Oh....If Only I Looked THIS COOL On Our Bike!!! LOL
Hey Ya'll,
First off, I want to say that I have a new all time low in my weight, since I began my Weight Loss Journey!! Imagine me jumping up and down here!! LOL I now weigh, drum roll please.....169.6!! Yes, I finally dropped into the land of 160's! Let's hope that I don't sabotage myself now, and that I continue to lose!
Tomorrow, we will be going out for a Bike ride. This is so that I can get at least one more day of riding under my belt, before we move up to Reno. If you have been reading my blog, then you know that we are moving up into Reno, and that Walt will be driving the Truck and towing the RV, while I will be riding the Gold Wing, and towing the Bike Trailer!! This is going to be scary for me, as I have virtually little to no experience riding in traffic!
I grew up riding dirt bikes, but riding in dirt with no traffic is a totally different kind of riding. So my Motorcycle Training Course last year, which was done in the parking lot of our local Jr College, and my riding a couple of weeks ago outside of town....well, that is all!! And that means that 2 weeks ago, was the only time that I have actually ridden the Bike out on the street, and it was in very light traffic!! IE, no signals involved, etc. And because it was out in the a small town East of Carson City, I could actually pull over if traffic was coming so that I could let them pass. Which is what I did at first, until I started to get a bit more confidence.
Walt seems to think that I can just hop on the Bike tomorrow (with him on the back I might add)....and pop out into major traffic!! Oh, and did I tell you that we are currently living on a major Highway??? So this would not be my first choice. I would prefer that Walt drove us to where ever he wanted me to ride from....and hopefully, that wouldn't be in a congested area. At least not to start!! LOL Then hope and pray that we are still talking to one another when we get home!! His past behavior has proven that he isn't the best, at trying to teach! Unfortunately his patience isn't the best. I will advise how the lesson went tomorrow!! LOL And hopefully I WILL actually be Laughing Out Loud!!
The main thing is that we just need to get me used to being out in traffic. I will be following him towing the RV, so he will not be driving fast, nor doing anything stupid. So it will be a lot less stressful following him next week, than what it will be out riding tomorrow....knowing that I will have him to use as an excuse for not riding too fast, etc. I am not used to downshifting going into a turn, etc. Especially in traffic.
And trust me, riding the Trike is much harder than riding a normal Motorcycle!! Except that you don't have to worry about balance (this part I love). The Trike turns more like a car (which you would think would be easy). But because of this, you can't lean into the turn like on a traditional Bike. Also because of this, and the fact that the Bike weighs almost 1000 lbs, it turns like a tank!! So if I were to continue to ride it, I would probably become very well built across the Shoulder's and Upper Arms!! LOL
Plus, I have relatively small feet. I wear a size 6.5-7 shoe. So riding the Bike, after I have been riding at a higher gear, where I haven't had to slow down, etc, where I have my feet in a more comfortable position on the foot pegs, I have to look down to make sure that I move my left foot where it will be under the shifter when I am getting ready to eight come to a stop, or I will need to start slowing down!! A man never has to worry about things like this!! Let's face it, this Bike was not designed for a Woman to ride it. But it is fun to have people look at you funny when they realize that you are in fact, a Woman riding it and not a small Man!!
Well, I have blabbed about just about nothing tonight, so if you are still hanging in here....thanks!! I will post tomorrow about my FUN!! Till next time....
Well I'll be....I have 200 Follower's! When I began my blog, I never thought that I would have 200 Followers! My first post was on 9/13/09, and I got my first Follower on 9/17/09!! So wow!
My newest Follower is Sam, and her blog is: Banded 4 Me. Sam is one of our amazing Aussie friends!! Sam was Banded (Realize Band) on 03/22/10 and has already lost 73.7 lbs!! Go Sam!! If you haven't checked out her blog yet, hop on over and give her a shout of hello!! So Sam...."Welcome to my Nightmare".
Here is my latest Bear! It is the "Baby Bear" that I will be giving to my Grand Daughter...Her favorite colors are Pink and Purple.
Hey Ya'll,
Well, today was a very long day!!! We went to two very large Sports Stores in Reno. One is Cabella's. We love Cabella's, and would almost always eat there at their small Cafe, when going to Reno for my Surgeon appointments while we were still living in California. They have the best Chili!! And some of the best hand made Sandwiches made with exotic Meats.
Today we went inside of Sheel's for the first time. It is reputed to be (at least according to them) the largest all indoor all Sports Store in the "World". Well, I barely stepped inside, as what I was shopping for was close to the entrance. But it is huge and 2 story, with a Carousel. My objective was to check out the expensive Sunglasses!! Walt was there to price ammunition. After trying on quite a few pairs of Sunglasses, I had narrowed it down to two pairs. One is the Oakley Flak Jacket Polarized in Root Beer color. They cost $210.....The second pair is from my favorite manufacture....Maui Jim. I found that I really like the style Makaha in Tortoise Shell color with Bronze lens, and they only cost $159!! After researching both, I have come to the conclusion that I will stay with the Maui Jim's, and here is a photo of them.
