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deedee

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Blog Entries posted by deedee

  1. deedee

    1 Month Out

    By deedee,

    Yesterday I had my 1 month post-op appointment with the surgeon and weighed 201. This morning I weighed myself at home and it read 201. I finally lost a pound after 13 days of bouncing between 202-203.5.
     
    The doctor was very pleased about the total loss, 37 lbs since pre-op diet and 21 lbs since surgery. He did lecture a little, as well as the nurse, when I confessed to not doing great with my liquid intake this week and now I'm constipated again. He wants me to stay on soft/mushy foods for another month. I'm okay with that, but I am getting a little tired of seafood (never thought I'd say that).
     
    He also cleared me for full exercise, which is great since my dance classes start next week. I am going to go to jazzercise tomorrow morning and do everything at a low level. I haven't been in about 14 months and am expecting a bit of a hard time, but I can't let that stop me.
     
    I took my measurements today and so far have dropped 3" in my waist, 3" in my hips, and 3" in my bust. I took pictures today and although they don't show a whole lot of difference, I notice some change in my hips.
     
    Overall, I am very happy with my results and the process so far. Every day is still a learning experience with eating, drinking, and protein, but as I reflect back I see just how much I've learned over the last month about my new stomach and way of life.
  2. deedee

    2 months post-op

    By deedee,

    Today is my two month surgiversary. As of this morning I am 186 pounds; down 52 pounds from the beginning of my pre-op diet (July 7), and 36 pounds since the morning of surgery (August 4). I have been at the same weight (+-2 lbs) for 4 days now.
     
    I am really hoping to make my second weight goal of 184 lbs, by my 30th birthday, which is on October 12. I made this my second goal because it was the lowest weight I have ever been as an adult (my first goal was 199 lbs).
     
    I had my 2 month follow-up visit with my surgeon two days ago. He seemed very happy with my progress and he cleared me for solid foods. He wanted me to get my labs done before this visit, but my vacation did not allow time for that. I'm going in on Friday and he will call to go over them once he's received them.
     
    Overall, I think I am doing very well. I'm still learning to adjust to my sleeve--eating slower, recognizing when I'm full. I'm also noticing that I MUST continue to plan out my food in order to make the best decisions. Last week was my first week back at work (although I'm subbing until the 15th when I take over my classroom again) and I didn't do the greatest with my eating. But thanks to this tool I know I will get back on track and continue to lose.
     
    I am so happy that I had this surgery!!!
  3. deedee

    3 Months Post-op

    By deedee,

    Tomorrow will be my three month surgiversary. I cannot believe how fast the time seems to fly by. I truly feel like I'm learning to live with this wonderful tool by trying to develop habits that I can sustain for life. I'm exercising at least 5 days a week doing things I really enjoy. My vitamin and protein intake still needs work, but it continues to get better each week.
     
    Currently my biggest dilemma is how I want to go about the rest of my weight loss phase. This morning I weighed in at 174.5, down 47.5 lbs since the morning of surgery, for a total of 63.5 lbs since beginning my pre-op diet. Lately I've been torn on whether I should begin adding more carbs into my diet (well, I've actually been doing that) so that I lose the rest of the weight (about 38 lbs) in a way that I know I can maintain once I'm finished. The other part of me really thinks it would be great just to lose these last pounds as quickly as possible before my "honeymoon" period ends and then worry about maintenance because I know to get under what I am now will take a lot of work. Anyway, I'm sure I'll figure it out as I go.
     
    Overall, I am soooooo happy with the weight loss and grateful that I was able to have this procedure.
     
    Accomplishments so far:
    *Wearing sizes 12-14 depending on brand (22-24 before pre-op diet)
    *28 day cycles (50-80 days before surgery)
    *Exercising at least 5 days per week AND loving it
    *No desire to eat McDonald's (ate there 5-7 times per week before surgery)
     
    My hopes and dreams over the next few months:
    *Fit into the size 10 Lilly dress I just purchased
    *Pass the Jazzercise audition
    *Get pregnant (that's quite a ways down the road, but still)
    *Continue towards my weight loss goal of 100 lbs. gone
  4. deedee

    3 Year Anniversary!

    By deedee,

    Lots of ramblings...
    It has been so long and I actually forgot that today was my surgiversary. This morning I received an email from another site congratulating me on being 3 years out so I thought I'd come here and check things out.
     
    Life really has changed over the past years, but that was inevitable with or without the sleeve
     
    The ugly...
    I am up 20 pounds from my goal weight and 30 pounds from my happy weight. About 25 of those pounds have been put on since the birth of my beautiful daughter who is now almost 16 months. I am not happy about this, but wow, being a mom really cut into my exercise and sleep time;-) I have now begun a consistent exercise routine again (after an inconsistent year), am trying to get the food choices under control (it's hard to make healthy choices on 5 hours of sleep) and hope by my birthday in October to be down at least 10 pounds.
     
