carrie23

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It's so hard to believe it's been a year since I had my surgery.  I am now down to 215.6 pounds so I've lost 138.4 pounds.  I think I actually hit the 140 pounds lost mark before Christmas but I'm afraid I have to admit that I did gain just a little over the holidays!  I won't dwell on it though considering holidays in the past usually meant at least a 5 pound gain and I'm sure that's a huge underestimate!

There are so many things that I can do now that I couldn't (or wouldn't) do a year ago.  I'll only mention a few but these are some highlights:  

1.  Put on a swimsuit - I'll be much happier with this one when I reach goal and can have skin removal surgery but it's soooo much better than before!

2.  Pick up both my kids at the same time and carry them, even up a flight of stairs.  Last year I had a hell of a time getting my own body up a flight of stairs!

3.  Change Jacob's diaper on my lap - I now have a lap!  

4.  Run on my elliptical - I know people out there run way faster than I do but I can get that thing going pretty good now.

5.  Fit in the seatbelt in our Malibu and my mom & dad's car.  Both were possible last year but were very tight and quite a workout just to get them buckled!

6.  Sit in a booth at a restaurant.

7.  Take a bath - I could do this before but always felt so cramped in the tub!  And getting up and out - not a pretty sight! 

Those are just a few of the things that have changed for me.  I will continue to see changes and I look forward to discovering even more new things I can do.  

Now I'm in a size 18 pants - I was there around 10 years ago and I don't remember when I wore a 16 so I'm really excited for that milestone.

I'll try to post more often as it really helps me to keep on track with all of this.

Holy cow - I can't believe how long it's been since I've updated my blog here!  I added some pictures a couple of weeks ago and tried to change my avatar but I've forgotten how to do that.  I hardly spend any time on OH anymore - not because I don't like it but I'm so busy with my job and my family I don't get on as often as I'd like.

I weighed in at 219 pounds this past Monday.  Only down 15.6 since the end of August so things are REALLY slowing down but I won't complain because I'm still losing......and remember that prom dress I mentioned in my last blog????  See pictures to the left!!!!!  I got that darn thing zipped up!  That was pretty exciting for me.   And my daughter fits in my wedding dress with me.  Of course she is a little peanut but I remember my wedding day and I could barely stuff myself into that dress, even with a shaper so this is a good thing! 

My stomach has still been giving me issues.  I had many tests done, scope, CT scan, colonoscopy, bowel x-rays and they found nothing.  My surgeon thinks I may have some lesions (can't remember where he thinks they are - either in my intestines or bowels) but anyway they still cause me some pain from time to time.  The surgery was still totally worth it, I would do it 10 times over again and I wish like hell that I had done it earlier in my life.  Oh well, can't change the past.

Anyway, I'm going to close this post and get on the message boards for a quick minute and also check in on some friends. 

So we're still at a loss for what is going on with my stomach.  It's still possible that I have a partially obstructed or twisted bowel, it just wasn't acting up at the time of the CT scan.  The only way to truly know what's going on in there is to open me up and do another surgery - not in the cards for me at this point.  My husband's job is way to busy this time of year and I have to be able to lift my kids when he works so much.  Dr. Eibes has referred me to a gastro. doc who will probably do a colonoscopy so we can be thorough.

Fortunately the stomach pains don't happen all the time and when they do they generally don't last too long.  Not enough to make me have ANY regrets at all about this surgery.  Today I weighed in at 234.6 so I'm down almost 120 pounds.  

Yesterday my mom sent some things home with me that have been stored in her basement - a suit jacket I wore in a wedding right after I graduated from college fits and is almost a little big.  My senior in HS prom dress - well I can get it on but zipping it isn't happening right now.  I brought it home and will keep trying it on.  I wish I had my junior prom dress - that one is quite a bit smaller than my senior dress - I gained a good amount of weight my senior year.  But it will still be a milestone for me!  

I'm not sure if I mentioned that I started my new job and I love it.  I keep really busy and the days just seem to fly by!  I have alot to be thankful for at this time in my life.

Wow, that sure is a long word, isn't it?    Anyway, this morning that's what I had.  Basically they put my under general anesthesia and put a scope through my throat to check things out.  I think I explained in my last blog what they thought was the problem.  Well, good news/bad news - their theory was not correct.  So now I go for a CAT scan on Friday to confirm/rule out twisted and/or obstructed bowel.  He also mentioned I could have a hernia or ulcer....I think.....I was still a little loopy when we talked so I don't remember for sure.  If it's a twisted or obstructed bowel, the way I understand it, this will mean opening up my incision again.....yes, another major surgery.  I'm hoping this isn't the case but if it is, then I will at least be glad they figure out the problem and can fix it.  

