Wowzers....

this pain is NO JOKE!!! I'm not sure what happened but things took a considerable turn for the worst late yesterday afternoon.. the pain in my stomach, coupled by the constant gas pain in my shoulders/neck nearly brought me to tears. I knew that it would not be a cakewalk, but I surely did not expect to be hurting so much!! I've been popping the pain meds like candy (although drinking...)



Shannon got here yesterday which has been nice to just lay around and chit-chat. I went to bed last night around 8 and woke up around every 2 hours with some sort of pain or another. I've been drinking water and vitamin water and Isopure protein waters.. I did have some wonton soup minus the won-tons and etc.. last night. It was so good!!! the heat on my throat did it a world of good... I woke up with very little pain in my throat and was able to swallow much better.

Got to take a shower today and that might be the highlight of my day!! I got to check out my incisions, which didn't look nearly as bad as I thought they would. My stomach still looks very 5 months pregnant like and it's rock hard. We went out to get pedi's and then hit up Target and Old Navy and that was about all I could handle for the day.

I haven't really felt hungry which is interesting.. I had to force myself to have a protein shake and then some leftover wonton broth this afternoon.. this is definitely something I need to get used to.

So, that's about all the update I have right now. Thanks to everyone for their encouraging texts, calls and flowers!! My house looks like a florist shop right now!! Love it!!

***anyone have any ideas for a name for my band?? *** I'm taking suggestions!! Oh, and we did decide it's a boy b/c no girl would cause this much pain on another girl!!

Done and Done!!

So, yesterday was the big day. I was actually surprised at how "not nervous' I was. I only had a couple of minutes where I thought I might be crazy for doing this, but overall the experience was good. I do feel like I have been kicked in the stomach, which kind of sucks, and my left shoulder hurts like a mo-fo due to the gas. Overall, I'd say I'm about a 4 on the 1-10 pain scale, which is pretty darn good!!

My husband has been doing a great job taking care of me. I was wishing I had a bell yesterday to ring while I was in my bed so he could come running.. after a few minutes of thought on that, I figured I'd better not press my luck!!

Shannon is on her way here this morning.. can't wait to see her!! Michelle and Kennedy popped over yesterday to hang with me for awhile too!

So far, so good!! going back to lay down now!

New Chapter...

So tomorrow is the big day. I gotta admit, I had a couple of moments today where I was SERIOUSLY nervous.. I was stressed and not very nice at work. But, I went to get my hair did after work and that seemed to relax me a bit. I picked up my prescription for my pain killers on the way home (Definitely do not want to forget those!! ) and I'm ready to go to bed!!

I have to get a little mushy (how appropriate since most of my food will be in a couple of weeks) but I have to say how grateful and appreciative that I have so many people who support me whole-heartedly in this decision. I haven't ever once questioned my decision to do this and with the exception of a couple people who have my best interests at heart and expressed concern, everyone has been unbelievably behind me. I started out keeping this decision a secret and told a couple people at a time party b/c I was ashamed that I had gotten to this point, but partly b/c so many people don't understand my struggles. But, once I started telling people, the positiveness was so overwhelming that I wasn't afraid to talk about it much anymore. For that, I' m truly gratelful and extremely fortunate to have such wonderful friends and family in my life.

Ok, so on to my number 2 and number 1.. my number 2 is something that came to me today.. I was smooshed into a 1/2 booth with Jen and Jen at lunch and was eating my usual salad (which, BTW, I'm so NOT going to miss those salads for a while!) and sure enough, I dripped on my shirt. Which is pretty much a daily occurance.. you see, when you are a big girl, lots pops out underneath your face and things just seem to fall on your chest.. I swear it is one of my biggest annoyances!!!

So, my number 1 is really simple.. I am having this surgery to simply GET ON WITH MY LIFE.. that's it.. nothing major, really anti-climactic but so very impactful... Like my BFF Shannon said to me tonight as she called to wish me luck, this is just the next Chapter in my life.. I couldn't have said it better....

xo,
js

Tick Tock Tick Tock..

I feel like I'm waiting on something.. like I have to get a lot of stuff done and then just wait.. oh yeah, I do have something I'm waiting on.. THURSDAY!! Can you tell I hate waiting?? I'm ready to get this over with!!!


Work has been surprisingly NOT busy which is great. I figure I'll take a couple of days off and then log on from home early next week for a few days before I come back into the office. Thank goodness I have a reliable co-worker who can do my job while I'm gone!! That's a stress I WON'T have!!


