rico2230

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Well, once again time has flown and I feel so good.  I have lost over 80 pounds since surgery.  I can't believe it.  It has been 6 months already and the time has literally flown.  I went skiing last month for the first time in 20 years!  Who would have thought that I would have done that?  A year ago there would have been no way I would have even attempted skiing.  I would have been afraid of being the only fat person on the hill.  Well, I did very well.  I am not saying I skiied well but I did manage not to fall.  I did fall when i tried taking my ski's off after 5 hours of skiing.  My legs felt like puddy!  and I laughed and laughed that I finally fell and I was standing still not on a hill just flat surface taking off my ski's.  I have to admit that I was a little bit scared but as I was skiing down the hills I realized that I was having a good time and was so happy to be doing it with my daughter.  I am so thankful the surgery has given me the opportunity to do this!  My 6 year daughter is a whiz on the hills and I just want to push her over as she zooms by me and says "hi" to me.  She is  unbelievable on her skis .  Seriously, I am so proud of her and she is so happy to go skiing with me even though she shows off!!!!

The other new thing that I did was to go roller skating with my friend and her two boys and daughter.  We had so much fun!  I almost wiped out a couple of times but I managed to stay upright!  My daughter and I went back a week later and skated again.  Wow! so much fun I am having.  

I am still exercising 3 times a week.  I jog on the treadmill for 30 minutes with only a break of 40 seconds to drink water.  I feel very good after that jog!  Then I do some free weights or stomach crunches or leg exercises.  My girlfriend and I recently signed up for a personal trainer one time a week.  It seems to be helpful except the next there is always some muscle that is sore and tired.  The trainer last week told me I have good form, so I must be doing something right.  But it seems no matter how many times I work out my stomach still sticks out.  My legs and butt have shrunk but my stomach is still there poking out and sagging!  Overall, I am somewhat please how I look in clothes.  I have bought three pairs of size 14 jeans!!! yahoo! So, right now I am flucuating between a size 14 and 16.  I would be in a size 14 if it was not for my stomach.  but hey, I am happy that I can even wear a size 14.  Last year at this time I was in a size 28 or 26.  So, what a difference.  

I go to my primary physician on the 19th so, I will see how my bloodwork looks.  I am hoping to have my glucose levels way down!!  I think I have lost almost 30 more pound since I saw her in December.  Hopefully, that will make her happy.  

I have noticed that some days I can eat more but then some days I cannot manage to get enough of any food in.  I am taking flax seed and fish oil so, at least I know I am getting enough nutrition in.  I think it has helped with my hair loss slowing down.  I did go last week to get my haircut and boy did she cut it.  But my hair was so damaged and it looked terrible.  She said she saw a lot of growth comng in which I was very happy about.  My hair does look so much better.  

Well, enough babbling for now. I will update more later.

Wow!  I cannot belive how time has flown.  I am feeling very good and I am about 70 pounds lighter since surgery.  My daughter jumped on my scale and broke it, so, I do not know how much I weight exactly.  But I am in a size 16 now!!!! I never thought I would ever see that size.  I shop in the regular size area now and it totally blows my mind.  I went on ebay and purchased name brand jeans and they fit!!!  I am so happy that I had this surgery.  My hair is falling out but I know it will grow back.  I am lucky that I have curly hair because I think it hides some of the balding!  

The Holidays went well.  I was able to not eat even one cookie without my family questioning me.  Whew!  They still do not realize that I had surgery.  I avoid all questions that they ask me about food but they are starting to criticize me that I do not eat enough.  Go figure, I can never win!!!  The food is going well.  I do miss bread but that is okay because I put everything on a trisket!  I am so happy that I can eat steak and ground beef.  If I couldn't eat them it would be a tragedy because I love steak and it goes down way better than chicken.  Chicken sometimes makes me very sick.  I tried a wrap a couple of weeks ago and that just made me sick to my stomach.  So, no more trying wraps!    I think somedays I am not eating enough and I have to work on that.  I have started to include flaxseed oil and fish oil pills to my diet and I hope that helps.

I work out at least 3 days a week for an hour.  I jog on the treadmill for 30 minutes with one 30 second break in the middle so that I can drink water.  I really like the jogging because it does make the time go by faster.  I am so amazed sometimes the things that I can do now.  I went tubing with my daughter and sister 2 weeks ago and had a blast.  It was so fun and all that I kept thinking was "wow, I would never have been able to do this a year ago".  I am so very thankful to have had this surgery.  I was supposed to go skiing this morning but it rained and I will try again for later on this week. I have not skied in about 20 years.  So, I am scared and excited at the same time about it.  My daughter is so excited that I will be skiing but I am sure she will be zipping by me on the hills because I am so much more older than I was when I skied before.

Well, I will post more when I have more time.  I will be going for my checkup next week with my surgeon.  So, I will know exactly how much I have lost!!!

