It's been a week since I last blogged...so here goes!

I continue to learn on my journey to good health...the good and the bad!  I've made bad food choices a couple of times in the last week and have paid for it with a not so nice bout of "dumping syndrome."  Dumping syndrome isn't just the symptom the name implies; oh no...it's much worse!  About 1/2 an hour after you eat something that disagrees with your new stomach, you start feeling kind of light headed and hot all over.  Once you realize what's happening, you know you can't fight this and have to go rest!  It sends me to bed, usually for the rest of the day (it's only happened to me in the late evenings after dinner).  As you go through the bout of DS, your stomach is very unsettled and you wish you could just be rid of whatever you ate.  Unfortunately, that relief doesn't come and you have to suffer through it.  The DS symptoms last about an hour or so where you're hot then cold, break out in a sweat, have severe stomach distress, feel very groggy & light headed.  Then, the overt symptoms lift and you are left to feel like a dish rag that's been wrung out too hard!!!  I also feel poorly the day after...almost like a DS hang over!  Thankfully, I'm quickly learning which foods my new tummy will and will not tolerate and once I find one it doesn't tolerate, I quickly remove it from my foods list!

Last week, I made it back to the gym one day for water aerobics.  Thus far this week, I have made it back 2 times; once for Water Aerobics and once for BodyVive.  Both really wore me out, but BodyVive downright whooped me!!!  I soldiered through it (mostly on the low impact level) and was quite proud of myself for making it through!  BodyVive was last night, so I'm sore today, but it hurts so good!!!

I'm down 32 pounds now.  My clothes are too big and I'm having to dig deeper into my clothing stash to find things that fit!  I had to buy 2 pair of work pants at Goodwill last week (rather than paying full price elsewhere for something I'll only wear for a short time!) because all my work pants were falling off!

Best of all, my blood sugars continue to be completely normal, I'm off all meds with the exception of allergy meds and restless leg syndrome meds, and I FEEL GREAT!!!!!!!!!!  Thank you God and Dr. Scott for this new life!!!

Well, it's been WAY too long since I've expressed my heart on the pages of this blog.  Time to make up for that!!

Since my last post over a year ago, I have continued the #1 battle of my life: weight control.  Again last year I lost upwards of 40 lbs, only to see it slowly creep back on!  By the end of the year, I was only 3 lbs less than I'd been at the end of the previous year.  Additionally, I was watching my Diabetes numbers (daily blood sugars and Hemoglobin A1C) climb, my cholesterol was running very high, and my lower back pain was getting worse and worse.  All these problems were being caused or aggravated by the extra weight.  I had told myself in Dec. 2010 when I was diagnosed with Diabetes that I was going to give myself 6 months to make a significant change in my weight, and if I did not lose it, I would pursue a surgical alternative.  I gave myself 12 months, and when I saw my failure, I knew what I had to do!

In January of this year, I attended the Bariatric Education Class at Floyd Medical Center hosted by Dr. J Ryland Scott in Rome.  I knew before I even got there that this was the route I was going to take.  As soon as my insurance paperwork was processed, I made an app't to consult w/Dr. Scott.  I saw him in mid-late March, and really got the wheels turning.  After a couple of nutrition appointments, detailed food diaries and another app't at Dr. Scott's office (w/his wonderful PA, Jason), I went in for surgery on May 14.  MY NEW BIRTHDAY!!!!!  I can never thank Dr. Scott or his staff enough!!

Tomorrow, I will be one month post-op.  I do not regret my decision.  I am THRILLED to report that my blood sugar numbers are completely normal, and I am off Diabetes medication!!  As a matter of fact, I am off of all my med's with the exception of allergy medicine and restless leg syndrome medicine.  My back and joints do not hurt near as much as they used to.  And as of today, I am down TWENTY SEVEN POUNDS!!!!  (I lost 10# prior to surgery on the prescribed protein shakes and have lost 17# since surgery).  For the most part, I FEEL GREAT!!!!  I do struggle with the new parameters of my diet; how much to eat, what to eat, when to eat, etc.  If I screw up, I pay for it in a major way by getting deathly ill from "dumping syndrome."  That stinks!!!  But knowing that this is the price I pay for getting back into good health, I'm willing to live & learn every day!

2 days ago, I was able to return to my gym and start exercising again.  I ran into a lady there (whom I dearly love & respect) and shared my decision with her.  She was astonished and said, "You didn't need that surgery! You aren't that overweight!"  She didn't mean it as a way of being unsupportive.  She was just truly surprised that I'd gone that route.  It amazes me how many times people have said this to me!  Pre-op, I was almost 100# overweight.  I may not have looked like I was that overweight b/c I'm tall and carry it well, but the scales don't lie.  Neither do other medical measurements such as blood sugar, cholesterol, etc.  Again, I do not regret my decision at all!  I'm thrilled to be on the road to good health!

I'm going to try to keep up w/my journey through this blog.  I'll post again soon!