FreeKibble.com
Friday, August 31, 2007
Lots of support!
I have lots of support on my decision to have the Gastric Sleeve done. I even found out that one of my friends I hardly ever see may have her surgery on the same day by the same doctor at the same hospital. How cool is that! I told her we should ask for rooms next to each other. LOL

I still haven't heard a word from my sister. I thought about calling her to tell her about the surgery date but then I decided not to. Since she hasn't chosen to call or contact me an any way, I guess I will just let that dog lie. I have already tried to mend fences enough without laying down and begging. It's rediculous to me that she has let this stupid crap get this far, but that is how they (my half siblings by my natural father) were raised. If she doesn't want me in her life, that is her choice. It's sad. But I can live with it if I have to.

Update on my son.....he is still in Cenikor Recovery Center and has been now for 54 or so days. He is doing well with the exception of an absessed tooth. They had to send him to the emergency room to get that taken care of until he could get to the dentist. One more month (probably right before surgery) I will be able to go see him. They can't have visitors for the first 90 days. I am looking forward to our visit. We write letters back in forth and he sounds really good in his letters. He writes very well. Please pray that he continues with his recovery process.

Heather and Allen and of course, Lacey, my granddog, are coming for the night tomorrow night and I can't wait to see them all, especially the dog.........Sorry Heather. I think Kirk and Deirdre will be here on Sunday and we are going to cook hamburgers on the grill.

You can find my recipe for those on Yahoo Groups Recipe_Favorites. Check it out and join if you haven't already. That's all for today. Nothing too big going on.
 
posted by Cindy N. at 10:31 PM | Permalink | 1 If you would like to say something about what you just read, please say it here
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Obesity Surgery Plans October 11, 2007

Ok, folks, here it the decision. Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy. That is what I am going to do. For those of you that don't know me personally, I am just a tad, ok a LOT, overweight. This has caused and is causing me a lot of health problems, from high blood pressure to back to knee problems and more. I have trouble walking or standing for any length of time, can't fit comfortably in an airplane seat, can't sit in a booth when I go out to eat with my friends, etc. These are only a few of the problems faced. And let's not even discuss the depression issue.

Recently my family and I went out to eat for mine and Tom's anniversary at a restaurant in town. There were six of us and when the hostess brought us to our table, it was a booth. I stood there looking at the seat KNOWING I couldn't sit in it. I was so embarrassed. I quietly told her I could not fit in the booth and she was very nice and said, “no problem, I will get you a chair and you can sit on the end of the table” (sticking out in the isle), but it worked. Never-the-less, I was humiliated. My husband said I handled it well without letting anyone know how embarrassed I was. But he knew and I knew.

I have thought about having this surgery for several years, but just didn’t have the money to do it. My insurance will not pay for it, even though it’s medically necessary. But you know, God does for us what we can’t do for ourselves. My grandmother (who passed away over a year ago) had written me into her will to get part of the proceeds from the sale of her home and though it isn’t very much money, it’s enough for me to have this surgery.

So here is what I am going to do on October 11, 2007. The pictures below will show you what will be done. With the three pictures included in this blog you can see exactly what will be done to reduce my stomach to the size of a large egg.
I am really excited to be able to finally get this done. I have talked to many people that have been through it and they are all having wonderful results. The average weight loss is 15 to 20 pounds per month. At that rate, by next year this time, I will be wearing clothes a LOT smaller than I wear now. And I will be a lot healthier too. Most cases are able to stop all medications for blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes (I don't have), and cholesterol meds, etc.
My last hoorah is our vacation we have planned for September 21 thru 30th. We are going to be in Destin and the kids will all be joining us for the first family vacation ever. I want to be able to eat this year, but next year, I will be able to walk to beach too!
Pray for me and my family as we approach this huge life style change.
 
posted by Cindy N. at 9:55 PM | Permalink | 7 If you would like to say something about what you just read, please say it here
Monday, August 27, 2007
People don't like my melting head!
I have gotten some comments about the melting head on the previous post, but that is really how I felt. Sorry. I thought it was a very good analogy of the way I felt. I felt like the witch on Wizard of Oz, "I'm Mellllllttttinnnnggggg!"

Ok, it's better now. Of course the weather is not as hot either right now. Last week we had temps in the triple digits with very high humidity. It was so hot, that when you walked outside it would take your breath away. I didn't even want my poor dogs to have to go out to pee.
We are getting a little bit of rain now so things have cooled down.

We still have the A/C problem, but they are supposed to come back tomorrow and relocate one of the units as they put them too close together and they are cancelling each other out. It's sort of hard to explain, so I am hoping what they said they will do will take care of the problem.

