shell0995

Send Message

Block

Add Friend

Wow, can't believe it's been almost three months since I updated.  Not much to tell really.  Had gallbladder removed two days ago.  OMG, I am in pain.  It still hurts to breathe in deep and cough.  But oh well.  Weight gain from the IV, but that should come off soon.  Still not in onderland.  I am so close that I can spit on it.  But it just won't let me in.  Not worried.  I have dropped sizes still, so even though the pounds aren't going down, the sizes still are.  I know the pounds will start in again soon as they take turns lately.  

Had to go out and buy clothes for summer.  Finally have a small assortment of tops and now about 4 pairs of shorts for summer.  Got some really cute outfits that I would never have thought of wearing before!  Also got my ass into a pair of 18 capris!  Wow!  Don't know how long it's been since I seen that size!  High school maybe?  

Time to get some Lortab and take my morning rest.  Can't wait until I start feeling normal.  But I have been told it should take about 4 or so days.  If that is the case, I'm half way through.

Yesterday morning I stepped on the scales and low and behold - 100.5 pounds gone!!  I had to step off and then back on.  Then off and back on AGAIN to be sure I was getting the weight correctly!!  Then this morning I am down a total of 101 pounds!!  Here I had been in this 'stall' and lost about 2 pounds in a month, then BAM!  I have lost about 4 pounds in the past week.  I did up my protein lately, so I don't know if that was the trigger or my body finally said 'okay, I'm done catching up, you can loose more now'.  Either way, I'm happy, happy, happy!!!  Next goal is to be in onderland before I go back next month to see Dr. Pesta.  Won't that be AWESOME!!!  

On the other hand, the skin under my chin is driving me nuts.  I look like an old woman when I look there!!  EWW!  Maybe it will shrink back in time.  If not, I will have to start saving my pennies (and more) to have something done with that.  The skin in my ab area isn't too bad yet.  I can see it is not shrinking back as much as it was before, so hopefully I won't have to worry about too much excess skin to tuck into my pants.  My batwings on the other hand - YUCK!  Definitely have to have something done with those babies!!  

Yesterday I went and got my hair cut.  My hairstylist said that I had what looked like breakage.  So we started looking at it closer and realized that my hair is too healthy and it's not breakage - it's new growth.  So my hair is coming back!  Yay!!!   She made the layers blend into the new lengths, so it doesn't look so weird.  Atleast they should grow out the same and it won't be so bad. 

OOH, how I am so glad the holidays are over!  Didn't get sick on New Years Eve, but definitely ate something that my pouch did not like.  Thank goodness we have a party here at our home every year.  I went and laid down on my son's racecar bed and next thing I knew it was 2007 and I was being told to go to my bed!!  

I was at a 'stall' for several weeks and started to drop the other day.  I am currently at a 94 pound loss.  Six more pounds until I have lost 100 pounds!!  

Went to see Dr. Pesta last week and he is happy with my progress.  He thinks that I might be starting to have problems with my gall bladder as I am starting to have issues with potatoes.  In three months when I go back he will probably order tests if I am still having issues with potatoes. 

Well, I got through Christmas.  Ugh, all the food!  I bounced around a few pounds after Thanksgiving and then finally stopped the bouncing.  Then I did not loose anything.  Until a week ago that is.  I started dropping again and am down 5 pounds in the past week.  Pretty impressed with myself, given we had 4 christmas gatherings in less than 36 hours!  

Got sick on Christmas Eve after dinner.  OMG, it was so hot at my grandmothers house (not unexpected at the home of an 85 year old woman!).  We were in the kitchen doing dishes.  I was washing, my cousin was cleaning off the dishes and putting them to the side for me to wash.  Her husband and my husband was drying (talk about a shock!).   Suddendly I felt really warm, sick to my stomach and felt like I was goin to pass out.  I guess my husband has seen me get sick a few too many times because he asked if I was okay.  Then both my husband and my cousins husband instructed to leave the kitchen and go lay down.  Not five minutes later I was throwing up.  Not sure what it was.  I know I am starting to have issues with potatoes - any way they are fixed.  So I wonder if it was the potatoes.  Then on Christmas day we had King Crab legs and BBQ baby back ribs at my moms.  I told my brother to put the BBQ very very light on part of one of the racks, because I would get sick.  His reply was 'you won't get sick'.  I told him that yeah, I will...I've had a problem with BBQ sauce before.  I took a small part from one of the racks.  Got most of the BBQ off and ate a few bites of  the meat.  Sure enough, about 10 minutes later I was praying to the porcelain god.  Maybe next time he will listen to me!

