New picture

I went shopping on my 1 year anniversary and well... lets just say I was a little surprised at the size I bought.
I'm down 80 lbs since surgery and 100 from last Jan. I'm really pleased and happy with the results. I have more to go, I'm not stopping yet.

Anyway.. I've been told I need to update everyone with a picture.. so here is it.. my 1 year picture in one of my new anniversary outfits :)

A few pictures

5 months out from surgery and 65 lbs gone for good.

Yes, Sherman is sitting on top of Marice... strange furbabies we have.

Christy, Cliff and Alyssa playing a Deal or No Deal at the bowling alley.
It was such a wonderful weekend!!!!

4 month appt..

Dr. Strickland was very pleased with my progress yesterday. I've lost 63 since surgery and 120 from my highest. I'm very pleased as well. I don't go back for 6 months.

Yeah!!! - Labor Day Weekend

Guess I broke thru my platue, I'm down 4 lbs this week. WOOHOO!!!!

This past weekend (Labor Day weekend) Chris and I went to Spruce Pine to visit with family. What a wonderful time we had. On Saturday we went to a family reunion and enjoyed visiting and watching Austin play. It was a beautiful location.
(Reminder: Click on the pictures to view them larger)





Austin (my nephew) had a wonderful time on the play set at the park.


Then Saturday night we had a birthday cookout for my Aunt Lula. Everyone seemed to have a wonderful time.


The most beautiful Mama in the whole World!!!!

Before and Current Pictures

Day before Surgery - May 11th '09




Almost 4 months later.. Aug '09

Email Issues.. solved

hopefully my email issues have been solved.

Today I was down a little over a pound, thats in 2 weeks.
I need to do better about tracking my food and getting out and walking more. I know that's why I haven't lost more these past few weeks, but its ok. Slow and stead is much better than fast. I'm pleased with my progress so far.

Today I'm going to share a recipe with you. :) We had this for dinner lastnight. It was very tasty. Served it with homemade salsa and fat free refried beans.
The recipe comes from BariatricEating.com

Chicken Chili Rellones Rolls
Moist, spicy, cheesy...and fairly quick! Serve with a bowl of cool pico de gallo and some Spanish rice for your family.

Vegetable cooking spray
3/4 pound chicken breast halves (4 pieces)
Kosher salt and black pepper
3/4 cup shredded Colby Jack cheese
3 tablespoons finely minced onion
3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon Susan Maria’s Cancun Chili Mix or chili powder
One 4-ounce can diced green chilies
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 fine dry bread crumbs
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon Susan Maria’s Cancun Chili Mix or chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a baking sheet or shallow baking dish with vegetable cooking spray and set aside.
Rinse chicken and pat dry. Between two pieces of plastic wrap pound each chicken breast half to 1/4 inch thickness. Lightly sprinkle one side with salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a small bowl combine shredded cheese, onion, cilantro, chili mix or chili powder, and green chilies. Divide this mixture evenly over flattened chicken and spread to within 1/4 inch from the edges. Roll up chicken, folding in the edges. Secure with toothpicks if needed.

In a shallow dish combine the egg and milk. In another shallow dish mix together the bread crumbs, flour, chili mix, and salt. Dip the chicken rolls into the egg mixture and then into the crumbs. Placed on prepared baking sheet. Brush or drizzle olive oil over the rolls. Bake, uncovered for 25-30 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Makes 4 regular servings. (WLS serving is 1/2 a roll.)

Per WLS Serving: 141 Cal; 18 g Protein; 6 g Tot Fat; 4 g Carb; 0 g Fiber; 1 g Sugar; 276 mg Sodium

ramdom updates....

• First I have to tell you that as of this morning I've passed the 50lb weight loss mark. WOOHOO!!!!
  It's actually 53.9 in 14 weeks. Not bad at all. I have alot more to go.. but I've very pleased with this progress.
  

