Ward Christmas Party! 3 Weeks post surgery

I went to our Ward Christmas Party on Friday, December 7. Pearl Harbor Day and 3 weeks post surgery.

Amy Harris and her daughter Lindsay took pictures to capture the magic of the night. Amy helped me to pose, but I tell ya,

I think I should have put my right foot forward. It's my better side. I'm wearing a blouse I haven't worn in well over a year. I ate a lot of beef this week. As a result, I lost only 4.2 pounds. Total lost is 28, so it's an average of a pound a day still, since I'm counting losing 7 pounds before the surgery. I now need only 1 tape measure to get around my hips and stomach. Next week I'll be taking my measurements and sharing them. I am starting to notice that I get sick every time I try to eat meat. I'm sick again tonight after just a little bit of chicken. Yikes! I'm not ready for that, but it may just be the case. I just know that it's not worth getting nauseated every time I eat meat. Yuck! Everybody says that they can tell in my face that I'm losing. Typical for me. I lose it from the top and at my ankles, until the skinny meets in the middle. Stomach and hips are the last to show signs of shrinkage. I will say that I noticed a little more room between myself and the steering wheel on my way to work this morning. On Saturday I crossed my knee to put on my shoe and was on my way out of the door before I realized that I had just passed a marker. I haven't been able to cross my leg in FOR E VER!

It has been 3 weeks since my surgery! The first day after the surgery I was able to get about 2 teaspoons of liquid down and I walked to the door of the hotel room and back, and to the bathroom. By the second day, I had made it to the end of the hall where I walked right into someone else's suite, because I thought it was a recreation room.

I was able to go to Cirque Du Soleil's Love, which had the music of the Beatles. Amazing and fun, till I had to climb the stairs to get back to my wheelchair. I almost passed out. I was able to spend the next week and Lance's and Caetie's with the rest of the family, except for Drew, Faith, and Baby Rowan. They were sorely missed. I realized that my sense of smell was a huge trigger to wanting to eat. The ugly part of the visit happened when I took a microscopic piece of crumb topping from an apple pie to let it "melt in my mouth." But I was caught! Embarrassing and shameful!! It was awful! The doctor told us about a man who almost died when he ate a hamburger the day after his surgery. Split his stomach in half! In my mind, the size of the crumb made it not so bad, but I know how everyone was shocked because it showed a lack of commitment. It was actually a very good learning moment for me. Since then, I have had to make choices every day. I realize it's going to be a DAILY battle for the rest of my life. It's good that I could learn that lesson during the first week. It was kind of a shocker for me and a "Come to Jesus" moment. I thought, "Oh no! What have I done?" But I almost immediately realized that I am very thankful for the sacrifices my family made to make the surgery happen. So... a few numbers here. I started out at 330. By the time I got to the office on Thursday, November 15, I weighed 323. I had already lost 7 lbs!

Here is a picture of me a day after the surgery. I'm feeling a little better. I weighed on Saturday, December 1, which was 2 weeks and 1 day after the surgery. I weighed 306! Tomorrow, December 7, marks 3 weeks since the surgery.

Here is a picture of me tonight, December 6, wearing some red pajamas I got 2 Christmases ago. This is the first time I've been able to get the pants on and button the shirt all the way up. I'm not so thrilled about my stomach, but I can definitely see a difference in my face! Wow!

My bags are packed. I'm ready to go.

So I feel like I'm living in a dream. The time ticked away slowly at work today. I'm very excited, but still a bit nervous. I always get scared that I'll miss my flight when I fly anywhere. This trip is really important, so it makes me even more nervous. I chose to spend the night with my daughter Amie so that I could get more sleep, but here I am. Up at 11:30 p.m. I left my purse in the car when my brother Kim dropped me off at my daughter's. I had to borrow a car to go get it. I hope it's just nerves and not early onset Alzheimer's. The flight leaves right before 10:00 a.m. EST and my appointment is at 1:00 p.m. in Las Vegas. Just 8 minutes from the airport. Nerves! Whew!

Pre-Surgery Measurements

Here are some pictures that will serve as official "Before" shots. We had a little trouble with the camera. A couple of notes are warranted. I measured on the morning of November 2 before my feet and ankles swelled up. This was 2 weeks before my surgery date. And now... Onward!

Surgery

I am going to have a gastric bypass surgery and I will be documenting my big adventure here. My children have offered to pay for this procedure for me to help me get healthy. A once-in-a-lifetime gift that blows you away. Some of this is going to be embarrassing because I'm going to be exposing my life through pictures and stories that will bring you into my private world. I'm happy to do this to share with my family and friends, past, present, and future my journey. I don't know that it will wind up being amazing. I expect that many of the days will seem boring and plain, just like everyone else's lives, but I plan to share the joyous, fun, and exciting moments as well as the mundane, hard, and "I can't believe she did that" times. I'm going to have a gastric sleeve done at Blossom Bariatrics by Dr. Tom Umbach. I found out about his practice through my doctor, May Bullecer. I thought she made a mistake because it's in Nevada, but his pricing is REALLY affordable, and his staff is AMAZING! They are the NICEST people you will ever visit with. Their desire to help people just comes across in every conversation. I cannot wait to meet them in person!! My surgery is going to be on November 16 and I will be flying with my daughter Amie and my daughter-in-law Amy to Las Vegas the day before. We'll meet my other daughter-in-law Caetie there for a pre-surgery meeting. I hope to do something fun that night to enjoy the city with them before I have to take it easy to recoup.

35 years!!!!

So I'm not even going to comment about the fact that I haven't blogged in FOREVER. I just want to say that I have been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for 35 years as of May 6, 2012! It was fast and testimony day and I got to hear Cailey's testimony. She talked about how her mom and her Granny Robin can do anything and she talked about families. I also bore my testimony that because we are God's hands, we help each other to accomplish things here. He offers tender mercies and opens the windows of heaven in our behalf and gives us amazing families and friends to help strengthen us during this earth life. I know that through God nothing is impossible. I feel the Lord's hand in all that I do and I need his guidance every day. I haven't been perfect in the last 35 years, but I know my Savior more now and I have learned a lot. I have the most amazing children in the world and they all have the most awesome partners! I have 14 grandchildren and number 15 is on the way!!! Lucky! I wish I could find Ralph Nicholson to thank him again for telling me about the church. He gets an A+ for member missionary work.