Category Archives: Health

What’s Going On?

Good evening!

I realize it has been a while since I have last posted. The only reason I can seem to muster is I have been MIA because I have been so focused on getting ready for my gastric bypass surgery! So, I thought it would be a good time to give you all on update on what’s going on! Well, my day of surgery is quickly coming, it is in exactly 2 point something days, to be exact!!!

I am excited, and nervous, and excited, and scared, and excited, and oh so READY!!!

I am not actually afraid of the surgery, or all that entails; I am more worried about my hospital stay, even though it will only be for two nights. I am also worried about work while I am gone. (I am on family medical leave for at least the next month). I don’t feel that I am a workaholic at all, but I am not sure I can put it out of my mind for the next month. I can hear all of you already, oh suck it up, you big baby – we would LOVE to have a month off of work!! Yes, yes, I hear you! I know you are right, but it is really an odd way to get a vacation!!! LOL! 😉

Anyway, I have been on my liquid diet for the past 12 days, and out of all the hoops I had to jump through to get to my surgery, I can honestly say that this has been the hardest!! I am allowed to have sugar free pudding, yogurt, sugar free popsicles, smooth soups, sugar decaffeinated drinks of all kinds, skim milk, and a few different kinds of protein drinks. So, I do have a lot of options, but I just wasn’t prepared for the serious cravings that I have been dealing with! I have been craving, barbecue, steak, beef, ribs, meat, essentially, yeah meat!!! I am not a chips kind of girl, and I can walk away from most cookies, cakes, and other desserts, but a really great cooked piece of steak really makes me happy!!! SO, that might be the hardest thing that I have had to deal with since being on this liquid diet!

My struggle was made even more difficult when some friends of ours asked us to go out to dinner with them this evening, and they had decided on a steak house. I sat there with my protein drink while one ate a steak, another had ribs, and my sweetie a really yummy piece of grilled chicken! But I am happy to report that I MADE IT!!! WHEW!!! I had to squeeze my sweetie’s hand a couple of times under the table for moral support, and before I knew it, dinner was over, and I was back at home having some creamy pea soup! (My favorite soup, by the way!!)

Well, my surgery is on Tuesday at 2:30 PM and I will be checking into the hospital around noon that day! I really can’t wait! I just want to get it done and over with, and be heading back home to start my new life with my sweetie. It will be easier when he and I are on the same page food-wise; he is 6 weeks ahead of me after all, but I know that in a flash 6 weeks will have passed and we both will be well on our way to our new fit-selves, and lifestyles! THAT MAKES ALL OF THIS WORTH IT!! That, and the 50 pounds I have lost so far!! WHOO!!! HOO!!!! 😉

Anyway, it is getting late, and I have some reading to get done before I hit the hay this evening, off I go!!

Here is to a FABULOUS evening! ;-)

 If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!

 

Day 2, Liquid Diet!

Good evening!

Ok, so today is the end of day two of my liquid diet! I would love to tell you that I am doing great, but in reality today has been a really grumpy kind of evening! I think I am just hungry, and anxious, and having some serious withdrawals from sugar! Even though my sugar intake over the last few months has been, well, at least for the most part minimal, I am now withdrawing from everything else!!! I think my biggest side effects of this liquid diet so far is exhaustion, headache, and some serious moodiness!!! Last night I was uber-weepy, and this evening I have just been unreasonably grumpy (poor Jason!)!!! 😉

My saving graces, food-wise right now is pea soup, sugar free pudding, and fat-free plain Greek yogurt!! Ok, so now that I have written that last sentence, I have to amend that a bit – my saving grace has been my awesome sweetie, supporting me, holding my hand, encouraging me, and helping keeping me busy when I get really antsy, so I have to give a great BIG shout out to him! I have said it before and I will say it again! I would NEVER have gotten this far without his help!! 😉

Anyway, the night is late, and I am soooo tired, so I am going to keep this post really short, and head up to get a good nights rest!!

Here is to a FABULOUS evening! ;-)

 If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!

Day 1, Liquid Diet!

Good evening!