• This past Monday I went thru my closet and sent 2 HUGE bags of clothes to a friend of mine. I hope she can use most of them. Then I had to go out clothes shopping as I had sent her almost all my work clothes LOL. I got to shop at Wal-Mart!!!! I have only been able to buy a piece here and there from Wal-Mart in.. well I can't ever remember being able to buy a whole outfit there. I bought 2 pairs of shorts, 3 pants and a top. :)

• The doggies are doing well. very active and about to drive us nuts at times, but isn't that what being a parent is all about?

• In the past week we've had to format my pc 4 times. NOT FUN!!!! However, after the last time we discovered the possible cause of all my issues.. bad RAM. Oh well.. at least I have a clean drive now, right?

• My Stampin' Up order came in on Friday, I can't wait to play with my new stuff. Thank you Deb and Melissa for placing orders.
  
  Don't forget that we are starting our "Scrapin' Sunday's" on Sept 22.
  Its a day to work on whatever projects you have started, share out ideas and products (such as Cricut, Cuddlebug.. etc) and well.. just have fun! I plan to show everyone a technique or project each time. If you have things you'd like to try, let me know. I'll add them to the list of things I'd like to learn to do.
  

Stampin Up

Saturday is my Stamp Up Demo and I can't wait.
It's going to be a lot of fun. I love making cards and we're making 2. A Birthday card and a Christmas card.

This past week was a very good weight loss week. a little over 6 lbs. I couldn't believe it.
I did focus on my protein so I guess it really does help. :)

Some cards I made last week for a Snoopy Card Swap on SCS


Full Size -Birthday Card

Inside Birthday Card


Full Size - Holiday Card


3x3 Anything Goes


Full Size - Anything Goes

Chris' Birthday Party and this weeks update

Pictures of my journey
I can't believe its only been a little over 2 months. I've lost almost 40 lbs and from my very highest in 2002-2003 I'm down right at 100!!!! I can't believe I was ever that big. I never felt that overweight. I am enjoying the journey although at times it seems so slow. I need to get more protein in so I'll pick up the pace.. not much.. just a little.

This past weekend we had Chris' birthday party. We had alot of fun. 19 people were in our house at one time. But with it a beautiful day, everyone was outside most of the time.

Love you Chris.
I hope you had a great day.

Nothing New

This past week has been about getting the dogs settled and things are going well.
My food intake is pretty good too.. trying new foods which most are doing well.
I'm not getting the amount of protein I need to be to loose the most weight. But I am getting the minimum to be healthy. I keep striving to hit the 60g a day. I need to do a better job of tracking on www.livestrong.com its a great website with a free program called Daily Plate and it tracks your food with calories and protein consumed.

Today I'm off to WoodZone to take a scroll saw class. I'm very excited. And then afterwards will be shopping for the rest of the stuff for Chris' bday party on Saturday. So much to do.. so little time. So I best get started.

Have a great day :)

Week Six & Seven

I went back to work on the 15th. It's nice to be back.
Last week I had a few people tell me that I was looking great and one told me she didn't recognize me. :) This week I was told that I needed to buy new clothes already LOL.

I had an appointment with the surgeon on Wednesday and he seems extremely pleased with my progress. I'm now up to stage 4 and can eat pretty much anything (within reason) that my body will allow me to have. I know I need to stick to certain things. I now need to get in about 60 grams of protein, along with 64 oz of water a day. It's not easy!

This past Tuesday we added 2 new members to our family. Chris and I adopted 2 dogs.
Marcie is a 2yo black/white female beagle (who's had a hard life) and a 1 yo black/white male cocker spaniel.

(The pictures don't do them justice. They are adorable.)

Week Five

Not too much new today.
I went back to work yesterday. It was great being back.

As of this morning I've lost 28.5 lbs. It seems unreal to me.
I'm still having to make myself eat. I don't really get hungry so I forget to eat.
Last night was a little rough. I was moody and just simply wanted "normal" food.
I know its coming.. another week and I can have any food my body will tolerate (within reason).
It's not that I want a huge plate of whatever, I just want a bite, a taste. But its ok. I'll make it through to next week. :)

Today I have to go buy fabric for the hot tub cover. I need to do some calculations before I go. Right now I need 18 yrds and that seems like alot. So I'm going to see if I do it another way, sideways, if it'll take less.

