My Fitness Pal - I track all of my food and exercise on this website, they also have a mobile at for my iPhone. I am also able to snyc my exercise which is measured with my iRunner app.
MY FITNESS PAL
The World According to Eggface - incredible blog, full of recipes and suggestions and motivation for those going through this weight loss journey.
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO EGGFACE
Daily Strength message boards. A great place to go for advice, support and to talk to great people who are on the same journey as you are.
DAILY STRENGTH
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Wow -- where have I been??!! Long Update
As you can see I had good intentions of documenting my weight loss journey but things got complicated and it just didn't happen. I am back and I am ready to post a recap of the past 8 months and get on board to follow my journey as it is an ongoing process.
In my last post from August, I was still going through the medical approval portion on my way to surgery. I completed all appointments with little or no issues. I was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea and given a c-pap machine. I also had to get an echo cardiogram of my heart since my EKG was a little wonky. Echo came back normal and I was cleared by the cardiologist. C-pap was a different story. I really tried to wear that stupid thing but was unsuccessful after repeated attempts. My surgery date was moved from September 12 to September 25th due to a scheduling conflict on the surgeon's part.
September 25, 2012 -- Surgery Day. I didn't have to be at the hospital until mid morning, so I was able to see my daughter, Katy off to school which was a big relief. Got to the hospital and checked in. I was a little nervous but not too much. Since I had tested positive for MRSA in the past they tested me again by sticking a q-tip on a wire way up my nose - not pleasant. Tested positive again. No biggie right? Get taken back for surgery all is going well. Wake up in recovery feeling pretty out of it. Remember very little. Evidently I made a phone call and texted a few people. Started to feel very nauseous, started vomiting. Vomit was a yucky brown color (sorry if TMI) concerned me but not the nurse. Felt horrible, started having a little trouble breathing. Next morning, Wednesday, September 26, I was sent down to get my upper GI to check for leaks. Again, still having trouble breathing not feeling well at all. Memory of all of this is very foggy and big gaps of missing time. That is pretty much all I remember for the 12 days. On Thursday, September 27, I had a second surgery to find out why I was so sick and couldn't breathe. My hernia repair was totally blown out. That was repaired yet I continued to get worse. I was now on a ventilator due to respiratory failure. On Friday, September 28, I had a third surgery which was a full open incision from my breast bone to the top of my pubic area. The problem was finally found and corrected but after much damage. I had an undetected leak in my remnant stomach. It had leaked stomach fluid into my abdominal area which is basically poison. I was now septic. Dr. Katz cleaned me all out, double checked all suture lines and leak had sealed itself but after the damage was done. I spent the next almost two weeks in the Surgical Trauma ICU. It got so bad at one point my husband and mother discussed whether or not they should bring my 17 year old daughter into see me since I might die. But I was able to hang on and fight for my life. I was finally strong enough to be removed from the ventilator on October 9th. It was another day before I was really aware of what was going on. I had been moved to the regular ICU. I had very strange dreams during my time on the ventilator, I was under very heavy sedation, even then I had to be restrained. I had a hard time distinguishing was was real and was dreamed after I woke. I thought my mother in law had passed away, I though my mother got married, and many other bizarre things. I also had double vision when I woke up. I had developed pneumonia while on the ventilator so I was not having to recover from that as well! Once I woke up my recover started to move quickly. After a few days I was able to move from the ICU to a step down room. I was extremely weak, couldn't get out of be, I could hardly talk above a whisper and I was unable to eat or drink still. I had a pic line that lead to an iv pole filled with bags (pain meds, antibiotics, liquid nutrition) My husband told me at one point he counted 11 iv bags hanging on the pole!
For the next week I continued to get stronger and feel better. I was told I was being discharged to a rehab facility. Unfortunately the hospital was not able to find a rehab facility that could take me, since I needed a private room due to my MRSA. So it was decided that I would be sent home. Now keep in mind at this point I have had ONE therapy session which consisted of having me scoot tot he edge of the bed and stand up one time! And I almost fell!! So now I am panicked . PT came two more times and I managed to get out of bed and to a chair and then I was able to get out of bed and walk down the hall with a walker. Getting up was the hard part. Finally the day came where I was sent home!! I was happy and scared all at the same time. After almost four weeks in the hospital I was going home!!
