Spring has sprung!

Spring as sprung in Alaska!  Yesterday was one of the most beautiful days this spring.  We brought out the deck chairs, bikes and side walk chalk!  In the morning I went for a run with a friend and in the evening I went for a walk with Julia.  Now I face a challenge I have never had before.

I need to STOP loosing weight!  About 4 pounds ago I was perfectly happy with my weight.  My face was thin but not too thin, my arms look a little skeletal but not too bad.  I had been the same weight for about a month or so.  Now with the warmer weather and an increase in activity I am starting to lose weight again.

I look in the mirror and I don't look healthy.  I talked to my Dr. and she said to really pack in the protein.  Easier said than done. Protein fills you up and most of the high protein products are very sweet and gummy bars.  I can choke down about 1/2 of one but that's it.  So if you see me offer me a piece of steak or chicken! LOL!!

I know to some of you this might feel like I'm rubbing it in that I'm having this problem. That's not what I'm trying to do.  I'm just trying to relay my entire journey.  I meet lots of women that ask me about my journey because they are interested in having the surgery and I want them to know everything I've gone through.

See....I think I look a little skeletal. 

Anyway...that's all for now.  Thank you to friends and family that support me no matter what. Thank you to my friends that help keep me motivated to stay healthy and stay active!

Cruzin' right along!!

So we are 3 months into 2012 and I am 10 months post op!!  Wow where did time go???  I've already ran 2 5K races this year!  I've got at least one race a month planned until late Aug. and a Triathlon in June.  I still need to learn how to swim but its a beginner race.  I know enough to get up and down the lane.  It just won't be pretty.

I've past my goal of 100 pounds lost (about 102 lost) now I just want to get fit!  My friend Stephanie and I bought the 6 week boot camp pass for a local fitness club and my next goal is to get a flat belly and no muffin top!!

My next big adventure is a trip to Seattle to run a fun run called The Color Run!  My good friend Heather Rockom and I are heading down to Seattle for a girls weekend of shopping, relaxing and getting splattered with color!!  The Color Run is a 5k run where you start the race with a white shirt and at every kilometer they throw non-toxic paint on you!  At the end of the race you have this crazy shirt and you are covered in paint!  I'm hoping to work with The Color Run company to bring this race to Alaska!
The Color Run Seattle

Thank you to all my friends who have been supporting me with my journey and head out with me to run!  I could have never met my goals without you!

Almost made it!!!

About a year ago I looked at this picture of myself and thought "Wow! That's IT! Its time to do something about my weight!" And so I started my journey to get myself healthy and happy!  Today is 360 days since that picture was taken and I've lost 99 pounds. Now after my weight loss surgery on June 7th, 2011 I set a goal for myself to loose 100 pounds.  Then I booked our family on a trip to Hawaii in Oct. 2011 to travel in Feb. 2012 and I thought that it would be no problem to loose the 100 pounds by then. (In Oct. I think I was down about 55-60 pounds)

So here I am....the morning of our trip. 360 days since I made a commitment to get in shape and get healthy for me and my family.  And I am short of my goal ONE POUND!!!  GRRRR!!!  But never fear. As most of you that know me you know that I am a glass 1/2 full kind of girl so while I would have LOVED for the scale to said I had met my goal here are a few other achievements I have made that blow that one pound out of the water!

1. I can run 3 miles!!!  3 Miles!! If you had asked me when I was 19 to run 3 miles I would have laughed!!  I think I ran a mile in about 13 minutes in Basic Training.  I can run a mile in 9 minutes now! 

2. I am a size 8!  In my entire adult life I have NEVER been a size 8.  My best guess is that I might have been a Jr. size 7 sometime in 8th or 9th grade.

3. 17 inches from my waist-7 1/2 inches from just one thigh-11 inches off my chest (my husband would say this is NOT a good thing) 10 inches off my hips.  So I am 45 inches smaller than I used to be!!

4. This is the best goal so far......I feel amazing!!! I want to exercises. I want to eat well.  I want to be active!

So to that last pound that is hanging out on my thighs......watch out...I'm coming for ya!!!  Maybe not today but soon...very soon.

Thank you to my great friends that have motivated me to walk, run and ski!!!  I look forward to achieving some new goals this year like completing a triathlon!! 

