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FOOD & BEVERAGE VERDICTS
week one
The Swanson Chicken Broth is the best in the 'plain' category. Good for the first day or so that you are home (and scared to ingest anything lol) But you'll get sick of this p.r.o.n.t.o.  When pre-shopping... you only need to get like 2 cans of this MAX.. they last you a while. Plus, once you're done testing the waters with this, you'll be ready for something different. 

Inbetween a couple spoonfuls of broth and sips of water.. you can have jello! I've really taken to the Lime JELLO flavor. The orange and cherry seemed weird and acidic in my stomach. This is reserved as my 'snack' maybe once a day because it takes way longer to eat since you feel like you're eating something with form & substance to it.

Still being on the liquid diet, my options are really limited... So I got creative, and cracked open the lid on a Healthy Choice 'Old Fashioned Chicken Noodle' and strained out the juice into a coffee mug. Pop it in the microwave for 1 minute 30 seconds.... Now THATS what I'm talkin about. You get the full flavors of the carrots, noodles, the herbs, spices, and you just might get lucky and have a shard of parsley or something.. Plus it is really low in fat & sugar (since I'm scared of the 'dumping syndrome') Yummy! 
**You can also try the Chicken with Rice Soup, it tastes almost identical**

After a few days, I was feeling a little more brave.. and I came to the conclusion that since I normally dilute my Campbell's Tomato Soup with water anyway, I was willing to try it. I only did like a 1/4 of a can, and mix equal parts soup and water. Microwave for 45 seconds.... droolfest. It was SOooo good after having nothing but chicken broth the first 3 or 4 days. 

Inbetween all of this... I was on the hunt for the best flavored water.... since I have the hardest time drinking a lot of it, I figured this would be my biggest challenge since I'm not a big fan of flavored water. Right off, I got lucky and picked up Aquafina FlavorSplash in Citrus Blend. This water is awesome. I was reluctant to buy it because some citrus flavors go really acidic in my stomach, but I grabbed it anyway. It honestly tastes like the less flavorful, tiny pulps, inside of an orange. They have a normally subdued, not-as-juicy flavor.. well that is exactly how it tastes. Hell, the actual flavor of the water might not even be that great, but I'm so thrown off with how real it tastes I don't even care.

Also, a friend gave me some slightly diluted Sugar-Free Pink Lemonade. WOW. SO much easier to drink than any of the flavored waters. I've already gotten in over half of my needed water with this alone. Score! And remember.. never under-estimate the power of ice cold tap water with ice cubes. Its a last resort of sorts, but surprisingly very refreshing. Haha

I integrated some bottles of FIJI in with my other water sources. So all in all, my selection really isn't that bad. I'm sure you will get creative in your own way.. I didn't really bother trying any of the Beef Broth.. I prefer chicken and have for years, but if you LIKE beef soups.. you already have more options than I did lol :)

Here's to your Happy Grocery Hunting and Merry Weightloss!

***

My neighbor, Julie, said that I looked different but she couldn't say how. lol.... and my husband and I were talking and he was like "well have you checked the scale?" I hadn't... so we walk over and I step on. I was like.. great... "no change." but then he corrected me - "down another 5 lbs." 

So by then I had to do a double take... and sure enough it  was BELOW the 265 mark. I'm am still in a little bit of shock. He measured my neck out of more curiousity, its down a half inch. Holy Cow....

Just had to share the crazy news lol... though I might believe it more when I see more of a physical change.

***

PRE-OP
• Weight -- 275 lbs
• Pants -- 22/24
• Shirt -- 22/24
• Panty -- 7/8
• Bra -- 44 DD
• Shoe -- 9 1/2
• Ring -- 10

MEASUREMENTS
• 1. Wrist -------- 8 1/4
• 2. Forearm -- 12 1/2
• 3. Bicep ------ 17 1/4
• 4. Neck ------- 16 1/2
• 5. Bust -------- 53 3/4
• 6. Ribcage --- 45 1/2
• 7. Waist ------- 44 1/2
• 8. Hips -------- 52 3/4
• 9. Thigh ------- 27 3/4
• 10. Calf ------- 18 1/8
• 11. Ankle ------ 10

***

Well I'm out of the hospital and doing fine. Everything went very smoothly, no complications. My abdomen is somewhat tender and.... stiff (?) but no real pain. I was never in any real pain though. Just soreness all over, but thats because of the gas they filled my abdomen with.


