Monday, November 25, 2013

Hurdles

I know I know, it's been over a week since my last post.  But I've been really really busy! Really busy!  Two of the moms in J's class and I planned a fundraiser dinner and auction which we had on Friday night. It's been a crazy month with my surgery and planning this auction, but it went off pretty well. We raised over $10,000!  And all the proceeds go to J's class specifically for the DC trip in May.  

The dinner was a challenge, it was pasta and bread sticks and pizza muffins {which looked fantastic by the way}and salad and chicken.  I could eat none of it.  I did deconstruct a small piece of lasagna and ate all the sauce out of it so that's what I had for dinner that night.  The dessert auction was something I thought I would have BIG trouble with. In all reality though,  it wasn't that hard because I was so busy.  Even though my mother-in-law made a death by chocolate ~ I could have stuck my head in and eaten all of it but I didn't.  Score one for ME! Plus, It probably would have been improper because our table didn't win that dessert in the dessert auction.  But my kids made good
use of the left overs....J a death by chocolate pancake and T finished it off in good form. 

The booze was another thing I was worried about at the auction because auctions are more fun when you're tanked. But since I'm too scared to get sick from eating what I'm not supposed to, I ignored the desert and the pasta and the booze and focused on working the auction.  And I did ok!

So now that the auction is over I can focus on eating and preparing and getting myself straight as to what I can and can't eat.  I'd been eating on the go last week while planning the auction and having meetings and I learned some things. I learned that there are things that I hated before the surgery that I like now.  And vice versa.

For example: 
     I like mushrooms. During one of our lunch meetings for the auction the only option available for me was a mushroom soup. I ate it and loved it.  Before the surgery you could not have paid me to touch a mushroom with a 10 foot pole. 
    I now love Guacamole.  Before the look and feel and taste of avocados made me want to hurl.  Saturday night I went to an Origami Owl launch party for a new designer that signed up under me.   Her husband made homemade guacamole. That night I had guacamole and salmon dip for dinner and it was fantastic.  
     I hate the smell of coconut now.  I loved coconut before the surgery.  I'll try it again and let you know the outcome.  
     I'm also going to try things that before I hated for example: cottage cheese. I hate cottage cheese. Always have. Not sure I always will though I'm going to try it someday soon. In reality I've never actually eaten cottage cheese plain but the look of it makes me want to toss my cookies.  Not ready to try Brussel sprouts yet though.... Not sure I ever will be. 

So here it is Thanksgiving week and I'm going to succeed. I passed my first hurdle which was the dinner/auction and I'm going to make it through Thanksgiving as well. Still making my sweet potato casserole like I do every year. I'm going to make a tiny one for me with Splenda instead of sugar and without the topping.  I'll let you know how it goes. 

Oh and PS - I've lost 30 pounds! 

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Moose... It's what's for dinner


I've been craving beef lately.  I want steak, a burger, prime rib....purée is getting to me.  I can't even do yogurt right now.  I'm so cold all I want is warm hearty food.  I think it's partly the fact that I'm not eating carbs and the fact that it's freezing cold outside. {interestingly enough - I'm not too cold to have my nightly sugar free fudgscicle or Popsicle}. I don't think anything will ever stop me from some kind of dessert.

Although soup fills me up and I'm satisfied - I wanted homemade, like mom made, beef something.  Out came the moose steaks given to us when I was first out of the hospital.  I crock-potted them with carrots, potatoes, onion and spices
It smelled so good!  
The family {even picky T} ate it up.  
I puréed mine into mush.....
Even in this gross looking form it was sooooo good!!!  Soooooo good!

A few weeks ago - before my surgery I found some trays made for freezing and storing homemade baby food.  Since I knew I'd be eating like a baby for a while, I picked them up on a whim.  They complemented the Beaba Baby Cook that I picked up {Value Village is my friend} a couple months ago.  

So now I have a tray full of moose mush ready to pop out and heat up when I feel like moose for dinner! 

PS - I'm down 25 pounds 

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Time......is not on my side

Time flies.  
Time is wasting.  
Time's a changing.  
Ticking time bomb..... 
TIME. 

 Time passing is something I have to teach myself to deal with since this surgery.  


- for example:
  I have to wait 4 weeks for soft food.  Strictly puréed food for me for 4 weeks.  So far {amazingly} over one week has passed.  Puréed food is boring.  And currently only cream of wheat and creamy soups satisfy me right now.

