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Happy New Year Yall. And by Happy, I mean ecstatic, thrilled, joyous! :) It has been a while since I have last posted. Let's see what all has been going on...
***I did start school for Medical Assisting back in September. I was taking Medical Terminology, Intro to Healthcare, and Microcomputers. It was ROUGH to say the least. I mean less than a year ago I was lying in a bed and in a wheel chair and could hardly handle getting from the house to the car...and now I am practically a full time student along with being a mother to three elementary age children, etc. All in all, I worked hard, juggled like crazy...AND...pulled off STRAIGHT A's for the quarter!!!! 4.0 GPA BABY! :) Go Me, Go Me, GOOO MEEE! I am all ready to start my next quarter, tomorrow, and this quarter I will be taking Anatomy and Physiology, Legal Aspects of the Medical Office, and Math 1012. Please keep your fingers crossed that I will do well this quarter also :)
***As far as for all the juicy details on my progress, here goes. As of now, I am 40 weeks post op. I have lost a total of approx 152 pounds (I weigh on Tuesdays, so next weigh in I will know for sure how much). Lets recap: I started out weighing 422 pounds, I now weigh right at 270 pounds. I started out wearing a size 30/32/5x clothes, I now wear a 20 in jeans and wear a xxl or 1x in tops. I am back to mobile. NO MORE WHEELCHAIRS! :) Praise God! I can fasten a seatbelt again, with pride!! No more laying in the bed, depressed, and feeling like a prisioner. I am LIVING!
***My eating habits-as many of you know that my surgeon does not do the protein shakes, so I have never had to drink one, and from what I hear from others...I am glad! Honestly, to say that I am ever hungry...Im just not. I stop when I am satisfied. I do not tempt myself with things that I know I should not eat. I have never dumped, thankfully, because once again, from what I have heard, its rough. But here is a real confession, I do enjoy a frozen mini reese cup every night. Just one and never more.
***Anyone that knows me, knows I never set a goal as far as a number on a scale for myself because I didnt want to be disappointed if I never reached it. I never wanted to feel like I failed at this too. (although weighing under 200 even if it is 199 would be the first time since I was 12 and that would thrill me!!!) My goal was to like what I see when I look in the mirror. AND I DO! I am still looking forward to where I continue on this journey, but I am happy and to me, I am succeeding :) I havent failed and I wont fail. Every day is a new day and all we can do is take this life, this journey, this tool, one day at a time!
Thank you everyone for all of the support through this journey and as we continue on! I appreciate all of the comments, questions, texts, and words of encouragement. I only hope that I have been able to say enough thanks you's and be there in return for you all as well. If you dont already have my number and would like to text me anytime...here is the new number (770)309-8966!
Happy New Year! May your year be filled with many, MANY blessings and much happiness!
*Jennifer

Hey yall! Please, please forgive me! It has been sooooo long!!! Well, today marks the end of  week 32 since RNY and oh my how things have changed. :) All good! I have lost a total of.... (drumroll please).....133 pounds since surgery!!! I have never felt better! My mobility has improved a million percent! I would have never thought a day would come where I did not have to ride in a wheelchair at walmart or feel like I would never walk a mall again. I get emotional just typing this because I wasnt living before....BUT I AM NOW!!! :) wooohooo!!! On another positive note, I started back to school to finish my Medical Assisting diploma...so I am soooooooo excited about that. I have classes Monday through Thursday so I get to get out of the house and have a life now :) I was in a bed for over a year and shut off from the world for so long that it feels amazing to get up and get dressed and be a part of this world again. I dont really have too much more to post, I am kinda in a hurry for class but thanks for all the support and I will do my best to make it on here more regularly :) OOOOhhh and...I am still doing TextPals, my OH Group, so if anyone is interested in checking that out...please do! And to everyone else, it is always easiest to hit me up on my cell, just make sure to send your name and let me know you are from OH and text me anytime!!! I am ALWAYS available for questions, etc on text. (Here's the # 404-992-8401) Yall have a wonderful day!!!

