Skills Class

Tuesday night I attended my skills class. This class focused on what we need to do pre and post up regarding nutrition, medicine, and getting our bodies ready for surgery and also what to expect the day of. This was probably one of the most beneficial of all the classes I have been too, but it also was the most realistic and scared the shit out of me. One thing that I was told that I didn't realize was that I need to stop taking my birth control for 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after, apparently it thins your blood. I've been on it for over 10 years, so I'm a little nervous about how my body will react to this, should be interesting. We were also given this soap solution called hexa-cleanse. We need to wash our tummies with this 3 days prior to surgery twice a day. This is supposed to get rid of normal bacteria and germs that we carry on our skin.

During the nutrition portion of the class is when I really got nervous. I knew that the post op diet was going to be tough, but seeing it laid out on paper was really scary. It said for week 1, breakfast- jello or broth, lunch- jello or broth, dinner- jello or broth. Week 2, slowly add in yogurt, pudding, cream based soups and oatmeal into your diet. Week 3, slowly add in cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, and apple sauce. Week 4, continue week 3's diet. Then finally week 5 you can start adding soft mushy REAL food into your diet. It just made it all seem so real seeing it all written down like this. I can do it though, and I WILL do it....

Last night Ricky asked me if we could go grocery shopping today, I started laughing and said why, I won't be eating anything for the next 2 months lol. I forget that I will still need to take care of him though, I just don't know how I am going to find the power to cook for him some nights and not nibble on this and that.

Well on a happier note, I am still smiling ear to ear about my engagement! Everytime I get discouraged I just look down at my finger, and that brings a smile to my face. I have been keeping myself busy looking up wedding ideas, and making a wedding website. I know its still far away, but its a great distraction. The website still has a way's to go, but if you want to sneak a peak the address is http://www.mywedding.com/rickandkristen/

Hope everyone is doing well! xxoo

I'M ENGAGED!!

It happened last night! I am officially engaged! I am so freakin excited right now, and I haven't stopped smiling since. Here is how it happened:

Rick told me yesterday afternoon he wanted to take me out for a special last dinner before my fasting begins. It was a really nice day out, so he said why don't we go down to the beach. When we got there he pulled up to a lighthouse, and I was like what the hell are we doing?? He pointed and said we are having dinner up there! So we climbed ALL the way up to the top, and once there, there was table set for the 2 of us, and nice romantic music playing. We ordered an appetizer and our entree and it was delicious. When we were done with those we decided to climb outside on the deck that surrounds the top of the lighthouse to watch the sunset. We were hugging, and he asked me if I loved him, I of course said yes, he then asked how much, I said lots, and then he said do you love me enough to marry me?? I looked at him and he was down on 1 knee holding the ring. I said oh my god are you kidding me??? Started to cry, then said YES! We then climbed back inside and enjoyed a brownie sundae and champagne. It was more then I could have even imagined!

The thing that means the most to me, is that he proposed before surgery. This to me shows that he loves me no matter what....fat or skinny. I am so grateful to have him in my life, and for the support he has given me through all of this. I can not stop smiling today, and I don't ever want this feeling to end.

As for wedding details, those obviously still need to be worked out. This is what the idea is as of right now. We will have a destination wedding in Jamaica probably in 2011. Only our parents and his sisters will attend this. When we get back we will have an at home reception for everyone to attend. That's all I have for now, hope everyone has a fantastic day!!

APPROVED and 2nd behavioral class

YIPPPEEEEEE ***HAPPY DANCE*** Last night at around 5:30, as I was stuffing my face @ Boloco I got a call from the hospital saying they received a call that I have been approved! I started screaming in the restaurant with excitement, everything is now official. This is the best feeling.

My second behavioral class went much better then the first. People talked to me, and it seemed like I might even be able to make a few friends out of this. The topic of discussion was what triggers us to eat. We went around the room and all talked about what are trigger points were. Some that were mentioned were: TV food commercials, Time on the month, Set schedules for eating meals, Boredom, Emotions, and Clean your plate syndrome. After this list was made we then broke into groups and discussed different things we could do instead of eating and how to prevent these trigger points from getting to us. The things we found that could be helpful were: Take up a hobby, Post 'skinny' pictures around the house, Start cleaning, Fast forward through the commercials, Plan your menu for the week ahead of time, When dining out ask for half your meal to be wrapped up ahead of time. All of these tips I felt were very interesting and it was nice to hear what everyone else's thoughts were. I found that some of their trigger points actually got me thinking, hey I do that too!

As for upcoming appointments, I have my 3rd behavioral class next Monday, and then Tuesday I have my skills class @ the hospital....not quite sure what this entails.

