So here we are ... already at the start of week 4! I have no blogged as consistently as I would like to, mainly because I am dealing with me right now and that the time consuming. So to get everyone up to speed around about week 2.5 I started having trouble with an issue they call "foaming" only at the time I didn't know what it was. I think it was a combination of that and a little acid reflux because at 10 days post-op I was to discontinue the Gex Gel I had been taking to soothe my stomach. Anyway, It definitely got worse as I moved into week 3 and I spent an entire 7 days vomiting up almost everything I ate. It was torture. Finally last Thursday, I stayed home with sick boy #1 and I made it through the day. since then I have only really gotten sick when I eat something that disagrees with me, when I eat too much or too fast or as lucky would have it get into a moving car on a full stomach. The other thing I am struggling with is that, even though I had not been able to keep my food down I was already at my very first "stall." I have added calories/protein and h2o in the hopes that this will encourage more loss!
This week I feel is a lot better in terms of confidence in my eating, I am not so worried about getting sick while others are around and I know how to better control it. There is something though I would like to talk about for all of the soon to be WLS'ers. This is an emotional ride. I do not even know the words to describe it really. I don't mean that you will cry all the time or even be angry. The thing is I still have a disconnect with what I desire to eat and what I can eat. To be completely honest I hate eating right now, it is annoying, it is time consuming, its uncomfortable and it is tedious not to mention the fact that I still am not 100% sure about what/how much/how often .... yet I have the desire to eat! I still have not come to terms with the fact that I will probably never eat and entire plate full of food again, I'll never go out to eat and finish my meal. I don't see why someone has to eat that much and even understand that it is too much for any one person ... but eating in volume has always been my comfort, my social time, the place I felt the most satisfied. I don't really know why I became that way, we never were neglected or went hungry, but I seriously hit panic mode when I think there won't be enough food for me or anyone else for that matter. I do know I was raise in a very large family and there was usually a lot of food & a lot of left over food to "clean-up." I wonder how and if and when that will ever balance out. I know that my eyes are too big for my stomach, even now I will prepare an entire plate of food only to get down a small fraction of it, then I continue to piece around on it until I am miserable. I will really be working on this mental aspect of the sleeve in the weeks to come. I finally had lost a pound on Monday which took me to 33 pounds total lost and 17 pounds post-op tomorrow is WWW, so hopefully I can add a couple more. If not I am really considering hiring a nutritionist, not just for me but others in my household. I feel like they could teach me how to use my new tool to benefit the entire family. One last thing, this week I have rededicated to making sure God is at the center of all of this. I have continued to pray and seek him in other areas of my life, but felt like I was saying about the VSG "Thanks for getting me here God, I got this now." That absolutely is not the case. I need him even more today. I have began to pray again for the entire journey and that he will use this to his glory. This weekend is Easter, in all of the fellowship with family and friends, I will need him there to continually remind me that I did all of this for a reason. Father God, Thank you so much for all of the blessings that you have given me. I know that I need you and that I have not been relying on you to work all of this out for me. I have gotten overly confident, forgive me! Please be with me daily as I navigate through these changes not only physically but mentally. I pray that you will use this journey to your glory and that even if it means that I will will connect with someone I may have never met otherwise, you give me the words to say when the timing is right. Thank you for this opportunity and all of the others that you have placed in front of me. In Jesus name I pray, Amen
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So we left Mexico at 9:30 this morning for our 12pm flight .... you just never know how long the trip back across the border will take. It was fine just had to show our passports and tell them if we had anything to claim. Since it was so quick, we got to the airport a couple of hours early. When we were finally on the airplane and settled in Michael and I started to realize something wasn't right.... we were cleared for take off twice... we circled the runway a couple of times then the pilot comes over the speaker and said the check engine light had come on. The have us sit there a little over an hour then as soon as they got it fixed they decided that we would miss our connecting flight so that we had to deplane.
