106

Howdy, dear friends & family.  I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving and didn't eat too much!!  This was the first Thanksgiving since my surgery and it was quite an deal.  I just took a little of this and a little of that.  To take me to a restaurant would be a totally waste!!!  My husband and I would have to split a dish, but he could eat TWO dishes alone!!  Oh, I remember those days.

Well, I'm now officially (according to the Bariatric Clinic that I saw 2 days ago) 106 lbs lighter at 240.  The doc said my ideal weight should be around 150 lbs.  And this time, I'm gonna do it if it kills me!!  I just wish my mom could see me know.  I'm thinner, can do a lot more things like shopping with the hubs and walking through stores WITHOUT my seat walker.  In fact, I'm selling it.  So if you or someone you know needs a walker, I've got a nice one.  It's burgandy in color and a basket up front to hold your things.  It is a nice walker.

OK....Let me show you something astonishing.....

First pic of me BEFORE THE SURGERY, topping out a close to 356 lbs.  I really hate this picture, but it's the best way to do a comparison.  So promise you won't laugh too hard!!  Isn't that a horrible picture?  And needless to say, I couldn't breath, walk stops, and every joint in my body screamed pain.

Here I am AFTER THE SURGERY, now weighing 240 on the bariatric scale.  The doctor says I'm doing very well....they don't usually get results this quick and I would fall into the gastric bypass category!!  I think I set a new record for the gastric sleeve (where they take 80% of your stomach and leave the intestine alone).   Cool!!!  I just took this picture today.  Remember that sailor's shirt I put on my blog a year ago, gazing and hoping I could wear it before I died!!!

Isn't that a great pic, if I don't say so myself?  And I typically HATE having my picture taken!!

I am so very glad I had bariatric surgery.  It wasn't no bed of roses and the first six months, I was hoping the Good Lord would take me out of my misery.  I was always nauseated (probably because I didn't eat too much and I take a lot pills with my yogurt.  I couldn't even take my pain meds because I kept heaving them back up.  Come to find out, I had a bout of diverticulitis with I had not ever had in my life.  But that is what the CT/MRI said.  So now I had to add two more pills to take.  I cut them in half and take them with yogurt.  That's the ONLY downfall to this way to diet.  I have to crush all my pills like a baby and drink them down with milk or the yogurt.  But, I'm happy the surgery will last a lifetime, unlike so many other "diets" out there.  This is NOT a diet, but a new lifestyle.  And now, I'm loving it!!  I can even walk the dog down the full length of the street and he loves it.  I wish I could get Jack to do that!!!

I'm so sorry I haven't been able to keep the blog going as much as I wanted to.  There were days I literally could not get out bed, I felt so puky and aching!!  Not an environment good to think of blog writing.  But, I'M BACK!!!  After the six month went, I stared to feel better.  I guess my "new" stomach was getting used to handle food again and I've been taking it really slow.  My hubby & I went out for breakfast the other day and I had eggs.  Oh, man, those made me sick!!!  And I can't have bread until I've reached my goal rate.  She said I could actually regain the weight and I surely don't need that!!!

Santa Clause has already left me a gift.  It's the new Kindle Fire with color.  I cannot tell you how much I love it.  I can surf the web, listen to music and read books and magazines.  It's a godsend....I can check my email more frequently and keep up with the blog now.  Maybe Santa will come back and give me a gift card for the Amazon Store.  I can't seem to get all my Janet Evanovich's onto one device....and I tried everything!!  I've got 5 Evanovich's on the Kindle Fire and the rest on my Kindle 3.  Bummer!!  So I need to buy them again at the Kindle store, very slowly as we don't have much money to through around.  But as soon as I get all the Evanovich's on the Kindle Fire, I'm putting my old one up for sale.  It still works fantastic!!


Alrighty, I've gotta stop here.  It was really nice to post another blog.  I missed it and seeing yours, too.  Now that will change!!  Hope you all have a great week!!

Hugs,

Howdy, everyone!!!
I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for sticking by me through this lowest time in my life.  I don't know if it's a side effect of the bariatric surgery, my fibro going out of proportion or just the plain "seasonal blues", but I've had it in epic proportions.  Thank you, especially to my family, for being there for me.

A month back, I had a spell where I couldn't remember anything and was so tired I could barely keep my head up.  My body ached so badly I could scream and I was certainly ready for the good Lord above to escort me to the other side of the sky.  I just didn't have any zest for life anymore.  Food, books, my Kindle, you name it.  I just laid in bad with severe pain that nothing would touch.  To make a long story short, I was having a reaction to SAVELLA, the drug I took over a year now for fibromyalgia. I went to my rheumatologist and he immediately switched it to Cymbalta.  Of course, I lived off samples to start with, but my insurance finally approved of it.  So I've been taking that for nine weeks now and feel so much better.  It raises my BP a little (okay, a LOT) but taking my blood pressure meds keeps it in control.  Cymbalta is my dream drug so far.  I feel so much better and can help around the house now.  The beginning of the year, I am going out and pounding the pavement for a job.  Please pray that someone will hire an out of practice nurse who took a three year hiatus.  I pray I won't have too hard a time.