My husband took me home and when I got there I couldn't get up the steps to get into the house. My brother who is the police chief for a neighboring town came over and helped my husband get me into the house. I was using a walker and had to have a commode in the living room. For the next two months I rehabbed at home. I had a visiting nurse every day due to the fact that my 13 inch incision was left open to heal and I had a g-tube in still. My incision had to be cleaned and repacked every day with fresh gauze. I had to get heparin shots in my belly twice a day. For the next two months I worked on getting stronger, and learning how to each with my new "pouch" . Finally after three months, on Christmas Eve I went back to work. I was going to rehab three times per week so I was basically working half days three times per week and two full days.
Fast forward to February 2013. I have now been back to work for almost two months, getting stronger every day. I am down almost 100 pounds. And I am going to Disney World!! On February 12, 2013 I boarded the bus with the Interboro High School Marching band for our annual trip to Florida! We spent the next week walking and riding and having a great time at Disney. We also made a trip to the Kennedy Space Center! I had the time of my life and it was all so much better because I had lost so much weight already.
OK so now that we are pretty much all updated I am going to try to keep this journal updated hoping that writing everything down will keep me on track. Now that I am almost 8 months out from surgery things are getting a little more difficult, and the weight is coming off much slower. But I am determined that this journey will be successful, after all I almost died doing it so I can't waste my second chance at life!!!
Remember - Enjoy the Little Things!
Kelly
In my last post from August, I was still going through the medical approval portion on my way to surgery. I completed all appointments with little or no issues. I was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea and given a c-pap machine. I also had to get an echo cardiogram of my heart since my EKG was a little wonky. Echo came back normal and I was cleared by the cardiologist. C-pap was a different story. I really tried to wear that stupid thing but was unsuccessful after repeated attempts. My surgery date was moved from September 12 to September 25th due to a scheduling conflict on the surgeon's part.
September 25, 2012 -- Surgery Day. I didn't have to be at the hospital until mid morning, so I was able to see my daughter, Katy off to school which was a big relief. Got to the hospital and checked in. I was a little nervous but not too much. Since I had tested positive for MRSA in the past they tested me again by sticking a q-tip on a wire way up my nose - not pleasant. Tested positive again. No biggie right? Get taken back for surgery all is going well. Wake up in recovery feeling pretty out of it. Remember very little. Evidently I made a phone call and texted a few people. Started to feel very nauseous, started vomiting. Vomit was a yucky brown color (sorry if TMI) concerned me but not the nurse. Felt horrible, started having a little trouble breathing. Next morning, Wednesday, September 26, I was sent down to get my upper GI to check for leaks. Again, still having trouble breathing not feeling well at all. Memory of all of this is very foggy and big gaps of missing time. That is pretty much all I remember for the 12 days. On Thursday, September 27, I had a second surgery to find out why I was so sick and couldn't breathe. My hernia repair was totally blown out. That was repaired yet I continued to get worse. I was now on a ventilator due to respiratory failure. On Friday, September 28, I had a third surgery which was a full open incision from my breast bone to the top of my pubic area. The problem was finally found and corrected but after much damage. I had an undetected leak in my remnant stomach. It had leaked stomach fluid into my abdominal area which is basically poison. I was now septic. Dr. Katz cleaned me all out, double checked all suture lines and leak had sealed itself but after the damage was done. I spent the next almost two weeks in the Surgical Trauma ICU. It got so bad at one point my husband and mother discussed whether or not they should bring my 17 year old daughter into see me since I might die. But I was able to hang on and fight for my life. I was finally strong enough to be removed from the ventilator on October 9th. It was another day before I was really aware of what was going on. I had been moved to the regular ICU. I had very strange dreams during my time on the ventilator, I was under very heavy sedation, even then I had to be restrained. I had a hard time distinguishing was was real and was dreamed after I woke. I thought my mother in law had passed away, I though my mother got married, and many other bizarre things. I also had double vision when I woke up. I had developed pneumonia while on the ventilator so I was not having to recover from that as well! Once I woke up my recover started to move quickly. After a few days I was able to move from the ICU to a step down room. I was extremely weak, couldn't get out of be, I could hardly talk above a whisper and I was unable to eat or drink still. I had a pic line that lead to an iv pole filled with bags (pain meds, antibiotics, liquid nutrition) My husband told me at one point he counted 11 iv bags hanging on the pole!
