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OMG!!  You poor thing!!  Yes, definitely do keep to those clear liquids, girl!  So sorry you have to go through all this.  How do strictures happen?  (I don't understand)  How scary that it was so tiny!! 

I will be keeping you in my thoughts and prayers everyday and most DEFINITELY on 1/5!
Hang in there, Mandy!
Love, Mary Lou

Alright kid's, new status update. This morning I finally had my endoscopy. They found 1,2,3, 4 ulcers inside. One of the ulcers is 2 cm long... my entire pouch is only 5 cm. Needless to say this is not the news I was hoping for. Still on the Carafate and now taking Nexium x2 a day. 
Tuesday night i was in the ER .. dehydration. Felt a lot better after 2 bags of fluid.
So, heres my question...
What in the world am I supposed to eat? The nurse today say's i'm supposed to avoid dairy. Ok, then what exactly does one eat with 4 ulcers? Cause I'm pretty sure I need to eat something... at this stage anything. Any suggestions?

 So this year has been full of many changes..some good and some I'd love to forget. As strange as it may sound,I feel like God was sending me a message when the first two occurred. Last year at this time my family was struggling and coming to grips with my stepfather having a major stroke and my mother going into the hospital 3 days later with kidney problems. I have struggled with my weight my whole life and had really gotten to my breaking point. My fibromyalgia was killing me,my sleep apnea was awful and I was taking so many medications I couldn't function. It was affecting my everyday life in the worst way. I hurt so bad all the time that I was either sleeping too much or sleeping too little from pain and medication. It wasn't fair to my family..I never felt well and even on a good day,I smiled through the pain and paid for it later. I had talked about having surgery several times before and I knew my doctor was on board with the idea. I went to a seminar and I couldn't complete the process before our insurance would change again. I gave up on the thought of surgery for a few years,but this year I had really been putting on the weight and thinking again. Our insurance had stayed the same for the past two years and I felt I wouldn't run into the same situation I had before with it changing. After Ray's stroke and Mom's health problems,it was like God giving me a sign.. He was giving me that nudge I needed to make a move again. Ray was the last person we ever thought would have a stroke. He was active,healthy and Marine goodness sake! Seeing my mom's health deteriorate has been so hard as well.. I told myself I don't want to turn out that way. She has only 30% of her lungs functioning,she's on oxygen and has gone down hill fast the past few years. I love her with all my heart and it's kills me to see her this way. I didn't want my children to see me that way. My husband and I were blessed to adopt 3 beautiful siblings in 2004. I have always believed they were a gift from God and that he chose us to be their parents. I didn't want my kids,my gift from God to be slighted in any way. I had gotten to a point where I felt so bad all the time and I felt guilty when I had to tell them I can't do that,because I'm hurting. I want my kids to grow up and have memories of a fun mom,not one who was in pain all the time. Through trying to process why the stroke occurred and thinking about my mom, I made the decision that I was pursing my surgery with no looking back.. I told God,"I got the message..loud and clear!"  So,here I am a little over 2 months out and I am 51lbs lighter!! Life is different every day and I stumble across a new struggle all the time,but it is worth it. I finally realized I am worth it! Seeing my family and feeling good is the most wonderful Christmas present ever! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and I am excited to see what next year has in store for me :) I've come to realize we may not like change,but change is good in so many ways :) One of my favorite quotes by Martin Luther King says :"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step."

Wow! Sorry to hear you're STILL in the hospital! I feel so bad for you! I hope you get your procedure done today and can get home for New Years! I hope it all goes well for you and you start doing better soon!

 Man.. I am really fed up with this..I have never been very good at talking about how I'm feeling lol Which might explain my weight issues!! But I feel like I have become the worlds biggest crybaby. All I do is ***** and whine about my gut.. I would LOVE to change the channel but apparently I am the only show on right now.
On Friday I found out that my surgeons M/A dropped the ball and never properly requested my EGD.. So, now I'm stuck waiting for my Primary to make the request and then my insurance to approve... Thank God I have good insurance but, dammit.. I can barely eat yogurt now.. I am sure this can't be good for me.. Water is a lesson in pain and food.. I wish. I don't ever feel hungry which I guess is a blessing. 
I was watching my family on Christmas eating dinner together and I started laughing, I never really paid attention to what we do to food when there aren't any restrictions.. might as well skip the forks and put out little shovels! Those dirty birds just PLOWED through dinner. 
On the upside I had set a goal of 50lbs lost as my Christmas present to myself and I made the goal! So yay me!