Heather L.

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10/24/05 - I'm now down to 186lbs today and I had something hilarious happen.  I just had to put this in my journal. 

I put on a dress to wear to work this morning and of course panty hose with dress shoes.  Well, number one, the dress shoes were too big so my son and I had to stop at Wal-Mart this morning and get me some new shoes.  However, I didn't really pay much attention to my hose as I was walking around this morning.  I just pulled out a pair I had which were a size 2XL and went on with my morning rushing around (my daughter didn't go to sleep until midnight so needless to say, it's been a rough morning for both of us).

Anyway, here comes the funny part.  I'm sitting here at my desk working away and started another one of my coughing/sniffling fits (I have a terrible cold) so I got up to go to the restroom for some paper towels (since I sleepily forgot to bring my box of Kleenex to work).  I stood up and my hose fell down to my knees (yep, white thighs were a blazing and nice tan calves were shining with a wad of panty hose gathered at my knees)!!!  Luckily, there is only a conference room between me and the bathroom which was empty and the two guys that work in my cubicle section were not here yet.  Fortunately, I also have a girdle thing on today so I went to the bathroom and tucked my hose into it which will hopefully hold them up until I can run get some new ones.

Guess this weight loss surgery thing is working after all.

10/20/05 - I thought that I would update on a few physical observations that I'm currently having now that I'm 5 months post op. 

1. Feeling the zyphoid process at the bottom of your breast bone is a bit unnerving and icky to say the very least.

2. The veins on the top of my hands are now sticking out. They look like my mother's hands now. I kinda like that! Makes me feel closer to her (strange I know).

3. I still do not see my collarbones yet. I feel them. They are right below the surface but don't show yet.

4. The extra skin thing is really getting to me (huge apron, belly, and inner thighs are starting to go as well).  My arms are fairing OK for the moment.  A little wing going on, but nothing that waves back at me when I wave at someone else.

5. The girls, well lets just say they've seen better days. I need to go bra shopping BAD! This part of the process is really bothering me, however, I just keep rolling them up everyday and tucking them safely into my bra.

6. I'm having a LOT of back pain from the extra skin and the deflating balloons on my chest. I was hoping that this wouldn't start this soon out.

7. I still see the fat girl in the mirror. Will she ever leave me alone?

8. I now get my period every month (sorry guys for TMI). This is actually a good thing and a bad thing. Before surgery, I was lucky to have two a year. Ever since surgery, they've been happening every month. The good thing...the flows are regular and not monster drain me somebody shut the gates of Niagara Falls flows. The bad thing...this PMSing every month sucks! So does the cramps which I now get and never used to before.

09/30/05 - Well, this post isn't going to be as upbeat as the last one, but I just wanted to write about my current problem.  I am having severe back pain that is right around where my bra strap is and comes around to my left side at my ribs.  This has been going on for about 3 weeks now and it has gotten to the point that I'm only sleeping between 2-4 hours off and on during the night because I am awoke from my sleep in pain.  I just came back from my PCP. He said that part of my pain could be coming from the fact that I tote around my 28 pound toddler on my left side so much. This made sense because the pain wraps around to my left side and is right around where my bra strap comes across my back. He gave me some prevacid, celebrex (steroid), and flexirl (sp?) (muscle relaxer) and is sending me for an x-ray. He said that he was going ahead with the x-ray because if I do have to have an MRI, my insurance requires an x-ray first so we would be a step ahead of the game. If in two weeks, my back is still hurting and my x-ray is clear, then we will proceed with an MRI and possible physical therapy. He also gave me a shot of toradol while I was there for some immediate relief. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything will ease up for me and that I can possibly get some sleep tonight.

09/26/05 - I am happy to announce that I am no longer obese. I am simply overweight at 197 pounds! Wow, I never thought that I would see that day. That makes a total loss of 70 pounds for me....70 POUNDS!

