Doctor visit...

I went for my 1st check-up this evening. Their scale sucks...so I'm going to continue using my home scale for the rest of this journey!

I'm down to 290 right now...that's a TOTAL of 40 pounds lost since early summer! 40 POUNDS!!! OMG!

I'm now able to eat pureed/mushy foods. I had a thicker soup tonight, that's about it. I'll move on in a few days, don't want to over do myself!

I got back in two weeks for another check up...and then finally after that for my first fill!

Update...

Woot, so I weighed myself this morning and I'm down to 290!!! Friggin' impressive!

That means a total loss of 40 pounds since the beginning of the summer, and 25 since the beginning of my pre-op liquid diet. Since surgery, I've lost 12 pounds! That's in LESS than two weeks...freakin' amazing!

I have a doctors appointment tomorrow....hoping he'll let me go back to my regular way of doing things...LOL We'll see! :)

I've had a couple mini-goals set up...

1st Goal: 290 by September 30, 2007 Met 9/24/07!!!
2nd Goal: 275 by October 31, 2007
3rd Goal: 250 by December 31, 2007

I just weighed myself this morning...I'm down to friggin' 292!!!! I haven't been this low in a couple of years! I almost have tears...lol I have issues....this I already know!

I'm going out to lunch today with a friend and her two kids. We're going to go to AppleBees...they have a broccoli and cheese soup :) I'm just going to ask for a cup of hot water to dilute it a little more!

I'm so excited, I've officially lost 10 pounds since surgery!!!

1 week post-op

Dang, this time last week I was chillin' in my hospital room watching TV with my mom as the nurse was pokin' me with all kinds of needles! lol

The scale said 294 this morning! Woot...that's 8 pounds down since surgery...26 since the beginning of my pre-op diet....and a total loss of 36 pounds since this summer!
I'm in awe....really! LOL

I feel awesome, still a little sore in the mornings. But it seems to wear off through the day. I can't bend over good yet...but I can do most things. I go to the doctor on Tuesday for my check-up from surgery. None of my sterile strips have fallen off yet. Maybe this weekend...a couple of them are slowly coming off!

I'll update soon...must get ready for work!

My Weekend after Surgery....

Yesterday (Saturday) I spent the day at my sister's house. I sat in the chair and read and watched TV most of the day...and of course got up to walk, walk, and walk! Shayla and Josh (my little cousins) came over around 2ish and we played on Josh's XBox....that was friggin' awesome! LOL I haven't played some of those games in YEARS! (Poll position, PacMan, Dig Dug...LOL) After they left around 7, I watched TV some more and wanted to come back to my house. I didn't have a bed to sleep in there, so I knew I wouldn't be comfortable. So, my sister brought me back home, along with my kitty, Kali. We slept here last night....I felt so much better getting up this morning. It still takes me awhile to get out of bed, but I was able to do it on my own this morning.

Today I plan on relaxing and walking...
I did step on the scale for the first time since the surgery and I'm down to 296!!! Woot! That's a total of 32 pounds lost since June of 2007. Woot! Can't complain!!

Day of Surgery...kinda long, sorry lol

I'm finally feeling up to posting...so here it goes!

I woke up around 3:45am to finish gathering my things. I had to be at the hospital at 5AM for registration and all that fun stuff. My mom arrived at my house around 4:40am and off we were to the hospital. I had to pack a few bags of clothes and things to do since I wouldn't be returning to my house until Saturday night.

We get to the hospital and get registered, and I was up in my room by 5:30am. I had to change into the fabulous gown and put on the nylon socks over my legs. They actually kept me warm throughout the day! lol I laid back in the bed and the nurse came in and ask if I went to the bathroom. Of course I did, because the first nurse never told me not to. So she said she could just take the pregnancy test through my IV. She comes back a few minutes later with a basket full of needles and tubes, and my salt water for the IV. She gets the blood and hooks up the IV. I didn't really pay attention to her, and then asked when they were going to come do my bloodwork. She laughed and said she already did it!

Now it's about 6:00am and we wait until after 6:30 for the next step. My mom and I just sat there watching tv, I would occassionally fall asleep for a few minutes, and then wake back up. The lady came and was ready to take me off to get ready for surgery at around 6:45am. So they made me switch beds and off we go. I said bye to my mom and she gave me a kiss. I started to get teary eyed, but had to be strong. Damn hormones! LOL So now I'm in a room with a few other patients, waiting for the anastegeologist and my surgeon to come in. I was so happy to see my surgeon, and the smile he had on his face. He's a different kind of guy...LOL Doesn't really smile a lot. He came over to check on me, and rubbed my arm to wish me luck. Then I was off to surgery. The last time I looked at the clock it was about 7:40am.

