Just Anna

2011 Pics

2011-12-31T09:47:00.005-06:00

How about some current pics?

Shortly before Christmas 2011 I went Thrift Store shopping. The irony behind my sweatshirt is that the guy at the check out counter asked "So you're a cheerleader?" "Nope" "Oh, I just thought... nevermind." =D

Christmas Eve day 12/24/11

Out with the old, In with the new

2011-12-31T08:01:00.009-06:00

I felt like Recapping 2011 to take a mental inventory of all I've started and accomplished this year.

I decided late in 2010 for several reason I won't particularly get into publicly that I wanted to get more education to possibly change my job/career path; I want a career, not a job. I went back to school January 2011 to get an AA degree in Health Information Technology through Rasmussen College. All of my courses are online and I've been working full time at the same time and maintaining a 3.59 gpa. I sacrificed most of my weekends for all-day study and homework sessions but it has paid off. My husband has been incredibly supportive and wonderful. I have completed 75 of 90 credits (thank goodness for transfer credits from my BS in Social Work I got in 2006) and will be starting 2012 out with 9 credits in the winter quarter and then 6 credits in the spring quarter. I am on track to graduate in mid-June 2012. It used to feel like a far away date but now June is only 6.5 months away!

In March we went to Seattle, WA for my brother-in-law's wedding. It was a wonderful place to visit and would love to go back in the height of summer. We really didn't want to come back home so soon but, alas, a soggy wet basement was waiting for us.

At the beginning of May I attended my slightly older sister's Bachelorette party. I was mistaken for being underage (under-21) at Zorbaz much to my delight! Being 138 pounds is great! When I was weighing 280-290 I was thought to be at least 30-35 by some folks and at the time I was only 23/24! Yikes! At the end of May we attended my little sister's High School graduation. All of the Doll kids have successfully graduated from High School.

Over the past 2-4 years or more my husband and I had discussed off-and-on if we wanted kids. We went back and forth between "yes", "maybe", "if it happens", "no" and "definitely no". We finally decided that having children is not really something we want so in early June Ben had a vasectomy. For everyone thinking "you're young still, what if you change your mind?" - we can always adopt. We're not that young at 33 and 28. I don't like babies or very small children anyway - I'm uncomfortable around them and don't know what to do with them. They are not necessarily cute to me and I fear they would test my patience in ways I would not be able to handle. Six months later we don't regret this decision (and if you're wondering yes, the procedure was successful).

In June I decided I wanted to start running. I felt that my weight loss had become stable and since I had never been able to run further than 20-30 feet without having to walk due to being completely winded I wanted to have another go at it. The last time I ran a full mile was... never. I don't think I've ever had a mile run faster than 17 minutes and that was back in high school and it wasn't running - it was walking for the most part. I wanted to be able to call myself a runner. I downloaded the C25K app on my iPhone and started the program. Ben decided that he wanted to start running, too, so we did it at the same time (but we didn't run together). We registered for the Mankato 5k that took place on October 21, 2011. It was a tough regimen and I learned early out that you MUST have actual legit running shoes; they're worth the cost. My time was 00:30:12 & was 129th of 383 total runners. I was 63rd of 271 total females & was 18th of 61 in the female 20-29 age group. I ran another 5k on Saturday November 12th at 9am for the 6th Annual Minnesota State University Army ROTC Veteran’s Day 5K. My time was 00:30:35 and I'm happy with it! Our posts about running times and training on Facebook & Twitter have inspired friends and family members to start running as well.

In August we attended my 10 year High School Reunion. I have a lot of thoughts on this but I don't feel like sharing them publicly. Let's just say that it was an interesting experience to see a few folks in person that I've only see via Facebook and vice verse. Re-introducing yourself to classmates is a fun activity when they think you're someone else =) I was only slightly disappointed that a few classmates didn't attend. I can't deny that I wanted to show off my smaller size and felt slightly prideful wanting to act all "look at me now, bitches!" toward a few people. For anyone who was over weight in their elementary, teen, or young adult years they understand how strong the desire can be to rub your new found hotness in past transgressor's faces as if to say "fuck you, look how hot I am now, bitches! AND my marriage survived, if not improved, during the process!" I grow weary of being humble about this.

It's been 2.5 years since my weight loss surgery (lap RNY on 5/27/09). I've been maintaining my weight loss. I tend to average around 135-138 pounds. I think I will always aim to get down to 125 lowest but it's okay if I don't because at 5'2" being this weight is "normal" BMI.

Goals for 2012

Graduate with my AA from Rasmussen
Wear my glasses more often
Get hired for a position in which I will use everything I've learned over the past year
Run another 5k, run a 10k or two, complete the "Warrior Dash" this summer (by the way holy cow registration for these things is NOT cheap. At least $25/$30 at the least!)
Kill some debt (this is on-going and unavoidable but still a good goal to have regardless)

Notice that there aren't any "lose weight" or "maintain weight" or "have a healthy lifestyle" goals? That's because I've already been trying to live that way. I want a healthy lifestyle to be my goal every day instead of something I set at the beginning of the year and abandon by the end of January or mid-February. They say it takes 21 days to form a habit while others report around 66 days. Either way those habits took time to adopt; it wasn't easy and I did break/bend the rules a few times but I redirected myself and corrected my behaviors. Misbehaving once in a while is normal and acceptable - if it becomes more than "once in a while" then we have some problems.

I'll probably update this list at some point or add a few things but for now that's all I feel like putting out there. I just hope 2012 brings health & healing to my family & relatives struggling with cancer and illness. I want 2012 to be a positive and happy year. Not to say that there weren't happy moments of 2011 because there were a LOT of them!

Where oh where have I been?

2011-11-05T08:32:00.002-05:00

Almost 16 months since I last wrote a blog post. Has much changed? I would say some.

I went back to school January 2011 to get an AA degree in Health Information Technology. I should graduate around June 2012.
It's official - we are not having children & we're happy with that decision. Not because either of us experiences dysfunction - it was elective. We'd probably be good parents but neither of us are really interested in children.
My brother-in-law Jeff was diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) back in January 2011. He & my sister Amelia had previously planned their wedding for March 2011. Jeff went through some treatments to get his CML under control and their wedding was pushed back until late June. It was a great wedding. Then Labor Day weekend Jeff started to not feel well & went to the ER. Turns out his CML had turned Acute and progressed into Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). He & my sister have been at Mayo in Rochester repeatedly for the past 2 months for chemo treatments. So far, after 2 rounds of chemo, he's doing well & is deer hunting around Osage, MN this weekend. His Caringbridge site is HERE.
We flew to Seattle. WA in March for my brother-in-law's wedding. It was a great place to visit; we really did NOT want to come back home but, alas, a soggy wet basement was waiting for us (stupid lots of snow + early warm spring thaw + plugged drain for the tile system = water in basement).
Water in the basement meant wet carpet so we tore it out. We didn't know that the whole basement had been tiled and then carpeted over. We may or may not replace the carpet. We've discussed getting carpet remnants but that'll come all in due time.
My uncle Steve (dad's brother) was diagnosed with Stage 4 Lung Cancer in May/June. He's undergoing treatment for that. So far the cancer is not growing. His Caringbridge site is HERE.
My cousin Stefanie (my uncle Steve's daughter which is bittersweet irony) was diagnosed with Stage 3 Breast Cancer in July. She had just had her son in April or May and was only 24 years old. After a total mastectomy in August she started chemo in the beginning of October. So far she's had 2 rounds of chemo and is fighting cancer like a crazy bitch at a bar fight (aka she's kicking F'in ass). Her Caringbridge site is HERE.
In June I decided I wanted to start running so I downloaded the C25K app on my iPhone and started the program. Ben decided that he wanted to start running, too, so we did it at the same time (but we didn't run together). The last time I ran a full mile was... never. I don't think I've ever had a mile run faster than 17 minutes and that was back in high school. Now that I'm half the size I felt it was time I started crossing goals off my bucket list. We registered for the Mankato 5k that took place on October 21, 2011. It was a tough regimen and I learned early out that you MUST have running shoes; they're worth the cost. My time was 00:30:12 & was 129th of 383 total runners. I was 63rd of 271 total females & was 18th of 61 in the female 20-29 age group.
I'm running another 5k on Saturday November 12th at 9am in Mankato. It's the 6th Annual Minnesota State University Army ROTC Veteran’s Day 5K. My brother is a Navy Veteran & all proceeds go to the 1LT Michael Fasnacht Scholarship Fund at MSU. It's going to be F'in cold but a good time. My supervisor at work is going to 'race' me :)

I've been maintaining my weight loss so far. I tend to average around 135-138 pounds. I think I will always aim to get down to 125 lowest but it's okay if I don't. It's been almost 2.5 years since my weight loss surgery. I take all of my vitamins, I drink at least 72oz of water per day, and I track my food mostly to keep myself accountable for what goes in my mouth. My limit is around 1600 calories per day and I do okay hitting that or around that number.

I have homework to get to so that's about all I'm going to write now. Will I keep writing? I don't know; I don't have a whole lot to say most of the time.

Coffee & memories

2010-07-22T09:07:00.001-05:00

I was up at 7:30am and out of mom & dad's house by 8:20am. It's dreary out yet warmish but threatening rain. Oh well, it'll pass.

I'm at Lakes Cafe sitting at the counter drinking coffee and playing with my iPhone (and startling the locals with my technology apparently). The owners have left their wireless Internet open so I'm making use of it (thanks Randy & Rich!) while waiting for a waitress to come by and refill my cup.

I worked here from summer of 1998 until May of 2002 when I packed up to move down to Mankato. I have many fond memories of working here; I sometimes wish I still had a job as relaxed & responsibility-free as this one again. But then I would stink of fryer grease & be grungy everyday and probably weigh 280 pounds still. I would also be paid about $5-$6 less per hour than I make now so it's definitely a fair trade to no longer live with my parents.

It's somewhat odd coming back. My dad and siblings would complain about the poor service & be snippy about it. I kindly decline fill-ups of my coffee cup until I'm ready with well placed "please" and "thank you" because there's nothing wrong with having manners. Ah, just got a refill - to the brim so there's no room for my half&half but that's okay. I'll sip it down a little first.

I may sound snobbish right now but if you expect high class service then go somewhere that's high class. This is a small town cafe with small town people; I'm surprised there isn't a "Flo" name tag somewhere around here. I'm not poo-pooing this place though. I'm more pointing out that it is what it is.

I love sitting at the counter surrounded on one side by local old men that are carefree with their words & comments while out-of-towners populate the other side with their crisp white pressed shirts, ties, and laptops. I can see the guy 2 stools away from me getting the stink eye from some old men in trucker hats because he brought in a laptop. It makes me wish I had an iPad. *snickers*

I suppose I should get back to paying attention since it's getting a little busier in Here. I didn't make any plans for today but I think I'll see what Jessica is up to or any of my other HS friends.

Been a while... Again.

2010-07-13T18:46:00.001-05:00

I seriously need to update this more often. Frankly, I never have my laptop running anymore and I'm using my iPhone for everything so I have few reasons to turn the laptop on!

My Brother-in-law & his girlfriend were visiting this week/weekend from Seattle. It was so nice to be able to spend Thursday & Friday evenings then all day Saturday & Sunday with them along with other relatives & Ben's parents.

I will say, however, that I struggled quite heavily with keeping my patience in check. A combination of willy-nilly attitudes, disregard for punctuality & a rough 3-4 weeks at work has depleted any stores I might have had of patience. I need some "me time".

I'm traveling up to Perham, MN which is my hometown on July 21-25. I'm going alone with the intent & purpose of recharging. Already everyone wants a piece of me which is nice on one hand. It's nice to be wanted & missed but I don't want people monopolizing my time. It feels selfish to say but I'm very frazzled & worn down. I need to take care of me. I have a bad habit of trying to make everyone happy.

The show 4/30/10

2010-05-08T17:52:00.005-05:00

Last Friday April 30th Ben and I made our way up to Minneapolis to meet up with Tony & Angela at Graves 601 Hotel (which is a pretty sweet hotel, mind you!). Tony's friend Anisia(who turns out to be a friend of our Sister-in-Law Jen). We had some drinks in the room before heading downstairs and around the corner to Kieran's Irish Pub for food and more drinks.

The food was good and so were the drinks. Tony & Angela enjoyed an Irish Car Bomb. I have video of it but I will refrain from posting it because my sister has a dirty mouth in it. Tony was amazingly hilarious. The only statement I remember from the night that was funny was "I'm a male nurse. No! I'm a GY/OB niner 10-4!"

I love this picture - it's great! It was fun with Tony harassing guys in "cool shirts" that he saw then asking if they were "snap buttons" or not.

Here's the marquee.

Our seats were 2nd row pit and here's a photo of the stage from our seats. About 20 feet from ourselves and the talent. Oh boy it was a good time!

Aaaaaand here's where everyone else sat. I guess the State Theatre holds about 2000 people and it seemed like the 2nd show was almost full.

This is the best pic of the night. I really like how this one turned out!

After the show we went back to Ang's room at Graves and hung out for about 20 minutes then we drove back to Mankato. The rest of the weekend was spent lounging around. It was a great show with tons of laughs and a really good time. I am extremely glad that I had the thought to check out Craig's touring dates and mention it to my siblings. Great memories!

Just a little fun to help pass the time...

2010-05-01T14:05:00.000-05:00

Got wood? We do!

2010-04-18T11:02:00.006-05:00

It's been a while since I posted. Sorry. I'm going to try to post a bit more often here. I think it'll help if I keep my laptop on the dining room table instead of under the couch in the living room. Teehee!

Yesterday Ben and I did a bunch of yard work. I mowed and trimmed the lawn for the first time this year. Last year I was 271 pounds when I mowed the lawn for the first time in the season. This year I weigh 143 pounds. SCORE!

We went to Ben's parents' house and borrowed their pickup truck and loaded it up with wood and borrowed their wheel barrow. We fit double in the truck what we could have fit in the trunk of my VW Passat. We were able to fit all the wood in our shed (it's brimming with wood now, hah!).
We also borrowed their electric hedge trimmer & made like Edward Scissorhands on the bushes around the house. I think we did a great job, don't you? We got 2 compliments from our neighbors already! We must've been quite the eyesore in the neighborhood before trimming them.

By the time we were done doing that and returning the truck we were both worn out. We had talked about making Chicken Parmesan for dinner but that took too much work so we had a Stouffer's MiB (meal-in-a-bag).

Today we're doing laundry and then going to clean the windows (inside and outside!) since they're pretty yucky.

I got my free download of Billy Burke's single off his album that's due to drop sometime in June of this year. The single is "Removed" and it's been on repeat in my headphones for the past 20 minutes. I gotta say - I'm intrigued and curious to hear the rest of the album when it comes out. If you'd like your own copy, just go to http://www.billyburke.net/ and sign up on the right side to receive the download. If you read about his influences it gives you an idea as to what kind of music he does. I was able to easily download and save it into my iTunes player (it made an attempt to open in Windows Media Player - shame on you, file!). Such a talented and handsome man! I swear some guys just get better looking as they age.