Miguel and Mateo got our tickets and this time we will be headed to Phoenix ... BUT we have a 3 hour layover... and we are starved... the catch, there isn't too much to eat for a brand new sleever in an airport. Sunny and I decided that we would buy a slice of avocado from one of the restaurants there and much it a lot take a couple of bites and be done with it... not too wise.... it was painful ... swelling had also set in... I had the legs and feet of an elephant! Just as we were getting ready to board out plane they announce that our flight has been delayed another 45 minutes. So we wait.... when we were finally able to board our tickets said we were to board last (we had paid for Pre-boarding on the 1st flight) ... I let all of the A tickets board and 1/2 the B then talked to the man... as soon as he saw me he asked if I needed 2 seats, normally this would have broken my heart but he was a big guy too & I was using it to my advantage, I told him that is why we had bought the A pass and he let us on so we could find seats together! SCORE! When we landed in Phoenix, we had to "run" to the next flight ... it was under sold so there were 60 open seats YAY!!!!! This was comfy, and aside from being cold and having trouble breathing it was great... pretty sure I will be flying at night from now on! So we land in Tulsa at 12am and.... our bags did not!!! OH the joys of flying! We had the MOST amazing day.... Anyone who knows me knows that I have always said I do not want to be a tourist in Mx... I want to "visit" the people!!!! THAT is just what we did today... we got some pictures to share!!! When you go to Mexico... Look for Junior Garcia... or message me and I will set you up! CommunitiesThree million people live in TJ ... they are from all walks of life. We say a community called Cardboard Landia where they are just no getting running water - but they all have satellites ...Then the middle class community where Junior lives then finally we saw large house along the ocean and in the town near the Marriott. The OceanWe followed the wall from the communities to the Ocean. Here we saw Aztec people welcoming in their New year.... Our trip has had the theme of newness, from the March on Sunday to the surgery to the Aztec ceremony. At the Ocean there was a door with a heart painted on it ... This is a door to the iron border wall between Tijuana and San Diego. In between the 2 countries is a wide space called "no man's land." In the past the door would be opened on Sundays and family members still in Mexico could meet their relatives, who had made it to the US, for a meal and time together. Junior told us his family would go to visit with his father when he was a boy. The gate is locked now. ShoppingJunior gave us some tips on negotiation. We spent some time at I love Tiajuana, Rays and the Parmacia. We found that Sunny and Dana are Pro negotiators... Miguel and I ... not so much! So here it is... the day I have been waiting for.... Had to be in the lobby at 6:45am... checked out of the hotel rooms ... met fellow Sleever Dana & her son.... Marriott took us to CER and we were taken to our rooms ... They had us put on the gowns and compression socks. Then put in an IV. Dra. Valascao comes in to discuss surgery and post op with us then later and Dr. Fernandez comes in with Dra. Valascao as a translator to talk to me. He is super shy and even knowing I spoke Spanish he chose to talk to me through the Dra. The one thing I will say is that with all of the very kind people coming in and out, and as comfortable as I felt, I was 100% put to ease when he came in and squeezed my toe. They told Michael that the procedure would last 45 minutes and I would be out of the room for about 2 hours. They prefer that your spouse stay in your room while you are in surgery so that they can keep them up to date.