Christmas was hectic, but also fun.  Jacob got lots of presents and to see his face on Christmas morning when he saw his new Hummer H2 (child size of course) filled with Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars was cute.  He then found the excitement of finding other things that were under the tree for him.  Of course, opening the gifts was an experience he has conquered.  If it was a toy that was all good.  Clothes were a different story.  They seemed to get tossed over his shoulder!  Geeze, 2 years, 9 months and he already tosses clothes!  What am I in for?????  

We went out last night and spent some of our Christmas money.  I wanted a new Lazyboy rocker recliner.  After coming home from the hospital and spending a week in the one we currently have finalized that decision!  Ended up getting a new Lazyboy and a new leather sofa and loveseat!  Then we headed to Lowe's and got a new hot water heather, new dishwasher and replacement over the range microwave.  Thank you Sharp for buying out our warranty!  I won't ever buy a Sharp microwave again!  Impossible to get someone out to our home to service the thing!  The water heater gets installed next Wednesday and I can't wait to take a really, really, REALLY long shower without running out of hot water.  

Well, I guess that's it for now.  Have to finish getting the Christmas decorations put away so the tree can go out and my house can get back to order.  Which means my elliptical comes back inside so I can exercise! 

As of this morning I am just OBESE!!  No longer extremely, no longer morbidly, just OBESE!  I can't believe it.  I have lost 79 pounds in 4-1/2 months.  WOW!  I want to be at 220 by Christmas, which I have 12 pounds to go, in how many weeks??  FIVE weeks?? Maybe I should rethink that amount and drop to 210?  200 by New Years would be kewl, but I don't know about that.  Hey, something to look forward to for next year!  Hehe, maybe I should make a New Years resolution to be in onederland next year.  Like that isn't going to happen!  Hmmm....maybe 100 pounds loss by New Years would be a good thing to celebrate. 

My personal goal is 140 - 145.  I have 87-92 pounds to go until I reach my personal goal.  So I am almost half way there.  It's unbelievable!  I can't believe this 'tool' is so helpful in getting my life back.  It is a continous battle though.  I am still fighting head hungers, again.  Especially with the holidays coming up.  I see things that we used to have at holidays and think.....YUM.  But I know I can't have it or I will pay the consiquences if I do.  

The boy is up, so I guess this is the end of my update.  WOW, two in less than a week.....something must be wrong with me!  :) 

Things are always so crazy at this time of the year!  Too much family, too many places to go, too many people to buy for!  Geeze, thank goodness for Christmas Clubs or we would be broke, broke, broke.

Doing well for the weight loss.  It has been just over a month since I last updated and I am down 78 pounds as of yesterday morning.  Sixteen pounds in the past month... I'm pretty happy!  Would like to be down another 15-20 pounds by Christmas.  I can do it.  Just will have to work harder on exercising more often.  Speaking of which, hubby went down to the gym and froze our memberships until January 16.  It's too busy this time of the year to go to the gym.  Not much else to report.  Will write again later.

Changing a profile is not easy!  But it's quiet here in the house and I am hoping the little feet do not crawl out of bed and want a 'moie' (movie).  Need to figure out how to change the background and will probably do a few moving around on my old profile tranfser...so the events are in newest to oldest versus oldest to newest (which n-o is what appears the blogs will be).  

As of this morning I am down 64 pounds.  WOW!  Can't believe that!  I am under 250 - doing the happy dance.  Yesterday we had a show at SVSU.  I met Tami Hickey there.  She's sooo nice...and soooo skinny!  Then I headed down to Genessee Valley Mall to meet Melissa L. and she gave me two garbage bags of clothes that will fit me now and a little later.  She got to meet and play with my munchkin and it appeared that he was having fun.  Which is good, as he doesn't always take to strangers.  We ate at Ruby Tuesdays and chatted away.  Then we headed over to Wendy Daly's house and she had an assortment of clothes for me too.  Left there with another two huge garbage bags of clothes.  I think I am set for a while!!!  Wendy, Melissa and I chatted away and it was fun!  I hope there will be more get togethers in the future with other OHer's.  Now that winter is upon us maybe things will happen one weekend for a huge group to get together on a weekend when it's cold and snowy and not much to do!  Gotta run....should try to work on this profile while the little one and the hubby are still asleep.......ah, it's a nice sound (what is that you ask?  QUIET!  QUIET IN THE HOUSE!!!).  

