1 Month to surgery anniversary

Well here it is Dec. 28th. I month until the surgery anniversary. It has been a very interesting year and well worth it.

Since I started my journey back in the beginning of October 2007, I have lost a total of 192 lbs. Since the actual surgery I have lost 154 lbs.

Here is a before picture of me taken in October 2007.


And here is a picture taken on Christmas Eve 2008.



I won't say that it has been an easy road all the time, but the rewards are well worth it. The best thing of this whole year was being able to attend my daughter's wedding and not feel bad because of my size. I was able to dance the night away and not get winded like I would have a year before.

I did not do this all by myself. I am so blessed to have had the support of my friends and family during this time.

I am looking forward to this next month and hope I hit "my goal" of losing 200 lbs by the 28th of January. I do not see the doctor until the 10th of Feburary for my check-up, but will post on the 28th from my scale.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all

Just a quick post to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! It is my first Thanksgiving with my new eating habits. We had our annual Thanksgiving dinner at church this past Sunday and I believe I did very well since there was a whole lot of food that I could have splurged on. I did my turkey, some mashed potatoes, green beans, and a little dressing and for dessert GRAPES. It was all very good.

We are going to my sisters for dinner today. I made myself a pumpkin spiced cheesecake bar for my dessert. Got the recipe at my support group meeting. We will have the turkey and all the trimmings, will just take a little of what I can eat.

Now for the good news, since last October I have lost 184 lbs. and since the surgery 146 lbs. I feel really great and went for a 3 mile bike ride this morning. I have hit another plateau and haven't lost in a week, so I thought I should get in some extra exercise. I bought a speedometer for my bike and it also is an odometer. I wanted to know how far I've rode. I had to take the bike in to the shop this week so they could fix the pedal crank, it was rubbing on the chain guard and making it hard to pedal. Now it is really a lot easier to ride.

I did something to my left arm the night before we left from Illinois. I thought I just slept wrong but it is still sore. The doctor thinks its nothing and probably just a pulled muscle, but I would of thought that by now it would have gotten better. Oh well, I'll deal with it.

I go to see my pulmonologist this coming Monday (Dec. 1st) and hoping that he will take me off of the oxygen machine. I have bought me some of the Breathe Right nasal strips and they help alot, so hopefully it will show up on the sensor that I'm sure he will make me take home and sleep with and bring back to get the results. I will post again after that.

That's all for now, everyone have a great Thanksgiving.

A Beautiful Wedding

We left for Chicago on October 24th driving. Everything went fine I thought. We first drove to Wisc. and spent Sunday and Monday with Jen and Dan. They have a really nice apartment. My left ankle hurt and was a little swollen. We left to go to my brothers on Tuesday morning. It was 25 degrees out when we left and we had had snow flurries, nothing stuck. When we got to my brothers on Tuesday my ankle had gotten more swollen. My sister and brother put me on house arrest and had me ice my ankle and elevate it. My sister had an extra compression stocking with her and had me put it on. That helped alot. In driving up the only time we stopped was for gas and potty breaks. I didn't realize that I should be stopping every couple hours and just walk around. I learned my lesson. On the return trip I made sure that I stopped and walked. My ankle did fine.
Now to the good stuff. I weighed myself at my brothers and the scale said I lost a total of 6 lbs while there. After the wedding I was sure that I should loose with the dancing that I did. It was a lot of fun. When I got up this morning before going to Curves I weighed myself and it said that I had lost another 3 lbs. That makes a total of 9 lbs while on vacation.
Now the wedding was beautiful. I had to exchange the top I had bought in September while I was at my brothers. I was about to go down one size. Jennifer was a gorgeous bride and Dan was a handsome groom. Here are a few pics that I took.
This is Jen and Dan, Porsche and Aislinn, the maid and matron of honor, and the two best men, Dan's brother Mark and Dan's best friend Kevin.
This is Ava the flower girl. She is the daughter of one of the other bridesmaids.
This is me with my best friend (from grade school/high school)Patti Hajek, it was so good to see her.
It was such a fun wedding. The kids did a great job on planning it. Everyone said that they had a great time. We even saw them the next morning before they left for the airport. They went to Disneyland and then to Las Vegas. I am glad we are home now and everything went well. Now it is time to recuperate.

