Sarahlicious

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Well, let me be even more accurate, this month is my 7 year anniversary of when I decided to DO SOMETHING about my weight. My weight was finally scaring me and I went to a doctor in April 2000 and I couldn't even get my shoes back on after the appointment I kinda shoved my feet in them enough to walk to my car, and I had to go to my job that night...which it was my last week because my boss had just had to fire me because his boss had a problem with my weight and I worked that night in my socks. And now 7 years later, I am for the first time in my life healthy, I was just told I only needed to see my PCP for annual check-up. I no longer need to see my cardiologist or neurologist. I am only on 2 actual prescriptions, but as soon as my Plavix runs out I am to switch to asprin (as per doc order, yes I know typically WLS patients shouldn't take, but this is a special circumstance). And the other prescription I am really on by my own choosing and I could go off anytime I want to... Everything else I am on is just vitamins and supplements due to being post-op. I just hiked 4.4 miles while on the Spring Break trip...I feel wonderful.

My highest weight was 502lbs. I have lost 255lbs. I now weight 247lbs and can wears a size 16 or 18 pant..14/16 top.  I NEVER remember being able wearing anything starting with a 1...in middle school I wore size 26 jeans and by 8th grade I had busted out the inseam so high school it was stretch pants. Oh, yeah....today also marks my 4 months anniversary of my panniculectomy and hernia repair...I swear that really was the icing on my WLS Cake...I mean I had lost over 200lbs and still wore sz24 pants, and things boom...had PS and size 16/18...it's like my body finally fits my mind...I know it's usually the other way around people still feel big despite being small...but honestly I had never saw myself that big...which probably played a part of why I got soooo big....but then I felt like this person who had lost 200lbs but my body didn't seem to show it...and now I finally feel like I do!!!!! 

SARAHLICIOUS!!!!  

Pictures are here... http://www.obesityhelp.com/photos/uzone,photos/action,gallery/albumId,20071/

Well, as promised here is the recap of my Alternative Spring Break in Greenville, SC. As I expected it was one of the most fulfilling experiences I’ve ever had. And I would have NEVER been able to have it had I not lost 247bs, nor had Henrietta fixed and had my panniculectomy. And for those who thought I was a little weird for worrying about the students when things were going wrong during my IVC removal on Friday, they did good things on this trip, so me praying to God to please help the surgeon get the filter out so I can take the students on their trip, well he surely answered my prayers, no only for the students but for me and for the people we met in SC.

Saturday: I had made it to bed by 9 PM on Friday, woke up at 3 AM Saturday morning, finished last minute packing, showered, changed the dressing the my neck and drove through McD’s for a chicken biscuit and large coffee and made it to school by 4:30. We were leaving at 5 AM. We packed the van…everyone still had some leg room…lol…we weren’t too upset a couple people dropped out last minute….don’t know where we would have put them…lol….there  were 7 students and ME!!! Headed NORTH!!! I had a little bit of pain in my right side where the filter had been, but I just took Tylenol every 4 hours and was fine. We arrived in Greenville by about 5 p.m., I did have another driver, one of the students was old enough to drive and she was super cool and interesting to talk to….btw these students aren’t any that normally work for me…I actually only knew 1 previously because she had gone on the Disney trips that I chaperone. Which also meant none knew about my surgery, or that I had lost weight. So once in SC we went to Sam’s Club to buy groceries…now you all know group shopping at Sam’s Club spells…FUN!!!…no matter how tired you all are. After that we headed to the church we were staying at and called the man from Homes of Hope who was letting us in. Him, his wife and 2 of the interns came and helped us unpack.  Because we didn’t need jumbo everything or Sam’s Club didn’t have certain item, me and one student tried to make a late night run to the grocery store, but it closed at 10, so we ended up back at the Wal-mart next to Sam’s Club to get the rest of what we needed. It was a long day…I patiently waited the 15-20 minutes it took my air mattress to filled up…but it was well worth the wait.
 