It is so hard to believe that the time for my liquid diet to start has come, and I have almost made it all they way through my first day! WHEW!! The start of the liquid diet means, that I have only 2 weeks to go before my big day!! 😉

For those of you who may not know, since the middle of April, I have lost 40 pounds, and have been on a journey toward getting bariatric surgery! A laporoscopic gastric bypass roux en y, to be more exact! It has been a long and sometimes very difficult journey, but I am so close now I can almost touch it!!

I am on a liquid diet for the next two weeks, and on September 4th, at exactly 2:30 pm I will be going in for my procedure! I have done all that has been asked of me, and have received my approval letter from my insurance, so all is ready to go! Well, everything  except this two week liquid diet.

Now, I have been getting so many questions, so I thought I would take a moment to answer a few for you, that is if you are curious…

Why if you have already lost 40 pounds, would you still go through with the surgery?

  • Well, the answer to that is that with about 90 more pounds to go to, and if I were able to do it all on my own, I would have done it a loooong time to go, and I know that weight loss surgery is just going to be one tool in a whole arsenal of get fit and healthy tools. Just a sampling of some of the other tools being exercise, nutrition, meditation, faith, and personal support!

Isn’t bariatric surgery the easy way to get healthy?

  • The easy way out??? Anyone who thinks that weight loss surgery is the easy way, has NEVER TRIED IT THEMSELVES!!! It is a load of hard work, and is gonna take some more serious determination to succeed!!

I have friends who have had bariatric surgery, and they have gained their weight back. What makes you think you will succeed?

  • You know, I can only answer for myself, since everyone has their own stories, but I know that even with the surgery, I know that health and fitness is something I am going to have to always me mindful of, for the rest of my life. I know that his is the right step for me!

I am so nervous, and yet so excited at the same time! I saw my hubby have the same procedure exactly 4 weeks ago, and he made almost all parts of the process look like a piece of cake!! I really hope that I can make it look just as easy!!

Anyway, this liquid diet lasts for two weeks, and the purpose of it is to help shrink my liver so that when they move it out of the way for my surgery, it doesn’t get injured or damaged in any way!! AND the liquid diet really consists of some foods too: yogurt, skim milk, sugar-free pudding, j-ello, V-8 juice, smooth soups, decaffienated teas, Crystal Light, no-sugar-added cocoa. So, I do have quite a few options!!! 😉

Anyway, it is getting late, and I would like to spend some quality time with my sweetie before bed!! I will make sure to keep you posted of my progress!!

Here is to a FABULOUS evening! ;-)

 If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!

There’s No Place Like Home!

Good afternoon!

I am very pleased to announce that Jason and I are finally back at home! You know what they say, “Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home!” and baby, is that ever true!!!

YEAH!!

Jason is doing GREAT!!! He is tube free, drain free, and is very happy to be home! According to our doctor, his only jobs right now, and for the next week or so, is to breath, walk, and sip his liquids!! Sounds cushy right? Well, maybe not so much, but he is in agreement that we are sooooo blessed, and that God is taking FABULOUS care of us!!

I have to give him kuddos because this is probably the first time in our 17 years of marriage that Jason has really had to give up the reigns and let me take complete care of him! He is a trooper!!! I know that the day that he can walk around the house without me following and watching him making sure he doesn’t get dizzy and fall, he will feel like a truly free man!! Soon, baby, very soon!! 😉

We are just so happy that he is just on the other side of this surgery! We know that the hardest part is yet to come, and that dealing with all of the mental stuff is going to be the next tricky part to get through – and maybe something he will always have to deal with, but life is really good!! I also have to mention that it has humbled us to the core about how many old friends, new friends, and family members have come out of the shadows to encourage us, and to share there love, support, prayers, and well-wishes. We will be forever grateful for all of you, and pray that even if it is only in some small way that we can return the love back to all of you! 😉

I also want to give a shout out to the AMAZING staff at Salem Hospital, both our surgical team, as well as the SUPERB nurses up on 5NW!!! Every was so attentive, caring, and there was never a time where we felt like we were a nuisance, or a bother! I felt like there was a lot of laughing going on during our entire stay, and that was AWESOME!!!

Anyway, Jason and I are going to have a quiet evening of sipping, breathing, and walking! Yes, Doc, we were listening!!! 😉

Here is to a FABULOUS evening! :-)

 If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!

Jason’s Post Surgery Update!

Good afternoon!

