Amy Otto

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I have lost just over 20 lbs on my own for pre-surgery but will list my starting weight before starting the loss that i have already accomplished.  I am walking between 3-4.5 miles a day and exercise at home as well.  I am excited, but terrified since i have never had a single surgery ever in my entire life.   I love the outdoors and hiking and camping.  I am really looking forward to taking yoga, flamenco dancing and belly dancing after surgery.  I miss hiking because out here in Oregon hiking, is just that, HIKING.  In illinois (where im from) hiking, is more like walking in the woods.  I miss getting out into the deep forest for connecting to nature out of fear of twisting an ankle, over doing it and at worst having a heart attack.  I cant wait to be able to get out there again.  I also am excited to loose the weight so my husband and i can start our family.  Right now i have pcos and it has been keeping me from being able to get pregnant.  After the weight loss, we want our babies.  I want to be able to keep up them as well.  I guess we'll find out soon enough...Surgery is on the 22nd of this month!!!!!!!!!!!!~Peace~ Amy


August 12 '06

Well im having all the last minute jitters, (surgery is on the 22nd of August) but now im also scarred that ill be post-poned. I developed a nasty infection on my right arm. It started on Wed. as a small bump like a pimple. It only went crazy from there. I have been to urgent care x2, the ER x2, cut open and drained x2, antibiotics thats right x2, even one starter boost antibiotic through an IV, (my first iv ever, i thought it would be the one for surgery, thats what i get for thinking...) just to still have the redness continue to spread though the swelling is going down a little, but it wont stop draining and the skin is hotter than the dickens... To top it off i have a "friend" who basically is telling me that she thinks i am doing this to look better, and that the infection on my arm is a "sign". She isnt listening to what i keep saying...."This isnt at all about my apperance, this is about me wanting to be able to have a baby" I cant now, i have PCOS. How can i make her listen? Do i strangle all the doctors who keep messing with my anti-biotics rather than really try to get to the core, and dont seem to listen to my concerns about surgery postponement? Has anyone else had any infections and or know if this would keep me from having my surgery? It has been a pain to get the time off with FML and insurance and Short Term Disability and all that to just to have to redo it all !!!!! Gahhhhh im so frustrated!!!!!!!!!!!~Peace~Amy


Update, August 16th, 2006
        The infection on my arm turned out to be MRSA Staph.  It has been quite the fight to get it under control (ie... 4 times at urgent care,  2 times in the ER, 2 antibiotics + an IV antibiotic, having it lanced 2 times, packed and repacked 2 times, a week off work now out of risk of infecting the clients i help care for, and still may need more time since it's not closing as fast as the doctor seemed to hope.) Its finally feeling better though.  As soon as it popped up i notified the Surgeons office.  He was out of the country and i got "the call" this morning.  I have to be postponed to Sept. 12.  I honestly expected this.  Admittedly I was annoyed at first when i saw this pimple turn to an infection and thought it may jeopardize my surgery date. However as the battle raged i honestly didnt want to have surgery until it is fully healed.  This is what the staph did to a pimple/ingrown hair, i couldnt imagine what it could do to 5 little incissions that go clear inside.  I am annoyed, and anxious that i went from 6 days away, back to 27 days away but as it still heals slowly and i think i may have had a slight fever today still from it, im glad to wait till its gone.  So here i go again, on the roller coaster of emotions ( not to mention the paperwork... :(  ), starting back closer to the top...WWWHHHHEEEEEE!!!!!!! ~Peace~ Amy

