New Years Eve Tree

To take the tree down or leave it up? Some take it down right away after Christmas is over, some keep it up until January. Last year we started a new tradition in our home. Ornaments come off the tree and balloons, hats, and streamers go on! 

Make this a new tradition for your home!

My Surgery

I had my surgery 1 week ago on Jully 11. I am not quite ready to publically admit my weight at time of surgery but I know at some point I will be. I had my surgery at Rex Hospital in Raleigh, NC at the hands of the amazing Dr. Enochs. I was scheduled for 3:05pm and couldn't believe the day had finally come. 

The process to get me to that point was not an easy one. I first had to have the ok from my primary care manager (PCM) and have them submit a referral (Hubby (Dan) is military and we have TriCare Prime). From there I set up an appointment with the bariatric clinic and we discuss surgery possibilities. I chose to have a full gastric bypass versus a sleeve or a lapband. From there it took over a year worth of tests, blood work, X-rays, EKG, endoscopy, ultrasounds, and more! This is major surgery and they want to make sure your body is up for it. 

Going through all the steps is very time consuming and very stressful. I had many breakdowns along the way from dealing with Dr appointments or arguing with insurance companies. I'm sure there are people out there that had it much easier and I'm sure people had it worse. But, I will tell you that I literally cried tears of joy when my surgery was finally scheduled! I felt such an accomplishment of all I had done to get myself to that point. 

My surgery took around 2 hours, after which Dr. Enochs came and told Dan how it went. I spent about 2 hours in a recovery room and then finally to my hospital room where Dan was finally able to see me. I don't remember most of this.  The only pain I could sense when I finally came to was gas pains in my chest which is normal but painful. Burping helped a lot as did walking once I was able to a couple hours later. They do not waste time getting you up and walking! I will suggest bringing flip flops or easy to slip on shoes for this as you will not be able to bend down! 

I will have another post soon(ish) so watch out for it and thank you for joining me on my journey!

My Gastric Bypass Journey

I am scheduled to have gastric bypass surgery on July 11, 2014. I decided I am going to blog about my journey. I was going to start an entire new blog but then realized there was no need. This surgery will be a fresh start and change how I eat, therefore changing how I cook. 

This is me. Of course not my everyday look, this was after a local stage performance that I was a part of. I'm part of a local theatre group and it is something I love very deeply. I started acting, dancing, and singing at a young age and have just started with my current theatre group last year after taking many years off due to us being stationed where there weren't local opportunities. 

I currently weigh in the mid-200's, am 5'4", and am 32 years old. I have struggled with weight most of my life but it got much harder after I had my children (now aged 9 and almost 8), and even worse after my hysterectomy in January 2013. It was a long process getting approved for the surgery but now it's right around the corner and I couldn't be more excited!

I invite you to join me on my journey as I get a fresh start on my life and my health. I am asking for no negativity on my blog and any poor behavior will not be put up with.