LifeStarts WLS
Claiming MY Right to Life
For the past few days I have been staying with friends and getting some awesome and sound nutritional advice.
My friend is a mom to an almost 10 month old and makes her own baby food. She has been an incredible resource and a powerful friend during all of this. I've been making my own baby food and am discovering that I actually like food that I never enjoyed before - brussel sprouts, asparagus, cottage cheese.
I also found a really interesting book titled, "When Food is Love" by Geneen Roth. She has several books, however this one seemed to resonate with my friend and I. For such a small book, it packs quite the pearls of wisdom. Two quotes that struck me today are, "Eating is a metaphor for the way we live; it is also a metaphor for the way we love." and "At every moment, we are choosing either to reveal ourselves or to protect ourselves, to value ourselves or to diminish ourselves, to tell the truth or to hide. To dive into life or to avoid it. Initimacy is making the choice to be connected to, rather than isolated from, our deepest truth at that moment."
I find these comments to be extraordinary and quite profound given my current situation. Last week I was admitted to the hospital because I was in an extreme amount of pain. I faced medical staff who did not want to take my case on because my surgery occurred at another hospital and they did not want the responsibility of my care. Background note: The Bariatric Program is run out of Toronto Western hospital. All of my appointments have been at Toronto Western Hospital. My surgery occurred at Toronto East. My surgeon and her team have been on vacation since my surgery and I was referred by the surgeons office to go to Toronto Western where the program is run from.
At first the doctors could only say "the good thing is that you're not dead yet". Ummm - well duh! Of couse that's a good thing! This caused an incredible amount of stress and needless frustration. In the end I have an infection and inflammation in my incision, not at the incision site, but underneath where the camera was apparently inserted. One doctors lovely suggestion to cure my pain was to lose more weight - lol =)~ I am on antibiotics right now to deal with the infection. The meds will be taken over 10 days and if they do not work, I have to go back and will likely need surgery to remove the infecttion (or so that is what I have been told). I am still in quite a bit of pain. It hurts to do anything for periods of time - sitting, standing, walking, being LOL. I am 3 weeks post op and I am now down 52 lbs. I am following the program to the letter and am now keeping a daily food and exercise journal. I'm monitoring my water intake and trying my best to be as compliant as possible. =)~
The red-tape is a very aggravating and frustrating experience. It is not something that I am unfamiliar with, however it has prompted me to truly evaluate my situation and what lessons are to be learned from this experience. Specifically around my value and self-worth. I have an incredible opportunity to be connected to my deepest truth - to reveal myself, value myself, to tell the truth and dive into life. I am claiming my freedom. I am claiming my right to life - a healthy life. What this means is that the partnerships that I entered into with my medical team will need to be honoured on all sides. Only those who are willing to participate and be fully engaged will be allowed the opportunity to impact and enhance my healthy life and freedom. Opportunities will be given to me, I'm certain, that will honour this declaration of mine. LOL! I need to surround myself with people who are committed to assisting me achieve my goals. That is the bottom line. So while I am still in pain, I'm working at getting stronger emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually. I'm taking things one step at a time.
My friend is a mom to an almost 10 month old and makes her own baby food. She has been an incredible resource and a powerful friend during all of this. I've been making my own baby food and am discovering that I actually like food that I never enjoyed before - brussel sprouts, asparagus, cottage cheese.
I also found a really interesting book titled, "When Food is Love" by Geneen Roth. She has several books, however this one seemed to resonate with my friend and I. For such a small book, it packs quite the pearls of wisdom. Two quotes that struck me today are, "Eating is a metaphor for the way we live; it is also a metaphor for the way we love." and "At every moment, we are choosing either to reveal ourselves or to protect ourselves, to value ourselves or to diminish ourselves, to tell the truth or to hide. To dive into life or to avoid it. Initimacy is making the choice to be connected to, rather than isolated from, our deepest truth at that moment."
I find these comments to be extraordinary and quite profound given my current situation. Last week I was admitted to the hospital because I was in an extreme amount of pain. I faced medical staff who did not want to take my case on because my surgery occurred at another hospital and they did not want the responsibility of my care. Background note: The Bariatric Program is run out of Toronto Western hospital. All of my appointments have been at Toronto Western Hospital. My surgery occurred at Toronto East. My surgeon and her team have been on vacation since my surgery and I was referred by the surgeons office to go to Toronto Western where the program is run from.
At first the doctors could only say "the good thing is that you're not dead yet". Ummm - well duh! Of couse that's a good thing! This caused an incredible amount of stress and needless frustration. In the end I have an infection and inflammation in my incision, not at the incision site, but underneath where the camera was apparently inserted. One doctors lovely suggestion to cure my pain was to lose more weight - lol =)~ I am on antibiotics right now to deal with the infection. The meds will be taken over 10 days and if they do not work, I have to go back and will likely need surgery to remove the infecttion (or so that is what I have been told). I am still in quite a bit of pain. It hurts to do anything for periods of time - sitting, standing, walking, being LOL. I am 3 weeks post op and I am now down 52 lbs. I am following the program to the letter and am now keeping a daily food and exercise journal. I'm monitoring my water intake and trying my best to be as compliant as possible. =)~
The red-tape is a very aggravating and frustrating experience. It is not something that I am unfamiliar with, however it has prompted me to truly evaluate my situation and what lessons are to be learned from this experience. Specifically around my value and self-worth. I have an incredible opportunity to be connected to my deepest truth - to reveal myself, value myself, to tell the truth and dive into life. I am claiming my freedom. I am claiming my right to life - a healthy life. What this means is that the partnerships that I entered into with my medical team will need to be honoured on all sides. Only those who are willing to participate and be fully engaged will be allowed the opportunity to impact and enhance my healthy life and freedom. Opportunities will be given to me, I'm certain, that will honour this declaration of mine. LOL! I need to surround myself with people who are committed to assisting me achieve my goals. That is the bottom line. So while I am still in pain, I'm working at getting stronger emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually. I'm taking things one step at a time.
I'm so sorry you are going through this difficult time, but it sounds like you have really made some important decisions regarding how valuable you are. You go girl!
I've read most of Geneen Roth's books, they are very good.
Praying for healing of your infection so you don't have to have another surgery. Please keep us posted.
Hugs
Annie
I've read most of Geneen Roth's books, they are very good.
Praying for healing of your infection so you don't have to have another surgery. Please keep us posted.
Hugs
Annie
