Turkey Chili and Nerves...

So, last night, since it was a cold, wet, November day here in Indiana (where is my Caribbean water and temperatures I had last week? Oh, wait... in the Caribbean...), I made chili. I didn't have any ground beef at home, and since we were out shopping, I bought a thing of ground turkey. Now, I made my chili the way that I always make it, just with ground turkey instead of beef.

Frankly, it was AMAZING. It wasn't as heavy as normal chili, and certainly less greasy. We're going to be using ground turkey for our chili from now on I think... :D

So, yeah. The nerves have hit... my surgery is NEXT. WEEK. Next week! I wasn't feeling exactly right, so, I had my co-worker take my blood pressure today at work... 150/96! And that's ON my blood pressure medication. I know that's why. I'm nervous.

I had these moments where I almost have to talk myself off the ledge. I'm going to have the surgery. It's the best thing for me and my family, but damn. Nerves are a scary thing. And it's totally irrational. I know the surgery is going to go fine. I know that I'm going to be fine after. My daughter might not be happy for a little while since she can't use mommy as a jungle gym like she normally likes, but, she'll get over it.

As I said, the nerves have hit. And it freaking SUCKS. Anyone else here post-op? Anyone else have nerves like these pre-op? O.O

~♥~
Lady D

Cruising and dieting

So, my husband and I just got back from our first cruise. A 4-night Bahamas cruise with Royal Caribbean. I'm not going to lie, I was a little nervous about cruising with such strict dietary needs, but, hey, we did it anyways. I will say that the first thing I had to do was loosen my restrictions a bit. I was not the one making the food, so, if I wanted to enjoy myself, I needed to make smart choices still, but to not worry overmuch about fat content.

I will say that Royal Caribbean does a GREAT job for people who need Sugar Free items, as well as gluten free. They can I guess also accommodate low-fat diets, but you need to let them know in advance. I just asked for no potatoes on my meals in the main dining room, and they brought me extra veggies instead. :)

The menus allowed my diet for the most part, and I have the three days that we ate in the main dining room's menus below. I can go into what I chose if you like, but I won't for now (leave me a comment, and I'll tell you my choices).

The last menu shown, the paper menu, was our meal option for the private island... we reserved a beach bed, and therefore got a different lunch option than the other cruisers. Honestly, if you cruise with Royal, and go to either Labadee or CocoCay, totally spring for the beach bed... but I digress. The buffet was what we did for breakfast every morning, and for three of our four lunches, the other being on the island. The buffet wasn't bad overall, but the lunch choices were very carb heavy (rice, potatoes) for sides. The last night we were on the ship, we went to the buffet for dinner since we had several activities we wanted to do that night, and the hour and a half dinner service wouldn't allow us to get everything done we wanted to do. The dinner selection wasn't bad, and they had the grilled veggies that I came to love in the dining room, so, I was a happy camper. :D

Every single meal, RC provided at least one Sugar Free dessert option, be it in the main dining room or the buffet. The main dining room had Sugar Free ice cream every night, and the buffet varied. The night we went for dinner, they had an amazing chocolate mousse that was SF. For lunch, they had some cakes (which, due to my carb restrictions I couldn't do), or some mousses our cheesecakes. I did try a couple of those, of course not eating the bottom part of the cheesecake. They also had a great selection of fresh fruit at every meal that gave me options, if I couldn't do any of the other items.

The buffet for breakfast was pretty standard fare; eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, waffles, an omelet station, fresh fruit, yogurt, sausage gravy and biscuits, cereal. But, the cool thing about breakfast? They had chicken sausages every morning. I usually got some scrambled eggs (or one morning I did an omelet), chicken sausages, and some fresh carved ham, and fresh fruit.

Drink options on board weren't bad either. They had Coke freestyle machines, and they had Minute Maid Light, which I added Raspberry flavoring to. It was tasty. :)

We were able to keep fairly active, climbing up a flight or two of stairs here and there instead of taking the elevator, and just walking a lot period. When we were in Nassau, we ended up climbing the Queen's Staircase roughly twice (we climbed a different way the first time, but the same height), which is 64 narrow stairs, but super cool to see. :)

I did eat slightly more on the cruise than I do at home, and because of that, I was really worried about weight gain. But, honestly, I didn't gain almost anything... 0.3#, which could be water weight from traveling. So, cruising while on a diet is totally doable. One recommendation that I would have, if you cruise with RC is to contact them at least 90 days in advance, and they can further accommodate any special dietary requirements that you may have. :)

And now, a recipe that I made up (with the help of my mother-in-law), inspired by the amazing SF Chocolate Mousse I had while onboard our beautiful ship. :)

Protein Chocolate "Mousse"/Dip

-1 package SF Cool Whip
-1 Scoop Vanilla Protein Powder
-1 package SF Chocolate pudding

-Mix well, and enjoy with a spoon, or use to dip fresh fruit. :)

It may not look super pretty, and the texture comes out slightly grainy (EDIT: I figured out the grainy thing... if you let the Cool Whip thaw all the way, you get a REAL mousse texture), but it tastes amazing. :D