I remember the operating room being to sterile and bright, they were playing Spanish music and talking like buddies. I kept telling myself "don't sleep Erica, this is too cool!" then of course I fell asleep. The next thing I remember is waking up an wandering... 'who is that guy.... did I have surgery ... there is no way ... op, yeah there is the drain tube ... is that a skinny Mx. guy who had the surgery ... is Sunny in there now?' Finally when they were taking me to my room, I asked "Is Sunny in there?" they said yes so I yelled "I LOVE YOU SUNNY...." of course she was out and didn't hear me. As we strolled along I made sure to educate them on how to pronounce Dana's name... Just like Reyna... :) The rest of the day I was in and out... kind of in an anesthesia hang-over, I walked and slept and walked some more, Michael made sure of that. Finally that night I had the nurse tell him it was ok if I slept through-out the night if I could. So through the night I woke up and paced in the room a bit then went back to bed. There wasn't a bit of hunger or thirst. The day after surgery I woke up fine then within a couple of hours I had a terrible pain in my lower abdominal area it was worse than any of the gas pains I had experienced. It was cramping and just kept getting more intense. The pain medicine didn't touch it and I realized something was wrong when Both Sunny and Dana were walking around just fine. When I walked I felt like I was going to pass out, I spent my time pacing, sitting on the bed with a hot-pad and sitting on the toilet because I kind of thought it might be a bowel issue. For out 3rd leak test we had to ride with Junior across town, still in pain I passed the Dra. on the way out. Together we decided it had to be a ruptured cyst from the PCOS, she promised that she would hook me up with an anti-spasm medication when we returned. The ride there was a little rough and when we were in the radiation lab a pretty old lady came in with her daughter. She was the kind of Mexican Abuela I would have, she had no teeth, deep wrinkles and walked in using a cane. She squeezed her fluffy booty into the chair next to me. At this point I looked and felt like I was going to pass out. The place was bright and muggy and my lips were blue and i was pretty pale. 'Abuelita' kept looking at me so sorry, she finally said to me in Spanish "you hurt don't you?' I nodded and she started rubbing my back and chant/singing in Spanish that God is with me. Sunny sat down next to me and rubbed my shoulders, at that point I knew I would e ok., but I felt so bad I felt like my body hated me and I was a big weenie. I know that God sent that woman to set with me because I think had I set there alone I would have lost it. Back at the hospital, Dra. V gave me the muscle relaxer and the pain went away. After that I was ready to move on. Get fluids in and enjoy our time in TJ. I had a lot of Amazing nurses in TJ I didn't get hardly any of their names and most of them didn't speak English but there was always someone on the floor to translate, but I enjoyed my time chatting with them in Spanish. One nurse, Hilario, taught Michael how to burp me like a baby. We talked about his family and childhood and what it takes to be a nurse in Mexico. Another nurse spent the middle of the night cleaning after an IV fell out of my hand. They were all so amazingly sweet!---- If you go ... PLEASE get pictures and names for me!!! Drinking in the hospital was kinda scary for me, once we got back to the hotel I had gotten the hang of it. OH yeah all 3 of us had headaches when we were headed to the hotel and the pain medicine didn't really take it away. When I got back to the hotel I dissolved a tylenol in a small cup of water and sipped it ... 1/2 a pill took away the pain. I later found out that I could have just swallowed it! Day 2- since we had our labs yesterday we were pretty much free to do what ever we pleased today. The only rules were that we were to have a light breakfast and liquids the rest of the day & we would meet in the lobby with Atalia. Michael and I ate breakfast at the hotel then we headed to the Wal-mart mall with Sunny. It was early so several of the stores were still closed but the weather was beautiful, we enjoyed walking around and seeing the sights. On our journey back to the Marriott, Michael and Sunny hailed a cab, the driver told them he couldn't take us, so I had to finally start using my Spanish and he told us that they had closed the road because of the "March" I asked a lady on the side of the road what kind of march and she said Peace for the world. Later we found out that basically sice today we set our clocks forward for Spring the Catholic faith has a parade that celebrates new life and peace. We also found that they don't close the roads down for anything. This is the best thing that could have happened to a Mexican white girl visiting Tijuana on a Sunday! That afternoon Michael and I went to eat at the Sombrero restaurant. This place has been here for 30 years and it is delish! Miguel says it is the "Best steak" he has ever had at a restaurant. It was a funny experience there too. We were the only ones there at the time so the waiters brought a man back to teach him English. They had him take Michael's order, he asked him "you want racing?" meaning rice. As we sat there the changed the music to Beyoncé and were very proud of themselves. They did this in the taxi's too, what they don't realize there is that we want to hear Spanish music, we want to enjoy their culture. We walked back to the Hotel which was 4-5 blocks away. Here are some pics, *I wrote this post 2 times in Mx and it didnt save or post ... so here we go again.