    Ugly (pt. 2)-my body!!!!! I'm sitting at a size 10 and get so many compliments about how much better (healthier) I look compared to my size 4 body, and I'd have to agree to an extent, but boy do I miss my muscle-toned body:-(
     
    The bad...
    A big reason for having the vsg was to help our chances of getting pregnant. Unfortunately after a year out and steady for months below my goal weight, I went back to my RE and attempted to have some tests run. Long story short, it turned out that my only chance at pregnancy was to have my tubes removed, due to severe scarring, and go through IVF. I was VERY depressed for about a week. I'd figured out how we could afford (mentally and financially) IUI, but IVF??? And then I realized I could either be sad and upset or I could make a new plan, either way life was going to move forward. It's reflecting on times like this that I'm reminded how little is truly in our control, but fortunately God is at the helm and, at least in my experiences, has a more awesome plan for my life than even I could imagine.
     
    The good, great, fantastic...
    About a week after getting the devastating news and posting to this wonderful board about it, I read a reply from someone who opened my eyes. She probably doesn't even realize it, but after reading through all my posts she made a comment that changed my life. She said "I know that you would like to have a biological child but there are sooooo many many many children that need a loving home..." At first I was really offended, but then I reread all of my posts and realized that of course she and everyone else would assume that getting pregnant was very important to me, I mean look back at everything I'd posted about the drastic steps I was taking, BUT it wasn't about being pregnant to me, it was about being a mom and my husband being a dad.
     
    So...
    At that point, we half-heartedly discussed adoption, but that post really made me examine what we wanted. Shortly after that I we began the home study process and before our report was written we were matched with a wonderful young lady due in April. And the rest is history...although life wouldn't be life without a few issues, but it all worked out.
     
    Lastly...
    A big part of the struggle for me with food, exercise, and sleep this past year or so was the fact that I still was working outside my state about 40 miles each way. If you know anything about the Washington DC area, you know a commute like that can be horrendous AND it usually was. Well, in October 2011, I made the decision I wouldn't be coming back to this current job another school year and let my principal know. It was kind of scary with this economy and teaching jobs near my home very competitive, but I had to make a decision that was good for my health and family. In December I happened on a job fair and was offered a contract. In March I was offered a job in my own district for the remainder of the school year, but my current principal would not budge on the 30 days notice thing and they needed the position filled immediately, so I had to turn it down. That was a hard pill to swallow, but in the end, like most things, it worked out for the best. I ended up with a lot of possibilities and took one at an independent school near my house that begins at age three and goes through high school, which will be great as my baby grows up.
     
    I'm now laying in bed with a little girl curled up at my side because she thought 4 AM would be a good wake up time this morning and I was afraid she'd hurt herself jumping in her crib if I didn't get her out.
     
    So there's the good, bad, and ugly. Getting sleeved three years ago was an excellent decision for me and I know it's helped me get to where I am now. It sort of reminds me of the Robert Frost poem...and I took the road less traveled down and that has made all the difference. Who knows where the other fork (non-sleeve) would have led me, maybe somewhere just as great, but I'm happy to be where I am today!
  5. deedee
    I just got back from my follow-up appointment. The whole office was very excited to see the progress I've made over the last two months. After saying thank you for the compliments, I didn't know what else to say...it got to be a bit embarrassing and I kind of felt awkward.
     
    The surgeon thought my blood work looked pretty good. He's having me take a break from the Vit. D for a month and then start taking 5,000 IUI's every other day (that level was too high, in July it was only 18). He's just having me take 500 mg of vitamin B12 because those levels were high as well. He wasn't concerned at all about my low iron because the saturation looked fine. For my cholesterol, he said to watch my cheese intake (I pretty much add cheese to everything in order to up my protein).
     
    He did bring up my goal weight and basically said he'd like for me to shoot a little lower than just normal, he mentioned 22. We'll see, at 148 lbs I will have a bmi of 24.6, and at that point I know will feel like a success. I think I'll just know when I'm done and that will be that.
     
    At the end of the meeting, I asked him about getting pregnant. He basically said what I thought, I need to be at a healthy weight for 2-3 months and that is usually around 12 months out for most. I'm considering coming back to a low carb diet to speed up the weight loss and hopefully get to goal sooner. I was planning to start trying in June (around 10 months post-op), but it would be great if I could start even sooner :001_tongue:.
  6. deedee

    5 Months Post-op

    By deedee,

    Five seems to be an important number today. It was five months ago today that I had this life changing surgery, and as of today, I am five pounds from my goal weight.
     
    I can't believe how fast the time has gone. So many changes have happened both physically and mentally. I'm finally getting used to people's comments. One new excellent development that occurred is my ability to wear shoes with heels. I went shopping on Saturday and wore heeled shoes for 7 hours and was pretty okay. Today I wore my boots all day at work and couldn't tell a difference than when I wear flat shoes. I guess with less weight on my body, my feet can handle being elevated.
     
