Liquid diet Day 7

Some of this I have said in previous posts, but this is what is on my mind today.

I am on day 7 of my 10 day liquid diet. I only have 4 more days until "the big day"! My surgery is set for Friday, June 4th at 9:20am. For those who don't know, I am having gastric bypass surgery (the roux-en-y procedure). There is no turning back once the surgery has happened. This is a non reversible, complete lifestyle change surgery, not just "another surgery" where you take 6 weeks to recover and then you're back to "normal". I've had a hard life, but this has been and will continue to be the hardest thing I have done in my entire life, but it's also been and will be the BEST thing I have ever done in my life. I've always been one to do and do and do for everyone EXCEPT myself. Well, I am finally doing something for MYSELF, but also for my family. For those who say this is "the easy way out", I'd like to see them go through everything it takes to get to this point. There are blood tests, ultrasounds, 6 months worth of dietary appointments, extensive psychological testing, and SO much more! Not that anyone here has said that, but a few people in my life have. I just wanted to say  thank you to everyone for the words of encouragement and the support. The more the better, IMO!! I will be posting before, during, and after pictures soon. Thanks again!

My friend, Tonya, will be posting an update on my FB wall after the surgery. Matt, my hubby, will update my status and forum posts, if he is able to get to a computer. We don't have a laptop, so if the hospital doesn't have a public computer, Tonya's update will be the only one until we get home either Sunday or Monday. I will be talking to Tonya once I am settled into my room, so if Matt can't get to a computer I will see if she can keep posting updates on my wall. If you aren't friends with me on FB here's the link to my page: http://www.facebook.com/kcstrenke

Liquid diet Day 6

Getting closer to the big day. The liquid diet is getting easier. I wasn't AS tempted with solid food today. Each day it seems to be getting easier which is a good thing. The thought of solid food isn't completely gone, but at least I'm not thinking in my head constantly about sneaking something to eat. We went to the park today for a play date with Jayda's best friend. Matt and I played some basketball and some soccer, so that was my exercise for the day. We had a lot of fun just shooting hoops and kicking the ball back and forth. I can't believe how close the big day is. A little over a year ago when I started this whole process, I never thought the day would come. Now that the day is near, it's almost surreal. It's been a very long journey to get to this point. If anyone ever dares to tell me that "this is the easy way out", I think I might slap them! This has been a LONG 14 months of doing all the preparations for the surgery. There are blood tests, CT scans, ultrasounds, psychological testing, and so many other things that go into making the choice to have gastric bypass surgery. There was 6 months of dietary meetings to go to as well.

Liquid diet Day 5

Today was an OK day. We went outside for a few hours playing on the playground. We also went to the lake beach and went swimming. It was a wonderful day outside today. The diet went OK today. There were no major issues of hiding or crying today. It seems to be getting a little easier. Smelling certain foods still makes me super hungry, but I didn't have to hide or cry about them today like I have been doing. There isn't much more of an update for tonight. We have a play date at the park tomorrow with Jayda's best friend, so that will be fun. We will walk to the park for the play date, then walk tot he lake, and then back home. Jayda might ride her bike. It all depends on how she's feeling about it tomorrow.

Liquid diet Day 4

Today was a rough day, but mainly because I was in a bad mood. I didn't sleep as well last night as I could have. I spent a lot of alone time in the bedroom watching TV. The nurse called me today to see how the liquid diet was going. She said it's normal to have a hard time for the first 4-5 days. I have one week to go before the big day.

Liquid diet Day 3

Today wasn't AS hard as yesterday. I still had to go in the bedroom when Matt made his dinner, but at least I didn't cry tonight. I am hungry, but the carnation drinks are doing an OK job. We went outside and played for about 4 hours today. It was such a nice day. Jayda's skills counselor came today. We're going to see how this goes and hopefully get Jayda the help she needs. that's about all for today.

Liquid diet Day 2

Well, tonight was a bit harder than last night. Matt was making his dinner and it was really getting to me. I could smell it and it was making me hungry. I went into the bedroom and cried for the next hour. It hadn't really hit me until then. I was doing good, but that hit me hard and I couldn't keep it together. The hardest part about it was that Matt didn't even take a second to come and check on me. UGH!! MEN!!! Last night the "aspartame" in the sugar free jello and popsicles hit me like a ton of bricks. I CAN NOT eat them any more. I was SO sick. 2 days down 8 more to go!

