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Well its been several months since I had a bowel resection removing about 8 inches of bowel at the cecum and appendix.  I did well and thought I was over all of this twisting of the bowel.  Right before my post op exam, I started having the same pain and bulge and we still don't know what it is.  Dr thinks possibly a twist further down the bowel, but we will revisit this in a few months.

In the mean time, I got my mom placed in assistive living facility and she is doing well.  We sold the house and contents during the past few months and now just getting ready to see how much damage there is to my income.  Working per diem with classes that I am enjoying and visiting mom takes some of my time.  Other than that I am pretty content with this, but always hoping for my old position to be offered to me.

Haven't lost any more weight - still hover aroung 195 + or - a few pounds.  I did hit 190 after surgery, but it seems that this is my most common weight.

That's all for now.  Hoping for a good 2010!

Well I posted this on OH today and include it in my blog to review what has be happening lately.

 I have been away for about 6 months, since I was laid off in March I don't have access to the computer as much.  But I did have a question for those who are out 1yr or more.  I had my RNY in Dec of 07 and about a year ago I started having pain in my rt side and I could feel a mass about the size of  softball.  At first it was only every couple of months.  Saw my surgeon and he couldn't find anything.  I found that if I laid on my left side and massaged it, I could get it to go away.  I envisioned a bowel obstruction, but it never stayed around long enough to get to the surgeon's office to have him feel it.  So as time went on, it was happening more often, so in July of this year I had a barium enema.  It showed that there was no mass, but I had an extra long bowel with lots of loops.  The surgeon discussed that maybe I had some twisting of the bowel or a floppy bowel that folds over itself and blocks the contents for a while and with the massage that I do to get the pain to go away, I am actually moving it back into place.  I was able to deal with it to a certain extent, but the last two months it is now happening almost everyday and has been interfering with my life.  If I am able to lie down and massage it I can usually get relieve, but if I am at work or not able to lie down, the pain really gets to me.  So now I am scheduled to have a bowel resection on Nov 2nd.  I just wanted to know if anyone else has had this happen.  With losing close to 100 lbs, does this contribute to having the bowel flop around?  My surgeon didn't think so, but there may be others out there in the OH community that have this as well.  I would be interested it hearing from anyone with the same experience.  Thanks for being there to ask questions.  I used to be on the site daily and really liked hearing all of the progress of others!

And guess what else?!   I can now report that after 22 years of weight gain, and one year of weight loss, I was able to go skiing again last night for my first re-learning session. I am doing lessons for 8 weeks to prepare for a ski trip to Beaver Creek in Colorado during spring break.  I use to ski, but since it was quite a while ago, I wanted to try it again with a slow process. I signed up for the beginner's class (didn't want anyone to know that I used to be an intermediate skier long ago).  But after a few demos of what we could do on the baby hill, I moved up from the beginer to the "skied before" group.   I am a bit sore after all the activity, but I was able to come down the mild green hill twice.  I only fell once and that was getting off the chair lift!  Poor kid running the lift came over and helped me get off my butt!  There was another lady there who was also in her 60's.  On our first little run ( about 10 feet) we asked each other if we were crazy!  Yes we are crazy, but I had to prove to myself that my weight would no longer kept me from enjoying a past activity.   YEAH - I SKIED!!!!  My hubby was watching from the bottom and several times I waved and he was giving me a "thumbs up".  He was not sure that I could do this and was trying to review all of the hard things about sking before I started the class.  But I know he was very happy that I did it.  If you remember from my early postings, he wasn't in favor of the WLS, but now he is very happy with the progress I have made this last year.  So now I have climbed Diamondhead, biked 28 miles down Haleakalea and skied again. 
It has been a fantastic year! And I am not done yet!