Yesterday afternoon about 3:20 pm we had a little thunderstorm move through here and my power went off and stayed off until 9:45 pm. That sucked. It got pretty hot in here. I was lucky because I had made plans to go eat with some friends, but Tom was here and ended up sitting in his truck with the A/C running for a while to cool off. I am really just rambling because there is nothing going on really.

I have an appointment with the gastric bypass doctor Wednesday. I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but I have decided to have the surgery. I have to get this weight off somehow and dieting just ain't happening! Tom will go with me to visit the doctor so we can get our questions answered.

I am considering two different types of surgery.....one is gastric bypass and the other is vertical gastrectomy. I have to pay cash because insurance will NOT pay for this type of what they consider 'elective' surgery. Idiots. This surgery will save my life and ultimately cost them less in the long run. Vertical gastrectomy is cheaper by about $7,000. So that is why I am considering that one, but I have lots of questions about its success rates. At any rate, by this time next year, there will be half of me left and I will be much healthier and happier.

If anyone has had these surgeries or knows someone who has, ask them to email me so I can talk to them about their experiences.

Ok, I am done. Good night.
 
posted by Cindy N. at 11:17 PM | Permalink | 3 If you would like to say something about what you just read, please say it here
Monday, August 20, 2007
New air conditioner!
I finally talked, ok nagged, my husband into a new airconditioning/heating unit for our house. The old one was from the caveman days and it just wasn't able to do its job anymore. It has
been trying really hard for about 10 years now (it was about 30 years old) and I just finally literally had a melt down last week.

They came today and installed said new air conditioner and it is finally cooling. We actually have two units for our home since our home has and added on part that is heated and cooled separately. We kept wondering why it wasn't getting any cooler in here earlier and realized, finally, that the older unit was set on HEAT! Imagine that! It's 96 degrees outside and we have our heater running. Twilight zone here. Crazy things happen around here sometimes.



We had the guy put a new thermostat on the old A/C and since we are technology challenged, we can't figure out how to program the stupid thing. We finally got it set on cool, so I think we are in business, at least for 7 days. That will give us time to study the instructions on how to set a programmable thermostat. LOL

Well, going to bed now, hope it's cooler than 82 in our bedrooms now.
Good night.
 
posted by Cindy N. at 11:30 PM | Permalink | 2 If you would like to say something about what you just read, please say it here
Saturday, August 18, 2007
18 years!
Today is mine and Tom's 18th wedding anniversary. Gosh, so many things have happened in these 18 years. It's hard to even think about where our lives have taken us over the years. We have built fun memories, sad memories, tragic ones, hilarious ones and everything in between. We talk a lot to each other, laugh a lot and have cried a lot. We have fought and made up and loved each other no matter what. Can't say we always liked each other, but the love has always been steadfast. Happy Anniversary to us! I love you Tom.


It's been a month since my last post. Sorry, it's been so long. I was in a deep slump again, completely filled with sorrow. Last week, I felt like I had lost everything and everyone in my life. My sister (the one in the wreck last year) and I had a huge disagreement and now she won't even speak with me at all. It was all over trivial crap, but apparently she is going to hold onto it for a while. I have called, left messages, apologized, and even wrote her a letter apologizing for my part in it all but she has chosen to ignore it all. So now, the ball is in her court. I can't do any more than I have already done. As I said, it was all so trivial I can't imagine her holding onto this like she is, but it's about her now and not about me, so I have had to let it all go.


Heather was here a couple of weeks ago and bought the cutest little puppy ever. She is a Yorkie Poo. Her name is Lacey and here is her picture. She is my new granddog and I love her so much. She is such a ball of activity that makes me laugh all the time. She loves to throw her own ball and go get it and bring it back to where she was when she threw it the first time. She weighs 2 pounds right now and is 11 weeks old.

Lacey and Heather are here with us for the weekend. Allen is coming in when he gets off from work this afternoon. We are all going out to eat tonight for our anniversary dinner. I still haven't decided where I would like to go, but I am thinking Olive Garden. But I might change it to Ralph and Kakoo's. We don't go there very often and it's really good food.

Last weekend, I went to a retreat for women. It was a very awesome experience for me. It lifted my spirits and helped me learn more about myself and my feelings. I even ended up in a small group of women who had all recently lost someone in their lives and that helped too, because we all had something in common and were able to hold each other up. I am so grateful that I was there and know it was the Big Man upstairs who led me there and grouped me with those particular women.

Well, just wanted to let you all know I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, although last week, I just wanted to step off the edge, but I am back and stronger now. Love to you all!
 
posted by Cindy N. at 12:03 AM | Permalink | 0 If you would like to say something about what you just read, please say it here