Just a short post

I went to Curves this morning, its been a month since I joined. Janie weighed me and measured me. According to their scale I lost 11 lbs in the month and lost 10 1/2 inches overall. I was simply floored. After I got home I rode my bike for about 15minutes. My legs are doing better pedalling.
I went yesterday and picked up the pants that I ordered from Penney's. Tried them on today and they fit. Just a little long but I will try and roll up the waistband. The material is chiffon and has a rolled hem. Two weeks from today we leave to go to Chicago. Friday night we are stopping in Fort Worth to spend the night at my good friend Laynie's house. I haven't seen her in almost a year. We should have a good visit. Then it will on to Wisc. and we should get there on Sunday. Will stay the night with Jen and Dan and then drive down to Chicago to my brothers.
I have also added a rinse to my hair and have ordered new glasses. The new and improved ME. I will wait and post after the wedding and have some pics to put in.

Counting down to the wedding

Hi everyone, just wanted to give you a quick update. This morning when I weighed I hit the loss of 160 lbs. since last October and 122 lbs since the surgery. Woo Hoo!
Last weekend I got to fly up to Chicago to surprise Jen at her bridal shower. Boy was she surprised. I had a great time while I was there. I stayed at my brother's house and got to see his kids and his grandkids, Jen and Dan and Dan's family and other friends that I hadn't seen in a while.

This pic is of course from the shower. The cake was a lemon fluff. I had a little tiny taste of it, boy was it delicious. I must say that I was able to stay on "diet" while I was there. I took my protein shakes with me and had them every day. I only had a couple of things that I shouldn't have, but it didn't make me sick so I was thankful for that. When I got home and got on the scale, I had lost 5 lbs I was surprised.
I even when shopping and found my outfit for the wedding. I left it at my brother's house and when I go back in a month if it is too big I will take it back, I left all the tags on it just in case. Its a pretty teal blue chiffon over blouse with a print shell under it and a long black skirt, I might try to find black pants instead, but if I don't it will be okay.

Well that is about all for now. I am still going to Curves. I even went while visiting up north. I have been there three times this week. Would go four but have a Fall Gathering tomorrow in McAllen for church, it should be a lot of fun.

I went and did it

Hi everyone,
Well Thursday I went and checked out the Curves Fitness Center. Its not far from Judi's house. I went in an talked to them about their program and was upfront that I had had gastric bypass surgery. That made no difference to them. I signed up on a month to month basis in case I don't like it after a while. I went on Friday to exercise for the first time. Janie is the trainer I believe and she went and showed me what to do on each machine. There were only about 5 other women there. They all seemed nice. There is one lady named Dee that before she left just had to give me a hug and tell me how proud that I came and she wished her friend would come, she is about as heavy as I am but won't come with her. I told Dee I wouldn't have been able to come last Oct. when I was at my heaviest. It was a good workout, only lasts 30 minutes and I was wiped out by then. But I went back this morning and whoever was to open up today never showed, so I will go on Monday morning.
I came back and decided to try riding my bike. I was able to tilt the seat up some so I didn't feel like I was falling forward and raised the seat a little and BOOM I took off. I rode just around the one block, but it measures 1/2 mile. I thought that was good for the first time. It is really hot and muggy out this morning. Didn't get any weather from IKE, that's good. Have a birthday party to go to this afternoon for my niece and nephew (Amber and Hunter) it's at a bowling alley so maybe I will bowl a game.
Only about a month and a half till the wedding. Hope this exercising helps firm me up just a little before then.
Went to the Heart doctor last week, all is well and I don't have to go back to him for 6 months. Next month I'm gonna call the pulmonologist and see if I can pick up the oxygen sensor machine and sleep with it and see if my oxygen level stays up. With exercising and sleeping with the machine, I would think that these should all help my oxygen levels. Keep you posted.

7 months out

Well not much more to report. I am 7 months post op and I hit 112 pounds since surgery and 150 pounds since October. I am able to wear some 1X tops (depending on the brand) and wear 2X knit pants. I want to go and try on a pair of jeans. I haven't worn jeans in about 20 years.

Its only 2 months until the wedding and I haven't even looked for anything to wear yet. I'm thinking of something in maybe a sage green. I think that would contrast the girls apple red dresses. I'm not sure, will have to wait until I go looking.