01/13/06 - The insurance cards arrived in the mail today!

blog Layouts

02/02/06 - Met with PCP today. He is all for WLS! He took all my papers I brought in with my weight loss attempts and will have it transfered into my medical file...for later when the clinic needs it. He is leaving the decision up to me, but said that if I decide to go for it, he's behind me 110 percent! Woohoo!!

blog Layouts

02/13/06 - Am trying to decide which surgeon to go with. It's a cross between Dr. Webber, Dr. Marshall and Dr. Pesta. Tomorrow I will be RSVP to Liv-Lites seminar in Warren on 2/25. One of my best friends will probably be going with me. She lives in West Bloomfield and wants me to come down the night before so we are well rested for the seminar. Hubby would like to come, but he cannot swing either seminar at Liv-Lite as he works both of those days. Geeze! He only works 3-4 days and it figures his scheduled days are the days they have seminars!! Oh well.

blog Layouts

02/25/06 - I drove down to West Bloomfield last night and stayed at my friends house. This morning we drove to Warren for the Liv-Lite seminar. I expected it to last about 2 hours, which it did. However, since I was one of the few that were 'long distance' I was allowed to go back to the office and watch a pre-surgical movie (seminar) so I do not have to make an extra trip back down to Warren. I have chosen Dr. Pesta and my contact at Liv-Lite will be Gwen. I chose Dr. Pesta based on gut feeling. My friend who went with me said good choice, he's cute! And she's married AND pregnant right now...oh geeze! :) Anyways... I was very satisfied with the seminar and the feeling of ease I felt when talking one on one with Dr. Pesta. In the smaller group, I asked Dr. Pesta, since we were the 'long distance' group, if we could have the tests ordered from our PCP. He said absolutely. So that is a plus. I will give Dr. O (PCP) all my information of tests to be ordered and his paperwork so we can get the ball rolling. Dr. Pesta did mention in the seminar that it would be about 3-4 weeks after insurance approval for a date. I am estimating sometime in May! Keeping my fingers crossed!!!

blog Layouts

04/30/06 - Wow, it's been 2 months since I updated this. So busy around here. Where do I start? I had my psych test. That went fine. The doctor kept telling me 'I need something!' Got to the infertility part and he said yeah, this is good! Something I can use. He asked if I feel depressed. I told him not really. Then thought that since I am on Zoloft, can it be treating the depression so I am not aware that I have been depressed. Doctor is going to use that in the results. Seems I have passed the test, as I did not hear otherwise. Liv-Lite got some of my papers from PCP. Did not submit my biweekly weigh ins, so I had to resubmit a release. That should be at Liv-Lite any day now. Also, my chiropractor is writing up a letter to help my case in getting approved with the insurance company. Hopefully soon my paperwork will be heading to BCBS Texas and the result will be YES! Hubby had emergency surgery last Tuesday. He had a perianal abscess. He has been in the hospital and hopefully will be released tomorrow. I had to take 3 days vacation last week, which will screw up my surgery time later. Oh well...another curve ball to deal with.

blog Layouts

05/18/06 - Talked with Gwen at Liv-Lite and my paperwork went (snail mail) to BCBS of Texas yesterday. She could have faxed it, but BCBS said there was a limit on the number of pages... guess I exceeded that. Hopefully will hear something soon!

blog Layouts

05/25/06 - Wow, two updates in one week! Have not heard anything from Gwen yet. Things have been crazy at work, so my mind has been kept off thinking of the insurance companies decision. Spoke with my boss the other day and he informs that within 1 to 1-1/2 years my supervisor will probably not be there anymore (medical reasons) and I will more than likely end up in his position. Then today I come home to find a message on the answering machine about an interview for a job that I applied for about a month ago. It pays quite a bit more a year, and is much closer to home. Not sure what I want to do... wish I would hear from the insurance company so I can make a decision. I don't really want to interview for a new job, get the job and then have to tell them 'oh, by the way.....I need to be off work for x-number of weeks for surgery'. That doesn't sit well with me. Keeping my fingers crossed!