Liquid diet Day 1

Well, I started the liquid diet this morning. Everything went OK today other than eating the sugar free jello and sugar free popsicles. They have aspartame in them. Basically that's an artificial sweetener. Well, my body is NOT tolerating it well at all. It's had major adverse effects on my stomach, so I won't be eating them any more. I will just have to do without it. I will have to drink more milk instead. So, all in all, the first day wasn't as bad as I was expecting. 9 more days to go, then the big day!

Liquid diet

Well, tonight is the last "big meal" that I will ever have. I am having steak, baked potato, broccoli, and steamed baby carrots. I will be eating some watermelon after all of that settles. I start my 10 day liquid diet in the morning. I'm very nervous about it. I just hope I can do this and not be too bitchy or hungry. Only 11 more days until my surgery! I am so excited and also SO nervous.

Jayda can't catch a break.

Jayda is having a rough couple days. Yesterday, we were at the park and right before we went to leave I noticed her eye lid bleeding. We went to Mom's, right across the road from the park, and I cleaned her eye up with a wet wash rag. When I was giving her a bath, I found a bad rash on her neck, covered by her hair. I think she's allergic to her necklace or it could have been a heat rash. After her bath, she was running to the trash can to throw away a bottle and she fell. She cut the inside of her arm (about 3 inches) on the corner of the file cabinet. Now, she just woke up at 2:30am and her eye is half swollen shut! Whatever it was with her eye has now made it swell up. Poor baby! I just gave her some Benadryl, but now she probably won't sleep. It makes her hyper instead of making her sleepy.

New glasses for Jayda.

Jayda got glasses for the first time last June. Well, she just recently started wearing them all the time, minus on the school bus and now minus recess. Yesterday, she came home with them bent to hell and back. We took them to the glasses place at the Dr's office where we got them. The lady bent them back into shape as much as possible. They are at least somewhat wearable now. Well, our insurance only covers new frames every 2 years and new lens every year IF the prescription changes enough to warrant it. Well, the lady found a loophole for us. Because Jayda is growing so fast, she has "out grown" her frames. They are now too small for her face and the lens are too small for her eyes. So, Thursday, we are picking out new frames for Jayda and then in an week she will have a new pair of glasses. They will have to do new lens because these are too small and one also has a spider crack at the very top of it where the lens popped out one time and to get it back in they had it tighten the side a little too much and it cracked it. The pair she has now have been repaired about 10 times in the last year. For a while, every time she touched them they would break. Now that she is leaving them on her face, they shouldn't get broken so much. When I say broken, I mean the lens pop out occasionally and she bends them out of shape so bad that they ladies have a hell of a time getting them back to wearable shape without completely breaking them. I am happy and excited because now that she has pointed it out that these are too small for her face, I can really see it. She will continue to wear these until her new ones come in though, to keep her in the habit of wearing them AND because she can see so much better with them on.

Another gorgeous day!

Today was once again a gorgeous day! We walked to the park and Jayda actually rode her bike there and back. We didn't stay a really long time today because we had to get home to cook dinner and get her bathed since she has school tomorrow. I slept good last night, but I am exhausted again today and all I have done is walk to and from the park. That's about all for now.

YAY Sunshine!!!

Today was such a nice day. We've had rain and cold for the past week and a half or so and today was absolutely beautiful! We went for a walk and went to the park. Jayda loved being able to get out of the house and so did I. My back is still killing me within a few minutes of walking. I have to try to get in for PT this week. The muscle relaxers aren't doing much at all. Thursday I go to see the dietitian for my preop diet info. I am kind of dreading the 10 day liquid diet before the surgery, but it has to be done. Tomorrow is suppose to be a nice day again, so we are planning on going to the park again which turns into a walk around town since we walk tot he park and then Jayda wants to walk to the lake and feed the ducks. It's good exercise!

Nothing much going on...

I haven't updated in a few days because there isn't anything going on. We've had a few appointments here and there, but that's all. It's been raining ALL WEEK LONG, so we haven't been able to get outside at all. Nothing else new to talk about, so that's all.

Horrible day...

This is a copy and paste job from one of the forums I'm on. I'm too tired to retype everything again.




First off, I found out today that for the last 6 months we have been being charged 0.10 a minute for our TiVo to connect and get it's data updated. The TiVo connects EVERY DAY at least 1 minute at a time up to 15 minutes. In the past 6 months we have been charged $116 for the TiVo to connect when the TiVo itself only cost us $48 for the 6 months! Before December, we were not charged and since I get my bill through my e-mail, I never check it until this month. We have been behind on our bill for a while and this month we got fully caught up, so I expected a bill for around $90 for the telephone since we have internet and unlimited long distance. Well the bill was $106, so I started looking at the details and saw we were charged $19 for "data calls" which is the TiVo. I thought because we have the internet that would cover the "data calls", but according to the phone company it doesn't. We won't get rid of the TiVo because it's our life saver when it comes to being able to watch all of our shows. I just don't understand how we weren't charged these "data calls" for a year and a half and all of a sudden in Dec we started being charged. It's super irritating!!!! I have a complaint into the phone company about it. Basically they are treating the TiVo updating like a fax machine. They also do not have a data call package, so I wonder how people who have home fax machines like being charged 0.10 a minute to fax papers from home when they work.

