New update since it's been several months...

I warned everyone from the start that I would be BAD at updating this blog. I know it's been several months since I updated and some things have changed. I will try and get my husband to get some new pictures very soon. Others say they see a lot of changes in my looks, but of course, since I see myself daily, I don't seem to notice them. I do notice skin hanging in certain places, which is bugging me, but I knew it would happen and I'm hoping when I get to my goal weight I will be able to get that extra skin taken care of. Now to get to the numbers. I don't have any measurements because I still need to get a tape measure of my own, which I just added to my list of things to get from Wal-Mart when we go within the next few days. I do have a weight though. I went to the Dr on Wednesday because the whole family is sick and I got on the scale. It read 294 lbs. I had on my big, heavy snow boots which weigh 4 lbs. I know this because at my 6 month post-op appointment they weighed me and then had me go back and re-weigh without the boots on. So, without the big boots, my weight is 290 lbs!!!!! That's a 76 lbs lost in a little over 6 months!!!!!!!! I am THRILLED with my progress. The loss would be much greater too if I had not had major sinus surgery complications and been able to exercise for a few months. I was unable to exercise for almost 3 months due to these complications. Everyday I would wake up to a massive nose bleed from just normal everyday activities such as tying my shoes or even getting out of bed or getting up off the couch too fast.

Matt is still having neck issues. He saw his neck Dr for his 10 months post-op from his 2nd neck surgery yesterday. They are going to do a CT scan and check for a few things and then see where to go from there. We don't know what to do any more. After 2 neck surgeries, he's in as much if not MORE pain than before.

Jayda has been doing pretty good in school. She's been having really good days at school. Back in October, there was a switch that clicked in her brain and she started having good days. She's had some bad ones in there, but mostly good. I'm not complaining at all. I'm glad she's finally having good days and the hitting and pushing has calmed down. She has croup right now which has lead to some VERY LONG nights recently. It also ended in a trip to the ER on Wednesday night. They gave her a MASSIVE steroid dose and it helped for Wednesday night until about 4AM and then she was back to hacking. Last night was really bad. She HATES her nebulizer machine with a passion, but she was actually ASKING to use it last night because she was so frustrated with coughing. She's so tired from not sleeping which is making her whiny and I understand she doesn't feel good. We're all tired cause none of us are sleeping. She just threw a HUGE tantrum, so I sent her to her room to calm down and I think she actually fell asleep because she is so tired.

Well, this is all I have for now. I will TRY and update more, but I don't promise anything.

3 month post-op and other updates on our life

I haven't been great at posting on this blog, but things have been hectic and there haven't really been any major updates.

Well, today I had my 3 month post-op appointment. According to their calculations I have lost 78 lbs, but they are going from day one of me coming into the office, which was August 2009. Since the day of surgery I have lost 46 lbs. That's an average of just over 15 lbs a month, which isn't TOO bad. It would be a LOT more weight loss if I could get out and walk more (having issues with numbness in my feet) or if I could find an exercise video that isn't so hard on my knees. I am searching though because within another month or 2, walking will NOT be an option! I refuse to walk in 30 degree or lower temps, plus all the snow is just EWWW! At that first appointment back in August 2009, they measured my waist and hips. My waist was 67" and my hips were 71". Today she remeasured me and my waist is 56" and my hips are 61". That's still big, but the nurse was impressed and excited for me. I am wearing shorts I haven't worn since the summer BEFORE Jayda was born and jeans that I haven't worn since the winter Jayda was conceived (before I started showing).