blog Layouts

06/13/06 - Wow! What a day! I got my approval letter from BCBS of Texas yesterday, but was not sure if it was my approval letter. The text was rather confusing. Called this morning and talked with Susan (Gwen is no longer at Liv-Lite) and she said that it is the approval letter. Had to call and set up the surgery consult with Dr. Pesta and the pre-op appointment with the internal medicine doctor. In between those phone calls I had a phone call about a job offer that I went on a second interview for this past weekend. ALL WITHIN 10 MINUTES!! Took a while for everything to sink in. After faxing the letter and information to Liv-Lite and to Dr. Pesta, I went to speak with the HR department and give them my resignation. Both my supervisor and my boss were out of the office (one is off for his own surgery, the other was just out of the office) so I had to talk to the head of our department and inform him that I had given my resignation. I expect them to offer me more money to stay, but I stressed to them the driving force of this decision was 18 miles one way versus the now 50 miles one way that I would have to drive to work. Having a two year old at home made the shorter drive the final decision. The new job has more pay, but I have only mentioned that secondly. Besides, with the way the gas prices are, I will be saving about 3000 a year just in gas!! Called back to Dr. Pesta's office and explained to them about the job offer and 'how fast can I get this done?' They told me that the surgery date will be set at Monday's appointment. Providing I am relatively healthy (yep) and nothing stands out that Dr. Pesta will want further testing (I hope not) then I can be scheduled as early as the last week of June or first week of July. I am hoping for the last week of June though. Spoke with the new company and explained my situation with the surgery and just finding out the night before. They are fine with it, so that is awesome!! Called my mom after giving my resignation. Told her about the job offer and when my last day of work will be and then I told her about the surgery. I had not said anything to my family (other than my brother) about surgery. I wanted to wait until I got my approval from the insurance company. She is supportive of the decision, but said that if I have surgery the last week of June, they will be in Florida. This I already knew and am okay with. Then I called my dad and told him. He is supportive! Wow, I got lucky. No having to deal with 'easy way out' or negative responses at all! Now all I have to do is get through until Monday when I get my date and keep my fingers crossed that it comes sooner rather than later!

blog Layouts

adopt your own virtual pet!

blog Layouts

06/16/06 - On Thursday I went to Warren for my pre-op testing. Dr. Diab was very nice and I took a liking to him right away. He went through the records that Susan (from LivLite) had given him that morning. Asked several medical history questions and then talked a bit with me about the changes and what I might encounter after the surgery. I told him that I am having problems with my sinuses and still have a sinus infection that is hanging on despite the antibiotics I got four weeks ago when I got the infection! My PCP put me on a stronger antibiotic to knock it out and far, far away. I also told him that I started to take Claritin D as I am thinking that I might be allergic to something floating around in the air outside. He said neither of these medications or the 'sniffling' from my sinuses or allergies would be a problem with surgery. He went through my lab reports from last month and said my cholesterol is high. I never knew that before, so that was good to know. He also indicated that I had blood in my urine. I found that rather odd, because I have never seen any. They had me give another urine sample and again, it was clear to me. Upon testing, the nurse said there was blood in my urine again. Dr. Diab said this would not be an issue for surgery and to let my PCP know so he can follow up on it at a later date. I then had to have an EKG and a breathing test. Dr. Diab explained that this will give them a baseline to monitor me while in surgery. He then said I was cleared for surgery and said 'see you in the hospital'. As I was leaving they were getting my papers ready to fax to Dr. Pesta's office. On Friday my boss and I were both in the office (finally) and he asked to see me. He was taken by suprise by the resignation (which, to be honest, so was I with the job offer) and when I explained to him the differences in travel he said he understood. The talk with him went well. He did tell me that if things did not work out in my new position, to not hesitate to contact him and he will bring me right back to work for him. That was refreshing. Atleast I am leaving on good terms and know that I can/could always have a job. Monday I head to Dr. Pesta's office and will get my surgery date. I am hoping for June 27...keeping my fingers crossed!

blog Layouts

06/19/06 - I GOT MY SURGERY DATE!!! Went to my surgical consult appointment with Dr. Pesta today. I got the last date available for the month - June 30. Tomorrow I will be starting my two week diet, even though it's less than two weeks. Wow, this is all happening so fast! Now I just have to get things arrange for people to watch my two year old and get my husband to communicate with his boss that he will need that day off. I won't start the new job until July 17, and then it will be just part time. So next week I am going to get stuff done around the house. Will be nice to come home to, providing while I am MIA for two days the house does not get struck by the mini-tornado (Jacob).

blog Layouts

06/29/06 - Got a phone call from Shelly at Dr. Pesta's office on Tuesday saying my surgery is rescheduled to Monday, July 3. Ugh, now I have to rearrange care for Jacob. GRRR! Thank goodness she called on Tuesday, because Wednesday I should have started the two day all clear liquid diet! Went down to the hospital in Warren yesterday (wow, talk about gouging at the gas stations - just in time for the big holiday weekend) and met with the anethesiologist. He said all my lab results and numbers looked good and I should come through the surgery very well and with no problems. Okay, that is a plus! Hubby got our neice to stay at the house and help out with the kid. She's 17 and pretty responsible, so I'm not that concerned. And Jacob loves her, so that is a plus! Got our kitchen floor redone last weekend...another thing that I won't be itching to get done after surgery. It looks awesome!!!!! Today I am just working on the house. Have lots to do between now and Sunday, as I would like the house to be clean when I get released from the hospital. Who knows, however, with Jacob! But I will give it my best shot.