Ok, so I was recently reminded [Thank You Ilana! :) ] that it has been another 6 weeks and I have been so busy that I haven't posted any kind of update. So, here it is!
My surgery was March 23rd. I have lost a total of 75 pounds. I feel A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I feel like I can do anything! Um...well, I chopped off 8 inches of my hair in honor of the new me that I feel I am. I get lots and lots of questions about what I eat, what exercise I do, etc. On March 1, 2009, the Metro Atlanta area had a ridiculous snow storm...well, I DO NOT do snow. Don't get me wrong, it is beautiful and I love to look at it but I keep my butt out of it! So, my boyfriend at the time was pulling into the drive and there was a slope, well he didn't know how to drive in snow so I was trying to explain that the concrete drive would be iced but the grass would allow for some traction. He almost crashed into my car so I went outside thinking I could help...I slipped on the snow and ice and fell flat on my (well-cushioned) butt. I heard my leg snap and it fell like Hell's fury was running through my entire left leg. Needless to say, I broke my leg (the strongest bone in the whole body) into three lovely pieces, and spiral fractured my bone from the foot up to the knee. Worst break my doc has ever seen. I had to have a titanium rod, plates, screws put in and I was on bedrest for 16 weeks while my leg healed. Long story short...it has been a long year and a half of recovering...so as the pounds fall off, the pain in my leg lessens, and my mobility improves. I do not currently exercise because my leg is still healing and I consider a walk around the store or cleaning the house exercise at this point. I cannot see myself the workout enthusiast but I would like to get into a routine with a trainer at the gym 3 days a week in the future. I set a goal to start training and pushing my physical boundaries once I reach the 100 pound mark (which is only 25 pounds away) As far as my diet, I am still never hungry. Which is the craziest thing in the world to me! As I stated in a previous post, my Doctor doesn't do the protein shakes...he encourages all protein to be in the form of food. So, I have never had a protein shake. I have to force myself to eat throughout the day and I focus on anything with protein. I don't worry about carbs(like a piece of wheat bread) because I don't eat much already so anytime I can get in protein, I do! I still experience where I might like the taste of something today, I might not be able to stand it tomorrow. I have had sooooo much fun trying out new recipes and they are all WLS recipes and every single one has been YUMMY!! I have been doing soooo much better with taking my vitamins and getting in my liquids. My goal is not to be "skinny" or to weight Xpounds, I went into WLS with the goal to lose weight to become healthier and to feel like myself again. I am happier and getting healthier and that is what matters most to me. I will do my best not to wait another 6 weeks...talk to you soon!

Well, I did have my surgery. March 23rd, I have been so focused on eating, drinking, and learning how to live after surgery, that I have neglected to blog lately. Everything went fine with surgery and everything is going fine now. I have lost 53 pounds since February 8th. I lost 22 pounds preop and 31 pounds since surgery. I am very excited about that! Let's see...my Doctor doesn't do the protein shakes, so I have never had to deal with that (luckily)! I researched prior to surgery about people not being able to tolerate certain foods after surgery...I can pretty much tolerate anything, any meats, fruit, etc. as long as it is in small amounts. I (thankfully) have not experienced dumping! Honestly, I think my key to this is...I do not want to dump, I am scared to dump, so I stay away from stuff that has anything more than 10g sugar/sugar alcohol. I have heard that some people can tolerate sugar after surgery, I just don't want to know...my luck I would be able to tolerate it and where would that get me? That's what got me here in the first place. As far as amounts of food I can eat, I will be 6 weeks postop tomorrow and I can eat just about an ounce, maybe two depending on if it is soft or not. I struggle with waiting 30 minutes to drink after I have eaten. I still do not ever feel the feeling of hunger, but I definitely feel the feeling of being full. I have to make myself eat because if I don't there have been times I haven't even thought about food and it will be 4 o'clock in the evening. So, I have to remind myself to eat now (which is so far from how I used to be). I cannot drink bottled or tap water. I even bought a brita faucet filtration system. But...about two weeks ago I discovered that if I squeeze lemon into my water, I love it! So, now I am constantly sipping on my lemon water. Physically, I haven't been able to do too much yet, although I am noticing the pain in my leg, knee, and ankle from my accident and disability has reduced significantly. As I lose the weight I can feel the difference and have become more mobile already, I can only imagine what another 100 pounds would feel like. I find myself questioning all the time. Am I doing this right? Is this ok or is that ok? Should I be meeting up with friends for lunch? I see the numbers going down slowly, but my clothes aren't falling off yet or in the pictures I can't tell yet. I have been trying to allow everything to go the way it is supposed to and just remind myself that I am doing the right thing and as more weight comes off I will be able to notice a difference. Other than that...like I said, everything is going well and I am just taking things one day at a time. Feel free to message me any questions, if you have them. I always love to talk. Also, check out my group TextPals...and I will blog again soon! Much Love!