I apologize for the delay in getting this post out, but we have been a little busy! 🙂

Jason is doing extremely well! He is currently napping, but has been up walking, has had his imaging tests, and upper GI that we are assuming went well this morning, because he has been given the A-ok to start drinking sugar free, caffeine free, non-carbonated liquids! So he is a VERY happy man!!

We did have a bit of a rough night last night. You see, I am not sure what time it was, but we had some of our friends visiting; Dawn, Errin, BobbieJo, Mark, and Heather. The nurse had come in to get Jason ready for his first walk of the night. The goal was to get him to walk at least 200 feet. So, to give him his privacy, Dawn and Errin left for the evening, and the rest of us moved our conversation out into the hallway while Jason was prepped for his walk!

As we were all still laughing and talking, Jason, as well as his nurse, Heather (AWESOME NURSE, BTW!!!) came out of the room, and started their walk. Both BobbieJo and Heather commented that he was walking pretty fast, but I didn’t think anything of it – he seemed to be walking much slower than he normally does to me! So, we kept on chatting, as he says to us, “I’ll be back in a minute!”

I knew he was making the loop in hallway, and so I kept watching for him to come back from the other direction, and noticed that he still hadn’t made it back yet. I didn’t think anything of it, until a few moments later, and I realized he STILL hadn’t made it back. The next thing we know is that there is a bunch of people coming to his room really quickly looking for him, and that is when BobbieJo says, “I wonder what is the matter?” I really wasn’t too worried, until she said that, and it clicked, “DUH! There is a reason it is taking him so long to get back!” and I head in the direction that he initially had taken off.

Who knew that this tiny amount of Crystal Light could make a man so happy!?! 😉

Side note: this is the point that I almost started running to see if I could find him, but realized that running in a hospital might not be too safe, and freaking out really wouldn’t help him or the staff. 😉

So, I mozy’ed as quickly as I could and when I came around the corner I saw a large lump on the ground, and realized that it was Jason!!! GAHHHHH!!! Apparently he had gotten dizzy, and before they could get him a chair to sit down in, he had passed out and had fallen to the floor!!

Now, before I go further, I just have to really say thank you to both BobbieJo and Heather, because before I could really panic, they both reassured me that it was alright, this could sometimes happen, and that they both concurred that he really had been walking quickly when he left the room!! (That is my sweetie, the overachiever!!!) Anyway, I took a deep breath, and calmly (at least I thought it was calmly) went over to him, got down on all fours, and started petting his hair and asking him if he was alright! Thankfully he was, and even though I didn’t see him fall, it sounded like he fell on his bucket (AKA his behind – thank you, Miss Kay!!), and did not hit his head or anything!! He was pale as a ghost, and I think he had just scared himself more than anything, but with the help of some other staff members he was able to get up, and get back to his room, so that he could try walking again later after some more of his anesthesia wore off!!

They checked him out, did a couple of other tests, and placed a couple of more monitors on him, but he is good, and he did successfully complete his first walk at about 3:30 this morning. He not only walked the loop once, but twice, and had the nurses walking with us laughing hysterically! Apparently, the little hospital no-slip socks that they have you wear, Jason decided that he would call them his “pimpin’ socks”, because whenever anyone saw him walking in them all the women would come out to watch! It couldn’t have possibly been because they were all standing at the ready in case he was about to go down again, but who am I to burst his bubble?!!! 😉

The view from Jason’s room!

Anyway, as of right now, he has walked a few times today, without incident, they have removed his catheter, and a few of his monitors. He is a little antsy, going a bit stir-crazy having to be cooped up in his hospital room, but he is still charming the socks off of everyone, and trying to make the whole floor laugh!!! He really is the life of the party, and I almost feel like I should have brought some kind of h’orderves for the festivities!

He had just gotten some vegetable broth delivered before he decided to take a nap, so I expect that we are going to have a quiet afternoon here, which after the excitement of last night – I am TOTALLY cool with!! 😉

I really do thank God for that man of mine, and that he is guarding over him, every step of this journey!!! I have said it before, and I know it will not be the last time I say it, but I really am one lucky, lucky girl!! I love you, B’Spoon!! 😉

Here is to a quiet, uneventful, but FABULOUS afternoon! 🙂

 If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!

Better Late Than Never!

Good afternoon!

This is Jason playing with his Sophie girl this morning before we headed off to the hospital!