update ~ Thursday September 14th, 2006~
   I just got home from the hospital!!!!! Everything went swimmingly, only difficulty was The night after surgery my blood pressure sky rocketed.  It got up to 197/107.  I was in recovery for about an hour and a half and as soon as i started to come to i wanted to walk.  I had to fight the urge to rip out my iv and walk because they said i had to wait!  They took me to my room and as soon as i got there, i went on a walk.  By 3 hours after surgery i had probably walked a good 45 minutes, (slow walking mind you, but still the nurses were all very impressed)unfortunately this was also when my bp shot up.  I had to rest and take a bp med.  The next day i walked nearly 3 hours and the surgeon asked if i wanted to go home since i was doing so well.  I choose to stay one more night though since the bp scare the night before.  Well today they took away my happy  clicker button and i am in pain.  The air they blew in is all bloated up and i cant get comfortable.  Actually i have found im most comfortable leaned over at a 90 degree angle.  I rest my arms on our elevated bed and lean straight over so everything "extra" hangs straight down at the floor.  This also the best way for me to get a really goooood deeeeeep breath!
   Everything seems sooooo surreal like this didnt really just happen, Though im sure thats just the left over anasthesia and the pain killers talking.  Well i need to lay down a bit and drink some more water first.  Talk to everyone later.  Thank you all ~ Peace~ Amy

9-26-06...This will read funny to many of you, i just copied it from my myspace page....
Well, I know it has been way tooooo long since i blogged.  I had my surgery on Sept 12.  By the next day I was asked if I wanted to go home since I was doing sooooo well.  However, I chose to stay one more night since the night of surgery my blood pressure, which is generally fine, shot up to 197/107.  They had to give me a blood pressure medication for the night to bring it down.  It wasnt until the second morning that i actually felt "pain".  I felt like a human balloon in my stomach.  I was all poofy and full of air from the surgery.  I just kept hitting the pain pump.  Unfortunately they took out my IV and made me take a liquid pain med.  Anyhow, I had an insane amount of energy right after surgery and just wanted to go go go!  Actually when i was in recovery after surgery I kept saying i wanted to go walking.  They made me wait and i literally had to fight my own urge to rip out my IV. I guess some how I sub-conciously knew that I had been restrained for 3 hours during surgery and had built up an anxiety or somthing that made me want to just walk.  As soon as i got to my room i insisted that i go on a walk.  The nurses laughed and said that recovery had told them that i was determined.  I walked almost constantly that day until my blood pressure rocketed.  I pretty much have been going non stop since.  I have learned that the surgery has caused me to be lactose intollerant.  If i have any kind of milk product about 10 minutes later, i feel like im gonna throw up everywhere.  I dont actually throw up but just feel like i could.  I went to the doctors yesterday about this since it had happend for 3 days in a row.  I didnt know though, that it was the milk i didnt know what it was.  The doctor, (Dr. Hong) decided i needed an upper GI to check for an ulcer.  So today i had to have that done, i dont remember much since i was sedated.  The doctor was actually willing to drive me home after the procedure (how cool is that, he really is a great doctor and surgeon!!!  Above and beyond!) Turns out i do have an ulcer, a small one, probably from pre surgery but the surgery may have irritated it.  However all day i felt fine and then i had a yogurt.  Within 10 minutes of finishing it i felt like death....Hence my theory of milk intolerance (this is not uncommon after this surgery)  So now i have to figure out some other ways to get my protien in.  On the plus side.... We (Kev and I) have joined a gym and I'm loving it!!! I cant wait for the incisions (all 6) to finish healing over so i can swim and enjoy the hot tub after working out.  The biggest plus, is as of today, exactly 2 weeks to the day, i have lost 16.2 pounds!!!! So sinced the weight i had to loose on my own presurgery to now, i have lost like 37 pounds!!!!  I am sooooo excited, i hope to soon be able to get some more pictures so i can share them.  I can really tell in my face, and unfortunately my boobs as well.  Back on the negative, not to dwell on the negative but my emotions have been up and down from the hormone changes and have actually been a bit bummed the past few days as well.  I have no reason to be down in the dumps, i am doing excellent, with relatively few complications and made it through the surgery with flying colors.  Still, i feel mopey.  I guess this is also somewhat normal due to hormones being thrown off by the weight loss of about a pound a day!  Okay, well i have more than made up for the lack of postings, i just wanted to update since i have gotten quite a few questions on how everything is going.... Well, talk to you all later ~Peace~ Amy