I was on my way to my last weigh in before my surgery and I had a great thought... It seems that I am rarely near my computer but ALWAYS available on my cell/text messaging anytime.
So, what if there was a support group that we could all text each other daily just to check in, help with any questions or problems, and just to support each other.
Well...I am going to include my name: Jennifer 
                                       my cell number: (404) 992-8401
If anyone is interested in becoming a member of a text based support group, please feel free to send me an email or simply text me your name and I will add you to the already growing number of people I have met from here and send texts to.
Thanks for your time and hope to hear from you soon!!!!
:) Jennifer

Oh...and I forgot to add that since my appointment with my surgeon on February 15th, I have already lost 17 pounds on my own!!!! He told me to lose as much weight as I could before I came back to see him...it has been 23 days and I am down 17 pounds!!!!

I just wanted to tell everyone that  I GOT MY DATE!!!!!
I cannot even describe how excited, happy, and nervous I am!!!
I have my pre op @ 8:30 am on Monday, March 22 
My surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, March 23
I have to be at the hospital @ 5:00 am and I am the 1st surgery of the day :)
I would love to keep in touch with all of my new OH friends so, if you are new to the journey and have questions OR you are in the process and need a buddy OR you have gone through this already and can offer help and advice, I am posting my cell number to text ANYTIME and trust me, its ok...I LOVE TO TEXT!! Plus it will be nice to have people to text when I am in the hospital :)
My number is (404)992-8401 TEXT ANYTIME
Thanks yall for being sooooo supportive!!! I truly appreciate all of the inspiring comments you have left so far and I am looking to sharing the rest of this journey together!

:)

Ok...so this is going to be fast because I really have to run to my final (6/6) appointment (Psych Eval) but I just wanted to update that since my surgeon told me to "Lose weight and show him that I want this"... which was on 2/15/2010 so about 2 1/2 weeks ago...I have lost 12 POUNDS!!!! I almost cannot believe it!!! I am so thankful for my hubby and my bestie who have been sooooo supportive through this process already and I love OH for being the extra support and advice I need from the experience prospective. Just had to post this!!! I will post more later on...gotta run!
 

HELLLLO ALL!!

Welp...Since my last blog, I have managed to get A LOT accomplished! I went to my Sleep Study (UGGH!) that was rough! I am so used to being home with my little ones that I had an extremely stressed time with sleeping almost 2 hours away. But, anywho...I made it through. The technician said I did very well...and that if anything I have a very mild case of sleep apnea. I should have the results back within 3 weeks. I have also went to my Pulmonary appointment...and he gave me the clearance!!! I have also went to my appointment with the Nutritionist and she sent over my clearance from her too!! It has been a crazy almost 2 weeks now...but I am soooo close to being done with everything.
I go to my Cardiac appointment on Monday, March 1st and I go to my Psych Evaluation on Wednesday, March 3rd. Then all I have to do is follow up with everyone to make sure the clearances all get over to my surgeons office. I have been dieting and doing the best I can in order to lose as much as I can before my next surgeons appointment. I go back to my surgeon on Monday, April 5th. As long as I can lose as much weight as I can, get all of the clearances, and get insurance approval...I will be having my surgery on the second week of April. I am claiming it!!! :)

Just wanted to update everyone on where I am and what is ahead...

I will post more next week when I get the last 2 appointments out of the way!

*Jennifer

LISTEN TO THE LIFE OF THE MORBIDLY OBESE
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LISTEN to the embarrassment we encounter in our every day life. Thename-calling, stares, rude comments and looks of disgust we endurebattling the last acceptable form of discrimination. People we meet that give us a far wider berth than we need when passing us on thestreet, in the hall…in life. Afraid that somehow our disease of obesity might be contagious.

LISTEN to our apprehension as we expertly eye the chair. Will we break it, or will we fit. Will we ever fit into life, as "normal" people knowit?

LISTEN to our agony as we just walk and perform the simple activities of daily living on joints screaming in pain from incredible burden they were never meant to carry.

LISTEN to the pain of our humiliation when ridiculed by a doctor for"allowing" ourselves to get so fat. Realizing even the doctor's officeis not a "safe" place, we tend to neglect our heath even more. Hey doctor, didn't you take an oath to help?

LISTEN to our hopelessness after being turned down over and over for a job or promotion because we don't "match the corporate image" of the person they envision for this position.

LISTEN to our guilt. Because of our size, we feel we've cheated those we love out of the parent, spouse, child or friend we feel we should've been. Our embarrassment has now become theirs as well.

