busy bee

Gosh, I've been busy lately! I don't know where the time has gone! I can't believe the holidays are here! It's insane!

I had my gall bladder a few weeks ago, so I'm feeling MUCH better now! The surgeon that did it knew Dr. Nelson, and he said that she did a REALLY good job on my gastric bypass. Go, Dr. Nelson! I had to call and brag to her about it. I left her a message that he'd said she was awesome.

I got transferred to another store last month, so I've been crazy busy with work. I finally got a weekend off work coming up. I get to spend some time with my kiddos, and go out with friends! Yay for me!

I lost a little more weight after the gall bladder surgery. They didn't let me eat for like 36 hours! I thought I was gonna......well maybe not die, but I was so hungry! Afterwards I felt like my pouch was brand new. I'm just now getting to where I can eat more than two or three bites at a time. Before I was hovering around 165, now I hover around 160, give or take a couple pounds. I actually saw a couple 159's! I can't remember the last time I saw number this low on the scale! I remember the 260's, but not the 160's!

So Thanksgiving is hear again, I can't wait! I love me some turkey! I think I'm gonna have two big dinners that day! Whew! I have a get together at my sisters new house that afternoon. I can't wait to see her place! (Which reminds me, I'd better be getting directions here soon!) Then, later that evening, I think I'm gonna have a get together with my friends too. Nothing too big, just some good food, and maybe play some cards or something! That's something I miss about growing up. I can remember sitting at my Mema's house and playing cards ALL day it seemed! I loved playing cards, still do!

Well, I'm gonna get off of here, got stuff to do, like I said, busy busy! Catch you all later, have a fantastic Thanksgiving! Sarah

looks like surgery

I had my gall bladder ultrasound today. I don't know what the doctors say yet, but from what the technician said, it looks like I'm going to need to have it removed. I have multiple gallstones. She said they're small, but there are several of them. I'm not really worried about the surgery. I trust Dr. Nealson and her judgment completely. I'm just a little anxious. I'd be crazy not to be, right?

I have BSM (Basic Shift Management) class next week. Yay for me. I'm really looking forward to that! I like learning something new, and I like my job, so I'm sure I'll enjoy a few days away from the store and in a learning environment. PLUS! It'll help me get my next promotion! Yay again for me! I never imagined running my own store, and I don't reckon that's where I'm headed, but who knows? Maybe someday? I mean my store manager is awesome and he's a couple years younger than me! Maybe someday I'll run my own store, who knows? I'm looking forward to the next step though. Assistant Management, here I come.

12 mo. post op appointment

My appointment went pretty well. I to get an ultrasound of my gall bladder, because Dr. Nelson thinks I might be having gall bladder attacks. Minor set back, and I trust her explicitly. I'm having the ultrasound done on the 8th, so I'll let you know the results when I do. Other than that, we're all pleased with where I am now. I feel great, this year. I added an updated photo for you guys. I haven't really lost much in the past couple months, but I am still getting smaller. Exact opposite of my first 6 week post op appointment. I'd lost a considerable amount of weight, but I was still the same size that I'd been before surgery. I'm still twenty pounds away from the goal that Dr. Nelson set for m, but I've made the goals I set for myself.









This is Erica, Dr. Nelson's PA, and I on the 28th. (left) Erica is the nicest person. She's so encouraging and sweet! She always so happy to see you! This is Dr. Nelson, my surgeon, and I. (right) I love Dr. Nelson, she gave me back my life. Gave my kids back their mom. Thank you guys! You two are the best!

I've been watching this season's biggest loser. I love that show, I used to want to be on it! The whole being on camera in a sports bra and spandex short though....just thinking about it made me want to throw up! I don't think I could have done that! Kuddos to the women brave enough to inspire us all! It's inspired me to get my stationary bike out. I should exercise more than I do, it's just hard to find the time. I work nights, sleep while my kids are in school, and help them with homework and spend time with them for a couple hours before I have to head out for work. My bike is something I can do while I watch TV, because it's super quiet. Now if I could figure out how to do that, and be online at the same time, ha ha ha! The only problem I have is after a few minutes the seat becomes extremely uncomfortable! It didn't used to be that way, but I guess I'm missing some padding back there that I used to have. I don't know what I can do, if anything, to make the seat more comfortable. I need to try padding it, or something. Anyone got any ideas? I'm thinking, or hoping, that on my days off it might be nice to go on a walk with the kids after dinner. It's starting to get chilly here at night already. It's usually still pretty warm this time of year. I know Halloween's gonna be really cold!