Well, it has been awhile since I posted.  This time of year it just flys by so fast.  In November I went to a black tie event In Philadelphia and met Olivia Newton John.  I bought a size 20 dress for the occasion and felt very good about wearing that size.  Thanksgiving went very well.  I made dinner and had 6 addtional people over.  I ate very well and did not feel over stuffed.  At nightime I felt like a snack so, I had some leftover turkey and it all came up.  I guess the turkey was too dry the second time around.  I went shopping with my girlfriend that weekend and bought a really cute velvet Holiday dress from Old Navy.  I was so thrilled because I bought it in the regular size.  Granted it was a XXL but it made me so happy.  I think I am going to wear it to my company's Christmas party this weekend but I am not sure.  So, I was feeling pretty good about myself until we went into the next shop.  My girlfriend was looking for black pants for work so, she wanted to go to J. Jill.  While she was trying on some pants, I was looking in the clearance rack looking for some XL's and size 18 or 20 pants.  I found a size 18 pants that looked really cute and I (I was thinking that I probably can fit into them by later on this month or in January) asked the sales girl if the clearance was marked down anymore.  She said no, but not to be rude but they do have clothes that are bigger and my size in the catalog.  I just stared at her, I did not know what to say.  It was so rude of her.  Let me tell you that burst my bubble for the rest of the evening!

Last week I got on the scale and I am down 46 pounds since surgery!  I am so happy about that.  Only 10 more pounds and I will be under 200.  I know I will cry when that moment happens.  Anyway, I went shopping again this weekend and I was in Macy's with my sister (she is in regular sizes and is small) so, we were int he regular sized department when I went over to the clearance rack there was a size 18 black stripped pants. I tried them on and they were a little snug in the stomach but they fit!  Yipee, I was so happy!  A regular sized 18!!!!!  Then, I went to the shoe department and bought a pair of fashion boots that actually fit my calf.  At that point I started to cry right in the middle of the shoe department.  I could not believe that they fit me.   Ihave been trying on those type of boots for years and they never fit.  I was so happy.  I keep wearing them around the house.  I put them on for my daughter and she said "mommy, you look beautiful"  which only made me cry more!  Moments like these really mad me glad that I had the surgery.  It is so hard sometimes but it is well worth it!  So, this mornign went I was at my gym at 6:00 all I kept thinking about is fitting into those boots.  Keeps me motivated!  Well, I will post again soon my break at work is over and hopefully there will be more weight loss!

Well, I went on Tursday for my 6 week check-up and I lost 14 more pounds!  Yahoo!  I was very pleased.  That is a total of 32 pounds.  I never thought in a million years that in 6 weeks I could have lost 32 pounds.  It was only a dream!  I got cleareance to exercise and eat all fruits and fresh vegetables even with skin on.  So, I am kind of nervous about trying fresh veggies but I will be trying that later on in the week as I have a birthday party to go to and about the only thing that I can eat are the vegetables because they are having pizza and wings.  So, I will bring along some soy nuts in my purse to make sure I get in my protein! 

The one thing that I have noticed with this weight loss is that I am so cold.  The other night I wore two pairs of socks to bed and I made my daughter sleep with me because she is like a little furnace.  I told her to get under the covers up and warm her mommy  up.  She laughed really hard and did exactly that!  She would not pass on an opportunity to sleep with her mom and dad and she is such a snuggler!  

Today, I have such an old sweatshirt on that I was laughing to myself when I put it on.  I think I bought it in 1990!  I have not worn this sweatshirt in years and I cannot believe I am wearing it.  It is so outdated but I am so happy to be fitting into this.  Oh well, I would not win a fashion plate award but I am happy to be wearing it.

Well, things have been going very good.  I feel good and do have more energy.  I weighed myself and I think I lost another 11 pounds but am waiting to go to the doctors tomorrow for my 6 wk follow up and I will know for sure!  I am so excited for a couple of reasons.  I have been really craving salads.  My husband had a chicken soulvaki salad about 2 weeks ago and all I kept doing was staring at him while he ate.  So, Friday night we ordered chicken soulvaki salads for takeout.  We did that in case I got sick on salad.  Anyway, my girlfriend and I split a salad and I ate it!  It went down fine and stayed down.  I was so happy that all the rest of the night all I kept talking about was that I was able to eat salad.  Ya!!!!!  So, we met some friends at Pizza Hut on Saturday nigth and I had a one trip to the salad bar!  I was so happy.  They had a lot of good things to put on the salad, chopped eggs, cheese, garbanzo beans and sunflower seeds.  I put vinegar and just a little dap of ranch and boy was that good!  I was so happy.  Everyone ate pizza and it did not bother me in the least because I had my salad and I was happy as a clam!  I was really missing salad and I am so glad that I can tolerate it.  I am able to tolerate quite a few things now and all I have to remember is to chew and chew.  I have a tendancy to eat too fast and then I have a back up and have to wait about 5-10 minutes before I can eat again!  But it is so exciting to be able to have different types of food other than cottage cheese, chicken and turkey!  