09/21/05 - I finally made it!  I'm in the onederfuls and boy does it feel wonderful!  I weighed in at 199 today.  I can't believe that it's finally happened.  I stepped on the scale fully expecting the same 201 that I had been stuck at for days, but staring back at me was the number 199.  I stepped off the scale and walked to the kitchen where my father and brother were talking and simply said, "I did it."  Dad grinned because he knew exactly what I was talking about.  I went and stared out the window for a moment with tears in my eyes.  Sometimes this all still seems so unreal to me and I keep waiting for this to fail just like all of the other times.  For now, I'm just going to savor this moment and be thankful that it has finally come.

09/19/05 - Well, I'm four months out today and feeling pretty darn good.  I had hoped to hit the onderfuls today, but alas, I'm two pounds away (darned Aunt Flo..lol).  I'm eating much better now and can tolerate most anything (which can be both good and bad).  I'm down 66 pounds now and I've noticed that it's not as hard to get up in the mornings as it used to be.  Before WLS, I was always late for work because I just couldn't seem to get motivated each morning.  Since surgery, it's been easier and easier to get up in the morning.  I'm very grateful for this!  I should be hitting the onderfuls in the next week and my other goal of being 197 which would classify me as simply overweight instead of obese.  I'll definitely update when these things happen.

08/17/05 - Today there has been some chat on my May message board about what our short term goals are right now.  I figured that I should also record them here just so that I can look back and remind my self of what I am working for.

Short Term:

1. Hit the onderfuls (I weighed 213 this morning so I'm almost there!).

2. Be in a size 16 jeans (this shouldn't be too much longer, I'm fitting very nicely in an 18 and I think that these last pesky 13lbs might just get me there).

After that, my next goals will be

3. Hit 186 (81lbs will be gone which is 70% of my excess weight)

4. Hit 174 (93lbs will be gone which is 80% of my excess weight)

5. Hit 167 (100lbs will be gone. I hope to hit this by my six month in December)

6. Hit 164 (103lbs will be gone which is 90% of my excess weight)

7. Hit 151 (116lbs will be gone which is 100% of my excess weight)

8. Hit 150 (which is my goal for now)

However, I might settle for the 103lbs gone mark as my goal. That would put my BMI back in a healthy range.  I'm beginning to think that 150 might be too little for me. I am very big boned. I'm going to ask my doctor about it in November when I go for my six month checkup. 

By the way I've lost 54 pounds as of this morning!  Yeah for me!

08/12/05 - Well, I've been having it rough the last few days.  I want to make sure that this journal reflects both the good and the bad days that I have so I figured that I should post this.  I've been eating way more than I think that I should lately or at least, eating way more of the wrong foods.  I've really got to concentrate on getting back on the train.  Protein and fluid intake is way down.  As a result, the scale has stopped.  I'm currently stuck at 219 and have been for over a week now.  This is actually up two pounds from a couple of weeks ago.  I hope that by recording this, it will be a constant reminder of how crappy I felt when I didn't eat right and I won't do this again.  Anyway, my three month re-birthday is coming up next week.  Hopefully the scale will start again before then and I can report some good news.  See ya then!

07/23/05 - I went on a mini vacation with my kids and my parents this weekend and did something that I haven't done in a long time.  I brought my bathing suit with me and went swimming with the kids!  My mom almost teared up and told me that she was very proud of me!  Sure, my body isn't the way I want it yet, but I've lost enough weight and gained enough self confidence that I really didn't care what others thought about the way I looked.  I know that this surgery is working and I know that my goal weight is just a few protein shakes away...lol!  I really had a great time!  Cheers to me!

07/18/05 - I had a follow up appointment with Dr. Hodge today and I have officially lost 40 pounds! I was so tickled. I'm really starting to notice that more and more compliments are coming my way these days! My self esteem has really taken off. I'm not completely happy with the way I look yet, but I have noticed that I generally feel pretty good about the way I look when I leave my house. My clothes are definitely not fitting anymore. I've gone from a size 26/28 to a size 20/22 so far. That's a big leap! I can't wait to break the 200 pound barrier now. That's my next goal.