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Hi,

I am 6 weeks post-op and I am doing very well. It seems as though I never had the surgery. I feel so much healthier. I can tell that I am losing weight and inches, everyday. I love my RNY!!!! I am so happy that I had this done. I have lost 36lbs. I am 216, down from 252. People can already notice a difference and I can really see a difference in my face. I am really good about getting in my water and protein drinks during the day. I try to get all of my vitamins in, but I tend to forget them because I have to take them 4 different times during the day and I have to take them with food.  As for the exercise, I haven't done anything bsides walking and swimming. I want to start using my gazelle and I know I will once school starts back up.

Oh, I almost forgot to say that I was hired back in my district, but only as a substitute. I have to wait until the "9 day count",  where the district will make cuts as they see necessary. I sure hope I don't lose my job again. The school I am at is 45 min away from my house. I'll end up spending about $400 in gas alone.

Well, I am off to get some dinner on the stove and to fold up some laundry. I'll write again soon.

Take care,

~Sue

Well, I am almost 3 weeks out and I have lost 19 lbs. It all seems so strange still because I guess I have been so used to failing at all of my other diets. I am working very hard to keep up with my liquids and my protein. I eat a lot of tuna and eggs/egg salad. I am still unemployed, but I am considering going back to school to become a nurse. Teaching is something I love, but things are tough in my county right now. The state of Florida is ranked 50th in the amount of funding we receive from the gov't.  There will be more lay offs next year and I don't want to worry again next year about whether or not I will have a job for the following school year. Plus, I really enjoyed the way the nurses took care of me and I think I would like to work in a bariatric office. We'll see.

Other than that, nothing else is really different. My boys are telling me that I look better in my bathing suit. They tell me that my back fat doesn't poke out as much....my little munchkins. They are so sweet ,aren't they? 

I haven't had ay complications and I am very grateful. I hope nothing pops up later on. There are still days where I wish I could just chug a diet coke or eat an entire meal, but I am happy about the results I am getting by not being able to do those things.

I will update again soon,

Take care,

~Sue

I had my follow up with my doctor yesterday and he said I was doing very well. He went ahead and put my on pureed foods and proceeded to take out my drain. Actually, he held my hand as the nurse pulled it out. It was the absolute weirdest feeling in the world. It felt like there was something alive in my belly. I had no pain at all! Very cool. All of my scars are barely noticable. My doctor uses glue instead of staples or stitches and my incisions are tiny already. 

Take care,

~Sue

Well, my surgery was on the 2nd and I have been home from the hospital since the 4th, but I haven't been near the computer. My hospital experience was really great. Everyone was so nice. I got to the hospital at 8:30am and they took me to the back to get my gown on and to set up my IV. They also took blood gases.....they stuck a needle into my wrist. OUCH! Once that was over, my family came in and we were only together for a little while before they took me to the OR waiting room. There were only 3 other patients there at the time waiting for their turn in the OR. My doc came over and talked to me a minute to see how I was doing and just to let me know that we would be getting the show on the road in just a few minutes. The anesthesiologist came over and told me about the procedure for putting me to sleep. I was sooo excited. They wheeled me into the OR and had me move over onto a very narrow table and then they strapped me down. The room was very cold and quite small. There was a room off to my right and there were more and more people coming out of the room. I guess they were going to observe??? I don't know. I never even saw the doctor because after a few minutes of small talk with the people around me, they sent me off to la~la land. I awoke in the recovery room to a bunch of nurses trying to wake me up and me not wanting to. It seems that my oxygen levels kept falling to 80, 79, 84 etc. They kept saying that whenever I fell asleep, my oxyegen levels would drop.......well, sure! I have sleep apnea. They went to get my cpap machine and added additional oxygen to my tubes. I was up to 4 liters the first night. I am a shallow breather and that really seemed to cause some problems for them. People were calling to see what was going on, but the hurses really couldn't say anything. That was when my buddy Debbie gave me a call. "Thanks, girl!!!" My surgery began around 12:30 and it lasted about 2~2.5 hours. By the time I got to my roon, it was almost 8:00pm. Needless to say, I was exhausted. I didn't have very much pain and I can honestly say that I don't really remember. I just remember hitting the morphine button because I was so afraid of feeling any pain. I walked that evening around midnight because I knew I needed to. The next day was very different. I only used two hits of morphine compared to my 9 hits from the day before. I can say that I didn't have any pain. I was just sore and achey. I felt as though I had just done 500 sit ups. I had no problems with liquids, no leaks and I was walking. My doctor let me go home, as promised, on my second day. On my way home, my mom and I stopped by my sister's for her 4th of July b~b~que. It was a little hard for me to see all of that food, but I just stuck with my liquids. The hardest part was watching as the people put the food in their mouthes. Werid, I know.