I am having some qualms about exercising though. I know they're probably silly. I'm just about where I want to be size wise. I wouldn't be bothered by losing one more size, but I don't want to get smaller than a size 6. Personally my goal was somewhere between a 6 and a 10. Right now I'm a size 8. I'm afraid of losing too much. I don't want to lose so much that I don't look or feel healthy. I can't wrap my mind around a size 4. I'm happy where I'm at now. I know the importance of exercise and I want to be fit. How to I exercise and get fit without losing too much more?

Those are my thoughts for today. That's what's going on with me! Hope everyone is enjoying their week!

sick and tired of being sick and tired

Well I broke down and went to the doctor today. I threw up last night, and I HATE throwing up. I had to admit defeat and call the MD up. I started having some major issues with my allergies about two weeks ago. They were whooping my butt, I'm not gonna lie. I tried an OTC antihistamine, but all that did was make me sleepy. Well Dr. McCauley says I've worked it up to bronchitis, yay. The first time I ever had bronchitis, my Mom and I got it together, and man we were both sick bad. Heck, if I remember right it may have been near pneumonia for her. I just remember being miserable. I had a pretty bad bout with it while I was pregnant the first time. I think I fought with it about this time every year when I was in high school, but I hadn't had it in awhile. Things are a little different now though. I have kids now, and I work fast food....can't have everyone getting sick. Bronchitis isn't really contagious, thank goodness, but I thought I'd better make sure, and after throwing up last night I figured I'd better make sure that's all it was. They swabbed me for the flu, of course....you know, doing their job and all that jazz. I was unpleasantly surprised by how UNCOMFORTABLE that actually was! The little do-hickey they swabbed my nose with hurt, even made my nose bleed a tiny bit. Thank goodness that came back negative though! I don't want the flu, and I don't want my babies to get sick.

Whilst I was there, I decided to check on my referral to OU plastics. One of Dr. McCauley's nurses called several weeks ago to let me know that she had put the referral in, and they should be calling me within a week. I never actually got that phone call, so they're going to call tomorrow and see if we can't get me an appointment soon. I don't know when I'm looking at doing it though. With the holidays coming home I can't exactly take a bunch of time off work. I don't even know how much time off a boob job, or a tummy tuck would require. I'm sure the latter would require more recoop time than the first? I don't know. Paul will be home on leave for nearly all of December, so maybe if I do it early in the month I'll have some time before Christmas hits? Not a lot going on here, other than that. Just working my tail end off and got me some meds to help me get over being sick.

Hope everyone else is doing okay! Kisses! (No wait, with me being sick that might be a bad idea.) How about a hand shake and pass the Germ-X!

I'm BAAAAAAAAAAAACCKKKK!!!!

I'm down about ten more pounds since my last post! YAY, go me! I'm going to be a year post op tomorrow. I can't believe it's gone by so fast, and with hardly any set backs! It's been a bumpy road, and a lot as happened this year, but as far as the surgery front goes, it's been smooth sailing.

a look back......

A year ago today I weighed nearly 300 pounds! I was struggling to zip up my size 22 pants, and no matter how big my shirts were, I was never quite comfortable. I could hardly do anything without being short of breath, and I couldn't even begin to keep up with the pace of my kids! My solution was Dr. Lana Nealson of Oklahoma Weight Loss Options (OWLO). I contacted my health insurance company to find out what I had to do to get them to cover the cost of my surgery, and to find a surgeon that accepted my insurance. I called, set up my first appointment and went to my seminar. I learned that it was going to be a change that I would have to commit to, something I would need to do for the rest of my life. There's a lot more to it than surgery, and eating right afterwards. There are rules to follow, supplements to take, vitamins that are needed. I went to a few support groups, and learned a lot. The couple months between my first appointment and my surgery flew by. I began to see the life I could have, the one that was waiting for me. I won't go as far to say that Dr. Nealson saved my life. I could have gone on for quite awhile just the way I was. Dr. Nealson did something much more for me, she gave me my life back. The only thing worse that losing life, is to watch it pass you by.

I still look in the mirror, and don't particularly like what I see. But now I can go shopping, and the clothes fit, so they're too big. I actually squeezed into a pair of size 8 blue jeans a couple weeks ago. I'm a size 10, and the fit perfectly, if not a bit too big. I can run a mile, and while I still sweat my butt off, I don't feel faint at the end of it, I'm not out of breath. I can keep up with my kids now. I can chase them around the back yard, and swim all day at the lake. My blood pressure is fixed, and I've lost a total of 133 pounds today. I still yo yo back and forth about five pounds. I got down to 161 at one point. I've learned what I can and can't eat. I've learned that moderation is better than denying myself all the treats all the time. Things are better now than they've been in a very long time.