  I have to make 2 oz.  { picture 2 oz. - that's 2 shots for you alcohol lovers} last for 20-30 minutes when I eat.  When I sip 2 oz. of soup it needs to take a half hour.  THAT IS HARD.  Hard to wait. Hard to be patient.  Hard to stop sipping when it tastes so fucking good, but I know if I eat anymore, I'll be sick - 

 Time is a tricky thing.  I wonder where it went when I look at my teenagers.  I wonder why I let so many years pass in an unhealthy, obese body.  

But I am working on realizing that if I take my time, and plan my "meals" pretty soon a year will have passed, that time will be gone and I'll be sporting a new healthy body.  
 
  
  

Friday, November 8, 2013

Yummy chicken for this {a little less} fat chick

So my 1st night in my bed sucked.   I had pain med nightmares.  Creepy, crazy, scary dreams.  So, no more pain meds for me.  It was like I woke up and was still in the creepy, crazy, scary icky gooey place.  Blech!

Today was good.  I tried new things... Greek yogurt likes me.  My sordid affair with the grape Popsicle rekindled itself today....mmmmmmm.  And dinner.... Let me tell you about my dinner.  
All week my awesome friends have been bringing dinner to my family.  When I was gone lasagna, pizza, Mac and cheese and moose hotdogs came and my family was fed.  {and we got a moose roast!!!}I came home last night to enchiladas, which smelled AH-mazing!  

Tonight's dinner was something I could have!  Chicken Pesto.  
I cut it up, Brent ground it up, we added chicken broth and I had Chicken pest paste.
OoohhhmyyyGoodGodsoooogood! 
I ate about 2.5 ounces - got full and feel great.  I'm so excited to start cooking and crockpotting stuff!!!!


Thank you Sam George, Stephanie Sager, Sharon Zagyva, Lisa Ham, and finally Tricia Zuyus for bringing food and setting this all up!  Love you all! 


Thursday, November 7, 2013

It's a tit nippley in here

I'm home today.  Took a nap in my own bed.  Slept good.  But I'd have to say I'd like to be back in one of my previous beds of the past two weeks : 
     My sister in law's sleep number bed of awesomeness....house sitting is da bomb!
     My hospital bed.... Morphine button, nurse come help me button, head up, head down button.  Morphine button made me sleep so bed was soo comfy as far as I knew.
     My mother in law's spare bed.  I felt cozy, quiet, loved, taken care of.  AND QUIET.  

I'll sleep in my bed next to the LOML tonight.  I have missed sleeping next to him....not the snoring and having to kick him to roll over.... But just having him near.  I missed that for sure.  BUT I won't lie and say I don't enjoy sleeping by myself.  In comfy beds.  Our mattress is old and ready to be replaced...

Some firsts happened since surgery.  I did these: 
And I made it!!!  I'm surprised at how good I feel! 


I have been cold the last few days - at my mother in law's I was showing her my incisions and the first thing T says is "Oh, Mom's cold" ummm yeah.  Thanks for noticing kiddo :) too bad there aren't:
Fuzzy socks for my nips.  Then the whole world wouldn't know when I was cold!  

So now I'm cozied up, kids in bed, LOML and I are catching up on shows and then I'm off to bed in my own bed.... Next up - a new mattress.  I'm going to start saving. 


Tuesday, November 5, 2013

I love a good morphine pump.

KHere I am feeling sufficiently drugged. And my pain level has only reached a 6.  Not too shabby.
I'm fdoing the things I'm supposed to.  
     I walked yesterday afternoon, last          night and several times today.
      I peed.
      I ate some broth.
I'm currently switching over to liquid Percocet - I will miss my morphine pump dearly. That shot tastes awful.  I chased it with cold beef cbroth and a mint sponge Dobber.  Yum-o
Yes, I have been upgraded from ice chips to clear liquid.i got a grape Popsicle!  
 Fucking awesome.  I've never had a spiritual experience with a Popsicle.  The earth moved. It was sooooo good!


I also go jello {that was suppose to taste like something yellow} and beef broth .  More tomorrow kids!

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Clearly.....

Short post.  Clear liquids since 8pm last night.  Clear as in see through!  As in not filling.  But I think they served their purpose.  I was hungry earlier today...but now I'm not that hungry.  I have super low energy though.  So I'm getting ready for bed.  Alarm is all set for 4 am.  I'm not really nervous yet.  Doc called in a Xanax for me to take in the morning.  So - score!
So here I am on the last night of the before me.  

I'm so excited to see all the phases of the after me. 
Until tomorrow...... 

Saturday, November 2, 2013

No more soda

I just drank my last soda.... literally. No soda ever again. 

Moment of silence, please.
Goodbye old friend. 


