Three H: Holy, Healthy, Happy

It's been a while, but I've been doing great! This Friday will put me at 23 weeks post-op. This morning I was pleased to see that I am 75.6 pounds lighter than I was on the morning of my gastric sleeve surgery. A lot has happened since I last wrote.  I changed jobs, back to that commuting job I really loved (and which paid better than the local job) but now I only have to commute 2 days out of the month. The rest of the month I can work from home! This is exactly what our family has been needing: me physically close and able to be involved with my family, but fulfilled in my work with a paycheck that someone with my skills and qualifications deserves.  Working from home has allowed me to prioritize my health, which is especially important right now with the pandemic situation. In the shape I was in before surgery, I would likely have been one of the casualties of COVID-19. Now, my body would stand a much better chance of surviving should I contract the illness. We're still ...

On Friday, May 22nd, 2020 I had gastric sleeve surgery. I call that Day 0. My husband and I woke at 3:30 AM (after going to bed at 2:00 AM because we were both anxious and kept ourselves distracted by watching a movie.  We arrived at the hospital at 5:00 AM wearing our surgical masks as instructed and both had our temps taken and used hand sanitizer as required. I was feeling a little woozy. I thought maybe it was from low blood sugar but once I was back in the pre-op area they did a finger stick which read 154... so I guess not. Perhaps wonky blood pressure or just re-breathing CO2 from wearing the mask constantly.  They took me back rather promptly at 7:30 AM and I scooted over onto the bed with the foot rest and arms in a weird crucifixion pattern. My husband had mentioned that I would not be lying flat, that I'd be at an angle, which I hadn't read before, but the foot rest seemed to indicate that I would indeed be at an angle. The anesthesiologist was rather stoic until he...

In my last post, I mentioned working three days on the week of my surgery which was scheduled for Friday. On the morning of Wednesday, March 18th, the surgeon's office called... I was afraid they were going to cancel on me. But no, they were just checking that I was still planning to come on Friday for my surgery. Yes, I sure was! The rest of the day went about the same as any work day. I had taken a shorter lunch so I was leaving a few minutes before 5:00 and as I headed to my car, the phone rang. It was the surgeon's office again. Uh oh.  PAUSE When I answered the phone I knew instantly by the tone of her voice that they were cancelling my surgery. They didn't know yet when they'd be able to do it... they imagined sometime in May, but couldn't say for sure. It was a blow. I took it pretty hard. In my mind, all the worst-case scenarios began. The pandemic would put it off indefinitely, dragging out until September or later when it would be a year since I started th...

Well, on the day my daughter would have gone back to school after being out for two weeks for her tonsillectomy and recovery, school was cancelled. Her school has scrambled to determine a way to continue instruction remotely for the duration of this pandemic situation. I had to visit 5, nay 6, stores before I found a sizable pack of toilet paper which will last my family a couple weeks. I've still been unable to find hand sanitizer so my husband and I split the contents of one 75% bottle between us, using that little bottle to refill an empty one we had laying around. My dad, in his 80's, has stayed home more than usual, but not as much as would make me feel secure.  My husband is home from work and intends to stay home as long as this lasts, especially since he is home with our daughter. I had planned to only work three days this week anyway because of my surgery, but honestly I feel the need to hunker down at home. We've had our first case in my county; it's t...

I haven't been keeping great records on my own, however in looking at my secure medical informtion online, it is nice to see that I've lost 10 pounds since my first meeting with my surgeon back in September. That's almost 7 months ago, so 10 pounds over 7 months isn't a lot, but I also haven't been putting forth a concerted effort, either... and that time span includes many holidays! If I work a bit more consistently, I'm sure I can do more. I would love to be under 300 on the date of my surgery... which is actually possible! Measured on 3/9/2020 Weight: 305 lb  BMI: 48.49 Measured on 12/23/2019 Weight: 310 lb, 3.2 oz BMI: 48.58 Blood Pressure: 132/85 Temperature: 98.9 Pulse: 92  Decision visit with bariatric surgeon. Measured on 11/20/2019 Weight: 313 lb, 3.2 oz BMI: 49.05 Blood Pressure: 134/86 Pulse: 98  Measured on 9/17/2019 Weight: 315 BMI: 49.34 Blood Pressure:...

