rbennettx2
.Rita's Journey
Oct 17, 2006
Pixie4-23-05**I've watched my two sisters thru their weight loss journey over the past two years. One had the lap band and loss 70 lbs. the other had gastric bypass surgery and has loss 110 lbs.
I've decided the gastric bypass is for me and sent my application in today to Tufts Medical Center. I feel comfort in that both my sisters work with and had surgery by the doctor that will be doing
my surgery.
5-04-05**My first visit to the OCC (obesity consult center)
Consultation with my psychiatrist. She started me on self motoring logs and gave me a list of books and web sites about weight loss surgery. Registration for the Behavior Change Group Classes
5-16-05**Started the Behavior Change Group tonight at 6:00pm. There's thirteen of us in the group and one of them is another sister of mine who'll also be having gastric bypass surgery. Kim cut the class a little short tonight so we could all go to the monthly Gastric Bypass Support Meeting. WOW! I walk in the hall and hear someone calling my name, surprise one of my two year out sisters. The people in our group were real interested in our family of WLS sisters. All of my sibilings are obese. Pretty good bet there some genetics going on there.
5-19-05**Started the Physical Activity for Life Lecture Series.
Went to the open conservation with the surgeons lecture.
Dr. Tarnoff was the speaker. I was very impressed with him. He explained everthing very clearing, describing the pro and cons of each surgery throughly. The nutrionist spoke of the importance of getting the fluids in and getting protein first after surgery. If I had any doubts on which surgery was for me before, I now know for sure that the gastric bypass is the right decision for me.
6-29-05 My sister and I met with the surgeon, Dr.Tarnoff today.
He showed us a video of the surgery. He drafted letters to our primary care doctors about us having weight loss surgery and why. His secretary told us she give us a call after we've been approved with a surgery date. Boy, the nerves our setting in. I look forward to having this pass me and the beginning of a new life on the losing side.
8-08-05**My sister called from the hospital to tell us all the pre-ops are back with no problems. Everthing's a go. I have butterflies in my stomach. Anxiety is setting in. My daughter-in-law called to tell me my son is nervous over the surgery. So they came over and he cooked dinner for me and my husband. My girls tell me I'm going to be ok. My husband tells me I'm going to be allright and he will be there threw it all and for me not to worry,he'll handle that. Everyone is telling me they'll be praying for me. I truly believe if God brings you to it He will bring you threw it.
8-19-05**Surgery went great, no complications!!!God and His angels with the purple light were all around me. My husband gave me a beautiful "Angel of Love" ornament wrapped in purple satin. My friend did Reiki on me and saw the Archangel Michael in a purple light always surrounding me. My sister brought a celtic musical angel and key chain that says "Give your Worries to the Angels" to the hospital for me. I am so blessed to have all this love around me. When they gave me the sedative to bring me in the operating room, I just closed my eyes and went to the purple light where the angels were protecting me. I new everything would be ok in God's Hands. I went in on monday and came home yesterday at stage 3. Everthing seems to in working order but my stomach is still swollen. No problems getting in 64 oz. of water daily but only had 45 grams of protein today.
8-23-05** 1 week since surgery. My stomach swelling is coming down. Pain is centered where the doctor put through the camera instruments. I was told that it would be the most tender area.
Seems that ice tea is the wrong thing to be drinking (what goes in comes right out). I changed to water 3 days ago and now I have a hard time getting enough water in averaging 30 oz. a day. Also can't get in enough protein. Yesterday I only got in 30 grams protein & 36 oz. water. Needless to say I feel the effects from that. I'm light headed and a little nauseous this morning. Today I'll try to do better.
8-24-05** Feeling a little better today . My husband took me to the store to buy a scale last night. Great news I'm down 15 pounds since surgery on the 15th. That makes a total of 35 pounds since May when I entered the OCC program. I feel like I'm starting to melt (that's a good thing!!). I told my sister that I was getting a little sick of chocolate instant breakfast. She told me she used to mix orange or strawberry jello into her Carnation Vanilla instant breakfast and put in in the blender with a cup of ice. She said the orange tastes just like a creamsicle. Gonna get me some of that tomorrow.