For the next week I continued to get stronger and feel better. I was told I was being discharged to a rehab facility. Unfortunately the hospital was not able to find a rehab facility that could take me, since I needed a private room due to my MRSA. So it was decided that I would be sent home. Now keep in mind at this point I have had ONE therapy session which consisted of having me scoot tot he edge of the bed and stand up one time! And I almost fell!! So now I am panicked . PT came two more times and I managed to get out of bed and to a chair and then I was able to get out of bed and walk down the hall with a walker. Getting up was the hard part. Finally the day came where I was sent home!! I was happy and scared all at the same time. After almost four weeks in the hospital I was going home!!
My husband took me home and when I got there I couldn't get up the steps to get into the house. My brother who is the police chief for a neighboring town came over and helped my husband get me into the house. I was using a walker and had to have a commode in the living room. For the next two months I rehabbed at home. I had a visiting nurse every day due to the fact that my 13 inch incision was left open to heal and I had a g-tube in still. My incision had to be cleaned and repacked every day with fresh gauze. I had to get heparin shots in my belly twice a day. For the next two months I worked on getting stronger, and learning how to each with my new "pouch" . Finally after three months, on Christmas Eve I went back to work. I was going to rehab three times per week so I was basically working half days three times per week and two full days.
Fast forward to February 2013. I have now been back to work for almost two months, getting stronger every day. I am down almost 100 pounds. And I am going to Disney World!! On February 12, 2013 I boarded the bus with the Interboro High School Marching band for our annual trip to Florida! We spent the next week walking and riding and having a great time at Disney. We also made a trip to the Kennedy Space Center! I had the time of my life and it was all so much better because I had lost so much weight already.
Here is me and Katy - February of 2012 - I am pretty much at my heaviest weight here.
Here we are February of 2013 just about 100 pounds lighter!
OK so now that we are pretty much all updated I am going to try to keep this journal updated hoping that writing everything down will keep me on track. Now that I am almost 8 months out from surgery things are getting a little more difficult, and the weight is coming off much slower. But I am determined that this journey will be successful, after all I almost died doing it so I can't waste my second chance at life!!!
Remember - Enjoy the Little Things!
Kelly
Friday, August 3, 2012
Week in Review
I am glad this week is finally over, it has felt like an eternity even though it was very very busy. I had my Endoscopy appointment on Tuesday. All went well with that, I have to call Monday to see if they got the results of my biopsy back yet. If I test positive or h-pylori bacteria then I will have to be on antibiotics for a few weeks. I was more out of it and tired than I expected so I just went home and slept all afternoon. Curves was out for the day, just no way I could exercise. That same night marching band practice started for my daughter. I am the president of the music boosters so I am at every practice especially in the beginning of the season.
Wednesday I had my pulmonary appointment with Dr. Meis. I had a pulmonary function test which came out normal. Then I met with Dr. Meis. He was the only doctor that I picked on my own since I had a history with him from when my asthma was bad a few years ago. For all of the other specialists I used whoever the surgeon had on their list. Dr. Meis was the only doctor that I saw that seemed to almost hesitate when I told him why I was there. I asked him what he thought of the surgery if he thought it was a bad idea. He told me no, that he was just concerned for me and wanted to make sure I was fully aware of what I was getting into and that there are risks with any surgery. He also commented that maybe I should try to continue losing weight on my own since I had lost about 30 pounds so far. I told him I have been on a diet for 20 years and clearly it doesn't work!! I assured him that I was fully aware of the lifestyle changes and the risks. So he went ahead an approved me for surgery and also ordered a sleep study (yuck). I was able to schedule that for Monday, August 6th after much schedule juggling. My biggest problem was that my daughter works on Monday night and I am her ride home, so my mother very kindly offered to pick her up for me so I can get the sleep study done.
