8 Month Post Op RNY Surgiversary, Size 12 pants!!! OMG!!!

Today is my 8 month post op weight loss surgery anniversary, or surgiversary, as we weight loss patients like to say. 

I am thrilled, absolutely thrilled, with the progress I've made over the past 8 months.  I've lost 117 Lbs so far, and have gone from a very tight size 24 pants to a size 12!  ME!  I am now half the size that I was on January 11th, when I started my 3 week Optifiast liquid protein diet to ready myself for surgery on Feb. 1st, 2017. It's like a miracle. I mean, I know I've worked hard to get here, but it still seems like a miracle to me.

OK, so earlier today, I went to Sears because it is closing and today was their last day.  I was there on their first day back in the 70's when I was 10 years old so wanted to be there for the last day.  I knew most of the items had already been sold but wanted to go anyway, to get some photos.

Well, there were maybe 4 racks of ladies clothing left, 2 racks of mens, and none at all for children.  Most of the ladies wear that were left were plus sized, and I am not plus sized any more.

I was looking for size 14 pants because that is what I thought I needed.  I have one pair of size 14's that are a bit big, but they are the pull on type pants so I thought for sure I'd need at least a 14, possibly a 16, in jeans and dress pants.  But there were none left.  I found two pairs of pants in size 12 and decided to get them and shrink into them, maybe in the next two months or so, hopefully by Christmas.  That was my goal. One was a pair of navy dress pants with shape wear built in to flatten the tummy and lift the bum.  Regular $70.00, but now on for 95% off, so I grabbed them.  I also grabbed a pair of burgundy skinny jeans, also size 12, also regular $70.00 but on for 95% off .  Neither pair of pants were things I'd normally get; I basically just buy black, usually, but for 95% off I was willing to buy ANYTHING even remotely close to my size, lol.

So I bought them ($7.50 for both pairs of pants, including tax!), then went to Walmart and just for the heck of it, decided to try on the same pants I was already wearing in a  loose size 14,  in a size 12.  And they fit.  I immediately started jumping up and down, clapping my hands, yelling "woohoo!".

Seriously, size 12 seemed like a dream that I couldn't attain.  I was happy to be size 14.  I have never been less than a 14 since I was 24 years old, and I only hit size 14 twice between the ages of 24 and 40-something, and have been size 20 or bigger for years.  Size 12?  A nice dream, something nice to think about but I didn't think it would happen.  I hoped it would happen but didn't believe it.

So after I got home I tried on the sale pants from Sears, and even though the Walmart size 12's fit, I didn't expect the Sears size 12's to fit...but they do!  Not only do they fit, they fit nicely, not tight at all!  I didn't have to force the zipper up or anything.  I am a size 12.  Me.  Size 12. I'm feeling euphoric!

I hope this isn't a dream. I hope I am not sleeping right now, dreaming I'm size 12.

I need to update this blog in a major way. I've been crocheting, walking, bike riding, taking lots of photos...then I'm too tired to blog, lol.  I will try to do better in the future.  In the meantime, here are some cool photos of Sears on their last day.  Goodbye Sears, I'll miss you.  Thank you for the amazing size 12 pants for 95% off, lol.

17 Weeks Post Op RNY Surgery, down 84.8 Lbs now!

Hi Guys,
I feel terrible about not updating my blog as often as I should.  Life has been flying by at an amazing pace since my surgery on Feb. 1st.

This morning was my weigh in day and I lost 4.2 Lbs this week, for a grand total of 84.8 Lbs!
I can now fit into a size XL top and bottom, although I am still wearing my 1X's as it's expensive to keep shopping every size.  I even kept a a few old 4-5X tshirts and wear the as nighties now, lol.

I've been keeping active, swimming laps at the pool several times a week, plus riding my bike and walking.

Tomorrow I will start cycling in earnest, weather permitting, as it's the first day of the Great Cycle Challenge Canada, and I pledged to ride 100 km in the month of June, in order to help raise money to fight cancer, and especially, children's cancer.

I already did 111 km in the month of May, plus a few rides in April, so I know I can do it unless the weather is really bad.  I won't ride in the rain as I don't want to get sick.  Today was very cold and rainy but this weekend it is supposed to warm up, so I hope so.

I feel great, but was a bit emotional today as it would have been Benji's 17th birthday today.  Benji was my sweet toy poodle, who passed away peacefully in his sleep in February, when I was away in Toronto, just after I had my surgery.  RIP, baby boy.

I haven't done any crafts or crocheting since the chickens but am feeling the urge to make some miniatures.

I hope you're all doing well.

