I don't know what's with me and my lack of blogging as of late, but it's quite annoying, and I'm hoping to get back with blogging regularly this week. I'd start tonight, except I'm very tired and feeling like crap (cold and the accompanying fever; surgery-wise I'm doing fine), so I'll just write out a list of bullets to appease myself (and perhaps you guys!) and call it a night.
- Why am I still sick? I was sick the week prior to surgery, had my period the week of surgery, and have been sick since three days after surgery. The four of us went to the doctor's office last week, only to be told all four of us have a variety of viruses that can't really be treated.
- My weight is bouncing between 266 and 268. I know that stalls happen, but so early out from surgery?
- I'm having trouble with my dinner meal -- the one I have between 5:00pm and 8:00pm. I get air trapped in my stomach pouch, but I don't know it's there until I eat. I can't seem to move the air past the food to burp, so I have to vomit a bit of it back out. This has happened four times now. Grrrr.
- I'm wearing the same three pairs of pants because all of the other ones are falling off of me, and I'm too cheap to buy new pants every time I drop a size or two. Needless to say, I'm doing laundry left and right in order to have clean pants to wear!
- I can eat turkey, chicken, ground beef, ground beef seasoned for tacos, all the fixings for a taco minus the shell, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, soup, American, Swiss, mozzarella and reduced-fat pepperjack cheese, cream of wheat, pancakes (homemade low-fat variety), bits of dry cereal, a chocolate chip cookie (this I space out over a half hour period and eat only after having something else in my stomach first!), fat-free and sugar-free vanilla pudding, and plain and strawberry applesauce!
- Alyssa and Ryan are very excited about Christmas, especially since we finally put up our Christmas tree on Sunday!
- Speaking of Christmas, I received an Urban Decay gift card from my Lavish Secret Santa!
- Jason came by tonight with Christmas presents for Dan and I: Guitar Hero 5 for Dan and a Kodak Zi8 for me!
- Lane Bryant sent me a $50 gift card to use towards the purchase of any of their new holiday line of clothing. I bought this awesome silver top and a red crocheted shrug. Now I need to put the review together for In My Bag.
- Speaking of reviews, I'm also going to be reviewing a sex toy for Eden Fantasys. The review will be posted here on jenn.nu behind a cut (and a disclaimer), but still... sex toy... review. You have been warned, heh.
And... that's about it for tonight. Goodnight!
It snowed today. Well, it was just teensy flakes mixed in with rain early this afternoon in Philadelphia. Ryan and I left Philadelphia (Alyssa is having a sleepover at Dan's aunt's house for the weekend) around 3:15pm, and by the time I made it to a mall somewhere past the Upper Darby/Broomall area it was all snow, the big, fat, wet flakes that feel like raindrops. I was in the mall for about an hour. First I went to Victoria's Secret, where a $31 purchase (body wash and a Christmas present for my brother-in-law's girlfriend) came to $9 (SWEET!) because of coupons. Then I went over to Lane Bryant to spend a $50 gift card that the company sent me so I could review some of their holiday new arrivals. While I was there I practically weeped with joy when I realized that my normal shirt sizes were too BIG, and I had to go grab smaller sizes. Then it was into Target (yes, this mall had a connected Target... how awesome is that?!) for a package of bubble wrap.
We left the mall right around 5:00pm, and my GPS estimated that the drive home would take 57 minutes. Well, the visibility was shit at that point. The snow was beginning to lay on vehicles and on grass, and the snowflakes were thick and coming down fast and almost sideways, directly at my windshield. I think my top speed was about 40 on the highways, and once I reached more rural routes it dropped to 25-30. I'm all for going the speed limit, but when the falling snow and fog is so bad that I can barely see the lane markers and vehicles in front of me? And lets not forget the fact that Penndot slacked on pre-treating and clearing the roads. Ugh. Seriously, what the hell is it with SUV drivers thinking that because they're in an SUV that has 4-wheel drive they're immune to getting into an accident? I was tailgated on three separate occasions by dickwads in SUVs, and on the last two occasions I was on a rural road that allowed passing, so there was absolutely no excuse to ride my ass when I'm going 30 with my damn hazards on. I know that at SUV height the car seats in my car are perfectly visible... are these people really surprised that I would be so cautious?
