Hanging In There

I'm hanging in there. Went to my last water aerobic class last night. It went well but the water was pretty chilly. Everyone was so excited for me and supportive. All told me to just do what the doctor and nutritionist say and I'll be fine. It was nice to have the added encouragement and support. All said they'll be looking forward to my return when cleared by my surgeon.

I'm having something going on with my right leg. It has happened before. It's like a dull ache down to the bone and it really hurts. It goes from my hip all the way down my shin to my ankle. When I rub it, the area is a little bit tender. I had something I was taking for it but I can't take that right now. No Nsaids, ibuprofen, aleve, etc ever again. It can lay in one spot and eat into my stomach lining, especially after surgery with my little bitty pouch. Nothing much gives me relief. This morning, so I could sleep, I did take one of the pills I used to take (that I'm not supposed to). I won't do it again but I had to have some relief so I could sleep as I have this last night of work. The pain was so bad that I was in tears. And Tim rubbed Bengay on it. He's such a honey bear! Between the two I got enough relief to get about five hours of sleep. Yea for me! I'm going to get some more Tylenol later. It's the only 'pain killer' I can have right now and after surgery so may as well lay some in. Well, that's other than the drug the doc sends me home with!

Got my book in the mail today. It's called 'Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies' and came highly recommended by many. It is an easy read and covers everything from deciding if WLS is right for you, choosing a surgeon, insurance and how to get approval, preparing for the surgery, going through the surgery, after surgery, exercise, recipes, and a lot more. I'm so excited to finally get it. I ordered it a while ago from amazon.com but the vendor had to back order it.

Other than that, I'm doing fine. Weight has come down to 393 and has remained there for the last two days. I'm still following the diet so don't know why the stall, but I'm not going to sweat it. That still means I've lost 14 pounds since starting the pre-op diet so they (surgeon and whoever else cares) should be happy. I'm okay with how it's gone.

I'm just ready for this to be over. This has been THE LONGEST week of my life, I think. I'm guessing the same will be said of the weekend. I did a little bit of second guessing about this being the right thing yesterday. I've read that's pretty normal at this stage. I know it's going to be a life-saving and live-changing event for me. I know it's what I have to do to be healthy and improve the quality of life I have as well as extend my life. It's all just head games right now.

But, I'm okay. I'm going to do this and keep moving.

Busy day

I'm down from 407 last Friday to 397 today. They said on the pre-op diet I'd lose 10-20 lbs these two weeks but I was skeptical to say the least. I had to retire my pajama pants (which are actually an old pair of capri pants I hated) this morning. I can't keep them up anymore. I'm almost out of my size 5X pants. I have a couple pair of 4X so I'll wear those and when they are falling off, I'll buy a couple pair of drawstring 3X pants.

The pre-op diet is going well. I haven't cheated but to add an extra mozzarella stick each day. I figure it's protein and they allow me 'empty calories' from sugar free popsicles or such so why not at least make the calories count? I'm not minding it and obviously from the info imparted above, it's working just fine.

When I called pre-admissions yesterday I found out when the surgeon does my surgery he's also going to remove my gall bladder. I don't know if that's because something showed on my gall bladder ultrasound back in March or if he just does this as a part of the procedure as some surgeons do. When people lose a good amount of weight, gall bladder problems usually follow. I'm grateful because I figure that's one less surgery I'll have to have down the road.

Got all my FMLA paperwork completed and turned in. I have two weeks covered by vacation time. One week is currently covered by donated sick time for one of my co-workers who gave me 40 hours of her own banked sick time. What a blessing! I have the HR department soliciting the company for 40 more hours. That will cover four weeks which I just found out yesterday is the minimum time off I can expect. The FMLA paperwork said 4-6 weeks. Praying it's only four as that's about all I'm going to have covered to be paid. Whatever happens, the Lord will work it out.

And now for the bad news ... Took my hubby to the neurologist today and he was finally diagnosed formally with Parkinson's. I had feared for some time now that was what caused his tremors but had so hoped it wasn't true. Now it is and it has rocked my world a little. It can grow to be an ugly thing as the disease progresses. I felt my heart tear just a bit when she confirmed it.

It's a Go!