And this is what they look like on a real live person!! Just picture them on an old broad, with extra short blonde/gray hair!! LOL
Then we drove to the local Victory store in Reno, so that I could try sitting on their big Touring Bike that they sell. Walt is hoping to replace our Gold Wing (which is close to 1000 lbs) with the Victory in the future. But he is wanting to purchase a Bike that I can ride too, but without the training wheels! Well....let me tell you, it ain't gonna happen!
I could barely sit on it with my tip toes on the ground. Which is a definite plus from the Gold Wing, since I can't even put my tip toes on the ground at all with the Gold Wing!! But it is still way too heavy, and I couldn't even turn the wheel straight while sitting on it. So it is still way too heavy for me to be able to be in control of it. And I feel that if I can't sit on it comfortably, with my feet at least mostly on the ground, and be able to move the Bike forwards and backwards on my own, (as I would occasionally need to be able to maneuver the Bike from a parking space, etc). And if I can't do this without TIPPING THE BIKE OVER, then I am not going to ride it!! And I am too short at 5'3", and not strong enough to be able to maneuver the Bike which is over 800 lbs, especially if I were to be stopped on a slight angle....just saying, it ain't gonna happen. Sorry Walt.
I told him that I will just stay on the back of whatever Bike we have. If he wants me to ride a Bike, it either has to be a Trike (if it is a BIG Bike), or one that I can sit on with my feet firmly on the ground, that I can push back and forth under my own power. I would be happy put putting around on a Scooter, but Walt refuses to buy me one! It would be something that I could zip around on by myself. He is just thinking that we can't ride side by side easily, if he is on his huge Gold Wing, and I am on a little Scooter. But I probably wouldn't be riding the Scooter if he was with me, I would be riding behind him!! Here is a photo of the Victory Vision.
Once we left the Victory store in Reno, we drove back to Minden which is South of Carson City, to our Optometrist Office. They were having their Spring Trunk Show tonight, and we wanted to order our new Glasses at this show, as we got 40% off the Frames tonight. We were glad that we did, since Walt found a pair of Frames that he liked even better than the ones we had picked out last week. So we feel that we got a great deal tonight. We got both pairs (his and mine) for $725. We paid this much for Walt's last pair alone, 2 or 3 yrs ago!! So now all I need is my my Maui Jim Sunglasses and we will be set!!
So....now that we have spent a lot of money today....tomorrow we will be having lunch with our Son Russ. He is driving to the Lake Tahoe area for a Seminar or something....for Mathematics. So he is meeting us for lunch on his way home (or is it on his way there, I'm not sure which it is). We are taking him to one of the local Bar-B-Que Restaurants. Um mm. Well, I better go for now. I should be going to bed, although I want to stay up to watch the Royal Wedding, and it is hard to turn off the TV, since the Royal Procession is just about ready to begin. But Walt would be pissed if I stayed up all night. So I will just have to settle on watching a rerun of it tomorrow night, at a slightly earlier hour. I won't get to see the whole thing, but at least I will get to see the highlights....Arg, MEN!! LOL
I finally took the time to check in today, and found that I had a new Follower!! Her name is Stacy, and her Blog is called, Band Of Dreams. She was Banded on February 22, 2011 and has lost at least 38 lbs already!! Go Stacy! You are doing fantastic!! Stacy is one of the lucky ones that lives near Walt Disney World, AND has a Season Pass!! I have always wanted to go there, but due to my Disability, I fear that I could never walk it!! But if we lived near it, I would definitely want to try!! LOL So if you haven't already checked out her Blog, please do so, as she is a true newbie and can use all of the love and support we can give her.....so Stacy, "Welcome to my Nightmare"!!
Well, Walt left for Sacramento yesterday, so that he could be sure to make it with no problems. There was supposed to be snow this morning over the Sierra's, and since our 4x4 Truck is still in the shop being repaired from his accident last month, he didn't want any problems driving down, since the rental vehicle we have is a car....with no chains.
Today we had high winds, here in the Carson City area. Like I have said in prior posts, I believe that this valley where Carson City sits, gets winds all year round, not just seasonally. Today's winds was exceptionally high, and knocked power out in the whole valley again!! This was at least the 3rd time in 2 weeks for us to lose power.
