UPCOMING HOLIDAYS AND A BAD ATTITUDE

Kandace - I admire your determination and strength. I am also a planner, so I get where you are coming from. There's a lot of great advice you've received. I may take them upon myself as well.

-Achelle

Awww, Achelle, thank you!  I have been seeing your posts, and I hope you are feeling better.  I've been keeping you in my thoughts and prayers.  

I am almost two months out, and my sister came over last night for the first time since my surgery (she is about what I weighed before I had RNY).  She was shocked at how much weight I had already lost.  While we were discussing that, she commented on how brave I was to have surgery. I asked why she said that, and her comment was, "because I love food too much to give it up."  Well, isn't THAT the exact problem?  I guess we are all just where we are.  Thank goodness I am where I am and not where she is ;).

Hey, there, C!  This little story really hits home with me.  My mother...same way as your sister.  It's funny how when you're ready, you're fed up, and it's time to do something about.

How are you feeling with your RA? I know you were having issues with not being able to take NSAIDs.  Have you talked to your RA doc about something that's not an NSAID that might help?  

Actually I have OA, not RA, but it is painful.  Since stopping meloxicam, which I was on for a couple of years after ibuprofen for many years,  have barely been able to walk.  I had no idea how much I was depending on that med.  i was referred to a pain management clinic but the referral has not been processed so I just wait.  I had x-rays and have a slipped disc too... so I think I need to sit tight and continue losing weight.  Kind of motivating to eat on plan when I see what my weight has done to my body.

Thanks for checking... 

Everyone is different, but I want to tell you that my OA in my knees and feet and ankles is so much better now. I noticed around the 50 pound weight loss mark that it was much better and I could stand and walk longer and further than I had in several years before the RNY. I even can manage stairs without much pain now. I just sort of smirked when told pre-surgery that I would be walking (should be walking 5 miles daily)... well, it didn't happen right away and I still don't walk that far every day, but I find it is very possible to go at least 4 miles every other day now and there is no pain and NO NSAIDS! I haven't had one since a month prior to my surgery and suffered for a long while until the weight came down enough.

Now, my shoulder, hands,  and upper back is a different story and when it's bad I resort to heating pads, a hot shower or a muscle rub (without NSAIDs) and once in a while will treat myself to a massage because I'm working hard and I'm worth it, darn it!

I am so glad to read that!  I have lost 46 pounds to date.  I keep thinking that the loss just has to start showing in my ability to get around, but so far I feel really incapacitated.  To top it off I am in a 2-week stall and feel like it will never come off.  But persevering.  Thank goodness for this forum where I can see and read about success stories.