It's been a little over a month since I was last at my job and boy-howdy was it an unpleasant thing to come and find my poor little Outlook Inbox overflowing with all the crap and detrious e-mail that I have had to slog through. At least there was not a whole lot of voice-mail messages. Guess nobody really cares for me in that manner. Hee!
In my particular building, there are two gals who have had the RNY and both were really happy to see me. I know that they're going to be great support going out from here, and we will probably all end up exercising together to keep each other motivated.
Unfortunately I decided for lunch to have one of those tuna fish packages - you know, the ones that come with the crackers? Ooof. Crackers equals nasty bloating. Perhaps next time just one or two instead of all of them. Owie. Yeah. Overdoing it sucks right out loud. Just because you still have room doesn't mean you should eat it all.
Dinner tonight is going to rock, however. The Husband discovered on the back of one of our cans of refried beans an awesome recipie for a Chile Rellano Bake that we made up last night and was SO FREAKING AWESOME! And tons upon tons of protein. Mmmmmm!
For your pleasure, I give you the Chile Rellano Bake!
The day or morning before you make this, cook a pot rost or pork loin in a crock pot using green salsa for the liquid. Shred meat after completely cooking through.
Take one large can of refried beans and spread in the bottom of a 9X13 pan.
Top with shredded beef or pork.
Top that with shredded cheese (we used pepper jack).
Separate 6 eggs.
Whip egg whites until stiff peaks are formed. (Amaze your friends and family when you turn the bowl of whipped egg whites upside down completely to prove to them that yes, they are stiff peaks indeed! Thing One and Thing Two were properly appreciative of mommy's magic. Hee!)
Whisk egg yolks until blended, then fold gently into egg whites.
Fold in 6 tablespoons flour into egg mixture, stirring until just blended.
Fold in 1 can of diced green chiles.
Top casserole with half of egg/chile mixture.
Top again with more shredded cheese.
Top with rest of egg/chile mixture.
Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes or until top is golden brown. Then DIG IN!
Monday, August 21, 2006
First day back at work. Damn, I miss nap time already.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Month One - down 30 pounds and inches galore!
It's been one month since Dr. K removed over 80% of my stomach and re-routed my intestines, and all I can say is HOT DAMN!!!! I have lost 30 pounds (even though I've been down 33 pounds at one point) and currently weigh 285. And even better are the INCHES that I have lost. Four inches from my waist. Two inches on each of my upper arms. Five inches from my upper chest. Three inches from my hips. And the list goes on and on and on. It's fucking AWESOME! I can honestly say that I LOVE MY DS!
I won't lie to you though. The first few weeks are crappy. You have to learn what you can eat, how much you can eat, how quickly it can all come back up on you if you don't eat the right things. Ugh. I don't wish feelings like that on my worst enemy.
There were things that people didn't tell me about. Like the whole seepage issue. I was totally unprepared for that, and it completely grossed me out. One time when I was in the shower dealing with this issue (i.e. making it drain out) some tissue clumps came out as well and, well, I lost my lunch. In the shower. :::sigh::: I just was not prepared for this funky fluid to come out of me. Luckily, since Dr. K stuffed all that freaking gauze down me at my appointment last Monday that gaping hole in my body has begun to fill in and heal. There is little to no fluid coming out now, and I anticipate it may be completely healed over within two weeks. So, yay me!
Another thing that I was not prepared for is what I call the hunger monster. If I don't feed this tummy when it wants sustenance, OMG the monster that emerges is so not fun to deal with. So much for the no hunger pangs thing. Damn. It's insane.
As for food, there seems to be very few things that I can't eat from what I have tried. One current no-no that actually surprised me was mozarella cheese. But any other kind of cheese is just fine. Hrm. Wierd. Milk tastes very sweet to me, and as a result I don't want to drink it at all, which is kind of disappointing since one of my greatest pleasures is having a glass full of cold milk to drink down.
The smell of cooking fish completely grosses me out, but the actual taste isn't so bad at all. Fried chicken thighs are my main staple of food at the moment. Take off most of the breading and skin, and what's left behind is tender, delicious meat that I currently am obsessed with dipping in ranch dressing. Yum! Yogurt with some protein powder mixed in is damn good as far as I'm concerned. I also keep saying that I'm going to make up some deviled eggs but I have yet to get around to it. They just sound so good!