All in all, it took me a nervewracking hour and a half to get home.
I would seriously not have felt bad at all if any of those assholes wound up slipping and flying off the road, and perhaps taking a tumble or two (unless kids were in their vehicles -- kids shouldn't have to suffer because of dumb ass parents). It's an SUV, not a massive truck that weighs too much to slide on snow and slush. Speaking of which, I'm pretty sure I saw at least one Penndot truck that slid off the road last year... what does that tell you??
Okay, so no cookies, but Lavish has a warm, cozy atmosphere to offer you if you're looking for a new message board to join!
With the day that Dan will haul home a Christmas tree and we'll proceed to decorate it being just two days away, it suddenly dawned on me that I should probably find a silver tree skirt and silver tree topper to match this year's color scheme. I'm not too picky about the tree skirt, but I had something very specific in mind for a tree topper: a poofy silver bow with cascading tails that cascade down the length of the tree. Apparently this type of ribbon must be a figment of my imagination, because it took me four stores to come up with a bow that semi-resembled the bow in my mind, and I had to buy a spool of silver holiday ribbon in order to be able to create that full-length cascading effect.
Ugh. I was going to continue this blog entry, but it's 11:36pm, and I feel like I can barely keep my eyes open... Zzz...
Okay, so no cookies, but Lavish has a warm, cozy atmosphere to offer you if you're looking for a new message board to join!
Every year we go through a debate on what colors we'll use for the Christmas tree. Dan and I have been together for nine years, but we didn't bother to decorate for Christmas until we had an actual small house to live in, as opposed to an efficiency apartment. That year (2004) and the following two years we just used the general collection of Christmas tree ornaments we had amassed from my mother, the dollar store and Walmart.
Two years ago we decided to be a little more specific with colors and styles, and settled on red and gold:
Last year I decided to finally have a gorgeous girly themed tree, and with Dan's consent (or resignation, depending on how you look at it), decorated our tree in pink, purple and gold:
This year we're going for blue (royal blue, turquoise) and silver. We had some silver ornaments already, and after Christmas last year I picked up a bunch of blue themed ornaments when Target and K-Mart reduced them by 50% and 75%. I just need to pick up a silver tree skirt and tree topper (Target didn't have anything, so I'm going to try my luck at K-Mart), and we'll be good to go. We plan on decorating this weekend. :)
P.S. I'm participating in NaBloPoMo for the month of December, since I missed the boat in November. Wish me luck!
Yesterday and today were definitely better days. I'm eating more frequently -- super teensy meals 5-6 times per day (and eating one last time before I go to bed, which is funny because it goes against everything people who want to lose weight should be doing!) instead of three teensy meals. I've been doing well on turkey, mashed potatoes and vegetables (nothing pureed, because I can't stand the idea of drinking my meals. I chew everything to death instead!), so last night I put together a turkey pot pie and had a bit of it (with just one small bite of crust). I also tried a small piece of mozzarella cheese -- I can technically start on low-fat cheeses next week -- and did fine with that as well.
Now that I can actually chew my food again, I need to focus on getting this damn household back in order. While Alyssa can handle spontaneous changes and on-the-fly plans, Ryan needs a strict routine, and with the return to preschool starting tomorrow, it's essential that we get back on our regular schedule. For the past week I've been sleeping in until 10:00am and 11:00am. I haven't done that since the summer! So starting tomorrow morning, I'm going back to getting up at 8:00am. Dan returned to work Sunday night, and he is working late tonight, so I can't expect him to come home at 2:00am and then turn around and send Ryan off to preschool in the morning. I may not be able to lift Ryan, but I can certainly wake him up, help him dress, give him breakfast and walk him out to the school bus.