I'm also going grocery shopping for some new recipes from my new cookbook Eating Well After Weight Loss Surgery. I think I'll make scallops. They are tender and soft. There are alot of recipes in the book that looks great. But the best part of the book, the author has put a portion size with each recipe for lap band, RNY, and 'normal' portions also. It even breaks down into the weeks after surgery. It's really neat. With this book you have to remember that each Dr is different and the foods you can eat at each stage is different. So just because the book says you can have so much of a certain recipe at week 2, doesn't mean your Dr want's you to have it. I know there are many recipes I can't have until next week even though the book says for weeks 1 - 4 you can puree it. So you have to use the information that your Dr gives you along with the book.

Week Four

Today is one month since my surgery and I'm feeling pretty good, most of the time.
Today my left side is hurting a bit, but it'll be ok. :)

The Dr's office and liberty Short Term folks finally talked today. It only took Kelly a week and half to get my case worker to call her back. This has been a royal pain in the askmenot.
Why they think they know more about when you should return to work than the Dr is beyond me.
They were only going to pay me thru yesterday. However, today they did extend it thru the end of the week 6/13. The Dr's office said it would be ok. They aren't thrilled and made me promise to not do anything to harm my still healing innards. I promised. I think they also agreed to it because I've asked 4 times now to let me go back to work. I think they are tired of me asking LOL.

This week I've been doing more sewing. Or should I say cutting. I've been cutting out more quilt block patterns for the snoopy quilt. I've also been trying to do a little pen turning. But the acrylics and I aren't getting along. For every set I turn one of the pieces goes flying off the tubing. I did, however, get a wood pen to turn correctly. Not sure what's up with the acrylics.

Week Three

Today starts week 3 and today I get to start eating food again. YEAH!!!
I had an egg for breakfast and it filled me up. That just amazes me.

According to my scales I've lost 20 lbs in 3 weeks and 35 from my first visit in January.

The past few days I've been focusing on sewing and scrapbooking. I've made several cards, gotten 2 pages done on our cruise book and finished a UFO (unfinished project) from a few years ago. I hope to get a few more done before I return to work. I'm still waiting on the dr's office to tell me what they and Liberty have determined as my return to work date. Hopefully I'll know by tomorrow afternoon. Liberty says one date and the Dr's office says a later date. I don't mind either date, but I don't think the Short Term folks should be able to tell me how long I can be out (with pay) when the Dr. (who should know more) tells me its 2 weeks longer. This is very frustrating.

Here is a card I finished today. I'm sending it to my brother Julian, who is serving our cournty overseas in Afghanistan.
It's a black card with a red background. I cut white stripes and a blue field from some star paper I had. The letters were cut using the Cricut using the Sure Cuts A Lot program.

Week Two

It's been two weeks and two days and I'm feeling good. Still sore inside, but I think I'm doing well.
Talked to the Dr's office yesterday and they are saying I can't return to work until June 29th. They are faxing over the paperwork to the Short Term folks. Last time I talked to them they said I had to return on June 15th. I'll let them battle it out but I know work won't let me return until the Dr releases me. I think the biggest issues is the weight limit, I can't pick up anything over 10 lbs.
And that's not alot of weight. Bending is also on the list of "don't do too much" and of course there is the learning to eat again too. So I can understand the Dr's side of things. I just hope Liberty comes to terms with it too. Otherwise I'm not sure what I'll have to do.