Oh. I can eat a whole crunchy taco from Taco Bell. It may take me a half hour, but by God I can eat that sucker! And chicken nuggets from McDonalds are good too, but I can't eat more than four or five of them at once. They're obviously not something I'm eating on a daily basis, but they made for good treats when out and about with the kids.
The one thing I haven't tried is bread. :::sigh::: I really crave a good English muffin right about now, but honestly I'm scared of it. I want to make a loaf of fresh bread and eat it toasted and slathered with butter. I think I'll wait another month before I try that. White flour scares me.
As for sweet things, well I just don't really have a taste for them at this point. I made a cheesecake and while I would have been previously foaming at the mouth about it, it sat in my refrigerator with only the children eating pieces of it. We had to throw it out because nobody would eat enough of it to make it go away. Pre-surgery? It wouldn't have lasted three days. So that's a good thing there.
I imagine I will eventually gain my sweet tooth back, but I think that with the knowledge that I *can* have a sweet here and there and that I don't have to deprive myself for the rest of my life, I'll be able to get a handle on having them - my huge trigger for eating sweets was always because I SHOULDN'T have them because I was just too fat to deserve having something that tasted that good. Then, too, is the issue of my eating food because I'm depressed or bored. If I'm able to re-route myself to better choices while I'm still in the honeymoon phase of this surgery, I think I will be prepared to face the next 20 years without overdoing it.
It's a good start, all things considered. I'm very pleased, and can't wait to see what happens next.
I won't lie to you though. The first few weeks are crappy. You have to learn what you can eat, how much you can eat, how quickly it can all come back up on you if you don't eat the right things. Ugh. I don't wish feelings like that on my worst enemy.
There were things that people didn't tell me about. Like the whole seepage issue. I was totally unprepared for that, and it completely grossed me out. One time when I was in the shower dealing with this issue (i.e. making it drain out) some tissue clumps came out as well and, well, I lost my lunch. In the shower. :::sigh::: I just was not prepared for this funky fluid to come out of me. Luckily, since Dr. K stuffed all that freaking gauze down me at my appointment last Monday that gaping hole in my body has begun to fill in and heal. There is little to no fluid coming out now, and I anticipate it may be completely healed over within two weeks. So, yay me!
Another thing that I was not prepared for is what I call the hunger monster. If I don't feed this tummy when it wants sustenance, OMG the monster that emerges is so not fun to deal with. So much for the no hunger pangs thing. Damn. It's insane.
As for food, there seems to be very few things that I can't eat from what I have tried. One current no-no that actually surprised me was mozarella cheese. But any other kind of cheese is just fine. Hrm. Wierd. Milk tastes very sweet to me, and as a result I don't want to drink it at all, which is kind of disappointing since one of my greatest pleasures is having a glass full of cold milk to drink down.
The smell of cooking fish completely grosses me out, but the actual taste isn't so bad at all. Fried chicken thighs are my main staple of food at the moment. Take off most of the breading and skin, and what's left behind is tender, delicious meat that I currently am obsessed with dipping in ranch dressing. Yum! Yogurt with some protein powder mixed in is damn good as far as I'm concerned. I also keep saying that I'm going to make up some deviled eggs but I have yet to get around to it. They just sound so good!
Oh. I can eat a whole crunchy taco from Taco Bell. It may take me a half hour, but by God I can eat that sucker! And chicken nuggets from McDonalds are good too, but I can't eat more than four or five of them at once. They're obviously not something I'm eating on a daily basis, but they made for good treats when out and about with the kids.
The one thing I haven't tried is bread. :::sigh::: I really crave a good English muffin right about now, but honestly I'm scared of it. I want to make a loaf of fresh bread and eat it toasted and slathered with butter. I think I'll wait another month before I try that. White flour scares me.
As for sweet things, well I just don't really have a taste for them at this point. I made a cheesecake and while I would have been previously foaming at the mouth about it, it sat in my refrigerator with only the children eating pieces of it. We had to throw it out because nobody would eat enough of it to make it go away. Pre-surgery? It wouldn't have lasted three days. So that's a good thing there.
