042 A Nice Surpise

It has been a little while now since Jimmy has been in to work in the office. The church has kindly approved 3-6 weeks for his recovery time but I know that he is hoping to be back soon.

Jimmy loves his job and I think that he really misses socializing with his co-workers. When we were out the other day, we decided that we should stop by the church office so that Jimmy could say "Hi" to everyone. I think that they were surprised to see that he was as up and active as he is (Thankfully, Jimmy has had very limited pain and/or gas/bloating and he has been able to be up and active in small amounts).

We were surprised when we walked into his office and found this...

An anonymous note left for Jimmy on his computer screen at work.

"I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:13

It's really awesome and encouraging to know that people are thinking about you and praying for you. It was a sweet and touching moment. Thank you, whoever you are. It's nice to be reminded that we are not alone and that we can do all things through Christ!

Until next time...

041 Gastric Sleeve Stage 2 Diet

Morning. Morning. I hope you have been staying up on everything that has been happening around here lately. If not then feel free to read back a little to get caught up or to find out what the heck I am going on and on about :) Anyway, if you have been following Jimmy's journey then you have probably been wondering what exactly this Stage 2 diet I keep talking about really is. Well, today I am going to tell you!

Before I get into that, I wanted to stop and say a HUGE THANK YOU to my Mom (Janice) who came up and stayed with us for the whole first week after Jimmy's surgery. Mom being here took a ton of stress off me and allowed me to be able to go to work (since I have limited vacation time) and know that there would be someone at home to help Jimmy (and keep him in line :) . Things really would have been a whole lot harder without her around. Thanks, Mom! You are greatly appreciated and we couldn't have done it without you!

Mom and me enjoying our time together!

Jimmy's Post-Op Stage 2 Gastric Sleeve Surgery Diet
This includes everything that Jimmy was allowed during his Post-Op Stage 1 diet (Refresh Your Memory Here) plus the following foods/drinks:

• Eggs (poached, steamed or scrambled & may add melted cheese for protein)
• Cottage Cheese (nonfat or 1%)
• Yogurt that does not have fruit chunks in it (must be no sugar added and have less than 20g Carbohydrates per serving)
• Fat Free of Low Fat cream soup (strained--no chunks) or Fat Free Tomato soup
• Oatmeal or Cream of Wheat (no sugar added and thinned with skim or 1% milk)
• Sugar Free Pudding
• Applesauce (no sugar added)
• Mashed Potatoes, sweet or white (thinned with milk but may add melted cheese for extra protein)
• Sugar free ice cream or frozen yogurt. Avoid sherbet.
• Sugar free jello
• Sugar free popsicles
• Herbs, Spices, Salt, & Pepper
• Creamy peanut butter (less than 5g of Sugar per serving & may be used in small amounts to add protein to foods such as oatmeal, yogurt, and/or protein drinks)
• Protein drinks (a minimum of 15g Protein per serving and less than 20g Carbs per serving)
• Powdered protein drinks may now be used.
• Skim or 1% Milk
• Soy Milk (less than 20g Carbohydrates per serving)
• Tomato juice, V-8 juice, Diet V-8 Splash. Avoid V Fusion products
• A Maximum of 4oz. Fruit Juice per day (100% juice with no sugar added)

Serving Size: 2 - 4 Tablespoons (1 - 2oz) of food, 3 - 4 times a day. NO MORE THAN 1/4c AT A TIME!

Duration: Follow this diet for Weeks 2, 3, & 4 following the surgery or until your doctor advises differently

Krystal and Dr. H said that Jimmy will move on to the Stage 3 Diet on December 16th barring any unforeseen issues. His One Month Post-Op appointment is scheduled for Thursday, December 27th.

*Please keep in mind that every surgical program is different. You need to follow the instructions given to you by your doctor. Please consult your doctor before starting any new diet or weight loss program*

040 Post-Op Week One Update!

Jimmy and Krystal at Jimmy's first Post-Op
Appointment on November 21, 2012.