Tomorrow is the day before my surgery and starting right now I'm on all clear liquids.  Tomorrow will be hard.  Broth, jello, crystal light, more broth, life water, more jello, water....water...water!  I'll be peeing a lot.  
Luckily I'll be busy tomorrow ~ so hopefully it will keep my mind off food. 

Wild ride coming......minus carbonation :) 


Friday, November 1, 2013

Last Friday

Anchorage has fun artsy, musicy Friday night party time on the first Friday of the month called {wait for it}.....First Friday.  I am excited that this is my LAST FRIDAY before my RNY Gastric bypass surgery.  I was busy on my last Friday.  Half a day of work, and then hospital pre-registration.  Shit just got real.  And surprisingly enough I'm not petrified.  Anxious, yes. 


I watched this in preparation for my upcoming {as in 3 effing days upcoming} surgery.   I do not want this horrendously boring automated voice narrating my surgery.  The animation was helpful.  I will count backwards from 10 after I'm shot up with drugs and dream that my stomach and intestines look so neat and goo/fat/blood/yuck free like the perfectly pink drawn ones in this video.  Maybe I won't even have to replay her awful voice in my mind saying trocar over and over.  Maybe my doc's music will soothe my sleeping brain. 

Hopefully my doc listens to cool tunes while in surgery - like Indigo Girls or Adele or Harry Connick Jr or Gavin Degraw or or Fleetwood Mac or James Taylor or Kenny Chesney or Jimmy Buffett.  I hope my anesthesia induced slumber will not be inundated with stuff I hate like "What does the fox say"  or anything by The Beatsie Boys or Type O Negative.  I don't want my subconscious to be bombarded with Screamo, classical,Cher, Mariah Carey or ANY KIND OF RAP, gangster or otherwise {sorry LOML - its my invasive procedure not yours}.  Unless its Fresh Prince.

And when I wake up hopefully I can replace anything that's subconsciously replaying in my mind with my favorite tunes.  Because I know....I just know that LOML is going to let me borrow his Beats headphones while I'm recovering.  Even in the hospital where he isn't completely in control of them.

Happy Last Friday folks....and to many First Fridays that I will feel better for and actually want to venture out on after a long day of work and have fun - because I am embarking on a new adventure and I want to get my ass off the couch!

Masks....

So I dressed up for Halloween at work today.
{Rosie the Riveter} 2013
It was fun.  I did last year too.

{Sheldon Cooper} 2012
 I can count on one hand the number of times I've dressed up for this crazy holiday as an adult.   Got lots of positive feedback on my super cool strong chick look today... so that's a bonus!

It got me thinking about  masks and inevitably my mind jumped to hiding.  I hide all the time. Don't get me wrong, I try not to lie and I'm very open with my emotions when I am hormonal, tired, or just down right pissy.   LOML knows how I feel by looking at me... Close friends can sense my sadness....I wear those emotionally spastic feelings on my sleeve.   But I hide.... A LOT. I hide from my family, my friends, my coworkers.  And {NEWSFLASH} I hide from myself.

I'm funny.  I make jokes.  I'm sarcastic. I go with the flow.... It's all good.  No worries.... I'm easy {easy like Sunday morning.... Not easy like easy.} Just ask LOML.  These are my masks.  

When I feel inadequate as a mother - I joke about how I can't wait 'til the day I'm kid free. {I say it but we all know I'll be a hot mess when T & J really leave}.  
When I feel inadequate as a wife I about how irritating LOML makes me sometimes {again- we all know I'd be lost....LOST without that man.} 
When I fail on a diet - my explanations to everyone {and myself} drip with sarcasm instead of honestly facing that I failed again. 
When I am overwhelmed at work - I pay a cool and confident.  {inside I'm like oh shit, shit, shit, oh shit}.  
When I'm up to my eyeballs in commitments and someone says can you… And I say sure no problem, of course, whatever you need. {actually my brain is screaming No! No! I can't do another fucking thing...if I do my heart might explode}.

I'd venture a guess that everyone has a mask or two.  Think about it...if we didn't, everyone would know everything about everybody and we all be so worried about everyone else that we'd have EVEN more reasons to hide. So here's my vow: I can't guarantee I'll never use my masks.... But I'll try to be more aware of them and work on being real.  Sometimes it's gonna make people go - she's a hot mess - sometimes they'll think I'm glad she said that.... I understand her a little more now, some will just say- shut up!!!!!  And it's ok.  I'm a work in progress.  And you lucky folks get to tag along for the ride..... Only if you want to :) 
Happy Halloween