8-31-05** Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been feeling very tired. I think it's partially because I'm not getting enough protein in. Monday I had to go to the emergency room. I couldn't get out of the chair without severe pain on my left side. They took x-rays and said it was from a stitch and it would go away within a couple of weeks or less. They gave me a shot in the hip to relax the muscles around the stitch area and sent me home with pain meds. Today I had my follow up appointment with the surgeon and everything went great. The pain from the stitch has eased up a lot. The surgeon said the stitch needed to be there to help prevent a hernia. Also met with the nutritionist and she advanced me to stage four. Solids, boy did that three ounces of tuna fish taste good!
10-01-05** Two days short of seven weeks post op and I'm down 34 pounds. Total of fifty-four pounds since starting with the O.C.C. in May. I'm now at stage five. I'm eating meats and veggies. Still can't tolerate pasta,
rice or bread. They sit to heavy in my stomach and make me feel sick. I started excercising last week. Boy, starting over is hard. I was in great physical shape before the car accident. I've been taking pictures weekly to record my weight loss. I thought they would be good to look back on after I make it to my goal.
11-02-05 Feeling Great!!
Two and half months since surgery. I had my second post op visit with my surgeon yesterday. They're checking my iron levels because I've been feeling extra tired lately.Down 10 more pounds this past month. Total of 64 pounds gone forever. What a great feeling , it feels like I'm melting. Down 3 sizes. Packed up my third bag of clothes for the salvation army today. Had a set back in my excercise routine. I tried to do sit ups in my interval training class and pulled my neck and back out again. This put me out of commission for 10 days. Needed to go to my therapist for 2 sessions of massage and reflexoligy. I should have known better. My trainer had given me a routine with reverse sit ups because of my neck surgery. No more sit ups for me. I must say that after a month back excercising,it is a little easier. I'm now back doing areobics twice a week.
11-09-05 I'm melting!!!!
I'm going to the fitness center three times a week now and the pounds are coming off a little faster. Down 5 more pounds in one week.Yesterday my fitness instructor commented that the old Rita is back. I'm 10 pounds away from the lowest weight I've been in the past nine years. In 1996 I started my previous weight loss journey and lost 80 pounds. I kept that weight off for four years. The weight crept back on from 2000 to 2005 during which time I was pretty much immobile because of a car accident which injured my back and neck. The good news is that I saved all my clothes from back then. Hooray,last night I started trying the clothes on and they all fit again. I packed up all my fat clothes another two bags and gave them to my sister. I never want to see Xlarge again.
Life is good again!! I'm getting much more attention from my husband,he comments everday how good I look and that's a good thing!! This weekend will be our 38th wedding anniversary. Hubby is taking me to our time share at the Cove and country line dancing saturday night. I can hardly wait. I haven't been line dancing in two years. Dancing is one of my most favorite things to do. It so nice to enjoy life again!!!
1-17-06 Still melting !!!
It's been a long time. I've not been very good at updating, lots of info to fill in. The holidays kept me pretty busy. This was the first Thanksgiving all my kids weren't together at my house for dinner. My youngest daughter and her family were in Ohio with her husband's family and my oldest daughter's children were with their father. We celebrated the holiday with a quiet dinner with my son and his family and my daughter. Missing seven of our family at dinner was a little depressing. Christmas was great! Everyone home for our annual Christmas Eve party at my house. My daughter and her husband and my three grandchildren came and stayed a few days with us before their cross country road trip to San Diego (her husbands new Navy station). My husband and I took a cruise to the carribean for New Years. It was great to feel good in a bathing suit. My husband actually pick out a two piece bathing suit for me to wear. (I have never worn a two piece bathing suit in my life) We purchased a new digital camera in St.Thomas. Since my surgery I've wanted a picture diary of my weight loss. The problem was that my husband could'nt see thru my 1.0 LCD screen. No excuses now the new camera has a 2.5 LCD screen with a 12x optical zoom and records moving images and also records movies with voice. He took lots of pictures of the new me. I've posted two below. I'm now five months out and down 65 pounds since surgery plus the 20 from the two months prior surgery for a total lost of 85 pounds. I now weigh in at 165. I hope to be at my goal weight of 130 pounds by my next vacation inMay.