A week ago, I had a little heartbreak.  My husband and I decided to adopt a kitty named "Batman" from the humane society.  He was sooo adorable, almost looked like Jackie, even.  But we get Batman home and he and Jack do not get along.  Further more, he kept jumping the fence separating our sleeping/living area and kept wandering about the house.  The dogs got upset by it, too.  I knew in my heart what we had to do, but that didn't make it even easier.  So the next day, my husband drove Batman back to the Humane Society.   God, I felt like someone kicked me in the heart and I cried much of the day.  So if you LOVE cats, please go down to the Phoenix Humane society and adopt "Batman."  He is such a sweet, loving kitty who desperately needs a nice home.  I wish I could save them all.  So now, Jack remains KING of his domain.  What a cat!!!

Too much time has passed since Tora's demise that Jack is used to being the only kitty and he isn't giving it up!!!

My sister-in-law Barbara has kept us quite busy baby sitting her foster doggies named "Bridget" and "Bruno."  They are soooo cute and go straight to your heart.  The first pic is of Bridget.  She came from a puppy mill that the shelter bought her from.  Way to go, "Sun Valley Animal Shelter'!!!!

The next photo is of "Bruno."  This lil' guy was a stray that someone found and brought him to the shelter.  He is a POWERHOUSE!  PLAY, PLAY, PLAY!!  He yips and barks and is interested in what everyone is doing.  We had him in a fenced in area in our living room where he could play and keep on eye on things.  Jingles and Tuffy would swirl around the fence over and over and drive poor Bruno to the breaking point and he would just bark and bark!  Bruno has truly stolen my heart....which says a alot as I'm more a cat person.  Here is Bruno:

Isn't he the cutest?  I've taken several videos of him.  Here is one:

My weight loss is coming along pretty good.  I've lost another 15 pounds in one month.  When I weighed at the doctor this past week, it said 244 LBS.  So I'm getting there.  I can now see why they make you go to a shrink before the surgery to make sure you can handle all the changes afterword.  And believe you me, there are so many changes I can't keep track of them!!!  At least my appetite is coming back a little.  And When I go to restaurants, I order food that I know I will be splitting up and taking the rest home in a container.  Two meals for the price of one!!  How do you like that?  I can definitely tell a difference in my stomach that something is different down there.  The food almost feels foreign in my stomach!!   At least I got over the nausea and heaving that cursed me the first 5 months of my recovery.  If you would have asked me then if I'd gotten the surgery, I'd say, "No way!  Are you nuts?"  But now, as I climb into smaller clothes, and look in the mirror, it's all worth it.  And I've got the perfect walking partner....Tuffy!  He LOVES to walk and we just go trotting down the street most days of the week.  So, NOW, I am definitely glad I got the surgery.  Those first six months after are peer HELL, but I think things are starting to change for me.  God, I hope so.
Here's a picture of me at the beginning of the month:

At least I don't cringe anymore when I look at myself.  That says ALOT!!!
Well, hate to cut this short, but my neuropathy is acting up and the top of my foot is burning.

God bless you all for a very blessed Thanksgiving.
May it be everything you wish for and much more.
Hugs,

You All Win!

Howdy, dear friends!!!
Just a quickie right now to let you know I will NOT be deleting my blog.  Looking back over the pages and realizing how many truly wonderful friends and family I have that are so very supportive, how can I delete my blog in good confidence?  Impossible!!!  I have a camera full of pictures I will be working on soon, along with a nice blog about what I've been up to these past few months.  Look for that in the next week.
Love ya guys and gals!
Thank you for everything!
Hugs,

Shall I Go?

Howdy!
I know it's been forever since I last posted.  I've been going through a lot these days and I just haven't been up to using the computer.  It's so hard for me, with how my back is, to use the desk computer.  I'd absolutely LOVE a tablet computer for Christmas....so Santa, if you are out there, that is my request!  It would be so much easier for me to be on the bed and able to compute, than spending hours of back-breaking time at the computer in the computer chair.  But, I'm happy to have a computer.  I remember the days after my laptop died and we had NO computer.  That was rough.


Anyway, I can't stay long as my hubby has a doctor's appointment in an hour.  He sees the pain specialist today. 


I have been seriously considering to delete my blog.  It just is getting too difficult to maintain.  I would have hoped that with losing weight, it would have improved my back and neuropathy pains, but it hasn't.  I think it's almost worse.  But don't worry, I'm not going to gain weight to make it better!!!  I'm still on a zillion meds and my rheumatologist switched me to Cymbalta when the Savella was causing too many weird side effects.  The Cymbalta has been great for the fibro, but it's causing my blood pressure to shoot sky high!!  Ah, good ole' side effects!!


So, to my readers of my blog, if you want me to continue the blog, please let me know via the comments section.  I'd love your opinion!!  If you like reading my blabber, I'll continue!!  :0)


Hugs,

Dear Mom

Dear Mom,

I cannot believe it's been over three years since you have left us.  It seems like just yesterday.  I've got so much to tell you, I just don't know where to begin.  I remember this picture fondly, of you in your wedding gown just before marrying Dad in March of 1969.  I wasn't even born yet, but one doesn't have to be to look into your wonderous eyes and not feel the elation you were going through.  You and dad sure didn't have it easy, but you never gave up.  For that, you will always be my hero.  Below is a pic of you and dad at the alter.  If you look close, you can see the red splotches on my dad's face from nerves.  He was sooo cute!!