I just got off the phone with my favorite Utilization Review person at my medical group. My surgery has been authorized and approved! I really am having this surgery on August 4th; less than two weeks to my newest beginning. I cannot express the gratitude and excitement I feel as well as the relief of knowing it is now really going to happen. I am so dang EXCITED!

Day two of the new diet has gone well thus far. Changed things up a bit so if you're interested, here's how my eats for today have looked so far ...

11:45 PM South Beach 100 Calorie Chocolate Snack Bar
2:30 AM Strawberry Protein Drink
6 AM Slice of whole wheat bread with 1 oz turkey and mustard

My main meal in a little while will likely be a repeat of yesterday. There are other things I can have but that one works for me so I'll probably repeat it today. I've had two bottle of water so far today. Later on, about 7 or 8 PM I'll have my second Protein Drink and I need to drink two more bottles of water. I'm working on the first one now.

Jamie, I spoke with the gal in my water aerobics class last night and she said she was on a very similar diet the two weeks before her lap band surgery. Her surgery was one week ago and she was back in class last night. Five steri-strips covering her incisions and it's all good. She took it a little easy but said other than feeling hungry, she's doing fine. Her surgeon requires two weeks liquid diet post op before she gets to start mushy foods.

Many hugs to all of you for your support. Thanks once again for being here with me on this special journey to regain my life.

One day almost done

I started the pre-op diet today. Here is what I've had to eat so far today:

11:45 pm last cereal bar (since the diet didn't officially start til midnight. Ha!)
3 am protein chocolate milk drink
6 am tuna with fat free mayo
4 pm grilled chicken breast on whole wheat bun and a salad with light dressing

I also drank two bottles of water through the night. After my water aerobics class I'll finish off today with the following ...

9 pm protein strawberry milk drink

11:45 pm South Beach 100 cal chocolate snack bar

I will also drink at least two more bottles of water today. I had a little bit of hunger pangs but made it and know that I can do this. Woo hoo!

The "Liver Shrink" Diet

I met with the nutritionist today. She is the person who runs the bariatric nutrition support groups that I plan on attending post surgery. I could go now, but have chosen to wait.

Here's the diet I have to stick to for the next two weeks. It isn't nearly as bad as I had thought it might be.

Breakfast--Protein Beverage (will probably do Carnation Instant Sugar-free with added dry milk powder OR Slimfast Low Carb which were two of the options on the list she gave me)

Lunch--Protein Beverage

Dinner--2-3 oz protein, 2 servings of starch, 2 servings veggies, 1 serving fat OR a Lean Cuisine or Healthy Choice meal as long as it has meat in it

I can also have 2 snacks with quite a list to choose from if I need them and also up to two servings per day of sugar free popsicles, fudgesicles, jello, 1 c soup broth, sugar free hard candy or fat free cool whip.

In addition to all that I must start the vitamins that they are going to require me to take for the rest of my days. They are called Optisource and she said they are only available at Walgreens stores or their online store. I thought I could take chewable Flintstone vitamins but she said these would be the best as they are formulated for gastric bypass patients. Okay, I'll do what I'm told. They're a little pricey but I want this to all work out!

I also have to drink a minimum of 64 oz of liquids per day. I get water, crystal light, diet v-8 splash, unsweetened decaf tea, minute maid lite, and sugar-free kool-aid.

We talked about my weird working and sleeping hours and I think we came up with a workable schedule for meals that will work now and then post-op when I return to work. I figure it will all work itself out eventually.

She said that I am down five pounds since the last time I was there. I weighed 412 on their scale and 407 on mine this morning. Their scale has always weighed me five pounds heavier and the nurse said that everyone says that so I'm guessing their scale is five pounds heavy. She also said that on this diet I should lose 10-20 pounds over the next two weeks. It is to shrink my liver so that they can move it easier to get to my stomach for the pouch and bypass.

So that's where it all stands for now. I'm going to start this and know in my heart that insurance approval is just around the corner. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Hee hee!

My head is spinning

Are y'all ready for this? I am scheduled for surgery on August 4th! My mind started whirling and I was thinking "are you freaking kidding me?". That is two weeks from Monday! Oh my. Then she went on to say that it is pending insurance approval but they don't think there will be a problem with that. I don't think there will be either.