On a different note, I am having sinus surgery September 21. They have to fix my deviated septum (It's backwards S shaped), drill a few holes in 3 of the 4 sinus cavity groups, remove some lining to make the airways wider, and there is some area that has a HUGE air bubble in it that they have to remove part of the tissue because apparently it's blocking the inside of one of my sinus cavities. The Dr said it should take me 4-6 weeks to fully recover from the surgery and after that it's Matt's turn. He has to have a lot of the same things done, but his is a little less evasive. I also had an MRI on my brain and neck last Friday and I am waiting to get the results back from that. The neurologist did an MS protocol MRI. He says he doesn't think I have MS, but he wanted the scans to be super detailed and apparently an MS protocol scan is very detailed. It took them almost 2.5 hours to do all of the scans which SUCKED because I am SUPER claustrophobic and was stuck inside that little tube for that long!!! Hopefully the MRI can bring to light why I have numbness, tingling, and burning in both hands and both feet. The neurologist thinks I have something wrong in my neck, but went ahead and did the brain scan while I was in there since I told him how claustrophobic I am.

Jayda starts school Tuesday and I can not wait! She's excited to go back to school and I am ready for a break! She will be in the special educations preschool again this year. She will be getting speech therapy 3 of the 4 days she is at school, which is awesome. Her speech has improved SO much since starting the speech therapy. They will also be working on her social behaviors. She's been seeing a behavioral counselor all summer. The counselor will be going to the school a few times a month to try and get a better grasp on what is setting Jayda off and why she becomes violent. The psychologist thinks Jayda may have a social anxiety disorder. When she's around just a few kids, she's OK for the most part, but when she gets around a lot of kids she gets pushy and easily agitated. They are also working on social ques with her. If she sees ANY kid, no matter the age, she wants them to play with her. We are trying to teach her how to be receptive to how another kid reacts to her and if they do not want her messing with them, then she needs to back off. We're also working on personal space with her. I know this is a normal 4 year old problem, but she gets into the faces of other kids and adults and has caused a few shoving matches when the other child wanted her to back off and she wouldn't.

It's been a little while...

It's been a little bit since I updated. I had my 2 month post op dietitian appointment Tuesday. I am down to 326 from my start weight of 366. 40 lbs in 2 months isn't too bad. This 2nd month slowed way down compared to the first month, but the dietitian thinks I am doing good still. There isn't much else to update as far as the weight loss goes.

Update. It's been a little while.

I had my 1 month post op appointment this morning. I am now officially OFF puree foods and on to the mashed foods. I am down to 336! I have officially lost 52 lbs from my starting weight of 388 and 30 lbs since surgery date weight of 366. I haven't been updating a lot because there isn't much to update. I've been trying to walk at least 4 days a week. I am working on increasing the length of the walks first and then I will work on increasing the days.

Jayda is done with her every week allergy shots. She finally built to the highest dosage so now she goes every other week. Jayda is staying with our cousin Magon and her two daughters, Savanna and Kayla, for a week. I know she is going to have a BLAST, but I KNOW I am going to missing the hell out of her! I am not exactly sure what to do with her gone for 8 nights. It's so quiet right now, it's almost eerie. The entire drive home I didn't here "Mama" every 10 seconds, which means I could actually HEAR the music for a change.

Happy dance!

Today I decided to pull out some of my old clothes that I had packed away in hopes of fitting into them again one day. I pulled out some shirts, capris, jeans, and shorts. I started trying on clothes and most of it was still a little too small. Most of the clothes were pre-pregnancy clothes because the clothes I have wore since having Jayda have been worn until they are worn out. I found a pair of shorts that are size 26W, which I haven't fit into since the summer BEFORE I got pregnant with Jayda and THEY FIT!!!!!!!!!!! I have been in a 30W-32W for a few years now. I was SO HAPPY to see that I had went down 2-3 sizes with this 25 lb weight loss.

I am also super sore today from walking so much at the zoo yesterday. I got out of bed this morning and almost fell flat on my face because my legs and feet hurt so much. Walking became easier as the day went on, but I can really feel the burn in my calves. I remember when I was younger and played soccer and my coach would tell us that we weren't playing hard enough if we couldn't feel the burn in our muscles the day after. I am also very proud of myself right now. Matt is such a huge supporter too. He knows how much losing this weight means to me and he's been here with me every step of the way and tells me that he loves me no matter what weight I am. I have a Dr's appointment tomorrow, so I am going to do a "mid week" weigh in just to see if it shows any loss. I will be able to weigh myself again next Wednesday as well.