I imagine I will eventually gain my sweet tooth back, but I think that with the knowledge that I *can* have a sweet here and there and that I don't have to deprive myself for the rest of my life, I'll be able to get a handle on having them - my huge trigger for eating sweets was always because I SHOULDN'T have them because I was just too fat to deserve having something that tasted that good. Then, too, is the issue of my eating food because I'm depressed or bored. If I'm able to re-route myself to better choices while I'm still in the honeymoon phase of this surgery, I think I will be prepared to face the next 20 years without overdoing it.
It's a good start, all things considered. I'm very pleased, and can't wait to see what happens next.
Friday, August 18, 2006
The Happiest Place on Earth meets The Husband
So, theoretically, we're supposed to be at Disneyland right about now. We were all packed and set to get on the road Thursday after The Husband came home from work.
This trip was kind of out of the blue. On Monday, The Husband made a fantastic set of reservations at the Disneyland Grand Hotel with all the bells and whistles so that the girls would get a time to remember. He was worried about getting reservations at this late of a date, but somehow he managed to pull it off. Or so he thought.
As he was coming home, The Husband picked up the mail. And it's a good thing he did, too. In it was a letter from Disneyland, confirming our reservations for SEPTEMBER 17-19. WTF?
Needless to say, the man was on the phone in a flash - nobody but nobody disappoints his girls this way. And what the hell was he doing all morning on Monday to try and make reservations for this weekend only to be told they were for next month? And not even on a weekend to boot?
After much intense conversation with the people at the reservation desk, he was told that they would call back after they checked the taped conversation from Monday. When they called back, they admitted their screwup - he DID say it was for this weekend and not for some time in September - and immediately began to bend over backwards and in various interesting poses in order to make it up to us.
There was no way that they could fit us in this weekend - if we hadn't gotten the letter, we would have gotten there, found there was no room and a blowup of gargantuan proportions would have happened. Seeing The Husband's head spin around like the Exorcist is not among my favorite things to watch happen, you know?
So instead, we will be leaving next Thursday. And we will be getting the royal treatment - comped meals, upgraded tickets, spa stuff for me (I just don't do Disneyland. Eeech.) and a significantly lighter bill than we would have had before.
Despite all the hassle, I'm pretty happy at the way things have turned out. It seems that the Happiest Place on Earth really does go the extra mile when they have wronged you. So kudos, Disney. I might start liking you again because of this. Bravo!
This trip was kind of out of the blue. On Monday, The Husband made a fantastic set of reservations at the Disneyland Grand Hotel with all the bells and whistles so that the girls would get a time to remember. He was worried about getting reservations at this late of a date, but somehow he managed to pull it off. Or so he thought.
As he was coming home, The Husband picked up the mail. And it's a good thing he did, too. In it was a letter from Disneyland, confirming our reservations for SEPTEMBER 17-19. WTF?
Needless to say, the man was on the phone in a flash - nobody but nobody disappoints his girls this way. And what the hell was he doing all morning on Monday to try and make reservations for this weekend only to be told they were for next month? And not even on a weekend to boot?
After much intense conversation with the people at the reservation desk, he was told that they would call back after they checked the taped conversation from Monday. When they called back, they admitted their screwup - he DID say it was for this weekend and not for some time in September - and immediately began to bend over backwards and in various interesting poses in order to make it up to us.
There was no way that they could fit us in this weekend - if we hadn't gotten the letter, we would have gotten there, found there was no room and a blowup of gargantuan proportions would have happened. Seeing The Husband's head spin around like the Exorcist is not among my favorite things to watch happen, you know?
So instead, we will be leaving next Thursday. And we will be getting the royal treatment - comped meals, upgraded tickets, spa stuff for me (I just don't do Disneyland. Eeech.) and a significantly lighter bill than we would have had before.
Despite all the hassle, I'm pretty happy at the way things have turned out. It seems that the Happiest Place on Earth really does go the extra mile when they have wronged you. So kudos, Disney. I might start liking you again because of this. Bravo!
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Damn the gremlins in the box!
Well, hello! It took a week longer than I anticipated to get back up online, but here we are! Brand new computer, upgraded satelite Internet and all that jazz. Whew!