Oct. 1, 2006 ~ Weight loss.....Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So Kev and i joined a gym.  I have gone everyday since we joined.  I am doing Tai Chi and Water Arobics.( I am the age of most of the other students grandkids in the H2O class, but its nice).  I have also been riding the exercise bikes and doing weight machines and my own water work out, and water crunches to work on my abs.  I made these "crunches" up.  I start on my back in a back float, with my arms up above my head just at the water's surface.  As i bring my arms down to the side like in a traditional back float stroke, i scrunch my knees up toward my chest, hence lightly working the abs, then stretch my legs back out as my arms go back up.  By the fourth lane of these, i'm startin' to feel it!  You'd be amazed at the speed you can get doing these as well.  Anyhow, I have been going to the gym since Thursday, so what like, 4 days now, and when i first weighed in on their scale it read me about 2 pounds heavier than the scale at the doctors.  Well, despite that, I have been loosing about 1.5-2 pounds a day since joining!  And, as of today I have hit my first mini goal!!!!!!!!!!!  I broke a mark today that I broke coming the other way just after high school!  It may have even been when i was in High school!!! I am now under 300!!!  Not by much (298.5), but im under I cant wait to find out what my doctors scale reads!!!!  I feel absolutely wonderful and full of energy and life!!!! This surprises me since i dont even break 600 calories a day.  I am however getting in my Protien and Water and Vitamins and Meds and even a couple sugar free lifesavers.  I am learning to love soy milk, and i have a little 4 ounce cup of the chocolate soy for a treat at night!  But man oh man, do you have any idea how hard it is to find stuff to eat that isnt dairy!  I swear, is it everyone, or just Americans who smother everything in freakin' cheese?!?  I need to go to a Trader Joes, or Wild Oats or something to find some soy based cheeses.  For now im fine, but i know one day i'll want some cheese!  On the plus, since i cant have dairy, that means no chocolate, no icecream, no cheescake, no lasagna, no pizza, no chocolate milk...etc....  These are all things that one day may try to pull me back to the dark side!  But not now oh buddy, not after how it made my stomach feel!  None of that THANK YOU!  On a negative side again, my food processer is on the fritz, but lucky for me, I happend to be at the store and they had a deli style roasted chicken marked a dollar off, so i bought it and brought it home for Kev.  I decided to be bold and daring and try it.  I tried a little piece of breast meat and the way they cook it it's sooooo moist that it like puree's itself in my mouth, and get this I didnt get sick!!!!! I CAN EAT CHICKEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Needless to say, Kev gave it to me and so i have been eating nothing but chicken for 2 days now, and i love it!!!  Its an easy source of protien.  I just rip off a chunk cold, wiegh out 2 ounces, and throw it in a baggy and eat it on the go!  Hurray for rotiserie chickens!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I have also discovered i can have ground steak as long as i spit out anything too chewy, (gross i know but better that, than it getting stuck in my "pouch").  Anyhow, i'll stop rambling, but i just have to say, I LOVE THIS NEW LIFESTYLE!!!!!!!!!!!!I am sooooo much happier and feel sooooooo much better!  I am sooooo glad i made this choice to have surgery.  I never wanna go back to the weight i was before.  As of today, according the scale at the gym, (I will get the official weight Tues.) since i started the entire thing,, including what i had to loose before, i have lost, ready, drum roll please.............43lbs!!!!!! So like 23 pounds since surgery and it will only be 3 weeks on Tuesday!!! Go me!  ~Peace~Amy
       

