6 Month Post-Op Appt Ramble

My six month surg-iversary was on Friday, June 15. Yay! :)

Had a visit with my Internal Med guy, Dr. H, for my 6 month follow up. He was happy with my weight loss progress. By his record--which I argue with--I have lost 75 pounds since surgery. I maintain it is 83 pounds! Discrepancies aside, that's still pretty good for a 6 month loss.

My cholesterol and other such important labs were good. I'm to continue as usual with vitamins and eating well.

My thyroid was off (meaning, I'm not getting enough med), but, honestly, that's not surprising. I take that when I take my anxiety med in the morning. I've missed several doses of the anxiety med because it makes me drowsy and I remembered to take it too late. If I did take it late, I'd be very tired and that's hard when working in an emergency room, even as non-patient care staff.

I switch to a regular, 9-5 office job on Monday. At that time, I think I'll be in a better place to schedule pills and meals. Well, I hope so, since that was the whole reason I took the job.

I'm still tired all the time, but that's due to having only 1,000 calories a day (per nutritionist, and just for now) and because I keep missing those anxiety meds. I'm having tired withdrawal symptoms, as Dr. H explained to me at our last appointment.

Per that previous conversation, we opted to move me off of my current anxiety med, Paxil, to a new one (don't remember the name). I take both for the next week and then drop Paxil completely. It will be soooo nice not having that pill add to my constant feeling of tired!

Prior to and after my surgery, no one told me how much weight I should lose in what time frame. I never knew if I was on the right track, going too slow, going too fast, etc. Dr. H actually told me what he expects of me in the next six months. I'm happy about that. I like having a goal/plan.

He said that my weight loss will slow, which it already has, now that I am further away from my surgery and getting more calories than I was initially. He said walking is excellent, but my metabolism is going to need a boost at this point, so I should do some cardio exercise 2x a week.

Also, he said that another 75 (83!) pound loss by the one-year surg-iversary is not expected, nor a healthy goal. He feels a 25 pound loss in that time frame (6 more months) would be safe and attainable. That's approximately 1 pound a week. I plan to try to do 2 pounds a week, but, over all, I'm going to be happy as long as I make the 25 lb mark. Anything greater is a bonus!

"Maybe the most any of us can expect of ourselves isn't perfection but progress." ~ Michelle Burford

So far, my car has broken down and I accidentally sliced off part of my left pinky fingernail while shaving my legs (my lack of coordination is legendary). I'm kind of afraid to touch or do anything today for fear of what else might happen.

On a happier note, I am just two days away from my six month post op surg-iversary! Goodness, six months sounds so much longer than it has felt.

I'm still learning about myself emotionally, how to handle my Frankensteined system, and discovering long hidden body parts (guess what! I found a collar bone the other day and felt a hip bone last week!). I think most of that will be a life long process and I welcome it. Bet life gets boring if you figure it all out.

Six months ago, I wouldn't have even imagined that, today, I would be less than two weeks from starting a new job--and a daytime job at that. I wouldn't have had any idea that I would lose 83 pounds between then and now. Finally, surprise!, I can--and enjoy--walking two miles, when I hated walking to the mail box six months ago.

Life really is a roller coaster. Who knows what is around the next bend? I'm looking forward to finding out when I get there.

Surgery Bills

It's just over two months after my surgery. :) Some days it seems like more than that and others it seems so recently.

Also, the other day, I received my bill for my surgery and it looks like my health insurance paid for EVERYTHING! *happy dance* I don't owe a single dime for my surgery or my 4 night/5 day hospital stay.

They snuck me in at the end of the year because we figured I'd met my out of pocket expenses for the year thanks to the ton of pre-op appointments I'd had for the prior 8 months. I only had about a week notice before my surgery because the surgeons rearrainged things to get me in before 2012. The short notice and being a pain in their asses was not a waste. :D