This blog post is intended for those who want to know the gory details. For those who like medical talk, for those who are curious about the procedure and for those who have plans to follow us to TJ. When Sunny and I landed in San Diego on Saturday we were directed to call Ricardo to take us across the border to the Marriott. While we were waiting I got a call from Atalia, our coordinator, she let us know that there had been a change of plans and that we would be headed straight to the hospital for lab on Saturday instead of Sunday as we had planned. WHAT????? This made us pretty nervous because we just weren't prepared!!! We decided at that point anything that happens we would take with a grain of salt and just roll with it. The driving to Mexico wasn't all that eventful we got to the border and our driver pulled over. A guard open the door and ask in Spanish what was in our bags ... after a few seconds of realizing that other than our driver I was the only one who understood, I responded in English "clothes" she seems satisfied and she opens the back of the van and again asked in Spanish "que tiene en las bolsas?" Again I respond "clothes." Our driver didn't say a word, so be prepared to answer and know that she's usually asking what's in your bag or I feel like you could respond with 'no Spanish.' Our first impression of Mexico driving was - hang on it's a wild and crazy ride - just give control to your driver he knows what he's doing. They have a lot of different driving laws, the roads crisscross and everyone uses their horns, but we didn't see one accident the entire time we were there! We made it to the brand new hospital CER where we met Atalia. This was kind of a whirlwind. When I tell you that Atalia talks fast believe me she has 5000 things on her ind. She whisk us upstairs and told us would be doing our blood work, our labs & filling out a few forms. They took Sunny back first, no goodbyes just gone. While Sunny was getting her labs and her EKG, I filled out paperwork. Then Sunny & I passed in the hall as I went back for labs. That was definitely an experience, be prepared for a lab tech aka chemist to follow you with a tackle box. He set it down on the couch then indicated for me to lay down on the bed - he doesn't speak English- and extend my arm .... when I finally told him that I spoke Spanish he laughed and said they call him the Mexican Dracula that's a little creepy I must say. It really was a great experience though and didn't hurt at all. They also don't take blood like they do in the US currently but they do it like they did maybe in the 80's, its not a big deal they take one syringe full and then they distributed throughout all the viles. After Dracula leaves the doctor comes in and does the EKG which is super easy. You are in your gown - heads up, you can leave your pants on- she put stickers on your chest and they do your EKG not a big deal. She reads it tells you your good, she is very kind and honestly did a lot to cal my nerves. You then take seat on the couch and wait for another doctor to come in this doctor is their internologist her name is Dra. Garfias. She takes the history of everyone in your family for as far back as you can remember, she wants to know everything it is a good idea to be honest with her because this keep you safe. She wants to know have you ever smoked a cigarette, have you ever had blood sugar issues, have your parents ever had any heart conditions what about your grandparents, what about siblings. If you're prone to forgetting these things you may make a list. She settled my nerves even more and answered all of my questions and fun fact she had the surgery 4 years ago and she looks great. After the discussion I was finished and allowed to go back into the waiting room. When I got there Sunny was gone they said she'd gone down stairs for a heart x-ray. Patients of a certain age must have a heart scan to ensure that everything's okay. So we sat and waited and waited and waited --- incidentally they had taken Sunny downtown to another location to have her scan because the current hospital doesn't have all of the equipment they need for the xrays. This is one drawback of the current CER hospital but not a deal breaker and it actually turns out to be the best thing ever because that's when you get to meet the most amazing TJ local on the planet, Junior. Sunny returned about an hour and a half to two hours later holding an almond milk with strawberry --- we are starved mind you. She was as happy as can be, it was as if she and Junior had been joy riding. Crazy lady! Finally we were able to go to the