Here's the latest photo of me. This was taken Easter weekend (2 weeks ago) when we went to Timberlodge in Owatonna, MN for dinner with Ben's relatives.

I guess that's all for today. I'm going to go drink more coffee (wheeee) and change out of my pajamas at some point this morning. My legs/butt are sore from going up and down the ladder yesterday. Also, let me note that I have NO ASS anymore. Flat and minimal cushion. I should be happy (trust me, I am) but damn if it doesn't hurt sitting on a hair chair for more than 5 minutes!

...

2010-04-18T00:17:00.001-05:00

I promise I will post something tomorrow 4/18/2010 with pics.

Promise.

Craig Ferguson - April 30th at the State Theatre, Minneapolis

2010-03-13T13:20:00.003-06:00

Of the all late night TV shows to watch, Ben and I prefer The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson over a the rest. He is genuinely funny & doesn’t seem scripted hardly ever which we really like (I loathe hearing “Hey, did you hear about this? Did you hear this?” Or “How about those/that ___, huh?” where they’re spouting off lame scripted joke after lame scripted joke). Craig is lovable & quirkly with just the right amount of grumpy old man mixed in. Anyway, Craig usually pokes fun at the internet like the FaceTube and the YouBook and ‘the Twitter’. Imagine how excited I was when Craig joined Twitter (@Craigyferg)! I followed him as soon as I found out. Shortly after that I followed a link to some of the stand-up events he has scheduled across the nation. I told Ben and my siblings Angela & Tony, who are also Craig fans (fans are now lovingly referred to as being in the ‘Robot Skeleton Army’ by Craig), about the show at the State Theatre in Minneapolis scheduled for 7:30pm on April 30th. We agreed it would be AWESOME to go and that we should get tickets when they went on sale March 12th.

Angela said she would be in the cities for a meeting on that day so she would stop at the ticket office at the theatre and get us all tickets. Unfortunately, she got lost in the city for an hour that afternoon and arrived at the ticket office at 3:25pm only to find out that the show had been sold out. Bummer! I guess there had been a line when the office opened at 10am that morning (Craig is more popular than I realized!). Angela told me that the guy at the ticket counter told her to hang around because they were checking to see if he would add a second show at 10:00pm that same day. A little while later Angela was able to buy tickets for the 10pm show! Apparently they had just opened the second show offering so Angela was able to get tickets for 2nd row pit seats. How exciting is that?! I’m super pumped! What a great turn of events after all the crappy car & appliance problems we’ve had over the last month. Happy Birthday TO ME!

To illustrate the awesomeness, here is an example of where the seats are located (Pit L or Pit R; not sure which side our tickets are). Right freakin’ up front! Ben and I haven’t been to a comedy stand-up show before so this will be fun. What better way to break us in than seeing Craig live?
We are going to find somewhere in Minneapolis to stop for food & drinks before the show and Ang, Ben & I might chip in to rent a hotel room for the night so we don’t try to drive back to Mankato at 12-1am or something.

Some tasteless comic humor

2010-03-13T12:07:00.001-06:00

Update with pics!

2010-03-13T11:04:00.004-06:00

It's my birthday tomorrow. I will be 27 years old. I have always considered 27 my favorite number. I'm happy to be aging and growing older. As a present to myself and others here are some progress pics of my weight loss!

Crazy, isn't it? I saw a photo from Ben and me dressed in our Renaissance garb from 2 years ago and... wow. It's no wonder I was always feeling down & depressed & anxious.

Anyway, we sold my outfit on Ebay because by 3 months after my surgery it didn't fit AT ALL.

This morning I had oatmeal for the first time post-op because, in my mind, it was always too much carbs. I've been learning more about complex carbohydrates which are good for you and your body processes easier. I added some frozen strawberries to my half serving and sprinkled in some unflavored protein powder. It was very yummy and very filling!

I had my 9 month post-op appointment Monday February 22nd. At that point in time I weighed 164.8 pounds and I was at 73% excess weight loss. My surgeon likes to see 75% weight loss after 12 months so I'm ahead of schedule on that front. The nurse I saw said that I'm a poster child for this surgery due to my success. That makes me feel good. I still want to get down to 125-130 pounds and maintain there (or lower) depending on what my body decides.

I started taking my Vitamin D supplement again with my calcium to see if maybe that improves how I feel. I have to do my labs 2 weeks before my next appointment on May 25th.

In other news I keep having to get my damn car fixed. New front breaks one week, new oxygen sensor the next week, my engine splash shield fell off earlier this week, and I still need to get a new timing belt for my car that costs $800. Ugh. I wish it would just stop but it doesn't.

On top of that our washing machine broke Sunday, Feb 28th. We went to Best Buy & looked at washing machines & also looked at dishwashers (ours leaks off and on). We were lucky to be able to get into the MN state energy efficient rebate for the washing machine. Unfortunately, it's one rebate per house and we had such a difficult time getting one for the washing machine. We thought they were both being delivered the following Saturday March 5th because the kid that rang us up (I'm not going to lie - he was incompetent) said they would be delivered Saturday. If we had been smart we would have verified the date with him or even looked at the receipt but we're not good at common sense things like that.

So Friday Ben pulled the dishwasher out of the kitchen to be hauled away the next day. I stayed around the house Saturday waiting for the delivery guys. Waiting. WAITING. Come to find out later they weren't coming at all because they weren't being delivered until Saturday MARCH 27TH!!! Cripes.

We're lucky enough to have Ben's wonderful parents who have graciously let us come over to their house on Saturday or Sunday the past 3 weeks to do our laundry. We still have the dishwasher half pulled out in the kitchen. I can't wait until this is over and taken care of. We've pretty much abandoned any idea of ever going on a cruise, even if we were looking at doing it in 2011 or 2012. No matter what we do life derails our plans. Instead we're going to continue focusing on reducing our debt and getting things paid off or repaired. I hope.

Holiday

2010-01-10T11:57:00.001-06:00

Well, we went up to Perham Friday morning for family Christmas. We hung out with my sisters & mom playing games & such. It was a lot of fun!

Saturday we went "snowman hunting" by driving around Perham while Angela took pics; I'll post some one of these days. We stopped at Lakes to have dinner with the WHOLE family which was nice. Albert & Jen had returned Friday night from Mexico so they were back. Jeff & his kids Tayden & Tucker were there too. Dang nice kids :)

While Grace took a nap, Tony, Ben, & myself went out to my grandparents' house. Tony & Ben fixed grandpa's clock thing then grandpa showed us his monkey - it was so cute. I took video of it; I'll post that later too since right now I'm posting this from my phone.

Opening presents was fun but after that it seems like everyone turned mean, negative, & spiteful. I sequestered myself to the kitchen doing dishes to stay away from it as best I could. My sister's boyfriend's kids were there & I think they're 7 years old & my niece was there & she's 2 1/2 years old. I really don't like kids that much. I especially don't like kids at my parents' house because there isn't a separate space for adults & for children. Everyone is jammed into one space & it sucks. There's little privacy to be found.

Audrey wanted to get out of the house for a little bit (justifiably so, I totally understood that) but my siblings criticized her & my parents don't understand how overwhelming it was in the house. I was 5 minutes away from telling her she & I will go out because I was at my threshold.

We decided to leave last night around 7pm. There was no reason to hang around & let the bad feelings fester. Besides, we were just going to sit around at mom & dad's house until bedtime then drive home in the morning. A waste of half a Sunday. We left the house at 50* while we were gone & holy crap it was SO cold in the house. The cats had puked a little bit but it was easily cleaned up. Our bed was FREEZING and the cats piled up on us during the night to keep us/themselves warm.

Today we have to go to WalMart for some groceries & to return something. We received our Cook's County Cook Book in the mail over the weekend & I got some cook books from Amelia for Christmas so we're excited to try some new recipes. Right now it's pajamas, coffee, and Craig Ferguson.

BLerh

2010-01-05T19:10:00.002-06:00

Family squabbling and negativity bothers me. I wish everyone would stop knocking the other down with hurtful words & actions. I'd like a family holiday where someone doesn't end up storming off to their bedroom or their house. Why can't people be nice and get along? Jeez. Being cold & over-analytical in explainings things doesn't make it hurt less. Saying "oh, they're just growing up; it's a phase" doesn't make cruel words hurt less.

*sigh*

I'm going to go work out and think about stuff.

Reconnecting with old friends

2010-01-03T00:30:00.005-06:00

Tonight I received a letter from a high school friend with whom I reconnected with recently. We went through a falling out (drama drama) back in 2004/2005 and are talking again. The letter was 3 pages front & back. I wrote her a few weeks ago pretty much outlining the events of the past 4-5 years & apologizing for how much of an ass/bitch I was back when we had our falling out.

I have to honestly say that it definitely feels really good to be friends again. We were really close in high school and had lots of good memories together from hanging out around down and on school field trips, etc. Sure, we were immature & annoying but that was us! We had fun.

It would be nice if maybe we could get together some time to sit down and talk face to face. I always like having time to do that with my friends =) This is yet another reason why it sort of sucks to live about 5 hours away from family & most of my childhood/HS friends; it literally takes a weekend of planning to go up and visit. Perhaps I'll go up in late spring or summer just to hang out with friends & reconnect again. I hate to exclude Ben but I need "girl" time once in a while!

2009 progress photos

2009-12-31T19:42:00.003-06:00

Well, I finally have new pics to share with you! These are the last weight loss progress pics of 2009.

Aren't those shorts just the shit?! They're size 18s from DEB so I figure they run on the small end of things since they're made for teenagers, not real women with hips!

In 2009 I have lost 108 pounds thanks to having laproscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis. My surgeon was Dr. Raymond Drew and my surgery was on May 27, 2009.

Two Thousand and Nine

2009-12-31T13:18:00.003-06:00

Let us recap 2009.

January
I decided to look into Gastric Bypass surgery. Of course, I couldn't get any doctor appointments until February so let's move along.
I cut 10+ inches of my hair off right at the end of December resulting in the shortest hair I've had since I was in elementary school.

February
I had my first appointment with my doctor Feb 17th to talk about a referral to a bariatric surgeon group. The next day I also met with a dietitian who put me on a Diabetic diet consisting of limiting my carb intake by counting carbs.

On the 27th Ben and I went to Shakopee to an afternoon class about weight loss surgeries done through Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, MN. I got a packet of information at the seminar which I filled out and mailed to the hospital.

March
On March 10th our water heater died & flooded half of our basement. What used to be our savings/cushion was used to pay the deductible on our home insurance. A week of high-powered (high-electricity-using) fans in the basement dried everything out. Thankfully we didn't have to deal with any mold.

I received a call from the hospital less than a week after mailing the filled-out packet. I was able to schedule an appointment to meet with my chosen surgeon, Dr. Raymond Drew the following month. I had my psychological evaluation for surgery later in March.

I also turned 26 years of age on March 14th! Ben & I went up to Minneapolis with our friends Andy & Holly to Gasthof zur Gemutlichkeit, a really awesome German restaurant.

April
My consultation was great! Dr. Drew said I was a great candidate & all they needed was my blood labs & psych evaluation. I fought back and forth with getting things submitted the WHOLE month of April until finally around the 27th they were able to submit my request to insurance.

May
I got approved for surgery with a scheduled date of June 17, 2009.
About 2 weeks after that my surgery date changed to May 27, 2009!
Surgery went well with no complications & a seemingly quick recovery.

June
Spent half of the month recovering from surgery at home. The amount of fatigue you experience after this kind of surgery and lack of sustenance really taxes your daily energy stores. We attended Jamie & Adam's wedding mid-June and it was a beautiful outdoor wedding at a park.

July
Ben and I did more geocaching and I had lost about 20-25 pounds so far since surgery. We helped our friends Andy & Holly move into a house in the cities. I went up to Perham for a weekend to visit my family/sisters. It was nice to get out of the city for a while. I discovered the Twilight book series at my sister's house.

August
We went up to Perham together for the first time since my surgery & visited family. We surprised my parents by all of us kids being home so we could take a nice family photo. Mom was able to use one of them for the Christmas photo/letter this year. Ben and I continued to geocache.

I had to clean out much of my closet to find room for new sizes. I had moved from size 22/24 down to size 18/20 and had received many hand-me-downs from family, friends, or coworkers.

September not much happened. I got the iPhone I wanted =)

October
We celebrated Ben's birthday on the 4th in a very calm/tame way. We also gained another cat in the house - Skillz - from my coworker/twin Kelli. Due to circumstances, they couldn't have him at their house anymore.

November
I had my 6 month follow-up after surgery on 11/19 and I was at 192 pounds which put me at 54% loss of my excess weight in 6 months which is great!

I saw 'New Moon' in the theatre with a coworker on 11/20 which was really nice but we sat so close it was hard to really enjoy the movie. I went home with a sore butt & a headache.

We surprised my parents by coming up the Friday after Thanksgiving so that we could attend the Doll family Thanksgiving. It was a lot of fun!

December
Nothing spectacular to report other than, so far in 2009, I have gone from 280 pounds to 171 pounds - 109 pounds gone forever! Best. Decision. Ever.

What have I done?

2009-12-29T18:08:00.003-06:00

I feel sad for doing it but I had to call in sick to work today.

The past 5 or more days I've felt not quite right. On the tired side of things and slightly dizzy/nauseated often. No, I'm not pregnant (that would be horrible right now) but I can't seem to shake it.

During the night I had to kick the cats out of the bedroom. Honestly, I don't know why we even keep the door open lately because they've been annoying as all heck. While getting out of bed and tossing the cats out of the room I was overtaken with dizziness that I have not had before. I leaned against the bed the whole time because I couldn't get myself to stand up straight. When my alarm went off at 7:30am the same thing happened but with an accompanied headache. I called in sick and went back to bed.

Even after an additional 4-5 hours of sleep I still feel yucky. I don't have a cough or a runny nose or congested sinuses. I merely have the worst case of dizzies (is this what they would call 'vertigo'?) and headache to accompany it. I've had more instances in the past 2-3 weeks of feeling dizzy than normal.

I did a little digging and I think I know the problem and it's totally my doing; I haven't been taking my supplements (calcium, multi-vitamins, and iron) as I am supposed to do every day. I still take my mental meds but haven't taken my other ones for weeks. This all changes now. I think I've been a little anemic recently. It explains the fatigue, dizziness, nausea, etc. I think that perhaps going to the gym last night exacerbated things a little causing me to be worse for wear than normal.

I'm going to start 2010 right. I did this to myself and I can fix it, too!

Christmas after RNY

2009-12-26T11:47:00.005-06:00

This was my first Christmas after RNY gastric bypass. Tomorrow will be my 7 month anniversary since surgery. Anyone researching or planning to have this surgery I caution you: things WILL change & some changes you may not like.