Hitting the road! Or rubber..or whatever that stuff on the track is

I might of said this before but I just don't get it.  I am the kind of person I used to hate.  I love to run!  But I don't know WHY I like to run now post-op.  Why did having my stomach made smaller and my insides re-routed make me LOVE to run.  I swear when I hit that track and my favorite song played loudly in my ears I just about burst with excitement.  Really weird. 

I'm about 25 days away from hitting the beaches of Hawaii with my family and I'm about 6 pounds away from hitting my 100 lbs. lost mark.  That was my goal, to loose 100 pound before we went to Hawaii.  I'll be cutting it close but I think I can do it since I'll be exercising more.  I think my goal weight will be around 150 lb. (Gasp! She said how much she wants to weigh!!) But at 5'9" I think that will be a good weight for me.  Right now I'm wearing a size 8 or 10 and I really like the jeans I have in those sizes (A pair of Lucky Jeans, Rock & Republic and a pair of Silver Jeans that I could wear 24/7 if I could all bought for $6.50 from a Thrift Store)

Anyway...that's about it for now.  As always I want to thank my friends and family for supporting me in my journey.  Without them my success would not be possible.  I love you guys!

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year to all my friends and family!  2011 was an AMAZING year and I can't imagine what 2012 has in store for me! 

This morning I woke up and was reading through Facebook updates where people were asking what your New Year's Resolutions were and had a revelation.  This is the first year where I'm not staring down the barrel of "dieting and loosing weight".  I almost started to cry!  The pressure to diet and loose weight every year and failing and trying again and again every year was so unbelievable!  Even as I write this my heart flutters a little at the thought that I'm not standing at the bottom of a hole looking up and wondering how the heck I'm going to get out of it. (that's how I used to feel when I knew I had 100 pounds to loose.)

Don't get me wrong.  At the top of my list is to continue to eat right and keep up the exercises but that is so much easier to do now then it was before.  Now I enjoy it!  I'm one of those people I used to hate!!

I just jumped on the scale this morning after a night of grazing on veggies, chips & dip expecting a little gain and was pleasantly surprised to find I had hit another mini-milestone.  90 pounds lost.  1 month, 1 week & 4 days to loose 10 pounds before Hawaii.  (My goal was to loose 100 pounds before our trip.)

So now that I am finally happy with my body what do I do for New Year's Resolutions?? 
1. Keep up eating right
2. Keep up exercises
3. Read all the books assigned for book club
4. Try not to be an "over-poster" on Facebook

Thank you again to Dr. Todd and his staff for giving me the tools to meet my goals.  Thank you friends and family for your continued support!  Happy New Year to everyone!! 

Busy! Busy! Busy!!

Not so much weight came off in November.  Maybe 5-8 pounds.  I am told its normal have plateau for a little bit.  I am expecting the weight loss to stop soon since I have lost about  85 pounds and that is about 85% of my total excess weight. The weight has started to come off again but I am THRILLED with where I am now.  I can't remember EVER being a size 10.  The best part is that I found a pair of Silver Jeans (I call them my teenie bopper jeans) at a Thrift Store a few months ago.  I thought I would NEVER fit in them but I held on to them because they are $70 jeans retail and I would never buy myself something like that. They fit me now! :-) I just found a nice pair of Lucky Jeans and a pair of True Religion Jeans (those retail for $170 at least) I'm going to hold to those too. :-)  I guess this is a woman's midlife crisis...wearing low cut jeans. ;-)

In November Dr. Todd had a Gala for all of his patients. Dan and I got all dressed up and had a date night. Thank goodness one of Dr. Todd's patients used to work with Dan so he had someone to talk to!  It was a lovely evening and we had a great time!

On Thanksgiving Day I organized a fun run here in Eagle River.  I had wanted to do the 5K in Anchorage but I just didn't have time to do that and get dinner ready.  So 21 of my friends and their families met up at Jitters and we ran about 1.19 miles around Business Blvd.  I even made T-shirts for the event!  Next year I think I'll do it as a fundraiser for Birchwood ABC PTO!  It was so fun even though it was snowing!  And It was the perfect distance for both kids and adults.

So that's about it for the month of November.  Now its time to get serious about getting through the holidays then we are off to Hawaii in Feb!  My Vacation Ticker says 2 months and 2 days!!  I might have to start trying on swim suits soon!  But I'm going to stick with the rule "Just because you CAN wear a bikini doesn't mean you SHOULD. ;-)

Happy Holidays everyone!!

Slow and steady!