So, here I am, 9 days out and 11 pounds down. I have no pain and no real discomfort. I still can't sleep on my tummy, but I'm sure that will change. I am already on pureed foods and loving life. I am having a hard time with that last bite and not realizing when the next bite will take me overboard. I also ate too fast once and that left me "stuck". Anyways, I am heading to the beach with my kids today!!! I can't wait to see what I will look like 1 year from today. 

Take care,

Sue

Hi all,

Well, I guess this is it. I will try to check in again tonight, but I am driving over to my mom's house and I am not sure how much time I will have. I am a procrastinator so I have left everything for the last minute. 

I can honestly say that I am nervous!!!!!!! I am scared s***less that I am going to die. The percentages are there and we never know why lies ahead of us. I just don't know if my children would ever be able to forgive me if something were to happen that is out of the control of the hands of my doctor. 

I have spent many hours considering this procedure and I am 100% confident that this is what I need in order to begin my life as a healthy individual.

If you are reading this, please pray for me and my family and ask our wonderful God to allow me to return safely from surgery and to enable me with his strength to overcome any obstacle I am faced with in the future.

I will write as soon as I can,

Take care,

Sue 

Hi all,
Well, I am only 6 days away from the beginning of my new and improved life. I had my final pre-op with my surgeon and the internal medicine doctor and I received my final clearance.

I have to admit that I am a little bit on the depresed side right now. I am not sure why, but I haven't been cleaning up my house and getting ready to stay at my mom's for the next 10 days. I have a lot to do, but I am just walking aroung in a daze. I am going to do all that I can to get motivated first thing tomorrow morning. There is no reason for my laziness.

My pre-op diet has been going very well. I am drinking about 4-8 protein drinks per day and having 1 protein meal. The first week was pretty difficult, but I am in the home stretch now and nothing can stop me. 

I better run and get to bed so that I can be up bright and early tomorrow to make sure that I am progressing towards my little "hospital vacation".

Take care,

Sue 

Hi all,

Today was the first day of my pre-op diet and I feel like I am starving myself. I know that's impossible, but I am just so hungry. All I want to do is eat ALL day long.

I drank 4 EAS chocolate protein drinks, chicken broth with veggies and 2 tilapia fillets (the frozen ones). I have only had 4 cups of water. I know that I need to drink more and I hope that helps with the hunger. 

Anyone going through the same thing????? 

Take care,

Sue

Hi all,

I am so excited about starting my pre-op diet TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!! I am nervous because I don't know if I'll be able to handle the hunger (physical and emotional), but I know that I have to do this in order to shrink my liver for surgery. I have been going to the pool everyday and doing some pool exercises to make sure that I am a "surgical athlete". I have been exercising before, but I was using my gazelle and it was getting boring. I think I will go and buy myself a treadmill because I want to be able to exercise while the kids watch a movie or something. I am just SOOO excited. Can ya tell?????

Well, I have to run and get some paper work together for my counselor showing that I lost my job. 

Talk to you soon!

Sue

 Hi, everyone, 

I am excited to be only 17 days away from the beginning of my new life. I finally feel like I will become the person I have always wanted to be.

On a sad note, I was laid off from my teaching position last week. I have worked for the same district (and school) for the past 3 years, hold a master's in spec. ed, and speak 3 languages. I love my students and the feeling is mutual. I cannot believe that I was laid off. The union is stepping up for their teachers and have already filed a grievance for the way the district managed the budget cuts. A first year teacher was used to fill my position. Unfair? You, bet!!!!!!

Everything else is fine. My boys are having a blast, now that summer has arrived.  I have had my nephew staying with us for the past week and we have been going to the pool. I have to admit that I still enjoy the pool...even at 250lbs. I just throw a tank top on and it covers in all of the right places.

I am off to straighten the house and get some laundry done. Talk to everyone soon,

Sue

Hi again,
I just wanted to post that I am 27 days away from my new birthday. I am more excited than anything. I used to be nervous, but that was last year. I have gained so much information from this site and from my doctor's office that I honestly don't feel scared. 

I attended the 2 hour Nutrition and Exercise class to learn how to eat after surgery and for the first year. Then, I attended the 2 hour Pre-op  class to learn about what to expect at the hospital and what to bring with me. I am so excited about just having this tool and waking up in the recovery room feeling like I will once and for all have the chance to lose all of my excess weight.

In about 10 days, I will start my pre-op diet. I can say that I am excited about getting things rolling and I don't really want to have my last supper. I kind of went through that last month. I pretty much ate anything I wanted to for about 2 weeks. The scale didn't like it much, but since I have cut back these past 2 weeks, my weight has come back down.

As far as work goes, I still don't know whether or not I will have a job or not. They have been cutting teachers left and right, but I am finding that they are not doing things the way they are supposed. I am a 3rd year teacher, but I am hearing that there are 1st year teachers that they want to keep. I am not a clicky person and I believe if you do your work well, that's what should matter the most. It shouldn't matter who is best in bed or who has the biggest boobs! I am learning so many things about this society that truly bother me. 

Well, I will write more as my date approaches.

I am soooo excited!!!!!!!!!!

Take care,

Sue