082 Doing New Things!

Hello, Friends!

Here we are at almost 200 pounds lost! It's amazing just how far we have come since October. I can't believe we are here already, but we still have a way to go.

Still I thought I would share with you some of the great new things Jimmy and I have been doing to be healthier and lose weight in addition to making better food choices.

1. Swimming -- We love it!
2. Softball. This spring we joined our church softball team. It's been fun to hit the ball, play the field, and run the bases. Even Jimmy is enjoying being outside.

Jimmy's first at-bat of the season. He had a great hit even if he did wipe out afterwards.

Jimmy playing first base in our second game.

3. Other Outdoor Activities -- We have started going to the batting cages to bone up for softball and I actually talked Jimmy into mini-golf!

 

It's really been a blast and we are both looking forward to all the amazing doors which are going to be open to us now that Jimmy is shrinking. Keep in touch and we will keep you informed on the latest and greatest in our life too!

 

081 Jimmy's Four Month Post Op Update

Yes! It's finally here! I know that you have been waiting for ever to find out about what Jimmy has been up to so I trapped him and got him to record a little four month update. I'm sorry if you are hoping it would be really long because it's only about a minute in length. Jimmy is even more full of energy now and I just can't keep him trapped for that long. So I hope you enjoy this little update and hopefully I will get back into posting more soon.

080 Foodie Pics

I was cleaning off Jimmy's phone for him today when I realized just how many pictures of food he takes. I thought it would be fun to post them all and let you figure out for yourselves which were before surgery and which were after. I think it should be pretty easy and maybe even fun!

062 Accomplishment of the Day

Today's accomplishment is that Jimmy was able to wear a shirt from 10 years ago for the first time in...10 years (almost)!

"Not Ashamed" from T.E.S.T.I.f.Y. Student Ministry from First Baptist Church of DeSoto, MO.

048 Is This Real Life?

Here we are nearing the end of gastric sleeve post-op week three. I can't believe that it has already been three weeks since Jimmy's surgery. Most of what I am having trouble believing are the numbers. Let me explain.

At this point, Jimmy and I have noticed small physical changes, but we are seeing astronomical changes in the number on the scale! I mean come on 73 lbs! It just blows your mind. In some ways it just doesn't seem real!

I believe that part of the unbelief is that we haven't see radical changes in his physical appearance yet. Some of the changes that I am sure are happening I know that I probably have missed seeing because I see Jimmy every day. There have been other people who have said how good Jimmy looks and that he looks SO MUCH thinner but I am only seeing small changes right now.

It's funny and I am chuckling to myself even as I write this but I am probably going to wake up some day and wonder what the fairy godmother did to my husband. He will "magically" turn from one thing to another "overnight" and I will be totally amazed! I know that I am going to see some pretty amazing and radical stuff--especially over the next year--I just haven't noticed it yet.

Jimmy and I are just asking, "Is this real life?"

Hope this post made you smile.

030 Matters of the Heart

Alright, last time I told you about going to the hospital for Jimmy's big testing day, and I told you that the nurse practitioner was sending Jimmy to see a cardiologist.

Today, I am going to tell you about the cardiologist.

Jimmy's cardiologist appointment was with Dr. McGraw (unfortunately not Tim). Dr. McGraw was very nice and thorough. Through screening Jimmy and asking him a series of diagnostic questions he determined that Jimmy was low risk for the surgery (great news!). However, he still wanted him to have an echocardiography (sonogram of the heart) done to measure the size of the heart and the thickness of the heart walls.

That meant lots of waiting for us because they won't do the test without insurance pre-approval. Thankfully this pre-approval was just a matter of 45 minutes to an hour of waiting in the waiting room of Dr. McGraw's office. During this time I talked Jimmy into filming a vlog (which you have already seen) and I got a chance to read some more Mark of Athena. So pretty good trade off.

