I have a date (and other news)!

Wednesday, September 14, 2011 -- a new hope!

That's the day I'll have my sleeve surgery. I can hardly believe after all this time, I actually have a date. It's actually going to happen -- and so soon! The whole process has been wait, wait, wait, and now everything is HURRY!

I start my liquid diet this Wednesday, and oddly enough, I'm almost more worried about that than I am about the surgery itself. I've discovered that I kind of have this irrational fear of being hungry. Isn't that weird? Or maybe it's that I fear that I can't handle any sort of hunger. I don't know! All I know is, I'm stressing the next couple of weeks.

[On a related note, what are your favorite protein drinks?]

Tomorrow, I have to have a stress test and an Upper GI. I can't have anything by mouth after midnight, and I don't even check in until 12:55 p.m. It'll be suppertime before I can eat or even have water. I am sweating this, too! I'm drinking as much as I can this evening, and I'm thinking of setting my alarm for 11:45 to have a protein shake and more water. So, we'll see how that goes.

Meanwhile, I got some unexpected news this past week -- I have cataracts and need surgery. I'm 43, y'all! Why is my body falling apart already? They wanted to go ahead and do them both before my sleeve surgery, but man, I just didn't think I could deal with it. I scheduled the first one for two weeks after my sleeve, and the other one for two weeks after that. On the upside, after the cataracts are out, I won't need glasses anymore, which is nice.

That's about it from here. Hope you're all doing well. :)

Insurance approved my surgery!

Yes, yes, yes!!! I just had a call from my bariatric center, and insurance has approved my surgery! *snoopydances* Hopefully next week I should get a date!

Have a great weekend, everyone! <3

More waiting...

I met my surgeon today. Yay!

He wants me to have a stress test before surgery. Boo!

My file was sent to my insurance company. Yay!

But I didn't get a date for the surgery yet. Boo!

The surgeon thinks VSG surgery will be the best choice for me. Yay!

I also have to have some sort of swallowing test -- just when I thought I had finally finished all of that. Boo!

I was only up one pound -- either something magical happened or the surgeon's scales are EXTREMELY kind. Yay!

Dr. Surgeon said I just barely qualify for surgery based on my weight. Um. Boo? Yay? (Which leads me to ask: why did they have me lose five percent? What if I'd lost too much? Sheesh!)

So, now I wait to hear from the insurance company. Boo! Dr. Surgeon said it could be as soon as two days. His insurance staff said no way; it'll be at least a week. Double Boo!

My knee and back feel almost completely better! No new body parts are currently falling apart! Yay!

So, I guess that's it from this end. Oh, one more thing -- do any of you hang out on obesityhelp.com? I asked a couple of questions there and...wow, some people there are not terribly supportive/welcoming, are they? Are they just rude to newbies, or is everyone fair game? Also? I was really angry to see some comments blaming the girl who died after her DS revision for her own death. "We told her so!" Hmm...self-righteous much?

I'm bummed!

So, I physically feel pretty crummy -- my knee's still a little sore, my lower back is KILLING me (seriously, I'm walking like I'm 90 years old) and I'm still ravenous ALL OF THE TIME. I finally got in a very gentle 30 minutes on my beloved recumbent bike today, but I have to go very slow and easy because of my body falling to pieces around me. And, you know what ravenous + much less exercise means, right? Ugh.

I'm anxious for my first appointment with the surgeon on Tuesday, but also kind of dreading it because I've gained four pounds since I hit my 5 percent. What's going to happen when I show up at the surgeon's office, and I'm sure they'll want to weigh me, and when they see I'm no longer at 5 percent, what happens then? Has anyone heard of this happening to anyone? Will they send me back to try to lose those four pounds back? Will my insurance deny me for it?

Ugh, y'all, I'm trying so hard, and sometimes it feels like I'll never make it to the actual surgery! And I'm feeling awfully petulant that we show up at the bariatric practice because we have trouble losing weight and keeping it off, and what's the first thing they say? "Lose weight." Does that sound like cruel and inhuman punishment to anyone else? ;)

Erk, sorry for the whine-age. I'm going to bed and find a better attitude in the morning. *hugs for all*

Have to admit it's getting better, a little better all the time...

The fam and I went for some light hiking today! We picked two easy trails, about a mile long each, and had a break in between. My knee's a little sore tonight but not too bad. I'm hopeful that I can get back in a routine soon. :)

I wish I hated pictures of myself less -- it would've been nice to be in some of the pictures. But I just don't wan't to look at myself at this point. Hopefully soon!

Gimme my exercise!

I've made an interesting discovery in the past three days -- since my knee flaked out on me and I was told to lay off exercising for a few days. What discovery was this?

I NEED EXERCISE.

In the past three days, in addition to sitting on my butt, I've slipped back into my old ways of eating, and, unfortunately, the weight I lost is already piling back on. I've felt almost constantly hungry -- ravenous to the point of distraction! And I'm pretty sure I'm still supposed to be at 219 when I see the surgeon a week from Tuesday.

So, my plan is this:

1. Back on two-protein shakes, one small meal per day. Limit snacks to fruit or sugar-free popsicle.
2. Get back on the recumbent bike -- but take it slower, and listen to my body. I'm hopeful that wearing the brace will limit irritation to the bursa.
3. Get out of the house and away from electronic distractions.

All right, body, we can do this. One foot in front of the other. :)

Four things make a post!