The last month has been a strange one when it comes to my weight loss.  This morning I got on the scale and I hit my PRE-Baby weight. (How much I weighed before I started having babies.)  I only lost 5 pounds this month but I lost 2 pants size.  So, as much as I love to see that number on the scale go down we all know that we LIVE for the number on the label in our jeans!  A size 20 to a size 10 in 5 months.  Not too shabby.  I never would have tried on a size 10 pair of jeans except a friend of mine gave me a pair of size 10 Gap Long & Lean jeans in September.  I took them and said thank you but inside I thought "I am NEVER going to be a size 10!"  So I stashed them in the top of my closet and their they sat for the past 2 1/2 months. Last Sunday I was purging the next round of clothes out of my closet and I found those jeans and though "What the heck?" They fit!!! No muffin top or anything!  They were the most comfy jeans I had ever put on!

As far as exercise goes there have been a few issues with that.  2 weeks ago it finally snowed enough to hit the cross country ski trails.  Then it got cold. Very cold.  I have not exercised in about 2 weeks and its starting to make me crabby!!  And it looks like temperatures are not going to get any warmer either. :(  I might have to get a gym membership. Yuck!

Tonight is Dr. Todd's annual Gala!  My husband and I are going to get all dressed up! I'm excited to wear my size 10 dress!  Hot pink too!!  I'll post pictures tomorrow.  It should be fun. His office has been collecting pictures of all his patience doing things they could not do before surgery so I sent a video of me skiing from last week. 

Good luck to everyone as we venture into the season of over eating.  My plan is to run the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning to help battle the urge to eat too much.  If I stick to the turkey I should be fine.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Sweet Dreams

As some of you may know I have struggled with sleep issues for over 10 years.  It most notably started when I was pregnant with Andrew and got Restless Leg Syndrome.  Some people think that is just a silly "made-up" illness but I am living proof that it is not.  For those of you who do not know what RLS is let me give you a brief description.

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) or Willis-Ekbom disease is a neurological disorder characterized by an irresistible urge to move one's body to stop uncomfortable or odd sensations.^[1] It most commonly affects the legs, but can affect the arms, torso, and even phantom limbs.^[2] Moving the affected body part modulates the sensations, providing temporary relief.  RLS sensations can most closely be compared to an itching or tickling in the muscles, like "an itch you can't scratch" or an unpleasant "tickle that won't stop." The sensations typically begin or intensify during quiet wakefulness, such as when relaxing, reading, studying, or trying to sleep.

So, 10 years ago not many Dr. in Alaska knew what RLS was so one evening on our new computer with our new Internet connection Dan found a website that described my symptoms (How did we ever function in life without the Internet??) The next day I went to my OB/GYN and explained to him what was going on. 

By this time I was about 6 months along and only slept for 2 or 3 hours which usually didn't come until 4 a.m.  By 37 weeks I was having full body convulsing when I would try to lay down and sleep and could only get a little sleep if my husband or my mom sat by my bed and massaged or tapped on my legs with something.  No Dr. was comfortable treating the RLS since I was pregnant.  No sleep for 2 months can really mess with your head.  On May 14th, 2001 I told my Dr.'s nurse that I was ready to stab steak knives in my legs because it would feel better then what I had been feeling for the last 3 months.  She quickly scheduled me to be induced and Andrew was born on May 15th and I was given medicine that relieved my RLS.

As a result of this fiasco I had an overwhelming fear of having insomnia.  Even thought my RLS was being treated I was terrified to go to bed at night for fear of not being able to sleep.  If I didn't fall asleep immediately I would begin to panic.  So as silly as it sounds I had a fear of having insomnia.  My sleep disorder physician prescribed me Ambient and I have been taking that to fall asleep every night for the past 10 years. (With the exception of the 9 months I was pregnant with Julia; but that is another story.)

What does all of this have to do with my weight loss you ask....

Over the past few weeks I have been tired enough a few nights that I have forgotten to take my Ambient and for the past week I have been brave enough to go to bed with out taking it.  I had been sleeping about 6 hours a night and I've been very happy with that.  This morning I woke up and was amazed to see that I had slept 8 whole hours with NO sleeping pills!! 

The only thing that has changed in my life is that I weigh less and I exercises.   I don't know why or how losing weight has made sleep come easier or why I can sleep through the night now.  I'm not sure why I'm crying right now has I write this. Maybe its because I don't have to depend on that drug anymore and that is creating such a huge unexplainable emotion in me that only tears can describe the feeling.