    Back to shopping, I really am developing a problem. Over the last month I have spent way too much money on clothing. I went to outlets in Virginia this past weekend and felt okay buying clothes because I am so close to goal and they should still fit when I drop the rest of the weight, but I know I need to get a handle on things soon.
     
    My eating over the holidays was a little off. I did pretty good up until I went to visit family, but for some reason I REALLY lost it New Year's Eve and Day. Yesterday I finally got sort of back on track and hope to continue to lose 1-2 pounds per week.
     
    As for my goal weight, I'm really thinking that 148 is a good goal weight for me. I'm pretty sure that I should be able to maintain it watching my diet with a few splurges (like last week) and my current exercise plan. I do not want to feel like I'm always on a diet...so for now, I'm thinking that is a good goal weight for me. I have tap tonight, but will have my husband take 5 month pictures when I get back.
  7. deedee
    It started Saturday after my first Jazzercise class. We went to Bob Evans (a breakfast like restaurant) I got eggs whites with sausage bits and cheese in them, and actually felt anger that I could only eat a few bites.
     
    The anger got somewhat worse over the weekend as I was throwing away leftovers from my fridge (both doggy bags and home cooked) from the past week. I have a couple of weight loss surgery cookbooks that I just love, but even when I halve the recipes it makes way too much to finish in a few days, and therefore I have to throw food away. My husband and I eat out 3-4 times per week, but since I'm on soft/mushy foods, I still have to order my own meal (soup, crab, fish, etc.) and then just let it go bad in the fridge as there is no way I can finish it.
     
    I tend not to be one to anger easily, but I'm also not one to hold emotions in, so yesterday when I got home from visiting friends and had to throw out food from Friday and Saturday, I lost it. I don't yell, but I just couldn't get myself out of this anger funk. My husband was trying to help by saying things will get better and although I didn't want to hear it at the time, I know he's right. Each week has been better than the last with learning my new stomach and getting in liquid, protein, and vitamins.
     
    I'm still learning my new stomach and how to eat and plan meals. My nutritionist says that I should be eating 2 oz. of protein at a time, but I find that I'm lucky to get in 1-1.5 oz if it's something like chicken or salmon. Usually pushing myself to get the 1.5 oz makes me feel stuffed and uncomfortable. She really stresses only eating 3 meals a day with two protein shakes for snacks, but I think I'm going to have to deviate from her plans because I'm only averaging 450 calories a day (but that's usually with just one protein shake) and really want to get more protein from foods throughout the day. I'm going to call her today to discuss.
     
    As I said to my husband last night, I am so very happy that I took this step and had this surgery and feel so fortunate that we could afford it. I think this is one of the best things I could have done for myself (right up there with earning my degrees). I'm blessed and in no way wish that could reverse the last couple of months. It's just that each day/week I seem to discover another food issue (mostly mental). I guess that's why I'm in therapy:-) One day I hope to be able to say that I'm over my food obsession and I don't even think about it, I just "eat to live." But I'm not there yet, I'm still working through the fact that food brought me so much joy and comfort and I'm missing that somewhat.
  8. deedee

    6 Month Surgiversary!!!

    By deedee,

    Time sure has flown by these past 6 months. I feel so blessed that I was given this opportunity to get healthy and have ZERO REGRETS that I had it done. I've gotten a few private messages asking about my experience, so I thought this would be a great time and place to post a recap (as well as I can remember it). These thoughts are pretty random and just share the ups and downs of my journey so far.
     
    I began my journey with researching wls in April of 2009. Attended a seminar with my surgeon in May, and set up my consultation visit for June 24. At my consultation I weighed 238 lbs. (down 3 pounds from my all time heaviest). I started my pre-op diet (modified Atkins) in July 2009, and had my surgery on August 4, weighing 222 lbs. Today I weigh in at 149 pounds!
     
    My starting clothing size was a woman's 22-24. I am currently wearing a 6-8 and actually just bought yesterday a size 4 dress that fits beautifully (it obviously runs large). I never dreamed, planned, or hoped to be this small and still don't see this person. In the mirror I still see the same larger person with flaws and scars, but when I take pictures and compare them I can tell the difference.
     
    My biggest struggle as an early post-op was with protein consumption. I was lucky to get in 30 grams of protein per day the first month out (some days I did well, but not consistently). I had a very difficult time finding protein drinks that I could tolerate. I found Chike Orange Cream and thought it tasted pretty good, but early out it would give me such bad cramping. I then found Bariatric Advantage Sangria flavor around 3 weeks post-op and did pretty well sipping one each morning.
     
    Another struggle I faced (and still do to some extent) was with constipation. There was one time that I was constipated for like 8 days. Adding in apples and spinach seemed to help in that area.
     