Michelle and I carved pumpkins last night.. I gotta tell you, in theory, carving pumpkins sounds like fun, but in reality, it sucked!!! I don't know if Arizona pumpkins are overly hard but my arms are killing me this morning from putting the death grip on that pumpkin.. about 1/4 way through, I was done.. and not interested anymore.. but I perservered!!! Here is my creation:

I did get to spend some QT with my girl Kennedy though and I'm happy to announce that since her sabbatical from me, spent kicking up her heels in Nebraska, she no longer freaks out at the sight of me.. in fact, quite the opposite happens.. I think she's in love with me now!! YAY! cause the feeling is mutual.. Here's a cute pic of KD - she's doesn't quite have the dexterity to carve pumpkins yet so we just let her lay on one instead:

So people keep asking me if I'm nervous about the surgery and I admit while there's a little nervousness, I'm not really so much so. I think excitement is overruling any nervousness. PLUS, I did a little digging this weekend and found some blogs of some gals who've also had the surgery and that has helped a ton in giving me insight as to how things go. So, my number 3 is to get this surgery over and have people stop asking me if I'm ready!! Yes, I'm READY!!!

Happy big 4-0 to my brother Jeff today!!! He's officially an old man now!!

Inching closer to Thursday!!

Holy Moly!! Only 3 more work days until Thursday!!

I got on the scale this morning and it appears that since I started WW 10 weeks ago and adding in my last two weeks protein diet.. I've lost a total of 26 lbs!! That's just crazy to me.. hopefully this is a good sign and I'm going to keep on keeping on..

Last night, we went to a comedy show with some friends and besides my jeans nearly falling off me, I actually woke up this morning sore b/c I was laughing my ass off!! I must of worked some stomach muscles in the process!!

Timmy and I spent the afternoon running errands and getting everything I need for Thursday and beyond. I'm fully stocked with broths, jello, pain meds, heating pads, night shirts, everything!!

So, my number 5 is that I cannot wait to get a little thinner so that when some douche-bag parks his car 2 inches from mine, I don't have to suck in so hard or better yet, get in through the passenger side.. I almost keyed a car today at Target.. !

Making a List..

This weekend is major Prep Time for the big day.. I've been making a list of things I will need for the first couple of days post-surgery so I'm completely prepared.. stocking up on:

*Liquid Tylenol (the kids' version)
*Gas X strips - for the painful gas that accompanies post surgery pain
*all types of broths
*protein packets to put in water, broth, jello
*jello
*filling my script for Pain Killers and anti-nausea
*Protein shake mixes for the after clear liquid phase
*crystal light

I think I'm ready!!
I had a great dinner last night with Joy and Michelle!! Such a good time to just chat and laugh!!
Tonight we are going to see a comedien Angelah Johnson - she's hilarious!! will post a link of some of her stuff later.

My #6 comes out of a conversation we were having last night in the bathroom.. I want to get to the point where if I wanted to buy "skinny jeans" I can!!

Oh, and let's hope Michelle's dream that I get so small that I could fit in a pocket doesn't happen!!! :)

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

I am 38 today.. gosh, how did I get to be so old?? The only thing I keep thinking today is at least I'm not 40 yet!!! I thought I'd be so much further on in life at 38 than I am.. you know, owning a house (even though I've already done that twice), having a couple of kids, financial stability.. all the things you expect to happen at this age. BUT, for me, life is much different than that. I have a great life, no lie, and am thankful for all the things I DO have and try not to dwell on the things I don't. I know that in today's day and age, people are settling down later in life, having kids later, but I just keep thinking, "I'm going to be in my 50's when my kid is learning how to drive.." that's a frightening thought!! Not that being in the 50s is old.. heck, my parents and my aunts and uncles seem like spring chickens in their 60s and 70s now.. I'm hoping it's all in the genes and I'll pick up that trait as well!!

So, enough of the pity party.. my birthday has been GREAT!!! My work peeps are all awesome and we all went out to lunch together. Tonight, I'm going out with Michelle and Joy for din-din.. and then tomorrow night, a couple of girlfriends and their spouses and I are going to see Angelah Johnson, a hilarious comedien. Unfortunately, this will be the first "dry" birthday I've had in like 20 years since I'm following the pre-op diet to a T and there's no drinking allowed.. oh well, I'll be the designated driver I guess!! :)

I'm skipping a couple of numbers to get back on track!! Cheating I know..

So, my Number 7 is: So I don't have to give excuses for being over weight. I was talking with a woman I work with yesterday and I was telling her that a lot of my weight issues are b/c of my thyroid issues, but the reality is, my thyroid is only 1/2 the issue.. I over eat, I enjoy food and I eat too much.. I'm tired of talking about!!! I'm so glad I'm doing this next week!!

Happy Weekend.