All is well here. Took George in for a complete physical last week. He is having some trouble walking. Haven't gotten the results back yet. But the doctor did tell us that one of his medications that he is on has the side effect of weakness in the legs. When he went to the clinic on Wed. we asked his counselor about that and she got us in to see the nurse and they have changed the one med. to a lower dose and added another one to counter act the symptoms. They said that we would be able to see a difference almost immediately. We picked up the meds last night and he will start taking them today. Well see what happens.

Well that is all for now, just wanted to update. Its really been a year since I had started to think about doing the gastric bypass. I didn't think that I would have all the support that I have had. I want to again thank everyone for their support, without it I don't know if I would have done this great. Thanks again.

6 1/2 months since surgery

I can't believe its been over 6 months since the surgery. I'm posting three pictures today, the one on the left was taken back in October and the other two are from July, 6 months post op.
I went this past Tuesday to see the surgeon(Dr. Reyes) for my 6 months check-up. He was quite pleased with my progress. Since the surgery I have lost 107 pounds and since October 145 pounds. Dr. Reyes said that all my lab work was great but my protein level was still a little low, push more protein. He said that he didn't need to see me for another 6 months and do lab work again at that time.
The other doctor that I went to see was the pulmonologist. He was also pleased with my progress, I had not seen him since the end of February and had lost probably about 70-80 pounds during that time. He said instead of doing another sleep study, he would send me home with a little oxygen sensor that you put on your index finger that would record my oxygen while I slept and I just had to take it back the next day and they would print out the results and let me know. Well, I did that on Wed. night and took it back on Thursday, that didn't turn out so well. It still shows that my oxygen level falls to about 77 percent while I'm sleeping, so I have to continue using the oxygen while sleeping. I was not happy with that, but I came home and cleaned the machine and put it in the kitchen near the bedroom and ran the tubing into the bedroom. I slept with it last night and slept pretty good. Having the machine out of the bedroom makes it quieter and I could sleep better. I am going to check back with that doctor next month when I go to see the heart doctor and see if I can use the little sensor again to check it. I don't go back to the pulmonologist until February and don't want to have that big machine for another 6 months. Medicare will pay for it for one year and then its yours. What would I do with it after that.
I had a WOW moment last weekend. I went to see the movie "Mama Mia", hadn't been to the movies since before the surgery and then I would sit in the front row where you could put up the armrest. Well, I sat in the second row above that and was able to sit in the sit without any problems. It felt great. I also only had a bottle of water with my crystal light added to it. NO POPCORN. Hope my rambling hasn't been too boring.

I wanted to post my latest picture. My friend Jody took this picture of me on Tues. July 22nd. I have now lost since the surgery 104 lbs. and since Oct. 142 lbs. I feel great and even finally had a hamburger the other night. I grilled outside and then toasted my hamburger bun. I ate half and it tasted so good.

I have been experimenting with some recipes that I have gotten off the internet. They have been really tasty.

I also took a long walk the other night. For those that know where I live, I went around the entire block. From my house down to Palmetto around to Blake back to Dominion and onto Encino and then to my street. I did it in about 20 minutes. I was tired but it felt good to go that far. I have also been doing some wall push-ups. Since the hurricane it has been too hot to go ride the exercise bike, now that all is calmed down I will start doing that again.





We survived the hurricane with a minimum of damage. We had part of the fence blow down as you can see in the pictures. The streets looked like a lake. We had a little water that seeped into the master bath and onto the carpet in the bedroom but not really bad. I vacuumed it up with a wet vac. We did lose phone and internet and just got them back on this evening. I so missed not being able to get on the internet.

So that is all my rambling.

