Home From Hawaii

Well, I am back home from Hawaii and happy to be so. Most people think of Hawaii as a land of paradise, maybe it is at a local hotel resort where you do not go out onto the island and see the real Hawaii.

Anyhow, after getting sick while there, I am still getting over this awful cold I caught now. I thought for sure I would have gained a lot of weight while there since we ate out at almost every meal for 12 days. Luckily when I arrived home I had actually dropped 1.4 pounds. What a surprise.

Now, I just need to get back into my daily routine and keep working on my weight loss. I still have 49.4 pounds to go to reach my goal. It is getting so close I can almost touch it. I cannot slow down now!

My Hair is Growing Back In!

Well, I must say, I am quite surprised to know that my hair is growing back in already. I had read where it can take up to 9 months post-op before your hair will stop falling out and begin growing back.

It dawned on me the other day that my hair was no longer falling out, and it hasn't been for the past month when I really think about it. Then, I noticed all these little hairs sticking up everywhere on my head. Yikes, my hair look hideous! It is poking through all the very thin hair that is left and I look ridiculous. I look like a bald man with a bad comb-over (ugh!).

So, I went and got my hair cut. Thank goodness I have a wonderful hair stylist from New York who can cut my hair. She was surprised to see how much my hair has grown in since the middle of December when I went to have her cut it while it was falling out. She was also surprised to see that I was looking so much thinner as well. In fact, today I weighed in at 166.2.  It can only get better from here!

I am happy to have my hair growing back and this is the hairstyle I chose and I think Brittany made me look great! Now, I am not embarrassed for people to look at my head.

Happy Valentine's Day! - Half way to goal.

As of today I am down 64.8 pounds with only 52.8 pounds to go to reach my goal weight.

To my pleasant surprise this morning, I pulled out a pair of smaller jeans I had in the closet and they fit. I can wear a size 14 now. I haven't been able to fit into a 14 again. The only bad news, the zipper was broke on the jeans so I had to toss them. Oh well, on to smaller sizes soon enough.

Another real surprise to me was when I picked up a shirt for the summer yesterday at the local Target store. I debated between getting a large and a medium. I finally tossed the medium into the shopping cart expecting it would be skin tight and I will need to slim down a bit more, but by summer I should be wear it. Well, when I came home and tried it on out of curiosity to see how tight it is and about how much more I will need to lose to fit the shirt properly, I was amazed it actually fit.

Here is a picture my 7 year old took of me with it on. She isn't the best photographer, and of course the tag is still on it.You can still see a pouch where my belly is still large, but after all the swelling I am surprised it is down that small.

On a bright note, my hair has stopped falling out and is beginning to grow back and I am using my treadmill everyday and it is going well.

Finally weighed in at 169 pounds

I have finally weighed in at 169.6 pounds today. I am very happy with the weight loss. I did not expect to have lost anything this week. I have been walking at least 20 minutes a day on my treadmill and after the first couple of days, I put on 2 pounds. I assumed it was due to building back some muscle and I did not expect to lose back down for a couple more weeks.

If feels good psychologically to weigh 169.6 even though my weight loss for the week was only .6 ounces. It does something to you mentally when you break each 10 pound marker. I look much better in my clothes now, but I am a long way from wearing any kind of bathing suit. I tried one on last week in preparations of going Hawaii next month, but when I saw how awful I looked in it, I made the decision to buy some capri type spandex work out pants and a spandex tank top to wear at the beach and in the water instead. This way I can still be out in the water in my daughter and not scare off all the people on the beach. On the bright side, by covering up, I will not have to worry about getting a spray tan to cover up how white I have gotten over the years.

Purchased a Treadmill Today!

I am officially 5 months and a few days post-op. I still have some physical restrictions, but I am anxious and motivated to get moving. Since I am still limited to exercising based on my injuries and pain, I purchased a treadmill so I can at least began walking every day in an effort to get back into physical shape, as well as, get the pounds coming off again.

Today my weight was 170.4. I have been sitting here and bouncing up a pound or two now for last couple of weeks. I WANT THAT LAST .05 OUNCES TO GO SO I CAN SAY . . . I am finally in the 160's.

It is now 34 days until we fly to Hawaii for 12 days and I hope to drop at least 10 pounds. That means I need to keep my goal at 2 pounds a week for the next 5 weeks.

Wish me luck.

It’s Official, I have finally lost 62 pounds!

Fives month post-op and I am finally down 62 pounds today. I am very happy to finally break the 50 pound weight loss mark, but I still have 55.6 pounds to go to reach my goal.

I have switched up my diet and added back into it a daily protein shake in order to get the scale to move again, and BINGO, it did. I will continue with the shakes for a while and see how far it will take my weight loss.

It is apparent that I am still not able to do any intense exercising in the next month and therefore my weight loss is slower than normal. I am hoping that my side will be healed soon so I can go back to my normal very physical lifestyle.

Until that time, I will continue life, one day at a time.

Keeping my eyes fixed on full recovery.

As I am getting thinner I have noticed that sleeping again on my sides is becoming a problem as it did when I first tried to sleep on my sides. It is true the extreme soreness is finally gone, but it is still sore in the deep tissue. Now that I am thinning around my abdomen I can feel my ribs again when I poke my body with my finger. The problem now is I do not have the fat support to protect my side when I lay on it. Not to mention my belly still sags as it did immediately following my C-section. I was hopeful that I would not need a tummy tuck, but the C-section is so saggy that it appears I will need to have it done at a later point to support my muscles and abdomen again.

I still have sharp pains on my insides in the general area where my rny broke loose and leaked. It still hurts to take a deep breath and my incisions are still rather deep pink and purple.

One thing that has changed about me since having the surgery is realizing how short life can be. I was awake one moment telling the nurse inserting my pic line that I wasn’t feeling quite right to seeing all black and white lights that then begin to spin and then I was code blue. Not breathing, no heat beat, my life was over in a flash until I recall hearing music in my head and my mind feeling so peaceful and relaxed. I wasn’t aware of my surroundings or feeling any pain, I felt a jerk and someone pulling my arms and calling my name. Then it all became real when I opened my eyes and I fell back against the bed, my head was forced up and a doctor was holding an oxygen mask on me, the room was full of doctors and nurses out into the hallway. As the doctor began to ask me questions and they did an x-ray and continued oxygen, I was happy to hear I was a code blue full resuscitate.

Yes, I was alive to see another day, but I was changed. With the crucial immediate healing behind me and working towards full recovery I have more of an urgency to want to complete my bucket list.  I have always put things off that I really wanted to do for another day. I would make a sacrifice so others could have more, but I don’t want to be on my death bed someday full of regret for all the things I never did that I always wanted to do. 

This new year my husband and I will strive to get our business off the ground so the rewards will eventually pay off and I can knock off the items on my bucket list one at a time.