I still have the RLS and take medication for that and I'm OK with that; but to be free of the sleeping pills after 10 years is just......I can't explain it.  If you are over weight by just a few pounds or a hundred pounds and have any unexplained health issues my advice to you is to get rid of those pounds any way you can!!!  It will change you life in so many ways but the best part is that you will be healthy and that is something you can't put a value on. If you take a lot of prescription drugs for health issues and like me was feeling bad for being dependant on all of those pills then do whatever it takes to get that weight off!! Not to look better but to be HEALTHY!!

On a lighter note....I recently hit my 70 pounds lost mile stone.  Sadly I have been staled there for about a week.  This week I am going to get back on track with my runs/walk and try to get out of this rut.  My girlfriends and I went to a 1960s era costume party on Friday night and had an amazing time getting dressed up for the event.  My dress was a size 14. I have not been a 14 since I was 20 years old.  Actually my 14 jeans are getting baggy but I'm not quite ready for 12s.  It felt so nice to wear a fancy dress and not have 2 or 3 layers of spandex/lycra holding in all my fat rolls. :-)

As always I want to continue to thank all my friends and family members that support me and give me words of encouragement everyday.  I love you and couldn't do this without your love.

New York-New York!!!

As some of you know I took a trip to New York in late September.  It was AMAZING!!!  I got to spend lots of quality time with my NY family especially my 2 cousins Samantha and Brenda.  Samantha is just about to graduate from Vegan Culinary School and I had the honor of attending one of her dinners.  The food was amazing!!  I didn't even notice that there was no meat or dairy products in the food.  Then her brother Josh got married a few days later.  The ceremony was beautiful!!  I again got to spend some time chatting with cousins and meet family members that I had never met before.  It was a whirl wind trip with a tour of Central Park, a Broadway show with  my mom, a marathon shopping trip with Sam and Brenda and of course a trip to an outlet mall on top of all the great family gatherings.  Oh and as the icing on the cake to this great month I jumped on the scale this morning and found that I am down 70 pounds!  According to my diet ticker I'm 19 pounds away from my goal weight.  I'm thinking of adjusting my goal weight from165 to 150.  I'm just getting into a size 14 which I am just thrilled with!  (I tried on a stretchy size 12 dress yesterday and it fit but I know that's because its stretchy.)  Anyway!  That's my life in a nutshell for now!  I'm feeling great and am just trying to get back in to my exercise routine.  Thinking of joining a gym this month.  I'm not sure I can convince myself to run when there is a fresh snow fall.  Here are a few pics from NY trip.

Big final shot from "That's How You Know!" from the movie Enchanted filmed right behind me.

The bridge from Enchanted

Finally finished my weight loss progress photos

I've been waiting until I had a few photos to compile a group of them to show my weight loss.  Its been about 15 weeks so I think you can see the difference from the day before the surgery.  Its been a tough journey but I'm so glad I had my friends and family to support me every step of the way.  I couldn't have done it without you all!  Thank you to all my friends that walk, run and hike with me!

15 Weeks Post Op- Down 61 Pounds!!

So its been a busy past few weeks since I last posted.  I checked an item off my bucket list!!  I climbed Mt. Baldy!  Its about 1000 ft elevation change from bottom to top.  It was so beautiful!  Going down was as hard as going up! 

I hit two of my big goals! I lost a total of 50 pounds and I finally have a number 1 at the beginning of my weight!  As my reward I bought myself a new ring. Sadly; 2 days after I got it a stone fell out so I had to take it back and they fixed it. By the time I got it back I had lost 7 more pounds so it became my 57 pound ring.  Today I hit the scale and I am down about 61 pounds!

Health wise I feel great! I think I am finally getting the hang of what I can eat and what I can't eat.  I fell my best when I take all my vitamins.  I've been training for the Alyeska Tram to Tram Fun Run tomorrow. Its a 5 mile trail run with a ride to the top of Alyeska and BBQ at the Seven Glaciers Restaurant.  I'm sure it will be a beautiful run!

Thanks again to all my friends and family that have been supporting me in my journey!!

3 months post op

Sorry its been so long since I posted.  Its been a busy past few weeks! I ran my first 5K race and met my goal of running the whole thing, never walking and my time was under 40 min. (37 min.) My daughter started Kindergarten and I've been enjoying my 6 hours of FREE time!! 