Weekly weigh in and the zoo!!

Well, I did my weekly weigh in on Tuesday this week. I was down another 6 lbs in 6 days. That brings my total weigh loss to 25 lbs in 25 days! I am still losing about a lb a day, but this week I've had a chance to get out walk. The weight will come off even better being able to get out and exercise. I just wish this dang rain would stay away, so I could walk every day. I want to try and walk 4 days a week at least and then work my way up to 7 days as weather permits.

Yesterday we went to the Minnesota Zoo. We had a blast other than Jayda being a bit bummed because they don't have elephants or giraffes. What kind of zoo doesn't have elephants, giraffes, penguins, lions, rhinos, or hippos? It blew my mind and Jayda was definitely upset because elephants and giraffes are her favorite animals. She has a stuffed elephant that goes every where with her and of course she sleeps with it as well. We walked no less than 4-5 miles yesterday. My calves are sore as heck. My feet felt like they were on fire yesterday, but just ache today. I was surprised that my back didn't hurt at all yesterday. Although, my hip was doing this funny clicking thing, so I am wondering if it is a little out of place again.

That's about all for this update. Thanks again for all the support and encouraging words!

Took a little walk today.

Well, since my surgery I haven't had a a chance to go for a "real" walk because of the rain. It's been raining for almost 3 weeks straight and when it wasn't raining last week, I was sick with a sinus infection. We went for a walk around 6pm since it had cooled off. We went to the park, the lake, and then back home. We walked about a total of 1.5-2 miles. I want to start trying to walk a minimum of 4 days a week and work my way up to 7 days a week. When I lose some more weight, I will try and start doing some exercise at home. I have a few exercise DVDs, but right now, it's too hard on my body right now. I really have to figure out what I am going to do in the winter. There is no way in heck I am going for a 2 mile walk in freezing temps!

Lots of severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, and flash flooding over the past 2 days. We've heard the sirens twice tonight and once last night. I hate severe weather. It was so humid outside tonight on our walk. We knew we would get storms again tonight because of the high humidity.

Just a quick update.

Fair warning. I am exhausted tonight and have already taken my sleeping meds, so this will probably be all jumbled up.

There really isn't much going on right now. Just trying to get Jayda finished with summer school for this session. Jayda had her allergy shots today, so I had a chance to weigh myself. Last Friday I weighed 350.5 and today I weighed 347.2. Today makes 19 days post-op and I have lost a total of 19 lbs. Not too bad if I do say so myself. I know I am losing weight because the scale shows it, but I just don't feel like it or see it yet. Tomorrow is Jayda's last day of summer school for this session, so we will be getting out and doing a lot more walking. We will have to do some walking and playing outside to get her worn out so she will sleep at night!

She's going to go stay with our cousins again in another week or so, probably after the 4th of July. I really want her with us for the 4th because I love watching fireworks with her. She gets SO excited! We're also going to try and go to the zoo before the end of the month because we have free passes and only have to pay $5 for parking. That will be A LOT of exercise just walking around the zoo. It will be Jayda's first time, so we are excited. We haven't told her about it yet because then all we would hear from her is, "Are we going to the zoo today?" She's been asking to go play with her cousins a lot since coming home. We told her about a week ago that she would be going to stay with our cousins again in a few weeks and that's all we've heard day in and day out.

Jayda's last weekly allergy shot is next Wednesday. She goes to see her asthma and allergy specialist on July 13th and then she will start having her shots every other week. She's getting so good about her shots too! At first, she had to sit in my lap and I had to hold her arms down so she didn't move and she would cry a lot. Then she got to the point that we didn't have to hold her arms, but she would still whimper. Then we got to the point to where she still sat in our lap, but wouldn't cry or move. The last 2 weeks she has sat in the chair all by herself, and not moved or cried when she got her shots. I am so proud of her! I hated seeing her cry at first, but we're really hoping the allergy shots will help her. Matt and myself have REALLY BAD allergies, so it was inevitable that she would have them as well.