That's all for me for now... sorry for such a long post. :/

~♥~
Lady D

Weight Loss Bench Mark

**NOTE: This post is from Halloween, or just after... I just forgot to post it until now...**

I have once again come to a weight loss benchmark... this actually happened yesterday, but I forgot to post. :( I'm now 80# down since I started my journey in April! My dad asked me the other day how much I'd lost total. I had to sit and think about it for a while, but after I did, I realized that I've lost 110# since I was at my heaviest. Granted, I haven't been at my heaviest since 2009, but, yeah. So, without further ado, here are my newest progress pics. :)

I will say that the sweater I'm wearing in the pics might have been a mistake, but, meh. I felt good in it, and frankly, I don't think I'll ever feel comfortable in form-fitting clothes. :/

~♥~
Lady D

Surgery

Well, it's official. I have my surgery date. I will be having surgery on Weds. Nov. 22, the day before Thanksgiving.

So, that's it? You may be wondering what next. Well, no, that's not it. I have pre-op testing, including fasting blood labs, a urine test, X-ray, and EKG. That will all be happening on the same day as my 4 hour class, on Tues. Nov. 14. I start with my testing at 7:15 a.m., and then as soon as I'm done with that, I have to head over to the surgeon's office for my class. The class runs from 9a-1p. It's literally going to go over every little detail of the day of surgery, the surgery itself, and what to expect when I get home from the hospital. It'll be a very interesting class.

So, for right now, my surgery is scheduled for 12:30 p.m., but my scheduler said that that might change to an earlier time. I don't really care either way, other than I'm going to be very hungry by the time surgery comes around that day... So, day of surgery, I have to be checked into the hospital by 10:30, for them to get me in, dressed, IV'ed, and so on. The surgery is only supposed to be about 90 mins. so, luckily my husband will be able to be there for the whole surgery, but he'll have to leave shortly after I'm out to go pick up our daughter.

So, after surgery, I'll be in the hospital at least overnight. If my doctor is not there to discharge me on Thanksgiving, I'm hoping I can bribe the hospitalist or whoever rounds on me. I hate hospitals, and don't want to stay any longer than I have to. My husband and I talked about it a bit, and we decided that we're not going to have our daughter come visit me at the hospital. When we go out shopping, if we have to split up for something, she throws a fit, thinking we're leaving the other parent at the store. So, imagine how she'd feel leaving mommy in the hospital. So, I might be by myself in the hospital on Thanksgiving. No biggie. :)

That's really all I've got for now... I'll update more if/when I get more.

~&hearts~
Lady D

Well, Hello there Long Lost Friend

I'm sorry that I've been so quiet, but I've literally been waiting on my surgery date. Waiting, and waiting, and waiting. And it's not like the surgery office kept me waiting. They really didn't. They're awesome. They just weren't scheduling for when I was looking at surgery. And I still don't have my surgery date... kind of.

So, I got a call today from the surgery scheduler, asking if the week of Dec. 4th was really when I was still looking for surgery. I told her yeah, unless the week of Thanksgiving was open, but I figured it wasn't because who wants to do surgery the week of Thanksgiving (Well, me, actually, since that will be one PTO day that I don't have to take!)? So, she said that that week was actually open... as long as I could do my medical clearance on the 10th of November (next Friday), and my class on the 14th (the following Tuesday). Well... you've heard me talk about the cruise to the Bahamas my husband and I are going on? Heh. I'll be coming home from the Bahamas that day. So, she's calling her medical clearance person to see if she can get me in medical clearance the day of class (that way I only have to take off the one day for everything), and then she'll call me tomorrow and let me know.

So, what this boils down to is that if I can get my medical clearance on the 14th, I will be having surgery on NOVEMBER 22ND!!!!!!!! If not, it'll be the week of the 4th. She didn't give me an exact day for that week, and I really think she thinks she can get me into clearance. Frankly, for work reasons, Thanksgiving week works best for my husband too, who will be taking a week of vacation when I have my surgery. So, this is my semi-amazing news, and I'll get to post the final news TOMORROW. :D

Now for a more fun post! I saw a recipe for pumpkin muffins on my surgery office's support group that I decided to make. The only catch was that I didn't have a muffin pan... so, I ended up making it into a pie! It's good, SUPER filling, and pumpkin flavored! :) Here's the recipe and pictures. :)

Cream Cheese Pumpkin Pie Muffins (Or Pie!)

1 can pure pumpkin
3 large scoops of protein powder (I used the Aldi Vanilla Protein Powder)
1 egg
8 oz low fat cream cheese, Softened
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin spice (I'm actually going to do 2 next time... 1 wasn't enough for me... or one of each)
1/2 cup of Splenda

Make sure that your cream cheese is softened before you use it. Mix all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and blend together. The mixture is sort of wet but that is what you want. Pour in pie pan (or muffin pan... if you do muffins, the original recipe calls for 20 minutes, then another 15 if not done). Bake at 350 for 35 minutes (Check it at 35, and if the knife doesn't come out clean, do another 2-5 minutes or until the knife comes out clean). The texture is very much like a baked pumpkin pie when first baked. Slice and Enjoy with some Sugar Free Whipped Cream! :)

The texture on this is kind of like pumpkin pie meets cake. It's very good! I kept mine out, but I would totally recommend keeping it in the fridge, and then warming it up when you're ready to eat.