Besides, I miss the quiet mornings when the kids are still asleep or at preschool. They're great for getting some work time in. :)
Right now I'm sort of watching a Lifetime movie. Oh, and Lifetime? Get some creativity. For years I've joked that you're all about the abused women and all of the cliches that go along with them (note: I am not making light of domestic abuse! Just sayin' that Lifetime needs to think outside of the box, that's all...), and then the other night I flip through the TV guide and come across a Lifetime movie titled Black and Blue. Way to prove my point there, Lifetime...
I was dozing for a while earlier. I felt really crappy earlier this evening, I think a combination of being tired, forgetting to eat for several hours and not feeling good (whatever crap Dan has, I have unfortunately gotten as well) just all hit me at once. Jason was nice enough to come over and keep an eye on Alyssa and Ryan and put them to bed while I rested. I'm up now because I just couldn't fall back asleep after he left. Grrr.... don't you hate when that happens? Oh well. I'm feeling sleepy, so I should be able to go back to bed soon.
So, what is everyone up to this week? As for me, I have tons of work to get caught up on!
Well, I've made it through the first week. According to dozens of members on a few weight loss surgery message boards I'm a member of, the first week is definitely the worst. Now that I've experienced it myself, I definitely agree with the term Hell Week. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't all bad. I've been able to drink water, soup broth and a variety of protein shakes, and I've never gotten sick. But I've been sore and achy, two my incisions are bothering me because of clothes catching and pulling on the steri-strips that cover them, and I've had food cravings out the wazoo (but I think I already covered that). Speaking of achy and sore, I haven't taken any pain meds since Tuesday afternoon. The discomfort I still feel is definitely manageable, and I appreciate being clear-headed again!
Then there was Tuesday night's incident. I don't know what happened. All I know is that one minute I'm sitting in the recliner, feeling warm, fuzzy and blissfully pain-free, and the next this hard, solid, searing pain starts up in my abdomen, around belly button level, deep in -- probably from my intestines? It wouldn't let up, even after I tried to go to the bathroom (FYI, your bowels "go to sleep" from anesthesia and often take several days to "wake up" and get back to doing their thing). I tried laying down in the bedroom, but by then I was crying from the pain. My mom heard me, Dan came running when he heard her freaking out asking me what was wrong, so we called the hospital and explained what was going on. They recommended -- you're going to love this, also I'm sorry for the TMI -- a suppository, but if the pain didn't let up within an hour, to come in so I could be checked over for potential bowel leaks, obstructions, strictures, whatever. I'll skip the details (except to say that my husband rocks, as always), but the pain died down within an hour, I was able to sleep on Tuesday night, and I started taking Dulcalax on Wednesday morning. Since then, the pain hasn't returned. Thank GOD.
Yesterday was my introduction to solids! Whoo hoo! I had 1/8th of a cup of cream of wheat for breakfast. And last night I got to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with the rest of my family and Dan's family. Granted, my 10" dinner plate looked hilarious with just three teensy strips of dark turkey meat, two tablespoons of mashed potatoes and one teaspoon of stuffing, but I was so thrilled to have something with texture and a chewing requirement. And boy did I chew. That's the thing with my "pouch" (my new stomach): food has to be chewed very thoroughly. Otherwise, I run the risk of vomiting food back up because it won't fit into my pouch, or triggering dumping because my re-routed small intestine can't handle the not-broken-down-enough food. I chewed so much that my teeth hurt when I got done, AND it took me as long to eat approximately five tablespoons worth of food as it did for everyone else to clear fully loaded plates of food. And for dessert, I had a few mouse-sized nibbles of pumpkin pie, a nibble of a pie crust and a dab of vanilla ice cream.
My first real "meal" was a success. I ate around 4:30pm, and if I would have had any problems, they would have reared their ugly heads between then and 9:30pm. And I was fine when I went to bed last night around midnight. :)
Today we're just laying around. Dan is really sick with a sinus infection, so I'm not sure if we're going out or not. I'm dying to get out because I'm going crazy from being cooped up in the house, but if he's sick on top of the massive amount of shoppers we're going to encounter because of it being Black Friday and all... eh, I don't know if it's worth it!