If I thought Thanksgiving was tough then Christmas was even harder. I try not to complain about food options when it comes to family gatherings & meals because I'm just one person out of everyone that has to follow special guidelines when it comes to food choices. However, that doesn't mean I'm not going to complain about it here!

I get angry at food now. I loathe seeing cookies & sweets & cake & bars now. I spent many moments yesterday scowling at & staring down cookies, candy, or cake. Fighting off the urge to shove it in my mouth no matter the repercussions was excruciating! The only thing keeping me from doing it was knowing that I would be in more than a WORLD OF PAIN if I carried through. Just eating a few Doritos caused me to feel gross for a while (it's been advised that I don't use the term "Dumping" because no one seems to understand what I mean; instead I'll just start saying "gross" instead of explaining myself every time). I watched everyone graze while socializing before dinner. It was hard to sit back and not join in. It's hard to watch other people eat when 1) you're not hungry and 2) most of the food isn't good for me anyway.

We served lasagna which was SO very delicious. Well, the small 1" x 2" piece I had was divine. I picked out most of the pasta from it just in case. I was done about 15 minutes before everyone else so I got up and started cleaning up the kitchen instead of sitting & watching everyone else continue to eat. It's lonely in RNY-land sometimes.

It's frustrating when people give you a (what they deem as) "normal" serving sizes of food and your eyes go wide and you have to say "er, um, no thanks, I honestly can't even eat half of that". It's such an incredible shift to lifestyle that I struggle around people who aren't Ben. Ben totally understands what I can and cannot eat and how much I can and cannot eat. He's careful at what we decide to make for dinner & he's vigilant to make sure I don't go and eating something that he knows (and I know but decide to ignore) will make me feel horrible. He understands just how restricted my diet really is and I love him for it. Others, well, sometimes I'm left with very little food options because they still just don't get it. I've actually started stashing string cheese sticks in my purse when we go somewhere just in case there isn't anything I can reasonably eat.

For Christmas I/we received (I can't remember if it was for me or "us") but we now have 4 boxes of tea to drink with our new electric water kettle. It works GREAT & tea has been such a savior for me these past few months. I just cannot get myself to drink cold liquids in the winter so hot tea is the next best thing to coffee AND doesn't makes my insides twist in knots like when I drink coffee.

I drank a little bit of wine yesterday. Thankfully the bottles were empty when I came back up stairs because I was intending to drink more. I'm glad they were empty because I got an odd feeling afterword that my pouch would not have been happy with me. So, all in all, Christmas has been a struggle with the treats that are always there and the carb-loaded food. However, when I think about how I was 105 pounds heavier this time last year I'm grateful for making the decision to have gastric bypass. The pain & struggles & sacrifice are SO worth it.

Christmas cheer

2009-12-26T11:32:00.003-06:00

Christmas has come and has almost gone. The last few days were a little stressful for me. I've been dealing with my anxiety pretty well since going off of my Lexapro back in September/October. I haven't had hardly the issues that I used to have. However, the impending Christmas dinner yesterday caused me to have some flashes of anxiety on Wednesday. More people were expected to come than showed up (mostly due to weather) and I had been caught off-guard about the number of folks saying were attending.

I'm protective of my personal space. There are things that I don't like to share - opening Christmas or Birthday presents is usually one of those things. It's always been a personal experience that I'm very hesitant to share with others. I had a really hard time with this kind of situation during our wedding preparation & celebration. I suspect it has a lot to do with my reactions to gifts, etc. I don't always trust myself to react appropriately & I worry that my facial expressions & body language give away my thoughts/feelings which might offend some people. It's pretty torturous sometimes to be perfectly honest. Some people can "school" their features into a mask to hide their true reactions but I don't know that I can do that. It might just be that I'm around Ben so often & he can read me so very easily.

Ben and I spent all day Wednesday cleaning the heck out of our house. Thankfully it wasn't TOO messy or dirty but it still took some work. Two families ended up not being able to come due to less than favorable road conditions. We ended up with an extra pan and 1/4 of lasagna left over. We happily sent everyone home with left overs and still had 3/4 of a pan left. No big deal!

At the end of the day I only had the few jolts of anxiety that were easily dealt with. Today I plan to go do a little investigative shopping. Ben REALLY wants me to finish our blanket which I haven't been able to do because I can't find one color of yarn that I still need. Hobby Lobby is having a sale today & I thought I'd stop by some other places in town to see if maybe they might have what I need.

O hai thar

2009-12-05T15:55:00.002-06:00

I don't post here often because I'm usually on my phone on Twitter or Facebook. If you visit often you notice that my Twitter feed is quite active. I don't take my laptop out very often and I haven't felt too literary lately.

I've been working on my sister's Christmas present the past few weeks pretty hardcore and I'm nearly done. I was concerned it might look stupid but it's actually turning out really neat. It's not as big as I'd like but it's still a respectable size.

I made coffee this morning. Each time, I fill my cup and set it next to me. When ever I have my laptop out, I get lost in cyberspace and forget the world behind me. Thrice I have taken my cup of cold coffee to the kitchen, poured the cup back into the pot and then refilled my cup with hot/warm coffee. Then the process repeats. Of course, it's at this point where I eat something and CAN'T drink anything for 30 minutes. It's quite annoying at times, the whole 30/30 thing.

On Wednesday morning I weighed in at 182 pounds. If I lose 2 more pounds I will have lost 100 pounds in 2009.

Already I'm bored with writing in here. This sucks because I used to be so much better about this!

lazy saturday

2009-11-14T13:53:00.005-06:00

So far I have

fed the cats
drank coffee
made more coffee
took out garbage
drank more coffee
watched Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday's episodes of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
read some stuff
played with twitter
watched some New Moon interview vids (and got bored, hah!)
updated iPhone
added a new playlist to iPhone

And now I will

do some dishes
vacuum
eat something that I will classify as lunch

I love Saturdays where I can do bupkis!

Later Ben and I need to pick up some stuff at the store to make the Brussels Sprouts with Fig & Bacon dish we're bringing to Chris & Joyce's house for "pre-Thanksgiving dinner" tomorrow. It is SO dang good!! We served it warm the first time but we're going to chill it for tomorrow because it's JUST as good. We add a little more Balsamic Vinegar than he does but trust me, it's easy and you will really love it! (Recipe can be found HERE)

Our Tivo downloads episodes of The Minimalist and we've tried a few recipes but sometimes the stuff Mark Bittman makes is a little outlandish or out of our comfort zone. Dang New Yorkers. Dangit, now I'm hungry.

Until next time!

Long anticipated update

2009-11-11T22:16:00.006-06:00

I have been negligent and, for that, I am incredibly sorry.

A few weeks ago I stepped onto the scale at 188 pounds. Incredibly awesome!! And then I was back to weighing between 190-194 pounds. Whatever. I'm anxious/nervous because I'm going up to Abbott Northwestern next week for my 6 month check up and I really wanted to be down to 180 (at home) for that. I don't know that I'm doing everything correctly. I don't know if I eat enough protein every day but almost all protein supplements/shakes that I've tried make me gag with disgust. It's frustrating. I'm not drinking enough water, I know that for damn sure. I've been drinking too much coffee as well and I need to start varying my water-coffee intake.

I took a sick day yesterday because I had a really gross, thick cough and felt horrible. I came to the realization that every month around the same time I start feeling really run down & get sickly. I know it has nothing to do with my period because my period has never had that kind of effect on me. It all has to do with my B12 injections each month. I might pick up some sublingual B12 tabs to take between injections. Or I'll just give myself the injections when I start feeling run down (around the 7th). It's no use feeling horrible & tired if I can help it, right?

My hair is falling out. I started taking Biotin (about 4000mcg per day) but I'm not sure if it's doing anything for me yet. Any time I wash my hair is certain to be a depressing time because my hands come out of my hair covered in lose hairs. I could tell my hair was thinning, more so near my temples. To solve this issue I decided to get my hair cut much shorter than I've had. My hair hasn't been this short since I was about 8-9 years old. I'm down to 14/16 (or L) tops and can wear size 16/18 slacks or jeans for the most part. Here's a few updated photos.

A coworker had some stuff going on at home and needed to move from their mobile home to live with her mom. Unfortunately, their cat Skillz couldn't go with them to her mom's house. I convinced Ben that we should at least look at the little guy to see if he would fit in our house. We went over to another coworker's house to see the little guy. He's a big fluffy lover. We took him home with us and he's been with us ever since October 19th. We thought about changing his name but it stuck. Meet Skillz.

He's about 1 1/2 to 2 years old and he's a purebred Lynx Ragdoll. Yes, purebred. My coworker has a friend that raises them and that's where she got him. He has adjusted well except he's still learning to stay off the counters. We have discovered that he really likes bread, enjoys pulling the drain catcher out of the bathroom sink, and is very vocal when he's hungry.

What else? I'm still working on my sister's Christmas present. I was incredibly fortunate to pick up some yarn at the thrift store this weekend. I got some cute Japanese-themed art/music pieces that someone didn't want (their loss, our gain!) that we're going to put up in the living room. They're small but anything is better than the blank wall space we have right now.

My coworker Kelli and I are counting down the days until the opening of New Moon in theaters. I bought our tickets the other night on Fandango.com since they're not selling the tickets ahead of time at the theater. We're going to the 7pm showing and wearing all black. Why all black? We're "mourning" the Bella/Edward relationship. Silly, yes, but it's all good fun.

I'm really tired right now and have had to fight to keep my eyes open while writing this up and posting pics. Perhaps I'll become more active on here again. I've been using Twitter and Facebook a lot more often than usual. I don't have much to wax philosophically about but we'll see. Until next time.

A present for you - PHOTOS!!

2009-10-04T12:32:00.001-05:00

9-13-09

2009-09-13T23:22:00.002-05:00

I suppose I should update a little bit. I don't think I have an updated photo right now.

Yesterday I went to Hobby Lobby to look for yarn for our blanket but of course I couldn't find any. I wound up getting some other supplies. Anyway, I wore size 16 pants and they were comfortable. That's exciting.

I went for a walk on Saturday. I parked at the train depot on Riverfront and walked south down to Sibley Park, turned around at Pride Fest, and walked all the way back. It was great.

Today Ben and I drove up to Mall of America to walk around. We were there for about an hour and it felt really good. Did you know they have a freakin Sanrio store there?! Hello Kitty heaven! Of course we went in - I was in denial for a few moments but Ben demanded we go in. I'm glad we did. I *squweeeeed* many times.

I climbed a bridge!

2009-09-06T15:06:00.002-05:00

We went out hiking at Rasmussen Woods this afternoon. We found 2 caches while we were out. One was by this big bridge and the hint said something about "go up one X" so we figured you had to climb the cross beams. I climbed up but not far; I don't want to fall and break something out in the woods.
Unfortunately, I got tar on my hands and jeans but oh well. It felt great to be out hiking and climbing. I went to Snap Fitness last night and had a good hour long workout. I did 1.5 miles and did a bit with the weight machines. My shirt was quite wet from sweat. I came home and took a bath which was awesomely relaxing.

I have a headache right now and I think it's hunger so I'm going to grab something to eat!

Ben and I in Perham - Aug 16, 2009

2009-09-04T13:38:00.002-05:00

This is all I have time to do right now. I can't remember if I'm standing on a step or not.

EDIT: Had Ben remove the wretched red eye we had going on! I was about 220 pounds here.

Out on the hunt

2009-08-23T22:44:00.003-05:00

Ben and I went geocaching out by Waseca, MN today. On the drive we noticed an airplane doing some aerobatics in the airspace above the Waseca airport. There wasn't an airshow but it was fun to see some of what they were doing.

We sought out 5 caches but only found 4. We suspect one had been muggled (muggled meaning found and tampered with by non-geocachers). It was a little buggy so we doused ourselves with bug spray. To be honest I was very impressed with myself. I barely got winded and we were hiking up and down some incredible inclines. For a while Ben was having a hard time keeping up with me and he said "See, I knew this would happen; that I'd be the one having to keep up with you". My energy levels have been great over the last month or two.

Speaking of that I go up to Minneapolis in Friday for my 3 month Post-Op visit. This morning my weight was 212 pounds which is super awesome. My lowest recorded weight since graduating High School is 209 pounds in mid-2004. The only reason I know this is because I checked back on my history of my Livejournal account from when Sue and I were doing Weight Watchers.

On the way home we saw parachuters so we stopped at the Waseca airport and watched 3 of them land and then a bi-plane went up and was doing all sorts of turns, twists, and stunts. It was quite fun to see. We think there was a private party at the airport or something because there were some folks hanging out under a tent near one of the hangers.

Even after all that exercise today I still felt good enough to mow the lawn and trim around the house. It's a great centering activity and mades me feel really good. I pulled some nasty thistles that were gathering on the northeastern side of the house. They mocked me last time I mowed but this time I had found my gardening gloves and I tore those bitches up! Yea!

I'm not necessarily tired - or maybe I just don't want to be tired - but we're heading to bed shortly here. I'm suffering from "how late can I stay awake?" syndrome which sucks. Thursday night I slept only 2 1/2 hours (5am until 730am) because I could NOT get myself to fall asleep. I slept with my CPAP mask on all week and I think I was getting such great quality sleep for once that I just didn't need as much as usual. It's also been awesomely chilly at night with the windows open and that always makes for better sleeping.

I never did clean out my closet. I'll get to it, I promise!

relaxing day

2009-08-22T11:56:00.003-05:00

I don't quite update this as much as I could. There's not a whole lot that goes on in life to report on.

Watching John Cryer on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. I'm happy that LLS will finally be broadcast in HD starting August 31st. The silliness of the show strikes a chord with me so I enjoy a good giggle when I watch it. My favorite times are when I can say the punch line before Craig can get to it. "Remind you of anyone?" and so on.

I'm going to be cleaning out my closet later this afternoon in a literal sense. Since losing my first 65 pounds I really don't fit in a lot of my clothes. So I am going through the closet and pulling everything that is too ridiculously loose on me now and organizing them into "sell on Ebay" and "donate". Certain things are in no condition to be sold or I definitely konw that the item(s) will not sell on Ebay anyway. I have a lot of fall/winter type clothes to get rid of.

It was a quick week but very busy. I feel fortunate that my company has been busier than others and we've been able to increase sales, etc. This week a coworker in my area was sick 3 of the 5 day week and I was SWAMPED on Thursday. I even stayed late to finish some things up. I was rewarded by being allowed to leave at 5pm instead of 6pm on Friday (I like to think of it as a consequence to staying late Thursday. It was most likely due to overtime).

updatish

2009-08-20T22:08:00.002-05:00

It's been a week since I updated and I don't quite feel like posting photos.

