The loss continues.

Yesterday was a hard day. Back to work and I just didn't feel quite right. I am still trying to figure out a routine for food and water. Plus I was so bloated and uncomfortable. The "heartburn" continued. I ended up going home early. Trying to take a nap. But I was just cranky and uncomfortable and miserable. I really hadn't eaten much. Mom dragged me to the grocery store and we bought smoothie stuff and jello and things I could eat. The trip was hard because I was so shaky. I went home and ate a bit. Drank water. Ate some mashed potatoes off my mom's plate, just a few spoonfuls, I felt so much better. But everything started moving after that. Several bathroom trips, and lots of gas passed. Even the bubble in my chest started to go away. Feeling better.
I took pain meds to go to sleep and felt mush better by bed time.
Today I am at work and I think I can pull through the whole day. (If everyone in the room would shut up!)

I really need to stop looking at the scale but it is so cool to see it going down instead of UP! 291.8 today!!!!!!! Woohoo! From my admited highest - that is 18.2 lbs!

Back to Work

Sort of. I am so tired and very achy off the pain med, but if I take the pain meds I can't drive.

I don't care about telling people my numbers now because they are going down. 294.2 today!! Woohooooooo!!!!!!!!!!! Amazing. I need to drink more water. Flush everything out. I have itty bitty goals. I hit the first one on the day of surgery, 299. Under 300! I was sooooo happy. The next goal is 290. (It was going to be 295 but I already passed that!). 275 is the next BIG goal.

All the discomfort is worth it. Of course being the total paranoid worry wart that I am, any ache is - Oh My God! Did I do something wrong? Did something slip! Oh Shit! But mom tell's me it is most likely the aneastheia and the air they blew into me working its way out. Hope so! I can't afford a second surgery!

3 days Post.

The surgery is done. No turning back now. I have lost 10 lbs since the Pre-Op diet started. I am extremely tired as the anestheia gets out of my system. I didn't write in the last few weeks. I had lots of mixed feeling but all very enthusiastic. The worst part was the writing of the 2 checks. And maybe not eating for a week.

9 days

This is me. December 2007.
Soon to be smaller and healthier!

10 days

10 days until surgery. 3 days until I start my low carb clear liqued pre-op diet. I really think that is going to be the hardest part. But I am ready. I have been walking more, I have purchased some better shoes. I have figured out what is wrong with my heel - plantar fasciitis. Ohhh it hurts, but I have stretches for it now. Losing weight will definately help!

After the last pre-op appt. I got a little worried about recovery, but I am still ready. I can do this. Nothing I can do but do this.

I have a few things left to do on the house before mom gets here. I still haven't emptied the storage unit. I know I should save the money but I just don't want to deal with more STUFF. I am still trying to purge the stuff that is in the TH right now. There are a few things I need out of there but I don't know if I will get them out before yet. I have already given up on getting my room purged and clean - but I have a cheat that I am working on for that mess, it is called "shove everything in the closet and close the door". It may work.

Activities to keep my mind occupied...

...and get my body moving.

Mom is coming to visit the weekend of the surgery. The last time she visited I was very depressed and didn't want to do anything. Her visit helped make me feel better, but once she left I felt bad I didn't show her the sites. There are so many things to do around here in the DC area and beyond. Even going and seeing the museums I worked on. So this time, even though I will be right out of surgery, I made plans. I am supposed to be moving around anyway. The plan I am most proud of is tickets to the King Tut Exhibit at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. When I was little I remember a family trip to Chicago to see the exhibit then (in the 70s) we waited in this HUGE line for hours, but we never got in. Mom was disappointed. She has always had a thing for archeology and Egypt. So when the exhibit announced it was coming around again, I had to get tickets. It will mean 6 hours in the car but it will make mom really happy, and I am excited to see the exhibit as well. On the way up to Philly, I plan to stop in Baltimore so we can visit the Reginald F. Lewis Museum, the one I worked on, so mom can see it. Plus I haven't seen it since it opened, only pre-opening. For the rest of the weekend I hope to take in some DC sites, the Cherry Blossom Festival is ongoing and the blooms are out, I was thinking about a bus tour of DC, and perhaps the SPY museum as well. It should be a tiring weekend.

22 days

22 days til the surgery. Just enough time to get nervous. But I am ready - let's go. I have been doing well with the purging and cleaning of the house. Moving furniture so I have room to exercise and just LIVE. But I need to actually START WALKING! I gotta get my circulation moving. Everything else is going well, I have the right foods in the house. I have plans for when mom comes to visit (lots of activities to keep my mind off food, pain, etc.). I am not sure what mom will eat yet, she can have whatever, I am sure after the surgery I won't be feeling like eating, and by the time she gets here I will be well into my clear liquid pre-op phase. I have found 3 really good cookbooks (I love cookbooks anyway) that will help to add variety:

Cooking With Soul
Recipies for Life After Weight Loss Surgery
Eating Well After Weight Loss Surgery: Over 140 Delicious Low-Fat High-Protein Recipes to Enjoy in the Weeks, Months and Years After Surgery


Funny - I was always very anti-Atkins and now my diet will be very similar to that for the rest of my life... protein first... very low carbs...