That's about it for now. Sorry my thoughts were all over the place tonight. It's time for me to get in bed and just sleep! I can't believe I am going to bed before 10pm! I'm normally awake until at least midnight.

UGH! Sinus infection.

Well, I haven't updated in a few days because I have been sick. I started feeling like I was getting a sinus infection on Wednesday night and Thursday morning I felt like a truck had hit me in my sleep. I have felt like pure crap. I went to the Dr yesterday and sure enough it is a sinus infection, again. So, the Dr put me on an antibiotic. That sounds easy right? Well, not so easy when this antibiotic looks like a horse pill! It's HUGE!!! Well, I can't really swallow things that large right now, so I talked to the pharmacist about cutting the pill, which is what I have to do with all my other meds right now. She told me to ONLY cut it in half because if I cut it down even more, it may get into my blood stream too quickly and cause diarrhea. Well, at this point, I can deal with a little diarrhea over the consequences of taking something too large to pass through the pouch opening. If something isn't small enough to go into the pouch, that will cause vomiting. Well, coughing hurts my insides right now and I've vomited a few times since my surgery and it hurts WAY worse. So, I cut the pills down and so far so good, there have been no ill effects from cutting them down. Anyway, at my post-op appointment I had lost 13 lbs since the day of surgery. As of yesterday, the scale showed me down another 3 lbs. That's a loss of 16 lbs since the day of the surgery (14 days exactly since surgery), which averages out to be a loss of a little over a pound a day. I am so excited! I don't think I look like I've lost 16 lbs, but it gives me a big boost in confidence. I haven't been able to do a lot of walking since my surgery because it's been raining almost non-stop for 2 weeks, but I think the rain is just about over. I will be able to get out and start walking a mile or two a day and the weight will continue to drop. Jayda LOVES to go for walks, so it will be good for all of us. It will help me with weight loss and it will wear her out so bedtime is easier on Matt and myself!

Thank you to everyone for supporting me through this journey. I still have a long way to go to get to my goal weight, but I've had a great start which will help keep me motivated.

First post-op appointment.

I had my first post-op appointment yesterday. I had the staples removed and the incisions were NOT infected like I had suspected they were. YAY for that!! Infected incisions are not nice at all. My c-section incision was infected and the staples hurt SO bad coming out, but the staples only stung in a few places yesterday. The nurse thinks it only stung because they had been in for 11 days and the skin had begun to grow over the staples. The nurse also told me that a lot of people don't lose weight in the liquid diet phase due to fluid retention. I was SO happy to see that I did indeed lose weight. I lost a total of 13 lbs since surgery day (366 surgery day and 353 yesterday), so that's just a little over a lb a day! I am now on the pureed stage of the diet as of yesterday. I am so happy to be off liquids only. It was getting so hard to be on only liquids all day long. I had been on a liquid diet for 21 days! That's a lot of time on JUST fluids. My next appointment is in a month, July 13. I will see the dietitian and the RN again.

A little background about the surgery center where I had my surgery. 95% of the staff (nurses and office staff) have had bariatric surgery of one kind or another. I really like that because instead of just telling me this is what I have to do, they KNOW what needs to be done and have experienced EXACTLY what I am going through! I was talking to the receptionist yesterday before my appointment and I mentioned how I didn't feel like I had lost anything. She then showed me a picture of her before her surgery and then 6 months out from surgery. It was such a drastic change! I really pray that this will be a good thing for me and that I have as much success as she has had.

Thanks again for all the support and words of encouragement. I really appreciate it. The more support I have, the better!

Super busy lately!

