Long overdue update

Today was my 7 month bandiversary.  Pictures will be coming shortly.  I didn’t even take them today.  There is so much going on here that I got home from work and just wanted to collapse. 

So the short update on the last couple of weeks. 

Two days after Hurricane Ike hit Texas, it made its way to Missouri.  It was still a tropical depression when it reached the STL area.  On Sunday morning (the 14th), we got about 4-5″ of rain in about 2 hours.  I woke up to this in my backyard:

Within 2 hours it was gone, but there was quite a bit of damage.  Fortunately we rent and most of it is our landlord’s problem. The water did flip our propane tank on its side and we were without gas for a little over a day. 

I signed Hailey up for Girl Scouts and I volunteered to be a co-leader for her troop.  That has been time consuming, trying to help the leader get things together for the girls. Hailey is really excited about it.

School and work have been kind of hectic.  Last week I had tons of homework and now this week, I only have a couple.  I hate when it is like that.  I’m trying to get ahead this week so I won’t be as crazed in the next few weeks.

Eric has been having some serious health problems.  As you might recall from my earlier blog, he has had some cognitive issues and saw a neurologist.  He isn’t having seizures.  He is scheduled to see the neuropsychologist for testing on November 10th.  About a week or week and a half ago, he started having some bad headaches, mostly pressure in his forehead and behind his left eye.  Then he started having really bad episodes of vertigo.  His PCP couldn’t find a cause so she referred him to an ENT.  Last Wed-Fri, it was REALLY bad and I ended up taking him to the ER Friday afternoon. They did a CT scan and said everything looked fine.  Today he saw the ENT and an ophthalmologist.  The ENT ordered an MRI and the ophthalmologist ordered an additional test on the MRI.  The MRI is on Wednesday and he’ll see an endocrinologist Wed. too.  He has had what seem to be blood sugar problems for a while, seemingly unrelated to this problem but I guess we’ll see.  I’m so worried about him, I can’t think about much else lately. 

There isn’t much going on, band wise.  I see Dr. M again on October 8th.  I need an adjustment so badly, it can’t come soon enough.  I lost 4 lbs last week.  That was a nice change after only losing 5 lbs the first three weeks of the month.  This month I had a 9 lb loss total.  I’m trying to get used to the slower weight loss and just be happy about any loss instead of feeling disappointed about small losses.  Even at a rate of about 10 lbs a month, I’ll be at goal in about 8 months.

I’m working on a list of bandster resources to possibly give to Dr. M and/or to those at a seminar.  I’ll probably speak at another seminar in October.  At support group last week, a couple of people mentioned not knowing who to ask or where to go for information or to ask things that aren’t really questions the doctor can answer.  I was thinking about compiling some websites like LapBandTalk.com for people to reference before or after the surgery.  If anybody has any suggestions, let me know.

Just a quick note and a new picture

I have been a bad blogger lately and I apologize.  I have been so busy with school and at work this week, I haven’t had time for anything.  I will post a longer message tomorrow, I promise. 

Eric took this picture of me when I got home from my support group tonight.  I had to share.

Down 104 lbs as of today.  😀

This day keeps getting better

It wasn’t all that long ago that I posted about buying new jeans.  They were size 20W.  I have been annoyed by them because I bought a 32″ inseam without realizing it so they were super long.  I am 5’6 but I have short legs I guess because I really need a 28″ inseam.  Those jeans were also getting baggy around my butt and legs which was also bugging me.  I tried on some 20s at Old Navy, which were misses and not plus, but the legs were too tight.

Tonight, we were out and I decided to look for some shorter jeans.  I tried on 20W and they were too big.  So I tried on 18W and they fit, but they were out of short length.  So I went to the misses section and grabbed 18 short from that section.  They fit!!  Yay!  Now, when I say they fit, they are tight, I won’t deny that.  But they button, zip and I can sit in them. LOL  So they aren’t TOO tight.  The 20s I’ve been wearing were just like this 2 weeks ago, so I think soon they’ll feel just fine.  They are perfect around my legs and butt too and not too long so they look great! 

I think it’s odd that I can wear an 18.  I wore an 18 when I met Eric, which was 11 years ago.  I was between 200-210 then.  So is my body different or are sizes different?  I have a pair of size 22 khakis that fit perfectly right now, but they are about 8 or 9 years old. 

My top half definitely needs to catch up with the bottom.  Mostly my boobs. LOL  There are some types of shirts I can actually wear a 1x now but mostly I’m wearing 2x-3x, depending on the cut because of the boob area.   I’m going bra shopping (again) this weekend.  I’m hoping some better fitting bras will help a little.  I just bought FOUR bras from Lane Bryant not 2 months ago and they are too big.  Ah well, better to be too big than too small!

Drumroll please…

As of today, I have lost 100 pounds!!!  It has been slow going the last couple of weeks, but I finally did it.  I’m so happy!  If someone had told me 7 months ago that I would be here, I never would’ve believed them.  I actually weigh what my driver’s license says now (and I just got it renewed in February, before surgery).

Saturday is my birthday–my 30th.  I’ve been back and forth on how I feel about turning 30.  I’ve decided that I’m ready to leave my 20s behind.  I’m starting my 30s healthier, happier, and more settled than I felt in my 20s.  I always thought 30 was soooo old.  I don’t feel old.  In fact, I feel a lot younger than I did at 25.  Hopefully, thanks to my weight loss and God willing, I have many many more years ahead of me.  So, it’s just a number, right?  RIGHT?!  LOL

Speaking of my driver’s license, I think I might need to get a new one, even though this one doesn’t expire for 6 years.  I don’t think I can bear to see that picture for 6 more years.  Plus, the last two or three times I needed it for something, the person checking it gave me a double take.  LOL  I don’t even recognize that picture and it’s ME.  I feel like I’m finally looking like myself and that the me+100 lbs was a stranger. 