blog Layouts

07/06/06 - The last few days have been a wild ride and I know the ride is going to get more wild! On Sunday, 7/2/06 we drove down to my aunts. Stayed there for the night as we have to be at Bi-County at 5:30 am. 7/3/06 - Arrived at the hospital about 5:20 am. Two other people were there for surgeries and we were all led down to the surgical waiting area. Myself and the two other patients were then taken into the prepping area. My nurse was Jon. What a hoot! He took some blood out of my right arm and when I mentioned that it didn't really hurt that much he said 'yeah, not bad for my first time huh?'. Then he had the nerve to DRINK COFFEE in front of me! I 'scolded' him and he said he thought about bringing the donut, but he ate it already. Jon got my IV put in and then got the epidural ready for the anesthesiologist, Dr. Davis. Dr. Pesta came and spoke with me of the surgery and said that I probably would not remember him from the rest of the day so he would see me tomorrow. Jon gave me some drug to make me groggy before the epidural. I remember sitting up on the side of the bed with Jon in front of me. I was slouched over, like a shrimp - as instructed, and remember Jon holding down my shoulders. Next thing I knew I was was being wheeled into the operating room, but still pretty groggy. I remember the mask over my mouth being pushed to my face and then it slowly lifted. Then again, it was pushed to my face. I think that happened two or three times. Beyond that, I don't recall a thing. Next thing I knew I was in recovery. I was freezing. I could not breathe. My ribs were hurting so bad and I could not take in a deep breath. I remember being told that I would be able to take deep breaths in time and to just take small ones. But I had to take in a deep breath. No matter how hard I tried, I just could not. I was still cold and they got me a warm blanket. I don't remember being wheeled up to my room. I do remember waking up and being in my room about 10:45 am. My pain level was near a 9 (mostly due to the ribs). I used the pain pump (manual) twice. About 12:00-12:30 my pain level was near a one!! Wow! Talk about loving an epidural. My ribs still hurt and I could finally breath deep, but for the most part, there was very little pain. Dr. Diab came in to check up on me. He said that I was very alert for being out of surgery that short of time and that it was good. My aunt and uncle came to see me about 2:30 and stayed until 4:30 pm. I was getting very tired by that point and could hardly keep my eyes open. While they were there, I was gotten up and taken for a short walk (about 3 pm). Then I got a banana popsicle. Wow, the banana popsicles are really good! About 3 pm I was very itchy. The nurse said it was due to the epidural and I could have some benadryl, but it would make me very sleepy. I didn't care, I just wanted the itchies to go away. At 4:30 when my aunt and uncle left I went for another short walk and then crawled back into bed. Dr. Davis came in and asked me about my job (Four Winns). That was too funny. I slept off and on until later that night (due to the Benadryl). I got up for the second time around 9:20 pm. I wanted to see if I could see some fireworks so I went for walk #3 (longest so far). Came back to room and discovered that I could watch three different areas (some through the trees though) from my room. Negotiated the chair and sat at my window and watched fireworks until 10:15 pm. Got up and went for walk #4. At 10:35 I went back to bed. I had to do breathing treatments three times a day and do an hourly exercise. About 10:50 pm I coughed and brought up a small amount of mucus. I had additional pain at the incision area and my ribs and used the pain pump for the third time. I was pretty impressed, as I had not had to deliver additional pain meds in about 11 hours (it automatically gave me some every hour). 7/4/06 - Roselle (nurse) woke me up at 5:20 and took out my catheter! Woohoo!! That thing was nice, but when I went for walks it made me feel like I had to pee. Was glad that came out. Went for walk #5 after catheter was taken out. This was the longest walk yet. About 9:45 I had more pain at the incision and my ribs. Pressed the pain pump again (fourth time). At 11:30 am Dr. Pesta came in to see me. He said I looked great. And if I looked this great tomorrow then I could go home. He took off my bandages, to let them get air and heal. Counted my staples - only 18 - NOT BAD!! Oxygen was taken away from me today. :) I also had Eric from physical therapy come up to walk wiht me. He said I was doing great and he graduated me! About 2 pm Jon (from OH boards) came to visit me. It was nice to have company. He stayed for about an hour and was pretty impressed that I was doing so well. He said he would post my progress on OH board when he got home. Thank you Jon for coming to visit with me!! I really appreciated it. About 2:30 pm I got the oxygen sensor and sticky (EKG) tabs removed. Finally got rid of that spaghetti mess! All I have left if the IV and epidural. Epidural should come out tomorrow and then I can take a shower. About 3:15 pm I went for walk #7. Then I sat in the chair for a while before getting back into bed. I was so tired, but not sure why. I was in and out of sleep from 5 pm to 8:30 pm. About 8:45 went for walk #8. I noticed some slight discomfort at the right drain while walking. Felt like someone was pulling (not hard, but gentle) on the tube while I was walking. This drain had started to leak (near incision) after Dr. Pesta took off my bandages. Had to have bandages put on it again and changed my gown. My ribs are still hurting, but other than that, hardly any pain. About 11 pm the gas started. It was not bad, just tooted a few times and then it passed. Woohoo. Fell asleep close to midnight. 7/5/06 - Woke up at 2 am and was wide awake. I had to pee so got up and went into the bathroom. I was itchy, itchy, itchy. Asked for some Benadryl. Crawled back into bed about 2:30 and was in and out of sleep until 4:30 (with the tv still on!). At 4:30 one of Dr. Pesta's surgical interns came in to speak with me. I feel back asleep after that until 6:30 am. At 6:30 am I got meds for a bowel movement and went for walk #9. Came back and sat in the chair and got the epidural removed at 6:45 am. All I have left is the IV (and drains of course). Went for walk #10 and then crawled back into bed. Dr. Pesta arrived about 10:00 with his group of interns. Said I can go home today and to come see him on Monday to have drains removed. Got Lovenox injection (third one) about 9:45 am. Got to take a shower and was pretty mobile for most of the day. Debbie, the nurse, was going over discharge instructions with me and showed me how to do the Lovenox injection. It really is not that bad. Numerous people in and out of my room today. Had a bowel movement, although very small and finally got to take a shower, but hubby was not yet here so I did not have clothes yet. Had to put gown back on. Which was okay. Keep having to using the bathroom as I keep having small bowel movements after taking my shower. Debbie gave me Loritab and told me how to dilute it when I got back home. Since I no longer had the epidural, I no longer was getting any pain meds. Steve finally arrived about 1:45 pm. Changed into my clothes and packed my suitcase and bag. A little after 2 pm and we are homeward bound! The ride home was interesting. The gas really, really started in. I was in pain from that. Had to stop a few times and use the bathrooms. After the second time the gas was not as bad and I was in and out of sleep the rest of the way home. Just before getting home the gas was bad again. Gas for most of the night, but it finally passed. Having pains...god I miss that epidural!...and trying to get in all the liquids I am to take. Did take my diluted Loritab during the ride home - big mistake. DO NOT TAKE ON EMPTY STOMACH. Between the gas and my stomach being upset, I was miserable most of the night. Gave myself my Lovenox injection and hubby was happy that he did not have to give it to me. Showed Jacob my 'boo-boo' and he had a worried look on his face. I guess a girl at daycare bit him on the arm today and he showed me his boo-boo. I'm not thrilled about some kid biting my son, but daycare is working on correcting it. I sure do hope so. Slept in the LazyBoy for the night and put a pillow behind my back. 7/6/06 - Woke up this morning to the dogs barking at me to go outside. Steve woke up and Trucker (the younger one) got yelled at. My back is killing me! Should not have slept with that pillow behind my back - it was too thick. Had empty my right drain, again. It seems to be collecting a lot and is getting lighter. The left side does not seem to drain much. Had Steve help me make a 16 ounce protein shake and poured 4 ounces into a cup. Then diluted my Loritab and got back into the chair. Steve put a heating pad on my back and that seems to have helped a little. I am still in more pain than I was at the hospital. I am realizing how wonderful that epidural was! It's almost 10 am and I have been putting all this info into my journal for the past hour. Now it's time to give myself a Lovenox injection and then see if I can sit on the couch for a while. Will update more later!