When they did call us in for the test, Jimmy started making lots of jokes about whether or not they were going to find out this heart was pregnant. :) What can I say? I knew what I was getting into when I married him. Anyway the nurse thought it was pretty funny so I wasn't too embarrassed.

After several pics from several angles the nurse called Dr. McGraw in so that he could look everything over. He tweaked some of the settings, took a couple more pics, and declared Jimmy ready okay for surgery.

It was a real relief to know that everything is ok and that we will be able to proceed with the surgery as scheduled.

In less than a week Jimmy will be having his WLS and nothing will ever be the same again! It's both exciting and scary. Thank you all for all of your prayers, encouragements, and thoughts!

Grace and Peace,

028 TESTING. TESTING. TESTING 1-2

Good morning, everyone! I hope that you have enjoyed hearing about Jimmy's liquid diet. Rest assured you will be receiving more details about that as time goes on BUT today I am going to jump back to the chronological storyline we were following.

So let's see…

Insurance requirements…Monthly appts…Exercise…Dieting…Dr. Appt. Blitz… Now I remember, we were getting ready to talk about Testing Day!

Ok, so it's not really called Testing Day but that's what I decided to nickname it since Jimmy had to undergo a bunch of tests :) In all reality this was the day that if Jimmy could pass all his tests then he would be able to schedule his surgery date.

TEST #1:
Our day started bright and early at Heartland Medical Center. First stop was to the lab. Let me tell you Jimmy is not jazzed about anything related to drawing blood or giving blood. Then you match that reluctance up with an early morning appointment and I was sure that disaster would ensue.

Thankfully I was wrong! The lab technician was awesome! She got Jimmy on the first try which kept him in a good mood too. Not only that but I was also relieved when we later found out Jimmy's cholesterol and blood sugars looked good. One set of tests down and passed.

TEST #2:
Next we had to go the cardiology section of the hospital for an EKG. The technician hooked everything up, took his readings, and sent him on his way. When we talked to the Nurse Practitioner we found out that the anesthesiologist would want further testing because his results were not clear. She also said that this was normal for a person JImmy's size.

TEST #3:
The final test was with Cindy Roberts the Nurse Practitioner. She wanted to check that Jimmy knew what was expected from him as far as diet and exercise. She also checked to make sure he knew his vitamins and medications for post-op. She also re-assured us that we would be able to schedule the surgery date but that we would still have to go see a cardiologist for further heart testing.

PASSED!!!

Jimmy and I took the first available surgery date. Bright and early on Friday, November 16, 2012.

020 Grieving Jimmy's Lifelong Friend Food

Hey, friends! I am glad to see that you are hanging in there with us. I have been thinking about this blog post for quite a while now but I wanted to wait and write it while my frustration wasn't quite so great.

As you can imagine, the closer we get to the liquid diet and the surgery the harder things become emotionally. It is also a lot harder to stick to our regimen of healthy eating and exercise (we have actually been really bad about this the last week or so). From talking to other people I really knew that I should be expecting this. However, I totally underestimated how hard this stage would be!

Evidently, when you are facing a gastric sleeve surgery you actually grieve FOOD. Ok, please stop rolling your eyes at me. You probably could have told me that you saw that one coming a mile away but let me put my foot down and firmly tell you that IT IS HARD! You really don't get how big a part of your life food is until you look at it and say, "I may never be able to eat this again!"

As Jimmy began to grieve food he became moody, angry, emotional, and his thinking was isolated. There were many times when I know he had to be thinking that I couldn't even come close to understanding what he was feeling or thinking because I will still physically be able to eat whatever I want. But he's not alone…

The biggest struggle was trying to support him and encourage him that I do understand his sacrifices in small measure. I wanted him to know that I am with him in this. I eat with him and prepare our meals together. I will be eating the same things he eats--once he gets make to eating solid foods :) I know that he will miss pizza more than me but I am really going to miss pasta.