My next goal, which should come pretty quickly, is a BMI < 40.  I’m at 40.4 and calculated that 247 will put me at 39.9.  For those not familiar with BMI, over 40 is morbidly obese, while 30-39 is obese.  It’s a milestone for me, as I’ve been “morbidly obese” for about 6 years now.  After that, I’m not sure what my longer term goal would be.  I’d love to lose another 50 lbs and be under 200 by my bandiversary (2.28).

Update on my husband

We finally got a call from Eric’s neurologist today.  The EEG showed no signs of seizure activity.  He’s going to refer Eric to a neuropsychologist now.  The neuropsych will give Eric a battery of tests to screen him for various disorders.  We may be back to an ADD diagnosis.  We’ll see I guess.

New jeans

It is feeling more like October than September here in St. Louis.  Yesterday when I got up, Eric told me that it was rather chilly out and I should wear pants.  I went through my closet and pulled out a bunch of pants to try on.  I had several pairs that fit, at least enough to stay up on my ass, but most of them were horribly out of style (high waisted mom jeans…ugh the 90s LOL).  I’ve been trying to hold out until my birthday to buy clothes because I’ll have money to spend on myself then.  I finally told Eric that I just had to go ahead and buy myself one pair of jeans that fit me.  I’ll wear them everyday if I have to.  LOL

I’m trying to buy a few things here and there, as cheaply as possible because I’m just not getting enough wear out of them to justify spending a lot.  Plus I’m a cheapskate.  We were at Wal-Mart and I found some jeans on the clearance rack.  I took two pairs into the dressing room, praying one or the other would fit.  The jeans I’ve been wearing are 22 and 24, but they are old so I didn’t know if they were just baggy because of being worn so much or what.  I tried on the first pair and they fit.  I couldn’t believe it because I took them in just to see how far I was from getting into them.  Size 20!  Woohoo!!!  I was so damn excited.  I also bought a tshirt that was on clearance.  It is a more fitted style than I usually wear, but it looked ok.  I wish my big upper stomach would shrink some more already.  LOL

The scale is wreaking havoc on my emotions lately.  I haven’t really lost anything all week.  I’m bouncing between about 254.4 and 255.6 or so.  I have yet to see anything under 254.0.  Blah.  I’m pretty sure it is because my exercise routine has been totally messed up for the last two weeks.  School started for me and I’m trying to fit it all in right now.  Four online classes, work, the kids and all their school stuff…life is just crazy right now.  I’m trying to get ahead in my hardest class, which is going pretty well.  My next assignment is due 9/15, but I thought it was due on 9/8 so I’m almost finished.  That will put me quite ahead in that class.  I had planned to walk at work today, but I forgot my shoes and I’m wearing flip flops today.  I think I’ll get Eric to do Walk Away the Pounds with me tonight.

I’m finally getting more comments about my weight loss.  Our neighbor commented on it yesterday.  It boosts my ego everytime.  🙂

Eric had his EEG the other day.  We haven’t heard anything about it though.  Our primary doctor told me to call on Monday because it really shouldn’t take this long for him to read it and get back to us.  I’ll call then.  The hospital where he had it is just…incompetent so I’m really not surprised.

Prayers please (and a couple of pictures)

I am so freaking tired today.  It is almost 9 am and I’ve been up since 5.  I had to take Eric for an EEG this morning.  He has some stuff going on and he saw a neurologist last week.  He has a history of seizures so the neuro thinks he is still having seizures (he is currently unmedicated for it).  His cognition just isn’t what it should or used to be.  He had been previously diagnosed with ADHD, which was something I’ve never been completely convinced was the problem.  The neuro doesn’t think so either, at least not to this extent.  Please pray, send good thoughts, energy, etc., that this is just seizures.  I’m really scared to think about the other things that could be going on if it isn’t.  I’m not sure how long we’ll have to wait to find out the results.

Last week when I went to Dr. M’s seminar, I printed two ‘before’ pictures and took them with me.  One was my ‘before surgery’ picture, which is here.  The other is a picture from last Christmas.  I guess Eric snuck it in because I generally avoided cameras or at least preferred to be behind the camera until recently.  This is one that I should tape up on my refrigerator, cabinets, etc., so when I get tempted to snack or something, I am reminded of where I never want to be again.

Blah…ok, on to better things. LOL  I got a new camera (yay!) and I was playing around with it this morning after the kids went to school.  I took this picture as my new avatar shot.  Much better, I have to say.  😉

57 inches and 4 miles

I forgot to do my monthly measurements the other day so I finally did that today.  I lost 12 lbs this month and 13.5 inches.  That brings my total inches lost to 57 since I started tracking my measurements on March 31st.  I meant to do measurements before surgery but I completely forgot about it.

As for the 4 miles part of this…Eric and I took the kids to the zoo today.  We had a great time.  I wore my pedometer in there and we walked 4 miles total!  I told Eric that the last time I was there (September 07), we barely walked 1/2 of it and I thought I’d die.  Today, I was leading the way and urging them on.  It was pretty hot and I did get tired at the end, but it was fun and I didn’t get tired or winded or anything like that.  What an amazing difference these 6 months have made!