blog Layouts

07/08/06 - Here I am, five days post-op. I would like to know one thing - WHO THE HELL WAS DRIVING THAT SEMI THAT HIT ME! OMG, I am sore! My ribs hurt. My staples hurt. My back hurts. My drains hurt. Hopefully once I get my drains out and staples removed on Monday then things won't hurt as much. I am still having difficulty breating in deeply because of my ribs. So far though, I am down from 311 to 294. I have lost 5 pounds in 5 days. When I got home I was back up to 311, but think that was a lot of liquids. My one drain has been filling up and having to be emptied every 4-6 hours, so I know alot of fluid is still built up inside. As of this morning I was down to 294, what a relief. Can't wait to see how much I lose in the next week. I know it's going to be difficult, but I have to keep my feet of the scale and only stand on it on Saturdays. That is going to be my goal. The head hungers are starting in. I have been craving a BLT for the past day or so. Yesterday I thought Hot Turkey sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy sounded delicious. Atleast I can have mashed potatoes in a few more weeks and can eventually have turkey. The gravy will be a different story, but I might be able to have a very small amount later on, after I am on solid foods for quite some time. I am struggling to get all my water and protein in. I also discovered that it was not good to take Loritab without food so I am trying hard to do a protein drink (4 ounces) and when I am near the end start alternating with the diluted Loritab. Still takes me almost an hour to finish the Loritab. Had some cream of mushroom soup for lunch and it was good. Didn't eat much though, which did not suprise me. My mom and stepdad where over as they just got back home from Florida. She made me the soup and Steve told her that I wouldn't be able to eat that much so he put some of it into a smaller bowl - I couldn't even eat half of what he put into the smaller bowl. My mom just shook her head. They saw my drains, staples, incision, bruises and my stepdad quivered and said 'yuck'. LOL. I thought that was funny!