I can't believe it's already been over a week since Jimmy's gastric sleeve WLS! Can you?! I mean seriously, where does the time go!

Anyway, life has been hectic around here with the surgery and Thanksgiving and family. So I feel like I am running a little behind. So let's take two seconds to catch up a little...

Jimmy's surgery was on Friday, November 16th. He came home from the hospital on Saturday, November 17th. His first post-op appointment was a little early because of the Thanksgiving holiday so it was on Wednesday, November 21st. At this appointment he met with the lovely Krystal (Nutritionist) and Dr. Hornbostel. They cleared him to move on to his stage two diet. Which meant that Jimmy was able to have mashed potatoes for his Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, November 22nd. *Whew* Now I think we are up to speed.

Today, I am sharing with you Jimmy's Post-Op Week One vlog so he can tell you what's going on in his own words. I am also posting the really short video he recorded the day after his surgery because I forgot to post it earlier (sorry about that).

Hope you have fun watching this update!

Grace and Peace,

039 Our Thanksgiving

Your patience has been rewarded! The internet is back up and running and I am home from work to upload the pictures of our Thanksgiving! Jimmy has his first post-op doctor appointment this week and the surgeon cleared him to go on to his stage two diet just in time to have some mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving. I will talk more about the Stage Two diet next week. For now, here are the pictures from the Mustion Thanksgiving. Hope you enjoy!

We celebrated my sister's 20th birthday. With her favorite pumpkin pie.

She opened her present from us...

It's Brave!

She also got body wash from Mom & Dad.

Jimmy eating his first stage two meal: 1 egg, scrambled.

Same pic Instragrammed.

Jimmy's Thanksgiving dinner -- Mashed Potatoes with Velveeta.

Yes, they had to be thinned with milk before he could eat them.

POST DELAYED

Hey, everyone! Happy Day After Thanksgiving! So I woke up this morning expecting to post pics and Jimmy's first week post-op update and found out the internet at our house was out AGAIN. It has been out on and off for the last couple days. So annoying! Anyway, just dropping you a quick line from work to let you know that I will attempt to post pictures at 7:00 P.M. tonight if the internet is working when I get home and I will post Jimmy's One Week Post-Op update video on Monday.

Sorry for the delay! Happy Holidays!

038 It Feels Like Forever

I always smirk at those people who tell you "See you next year!" on New Year's Eve. It's a big joke that it sounds like you aren't going to see one another for a long time when it is really a matter of hours/minutes. I had this feeling the other day when I was talking to Jimmy about eating.

For anyone who is really behind, Jimmy has been doing a two week pre-op liquid diet in preparation for his gastric sleeve WLS. He hasn't eaten any solid food since Friday, November 2nd. It really seems like it has been forever since we sat down for a regular meal.

More mind boggling still is the fact that Jimmy won't be able to eat regular solid foods again until sometime in January! When you say January it just feels like it is so far, far away. Yes, it really is weeks away but in the grand scheme of things life will be back to normal sooner rather than later. It just doesn't feel that way right now.

I guess what I am trying to say is that it is all a matter of perspective. When you think about the number of years and choices it took to get us into this bad position versus the time we have invested to this point in correcting it--we still have a long way to go! However, it is totally achievable. We just have to keep our perspective fixed on why it is worth it to keep trying!

Don't give up on your goals! You can make it! Victory is closer than it seems.

037 Jimmy's Surgery Day in Pictures

Hello, everybody. How do you do? My name's.... Oh wait I think I just ripped that off a song. Oops :) Anyway, today Jimmy is going in for his first post-op appointment. We are really excited that Dr. Hornbostel wanted to see him on Wednesday (because of the Thanksgiving holiday) instead of making him wait until the following Monday. Friday will be one week since Jimmy's surgery. Obviously I don't have any information about his appointment yet so I wanted as this point so I thought I would share all the surgery day pics with  you instead. I hope you enjoy Jimmy's surgery day in pictures.