LISTEN to our anticipation as we eagerly embark on yet another diet. THIS will be the one. This time I WILL SUCEED!

LISTEN to our frustration as once again we fail at another attempt tolose weight, reinforcing once again our feelings of worthlessness, failure and defeat.

LISTEN to our fear for what life holds if we don't have this surgery.We try to ignore it, to stuff it down, but when we are brutally honestwith ourselves, we realize an early death is an almost certainty.

LISTEN to our indecision as we do extensive research, trying to out weigh the risk of complications (up to and including death) versus the chance of a new life. A chance to improve our health, move without pain, play with our children, the opportunity to just "fit in" tosociety.

LISTEN to our indecision as we second-guess our decision to have surgery. As we ask ourselves, "Should I try just one more diet?"…And tell ourselves, "If I only had more will power."

LISTEN to us as we eagerly meet with the surgeon, with our five- page, single-spaced, list of questions in hand. Let down by the medical profession in the past, can I really trust this person who looks at me with compassion, as he assures me I'm a "good candidate" and he can help? Please God, I want to believe him, tell me I'm not setting myself up for failure once again.

LISTEN to our feelings of helplessness as we place our future in the hands of an insurance company. Fully aware that with a simple denial letter, all the work we have done to this point, may be pointless. This surgery is not without cost, physical, emotional and monetary.

LISTEN to our joy as we open the long awaited "approval letter" or obtain financing to make this dream a reality.

LISTEN to us as we grasp for a chance at improved health, of moving with ease and just living life as a "normal" person.

LISTEN to our renewed hope of living long enough to see our children grow up, get married, play with grandchildren and grow old along side our mate.

LISTEN to our fear as we roll into the surgical suite. The sights, the smells, the needles, the faceless people behind the masks. Do you care? Do you understand, or will you too make cracks about my weight once I'm asleep? My life is now in your hands, please take care of me. I have abrand new life ahead of me, and so much to live for.

LISTEN to the sigh of relief as we wake up in pain…but alive! Stand up, walk a few steps, cough and deep breathe. Sure nurse, whatever you say, I can handle it…because I'm alive!

LISTEN to our delight as the weight starts to drop off, realizing this is for real. We are actually on the losing side.

LISTEN to our misery as the body we once knew so well, now betrays us with nausea and vomiting when we attempt to eat.

LISTEN to our frustration as we attempt to do something as simple as drinking a glass of water.

LISTEN to our panic at the first plateau or weight gain. As that little voice inside tells us, "Once again I'm a failure."

LISTEN to us relax and let out our breath as we watch the numbers onthe scale edge down once again. Plateau over. Renewed hope. Maybe Iwill make it after all.

LISTEN to our efforts to move as we slowly and painfully attempt to exercise in a body that is still morbidly obese.

LISTEN to our confusion as our emotions wreck havoc with us. Why am I crying? Why do I feel depressed? Why am I mean and snapping at the ones I love? I don't like this person that has taken over my emotions.

LISTEN to our sense of accomplishment the first time we walk a mile. It rivals the high of any runner completing their first marathon.

LISTEN to our depression when we realize we can no longer soothe our emotions with food. We now have to learn to feel and deal with these emotions.

LISTEN to our tears as we mourn the loss of that brief but satisfying sensation of gratification we once obtained from the "comfort foods" we can no longer have.

LISTEN to our obsession surrounding the scale, vitamins, protein drinks and carb counts, determined not to fail "this time".

LISTEN to our sense of accomplishment as we pass up that calorie laden, high carbohydrate treat, telling ourselves, "My new life is sweeter than any dessert."

LISTEN to our elation as we reach that "century mark" that once seemed so distant, but now is a reality.

LISTEN to our resolve to reach our goals. Moving the weight on the scale down another notch, reaching a new "century" of numbers, wearing the dream outfit and attaining our "goal" weight.

LISTEN to the gratefulness in our hearts as we thank our surgeon for not only their technical skills, but equally important, theirunderstanding and compassion for the morbidly obese. Thank you doctorfor the opportunity to rejoin society and live life.

LISTEN to our amazement as we come to the realization that "reaching goal" wasn't the most important thing in life. It was the lessons we learned, the friends we made and the sense of accomplishment we gained along the way.

LISTEN, don't talk, don't give advice, don't judge, just listen. And then, maybe then, you will start to understand the life of a morbidly obese person.