blog Layouts

07/19/06 - Happy Birthday to me!! Today my brother and I turn 35. ALOT has happened since my last update. On Monday, 7/10 I got my staples removed and my drains pulled. That was the weirdest feeling, having the drains pulled. Everything went well and I was down 20 pounds. Tuesday I had a dizzy spell. Called and told Shelly. She said she would get a note to the Dr. and if it happened again to call. That was about 11-11:30. Around 3:00 I had a bowel movement that was very black and had blood and a clot. Thought to myself 'should I call the doctors?' and decided to do some research on OH to see if anyone had had that problem. Some had, but most said to call the doctor. Well, within 10 minutes of the first one I had another (atleast no clot). Ten minutes later, I had a third one. Called and Shelly said to get to Bi-County immediately. Called my parents, called my dad (to watch my son), packed his stuff, got a shower, my sister-in-law came over (hubby called her) to help out and she finished getting my son's stuff around. My parents arrived, we jumped in my car, picked up my son at daycare, dropped him off at my dads and finally landed at Bi-County about 7:10 pm. Dr. Pesta was still in surgery (with Dr. Marshall), so he said to have me go into the ER (usually he meets you at ER but you do not go through ER). Here we are, waiting on a gurney in ER and about 7:50 I hear Dr. Pesta's voice. Then I hear him ask if his patient (and mentioned my name) was here. About 15 minutes later he comes in. Explain to him what has been going on and he said that he thinks the Lovenox might have contributed to this problem. He wants to keep me over night for monitoring and run some blood work. Sometimes people will have to have a transfusion, not common, but he wants to make sure. A Dr. that trained under Dr. Pesta came in and spoke to me. Really nice lady. She was at the hospital that night and the next day, so knew what was going on with my case. Wednesday morning the nurse was about to draw blood (close to 9 am). Dr. Pesta and his surgical group (interns) come into my room and he said that my hemoglobin between the two blood draws I had were good and he wanted to take another one. If that came out comparable and I did not have any more bloody BM's then I could go home. An hour later I had another bloody BM. The dr that trained under him just happened to be on the floor at this time. She said that might put a halt on my going home. We were talking and I explained to her that I did not have a BM for five days and wondered if this could be from the surgery, being there was a clot. She said it was very possible, in addition to the Lovenox which they absolutely did not want me to take anymore. Four hours later, another one. Okay, great, now I am staying another night. I'm thrilled. Later on, I had another one. I was getting frustrated by this point. Fast forward to Thursday morning. I have another BM. It's not as black and very little red. Take another blood draw to make sure it compares to the other three, which it does. Dr. Pesta was off that day, so another doctor was taking care of his patients (NEVER saw the man). He never showed up at the hospital. I guess he does two other hospitals and it would be awhile before he got there. My husband had come down the night before and had to be out of Warren by 11 am so he could get to work on time. He ended up leaving me there and my mom had to drive back down to get me. I was totally pissed off with the doctor that was doing Dr. Pesta's patients. I finally was released about 3:30/4:00 and left the hospital about 6-6:30. As of last night my BM are now all normal. Thank god that is over. Friday I spent much of the day doing nothing but taking it easy. Saturday I went to the Farm Market and did some grocery shopping. My mom went and helped out with Jacob. Saturday night I decided I should clean the green beans I had purchased at the Farm Market. Had the beans in one hand and two bowls and a knife in the other hand. Went to sit down in the chair and OMG, sharp pain in my right side rib. I did some research and think that I overdid it and either tore or pulled a muscle. With all the moving around in there of internal parts I found that your body (that area) is more apt to become damaged as the stuff is still 'healing' from it's boxing match. Did not do much on Sunday, just took it easy. Hubby got mad because I overdid it on Saturday. Monday I got the phone call from the new job about starting part-time (first week) on August 1. I think that date is confirmed, pending Dr. Pesta will let me return to work that is. I am finding it easier to get in the protein based on what I consume and when. Still having difficulties getting in all the water. That is hard! I tried on some of my shirts the other day that were a bit tight around the tummy. They fit. I could not believe it! I was shocked. This thing really works. Monday night we had a big storm and knocked out our power for about 6 hours. Had to put Jacob to bed in the dark. Thank goodness he went right to sleep. Poor little guy was so warm, without the AC, that he was starting to sweat so I finally opened his bedroom window. It had been cooler in the house when the power went off. Thank goodness it stayed somewhat cool inside and the temps outside dropped down to around 70-75 compared to the 90 they were earlier in the day. I am getting around better, but still having problem with my rib that I messed up on Saturday. It generally is okay, but if I turn just right, OUCH! Will have to follow that up with Dr. Pesta later if it does not start to feel better. I know it will be about a week or so before the muscle starts to feel better. After that I should probably have it checked out. Yesterday I had my first dumping episode. That was oh so fun, NOT! I had made a protein shake with chocolate protein and peanut butter. I made enough so hubby could have some. About 30 minutes later he makes me a mini omlete with onions, ham and cheese. Forty minutes later I my heart started beating really fast, my forehead would be hot then cold then hot, my stomach was in knots, I felt like I had to puke. Tried to throw up, but just got the dry heaves. I felt like hell. I started in on the Isopure Zero Carb and was starting to feel alittle better. Then the BM's came. OMG, it was so not fun. Kept up on the Isopure and felt 'normal' about an hour or so later. Thought it might have been the brown sugar ham (hubby felt bad about using it), but now I am wondering if it was the peanut butter. Will have to investigate the peanut butter, as the brown sugar ham has only 2 grams of sugars. I should be able to tolerate 2 grams. Or maybe I just can't have brown sugar ham anymore. Who knows. Atleast I know what signs to watch for when it comes to dumping. Oh yeah, as of this morning I am down 31 pounds!! Surgery was 16 days ago, so that is cool!