I know that some of you were worried about me considering that I had this oh-my-god awful stinky stuff coming out of me and I was worried about infection. Well, ummm, it wasn't the huge problem my mind had made it out to be. Turns out that what I thought was *me* stinking actually turned out to be the maxi pad. I went to grab one on Saturday and lo and behold, the smell! It wasn't me! Halleluia!
My poor husband felt so bad. He just grabbed a box of ones that had odor neutralizers and it turns out that since my nose can smell a gnat farting (tm Dee), that neutralizer was the most heinous thing in the whole world. And adding moisture of any kind just made it worse. Ooof! I am now using simply absorbant pads and the difference is AMAZING! I actually smell clean!
Anyway, I went to see Dr. K yesterday for my one-month followup. I have lost a total of 30 pounds in 25 days. Holy cats! And today I currently weigh 282. I haven't been this weight for about a year and a half and I was at this weight for at least four years running. I actually feel normal right about now, seeing as how this was my normalcy for so long. It's a good feeling.
The only downer of the visit is that Dr. K actually enlarged the hole that I've been seeping from and pushed a ton of gauze deep down in there to wick stuff out. Owie. Gotta heal the wound properly, though. The seepage had been dwindling down so that's a good thing and now it can heal the way it needs to. But I think I'm going to be left looking like I have a bellybutton just underneath my breastbone with the way this is going to scar up. Oh well. When I get a tummy tuck, maybe it can be my new bellybutton. Hee!
Anyway, I have a funny story for y'all. Way back in May, The Husband and I started trying to refinance this dump of a house. Due to incompetence and a lot of stupid things, it took until the end of July to get the damn thing finalized. That's right. The week after my surgery, I was back home trying to get everything wrapped up for this. With morons running the game. For example, for loans regulated by the VA, you must have a termite inspection. A smart mortgage broker would have ordered one at the beginning of the process. Instead, it was ordered two days before our hopeful closing. Yeah. Two days. Real smart.
Of course, there are problems, and of course we were leaving to go somewhere so there was no real way for us to fix the problems properly, so we had to pay through the nose to get a faucet replaced. Ooof. Fifty dollars became $500.
Anyway, while the pest control guy came and was looking at the house, The Husband locked up the two big dogs - our Siberian Husky and Akita - because they could easily intimidate someone even though all they would do would be to lick them to death. But my little miniature dachshund was out and about, being her usual bouncy self and following The Husband around. As he was walking the pest control guy around, showing him the accesses and such, they remarked on the big dogs in the kennel, and why they were penned up. Then The Husband pointed at my little dog and uttered these fateful words:
"But it's THIS one that you really have to be worried about."
As if on cue, my little Jasmine turned from a sweet, tail-wagging doggie into a vicious, snarling and barking attack beast. Think Tazmanian devil come to life in a little 8-pound package of black and tan dog.
Both The Husband and the pest control guy jumped backwards, and nearly peed their pants.
The Husband was quite astounded at the transformation from angel to creature from the depths of hell, and to be honest, quite proud of the little bitch. After recovering from the shock, he called her name, and SNAP! Just like that Jasmine turned back into her normal wiggly worm doggie self, rolling over on the ground for her belly to be rubbed, and being the sweetest thing that ever walked the earth.
But that pest control guy never let her out of his sight after that. Just in case the sneak attack dog decided to take a chunk out of him.
I know that some of you were worried about me considering that I had this oh-my-god awful stinky stuff coming out of me and I was worried about infection. Well, ummm, it wasn't the huge problem my mind had made it out to be. Turns out that what I thought was *me* stinking actually turned out to be the maxi pad. I went to grab one on Saturday and lo and behold, the smell! It wasn't me! Halleluia!
My poor husband felt so bad. He just grabbed a box of ones that had odor neutralizers and it turns out that since my nose can smell a gnat farting (tm Dee), that neutralizer was the most heinous thing in the whole world. And adding moisture of any kind just made it worse. Ooof! I am now using simply absorbant pads and the difference is AMAZING! I actually smell clean!
Anyway, I went to see Dr. K yesterday for my one-month followup. I have lost a total of 30 pounds in 25 days. Holy cats! And today I currently weigh 282. I haven't been this weight for about a year and a half and I was at this weight for at least four years running. I actually feel normal right about now, seeing as how this was my normalcy for so long. It's a good feeling.
