Drumroll, Please . . . .

As of today, March 21, 8:00 a.m. CST, I have lost a total of ONE HUNDRED pounds! In seven months. Forty pounds pre-op, sixty post-op. I'm extremely excited and extremely terrified. Excited because, well, that's a lot of weight. Terrified because I don't want to become complacent (i.e. cocky, because that's what happened last time I lost a bunch of weight). I'm still about 25 pounds from my goal, although I keep changing it. Statistics say that most bariatric bypass patients lose the majority of their weight in the first six months, but may continue to lose for up to eighteen months. So I may change my goal again!

One drawback (if you can call it that) is that my clothes keep falling off. I bought a bunch of stuff from LL Bean a couple months ago and now it's almost all too big. And I've only worn it a couple of times! I feel like a baby, only in reverse. I need to find a resale shop and FAST!

This journey has been really amazing. I was watching a show on Discovery Health about a woman who was having gastric bypass and I realized that even though it's only been four months, the whole surgery and recovery is kind of a blur to me. I kind of remember the hard times and days when I questioned the wisdom of my decision, but those moments have been so few and far between that it's easy to forget them. I've settled into an easy routine that doesn't seem foreign or intrusive or sacrificial and that's such a blessing - a HUGE blessing.

Hallelujah!

A Lil Bit Loopy

I've got another cold. The second one in four weeks. I'm taking three multivitamins a day. And at this point I'm kind of wondering "why?" Tyler was home for a few days and he had a cold. He's fine now. He says he thinks he actually saw it leave his body and enter mine. Creepy.

I could tell it was coming on yesterday morning when I woke up. My chest just felt kind of full. By last night I was coughing a bit and today I've got the cough, runny nose, chills and itchy ears. Usually I take some Nyquil at bedtime and sleep pretty soundly. Last night, though, I took it and settled into my office chair to watch some telly. Not very comfortable, but I can put my feet up on my desk and lean back. About half an hour later I woke up. Yes, I had fallen asleep in my office chair! When I got up I was very wobbly and barely made it to bed. Today when I told Tyler about it he reminded me that Nyquil has 10 percent alcohol. And I'm not supposed to drink alcohol since my surgery. I can only imagine the state I'd be in if I had a glass of wine or some other adult beverage! It's a YouTube video waiting to happen.

Reality Bites

I'm five days away from my fiftieth birthday. And yes, I'm kind of freaked out about it. That's half a century! A hundred years ago 50 was probably pushing the life expectancy figures. Twenty years ago fifty seemed old. Together Ron and I have over a hundred years of life experience (so why aren't we any better at it?).

Tonight when we went to Hy-Vee for a few items I was watching the screen where all the purchases are listed. The total was seventeen bucks. Then I looked again. Now it was sixteen something. I thought that was odd since we hadn't brought in any of our canvas bags (we get five cents back for every bag we bring in). Then I saw the last item on the list: Senior Citizen discount . . . WHAT? I hadn't even whipped out my AARP card. I must LOOK old! Sigh.

I'm sure I'll enter into my sixth decade (that's right, isn't it? I tried to do the math) with grace and dignity. Seriously, I've been graceless and undignified for far too long. Time to turn over a new leaf and fly right. Ok, I'm STOKED!