In the end I know that his sacrifice is way greater than mine but if he gets the fact that I know that his sacrifice is a big deal and I support him--no matter how whiny or angry he gets about losing food--then that is a victory for both of us!

For more information on the process of grieving food, please feel free to visit the resources listed below.  Since our world is revolving around food right now, the next couple of posts will be dealing with Jimmy's Pre-Op diet and preparation for the surgery.

More Resources:

• The 5 Stages of (Food) Grief
• Grieving for Food
• After Gastric Bypass: Some Tough Love on Grieving Food
• Grieving Over the Loss of My Friend Food

019 Jimmy's 3 Week Pre-Op Update

Hi, everyone! Today marks three weeks to the day out from Jimmy's surgery (November 16th). Yesterday Jimmy had to go for a check-up with the cardiologist to get the ok for surgery. Needless to say we had A LOT of waiting at the Cardiologist's office so we decided it would be a great time for Jimmy to record another vlog for you.

Hope you enjoy!

018 Portion Size Matters

Another of the appointments we had during our doctor appointment blitz was with a Nutritionist named Krystal Staggs. Let me tell you right now that Krystal is A-MAZ-ING! I know that she has really helped Jimmy A LOT! So much so that we have even set up additional monthly meetings with her so that Jimmy can talk about ways he can prepare himself for healthier living and what he can be doing now to gradually ease into the new way of eating he will have after the surgery.

The biggest realization that we have come to is that PORTION SIZE MATTERS. I would guess that about 90% of people are regularly overeating and they don't even realize it. It's not because they are "pigging out" necessarily but it is because of an ignorance of portion size. I about cried laughing when Krystal pulled out the little rubber piece of beef that was an ounce portion. It was minuscule compared to what is normally on my plate. When she held it out to us she said, "This is how much Jimmy's stomach will be able to hold right after surgery." Let me tell you that my jaw about dropped to the floor. I mean--come on--I knew that he wouldn't be able to eat a lot but this easily fit into the palm of my hand!

It was in that moment that I truly realized just how much I was overeating without even giving it a second thought. I know that Jimmy must have been thinking the same thing from the look on his face. So in addition, to setting some other realistic goals for ourselves--like not keeping chips or sweets in the house--we also decided to make a conscious effort to actually pay attention to the amount of food and the number of portions we were putting into our mouths.

Because PORTIONS DO MATTER!

017 Jimmy's BIG Dreams

Today you are in for a real treat! Jimmy is writing this post himself. Then at the end I am posting a photo collage of some of the things I dream of us doing after the WLS.

As promised, here is Jimmy's post of his big post surgery dreams…





Losing hundreds of pounds is a good thing. It will make life even more crazy than it already is. Christiana has asked me to write a blog post about things that I look forward to doing once more and more weight comes off. So since I like Top 10 lists, I thought it would be fun to do the:

TOP TEN THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO DOING AFTER I LOSE WEIGHT OR TTTILFTDAILW for short.

Here we go.

#10. Go to more concerts. I like going to concerts but I don’t like traveling distances and standing for a long time. But losing weight means that I will be able to do both. It will nice to see that a band is playing within driving distance and not working about going to it. Plus this might mean that I will be able to attend some actual music festivals. Such as www.lifelight.org. Its only 5 hours away therefore I will be able to travel to it. Speaking of….

#9. Travel It will nice to not be hindered by being stuck in a vehicle or a plane or a train or a rikshaw uncomfortably as now. It will be nice to take trips to places that are off limits to me know like, I don’t know, apple picking or nascar races. That is the point. I can travel more easily.

#8. Paintball, lazer tag and other such. If I were to go PB or LT now I would be pretty pointless and useless. Serving as a very easy target. But once I become more mobile, quicker, sleeker, sneakier, more spy like, I will be a valuable to a team and more fun. Go ahead and lump Mini Golf in this category too. My wife always wants to go to mini golf. Oh and Picnics. Oh and playing basketball.

