Angela G.

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I've been a bit sick lately so far it doesn't seem to be anything related to the gastric bypass which doesn't surprise me since having an issue this far out is very unlikely.  I had to get a blood transfusion about a month ago because of a GI bleed.  My doctor still isn't sure what caused it to begin with since the EDG and Colonoscopy came back clean.  My hemoglobin is coming back up which is good but I'm really not feeling like myself.  I spent Wednesday night and Thursday morning in the ER only 1 lab result was out which was my D-dimer basically it helps to measure the thickness of blood.  Mine was high and has been high for more then a year so the idea was a possible blood clot.  While they were trying to rule that out the nurse did a bedside tilt test basically the test is used to determine what your blood pressure does when you lay down, sit up, and stand up.  Mine was fine on the lying down and sitting up but when I stood my heart rate went up not by any dramatic amount.  They finally ruled out any type of blood clot after I was there for 10 hours and sent me home.  I went to see my primary care physician on Friday and she decided it was just a flare up of my asthma.  Honestly I don't think that it has anything to do with my asthma but what do I know I'm just the patient.  I just know what it feels like to have an asthma attack and this isn't it actually I'm pretty sure I've never had weakness and abnormal chest pain with my asthma before. 

Anyways that aside I've done good with weight loss I still have a bit to go but I think the majority of it is excess skin that I'm going to have to really work on muscle training to get rid of oh and also keep my skin well moisturized.  I'm finding it hard to do much this last month mostly because of the weakness associated with the the low hemoglobin.

I kept telling myself I needed to get back here and give an update but with everything that had been going on I just kept forgetting.  So now I have found the time to give a bit of an update.  I am down to 198 and as of yesterday I am officially a year out from surgery.  I had hoped to be looking at having skin removal surgery at this point but because of some other medical issues not related to surgery I had to put that off for quite awhile.  I had two sleep studies done last week to determine if I had narcolepsy.  It turns out I don't have narcolepsy but rather am having many seizures when I go to sleep.  I have been dealing with this since I was 17 but I don't believe its ever been this bad.  Overall as far as the weightloss goes I feel great actually better then I have in years probably since I was really young.  I still have about 2 pounds to lose before I am officially considered overweight and not obese anymore.  I want to lose about 10 more pounds before I have skin removal surgery but I think that a total weightloss of 156 pounds is outstanding. 
I have a couple pictures that when I get a chance I need to upload onto my albums.  I have some of me throughout weightloss but also some of my growing nephew and my chihuahua Megan. 

I just had my doctors appointment a couple of days ago and everything went very well although I didn't get down to 230 like I wanted to but he said that he still feels I'm on track.  I would have loved to be down to 200 by summer but even when I first got the surgery I knew I wasn't going to get down that low before summer.  He says he believes by the time I get down to the goal weight where he wants me then I will still have about 30 pounds of skin weight that needs removed.  I'm still never going to have my arms or legs done but it would definitely be worthwhile to have my stomach done ane my breasts will need a bit of enlargement lol.  

My concerns for the next 16 weeks or so is that I have class 3 days a week and then an additional day for clinicals so I have a total of 4 days of the week I'm going to be too tired to do much of anything and with only 6 hours of sleeping time between work and school its not enough time for anything anyways.  Anyhow what I was getting as is the fact that I have 3 days left in the week to do any type of workout and the way I figure it lack of sleep is going to cause me to crash on at least one of those days.  I'm just not sure exactly how I'm suppose to fit in work, sleep, driving, homework, food, school, and also manage to get a good workout I'm not sure its really possible to be honest.  I guess I'm going to have to perform the impossible.

This month is halfway through and I'm not doing too bad then again I'm not doing all that good either.  I still have like 15 pounds to go before the end of the month and already know that I'm not going to make it.  I'm revising my goal to another 10 pounds before the end of April.  I think logically that is a better goal for myself.  As far as my food journal is concerned I'm doing extremely well with keeping it up.  I find its alot harder to go and eat just anything if I have to write it down.  I seriously tried to keep a food journal before surgery and even had to as per the nutritionists program but I still ate what I wanted and got tired of writing all the junk down but now that I can only eat small amounts it seems alot easier.

Right after my last post I found information and signed up to take this test to try and get into a college course they are offering for HUC, health unit coordinator. I took the test, did excellent and am now in the course.  With completion of the class I will receive an extra 15 college credit hours.  I'm quite excited about this because it does mean I'm back in school but I'm not taking that goal off my list because I would still like to go back to school longer in order to obtain an actual college degree.

I don't know when the next time I'll be updating is because with my original schedule and the soon to come new activities things are going to get very complicated.  We'll see maybe this next weekend will be a chance.

I realize its been awhile since I last updated and I haven't exactly been keeping up with my pictures either.  I didn't get a formal picture for my 4th month but I do have pictures for that month where I'm holding my nephew and such I can put up I guess that will just have to work.  As far as for month 3 well I got that one but have yet to upload it to the computer.  Month 5 I have not taken yet so I will have to be sure to take those pretty soon.  

I have noticed a decrease in weight loss recently and although I know its normal it still bums me out because I have at least another 100 pounds to lose before I get close to a comfortabley normal weight range.  If I were to get to what I wanted to I need to lose another 120 pounds. I feel this is alot and I still feel like I should have lost more in these 5 months since I had my surgery.  Perhaps I should have but haven't because I haven't been getting the protein and exercise I should.  I got myself some exercise equipment several months ago and still haven't utilized it the way I would like.  With my parents still living in the house my stuff got kind of pushed to the side and stored away so that I'm unable to use it.  

