One of the saddest days in my life...

This pic is my 9 mo post op pic. I am down 165 lbs. Wow !! Some very sad news. My beloved Chocolate Lab Whizzer passed away and went to heaven to be with his Grammy Blue and Pappy B on January 27, 2010.
He completed 5 chemo treatments for leukemia and was doing so great he surprised everyone, even the doctors. But suddenly he got very weak and did not want to eat. We had him to the vet 4 times in a week. He was doing absolutely everything he could for him. But God had other plans for Whizzer.
Tim and I decided we don't want another dog right away. Maybe someday in the future like late fall but not now. The hurt is too new.

I am feeling great being down so much weight and my energy level is through the roof. I am busy all the time. It honestly is hard for me to sit still long enough to even watch a program on tv. I wish I had a bigger house so I would have more to clean and keep me busy. LOL

I'm going to try to keep up with my blog on a monthly basis from now on. I'll post more pics as soon as I get them downloaded from my camera.

Until I blog again I'll leave you with this thought: You are only as strong as you allow yourself to be...

I know it's been too long

This pic is from 8 months post op. I'm feeling absolutely wonderful. I can't believe how much my outlook on life and personality has changed. For the better of course. I told my hubby it's amazing what not being in pain every minute of every day of my life did for me. The weight is coming off slower now but still coming off. I joined the gym and have been spending some of my evenings working out on the treadmill. I'm going to try to do better with keeping up with my blog, but no guarantees. LOL

What life has been like.

Well life has generally been great. Way more energy, love looking at myself now. Before I avoided looking at me like the plague. I hated shopping, because I always felt I NEVER looked nice in anything I bought because I was so big. Now I love shopping and finding new outfits and looks for myself. I am a calmer person, I don't get as snippy as I did because I am not in pain every day of my life. My knees very rarely hurt and I just really feel good.

Eating has been a little challenging for me. Some days food goes real well and others it's pretty much protein shakes all day.
I get way more exercise due to shopping and walking the dog. I went hiking a few weeks ago and the dog pooped out before I did!

I'll leave you with this: Anyone thinking about this surgery, go for it. I would do it all over again, it was so worth it to me. I am off all of my meds and I feel better than I have since high school. Without giving away my true age it was at least 30 years since I graduated. I support anyone who would like to do this and just know it is NEVER too late for a new life.

Finally time to post

OK I know it has been a long time but things have slowed down a bit and I have time to post now. Just to catch you up: First my beloved chocolate lab named Whizzer was diagnosed with leukemia on 9/11/09 and started chemo treatments on his 7th birthday 9/14/09. He goes once every three weeks for a total of 5 treatments. Then with help from God he will hopefully go into remission and live many more years. Second, my husband had his surgery on 10/7/09 and is doing really well. I'm very proud of him. I tried so hard to be a good example for him and an inspiration too.

Ok so here are some updated pics in order from bottom to top: pre op, 1 mo, 3 mo, 4 mo, and 5 mo post op. Enjoy!

I have 2 mo pics but apparently I forgot to upload them from the camera.

it's been awhile

(this is my first after photo) 1 mo.

Ok OK I know it's been too long since my last post. I had surgery 5/6/09 and everything went well for the first 24 hrs. I developed pneumonia and an A flutter with my heart. My heart rate was 152 for several hours. They moved me to critical care and tried medicine to bring my heart rate back down but it didn't work. Luck me... sooooo they decided to do a cardio version. For those of you not familiar. It's like you see on TV with the paddles and charged and everyone yells CLEAR and they proceed to shock the everlivin shit out of you. The doc made sure I was completely asleep so I wouldn't remember anything. Which was greatly appreciated since several doctors told me it is not a pleasant experience.

Here are the numbers:
My heavest was 383
The day of surgery I weighed in at 345.1
After 6 days in the hospital I checked in with my doc 3 days after I was released so 9 days post-op I had gained 16 lbs. - FLUID-
Two week check up I was down 36 lbs.
And one month check up I was down 51 lbs. since my surgery date.

I'm feeling real good, still tired and weak, but went back to work today. Trying to get back in the groove of things.

And I promise as soon as I figure out how to get the pics off my computer at home and onto this one I will post before and after pics.

A week away

One week from today I will have had my surgery. I'm excited, not really worried, scared or nervous yet. I am on day 5 of my protein shakes and I am amazed how easy this has been for me. My husband always said I am the most stubborn woman he has ever met, and once I set my mind to something I can do it. There must be just a little bit of truth in that.

Not so bad after all

Saturday I started my 4 protein shakes a day plus 64 oz of clear fluid. Not bad, not bad at all. I really am not hungry. The hardest part for me is getting in the 64 oz on top of the 32 oz in the shakes. That's hard. But I surprised myself and did it both days over the weekend. I am allowed various veggies, up to 2 cups per day. Yesterday I had 1 c of strawberries with my lunch. Today I'm having cucumbers. But I can honestly say I'm not hungry at all. We took lots of before pics over the weekend I just have to find the time to get them posted.

Today is 9 days to go.