I get wheeled off into this room...mind you I'm kinda in and out of it. They gave me the "relaxer" drug...LOL We get into this room and they tell me to scoot over to the surgery table. The table was awesome...had bean bag type things where my butt was...LOL That was cool. I get situated and they took my arms and spread them out and strapped something on them....I feel myself slowly going to sleep. They put on the oxygen mask and tell me to breath heavy. I remember breathing 3 or 4 times and I was out. LOL

I hear some guy telling me to wake up and that surgery was over. I'm slowly opening my eyes and getting used to my surroundings. I hear a baby crying to my right and was kind of not understanding where I was. A few minutes later I'm quite alert, and the nurses come over to check my vitals. Can't really remember the conversations I had with the one guy...LOL I remember asking if I had the surgery and the band was in me...lol My fear was that my liver would be too big. The clock said about 10:15am when I remembered it first. At about 11AM I was wheeled back to my room. My parent's came in at 11:15ish and then my dad headed back home to let my dog out and to go home and get some sleep (he worked the night before). My mom stayed with me all day...poor thing. She didn't get to bed til midnight the night before surgery...so she was dead tired too!

The nurse comes in and tells me I have to sip 30cc's of water in an hour. Doesn't seem like hard work does it? Well it was, because I could barely stay awake. LOL Mom kept telling me to wake up and sip. Then after that hour, I had to sip 30 more cc's in 30 minutes. That went down better, as I was a little more awake. It's now about 1ish. We were waiting on my nurse from the Weight Loss Center to come see me and the dietician. Donna (my nurse) came around 1:30 with my dishcharge information. The dietician wasn't coming and I was getting anxious. I called the nurses station to see what was going on and they said she was on her way. Well she never showed up, some guy did...another dietitician for the hospital. Said about 10 words (which I already knew) and left. Pointless for me to wait...I was pretty pissed that I waited an hour for that. The next nurse comes in and is ready to get me out. She unhooks my IV and bandages that up. Checks my vitals and notices my BP was going down...hm...genious because I haven't been up out of the bed yet. So I went potty and changed, sat back down. She redid my vitals and my BP was going back up. D'oh...stupid nurse lol I was ready to go....they wheeled me out and off we went.

I went to my mom and dad's house....chillaxed in the family room with the doors blocked so Tux couldn't get in there. I took a couple cat naps and then my sister and her fiance came over with flowers and a card...and so did my friend Amy. Brought me a dozen pink roses with a balloon and a card. They smelled awesome! I was up and walking when they were over. Doing some stuff at the kitchen table....all while sipping away on my drinks!

Laying down in the bed was rough...but I managed to pass out sometime through the night lol

The gas

is insane! I'm burping...didn't think that was a good thing, but apparently as long as it's coming out it's ok?

I'm home now, gonna sleep in my own bed tonight! yay!!

Sugery is officially over :)

I have been home at my parent's for a long time...just didn't get time to come up here yet! I'll post the full story when I am feeling a little less sore! My port is the only part that hurts...it doesn't really hurt, just bothers me when I move! LOL

I'm heading to bed now...been a long ass day, and I'm tired!

Thank you to EVERYONE who sent prayers and thoughts my way...you guys are amazing, and I love you all ;) And no...haven't taken my Tylenol with codeine (sp) yet!

Nanight!

Alright....here's an update!

Well, this summer I started my journey at 330 pounds (according to my scale here at the house). Well...I'm down to 303 as of this morning! :)

I met with Dr. Stanish last Tuesday and scheduled surgery for September 14th and 7:30 AM!!!! Knowing I needed surgery soon, I started the liquid diet on August 31st. The first few days were miserable, but now I'm doing well...I can honestly say I have not cheated once! I'm sippin' on some chicken broth now as I type this!

My parents and my sister and her fiance have all been very supportive of me during this time. I've gotten a lot of cleaning done here at my house...as I try to get my mind off of food! :)

I fell in love with the sugar-free carmel pudding! OMG, it's the way to my heart!

That's all I've got so far....I'll update before surgery...or soon after! WISH ME LUCK!!!

FOUR more days!!!

Now I'm flipping out :)

The scale said 302 this morning! WOOT! That's a total of 28 pounds down since the beginning of my journey! I'm friggin' amazed!

Wednesday starts my clear liquids....thank heaven for yummie JELLO!!!

Update....WOOT!!!

Well, on Monday morning I got my approval!! :) YAYYYYY!!!!!

