My weight loss journey

I am writing this from Duluth. I'm up here because my father in law is in pretty bad shape. So we're taking a break from the hospital at Barnes and Noble. Thank god for wifi. Thank god I remembered to bring the laptop.

Monday night Bob, my father in law, drove himself to the hospital because he thought he was coming down with pneumonia. Well, it turns out that he probably had a minor heart attack about 2 weeks ago and now has congestive heart failure. He lives in Hibbing, so he was at the Hibbing hospital, until today. After giving him quite a few rounds of Lasik without any results, they decided he needed another hospital. So now he's in Duluth. And we're here. He seems to be in better spirits, but he's still out of breath all the time even though he never leaves the bed. Forget the fact that his kidneys are shutting down and he hasn't urinated in over 12 hours. One of the first things they did when he got to St. Mary's in Duluth was give him a PICC line. Hopefully they'll get the drugs into him better and we'll start seeing some results. He's a good man. He's only 62.

So I entered "random monotony" into Google and looked for images. Interesting.

It's been a long week, and a REALLY long day. But that's okay. This too will pass. It always does.

Anyway. I'm really all over the place today with my thinking. Hard to focus. But the picture I've got here has inspired me to write. It made me think of boobs. More specifically, my boobs. There are so many people who have this surgery that talk about how they've lost their wonderful breasts and been left with tennis balls in long socks. I, however, have not encountered this. I keep waiting for the deflation to begin. I wonder if it will be a sudden loss of tissue or more of a slow leak loss. Some people don't lose them at all. Maybe I'm one of those. I have had to buy some new bras. My band size has changed... a lot. But the cup size remains the same. They aren't sagging any more or any less than they did before. I lost all perkiness when I had the Monkey. I thought I was going to be a tennis ball tube socker, but now I'm starting to reconsider. It should be interesting to watch.

So, now I'm more than 4 months out and feeling great... still... yet... again. I'm sure that all of you are sick of hearing that. But I really can't explain just how much better I feel each minute of every day.

I did have an infection this month that required I get an antibiotic. That was quite the experience. I knew that I needed it, but they aren't just going to call me in some good drugs without seeing the doctor. Have to collect that copay. So I get an appointment the same day. Not with my normal doctor, whom I adore, but another doctor in Internal Medicine. I didn't care. I just wanted my drugs. I just wanted to go home and make the uncomfortableness go away. So they do their tests. "Yep, you have an infection." I must have given her one of the dumbest looks ever. My head was screaming, "Duh!" She looks at all the meds I'm taking, aka the whole fickin vitamin section. She tells me that she's going to prescribe me Cipro. That's fine. I ask her what the pills are like because I've had this gastric bypass surgery and can't swallow large pills whole and some don't absorb correctly. She tells me that I can cut them in half, and I shouldn't worry about absorption. But she can't tell me that before an almost 5 minute pause. I said okay, took the scrip, went to the pharmacy and asked my pharmacist. The pharmacist had a quick answer. Cut them in half or smaller. Whatever I'm comfortable with. Take them with milk so that they dissolve in the pouch a little longer and then I'll have better success with absorbtion. She was amazing. She said that if I don't feel better, have the doctor call her and she'll make some liquid recommendations. I think I've found my favorite pharmacist.

So, it's now September. Tomorrow I will be 4 months out from surgery, and down over 70 pounds. I feel wonderful. People tell me that I look great. Still don't see it. But whatever. My brain will catch up to my body some day.

School is starting for the Monkey on Tuesday. She's so excited. A new school, new teachers, new friends. She already knows a lot of people in her school. Thanks to softball, soccer, and daycare, she's going to be just fine. I'm very glad that I started making to conversion last spring. I think she'll have a much more seamless change because of the more gradual change.

Still thiking PV. I need a beach. With a hot cabana boy who speaks little English. Oh yes... I do.