Happy 4th

Big news, I went to visit Jennifer at the end of June and didn't have to buy TWO seats on the airplane, plus I was able to buckle the seat belt on two of the planes I was on. Don't understand why the other two belts were so short, even the flight attendant didn't understand why, she said that other passengers had said the same thing.
Back to Jen. We had a great visit. I even got a pedicure. We went shopping and got the ivory satin for the ring bearers pillow, and yarn to make some favor bags for the tables at the reception. Jen's soon to be mother-in-law,myself and Jen are crocheting them. Oh yeah I also got to meet Dan's parents and the rest of his family. They are all so nice. Had a good time at his parents house. They had a bar-b-que, it rained a little but then it cleared up. I wish I had gotten a picture of his parents together, just snapped pictures.
We went to church on Sunday at the church they are going to get married at. It is beautiful. After church we went and saw the reception hall and went across the street and made our reservations for the 31st and 1st. I believe we got a lot accomplished in such a short time.
We went back to George's mom's Sunday afternoon and had a get-to-together with his side of the family. Everyone was amazed by my weight loss. I am glad to say that I didn't gain anything while gone. I stayed the same, even though I had pizza twice, but only ate 1 small slice when we went to Fox's and had 2 small slices and a mozzarella stick the second time.
I have found that my hair is still falling out some. I have started drinking more of the protein shakes. I have discovered that if I mix the vanilla powder with my french vanilla cappuccino mix it doesn't taste so bad. My hair is so thin anyway I can't afford to lose any more.
The pictures that I'm posting are from my trip, the one with the little girls is my two nieces from Chicago(sorry the picture is sideways), Kit is sitting on my lap and Lily is standing next to me, and the other is of Fionn, Kit's little brother, and then the one of George, me, Jen and Dan. Sorry that this is so long.

I hit a new milestone

I'm so excited. I got on the scale this morning and I hit a new LOW. I have lost since October 120 pounds. That makes 82 pounds since Jan. 28th. That's only 5 months ago. I feel really good. I still go to my sisters and ride her exercise bike plus I have been walking more. We even went swimming the other night and the bathing suit that I have is a little big, the last time I wore it it was somewhat snug on me.

I leave this coming Thursday to go to Chicago to see Jen and her fiance Dan, and the rest of my family that is up there. I will also get to met Dan's family for the first time. I am really looking forward to that.

This picture that I'm posting is me and my brother Ken. He was down here at the end of May. I should have more pics after my trip to Chicago.

I promised one of my friends from church if I continued to lose this past week I would do a praise report and let the congregation know how much I have lost, so will do that tomorrow. I Bless God and all my friends for all their support.

Not too much happening

I've been told that I needed to update my blog.

Not too much has happened since my last post. I have lost another 5 pounds. I have hit another plateau. I have been going to my sisters almost every day and ride their stationary bike for between 15-25 minutes. I walk several times a week, I know that I am losing inches because I have gone from a size 5x down to a 2x. That is really exciting. I am being more active and have a lot more energy.

Also my brother Ken came down for a short visit this past month. It was good to see him. I am going to go to Chicago the end of June to visit my daughter and to meet her fiance's parents. I can't wait to see her. She was down here for Christmas and has only gotten to see me in pictures since the surgery. I will also get to see my brother and his family and meet my two nephews that I have only seen in pictures. I will also see George's mom, sister and family. It will be getting in a lot of visiting in a very short time period.

I don't have to go back to the surgeon until November. I went to my family doctor and she said that my sugar levels were good and that I didn't need to go back on the medicine and she took some blood to check the thyroid and that came back that she lowered my dose of thyroid medicine, and to come back in six weeks and they would check again. It is possible that I will be able to get off of the medicine completely after I have lost all the weight I need too. That would be fantastic.

I don't have any pictures to post this time, but will after I come back from Chicago.

More Good News and some bad

Hey, I went to see the Dr. that did my surgery. He was very happy with my progress. Since I saw him in March I have lost 34 more pounds. That is a total of 75lbs. since the surgery and 113lbs. since October when I began. All my blood was good except for my protein level, that was down and he said that I needed to start drinking the protein powder or do protein bars. He also said that I didn't need the nurse to come by any more. I even went in to see the dietitian and welcome her back, she had a baby boy in March I believe. I wanted to ask her how much protein I should have each day and she said around 100 grams. I also asked her about tortillas, and she said to make sure they are not to dry, its different than bread.

Now the bad news, Dr. Camacho is leaving next month to work in New York. He had said something about it back in March I believe but didn't sound positive that it was a done deal. He asked me for a hug and I thanked him for all that he has done for me. He told me that I would do well with Dr. Reyes and Dr. Garza. I really hate to see him go, but he did stay until I was healed, Judi told him he couldn't leave until I was healed.

