It's Good To Be Back

It's so great to be back online again!!!  I have had a very rough time of it these past few weeks.  I felt so miserable, I didn't even have the energy to make it to the computer room, let alone keep up with my blogs.  I think I had some kind of flu bug, since when I went to the hospital last weekend, they couldn't find anything wrong to explain my horrible nausea and dry-heaving.   I had a CT scan and everything was OK with my surgery.  They pumped me full of IV fluids and Zofran for the nausea and sent me home.  It took me another two days to keep anything down.  I couldn't even turn my head, the nausea was so bad!!  I hope I never go through that again so soon.....if ever!!  And to think I had a flu shot, too.  But those don't cover EVERY strand of flu virus.  Leave it to me to get one that it doesn't cover!!

Anyway, the nausea has slowly left me and I can now go back on my protein drinks and liquids.  I seem to be stuck on liquids.  Every time I try to eat something like chicken or something solid, it just sticks in my throat and won't go down.  I have to "chase" it down with milk or applesauce.  Since April, when I had my surgery, I've been on soups, yogurt, protein drinks, milk, Crystal Light, puddings and Jello.  When I got weighed at the hospital, I lost another 13 pounds, so I'm down to 269!!  I was happy about that!!  Before I got so sick, my hubby and I were going to the gym and to my sister-in-law's pool.  That was so much fun.  Hopefully we can start that back up.  I feel weak as a kitten after this recent ordeal!!

I sometimes regret having the bariatric surgery.  It seems like since I had it, I've had so many problems with nausea and advancing my diet.  I don't know if that is normal and it's only been three months since the surgery, so maybe I am hurrying things.  I miss taking pills the way I used to....with a glass of water.  Now I've got to take them with yogurt or applesauce.  When you take as much as I do, you can get very tired of both of those!!  But what can I do?  I also miss taking a big bite out of a hamburger!!!  But then again, those bites of the past is what got me into trouble with my weight in the first place!!  So I guess the surgery was the only way to go to save my life, since nothing else was working.  It's just hard to get used to my new way of life.

My fibromyalgia is acting up, too. I guess it felt left out!  I've had sinus headaches to beat the band.  Of course, we had a horrendous dust storm the other day and that got everyone's allergies all in an uproar!  

I hope this post finds everyone happy and healthy and trying to stay cool.  It's a balmy, lovely 110 here in Phoenix!!!  I can't wait for fall to arrive!!  I decided to keep my blog decorated like it is for the month of July, then I'll re-decorate it in August for fall.  I think it looks cute with the firecrackers on it, don't you????

Before I leave, here is a new picture I took of myself this morning.  My hubby is in it, too, as he was doing his hair and wouldn't move out of the picture...guess he wants to be in the limelight, too!  Ha!  I'm wearing 3x clothing now, which tickles me pink, since before the surgery I was a prisoner of 6x clothing.  Not bad for three months, huh?  90 pounds lost and 3 shirt sizes!!!  Pretty soon I'll get back to the gym and strive for more weight loss.  Wish me luck!!  Hope you all have a good rest of the week and weekend.  I'll be posting again soon.

Hugs,

Happy Birthday To Me!

Well, today is the day.  I'm officially 41 years old.  Oh, how the years have passed and what joy most of those years have been!!  And this will be my third birthday without my mom and my second without my dad, as he lives in Michigan and I haven't seen him in 2 years now. :(  I miss him!  Anyway, you take this only child who always had all the attention in the world on her birthday by her doting parents (and all the other days of the year!) and have your life up and change so drastically over the past three years since my mom died, well, let's say I'm still not used to my new life.   I get sooooo emotional over the summers since Mom died.  I guess because it was so sudden and I didn't get to say goodbye.  And she always made me special treats for my birthday.  Just being there made it special.  Oh, how I miss her!!!  I write this with a fine mist of tears in my eyes.....