Nothing like rushing! I got approved yesterday and picked up my prescriptions for the testing at the center. I called the number and wanted to schedule my Upper GI, the lady said today at 8 would be good. Worked for me, I just skipped the back to school breakfast at the middle school.
So I starve myself through the night and show up bright and early...7:30. My mom went with me for moral support, lol! We get registered and they take me down to get changed into the FABULOUS gown and robe. LOL A male nurse comes back and takes me with him, as he sets me up for my chest x-ray, he asks some questions...specifically when my last menstral cycle was. Since I'm irregular, I never memorize the dates. So I told him the middle of last month. Then I hear a lady, say something....then he told me to turn around and that we'd have to do a pregnancy test. LOL Good grief, so I go get that blood drawn, come back and ask if I can have the rest of my prescription to go get it filled. I go back and get STUCK again with the needle for the other blood work, take a urine sample, and then off for my EKG. Piece of cake....but now it's time to get back to work...so I undress and go to work.
Lunch hour comes...and I rush off back to the hospital. They take me within 10 minutes of being there....and the chest x-ray was first. Another piece of cake...mind you, by this time I was STARVING!!!! The Barium was actually making my mouth water...in a good way! LOL I'm sick...this I know! So...I swallow these "Crystal" things first, and chase them with a 1/2 shot of water...LOL They made my airway bigger and felt like I had to let out a HUGE ASS burp...LOL But I had to hold it in as I drank the barium....drank more barium...and then some more. OMG....my tummy was full. Then the doctor made me lay on the table....and made me rotate in a circle....the shit was swishin' everywhere....OMG. Then he took 4039228 photos and made me move every which way. I could not wait to get out of there. About 30 minutes later and I was done and on my way back to work (school.) I didn't get anything to eat til almost 5 tonight....LOL
Now...I just wait for my doctor's appointment on September 4th! Woot!!

Update...

Nothing TOO exciting yet...just a quick update.
Tuesday I met with the new surgeon...who's totally awesome! Wednesday I attended the mandatory class, which was 3 hours long. Tuesday evening everything was faxed over to my insurance company....Chris said she should be hearing something soon. If not, she's going to call them tomorrow sometime! I've got my second surgeon appointment set up for September 4th...was the earliest I could get in! If all goes well, I should be scheduling surgery 10-14 days later! I can't believe it...it's finally coming to an end! Or a beginning I guess! :)

Update...

My insurance company wants the 6 month supervised physician visits...so I'm waiting on that. Hopefully what we're going to send to them in a week will be sufficient. If not....I don't know what I'm going to do! I've been keeping up with the hill, swimming, and an occassional visit to the gym. I feel better about myself, but I know I can push another 100%!

School's started this summer...I'm naturally dreading it already!

Oh...on the left side here I've got some google ads! If anything seems remotely interesting, click away! :)

Holy hell!!!

I went and walked up the hill 20 times this morning....but now I feel miserable. Again, bowel problems! Bleh!

I forgot...Yuko called on Friday, and said that the only paperwork I need for my insurance is a 6 month document physician visit. Sardesai said he would take care of that...so we'll see! Keep your fingers crossed for me..or say a prayer or something! :)

Woot...

part at Janet's today. I did well, had a few bottles of water...but had a bit of food. It was all I ate all day tho, so I'm not too worried about it. I went and walked up the hill 10 times tonight with my sister and my dad! :)

Yesterday...

was the Sox game. We had seats from Becky...she has a couple sets of season tickets. Went to go sit in the seat...and OMG my ass was too big :( I was in tears...I couldn't believe it. Amy tried to make me feel better by saying that she could barely fit...blah blah blah. I didn't want to hear it...I wanted to crawl in a hole and die somewhere. My sister and Becky got us some "sectioned off" seats...that were regular seats. I felt better...but still was ashamed! NOW...more than ever...I wanna get this weight OFF ME!

Went to the hill once this morning and once this afternoon. I also hit Cardinal to work on my arms! Tonight I'm not feeling so well...attach of the bowel movements :(

12 times!!!

I felt so good when I was done...but damn if it killed me!!! I've lost a good 5 pounds now!

Sox Game Friday

That should be interesting!!! Going to a baseball game w/o drinking! If I can do that...I can do anything pretty much! Did the hill again today...went up it 10 times!!!! I'm estatic that I can do it 10 times! Tomorrow I'm going to try for 12!

Woot!

So far so good...I've lost about 3 pounds on this new diet of mine...been doing the hill. Yesterday I did 5 again, and tonight I did 8! I'm well on my way up! WOOT!

Northgate's Hill

OMG it hurts!!!! We went up and down about 5 times, and then went over to the hill by the Jewel here in Dyer....OMG I feel like I'm dead! But...I'm going to keep at it, because it gets my heartrate going and I felt better afterwards!

BMI too high

according to the new place...so diet starts ASAP to get that down!

I'm going to try a low-cal diet and exercise like crazy! Dad said this weekend we're going to try out the hill at Northgate park...that should be fun!

