Summer of 2011 & My 54th B'day - OH WHAT A RIDE !!!

Well what a Birthday it was.. AMAZING..
I feel like a Million Bucks and danced the night away.

Thanks to my New Friends, Nannette, Christine & Laurel. These girls have taken me out & we've danced the Summer away. Something I've NEVER done before. This summer was fantastic and Probably one of the best in my life. I appreciate them bringing me out of my shell.

I'm down over 200lbs now & Feel Amazing. Don't look too bad either from what I'm told.. lol.. but have alot of skin that needs to be hidden & removed soon..
but will deal with that when the time comes. I've even been on a few dates. Feeling amazing & Doing things with my Grandkids that I NEVER expected to do like going on Rides at the boardwalk or CLimbing on Jungle gym and going down a slide.. Or going to the waterpark or even to the mOvies.. Yes its been a summer to remember for sure. Me on the beach.. IN a bathing suit.. IN PUBLIC.. OMG Never would have happened before.. but thanks to my wls I feel amazing.

Yes I've even gotten my "feelings" back and feel pretty again so I want the company of a gentleman now where as before I wouldn't dare.. Yes folks its been a summer to remember and I WILL REMEMBER it FOREVER <3

My 53rd Birthday

Well Today was my 53rd Birthday and probably my First Birthday EVER without a piece of Cake of some sort. Did I miss it? NO!!! Do I want a piece of cake? YES!!! Will I EAT Cake for my Birthday? NO!!!! .. I'm down 109lbs and THRILLED that I was able to buy a new outfit for my Birthday and am down 4 sizes then before my surgery. I felt Amazing Today... Its been a VERY Long time since I've been able to feel Good about myself on my birthday but Today was that day. I know I could have eaten sugar free deserts but NOPE.. not this girl.. she's NOT going to sabotage herself by eating something that tastes likes cake and then makes me want the real thing. I'm better off NOT having anything that tastes sweet or like cake to me. If I don't start, I won't have to worry about messing up my program by eating things I shouldn't be eating. I REALLY want a Pepsi but of course I wouldn't drink anything carbonated nor would I drink anything I shouldn't be drinking. I'm NOT drinking all the protein shakes I should be nor am I eating correctly ALL the time but I do what I can and try to eat as much protein as I can. I know we're not suppose to get our protein from foods as our bodies don't absorb the proteins but I gotta tell ya.. NONE Of my hair is falling out so I must be doing something OK.
Anyway, I had a Nice Birthday. My Beautiful Daughter & her family bought me a fruit bouquet w/ balloons. It was so thoughtful of her. Then an Old Friend from High School came and we went to breakfast (I had 1 scrambled egg and a few hash brown potato's) Then we went for a walk on the Boardwalk in Seaside Heights NJ. I even took her past Snooky's House. lol.
I wish we would have had a longer time to spend together but I enjoyed the time we did have. Then I THOUGHT My parents were going to take me to dinner at Red Lobster (I LOVE THAT PLACE) but instead we went to Atlantic City Casino. I wish we would have stayed home because NONE of us won a nickle. Oh well.. SO Tomorrow Night my parents offered to take me to dinner at Red Lobster. I can't wait. So That's how My Birthday went.
I Did get a phone call from my Grandkids and my son. It made my day.
All in All a Perfect Birthday!!! But I still would have liked to have a piece of Birthday Cake :-( but I survived..lol

100+lbs down - My 2nd GOAL

WOW, I'm down 100+lbs and still not where I need or want to be..but I'm not where I was so that's a PLUS.. I've hit one of my goals and that was to get below a certain weight and TODAY I hit that Goal.. My 2nd of many.
The First Goal was to have the WLS (Weight Loss Surgery) and I've done that and Now I've hit my 2nd Goal of losing 100+ Lbs to get to a certain weight. I have a LONG way to go yet, but I'll get there. I've been swimming at the YMCA aka "The Y" (they changed their name) each morning. Being on crutches doesn't give me the opportunity to use the treadmill or some of the other machines the gym has to offer but I DO use the pool and I do laps and jog and other aerobic type exercises while in the water. I usually stay about 45 minutes to an hour and try to keep my heart rate up for that long.
I then come home from the pool and go to sleep cuz I'm exhausted.. lol..
I'm not eating more then a few mouthfuls (tablespoon) of food each time I eat. I'm also not drinking my protein shakes the way I should but I do eat protein whenever I eat anything. I drink water mostly but I'm also drinking V8 Juice because its got texture that feels good in my body & mouth. Usually at night I drink about 6oz while taking my pills. I'm excited about being 100lbs lighter and my clothes are definately bigger on me but I know I have so much more to go and I want it gone NOW. I'm afraid to buy anything new yet because I'm afraid if I lose weight then its an outfit that won't fit anymore. I'm still wearing my 5x or 6x shirts and my 4x pants. A friend was nice enough to think of me and gave me some size 26/28 pants that I tried on and OMG they FIT.. I was shocked!!! I felt good even though they made my legs look HUGE but I didn't care, I could get them on and up without a problem and that was exciting. I hadn't worn a size 26/28 pants since I was in my 30's.. so you can imagine how Happy I was. Also I'm able to sit in normal chairs with arms now when I go out to restaurants. As well as the booths. I never could sit in a booth because my stomach was too big and I couldn't fit in the booth so I would always ask for a table and a chair with no arms but not anymore. Even though I have a long way to go yet to meet my goal, I'm able to fit into booths & chairs with arms.. that's Exciting for me. To someone else they make say that's Ridiculous. Well maybe so for YOU but for me that's an accomplishment and I'm proud to be able to do that now.
Also while driving my dad's Buick (Car) I would have to set the seat WAY Back because I couldn't fit behind the wheel unless the car seat was all the way back, Now I don't move the seat at all and I have room between me & the steering wheel, Another MAJOR Accomplishment. Again these are little things that you probably take for granted but for someone like me these are MILESTONES in my road to success.

