Are you ready for this?!?!

Alright everyone are you ready for this?  As of today I have lost 100 lbs!  That is right....100 lbs!  Gone.  Forever.  Praise the lord!  Now, because I am kind of an odd duck I wanted to help people gain some insight into what 100 lbs really is.  Adam and I went to Whole Foods tonight and found some really awesome people to help us out who were just as excited about my success as we are.  They were all too willing to take part in my shenanigans, which I must admit...I kind of love!  We wanted to show everyone what 100 lbs of butter looked like, but they didn't have enough of it for us to stack up, so we went with the white devil....flour.  Here are my pictures of the fun we had at Whole Foods...

This one was taken just a few days ago. Right before I hit the 100 lb mark!

My very supportive hubs! <3 him!

100 lbs of flour folks!  100 lbs!

Was that really necessary?

Well as per my previous post I was to have a stent placed in my stricture which I did on Tuesday April 24th.  Let me just say that I have had this stricture dilated twice previously and it did not hurt.  In fact my husband and I went shopping afterwards.  This time however, was an entirely different story!  I woke up in such horrendous pain and could not stop retching.  I told my nurse repeatedly how badly it hurt and I felt as though she wasn't listening to me.  She kept closing the door to my room because my retching and crying was apparently too loud.  Now, let me share something with you.  I feel no need to stifle my feelings especially pain.  Speaking as a fellow nurse, closing the door to your patients room because they are making noise as a result of pain is unacceptable.  Subsequently I was sent home on Lortab elixir just as I was after my initial surgery back in January as well as Zofran ODT.  Zofran ODT gets foamy, which isn't necessarily the best thing for someone who is already nauseous.  I literally laid in bed from Tuesday to Friday getting up only to pee.  I am not one to lay around after a procedure of any sort but the pain was excruciating!  This pain from a little stent was by far worse than the pain from having my guts rearranged.    This whole time since the stent had been placed I had been informing the surgeons office of the excruciating pain, nausea, and incessant vomiting but I was getting no where fast.  I was told that the reason that I didn't feel well was because there was no food in my stomach.  Well, let me just say I am sure I am not the only person out there who would be unable to tolerate food if they can't even tolerate their own saliva.  Thank God for my friend JennB who decided I was in rough shape and traveled 3 hours to come help me and take care of me.  She had been at our home for about three to four hours when she decided thats enough we are going to the hospital.  I explained to her just as I did to the surgeons office that it was very painful to take a deep breath and she had been witnessing me retching for the entire time she had been there...literally.

We get checked in to the ER and go through all that rigamarole and they do an abdominal CT and find nothing except inflammation.  They gave me IV pain medication and nausea medication and I was able to rest for about an hour, which is more than I had in days.  After the ER doctor spoke with the on call surgeon they decided I could either go home with a script for phenergan or I could stay in the hospital.  Being the ever indecisive person that I am I couldn't make up my mind.  I knew what I should do, but I also knew what I wanted to do.  We came up with the idea to try some water and see if it would stay down....no go.  Jenn helped me understand that this is where I need to be for now and that I am not going to get better if I don't let them help me.  So I stayed.

Five days later, and I am still here.  In my opinion I should be able to go home tomorrow, but of course none of this is up to me.  I will cooperate and do what they want me to do and I will give myself time to heal.  I got my intermittent FMLA set up which will protect my job, but of course this will all affect my income.  But I am trying to be in the mindset that my health is more valuable than a pay check.  Thankfully we have family who would be willing to help us out if it came down to it, and honestly we have been through tougher times than this and we will again in the future I'm sure.

It has been a busy couple of weeks.

I haven't posted in a while because we have had a lot going on.  I was taking statistics which was pretty darn rough, I was admitted to the hospital because of another stricture, then the following weekend my daughter was admitted to the hospital.  I never really considered myself a "stress eater," but now I most certainly would.  Before surgery I always just thought I was hungry, and never really noticed an increase in food intake when my life was more stressful.  These last few weeks have helped me to realize that when the sh!t hits the fan, I go for the snacks.  This is yet another reason why people need to understand that weight loss surgery is NOT taking the easy way out.  While I am able to use my weight loss surgery to help me realize what hungry and full feels like it doesn't fix the stuff that goes on in our heads.  It certainly does not take away the desire to self medicate with food when life gets rough.

On another note.  I have another stricture.  This is my third which means that I will go in again for an EGD and dilation of the stricture, however this time he will place a stent in the opening for roughly one to two weeks and then remove it.  Doc says the success rate of this versus just dilating every time is much more.  He did however say that it can be pretty uncomfortable and has had to have some people stay in the hospital while the stent was in place so let's pray that I don't need that because I certainly do not have time to sit on my butt in the hospital for a week or two.

Finally...and this is a little on the blunt side...weight loss surgery constipate is as bad as pregnancy constipation!  Honestly!  I am literally gaining weight now because I am full of poo!  It may be time to break out the mag citrate.  The thought of that makes me sad :(  

Loves!

NSV! (Non-Scale Victory!)

While standing in the kitchen this morning hugging my husband:

Adam: "Holy Sneakers!"
Me: "What?"
Adam: "You are like really getting skinny!"

I died laughing a little!  Before surgery he could get his arms around me but it was a tight squeeze, and now he has all kinds of room he doesn't know what to do with!

All of the small bumps in the road with this surgery are completely worth it if you keep your eye on the prize!

Perspective

The photo of me at my highest weight which I unfortunately maintained for several months was taken on vacation.  The much better photo (in my opinion) was taken today.  Holy smokes!

A little insight

Alright everyone.  I got on the scale this morning after breakfast and was a little surprised to see that I am continuing to lose weight since I have been a little naughty with the food this week.  If you recall, in my last post I was down 55 from day of surgery 65 from highest weight.  And remember, my surgery was on 1/24/12, a mere 65 days ago.  As of today I am down 61 pounds from day of surgery and 71 pounds from highest weight.  Although this has not been a walk in the park and I have had some troubles with nausea and vomiting I will say that this journey has been entirely worth it.  I know it sounds cliche, but gastric bypass saved my life and is still saving my life!  And to those of you are are cheering me on and who are there to listen to be bitch when I am having a bad day.  THANK YOU.  Without getting too sappy and sentimental, I want you to know that without all this support I wouldn't be as successful and you are just as much a tool in my weight loss journey as the surgery itself.  So, thank you!  You will never know how much it means to me.


I have friends in overalls whose friendship I would not swap for the favor of the kings of the world.Thomas A. Edison

A new day and a new dress!

Today I am down 55 lbs from the day of surgery and 65 lbs from my highest weight.  It is amazing to be able to do to things I want to do and not get short of breath.  I feel more confident and certainly happier.  I am so happy that I let the doctor know how badly I was feeling for a while there because I am all fixed up now :)  No more pain and no more throwing up!  Today I went to Target because I couldn't sleep.  I ended up buying myself a few more of my favorite shirts and a dress.  The dress is equivalent to a size 22/24 which I haven't worn in years!  The only thing that would make my life better than it is right now would be to be done with statistics and have a decent grade :)
I am looking forward to the changes to come and seeing what I am going to look like.  I know I will have loose skin and be a little saggy in places, but I'd much rather be saggy than dead!  There is always time to get a little lift and tuck down the road hehe
I hope you all are enjoying this beautiful spring weather.  We certainly are!