7 week update photos

At surgery I was 256 (262 according to my doctor) and today I am 227. Here are some photos of me at surgery day and today. The purple shorts are from today.

Can you see a difference? The belly is still pretty huge, but it folds now, LOL.

Disney is coming up in early May. Will I be out of the 200's by then? Hard to tell. I am back to swimming several days a week, usually four or five. I also walk, but the weather has turned really cold again, so I have cut back on that.

I am now doing static weight lifting. I did a video on this. It's a different way of lifting weights for people who have joint problems.

2 week post op VSG check up

2 week post op video with weigh in: http://youtu.be/FwMrasGnzPE

I feel so great!

Check out the post op videos. I had written a long post and it got lost,  so enjoy the videos instead.

Post op: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMXjwYp4OzpMiCVeiBos-5SgSoPfXS8Df

The day before surgery

Some thoughts on the day before my VSG surgery! Hey, it's tomorrow folks!

Cindy's Why Video

Cindy's Weight loss Bariatric Surgery announcemen…: http://youtu.be/0f9IIq54sdE

Crazy things I have seen in my pool

A Day Out for Me!

Do you know how long it's been since I have stayed away overnight without the kids? Ok, counting out hospital stays and sleep studies? It has been decades. I have a son with mid-functioning classic autism and he has a lot of separation anxiety.

I am going to Ohio for an Ugly Christmas Sweater Sleep Over at Cindy Virdin's house (www.cindyvirdin.com). Can't wait.

I got up this morning and had my swim, which was AWESOME! I had the whole pool to myself and the water was warm. I got there right at 6 am and only turned on a couple of the poolhouse lights, so the light was low and the water at the deep end was mysterious.

As I started to really work the breast stroke on my 5th lap, the waves started and the low lights just made the waves look so cool as I swam. From my perspective, under the water, I was able to see the waves dancing in the moonlight through the glass ceiling.

You should have been there.

Once I started with the butterfly on my 9th lap, the water began to lap out of the pool, huge waves splashing on the deck as I swam through the bubbles that I was creating. The pool is 25x75 feet and that means that when I am in the pool doing my butterfly, I am transmitting enough of my own physical body power to move over 105,000 gallons of water!

I bagged up a bunch of my clothes that are too big. I have a huge bag of 5X, 4X and 3X clothes that I have outgrown. I started seeing the front of my bra in the 3x shirts and it was time to downsize. I don't have many clothes in 2X, but Cindy tells me that there will be some at the swap.


Here is a video that I did this morning in my car. It was dark. :)

Ten Weeks to my Surgery!

Seventy days until my surgery date. That sounds so long, but two and a half months sounds a lot closer.

Today I scheduled my pre-op history, physical and blood testing. That will be done at the hospital, since they have a better way to transmit the information straight to my surgeon.

I talked to my sister today. She's skinny. Always has been. She said that her husband, who is a family doctor, finds that the people who regain after the sleeve are those who keep drinking high calorie liquids and who just eat ALL THE TIME.

I am finding that a lot of foods that are listed as diet foods are the worst for me. I tried eating AllWhites Egg Whites.  Major pain where my gallbladder used to be. They say there is nothing but egg white in it, but something is wrong.

I am making a little ten week video, which I will post below. I promise from here on out to keep my videos to five minutes or less!!!

Ok, probably won't ever happen. I talk too much!

Guess who passed her psychological evaluation - Part 1

psych evaluation part 2

Fat: A Shocking, depressing moment at the Museum.

I feel good! Eating better.

My dietician had told me to go back to eating like I was in the month that I had the most success. So I have done that. I printed out my logs from My Fitness Pal (username: imawaterbender). What surprised me is that the biggest changes that I made from the month that I lost vs the month that I gained were:

1. I was concentrating on really, super chewing.
2. I was not drinking with meals.
3. I was drinking a lot more water daily.
4. I was not cutting out all carbs.
5. I was eating about 1600-1800 cals a day, rather than 1400.