Oh, and for those interested, I dropped 18 lbs. since last Wednesday. I'm 268.2 today. Still horribly overweight, but a long way away from the 331 I started at last April! Also, I haven't been this "small" in at least seven years! *joy*
Well, I've made it through the first week. According to dozens of members on a few weight loss surgery message boards I'm a member of, the first week is definitely the worst. Now that I've experienced it myself, I definitely agree with the term Hell Week. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't all bad. I've been able to drink water, soup broth and a variety of protein shakes, and I've never gotten sick. But I've been sore and achy, two my incisions are bothering me because of clothes catching and pulling on the steri-strips that cover them, and I've had food cravings out the wazoo (but I think I already covered that). Speaking of achy and sore, I haven't taken any pain meds since Tuesday afternoon. The discomfort I still feel is definitely manageable, and I appreciate being clear-headed again!
Then there was Tuesday night's incident. I don't know what happened. All I know is that one minute I'm sitting in the recliner, feeling warm, fuzzy and blissfully pain-free, and the next this hard, solid, searing pain starts up in my abdomen, around belly button level, deep in -- probably from my intestines? It wouldn't let up, even after I tried to go to the bathroom (FYI, your bowels "go to sleep" from anesthesia and often take several days to "wake up" and get back to doing their thing). I tried laying down in the bedroom, but by then I was crying from the pain. My mom heard me, Dan came running when he heard her freaking out asking me what was wrong, so we called the hospital and explained what was going on. They recommended -- you're going to love this, also I'm sorry for the TMI -- a suppository, but if the pain didn't let up within an hour, to come in so I could be checked over for potential bowel leaks, obstructions, strictures, whatever. I'll skip the details (except to say that my husband rocks, as always), but the pain died down within an hour, I was able to sleep on Tuesday night, and I started taking Dulcalax on Wednesday morning. Since then, the pain hasn't returned. Thank GOD.
Yesterday was my introduction to solids! Whoo hoo! I had 1/8th of a cup of cream of wheat for breakfast. And last night I got to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with the rest of my family and Dan's family. Granted, my 10" dinner plate looked hilarious with just three teensy strips of dark turkey meat, two tablespoons of mashed potatoes and one teaspoon of stuffing, but I was so thrilled to have something with texture and a chewing requirement. And boy did I chew. That's the thing with my "pouch" (my new stomach): food has to be chewed very thoroughly. Otherwise, I run the risk of vomiting food back up because it won't fit into my pouch, or triggering dumping because my re-routed small intestine can't handle the not-broken-down-enough food. I chewed so much that my teeth hurt when I got done, AND it took me as long to eat approximately five tablespoons worth of food as it did for everyone else to clear fully loaded plates of food. And for dessert, I had a few mouse-sized nibbles of pumpkin pie, a nibble of a pie crust and a dab of vanilla ice cream.
My first real "meal" was a success. I ate around 4:30pm, and if I would have had any problems, they would have reared their ugly heads between then and 9:30pm. And I was fine when I went to bed last night around midnight. :)
Today we're just laying around. Dan is really sick with a sinus infection, so I'm not sure if we're going out or not. I'm dying to get out because I'm going crazy from being cooped up in the house, but if he's sick on top of the massive amount of shoppers we're going to encounter because of it being Black Friday and all... eh, I don't know if it's worth it!
Oh, and for those interested, I dropped 18 lbs. since last Wednesday. I'm 286.2 today. Still horribly overweight, but a long way away from the 331 I started at last April! Also, I haven't been this "small" in at least seven years! *joy*
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Today's the day to be with family, stuff yourself senseless on turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and a variety of vegetables and desserts. Well, it's that day for all of you. As for me, I'm celebrating my success with 1/8 of a cup of cream of wheat this morning, and hoping I do all right with a spoonful or two of mashed potatoes and some mashed up turkey. But hey, 'tis the season to be thankful of everything that we have, so screw food. I'm all about family, because that's what matters most. ♥