Birthday..

Today's my birthday...and today was the day I submitted all of my paperwork to another hospital closer to my house. Day One is frustrating me...it seems nothing is going right or on time! We'll see what happens!! :) *fingers crossed*

Forgot to add...

I went to see Sardesai on Monday, and he said that whatever paperwork I need he'll get for me! He said to have insurance fax him what he needs to get for them...he'll jump through the hoops and help a girl out! WOOT!!!!

Woot...MONDAY!!!!

My paperwork was submitted to insurance on Monday the 9th (Josh's birthday!!)!!! I'm so excited....so now I wait and see what happens! Pray that it's covered...and we can get the ball rollin'!!

I'll be getting some "before" pictures...woot! Debating on whether I should do some naked pictures....those will NEVER hit the internet! LOL Just for personal use I guess! :)

Grrr...Dr. Sardesai's office

All I wanted was a stupid letter saying that I've been trying to lose weight for years and haven't had any success. The chick, Barbara, called back today to tell me that I need to get an appointment because it's been since last June that I saw him! GRRR!!!! Need to starve myself so I at least look like I've been trying to lose weight! Which...I have....just not continuously!

I'm waiting for Yuko to call me back to tell me whether or not she has my medical records! Grrr! This is going to be the most stressful point of the whole "journey"!!!!

Woot!!

Woot...Psych Eval done...

and I'm not crazy!!!!

But we already knew that! :) Dad drove me...he's a crazy driver. I think next time I'll drive and have mom or dad be the passenger. His stoppin' and goin'....grrrr my head was pounding! Anyways...the lady was nice. She looked kinda crazy, but I think that comes with the job? I filled out a 25 question sheet while I was waiting for her to get ready for me. Then she called me back and we talked about my answers for like an hour. She said I have gotten a pretty good start on changing my life, I just need to keep doing the things that I'll need to do when I get the band put in. That way I'm ready...and won't be struggling.

Sooooo....now is the waiting period. I'm waiting for the insurance people to approve me :) Keep your fingers crossed!!

Not good...

I dunno what I was thinking, but last night I discovered that I will no longer be able to drink my Smirnoff Ice's after the surgery! Time to find a new signature drink for when I do go out...I'm thinking Daquiris??

Less than two weeks til the Psych Eval...I need to email Yuko to make sure she got my medical records!

Last night was kind of a wake up call...I can't dance anymore like I used to be able to a few years back. Now, I realize that's cuz I rarely go dancing nowadays, but DAYUM!! Our lil' group was fun, didn't make me feel any different...but lord knows I'm the biggest one and I don't like it :( This surgery is going to be a blessing in the skies for me...I need a jump start on the rest of my life!!

The insurance chick called on Thursday...

and she just wanted to follow up about my doctor's office sending over my records. Yuko said the lady at the office said they never got the fax....YEAH RIGHT! So, she was on the phone with them and forwarded another request at the same time. I hope this all goes through and works out with insurance. *fingers crossed*

Woot...

Well, I tried calling ODH (One Day Health) today to see if I could schedule my Psych eval earlier...no such luck. The lady was nice and said I could keep calling if I wanted to! :)

Yuko, the insurance chick called me today...I need to return her call tomorrow. Hopefully it's nothing bad, and she's just informing me what has happened on her end.

It's just a matter of time. Was talkin' to my parents a lot today about the surgery. They are being VERY supportive of it. Of course, my dad scooped a piece of cabbage and a tiny part of a potato on my plate and said that was all I could have....LMAO. Dork!!

Woot!

Well today went very well...saw the doctor for a bit, he said it looks like I'm a good candidate (kinda ironic) for the surgery, which is an excellent thing. We then went to talk to the nutritionalist about my dieting pre-op, and post-op....should be interesting. 1/2 cup of food per meal! Lots and lots of liquids in between though. I'm going to start using the techniques now, the no eating and drinking at the same time. No drinks up to a 1/2 hour before and after the food part of the meal. And then of course...the constant chewing of my food to tiny tiny bits. LOL
We then met with the insurance chick...she was cool as hell. Very nice lady...and it looks like we're gonna get it all worked out with my insurance as far as the paperwork is concerned. We're just waiting on my medical records to be faxed over, and of course the psych eval. NO, I'm not a crazy....but it's required for the insurance. I've got that appointment on March 30th at 7:30AM! Nothing like an early morning thing...might as well get it done asap!

I'm nervous, scared, excited....I just kinda want it to happen NOW! LOL I'm impatient....can't you tell??

First Consult Today...

at One Day Health up in Chicago. I'm nervous and excited at the same time...I just want to get this show on the road and see what's going to happen. I'll post again this evening about what happens or is said/done!