The only downer of the visit is that Dr. K actually enlarged the hole that I've been seeping from and pushed a ton of gauze deep down in there to wick stuff out. Owie. Gotta heal the wound properly, though. The seepage had been dwindling down so that's a good thing and now it can heal the way it needs to. But I think I'm going to be left looking like I have a bellybutton just underneath my breastbone with the way this is going to scar up. Oh well. When I get a tummy tuck, maybe it can be my new bellybutton. Hee!
Anyway, I have a funny story for y'all. Way back in May, The Husband and I started trying to refinance this dump of a house. Due to incompetence and a lot of stupid things, it took until the end of July to get the damn thing finalized. That's right. The week after my surgery, I was back home trying to get everything wrapped up for this. With morons running the game. For example, for loans regulated by the VA, you must have a termite inspection. A smart mortgage broker would have ordered one at the beginning of the process. Instead, it was ordered two days before our hopeful closing. Yeah. Two days. Real smart.
Of course, there are problems, and of course we were leaving to go somewhere so there was no real way for us to fix the problems properly, so we had to pay through the nose to get a faucet replaced. Ooof. Fifty dollars became $500.
Anyway, while the pest control guy came and was looking at the house, The Husband locked up the two big dogs - our Siberian Husky and Akita - because they could easily intimidate someone even though all they would do would be to lick them to death. But my little miniature dachshund was out and about, being her usual bouncy self and following The Husband around. As he was walking the pest control guy around, showing him the accesses and such, they remarked on the big dogs in the kennel, and why they were penned up. Then The Husband pointed at my little dog and uttered these fateful words:
"But it's THIS one that you really have to be worried about."
As if on cue, my little Jasmine turned from a sweet, tail-wagging doggie into a vicious, snarling and barking attack beast. Think Tazmanian devil come to life in a little 8-pound package of black and tan dog.
Both The Husband and the pest control guy jumped backwards, and nearly peed their pants.
The Husband was quite astounded at the transformation from angel to creature from the depths of hell, and to be honest, quite proud of the little bitch. After recovering from the shock, he called her name, and SNAP! Just like that Jasmine turned back into her normal wiggly worm doggie self, rolling over on the ground for her belly to be rubbed, and being the sweetest thing that ever walked the earth.
But that pest control guy never let her out of his sight after that. Just in case the sneak attack dog decided to take a chunk out of him.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Broken, but not forgotten
So, um, yeah. I've got broken things around the place. First and foremost is my 'puter. Goodness only knows when I was last able to access my e-mail and websites are a hit and miss these days. Hopefully by this time next week, I'll have a new desktop and things will be back to normal.
Also, I broke my scale. Hee! The Husband bought a brand spanking new scale for me to record my weight loss with. However, it was a cheap scale, and one that didn't like me standing on it with one foot while trying to keep my balance and not fall off. I busted the spring. D'oh! So, I have no idea how much more I'm down.
And *I* feel broken what with this seepage from one portion of my incision. Yeah, the office told me that it was normal, but having to literally "milk" it out of me in order to make sure I don't leak over everything just cannot be normal. And the stink! Oh my! Never mind that nobody else can smell it. But I can. :::shudder::: I'm calling back again tomorrow to see what I can do from over here. Ugh!
So, we'll take a small station identification break for my 'puter to get normalized and for me to get normalized and then all will be well in this snarky world.
Also, I broke my scale. Hee! The Husband bought a brand spanking new scale for me to record my weight loss with. However, it was a cheap scale, and one that didn't like me standing on it with one foot while trying to keep my balance and not fall off. I busted the spring. D'oh! So, I have no idea how much more I'm down.
And *I* feel broken what with this seepage from one portion of my incision. Yeah, the office told me that it was normal, but having to literally "milk" it out of me in order to make sure I don't leak over everything just cannot be normal. And the stink! Oh my! Never mind that nobody else can smell it. But I can. :::shudder::: I'm calling back again tomorrow to see what I can do from over here. Ugh!
So, we'll take a small station identification break for my 'puter to get normalized and for me to get normalized and then all will be well in this snarky world.
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