 I'm not as enthusiastic about my broth as I once was... but hopefully I'll be upgraded to soft-solids by Wednesday. I'm already having dreams of Non-Fat Refried Beans, Fat Free Cottage Cheese, Sugar Free Yogurt, and Sugar Free Pudding. Woohooo!

I still have moments where I'm like... "omg.. I had gastric bypass." It hasn't sunk in completely. I've had so much anticipation up until this point... And everything went so uneventful... I'm just like.. "what?"

Coughing is a new sport. I have to kind of grunt a few times to work my way up to the small cough.

I have my measurements I'm going to add, as well as my before pictures (horrible!).. I've lost a total of 6 lbs since right before my surgery. Yay me!

***

I got my husband to take my measurements last night. I will have them posted up here with in the week. 

I've already started the process - no more food, I've finished 1/2 of my bowel prep. Funny though, because I took a sample taste of the bowel prep and almost gagged. Its SUPER sweet. And tastes like a xtra-syrupy ginger ale (its carbonated). I set it down for a minute and had all of these thoughts going through my head about how gross it tasted, and how come you just can't fake yourself out... it LOOKs just like sprite.. why can't I just tell myself its a weird sprite? What in our brain does this. loll... Then, in what seemed like the middle of a sentence, I mentally slapped myself and abruptly chugged the whole glass.

What went through my mind? The fact that I'm ghung-ho now. I'm doing this and I'm not letting anything get in the way. I can be a big pussy about something that "doesn't taste good" or I can grow up and take charge completely.

(what ever gets you through, right?? lol)

Everyday of my previous life was building up to this point. At the psychologist appointment, I tried describing how I was trying to understand, and just couldn't yet.. that I knew that I'd only know when I was experiencing it. Going through it. Living it.

And here I am. All the feelings, the anticipation, the worry.. I am going through the motions and I believe I am starting to see the light. A new dawn is coming and I am stuck here in the moment, trying to understand. Part of me really doesn't want to keep worrying about what tomorrow will bring, I want to focus on where I am at this exact moment. 

I know I have another 1/2 bottle to go with my bowel prep (scheduled in an hour).. and instead of nursing it like I almost did with the first half... I will bravely throw my head back, open my mouth, and pour away. 

I didn't expect this mind frame... mostly because I had no idea what to expect at all.

NOW... I will go troll the message boards - asking questions, seeking insight... and guidance from those who've gone before me.

***

Last night when I got home from work, I made my husband take measurements for my wrists, neck, arms, bust, waist, hips, thighs, calf, and ankles. Tonight I will get him to take the dreaded full body pictures, front, back, and sides.

I absolutely could NOT sleep last night (obviously!!) and I had to wake up at 6:30 to make it through rush hour to be at the hospital by at LEAST 8:00. I also had to start fasting last night... and the combination has made me sooooo lethargic. I had to  head straight to work after all my stuff was done.

Lets see... Today included the following --
1)  I had final blood work done, 
2) another chest x-ray,
3) an ultrasound, 
4) and my EKG. 
5) I also signed pre-admission papers (and related.)

Everyone there was SO nice. Incredible.. I'm used to dealing with the military - blunt, unsympathetic, and a serious lack of compassion. 

I got the final details for my surgery:: be at the hospital no later than 10:00am, admission, get my room, get double IV, have surgery at 12:30pm. I received -- 

1) my 'night before' bowel prep, 
2) my urine sample cup 
        (first pee of the morning - bring with me to hospital) 
3) and my bacteria killing body wash
        (to shower with before I leave the house).