Take care!

5 Weeks Post Op RNY Gastric Bypass Surgery, with Pneumonia

So I have good news and bad news.  The good news is that I lost another 4.8 Lbs this week, bringing my grand total to 51.4 Lbs lost altogether since starting Optifast on January 18th.

The bad news is I have pneumonia.  I think I caught it in the mall...not pneumonia, but the virus that led to it.  I have to walk every day and we still have loads of snow and ice here, so I've been walking in the mall.  I normally avoid crowded places as I get sick easily, but it was important to walk so I went anyway.  I caught a cold or virus last Thursday, and it wasn't bad at first; just sneezing, runny nose, a bit of a dry cough.  By the weekend my asthma had kicked in and on Monday, when I couldn't get ahold of my doctor, I decided I'd better go to the hospital for an asthma treatment.

Thank goodness I went, or I'd have no idea I had pneumonia and think it was my asthma.  They both feel the same; wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath, back pain from all of the coughing.

I'm on antibiotics now.  The pharmacist said it will take 3 days for the antibiotics to start working, and this evening's dose will be the third day so hopefully he's right. I already feel better than I did on Monday; Monday was the worst.

I only have 7 days total of antibiotics and usually need more than that.  I have a follow up appointment with my family doctor on Friday morning, so hopefully he'll top me off if I need more. 

The doctor in emergency scared the hell out of me.  He sent me for blood work, an EKG, and Xrays (I requested the Xray to see if my atelectasis had gotten worse).  He said he was worried I had complications from surgery and was looking for a blood clot, and that I may need to go back in for a CAT scan.  He said he'd call me with the results of my blood work and then never did.  I think it's wrong to scare someone like that and then not call to alleviate or confirm the fears.
I called the hospital but they wouldn't tell me anything, except to say that if I hadn't heard from the doctor then it probably means he found nothing wrong on the blood tests. Hopefully my family doctor can access that information and let me know on Friday.

I need to call my nurse in Sudbury tomorrow to let her know about the pneumonia.

This is all a pain in the butt, but I don't think the pneumonia is due to the surgery.  I used to get pneumonia all the time back when I was teaching.  If I would have gone in to emerg a day earlier it may have just progressed to bronchitis like normal, and not pneumonia. I usually get sick at this time of year because the snow starts to melt, then freezes, melts, then freezes, and it releases snow molds in the air, which I am allergic to. I think that, coupled with picking up an infection from someone at the mall, is what made me so sick this time.

I am happy to have lost over 50 Lbs; it was my first mini goal.  I'm also happy to weigh 252.6 Lbs. I was 304 when I started this and hadn't seen the 250's in ages.  It will be amazing to drop below 250 and get into the 240's, then 230's.  My weight stalled in the 230's for years, then stalled in the 250's for years, then 260-280 for years.  When it went up to 300 it scared me into surgery.

People are already commenting on how much I've lost, which is nice.  I was feeling so ashamed about my weight I barely left the house, and hated being looked at because I felt judged every where I went.  Eating in public was agony and I preferred to eat alone, hiding at home.  I just felt so full of shame, and that's all gone.  I haven't felt shame since I started Optifast on Jan. 18th and that alone makes this whole ordeal worth it to me.

Week 2 Post Op

I am posting this a bit late, but I was down 6 Ibs in my second week Post Op RNY Surgery.  Week 1 I lost 9.8 Ibs, so I lost 15.8 Ibs since surgery, plus 23 Ibs in the 3 weeks prior to surgery, for a total of 38.8 Ibs!!

My tops are all baggy, and the other day I pulled up my track pants, let go and they fell to the floor again, lol.  I had to undo the knot on the drawstring so I could make them tight enough to not fall off. That was cool.

I have had a LOT of pain since surgery though, so it has not been easy sailing for me. The pain was awful for the first week and then slowly got better the second week.  It went away, and it was wonderful to be pain free for 3 days. Then I dropped a pill and stupidly bent over at the waist to pick it up and OMG, the pain was bad. I think I may have pulled a muscle in my abdomen, or else maybe just pulled on the stitches on the main incision too much.

Then, (and don't keep reading if you have a weak stomach), I discovered I was seriously constipated because the pharmacist gave me the wrong Senokot.  My surgeon wrote that i needed the one with stool softener, and for 2 weeks I was taking one without a stool softener because the pharmacist screwed up and I didn't notice, and it hurt soooo badly. I saw my family doctor last Thursday, and he prescribed Restorolax.  Today, Monday,  is the first day that I'm not in major pain a few hours after eating, so it's finally working.  Thank God.