So now it is Friday and I am exhausted (too bad my sleep study isn't tonight, LOL) With appointments, tests and band practice three evenings this week it has been busy busy week.
Looking forward to next week. I can check off one more thing off of my long lists of appointments and tests. Then I have off Thursday and Friday as vacation days. Thursday my daughter's high school marching band marches in a parade in Ocean City, New Jersey, then we get to spend the day at the beach. Can't wait!!
Wednesday I had my pulmonary appointment with Dr. Meis. I had a pulmonary function test which came out normal. Then I met with Dr. Meis. He was the only doctor that I picked on my own since I had a history with him from when my asthma was bad a few years ago. For all of the other specialists I used whoever the surgeon had on their list. Dr. Meis was the only doctor that I saw that seemed to almost hesitate when I told him why I was there. I asked him what he thought of the surgery if he thought it was a bad idea. He told me no, that he was just concerned for me and wanted to make sure I was fully aware of what I was getting into and that there are risks with any surgery. He also commented that maybe I should try to continue losing weight on my own since I had lost about 30 pounds so far. I told him I have been on a diet for 20 years and clearly it doesn't work!! I assured him that I was fully aware of the lifestyle changes and the risks. So he went ahead an approved me for surgery and also ordered a sleep study (yuck). I was able to schedule that for Monday, August 6th after much schedule juggling. My biggest problem was that my daughter works on Monday night and I am her ride home, so my mother very kindly offered to pick her up for me so I can get the sleep study done.
So now it is Friday and I am exhausted (too bad my sleep study isn't tonight, LOL) With appointments, tests and band practice three evenings this week it has been busy busy week.
Looking forward to next week. I can check off one more thing off of my long lists of appointments and tests. Then I have off Thursday and Friday as vacation days. Thursday my daughter's high school marching band marches in a parade in Ocean City, New Jersey, then we get to spend the day at the beach. Can't wait!!
Friday, July 27, 2012
The journey begins
Hi my name is Kelly and I am soon to be 46 years old. I am a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, an aunt and am blessed with many great friends. I work full time outside of the home at a retirement community, which I enjoy immensely. I was never heavy as a child or teenager. I was very active all year round, I rode my bike everywhere, I played softball in the spring, I played field hockey in the fall and I lived at the local swim club all summer. It wasn't until I graduated from school and most of my activities were traded in for college classes and work that I started to gain the weight. My father and his mother were both overweight (grandmother would fit the description of morbidly obese and I am sure by dad would have been considered obese). I then had a child which surprisingly I gained very little weight from. But as I tried to lose the weight through diets, too many to even try to count, I would lose weight, plateau, get frustrated, quit, regain all of weight lost plus some. This has gone on for the past 20+ years. I am finally ready to do something to regain my life. I want to go to Disney work in February 2013 with my daughter and her high school marching band and not be the person who sits on the bench and holds everyone's bags so they can ride the rides. I WANT TO RIDE THE RIDES TOO!!!
This first post will kind of recap what I have been doing to get ready for my surgery since I didn't start this blog at the very beginning of my journey......
The journey actually began on April 19, 2012 when I attended a weight loss seminar for Dr. Leon Katz. What sent me there was my surgeon Dr. Gabroy who I went to about a umbilical hernia I have (second one in less than one year). He suggested I see Dr. Katz about weight loss surgery because my hernia issues would continue to reoccur if I didn't do something about all of the excess weight I was carrying. So I thought what could it hurt to go to a seminar to hear about the surgery. I know several people who have had the surgery and have been very successful losing weight and keeping it off. After listening to everything said at the seminar I went home and discussed it with the hubby and decided I was going to go for it! My first obstacle was my health insurance did not cover the surgery. Luckily my husband's insurance covers it and I was able to switch onto his insurance without too much trouble. So I was on my way to a new me! Here is a timeline of all of my appointments I have had so far or are upcoming as I travel on my journey to a new me .....