It's starting to become so real. My friend/neighbor Julie will be hanging out at the hospital with me on Tuesday. Thats cool. I just can't wait to be on the other side. omg... I'm coasting through on no sleep with pure anticipation. WHEEEEE..

***

Sweet Jesus God Almighty!!! I got a date!  I have to start fasting tonight so I can go TOMORROW morning for my Pre-op testing! OMG. 

I will have my surgery in a matter of DAYS.

Tuesday, January 30th 
will soon become my new birthday! HOW AWESOME IT THAT??!  I really don't even know what to think right now aside from finally being able to officially envision a skinny ME. I will let nothing mess this up for me. I had a date 5 years ago and I fell through the cracks. I was devistated. 

I am still in a bit of shock. I was really starting to get down about how looooong the doctors were taking to get back with me. I kept up the faith even though it was hard.

I'm gonna go post on the Message Board. I will soon be on 'the Other SIde.' I'm going to be a loser! LOL Yippeeeeee.

***

Been a couple weeks since my last post and not much has changed. I am now in the final stage --- waiting for the date! I was hoping to have gotten a call sometime this week with the date (which I already know will be on a wednesday)  but mother nature had to strike and freeze over. Practically all businesses are closed down.. hell, I've even been on a mini-vacation since my job is shut down too. 

I must admit.. I'm feeling the cabin fever comming on. I'm about to brave the elements to run to the store. YAY! a field trip.lol..

anway.. thats about it for now.. I will post my date the second I get it. Wish me luck.

Here it is December 28th.... and I just got a call yesterday concerning the referral that was sent out. Dr. Cavazos' office called to say that everything was officially in, except the referral. I had recieved some kind of  "Reciept" or something from my insurance coverage saying that since I dropped down to Tricare Standard I don't need a referral (just be sure who ever I go with accepts Tricare or I'll get stuck with the bill) and I faxed that over to them this morning. One of the girls from the office called to confirm she got it... and my husband told me he would stop by the Tricare office sometime today. 

I'll admit I've been letting myself enjoy the holidays as much as I can, and now my mind is reeling with thoughts of "How much will I weigh on my birthday??" It would be sooooo awesome to be down 50lbs(or MORE) by then.. what an awesome birthday present. 

Damn... I hope everything works its self out... I know I will get the surgery, I just don't know if it will require me harping on the insurance company or what... I was hoping to have it in January (kind of like a New Year's Resolution type deal) but I can settle for February! 

I'm glad I decided to give GB another chance. I can only imagine how much my life is going to change after the surgery....


PS - I also added a weighloss ticker to my profile, in case you didn't notice it. I want to see that thing go DOWN!

Roughly a month later and a new post!

I started to get worried after about 3 weeks with no word. I was thinking maybe I didn't pass my psych test!!! lol.. I called a few times and tried to get ahold of the woman in processing to see where I was at. No answer, so I tried again a few days later... no answer, so I left a message. I had to call back a 3rd time and then finally recieved a call back (but I am forgiving because it was right over the Thanksgiving Holiday.)

SOOOoo.. I was reassured that they hadn't forgotten about me, and that they had everything they needed, except the referall from the doctor. Ok fine. since My husband and I have the same doctor and he gets major priority since he's active duty (and I have to wait months) He just "word-of-mouth"ed her. She told him to get the information needed and she'd go ahead and fax out the referal for me. WOOT!!

So I typed up all my information last night = Doctors Name, Address, Telephone, Fax.... Insurance Type, number, and my sponsors, and any basic stats she asked for (like height, weight, estimated bmi). He gave it to her this morning and he just called me here at work and said there was a message on the machine from the hospital, calling to acknowledge the referal sent. WOW. So tomorrow I'm going to call Dr. Cavazos' office and see if they got it. WOWWW. I might actually have a DATE before Christmas (though surgery before Christmas would be so cool!) lol

Again, I'm just biding my time until I hear back. I'm so excited! It might actually work for me this time!!! By god I've worked my ass off long enough to get it!!!