The main problem that is caused by the power outages for me, is the loss of Internet. Sometimes for only an hour or two, other times it lasts for several days. Which means that I go into Internet withdrawals.....LOL So of course I lost my Internet today, but luckily for only about 3 hours. And once the power and Internet came up, I discovered that the high winds caused some damage to our Cable reception (like no signal at all)!! So I was without Cable TV for several hours beyond, when the power was restored too!! This was not a great day for me, but it could have been worse, had the power or Internet not been restored at all!! LOL
I finished Crocheting my Mom's Reindeer. It was made from one of the patterns I have for the Itty Bitty Animals. It was meant to be 3 1/2 inches tall, and I made it 12 inches tall (not including the antlers). I hope that she likes it! It was supposed to have a Holiday Ribbon around its neck, but I decided to make one using a strand of Christmas Red and a strand of Christmas Green yarns together. I had planned to give it to her for Christmas, but she is not doing very well, so I am going to give it to her the next time I am in California....
Now for a question to all the Bandster's out there that may read this. If you knew what you know now about your Band and it's problems, etc. Would you still have the Lap Band or Realize Band Surgery? Or would you opt for the Gastric Bypass, or Gastric Sleeve?
I ask this because I have been reading where quite a few of us Bandster's, has begun to have problems with our Bands. Some have even had to have the Band removed, and a Revision Surgery with either a GB (RNY) or GS Surgery performed. I have also read that the life expectancy of the Band is about 10 years. Although many say it could stay in, for the rest of our lives with no consequence or problems. The ones that say 10 years, says that within 10 years, most of us will have to have a Revision Surgery anyway. Either because of complications, or because it is no longer working for us.
Because of the problems that I have already begun to have, Walt and I have talked about it, and if (and that is a BIG IF), I have continued problems through the years, and it ends up that I do need to have the Band removed. Unless they come up with some other Surgery that is better with even less expected complications, I would probably go for the Gastric Sleeve. This way I would at least keep my Stomach (albeit only about 15-20% of it), which would cause less trouble in the way of malnutrition, since the food still flows through the Stomach and not Bypassed.
Anyone have any thoughts on this??? Pro or con? And to answer the question myself....if I knew what I know now, I might have allowed my Surgeon to perform the Gastric Sleeve instead of the Band for me. I am not sure though if it was one of the procedures that was available to me then. But I do know that he does perform them now. Mostly as Revision Surgery, to prior Lap Band and Realize Band patients. Which makes me wonder.....is this an inevitable future Surgery??
Well, it is getting late, I should go to bed....till next time.
I was checking back into my blog, and found that I have another new Follower!! Her name is Sheila, and her blog is called, This One Body. She had the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy done on October 22, 2010, and has already lost 60 lbs!! Go Sheila!! I am highly interested in seeing how she is doing with the Gastric Sleeve, as I have been thinking that if, and this is a BIG IF....I were to have complications in the future, where I had to have my Band removed, I would probably choose to have the Gastric Sleeve done, rather than the Bypass. This way you still keep all your organs functioning.....etc, etc, etc!! So Sheila, "Welcome to my Nightmare"!!
Well, I meant to welcome Karen much earlier today, but as I was typing it out, we had another power outage!! This makes it 3 times in 2 weeks!!! The worst part is that when we lose power, our Internet goes too!! :( So now that we have our power and Internet back.....I want to give a warm, belated welcome to Karen. Her blog link is: Sunshine's Heart.
Karen had Gastric Bypass on 2/05/09 and has lost 182 lbs!! In fact, she is now below her goal weight. If you haven't already checked out her blog, please do!! Go Karen!! So Karen....."Welcome to my Nightmare"!!
I just checked in and found that I had 2 new Followers!! Amber here is still researching which WLS she will undergo, and she is asking a lot of good questions!! The link to her Blog is: (Thin At Heart) Fat In Reality, so if you haven't already found her Blog yet, please check it out and give her the support she can use!! Like I said, she has a lot of good questions she needs answers to!! So Amber...."Welcome to my Nightmare)!!
Well I was reading my Blog a bit, and realized that I had another new Follower!! Her name is Laura Belle, and her blog is: Beer, Dogs, And Getting Healthier..... She wasn't Banded like most of us, but has been on a self imposed diet, to lose her excess 20 lbs! AND she is almost half way there!! I've just started to read her blog, and I love it!! So if you haven't found her blog yet, please use the link I provided, and give her a shout out, and encouragement!! So Laura Belle....."Welcome to my Nightmare"!!
I just wanted to give a shout out to my newest Follower!! Her name is Ronda and her Blog link is: Fit By 40. And what I love is....she was Banded on my Birthday last year!! Which was August 17, 2010!! And she has lost 48.8 lbs so far!! So if you haven't found her blog yet, please jump on over and give her the support she can use, just like the rest of us!! LOL So Ronda, "Welcome to my Nightmare"!