    Around 3-4 months post-op I decided to try to lose the remainder of my weight following a more balanced diet...up until that point I was pretty much sticking to no more than 30 carbs per day. The weight loss definitely slowed down when I upped the carbs, but for me it was okay. I figured if I could lose weight following a more balanced diet, I wouldn't have to worry so much in maintenance about gaining much weight back (who knows if this will actually be the case). As of today, I am still 1 pound away from my goal weight and if I don't hit goal in the next couple of weeks, I plan to low carb it for a while.
     
    One of the BEST things I think I did during the post-op process was to establish a good, solid exercise routine. Each day from 1 day post-op, I walked A LOT. During the first month I walked the boardwalk and built up to 2-3 miles per outing. When I was cleared for exercise (4 weeks out) I started back to Jazzercise and signed up for water aerobics. The water class did not work out for different reasons, but I stuck with Jazzercise and by two months out was attending 5 days per week. I have now added a tap class (my favorite) into my schedule and have cut back one day of Jazzercise to accommodate. Each month I notice myself getting stronger and capable to do more (my energy levels are through the roof) and I feel I owe this to the exercise routine I've got going on. During this last month, although I haven't dropped much weight on the scale, I've definitely noticed myself toning up a lot more. Again, I attribute the exercising to this.
     
    I feel so blessed that I have this tool and just want to say again, I LOVE MY SLEEVE!!!
  9. deedee

    7 Months Post-op

    By deedee,

    Well, yesterday marked my 7 month anniversary from surgery. I am pretty happy with where I am health-wise. I'll be having a follow-up visit with my surgeon the beginning of next month, so will have my labs drawn in a couple of weeks. I'm pretty sure they will show some deficiencies. This past month I've done pretty poorly taking all but my multivitamin, which has been pretty good. I've been ill off and on most of the month and I've just not been as good as I should have been.
     
    I've also struggled this last month with my exercise routine. When the snow hit, things were closed and schedules erratic for working out. I then flew home for a week. So basically I went from consistently exercising for 5-7 days per week (since 1 month post-op) to 2-3 days per week. I'm hoping this virus is finally out of me and I can get back to normal.
     
    My weight has continued to decline, but at a nice and slow rate. I lost almost 6 pounds, making my grand total weight loss -95 pounds. I think I'd like to try to maintain a weight between 140-148 pounds, but who knows where my body will be comfortable. I'd like to not drop below 140 pounds to try to maintain some curves and not have as much lose skin. Just today at work (spirit day-wearing jeans and a tee shirt) I was mistaken for a middle school kid (from the side and back) by two different teachers and a custodian. I NEED curves...I don't want to be mistaken for a teenager (although I wouldn't mind it so much in the face:-).
     
    Other ramblings...
    I've become much more accustomed to receiving compliments about my weight loss and they don't bother me hardly at all. I'm pretty okay with people constantly talking to me about my weight loss, although it still does get annoying at times...especially the "wasting away" and "you're disappearing." But usually when I say I'm done losing, they have nothing more to say.
     
    One mom said I should be the one to talk with her son because it might come better from the "pretty, enthusiastic, young teacher." When she first said it, I was thinking oh, I'll have so and so across the hall talk to him then and then I realized she was talking about me. It was really sweet and made my week.
     
    Today a teacher came up to me and said, "I can't stand to look at you anymore." He had a smile on his face so I knew it wasn't meant in a bad way. He explained how when he met me 9 years ago he never thought I had it in me to get so healthy. He saw a very happy person who enjoyed her food and was happy to live her life the way she was living. It lead to a really good talk about food addiction and the benefits of wls for some people.
     
    I went up to one of our administrators after school to set up a time to meet next week because I couldn't do today as I was already busy. I thought she wanted to discuss the state tests coming up in May. She said, "no big deal I just wanted to ask you a few questions about your procedure...not that I'm really convinced it's for me, I just wanted to talk some things over." I look at this as a huge step and it makes me happy that I decided to tell others about my surgery.
     
    Well, I guess that's all for now. Still chugging along. Still super happy with my sleeve and loving life. Can't wait to see what the next 7 months bring.
     
    Weight Loss by Month:
    Starting 238 pounds
     
    July 2009 -16 pounds Pre-Op
    August 2009 -21 pounds Month 1
    September 2009 -15 pounds Month 2
    October 2009 -11 pounds Month 3
    November 2009 -13 pounds Month 4
    December 2009 -9 pounds Month 5
    January 2010 -4 pounds Month 6
    February 2010 -6 pounds Month 7
     
    Current -95 143 pounds
  10. deedee
    Well, it's been a while since I've checked in with everyone and in 2 days it will be my 9 month anniversary from surgery. The last couple of months have been very difficult for me in terms of anxiety/depression, but for the most part things are under control now and I am still so very happy that I had the opportunity to have this wonderful procedure. I really like this place a lot and am so grateful for all of the kind and knowledgeable people here.
     