This past weekend we went to Charlotte to see the Coca Cola 600, with the Dr's permission.
He said walking was great for me, but to take it easy and rest often. Well if you've ever been to a race you know that most of the time you sit or walk. And that's exactly what I did. I didn't help set up the tailgating, I didn't carry the camera bag or the radios. I just walked. Do you have any idea how frustrating it is to be part of a group and not be able to help at all? But I have to say I was with the perfect people. We went with our friends Gail and Jerry. They have both had the Gastric Bypass and know what I should and shouldn't be doing. So if I even thought about doing something I wasn't supposed to I got my hands slapped 3 times LOL.

On Saturday I spent a few hours with Tonya and her awesome girls, Ana and Machaela. They are just as cute as they can be and so sweet too. It was great getting to finally meet Tonya in person. We've talked to eachother at work for a year or more now but never had the chance to meet. She took me to MaryJo's Fabrics. WOW.. can you say brain overload??? That store is flipping huge. The girls were so patient and well behaved. They helped me find Snoopy fabric for Chris' quilt and did a great job. They found 2 that I had hadn't seen. :)

On Sunday we trecked off to the race and sat under our canapy in the rain. It would rain, clear up, rain, clear up.. all day long back and forth. Finally we went in to see the start of the race.. they did the opening ceremonies and it started to rain again. Around 8pm they called the race and packed everything up and headed back to the hotel.

On Monday we headed out a little early for the race and stopped at Bass Pro Shops. Again, overload. That store is amazing. We bought some jerky rub and a jerky book. I can't wait to be able to eat meat again so I can try some of the rub. They sound really yummy.
After that we went on to the track and went on inside. They were drying the track and it started a little later than they expected. However that didn't last long. I think there were 2 rain delays before half way. At 3pm they brought all the cars down pit lane and parked them for a national 30 seconds of silence. That was very moving and powerful.

(Click pictures to view larger)

Back Stretch - All the saftey crew lined up and flag was lowered to half mast.


Front Stretch - Cars all stopped for a moment of silence. All the fans were standing. Wish I had could have gotten a picture of pit road. All the teams were lined up also.

Afterwards they got going again but it didn't last too long and the rains came back. They were over halfway so after sitting for a while hoping it would clear up (and it only got worse) they called it a race. I was so mad. Our favorite drive was just about to take the lead from our most unfavorite drive when they called the caution. Well everyone expected the rain to stop so they took advantage of the yellow and took tires and fuel, along with most of the field. However, 3 drives didn't. Guess what.. they made the right call because they won. :( Oh well.. it was fun to be with friends and out of the house.
I had thought it might be hard to be around good smelling food and not be able to eat it. Nope, didn't bother me at all. Some of it even made me slightly quesie.

Yesterday, Wednesday, Bob and Meg came over. I used them as ginnie pigs and fixed a new recipe, CrockPot Asian Shredded Beef. They all seemed to love it. I enjoyed our vist every much and they had to leave much to soon.

Today I'm doing laundry. (Yes, I'm picking up only a few pieces at a time.) and Sewing. This afternoon I'm going to do some scrapbooking too. That's my goal for today anyway.
This evening my Aunt Laura Lee and her husband Joe are coming through Columbia on their way to NC and are going to stop by. I'm excited to see them.

I guess I should get off here and get back to my sewing. :)

Oh I almost forgot.. Last week before the race we bought me a new lens for my camera and I signed up for a photography class online. I'm really enjoying it too.

One week out

Today is 7 days from surgery.
I'm feeling pretty good and already starting to loose some weight.
I'm on my way to a healthier me :)

Let's see if I can recap the last week....
Tuesday was surgery.. we arrived at the hospital at 6am.
Surgery was scheduled for 11am.
My wonderful hubby, Chris was there, my mom, Brenda and my FIL, Wayne were all there to keep my company.
They called me back pretty quickly and we all sat in my curtained room until around 1030.
I don't remember anything until later in the day when I was in my room and it was all over.
My friend Kym was in the room next door, but that didn't last long. Kym got to go home that same day. We had joked about being in the hospital together, but never in a million years thought it would be true. Kym's surgery was 2 weeks before mine and was readmitted for some unknown bleeding.
Friends from Fountain Inn came to visit too: Gail, Tammy and Danielle. I was totally out of it, but mom says everyone had a great visit :) Thank you all for coming all the way down here to see me.
That's about all I remember about Tuesday, other than occasionally waking up and hunting my happy button.