I am shouting out a welcome, to my newest Follower!! Her name is Tara, but I have been unable to locate her blog. :( Tara, if you would please leave me a comment, I could then follow it back to your blog. I would love to Follow you too!! However, if you prefer to remain anonymous, then of course, please disregard this request. So Tara...."Welcome to my Nightmare"!!
I just wanted to give a shout out to my newest Follower! She goes by Fluffy, but looking at her photo I posted above, you can see that she is definitely, "Fluffy" no more!! LOL She was Banded on November 16th, 2005 and attained her original goal weight by July 11, 2007! But, having attained her original goal weight of 149 lbs, she decided to go ahead and change her goal weight to 138-142 lbs, and I believe that she is still losing to that weight. Not too sure though! But hey! At 5'8" tall even if she stayed at her original goal weight, she looks fantastic!!! So hop on over to her Blog, and give her a big hello from MOI!! LOL Fluffy's blog link is: Losing The Fluff. So Fluffy, "Welcome to my Nightmare"!!
I have a new Follower!! And she goes by....Just A Wallflower. She was Banded on October 26, 2010 and has already lost 65.4 lbs!! That's fantastic!! She also has her Motorcycle license, and she and her hubby own and ride a Victory Vision, which is another Big Bike!! But it sits lower to the ground than our Gold Wing. As you can see in the photo below, she can actually put her foot on the ground!!! Walt is talking about selling our Bike and getting a Victory like there's too!! So Just A Wallflower, per your comment to me in my last post, I think that the reason we get people pulling over, or at least slowing down, is because our Bike looks a lot like a Motorcycle Cops Bike....plus with our Modulating Headlight, it just adds to the Motorcycle Cop look! So guys, if you haven't already checked out her blog, please do so....here is the link to it, Joining The "Band Wagon..... So Just A Wallflower, "Welcome to my Nightmare"!!
Well first off, I forgot to report that Walt passed his final Skill and Driving Tests, for his Commercial Driving License (CDL)!! So he wanted me to be sure to thank all that sent him good thoughts, he is sure that they helped! So now he doesn't have to worry about spending most of his free time at the Truck Driving School, when he is here in Nevada....Now it will be MY TURN!! I have yet to take the written test for the CDL, but I will be taking it in the next couple of weeks. Once I pass it, I will start the Truck Driving School too. And hopefully I will be able to pass the DMV'S non written exam without any trouble!! LOL But I realize that it is a BIG IF!! Hopefully I will be able to pass it within 3 attempts at most! LOL
Oh and did I mention that Walt also took the written tests (and passed I might add), to get endorsements for Driving a Tanker, and pulling Doubles and Triples??? That is something that I have NO INTEREST in going for!! He is just one of those super over achievers, and he feels that since he has the CDL, why not take the written tests for the others and get them as well! Like I said, I have no interest in going for them too.
I forgot to mention that last weekend when I was out practicing riding our Bike (Gold Wing Motorcycle), that I got my first vehicle pulled over for me??? This is because our Bike is huge and White and we have an Oscillating Head Light (which is totally legal in all 50 States (on low beam)), which makes some vehicles think that we are a Cop. So some people pull over to the side of the road to let us pass, or they believe that we want to pull them over!!! So when I got up to the older gentleman's car (who had pulled over) and continued on by, he wasn't too happy!! But hey, like I said, the Lights are legal. And most important, they make it easier for other vehicles to see us!! So I had my first pull over! And then on the same day, I had my first wave acknowledgment from another Biker!! And it was a young man on a Harley!!
Yesterday we finally made it to our Eye Exams! We have been trying to get in for several months, but something always would come up, like Walt couldn't get back from California in time, so I would have to cancel and reschedule.....I'm sure that they thought that we were never going to make it!! We really needed the exam too, since our last exam was 2 years ago. After the exam, we started looking at frames yesterday, and we both found a frame that we liked a lot, but they will be expensive!! Walt's glasses will be somewhere between $470-$500. My pair will be around $405. And that is if we wait until Thursday of next week, so that we can take advantage of their Spring Trunk show!
They will have some "new styles" available to choose from as well as more Sunglasses to choose from too. And any frame that we pick next Thursday will be 40% off! This is why we are waiting until next Thursday. Also, if we decide to purchase my Sunglasses that same day, they too will be 40% off! Since we have decided that my Distance vision (in daytime at least) is good enough without a Prescription (yes I verified it with the Optometrist, and I can still pass the DMV Eye Exam) I will just purchase straight Sunglasses with no RX in them (saving a LOT of moola!). I will use my RX Distance glasses to drive at night still, as I have trouble seeing well at night (I'm practical, not stupid...).