#7. Stand Longer. Might seem kind of boring and lame but true. Its annoying sometimes when you get stuck somewhere without a place to sit and you leave. Or having to take a chair to places where you need to be able to sit down. Or just simply to stand longer in the pulpit to preach. Either or. It will be nice to stand for longer period of times.

#6. Easier times at restaurants. There are certain places that we avoid simply because there are no tables, or the chairs are bad or there is limited space. It will be nice because we wont be as limited with this as we are now. Granted its not going to be there over night but it will be an improvement. Of course there will be way less eating out now. LOL.

#5. Discovering other fun activities besides eating out. Maybe hot air ballooning, maybe, maybe archery, perhaps fencing? Any of those and things I haven’t thought of yet. It will be neat to see what kinds of things Christiana will do that we don’t even know yet. I guess that is part of the excitement vs the depressing part of this. I got to focus on the things that I can do now vs the food I cant eat now. BYE BYE Capt. Crunch. (a little veggie tales reference for you)

#4. Going to the Theatre. Christiana and I both love the Theatre. We have only been once since we have been married. Why? Seating mainly. But again, that will be easier. I wont like dressing up but at least….

#3. Dress clothes more often. Do people even realize how expensive clothes for big people are??? Especially dress clothes, if you can even find them. I know that my lovely wife would love for me to dress up for often. Maybe even a dress shirt and tie. MAYBE! But I would love to be more like Corey Matthews of Boy Meets Wold and rock the Sweater vest some!! Again, more options. Clothes are still expensive but some are worth it like….

#2. Buying jerseys and sports clothes!! I always wear shirts and I never get to wear anything to rep my STL Cards or My UCONN Huskies. Well beside hats. I cant wait til I cant get that first Jersey or Uniform. Its going to be awesome. Also a nice plus will be WWE shirts. So I can walk around chanting YES YES YES YES to everyone. (like 3 people will get that. LOL)

#1. Not being embarrassed all the time. Overweight constantly fight self image issues. Since I view this surgery as very PRO ACTIVE it will nice to know that even if I am still a big guy (face it I will never be 150) I will know that something is being done about it and I can feel easier and better about myself.

Christiana's Dream BIG Collage:

016 Dare to Dream BIG

As I mentioned in my last post, we had a Dr. Appointment Blitz on August 10th. If you have no clue what I am talking about then feel free to read my last post “INSERT TITLE & HREF”. One of the appointments Jimmy had that day was with Dr. Taylor who is a local Psychologist who works with the WLS program at Heartland. As a part of Jimmy’s WLS team it’s her job to make sure that Jimmy is mentally prepared for this surgery and the lifestyle changes it will entail.

I think it’s really a no brainer that Jimmy was the most worried about his appointment with Dr. Taylor. I mean--come on--no one wants people to analyze all the things going on in their heads! Thankfully our appointment went really well and Jimmy didn’t have to lay down on any therapy couches :) One thing that we really did take away from our visit with Dr. Taylor was that Jimmy needs to dream big and think about all the things that he really is looking forward to/wants to do/wants to have that he was physically unable to be/do/have before and that this surgery and changing his eating habits will allow him to be/do/have now.

Dr. Taylor made a great point. She said that if he can think about and make a list of all the things that he wants to come as a result of this surgery then it will be easier to follow his doctors instructions and his new healthier lifestyle because he knows what he is doing this for. So when he is really tired and feeling lazy and wants to order a deep dish meat lovers from Pizza Hut instead of giving in he should say/think something like “I am choosing not to have Pizza Hut because I would rather be able to wear a UCONN Jersey.”

If you are planning to have WLS think about what you want to achieve through this surgical experience and make a list. Next time I will be sharing some of the things from Jimmy’s list with you!

Until next time!

010 White Coat Syndrome

Have you ever experienced a severe spike in anxiety and blood pressure when you know you are going to the doctor or at the doctor's office? If so then you might be suffering from white coat syndrome. I personally didn't believe in this at one point and time. BUT then I started going to the doctor with my hubby, Jimmy.

