hi everyone!
i'm doing pretty good. work is work enough said about that.
weight is slowly going down.
i've lost 7 pounds now. whew. never did think it was going to go.
its like all of a sudden the thyroid meds took control. i feel good health wise.
i'm eating well. staying within my calories and while i'm not going every night i am working out more.
its taken a very long time to lose that 7 pounds. i wanted to drop at least 10 by summer and truthfully i didn't think i'd ever make it. i'm only 3 pounds away i dont' know if it will be gone by the official day of summer but even if it isn't i'm just thrilled taht the scale has moved.
my clothes are fitting better. its not enough to change a size yet but i'm just happy that they are fitting better.
so keep at it fellow marchers. don't give up the ship!

Yvette, I never realized you were so close to me! Are you really in Springfield? We're 40 minutes apart! We should really try to get together - get Pam and Mike to join us!! Maureen

hi reenie i keep forgetting to bring up my cell phone wiht me which is where her number is sorry but if you call information you can get it too. hername is dr fran storch she. she is awesome

Hey all, just thought I would update you all on my training for the Sprint Triathalon which is May 22nd.  Training is going well and while I know I won't break any records I know I'll finish.  Just a reminder for those that care, the sprint tri that I'm doing is a 500 yeard swim, 12.4 mile bike ride and 3.1 mile run.  It sounds like a lot, but once you get going it really isn't.  The mind is great about putting up road blocks

Anway, what really is the message is that I made this a goal to make me get up and go to the gym.  My wife and I awake at 4:45 on weekdays and 6:45 on weekends to go to the gym first thing in the morning.  I am not good about going after work as I can always find some legitmate excuse as to why I can't go, so I go in the morning.  I have good days and bad days, and I have skipped.  But, I don't beat myself up over it and I get there the next day.  As I say to my wife, it is a pain to get up but I'm never sorry that I have gone, but I am sorry if I skip.   I am NOT a triathalete.  I'm not a runner, I not a swimmer, and I'm a marginal bike rider but it has motivated me to go to the gym.  What I have learned is how great swimming laps is as far as my mind set and my body.  There is a certain calm in the quiet of being underwater and just swimming.  When I started, it was tough to go more the 50 yards without stopping, now I'm up to 300 yards non storp and I'm swimming at least 800 yards a day.  

Just do it! Do something.  Go out walk a block.  Walk a block and a half the next day, or just a block, but do something.  Much like a 12 step program, this is day to day.  But I can tell you that if you do something and you want to go longer, just getting started is half the battle.  The easy thing to do is to sit around and beat yourself up about what you ate and that you didn't workout.  But, while it won't change things overnight, it will change if you stick to it.  You will feel better in your mind and body.  Plus, I have found that after I busted my hind parts in the gym,  I'm less likely to eat something I shouldn't because I don't want to blow my workout on something that will most likely make me run to the toilet with a case of screamers.

I am so far from perfect, but I am proof that if you set a goal, start picking at it and work everyday towards it, you will get there.    One of my favorite football coaches used to say you eat an elephant one bite at a time.  So, start eating that elephant!

As promised, I will continue to post alerts that especially pertain to health issues for long term post-ops - this was on the Main Board:

Post Date: 4/12/10 6:21 am
I had surgery August 2003.  I lost weight and gained back weight.  They did not take out my Gall badder when they did they Bypass.  August 2008 I had to have the gall badder removed.  I have more sick days than I do good days.  Now they are telling me that I have scar tissue causing problems.  I am taking Thoracic Sympathetic Injection Blocks to stop the pain & sickness. Thoracic Injection Blocks are only temporary relief.  They are now considering me a Canada for a TENS Stimulator.  TENS would interrupt the signals to the brain.

This has been no walk in the park.  Because of the bypass, the Gastrologist cannot do an ERCP to remove sludge and stones.  I developed Pancreatitis March 2009 when a stone became lodged in the common bile duct.  They have had me taking Ursodol to dissolve the stones and sludge.  Surgery is not the answer here.  Any more surgery would create more scar tissue.

If I had the opportunity to choose Lap Band over Gastric Bypass, I would have gone with the Lap Band.  When I had my surgery, they were only offering the Gastric Bypass.  Gastric Bypass does not allow the use of a scope reaching the entry point of the ducts.  Therefore, a procedure to clean out the ducts of sludge or stones cannot be done.  Those ducts are accessed through the duodenum which has been bypassed.  The only way now to access those ducts is to make an abdominal incision and an incision in the intestines.  

I have an appointment April 16th to meet with a representative from the St. Jude foundation.  I will learn more about the stimulator then.  I sincerely hope that anyone considering Gastric Bypass understands the downfall to bypassing the duodenum.  Yes you will absorbe less calories, but, if you delelope stones and sludge, then other complications can occur.  Ursodol is bile acid which you must take from 6 months to 2 years to dissolve Gall Stones & sludge.

I am wondering if anyone else has encounter dealing with Cholecystectomy, sludge, stones and scar tissue.  This journey has been a difficult one to endure.