1-21-06
Great news today! Went to the gym this morning and got weighed in and measured before class. Down another 3 pounds for a total of 88 pounds lost. My sister said my pants looked baggy when I came home from our trip on the 14th. These are the the size 12 pants I had fixed to go on the trip. I decided to try a size 10 and wow they fit. This feels great! Only 33 pounds left to reach my goal weight.
2-27-06
Today's my birthday! Just returned from a trip to San Diego. My daughter's husband has been relocated there with the Navy. They drove cross country from Ohio with their three boys (9yrs,7yrs,9mo.). My oldest daughter and I flew out for a visit and to bring their pet dog (Munchie).He weighs all of 6 lbs. I hid him on my lap under a blanket till the stewardess caught on and had me put him back in his carry-on. We had a great time shopping and going to the outdoor cafe's at the GasLamp Quarters. It's similar to the French Quarters in New Orleans. Saturday night we went to the Brailzan Madri Gras Celebration. I wore a pink boa and a gold mask so you couldn't see how old I was. My daughter and I were at the bar getting our drinks when a couple of guys starting flirting with us. Now of coarse my daughter is young and beautiful and they had no idea I was 54 years old under that mask. With my new body I looked good enough to be approached again. What a great feeling! My weight loss is slowing down a little (down 94 lbs.) but the scale moved only 6 lbs. this month. On the other hand my pant size is down to a size 7/8. I bought my first pair of low riser jeans with a wide rhinestone belt and a white tucked in cami with a pink sequence shrug to go over it. My daughter said I looked like the young one.
Life is good!!!!!
4-9-06
Two pounds away from the being a member of the Century Club. Weight is coming off much slower now only 4 lbs in the past six weeks. But on a positive note my clothes size keeps changing.I'm inbetween sizes right now, size 8's are baggy on me and my size 6's zip up but make the midriff skin stick out. I've increased my workouts to 90 minutes 4 times a week. Wanting those size 6's to fit just right for my trip to Fort Lauderdale for Fleet Week at the end of April. I've recently had my body fat measured and my trainer figured out how much more I need to lose to be at the ideal body fat for me. I'm one week shy of 8 months post op and I have only 22 lbs more to lose to be at my ideal body fat weight.This would bring me down to 130 lbs. I'm not sure if that's going to be good enough for me. I was shooting for 125-127. We'll see hopefully my body will know what's best. On a lighter note next week is Easter. And this will be the first one that I'm not doing the cooking. My husband and I will be going to my son's house for Easter dinner and my brother's house for desert. I haven't bought a dress for Easter in at least 20 years. Usually I'm hiding behind an apron. It was fun trying on the spring color dresses. I decided on a lime green sundress (size medium juniors). I just hope it's warm that day, but just in case I got a long white sweater coat wear over it.
4-24-06
Weights coming off much slower lately. But I finally hit the century
club (now 100 lbs lost). The holiday was great. My daughter in law did a great job on the Easter dinner and it was nice to visit with my brother later in the day. My green dress was a big hit. The inches must be coming off because some of my size 6's now fit. I went shopping for a bathing suit for Fort Lauderdale today. This is the first time ever that I didn't get a black suit that makes you look ten pounds thinner. I bought an anne cole lime green suit with a peek a boo hole at the bust and straps that tie around the neck. My husband's eyes lit up when I modeled the suit for him. What a great feeling that was for me. Life is so much better than 8 months ago. It's so good to want to get dressed nice and go out in the world again instead of hiding my fat self in the house.
