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 I haven't been here on OH in over 2 years. I can't say I've missed it and the drama but thought I'd check in. I'm down to 172 pounds from 330! Several bumps in the road. Gall bladder, stricture, and three ulcers in my pouch caused me to regain some weight that I finally got back off plus a few more pounds. I'm floating between an 8-12 depending on the cut/style. Bought my first ever bikini! Got divorced, met a really nice man  after a few disappointing relationships. It's been a roller coaster! Hope everyone has been doing well. I've lost touch with so many people but the negativity that was going on here was so counter-productive I had to leave for my mental health as well as my physical. Hopefully that has changed!

I seriously cannot believe this.  Back in September when I had the surgery, my wls buddy Kelley and I were talking about summer and the size clothes we'd be shopping for.  We both were so excited to be thinking a "size 16" by summer.

Kelley sailed right by the 16's before the needles were falling off the Christmas trees.  I took a little longer, but got there myself.  Imagine my surprise, though, when I tried on a size 12 the other day and they fit!  I kept thinking they were maybe mislabeled or something, but I decided WHO CARES, it's still a 12, right?

Well, yesterday I decided to bring out my "goal" jeans.  I bought these 6 years ago when I was on my last "successful" diet (before gaining back the 80 I'd lost PLUS 50 more).  I never did fit into these jeans.  They are a size 12 that have been stuck in the back of my closet all this time.  I pulled them off the hanger, stepped into them, and over my hips!  Never had they gone that far before.  So I decided to try and button them.  YEP, they buttoned!  Next challenge, zippering... YES!!  They zipped right up without the use of a crowbar and pair of pliers!  I'm OFFICIALLY in a size 12!!  I still cannot believe it!  Only problem was, they are about 3 inches too short LOL!  So I'm wearing them rolled up today!

That was a serious comment made to a mutual friend by an old family friend last night.  My husband and I went to a benefit party for our son's baseball team.  We hadn't been out locally in a long time. 

The party was at our local American Legion.  The last time I was in there, I weighed 330lbs... Last night was wonderful!  Even though we live in a very small town, there are certain friends who we just don't see on a routine basis.  We saw some of them last night.  An older member of the Legion was the one who asked if Paul was cheating on me!  When the mutual friend told her it was me, she was floored and came over to say hello!  What a great feeling!

Even better was the wench behind the bar.  She has made no secret of the fact she'd like to take my husband away from me.  I loved the daggers she gave me all night, and the fact my husband went out to the main bar instead of the social room bar when he needed a refill!  That will teach her to try to make moves on my man!

Well, it happened.  My gall bladder had to come out.  I'd been having symptoms for about 3 weeks, but originally thought it was constipation pain.  Finally gave in and went to the ER and sure enough, it was full of crystals.

Feeling pretty good except for the incision sites.  He did it laproscopically so shouldn't be too bad of a recovery.  Doesn't hurt as bad as the bypass did, but wish I was still getting the fentinal instead of just vicodin!

Thanks Ted and Tressa for checking on me!  I appreciate it!

Holy Hannah!  I've been close to the century club for two weeks now so I broke my own rule and have been stepping on the scale more than once a week.  Well, today I am 3 months out and I made it! I can't believe I've lost 100.6 lbs!  What better day to hit that goal, too, than on the 3 month anniversary of my surgery.

I lost 51 before the surgery, so my total post op is 49.6.  I'm so excited!

My poor car is toast.  Friday night I was taking my son to the church for our Christmas play.  As I was driving through the intersection in town (we only have one traffic light), someone decided to turn left and t-boned me right on the driver's door.  She hit me so hard she spun us a quarter turn.  My door would not open without extreme force, and the PASSENGER side door was also out of alignment, meaning she bent the frame of my minivan.

The accident was clearly her fault.  The state police refused to respond because there were no injuries.  Gotta love living in rural PA with NO police protection!  She should have been ticketed for failure to yield and reckless driving at the least.  I am sure she was on her phone as well....