On Wednesday I was somewhat more coherent.
I wasn't using nearly as much of my happy button. I passed my barium shallow and they took away my happy button and my IV's. Well, they took the drip away, they left the actual IV in my hand. And much to my delight.. i could have WATER.
Let me tell you, I have never been so happy to have water in my life.

Thursday I was able to go home. Nothing major here... I w\o
On Friday I sat in my rocker/recliner and vegged out most of the day and read.
Saturday morning my Mom and step dad, Paul came down to visit. We smoked ribs and jalepino poppers on the smoker and it seemed so strange that I didn't even want any of it. and the poppers were one of my very favorite things.
Sunday found us at the Flea Market. I didn't make it to far, but I did go thru about 3 sections before giving out. So Chris and I headed back home and let Mom and Paul enjoy more time there. On way home we stopped and picked up a few things at the grocery store.
By the time we got home my MIL, Roxanne and Pat were here.
We really enjoy our visit with both sets of parents.

Monday was my first check up with Dr. Strickland. He said everything is going well and they took my many staples out. :) He said I've lost almost 20 lbs.

Today I got out of the house for a few hours and visited Target and AC Moore. :)

Well, that's the update.

Home :)

I got home today around 10am.
So far so good.
A little weak, but that's to be expected.

My first checkup is Monday.

Almost there...

Well tomorrow is my last day at work for a while.
This morning I started getting nervous.. but not too bad.

Please keep my friend Kym in your thoughts and prayers. She's been back in the hospital since Wed. Hopefully she'll get to go home tomorrow.

My surgery is Tuesday at 1230. I have to be there at 1030. Chris, my Mom and my Father in Law will be at the hospital. Chris should do a mobile post when I get out of surgery. We did a test post from my phone and it worked.. so hopefully it'll work Tuesday too.

I doubt I post again until after surgery.
Take care.

Quick Update...

Today's filter went well.
I arrived at 10am and was escorted to the surgery waiting room around 1020ish.
Then the real waiting began. We were shown to my pre-op cubical. Got into the well ventilated gown and they came in started hooking me up. I had one iv in my hand and things on my legs to help circulate the blood. A small dose of heparin and given a tv remote. :)

I have no idea how many people came in and out.. but it was a bunch.
Everyone was very friendly and super nice.

My surgery was to be at 1130 and they didn't wheel me back until 1215-1230.
However, once they got started it was over very quickly.
The OR staff was great. keep me laughing the whole time, until I fell asleep.
They did intervenious sedation, not a full "but you to sleep" sedation.

I remember the Dr. coming in, saying hi and asking if I was ready.. and that was about it until I was being rolled to recovery.
Chris came and sat with me for a bit there and when all my IV fluid was in me, they tossed me out. Very different experience from Baptist Hospital a few years ago when I had my finger surgery. They acted like I was in their way and they wanted me out as quickly as possible. Here they made sure I was ready to go before they sent me home.

I was home by 230 and slept most of the afternoon. I'm a little sore, but nothing too bad.
Tomorrow I should be able to move around much better :)

Thanks everyone for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.
Hugs and Love,
Dawn

Surgery update

I found out yesterday that my surgery date has been moved to May 12th. Apparently the 2nd dr is going to be out and it takes 2 for their certification program.

I'm ok with the change.. gives me a few more days to get over the fact I didn't do the liquid diet on the ship. I wanted to, i planned to, but when I was getting sea sick I needed to keep something on my tummy. However, I can proudly say I only gained 3 lbs according to my home scales. :)

Kym had her surgery on Monday and is doing great. I stopped by yesterday after work and again today. If she's still there when I go to my Dr appt tomorrow, I'll stop by again.
I can only hope I do half as well as she is.