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

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!

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*

Woohoo!

Just finished a 45-minute ride on my exercise bike! I always forget how awesome the post-workout high feels. :D I think I'm claiming that as my first NSV. :D

Have I mentioned that I love my exercise bike? Also, an iPhone question

Aren't those commercials where people say, 'I love my bank!' in various ways annoying? And yet...I feel that way about my recumbent bike.

I had a treadmill for several years and actually used it a good bit, but I hated it. My balance is off because of a couple of meds I take, so I always felt slightly wobbly and worried that I was going to miss-step and fall off or something. Not to mention that it made my feet and knees hurt. To top it off, I felt like a lumbering elephant on it. No matter how much I tried to move gracefully, my feet ended up slapping the moving track -- clomp, clomp clomp. Ugh. Just not fun.

So I got a recumbent exercise bike, and wow, what a difference! No worries about losing my balance. My feet and knees never hurt. And I actually feel like my movements are graceful and strong. I've had my bike for about four weeks, and it's made a world of difference. I can already tell that my legs and core are stronger. And as an added bonus, I point a fan towards me and -- although I do get good and sweaty -- at no point do I feel like I want to die!

Today, I set out to ride 30 minutes while the hub and kids went grocery shopping. At 30 minutes I thought, 'I could go more.' So I did! I went 45 minutes, and STILL didn't feel like I wanted to die! :D

On the weight-loss front, my scale said 221.8 this morning. I did a happy dance right there on my bathroom scale. I need to be down to 219 by Thursday, which is when I go back to the weight loss practice for my final nutrition class. If I make weigh-in then, my file gets sent to the insurance company and I get an appointment to meet with the surgeon! Man, for months it felt like I was running in molasses, and suddenly I'm almost done!

And now the above-mentioned question. Those of you using iPhones, do you know of a good app for posting to Blogger? I just got my iPhone this week, so I'm very much a newbie. Any ideas? Thanks!

More hoops jumped through!

I'm still here, jumping through every hoop they give me! I saw the regular bariatric doctor for the last time (I guess?) today, and then had the first of two nutrition classes.

/bitch and whine on

Okay, I understand that they have to give these basic nutrition courses in case someone has never heard it in their life, but seriously -- I'm willing to bet that most of the people in that room knew as much or more about nutrition, calories and protein than any of the three registered dietitions in the room. We overweight people have obsessed over, calculated and fudged enough calories in our time! We've lost (and regained and lost again!) weight. WE KNOW HOW. We are here because we need help getting there and STAYING THERE.

/bitch and whine off

ANYWAY. So, yes, the basic nutrition class is done. All I have left to do is the second nutrition class a week from Thursday (which I'm hoping will be more relevant to post-surgery diet than this class was). Oh, and lose 5 more pounds. The doctor I've been seeing (who said don't worry about losing the whole 16 lbs.) up and MOVED AWAY, so I have a new one, and this one is being a stickler for the five percent. It shouldn't be too hard.

After that, everything gets sent to my insurance and I get set up with an appointment to see the surgeon. The nurse said they usually hear back from insurance within a couple of weeks! Is it possible I may be getting my surgery in August?! SO EXCITED!

Oh, and I'm also excited because I finally got a recumbent exercise bike and I LOVE IT! I can go hard on it for 30 minutes and not even feel like I'm dying (which, you know, is always a plus.) I've been getting my lazy butt up 45 minutes early in the morning to fit in 30 minutes on the bike and another shower before work. Yep, I'm a little bit proud of that. \o/

Anyway, I'm off to catch up on my reading and see what y'all are up to! :D

All right, STOP -- Fangirl time!

Okay, it's Friday afternoon and I'm about to cut this place loose. I leave you with an awesome, upbeat song that I LOVE! Have a great weekend!