July 23, 2010

MAN is it HOT OUT.. WOW.. I was looking for someone with a swimming pool but unfortunately they're all at work so no pool for me today. But My daughter, Sandi, (30) took me to the waterpark on Tues. Now let me explain, I haven't been to a pool, waterpark, beach, etc for over 20yrs so This was a HUGE Experience for me to even put a bathing suit on.. Surprisingly enough It Fit (maybe even a little big) but I was glad it wasn't small. SO Off to the Waterpark we went. I'm on crutches so I wasn't able to climb those stairs to go on the waterslides or anything fancy but I was able to get into the "LazyRiver" where they have tubes of all sizes that go around and around this path of water and all you do is just relax and enjoy the ride.. After 3 rotations around the path, I got bored and wanted more action SO Off to the Pool part of the park. It's VERY Small and only goes to 5ft but It was nice to be in the cool water on a hot day. I even got some sunburn which I haven't had in years. SO While we were in the Pool part, I decided I wanted to go Underwater but I didn't just want to take a dip so while my daughter stood and watched, I did a FLIP in the water.. Yup, I went all the way around and got up out of the water with my daughter laughing hysterically... I had a BLAST !!!
My daughter & I both laughed most of the day and I really did enjoy spending that time with my babygirl. Thanks Sandi <3
Anyway, She was hungry and I could of eaten so we got out of the pool and went to see what they had that I could actually eat. Hamburgers (nope too dry), Chicken fingers, (nope too fried & greasy) Ahh they had grilled cheese or tuna.. I opted for the tuna on whole wheat but of course I'm still not good with bread (hence the reason I didn't do the grilled cheese) so I ate 1/2 of the sandwich (just the tuna) and took the other 1/2 home for my lunch the next day. I wish the day never ended but of course my daughter had to get home to my Grandson and her fiance so She dropped me off at home and I fell fast asleep as I was exhausted. All in All It was a GREAT DAY and I can't wait to do it again.. SOON I HOPE..
THANK YOU SANDI ROSE.. I LOVE YOU FOR TAKING ME OUT & MAKING ME FEEL ALIVE AGAIN.. XOXOXOXOX

HAPPY 4th Everyone & HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY JAYDEN

HAPPY 4th, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to My Grandson Jayden who turned 2 Today. Sorry Grandma wasn't with you this year. It was 103 at 2pm here in NJ and OMG its HOT so I stayed inside all day. I DID go to my mom's for Sunday Dinner but only ate a few bites of the cheese from the baked ziti. I just can't eat her food anymore. Its NOT her cooking, its my stomach. It just doesn't want that type of eating anymore. I did buy me & my dad some lobsters the other day, I ate the meat in the legs but the tail part I still have and have tried a piece here and there.. HATE to throw out Lobster meat.