I have just under a month left before my next appointment and I want to try to lose another 20 pounds that will put me right at where he wanted me for this spring.  I know that at this stage losing 20 pounds in a month might be a little much to ask for but I know that if I keep focused and get the protein and exercise I should be able to accomplish it and if not completely at least get very very close.  I'm thinking of maybe making a graph or something that shows my weight each day and how much of each thing I'm getting like protein, carbs, cals, and fat.  I also think I need to put a record of how much exercise I'm getting each day that isn't work related that is because lets face it my work alone burns quite a few calories but of course we all know that still isn't enough and even if it were at work I can't target certain areas of my body like I can with formal exercise.  So thats my plan I'll update probably just weekly instead of daily with my progress.  I just can't do daily its just way to hard to even try with my schedule.

I just went for my 3 month appointment last Thursday.  I think he was happy with my weight loss but said I didn't lose as much as he wanted.  He said he could tell that I wasn't getting my protein or at least as much as I'm suppose because of lacking in weightloss.  I have, however, been doing great with exercises.  I got my own equipment recently or well just a recumbent bike and an elliptical.  I figure for right now I can hold off on the treadmill because I can easily go up and down the road taking my dog for a walk or something.  Other then raining a little the weather hasn't been all that bad the last couple days so its not bad walking weather. 

At my appointment he did give me a prescription for a B12 shot because I decided it would be better then the pill because the pill doesn't absorb as well as the shot.  I also got instructions to take pills for calcium, iron, and a prenatal vitamin.  I have so been missing my iron I've been off it since the day of my surgery because he said that the kind I was taking wasn't good for my pouch because it was a slow release.  

I also ordered this stuff online to help me get all my protein in it should be here tomorrow and then I, hopefully, won't have a problem with intake and can lose more weight and not muscle mass. 

Anyways I'm going to be updating my weight tracker too while I'm on even though I don't have much to show for the last couple weeks I still need to put it on there kind of and accountability thing. 

Well I haven't really lost anything in the last week or so just kind of going between a few pounds.  Although I don't think I am, it feels like I'm doing something wrong.  Its like I should be losing weight yet I'm not and I know that its normal to hit these brief points of no loss but it just doesn't feel right.  

Anyhow I've not felt to well the last couple of days I'm not exactly sure how to describe it.  I don't have a temperature or anything my blood pressure, as usual, is fine.  I just have a massive headache slowly creeping its way into a massive migraine and of course my allergies with this nasty whether isn't helping anything.  Its only been a couple of days so I'll see what its like at the end of the week who knows it could be just my allergies coming out in a new form.  

As far as work goes everything is wonderful I don't necessarily want to go every night but we all have to do things we don't want to sometimes.  I have had as much of a problem with achey feet or back since I've been back.  People seem to be pretty understanding and not trying to force me to eat things.  I've also done a great job at resisting food that I can't have.  

At the end of this month on like the 31st I believe is my next appt. with Dr. Shin.  I'm looking forward to it because I know I've lost alot since my surgery and am eager to hear all the comments from them.  Lol that sounds pretty bad but it makes me feel good when people have good things to say about me or to me.  

I've not got much else to say and I'm not sure when I'll be able to post again but it might be after my doctors appt.. 

Ok so works been going pretty good except for 2 days calling off one of which I was unable to get to work because of weather and such the other because my new inhaler for my asthma made me kind of sick.  All of this has been worked out and I'm doing wonderful.  Up until about 4 months ago the department I'm in only did float pool for one hospital and now we are starting go to another to help with staffing.  Eventually we'll end up at all CAMC hospitals but thats ok its more experience for me and less of a chance to get bored with the same thing.  So anyways they decided to send me over to this small branch its mostly for pediatric patients but also does the ob/gyn stuff as well.  This is the same hospital I came to and had my WLS done and they put me on the same floor to which I came after the surgery.  It was quite awesome because these nurses I know from being in here and I liked them then and they have been absolutely wonderful tonight as well. 

Anyways as far as diet goes I have lost quite a bit of weight so far and the future definitely looks promising for more weight loss

Ok so in a little bit it will be a new year and a new start for me.  I wanted to set a few resolutions aside from my goals already put up on my profile here. 
Resolutions:

~Get down to my goal weight range of 130 to 150

~Go on a vacation that I really enjoy like maybe a cruise

~Buy a new bathing suit and go swimming for the first time in like 5 years


I also would like the achievement of my regulars goals as well so I'm definitely not giving up on those obviously.

My biggest concerns with getting this surgery around this time was the holidays and getting through them with out trying to overeat.  I am completely through them now because I don't count New Years Eve we just never do anything on that particular holiday.  Anyways as an added bonus to the holidays I'm at 300 pounds I just need one more pound and I'll officially be under 300 for the first time since like 2004 it definitely feels great and am really looking forward to furture weightloss.

Ok so on to the holiday gifting I'm glad to say not one of my gifts this years was money or gift card I got everyone here something special that it appears they can all use.  I, in return, got some very usable items as well including a nice set of pots and pans that have glass lids and built in strainer.  I also got some winter wear, a purse, and my favorite a really nice necklace that I had picked out a few months ago in a magazine.  

This year my grandmother got together a nice basket of like hot chocolate and marshmallows together for everyone in the family and that quite a bit considering she has 7 kids and all of them have 3 or more kids themselves.  She put alot of thought into who got what but unfortunately it was forgotten that I had gastric bypass and was given regular hot chocolate and marshmallows but thats ok because all that matters to me is the thought.

Anyhow I'm at work right now and have to start to get ready to go do a few floor rounds to check on patients and such.  I'm not going to make any promises on when the next time I'll write is because I always end up breaking it.