Reach Onederland by my birthday 6/17/07

I can't believe a whole year has passed. I've gone from 265 to 159.5 lbs. From a size 22/24 to a size 10. I'm exercising just about every day and loving it. Life is SO much easier now that I'm a normal size. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I'm no longer big--it's still that new to me. Right now I'm trying to decide whether or not to go for the last 10 lbs. to get to my goal of 150 lbs. Everone is telling me I'm perfect and I should stop losing. Part of me agrees--I certainly feel great. But another part of me feels like I'm just not going to be a "success" unless I go all the way to 150. Plus, I feel like that would give me some wiggle room for when I really start going through menopause. The nutritionist said that from her experience the people who lose 90-100% of their weight are the ones who put some back on. One good thing about staying here is that I'm not depriving myself at all. I think I'd have to work somewhat harder (i.e., diet) to lose the last 10. I'll probably just keep doing what I'm doing and see what happens.

As far as exercise goes, I like balancing what I do between cardio (treadmill), weight training (Nautilus), and stretching (yoga/pilates). I think that including all three really helps me to feel balanced and healthy. This surgery was without a doubt the best thing I've ever done for myself!!!!

 

Since it's been 3 mos. since I've posted, I should say something. Sometimes the weight seems like it has completely quit coming off. Other times, it feels like it's pretty steady. It's weird, but now even if I lose 1-2  lbs. I can feel the difference. I'm wearing size 10s mostly now (I can't believe it!). I'm really enjoying exercising and like feeling so in shape. Still hoping the extra skin shrinks some, but it's not too, too bad. I keep saying that even if I stay right here, I'll be happy. But I really do hope I can get all the weight off. I've been eating just about anything I want (including some things I shouldn't). The good thing is that I can't eat huge quantities. Unfortunately, sugar really has no effect on me except I get a little lightheaded if I eat too much. But if I eat a lot (a lot these days means one piece of birthday cake), I do usually feel kind of crappy, so I'm learning that I don't like to feel that way. I try to subscribe to the 90%/10% rule. 90% of the time, I eat healthy foods and 10% not so much. I had to quit contributing to the weekly weigh-ins on the Jan. surgery board. It just felt too much like those old Weight Watchers meetings where everyone stands up to say how much they lost. How could I keep from comparing myself to others (I know we're not supposed to)? It was too much pressure (but I do still read them). Well, I feel great, have tons of energy, perfectly normal blood pressure, no snoring, hardly any arthritis pain--I definitely can't complain!

I saw Dr. Kennedy on Wed. for my 6 mos. checkup. She said I've lost 70% of my excess weight and that is what they hope for at 1 year out! She said she's very proud of me. It was kind of  funny that her student surgeon who came in to talk to me first was kind of upset because he and I have the same BMI! I was her last Ochsner patient that she was ever going to see because she's leaving to go to Dallas. I don't have to go back for 6 more months and I guess I'll see Dr. Richardson then.

I'm only 5 lbs. away from my next goal of 175 lbs. I've really kicked up the exercise and I feel great. I do 5-6 days a week cardio (30-45 min. on the treadmill). I go to Body Flow class (Tai-Chi, Yoga, Pilates) twice a week and I do strength training 2-3 times per week. With all this exercise I do find that when I eat a little more (even good carbs), I lose more. From now until goal I think it will be an experiment to see what works best for me. I feel like it's getting so close that I should be done by Christmas. It would be fabulous to be done by Ken and I's anniversary trip at Thanksgiving, but if I don't I know I'll be close enough. Wow, sometimes I can't believe this is really happening.

Somewhere around 4 mos. out, everything changed. I felt something shift--I started feeling so much better. I don't get sick anymore, I have much more energy, and I can eat a wider variety of food. My weight is coming off at a pretty steady 1 to 2-1/2 lbs. per week. Laura, the nutritionist, said that that loss is right on target. 

I'll be hitting my third goal this week (190 lbs)--to weigh less than when I moved from Morgan City to New Orleans. That was 16 years ago, and it was the last time I wore a swimsuit in public and wore a sleeveless dress. Now, I haven't shopped for a swimsuit yet, and I think there's a little too much arm flab for the sleeveless dress, but otherwise I'm extremely happy with the 74 lbs. lost. 

BTW, my first two goals were to weigh 225 lbs. which is what I got down to the last time I dieted, and then to reach onederland. Next goal? 175 lbs. which is what I weighed the last time a guy in a bar flirted with me (of course, I was 30 years old!). After that---final goal!

On Tues., Mar. 27 I woke up at 2:30 in the morning with terrible pain in my shoulder and my chest. It just wouldn't go away. The pain eventually migrated to the area around my pouch and Ken called Ochsner and they said to come to the emergency room. We went in and they did an EKG, x-rays, Finally they called Dr. Kennedy and she admitted me. Well I was in the hospital 3 days. I kept running a fever also (they don't know what caused that to this day). They did a cat-scan and an ultra-sound of my gallbladder and nothing showed up! Dr. Kennedy finally did an endoscope looking for an ulcer. She found the beginning of a stricture, but didn't see an ulcer. She stretched the stricture and then sent me home. 

This last Fri. (Apr. 13th) I went in for another endocscope. She said she had to stretch the stricture some more (it wasn't as small as before) and said that I did  not have an ulcer. I've had some more pain (not as bad) that she said might be an internal hernia or twisted bowel, but she didn't think so. I had a very difficult time recovering from the endoscope. I was in recovery for 2-1/2 hours instead of 45 min. She put a lot of gas into my abdomen that hurt like crazy afterward, and I was naueated and throwing up bloody mucous. Dr. Kennedy almost had to admit me to keep me on the IV, but I stopped throwing up and got to go home. So, she'll have to go back in once more in about 4 weeks, but hopefully that's it. I'm just hoping it's only a stricture and that I'll be able to eat more soon. I just don't have any energy and haven't been able to exercise since I got out of the hospital.