Today was a really big day for me. I jumped on the scale this morning and I had FINALLY lost 50 pounds!! My weight loss had really slowed down the last 2 weeks but the nurse at my Dr. office said it is normal to platue and then pick up again so I wasn't too worried.  I already bought a beautiful ring to celebrate my 50 pounds lost but I don't think they sized it correctly because its the same size as my other rings that do fit me and it doesn't quite fit.  It goes on but it is really hard to get off.  Oh well, it will fit soon enough. :-)

That's all for now.  I'll try to post some pre-op/post-op pictures soon so people that don't see me everyday can see the transformation.  Its very exciting!

Have a great week everyone!!

I've lost a small child! ;-)

So yesterday I got on the scale and it said I had lost 40 pounds!  Julia (my 5 year old daughter) weighs 39 pounds so you could say I've lost the equivalent of a small child!  I feel good, I still struggle with nausea but I'm learning to slow down when I eat and I actually try not to eat with my family because my daughter stresses me out during dinner because she never wants to eat what I set in front of her so we get in a fight. Which upsets my tummy.  So I just try to let Daddy handle things at the dinner table for a while.

I've been training every other day for the 5K that is Aug. 21st.  Every time I train I get a little faster.  The program really works.  And I feel good when I'm done.  I'm excited to run the race.

Yesterday I stopped by the local jewelry store and I looked at a beautiful Amethyst flower ring I have been admiring for quite some time.  I decided I would splurge on it when I hit 50 pounds lost.  I think I'm going to miss my goal of hitting 200 pounds (losing 54 pounds) by the first day of school. (that's next Tues.) as of today I'm about 14 pounds short; I'll probably miss the goal by about 9 pounds by the time school starts next week.  But I'm OK with that.  I'm happy with my progress and what's important is that I'm feeling good.

This weekend I'm having the last garage sale of the summer. I have 3 garbage bags of clothes to sell and I need the money to buy new clothes!  (Well new to me...Salvation Army is the best!) I've lost 2 sizes in my tops and 2 sizes in jeans. I've been hoping to find someone having a garage sale that is my size but so far no luck.

Well I'm off to enjoy the last days of summer here in Alaska!  So far we have had 9 days of rain. :(  But sun is in the forecast for later this week.

I'm sick of being sick

So everything was going pretty good. I'm losing weight at a rate of about 1 pound every one or two days.  But I was having insomnia and I was only getting about 5 hours of sleep a night until I forgot to take my multi-vitamins camping with me and slept really well! So I stopped taking my vitamins. Now I get sleep but I'm not getting all the nutrients I should be getting. Almost all the solid food I eat makes me throw up. Salad stays down sometimes. All meat makes me sick. I had my 6 week post op appointment yesterday (even though I'm 7 weeks post op) and Dr. Todd's office didn't seem too worried about me not being able to take the multi vitamin or keep solids/proteins down.  But my primary Dr. Said I didn't look good (her exact words were "you look pasty/pale" when I went in today for a blood draw. She gave me some suggestions to get some protein in my diet. I'm going to try taking 1/2 a multi vitamin early in the morning with lots of water and see if that helps.  I ran 1.9 miles today and I'm training for the Snow City Cafe 5k on Aug. 21st. School starts in 2 weeks which means life gets busy again. Time to get out and enjoy the last month of summer!  Thank you to all of you how comment on my blog and support me in my journey.  I couldn't have done it without you. 

6 weeks post op

Today it will be 6 weeks since I had my surgery.  I've been camping for the past 4 days so I've been away from the scale and was really hoping there would be some big weight loss while I was camping since we walked everywhere!  But I jumped on the scale this morning and I had only lost 1.8 pounds in the past 4 days. :(  Oh well.  I did lose 1/4 inch of my thigh and 1/4 inch off my waist.  My boobs are just shrinking like crazy! (I guess you gotta take the good with the bad.)  So my total weight loss for 6 weeks is exactly 30 pounds.  That's 5 pounds a week.  Not too shabby! 

Since I'm 6 weeks post op and everything is going well I can start working out to include lifting weights.  I'm going to a Physical Therapist that is going to help me strengthen my core muscles.  I also want to learn to run.  I know that sounds weird but I know my form is all wrong when I run and I could do better. 

Thanks again to all my friends that have been for walks and bike rides with me.  I couldn't have gotten this far without you! 