So as for my updated…

WHEW! It has already been a looooong morning of waiting our turn, but Jason has finally gotten in to get his surgery started! He ended up going back about an hour after he was originally scheduled to.

They took Jason back to his pre-op room first and got his IV started and whatnot, more on that in just a minute, but this is Jason totally excited that he has complete control of the remote control to the television!!! LOL!! He is too funny!!

As for the “other prep” they did, unbeknownst to either of us beforehand, they shaved his stomach from chest to groin!! It kind of looked like they had shaved a bear of his sweater!! It is quite a look! 😉 and it makes me laugh thinking about how badly that is going to itch once it starts to grow back in!!! I am sorry love, beauty can be painful!!! LOL!! 😉

He is in great spirits, and was busy making myself and all of the staff he came into contact with laugh!! He is such a charmer!! Even with his surgical hat which makes me think of him having some kind of jiffy-popped head!!! LOL!! Do you remember those?? 😉

Oh, and I can not forget! Jason weighed in this morning as having lost a total of 67 pounds since he first started this journey in April!! Which means he has lost an additional 6 pounds since just yesterday – the stinker!! 😉 I am very proud of him, and I know he has definitely earned his success!!! 😉

Anyway, it sounds like the surgery is going to take between 3-3 1/2, so I will be busy trying to keep myself busy in the surgical waiting room – hoping that time doesn’t just draaaaag on!!! but we will see!!!

My next update might not be until later this evening, but I will make sure to keep everyone posted on how he is doing!!! 😉

Here is to a long, but hopefully a-atypically-patient-waiting-kind-of afternoon!! 😉

 If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!

 

Off We Go!

Good morning!

Well, we are up and at-em this morning! Just about ready to head out to the hospital!! Jason is feeling “Great!”, but he is pretty antsy!! He even made me breakfast this morning!!!

WHO IS TAKING CARE OF WHOM HERE??? 😉

Anyway, his bag is packed, I have packed a bag for myself, and he is busy playing with his Sophie girl!! Our girls know that something is up – they know what it means when the suitcases come out, and I can tell that Sophie is just begging pappa to take her with him!! Not today little girl!!

Anyway, I am praying that all goes well this morning, and time seemingly flies, so that I can see my sweetie’s smiling face in his room this afternoon!!

God is good, all the time!!!

I will keep you posted!!

Until then….

Here is to a FABULOUS morning! 😉

 If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!

Getting Ready for The Big Day!

Good evening!

So tomorrow is the big day; my sweetie is having his gastric bypass surgery in the morning at 11 am. He has worked so hard to get to where he is now. He has gone to every appointment, made every goal, documented and reported everything that was required of him, and lost the necessary amount of weight required of him to get this surgery scheduled, not to mention making it through the last two weeks of his liquid diet!! As of this morning, he has lost a total of 61 pounds within the last 4 months. I am just so dazzled by how easy he has made this whole process look!! If I could just perform half as well as he has done when it is my turn, that would be AMAZING!!! I really couldn’t be prouder of him!!! HE TRULY IS MY HERO!!! 😉

He is doing really well this evening; he is remarkably calm and just ready to get in there and just get the surgery done, so he can get onto the other side, and keep on keeping on with his journey to get fit and healthy!!

I will be making sure to keep posting updates over the next few days! I know he is going to do great. He is in very good hands, not only his surgical team that will be working on him, but also I know that God is going to be in that operating room guiding all of the hands that are going to be taking care of my love, as well as with him throughout his two-day hospital stay!! I know that everything is just going to go swimmingly, and I will make sure to keep all of you posted!!! We really do appreciate all of the prayers, and well wishes from all of our friends and family!!!

With that said, I will make sure to post again really soon!!

Here is to a FABULOUS evening!! ;-)

 If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!

Hiking Silver Creek Falls!

Good evening!

I have some very exciting news that I am sooooo excited to share with you. Ok, so in all honesty, it is really exciting to my sweetie and I, and maybe not so much for you, but all the same, I am still going to share it with you!! LOL! 🙂

Wait for it…

My sweetie and I walked the 2 and a half mile hike at Silver Creek Falls yesterday morning!