I just got back from my 1 year surgeon's checkup (about 3 weeks late)!  Of course he wanted lots more weight loss, so I have to go back in 3 months and have more labs done then!  Bummer!  Also he put me on iron, I am low normal, wants me to use a Gaiter-aid product to help with my leg cramps.  My potassium was ok and I eat a banana most mornings, but these cramps at night have been bad lately.   The dietitician's scale was two pounds less and her report was better. She said my numbers were wonderful and she was very excited and was going to show him the results.  My body fat composition preop was 48% with 133 lbs of fat and 142 lbs of lean body mass.  Each time she checked it, I was losing a lot of fat and very little lean body or muscle.  SO today's total was 30% fat,  my body fat has decreased to 59 lbs which is a loss of 75 lbs fat, and my lean body is 137 so I only lost 7 lbs of it.  She said because I lost so slowly, I was able to save my lean muscle.  That is very important she said!  So that was a good report!  And the fact that I have been using weights, I may have gained some weight with muscle mass.   
My BMI says that I am no longer morbily obese, just obese! Cathy took my picture so I am officially 1 year post op!   Well I am having lunch now - liver/onions and spinach.  That should help the iron count!

Celebrated my one year anniversary on Dec. 12th and have lost 85 lbs since surgery and over 100 lbs from my highest weight a few years before.  I am feeling good and my labs are good too.  My Hgb. A1c was 6.0 this time, which is normal!  I have not lost any weight for several months and have strayed from my strict diet.  Got a bit board and stress from alot of things going on, but hope to get back on track.  I plan to ski in January and see if I can do it again.  It's been 20 years since I was on skis and I am hoping that it will be like the "riding the bike thing".  I had to change my 1 year appointment with the surgeon, so I know that he will be disappointed that I have not reached his goal of 180lbs.  I was hoping to hit 160 at some point, but it seems so far away.  We are going to get back to exercising regularly in prep for skiing, so I am hoping this will jump start the weight loss again.  Everyone says it will happen, but knowing how I failed with diets in the past, it seems to be less likely.

Mom is with us now with her memory getting a bit worse over time.  She can't be by herself for too long.  She doesn't realize that she will never be able to be in her home again, and that make me sad, but she is not competant to take care of herself.  We have been looking for a nice retirement place for her where she can be stimulated by activity with folks her age.  I worry that she won't know us at some point, and already she has asked if I was her daughter in one of her moments.  This is a hard decision to make, and as the POA, I am responsible for making decisions that I am not ready to make.  I think this is one of the reasons that I have gotten off track with my eating.  Those old habits of not paying attention and eatting to fast are lurking!

Anyway - I hope to see some improvement in my program soon and hope I can soon post that I am losing again!

Just checking in - it's been a while again since I posted here.  The months have flown by - it's been really busy in many of my worlds.  On the work side - lots of projects went full forse during the summer - it was very busy - research projects, programs etc.  Then the personal side got really hectic.  Had to move my elderly mom with Alheimer's in with me for now.  She had some damage to roof and celings during a big week of rain. There was so much mold and wetness - it was not safe to leave her there.  Then I crashed my 2 year old CR-v  about $12,000 worth of damage when I hit some one taking a fast short cut in the mall parking area.  My airbag deployed and seatbeat broke - what a mess.  I had bruises just from the protective measures - soreness too, but xrays showed no broken bones.  It took almost a month to get my car backI was feeling pretty stressed the month of Sept and so now I have a cold!  Just hanging on a bit longer than I had hoped, but I feel better now.

Had my post procedure with Dr. Chlysta (for my EGD and colonoscopy).  Reports were good.  Told him about the pain I was having for a few months.  He couldn't find another hernia, but said to keep a watch on it.  I can't believe it was gas, it just felt so much different.  It is near the groin area, but he said it could be referred pain from the umbilical hernia.  The ventral hernia is really getting bigger and he wants to get it fixed sooner that the others.  He said I should make an appointment with a plastic surgeon to see what that could do.  Also I have to lose more weight before my 1 year anniversary.  So about 20lbs to get there! 

Some reflections on what I have been able to do so far and what I hope to do next:
-  hiked to the top of Diamond Head in Hawaii - 257 steps!
-  rode a bike down Haleakeala on Maui - 28 miles
- did 2 walks for charity - Labor of Love and Obesity Awareness
-  do 2 floors of stairts (39 steps) twice a day at work
-  run up the steps at home 2-3 times a day
-  walk to meetings at a nearby hospitals several times a month (20 minute walk) instead of driving
-  have signed up for ski lessons starting in January!  Hope to ski in Colorado in March!

I am sure there are more things that I can say I can do now at 10 months out - 3 years ago, I was 297lbs and had diabetes, high BP, high cholesterol and was miserable and depressed about my weight and health.  Today I don't have any of that, but according to my scale at home, I have lost 100 lbs!  I lost 85 since surgery!