    For all the pre-op and initial post-op people I am going to list my stats below because although I know we are are different and will have different journeys, it was so motivating to read about other's journeys. I'll also update my album, because I still enjoy looking at other's pictures.
     
    Weight-
    Consultation (6/09): 238 lbs.
    Surgery Day (8/09): 222 lbs.
    One Month: 201 lbs.
    Two Months: 186 lbs.
    Three Months: 175 lbs.
    Four Months: 162 lbs.
    Five Months: 153 lbs.
    Six Months: 149 lbs.
    Seven Months: 143 lbs.
    Eight Months: 138 lbs.
    Currently (5/10): 138-140 pounds
     
    Measurements-
    Waist: 43" to 29 "
    Hips: 51" to 36"
    Bust: 45.5" to 34.5"
     
    Clothing- (clothing sizes are such a range; I just bought one large dress and a size 2 skirt...it just depends on the brand and cut)
    Pants: 22/24 to 4/6
    Tops: 22 (2XL) to 6 (small/med/lg)
    Dresses/Skirts: 2XL to 4/6 (small/med/lg)
    Bra: 40/42 DD to 34 C
  11. deedee
    Today, for the first time in a long, long while, my husband complimented a part of my body besides my smile:-) I was walking down the stairs as he was about to leave and he said my arms were looking smaller! Yay!
     
    My shoes are getting baggy. I wear flip flops all summer. Last Friday when I put a pair on there seemed to be more space. A couple days later a different pair fit similarly, but yesterday I wore my running shoes to go walking for the first time in about two weeks and they were so lose. I wouldn't say that I have lost a half or whole size (like I've read can happen when you lose weight), but I'm definitely losing fat from my feet.
  12. deedee

    A Good Day

    By deedee,

    Today I had a gyn appointment. When the nurse took me back to get my weight she moved the 50 pound weight to 0, thinking I weighed under 150 lbs. :thumbup: She did have to move the 50 pound weight over again, but I was wearing my jacket (it was so cold, I wish I had taken it off--I could have had a weight under 150 on their scale).
     
    At Jazzercise tonight I weighed in on their scale and it read 151.4 lbs. Even though it's not my scale and doesn't really count, I can't believe actually weighing in the 140's is an actual possibility for me. It completely blows my mind!!!
     
    Not everything is roses and sunshine though. Although my weight loss has slowed down (I lost 9 pounds in December-less than any prior month), my lose skin is getting worse. Maybe it's just finally catching up with me. My arms (triceps) are so flappy...I've made a decision to start using 10 lb weights when I exercise. The upper part of my tummy has a lot of lose skin as do my upper inner thighs. BUT, I'd take these issues over being unhealthy and fat any day.
  13. deedee
    When I got home from work on Friday I was a little warm and had a sore throat and cough. I ended up having to cancel my Halloween plans and have spent most of the day today resting and napping. Luckily I never developed a true fever, but my cough has gotten worse and I have a stuffy nose, so I guess I have a head cold.
     
    The problem...this weekend I had a couple of planned things and I was not going to worry about my carb intake (not have candy, but I was going to have tortillas and bread). Even though I had to cancel plans, I still let myself overindulge a bit with the carbs. I had a lot of teriyaki turkey jerky, probably 7 oz. over the weekend (I didn't even weigh it), which I usually limit to 1 oz per day. I had 1/4 of a subway sandwich and actually ate the bottom half of the bread (I usually eat a bite or two of the bread, but I just left the entire bottom on). I also had 2 orange cream bars. Basically I just ate like crap. I know that I will get back on track tomorrow, but I needed to get this off my chest now.
     
    On a positive note, I managed to get my exercise in both Friday and Saturday. I'm also planning to fill out my application to try out as a Jazzercise instructor this coming week. There is a tryout in February and one in June. I was going to wait until June because I wanted to be in great physical shape, but talking with my instructor this weekend, I think I may shoot for the Feb. one. This would mean that I would need to add a little more exercise into my weekly routine.
     
    Saturday was also a great day (besides being sick). After exercising, I went to Old Navy and Ann Taylor Loft and bought new exercise clothes. (I was so sick of having to hold my XL pants up when I was working out or tap dancing.) I bought 2 large pants and 3 size mediums, and they all fit! I also bought 2 size large tank tops. I was so excited.
     
    I also broke out of my mini-stall. This morning I weighed in at 175, but I'm sure I'll be up some weight over the next couple of days once this weekend's eating catches up with me, oh well.
  14. deedee

    A very productive day

    By deedee,

    Well, I live in the mid-atlantic region that now finally on the end side of an enormous snowstorm (my county is actually still under a blizzard warning). Due to this I am homebound and thought this would be a good day to accomplish some things.
     