Second off, Jayda had ANOTHER bad day at school. Hitting, kicking, pushing, spitting, yelling, and snatching toys out of kids hands. We are going to the behavioral psychologist today. I am at my wits end with her. She said last week that she didn't want to go to school anymore and she said it again today. I want the behavioral psychologist to evaluate her at school because to me it sounds like something is going on there because she doesn't do this stuff at home very often. Occasionally she yells at us, but she doesn't hit, kick, spit, etc. If we observe her at school, she will act totally different than when we aren't there. I just don't understand what's causing these outbursts at school. It has to be some sort of social anxiety or other social issue. I just feel like the worst Mama in the world because my child is violent with other people and hurts other people.

We saw the behavioral psychologist. She's going to contact the school and put in a referral for an in home skills counselor for Jayda. I don't know what the next step is exactly. She's going to talk to the school then talk to us again. We are suppose to go back and see her in 2 weeks.

Happy Mother's Day!!

First off, Happy Mother's Day to all my Mommy friends and family.

We went to the park today for about 5 hours. We grilled out and had what we call "hobo dinner". A "hobo dinner" is where ya take any veggies ya want, cut them up kind of small, tuck them into a tin foil pouch, then stick them on the grill for an hour, turning them every 15 minutes. You can add meat to them too. Matt and FIL add meat to theirs, but Mom and I don't. It was SOOOOOOO good!!!! We had cabbage, potatoes, onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, yellow squash, zucchini, and celery. Mix all of those together with a little salt and pepper and a little butter and OMG it was SO good!!!!!! I also ate a hamburger and a hot dog. I ate way too much, but I know in another month I won't be able to do this anymore, so I splurged a bit today.

I didn't go for a walk today, but I did play soccer with Jayda, ran around chasing her, played basket ball with her, and pushed her on the swings. I got my workout for the day whether I did a whole lot or not! I am exhausted.

Birthday party...

Today was Savanna's birthday party. Savanna is Jayda's cousin. We went to the cities today for the party. Jayda had a blast, but I am worn out. After the party we went grocery shopping. I didn't get a chance to do "real" exercise today, but I probably walked 2 miles grocery shopping today!!! Tomorrow we are going to be at the park all day grilling out for Mother's Day. It's going to be another very long day. I'm too tired to type anything else tonight.

I did it again...

Oops. I forgot to post last night, so here I am at 12:30am making my post.

We had a lazy day today. We had a "free for all" dinner which is where everyone eats whatever they feel like making and I don't have to cook a big meal. We called the child's behavioral psychologist for Jayda. We see her on Monday to start the evaluation process. We had to go to Mom's a few times to fix her TV and her computer because they were acting weird, but we got them both working. We have a birthday party to go to today. Jayda's cousin,  Savanna, turned 7 on the 6th and her party is this afternoon. Sunday we are suppose to grill out for Mother's Day. That's about all.

Oops...

I forgot to update my blog yesterday, so here goes.

Jayda's been having some really rough days at school the past few weeks. She's acting out and being violent. I'm not really sure what's going on with her, but we are calling a child's behavioral psychologist and have her evaluated. She has a few outbursts at home, but at school it's constant. She is usually very well behaved and polite with us at home or when she is with Matt and myself, so we think it's some sort of social issue.

 I went to the Dr about my back. He gave me some muscle relaxers and wants me to do some physical therapy. He thinks the muscles in my back need to be strengthened and that is why they are spasming. I took the muscle relaxer 2 times yesterday and I'm not so sure it's going to work for me. I didn't get much relief from it. I will be doing PT here in town, about 3 blocks from home, so it won't be too bad.

That's about all from yesterday. I will post about today this evening as long as I remember.

Just another day

Today was another lazy day. No walking again because it was cold and windy. It also looks like it's going to rain. Jayda's head start teacher came and then we went to the library. The librarian had her dog there today and Jayda ran around playing with her the entire time we were picking out books for bedtime reading. As we were about to leave, Jayda went to hug the dog and stepped on her or something and the dog nipped at her. She didn't bite Jayda, but scared her pretty bad. Didn't scare her for long though. She was right back to wanting to pet the dog, but the librarian sent her son to take the dog home. I go to the Dr tomorrow about my back and hopefully he can do something for the spasms. They are beginning to annoy me a lot. That's about all for today.

a little etsy love: The Busy Bead Lady Giveaway!

a little etsy love: The Busy Bead Lady Giveaway!