Happy Monday! How's your week going so far? :)

~♥~
Lady D

Weight Loss Milestone

Well, I forgot to post this over the weekend, so, I'm now a completely different weight (for the better), but, I hit 70# down over the weekend (I'm now at 74# down)! Yay! Here are progress pictures.

I'm going to have to do some side by sides again soon. I'm literally seeing the change in my body now, but it's so crazy to do the side by sides. Who else had a good weekend?

I'm still waiting to hear back from the surgeon about my surgery date. Today makes two weeks since testing, but my chest x-ray results showed up on my online account this morning, so, I have a feeling I'll be hearing from them today or tomorrow. We shall see. :)

~♥~
Lady D

Pre-Op Testing, Dieting, and the Waiting Game

So, yesterday I had my pre-op testing... well, more of it. I guess I'll still have to get an EKG and some more labs when I meet with the physician who will officially clear me for surgery. Yesterday though, I had a chest X-Ray, and an Upper GI. Btw, fasting for 8 hours in the middle of the day f-ing sucks! Just saying. But, I digress. So, the chest X-Ray was pretty standard; just stood in front of the target (I don't have any other way to describe that), and take some pretty pictures. The Upper GI was a little stranger.

So, they had me undress from the waist up (can't see my chest or esophagus very well with an underwire bra on), and put on a hospital gown. Then they had me come into the imaging room, where the imaging table was literally standing on one end... Yup. I didn't know they could do that either. They had me toss back what I can best describe as lemon-lime pop rocks, and chase it with a few tblsps. water. They forewarned me that it would make me feel like I wanted to burp, but that I wasn't allowed to. They needed my stomach to be inflated to see if I have any ulcers. Then, they made me drink about 8 oz. barium. Now, people told me that barium tastes nasty. Honestly, to me, it didn't taste like anything. It was just a thick, chalky liquid. As I was swallowing, they were taking images, watching my esophagus, and making sure everything was working ok. This makes sense, since I'm going to have a tube shoved down my throat during surgery.

After they got enough pictures of my esophagus, they tilted the table back... while I was still on it! Weirdest thing. Once they had me in a reclining position, they had me do a whole bunch of rolling around, changing position, ect. to make sure they got my stomach from every angle possible. At one point they had me drink what they called "Thin." I assume it's to thin out the coating of barium so that they could get some different angles. A few more pictures/positions, and I was done. Easy peasy.

So... now what? Well, now we wait. I called the surgery scheduler as I was walking out of the hospital yesterday, and left her a voice mail telling her that I was done with my radiology testing. According to her voice mail message, it can take up to 10 days now for them to call me back with a surgery date. Honestly, I don't really care if it takes the full 10 days. They're scheduling right now for the middle of October. I'm looking the week of Thanksgiving (if my surgeon even does surgery that week), and if not then, the first week of December. So, I'll probably get my pick of dates. LOL. Good news is that within the next two weeks, I'll have my surgery date. When I get the call for my surgery date, I'll also get my date of my four hour class. Yes, there's a four hour class. This is the class where they'll go over everything with surgery, and what to expect when I get home, and they'll give me the "bariatric bible" which is a binder my program hands out with lots and lots of useful information about my new life. Apparently, they go over it page by page.

Then the planning really starts. What do I mean by that? Well, the husband and I have started talking about things a bit- who will drive me to the hospital, will he be there with me, will he stay the night with me, what's the plan for when I get home, ect. We know that he's taking the first week off with me, and I'm only planning on taking a week off work. But while we're at home, our daughter will still be going to the babysitter, just because if she's home, she'll want to have me pick her up, hold her, she'll want to crawl all over me like normal, and with me just having had abdominal surgery, that's not the best idea. :( Honestly, it's going to break my heart. She'll stand there, with her arms out stretched, scrunching her fingers in her sign for up, and I won't be able to pick her up. But, I'm doing this for the long run. So, two weeks of me not being able to pick her up is going to be nothing compared to what we'll gain. :)

So, as I said. Now I wait. I'll update you when I can.

On another topic, I get lots of people asking about the diet that I'm on. They see my progress, and want to know what I'm doing to get to where I am. 67# is no small feat. So, I tell them what I'm doing. But before I do that, I warn them to talk to their doctor. Major changes to one's body are a big no-no without medical help. This diet can royally screw with your body. So, I beg of anyone who is starting a major diet, or lifestyle change to please, please, please talk to your doctor. My weight loss has been dramatic, yes, but it's medically supervised, and I'm doing it in a healthy way. Please do the same for yourself. :)

~♥~
Lady D