Weight Loss

On Monday I went to my primary care physician to see if I needed to be taken off any of my medications. I was hoping the nurse would weigh me. Sometimes when I go the nurse doesn't bother with weighing patients. To my surprise she weighed me. I was estatic with what the scale said, but didn't believe it. I asked the nurse to weigh me again because it couldn't be right. The nurse looked at me weird & said the scale was right. The scale showed a 20 lb weight loss in 1 week. I wanted to shout for joy but decided to do it when I got outside.

My doctor was surprised to see me since I just had surgery 1 week ago. He said I should be home relaxing & resting. I told him I feel terrific. I make sure to listen to my body and when I get tired I go home to rest. I have been impressed with how well I have recovered. My doctor was also impressed.

One thing I have noticed is I have a hard time watching TV because of all the food commercials. I saw one the other day about Klondike ice cream bars & it made me want to go get one. I didn't but my mind tells me it's okay. It's not okay, if I were to eat ice cream I would be really sick. So I have decided to limit my TV viewing. This isn't a bad thing because I have found that I have been able to get many things accomplished.

This week I got to start to introduce more foods which made me happy. I love variety. I was eating yogurt, cottage cheese & cream based soups. On Monday I got to include scrambeled eggs, string cheese, deli meats, canned meats (tuna fish & chicken), any kind of beans (black, pinto, refried, & kidney. I also can eat canned vegetables or steamed vegetables. My new diet consits of 70% protein & 30% vegetables for the first year. The doctor has asked that I stay away from carbohydrates, fruit & anything high in sugar, high in fat or fried foods. I am okay with this because its the end result I am looking for. They also ask that we drink 64 ounces of water a day. If its hotter than normal then they want us to get more than 64 ounces. I love water, but some days I struggle. I focus on getting at least 8 ounces of water an hour. That seems to help.

I go back to see my surgeon on Tuesday August 4th for my 2 week follow up. At that time I will take another picture of myself to see if there have been any changes.

On sad note, I found out that my old roomate who I loved with for a year in Murray passed away on Sunday. Her name was Karen Western. Karen and I also worked at the same place that is how we knew each other before we became roomates. It came as a shock to me! We were just talking the other day about getting together to hang out this weekend. No one knows how she died. The family just called work to tell them that she passed away but didn't give anymore details. There was 2 other ladies & myself & Karen that would get together each month to have a ladies night. We are all going down to Delta to attend her funeral. We just took a trip to Bear Lake in May. It's hard to believe that she is gone. I know that she is in a better place, but she sure will be missed.

Surgery Update & Pictures

Today is the first day I have had to update my blog & let everyone know how my surgery went on Monday.

I was scheduled to be at St Marks Hospital at 10:30AM. I left my house around 8:00am to pick up my friend Helen Bull so she could go with my father and I to the hospital. My father came to pick me up around 9:45am. I was anxious to get there so that I why I had my father pick me up early, even though I only live 15 minutes away from the hospital.

We made it to the hospital around 10:10am. We headed up to the 4th South Ambulatory Surgery Center. The nurse advised us that we were a little early and to wait in the waiting room. We only had to wait a few minutes when one of the volunteers came out to get me. He walked me back the room I would be staying in before surgery. He gave me gown and advised me to change. The gown he gave me was either made out felt or paper, I thought it was going to rip. The gown was very big which I was grateful for. I climbed into bed and waited for the nurse to come and speak with me.

One of the lab technicians came in & drew a vial of blood as a percaution in case they needed to get blood from the blood bank. Then we all waited for the nurse to come in. Dad, Helen and I had a bet going to see how long it was going to take before I actually headed down to surgery. Dad bet 11:30AM, Helen bet 12:30AM and I bet 2:00pm. Hospitals are notorious for taking a very long time and most of that time is where we sit around & wait. The nurse came in to my room around 10:30am. She had a lot of questions to ask me to get me admitted for surgery. I would have to admit that I was a little bit nervous.

Not long after the nurse got finished a guy for the pre op area came up to get me. At this time it was around 11:30pm. He rolled my bed onto the elevator and took us down to the 2nd floor. Dad & Helen followed until we got the end of hallway and the guy said this where we would have to say our goodbyes. I gave a hug to Helen and Dad and said goodbye. Dad made sure before we left that he informed me that he won the bet. The guy who was pushing my bed asked what kind of bet we had going so I informed him and he just laughed & laughed. He pushed my bed down to the pre op area where I waited to see the Anesthesiologist to get my IV & sleeping drugs.