Too bad the pic was in black in white and you can't really see the splotches.  You would be happy for him, I think, Mom.  He now has a new woman in his life, named Gina.  I think you would approve.  She has all the nice qualities that you possessed...kindness, tenderness & generosity.  She treats Dad well and he treats her well.  We will never forget you, Mom, but at least Dad isn't so lonely anymore.

Grandma is doing well, but we both miss dreadfully our California beach trips.  We must have went a million times, but each time it was different.  Between feeding the hungry birds their stale bread we collected for weeks before, to falling all over the whale boat....it just can't be beat.  A fond memory for me was Grandma slipping on the escalator at Ralphs in San Diego.  She for the life of her could not get up, so Mom bowed her head and said, "Let us pray, God."  We got to laughing so hard what when the escalator had hit the top, we could barely get through the store.  I'll cherish forever all the stories of a time well before MY time.  I love hearing about our family and will carry those stores wherever I go.

Frankie is doing well, had another operation since you've been gone.  It was a big one, and he took a long time to recover afterward, but he is on his road to recovery.  I just worry about him so, picking his skin to oblivion.  It's a nervous tick we are trying to get to the bottom of, so if anyone knows how to stop it, please contact me ASAP!!

Frankie's family is doing well.  I can never pay them back (or Grandma, either!) for all they've done for us since your death, Mom.  I can seriously say that if it weren't for them, we'd probably be gone, too.  So thank you, Schranz's from the bottom of my heart for taking me in like one of their own.

Mom, I've had a hard time since you've been gone.  For a long time, I was mad at God for not helping you.  It's taken me months to figure out that He HAS helped you - by taking you out of your misery.  That still doesn't stop my heart from going over the last week of your life.  I will never get over thinking I missed something I shouldn't have.  Or did I work you too hard with the travel nursing? It was hard work packing and unpacking for three months at a time and then moving on.  Maybe I wore you out.  I hope not.  I no longer am mad at God or think I made your death happen....but I still carry around hurt and missing you in my heart.  I think I always will.

Mom, you would be so proud of me, losing 100 lbs since my bariatric surgery in April, 2011.  I still have a ways to go and it was a long, hard road what with complications of diverticulitis and nausea and vomiting at every turn, but I think this six month mark is doing me good.  My stomach is getting stronger with spices.  I just have to be really careful.  And I think about you, how you took life's challenges head on and didn't stop until you completed the task.  If I could be HALF the woman you are, I will be happy.

I see in the picture of my mind, you at work at Medic One Ambulance as a 911 dispatcher.  You didn't let anything get in your way.  You went to work NOT on your two feet, but being pushed in on an office chair when the arthritis was so bad you couldn't walk.  That takes dedication!!
I am in the process of hunting for work soon, Mom.  I think I'm ready to go back to nursing, which is what you always wanted me to do.  You never let me give up in myself, even after I long gave up myself.  You were an amazing mom, one that will be in my heart forever.

I love you, Mom and I always well, no matter how much time I have left on this Earth.  I want to spend each day on the Lord's path and let Him guide me to the future he has laid out for me.  I promise to do my best and follow in your footsteps.  They didn't lead down an easy road, but whoever said life was easy?

May your star shine bright forever, Mom and may you fly on wings of Angels.  You sure worked for it and you deserve it.

Jack is doing well, too.  He misses you, though, I can just tell.  I'm now his "surrogate" mommy.  I feed him, give him water and play with him.  I remember you trying to teach him "no biting" when was a year old.  And you would sing to him the "Daisy Song" that he just loves.  He perches his ears when I sing and NOT in a good way.  How rude!!  Silly kitty!!!  But he gets in lots of purr time.  :0)

We are now heading for the third Christmas without you, Mom.  Or maybe not.  I'll set a place for you in my heart on your favorite holiday, Christmas.  I never thought I'd get this far without you around, but now I know that you are forever inside my heart.  And death doesn't reach there.

Forever love and I miss you terribly,
Your one and only daughter,

Happy Fall!

Ah, Fall.  I remember it very well.  I grew up in a small community on Lake Michigan called St. Joseph.  I honestly loved every season on Lake Michigan, but my very favorite was rustic Fall, with its billowing trees of yellow-orange leaves, the air tinged with smoke from burning piles of leaves on fall lawns and going on hay rides (even though I broke my glasses at one when I was a teenager) at Love Creek, which was a charming park of walking trails for as long as the eye could see.  Oh, how I miss those days of Fall of my youth.  Arizona is a charming state with its majestic mountains, but Fall just doesn't get here like it did in Michigan.