Marriott, they called the driver from the Marriott and they took us to our hotel. Checking in was event-less and we headed to our rooms. The rooms at the Marriot are great, room service, a stocked mini fridge and there were 2 beds so post op he did worry about hurting me. The beds were delightful and the pillows heavenly ... no need to pack your own for the hotel. Remember to take lots of small bills to tip, I am serious, it is something we forgot and regretted it. The restaurant at the hotel is decent if you're going at a peak time, and the buffet is $12 per person and you can charge it to your room. If not a peak time go out or do room service. The rest of the evening Sunny and Mateo chilled in their room and Miguel and I took a little trip to the walmart. Today's the day we left for Tijuana ... I'll spare you the play by play right now, but I want to share a few funny stories & get a some tips down on here for those of you who may be headed this way. OR for those who have never flown or traveled South of the border. --- Tip #1 pay the extra for early boarding.... it's worth every penny... ask for the seat belt extender as soon as you walk on, even if it's close, you will be more comfortable that way. Carry on is for sure the way to go.... Ok so that was like 5 tips in one... --- Airplanes may make you queezy, the going up and coming down on the 1st flight got to me, it wasn't terrible but I was a little dizzy. Lucky for me they have complementary drinks and a little bag of nuts & pretzels. I ordered a Sprite Zero and my tummy settled fast, munched on a few pretzels and I was good to go. --- The flight attendants from Tulsa are way way more accommodating than those from phoenix!!! Just saying... --- Because of a mix up with another patient at the airport we had to wait a really long time for our driver, Ricardo... if this happens find shade and people watch --- relax it's fun --- If you speak Spanish and can manage, don't tell the world... it is great fun to hear classified info :) .... Our driver is meeting with a "friend" later tonight & talks like he is a very important chauffeur ... Actually I have had to use Spanish a whole lot more than I thought I would. One thing they all know for sure though is Wal-Mart! --- Get in the car and hold on! When in Mx. people are ALWAYS honking their horns, mainly because your driver cut them off.... just smile and give them a Big American Howdy!!! --- At the border, the lady will ask you "what's in your bag" in Spanish... your driver will not answer... just say ropas. ---Sunny and I had scheduled an extra day to get to Mexico get our barrings straight and just relax. We left Anderson around 4am and barely ate a thing, I had a protein shake. Our total flight time was around 4 hours and we spent a lot of time waiting. During one of our extended waits at the San Diego airport, I got a call from Atallia, our coordinator. She told us that our driver would take us to the hospital today, just to run our tests and that it would be about an hour or hour and 1/2 ... not so much.... they took Sunny 1st and then took me, while they were drawing blood, doing the EKG & I talked to the internal Dra. they whisk Sunny away to another Hospital. She had to have a chest x-ray and they don't have machines yet at the new location, so we waited for about 2 hours for her to get back.... this my friends stinks, it is hard not to be caught in the whirlwind but if we had it to do all over again, I think we would have all loaded up and gone with her. --- also if you schedule to go w/ a friend make sure from the beginning they give you adjoining rooms she is on the 3rd floor and we're on the 1st. --- You will check into your hotel for a couple of days, then check out for your hospital stay then check back in... pack and plan accordingly. --- When they take your blood in TJ Mx. it goes something like this... You are taken to an actual patient room and a "chemist" who doesn't speak English motions for you to lay down, and introduces himself as "Dracula" he opens his fishing tackle box and has you write your name and DOB on a piece of paper, he pulls out a really big syringe ... he is REALLY good, it didn't hurt at all... he then fills like 5 vials with that blood. and lays the paper on top of them and closes the toolbox... This is totally legit guys... who needs a whole lab when you can just go fishing afterward? --- This visit was good for Michael, he saw "white people" a couple were even from Vinita walking around the hospital and had had the procedure and were very positive. (He made the comment that it made it easier to see them) --- When taking