As I was waiting to see the Dr, I started to panic & got freaked out that I would be going into surgery. I was so nervous that I started to cry. By the time the nurse & Anesthesologist came I got myself calmed down. By the way I forgot to mention that my anesthesologist was a very, very cute man. I thought about asking him out but then decided against it. Once the anesthesologist got my IV in he gave me some kind of medicine to relax me. He joked that it was LSD he was giving me but its hard to believe. Once he gave me my medicine he rolled me into the operation room. He warned me that the OR would be very very cold which it was. They parked my bed next to the operating table and asked me to slide over onto the table. The nurses started to tie down my feets & arms which freaked me out, but they advised me this was a precaution they took to make sure I didn't fall off. As soon as I laid down the anesthesologist put an oxygen mask over my face and asked me to take two deep breaths. That is the last thing I remember.

The next thing I know is I was hearing voices. I didn't open my eyes but from the sounds of it I was in the post op room. I remember telling the nurse that I couldn't breathe & they put another oxygen mask on my face. I remember I kept raising my hands for some reason. The nurse kept telling me that I was okay and the surgery went well. I guess I was fighting her a lot because she kept saying, Rebecca, you are just fine! All I can remember is that I was not comforatable and the pain was intense. The next thing I remember the nurse took off my gown and put on a new gown. I still didn't have my eyes open at this time, I was just hearing of all of this. The next thing I know there were 5-6 guys around me and they rolled me to one side and slid a plastic board under me and then rolled me on the other side. They were transporting me from the post op bed to a new bed.

The next thing I remember is being rolled into my room. I finally open my eyes at this point in time and saw Dad, Peggy & Helen standing outside my room. I remember everyone being in my room but I was pretty well out of it that I don't remember much more than that. I remember feeling very hot & sweaty. I felt like crap. I didn't realize that the dr had pumped my stomach full of air so he could have room to do the surgery. I was in a lot of pain & sick to my stomach either because the pain meds or the anthesia. This was a hard night for me and didn't sleep very well. I had to wait 3 hours for the nurse to come & give me additional pain medication. They did let me drink 1 ounce of water an hour a couple of hours after surgery. Here is a pictuer of me not doing so well.

My good friend Deedre' stayed with me that night until 10:30pm. She made sure to keep reminding the nurse that I needed my pain medicine. They had me on a pain pump that was giving me morphine but it wasn't cutting the pain, so they finally gave me Tordol which worked like magic. I didn't like how the morphine made me feel. Once I got the Tordol I was good for most of the night. I had an air bed that would redistribute the air every time I moved. The redistributin of the air sounded like a jet taking off. So you can imagine how difficult it was to sleep. Thank goodness Deedre' let me borrow her ipod which came in very handy and I was able to sleep.

What a difference a night made? I felt so much better Tuesday morning. The only time I felt the pain was when I went for my walks or got out of bed. I made sure to get up every two hours to go walking so I wouldn't get blood clots.

Tuesday afternoon they brought my first meal after surgery which consisted of green jello & chicken broth. I was allowed to have 1 ounce of each for lunch. Up to this point I was just drinking water. I made sure I savored each one slowly. They tasted so delicious. Here is a picture of how much I am allowed to eat at each meal. I know it doesn't look like much but my new stomach is only 2 ounces so that is all I can hold.

I was supposed to go home Tuesday night at 6pm but the nurse was concerned because some of vitals were not where they like them to be. My doctor gave me the option to stay or go home, he felt that I would be okay if I wanted to go home. After talking to my family I realized that it wouldn't hurt to stay one more night. I was nervous about going home and dealing with all of the changes that had just taken place.

I am glad I stayed Tuesday night. Wednesday morning I woke up feeling much better & my vitals were where they needed to be. The nurse took me off my morphine drip & gave me a prescription for Loratab. They even let me take a shower before I went home. The shower made a huge difference, I felt like a normal human being. My step mom Peggy came to pick me up around 12:30 when they discharged me. I was glad to be home and to be able to sleep in my own bed. I only needed the pain meds to sleep on Wednesday night.

I feel terrific. I am surprised how much energy I have. I thought I would be tired and have to stay home. I was able to get out yesterday and do a little bit of grocery shopping for the new foods that I started today. I can now choose from yogurt, cottage cheese, cream soups, & string cheese. I can only eat 2 ounces at each meal, but its nice to have other options. I stay on these types of foods until Sunday. Monday I get to introduce different foods.

Today I went to the see Ice Age with my dad & step mom. We just got done with our BBQ for Pioneer Day. It was hard for me to eat my 2 ounces of yogurt & cream of chicken soup while the rest got to eat on chicken, steak & salads. I'm sure with time it will get easier. I did just have surgery on Monday so I figure I just need to give myself some time.

