests and meeting with the surgeon on Friday then flying back home Friday night. I must say I am nervous. Not so much about the surgery, but more so that my surgeon will cancel my surgery. He has a strict rule that if anyone gains even 1 pound he will cancel the surgery. I have been so scared of this being cancelled that I initially lost 16 lbs. But as history would tell, I have gained some back. According to my scale I am still down about 7lbs but I can't help but wonder what will happen. I have been eating steamed broccoli all week and drinking TONS of water, hoping to drop a few more before my appointment on Friday afternoon. Fingers crossed xxx! I'll post more when I get back and let you know how it went.

3/17/08
I started my quest for wls
I researched many surgeons and on this day, I made a decision to call the surgeon’s office to see what I needed to do to get the ball rolling. I was told I needed to get my doctors release/referral. Then get my insurance to approve of my consult. I had been going to a doctor specifically for weight loss issues for years, Doc Ferraro in Albuquerque. He was totally good to let me go to for the surgery. He actually talked to me about doing it years before but as my story states, I wanted to have a baby first.
So after this conversation with the surgeon’s office I thought I needed my PCP to give me the referral, well that was a delay. I called her office and she wanted me to come in and talk with her about all the options first and blah, blah, blah,.. I found this crazy, I had only even been to her office once for a cold so how would she ever know my struggles with weight over the years. So I called my insurance and they said that Ferraro’s office would be fine to get what I needed and to just skip my PCP.

4/2/08
I went to Ferraro’s office to checkup and get his referral. He said he would have it for me in a week, well then he went on vacation....so I waited again!

4/22/08
Finally, things were moving again. Ferraro’s office submitted the request for the consult to my insurance. I was told it would take a few days to get an answer.

4/25/08
CONSULT APPROVED!
Called Dr. Syn’s (surgeon) office and scheduled initial consult. 5/29. Excited, but waiting again.
So in the mean time, I went on a quest to find a new primary care doc. One that was more in tune with treating wls patients. This after meeting with a friend that is 3 years post-op and just found out that she has had a pretty big iron deficiency that was missed by her doc not keeping up with the needs of post-op patients. So I hit the local message boards a found a great doc that is even close to the house. I LOVE HER. Her name is Dr. Thal and is Corrales Family Practice.

5/29/08
Had my 5 hr consult and couldn’t be more impressed and sure in my choice of surgeons. Dr. Syn and his staff are top notch. I took every test and was never more confident in my decision to have the surgery and I know I am in perfect, God skilled hands.

5/30/08
Did psych test. Now waiting again.....

6/5/08
Called Syn’s office and they confirmed that everything was going to the insurance for surgery approval tomorrow. They told me it would take about a week to hear back from the insurance office, so, waiting again...

6/9/08
Couldn’t wait, called insurance 8:30am, to “just check” if they had everything they needed. It was a good thing I was sitting down because, Phillip looked up my inquiry and said that “yes, everything was submitted and that the SURGERY HAD BEEN APPROVED!!!” I COULDN’T BELIEVE WHAT I HEARD.  I repeated it back to him twice to make sure I had it right. I called Syn’s office to let them know and Chad said he would put it in the notes and move my file to the approved and put it on Dr. Syn’s desk. And then I would need to WAIT again for someone too call me from their office to schedule my surgery.
I started getting ready today. I took my lunch break at work and took a walk. I work in Santa Fe, NM on Museum Hill. It is beautiful here and hilly but not too hilly. I did a nice loop that took me 25 mins and turned out to be 1.3 miles. A good place to start.

6/10/08
I got a call by 10:30am and we scheduled my surgery. My date is 8/07/08.  Waiting, waiting, waiting.....  
Walked again today and have vowed to do this everyday. I will try to add in another 30 minutes of something.

6/12/08
Got up bright and early today, before the family. I thought I would try a workout using our Nintendo Wii Fit. I did a total of 40 mins of step cardio. It was so much fun. Took a whole first run through to get my heart rate up there but then I just kept starting it over and over to get in the time for it to feel like a workout. I even unlocked a new “advanced” level.