Sorry I haven't been blogging too much.  I actually haven't been on the computer too much.  Just haven't been in the mood.  I've been pulling out old books in the ole' Kindle and reading to my heart's content.  When I have been on the computer, it is just to check my e-mail or to look at the online bariatric support group.  I joined one awhile ago after going through my period of "bariatric blues."  Ever since the surgery, I just haven't been interested in food.  Nothing tastes good, nothing even sounds good.  I have so many rules, it's not funny.  I'm supposed to eat this, I can't eat that, do this, do that.... on and on.  I'm supposed to eat so much protein, it comes out the top of my head!!  Figuratively, of course....anyway, I don't want to even think about it.  So I read instead!

My mom, in front of Lake Michigan, in the fall

   My mom loved to read.  In fact, I am reading some of her favorite books.  She loved Janet Evanovich and the adventures of "Stephanie Plum."  I used to balk at that and didn't read them when she wanted me to.  Now, I'm embarrassed to say that her books are dynomite!!  I've loved every one and am looking forward to her latest, number 18, that is coming out in October.  What a great fall read!!  How I wish Mom were here so I could discuss with her some of the funniest escapades that Miss Plum would engage on....

The beginning of Old Towne St. Joseph
I hope you all have a great Fall season.
May all your leaves turn a beautiful rustic shade of red, orange, brown and gold.  Enjoy every leaf...especially for those in areas where Fall is not greatly known...like Southern AZ!!!!

God Bless,

Thanx, Gina, for my new fall siggy!!  :)

                        

Save A Cat on Facebook

Save A Cat on Facebook:

'via Blog this'

Howdy, everyone!!! Here is a special post I'm doing "on-site" of "Save A Cat" on Facebook! I'm virtually fostering a lil' lady kitty named Iris who lives in a shelter in Glendale, AZ. Please help out at Save A Cat and earn points that will add up to cups of REAL food to save shelter cats! Isn't that a fantastic idea? I've even added my resident kitty, Jack to my profile. So you can visit him there, too! Please check it out!!!

Hugs,

Missy

Good Golly!

Howdy, everyone!  I am just SO embarrassed to show myself around in here.  I re-read the post I did the other day, (when I thought it was Wednesday but it was Tuesday) and just about died!  First of all, there were so many typos.  I'm such a perfectionist.  Secondly, I got the year of my mom's death wrong (it was 2008, NOT 2003) and thirdly, I almost screwed up my whole blog by redecorating it and deleting things I still needed!!!  My comments are a mess.  They don't show up on the blog, but I saw them in the settings for Blogger.  I use a platform called "Disgus" for my comments and accidently deleted it, so it wasn't available to visitors to use.  They used the Blogger platform instead.  I fixed the problem and added the Disgus widget back onto the blog, but now it won't import the comments from Blogger! And just when things can't get anymore screwy, I deleted my networked blog widget and had to put THAT back on!!!  Do I have a brain?  I think NOT!!!!  I need a vacation to a tiny remote island where I can sit in a beach chair, under a palm tree with a drink with a tiny umbrella in it.  Do you think that would work?  Knowing my luck, the WORST hurricane known to man would come!!

Thank you so much for commenting on my post about my mom.  One visitor had asked me how I do it, survive without my mom, and the answer is: one day at a time.  And when it gets really hard, one MINUTE at a time.  I can't believe it's been over three years since I last heard her voice, her laugh and felt her hugging me.  It tears me up inside.  It's like a giant wave that overwhelms me and then goes back to sea and gives me a  little peace.  Losing her was the hardest thing I have faced in my life to date.  And I do agree with Heather (a blog buddy of mine who recently lost her mom, too) that they are up in Heaven shaking their heads at us.  If my mom could have read that post I butchered so badly, she would have been on my case for sure!  Her favorite subject was English and she took great joy in pointing out my typos!  :0)

I went to the rheumatologist recently and he lowered my dose of Savella to 25mg twice a day and added 600mg of Ibuprofen three times a day.  My fibro has been so-so.  I still get those bad pains in the legs from the neuropathy and the medications do little to stop it.  My primary care doc is in the process of weaning me off the morphine.  I was on 200mg a day, now it is 160mg a day.  My back is the usual horrible.  But I want to return to work soon and don't want all those medications hanging over my head.  It just wouldn't look good, would it?  Perhaps I'm nuts to think that way!!!

I hope everyone has a great day and thank you for reading my posts.. no matter how many typos I do!!

Hugs,

OOOPS!!!

I know, I know.  I screwed up.  Or we would just say that my Wednesday is YOUR Tuesday!!  I don't know what came over me.  I've been so scatter brained these days.  Let me tell you, my mom, if she hadn't already died, she would have KILLED me for posting that picture.  I couldn't resist.  She was sitting the motel chair after dislocating her hip and had to have surgery on it.  Well, to make a long story short, she couldn't get out of the chair.  We huffed and puffed and still her bottom wouldn't leave the chair.   I had ONLY one option and that was to call the fire station to come and help us heft up her out of the chair.  Could I help it if they were FINE looking?  My mom was so embarrassed that she couldn't wait for them to leave.