I am so glad that I did the surgery & that I am recooperating very nicely. I can't wait to see what happens in the futuer as the weight comes off.

Family & Good Times

This weekend has been very busy with my family & friends. Jason & Jamie (brother & sister in law) flew in late Friday night to be here for my cousin Holly's mission farewell. My family attended the Oquirrh Temple Open House on Saturday morning. I loved the beauty of all the temples but this one I really liked even though it is smaller. The ambiance was breathtaking. I loved the murals on the walls. Saturday afternoon my family and I drove to Ogden temple to do a sesson. It was a wonderful feeling to have all of my family together doing the Lord's work. I love being with all of them.

Then on Sunday we all drove to North Salt Lake to hear my cousin Holly give her talk in church. She did a great job and she will be a great missionary. It was nice to visit with family & get caught up on what everyone is doing.

Finally, tomorrow is surgery day. I can't believe it's already here. I am very excited. I don't go to the hospital until 10:30am. All that I had to do this weekend was a good distraction for me to keep my mind off the surgery. I did finally get a little nervous but I know everything will be okay. As soon as I feel up to it I will post pictures of my weight loss success.

Before Picture

I can't believe I only have 3 days left before my surgery. Everyone keeps asking me if I am nervous and I am not. It's funny to see their reaction when I say no. I am looking forward to a healthier life with this change. I have attached a couple of before pictures for you to see where I am starting at. Look forward to some more in the future. Hope all is well with everyone.

1 Week To Go & 1000 Calorie Diet

One week from today is when I go in for surgery. I am so excited. Someone asked me today if I was nervous and surprisingly I am not. I'm sure I might be nervous the day of but I will have to wait & see.

I am on my 2nd week of my 1000 cal diet. It hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be. I have a couple slip ups but nothing to drastic. The dr put me on a 1000 cal diet 2 weeks before my surgery to help shrink my liver. It's supposed to help makes things easier for the doctor when he is doing the surgery. It shrinks the fatty tissue around the liver. The doctors office suggested two kinds of diets to choose from. Slim fast shakes for breakfast & lunch, then a healthy choice entree for dinner or eating healthy well balanced diet & count calories. I went with the first option. I don't enjoy counting calories. I only have had 2 slip ups (2 slices of pizza & small ice cream cone) but nothing too drastic. I have found that drinking lots of water when I feel the hunger pains has helped tremendously. Also chewing gum helps as well.

I can tell I have lost some weight already. I don't know how much I have lost because I don't own a scale. I can tell because my pants are baggy and some of my shirts that were tight have extra room. I will have photo soon, just need to find someone to take it.

Later on this week I want to get suggestions & opions about a decision I have to make on top of having surgery. I will share more later this week. It's about an offer that was made to me to move to a new place. I thought I had my mind made up as to what I was going to do, but now I'm not so sure. I would love to hear what my readers think.

Big Decision & Change

On my Facebook profile last night I shared that I was excited for what is going to happen in 8 days & that my life will change as I know it. So what is the big news you might be asking? Well your wait is over & its time for me to "let the cat out of the bag"

The big news is that I am scheduled to have Gastric Bypass surgery on Mon. July 20th. This decision didn't come easy for me. I have thought about this decision over the last 2 years. After much praying & fasting I have chosen to go ahead with it & feel at peace. I also am not being naivee about this decision either. I know there will be a lot of changes to my lifestyle. With the Lord's help and my wonderful support group of family & friends I will take everything one day & a time.

I have found that when I share this decision with others I get a variety of responses & opinions. Most of the responses have been posivitive & supportive which I appreciate. Others have been responses of concern & worry as this is considered major surgery. I appreciate the concern for my well being and know where they are coming from. This is the right decision for me for my life right now. All that I ask is that you be supportive of me & don't judge me. I am excited to see this will take me in the future.

This is the main purpose I set up this blog. My plan is to keep everyone updated on a weekly basis of my success, struggles & changes as I go through this life changing process. I will soon have a pre-surgery picture of myself so we can compare the changes that come after surgery. This blog will also help me be accountable to myself & to you as I go through this process. I look forward to hearing your comments & questions along the way.

Blog

My blog is a work in progress right now. I keep making improvements when I have the time. It looks really boring right now, but in no time it will be up & running.

The main purpose why I started this blog is to share my success as I start a very big change in my life within the next week. I will tell you more as it gets closer. I don't want to let the cat of the bag too soon.

1st posting

Welcome to my blog. I look forward to sharing what goes on in my life with my family & friends. Hope those who visit my blog find it entertaining, helpful, funny & informative.