I am going to go see my family doctor tomorrow to make sure my sugar readings are okay since I've been off the medicine for 3 weeks, and hope that she will take me off the water pill since my ankles and feet haven't been swelling very much since I've lost the weight.

That's all for now.

More Good News

Sorry I haven't updated for a while, but there hadn't been anything new to tell ya about.

I went to the Heart Dr. today. He was quite pleased with the blood pressure readings since I had been there last. He was also happy that I was off the diabetic medicine and also the Lisinopril medicine. He doesn't want to see me for 4 months and if everything is fine then, I won't have to go back for a year. I will keep my fingers crossed for that.

I was really being down because my scale had not moved for over 2 1/2 weeks. I have been doing everything that I am supposed to. I'm walking, riding the exercise bike everyday, and doing the other exercises that my physical therapist had given me and the scale would not move down. This morning before going to the Dr.'s I weighed so I could compare his scale to mine and I HAD LOST 2 lbs. When I got on the Dr.'s scale I was down 6 lbs. and I had clothes on. Now I can't wait to go the the surgeon on Thursday to see what his scale says.

My brother Ken is coming down for a visit next week. I can't wait to see him. Its been almost two years since I was up in Chicago and saw them. I'm hoping to be able to go up there in either late June or early July.

My kids gave me gift cards for my birthday last month and I bought some new clothes. I was able to buy size 2X, I was in a 4-5X. I have taken in some of my old tops that I really like, I wear them everyday and save the newer ones for church or going out.

I'm going up to McAllen tonight again to the support group meeting, they are having a speaker on Medication Do's and Don'ts. I think it should be quite interesting.

Well that is all I can think up for now. Will update after Thursday when I see the doctor that did the surgery.

100+

I'm so excited, I hit 103 pounds lost since October, and 65 pounds since the surgery!
I feel really good, still keeping up with my exercises. I have taken in some of my clothes 4 inches.

I think the nurse will be surprised because I think the incision is finally closed. When I changed the band-aid after my shower last night it looked like it was closed completely. If it is the nurse will probably only have to come once a week or not at all. She will report to my case worker and he will have to call the doctor to see what he says. I don't go back to my surgeon until the 15th of May.

I am going to a support group meeting this coming Monday at the hospital. Plus I'm on the final phase of the diet. I get to start adding things back into my diet that I have not been able to have. I finally get to have some toast and maybe a grilled cheese sandwich, I will probably only be able to eat a quarter of it but that's okay. I will continue to keep you all updated. Again thanks for your support and prayers.

I hit a new number

Hi just wanted everyone to know that I hit 54 pounds yesterday since the surgery and a whopping 92 pounds since I started back in October.
I am finding out foods that I can't eat right now and making a list of them. I had to add rice to the list today. I had a TV dinner last night that had rice in it and I'm paying for it today.
I only have one more day with my physical therapist, but I go over to Judi's most every day to ride their exercise bike. I'm even pround to say that I was able to pedal it yesterday. I have been working out with my arms only and sitting behind it on a chair and pedaling it but yesterday I put the sit up one notch and was able to get my left knee to bend and go all the way around.
My clothes are getting so baggy on me. I went to the Avenue and bought a few tops last weekend so I had something that fit for Easter. I got a lot of compliments at church Easter for my new top, it really showed off that I had lost.
The picture of me and Kennedy is from Easter Sunday at church.

Update and Pics

Well its been almost a month since I updated this site. I don't know if anyone reads it, but at least I'm posting.

I've been to two doctors this past week. One of them was the surgeon and he was pleased with my progress. Their scale and mine finally matched and it put me at 41 pounds lost. I stayed at that weight for a week and I weighed again on Sunday and lost 4 more pounds. Just for the heck of it I weighed on this Tuesday and lost 1 more pound so that puts me at 46 total pounds since the surgery, but a total of 84 pounds since October. The doctor said not to have the nurses pack the incisions any more so they will close and that he would see me in two months. The smaller of the incisions have already closed and the other is not far behind it. The nurse feels that it should be closed by this Friday.

The other doctor I saw was the Heart doctor. He was also pleased with my progress and is slowly taking me off one of my heart medications. I need to take a half a pill twice a day for a week and then cut it back to a half a pill once a day for a week and then I'm off of it. Yeah!