I found a pair there that I liked for Sunglasses, and they cost $161, which would make them $96.60 after the 40% off! This is assuming they are Polarized. If not, it would cost another $125 to make them Polarized. And in that case, I will choose another pair that IS Polarized. But before we go back to the Optometrist, I want to go check out what they have available at Costco and Walmart, in the way of higher end Sunglasses like Ray Bans, Oakleys, Maui Jim's, etc. I am sure that I will not find Maui Jim's and possibly not Oakleys at either Costco or Walmart, but I still want to see what they have. Then when we go back to the Optometrist, I will know if I want to purchase my Sunglasses through her as well as my reading glasses. I have had Maui Jim's in the past, and LOVED THEM!!! But I know that I am looking at $200 minimum for them....
Today we drove to Reno, and met our son Russ and Walt's Ex-Wife Carolyn for lunch. For all the newbies reading my blog. YES, we do get along with Carolyn, and finally after 20 years can say that we are now truly on a friendship basis with her! She has become "one of the family" through the years. She has been invited to all of our family get together's (even when it is with my family), for at least 11 years! Walt even jokes to me, after he had talked to her on the phone, saying that he talked with my Sister!!
We told her about Walt's Ex-Fiance (Carolyn is the one that took him away from her!) trying to get Walt to at the very least have an affair with her!! And yes, she is STILL trying to get him back. Last night she texted him, and asked him if he thinks about her!! And she told him that her offer to pay for him to fly to San Diego (where she is currently living and working), for a visit with her still stands (I was not included in this invitation)....Of course, if she paid for him to fly there, she would be expecting more than dinner and talk....wow how the times have changed! I just wonder if her Husband and Children is aware of this (they live in the Bay Area outside of San Francisco)????
Do you remember (for those of us slightly older (ahem) women), when you were young and dating a man in the early stages of a relationship, and you just knew that he would be expecting to get laid after he took you out to a fancy Restaurant??? LOL Neither Carolyn nor Russ could believe the gall of the woman! And Carolyn offered to go with me to beat her up! LOL The Ex-Wife and the current Wife against the Ex-Fiance!! Would anyone be willing to pay for a seat at that confrontation??? I think that Walt feels puffed up like a Peacock, with so many women willing to fight for him! LOL
Oh and before I forget, on the freeway while driving home today, two birds flew into our rental car committing suicide! One of them hit us directly in the Windshield! And thank god it didn't even crack it....but the poor birds!! We had no way to keep from hitting them, they were flying, then turned directly into us! I think that the other bird hit us in the front grill. Well, I better go for now, got lots to do....till next time.
Well, we just got home from visiting our youngest, Russ, and Walt's ex-wife Carolyn for lunch in Reno, and I discovered that I have a new Follower!! Her name is Kristina B, and here is the link to her blog: Complete 180 Degrees With A Lap-Band. She is in the Pre-Op Diet phase, waiting for approval from her Insurance Co. So if you haven't already checked out her blog, please do and give her the support she will need in these early phases!! So Kristina B, "Welcome to my Nightmare"!!
I just discovered that I have a new Follower. Her name is Lyla, and if I have the right blog, her blog link is: Big Fat Professor. I reason that I think that I have the right blog, is because I just began Following her last night!! If this is not your blog Lyla, please let me know so that I can remove this post!! LOL And providing me the correct blog information would be great! Lyla was Banded on September 17, 2010 and has already lost 106 lbs!!! OMG! So HOP on over and check out her Blog, I would say to give her support, but at least in the area of weight loss, she is doing great! But we all need some support in one form or another....LOL So Lyla...."Welcome to my Nightmare!"
I just checked in, and found that I have a new Follower. Her name is, Ashleigh. However, I am unable to find her blog, so I am unable to Follow her myself, or give a shout out, so that others can find her blog as well!! So, Ashleigh, if you would PLEASE leave me a comment, I would love to follow it to your blog, so that I can Follow you too!! Unless you wish to remain anonymous, then of course, please disregard my last request!! LOL So....Ashleigh, "Welcome to my Nightmare"!
*****UPDATE*****
I believe that I have discovered who Ashleigh is. And if I have the correct Ashleigh, then her blog link is: Wallflower....Step Aside!. She is to be Banded on May 12th, so hop (yes, this is an Easter reference!) on over to her blog, and give her the love and support she needs, especially in this early phase of her journey!!
First off, I want to show you my latest 2 Ballet Bears that I finished. The one on the left in Hot Pink is for our middle Daughter, Kat. And the one on the right in Pink, is for our Grand Daughter Emily. Do you think that they will like them?? I hope so! Remember that the pattern for them only calls for them to be 3"'s tall. The way that I made them, they are 10"'s tall in the sitting position!!
Well, here I sit, listening (or should I say feeling) the winds outside. It has been windy these past 2 days, real windy. I have a feeling that this valley is windy all--year--round. LOL Walt and I went for an evening walk both last night and tonight before it got dark here in the Park. And let me tell you, with the wind chill, it was really cold!! You would think that it was still winter.