Can I scream now?

No exercise today because my back is still hurting. I go to the Dr Thursday and hopefully I can get some meds for the muscle spasms.

Well, today has been a rough day. It started off on the wrong foot and has went to hell. Matt woke up and got Jayda ready for school, as usual. She got dressed and watched some cartoons, as usual. They got ready to go outside to wait on the bus, as usual. Well, Jayda opened up her backpack and handed Matt the papers that were in there from yesterday, since I forgot to do it yesterday. In my defense, Jayda had a good day at school yesterday and got a green piece of paper, but it turned into a red piece of paper on the bus because she kicked a boy on purpose. The aide on the bus told me about it when I got Jayda off the bus, so I was focused on talking to Jayda about that and completely spaced getting the papers out of her bag. Anyway, Jayda handed Matt the papers and one of the showed that they didn't have AM classes today due to staff development. OOPS!!!! At least they didn't go outside and wait on a bus that wasn't coming, right? Well this day off was also on the school calendar, but we don't look at it very often.

Well, this weekend, I happen to have run out of one of my mood stabilizing meds and it has me thrown off really bad mood wise. I meant to call it in Friday and pick it up, but I forgot. Well, our pharmacy isn't open on the weekend except a few hours in the morning on Saturday and by the time I realized I forgot to call it in and get it, they were closed for the weekend. Since I missed 2 days of this medicine, my mood is all whacky. When my mood is off, my OCD takes over. I have been fighting it all day today and I have felt like I was having a nervous breakdown. This is why the day went from starting off on the wrong foot to hell. When I get like this every small thing gets escalated to something major. I hate the feeling, but there is nothing I can do about it. My mood will be out of whack for a few days and I will feel like I am on a roller coaster for the next week or so. I just want to SCREAM when I feel like this.

Taking it easy

I'm taking it easy today to allow my back to rest. It's still hurting a lot and spasming often. We didn't go for a walk today because of my back. I figured I would take at least a day off and let my body rest a little bit. Jayda had a dentist appointment today. She had no cavities again. YAY!! Matt cooked dinner tonight. We had baked chicken, stuffing, and corn. That's about it for today. It's was a lazy day really.

I think I over did it...

I think I over did it this week. I know I should gradually work towards exercising 5 days a week and 30 minutes a day, but I didn't think just walking could hurt so bad. I have walked 3 days this week. We walked about 45 minutes the first day, about 2.5 hours yesterday total between 2 different walks, and about an hour and 15 minutes today. My back has been spasming for about a week now, but today it was killing me. By the time we got home today from the hour and 15 minute walk, I had to lay down for about an hour so it would stop hurting. I am going to the Dr on Thursday about it. Hopefully he can give me some sort of muscle relaxer or something that can help. I think I will skip walking tomorrow to let my back rest and try it again Tuesday if it's nice outside. I do think I'm doing a good job at making an effort to exercise, even if I do say so myself.

Two long walks in the same day!

Mom (my MIL) called us and asked if we would walk with her to the store. Mom is disabled and in an electric wheelchair. She wanted some cigarettes and since we refuse to buy them for her she wanted us to go with her. I'm fine walking with her and her buying them, but I refuse to. There is a bit of a story behind why, but I won't get into that right now. Anyway, we went for another hour and a half walk. I've walked a total of 2.5 hours today!!! I am SO proud of myself!! My back hurts right now, but I just took some pain pills, so it will feel better in a little while.

Nice day for a walk...

It is a BEAUTIFUL day outside although it is very windy. We went for another long walk today. We made a detour to the ice cream shop at the beginning of the walk though. We don't do ice cream often, so it was a treat for all 3 of us. At least we ate the ice cream at the beginning of the walk and not at the end, right? Jayda dropped her cone in her lap and dripped chocolate ice cream all over her shirt and jeans. We went to the lake and saw 4 ducks. We have very stuck up ducks! We were tossing them bread and they came over to it, pecked it once, turned their tails up in the air, and swam away! We were out and about for an hour and a half. About 20-30 minutes of that was spent at the ice cream shop and the rest was spent walking and feeding the ducks. I think I'm doing pretty good at working my way up to the 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. I've walked 2 days this week for about an hour each day. Before this week, I wasn't even trying to do any type of exercise. Now I am putting forth a conscious effort to work towards my goal.