    First I started the huge process of cleaning out my closets, dresser, and laundry room (where I also store a lot of clothes). With the help of some others on here and a phone conversation, I decided it was time to get rid of my 14's. I even got rid of most of my 12's (saved one pair of jeans that still fit great) and quite a few of my 10's. I've only gotten through half of one closet and a couple bins from the laundry room and my jeans drawer, but I feel so much better. I took the time to try on every single item. So here is a picture of the half of closet I did. I usually prefer to wear more spring and summer colors, but now there is a definite lack of color in the wardrobe I have left. I also usually do not hang my jeans, but my closet is looking so bare:-(
     
    About an hour into the closet organizing project, my husband wanted to do another snow shoveling round outside and since I didn't help with the first one, I got dressed and went out to help. I again am amazed at how much better my life is since I've had this surgery. I was able to shovel so much and felt sort of bad about how before losing this weight I never had energy to do much around the house or with my husband.
     
    Overall, a very productive day!
  15. deedee

    Almost there!!!!!!!!!!

    By deedee,

    So this morning I had my Jazzercise class and one of the instructors watched me to provide feedback (my audition is in 5 weeks). She told told me I need to work on the intensity--kicking it up a notch--when doing the heavy routines. One of my biggest concerns all along has been that although I can do the routines fine, I've danced off and on my entire life, my strength isn't where it should be.
     
    I really need to add more weight training into my program...so today we pulled one of our tv's from the basement to the living room (I wasn't using it there because we have tile and it's so cold) and hooked up the Wii Fit. It's been soooo long since I'd been on it. I'm committing myself to using it everyday for the next 5 weeks and 15 minutes 3 days per week with my stability ball working on my core.
     
    The most amazing thing happened though, it read my bmi as NORMAL!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm attaching a picture and will put it into my profile as well. I'm not counting it for really being at goal because my bathroom scale matches the one at my surgeon's office (well it's actually 2 pounds heavier) and their scale reads heavy, so I like that mine does too. It was just so cool to actually see a normal bmi :thumbup:. I know I'll be there for "real" this month if I pump it up a notch.
  16. deedee

    Almost...

    By deedee,

    The last couple of weeks have been super busy. I am a self-paying patient and spent about 1 week trying to get information regarding what the hospital price would/would not cover. Since I purchased a separate insurance policy for complications, I really wanted the hospital to be specific for what their fee covered...you'd think I was asking them to write a dissertation or something. It took a visit and many, many phone calls, but eventually it all worked out.
     
    Another surprising thing that happened was my diagnosis of mild sleep apnea. The sleep studies were horrible experiences and I was so sure after the first one (as was the tech) that although I had a few episodes when sleeping on my back, I would not need the mask (CPAP I think). To my surprise I was called a couple days later and informed that I did have mild sleep apnea and once the patterns had been analyzed there were enough instances of not breathing per hour and for so many seconds that it warranted the mask. My surgeon (or hospital) requires that I use the mask for at least 2 weeks prior to surgery and bring it to the hospital so they can put me on it during recovery from anesthesia. So, I'm trying to use the mask each night for at least a couple of hours.
     
    As for other pre-op stuff, I had my labs done, an ekg, chest xray, and an upper GI test. I had my pre-op with the surgeon a couple of days ago and everything looked great except I was low on vitamin D (18 is what he said, need to look up what that means). I also met with the nutritionist for my last visit before surgery and think I'm ready (in that I know what I can have) as far as the liquid phase goes right after surgery. Luckily I'll meet with her and the doctor each time I progress from one phase to the next on foods.
     
    Now, I'm getting nervous about possible complications and trying to find a new focus to help the next week or so fly by.
  17. deedee

    Back to it

    By deedee,

    Well, today I started back to my exercise routine (after the long hiatus I took when my emotions were so out of sorts). IT KICKED MY BUTT!!! After about the third song, it was difficult to breathe, but I kept pushing through and I felt my body get used to it about half way into class. I almost dropped down to my 5 lb weights, but stuck with the 8 lbs. and I made it through. I couldn't quite keep up with the ab routines, but I did my best.
     
    Overall, I'm pleased with how easy it was to get back in the swing of an aerobic workout. I know before the weight loss, if I ever went a month or more of working out, it was so difficult to get back...I basically had to begin at the very beginning. Today I realized that my body is strong and understand that although there might be other times in life I have to take exercise breaks, it's really important for both my physical and mental health to exercise.
  18. deedee

    Bad and Good News

    By deedee,

    I was given some devastating news Tuesday of this week that has pretty much set me on an emotional roller coaster ride. Being off work due to the weather all week hasn't helped because I've had nothing else to take my focus.
     
    BUT the good news is I never turned to food for comfort. It didn't even cross my mind that I "deserve" this food or that because of the news or if I can make it to this point I should reward myself or plan a special meal, etc. It wasn't until last night that I even realized something was different. As an early post-op, I remember going through a mourning stage when the sleeve wouldn't allow me to use food as a comfort friend to heal emotional and physical pain. I guess I can say that I truly look at food now as a source of energy rather than a friend. This is not to say I don't have cravings and sometimes make the wrong decisions (eating chips, grazing all day long, etc.), but my relationship with food has changed completely and I couldn't have asked for more from this procedure.
  19. deedee

    Blood Results

    By deedee,

    I picked up my blood results today from my PCP's office. I'll be meeting with surgeon next week, so I'll be able to get his interpretation then. My PCP yesterday afternoon briefly stated that I was pretty much normal. I really like how the print out highlighted the areas that fell out of the normal range.
     

