steggegirl

I just joined Twitter today. Actually, I Googled you. First I checked to see if you were on Facebook and then I got the idea to google you - it directed me to your Twitter account. I saw the pic of you and your husband - what a cute couple! Really, I am not stalking you! LOL I was actually looking for a quicker link to your blog than going back to FBT. I will have to bookmark it. I am probably up to my character limit, so I will write more later. Question - is Twitter public info?

You will have to start reading from the bottom up as I had to cut and past the original letter I sent to you - you will see my explanation at the beginning of the letter. I hope I got it all in the correct order, and sorry it is so long and confusing.

I wanted to tell you to go to youtube and type in LAP-BAND?. There is one particular girl who has posted her journey from the beginning, and her transformation is amazing. She started out around 290 lbs and you can just see the pain in her eyes. Flash forward to now and she is this beautiful, thin woman with a wonderful spirit. She is very amusing to watch and I can't seem to get enough of her. She goes by the name of usalbgirl. There are others on there too who have posted their journeys, but none of them compare to her - she has been my inspiration! I hope and pray that I have the success that she does.

Peace and blessings to you (and me) always,

Kelly

My seminar experience was very overwhelming for me. I felt very ashamed and out of place - there were a LOT of people and many of them were extremely large. I couldn't believe that I fit into the same category as them! It already confirmed for me what I already knew, which was that I had to do something to get my weight under control so that I didn't end up as bad as they were. I was well on my way!

OMG, the hospital just called to go over the last minute details . . . I can't believe that the day is almost here! I am going to have a hard time staying focused today. We have to be at OSU tomorrow at 5:00 am, which means that we have to leave here at 4:00 am. My husband freaked out when I told him that we had to get up at 3:00. The hospital said that I am the first one to go. I just looked at the clock and it is 9:25. By this time tomorrow it will all be over with. They told me it would be an overnight stay, so you will probably here from me sometime Wednesday afternoon for a full report. Hopefully it will get you even more excited about going to your seminar Wed. evening.

I would love to write more, but I really need to get started on my day. There is much to be done before tomorrow. Chatting with you has definately uplifted me as there is great comfort in knowing that I am not alone. One of the pitfalls of keeping it a secret is not having many people to talk with about it. I have been a part of Christ Renews His Parish (are you familiar with this?) and we CRHP sisters share all of our dirty little secrets with each other, and I haven't even told them about it!

Well, I thank you for your prayers. I have heard that joke several times and it definately applies here. All along I have asked God to be sure and let me know if it is not His will to to have this foreign object placed into my body to get me to stop being such a glutton. So far, I have been given the go ahead. I still can't help but think about our dear friend, Mike, who succumbed to a blood clot this past January. He was a man who was also a very devout Catholic and I can't help but think of him often as I embark on this LAP-BAND? journey.

When people ask my husband Joe if the noise from the machine bothers him, his response is "hell, her snoring was much louder than that!" So now I sleep with my mouth closed (which was a really strange adjustment for me) and now I have much more energy to get me through the day - and that includes more energy for my husband, so I guess you could say that the CPAP could be considered a sexual device - HA!

I laughed out loud at your sleep study story. I have been on a CPAP now for a year and a half. I read your message the other day about how you were getting ready to spend your Saturday evening. I was going to tell you how much it has helped me with sleep and that it certainly isn't the most romantic apparatus to have in your bedroom, but that indeed it is so important to get a good night's sleep when trying to lose weight. But I after reading your blog, I think you've definately got the idea. My dad had apnea and we use to laugh at his peculiar little sleeping behaviors. Back then they were just beginning to recognize the seriousness of this condition and we didn't realize that dad was gradually heading towards his early demise.

So now, my sport of choice? You would never believe it! We like to chase the white tails. Years ago you would have had to take me kicking and screaming before I'd seek out a Bambi to shoot and kill to serve up on my plate, but now I consider myself a deer connoiseur. Once I fired that gun at a deer for the first time . . . well, the adrenaline rush was unbelievable! I was instantly hooked. I actually think that it was my faith that helped me get over all those mixed emotions I had about hunting . . . God provides!

This happened not long after Joe and I started dating. He wasn't much into bowling and the 3-4 nights I spent at the bowling alley didn't really sit well with him anyway. I tried to get him interested in it and we bowled together on the weekends, but he wasn't as avid as I was. So God made the decision for me to find something that Joe and I could do together (Just like you and Nick).

I checked the map where you live and I couldn't believe it! Years ago my ex-brother in law lived in Conneaut and we use to go visit him a couple of times a year. He was the HS basketball coach there. You are very close, aren't you? About 4 hours away from Bellefontaine.

I read your story about golfing and congrats on the trophies! I use to be a bowler. I traveled all around for tournaments. One year I placed 17th in singles at the National Bowling Tournament in AZ! I won about $500.00, which was enough to pay for my trip out there. I carried around a 180 average, but then, the arthritis in my back got the better of me and I eventually had to give up the sport I loved so much.

Lisa,

Okay, so I just tried to post this message and it told me that it was 6-7 times the alloted size, which is 1,000 characters, so I will break it down and send it to you in 6 or 7 messages - sorry it is so long. My husband, Joe, always says I talk too much! HA!

Yes, after tomorrow there is no turning back! I am getting very nervous, or maybe anxious, or maybe excited, or maybe - I don't know exactly . . . I am just a bag full of emotions right now and my head is spinning - Lord help me!!! It started this weekend. We went to Cincy for Joe's Aunt and Uncles 50th anniversary. I couldn't sleep well at the hotel and then woke up at 3:00am with pain in my big toe! I have had lots of problems throughout the past few years with ingrown toenails, of all things! This is just once more sympotom of my ever growing list of "signs you are way too fat" list. It is kinda like your top ten list, but unfortunately it is much too long to limit it to just 10.

Hey Llyra,

Hang in there. I have learned to subsitute. I still go fast food, but I choose wisely. I also completely did away with carbonated beverages. I was very surprised to find that I don't miss them all that much. I now drink decaf iced tea with Splenda and mint extract - it is yummy! You just have to find something healthy that you like. I also like to drink minute maid lemonade lite and I put strawberries sweetened with Splenda in it. I drink it down so fast that it doesn't last long. It cost too much to drink regularly. You just have to experiment. I've lost 30 lbs from the nutrition classes my insurance required of me and I am scheduled to be banded on August 3rd. I live in Ohio - you are in Wyoming? Hope to hear from you soon!

I go to see my surgeon tomorrow. I have lost 30 lbs so far just from taking the 3 month nutrition class that my insurance mandates. I thought for awhile that I might not need the surgery, but then I hit a plateau. I have been watching youtube every night and driving my husband crazy from that! OMG, he would die if I ever got a tattoo! You go girl! I love it that I have someone to chat with now! My name is Kelly - jksteggeman@embarqmail.com. I do facebook, but I haven't told hardly anyone about my impending surgery. I like to keep that to myself - want to avoid others gossiping about it.