Pre-Op Appointment

So Friday was the big day, my pre-op testing!! I had worked myself up so much for this, and it really did make this all seem so real and close. My appointment was for 11am, I arrived around 10:40 and checked in. The first thing that was done was my EKG. This was my first time getting one of these, it was pretty cool. Basically I was brought into a small room and was asked to undress up top and put a johnny on. Then the lady put stickers under the crease of my boob and on my chest. She then pressed a button on a monitor, and before I knew it she said all done...it was probably 30 seconds! I couldn't believe it was over so quickly. After my EKG I was brought to an office to talk to a nurse about my health history. She asked if I had ever been put under before, which I have once when I got my wisdom teeth out. We also talked about the do's and don't of preparing for surgery. One thing I was surprised to learn was that I need to stop taking my multi vitamin due to conflicts that can happen because of it and anesthesia. The nurse also let me know that as of right now I am the only one scheduled for surgery on my day, this was great news! I really want to be the first appointment of the day, so I don't have time to get worked up all morning. After going over all of my health history, I met with an anesthesiologist. He was a really nice man, I let him know about my needle phobia, and he wrote it in my file and told me that they had some numbing cream they could rub on me beforehand. It made me feel good that he seemed to actually care about my needle anxiety, and didn't just rub it off like most of the drs. We talked for about 5 minutes, and then we were done. Next was the hard part, my blood work. I went down to the lab and immediately started crying when I got up to the desk. The lady felt bad and told me to hang on a second and she would go get someone that was really good and patient. This again made me feel good. I preceded to cry like a baby and was brought into the room. The nurse asked why I was so worked up, and I said I didn't really know it just always happens when I need blood work. She prepared everything, I needed 15 tubes, eeek! She then said 1,2,3 and did it, nervously I yelled "1,2,3 OUCH!" She kinda jumped and told me I scared the crap out of her, oops! That took about 5 minutes and then I was all set! YAY!!! My last appointment was with the nurse practitioner Corrine. I got weighed, down another 3lbs, making a total of 6lbs. Corrine told me I was doing a great job, and that because of this I only needed to do shakes for 2 weeks instead of 3!! woo-hoooo! She wrote me a prescription for the HMR shakes and I was out of there. I went to the hospital pharmacy and picked up my shakes, $130!! OUCH! These I guess you can't use insurance for, you need to pay out of pocket. GRRRRR. But I am still really excited to start them, and see how weight I can lose on them.

I had a great weekend. Friday 5 of my college friends and I rented a place on Hampton Beach. I counted this at my last big hoorah before surgery. I went crazy and drank lots, it was such a good time! The only bad part was that because of drinking so much I got a little sicky last night and when throwing up I burst a blood vessel in my eye. GROSS!

That's about everything, tomorrow will be my second behavioral class GREAT! Wish me luck!!

1 down 3 to go...

Last night was my first of four behavioral classes at the hospital. Anyone having bariatric surgery here has to complete these classes. The class was from 5:30-7 in a conference room in the hospital. I was by far the youngest person there, and this made me a little un-comfortable. During our introductions we were asked to talk about why we wanted surgery, I said because since I am still young and healthy I wanted to have surgery to prevent myself from getting obesity related health problems. The lady across from me then replies "so basically you don't want to end up like all of us?" I felt bad but it was true.

The next exercise was to teach us about mindful eating. We were all given one raisin, and were told to look at it, touch it, smell it, and taste it. The Dr. asked us to describe what we saw and felt each time. I stated that the raisin looked like my bunnies poop, which it did. Everyone starred at me and rolled their eyes, and one lady said "well there goes my appetite" I felt like such an idiot, I guess it was just one of those diarrhea of the mouth moments. Oh well, I can get through this and I will.

As for an insurance update, I am getting really frustrated. I called Aetna yesterday and they told me a letter was sent to my hospital last week saying they needed more information. I called the hospital's insurance department today and got an answering service....I just want to get everything finalized. I go for my pre-op testing this Friday and those results are only valid for 30 days, so if Aetna doesn't approve me for surgery on the 14th then I will have to go through it all over again. I don't' know what to do :(

Victory is mine!

Hi Everyone, so not much has changed, still waiting for next week to come. Monday I start my behavioral classes and Friday I go for pre-op testing!! Yesterday I called Aetna to check on the status of my approval, they said they received my information on 6/22 and it is still pending. Damn it I want to receive that approval letter soooo bad.

So last night I had a scale victory! It read that I have lost 9 lbs since my initial weigh in. How exciting!! I just want to keep it up and have it be an official 10 lb lost when I weigh in next Friday @ the hospital. I have been really good at paying attention to my portion sizes. Today I discovered a great food find, it's called Chobani Greek Yogurt. I like the strawberry and it has 0 grams of fat, 140 calories, and 14 grams of protein! woo hoo! This plus a string cheese for breakfast makes a pretty hearty meal, I had it at 8am and its now 12:30 and I'm still not that hungry.