I've been slacking on my weekly updates lately.  I started a new job on 7/30 - it's keeping me REALLY busy but I absolutely love it.  It's really amazing because I'm doing virtually the same thing - I work in a bank owned insurance agency as an agent but it's just such a different atmosphere and the way things are managed are really great.  My schedule is very different, I now work longer days but I'm getting used to my daily routine.

I weighed in this morning at 239.2 so I'm 114.8 pounds down since surgery.  I've started counting the 1/10ths!  At this point, every little bit counts  :)  

Wednesday I go to the hospital to have an endoscopy done.  I still have been having the pains in my stomach that I have always called "gas pains" and have for the most part thought they were brought on by lactose intolerance.  I don't think that's the case at this point as I now hardly ingest any dairy products but still get the pains.  Not as much as I used to but they're still there.  My PCP and my surgeon both agree that they think the hook up to my pouch is too small - either it's always been that way or has grown scar tissue around it.  Apparently when this is the case, the food isn't pushed through the pouch in a timely manner, it sits there too long and when it finally goes through it causes the pains.  So they're going to take a look and see if their theory is right.  If so, they can stretch it while they're down there.  I hope they figure it out!

I have been very sporadic on my exercise.  Pretty much nil since I started my new job. I get up at 5 and start getting myself ready and by the time I get myself ready and both kids up, fed, dressed and out the door by 7 I'm on my way to drop them off at the sitter and then on my way to work.  Work until 5 pm, pick them up and home by 6 or a little earlier.  Then fix supper, feed them, play with them a little, clean up after supper and put the kids to bed.  At this point, I'm exhausted because I'm still getting used to getting up so early so I'm hoping after a few weeks maybe I can squeeze a workout on my elliptical in at 9 pm and then maybe join a club for some strength training during my lunch hour.  That's my plan anyway, hopefully I'll get started on it soon.  Until then, I get exercise chasing my 2.5 yo and my 15 mo little ones around.    

I just noticed I'm wearing the same exact outfit in this month's pictures as I did in last months!  Funny!  This month I'm in front of our TV though, and last month I was in front of a door.  Oh well...

Oh my - sometimes my darn fingers get to going way to fast and bad things happen!!!     I typed this nice post, with some updates on myself, my WOW moments and just life in general and I lost the whole darn thing!  Now I'm out of the mood to do it all over again so in a nutshell for the weekly weigh in (yesterday) I'm now at 243.....2 pounds down from last week (I think) and a grand total of 111 lost.

Stupid computer.....

I'm going to try to update my blog every Monday.  It helps when I have a weight loss to report for the week and this week I do.  I'm now down to 245, which is a total of 109 pounds lost.  It's really slowed down as it's been over a month that I hit the 100 pound mark but I'll take what I can get.  

Last week I think I reported that I wanted to get back in the habit of exercising.  I did get on my elliptical 2 nights last week for 20 minutes one night and 21 minutes the next night but haven't been back on since.  No excuses really, it's just life gets busy.  Not to mention I had a headache almost every day last week.  It was a start though so I'll try to do even better this week.  Oh, and I did manage to exercise twice on Monday - I got up early Monday morning and did my "The Biggest Loser Workout" DVD for the 1st time.  I did the stretch and the low impact cardio workout.  

The news that I was waiting to announce last week is that I got a new job.  I didn't put my notice in at my current job until Wednesday so I wanted to wait to make it "public" until then.  I'm an insurance agent and going to a different agency so there was the possibility that my 2 week notice would go out the door and I would be let go immediately.  However they are letting me work my 2 weeks so now my last day is 7/25.  I will start my new job on 7/30 and I'm looking forward to it.  It will also be nice to have a couple of days at the end of that week to do some catching up at home (I'm hoping anyway) before I start the new job.

I've called a few different places as I want to join a gym now that I'll have access to one.  Working and living in the same itty bitty town has limited my options, or should I say there weren't any options.  Now I can go after work or on my lunch hour.  I'm trying to decide between Anytime Fitness, Curves and the Altoona Campus (which is like a YMCA where they have all sorts of things, classes, trainers, a swimming pool, etc.  Leaning toward that place and the biggest reason is they have childcare.  It would be hard to squeeze a workout in during my regular daycare provider's hours before or after work and lunch time can get rushed too.  I won't be able to join right away since it will be an extra expense but I plan on doing it as soon as I can.

There's not much else to report.  Hopefully the time will fly fast and soon I'll be in a new job, new surroundings and continuing to lose weight and shrink out of my clothes!!

Yesterday I celebrated my 6 month "surgiversary."  Well, I didn't really celebrate, I just cleaned house and spent the day with my husband and kids.  Though it was so nice to have nothing planned for the weekend.  It was the 1st weekend since April that we didn't have a committment for at least part of the weekend.

