8 Year Anniversary

I have been a terrible blogger lately.
It is always on my "to do" list, but I never seem to get around to it.
Thursday was my 8 year anniversary of my gastric bypass surgery!
It really is hard to believe that it has been that long.
I'm very proud of myself for keeping the weight off
And losing more than half of my former self.
When I stepped on the scale Thursday morning...
It read 139 lbs.

This past year was a little rough in terms of my stomach.
I had hernia surgery in June 2013.
Horrible. Hurt forever.
And it sidelined me from cutting my own grass all summer!
My one joy of the summer months.
In September I went back in for surgery to fix a tiny problem with that surgery.
There was a stitch that was inflamed inside.
He went in and took it out and then numbed the tissue around the area.
Now I have a backwards L scar and lots of weird hanging skin in that area.

Hanging skin.
It's everywhere.
I've learned to hide it quite well.
I bought a new bathing suit the other day.
Never a bikini.
Never a solid one piece.
I will always have to have some type of shorts to hide the gross parts.
But it's ok.
Small price to pay.
I don't think I will ever have that extra junk removed.
I just can't imagine going through that.
And it's not a necessity.

Second Surgery

I had a second surgery on Sept. 13 to fix the stabbing pains on my right side.
They opened me up,
Pulled out a stitch that didn't dissolve yet,
And removed nerve tissue around that area.
It wasn't a bad surgery and I was back to work on Monday.

Last week I developed really bad pains in my chest area, but lower.
It was a cross between gas, cramps and heart burn.
I think it might be the anti-inflammatory meds I'm on.
I took some Prevosec and I felt great today.
Let's hope this keeps on healing quickly!!

Hernia Surgery Problems

I am going back to see the surgeon tomorrow afternoon.
I have been having stabbing pain in my lower right abdomen.
He tried injecting numbing medicine into the area,
But it didn't work.
I might have to have surgery again.
I will find out tomorrow.

Hernia Surgery

Last Tuesday, June 11, I went in for hernia surgery.
I had it taken care of at Community Hospital in Munster by Dr. T. Dempsey.
I was checked in at 7 a.m. and I was in the car picking up prescriptions by 1 p.m.
The procedure went well.
The hernia was bigger than he expected.
I guess it was 8 cm and they had to use a bigger mesh to fix it.
I went to my mom's house for recovery which was a great idea since she doesn't have stairs.

A big shout out to my best friends Sarah and Dustin for letting Tristyn sleep over.
I hope she was good!!!!

Wednesday was hell.
HELL!
I was in so much pain the entire day.
My stomach muscles kept contracting and squeezing together.
They would NOT relax and it killed.
That night we had a big storm roll through.
I went to the basement because I'm terrified of storms.
Tristyn was down there with me and not afraid one bit.
There was a huge clap of thunder and she jumped.
I jumped.
I HURT!
Tristyn kept saying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
Because she thought when she jumped
She accidently hit my stomach.
Oh no...
The thunder scared me and my muscles contracted.
Getting back upstairs was another hellish moment.
It took me about 10 minutes to climb the stairs.

On Thursday I was finally moving around a little better.
Still very sore, but the muscles were better.
Taking a shower helped too.
They made the incision right where my previous incision was.
That way I won't have two scars.
So far it looks like it's healing pretty well.

I finally left my mom's house last night which was Sunday.
It was just time to get back home and back to my own bed.
I go back to the doctor tomorrow for a follow up.
Right now...less than a week later...I'm at school finishing up the yearbook.

I would love to thank my mom for taking such great care of me last week!
She was the best cook, picker upper, drug giver, and getter of things.
And a thank you to Auntie Adie for coming over on Thursday to play with Tristyn.
She had a blast at the library, Target and 2 parks!!!!
Kevin, Julie and Talia for coming to hang out on Friday night!
Thank you for the new faces to look at!!!!
And thanks to Tristyn for being so patient with me and helping me pick stuff up when I drop them!

Oh Hernia.

Well...I'm pretty sure that my stomach isn't supposed to look like this.
We like to call it my Alien Baby.
It's actually a hernia that has developed from the incision from my gastric bypass.
I knew it was there, but it was never visible until just recently.
It also has never hurt, until I picked up Tristyn on Mother's Day.
It felt like I had done 100 sit ups and it was very uncomfortable.
I decided to have it checked out and taken care of before it got worse.
On June 11, I will have surgery to repair the hernia.
It is outpatient, but they are going to make the incision right over my existing scar.
That goes right through me.
It took 7 months for that sucker to heal in 2006.
It better not take that long this time because I have some swimming to do!

7 Years Ago

Seven years ago today I had the surgery that changed my life.
I noticed that I haven't written on this blog in a year!
So sorry!
I looked at my weight stats for 2012 and I was 153 lbs.
Today...a year later...I'm 152 lbs.
Not bad!

These picturse are from my brother's wedding this past November.
I was a bridesmaid and Tristyn was the flower girl.
Wearing this dress and having my hair and makeup done was amazing.
The dress was a size 12.
I only had to have it hemmed and the straps taken in a bit.
Other than that...it fit perfectly.
When has the EVER happened to me?...Never.

My own god mother didn't even recognize me when I came down the aisle.
She literally said to herself, "I didn't know Kevin had another brown haired bridesmaid."
And then she realized it was me.

I felt so pretty that day.
I walked down that aisle with confidence that I had never felt before.
For the first time...I truly felt beautiful.

6 Years Ago!

I cannot believe that it has been 6 years since my surgery.
That sounds so long ago!
Today I am feeling great.
I forgot to weigh myself this morning so I borrowed the nurse's scale.
I weighed in at 153 lbs.
Holding steady and loving it.

I was so excited to go shopping for bridesmaid dresses last week.
I will be in my brother, Kevin's, wedding in November.
In 2006 I had to guess what size I would be for my sister's wedding that September.
By Sept. 30, 2006 I had lost 80 lbs and wore a size 18 dress to the wedding.
This year I will be wearing a size 12 dress. Yay!
It was so weird to actually have fun trying on dresses.

I know I don't post here much anymore
But I want people to know that it is possible to lose the weight
And keep it off.
Even after having a baby.

Now...where's my annual steak?
If I could only unscrew the gas tank to my grill!!! Grrr.