Well, the other thing that I am happy about is that I have gone down 2 sizes in some pants.  Saturday night I bought two pairs of pants in size 20!  Yahoo, I have not been that size in years.  I bought a skirt in a size 18!  It is so exciting but I have no clothes for work.  So, I have been going to the Goodwill and Amvets stores to try and find some clothes but have not had any real luck.  I have had good luck at TJ Maxx and Walmart!  All the clothes that I do buy are clearance at least!  It is so hard because I do not want to spend alot of money on clothes as I hope that I keep going down in sizes!  I also, found a box in my closet and to my surprise it was a box of some of my smaller sized clothes and some of them fit, which was also exciting!

Well, I will post later so that I can let everyone know how much weight I lost at the doctors.  Hopefully, I will get clearance to exercise also because I am getting very bored with just walking! 

Well, I survived the surgery!  I cannot belive it.  I was so nervous and anxious to have the surgery and I survived!

The hospital stay was a little rough but overall okay.  My oygen level was a little off and I had to use oxygen in the hospital.   A Pulmonologist came to see me and said he thought it was all due to the anaesthia (sp?).  Anyway, I am feeling much better and getting around quite a bit.  I take a walk daily plus have been going out shopping and cleaning around the house.  The diet has not been too bad.  I do get bored with the liquids.  I am now on pureed food and tried my first scrambled egg the other day and it got stuck!  It was painful for about 1/2 hour.  I did not chew enough.  So, I tried again yesterday with the srambled egg and it went down much better.  I chewed, chewed and chewed.  It took me a 1/2 hour to eat it.  It did taste good.  Cottage cheese goes down very nicely also.  I am scared to try anything else but all I have to remember is to chew and chew.  

I had my first check up at the surgeons office.  I was so nervous because I thought I would get on the scale and it wasn't going to show a good loss.  But I could not believe my eyes when I got on the scale.  I lost 18 pounds!  Holy moly!  I still cannot believe it.  I asked the nurse if we could do it again because I could not believe the number!  The NP, Mark said I could start eating anything I want.  I told him I thought I was to stay on pureed food.  He said what is the difference if you puree something or chew for two minutes in your mouth?  I guess what he says is true but I am so nervous to get things stuck or if throw up.  I am going slow but will try more things as the week progresses!

The unjury chocolate protein is very good and I drink that daily, so, I am almost getting in all my protein and I carry a water bottle around with me everywhere!  

I have my follow up appointment in a month!  I am going to try not to weight myself until then!  I do not want to get discouraged so, I will try to weight myself as little as possible! 

Wow, only 12 more days.  I keep getting nervous and then excited, then nervous and excited.  Time has gone by pretty fast but I am driving myself crazy!  

I had my exercise and nutrition class last week.  It was very informative and I am very glad they have the class.  I have to admit I was feeling a little overwhelmed afterwards.  I kept thinking that I would not be able to do this.  It seems so hard.  But as the days went by, I calmed myself down and I know I can do this.  That is why I love coming onto this website and reading everyones success stories.  They are all so inspirational.  

I really do feel so sorry for my husband because the emtional rollercoaster that I have been on is enough to send someone over the cliff.  He is being so supportive and I love him even more for it.  I think he can't wait for the day either so he doesn't have to hear me anymore.  This is the worst part of the whole thing: the waiting period.  It is nerve wracking!

I have been empyting my freezer and refrigerator out so that I can make room for my sugar free popsicles, SF pudding and jello and or course water!.  I will be going out this weekend and doing all my shopping for the surgery. Can't wait!  

Well, tomorrow I have my pre-op testing at the hospital and then Tuesday I have my PCP appointment for medical clearance.  Keep your fingers crossed that everything goes okay. 

I still have over a month to go before my surgery and cannot stop thinking about my surgery.  One day I am excited and the next day I am so nervous and keep thinking that maybe I should not have the surgery!  Wow! I am driving myself crazy! Every chance I come onto to this website and read people's stories and I do get so inspired!  Oh well, I just keep praying that everything will go okay.  I went to see my PCP last week and she was very supportive and told me several times she thinks I will do just fine.  I think I babbles too much to her!  When I do not want to work-out, I force myself because I know it will help with the surgery.

I received my approval from my insurance company last week.  So, I called Deann at the Dr's office and left message.  She called me back and the next available date was when I was on vacation!!! So, needless to say I had to pick the next date.  So, I am having surgery on September 10th!  I am so excited and nervous!  I have the nutrition/excercise class set up for August 21st. and my PCP on September 4th.  I can't believe it-it is really coming true!

I went to see Dr. Caruana on 5/29/07 and still have not received word if I am approved yet.  His office said it would be 2-3 weeks.  I did check last week with my insurance and they did not see an approval as of yet.  I am very nervous and that is all I think about!