3 months

I had my 3 month appointment the other day. It was a little early but, I lost 6lbs! I was glad! I also had my measurements taken and I lost an inch from my thighs, and an inch from my hips, and 2 inches from my chest! So my body is "morphing" very nicely. I am still going to Zumba twice a week, and on the other days I walk/run. I have never ran before, unless my life depended on it. I decided to run my last half mile the other day after walking, so I did it! I felt so good about myself. And just so we are clear, there are no marathons in my near future! I am going to go get my 3 month pictures taken next week, maybe I will put some on here, maybe?

Star of Star Valley

j

At my last Doctor appointment I set a goal of hiking to the Star of Star Valley, by the end of June. So last Saturday we just finished dinner and Russ said to me "lets go on a hike" So we set out to hike. We made it to the star. It took me 45 minutes to get up to it, But I made it! I was so excited, I wanted to tell the whole world. Here I am proud as ever that I made it.

My 6 year old son made it. That little blue thing at the top is him.

 This is the view of Star Valley from the star. It was very beautiful. We live in such a great place.

 Here are my men that made it with me! Russ was a great tour guide and Brad was a trooper, he ran almost the whole way!

She was our only hold up, About 3/4 of the way there she sat down and just refused to go any further! So I wasn't going to stop that far so I told her to sit there in the shade and we just kept an eye on her. We could see her the whole time. This is how she was when we came back down. Hands on her hips and all!!

Here is a view of the star from our house. As you can see it is quite different from up close. It was a great hike all in all, But if you asked me to do it again anytime soon, I would have to say no. It was straight up. That was hard. But I am glad I did it and accomplished my goal.

Now......drum roll please, my next goal is going to be a 5K on August 4th! I am excited to go. I have asked my dad to do it with me. Lets see how many other people I can shame into going with me!
I will post more when I get to that day. 

I'm Back

Well here I am back again. I haven't been updating lately. My son just got finished with kindergarten and Summer is in full swing. I am feeling so much better, full of energy, and happier. I am down 5  more pounds. So that is a grand total of 35 pounds. I put on a size smaller pants today and they fit really good. I even have a little wiggle room in them! It feels great.
My birthday is on Monday and my husband is taking me out this weekend for it. I don't know where we are going or what we are doing but I bought a smaller shirt to wear while we are out. I have to admit, while baggy clothes make me feel good about the weight I have lost, nice fitting clothes make me look better.
I attended Zumba last week. I was told to do what I felt like was possible for me. I felt so good compared to a year ago when I was going. I stayed the whole hour and a half. I just made sure and kept it low key. It feels good to get out and do some good, fun exercise. Then on days I don't have Zumba, I walk on the treadmill for around 20 minutes.
As for my eating habits, I am always craving salty foods. Weird huh? I love cottage cheese. The amount of food I am eating is around 4 ounces. That fills me up just great.  I am taking my Vitamins everyday, and my fish oil capsules. They have really helped me all around. If I would have known about the benefits of it I would have started taking them a long time ago.
Well I think that is all for today. Any questions? Let me know.
Thanks for your time.

Insulin numbers!

I had my insulin checked right before my surgery. My number was 75 (that's high) so my surgeon was worried about that number, so he had them check my number last Monday. I just heard from his office and my number has gone down to 11!!!!! I am so excited. Now I don't have to do meds for it. I am still holding at my 30 lbs but I am exercising more now and hopefully I will be dropping more soon. I am on most regular food as long as I chew enough and choose healthy options. Everything is going well.

30 pounds!!!!

I stepped onto the scale today and I have officially lost 30 pounds! I am so excited I am going to buy myself a new shirt.

Week 4

I had my Dr. Apt. Today. Everything looks good. I only had one concern, I was putting vitamin E on my stomach one night and I felt a little rough stuff on my incision above my belly button. I thought it was a scab taking its sweet time to fall off. So I kept an eye on it. It didn't go away but it snagged on my clothes, it was annoying. I had my husband look at it and he said he thought it was a stitch. Well I didn't have stitches on the outside. Well I talked to a few people and they said it probably was a dissolvable stitch from the inside. Of course it was and my Dr. Told me its fine and just keep it clean and eventually it will go away. Other than that I'm doing well. According to the scales I have lost 29 lbs. a really weird place I have noticed it coming off is my shoulders I can't keep my bra straps on to save me, and my shirt collars are much looser. It's just not a place I thought weight would come off. Anyway the soft foods are going well. I tried a hard boiled egg the other day and I was very uncomfortable for a while. I don't know if it was just not chewed up enough or I don't know. My favorite thing I have tried is cooked carrots. Oh they were good! I walked my first mile since my surgery, yesterday. It felt good, so I did it again tonight. The weather is so nice I can't resist. I like walking. People stare at you quite a bit when your walking down main street with a double stroller and two kids singing. But hey it's kind of strength training, together they are 80lbs! My clothes are really fitting loose. I am not down a size yet but I love peoples reaction when they haven't seen me for a week, they are surprised how good I'm doing. It makes me feel good, and I love telling people about my whole experience. I think people need to know about it, ther are so many misconceptions about weight-loss surgery. Thanks for reading today.