5-18-06
Back from Fort Lauderdale. The air show was not as good as I remember, but the beach was nice. We went to the open air markets and I bought some very sexy tops and a belly dancing skirt. Had a great time at the Hollywood Casino celebrating Cinco de miya. After a week in Fort Lauderdale, we headed down to the Keys. Had a blast! We went on a 6 hour catamaran that took us parasailing for the first time, what a trip! We went snorkeling,banana boat riding and then on the jet ski. When we came in from the day at sea we had dinner and drinks at a reggae bar on the pier. By night we strolled down Duvall street, taking in the sites and buying some more sexy tops in the shops. Later we went dancing at Sloppy Joes. Four women came in with only their bottoms on. They had their breasts air brush painted to look like tops. They surely got the guys attention. My husband took lots of pictures of the new me. Boy did it feel great not to be the fat lady on the beach. Instead of getting the stares I had women and men saying my outfit was great. On the subject of weight,that has slowed down to about a pound a week. I'm down another 3 lbs. Total lost so far is 103 lbs. at 9 months out.Yesterday my doctor did a Body Composition Analysis on me. Good News ! my body fat is 24.2% suggested range: 22% to 26% My suggested Target Weight Range: 142 lbs. to 150 lbs.I currently weigh in at 147 lbs. with a BMI of 27.4. My original goal was to get to 125 lbs. But I now think that could be to low for me. My new goal is to get down to 130 lbs.
6-3-06
Back to excercise classes three times a week. Working in the garden and doing some belly dancing on my off days. It's really paying off because I'm down another 5 pounds. I had my husband take some pictures of me in my gym clothes and my belly dancing costume. I'm beginning to see the dramatic difference in my before and after pictures now. Today I weigh in at 142 just 12 pounds from goal.
8-18-06
Just had my year anniversary on August 15th. I had my yearly check up and found that my B-12 levels were low at 187. The doctor put me on 1000mg B-12 a day. Weight lost is slowing down to a half a pound a week. Everyone says I shouldn't lose any more weight. I'm starting to see the dragged out look in my face and my eyes look sunken in. I now can see my bones in my chest and back. I think it might be caused by low B-12 level and poor diet. Since the summer began I've stopped recording my daily intake in my Fit Day calendar. I've recently come to realize that I have not been getting in enough protein and water. When I started this journey my goal was to get my weight to 128 lbs. and be a size 6. Well I'm ten pounds away from my weight goal but I have beat my size goal. I now wear a size 4 jeans and a small in tops and jackets. I am very happy with my current size, so whatever weight loss I have from now on will be an extra bonus. I never imagined I would be in a size 4. This makes me smaller than when I got married almost 39 years ago. My hubby now calls me Baby Doll and says if I turn sideways Ill dissappear. I'm so lucky to have such a loving and supportive husband.
Life is Good !!!
10-22-06
I just finished loading my picture journal. I'm so glad I recorded this journey. It's good to look back to remind us of how far we've come. Tears came to my eyes looking back over these pictures. I never want the fat Rita to return. She was a very unhappy and inactive person. I now love going out to lunch with the girls on thursdays. Aerobics class with my best friend three times a week. Top forties dancing at the club with my daughter and sometimes my sister on saturdays. It great to be attractive enough to be asked to dance. But my one true love will always be my husband Ron. On my alternate weekends I go country line dancing with my husband. We both love that he can wrap both his arms completely around me. I feel like a petite doll in his arms. I think my weight loss is coming to an end. I'm now down to 135 pounds and I'm very happy being a small top and size four jeans. I'd like to lose five more pounds . I'd like to say I weigh 130 pounds. But if it doesn't happen that will be ok to. Especially since I've gone crazy buying clothes.
Pixie