The physical therapist said that I am doing good. I'm walking more and doing some exercises. I have bought me some tension bands and working with them. I had a friend at church take a few pictures of me today so that I could post them. My clothes are getting big on me, especially the tops.


The picture of me in the tan top was taken this fall before the surgery and the pics in the black top was taken today March 19th. Hope you all like them. I'll try to keep this updated better and with more pics.

Good doctors visit

Hi there, went to the doctor for a check up yesterday. He was very pleased with my progress. He said that he wanted the nurse not to pack so much into the incisions or they will never heal. So I called the nurse and told him to call up to the office to get new orders from his nurse. Said that I could start lifting again, so I can start babysitting again. I can also do more exercising. He suggested arm exercises and bicycling and of course walking. Dr. Camacho was telling Judi and I about his friend Dr. Garth Davis (from the show Big Medicine) and I told him that is where I got the idea of having the surgery. He said that Dr. Davis wanted him to come to Houston and work with him, but he said that he thought he was going to go to New York instead. Judi told him he couldn't go anywhere until I was all better. He said he wasn't going yet. Their practice is having a seminar this coming Tuesday at the Harlingen Country Club to inform people about gastric bypass, I'm going to go to it. Dr. Camacho won't be there but Dr. Reyes and Paula Kilgore will be. Paula is the Bariatric Coordinator at the hospital and has had the bypass herself, she is really nice.

I'm going to start doing my volunteer work again this coming week. I went to lunch yesterday to Boog-a-dee-boos with the family. I took my lunch and they heated it up for me. Next week we go to Big John's so that will be interesting. I will take my food and hopefully they will also heat it up for me, but they normally have some kind of soup on their menu or I could do a baked potato. Well that is all for now, I have lost a total of 30 pounds since the surgery. The doctor said that 10 pounds a month would be a good but if it was more that was okay. My tops are getting really loose and my pants were always loose. I will get some pictures soon and post them. Thank you all again for your prayers.

Doing better

Well here I am going into my third week from surgery. I am feeling much better. After the setback on the 7th of Feb. I had been feeling so good I thought that I could do some of my old stuff. I went to a church meeting, did my Food Pantry work, lunch with the family and then dinner at the church. Apparently I overdid it. I woke up on the 7th with diaherra, cold sweats, and weakness. I went to the doctor and he said that I overdid it, go back on the clear liquids for 2 days and take it easy. That night I also broke out in a rash. Most of the rash is gone. It is still on my legs and feet. I am taking it easy. I'm not doing the Food Pantry this week, one more week won't hurt. I did do the computer work for them. I might go to lunch with the gang this week, its at Boog-a-dee-boos. Yesterday for a change of scenery I went over to my sister's house and we worked on making Easter cards.

I am getting more to eat now. I have started on Step 3 of the diet. I get to blend/puree meat, fruit, and vegetables. I got George Church's Chicken for dinner last night and got me an extra thigh and mashed potatoes. Judi sent me home with her meat grinder and I ground up the thigh meat and oh what a thrill. It tasted so good. I did a chicken breast for lunch today and have extra for dinner tonight. I'll be on this step until about the 13th of March. I'm getting outside more and walking. I'm only using the cane. I even went out today and sat in the sun for a while. The sun was really hot and then I went for a walk in the backyard.

Well everything else is doing good. Thank you for your cards and prayers. I continue to feel the love and support from all of you, without all the support I wouldn't have been able to make it.

I'm Home and recovering

The surgery was last Monday the 28th of January. Everything went well, the doctor told Judi that he was very pleased with everything. Monday night was a little rough, couldn't have any water or even ice chips, they gave me some little sponges on sticks that I could swab my dry mouth with. I had a little problem with the blood pressure they couldn't get it to stablize. I felt fine, I think it was their machines. They gave me an extra bag of something and I know a bag of potassium along with antibotics. My sugar level also when crazy for a little bit and they ended up giving me insulin twice but then it corrected itself. I have 6 little incisions all over my belly, closed with staples. I go to the doctor on Feb. 7th to get them out.