Well I Never did get that MRCD (mri) because the same thing happened with the heat in my stomach. The tech seems to think it could be the staples heating up. (WHO KNOWS?) but they stopped the test. Anyway No Idea where I go from here.. but I See My Gastric Bypass Dr on Friday and we'll see what he says. I AM Able to eat tiny amounts but its definitely not enough to keep me going without the use of vitamins. I still can't get the protein drinks down. OMG they're terrible tasting and the textures are just too gross to be able to swallow. Never had a problem getting anything down my throat before but now, I'm extremely picky about what I put in my mouth. It has to not only taste good but be a certain consistency for me to be able to swallow. I Sure hope that changes. I really don't regret having the Gastric Bypass Surgery, but I do regret not being able to eat my favorite foods or drink my favorite drinks. I HATE diet snapple, I hate sugar free drinks.. I want my normal taste buds back but then of course I wouldn't have lost 80lbs in 3 months. So I'm thankful for that but after 3 months, the sugar free drinks just don't taste the same as they did. I was able to drink them in the beginning but now, I just can't do it so I'm stuck with Ice Cold Water OR V8 Juice but only the one with the blue label (essential anti oxidents) because it has less sugars and it tastes good as long as its cold. So That's where I am now. Sitting home on the 4th of July, by myself watching the Moulin Rouge on HBO. I'll turn on the TV to the local station to watch the Fantastic Firework Show in NY or Phila. Both are Fabulous and worth watching in person but since I'm not there.. The TV Will have to do. I really want to wish my Grandson a Wonderful Birthday and I hope He thinks that the Fireworks & Celebrations are for him Each Year.. He's a Happy Little Guy and I Pray He stays that way Forever. HAPPY 234th BIRTHDAY AMERICA and HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY JAYDEN.. GRANDMA LOVES YOU <3

Hope it works this time..

Well I'm going for the MRCD again (mri)Today. I'm hoping it works this time. I'm hoping that I don't feel that heat in my stomach and if I do I hope to keep my big mouth shut and keep up with the test. I NEED this test to find out what's going on with me. I'm feeling better then I've been and was able to keep down some tuna w/ mayo. I'm also drinking V8 Juice still. My Dr said V8 was good but its high in salt so be careful with High Blood pressure. I hope this test comes out Ok.. i'm so sick of being sick...


HOURS later - I was unable to have the MRCD because I kept getting a "hotness" in my stomach where the surgery was so they had to stop the test. No idea what's going to happen now!!! I'll keep ya posted....

Enough is Enough Already!

It started out on Friday, I was going for more blood work and going to get an MRCD which is a fancy type of MRI test. They put me in this machine which I thought I would have a problem with but I didn't. Then they layed this mat type thingy over my stomach area and locked it in place. I was now their prisoner. The tech gave me a black ball to hold onto and I was told to squeeze it IF I had a problem. Well I was doing well for the first 10-15 minutes of the test Until she said to hold my breathe and the machine made this click click click sound. At that time I got shots of HEAT in my stomach where the pad was locked on my stomach. I tried to get the tech's attention but no luck so I squeezed the black ball and it Pinged. She came in the room and I told her about the Shots of HEAT. It wasn't just heat it was as if someone took a HOT poker and was sticking me in the stomach with the heat of the poker. She called the main radiologist and he said if it were his family member, he'd stop the test so the test was stopped. But I felt so sick that it was Back to the ER. Noone still has no idea what's going on with me but I did get some MUCH needed IV's and they help so much to rehydrate me. While I was in the ER, Alot of people came & went but there was this one girl who came in with the dry heaves also only she had pains in her stomach, (I dont' have pain, just the dry heaves and nause). We were near each other so I started talking to her and asked if she happened to have gastric bypass and was shocked to hear her say YES. OMG - 2 of us with the same symptoms, Next question was WHO DID YOUR SURGERY? I thought OMG if its my dr, did he do something wrong to both of us? But that wasn't the case at all, She was from Georgia and had her surgery there 7 months ago. I had my surgery in NJ, 3 months ago. So there were some differences. I left the ER before her so I'm not sure what they thought was wrong with her but I did leave her my email address and phone number in hopes she would call me to let me know what happened with her. So far Nothing and its been 3 days. :-(
After the IV's and potassium pill ( I only got 1/2 pill down) I was released from the ER, more confused then when I got there. Last week at the other hospitals ER, I was told my billirubin was elevated and I could have a stone in my bile duct. This hospitals Dr said he didn't think that was the case and my billirubin wasn't that elevated. Ok So now what???? Unless there's a stone stuck in my bile duct that's moved, I have no idea why this would be happening. Grrrrrr..
I came home on Friday night and slept until Saturday morning at 5am.
I felt pretty good on Saturday but now today(Sunday), I'm not feeling that well again. It seems the ONLY thing I can keep down and actually feels good in my belly is V8 Juice. Which isn't terrible because it has ALOT of vitamins, Protein and nutrients so I guess Its Ok for now. I wish I could eat normally. I try to force myself but then I get the dry heaves. I'm down over 80lbs so far in 3 short months which makes me want to get up & dance a Jig but right now I think I'll sit & try to get my stomach settled. So That's it for now. I'm calling the GB Dr & My Family Dr on Monday. Hope things get fixed soon, I'm so sick of feeling sick, its been 2 weeks now. Enough is Enough!!!