blog Layouts

08/29/06 - Oops, I think I need to update a litte more often!! But since it is late this will be short... I encountered a stall for about 3-1/2 to 4 weeks. Scale started moving again about two weeks ago. As of today I am down 44 pounds. After the stall I could not believe this surgery was the answer and I was going to be stuck where I was forever! But now I am down almost 10 pounds in the past two weeks and it's great. I am down two sizes in my jeans. Two weeks ago I wore the first size down and they about fell off me. So I tried on the next size when I got home. They were a little snug, but fit. So last week I figured that I had better not wear the jeans I wore last week and put on the smaller size instead. They were not snug anymore!! (Thank goodness I wore the smaller size...with them not being snug the bigger size would really have fallen off!) Oh, I started back to work at the new job on August 3. I am finding it's pretty easy to fit my protein and 5 meals per day now that I am working. Weekends are a mess though, as usual. The schedules are never normal. Hmm... what else? I have not had pop in 3 months. And I am okay with that. I have not had chocolate in 2-1/2 months. Okay with that too. Have 'tried' several things that my pouch refuse to agree with. Don't dump, but get that sick to my stomach feeling. It generally passes in time, but teaches me the foods to stay away from! I had a kidney stone about 2-1/2 weeks ago. Started on a Saturday night and 5 hours later, when hubby got home from work, we headed to the ER. Took 57 hours to pass that bugger. It was about 1/3 the size of a pea. Took it in to be tested. Hope to get those results back soon. Well, I am off to bed. Tomorrow is another busy, busy day as we have a show this coming weekend....big show. Spending my evenings working on stuff and hoping to get it done.

blog Layouts

10/05/06 - Geeze, I really need to update more often. The loss is going slow. I am down 61 pounds since surgery...which is 20 pounds a month as an average. Not bad thought. I really was hoping to loose 3-5 pounds a week so this puts me right where I was hoping for. I just don't think that the body would be able to keep up to major loss (as I already went through a 4 week stall and don't want to venture there again for a while). Had my three month visit yesterday with Dr. Pesta. He said I am right where I should be for my loss. I am striving to get in the elliptical every day. But it usually ends up every other day. Several years ago I could do 30 minutes without a problem. A month ago when I started back in I was only able to do 1-1/2 minutes. Talk about being bummed out! But now I can handle 5 minutes and should be bumping to 6-7 minutes. I'm pretty happy about that. My clothes are all getting too big. But I am still wearing them...baggy! I really don't want to go out and buy clothes although I have purchased some on Ebay for 'when I get there'. My goal is to be down another 50 pounds by Christmas. I have 2-1/2 months to go, so it will be a stretch. If I do not make the 50 I definitely want to hit 35. Which seems to be more reasonable. Well, must get some stuff done now that that little one is asleep. Won't have to worry about him getting up! Till next time........