Soft food stage

Well today I am supposed to start my soft diet. I have been looking forward to this stage for a while now. But the closer it got, the more nervous I got. I know it sounds weird, but I waited to eat anything in that category until lunch. I never thought I would like protein shakes but they have become my best friend. For lunch I ate some chicken. It wasn't bad but of course I didn't chew them enough. It was a little uncomfortable for a while, but I'm fine now. I finally broke down and bought me a food scale. I know I should have had one by now but I just measured everything in a measuring cup. The scale will be easier with more soft foods. All of my steri strips are off now. My incisions look really good. I found some vitamin E oil at family dollar for cheap. I am going to use those on my scars to help minimize them. Not that I plan on showing off my belly a whole lot. I just don't lie scars on me. I am feeling really good. I still get kind of tried around 2 and I have to rest for a little while. I would recommend this procedure to anyone that has had weight issues their whole life. I am glad I did this. My next Dr. Appointment will be next Friday. I am looking forward to see how I am progressing. I will update then.

1 week post-op

I have survived week 1!!! I went to Dr. apt. on Thursday, I have lost 10 lbs.  So I went and bought me a present! My first steri-strip came off. I don't know but it felt like a security blanket. I am a little nervous. My husband thinks I am crazy, he has a higher tolerance for pain. Not that it was painful, it just scares me. My diet is going well. It consists of full liquid, that is like light yogurt, sugar-free pudding, cream of wheat cereal, and cream soups, like potato, chicken, mushroom. It's not too bad. I can have 4 oz. every hour, but that includes water so I have to keep track. If I have more than that my stomach can get hurting, and get stretched out. I also have an issue with swallowing air when I eat. So every time I take a bite, I have to wait for a burp. I don't know if that is normal or not, I have a follow-up apt. next week I'll ask then.
I love stepping on the scale and seeing the numbers coming down! Now stepping on the scale is one of my favorite things. I haven't had any pain medicine for about 4 days now. I feel like I am getting back to a "normal" life. except it is hard to wear a bra or levis, because of the incisions. But that is why I have those yoga pants, right? I can't lift more than 10lbs right now, sometimes it has its challenges. But I get by.
My friends and family have been great support and help during this time. I love and appreciate them so much.
Well I am signing out for now. Any questions? you know what to do.

I'm Home

Well I got home on Monday, But I have been trying to focus on getting better and taking care of my family.
Monday was okay. I napped quite a bit and tried keeping up on my liquids as much as I could. I am now on a full liquid diet. I am supposed to eat no more than 4 oz. every hour. I know that doesn't sound like much but its quite hard. I can't drink water at the same time I am drinking anything else. Tuesday was a different story. I woke up not in too bad of pain because I had kept on top of it. So If figured I would be ok going a little bit longer in between doses. It makes me really drowsy. So anyway when I felt the pain coming on I decided to take some, I wasn't thinking right and I took it on an empty stomach....I just then remembered so I ate some yogurt. Well not too long after that it all came right up. Your not supposed to throw up with this recovery. I called the Medical Asst. She said just try eating something a little lighter like broth. So I tried it, well It came right up too. I was nervous by now. So I just drank water. Nothing sounded good to me, except for a protein shake. So I called Jennie, and asked her if I could just try a protein shake. She said if it sounded good to me then to go ahead. I was not supposed to have protein shakes because it could upset my stomach. Well I was desperite. I tried one, really slow. IT WORKED!! I felt so much better. I hadn't had any pain control since that morning and I was feeling okay. The worst my pain felt like I had done a bunch of sit ups the day before. My stomach was just sore. So I firgured I would just take strong pain control at night.
Today I feel a little queesy, but I can handle it. I did get to eat some pudding. My water consumption is going well.
Next time I will tell you about my hospital experience.
Until Then...

Surgery Day

Tomorrow is April 27th and I will be going in to have my surgery at 8 am! I cant believe it is finally here. I am so nervous, I didn't sleep well last night. Tonight I plan on taking some Tylenol pm.
The Diet has been going well so far. Yesterday was an "empty stomach" day. I just never felt satisfied, no matter how many protein drinks I had. But today I woke up and I had to tell myself to drink one but I wasn't hungry.
My husband has told me once I loose 100 pounds that he will take me on a cruise! I am way excited. Don't tell him but I have already been looking them up. LOL
I got a call from the surgery department this morning and they went through all of the details with me. No having anything to eat or drink after midnight tonight. I have to be there at 6:30 am to have my mid-line started. They also had me come in and have my lab work done today so they didn't have to wait on those tomorrow morning.
I have lost 12 pounds so far being on this 1000 calories/day diet. Not as much as they would have liked me to but I have been following it very well.
I have my before pictures, but I am not going to post them until I have lost a significant amount worth bragging about.
Well, next time I post I hope to be out of surgery and doing well!!