We drove into Reno this morning for my follow up appointment with the Surgeon's office to see how I am doing since the Unfill on the 8th. Well, I have lost another 1.8 lbs! And I have not had any issues of Acid Reflux at all!! I feel so good knowing that I can go to bed and not worry about when it is going to hit, and how bad it will be.....yuck!
BUT!!! I was informed that my Insurance Company (Blue Shield PPO), has informed them that I can no longer get my Fills through their office!! The Insurance Co is saying that I have to get all of my future Fills through a Hospital....can you believe this??? What are they thinking??? It is so much less expensive for all concerned. Including the Insurance Co, and ME!!! Yet, they are wanting me to have to go to the Surgeon's Office for a visit, so that they can agree that I can have the Fill and refer me to get it, (causing me to have to pay a co-pay just for this), then I have to get the Fill approved through the Insurance Co. Once they approve it, then they will allow me to go to the Hospital, and have the Fill done with the Surgeon! Meaning that I will have to sign into the Hospital as an Out-Patient, for every Fill, or Unfill from now on!! WTH???
My Doctor's Office has been in long discussions with the Insurance Co over this. As apparently, they have at least 9 or 10 of us that have retired from California with Cal Pers Insurance.....just saying. So hopefully they will be able to talk some sense into them. I'll keep you posted.
Tomorrow Walt will be driving back to Reno, to retake the parts of the CDL Exam that he either didn't pass, or hasn't gotten to take yet. He has two more sections to pass. The Skills Test and the Driving Test. So please keep good thoughts coming his way!! We would love for him to pass it this time, so that he doesn't have to keep going back.
Next it will be my turn.....yuck. But first I have to pass the CDL Written Test. I am supposed to take it on Friday afternoon, but I know for a fact, that I am not ready for it. Especially since I have only been able to read through the CDL Book ONCE!! There is soooo much information, and I am on information overload. I haven't even had the chance to read through it a second time, so that I can try to start memorizing some of this crap!!! And I just HATE to waste the money to take the Test, knowing full well, that I won't pass it! Even though I would have at least another time or two to take it before having to repay. But why pay, when you know you don't even have a chance in hell to pass it???? Are you reading this Walt???
Also on Friday, we are FINALLY going in for our Eye Exams!! Yea!! We have been trying to get in for months now! Every time that we have had an appointment, Walt was out of State with the Truck, and couldn't get back. Or something came up, that made us have to cancel the appointment and reschedule. And I couldn't just go in without him. For one thing, we like to go to the appointments together, so we always schedule back to back appointments. Plus, we have only had the one vehicle available, and he always had it in California! Remember, I have only had the Bike here, and with Winter and SNOW....plus the fact that I hadn't ridden it out in traffic, until just this last weekend. I wasn't about to try to ride it into the next town for the appointment. LOL
Well, I guess I better go for now. Till next time.....
Well here I sit, shaking my head from side to side, wondering how lucky I am, to discover that I have another new Follower!! Her name is Jody. Alas, I am unable to find any more information on her, so I cannot provide her Blog link, for others to check her blog out as well. So Jody, if you are interested in getting a new Follower (meaning moi!) or Followers, then please leave me a comment so that I can follow it back to your blog, so that I can update this post to include it!! Unless of course, you want to remain anonymous, then that is ok too!! So Jody....."Welcome to my Nightmare".
*****UPDATE*****
Jody's Blog link is: One Day I Will Wear Stripes.... She was Banded on March 1, 2011 and has already lost 51 lbs!!! So if you haven't already checked out her Blog, please do so and give her the Support we all need!!
Well, I'll be damned, if I don't have another new Follower!! I was away this morning at the Doctor's, and came home to find out that I had another Follower. Her name is Ronnie, and her Blog is called: Ronnie's Bandumentary. She was Banded on December 20, 2010, and has already lost 54.2 lbs!! Go Ronnie!! I've just started reading her blog, and she is absolutely hilarious!! So if you haven't already found her blog, please check it out!! So Ronnie...."Welcome to my Nightmare"!!
I just wanted to make a quick post, to give a shout out to my newest Follower!! She goes by Dizzy Girl, and here's the link to her Blog: Dizzy. She is not a Bandster like most of us. She is one of the few that has been able to lose weight the hardest way....all by herself!! So kudos to you Dizzy Girl!! I wish that I had your strength, it would make it much easier for me. So if you haven't already checked out her blog, please do so!! So....Dizzy Girl, "Welcome to my Nightmare"!