Oct. 7 2006~
Yeah!!! I tested a theory today.  On Wednesday i had a cup of hot caffeine free tea.  The only sweetner available was splenda.  About 1/2 way through the cup i felt sick to my stomach, much like i did with "dairy".  I basically dumped the rest of the day and was wiped out the next day, much like i was with "dairy".  I didnt think about it much at the time, I blamed it on the sliced Turkey i had for lunch.  Last night, however it hit me.... When i had the stomach aches about 2 weeks ago (leading to the discovery of the ulcer) i was having to force myself to eat and get in protien.  So i was mixing my protien with yogurt that i had bought.  I would mix a bit of yogurt, bit of protien powder, and bit of milk, blend and drink.  Shortly after finishing this, i would feel nauseated.  It was sooo bad that i actually went like a day or so with out food because i simply could not get it down.  Anyhow, the yogurt i had at the time was light.  (prior to this i couldnt find any low sugar yogurt).  I was craving yogurt last night, (I love chicken but one can only take so much, though im lucky i can eat it!!!) and so i started thinking.  I seemed to remember on the yogurt i had, it said sweetened with splenda.  I remember the word splenda with their little circle swirly around the name.  So since i was out, i decided to risk it.  I tried 1/2 thing of Tillamook Lemon squeeze yogurt.  And guess what, I was FINE!!!!  So i got home last night and checked the old yogurts (my husband has been "working" on them) and sure enough,... "sweetened with splenda!"  So today i had yogurt for breakfast.  Then after the gym i got brave...I wanted something along with my chicken....  So i gave in to my weakness... I had a nice balanced dinner of 1/2 ounce green beans, (cold out of the can) 1 ounce rotiserried chicken breast, no skin, and 1/2 ounce of COTTAGE CHEESE!!!!!  And here i am, almost 2 hours after eating with no tummy ache!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!! I dont think im lactose intolerant.  Though i have to say i will stick to the soy milk, it is pretty good, and better for me.  I will take it easy on dairy since i dont want to push tooooo much luck, however i am sooooo happy i can have any at all!!!  I guess maybe the Splenda was aggrivating my ulcer causing the nausea.  I now know to stay clear of Splenda!  Funny though, i have been fine with other fakey's like the pink and blues...???? Oh well, at least i know now that i am not totally dairy intollerant.  It is a very tough feat to find stuff at the store with out any dairy in it, so to those of you out there who are, I am SOOOOO SORRY!  Well, thats plenty for now.... ~Peace~ Amy

October 11, 2006  Again this entry is from my myspace page, and the photo i refer to is the photo on my myspace page...

http://www.myspace.com/treehugga7

So today was my official one month follow up.  Tomorrow actually makes one month since surgery.  My weight loss as of today... 33 pounds since surgery, so in all like 53 pounds total since Mayish!!! 33 pounds in 30 days!!!! Yeah!!!! Kev and i played with the camera some the other day and took some photos, and guess what, there was a body shot that im not emberassed to put on my page, and i even made it my main photo! I feel sooo much better, except for right at the moment, bad time of month.... I know TMI!!!  But still i go to the gym pretty much everyday, except for if i feel ucky from something i ate or did.  Generally im going 6 days a week!!! I love it.  The bajha im wearing in the new pic is one i bought about 4 months ago at a thrift store and couldnt squeeze into it.  Now it is my favorite thing to wear.  I know, everyone is soooo sick of hearing about me and my damn surgery, but its whats happening for me now.  I go back to work Friday, no restrictions!  I was gonna go back last week but they had me on a lift restriction and my job wouldnt go for that.  Today though the surgeon said im good to go!  Lets see, something different.  Kev and i have been watching a lot of really cheesey old black and white horror flicks lately.  We got a bunch at goodwill the other day for fifty cents each, with two movies per disc!  We got Night of the living dead, house on haunted hill, and a bunch of other movies only ever heard of by major fans of MST3K!  Its been fun though.  Well, i guess thats it for now, ill hopefully regain some sense of a life soon and can stop rambling about the surgery, just for now its really exciting and also the hardest thing (emotionally) to go through.  I knew it would be tough, but today the emotional stuff started showing up and i know this is just the tip of the iceberg.  I hope i can stay strong and dont return to any of my old "comforts" (food and cigarettes)  I know though that i can do it!  Just have to remember why im doing it.... For that little Berkeley brat to run around and spread our variety of heathenry to the world!!!! ~Peace~ Amy