And then, I go and make life even more drastic.  I have bariatric surgery!  Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I had it, even if I did have a few "coincidental" things happen, like the bout of diverticulitis.  I'm glad I'm over that!!!!  Thank you so much for all the well wishes and support.  I've gotten so much, there is NO way I can answer each one of you personally, so please accept my group "hug" and THANKS A MILLION FOR BEING THERE FOR ME!!!  :0)

Life is so different after the surgery.  Meals take on a whole new meaning.  It takes me about 40 minutes to get through a meal and most of the time, it feels like food is getting caught in my throat.  So I've got to make sure all my meat is sloppy moist (to get 'er down the ole' pipes!) and I still can't have bread.  I've got such cravings for stuff I can't have....like a sandwich.  Or a soda. Or my ever famous taco.  I can have starches in six months, not before.  I guess they want me to lose half of my weight before starting starches back into the mix.  So I survive on sugar free pudding, popcicles, chicken breast, scrambled eggs, Carnation Instant Breakfast and the ever popular protein shakes (I still have to have three a day because I'm not eating enough food during the day to get enough protein.)  This has been the most radical "diet" I've ever been on and to think it is permanent.  Which is good, because once this weight is gone, it's STAYING gone!!!!  I just can't wait for another year when I can have bread and eat in a restaurant!  Ah, the simple things!!!

And taking my pills.  Geez, I take so many, that by the time I'm done, I'm full on applesauce or yogurt that I have to take with to get them down.  I've crushed so many, I've got cracks in my fingers from constantly breaking in half big pills.  But all in the name of losing weight.  I'll do it!

My hubby and I are really enjoying the gym and we ride the stationary bike and I've tried the treadmill a few times.  We take it slow and easy and it's helping my fibro and my joints.  So hopefully I can start weaning off some of my meds soon.  Won't that be nice?

Well, gotta get ready to go to the state DES office to renew my health insurance.  Wish me luck.  That place is a zoo and AZ is going broke, so they are changing some rules.  Please pray I keep my insurance!!!   I'll take the Kindle with and my hubby and I will play Monopoly while we wait with half of Phoenix in line!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE BIRTHDAY WISHES ON MY BLOG AND FACEBOOK.  I've got so many friends of FB, I can't answer personally, so THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!!

Have a great day!!!
My next post I'll post some pics of new outfits I can fit into now.  :0)
Hugs,

How Time Flies

Hello, everyone!

This will be a really short post....just wanted to let you all know I'm still doing well and with the exception of heartburn these past few nights, I've suffered no other complications from my surgery.  Yay!  Hopefully we can keep that up!  I'm trying out new foods now and can tolerate solids.  I am SERIOUSLY tired of liquid diets!!!  I still need to supplement with two protein shakes a day as I don't eat that much yet.  But I'm coming along.  I CANNOT believe in two days I will be 41 years old!!!  It seems like yesterday that I graduated high school and had my senior year picture taken!!  And pretty soon my hubby and I will be celebrating our 15th year of wedded bliss in November.  God, where does time go?

Speaking of time.....gotta go to the gym and buff up!  LOL.....  and then my hubby has a doc's appointment.  It is sooooo miserable out....1112 for the high today.  Nice day for a drive on a hot highway, don't ya think?   Have a great day , all......love ya!!!

I'll post more pics soon.
Hugs,

Regrets? Maybe a few....

Howdy, fine friends & family!

Well, I'm still trying to survive the heat (it's triple digits again!) AND to keep "regular" food down in my stomach.  It is the strangest thing.  I can eat yogurt, sherbert, popcicles, and fruit but when it comes to veggies and meat, my stomach puts up an instant rebellion and up it comes again.  Before my surgery, I never had problems with veggies or meat!!  What's the deal?  And I am so depressed as my monthly measurements did NOT go well.  I actually INCREASED on my waist and bust.  And I swear, NO cheating!  I gained a pound on the scale at home.  I turned into such a scale maniac that my dear mother-in-law hid the scale from me.  Thank God!!!

I know, I know....Rome wasn't built in a day and losing weight doesn't magically disappear over night...although I wish it did!!  I guess I've hit a little plateau, so I am doing more work on the bike at the gym and I started walking the treadmill.  It's going VERY slowly.  Trying to get my stiff & cranky arthritic joints going is no easy task.  I had to go to the rheumatologist this past week for a shot of cortisone to keep my joints going!  My sister-in-law has a beautiful pool that she and her hubby are going to let me use so I can swim laps and get the pressure off my knee joints.  Those are what are hurting me so badly.  And swimming is PERFECT for arthritis and fibromyalgia.  So we'll see what all the new exercise does.  I have NO idea why I can't eat meat....maybe it's too soon for my stomach.  Too bad, as that has so much protein, which I need desperately!   So I've had to supplement with those yummy protein shakes.  And whenever I eat, I can actually feel the food go down the esophagus and into my stomach.  If my stomach is too full, the food "piles" up in my esophagus waiting for my stomach to empty enough to pull it down in.  Very weird feeling!!!!   My tastes have changed, too.  My poor mother-in-law has gotten me everything on a whim, hoping that will satisfy my system.  But foods I used to love now taste funny.  That, too, is VERY weird.