I didn't get my 5 month pictures taken so I made sure to get my 6 month pictures taken right away so time doesn't slip by me again.  So I've posted them and it's funny to me that I feel like I see my weight loss better in pictures than when I'm looking in the mirror.  It's really helped to go back and look at my pre-surgery pictures and even the monthly updates.  

I weighed in this morning and I've lost another 6 pounds so my total is now 106.  I've developed a pattern that I've heard others have followed the same pattern.  I lose weight the week before my period and then stall until the next week before my period.  That's been the last 2 months.  I'm hoping to break through the stall sooner this month though so I'm going to kick it in the butt and get my butt in gear!

I know where I need to make changes and now is the time to do it.  My eating has been pretty good.  I still eat 2-3 oz of meat/protein and then fruits/veggies as I can fit them in.  I do eat some carbs but try to keep them whole grain.  Honestly, my outlook is that I can have anything (that my pouch will tolerate) in moderation.  We went to a b-day party and I had a bite of my son's cake and was satisfied.  I know others can't do that but it seems to work for me.

The biggest change I need to make is to get back on an excercise plan.  Today I broke open my "Biggest Loser Workout" DVD.  I actually dragged my butt out of bed early this morning so I could do it before Skylar woke up.  I should be able to do it on most mornings that Scott can take Jacob to the sitter's when he leaves for work.  If he has to leave too early, then I have to take both kids and we'll have to see.  Jacob is a very early riser so it will be interesting to see if I can excercise with him trying to climb on me. 

All in all, it's been a wonderful 6 months for me.  I'm fitting into clothes I haven't been able to wear since well before I got married and even able to button shirts, jackets, etc that I was NEVER able to button.  It's very exciting for me!

And last but not least......just a little teaser......I'm going to have an announcement to make but I have to wait a couple of days.  I need to tell certain people before I make it public but it's just another exciting time in my life.

Not much else to report at this time but I wanted to be sure to put an update in my blog.  Hopefully I can start updating more often and I'm hoping I'll have weekly weight losses to report, rather than monthly!

I didn't post on my weekly weigh in because I'm still in a stall.  With things being so crazy lately I havn't taken the time to track my eating so who knows if I've been getting in enough protein.  My exercise is almost non existant right now too so I need to kick that in gear.  It's so hard to juggle a full time job, 2 kids and keeping up with the housework and then find time to exercise.  I know it's just an excuse but what can I say?  

I did go to the doctor to make sure I wasn't having a heart attack or anything like that.  She ruled out all heart related issues.  We think that it all ties into my gas pains as I've also had alot of cramping lately that feels like a cross between menstrual cramps and having to go poop cramps.  I know....TMI.  Anyway, they happen way more often than just that time of the month.  She gave me some prevacid samples and it's helped ALOT!  I hardly even have gas pains anymore and I've added just a little dairy back into my diet.  

I'm home with both of my kids today.  They both threw up several times throughout the night last night.  Neither has thrown up since 6:30 this morning so hopefully they're doing better.  Both are still a little clingy and whiny but I think the gross stuff is done.....at least I hope anyway!  Now I just hope Scott & I don't get it.  

Not a whole lot going on right now.  I didn't get my 5 month pics taken since that was a bad couple of weeks with everything going on so I'll just wait until 6 months - it won't be long.

I stayed at 254 this week which was not a big surprise to me.  Last week's loss of 9 pounds is very unusual for me.  Not to mention I had my period over the weekend and have also been going through ALOT of stress lately.  My good friend's husband passed away over the weekend.  I have been spending time with her in the hospital over the week and went to visit her at home yesterday.  The visitation and funeral are tomorrow and Wednesday so with all of this I've been eating on the run and quite honestly, probably not eating enough and getting enough protein in.

I did some checking on my weight loss history since surgery.  Not all of my #'s have been on the exact monthly anniversaries but here is my breakdown of weight lost from month to month.  

Month 1 - Jan 8 to Feb 14 - 41 pounds gone
Month 2 - Feb 14th to March 10 - 15 pounds gone
Month 3 - March 10 to April 4 - 12 pounds gone
Month 4 - April 4 to May 7 - 16 pounds gone
Month 5 - May 7 to June 4 - 16 pounds gone

I hadn't been recording weekly weights this whole time but now I've been doing it for probably a month or more.  I'm interested in seeing if I've developed any patterns yet.  I know many ladies who lose alot right before their period (which I sure did this month) and then stall for a couple of weeks.  So far, this month is turning out like that since I lost 9 pounds last week and this week I stayed the same.

I have been feeling a little tightness in my chest from time to time the past couple of weeks.  I'm sure it's probably just gas pains and I can't imagine I've now developed any heart problems.  I didn't have any before surgery and since I've lost 100 pounds I would like to think that I am healthier.  But just to be on the safe side, I'm going to call my PCP and have him check things out, just in case.  If I've learning anything this week, it's to take good care of myself and get things checked out because you never know.