Well - haven't posted for a while, but still feeling good.  Today I had a repeat of the EGD and colonoscopy from 1 year ago.  Dr. Wanted to take a look at the esophagus for signs of reflux and the colon for any more polyps.  He said things looked good but sent off a few samples to pathology.  The procedure wasn't too bad.  I asked if I could have a lighter sedation so I could watch again and he said sure!  My BP was good as well as my O2 sats after the Morphine and Versed, but I was having PVC every 3 beats, which usually makes me feel a bit uneasy.  Actually the prep is what is the pits!  I started with the drinking of 4000 cc or 2 liter bottles worth of Golytely at 1pm and didn't have any action until 5pm.  After that it was about every hour till bedtime and I got up three times during the night.  Dr wasn't happy that I still had "stuff" in there, but I don't know what else to do.  It's pretty powerful liquid.  Felt really good, except for some waves of nausea after it was all over, but came home and fixed scrambled eggs and toast and felt pretty good.  About an hour later (2Pm) I felt kind of queasy and sleepy, so I took a nap for about an hour or so.  Still heard some rumblings all afternoon and still now at 7pm. 

The weight loss is at a standstill at the present - bounce back and forth between 204 and 207.  A few days ago I hit 203, but the next day I was up again to 205.  I need to get back to basics and get this moving again.  My new friend from the support group and I are walking in two races - one for the Labor or Love at the Chapel and one for Obesity Walk.  So we are doing a bit over a mile at the Goodyear Park nearby Ellet.  It was a nice walk last week and pretty quiet, so I look forward in doing it again.

See Dr Gilberson tomarrow and then need an appointment to see Dr C for my results.  This week is busy and taking a day off to go to our favorite country fair for the holiday weekend.  Then everything will get back to normal with a more routine work day.

Had a wonderful time in Hawaii and just posted some pictures.  There were about 1000 to chose from, for all nine of us had a camera in hand at one time or another and took so many great shots.  The memories will be there for a long time.  I got to do the Diamond Head hike, swim with a dolphin, swim with sea turtles, snorkel 3 different places, bike 28 miles down the Haleakela volcano. and visited the most beautiful islands on earth.  I can't fullly discribe the experience, but I know that being 70+ lbs lighter, made this trip even better.  

Well - two more days and my family and I will be off to Hawaii for 2 weeks.  We have been very busy getting ready and I can't believe that the year of planning has flown by.  And the 6 months since surgery has also been amazing.  I have completely revamped my wardrobe.  I am changing sizes monthly. So I borrowed some clothes from my mom who has every size down to 14s and I did a bit of shopping.  Last slacks and pedal pushers were size 16's and tops were large in the regular ladies sizes.  I am almost at 70 lbs lost since the day I came home from the hospital and 78 total since I started this journey one year ago on June 7th, when I met the surgeon.  It seems to have gone by so quickly.  I love how energetic I feel and still don't see myself as thinner.  But that time will come!  Looking forward to a agreat summer, but first to enjoy the family vacation for the next several weeks! Aloha!

My bicycle riding is getting easier.  Last weekend we did 10.5 miles on the Towpath.  My butt was sore, as was my knee but it felt good to accomplish something that hasn't been done in years.  Two weeks ago we did 8.5 miles and the week before we did 5.5 miles.  I think my husband is surprised that I am doing this - so am I!  So I am feeling more confident to be able to ride down the crater in Maui in June.  Can't wait!  5 more weeks!

My loss is still slow - haven't lost much in two weeks, but last week at least 6 people stopped me to say how "skinny" I was getting!  Please!  I am no where near skinny, but the near 60lbs lost since surgery is starting to show.  My mom said she though my face was thinner, but she didn't notice anything else.  Oh well!  I worry that I am eating too much on occassion.  I don't have a full feeling as I do with the meats that bother me.  CHili goes down so easily, but most chicken, turkey, pork and fish give me some problems.  Beef hasn't been a problem, no matter what way it is done.  I had a tuna crossoint and it went down easily which surprised and worried me.  I was told bread would be hard.  I will have to remove this from my lists because of the carb count. Would really like to do some shakes again to keep on track and not get in the habit of eatting those things that don't hurt, like bread.  Might help the loss.  But even when I was doing all liquids and protein shakes, my loss was slow!