Discoveries

In the past week or so, I have discovered:

1. That I can survive Thanksgiving without eating mashed potatoes, yams and corn. I can also survive the day without eating that late night left-over turkey sandwich.

2. That I can make all sorts of things with the Vanilla Myocel and not hate it! I love it with frozen blueberries, frozen peaches, frozen cherries, low carb grape juice, generally, any frozen fruits.

3. That I shovel food into my mouth very quickly. OMG! How big my bites are just scare me! I have become so aware of the fact that once I get to the mushies and the solids, I'm going to have to be extra careful of the size of my bites. I know about the chew, chew, chew! But this is going to be more of an issue!

Myocel

Today is the day I start my Myocel. It's part of the liquid diet I'll have to follow for a few weeks pre- and post-op.

It's really not as bad as I imagined. (Ask me again in two weeks how I'm feeling about that!)

I get a "regular" breakfast - this morning I had FF Yogurt and Cheerios. (I can choose 2 servings between yogurt, fruit, cereal, toast, bagels, waffles, muffins, eggs, or oatmeal.)

I'll have the Myocel mixed with skim milk and blueberries for lunch.

Then I'm planning on a Chicken breast for dinner with some steamed broccoli.

For dessert, I'll get another Myocel shake. Don't know the mix-in yet - but I'll figure something out.

"Last Meal Syndrome"

Ever since I found out the surgery has been approved, I kept thinking about the things I wanted to eat - those things that they say can be a problem for bandsters.

Ribeye steak was #1 on my list. Pasta was a close second.

I gave myself the 6 days between hearing about approval and getting started on the Myocel tomorrow to have a few things that I thought I might never eat again.

I also told myself I didn't want to go crazy with it! No need to pack on a few more pounds with the humongous amount I already have to lose.

Last Friday, the office had lunch brought in and it was pasta - so that took care of that meal. I had a little of the spaghetti and manicotti they had and that was it.

Over the weekend, eating was crazy since it was moving time - and I honestly can't remember much of what we ate. It was definitely not indicative of "last meal syndrome" since I ate several things that I will be able to eat when banded - mexican, chinese veggies and the like.

Monday night, I went to the Chinese buffet and had my last Sesame Balls - I don't know how those things would EVER go through the stoma.

Tuesday night, I wanted my ribeye. Alek and I got to Salt Grass for dinner and I was determined that I wanted a whole 16 oz-er to myself. But when I sat down, I thought, WHY? So, he and I shared the 16 oz steak - and he even had enough to take to lunch the next day!

Yesterday, I didn't have anything out of the ordinary. Bought french fries twice and probably had 3 fries out of each batch.

I am ready for this! BRING IT ON!

BandBuddies Luncheon

I went to lunch today with a lot of new friends!

We all met at Aparicio's and I got to meet so many of the people who have created these networks of support for banded people - and unbanded people who are researching the band.

What a great group of people!

APPROVED!!

Called the insurance company to see if anything had been decided...the surgery has officially been APPROVED!!!

Now...if only I can stand the wait between now and when Dr. B makes his decision as to whether or not I'm a candidate...and if I'm not, I just don't want to think about it.

Winter Shoes....Blah!

Another reason I want to lose weight - winter shoes.

Summer shoes - I can slip them on and head out the door.

This morning, in the cold, I couldn't even bend my left leg to tie my winter shoe. Ugh

Loving Bandlandia!

Have I said enough about Cynthia Jones and Bandlandia? She's such a peach!

After my frustration rant the other day, she contacted me and then contacted the Doctor's insurance department to help nudge them along. Of course, they still didn't have my H.Pylori test - that I had done back in September - nor the nutritional assessment - that I had done in October.

With Cynthia's help, I was able to put the nutritionist in contact with the doctor's office to get the report sent out to them - and was able to get the word out to them (as I had told them in early October) that I had already had the H.Pylori test done.

Again....I feel back on track. I may drive everyone crazy from this point 'til the date of surgery, but I'm determined not to fall through any office cracks again!!

Frustration...

I am getting so frustrated with this whole "approval" process. I feel like there are obstacles EVERYwhere between me and getting the band and having a chance at life.

The insurance company wants A, B and C - I get them A, B, and C - and have D, E and F ready for them just in case they decide that it is needed...but I can't even determine that because it seems like I am the last person on any doctor's list of patients to take care of.

I had the issues in the summer with "falling through the cracks" at one doctor's office - and now, I can't get ANYONE to return my calls from the new doctors' offices. I am not belligerant when I call - I'm actually quite pleasant and even-tempered. I get the things that they've called to say the insurance company is requesting and have them submitted ASAHP - the latest being a nutritional evaluation that was completed on October 19th and submitted to the surgeon's office that week - and yet no follow-up has been given to the insurance company yet.

I realize that the one doctor has "6000 patients" - and I'm only one - but sometimes I wonder if some higher being is telling me to forget about it.

But I don't want to forget about it. I want to live. I want to move. We are in the middle of this move to our new house and I can barely do anything. I can paint the middle of the walls, but if it is too high up, I can't climb on the ladder - I'm about 100 lbs too heavy for its weight limit - and I can't get down on the floor to do the lower walls and baseboards unless I'm there by myself so no one can see me rolling on the floor because that's the only way I can move down there. And forget about getting up with any modicum of grace.

I can't stand long enough to pack boxes in the kitchen at the apartment and I have no strength to really be of any help to my husband and anyone else working on getting everything together. I just feel like I want to go to bed and wake up when it's all over with - except for the fact that I'd be sitting in an empty apartment in a bed that no one could move because I was the one in it.

To Do List for the Day

VOTE!

More on the house

Whew...I've always dreaded this part of homeownership - finding something wrong with the place and realizing you can't call "management." I AM management!

Seriously, we're very lucky with the house - most of it is in great shape. The sellers did do an amazing job of camoflaging a few things - like a fire wall in the fireplace that needs to be replaced but was covered up with a big fern - holes in the walls that were covered up with big paintings. Both should be easily fixed - the walls already are.

We got the new flooring put in - laminate wood flooring throughout the house - except the bathrooms - and it makes it look so much bigger!

We ordered our new living room furniture today - on sale - YAY! We're getting denim furniture. With the colors we've chosen, it will be beautiful.

We've been painting today - and will again on Wednesday. We're taking a day off tomorrow for our church community group and some packing. Wednesday evening, we'll hit it again.