    RDW-15.5 % (normal is 11-15 %) high
    LDL Cholesterol-130 (normal 0-99) high, but all other cholesterol levels are normal including total cholesterol
    Iron (TIBC)-244 (normal is 250-450) low
    Vitamin B12-1679 (normal is 211-911) high
    Vitamin D-111 (normal is 32-100) high

    My pre-op blood work taken at the end of July found that I was low on vitamin D (18) and they had me supplement with 10,000 IUI per day. I'm going to cut back to 5,000 IUI per day until I meet with the surgeon.
     
    They also told me before surgery to supplement with B12 and I think I will just do it 3 days per week now unless the doctor tells me something different.
     
    My iron has been low or borderline low since about high school, but before surgery it was okay enough to not have to supplement (that might have to change now, I'll have to wait and see).
     
    I was told by the nutritionist before surgery to supplement with calcium, but I've been very inconsistent (not at all in the last 3 weeks), but my levels here are normal.
     
    My protein levels are normal.
     
    I can't wait until next week when I can sit down and have the surgeon/nutritionist give me feedback on what I need to be doing.
  20. deedee

    Blood Work Results

    By deedee,

    Finally had my blood work done this past week (had the order for the last 2 months, but I really hate needles) and the surgeon called to go over my results. I thought things would be much worse because I haven't been as good about taking my vitamins for the last month or so, but all my levels were normal except for Vitamin D.
     
    Last time (November 09) my iron was a little low, bad cholesterol was high, vitamin d was high, and b12 was high. Now my vitamin d was too low (22), but still higher than last summer (18) before surgery.
     
    As of today, I am recommitting to taking my vitamins daily. Still love this tool and am continue to happily maintain between 138-140 lbs.
  21. deedee

    Body Image

    By deedee,

    Over the last week, I've posted on forum threads regarding issues with my body and things I feel could use improvement. Now in the big picture, I understand these issues are not that important especially compared to the good health I now enjoy, they're more just little annoyances that only get to me at times.
     
    One of the biggest issues is my skin. I know a lot of wls patients fear, dread, hate their lose skin and I am no different. Fortunately my arms are pretty okay and in most clothing, I look fine. But today I went swimsuit shopping to prepare for my upcoming trip (end of March) to Florida. It was a picture taken on that trip last year that prompted my search for a new weight loss plan, which eventually led to me discovering wls as an option.
     
    Okay, back to the issues. My lower body (tummy, butt, and thighs) is disgusting. I'm not giving up hope that I can tone up these areas to some extent, but it's going to take a lot of work. In college I started buying swimsuits with skirts and always wore them due to bikini line razor burn and cellulite. Both of those things are still present, but much to my dismay, my saddle bags made any skirted swimsuit bottoms look pretty bad. I spent 3 hours shopping for a swimsuit and finally came to the conclusion that my body will never be perfect and I might as well just choose something and get on with it. When I'm at the beach I actually could care less how I look and hardly ever feel self conscious. It's all about the sun and water :biggrin0:
     
    So here's the one I ended up buying. When I saw it in pictures, it wasn't quite as scary as the in the mirror, but still not the prettiest sight (I'm just loving that double butt I've got going on:-). I guess I had body issues when I was larger and those issues have not gone away just because I have shed over 90 pounds.
  22. deedee

    Changes

    By deedee,

    Today I posted a thread about New Year's resolutions and responded to one of Chancie's posts regarding something that has changed for both of us: being cold a lot of the time now, instead of always hot and sweating. Both these things got me thinking about how much has changed in my life so far and the changes that are still yet to come.
     
    My husband loves baseball (still relives his high school glory days:blush:). We had season tickets for the first few years that the Washington National's first came to town. They are currently a horrible team and we did not renew our tickets for last year, but it had more to do with my health than their record. During the hot months, I could barely make it from the parking lot to the stadium and after the game had trouble making it back...we started taking golf cart rides because of my knees. I had so much trouble not passing out from the heat during the spring/summer games. There were more games than I can recall where my husband insisted we leave early because he was so concerned about my health. I felt horrible for him, I felt like a lousy wife. Last year we resorted to buying club seats when we went so that I could sit in the air conditioned club level in the back, where I'd stay for the majority of the game leaving him in the seats by himself. I'm so looking forward to this new season. This year we purchased a partial season package (1/2 of the games, I mean they really are a crappy team, it wasn't completely my health that made us stop getting full season tickets) and I am so happy that I can do this with him!
     