Well, I woke up this morning and after texting back and forth with Walt for awhile, I checked my Blog and found that I have a new Follower! Her name is Cat, and her Blog is: One Slim Cat. She is a newbie and was Banded on March 16th!! So please hop on over to her Blog if you haven't already checked it out, and give her the support she can use in her early stages of the Band. Or should I just say, in ALL stages of the Band??? LOL So Cat, "Welcome to my Nightmare"!!
Well, I have discovered that I have a new Follower! Her name is Dawn Crane. Unfortunately I can't find her blog, so I am unable to provide a link to her blog! Nor can I Follow her myself! So Dawn, if you read this, please leave me a comment, so that I can follow it back to your blog! Unless you want to remain anonymous of course! So Dawn...."Welcome to my Nightmare"!
***UPDATE***
I believe that I found Dawn!! If this is the correct blog (which I am fairly sure that it is...), here is the link to her Blog: FLABulous to FABulous
It doesn't look like it in these photos, but I WAS riding the Bike!! Walt took the photos with his phone's camera.
Hey Ya'll,
Well, today is our oldest daughter's 37th Birthday!! I know that I am aging, but it is so hard to fathom that my daughter is this old!! My goodness, in 3 yrs she will be 40!!!!! She is still living in the Sacramento area, so we couldn't see her. But I did get to see her both Monday and Tuesday while we were down there. So Happy Birthday Christa!! We Love You! I hope that you had a great day.....
Today, Walt and I rode the Bike to his Mom's house out in the valley East of Carson City. On the way there, we stopped at a small family owned Mexican Restaurant. We were both surprised and happy to hear that they have special rates of 25% off all meals on Saturdays for Seniors. And get this, they consider anyone aged 55 and older to be Senior Citizens!!! So we qualified! I split a meal with Walt. I had about 2/3's of a Beef Enchilada, and he had a Chili Relleno and we split the Beans and Cheese, although he had at least 3/4's of them too!! We hadn't intended to eat any dessert, but when the waitress listed a special Coconut Lemon Cheesecake, we just had to try it!! And although Walt only allowed me to have a few bites of it, let me tell you....I wish that I had the recipe for it!! Then I could figure out how to make it with less fattening ingredients!!! LOL
After leaving the Restaurant, we rode the rest of the way to his moms house, where he got off the Bike and told me to go ride around! I had assumed that he would be riding behind me, giving me tips, etc. So after I shook off my terror, I took off, and after about 10 minutes, I started to feel more comfortable on it. I ended up riding for 2 hours!! I couldn't believe that I had been gone that long, the only reason that I went back then, was because I was needing to go to the bathroom....Next time, I will need to get out into more congested traffic, and maybe get on the highway. Especially since I will be riding it by myself in a couple of weeks when we move up to Reno. Now remember that this is only the 2nd time that I have ridden the Bike! And the first time, I was riding in a school parking lot on a weekend, with no traffic and no cars in the lot!! This time, I ventured out with vehicles, just not in a congested city.....yet!!
But I wanted to get used to going through the gears, stopping, turning, etc. Especially since it is a LOT harder to turn this Bike with the Training Wheels, than it is a traditional Bike!! Plus it is a HUGE Bike, and weights about 1000 lbs. It really is too big for me. Can I ride it? Yes. But should I? Probably not. If I had my druthers, I would be on a smaller Bike. But I did ok. I didn't stall it, nor did I hit anyone, always a plus!! LOL
Well, I guess I will go for now....till next time....
Well, I didn't slime ALL the way home! Just about halfway up the Sierra's! I asked Walt to stop at the Rest Area which is about halfway up, then I went inside and stayed there until I had expelled most of what was bothering me! I just don't get it, I had some of the Spaghetti the night before at the Restaurant for dinner and had no problems. I even had about 1/3 of my Salad, before I gave the rest to Walt. And I had the scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream.
But I had about the same amount of Spaghetti yesterday morning, and boom! I get stuck. Of course, it was probably because I ate it a bit faster than I did the prior night....but I didn't think that I ate it fast enough to make me get stuck! This was the first time I have been stuck since my Unfill. :(
But other than that, the drive was nice. And boy oh boy, we were both glad to get back home. I can't believe how quickly we have adjusted to living in such a small space and that we consider it HOME now!
Well, I gotta go, we are getting ready to go out riding on the bike. I think that Walt is planning on having me ride today to get used to riding it. Especially since I will have to ride it when we move to Reno! He will be driving the Truck and towing the RV, while I will be riding the Bike and towing the small Bike Trailer!! I will post about it later and let you know how I did!! Till next time....
Well, today was another full day here in the lovely city of Sacramento, CA!! I left the house early, so that I could start running around before my hair appointment. On my way to the hair appointment with Roxanne, I went to a local shoe store to purchase 2 new pairs of Thongs for Summer, after all, I practically live in Thongs during the warm months! They are my Birthday gift from my MIL (thank you Shirley!!). One pair is more for walking around in comfort (and are supposed to be the kind that provides toning and shaping....we shall see). The second pair is also comfortable, but provides less support, so they are more for fun. I will for sure use THEM in Hawaii, around the pool and beach! Above are the photos of them, aren't they cute???