Ben and I went up to Perham this past weekend and all of us kids surprised our parents by all being home for the weekend to help celebrate their wedding anniversary. Their anniversary was actually yesterday, August 19th. 37 years of marriage. Wow. That's dedication and a history of dealing with a LOT of bullshit. It was nice to be up in lake country for a weekend. Ben, Audrey and myself went out to Ottertail Lake and "floated" for a while. It was really hot out and the water was wonderful! I wish we had some nice lakes like that down here. They always seem so scummy.

Work has been very busy lately. What also sucks is that a few people have been sick or out of the building for trainings so we're short staffed on the phones. I stayed an extra 20 minutes just to catch up on a LOT of stuff and I didn't get it all done. I feel disappointed sometimes when that happens.

I need to clean out my closet this weekend - literally. I have too much clothes and I need to weed out what's too big or that I don't wear anymore. Ebay here we come.

OH COME ON...

2009-08-13T23:59:00.001-05:00

Threes

2009-08-09T22:57:00.001-05:00

Now, here's what you're supposed to do...and please do not spoil the fun. Create a new note, copy and paste this message, delete my answers and type in your answers. Then tag a few good friends and family INCLUDING the person who tagged you. The theory is that you will learn a lot of little known things about your friends and family. Have FUN!

THREE NAMES I GO BY
Anna
Mrs. Meyer
Tessa

THREE JOBS I HAVE HAD IN MY LIFE
Dishwasher
School Social Worker
Customer Service Call Center Rep

THREE PLACES I HAVE LIVED-
Perham, MN
North Mankato, MN
Mankato, MN

THREE TV SHOWS THAT I WATCH
How I Met Your Mother
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Ghost Hunters

THREE PLACES I HAVE BEEN
Las Vegas, NV
Orlando, FL
Nassau, Bahamas

THREE PLACES I WANT TO GO
Ireland

UK/W Europe
Japan

THREE OF MY FAVORITE FOODS (BAD)
Chocolate (ANYTHING)
.. shit, this is hard to answer because I can't eat a lot of the bad stuff yet. I'll get back to you on this one.

THREE OF MY FAVORITE FOODS (HEALTHY)
Part-skim Mozzarella string cheese
Prunes (don't knock them until you try them. They're delicious!
Dark chocolate (hah, snuck that in there!)

THINGS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO
Size 16-10
A beautiful Autumn season
New Moon (11-20-09)

THREE PETS THAT YOU HAVE OWNED
3 cats

THREE FRIENDS WHO WILL REPLY
you assume I have that many friends. Bwah.

THREE FAVORITE BANDS/ ARTISTS (at this time)
Adele
Michael Franti & Spearhead [Say Hey (I Love You)]
The TingTings

THREE FAVORITE DRINKS
Water
Coffee
Skim Milk

THREE FAVORITE SMELLS
Coffee
Wilderness (wood, plants, soil, dry leaves)
Burning wood in the winter

THREE FAVORITE MOVIES (off the top of your head)
Office Space
Princess Bride
Super Troopers

A little meme fun

2009-08-09T22:44:00.000-05:00

Getting to know each other. Well, actually, just get to know me... okay?

1. What time did you get up this morning?
around 10:58am. I know, I was pissed that I slept so late, too!

2. How do you like your steak?
Medium

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Forbidden Kingdom (yes, it's been a while!)

4. What is (or are) your favorite TV show(s)?
How I Met Your Mother, Heroes, Ghost Hunters, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
I think I would live here in Mankato but I'd want to be magically closer to the cities and to my family.

6. What did you have for breakfast?
string cheese and 1/2 a pear with coffee

7. What is your favorite cuisine?
Anything fresh & not fried or heavy. However, I DO like Ameri-Mexican food.

8. What foods do you dislike?
Beets, Mussels, and very grissel-y meats.

9. Favorite Place to Eat?
Any place that will serve "fresh" type foods so it doesn't all have to be slathered in grease

10. Favorite dressing?
usually italian or some other blandness like Ranch

11.What kind of vehicle do you drive?
VW Passat

12. What are your favorite clothes?
comfy jeans, camisole or a nice t-shirt. It's hard to have favorites right now because nothing fits.

13. Where would you visit if you got the chance?
(AKA I was able to pay for it) Ireland, Scotland, England, France, Germany, Italy, Greece, and Japan.

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?
3/4 full... I like to rebel

15. Where would you want to retire?
I don't think I'd be able to handle retirement. I hope I'll have children or grandchildren or nieces & nephews to still spoil and vacations to do. I want to retire right here where I am now.

16. Favorite time of day?
Anywhere between 5am and 9am. For some reason, no matter the time of year, that's my favorite time of the day.

17. Where were you born?
Perham, MN

18. What is your favorite sport to watch?
Baseball (go Twins!)

19. Who do you think will not tag you back?
Let's just ignore this because I'm not doing it

20. Person you expect to tag you back first?
Let's just ignore this because I'm not doing it

21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this?
Let's just ignore this because I'm not doing it

22. Bird watcher?
Casually. If there's a bird, I'm bound to watch it at some point or another but I don't own a pair of binocular

23. Are you a morning person or a night person?
I can't quite decide. I can be either to be honest but I'm not a night person and then a morning person immediately after that.

24. Do you have any pets?
yes - two cats

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share?
I'm down to 215 pounds, that's exciting. Ben and I are going up to Perham this weekend (Aug 14-16) to see family - and so Ben can fix a few peoples' computers

26. What did you want to be when you were little?
Honestly a ballerina but then a nurse and then a teacher and then a child development psychologist.

27. What is your best childhood memory?
Playing with my siblings and making home movies.

28. Are you a cat or dog person?
Mostly cat but I don't hate dogs.

29. Are you married?
Yes, happily!

30. Always wear your seat belt?
Yes, always, even in the back seat.

31. Been in a car accident?
Yes but as driver only

32. Any pet peeves?
Oh, many. Of course the turn signal thing. People that chew (food or gum) with their mouth open. Mouth breathers. People that don't say "bye" before hanging up. Incredibly negative people. Text forwards (though I've been sending them along lately)

33. Favorite Pizza Toppings?
I haven't had a pizza with sauerkraut, green olives, and ham for soooo long.

34. Favorite Flower?
Tulips of Pink Lady Slipper

35. Favorite ice cream?
Rocky Road

36. Favorite fast food restaurant?
subway

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test?
0

38. From whom did you get your last email?
Youtube - someone subscribed to my videos

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
Well, what store sells great clothes but also great stuff for your kitchen and the rest of your house? THAT STORE.

40. Do anything spontaneous lately?
I went for a walk this afternoon and got myself a nice sunburn.

41. Like your job?
I honest to God do.

42. Broccoli?
Yes

43. What was your favorite vacation?
When Ben and I went to Orlando in 2008. It was so relaxing and a lot of fun!

44. Last person you went out to dinner with?
Ben, Ben, and Ben.

45. What are you listening to right now?
The music box version of 'Lilium' from Elfen Lied (anime)

46. What is your favorite color?
purple

47. How many tattoos do you have?
two - one on inside right ankle and the other on the middle of my back. I was thinking of my next 2.

48. How many are you tagging for this quiz?
none

49. What time did you finish this quiz?
oh, you know, around that time. You know THAT time, right? Yes, I imagine you do.

50. Coffee Drinker?
Yes but I'm trying to stick to decaf. It's not workin that great.

Lovely silhouette

2009-08-04T23:21:00.003-05:00

I took this just south of Wadena, MN on my drive up to Perham July 24th. I couldn't help but want to take this lovely photo. I wish there were more wind turbine silhouettes out there. You'll want to click the image because the smaller bit just doesn't do it justice.

Ben has gone to bed and I suppose I should follow him, ne? This headache is wicked evil.

Week 8 photos

2009-08-04T22:46:00.004-05:00

Photos indeed.

I have changed shorts because the ones I was wearing were size 22 and were so ill fitting that they were uncomfortable. The ones I am wearing in this photo are size 18 that I got from a coworker. Yay!!

I also cut quite a few inches off of my hair. Do you like it? I almost wish that I had gotten more cut off than less. I caught my reflection in the window walking to the car from Pags on Sunday night and whoa. I'm not used to my profile right now. I don't remember if I posted week 7 shots or not. I must admit that we never took week 9 photos. Oops, right? Oh well. Tomorrow is Wednesday so I suppose that means new pics.

I snapped a quick photo of a coworker on the 24th. It's not the best but she's my twin at work (Same last name and middle initial) and I have her and Brittany to thank for getting me into the Twilight business... and Amelia. I'll play with that photo later since it may need to be resized.

The trouble with guts

2009-08-04T14:16:00.003-05:00

Oh boy. I didn't sleep more than an hour last night. I spent much of my time tossing and turning, trying to find a position that was comfortable in which to cradle my waring tummy/guts. Holy cow I was in pain and discomfort. I called in sick because I was in no shape to concentrate or sit patiently at a desk today. I fell asleep on the couch from 8am until 1pm. The city is working on their mistake they made in the street back in March (tore up the street while "searching" for a broken water main and did a very poor job of patching over it) so all their noise roused me from my napping. It's literally right outside our house - Photos from March. I should go out and take some current pics of what they've done. I'll put on something other than pajamas when I do that.

Anyway, my body is not happy with me right now. I had some very loud percolation earlier. I'm trying not to be too disgusting with this but, to be honest, everyone poops, alright? If you don't you have something quite wrong with you. Ever since surgery it's such a fascinating and interesting thing to me - pooping. Now I've gone off on a tangent.

I never did take a photo of how poorly they patched things up on the street. It slowed some people from speeding down our street and those it didn't slow down it may have messed with their alignment.

melting into a new size

2009-08-03T20:19:00.002-05:00

So yeah I was going to write about stuff.

I sent an email out to my coworkers a few weeks ago saying that I'm shrinking and to let me know if they knew of anyone wanting to unload some size 16-18-20 clothes. At first I got no response but then Tracy brought some stuff in for me to look at and pick through. I picked up about 12 pieces for $20. Then Megan gave me a pair of Gap shorts that fit great. Then we were out at Bob & Sue's house and Sue gave me literally 20 pieces of clothing - shirts and pants/capris. Today Lissa told me she had a whole garbage bag filled with clothing from her sister (who had surgery a year or more ago) and something she picked up at a garage sale over the weekend.

It's all stuff that I can wear/almost wear/will be able to wear. I'm incredibly fortunate for my friends, family, and coworkers!

We had some really yummy food for dinner - Pan-Roasted Chicken with Mushrooms & Rosemary. It was great - as it always is - but now I have the 'stuck' feeling which really sucks. It's progressively gotten worse. Now, it's NO WHERE near as bad as it was when I got the ham or ground beef stuck but it's still irritating and annoying. Maybe I just need to drink something to get a little pressure built up and whoooosh it out. I'm not sure that's a good idea but screw it, you know?

Time for some Craig Ferguson indulgence. I wish he would stop complaining and climb aboard the Twitter wagon.

Stop in a bit

2009-08-03T13:34:00.002-05:00

Haven't written in a while. I should have written last night when I was on a roll with the whole "talky talky" bit that was going on but I knew as soon as I opened a text box to write I would come up blank. That is entirely too frustrating.

I've been reading the 'Twilight' book series. It started by picking up the book at Amelia's house 2 weeks ago when I was up in Perham visiting. I didn't put the book down and therefore didn't sleep Friday night. I'm not complaining though. It was a good read and as soon as I told Kelli and Brittany at work that I had read it Brittany very happily loaned her copies of 'New Moon' and 'Eclipse' to me and Kelli let me borrow her Twilight DVD. She almost made me sign a contract forfeiting my life if anything happened to it. I finished Eclipse this weekend and am waiting for Brittany to bring 'Breaking Dawn' in for me to read. I checked the local library but they have 3 copies which are all out and then are being held after that. I'd go buy them myself but I can wait for the price to slide down.

I played with Ben's iPhone Saturday night and now I want one. It really was only a matter of time before I began to desire it. Since I can't get out of my Sprint contract without a $200 fee I'm going to look at getting a Blackberry Pearl or something like that to tide me over. It would be nice to use a phone that isn't as archaic.

I updated my twittering a little bit. I wasn't doing much with it for quite some time but now I'm getting a bit more into it. I don't think I will post a link here because I don't care all too much.

Unfortunately I must go back to work now. I was slightly stressed out earlier from some sales calls I had to make but they have gone considerably well so far. I have to figure out if we can do an iPhone skin label thing for a guy. Either we can do it for sure or we can not. The channel partner wants US to decide all of this. Argh.

Oh, and I'm down to 220 now which is a 60 pound loss. I'll have to write about all of my inherited clothing later.

Seven weeks after surgery...

2009-07-17T12:02:00.003-05:00

Pre-Op vs Seven weeks Post-Op

My abdominal pooch is almost gone by now. My butt is shrinking, too. I can already see some saggy thigh business going on. I can wear size 18/20 shirts and size 18/20 pants. Most of my jeans/shorts/work pants are so loose that I often find myself pulling them up all day. I have a belt for my shorts and jeans but not for my work pants.

I need to exercise more, that's for sure!

Oh my...

2009-07-13T22:10:00.001-05:00

What? You need a good chuckle? Here you go!

I love the woman with the witch cackle!

Down 50

2009-07-12T23:09:00.003-05:00

Apparently I didn't mention this in my last post but I have lost 50 pounds total so far. I decided to weigh myself this morning since I've been having some interesting times with my guts the past few days which I believe I have figured out. Hopped on the scale and it said 230 pounds! Woohoo!

What does 50 pounds of fat look like? Well, let's see..

What she's holding, not the woman herself... That's 5 pounds so multiply that log by 10.

This Bull Terrier weighs 50 pounds

A literal photo... Crazy, huh? I think it is! It's like a 40 pound bag of softener salt and a 10 pound bag of flour. Yuck and I was carrying that around?! No wonder I was always tired.

Saturday I ordered a chicken bacon club sandwich at The Cheesecake Factory and asked for no French Fries. The waitress asked me if I wanted mashed potatoes instead or vegetables. I asked if they had any fresh fruit and she said no. I told her "well, I'll just have the sandwich, no sides please" and left it at that. Who the hell am I? I would never have control like that in the past unless I was flooded with remorse afterword!

Much has been done

2009-07-12T11:57:00.007-05:00

My digital scale came in the mail yesterday and I tried it out last night. It seems like it's the same size as a Kindle! It measures grams, fluid ounces, pounds/ounces, and milliliters (which seems odd). So far I like it. I'm hoping that the mortar/pestle set comes in the mail today, er, I mean tomorrow since it's Sunday.

We spent the day up in Burnsville/Bloomington helping our friends Andy & Holly move into their rented house. We moved about 90% of the furniture. The boys did most of the moving and Holly and I "supervised" as all good women should! Plus, it's not like we can lift antique furniture; we needed strong men for that!