a Taxi... TAKE the white one.... our trip in the white nicer clean taxi to Walmart was only 18 pesos ($1.19), but back to the Marriott in an Old dingy yellow one was 50 pesos ($3.29.) YIKES The walk there and back is like 2 blocks slightly up hill (there) and coming back we had too many bags of H2O and Gatorade, so we whistled for a cab... and when it came near the license plate said fresh and their were dice in the mirror... --- eat a dang taco... it won't kill you ... the Dr. said 2 days pre-op is fine, just don't go wild! Can't get this silly thing to turn... I will fix it later ... on a really computer.... Bags are almost completely packed ... plans are in place. the boys and I sit in silence each playing games while 'Cota showers. Ask I run through my mental checklist a million time Jax curls up on the couch next to me and I don't want to move, I need to shower after all these snow days but I know he's growing up fast and I won't get too many more of these! I am also currently equal parts excited, anxious and nervous. There are times when I wonder what the heck am I doing ... then I remember ... it's for them. As I am typing this Jax asked .... "mom why do you have to have the surgery?" -"because it's gone too far I can't do it on own... the SC is a tool..." his response "mom you're not alone! "with tears in his eyes... "I know buddy, boy do I know!" It's so hard keeping a brave face for them! Bags are almost completely packed ... plans are in place. the boys and I sit in silence each playing games while 'Cota showers. Ask I run through my mental checklist a million time Jax curls up on the couch next to me and I don't want to move, I need to shower after all these snow days but I know he's growing up fast and I won't get too many more of these!
I am also currently equal parts excited, anxious and nervous. There are times when I wonder what the heck am I doing ... then I remember ... it's for them. I have the best support team on the planet & 12 of them, lead by Nicki, got together today to wish me well. I am truly blessed to have so many in my life who care, I sincerely appreciate all of the kind words and supportive gestures from all of you! Here are the details of what this group of friends did for me. Scheming .... In January, we were certain I was doing this so Nicki set the plans in motion. She told me that a friend, Janis, wanted to have an oils party the week before I left and she will do everything and for a brief moment was suspicious then... but I quickly completely forgot about it. Up until the afternoon before the party when Janis mysteriously didn't have heat and Nicki moved the party to Arvest bank (where mom works) without going through me to ask my mom I was"going to an oils party." I thought she was possibly scheming, but felt selfish thinking it, so I still went along with it & wasn't 100% sure until we pulling in the parking lot and I saw Nicki in a pancho. For future reference though... Note to self .... be suspicious immediately when... - When you're sent a group message asking if you wanted to have a party before you leave in a FB message, and your BFF never responds or mentions it ... it should strike you as odd. - You are told that rescheduling the party is "impossible," even if your church canceled due to weather. - Your mom tells you she is asked to make a Mexican themed cake for Ethel! - Your co-worker keeps asking where Janis lives, even though there has been little to no discussion of the party with her & never was it discussed that she would attend. - when you ask your mom if she wants to ride together and she stutters and says has to take the key to Nicki 1st ... even if she is currently in Neosho "just driving around." - When your BFF goes shopping at Hobby Lobby, in February, for party supplies for her BIG 8th anniversary party in May. - ... and never ever trust 12 scheming ladies, who are suspiciously closed lipped. We had a good time together and certainly some laughs! Thanks to all of you who are praying for me continually. |
This weight loss is only from June 2015 (I had lost another 51 pounds prior to this)
Blog MissionIt has taken me a long time to get to this point, but I feel like God opened the right doors at the right time. My vision for this blog is not only to document and share my journey with those who care, but also to encourage those who may be following in my footsteps. First and foremost though, I want to give all the glory to God & to focus on his plan for me throughout the journey. What you talkin' 'bout?VSG = Vertical Gastric Sleeve Categories
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