Jimmy doesn't like doctors. He doesn't like needles, and he doesn't like waiting. All these things combined can make for a very stressful doctors visit. Especially when you combine a couple of those elements in the same visit. These things have a very real effect on his blood pressure.

I have been in a doctor's visit where they took Jimmy's blood pressure upon entering the exam room and found it to be high. Then upon his request they would take it after he had time to talk to the nurses and laugh things off and it has been as much as 15 points lower in both numbers.

If you are like Jimmy and the doctor is monitoring your blood pressure closely then you want to make sure that they get an accurate reading. Here are some things that you need to consider to get the most accurate blood pressure reading at the doctor's office:

• Are they using the right size blood pressure cuff?
• Jimmy has large arms because he is over weight so they have to use a thigh sized cuff to get an accurate reading on his upper arm.
• If they attempt to use a cuff that is too small then your readings will be high and vice versa if the cuff is too large.
• Are they taking your blood pressure in the same place each visit?
• Jimmy's blood pressure varies greatly when they take readings in his forearm versus his upper arm.
• Forearm readings (at least in Jimmy's case) are higher approx. 99% of the time.
• Have you considered asking the nurse to take a second blood pressure reading after you have had a few moments to get settled in the exam room?
• Answering the mundane health questions they ask every visit often takes your mind off the anxiety of the visit and helps you calm down.
• You may get a better reading if you have your blood pressure taken at this time.

Please remember that I am not a doctor but these are things that we have found to be true in Jimmy's case. Maybe you can find something in here that can help you too. Rest assured that White Coat Symptom is a very real thing and can drastically effect your blood pressure and heart rate.

Until Next Time,

008 Our Journey Begins with a Fitness Pal

Our Weight Loss Surgery (WLS) begins...again...in December 2011. We actually visited and got established with Dr. Weiderholt in October but we missed the month of November so we basically had to start our consecutive six months over again in December. So for all practical purposes our WLS Adventure began in December.

Nothing much exciting happened right away. We were just getting established and setting the foundation for the insurance approval. Dr. Weiderholt wanted to know diet history, what our eating and lifestyle habits are like now (we established that pizza is Jimmy’s only recreational drug--the nurses thought it was funny!), and we set some goals for diet and exercise.

One of Dr. Weiderholt’s goals for Jimmy is to log all of the food he consumes using the app My Fitness Pal. Now I really have to sing the praises of this app for a second because I think it has really helped Jimmy to stick with it and get a more accurate picture of the amount and types of food he is eating.

My Fitness Pal has kept Jimmy using it because it is interactive and SUPER easy to use. Yes! We love that you can log foods by simply scanning the barcode on the packaging. I know it sounds lame but it makes entering foods easy and scanning the barcodes is fun. The other bonus is that they are making changes to the app to make it better all the time. So props to whoever invented and programmed the My Fitness Pal app. Keep up the great work!

The doctor also set the guideline that “If you bite it--write it.” Meaning that he should track every single thing that he put into his mouth no matter how big or small we make think it is. It was surprising how quickly all those little bites started to add up. No wonder we consume more calories than we realize!

By using this principle and the My Fitness Pal app, Jimmy is visibly able to see the calories he was consuming. It continues to help him get a grasp on the difference between good food choices and bad food choices that waste calories and leave you feeling empty. Knowing the difference has helped both of to start making healthier lifestyle choices when it comes to food.

If you are serious about being healthy and losing weight I URGE you to start logging your food. It may shock you to realize how many calories you are really consuming everyday. Plus you need to get a grasp on the amount of fuel you are putting into your body so you know how much you need to burn. I’m not trying to sell My Fitness Pal--because it’s FREE!--but honestly it can really help you have an easy and mobile way to track your diet and exercise.

Until next time...

Use MyFitness Pal for free by visiting www.myfitnesspal.com or download the free app.