4 Weeks Post Op

So today has been 4 weeks since my surgery.  This past weekend was REALLY hard for me.  I went to 3 BBQ/parties and there was hardly anything I could eat.  I didn't really crave any of the food that I couldn't have although there was some very yummy looking desserts but I know they just make my stomach hurt like crazy so I don't even try them.  I tried a few different kinds of meats since I need the protein but none of them stayed down.  The only thing that stuck was salad and some veggie/rice casserole that I made.  Oh well. Today I am going back to the drawing board and eating cream of wheat and yogurt.

Last week I had my husband hide my scale since I was getting a little obsessive about my weight.  I would weigh myself everyday and that's not good.  So I told him to only put it out on Tues.  I stepped on it today and I am down 22 pounds!  Then I tried on a pair of pants one size smaller and they fit! Yeah!!  It feels good!  Today I'm going to try riding my bike.  I need to find a nice flat route to take to work up my endurance.

Some of you who don't see me very often wanted to see pictures of me so today I will try to post a side by side picture of myself from before the surgery and today.

Thanks to everyone for their love and support!  I really need it!  This is a harder journey then I thought it would be.  I'd say its very similar to a roller coaster ride.  It has its ups and downs. :-)

2 Weeks Post Op!!

Wow!  What an amazing 2 weeks its been!  Yesterday I decided to check my measurements and I lost 3 inches off my waist!  My clothes are loose on me but not quite ready to squeeze in to the next smaller size.  Today I jumped on the scale and I have lost 14 pounds in 14 days! Yipee!!!  I'm really enjoying the lazy summer.  I've been on a walk everyday and some days I go on 2 walks.  I have to bribe my kids to walk with me by walking with them to the gas station to get ice cream.  Seems a little counter productive but at least I get the walk and I do not get any in the ice cream. 

Thanks again to everyone for all of their support!  I will post some pictures soon for a side by side comparison.  I am so excited for my friends Kim and Sandi that are going to have the surgery soon!! It will be nice to be on this journey with some friends!!

9 days post op

So yesterday was my first follow up appointment. I'm feeling good and all my holes are healing up just fine. I'm right in track. Today I hopped on the scale and it said I had lost 10.4 pounds!! I just can't believe it! It has not been an easy journey but an exciting one! Going for a walk everyday (in between the rain) has really helped the weight come off.  I'm starting to eat normal food like the rest of the family is eatting.  Nothing has really changed except I just eat less of it now.  Oh and I don't like sweets as much as I used too.  I bought some Skinny Cow icecream sandwiches and I can only eat a 1/2 of one because it is just SO sweet! My goal is to lose 50 lbs by the time we head back to school in mid Aug.

Harder than I thought!

Whew, this is harder than I thought.  I had talked to a lot of people that had already had this surgery before I had mine and I knew this wouldn't be an easy journey.  It not like you just have the surgery and poof your skinny.  Its a whole new lifestyle that you HAVE TO embrace (no if, ands or buts about it).  Its not like in the past when I had said to myself and my family; "That's it!! no more junk food in the house, lets get out and be active!" There was nothing to hold my feet to the fire to make us stay on task, it was too easy to put the New Year's resolution off for a few days and be lazy and eat bad stuff together.  Now I have no choice.  A bite of a brownie, missing a meal or a snack or forgetting to take a vitamin supplement now causes serious health issues for me immediately!

Having a life changing procedure like this also helps you see who in your life really cares about you.  It was so encouraging to read everyone's comments on FB as I was in and out of surgery and in recovery.  Thank you for all of those who brought my family yummy dinners too.  Dan and the kids enjoyed them very much!  To the person that sent a plate of brownies.....um thanks, I threw them in the garbage. How about a fruit basket next time?  The gesture was nice but my whole family is on this journey with me to be come fit and eat healthier food so we are just going to try not to have that stuff in our home anymore.

On a lighter note! I am down 6 pounds since the surgery.  (Did you get the joke..."lighter note"....I lost 6 pounds so I'm "lighter". Sorry that was a corny joke but I am writing this at 6:30 a.m. so what do you expect?

Have a great week everyone!  Thanks again for following me on this journey!!!

On the road to recovery!