4/19/12 - Weight Loss Seminar - done
5/14/12 - Initial meeting with Dr. Katz to discuss hernia and WLS done
5/18/12 - 1st Nutrition Appt. w/ Rachel - weigh in 347 done
6/19/12 - 2nd Nutrition Appt. w/ Rachel - weigh in 330.5 (down 16.5 lbs) done
6/28/12 - Surgery consult w/ Dr. Katz - weigh in 328 (down 2.5 lbs - total 19 lbs) done
7/06/12 - Upper GI and Chest X-ray done
7/09/12 - Psychiatric Evaluation done
7/11/12 - Blood tests (10 tubes of blood!) done
7/17/12 - Gastroenterologist Evaluation done
7/17/12 - 3rd Nutrition Appt w/ Rachel - weigh in 320.5 (down 7.5 lbs - total 26.5) done
7/25/12 - Pre-Surgery Class done
7/31/12 - Endoscopy done
8/01/12 - Pulmonary Evaluation done
8/06/12 - Sleep Study
8/16/12 - 4th Nutrition Appt. w/ Rachel
8/20/12 - Cardiology Evaluation
8/28/12 - Begin 14 day pre-surgical diet
TBA - Final Surgical Consult
TBA - Pre Admission Testing
9/10/12 - Appt with PCP for final approval before surgery
9/12/12 - SURGERY DAY!!
As you can see this surgery is not something you can just jump right into. By the time I have my surgery I will have had no less than 18 medical appointments spread out over almost 6 months!
Here is a picture of what my surgery is going to be:
This first post will kind of recap what I have been doing to get ready for my surgery since I didn't start this blog at the very beginning of my journey......
These two pictures were taken in Disney World, February 2012, this is close to my heaviest weight. The lovely young woman in the picture with me is my daughter, Katy.
The journey actually began on April 19, 2012 when I attended a weight loss seminar for Dr. Leon Katz. What sent me there was my surgeon Dr. Gabroy who I went to about a umbilical hernia I have (second one in less than one year). He suggested I see Dr. Katz about weight loss surgery because my hernia issues would continue to reoccur if I didn't do something about all of the excess weight I was carrying. So I thought what could it hurt to go to a seminar to hear about the surgery. I know several people who have had the surgery and have been very successful losing weight and keeping it off. After listening to everything said at the seminar I went home and discussed it with the hubby and decided I was going to go for it! My first obstacle was my health insurance did not cover the surgery. Luckily my husband's insurance covers it and I was able to switch onto his insurance without too much trouble. So I was on my way to a new me! Here is a timeline of all of my appointments I have had so far or are upcoming as I travel on my journey to a new me .....
4/19/12 - Weight Loss Seminar - done
5/14/12 - Initial meeting with Dr. Katz to discuss hernia and WLS done
5/18/12 - 1st Nutrition Appt. w/ Rachel - weigh in 347 done
6/19/12 - 2nd Nutrition Appt. w/ Rachel - weigh in 330.5 (down 16.5 lbs) done
6/28/12 - Surgery consult w/ Dr. Katz - weigh in 328 (down 2.5 lbs - total 19 lbs) done
7/06/12 - Upper GI and Chest X-ray done
7/09/12 - Psychiatric Evaluation done
7/11/12 - Blood tests (10 tubes of blood!) done
7/17/12 - Gastroenterologist Evaluation done
7/17/12 - 3rd Nutrition Appt w/ Rachel - weigh in 320.5 (down 7.5 lbs - total 26.5) done
7/25/12 - Pre-Surgery Class done
7/31/12 - Endoscopy done
8/01/12 - Pulmonary Evaluation done
8/06/12 - Sleep Study
8/16/12 - 4th Nutrition Appt. w/ Rachel
8/20/12 - Cardiology Evaluation
8/28/12 - Begin 14 day pre-surgical diet
TBA - Final Surgical Consult
TBA - Pre Admission Testing
9/10/12 - Appt with PCP for final approval before surgery
9/12/12 - SURGERY DAY!!
As you can see this surgery is not something you can just jump right into. By the time I have my surgery I will have had no less than 18 medical appointments spread out over almost 6 months!
Here is a picture of what my surgery is going to be:
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