And I soooooooo miss taking a pill with water!!!!  I think that is my BIGGEST regret about the surgery is that I have to crush my pills and put it in applesauce, pudding or yogurt.  This is so it doesn't get stuck on the way to my stomach.  And a lot of my pills when crushed do NOT have a very good taste!!   Since I have to take them with food, it's not like I can carry about a thing of yogurt and an aspirin if I get a headache when I'm away from home.  I have to wait until I get home to take my pills.  So I plan very carefully ahead before we leave.....like how long we'll be gone, am I due for anything, ect.  It gets tiring.

I don't mean to complain or anything.  I'm just feeling a little down today and am using my blog to "vent."  Given the same choice, I'd still have the surgery because I am losing weight, just not too quickly in the places where I want it to.....like my tummy and thighs!  And with how I was going with food, I would have died young like my mom from being morbidly obese.  My mom had other problems as well, but her weight didn't help, either.  I guess there's pro's and cons to everything, huh?

So I've been on the computer looking at blogs and playing with my Kindle.  That Kindle is my pride and joy.  My hubby got me a beautiful burgandy case with a pull out light.  And I've got over 50 books on my wish list at the Kindle Store.   Oh, how I wish I had a money tree in the back yard.  A lot of the books are under $7, so that's not too bad.  But maybe the "Birthday Fairy" will leave me a gift card for the Kindle Store for my birthday!!!  Ha!  Wouldn't that be cool?  :0)  Ha!

That pretty much wraps it up.  I have two pics to post, the first being me in my new bathing suit that my friend Sheila got me (Thank you sooooo much, Sheila!) and the second in a 2x/3x night shirt I couldn't wear before.  So I am making strides....I'm just being hormonal!  Weight fluctuates all the time and scales differ.   So I'm just going to keep on doing what I'm doing and hope for the best.

My sexy new suit!!  :0)

My new night shirt

Hope you all have a great rest of the week.  Take it easy and keep cool!!
Big hugs,

PS....Much thanks to everyone who has left and will leave (how's THAT for positive thinking? Ha!) me very kind and encouraging messages.  I can't tell you how much they brighten my day.  Thank you all for being my friends!

No Taco For Missy!

Howdy, folks....
This will be another short post.  I'm so sorry, my legs and feet have been soooooo bad that I can't have them down on the floor for too long then that nasty neuropathy starts up.  I don't know if my surgery started that up or flared up my fibro.....it certainly is possible.  Anyway, just wanted to let you guys know my hubby and I are going to the gym now to work out.  We are starting to go three times a week and I just love the stationary bike.  It is so easy on my back and I don't get that horrible back pain and have to stop while walking forty times!

If the gym allows, I'll take some pics the next time we go, which will be tomorrow.  I know now how many times I've got to pedal to get ready to get rid of the calories of a taco, so forget the taco!!!!  I'll take something low calorie!  Ha!  But I'm following the diet regulations and the exercises.  I take my pills all mashed up in applesauce.    I see the bariatric surgeon again June 4th, so we'll see how much weight I've lost then.  Hopefully lots more!  For those that are new to my blog, I had a "gastric sleeve" (which is where they take out 85% of your stomach and staple together what is left to your intestine) on April 18th.  I just passed the month mark and boy, has it had its ups and downs.

Nausea, heaving in the beginning, eating only pureed and liquid foods, all the protein supplements and vitamins....but I don't regret it.  I know it needed to be done as I have NO self control over food and it was ruling my life and would have eventually killed me.  I'm glad the surgery is over!!!

I woke up this morning with Jackie laying on my belly.  I didn't even feel it, so must be I'm healing up good inside.  Silly kitty!!

Well, my leg is telling me its time to put it up.  Please pray my neuropathy gets better.  Please!  Thank you!

Hugs,

Thanks, Gina!  :0)