Sorry I haven't been updating daily. I have been super busy this week. First we had an appointment on Wednesday that we were at from 8am until nearly 6:30pm! We woke up at 5:30am, left the house by 6:30am, and didn't get home until after 8pm! That was NOT a nice day being 5 days post-op. Lots of sitting and waiting wasn't easy on the body. Wednesday was also the day we picked Jayda up from Magon's house. She had a blast with Savanna and Kayla! I had missed Jayda so much, but she didn't want to come home. Then yesterday we had a few appointments and had to go shopping for my 2nd phase of the post surgery diet, full liquids. I am on full liquids starting today and will be on this until at least Tuesday when I go in for my post-op check-up. I will also be getting the stales out on Tuesday and I am so ready for that. They are beginning to pull some and that hurts a bit.

Bullhead Days are this weekend.  It's a town founding celebration. We will get in LOTS of walking while visiting the carnival and letting Jayda go on the different rides and play the different games. Tonight they are suppose to have fireworks as long as it doesn't rain. We are looking forward to that a lot because Jayda LOVES fireworks! We're hoping it doesn't rain all weekend because that would really suck!

I guess that's about all for now.

Small update

There isn't a whole lot to update right now. I have been trying to relax and heal since getting home on Sunday. Jayda will be home tomorrow, so things will have to get back to "more normal" starting Thursday, so I just wanted to try and relax for these few days. So far, so good. I'm on a clear liquid diet until Friday and then I start a full liquid diet until my appointment on Tuesday. From there they will decide if I can go on to pureed foods or if I need to stay on full liquids a little longer.

Tomorrow is going to be a LONG day. We have a meeting we have to be at starting at 8am that could possibly go until 5pm tomorrow night. It's going to be a hard day on my body, but it must be done. Sorry I haven't updated more since getting home. I have just been sore and tired and trying to relax and heal. I looked in the mirror today at my stomach and I am so bruised up. My belly button area is totally black and blue. I have a total of 11 incisions and 27 staples.

Home from the hospital

I'm home. Got home about 3pm today. I'm sore and tired, so I will update more tomorrow. Thanks for all the support thus far.

Before surgery pictures

UGH!!!! I HATE HATE HATE taking pictures because when I look at them I get disgusted at the way I look. Here are the before surgery pictures. Sorry for the blurriness. They were taken with Jayda's VTech KidiZoom camera.







This is a picture when I was in high school. You can't really tell a whole lot about my body, but the weight I am in this picture is my "final goal" weight!

Liquid diet Day 9

Today is the last day of protein drinks until after surgery. Tomorrow is only clear liquids. I did weigh myself today after being on this liquid diet and I didn't lose very much weight at all. I was sad to see I only lost about 5 lbs. I know I have been drinking a lot of milk, so it has to be the calories from that, plus it's been raining for the past 5 days which means no walking other than the one trip to the park. We will be leaving the house about 6pmish tomorrow evening (Thursday) and heading to Magon's house. Jayda will be staying with Magon from Thursday night until Wednesday afternoon. We will be spending the night there so we don't have to wake Jayda up super early on Friday and it's also only a 30 minute drive to the hospital form her house and it's 2 hours from ours. Magon has offered to keep Jayda until Wednesday to give me a few days of at home recovery without Jayda crawling all over me, plus she would be watching her on Wednesday while we are at an appointment from 8am until at least 1pm. That makes it where we don't have to be up even earlier to drive into the cities and drop Jayda off at her house on Wednesday morning. Thank you Magon, for always being here to help Matt and I out. We love you!

I still haven't had a chance to get the before pictures on the computer yet. We're using Jayda's VTech KidiZoom digital camera that we bought her for Christmas, since our camera is DOA! Well, her batteries died tonight, so it is charging over night and I will try and get them on the computer before we leave tomorrow. No promises though because tomorrow is going to be HECTIC!!! I still have to pack for all 3 of us. I need to do a few loads of laundry before I can even do that packing. I am going to go through Jayda's toys in her bedroom tomorrow, I think, and throw away all the broken things and get rid of the toys she doesn't play with any more. I went through her toy bin in the living room tonight and got rid of a bunch of broken things. Jayda's skills counselor comes tomorrow afternoon for at least 2 hours as well. So yea, tomorrow is going to be hectic!!