We had lunch from Jimmy Johns. Holly has also had gastric bypass surgery a few years ago so she and I cut a tuna sandwich into 3rds; I had 1/3, she had 1/3 and then she had 1/3 as a left over for the next day or something. For dinner we went to Cheesecake Factory which, in the back of my mind, made me slightly sad. Here I am, post-surgery and we're at Cheesecake Factory. I can't have any cheesecake unless I want to be miserable for the rest of the night. it took me about 5 minutes of thinking about it and then I got over it. I had a few bites of the warm bread they had at the table - it was SO yummy! I ordered the Chicken Bacon club and ate about half of it. I swear they put about 1 whole tomato on there! I took the other half home and later that evening cut it all up and had it as a "salad". It was pretty good. I guess one good thing about us RNY-ers: we're cheap dates!

We went out and Ben bought a few new pair of cargo shorts. The ones he has are pretty beat up and stained or have holes. I picked up some Peri-Colace stool softener because the combination of iron and calcium being added to my regimine is making me feel constipated and that sucks :(

Pouch dislikes, new purchases, and clothes sizes

2009-07-04T12:09:00.003-05:00

I know they say that meats in a slow-cooker are typically really good for RNY patients or even LapBand patients because it makes the meat tender and moist. That, however, is not a fact for me. I've had ham and I've had pork ribs made in a slow-cooker and both times caused me some considerable pain and retching. Last night wasn't NEARLY as bad as the ham was but enough to give me some discomfort. Once I sipped a little water it seemed to clear away and I felt much better. I'm hoping that I do better with the kabobs tonight.

We've been looking for a few kitchen items lately:

A porcelain mortal and pestle set (pretty small, like 2" diameter)
A digital kitchen scale that measures grams/ounces

We looked all over town for the mortal and pestle and the only place that sells them is Wal Mart and the one they have is a real crappy ceramic bowl with wooden pestle (lame). The digital scales are also between $25-35 for a really good one but I did find one for 1¢ less than $20.00 on Amazon.com, hehe. We've decided to look there for the items and so far this is what I've found: Mortar and Pestle set of 3 and Kintrex Digital Kitchen Scale. I was so excited to have found them I just ordered them and they should be here in a few days/weeks. I will definitely post what I think of them after they arrive and am able to try them out a little.

Yesterday I was wearing size 22 shorts. Today I am comfortably wearing size 18 jeans WITH A BELT. I think it's kinda ridiculous though because they're loose. In the past these jeans were usually tight around the thighs and abdomen but I've lost quite a few inches and they fit well now. The only part I don't like is that they're flare jeans. I'm going to be sailing through sizes even more through the next few months.

Ben and I cleaned the heck out of the house yesterday from 9am until 3pm - a good 6 hours of mowing, dusting, cleaning, vacuuming, fixing beds, organizing and such. But our house is awesomely clean now which hasn't been done for several several several months. That's totally disgusting. Oh well, relatives are on their way so I best put the computer away :)

Five Weeks Post-Op photo

2009-07-02T13:33:00.002-05:00

I'm home on lunch so I postpone no longer!! My 5 week photo.

Holy crap, right?

And now to go figure out what to have for lunch.. Hrmm...

I gave misinformation

2009-07-01T22:39:00.003-05:00

Okay, there is a falsehood in the previous post. I will not be posting pics tonight. However, this morning when I weighed in I was 235 pounds which is 45 pounds down from the 280 I started out at.

Once I get down to 220 I will no longer be Obese; I will then be categorized as Overweight. That's incredible! My BMI at the start was 51.2 and now it's 31.9 so it's gone down almost 20 whole 'points'. I've been losing an average of 5.75 pounds per week since surgery. As you can tell I've been charting this. I am an ultimate geek!

Tomorrow is fake Friday and then I'm off for 3 days. The Meyer clan is coming up from Iowa which will be really fun since I don't think we've seen them since our wedding 4 years ago. I feel like I'm repeating myself which is odd.

Pill popping!

2009-06-30T22:51:00.004-05:00

I wasn't expecting them to arrive until Friday and Monday but I got both my calcium and iron pills today in the mail! I'm really happy they're here but incredibly intimidated by them. Check it out...

This is my Iron pill, 65mg. It shouldn't be a problem since it's teeny

This, however, is a shot of two things; the two scary things to be honest. On the right we have two of my calcium citrate pills - they're 315mg each (horse pills, if you will). On the left you have two calcium citrate pills cut up so my pouch can manage them.

Here is a peek at my medication caddy that I keep in my purse. I realize now that it might not be big enough but whatever. I will point out what's there. Top Left: 2 calcium pills. Top Right: 2 cut up calcium pills. Bottom Left:3 100mg Welbutrin pills cut in half, one 10mg Lexapro tab. Bottom Right: 2 miltivitamins, 1 iron pill.

I'm missing 2 more calcium pills but I figure I should be okay with what's in there for now. I put my pill cutter in my purse so I always have it.
Here's a run down of my meds daily.

Morning

Chewable multivitamin (1)
Two of the calcium citrate pills after breakfast (2)

Sometime between "morning" and "afternoon I will take the following which are usually pretty simple to take

3 pills that are 100mg each of Welbutrin, cut in half for now (3)
10mg of Lexapro (half a pill)

Afternoon

Two more calcium citrate pills after lunch (2)

Evening

Two more calcium citrate pills after dinner (2)
Much later I will take my Iron pill which is 65mg (1)
Chewable multivitamin (1)

If I count right that's 13 pills per day. SIGH but I knew this going into it so I can't complain. I am looking at some 100% calcium citrate powder that a fellow RNYer told me about. 10oz for $10.00 and you can get 94 servings out of 10oz! Amazing! I might get some so I can vary between pills and powder.

Tomorrow I get to weigh myself which is SO exciting and we take 5 week photos. Wow, 5 weeks already! We'll try to take them earlier on in the evening so they're posted at night instead of the next day or two days later. I know my adoring fans wanna know! I'm really glad we're taking pictures every week.

relaxing day

2009-06-28T14:05:00.002-05:00

I haven't been up to Perham since late December 08. Ben hasn't been up there since... I think summer of 2008 or even January 2008. That's sad.

Ben and my mom have been emailing back and forth about her computer crapping out so we're thinking of going up there mid-August around the 15th. You hear that, mom?! Don't make any plans to go somewhere because we'd like to see everyone!

My hair dryer died this past week. I've actually been having dreams about hair dryers so I really think I need to go buy one. I'm toying with the idea of buying a digital scale. I don't 100% trust our old spring scale.

I just read that Billy Mays died early this morning. Someone said heart attack. Some pretty high profile people have been passing away as of late. I downloaded (yes, I paid for them) some Michael Jackson songs earlier and am enjoying listening to them this afternoon. I forgot how good a lot of his music is.

Bonus photos!!

2009-06-27T13:11:00.003-05:00

Here are some bonus comparisons. I'm really enjoying using Microsoft Office Picture Manager. I really like being able to crop photos with ease.

You can really see a difference everywhere, especially my neck, shoulders, upper arms, and my butt/thighs!

Now, a little of this one is that it seems the 2nd photo was taken a little further away but you still get the same idea. Those shorts require a belt now.

In other news I really need a hair cut.

Week 4

2009-06-25T21:43:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was 4 weeks since surgery. I'm just going to cut to the chase and get to the picture posting! To be honest, I was surprised when I put these next to one another...

So that's 20 pounds gone since surgery. The day of surgery I was 258 pounds. Two days this week I had to wear a belt with my shorts because my underwear was otherwise peaking out.

This Saturday is my upcoming 1 month anniversary. I'll take photos but I'm not sure if I'll post them. We'll see.

We've been going for walks the past few nights and it feels really good. I think I need new shoes, though, because my feet sort of hurt and I feel like I'm getting a blister on my right big toe. Ouch.

quite a weekend

2009-06-21T23:05:00.003-05:00

Oh boy. It's been a busy last 5 days so I'm going to write this and then go to bed.

I went back to work on Wednesday. I worked the full day. Thursday I felt completely drained and SO very tired so I went home at 1pm. Friday was a much better day. I wasn't drinking enough water and wasn't getting enough protein so no wonder I felt really run down!

Ben's brother, Andy, is visiting this weekend/week for their cousin Jaime's wedding on Saturday. Thursday night we went out with the whole family (Bob, Sue, Andy, Ben and myself) to Pagliai's for pizza. I, of course, only ate the toppings and they were delicious! We then went out to B&S's house and talked in the screened porch out back.

Friday I worked and then went out to B&S's again for dinner. We made kabobs which were really yummy (see Busy and More Busy post by Bob). After getting dishes done we parked our butts around the bonfire and chatted/bs'd all night until nearly midnight.

Saturday morning I met up with a few other weight loss surgery people from two websites I frequently post on for message boards. I met Craig and his wife Linda and then I also met 4 other people from the OH website. Craig, Linda, and I had a photo taken together. Craig had his RNY surgery 18 months ago and his wife had hers 3 1/2 months ago. They had a different surgeon than I but all 3 of us had our surgery done at Abbott Northwestern in Minneapolis.

Later in the day Saturday we went to Northfield for Jaime (Ben's cousin) and Adam's wedding. It was a very nice (short) ceremony and then reception in Northfield. We got to spend a lot of time chatting and watching people dance, etc. We got home around 9:30pm.

Since Ben didn't have to work Sunday we drove up to Minneapolis and went to the Twins vs. Astros ball game at 1pm with Andy. We sat in the cheap seats (upper deck, between center and left field) but it was TONS of fun! Andy took a pic of us with his iPhone.

After the game the parking ramp was stupidly packed so we decided to go to an early dinner at Sawatdee Thai restaurant which was a few blocks down. Unfortunately, I ate too fast and didn't chew well enough and ended up with a very angry/sad pouch. I hurt probably for an hour to an hour and a half. Yup, Anna will be paying MUCH more attention when eating. It felt like swallowing an ice cube that doesn't melt (and that's cold). My throat and esophagus also felt like it was packed with cotton. It was a horrible experience and I plan to avoid it in the future.

We came home and watched Tropic Thunder. It was okay but I expected it to be much funnier. Oh well. Yikes, it's 11:30pm already! Too bad it's Monday tomorrow. It feels like the weekend was jam packed with fun stuff to do.

3 week update

2009-06-16T21:58:00.003-05:00

My 3 week appointment went well. I have lost 11 pounds since surgery and my weight loss since April is 16% of my excess weight which puts me right smack dab in the middle of "normal" for after the procedure. I get to start my calcium citrate and iron supplement now and I received a prescription and instructions for my B12 injections. I don't have to do another one of those until August.

I was so wiped out after the driving yesterday. I fell asleep a few times in the livingroom and then fell asleep a few times again in the office while watching Ben play Sims 3. I slept pretty well, too.

I go back to work tomorrow. I'm glad to go because I'm sick of being home and not doing anything and thinking about the hours of pay I'm missing out on (let's just say budget is super tight right now). On the other hand I know I'm going to get tired really fast these first few days. I know I can ask to go home early if I need to but I sort of feel like that sucks. I'll do what I have to I guess.

On Saturday morning I'm going to St. Peter to meet up with a few post-op people in the area for coffee. I'm really looking forward to it. It's hard to talk to people who have never had the surgery because they're not sure what you're going through. People keep asking me if I've been throwing up. Throwing up IS NOT NORMAL. There, I said it.

I'm very hormonal right now because of PMS and probably a little bit because of the weight loss. I think I forgot to take my meds one of the days, too, so that doesn't help. I feel uncomfortable and fatigued these last few days and that sucks. Oh well!

almost 3 weeks now

2009-06-14T23:04:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow I go to my surgeon's office for my 3 week update. I meet with my surgeon's nurse (surgeon's busy) at 2pm and then I meet with the Nutritionist at 2:30pm. I know the nutritionist is probably going to harp at me about getting more protein in. I really hate the taste of protein powders and, to be honest, we do not have the money to go out and buy a bunch of different ones. It'll be about a 170 mile round-trip tomorrow but I'm glad to be going by myself though. I like driving alone sometimes.

Tonight I consumed a can of tuna with miracle whip + mustard and 1/4 of a Flat-out whole wheat wrap. I can feel that my pouch is full but I'm not in pain. I had the "my throat is full" feeling but it's gone away now.

I cheated and stepped on the scale this evening. I was at 243 on my scale. I'm going to weigh myself before leaving tomorrow and then see what their scale says. That way I can figure out if ours is off or not. Ben says it looks like my calves have gotten smaller and I think they might have. My tummy definitely has and maybe my hips/thighs a little less than that.

I do have a few non-scale victories to report!
The other night I was wearing some jean shorts that fit *perfectly* before surgery. I stood up in the livingroom while my husband was sitting on the couch and said "watch". I then proceeded to pull my shorts off without unzipping or unbuttoning them! Woohoo!!

We were out geocaching (www.geocaching.com for more info) on Thursday 6/11 because we wanted to do something to celebrate our wedding anniversary (Woo, 4 years!). We were tracking down a 12-part multi-cache and my husband told me I had some dirt on my t-shirt by my stomach. I looked down but didn't see anything and then I realized I couldn't see my tummy by just looking down! I'm so used to being able to look down and see my tummy since it would stick out a little farther than my boobs. I had to move my boobs out of the way just to see my tummy!

Yeah, and my underwear is pissing me off - feels probably a size or two too large right now =\ but yay! LOL
I tried on my swimsuit today and a few tops I have that I haven't been able to wear for about a year. Most of them fit! A few need a couple more weeks and then I'll be able to wear them.

This cost how much?!

2009-06-12T23:13:00.003-05:00

I decided to check out my insurance claims to see if I could get an idea of the cost of my surgery.

Roughly, with the surgery and anesthesia, the cost came out to $46,000. This does not include the doctor visits prior to surgery which probably comes out to close to $1,000 (blood labs, xrays, etc).

I have four words for this: THANK GOD FOR INSURANCE!!!

Happy Anniversary

2009-06-11T17:18:00.005-05:00

To us!!! Today is our four year wedding anniversary!! We were married at the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Mankato, MN on June 11, 2005.

To celebrate we did laundry, dishes, and went out to work on a 12-part multi-geocache. We're up to #9 right now. We might finish tomorrow. It's a lot of fun and it's one that is all around the Mankato area at interesting spots.

For now I need to get some food in my tummy. The protein shake I had for breakfast is holding me over quite well but we picked up some bananas, fat free refried beans, and some cheese to melt on top. We're grilling some chicken breasts this evening to have in the freezer on hand. That'll be so very helpful for the both of us.

Poor Simon

2009-06-10T01:28:00.004-05:00

I forgot to write about this on my other post.

On Friday night the cats were fight-playing in the basement. This is nothing unusual. Afterword Simon came up and was lifting his lip kind of weird and licking a lot. We picked him up and looked and he had blood in his mouth.. and he was missing a tooth! My poor little guy! Unfortunately, it was his snaggle tooth that often peaks out of his mouth - the front upper left canine I su pposeyou would call it. I guess now he really HAS to have soft food.