So, that is what I have been doing this week. As a result, I am more energetic, less lethargic and less pissed off, in general.

So I am off to get into the pool now.

CPAP Demonstration

I may have bad days.

I may want to quit.

It may be hard.

I might get scared

BUT

I am here to do this thing.

I am more than a number on a scale

and I can do all manner of things.

I might not get it done the way that everyone things I should

But I will do it in my way

In my time.

Big Girl Panties ON!

13 weeks and counting to Vertical Gastric Sleeve Surgery.

Swimming!

Playing the Odds

I recently made a video (I posted it below) about how, although I am afraid of the vertical sleeve gastrectomy surgery, I am more afraid of diverticulitis. Bettie Lou Hoo made a comment, in which she said:

Now whenever I get an extreme anger/fear/panic-inducing thought in my head, I stop and ask myself: Is this a feeling or a fact? "I'm going to die from surgery" is not a fact. The fact is that less than 1% of people die from surgery (0.06%, in fact) and of those, about 80% were high-risk. It's also a fact that I was low risk. Which made it a fact that there was more than a 99% chance I would not die of surgery. See? Like that.

In contrast, perforated diverticulitis has a mortality rate of 6% for purulent peritonitis and 35% for fecal peritonitis, according to the American Society of Colon & Rectal Surgeons. (Well, you said you wanted us to remind you - so there you go.)

You know, she's right. Dead on right. I need to stop worrying about the sleeve and get my ass in gear to stay as healthy as possible, lose as much as I can as quickly as I can, so that I can get my bowel resection and get past the danger zone of this diverticular disease.

And, as Fatkings Phil said in his recent awesomecast:

Don't let the What If's haunt you!

 I have to stop thinking of this as an elective procedure and remember the pain and the fear of the last four bouts of Diverticulitis in September, November, January and June and know that the Fucker can strike me out of the blue.


As an aside, my CPAP is now second nature. I love it. Sleeping MUCH better. I get a solid eight hours before I have to get up and I have not had a headache once since I have had it. I love it. I am also not having nightmares every night anymore. Wow. Did you know that people with untreated apnea have a threefold increase in death rates from surgery in general? Yes.

Doing Better with the CPAP, also more about Swimming and the Sleeve

Good morning!

I had a good night's sleep last night. Twice I woke up to see if my CPAP machine had turned off. I didn't feel the air pressure, but upon checking, all was good. So, apparently, I am adjusting to the air pressure.

I have put a container of vaseline on my bedside table to coat my lips before bedtime. This helps keep the air from drying them out. If my lips get dry, I tend to open my mouth more during the night. The vaseline is just the ticket. Now that I have adjusted to air flow, I plan to get a nasal only mask today with a chin strap, to try to eliminate some of the dry mouth and facial reddening from the air on my face.

My face is a little red, as you can see in the video that I made this morning. It feels a little warm to the touch this morning in the cheek area. But I think it's just from the humidifier and the mask. It does not hurt.

I am off in a little while to go for my swim. I have a lot on my mind and that half hour of silence in the pool is wonderful. I went twice this weekend and on Sunday the pool was just jammed. I didn't like that much. It's hard to swim around people and my pool does not have lane ropes. But I got in a good swim anyway.

I saw a video recently where a woman was talking about how her sleeve keeps her from eating, even though her mind really wants to eat. Although she was upset about it, at the time, it really encouraged me because I tend to eat when I am not really hungry and eat past my hunger and that is what I want the sleeve for, so that my BODY can meet up with my MIND and keep me from giving into fleeting urges brought on by the sight and smell of food.

Here is the link to that video. 

By the way, just so that you know, I cringe EVERY time I make a video. I dislike looking at myself, but I know that it is important to document this process.

Here is one of the very first videos that helped me conquer my fear of swimming.

Video Now Available!

Here is your chance to see me in person! I made a rambling video the other day and posted it on youtube. Something tells me I will regret it later.

Anyway, it shows me as I am this very minute. Here is the link:


https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgvSAugTmyRTBm_ThLQurJg