Amazing!!

WOW I have now lost 20lbs!! I am 5 lbs away from the lightest I have been in 6 years. I am super excited about my progress!! And when I have a little more time I will post about all the upcoming things  I have to do before surgery!

Loss weight and pain!

Ok so I am not sure which is the culprit but I am happy and feeling good about it. I have been pain free for 6 days without pain medicine or other. I have been changing the way I walk, stand, sit, bend, squat, etc. Whenever I do anything I am putting my weight on my left leg and all the effort goes to that leg. I also have been not leaning on my right side (dysplastic side) when turning or doing anything else and I have noticed a decrease in inflammation in that area and I have not felt any symptoms of my hip issues. SI pain, sciatica, knee pain, achy, lots of pain etc. At the same time I have lost a little weight. Here's the break down:
START DATE:     7/12    START WEIGHT 264    LOSS:   
                            9/6         Nutrition appt    257       7
                            9/10            Start Phen    254       10
                            9/11                                253.5    10.5
                            9/12                                248.1    15.9
                            9/20                                245.8    18.2

So I am pretty stoked about my progress and excited about what more I can see. I felt like I was in a plateau even though I dont know if you can be in one only a week after starting something new like phentermine. any way today I saw 3 lbs down so I was happy. Though even more than weight, I have seen a huge amount of change in my body. I think I will make an appointment with my personal trainer and see how many inches I have lost. I was a size 24, and now in between 20-22. I went in to a thrift store to get some work pants since I refuse to spend too much money on some clothes I will grow out of quick ;) and I decided to be adventurous and try on a 16! Well it turns out my legs fit a 16 but my tummy is almost there. :) I almost closed the button!! Wow small feats huh? Well I am happy!

Also, I found out my surgery will be at Swedish Hospital and that sounds wonderful!

SURGERY SCHEDULED!!!

WOW. So I have a date to look forward to: December 20, 2011. That is the day I am getting my PAO. It is such a relief to have a day and know that hopefully soon I will have no more pain. :D

My health is good

Well, I have not written in a few days because I have been so busy. So on Tuesday 9/6 I met with a nutritionist who gave me a new and different way to view food and some tricks of her own and meal plans. So after talking about things I like to eat and how much of those foods that have a hold on me we figured out I am a binge eater. And this is really hard for me to accept because I always prided myself on having control over my own choices since I have overcome many issues including stopping smoking a couple times. But when she was asking me: "If you have a bowl of candy on the table in front of you would you know when to stop after a few pieces? Or would you maybe eat the candy until your have a little tummy ache? Do you sometimes "sneak" food by eating quickly when no one is looking and repeat that scenario several times a day?" I had to think about that for minute. My first thought was No way, I don't do that. But the reality is that sweet things are my nemesis and I do often eat way more than I should sometimes stopping when my tummy is a little sick. The last question was super hard for me to say out loud and for that reason I knew that that was me. I hope by letting it out again here I am helping myself accept the reality of it and admit it again to myself. It is a little like admitting you have an addiction. So basically if there is something in the house I super like I will have a normal serving size with my family like if it is cake, candy, ice cream, pop tarts, anything sweet. But when noone is in the kitchen I will have more and super fast as if not to get caught. And doing that more than once a day. After thinking about it, yes I do those things she asked me and we figured out I am a binge eater. So was she. So she developed this idea after years of struggling with her own issues that what if she could teach her body to act that way with "healthy" foods, natural flavors, fruits, veggies, etc. And she did. She trained herself to hate the bad things for her body and crave the good things. The basis is simple and if you know anything about psychology 101 then you probably have a good understanding of it. The process is positively reinforcing good behavior/food. You are tricking your mind into believing that good is good and bad is bad. While you eat good things you are telling yourself EVERY good thing about it. Feels so good in your tummy, makes you have energy etc. And then after you eat lets say lunch or dinner and you are super full from the super healthy meal you eat something that you normally would too much of. So I got bite sized snickers. After lunch and dinner I eat 1 piece and the whole time I'm eating it I am telling myself how bad it is for me, how bad it tastes, and believe me when you are full you definitely do not enjoy eating that candy when you are telling yourself how bad it is. LOL. So that is going good, after 5 days I do not want the candy and I really have a hard time eating it. Though it is really hard to say good bye to something that I have associated with comfort for long. I also have to fight the cravings and thoughts just like I did when I quit smoking.

I got my heart echo done on Weds 9/7 and that was kind of awkward. You lay on a table and roll to the left then the tech opens up a door under the table and you fell like you're going to fall through. And also wierd because I had to hold one boob up while the other one was free falling through the door under the table. I was watching the screen and it is crazy to see your moving organs functioning inside your body. It was crazy to my heart pumping away and it turns out everything is fine with my heart and normal. So I got started on Phentermine yesterday. Since I met with the nutritionist I have lost 4 lbs and I am not working out because I have been in so much pain this week. I went once last week but I am just strengthening and not doing cardio.

Tomorrow, 9/12 I am going to call Dr. Downers office and schedule my PAO. *enter nervous giggle here*
I just want it set and a date to look forward to. One of my employees loves me so much she said I should get a hospital bed in my store and she would help me so I could still work LOL. She will miss me I am sure.

Echocardiogram

Last post I got an EKG and now I thought it would be a good idea to add what an EKG is. An Electrocardiogram is a check of the electrical activity of the heart. well mine came back not "normal". So the cardiologists that reviewed the EKG said they would like me to get a heart echo (echocardiogram). I actually got a pretty quick appt. for Weds 9/14 for an echocardiogram. An echocardiogram is a test where an ultrasound is used to look at the heart. Basically this form of the test there is no prep and is done lying down on a table.
I hope my doc can get the results back fast and everything is fine. What turned out to be a simple EKG before starting the phentermine weight loss has turned into a bigger and pretty scary issue. I am most likely OK but just the thought I may have a separate issue is scary man!! Well I will post my experience and the results :D