So now I'm just waiting for all the insurance hassles to be over so I can start looking for a new car. 

I'm just thankful nobody was hurt....

Last week I wasn't so sure I was going to make it through.  Monday and Tuesday were terrible eating days.  NOTHING was setting right.  My pouch was definitely grouchy!  Even got nauseous and threw up after eating eggs, something I've been able to tolerate since starting soft foods.

I was really nervous about how Thanksgiving dinner was going to go.  I was pleasantly surprised when I was able to try everything and not have any pain or reactions.  I was so happy!  I had 1.5 oz turkey and a teaspoon of everything else (green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, squash).  The only thing I didn't have was the corn and dinner roll.  For dessert I brought some fresh pineapple instead of the pies everyone else had... and you know what? They were EYEBALLING my delicious fresh fruit LOL!

Friday my mom, sister and I got up at 2a.m. to brave the Black Friday crowds.  We were on the road at 3:30! It was so much fun!  I talked them out of hitting McDonald's drive through for breakfast, saying I was still full from my cottage cheese and apple sauce at 2:30 and needed to wait.  We headed right for the city.

Dropped mom off at AC Moore, and my sister and I headed for Target.  Couldn't believe the line already!  I was very impressed once we got in the store, however, and saw how organized Target was.  I found everything I wanted within 15 minutes, and stood in line for only 2.  Headed over to the Starbucks to grab a table and wait for my sister.  She ended up paying for my nephew's DSI and then hitting the regular toy aisle, so I headed back over to pick up mom.  My sister was already through checking out by the time we fought the traffic.  Kudos to Target for their speed, efficiency, and excellent customer service!

After Target we went to IHOP for breakfast.  Their lighter side menu is awesome.  My mom and I split a meal, and both had plenty!  She's been doing weight watchers since August....

After breakfast we headed to Best Buy.  Gotta say, Target set the standard for the day and Best Buy fell WAY short of it.  VERY disorganized (they tried, points for that) but they had regular shopping aisles blocked off for checkout control.  I couldn't even GET to an item I wanted because of the line.  Then they overcharged me at check out so I had to go to customer service for a refund...  not too impressed with them at this point...

Next was Walmart.  I love going to WalMart after the initial rush/doorbusters.  The store was busy, but no more than a normal weekend.  We spent an hour there, and found some great buys.

Next was my favorite stop of the day... Old Navy!  I never really shopped there before because I never fit in their clothes... Well, NOW I CAN!!!  I bought 4 tees, 2 camis, and a tee-shirt hoodie!  OMG I never thought the day would come when I would be able to shop there!!

After ON, it was time for lunch.  Applebees was the choice because of their WW menu for my mom.  I ended up getting the Steak Quesedilla tower and just eating the inside.  Very good and more than enough food.  Even took some home!

Next it was on to Kohl's.  I have a few stamping friends who work there.  I ran into three of them, two of them didn't recognize me!  What a great feeling!

Ended the day at Toy's R Us.  By this time I was feeling the effects of the fatigue, so stayed in the car and watched Alvin and the Chipmunks LOL!  Just enough of a rest for the last stop of the day, Christmas Tree Shoppes.  LOVE THAT STORE!

This weekend I even had the energy and ambition to rearrange furniture and deep clean.  Haven't set the tree up yet, but that's the next on the list.  For the past 3 years the tree has stayed in the box.  My excuse was it was too big for the house.  Reality is I was too big to care, too big to put out the effort.  Not this year.  My kids deserve a tree and not excuses....

Not once, but TWICE yesterday while I was out shopping I ran into people I hadn't seen since last summer and they didn't know who I was!  Both knew I was having the surgery, but just looked at me funny when I waved at them.  I walked over and said hello, and it wasn't until they heard my voice that they realized who I was!  Totally cool feeling!  Also, when I was checking out at the grocery store, the cashier was a former student of mine.  She smiled and said "Mrs. Sieben, you look fantastic!"

