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
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