That whole trip was a disaster from start to finish!  For one thing, I was very obese in the 400 pound rang and could hardly breathe. Then mom goes and she is so weak that needed helped held to the bathroom.  I remember crying like a baby in the ER.  Here I was, alone, 1000 miles away and all the decisions had to be made by ME!!  My dad and husband where in Tucson, getting  really to come to San  Antonio to live.  Don 't give me wrong, it's a pretty city with lots to do, but we didn't feel like seeing anything that day.  I noticed my mom getting weaker after the  operation to reset her hip.  I had clinicals for 8 hours a day, so I'd take my lunch break back to the motel and help her to the bathroom and get her something to eat.

Then, she got STUCK in the chair and couldn't get out.  I tried all I could think of and even called my dad, but he said if she was really stuck, and couldn't move, then I should call for help.  The fire truck pulled up and I thought Mom would die on the spot when they were coming in and heaving her out of the chair.  But, boy, did she feel better!!  And then it happened again!  The fire department (same crew) came and rescued her a second time.  She never sat in that chair again.

Over the next week, she got weaker.  I noticed that with her other hip and knee replacements, she got STRONGER, not weaker.  The morning I called 911 to take her, she was talking gibberish and to even to her dear father.  The paramedics weren' t very nice, though, kept saying, "what can we do about it?"  Plenty, jerk wad!
They finally loaded in into the amubulance and I followed behind like Parnelli Jones.  I don't know San Antonio very well, afer being just almost 2 wees there.  I DO love the "turn out lanes" for idiots like me who don't know what they are doing!!
Luckily the hospital was a short distance away from the motel and would be were I would be working.

In the ER, they did the best they could.  Her white cell count was basically non-existent and she had horrible pain in her legs.  I couldn't do anything but sit and watch my mother suffer.  She told me to go home and rest and come back in the morning.  I obeyed my mother, but I wish I hadn't.  That was the last time I saw my mother as my mother.  When I returned the next morning, she wasn't doing well.  Trouble breathing, her heart kept giving out and they were starting CPR.  I remember trying to find a freaking parking spot and being scared out of my mind.  Here my mother was dying in a building that I couldn't find a parking space for!  I finally did find one and was greeted at the door with a wheel chair for me.  At 400 pounds, I had a little difficulty breathing and walking at the same time.

They took me outside her room and told me the grim situation.  Her kidneys have shut down (causing hallucinations) and lack of urine, her heart had to be restarted 3 times already and they couldn't keep her pressure up, despite three IV blood pressure medications.  It was grim indeed.  And the came the hardest question a person could ever be asked:  "If her heart stops again, do you want us to restart it?"  Luckily my mom and aunt from College Station just got there and grandma was telling me, "honey, even if they DO bring her back, she won't be the same.  You'd have to put her a nursing home and that is even harder than death.  My grandma is a tough ole' gal.  She's gone though death all her life, with her father dying with a brain tumor in his 40's, her mother in her 80's and then her husband to Alzheimers and a stroke in July, 1993, at age 72..  I thought every carefully.  What would she want?  My heart instantly new what to do.  "No, she would not want that, to be hooked up to tubes.  Just let her go."  I thought my crying would never stop, especially when we said goodbye to her.  I kissed her cool cheek and never looked back.  I knew if I did, I would never leave.

My mom went to be with our Lord Jesus on July 8, 2008, 1 day after her 60th birthday.  It just isn't fair!!!  I was mad at God for a long time for taking her, then I started feeling a peace over me that she was no longer suffering with arthritis and Lupus.  She was finally free and could fly the skies to her heavenly home.  We should all be so lucky!  There are many ways to die, and hers was in a peaceful manner.  She just let go of her spirit and she woas gone in the human sense.  In the psychological sense, she will NEVER be gone from my heart.

Grandma helped me in so many ways those first few days of signing papers, getting a morturary to cremate her and she would nag at me to eat.  I believe I could have lived off the land for 20 years, but she insisted.  Then I started the long journey to Tucson.  I had NO clue what to do next.  We put our things in a rented storage facitity in San Antonio and haven't had the money to get it back yet.  In that stuff are very precious items to me:  my mom's Precious Moments figures, her purses, her books, her glasses.  And all our furniture.  We are going to save up and get it all back and move into an apartment of our own.  I will be looking for work, soon, I hope.

I heard from Gina yesterday, and things didn't go well on the way back to Oklahoma. I'll leave the details out, it's Gina's story to tell, anyway.  But dear ole' dad is in Michigan.  I think he is just scared about being with someone that isn't my mother.  I'm no Freud, but every time he gets close to someone, he blows it.
Please pray for me and for Gina during this rough time.  I hope they can work it out.  I'll end this post with a picture I took when I was much thinner with my mom and grandma at her trailer in Michigan:

                                            3 Generations of Craziness!!
God bless us all.  And forgive me for my Wednesday post on Tuesday.  Now I won't have to worry about tomorrow!!  :0)

Semi-Wordless Wednesday

This is the last photo I ever took of my mom.  We were in San Antonio as I was going to a new nursing job and a few days after this picture was taken, she died of acute kidney failure.  I love and miss her more than any word could ever say.

Good bye, Mom.  I will always remember you.