So I'm 2 days post op, I got home yesterday evening.  I'm pretty sore from laying around the hospital bed so much.  I've been walking around our circle every couple of hours to keep active.  Since the procedure was done laproscopic I just have 6 little holes in my tummy where they put the cameras and the tools in to complete the procedure. (Luckily I was not planning on becoming a bikini model after the surgery.)

It was really hard coming out of anesthesia.  The morphine in my clicky button was good for the pain while I was in the hospital.  Now I'm just bed sore and have some bloating.  Every time I burp it hurts but every time I toot I'm happy because it means a little more of the gas is getting out.

So far I've been eating jello and protein shakes with all my supplements and medications.  Tomorrow I might try soft scrambled eggs and sugar free applesauce.

Thank you to everyone for their prayers and wishes for a speedy recovery.  I really appreciate it! 

I'm starving!!!!

So my last solid food was Sunday night around 7pm. I've only had some chicken broth and jello today and I am just starving and have a headache too. 9:30 tomorrow can not come soon enough. If I'm lucky the will put something in my IV when I get to the hospital to take me out of my misery.

Nervous-nervous-nervous!!!

Just a little more than 24 hours until my surgery and boy am I nervous!  Last night at midnight was my last bite of solid food for probably the next 4 or 5 days. I did not sleep well at all last night.  Mostly I'm afraid of the how painful the surgery is going to be.  At noon today the fun begins with the Magnesium Citrate and some antibiotics to cleanse my system.  No nothing after midnight tonight.  I wish the next 3 days would just hurry up and happen.  I just want to get to my recovery time, walking and losing weight ASAP!!!  Thank you again to everyone that has commented on my blog and supported me in this decision.  Some of you have asked what you can do to help while I'm recovering and I would say that Dan and the kids could use some pre-made lunch or dinner during the next week or so since I will have no desire to go anywhere near the kitchen for quite a while.  They will eat pretty much anything. Thanks again!!  

My friend's perfect words.

For months I have had a hard time explaining to some people why I need to have this surgery.  My friend Stephanie George had the surgery a year ago and looks amazing and wrote the following comment on my FB page.  She is an amazing writer and the words she wrote explain how I came to my decision perfectly.  So I'm going to borrow them and I hope it helps people understand.
 

"Those who have never walked in the shoes of a gastric bypass patient will never know what it's like. I know that you are not just doing this to feel comfortable. There will be those who think that you are only doing this to get skinny or to... look good. I know what it's like to wake up tired and and feel that way all day. To worry at every drs visit about yet another health problem. Your health, your joints, your ability to be there for your kids are all affected by the weight that you have fought to lose. You are an amazing woman and after Dr. Todd does the surgery you will still be the Donna that we all love except you will be equipped to be the healthy, active woman you want to be. Good Luck my friend. I understand that your decision to have this surgery has not been easy. It affects every aspect of you -your health, your energy, your chances of beating things like heart disease and diabetes and of course your self image. I can't wait to hear and see how this new tool changes your life."

 

Thank you Stephanie!  I really couldn't have said it better myself. 

Pre-Op Orders

So yesterday I went to pick up my Pre-Op orders from Dr. Todd's office.  Got all my instructions and found out my surgery time is at 11:30 a.m. on Tues.  Had to go pre register at Providence and have some more blood drawn for more tests and one more EKG.  The nurse asked me a TON of medical questions which is fine with me.  The more they know about me the better the surgery will go. 

Sunday night at midnight is the last time I can have a bite of food.  Monday morning I get to drink some fun goop/medicine in the morning and spend the day in the bathroom "clearing" my intestines. I'll have to charge up my iphone and load a good movie on it. :)  Clear food only that day like jello and chicken broth.   No food or even liquids after midnight on Monday/Tues. then I have to be at the hospital by 9:30 then surgery at 11:30.

So that's it!  Today and tomorrow I plan on doing a final cleaning of the house and making some menus and calendars for my husband so he knows what's is what.  I have some big plans for starting to excises.  I'll start my 30 walks in 30 days about 2 weeks after my surgery. After that challenge I would like to do 30 hikes in 30 days or 30 bike rides in 30 days.  We'll see what the Alaska weather brings. :-) So if your a friend of mine and would like to join me on this challenge please let me know.

My husband Dan will post status updates of my surgery on Facebook and I'll blog as soon as I am able to.

Talk to you soon!!
Donna

Surgery date set!