I was gonna grab a photo but maybe tomorrow. He doesn't seem to be in pain at all. I went down to the basement and I found the tooth. It looked like it had been decaying anyway so I'm sure it probably just fell right on out during play. When we took him to the vet for an injury he somehow got on his front paw, they wanted to remove 4 teeth. One of them pretty much fell right out. They had to knock him out to do it because he was squirming all over the damn place.

Amelia and Tony stopped here Monday night on their way back home from Missouri/Arkansas. Simon was absolutely terrified of Tony and Mena was, of course, her social self.

Weekly pics

2009-06-09T22:54:00.003-05:00

Here they are! The weekly progress photos. This first one is Week one (June 1, 2009) compared to Week Two (June 8, 2009). No, I did not shrink vertically. My butt is starting to disappear. I just checked the scale and I'm about 244/245 pounds right now.

When I put those photos together I thought "well, that's not much of a change". Then I compared present with pre-op. Oh yes, quite the change!!!

This is my Pre-Op photo on the left, taken May 18, 2009 (at about 271 pounds) and the one on the right is my 2 week Post-Op taken June 8, 2009 (I guess around 245 pounds). That's a difference of 26 pounds. Let's keep in mind that the date of my surgery I was 258 pounds.

As it stands I'm 120 pounds away from my goal weight of 125 pounds. I have to lose half of the weight I'm at right now. Then when I get down to that I can bounce between 125 and 136 which is in the "normal" range of BMI for my height of 5'2".

I went for a walk today that took an hour. I stopped by some nice bench swings by the clinic and sat and rested for about 15 minutes. Later when Ben got home we went for another walk to check out the construction in our area.

I got to have peanut butter today! Mmmm! We have a bunch of jam but it's not sugar free :( so I don't dare try to eat it. Sugar will not be a good thing for me. I had a really small (and cute) slice of mushroom pizza that Ben ordered for dinner. It went down fine and I still feel good. It was DELICIOUS, too :) I made some Cheesy Broccoli soup and added in some frozen veggies we had in the freezer. I think I'll buy a bag or two of frozen cauliflower to blend up and pretend they're mashed potatoes. Mmm hmmm.

A lesson on gastric bypass

2009-06-09T14:01:00.002-05:00

A lot of people have asked me what procedure I had done. It sounds to me like a lot of peoples' impressions of gastric bypass are still back in the 50s with stomach stapling. They ask how many staples I have and if they get removed eventually, etc. I put a graphic showing what my insides look like now or at least my assumption of how they are arranged.

The proximal pouch is now my stomach and it can hold about 2-4 ounces (1/4 to 1/2 cup) of food. I am not supposed to drink 30 minutes before or 30 minutes after a meal because the liquid will pretty much flush out whatever I've eaten. There's really no place for food to hang out and be digested.

After the food leaves my pouch, it goes into the portion of small intestine that was attached and heads down to the rest of the intestines. At the same time, the stomach that was separated still makes the stomach acid and digestive juices that will be needed. It travels down that portion of intestine to meet up with the rest of the small intestine. This "joint" is where the Y in Roux en Y comes from. Here's a video to help illustrate what I'm talking about:

Too early on a Monday

2009-06-08T00:04:00.002-05:00

I'll be posting some comparison photos tomorrow evening. So far the scale says 245 pounds. Woo!

Today I made and ate a scrambled egg! I had one for lunch and then I had another for dinner with no dumping issues. I chewed the hell out of those things and it tasted SO good with the salt and pepper on them. I should go out and pick up some fat free refried beans tomorrow because I can have those extremely soon as well!!! I'll have to look at my list before leaving in case there's something else I want to pick up. I'm going to try mixing cottage cheese and salsa. I'm jealous of Ben though. He grilled a steak tonight and made potatoes lyonaise. It smelled so dang delicious. We also have some 'scoops' that Ben's eating with the salsa. I love mexican food, I really do. Tacos, burritos, enchilladas, chimichangas, omg. Right now I miss them. I want to munch on those chips SO dang bad. I want something from Subway so dang bad. I want bread and meat. But noooo. I can't have that yet. *whine*

I suppose a really cool positive about this surgery is that I eat so little that things last a super long time. I think the only thing I've had to restock was pudding and popcicles. Oh, and the popcicles we got at Wal Mart earlier this week are POO. I don't quite like them and unfortunately we have 2 boxes of them. Oh well, I guess I'll manage.

Tony and Amelia are taking a pit stop at our house tomorrow evening. They did a road trip down to Arkansas and then to Missouri. Our cousin Steve graduated from law school and they went down to celebrate with some of the family. From some of their photos it looks like it's been a good trip so far. I guess I should work on cleaning up the house and the guest room tomorrow. I'm really hoping it's nice out because I want to wash the sheets but I also want to hang them outside to dry. It probably won't be that nice out but we'll see. It's supposed to storm tonight and that's exciting! It rained kinda hard earlier which is also exciting. We really need the moisture. We actually turned the furnace on today because it was so chilly out. Seriously, it's June 7th and it was 52 degrees out today and yesterday. WHAT?!

Because religion is funny...

2009-06-03T11:27:00.001-05:00

Comparison pic

2009-06-01T22:42:00.002-05:00

I think I'm getting the hang of how to use some of my photo programs that came with MS Vista. Yeah, I hear your booing - shut up. To be honest, if I was more competent with a Mac I would want one. But I digress. We took some comparison pics tonight of full body shots. Below I am comparing the side view. The left is from May 18, 2009. This is the day before I started my liquid diet and pre-op. The right side is from today, June 1, 2009 and I am now 5 days out from surgery. Roughly it's 271 pounds vs about 250 pounds.

Wow, right?! Now with the shorts I can't tell if it's legit or if it's because I've been wearing them a lot since surgery because they're rather comfy. Either way, they've gotten slightly roomy.

I want this to become a weekly type of post.

What a difference losing about 30 pounds can make!!

2009-06-01T14:02:00.005-05:00

The January photo is from before I started losing weight. I was at 280 pounds.

January 20, 2009

This June pic is after 1 month on a carb counting diet (lost 10 pounds), the one week liquid diet I did (lost 12 pounds) and then whatever other weight I lost after my gastric bypass surgery Wednesday, May 27th 2009.

June 1, 2009

A difference? Well, you tell me!!

Guessing game

2009-06-01T13:50:00.005-05:00

It was cruel to be in the hospital right after surgery knowing that I probably won't be able to eat "real food" for a good 4-6 weeks. The staff would distribute breakfast and lunch and I know I saw some salads and turkey sandwiches, etc. So when my lunch arrived I was confused.

Hmmm, what could possibly be hidden under this dome? I know I could only have clear liquids. Why would they torture me by walking around with all of this "real food" and then bring me something covered without any indication of what it might be. To be honest, I wasn't necessarily hungry but that wasn't the point. So, with Ben by my side, I decided to lift the cover...

Oh... All this production for a little cup of cream of chicken soup / chicken broth? We got a good chuckle out of it. And look!! They even gave me silverware! How thoughtful.

Whew I'm tired

2009-05-31T16:37:00.003-05:00

If it wasn't for how fatigued I constantly am, I could probably manage going back to work this upcoming Wednesday. What's holding me back the most is not having any energy what-so-ever and being wiped out after a 10 minute stop at the grocery store or a 30 minute car ride. I didn't realize how much calories really do fuel us! 300 calories is by no means enough!

Ben's making his tortellini soup tonight and it smells BLESSED!!! We sat outside on the front steps for a few minutes to enjoy the weather and it started to rain lightly. We were watching the ants scramble over the front cement slab when I saw two ants facing one another and then one picked up something white. I pointed it out to Ben and he asks, "hey, is that my thumbnail?!" Indeed it looked just like a bit of torn off thumbnail!! We watched it make its way all the way until it got under my car. Man ants are strong!

I mixed about 6oz of cranberry juice with my water this afternoon to get a little more flavor in. It tastes pretty good and is making my afternoon pill taking more tolerable. For being on supplements I'm not really taking that many right now. I know in 2 weeks when I go for my follow-up visit I will have to talk about calcium supplement, B12 injections, and possibly iron. It all depends on blood work and all that stuff.

How it all went

2009-05-29T16:56:00.002-05:00

Well, we got up at 3am the day of surgery. We left the house maybe around 3:40am and arrived at Abbott Northwestern Piper building around 5:15am. In the waiting room there was this guy that was very overweight with another guy and a woman. It sounded like the woman was having surgery but all the overweight guy could talk about was going to McDonald's for breakfast *rolls eyes*

Anyway, I was called back and weighed (I lost 12 pounds during my one week liquid diet which was fantastic!!). I got all changed and all that fun stuff. My nurse was on the older end but I asked her and she said she has worked at Abbott for 30 years. Wow!! They made me do an EKG which was nothing. They took 2 vials of blood from me. I met the anesthesiologist and his student/intern guy and also the anesthesia nurse. It was the most painfree IV I have had put in. Dr. Drew came in around 7:20am and "initialed" my tummy (it's still there!). I was given the lovely relaxer and wheeled into surgery. I only remember them putting the O2 mask on me but I was out from there on.

I woke up in recovery with a pain around 5-6 but they gave me something and that made me feel lots better. Ben said that I was out of surgery and recovery and into my room by 11:30am. He stayed with me for nearly the whole afternoon and didn't leave until around 6pm. He stayed with some friends of ours in Burnsville. They had me sipping water by 4 or 5pm or something like that. I know they wanted me to do one small medicine cup each hour. I took my time and did really well with it. My level of pain hovered around 3-4 on a scale of 1-10.

My surgeon came by around 6:00am Thursday morning to see how I was. He said again that everything went great and that I could go home. I had breakfast (chicken broth, milk, and chocolate milk) and then I also had lunch later on (chicken broth, milk, and jello). The jello didn't taste good so I didnt eat it. I have a hilarious picture about breakfast that I'll have to post. I got my bag of SWAG that I should have gotten had I gone to the pre-op class. Ben and I left at 2pm and drove home. It took 2 hours to get home since traffic was a little heavy on 35W. I napped for a little when we got home and was awake for most of the rest of the time.

I slept in our bed last night which felt great with my back. I went to bed around 10pm and hooked up my cpap and I took a percoset and fell asleep without much pain. I woke up around 3am needing another dose and then slept straight through until 11am. I am just slightly sore right now. It's partially gas and having the feeling of being backed up. The other part is feeling the soreness.

I took a shower with my husband earlier and he washed my hair for me, etc. It was really nice and I felt SO much better afterword. I have two nightgowns that I got when I had my gall bladder removed and they still fit (imagine that) and I've been wearing that so far. Very comfortable. I'm excited because I just finished one 16oz bottle of water PLUS having soup and some soy milk on top of that. It's incredibly exciting that I'm able to get more fluids in. The most important part of the next few weeks is getting my liquids in.

I have my post-op check up on Monday, June 15th at 2pm with Dr. Drew and then 2:30 meeting with Liz the dietician. At that point I'll probably start my calcium citrate and B12 injections.

Countdown

2009-05-26T11:15:00.003-05:00

Surgery is tomorrow. I'm having a hard time entertaining myself today. I'm doing laundry but I'm still incredibly bored. We're leaving in the morning around 4am so that we arrive by 5:30am for intake. Surgery at 7:30am. Whew. I'm nervous but I'm not having an anxiety attack or anything. I just need to make sure to drink all sorts of clear liquids to keep my hydration up.

Memorial Day

2009-05-25T15:55:00.003-05:00

Dude, what the heck?!

I wonder about the whole squirrel thing, I really do.

Ben and I went out and did a few geocaches around the area today. I'm really tired but I should be. I slept about 6 hours and, from the point of breakfast until now I have had:
-8oz Light Soy Milk (50 cals, 6g protein)
-Vanilla Whey Isolate Powder - 1 scoop (112 cals, 26g protein)
-Four frozen strawberries (30 cals, 0g protein)
-Four SF puddings (60 cals each, 2g protein each = 240 cals, 8g protein)
-One SF jello (10 cals, 1g protein)
--Total = 442 calories, 41g protein

I still have my shake for later in the day plus whatever else. I need to hit 80g of protein each day. Maybe I'll have a shake now and then have one late tonight to make sure I hit it. I could use some extra cals and protein after all the running around today. We still have to go out and get more cat food and such.

I'm not so sure about leaving the cats alone for damn near 2 days without supervision for feeding. They're used to being fed wet food about 4x per day (1/2 can each time). We're going to see if we can find some softer bagged cat food for them. Simon's teeth aren't the best so he can't chew the hard food - he gobbles it instead. And then, most likely, he throws it up a little while later.

Happy Memorial Day. Thank you to everyone in all branches of the Military

Long weekend

2009-05-23T12:47:00.003-05:00

Well, it's May 23rd. Four days before surgery and day Five of liquid diet.

By Wednesday evening I was pretty used to the whole liquids only idea. Ben can now eat around me without me wanting to tackle him and steal it. I'm not craving the bread or cheese right now which is such a relief. This morning the scale said I was even closer to having lost the 10 pounds my surgeon requires so I figure 3 more days will really help. On Sunday or Monday we're going to have to pick up body wash, some food stuffs like instant flake potatoes, cream of wheat, cottage cheese, and maybe some yogurt of some kind. Oh, and Magnesium Citrate. I'm trying to review all of my food guidelines so that I can write something up and post in the kitchen so we aren't clueless when it comes to... well, feeding me. LOL.

Ben and I went out to Seven Mile Creek park yesterday after I got home from work to do a little geocaching. We found one multi cache but we didn't find the next one we looked for. It was a really nice to walk/hike along the trails. I thought I would have felt really worn out but it felt really good afterword. I have a scratch on my left arm that itches.

I was going to mow the lawn today but it's rather wet out right now. Due to some family health issues, we won't be hanging out with the relatives from Iowa this weekend. Maybe I'll go outside and hang out in the nature of it all. I slept in until 11am when Simon meowed at me for 10 minutes straight.

HUGE UPDATE!!!

2009-05-18T13:30:00.003-05:00

Date change!!!

I got a call from my surgeon's office today while I was at work. Someone pulled out of their surgery date and I was given the option of taking it... SO I TOOK IT!

I will now be having surgery on
WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 2009 AT 7:30AM!

Quibbles

2009-05-17T09:24:00.003-05:00

It seems like Sunday is the day I post my updates.

I had a horrible head cold this past week which kept me home from work part of Wednesday and Thursday and Friday. I was a mess on Thursday and by Saturday morning I was mostly cleared up. We had some friends over last night for grilling and a bonfire. It was a lot of fun but I'm finding that my throat is sore this morning. Ben must've had a beer too many because I heard him up during the night taking something and he's still in bed. Usually he's the first up. Ah, I hear him up now.