Sharp Dressed Cat

Howdy, everyone!  Hope you all are having a pleasant end of summer.  It has rained here yesterday, but as usual, it doesn't stay for too long.  But it was glorious when it lasted!!!

I had a doc appointment yesterday and I didn't lose any more weight.  I've hit a plateau, I think.  My hubby and I will be hitting the gym!  I did take a recent picture of myself, though.  Here it is:

Not too shabby.  Even if I don't lose another pound, I'm proud of how far I've come.  It's been a rough road, what with the nausea, heaving, diarrhea, diverticulitis, the whole bit. And we can't forget that dreaded protein drink I have to have everyday!!  But it's worth it.  I can now fit into 3x clothes and don't have to go to a tent shop for a shirt anymore!  LOL!

My sister-in-law was so sweet and she made Jack a new "coat" and sent it to me.  At first, all he would do would lay down and not pose for me.  Then he got used to wearing it and was his usual self.  I took some cute pics of him in his new attire.  :0)

Isn't he a cutie?  And boy, does he know it!!!  If you want your pet to have this, visit my sister-in-law's site called "Rockindogs" at www.rockindogs.com  You won't regret it.  She has many designs and colors and is always full of fresh artistic designs.  She's the best!!!  Thank you again, Patty!  And Jackie thanks you, too.

Nothing much else going on here.  I hope you all have a great week and be safe!  I pray for my dad and Gina who are on the road going back to Oklahoma.  I hope they have a safe and sound trip.

Big hugs to all,

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Howdy, everyone!!
Sorry I haven't been so good with updating the blog.  It's been such a long, hot summer!  Not only that, but ever since the surgery, I haven't gotten my stomach back!  I think it's working TOO well.  Take today, for instance.  I just got back from the Ford dealer, as my in-laws invited my hubby and me for burgers & hot dogs at their new dealer.   They just bought a kick-butt Ford Escape.  Anyway, I had half a burger and it felt like I ate the whole grill!  I had a few sips of Mt. Dew (nothing much because of the carbonation & gas!) and that about did me in.  It's been a few hours and it feels like I just ate.  I can't even go out to eat anymore!!!  I can't complain, though.  My last weight, after my car wreck, was 257lbs.  I will be getting weighed again this coming week.  I'll have to get a picture up here.  It's really coming off!!

My diet these days is yogurt and skim milk and some chicken, when I can tolerate it.  I kid you not, that is what I've been eating these days.  That bout of diverticulitis has left its mark.  Enough about that!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!!  Today he is a young....whatever!  :0)  He is recovering well from his broken collar bone.  I don't know if I told you, he had a nasty fall and that is what happened.  Poor guy!  He sure knows how to live it up in Oklahoma!  From what I hear, that is going to be his NEW home pretty soon.  I'm very happy he has found his soul mate in Gina.  I'm happy to include her in the family now!!

That is pretty much all that's happened here.  Still hot, but we did get a little spitting of water from the sky this morning.  I pray for those that live on the East Coast and have suffered from Hurricane Irene's wrath.  Hopefully all those roads and power have been restored.

Here is a picture from the past: My dad and I when I was about 25 yrs old and had first moved to Yuma, AZ.  Don't we look young and foolish?  Happy birthday, again, Dad and a good Labor Day weekend to all!!!

Just for the heck of it, here's some more from the past:

                                       My mom and dad.  Nice hat, Dad!

               My mom and I after buying my first new car, a 1995 Dodge Neon.

My dad..how I miss seeing that smile and that hat bobbing down the hall!!  :0)

Stay tuned...there's more from where that came from!!

Dad Update

Howdy, everyone!
Thank you so very much for your prayers for my dad.  He is now back on his seizure medications and is at Gina's house for the time being.  He fell on her porch and had to go back to the hospital for x-rays on his shoulder!  Poor guy!  I'd say, what can happen next, but we ALL know to never say that!!

As for me, my fibro is acting up a bit.  Gee, wonder why?  I ache all over and sleep in little bits and pieces and have been having very strange dreams.  The Savella I take for the fibromyalgia can sometimes cause strange dreams, though.  My hubby is doing better after his fall over our kitty gate, but his ribs are so sore that he is using those lidocaine patches that help numb the area.  Hey, Dad, you should ask for a lidocaine patch or some lido cream for your shoulder.  It really does work!!

Jackie is his usual self, in "his" cabinet with my towels and vitamins.  Dont' worry, everything is sealed tightly to keep a furry kitty face out of things!!  Here's his picture:

He just cracks me up.  I think he is the most special kitty to date that I've had the honor to own.  He's so very spoiled on kitty treats, though, and loves to snuggle.  Very affectionate for a cat!!  Don't tell him this, but next month is his grooming session.  How he loves those!!!

That's it for now.  Just trying to survive the 115 degree heat.  And we have to go to the grocery store in that!!  Thank God for air conditioning.....

Hugs to all,

Please Pray For My Dad

Howdy, everyone!

My hubby and I just got home from driving our new car to Prescott to spend a little time there.  The drive there was great.  The drive back not so great....we had to stop four times so I could go to the bathroom for diarrhea.  And I mean the EXPLOSIVE kind!!  I know when you eat too much sugar at one time, it will cause "dumping syndrome" and I did treat myself to some cookies.  Bad Missy!  Guess this is my punishment.  I will take it and never do it again, promise!!