Sunday: We had to wake up early and get our showers because there were church services and we had to be out of the downstairs area before they started. One of the students made us all pancakes. We had decided to go to Ceaser's Head State Park to go hiking. So we had packed lunch and headed out. Directions weren’t right so I got quite good at turning a 15 passenger van around…lol…did it a lot more as the trip went on…lol. But once there the drive up the mountain just made me think I was back in Ohio. It was gorgeous. The students already had researched and knew they wanted to go see one of the waterfalls. So we ate lunch at the welcome center and went to the lookout point there…and then walked down what was called “Devil’s Kitchen” which were stairs down in between rocks…and then you had to walk sideways between rock walls…I thought OMG…am I going to fit?…and I fit no problem. I couldn’t believe I was doing all of that!!! Then we drove to where parking lot of the waterfall trail. It was 2.2 miles there and back!!!! The only problem I had was needing to stop after the uphill parts to catch my breath. Which I don’t know if it’s me out of shape or you know when I was little I was told I had asthma…so maybe now that I’ve lost weight but I seem to lose my breath when I think I shouldn’t…I can actually attribute it to something else???? Who knows… My thighs hurt…I realized it wasn’t the smartest way to start off a week of work…but it felt sooooooooo good to know I had just HIKED…4.4 miles…who the heck is this girl??? She hikes??? Then they had this cute country blue sweatshirt in the gift shop and I saw it before we left on the hike and they didn’t have a 1x so I was like oh well….but afterwards I was like I need this shirt as my reward and a reminder of what I accomplished here…so since I had a t-shirt on under my sweatshirt I took it off and tried the large on…and IT FIT!!! The one guy on our trip was near by and said “it looks good”….I was like “thanks”. That night we went into Downtown Greenville and had dinner at Sticky Fingers. Well 1 student was a vegetarian and 2 others were also interested in the sushi restaurant across the street…but I said I wanted us to have something we don’t typically have in Miami, so I wanted the group to eat at Sticky Fingers. But after looking at the menu the ladies asked if they could get sushi and bring it over…I didn’t have a problem with it and they asked the server it would be o.k. and they still ordered sodas. He said o.k. Well, it was the BEST meal. So much fun. The waiter…CHAD…at the GREENVILLE…STICKY FINGERS…..we’re starting a fan club. Two of the students who ate sushi told him it was one of their birthdays and asked, “How could they get a t-shirt?” So he got them 2 shirts. Then they asked to speak with the manager so they could sing Chad’s praises…he was actually staying on top of drinks, food was correct, etc. And this guy stops and the student starts to say Chad is so good and the guy says, “Oh, I don’t work here….” But it WAS the manager…he was just joking with us…too. Let’s just say Chad got an awesome tip. I later find out my student left him a note with the big green napkin around it in a heart shape…lol. So then we do down the street to a coffee shop so they can use their laptop to check e-mail. Well, as they are trying to log on this guy in the shop starts talking to us about the wireless network, and then we all just chat. He mentions he’s a bouncer, single and something about how he doesn’t cook…oh because we were talking about things being open late there compared to Miami…etc. Then the shop closed and we all left…and I was like dang..Why all the nice guys in Greenville? I can cook for him…lol…so then my students tried to run after him to get his number…lol. Since not everyone had a chance to check their e-mail I found myself parked in the van in downtown Greenville while students were using the wireless internet. Wow…technology….

  
Monday: First day on the JOB…we were volunteering with Homes of Hope. They are an organization that helps low income and/or disabled people secure safe housing, some are refurbished doublewide trailers and some are stick built homes. The second part of what they do is that the workers used to refurbish the homes are from the Greenville Mission Overcomers program. So they are men who have had a history of drug or alcohol addiction and have completed a rehab program and are now being given job skills and are interns for HoH…and a place to live for a year and after completing the intern program they can possibly be hired on permanently if there is a need for them. So one my first day I decided I wanted to help do the vinyl siding. We were working on a doublewide trailer for a woman. I’m not too handy with a hammer…and Nick the guy who was the intern leading us quickly nicknamed me Woody Woodpecker. Oh well…I never gave up, I figured out the better places to put the nails that made it easier to get them to go in and went at it. I did feel super weak…however, because I could not use the snippers to cut the vinyl not even with 2 hands. Wow, now that Henrietta is gone, I’ve got to get the o.k. for weight training and build up my strength. 