What a great way to end a fabulous weekend! 

Added updated pics to my album if you want to take a look...

We've all felt it.  That feeling of being completely alone and ignored even in a room full of people.  It was one of my biggest challenges with my job.  I am a para-educator (teacher's aide).  I am part of the special education team.  I am part of a group of other para-educators.  But because I follow a single student, I am often "forgotten" or overlooked when there are department meetings or trainings.  My contract runs differently from the other aides.  If my student is absent, I am sent home.  I fought endlessly to be recognized and included in meetings and trainings.  I am required to have 20 hours of continuing education, yet my contract reads that if my student isn't in attendance, I am not to report to work.  I've had to be my own advocate and demand that I be paid for mandatory inservice hours.  I've had to demand to be compensated for working through my lunch break because the administration didn't see it as a priority to find coverage in order for me to have my mandated break.  My many requests for coverage went ignored so eventually I finally stopped making them, and insisting I be paid for the half hour break I was denied.  You can imagine the resistance I encountered.  A gentle reminder about labor laws and mandatory breaks changed their minds about paying me.  It's been a struggle....

I was delusional and convinced myself that the reason I was "ignored" was because I wasn't a regular classroom aide.  I didn't have the same schedule or duties as a typical aide, therefore I was often overlooked when memos and information was shared.  I even had to have not one but two meetings last year with our new principal just to be put on his staff email chain for daily updates.  It took him 3 months to do that.  I was never informed of department meetings.  What makes this worse is that my own sister is a teacher in my department! 

My surgery was on September 10th.  I came back to school in August in order to prepare my student for the transition into the new school year, get her comfortable with her new schedule and teachers, and ease the switch to a long-term substitute aide.  I had already lost 50 lbs at the start of school, and had my once long, curly hair cut short and straightened.  I saw almost every teacher at our small school at our back to school inservice meetings.  I passed many of them in the hall when classes started.  I spoke to many of them individually before taking my leave of absence.

Only 3 people bothered to call/check in with me while I was out.  My sister did say many would ask her about me, but only THREE bothered to call/email themselves.

Imagine my shock when I returned from surgery having lost another 25 lbs and these same teachers whom I had seen just 5 weeks earlier were coming up to me and commenting on how "good" I looked.  Many of them were aware of the surgery so it wasn't unexpected.  The biggest shock, however, was how many of them commented on how much they loved my hair cut!?!  I had the same hair cut for the two weeks I was here before having the surgery.  At least 4 of the people who commented on my haircut were ones I talked to EVERY DAY before leaving.  Did I miss something?  Obviously THEY did. 

So that is my proof of invisibility. Nobody even noticed my haircut until I came back and they KNEW about the surgery.

Makes me wish I was still invisible....

Two weeks ago I went to the doc with flu-like symptoms.  He said it was just a cold, and gave me cough syrup with codeine.  Worked for a while, started feeling better.  Went to the gym one night and the next morning I was worse.

Monday I went back because it just wasn't getting any better.  Saw the new doc (my PCP is leaving the practice) and she called it "double ear infection, sinusitis, and URI".  Gave me amoxicillan elixir to try. 

This morning I woke up and could feel the congestion in my chest and the rattle when I cough.  Called for another appointment...

Saw the new doc again.  She did a flu swap and strep swap, both negative.  She decided this time to call it "severe bronchitis".  Gave me a breathing treatment which helped.  Ordered a chest xray to rule out pneumonia (will have results tomorrow but I bet it is positive, I've had it before). 

So I am out of work for the rest of this week as well.  I was supposed to go back last Friday after my surgery leave, but that never happened...

I hope I still have a job after all of this!  If not, that's ok too.  I'd make more money doing something else anyway.

I just want this to go away so I can enjoy how good it feels to have the RNY!  I was feeling great until I got sick two weeks ago!