Today is one month until my surgery. I have two weeks before I start my liquid diet and then about 18 days after that I have my surgery. Which means... if I'm going to go out to 'celebrate' or have a celebratory meal, now would be the time for it - the sooner the better. I don't plan to gorge or anything but I know that there are A LOT of foods that I won't be able to eat until 6 or more months out. I think I'm past the mourning part of not being able to eat certain things.

I leave you with this adorable face:

sick day

2009-05-13T16:16:00.002-05:00

I had written something up earlier but I guess I cleared the screen or something and lost it all. My mind is quite foggy right now so I don't know what I wrote about. I went home sick from work because my head feels like it's going to explode. I picked up Ben's cold and my head is really swimmy.

I stopped at Vitamin World in the mall earlier. I had to get the hell out of the house and I felt like I was waiting way too dang long to get some pre/post surgery supplies. I picked up some Vanilla flavored Whey Protein Isolate Powder. It will be exciting to try it tomorrow.

I'm watching an episode of "Wife Swap" and it's a very conservative family (Mennonite) and a punk rock family. ... Wow. The punk rock mom doesn't care about her kids and is totally focused on her and her husband's band. The kids even get themselves out of bed, fed, and ready for school. The Mennonite wife does ALL of the house work and it's freaking punk rock mom out. Oye. I think some people try really hard to impose their beliefs on others instead of talking and learning about one another.

You won't believe it...

2009-05-07T13:40:00.000-05:00

I'm home on my lunch break so this is extremely quick!!!!!

I just had to come home and share this!!! I called insurance this morning and they said I had been approved. I called the surgeon's office but the girl that usually does the scheduling doesn't work Thursdays. I left her a VM to call me ASAP on Friday.

I got a call 45 minutes later from another girl that apparently does scheduling and I have my date!!!!

Wednesday, June 17, 2009 at 1pm at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in St. Paul!

What a weekend!

2009-05-03T19:13:00.004-05:00

Holy crap there's something wrong with me. I have been going nonstop this weekend. Let us recap!

Saturday...

I did all of the dishes in the kitchen
I swept the kitchen then scrubbed it on hands-and-knees (good 'ol mom style!)
I cleared all the crap off of the kitchen and dining room tables
I cleaned the ceiling fan in the kitchen - oh that was just gross
I wiped down all of the kitchen chairs and the kitchen table
I cleaned my CPAP mask
I re-organized the bookshelf in the sunroom and dusted everything in there
Dusted the bedroom
Helped Ben put some extra chairs in the basement

Then there's today...

I started laundry and hung some outside
Put things back where they need to be in the basement from the water heater fiasco
Pulled dandelions from the front and backyard
Raked up the old leaves in the backyard
Went to Kwik Trip and got some motor oil for the lawn mower
Mowed the lawn
Watered the lawn and flowers
Transplanted the Aloe Vera from one pot to 4 pots
Sent out invitations on Facebook for my Scrapbooking party next Saturday
Talked to our neighbor Margaret
Went geocaching for about 2 hours with Ben - did multi-caches only!
Ate at Blue Bricks - mmmmmm

Now we're home and relaxing. My legs are all scratched up but I don't really care. I had a lot of fun this weekend and I feel good because I accomplished something. I'm glad I was able to focus my impatient energy on something instead of going stir crazy. It really turned out to be an absolutely beautiful day!

A hunting I may go

2009-05-02T16:16:00.006-05:00

I want to go Morel hunting. The daytime temps need to be in the 60s and nighttime no lower than 40s then it's time to hunt. For instance, it's supposed to be about 40 tonight and mid60s tomorrow. I may pop out to the in-laws tomorrow to poke around a little bit.

I have read that you should look in stream and river beds, wooded areas, around fallen timber that has been decaying, and to not forget to look within brambles and thick underbrush. The recommended equipment is a potato or onion bag (to allow the mushrooms you've picked to spread their spores), a walking stick, and appropriate hiking-around-the-woods clothing/shoes. A coworker told me that you should go mid-morning when it's still cool out but not too hot because they will wilt in the hot sunlight.

I went through the shelves in my closet this afternoon and pulled out stuff I don't wear, things that are too damaged/hole-ridden to wear, and items that are too small for me right now. I also pulled some things off hangers and folded everything. I will concentrate on laundry either later tonight or tomorrow. I got some things accomplished but they were small things. I made a HUGE list of things to do so we'll see what gets done. I have little bursts of energy here and there.

ah, the weekend

2009-05-01T22:43:00.003-05:00

I didn't call insurance today. I can wait until Monday.

I need to do some serious cleaning this weekend because next weekend is my scrapbooking party! Saturday, May 9th at 10am at my house! I'm excited for it and it should be fun. The house needs a REALLY good cleaning anyway and this is the perfect time for it. I really need to transplant

I plan on mowing the lawn this weekend as well. I am SO freakin excited to mow the lawn you really have no idea. I really have nothing much else going on. Sue and I were talking about transplanting some raspberries to our back yard. A friend told me that you shouldn't plant red and black raspberries near each other because there is something to do with plant diseases and spreading. Hmmm.

I'm way too impatient

2009-04-29T21:59:00.002-05:00

I talked to the insurance people today. They received my information and are "reviewing" it. I was given a number to call later in the week to check on the status again. I feel like throwing myself to the floor and rolling around and having a tantrum. It's stupidly annoying.

Another step closer

2009-04-27T13:41:00.003-05:00

I talked to my surgeon's office this morning around 10:30am and they have all of my information and she said that she would be submitting it to insurance within the next hour!! Thanks Katy!!!

I have Medica Health Partners so they've said that it usually takes about 2 weeks to get approval. I'm hoping I hear by the end of this week but I will try my hardest to be patient!!!! I asked about it taking 2 weeks and the tone of voice she used made me think it won't take that long at all. She had that lingering smile sound goin on ;)

Keep me in your thoughts and prayers that my insurance approves me! I would LOVE to have this done as early as the end of May but the latest of mid-June.

boy oh boy

2009-04-26T17:20:00.002-05:00

Ugh, big mistake today. I've eaten too many carbs and salt today. Now I feel sick and horrible. Part of it was that I was wearing an old bra that had a really tight band and it was hurting. I bought new bras a few months ago and that solved that problem but I'm doing laundry so I thought I'd wear an old one for a little while today. I'm all over the place with my brain today, sorry. Yesterday I was at a purse party at my in-laws' house and they had snacks there (chips, crackers, those little eclairs you can buy at Sam's Club) and then also had guacamole with chips at home. Of course my insides are no where close to being able to handle something like this. I need to detox - bad. I have that nasty taste in my mouth and my jaw hurts from chewing gum yesterday while at work. Maybe it was the coffee I'm really not sure.

I think I'm realizing that my digestive problems aren't my stomach - it's my intestines. It's like I'm missing some enzymes or lack a specific amount of enzymes to properly (or comfortably) digest food. Obviously my body doesn't like processed, high fat, high carb, or high sodium foods. Maybe they'll open me up and find something interesting.

I'm entertaining myself right now by watching "Analyze This". I need to see my therapist more often. I've seen him once since December and that was for my psychological evaluation and MMPI test for surgery. I can definitely attest to good progress over the last 2 years of seeing him. I went through some of my worst months while seeing him throughout 2007 and working through stuff.

Oh it's about time...

2009-04-23T22:09:00.003-05:00

I received a voice mail around 10am this morning. It was the receptionist (she told me her name, bwahaha!) and she said that in a few seconds she would be faxing my eval to Dr. Drew at Abbott Northwestern!! Oh whew it's about time. I can finally stop worrying that I'm missing something. I can be much more patient with the insurance and Abbott now that everything is in.

So, please, prayers that I get approved by insurance and get a date!

I also got my D vitamins today. I'm so happy that they're crushable and somewhat small!!!

Not to mention it was BEAUTIFUL out today besides it being slightly windy. We ate dinner sitting out on our picnic table and it was pretty nice. Tonight I think we'll sleep with the windows open since the low will be mid-50s.

Thursdays and I have a love/hate relationship. I love them because they are one day from Friday and, in the past, have been pizza/beer day after work. However, Thursdays are also cruel because I often go home from work thinking it's Friday. And then Fridays never feel like a legitimate Friday. It's somewhat disturbing.

Speaking of disturbing...

Steel Decor 'n' Such at Perham Machine Repair

2009-04-18T13:21:00.002-05:00

I love talking about where I grew up (Perham, MN) and I am often happy to advertise for some local businesses. Perham Machine Repair is owned by a friend's dad. She also works there and does a lot of the sketching of designs. She's a really good artist!

Some of the products they produce are Campfire rings or anything cut out of steel such as pre-designed and custom-designed steel decals (think Jesus fish, emblems, etc). They also have a few pieces of equipment for sale.

Designs are drawn out on computer and then cut out using a plasma cutting table. If you have an idea, Manda can sketch it out. If you want a steel cutout, you'll get it! Thin, up to 1/4" (iron, plate steel), copper, aluminum, they'll do it. They may even personally paint it for an agreed upon fee (and if you're nice to Manda!!!) ;)

They stand by their work. You'll never be dis-pleased (unless you are *shit happens, right?* But they strive to design and create the utmost and give it their ALL). Below are a few links to their website. I encourage you to email or call and ask questions. They are located just off of County Hwy 80 on the East side of town, just after the Hwy 80 Perham Exit off of Hwy 10.

http://www.perhammachine.com/firerings.html
http://www.perhammachine.com/plasmatorch.html
http://www.perhammachine.com

(The website was made with dial-up users in mind so it's easy to navigate and doesn't take forever loading silly frames, etc!)

...And this was designed/cut in '06! (unpainted obviously - sorry there isn't a bigger picture)

WLS update

2009-04-18T11:59:00.002-05:00

Ah yes, the surgery drama.

I could say I'm pissed off but it's more along the lines of being frustrated and disappointed. Oh, and impatient. I'm incredibly impatient.

I had my psych eval and MMPI test on Wednesday March 25th. I have been waiting for my therapist to get my stuff done and sent to by surgeon's office at Abbott Northwestern.

I called on Wednesday morning and the receptionist said she'd ask my therapist and give me a call back. I even gave her my number. I called again Friday morning because I hadn't heard from her yet.

She calls back in an hour and leaves a message. Apparently SHE was the hold up because she was supposed to send the MMPI results off for dictation or something but it never happened. So now they're sending it off on Monday and they probably won't get it back until Wednesday of next week. Had I known it would take this long I would have done the eval back in February! Damnit! I should have asked her to put a rush on it. Seriously, OVER 3 WEEKS?! It's been almost a month now! I swear, of everything, this is the most time consuming part of it all.

Now I definitely won't have a date until probably May and my surgery date probably won't be until June or, hell, July maybe. If I'm lucky it will be late May. *sigh* I suppose it's a blessing in disguise for me to have more time to adjust and prepare. It just sucks getting into the spring/summer months and still carrying so much weight around. Bleh.

Spring, it has sprung!! Booooooing

2009-04-18T11:11:00.005-05:00

I was on the phone with a friend in my hometown who had gastric bypass last year. It was lots of fun talking to her and it was nice having honest conversations about the new life change. I went to bed around 1:45am! I was up this morning around 9:30am. It was so wonderful to sleep in and the window was open in the bedroom and it was so wonderful! I made coffee and watched a little bit of TV. I opened the window in the front door and was surprised by the budding tree in the front yard! I love the way maple trees bud because it's such a pretty red. I got the camera and took some pics outside.

I went to the backyard and noticed that our neighbor, Margaret, already has flowers up and blooming. I'll take pictures later this spring and summer because it's so gorgeous! I found the daffodils that grow under our rain gutter next to the deck.

Margaret's pretty flowers

I also checked out the Hastas we have on the side of the shed but I really need to dig all the leaves and sticks out from around them and maybe water them. The lilies in the front flower bed are starting to come up. We should plant more stuff out there. I really want tulips.

The lilac are leafing! I can't wait to smell the wonderful smell of Lilac. There are at least 3 bushes in the backyard.

I will probably go out and pull the leaves away from the edges of the house so the plants can come up and do some watering. I need to go shopping for vitamins today as well and we need to go grocery shopping. I'll post about my surgery adventure next.

Happy Easter :)

2009-04-12T11:28:00.001-05:00

Way too early

2009-04-11T08:29:00.002-05:00

Yesterday at work I made a "To Do" list for the weekend. Now looking back on it I don't want to do any of it if I'm honest. There are bits of yarn all over the livingroom floor from my latest blanket project. Much to Ben's disappointment it's not OUR blanket I've been working on. Sorry hun!

I fell asleep around 0030 last night and was wide awake by 0530. I am indeed tired. I need kick-in-the-pants energy that comes naturally and not brought on by others.

Today the first thing on my list, after getting dressed and such, is to take my specifications to Wal-Mart and look at vitamins. They want me to start them now or soon so I get used to a schedule. I'm used to taking pills everyday for my anxiety and depression but I may end up with quite a few to take!

I've felt really cramped up lately. I need to get out and walk more often like I was doing for a while in Feb/March. Or at least stretch more often. Doc says I need to exercise 5 times a week for 30 minutes. That's going to be the hardest thing out of all of this for me. It's not so much the exercise as it is the idea of getting up and going to do something. Good lord I'm lazy =\

Stupid brain

2009-04-08T16:47:00.003-05:00

I'm obviously anxious about all of this surgery stuff.

This morning I stopped at my clinic to get my blood tests done. I went before work to get it done. I didn't have to wait for long and I wasn't nervous going into it. She pulled 6 vials of blood from me and, by the time she was done filling the last one, I started feeling light headed and woozy. I felt the same way the last time I gave blood. They gave me a small glass of water and a nibble on a piece of candy. Unfortunately, the candy made me puke. I should have waited a little while to eat it I guess.

I stayed home from work because I felt just horrible and my head was swimmy. I fell asleep on the couch for about an hour without realizing it until Ben startled me awake. I feel bad for having stayed home from work. I know how much it sucks to feel screwed when coworkers aren't at work.

On a side note, Ben and I started watching "Weeds". Wow, what a snappy modern show!

The surgery consultation

2009-04-07T22:17:00.000-05:00

Well, today Ben and I went up to Minneapolis to Abbott Northwestern Hospital for my meeting with the Nutritionist and for my surgeon consultation.

First off, we were up at 6am and arrived with only 3 minutes to spare. Traffic was somewhat congested on 35W North so it took a little patience. We checked in and then went up to the 3rd floor. The Nutritionist, Liz, was ready for us right away. She went over a lot of different things nutritionally (dur) and vitamins. I will need to go shopping for vitamins this weekend or at least very soon to get a head start on that. I was weighed at 271 pounds which is 9 pounds down from what I weighed at my dietitian appointment back on February 18. My height is 5’ 2 ¼” tall. Haha I’m growing! They actually measured and weighed me twice because it didn’t cross my mind to tell the nurse that I had already been weighed and measured! Oops. They also took some “Pre-Op” photos.

