Chand Named Director of GI/Minimally Invasive Surgery, Bariatrics and Surgical Endoscopy at Loyola.
I saw on another persons blog that she extensively reserached her surgeon and I thought, “I don’t know that I really did this. So this is a post that I will edit occasionally for my own reference.
I thought I was having my final nutritional visit, but I was in and out of the office in 30 minutes. It was sort of disappointing but the nutritionist wasn’t happy that I had stopped exercising and I gained 3 pounds. She was also a little concerned that I hadn’t completely decided on if I want sleeve gastrectomy or roux-en y (gastric bypass) so she scheduled me for what she directly told me was my final review on Monday, February 18th. At this appointment she would like me to have decided the surgery that I would like and we will review the patient handbook that outlines my pre-op diet and then we will also go through the other post-op phases. After that my understanding is that I’ll have my papers submitted to the insurance for approval.
I also had confirmed a few months ago that I have what is known as a chiari malformation type I , this is a birth defect where my brain in low in my skull and it crowds my spinal cord and blocks spinal cord fluid. This was discovered because I was having horrible headaches and then I started having tingling in my arms and fingers , also dropping things. The headaches were horrible and I always thought they were migraines or high blood pressure which is scary because I have a huge family history of strokes. Turns out I was wrong…so the plot thickens. 🙂
So on Thursday I say a neurosurgeon that my neurologist referred and he recommended that I have surgery over the summer to make room for the fluid and for everything to fit because as I age my symptoms will progress.(guys this is the cliff notes version)
I feel that currently because I’m so far in this process I’m going to continue with my weightloss surgery and also seek a second opinion regarding my Chiari, because thought my symptoms may worsen, they may not, and I’m not crazy about the idea of having brain surgery. So who knows…… Uh, I’m frustrated and overwhelmed by all of this. So that’s that AND please let me know where you are in your process, I’d love to hear about it!
One Love!
-J.
I think somewhere about 2 post ago. I talked about not counting calories or tracking. Well here’s the truth I’m sure some of you already know. To lose weight, you need to be accountable in some form for what you’re eating.
So I joined Weight Watchers.
Am I new to Weight Watchers? No. In fact during the meeting, the group leader Mickey stops, looks at me and says: “You’ve been here before haven’t you?” I nod yes. She then proceeds to say: “Welcome Home!”
It has actually only been a year since I left Weight Watchers, I still had my old log and everything. So how much weight did this plus size interval trainee gain in 1 year and 2 months and 4 days to be exact ?
2 pounds!
What’s that you say? That can’t be right!? Oh, but it is!
I laughed when I saw it. I realized I have in fact been exercising enough to maintain weight loss and if I had started maybe just a bit sooner having true accountability for the foods that I eat, I might have lost some weight.
So it’s week two for me and I weighted in yesterday. I lost 4.8 lbs, the 2 lbs and then some!
So my first 5K is this Saturday. I’m not running. I’m walking it with some friends of mine and I’m still truly excited. I don’t have a bucket list, but I’m gonna create one so I can cross it off!
Happy Wednesday All!
-J.
Today made a post to my MYFITNESSPAL blog and I can not believe the response I received. It overwhelmingly made my day. I’m reposting it here.
I’ve been struggling emotionally lately trying to express what trying to lose over 100lbs feels like and I think that sharing my journey with words may be exactly what I need, and hopefully inspire others.
So welcome! Read on for my first steps.
So I’ve read all I can about running. I woke up this morning and it was drizzling, for a split second I thought about going back to bed but I had spent half of my night reading blogs about being a plus side runner and looking for information on how to overcome my fear. I got dressed. Black tee, Black leggings–because god forbid I run in a pair of shorts, and then a hoodie.
I stretched, put on my Pandora workout station and started in for my first six minutes of walking and when the time came I…….kept walking. I wanted to lift my legs and become a “penguin” ( a penguin is the name for slow runners). This went on for 25 minutes, I was really enjoying the walk itself, the music was perfect, but cars kept driving by or people were on the street and I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.
But then I saw a mom and daughter walking to the bus stop. The girl looked like she was maybe a high school teen, and she was pretty large, dare I even say my size?? And I could tell that the short walk she was taking was really difficult for her. For some reason that was all I needed.
That was the moment, I knew right then and there it didn’t matter what anybody thought the reason I was doing this is because I don’t want to struggle to breath when I walk to the bus stop, because darn’t I have the strength to run, so I should run! Because I need to do SOMETHING to control my emotions and find a release. I NEED TO RUN!So I cut through an alley, walked it halfway and then ran the rest.
I couldn’t believe it! I had just ran, and then I ran a little more, and then my fear of all fears happened. A car literally stopped in the middle of the street and watched me. I stopped in my tracks, but engaged full power walk status. I was a little mortified but I’m happy it happened because I lived through it AND I didn’t die. I did a rest walk and tried again, and I’ll keep doing it tommorow!!
I cannot explain the range of emotions that I had this morning, and though I probably only ran for a total of maybe 2 minutes. I ran, and I ran outside and in front of people darnit and I feel great!
Plus Size Runner: Big Girl Bigger Heart 