When we got back home, I received a phone call from my dad's girlfriend, Gina.  She said she and Dad were in Oklahoma City at the Memorial and he had a grand mal seizure (the most serious kind) and had to be rushed to the hospital.  Now, I have seen my dad have seizures since I was in nursing school in 1991.  The cause has never been determined, but he is supposed to be on a lifetime regime of medication.  I don't know what his doctors are up to now, but I know they took him OFF the medication awhile ago and started something else.  I don't like that at all.  If one medication worked, why fix something that isn't broken?  Yesh!  Gina is going to find out what is going on.  But I could use everyone's prayers.  My dad's seizures sometimes don't stop and that is very dangerous if he were left alone.  His heart could stop.  I thank God he is not alone. And I thank God Gina is there to help.  I just feel helpless that I can't do ANYTHING but pray.  I can't even be with him in this time.  Luckily they do call me once a week.  But I feel like I did when I lost my mom so suddenly....and I was WITH her.  But the feeling still the same.  I just couldn't do anything to help her and she died anyway.  I want my dad around for a long time!  He can't leave me an orphan!  Who would adopt me?  LOL...a little humor helps at a time like this!

So please pray that everything will be OK and my dad won't be in the hospital long and he will be back on his usual regime that worked so well.  He hadn't had a seizure before this one in a long time.  It's such a shame that some of his visit to Gina's has to be spend at the VA Hospital.  You practically have to move in there the lines are so slow.....

Hope everyone is having a good day.
Big hugs,

Ask And Ye Shall Receive

Howdy, all!

Guess what?  I was cleaning up in the bedroom and found the little quilted garbage bag that I use to collect litter in the car.  It was from the old car and survived the crash, too.  I opened it up and image my surprise but to find MY GLASSES!!!  Completely intact.  A little dirty, but nothing a little soap and water won't cure.  So THANK YOU JESUS for answering my prayer!  And thank you all for praying for me, too.  I also found $20 bucks and three pens in there.  I have it all cleaned out and set up to go out to the car.  My hubby thinks I should wait to drive for awhile, I think he is nervous about me doing it.  So I will wait for a few more weeks.  Then I should "get back on the saddle" and get moving, as they say!!

I have a little prayer request.  Please pray for my husband.  He fell over our kitty gate a few weeks ago and inured his ribs and NOTHING is helping.  You know men when they hurt.....it's the end of the world!!  He has been a major crab this week....but don't tell him I say so!  Hehehe.....

Before I go, I just want to introduce you to a brand new web site called "Rockindogs."  You can find it at www.rockindogs.com and it has all kinds of pet apparel and leashes.  They are all hand made with love by my other wonderful sister-in-law, Patty.  So if you love your pets and want to dress them up, head on over and take a look.  Tell her Missy sent ya......

That is pretty much it for now.  Hope you all have a great weekend.
Hugs,

Down Day Today

Hi, friends!

I am just in such a funk over how my life has been going recently.  I AM very grateful to be alive after my car accident and to have such a beautiful new (used) car in such a short time AND to not be seriously injured.  But it has done something so severe to my head that I am afraid to drive again.  I keep telling my husband that I THINK I'm ready, but if I am honest with myself, I am not really ready at all.  First of all, everything survived in the crash EXCEPT for my glasses.  How could it be possible to not get one mark on my face from the accident, yet the glasses that I was wearing on my face got totally trashed?  Go figure.  And my husband and I are paying a lot for car insurance and can't afford to get my glasses replaced for quite a while.  I am terribly near sighted, but I can still see the red stop sign!!  I just have to be wearing them while driving, it is a stipulation on my license.  So I guess I have a good excuse to not drive yet....but I do miss my glasses.  I remember having the GPS up on the windshield that morning and that survived with me with only a few minor scratches.  Again, go figure!!  I thank the lady and man from the bottom of my heart for getting me out of the car and for sitting with me while I shook so badly on the side of the road.  That day was the worst day of my life and I can't seem to get over it.

OK, on to other things.  Sorry to drone on about the accident.  It was the scariest thing I've been through, so if any of my readers have similar stories, I'd love to hear them.  :0)

I lost another 12 pounds, bringing me down to 257 pounds.  I've officially lost 100 pounds since my surgery in April.  I wish I felt better.  I feel weak as a kitten, and that accident didn't help much, either.  I had a MRI in the ER and it showed a bone spur on my back.  So I've got that to contend with now.  I try going to the gym, but it's so hard with my back.  The only exercise that feels good is my sister's pool.  Thanks, Barbara, for sharing it with us!! AND HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!! We love it and it takes the weight off my joints.  Maybe we can start coming over twice a week after dinner?  That way the sun isn't so bright as Frankie and I can't go out too long in the sun because of the medications we are taking.  You are the best sister I've ever had in my life....and that's coming from being an only child!  :0)

I'm also having a lot of problems with my diet, too.  I get bloated fast and the protein shakes I MUST drink give me diarrhea for most of the day.  What a way to lose weight!!  But a least it's coming off!!!