WHOO! HOO!!! 😉

Ok, so 2 1/2 miles may not sound very impressive, but it is quite literally a hike that takes you steeply down into a giant bowl, and then you have to hike what feels like a constant straight up to get back to the top again!

Let me just give you a little back story! The last time a tried any hike at Silver Creek Falls, it was one of the smaller hikes, and let’s just say there was a point, on the way back up, I had the realization that I had let myself get extremely out of shape, and I had a bit of a breakdown, balling my eyes out, crying to Jason. “I am going to die here! *SOB!* I will never make it back to the top, let alone the car! *WHINE!* “Save yourself, and leave me! *DRAMA QUEEN! DRAMA QUEEN!*“
Ok, so admittedly not one of my finest moments!! 😉

So now maybe you understand why hiking the two and half mile hike at Silver Creek Falls is such exciting news??? There was no crying. No whining. No pleading with Jason to save himself.

IT WAS AWESOME!!!

There were some pauses. Some quiet time where I just had to concentrate – especially during the last stretch. There was even some praying for help, and prayers of gratitude when I realized that we were so close to the top! It really was an AMAZING experience!!! I even had the ability to take a TON of pictures, so I apologize for the possible overload of pictures that are to follow, but I want to remember this day for a long, long, LOOOOONG time!!! 😉 The day I realized that all of the healthy eating, and exercise is really paying off!! 😉

This is the South Falls.

Isn’t Jason looking great?? He has lost almost 50 pounds!! Way to go, Baby!! 😉

I am not doing too bad either! Even though I have such a long way yet to go, I have lost about 25 pounds! 😉

This is a water tube that Jason was fascinated with. I fear that he would have tried to climb in and of course get himself stuck if I weren’t there! So to his-would-have-been-rescue-team trying to get his booty unstuck from this water tube – YOU ARE WELCOME!!! 😉

Yes, this is what happy looks like!

Thanks to the very kind stranger who offered to take a picture of us together in front of these falls!! 😉

I think you would agree that just those views along were worth it!!! What an amazing day!!! Let’s just say, we will be doing that again soon!! 😉

Here is to a FABULOUS evening!! ;-)

 If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!

The Good With the Bad!

Good evening!

Well, I realize that it is late, and I should really be going to bed, but my sweetie and I have just returned from first playing with the girls outside, and then walking the girls back to the house, and then my sweetie and I heading out for a nice evening walk ourselves!

Before I tell you our walk, I want to tell you about our good news, and our bad news. Bad news first. Jason and I have gotten our final surgery dates today, which is good news, however, Jason’s date is 2 weeks later than he had originally thought so he is a little bummed about it. My date however, has been pushed out by a month!!! ACK!!! When I first found out, it ALMOST caused me to want to quit, but of course, my super-supportive husband came to my rescue, and I am NOT backing out now!!! 😉

So, for the good news. Well, Jason has made his surgery goal weight!! YEAH!! WHOO! HOO!!! I am soooo EXTREMELY PROUD OF HIM!!!! and for those of you keeping track means that he has lost 4 pounds this past week! AMAZING!!! Whatta man!! 😉 I did not make my goal weight this week, but I am only one pound away from my goal weight, so I will HAPPILY TAKE THAT!!! YEAH ME!!! LOL!! 😉

Getting back to our walk! While we were walking, my sweetie and I took turns saying out loud one goal that we hope to be able to achieve post surgery. With my sweetie’s permission, here are a couple of examples of things we came up with…

ME: I want to be able to touch my toes with my knees unbent

HIM: I want to be able to breathe while tying my shoes

ME: I want to ride the rides at a carnival and not have to worry that the lock won’t latch

HIM: I want to see that

ME: I want to be able to run a mile

HIM: I want to see someone from my past who made fun of me, and make them eat their words

ME: I want to see that

HIM: I want to be able to take a bike trip. A long one!

ME: Me too!

HIM: I want to go to a water park and not get stuck down a water slide

ME: I want to be able to keep up with my niece while swimming

HIM: I want to be able to buy tall clothes without having to buy big and tall clothes

ME:  I want to be able to sit Indian-style in a movie theater seat

So, there you have it! I really am so thankful to be going through this journey with my sweetie!! I would never have made it this far without his love and support!!

I have said it before, but I will say it again, life is really good!!

Here is to a FABULOUS evening!! ;-)

 If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!