    Another big change that hit me today happened when I went into this little boutique in my town. They opened last April and I've always admired their window displays, but had never gone in. Today after going down to the post office I walked over to the bakery and passed the boutique. On my way back to the car I decided to pop in and they had some super cute stuff, although a lot of it more trendy than I typically wear. The owner came over and asked to start a fitting room for me and went and exchanged the medium dress I had for a small. She explained that the dress ran large and the small fit more like a medium. When I went to try it on she was right. I spent about an hour looking through the different racks, it's pretty small. For the first time in my life I realized what it must be like to be a normal sized person shopping for clothing. I've never had a problem shopping (actually have had problems in the past with shopping too much) and have shopped department stores and boutique stores, I just never had been in one where every style in the store actually had my size. I didn't have to dig to the bottom of the pile to look for the largest size. Also, the only boutiques I'd shop in were ones I'd been to with my skinnier friends and saw that they had clothes that fit me. This was a wonderful experience.
     
    I can't wait to see what other changes are in store. I LOVE BEING (sort of) NORMAL. I never realized how much my weight (and health) impacted my daily life and the kind of concessions and adjustments it forced me (and my husband) to make on a daily basis. Sure I was pretty happy before, but it's like the old saying "You can't miss what you've never had." I've never had a normal weight (okay I still don't yet), so I didn't realize all of the things I was missing out on.
  23. deedee
    Over the last couple of days I've done nothing but graze on food on and off all day long between my bouts of productivity. I don't know what it is about snowy, wintery weather, but it seems to make me feel like I have to shovel as much food in as possible. We've been out of school since last Friday and it looks like we might be out for a couple more days (new storm due to come in tomorrow afternoon) and I really need to get it together.
     
    If the food intake wasn't bad enough, I'm hardly getting in any exercise. Last week we only had Jazzercise 1 day due to snow from the previous weekend. I did manage to get out and take a 45 minute walk this morning and shoveled for an hour Saturday and an hour Sunday, but it doesn't compare to my normal level of daily activity. Tomorrow I plan on going to the gym with my husband in the AM and then practice my audition routines in the PM. Hopefully this helps, but I don't think it can counteract the horrific eating I've allowed myself to do.
     
    Guess I just needed to vent about my lack of willpower:-(
  24. deedee
    I went to a scheduled doctor's appointment today to discuss my low blood pressure issues. Over the past week my blood pressure had seemed better (101/57), but I kept the appointment because he only works one Saturday a month. The nurse took my bp and it was 96/61. The doctor took it manually and got a very low reading as well and then switched to a different cuff. He told me that because of how small I am now a child's cuff would give me a more accurate reading. With it he said I'm definitely "low," but my pulse rate is slow as well, so he's not concerned like he would be if I had a normal pulse rate. He explained the whole thing in detail, but my eyes glazed over and I just half listened. BUT, the good news is that I'm okay for now. He was also really glad to hear that I was trying to maintain. He didn't say that I shouldn't lose anymore, but if I did, it needed to be at a much slower rate.
     
    My husband actually came to this appointment with me and at the end brought up my emotional state. The doctor confirmed that the weight loss is a contributing factor to my state. After more of a discussion though, we decided I would try a low dose of an anti-depressant for a month and then see him again. I won't go into the contributing factors here, but he also wants me to see a psychiatrist. I'm cautious, but a little hopeful that maybe this medicine will help get me in a good place again.
     
    I'll be seeing my surgeon on April 1, and will see what he has to say about these issues as well.
  25. deedee

    Each day gets better

    By deedee,

    I'm not sure if I'm still stalling with my weight because I have not weighed myself in two days. I will say that if I am, my weight must be shifting because I wore a skirt today that I couldn't zip at the beginning of my stall.
     
    I'm still learning how to eat in different situations. Yesterday I went to brunch and had scrambled eggs with cheese. It didn't go down very well, felt kind of stuck, but I kept taking bites and tried to chew better. I only ate about 4 bites but I felt overly stuffed for a couple of hours. I got the hiccups sort of (this has been happening when I eat too much), but felt better later in the day after I took a walk.
     
    Today I sort of returned to work. I am a teacher, but will not start this year until mid October because I am taking over for another teacher who will leave and not return once she has her baby. I'm going back to my old job and school, so I went in today for their first work day back. It was great to see everyone and I got a couple of compliments. There is another teacher whose mother passed away yesterday so I will be going in this week to set up her classroom and do what I can for her.
     
    Well, not much else happening right now. I'm just glad that I'm finding other things to focus on besides the scale. I was almost about to get depressed over the stall and then I remembered some fitness goals I wanted to accomplish and decided to start on those. I signed up for a two hour per week tap and jazz class that begins Sept. 10. I'm hoping my surgeon will release me for full exercise when I see him this week so I can start back to Jazzercise (haven't been in well over a year), it's been four weeks and I think I'm ready as long as I don't push myself too hard.

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