I'm starting to look into plastic surgery now. I've got a bit of that excess skin going on. It's mostly around my gut. It's the hardest part to lose, well I lost it, but it's still there, just not fun to look at. I'd also like to get my breast fixed, they've deflated and they're pretty gross too. The final thing I'd like to get done is my arms. I've got the bat flaps going on, and if strength training doesn't help them I'd like to get that taken care of too.

Today, I'm as happy as I could have ever expected to be. My surgery has changed my life in ways I never imagined possible! My children are happier and healther for the changes I've made, and the changes that have happened in the past year. Thank you Dr. Nealson, you are truely a god send. Thank you OWLO, for teaching me everything I'd need to know, and not letting me walk blindly into the rest of my life. Thank you Mom, for holding my hand, while I got this done. I couldn't have done this without you! And a special thanks to my babies. I would have never saw a reason to fix me, if it hadn't been for them. Today, I'm looking forward to the rest of my life. I see a future there, I never saw before.

stuck, but still moving

I'm stuck again, as far as weightloss goes. I've been fluttering between 176 and 174. This is still less than I weighed back in highschool, where I was 181! I haven't really done anything to fix this. I don't know why, maybe because I've been working so much lately. My gym membership has lapsed, because I just don't have the time to go anymore. I don't have the energy to go anymore. I got promoted at work, and now I run around all day like a chicken with my head cut off! However, I'm still moving. I recently went down another size, despite the stand still on the scales. I was shocked when I fit into a size 12. Which, as we all know is the high end of my goal range. So imagine my surprise, when I hadn't lost anything more, but the size 12 shorts I was going to buy were too big! I tried on the 10's and they fit PERFECTLY! I ran out of the dressing room to try on a completely different pair of 10's, just to make sure it wasn't a fluke!

I'm totally looking forward to this summer! I got a cute swimsuit, so I can gaurantee I'll be at the lake with the kiddos all the time! We have a zoofriends membership, so we'll be there a lot too! I'm gonna start taking the time to take my lunch to work too. I think it's all the McDonald's crap I've been eating that's got me stuck at 175. Not that I'm complaining. I mean OWLO taught me the right way to do things, I just haven't been doing them lately. Maybe I'm scared? A size 10 is in the middle of my goal range. What happens when I get down to the small end of that range? I always said I didn't want to be smaller than an 8, and definately no smaller than a 6! What if I get down there? Yikes!

Anyway, so new things on my mind too, I've been starting to think about the cosmetic surgery option that some post op's take. OWLO recommends waiting 18 months, says that your skin can "catch up" to your weight loss, it just takes time. But I can't help but want to do this soon. I have bat flaps under my arms that I'm not fond of. My boobs have completely deflated, and they're NOT pretty! My stomach is covered in horrible stretch marks from my babies, and now even my thighs and butt have begun to get saggy! I know that's a lot to fix. I don't even know if it can all be done in one surgery or not! Yikes! Another surgery, or two! I find myself wondering how much more weight I'd lose after getting rid of some excess skin I've got going on. I don't have a whole lot, but it'd sure be nice if I could get it gone. Have any of you had cosmetic surgery? What did you have done? How long were you down for? Any tips for finding a great surgeon? I think I'm gonna start looking into that now. I know I'm only 8 months post op, and I still have roughly 30 pounds to lose, but I know at least half of that is sking at this point. I'm thinking about starting my search now, and working on the health insurance approval, and getting it done early this fall, as I hit my 1 year bypass anniversary!

Well those are my thoughts as of now. I'm totally gonna post a new picture soon, so stay tuned folks! Love you guys, and hope you're all doing well! Sarah

No longer obese

I've hit that magic number, which for me is 179. According to the BMI scale I am no longer considered obese! This is a big BIG deal for me. Even before I got "fat" I weighed just enough that my BMI classified me as obese. Well Sarah is no longer obese! I'm just simply overweight now. I've got to lose 29 pounds to fix that. 29 more pounds and I'll be what's considered healthy for my height. I've only got 34 pounds to go to reach my goal. I'm starting to see why some women can obsess over those last 5 pounds now. One stinking pound was the difference between overweight and obese for me. I don't really get it, but I'm glad I'm no longer classified as super overweight. It's crazy to think that just a few short months ago I was "super duper" overweight.

That's my update. Hope you all are doing well! Take care, Sarah

slowly yet surely

Needless to say the weightloss has started to crawl off now, instead of melt off. I joined the gym, but I've been working so much lately, that I haven't been in nearly a week! I'm horrible I know! I'm going in the morning though. I was going with a girl from work named Jennifer. She hasn't been in awhile either though. We're both going in the morning though. We would have gone tonight, and I would have liked to, but my babysitter had a dentist appointment, so I couldn't make it. The weight is still coming off, just slowly now. I'm down 114 pounds, go me!