That pretty much is it for now.  Sorry about the tone of this post.  Everyone gets the blues sometimes.  I just want to start looking for work and being able to find a good job that I like and can keep.  Please pray for me for that.  I would really appreciate it.  I'd love to get out alone with my hubby and give my wonderful in-laws a much needed rest of having their home back!!  I can never thank them enough for their generosity.

Hope you all are having a good one.  I'll post again soon.
God bless,

WE HAVE A NEW CAR!!

I can't believe I forgot to tell you the great news....we got the check from the insurance adjuster and it was for a lot of money!!  We could get another Camry, since I was so impressed with how it held me together after the accident.  Our new Camry is white and gold and a 2002 XLE.  We got it from a mechanic who completely rebuilt it with a new engine and air compressor,  among other things.  It rides like a dream, the air conditioning is ICE COLD, it's more roomy inside and we love it.  I'll include a picture my next post.  I haven't driven yet since my accident.  I'm still very scared...and my glasses were a casuality in the accident and were broken.  So I'll be taking things very slowly.  But thank you all for your thoughts and prayers for me and my hubby.  We are both doing better.

Love you all,

I'm Back And Still Kicking!

Howdy, friends and family!

I'm so sorry about taking so long to blog.  I've had so much happen to me and needed some time to myself to sort out what happened.  As you know from my last post, I was involved in a roll-over call accident that completely totaled our car and I had to go to the hospital in an ambulance.  My first time ever!  I had never even been stopped by the cops before since getting my license at 16.

That accident scared me so bad, I've been having nightmares about it.  I believe strongly that I fell asleep at the wheel while going to my early morning doctor appointment.  My mother-in-law Carol kept having to wake me up and she thought I shouldn't go, but strong willed and stubborn me just didn't listen.  I was up until 2:30 am the previous night with my husband in the ER with a bad case of pneumonia.  He looked so bad and couldn't breathe, the doctor thought he might have collapsed a lung.  They had him on a face mask and still his oxygen levels were very low.  I was scared witless!!  I finally had to leave him at 2:30am and got home and in bed by 3am.  I remember rushing out the door, getting into the car and then BOOM....all of sudden I'm laying on my left side, the air bag popped out, and I was hanging upside down by the seat belt.  I will NEVER forget waking up like that.  I could have killed not only myself, but somebody else!  I remember undoing the seat belt and falling down to the roof of the car (as it had flipped over.)  I remember panicking because I couldn't get the door open and then I heard a bystander say something about "gas."  I was so afraid my car would start on fire on top of everything else!!  The ambulance came and put me in full C--Spine precautions and on a back board.  I couldn't even move my neck.  My ribs hurt.  I was scared I had hurt someone else.  They reassured me that all I bumped into was a brick wall and nothing but me, the car and the wall had sustained damage.  I spent a very long day at the ER getting MRI and CT scans to make sure everything was OK.  All it showed was a bone spur on my back.  Great...one more thing wrong with my back!  But I was very lucky that nothing else was wrong.  Thank God!!!  And I do thank God each and every day!!  He watched over me and saved my life.  I am so glad that I was wearing my seat belt, too.  I didn't always when I was growing up, but now I always do.  So my ultimate message is this:  PLEASE ALWAYS BUCKLE UP.....WHETHER YOU ARE THE DRIVER OR PASSENGER.  They DO save lives.

I just finished my mandatory traffic school so my fine should be waived. The lady's wall I creamed has long since been repaired.  It took a month to heal my ribs and bruises. I'm sure my insurance will go up.  I feel so stupid doing what I did.  Another lesson learned.....BEING EXHAUSTED IS ALMOST LIKE BEING DRUNK.  DON'T DRIVE!!

OK, lecture over.  :0)  I lost another 12 pounds!!!  Yeah!  I'm now 257 (with my shoes on. We all know that shoes add at least 5 pounds! Hehehe.....)  I have lost 100 pounds since having my surgery in April.  Here is a most recent picture of me in my new nightie....

Pretty soon I am going to start applying for work as a nurse again.  That will feel so good to get back to normal again.  I haven't worked since my mom died.  I think it's time to face the music.  I know she would be very proud of me.  I am proud of me for the weight I have lost.  It hasn't been easy....I still have cravings for the foods I used to eat, but now I just don't have room inside my tiny stomach for them!!  I'm not having as much pain, either.  My doctor and I are going down slowly on the morphine so when I'm ready to work, I won't need it at all.  So I think with God's help, things are looking up.  My dad has found a very nice woman to love and Frankie and I are ready to be on our own soon.  So life is finally turning the right way!!  Frankie is all healed up from his bad bout of pneumonia and was only in the hospital for about 4 days. 

I hope all my blog friends are doing well.  And to my family, I hope you all are doing well and I love you all. I've changed email addresses, so please get my new one off my profile if you want to email me.  I got rid of gmail because of all the hundreds of spam I kept getting.  I'm only giving my new one out to my friends and family.

Hope you all have a great day and I'll blog again soon!!
Hugs,