I have so much to do. I did call the bariatric center and am waiting for a call-back from the nutritionist about what kind of diet I need to follow for the next two weeks. It's either a liquid or partial liquid diet that is designed to shrink my liver. Wow! Can you even believe it's only two weeks away? I am still amazed!

I have to go for pre-admission testing but was not in the system yet so they couldn't set me up for any of that. I'll wait til later today to call back or tomorrow.

I have to fill out the paperwork for FMLA at work. I need to request a donation of sick time from other employees so I will be guaranteed a minimum of three weeks off paid before I have to worry about it. (The surgeon told me I'd be off 3-4 weeks at least and I'm hoping it's only three as I don't know that I can cover four financially.) I need to get some things done here at home but I guess I have two weeks to get it done. Gosh, thinking of all I have to do has my head spinning.

Okay, breathing and moving on.

A few photos to share

I have a few photos to share. My new avatar over there on the right is my granddaughter Cecilia and I in the pool at my brother's on the 5th of July. We had such fun!



This one is Ceci and her baby sister Nadia who will be one year old next month.




And this one is of Chloe Jayne who turned one in April.

Nothing else to say. Just wanted to share the pictures since I finally made time to load them on my computer.

Finally ...

Finally, after much angst and many phone calls, the psychologist who did my psych eval sent the report to the bariatric center. It was the final report they were waiting on. The bariatric center faxed 42 pages to my surgeon for review before submission for insurance approval. The nurse there said that I should hear back with an approval in the next two weeks since I have an HMO. I sure hope so because I am ready to get this done and proceed on. I can hardly wait!

Still going to the water aerobics. It's been six weeks I've stuck with it now. I just signed up for the next six week session. The trainer said if I have surgery during the session, they will refund a portion of the money to me. I just know that as soon as I'm cleared, I'll be back in the water.

I moved up to the harder hand weights in the pool and the more difficult stretch bands this week. The trainer thought I was ready. Boy did I feel the difference! It was a good ache, though so I'll continue with the more difficult ones. It's all about building muscle to replace the fat and if I hurt a little bit, I know it's got to be working, right?

So that's the status on everything right now. When I have a surgery date, I'll be sure to be screaming it. Thanks again for all the support from y'all.

What a weekend!

I had the most wonderful weekend over the holiday weekend. We drove downstate and visited with my family. We stayed Thursday night with my brother and his wife. She made yummy spaghetti with tossed salad and garlic bread for dinner. We visited a little bit and then I fell asleep cuz I hadn't had much sleep before we drove down.

Friday got up and spent the day with my sister and her family. We went in her new pool which is really nice. She got steps that would support my weight. The water was very COLD but we survived. Moving around helped somewhat. Dinner there was steak on the grill with california blend veggies, au gratin potatoes, and crescent rolls. Yum! Dessert was turtle pie of which I had a sliver. Then we went to see the fireworks. I think it was the first time Tim and I had been to fireworks since our girls were little! They were AWESOME and we had a wonderful time.

Saturday we headed back to my brother's for fun in his pool. It is huge and the water was freezing! I managed to spend about two hours in there, though. My daughter showed up with Crys and Nadia and they joined me in the water for a little while. It was so much fun!

He had a lot of food there ... big fat hotdogs, various brats, chicken of all kinds, teryaki deer strips, baked beans, mac n cheese, au gratin taters, chips and dip, pickles, and then the most yummy mushrooms I ever tasted; not very diet friendly, but I didn't go hog wild. My sister-in-law cuts off the stem of the mushroom and stuffs a piece of kielbasa or sausage in there. She wraps two strips of bacon around it and secures it with a toothpick. She then bakes (or in this case grilled) them until the bacon is done. Oh my but they were delicious!

The bugs started to get to me so we left and went back to my sister's. We ended up getting into her pool (which was warmer than my brother's) and playing monkey in the middle with one of her sons and her hubby. It was so much fun! Relaxed and fell asleep so spent an extra night there.

This was the best weekend we've had in forever!

On the surgery front, I call the bariatric center today to make sure they finally got the psych report. The psychologist assured me last Tues she would send it by Friday. They will fax my chart to the surgeon on Weds and hopefully by Monday he'll send it on to the insurance company. It's all a waiting game now.

So that's that! God bless America, this beautiful land we live in. And may God bless you, too!