I randomly decided to name this post "Take a load off, Annie," after some familiar song lyrics... and when I looked up the song, I discovered that the girl's name is actually "Fanny" which, as I learned growing up, is another word for butt. Not only that, but the name of the song is called "The Weight." This is turning out to be one giant LOL moment because it's so ironic that I'm using this combination of words on my weight loss blog! While I do need to take a load off of my fanny's weight, this is not the only strange coincidence I've dealt with lately. Monday of this week I had to go for my final round of pre-operative appointments for my gastric sleeve surgery. First, I had to stop by the surgeon's office to sign the paperwork allowing them to surgerize me. (Yeah, I totally just made up that word). Parked out front of the bariatric surgeon's office was a dadgum barbecue food truck. Granted, there are a lot of other medic...

The staff at the surgeon's office told me it would be about a 4-8 week wait until they heard from the insurance company. I've waited only about 5 and a half weeks. That's not bad.  When I saw that ECU was calling I realized it must be about whether or not I was approved for gastric sleeve and I felt a little nervous; part afraid I'd be denied, and part afraid that surgery is now out of the abstract and into the concrete. I'm approved for surgery! So now I'm excited and afraid at the same time. I was told I must pay a $600 fee, I guess to show that I truly want it done and I'm not going to back out, and then they would schedule the surgery. Typically, surgery is scheduled for about a month after the payment is made, although it can sometimes be as soon as two weeks. This is where things get trickier. On the same day I had my "decision visit" with the surgeon, my boss gave birth to her first baby! I had been cruising along, trying to gradually m...

Well, it’s officially the New Year! Welcome to 2020! I’ve already been making some small changes the last couple of months. My breakfasts are looking ok as I usually have an Atkins shake; that’s one thing that has stuck with me from doing the low carb-high protein diet. Well, except today I had some chicken mini’s from Chik-fil-a. I have those on occasion; maybe once a week. I’m still not doing great with lunches and dinners, but I am trying to make slightly better choices. Some days I’ll go to Harris Teeter and do their salad bar for lunch. I stick mostly to the greens and veggies but also add sunflower seeds and either vinegar or balsamic dressing. I usually do have a tablespoon or two of pasta salad or seafood salad, depending on what’s available. I like when they have the little seasoned balls of mozzarella. I like getting the super basic side salad at McAllister’s and I top it with Thousand Island dressing. Those are examples of good days; bad days usually happen at Taco...

Measured on 12/23/2019 Weight: 310 lb, 3.2 oz BMI: 48.58 Blood Pressure: 132/85 Temperature: 98.9 Pulse: 92  Got a haircut between some of my pre-op appointments on December 11th.  I have decided to go with the sleeve gastrectomy. Here below is an actual walkthrough of the surgery. It may not be suitable for the squeamish. The cutting/stapling gadget is fascinating. The best part is when you realize... "Wait, how are they gonna get the removed portion of the stomach out?" And it's got to bloop out through that little laproscopic button hole.

Yeah, so I obviously fell off the wagon again. But in all fairness, a lot has happened. In a nutshell: August 2016:  Lightning strike ignited the lint in our dryer exhaust, filling our house with smoke. Thankfully we were on our way home when it happened, maybe a couple miles away,  and saw the bolt that did it. We even joked, "Well THAT definitely hit something." Yeah, it was the streetlight in front of our house... which is next to the cable box... which the cable led directly to the back of the house underneath the washroom. Yeah, fun story. October 2016:  I decided I was ready to get back to working on my weight loss when I discovered I was unexpectedly pregnant! I was thrilled! And green olives were a MUST on my pizza. But yet in the back of my mind I had an ominous feeling that something was different than last time... November 2016:  I suffered a miscarriage. I think I somehow knew things weren't right, but I was still devastated. I typically h...