We waited in the consult room for an hour before Dr. Drew made it to the room. It was somewhat boring and I really really wished I had brought a bottle of water. After 60 minutes of waiting he arrived and we went through the horse-and-pony show of questions. I answered ‘no’ to more questions than ‘yes’ and he said that [aside from my morbid obesity] I’m pretty healthy. He did the physical exam and said that I’m a good candidate for laparoscopic RNY. He explained how they used to do the procedure, how they do it now. He was very thorough in explaining risks and complications of the surgery whether it’s laparoscopic or open procedure.

So what is there left to do? I need to get my labs done which I’m doing tomorrow morning – nothing but water after 8:30pm tonight! I also need my therapist to get his psych eval submitted. I called the office and she found out that he’s just waiting to get the test results back from dictation. Hopefully they are submitted this week. I double checked the fax number they had and Eeek they had the wrong fax number! In fact, they had the phone number instead. Whoops!

So hopefully in a week my paperwork can be submitted for insurance approval and then hopefully at least 2 weeks after that I’ll have a date. I’d at least like to have a surgery date scheduled by the end of April. That’s where I’m at right now.

Nearer and nearer

2009-04-02T22:39:00.005-05:00

Tomorrow is Friday. At first I thought this week was going to be incredibly long. Instead I can't believe it's already Friday!

I've been reading the FAQ section of the Minneapolis Bariatric Surgeon website and I have learned some exciting stuff!

I quote...
"If you decide that you're ready to commit to surgery, you agree to life-long vitamins and followup, and for you, the risks are worth the potential benefit, then you will meet with one of our Surgical Scheduler to arrange any preoperative testing, and pick a tentative surgery date."

Holy crap! I'm SUPER duper excited now! It doesn't bother me that they'll have to draw blood and other things. It's been a long 2+ month wait with appointments here and there. It's been almost a month wait for my consultation appointment.

There's something going on with the right side of my tongue. Since yesterday I noticed that it feels like there's one of those canker sores ON my tongue. I've never had that happen before so I'm wondering if I bit it by accident or if the underside of my tongue got cut against my teeth. My right ear sort of hurts as well; it has that "full of water" type feeling. I wonder if maybe I caught hold of strep or have an ear infection. I'll take some cold medicine before going to bed and hopefully that will help out some.

I'm ready to go to bed but I'm waiting for the dryer to buzz so I can swap out some laundry. I can hear my CPAP and pillow calling me name. Until next time...

Good News!

2009-03-31T22:41:00.003-05:00

I love the internet. Do you know why? It's because I can meet people I would have never encountered without it. I have a membership at ObesityHelp.com and follow the Minnesota state forums. I found a few people who have had the surgeon I will have, Dr. Raymond Drew. One of the people also works at Abbott Northwestern Hospital so I've been asking her questions.

First regarding parking. Valet parking at a hospital? C'mon, aren't we paying enough already for doctor visits? Thankfully there's general parking and the parking area is pretty safe.

Second I wanted to know about how long it takes to be approved for surgery and for insurance approval to go through. She said "so once the psychologist signs you off, the nutritionist signs you off and Dr Drew signs you off, the paperwork can be submitted to your insurance. Once the insurance co. calls Dr. Drews office to approve you, they will usually call you back immediately and schedule a surgery date!! It could be just weeks away!! How exciting!!"

This is so cool because she had the same insurance company as we currently do and she got her insurance approval within 3 days! Wow! this is absolutely crazy. I think I'm probably going to be antsy as all heck this weekend. Maybe I'll actually do some cleaning - lord knows the house needs it!!

I need to calm down. It's late and now I'm pretty keyed up at this news.

10 gone?

2009-03-29T12:53:00.002-05:00

For fun I stepped on the scale this morning. Well, I stepped on it a few times because our scale is stupid like that. This morning it hovered a little below 270. I must say that I was surprised as heck. I've been wearing the same pair of jeans all weekend since I haven't really been doing much at all since I got home yesterday and they're floppy loose. Yesterday when I did my 1 mile walk in the afternoon I had to roll up the waist band of my jeans so they weren't so low.

Weekend please

2009-03-28T16:15:00.002-05:00

Hi. It's Saturday. *chorus of angels erupt in singing* Yes, exactly!!

This week was interesting. I'm starting to expect sudden meetings at work in this economy. I'm expecting the anxiety and uncertainty. I'm extremely sympathetic with our channel partners and some of the problems that come up.

Anyway, let's get to the point. My neck freakin' HURTS today. I don't know if I slept wrong or craned my neck to an odd angle or what. I had a lot of fun this morning at the Scrap booking party. I think Sue and I are going to find a time when we can have one at my house. We have plenty of room since our dining room table can expand quite a bit plus all the extra space with the sun room.

I was watching an "Oprah" commercial while catching up on the latest Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Apparently people are trying to live until 100 years of age or older. I don't quite understand why you want to live that long. 80 or 90 I can imagine but past 100? I don't know about that.

I was blessed with an exercise ball and 2 ball hand weights earlier today by Bob and Sue. I was so excited that when I got home from the scrap booking event I did a 1-Mile walk with the weights to the Walk Away the Pounds DVD. Man. That's hardcore stuff!!! Maybe my neck is stiff from lifting those weights above my head. I'm sure that aggravated it somewhat.

I was attempting to upload some photos but my laptop doesn't want to so I'll do that another time. Can you believe I've actually been trying to write this blog entry for about 3 hours? Yeesh. Today feels like a Sunday.

Time for Mind Assessment

2009-03-24T22:22:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow morning I see my therapist and have my pre-surgery psychological evaluation. I have been waiting for this for 3 weeks now. I'm not as nervous right now as I was last night. In fact, last night Ben and I had a "sit down and talk" to get the worries off my brain for the most part.

I'm SO excited to approach each step of the process. In 2 weeks I have my consultation with my surgeon and their nutritionist. Excited!!

I haven't been following my plan as strictly as I have in the past month but there have been some instances where I just didn't want to follow it.

I'm listening to a piece of music called "Hanshan Temple" from an album of Buddhist Chants & Peace Music. The album is "Music For Reflections & Relaxation From The Far East". I had Ben download some music for me about a year ago to help with calming and meditation. I especially began searching after I went along to a Gamelan show at Gustavus November 2007 with the LAHC kids. It was... a stunning night of music. I found one piece online that's similar to what they played. I'm posting the video at the end of this entry so you can have a listen. I love music that resonates.

Walk with awesomeness

2009-03-21T17:47:00.002-05:00

I decided to go for a walk this afternoon while Ben was finishing up his last job out of town.

I got my mp3 player, headphones, and headed out. Thankfully, there are a lot of nice neighborhoods around us with low traffic streets and sidewalks. I started out thinking that I'd walk down to the hospital and back since that's about 1 mile. Once I got to the hospital I decided to go further. "Maybe I'll walk down to the edge of the hill and then turn back." I got to the edge of the hill and decided to walk down it. I turned left and then got to main street hill and walked up that. Oh. My. God. I had to stop half way up because my heart was pounding incredibly hard. I slowly walked the rest of the way home once I reached the top. When I got home, I took a well earned bath and relaxed.

Later in the afternoon Ben and I went up to Hyvee to get a few groceries. On the way, we drove the route I walked earlier in the day and it clocked out at 2.7 miles. Wow!! I calculated it out when I got home and it burned about 700 calories at my weight!

Here's some fun:

Last day of winter and guess what...

2009-03-19T21:53:00.002-05:00

No No No this can't happen.

I noticed it on my way home from work. The irritated scratchy throat feeling and the clearing of the throat that does nothing but hurt. No! Not a cold! I thought I was careful enough to not contract one of those! Crud.

The thing I worry about the most when it comes to colds is that I MUST be able to breathe out of my nose or my cpap will not work. If my nose is plugged well forget about getting good sleep, Anna!

I'm going to go and take a cold medicine RIGHT NOW with my other meds and pray that I beat this thing before it starts!

By the way, tomorrow is the first day of SPRING! We've been waiting for this day for what seems like FOREVER! It's also Bob's birthday! Big shout-out to my Father-In-Law Bob who is ... well, to be honest, I don't know how old he is and it doesn't really matter, right? You're only as old as you feel.

Tomorrow is also Friday. Yay! I have felt not so great this week and I think a lot of it has to do with the increased amount of carbs I ate this week. Not a cool experiment to say the least. I've been sticking to my carb counting allowance the past few days and am feeling better. I'm also drinking more water which is a good thing. I can definitely feel when I haven't drank enough water.

Thoughts during the workday

2009-03-19T13:44:00.002-05:00

I'm writing from work because I can't seem to find something to do with myself during my hour long lunch. I have 15 minutes left.

I have 6 days until my psych eval and 19 days until my consultation. I am SO very excited!! I need to start compiling questions I want to ask the nutritionist and surgeon. I'm pretty sure they automatically go through a LOT anyway but it never hurts to be prepared.

I am concerned about my anxiety flaring up the closer I get to surgery. Anxiety, of course, is a natural reaction to a life-altering surgery but, at the same time, my anxiety is not your average normal person's anxiety. If I'm not careful and mindful, my anxiety can take over and turn me into a quivering mass of fright. I am keeping myself mindful of taking it one-day-at-a-time and not worrying about what hasn't happened yet. Hell, I don't even know if I'm approved by insurance to do this yet.

I did call the surgeon's office yesterday to make sure they received my sleep study papers from the clinic. They said that they did and that they're just waiting on the psychological evaluation so they can submit it to my insurance. It's exciting that I didn't have to jump through twn million hoops, months of seeing a dietitian, EKG, CAT scan, MRI, etc and blood work. I'm an otherwise all-around healthy person.

I was reading about Couch to 5k running programs a little earlier during my break and, while it seems interesting, I don't know that I would do it in order to run a 5k. I just want to be able to actually RUN for more than 45 seconds. I don't even know if I can run that long. There's so much excess weight going on here that it's next to impossible to run without injuring myself due to so much excess body movement.

I suppose I should take a restroom break and get back to work.

They peed on your f'ing rug

2009-03-16T22:47:00.003-05:00

Thank you 'How I Met Your Mother'. I now have "The Man In Me" by Bob Dylan in my brain. At least it's a great tune!

I had a thought earlier while I was playing with YouTube and looking at WLS video blogs. For the life of me, by the time I got here to write about it, wouldn't you know I cannot remember an inkling of what I was going to write about? Go figure.

MReh.

Jon Stewart says what needs to be heard

2009-03-14T11:46:00.004-05:00

I'm posting the hell out of today.

Jim Cramer on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart... getting pwnd

Part 1 of Interview

Part 2 of Interview

Support your fellow man

2009-03-14T11:39:00.002-05:00

Please check out this website and pass it on to anyone in the San Francisco area you know that might be interested in Mike. He needs a job. His wonderful wife made a website to help him get a job. We all know how tough the job market is right now and this guy seems qualified and needs a chance to get back into the swing of things.

Pass it on!

www.myhusbandneedsajob.com

A Lose/Lose situation

2009-03-14T11:24:00.002-05:00

Grrr.. I had a plot bunny last night before I fell asleep and now I can't remember it for the life of me. Drat. It's been over a year since I had a story idea. It seems like most ideas are already done or are so cliche it hurts. Owies.

Today is my birthday. I slept in /slash/ stayed in bed until 10am. I hogged the blankets last night and woke up to find I had the blankets over my head. Everything was soft and snuggly. It's rare that I wake up with the blankets over my head. My cpap allows me to be able to do that :)

I've had my morning coffee and 1/2 cup of cottage cheese with a banana cut up into it. I'm actually surprised how filling that is! Did you know that one 8oz cup of coffee made from freshly ground beans has 2 calories in it? According to the USDA nutrient database - an 8 ounce cup of coffee (brewed from grounds) has just 2 (yes two) Calories. The calories come from a tiny amount of protein and some mono-unsaturated oils. I didn't know that!

Watch your mouth... seriously

2009-03-13T22:44:00.003-05:00

I really like using TheDailyPlate.com for tracking my food intake and exercise. I usually try to estimate my portions on the high-end of things. Right now I have it set to put me at a calorie level where I would lose 1.5 pounds per week. As far as I can tell I've probably lost maybe 6-10 pounds since I saw the nutritionist here in town on February 18th. I honestly don't know for sure because I don't trust the scale at our house.

I know FOR SURE I didn't eat enough calories today and I'm trying to figure out what I should eat. Should I have something tasty and not so good for me? Or should I go for something else much more healthy? Hmmm...

We went to Mongolian Grill tonight for dinner. It was rather inexpensive and yum yum yummy. Ben has enough leftovers from his Large bowl to feed us both for lunch tomorrow. I had the small bowl. I found it fun/interesting to see people pile their bowls FULL of the rice noodles. I didn't put any rice noodles in my bowl because I knew they would be carbs I don't need. Instead, I filled my bowl with chicken, tofu (which I have never tried before and found it DELICIOUS), snow peas, cabbage, green onions, and bamboo shoots. It was SO very tasty! I did, however, eat the 3/4 cup of white rice that comes with the meal.

We still have fans in our basement drying the carpet. The cleaning guy that stopped by today said that there's really one spot that's still a little damp. He took 4 of the 5 fans out and said he'd stop by some time tomorrow. The sheetrock (dang near the ONLY sheetrock down there) appears to have dried rather well so we might have gotten lucky and won't need to have it replaced.

Tomorrow is my birthday. Yay Anna! In the afternoon we're driving up to Burnsville to meet up with Andy and Holly. Then we're off to Gasthof zur Gemutlichkeit for some good 'ol German food and fun fun fun. If we remember or are up for it we may stop at Patrick's in St. Peter to see Useful Jenkins perform Saturday night.

I hope you enjoy your weekend!

Attenshun

2009-03-12T23:46:00.002-05:00

Okay, I'll come out with it. Remember that seminar I mentioned 2 weeks ago?

I'm looking into having bariatric surgery, specifically the Roux en Y procedure. I've battled this weight war for long enough and I really don't want the complications of diabetes. After having my sleep test done and coming back with moderate sleep apnea, I decided I really needed to do something about it.

So far I have seen a dietitian, gone to an Intro to WLS (weight loss surgery), and have scheduled my psychological evaluation, meeting with my surgeon's nutritionist, and my surgeon consultation. From there HOPEFULLY I can get a swift response from insurance (hah!) and get a surgery date of early summer.

Anyway, if you would like to get an idea of what I'm talking about, have a look at the before and after pictures at this link: http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/members/before+and+after.php

Ridiculously amazing results! I don't have any appointments until March 25th and then April 7th. I'll be sure to keep you all updated.

Everyone needs to watch this...

2009-03-12T22:25:00.001-05:00