They got me up on my feet on Tuesday. I walked the hall a little bit, and I was able to use the bathroom, hooray. They released me on Wednesday, and have been doing alright at home. I just have to get my schedule straight for eating 3 meals and 3 snacks(the snack is a protein drink). I even ate cream of wheat for breakfast today. I do not like cream of wheat and always gag on it, but I made it really soupy and was almost able to drink it down.

I had George bring me a walker from church when he went to dinner on Wednesday. I have been using it around the house and not always using my rolly chair. Tomorrow, Sunday, its suppose to be nice and hope to go outside and walk down to the end of our street. I plan on making church in the morning. I need to go and thank the Lord again for all the blessings he has given me this week, and see all my friends there too.

Thank you all again for your prayers and continued support. As soon as I can tell that I have lost, I will add some pictures.

Preparing for the big day

Well here it is two days before surgery. I have to be there by 6:30am on Monday. I'm his first surgery of the day. When I went to see him this past Thursday, after answering all my questions he asked for a hug. He is really cool. Judi and I then went to the hospital to pre-register where a monkey wrench was thrown into the mix. A paper was in my file from my family doctor without her clearance and they said that because of the paper they needed one. We went round and round with the family doctor and the hospital finally received the paper, so it is now a go.

I have been to the grocery store and bought all the food that I will be able to eat when I get home, clear broth and jello, whoppee! I have prepared jello for Sunday, because I have to have that also the day before. Well that is all for now, I will blog when I get home.

The surgery is scheduled!

Went to see the doctor today and hopefully to get the surgery scheduled. Well, it happened.

I was to see Carla (dietitian) this coming Tuesday but since she was there she came over and talked to me and signed off on the surgery. I lost another 3 pounds and it gives me an official loss of 38 pounds.

Dr. Camacho wants to put in a filter this coming Monday (21st) to aid in preventing blood clots going to my lungs, since my BMI is so high it is a precautionary measure. I'm all for anything that can save my life. The bypass surgery will then be on the following Monday(28th). I don't have any times yet. I have to go to McAllen tomorrow to get the orders and go pre-register at the hospital for Monday's procedure and they said that I should be able to register for the surgery too. I don't know how long I will be laid up, the filter is threaded up through the groin and Judi said I probably won't be able to drive for a couple of days, that is one question I need to ask them tomorrow at the doctors office. I am working on my grocery list so I can get all the food that I will be allowed to eat after the surgery. George will be able to go grocery shopping if I need it and he follows a list really well.

As soon as I have times I will let everyone know.

A lot has happened!

A lot has been happening since my last post.
Jen's boyfriend, now fiance, sent her to Texas to spend Christmas with us. We had a great time with her and hated to put her back on the plane to go home. She called us on New Year's Eve with the exciting news that Dan proposed to her and now there are wedding bells in the air. We are so excited.

I've been to so many doctors. I went to the pulmonologist and he ordered a sleep apnea test, which I'm glad to say that I don't have, but he said my oxygen level fell for about 6minutes while I was sleeping and that worried him. He said that he wanted me to sleep with oxygen to help with the oxygen level while sleeping. I now have an oxygen machine in the livingroom and seven little portable bottles that I can take with me if I think I will need it. Also a sign posted on the door for NO SMOKING OXYGEN IN USE. I called Scott right away to warn him, he is the only one that comes over that still smokes. That doctor has given his OK for the surgery.

The heart doctor ordered an echo cardiogram, that was fine and I saw him today and he has also given his OK for the surgery. He did change my diabetes prescription from the Avandia I was on to something else. The Avandia has been the news about causing heart problems and this new one hasn't had any bad side effects, and he gave me another drug that helps ease stress on the heart which can happen in surgeries.

So I have been given the go ahead by all the doctors. I was to see the dietitian today but they called and moved my appointment until the 22nd of January. I called the doctor that will be doing the surgery to see if I could see him next week and get the results from the EGD/Biopsy that I had this past Tuesday. Fortunately they didn't have to do the biopsy. I have already lost the 30 pounds that he wanted me to lose, in fact I've lost 40 pounds. I have an appointment with him for the 17th of January and should know more then but wanted everyone to know what was going on.

I am hoping that maybe we can schedule the surgery for the 29th. As soon as it is scheduled I will let every know.
Thank you all for your prayers and continued support.