1000 Calorie/day Diet

I started my 1000 calorie/day diet Monday. I thought it was going to be 700/day but Jennie told me it was more! I was glad, you wouldn't think 300 more calories a day would be that big of a difference, but it IS! I have downloaded an app on my ipad that is great. It is called my fitness pal, it works a lot like weight watchers online, but its free. You can also use it just on your regular computer.  
My husband, bless his heart, is going to do this diet with me. Just mainly for support. Disclaimer: do not do this diet unless you are told to by your physician. It is done in order to shrink your liver so it is easier to get to your stomach in this surgery. 
I worked Monday so I drank a protein shake (4 oz water 4 oz skim milk with one scoop of powder) in the morning before I went to work. Then I drank another one while I was at work. Around 3 pm I was having a rough time but I got over it. We went bowling that night for my son's B-day and for the bowling package he got a pizza for him and his friends. Well it looked so good, I had a piece! ooops, so I thought.... I came home and put in my info about the pizza into myfitnesspal and just having one slice wasn't so bad. However it took up my calories for the rest of the day. But I was fine. So the first day was the hardest. These last 2 days have not been as hard.
Yesterday I went in to check in with my Dr. and have a metabolic check. This is a test where they have you breath into a tube for 10 minutes and they test your metabolism. Mine is High. So why am I overweight if I have a high metabolism? It was explained to me but I don't understand that kind of stuff to well so I trust them.
While I was at the hospital the Health Fair was going on. I decided after talking to my Dr. and to Jennie (she is the Human Resource Generalist) She makes sure everything is running smoothly with your nutrition and your health. So anyway I decided to get my blood draw done to have all my numbers checked. I want to see how unhealthy I am now compared to when I loose weight.
I have before pictures I will get them posted on here in the next little while. I watched a youtube video yesterday too that is so inspiring to me. I will post the link here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdBLyaM7flY I hope this works, if not go to youtube and type in this in the search bar, 100lb weight loss in 6 months - vertical gastric sleeve (VGS) vertical sleeve gastrectomy. Happy watching!
I love her quote at the end "Love yourself enough to be healthy" I am putting that on a sticky note on my vanity!
Any questions again let me know. I would love to help you.

Weight loss Surgery

I have decided to have the Gastric Sleeve done. Well I decided I wanted weight loss surgery a long time ago but none of them seemed right for me. I have a lot of co-morbidities (sp) I have a BMI of 45, I have type 2 diabetes, I have depression, I have sleep apnea, and acid reflux. That is discusting, I know. That is why I need to do something! I heard about the sleeve procedure from a local Dr. telling my dad about it. They have only done 1 surgery in our hospital so far. That surgery in my mind was a total success. She had her surgery on December 16th and I saw her in the end of February and she had lost 50 lbs.!! I knew this surgery was for me! I got my approval letter from my insurance two weeks ago. I am scheduled to have my surgery on the 27th of April. WOW! I know. What is the sleeve? you ask, well here is a link I have found that describes it and gives testimonials. http://www.ready4achange.com/sleeve-gastrectomy-success-stories
I plan on blogging about my success every step of the way. Today I have a meeting with the Doctors assistant and a nutritionist. I have to start a 700 calorie/day diet on the 17th. (just looking at what I ate this weekend I was shocked) It is to shrink my liver so the doctor can get around it to do the surgery. I have heard that the first 3 days are going to be the worst. My meeting this morning we are going to discuss the diet and how to best make it through. If you have any questions on this or for me e-mail me or leave a comment. parsonsfamily2008@yahoo.com

St. Patty's Day Fun

Happy St. Patty's Day
This year my kids are really into trying to get the gold from the leprechaun! So I decided to put together a little scavenger hunt for them. Here are the things I did.
First I cut out the Leprechaun on my cricut machine.
Then I cut out the shamrocks on there as well. I put clues on them so that my son can read them as they go along, so it's really simple. They end in the basement with a pot of chocolate gold coins and hershey's pot of gold candies.
I hope they love it. And I hope you enjoy this post. I haven't posted forever so I figured this would be a good way to get back on the bandwagon!
Love Ya All

Basement

Here is our spare bedroom, so if you ever need a place to stay!!!













This is my new Craft room!! I love it, it is my own little sanctuary.













Here is the one side of the family room. Now we have a couch there, it is amazing and deserves a post of its own.











Here is Sissy and I with our matchy hair do's Karen did any amazing job for both of us. And Sissy got to go to a real salon and have her hair cut. she was so good.

Santa!!!!!

Brad and Sissy got to go see Santa at Kings today!! They loved it. Sissy had to go first because Brad was a little apprehensive at first, But once he saw how nice and calm he was he went right up and talked his ear off. Now Santa gets to go work on their presents and hopefully make it back before Christmas!

Birthday Present

For Sissy's b-day her daddy painted her room for her. And we set up her day bed. (more pics to come later.) She is so excited in this picture.

I have to brag!!!

I made this dress for Lauren. It is the first time I have ever tried anything this big! She wore it to church last week. It was a little hot for her but she got so many compliments, even from men!!
Don't mind the cheesy grin.

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home

These guys are the best, Turn up your sound so you can hear them in all their glory!!

Bunnies!!!

The Bunnies are officially here!! We love them so much. Their names are Thunder or Thumper, and Daisy. Lauren can't decide which to name hers.

Rainy Day Fun