Thing One: I have met my 5 percent weight loss, and am now waiting for an appointment to see the surgeon. I'm told I should expect surgery in about a month. WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Thing Two: I got brave and uploaded an actual picture of me for my profile. I don't particularly care for the pic (exactly how many chins do I have there?!), but it's taken from a photo of me and my daughter at a Carolina Gamecocks football game last fall, and it was such an awesome day that it makes me happy to see it anyway. :D

Thing Three: Owwie.

My knee started hurting a little on Monday while I was riding my beloved recumbent exercise bike. I kept going, and the knee was sore. Exercised again on Tuesday and Wednesday (because I was working hard to lose the last of the 5 percent!) and it got worse and worse. This morning, I could barely walk on it. It's apparently bursitis. On one hand, I'm bummed that I can't work out for a few days, but...I have to admit, I kinda like that I have a battle wound.

Yes, I'm weird. 8-)


Thing Four: this is the entire contents of my (very new) iPhone's music:

Loser -- Glee cast version
Carolina in My Mind -- James Taylor (not for exercise, but I love the song!)
Let's Go Crazy -- Prince
Gettin' Jiggy Wit It -- Will Smith
It's My Life/Confessions, Pt. II -- Glee cast version
Loser Like Me -- Glee cast version
Hold My Hand -- Hootie and the Blowfish
Cruel Summer -- Bananarama
Epic -- Faith No More

Please give me suggestions for great motivational music. :)

G'night, y'all!

P.S. If I haven't friended you back, please poke me!

It's fun for a girl and a boy!

Dig that green shag carpeting, Daddy-O!

What walks down stairs
alone or in pairs
and makes a slink-it-y sound?
A sling, a spring, a marvelous thing
everyone knows it's Slinky!
It's Slinky! It's Slinky
for fun it's a wonderful toy!
It's fun for a girl and a boy!

For some reason that I can't fathom, I have this song stuck in my head today, so I had to go find the old-school commercial jingle that I grew up singing along with. (And now I've earwormed all of you. You're welcome. ;) )

It started me thinking about the games we played with our Slinky, and that got me thinking about the other games we played as kids. Kickball, Freeze Tag, Hide and Seek. We played CHiPs and our bicycles were our highway patrol motorcycles. A pair of groovy roller skates on our feet made us Dorothy Hamill, or we made a roller derby on the carport. We had a big Yellow Poplar in our front yard, and I climbed it many days, and later carved into it the initials of the boy I liked. There was always something fun to do.

We were getting exercise, though we were having too much fun to notice. So I wonder -- when did exercising stop being fun? Why did we stop playing? When did it stop being something we wanted to do every day, and become a chore that we got over with as soon as possible?

When did it become work? I mean, we even call it working out! Is it any wonder that we don't want to do it?

So, my goal from here on out, for the rest of my life, is going to be to find the fun. I don't want to work; I want to play! This weekend, my family and I are going camping, so I'll have lots of opportunity to play. I want to paddle a canoe again! I'm going to rent a paddle boat! I'm going to play in the water and not care how I look in a swimsuit -- because what matters is playing and having fun with my family. :D

How about you? What did you play when you were a kid? How do you find the fun in your exercise now? I'd love to hear your ideas. :D

Yay, followers!

I'm heading off to bed in approximately 3.5 minutes (gotta get up early so I can get my exercise on before work!) but I wanted to say hi to folks who are new followers! *waves like the great big dork she is* I'm so happy to get to know you all. :D

Also, if I haven't followed you back yet (this goes for "older" followers, too) please poke me with a sharp stick (or, you know, comment ;)  ). I want to follow everyone, but sometimes Blogger does weird things and I don't end up following someone when I'm supposed to be. Or maybe I'm doing something weird -- WHO KNOWS?! But anyway, I'll keep tryin' until I'm followin'. :)

Sweet dreams, y'all!

It's VSG for me!

(Is anyone else having issues with Blogger not wanting to post pictures? I can upload them just fine, but then they don't show up inserted in the post. Hrm...)

I have to admit, I was beginning to get annoyed with my bariatric practice. I called them Friday and asked to talk to someone about the VSG -- explaining that I was done with everything I needed to do leading up to surgery, with the exception of losing two more pounds. I explained that since I was not scheduled to see the MD again, I needed to talk to someone about whether VSG would be appropriate for me. I mentioned that my insurance has just begun paying for VSG, and I was interested in pursuing it.

Nobody returned my call on Friday, which I sort of expected. But then nobody called me Monday morning, either, which is when I started to become annoyed. I called the practice back, and this time was allowed to actually leave a voicemail. I was told, though, that the person would be in and out all day, and therefore might not be able to return the call right away.

ANYWAY, to cut a long, boring story somewhat shorter, late this afternoon I finally got a call back. 'Yes,' the program coordinator told me, 'your insurance is now paying for VSG. I've looked over your chart, and I think that would be absolutely perfect for you.' Not only that, but she went ahead and noted in my chart that I'm having VSG surgery! Just like that! I even know who the surgeon will be!

To say that I'm excited would be a HUGE, MAMMOTH understatement! My intestines don't have to be cut! I get to keep my pylorus! Less nutritional deficiencies! Y'all, I AM PUMPED!

So! I can weigh in Wednesday after the support group, and assuming I'm still at 219 then (and there's no reason I shouldn't be), my file goes to insurance for approval, and I get an appointment to see the surgeon! *twirls*