Sorry I have not kept this up to date. I've been enjoying the amazing summer we have been having!! Surgery date is set for June 7th!! One week from today!! I met with Dr. Todd last Thursday and we are all set!! I get my orders and prescriptions on Friday. I'm so excited! I bought all my post surgery food like chicken broth and sugar free ice pops. Sone cream of wheat, applesauce and sweet potatoes. That's it for now!

Insurance company APPROVED my surgery!!!!

I got the phone call today from the amazing Debbie at Dr. Todd's office that my insurance company has approved my surgery!!!  Yeah!! I am so excited I am shaking!!!  Melissa will call me later this week to schedule the final appointment with Dr. Todd to review my test results and to schedule my surgery!  Now that I know my surgery will be very soon its time to get down and dirty with the pre-surgery diet of 30 grams of carbs ad 80 grams of protein.  Thank you again to everyone that has been so supportive of this process and my decision to have this surgery!

Its all in the hands of the insurance company now.

So today I went in for the final-final appointment where they looked over my file and said "Yep, your good to go to have surgery."  Yeah!!!!  The insurance goddess Debbie told me my package was ready to be faxed off to my insurance company this afternoon. 

So the waiting game begins.  I've done my part.  Now its up to my insurance company.  So although the disclaimer is that the insurance company has up to 30 days to approve of deny my request they say it usually takes 2-4 business days.  I really hope to have the surgery by the end of the month.  They suggest I go on my pre-surgery diet now.  80 grams of protein a day and only 30 grams of carbs.  YIKES!!!  Some of the chewable supplements I take have 4 grams already!  I got some protein shakes at Costco today (along with a 25 pack of Mikes Hard Lemonade-I'm going to have one last weekend of fun before I get down and dirty)

So that's it for now.  The next post you read will either be total excitement or unhappiness!!

Waiting......

So yesterday morning I went for a "touch base" appointment.  I thought all my test were done and submitted but it turns out I am waiting for one last clearance letter from the Sleep & Lung Dr.  It seems that the last test I took that measured the amount of oxygen in my blood while I slept was a little low.  His office said they should get a clearance letter over today and they would call me.  Then the package gets sent off to the insurance company and if all goes well I'll know when I'll have my surgery by the end of the week.  Dr. Todd's nurse says his schedule is pretty wide open this month so I'm really hoping for a surgery date on May 26th.  I have started my low carb, high protein diet today to help shrink my liver which helps the Dr. when performing the surgery.  The smaller the liver the easier it is to get to the stomach and intestine.

So that's it so far.  Stay tune for more good news later this week!!

All tests are DONE!!!

Yesterday I had my last appointment and reviewed all my test results with an internalist and performed a pulmonary function test.  The PA thought all my test results looked fine.  "Nothing to be excited about" were his exact words.  I took a little machine home with me last night that monitored my oxygen levels while I slept and I turned that in to the Dr. office this morning.  So for now I am DONE with tests!!!!  The next step is to go see Dr. Todd on Monday and get the final seal of approval from him and then the insurance and then it is off to surgery!!! 

They want you to go on a high protein/low carb diet to help shrink your liver for about 2 weeks before the surgery (the smaller the liver is the easier it is to perform the surgery.) So I guess I might need to start doing that soon.  I really want to do the surgery ASAP but I don't think I can fit it into our schedule until the first week of June.  That would be perfect!

Testing, testing and more testing!!

So its been a busy past few weeks! I went to orientation which really opened my eyes. I decided that I need the Bi-pass and not the band since the band only lets you loose about 40% of your excess weight while the bi-pass will help you loose up to 80% of your excess weight.  I met the Dr. that will be performing the surgery and he was very nice. I went to 2 support group  meetings (you are required to go to 3 before the surgery.) 

Yesterday I spent the morning at Providence Hospital and completed the test that need to be done to make sure I am healthy enough to have the surgery done.  I had a chest X-ray, an Upper GI (that was an interesting test), an abdominal ultrasound and an EKG.  Next Monday I have to go have a psychological evaluation and go have a preoperative consultation and the Lung & Sleep Clinic.  As long as everything checks out I will be ready for surgery!  I would love to have the surgery in May but with Andrew's Birthday, the last day of school, and Cub Scout camp all that month I just don't think I can do it since its at least one night in the hospital and a few days at home to recover.

So that's where I'm at for all of you following along.  :-)

Thank you to all my friends and family that support my decision to have this surgery.  I know it is a controversial subject for some people but I just know this is the right decision for me and my family.