Tuesday: We got to meet the woman whose home we are working on and NBC 4 came out to the worksite to do a story on us. The woman had spinal surgery and her current home has a sinkhole under it making it split in two as it falls out from underneath her more each day. She also is unable to get her SSI because the home she is currently in belongs to her family and not in her name. So until has something in her name they won’t give her SSI. Wow, this hit so close to home for me. I understand the SSI thing, when I was on SSI I lived with my parents and since I paid no rent they could only take the household expenses and divided them by 3 and give me 1/3 to pay towards household expenses…but his woman lives alone…so I understand how SSI is looking at it. So as soon as she has this house of her own she will be able to have an income. I felt like I was finally being able to pay forward the years of help I received while on SSI. I had once felted ashamed from having to be on assistance but I vowed that I would get off and do my best to give back to others and here I am directly helping someone. Another sign I was meant to come on this trip!

Wednesday: Work continues…my legs finally stopped hurting from the hike on Sunday…lol. I had been taking Tylenol everyday but didn’t need it today. Today we had lunch with the men at the Greenville Mission. Everyday the interns go to the Mission for lunch and we would have our packed and stay at the site…this saved them from having to pack up their tools again since we would be there to watch them. But they wanted to give us a tour of the mission, etc. Now once they become interns they lives in Samaritan village owned my HoH not at the mission, they just have lunch there. So we had lunch with them and they showed us around. I really could relate to the journey these men are on to rebuild their lives. Since I too have had an addiction, mine to food, I had to face that, overcome, I have been judge by society as these men have. I am lucky, many of these men because of their addiction have also had run in with the law and have criminal history which makes it more difficult for them now when it comes to things like applying for food stamps and getting some jobs. There are mean who work for HoH who are 8-9 years out of the Overcomers program…I told them they are the best examples for these men. They show them that it is possible, there is hope and to never give up. The man I was working with on siding was telling me that he was suppose to graduate in April but he slipped up in Dec and had a drink, I felt his arm and said “Yep, you’re human, the important thing is that you are still here, that you came back to the program.”.

  
That night we went to Downtown Greenville to see Falls Park. We were also on the look out for George Clooney as we were told on Monday that he and Renee Zellweiger were in town. So on Tuesday I asked the lady from NBC where they would be…and she told us George’s hotel and the restaurant he ate at and the Starbucks Renee went to in the morning. We also stopped by Sticky Fingers to buy some more shirts, say Chad, got some pictures with him. We walked by Clooney’s hotel 2x once on our way to a coffee shop and once on the way back and no George sighting….but I took a picture of the hotel. At the Fall Park bridge I was acting silly in the elevator and thought I’d smoosh my face against the glass…well I forgot I don’t have the belly bumper anymore, and that it’s my face that sticks out the farthest so I ended up walking full force into the glass…and bruised my nose!!!

  
Thursday: Channel 7 came out to film us…is it really that unusual that we are here to help? Maybe people don’t think kids from Miami would want to help…but anyway here is the link..at least this time we got to see the story. One of the student’s grandmother lives in Greenville and we went over for a visit and got to see it.

http://www.wspa.com/midatlantic/spa/news.apx.-content-articl es-SPA-2007-03-08-0007.html

  
HoH had a BBQ for us this afternoon, they typically would have had it on Friday but it’s Lent and several of us can’t eat meet on Fridays. So we moved it to Thursday. They gave us each certificate of appreciation. And we got to just socialize with all the men. LOL…not that we hadn’t been doing that all week…the guy I work with reminded me of the comedian Steve Zahn from Daddy Daycare…but we really talked more about being Team Redneck….then another group was team AA because both girls names began with A…and that guy for the life of me I couldn’t think of who he reminded me of and finally I figured it out…Danny Bonadouci…he said he’s been told that before. We had brought stuff for s’mores so it was so much fun…

  
Friday: Wow week flew by….I don’t even think I mentioned our second Wal-mart trip…you know we have Wal-mart here in Miami but there is just something about a 24 hour Wal-mart in the South that is just more fun. Friday they only worked until about 2. We ended up getting 3 sides of the house sided. Inside they painted, gutted two bathrooms, fixed holes in walls. Actually, it was cold on Friday and at first they told us we weren’t going out because it was too cold to paint and they were just going to have us start to gut a trailer in their shop and we were all like…no, we want to out to the site!!!! So they took heater out for the paint room and the rest of us just grinned and bared it. After work, we went to the church, showered, ate and packed up the leftover food to take over to the guys house who was our contact…we had ice cream sundaes there…we had bought stuff for sundaes and never made them….lol…and said some final good-byes.

I do have a cold now, I have lost my voice and coughing a lot. But like I mentioned before I was already scheduled to see my PCP for a visit on Tuesday to have a rountine check-up..lol...like I ever have those....