I learned last week at the gym that I can very nearly run a quarter mile without stopping. When I'm actually able to accomplish that, I just know I'll feel great. Then of course I'll have to work up to a half mile! I told my husband that I'd like to be physically fit enough to pass a military PT test. I'm sure I'll get there, but it'll take work, and lots of it. I still don't know that I'd be able to do a push up, not a REAL push up anyway.

That's the Sarah update. I hope everyone else is doing well! Take care!

Joined a gym

I've always wanted to join a gym, and I know I should have months ago, but I finally got around to it yesterday morning. I went and joined before I went to work, and then I went yesterday after dinner, and again this morning before work! One of the girls I work with has been going and she goes in the morning, so I'm really excited to have a buddy to go run on the treadmill with! I did 45 minutes on the treadmill yesterday, did a mile this morning, and then did a few of the weight machines. I couldn't find the one for your abs last night, but I found it this morning. I'm gonna be using that one super a lot! That's the part I don't like the most right now. And I'm hoping that I can get my arms into shape and get rid of the bat flaps I have going on. I don't reckon they're too bad, but they're bad enough to bother me, so it's time to get that all taken care of.

In the way of an update: I've lost 111 pounds now! I have 39 to go to reach my goal! YAY!

Take care, love you guys, you're the bestest! Sarah

40 pounds to go

I only have 40 pounds to go before I hit my goal of 150 pounds to lose, or to weigh about 145! That's completely insane! I can remember when I figured I needed to lose 40 pounds to be healthy. I doesn't seem like that long ago! I can't believe I've lost 110 pounds in the past 6 1/2 months! It's like a dream, a dream come true. Thank you Dr. Nelson and OWLO! You gave me back my life!

Hitting Goals Now!

I never really had so much of a weight goal as I did a size goal. I mean, when I was in highschool, I weighed 180 pounds but I was solid, and I was muscle, and I was a size 14. I set my size goal between a size 8 and a size 12. I bought some cute little capri's at WalMart the other day. Did I mention that I'm in a size 14 now? I got them home, and tried them on, and of course, they fit. BUT.....oh yes, there's a but, and the good kind too! I have to wear a belt, cause they're too big around the waist, kinda. So the next time I was at WalMart, I found the same ones in a 12, and tride them on, and OMG they fit! I'm IN my size goal range! That's crazy! Anyway, it's really exciting! I'm hoping to be down to at least a 10, if not an 8, the next time I see Paul! He's getting R&R, we found out! I can't wait to see him again! They're trying to push his dates a bit, so he can come home before the kids start school again next fall. I'm reaching goals now, 6 mo. post op! This is insane! Awesome, but insane!

weighed in a day early!

I usually weigh in on Fridays, but sometimes I cheat, just to see where I am. Well I cheating last week and snuck a peek on Tuesday. Since the scale hadn't moved from last Tuesday to last Friday, I didn't write it down. Well my calendar was getting lonely so I weighed in a day early this week.

OMG, I'm down 107 pounds! I weighed in at 188 this morning! I haven't seen that since highschool! Holy Cow! Go Sarah!

Sweet Indulgence!

OMG, I looked today, and did you know that Sara Lee's plain frozen cheesecake bites have about a gram of sugar per bite!?!?! Me either, I totally bought some, took them home, and ate two! Is that cheating?

Hope you're all having a fabulous week! Sarah

hit the 100 pound mark!

I've hit, and passed, the 100 pound weight loss mark! Go me, yay! I've lost 102 pounds as of last Friday! I'm in a size 14/16 now. I'm super excited. I started out at 295 pounds and I'm currently down to 193 pounds! I'm posting pictures, finally. You've been asking for them, so I'm posting some. I hope you're all doing well, and I'm hoping to be online more often now that I have the internet again!

it's a love hate relationship

First, I'm loving my surgery! I've lost 90 pounds now! I don't SEE the difference, when I look in the mirror, but I'm in a misses size 16 now, which is stinking awesome. I look in the mirror and still see the fat chick busting out of her 22's.

Then, I'm hating my surgery. Less than half a dozen times I've gotten mad because I WANT to eat! It was a coping skill for me before surgery. So, when I'm stressed or upset, I WANT to eat. I don't because I know I can't. But a couple days ago I sat in my truck at Sonic and got rather ticked off because I couldn't order what I wanted. Instead I settled for snagging one of my friend's cheese sticks and pretending to be happy.

Anyway, things are going great. I've lost a BUNCH of weight, and I can shop on the misses side of the store again. Which happened to be one of my major goals with surgery. I hold up the size 16's I can wear now and still amazes me that something so small fits over my butt!

That's where I am now. My head has caught up to my stomach, but it hasn't caught up with the weight loss! Anyone have any idea when that might happen?

Miss you guys, hope all is well! Sarah