Thank you to everyone who has been supporting me this far in my journey. I couldn't do this without the support and encouragement everyone has shown me. I love y'all!

Liquid diet Day 8

Day 8 of the liquid diet went well. It's getting so much easier everyday that passes. One more day of the liquid diet the way it's been (carnation instant breakfast with milk, broth, and no calorie liquids) and then Thursday I have to do only clear liquids. Thursday I also have to drink the magnesium drink to "clean my system out". I am SO dreading that! I am going to weigh myself tomorrow when we take Jayda in for her allergy shots and see what I have lost by being on this liquid diet. I haven't been able to do much walking at all because it's been raining. Three more days until the "big day" and I am getting even more excited, but also even more nervous. Thank you to everyone that's been supporting me and giving me encouragement.

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.

Rain, rain, go away...

It's raining again today, so once again no long walk outside. Jayda had her allergy shots today and Matt had an appointment. Jayda and I walked around the Dr's office for about 30 minutes, so at least that's some exercise. I have a splitting headache today. It started last night. It goes from behind my left eye, over the left ear, and down the left side of my neck. It doesn't feel like a migraine, but if it doesn't go away by tomorrow I will be heading to the ER. It HURTS!!!!

I had to do some juggling with Dr and dietitian appointments today. I think I have them all scheduled now. I'm still very excited about the surgery, but I am also very nervous. I know I'm ready to do this. It's going to change my life for the better.

Just a blah day...

Today was just a blah day. We had to go to the cities for Matt's neck surgeon appointment, so we were gone most of the day up there. Nothing new with his neck either. He just needs to keep taking it easy and not lift anything heavy and wear his neck brace as much as possible. I hate having to travel 2 hours one way to Dr appointments, but there is no choice really. It's raining and really windy, so no long walk today. Hopefully it will be a nice day tomorrow and we can take Jayda to the park and walk down to the lake. I don't have much energy today. I didn't sleep very good last night and woke up with my back spasming again. I have to get in to my PCP to have my preoperative appointment, so I will talk to him about the muscle spasms when I see him. That's about all as far as today went. Nothing new really.

Taking a little walk

Nothing really new today. We went for a long walk. We had to go to the library and we promised Jayda we would go to the park, so we decided to walk. We live in a VERY small town (less then 2,000 people). We walked to the library, the park, MIL's apartment, the lake, and back home. We walked for about 45 minutes total, so that was my exercise for the day. I have to start making myself exercise 5 times a week for at least 30 minutes a day, but I know I have to gradually work my way to that much. Now that it's nice outside, we will be taking more walks which is great exercise. Jayda absolutely LOVES to take walks, so it's nice to get out and walk down to the lake and let her feed the ducks. Like I said, nothing really new today, but I did get some exercise, so that's a plus!

A little about me and my new life

Well, I'm not real good at this kind of stuff, but here goes nothing.

My name is Kacy. I'm 30 years old. I have a wonderful husband, Matt, and a beautiful daughter, Jayda. We live in Waterville, MN. I've been working towards the goal of having gastric bypass surgery since March 17, 2009. Today I got the date and time of my surgery. I will be at Methodist Hospital at 7:20am on June 4, 2010 and the surgery should start around 9:20am. As long as there are no complications, I should be home by June 7th. I am SO excited and SO nervous all at the same time. I know it's going to be a LOT of hard work. I know I will get frustrated, but I also know that the end result will be totally worth it. Right now I am 371 lbs and my ultimate goal is to be at 170 lbs which is what I was in high school. My surgeon told me yesterday that it isn't about the surgery, but more about the lifestyle changes and the end results.