Then I went back to Bed Bath & Beyond, to purchase another one of those Pillows that I purchased yesterday, for myself! I was right, Walt loved it. So I am sure that I will too. Then I raced back to the freeway to drive to my hair appointment. Roxanne was ready for me, and I was never so glad to see her!! My hair really needed her TLC! LOL Thanks Roxanne!! We love you!!
An hour later, once out of my hair appointment, I headed over to Joann's (a craft store) to pick up some more Yarn for my projects. I love those 40 & 50% off coupons!! Then it was off to Sams Club, where I fueled up the car for our trip home tomorrow, and to purchase my 2'x4' folding table so that I can get back into Painting. Now maybe I can finish Russ's painting as well as Walt's painting, and start working on Kat's next painting, that I have promised her!!
After leaving Sam's Club, I ate half of a Cheeseburger from Sonic Drive In (it's a local fast food joint where the car hops still use roller skates!), on my way to my parents house. Let me tell you, it tasted like Heaven! But I resisted trying to eat it all...LOL After arriving at my parents house, I saw my Mom and was in shock at how much she appears to have gone downhill. I am so worried about my Mom. She is really looking bad, I mean bad in the sense that I am afraid that I could receive a call at most anytime, giving me the worst news possible....however, bad as it sounds, and as much as I will miss her, it will also be a relief. She has been in so much pain for so long, that I know that at least she won't be in pain any longer.
After leaving my parents house, I stopped off at a different Fry's Electronics store than where I went the other day, since I was hoping to be able to get the Trackball/Mouse I need that isn't wireless (which is all the other Fry's store had). But apparently they don't sell them anymore, so I had to pay double the cost of the original Trackball that I purchased the other day, to purchase one in Wireless form. Hopefully it will work for me. If so, then at least it will be worth the money. THEN....I was on my way home (to Kat's house).
Arriving just in time to beat Walt home. Then shortly after, we left to go pick up our friend Hannah for dinner. She was taking us out for our Anniversary. We ended up going to BJ'S Restaurant near where she lives. I had the Spaghetti in Meat Sauce. It tasted so good!!!! Even if I could only eat a small portion of it. So I definitely have plenty of left overs for lunch tomorrow! Yea! I am SO looking forward to it!! For dessert, Walt and Hannah split one of their decadent desserts while I had a single scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream. Luckily for me, my favorite flavor of Ice Cream is....Vanilla!!
Tomorrow we are leaving to return home.....home, who would have thought that I would be calling a 40' 5th Wheel RV, home. But it is my home now, and I am so looking forward to getting back. This week has been fun, but it has also been so exhausting!! At least at home, I can sleep in my own bed, etc. So as soon as the movie that I am watching on TV, "Sex In The City II" is over, I will go to bed. After all, I still need to pack up before leaving tomorrow. Till next time.....
Well, as my post title states, it was our 18th Wedding Anniversary today. Walt had to work, but that was ok, as I met our friend Aggie for lunch today at The Elephant Bar. I had never eaten there, but I had no trouble finding something that I could eat, and it was delicious. After Aggie and I spent a little over an hour eating and talking, we said our goodbyes. The lunch went way too fast! I really enjoyed eating and talking with Aggie as always!
After I left Aggie, I drove to the place where I get supplies for my BiPap Machine. It took me awhile to find them, as their building was kind of hidden! Usually I do business with them over the phone, and they mail me my supplies. But at least I did find them, and all is good. Now I can start to use my BiPap Machine again.
After leaving there, I drove around for awhile until I found a Bed Bath & Beyond store, so that I could surprise our daughter Kat, by sprucing up their bathrooms a bit. The shower curtain that she uses in her Master Bathroom is really old, so I replaced it with one just like it. I also purchased one of those new pillows that I have been seeing advertised on TV, called the Sobakawa Cloud Pillow. I was going to use it tonight to see if I liked it, before letting Walt try it. But then thought that I better let him try it first, as he is having such a hard time with his Neck right now. This way, if he likes it, I will be returning tomorrow to buy another one for me!! Otherwise, I will just keep it for me, and he can go back to his regular Tempurpedic Pillow. But something tells me that he will like it....
So after leaving the store, I returned to Kat's house and spent some time cleaning up their bathrooms, as the service that helps her out when needed, apparently hasn't been here in a little while, and Kat is so busy working. So since they have been so great allowing Walt to stay with them, anytime he has been down in the Sacramento area working. I wanted to help them out by cleaning up the bathrooms and replacing the old shower curtain.
They are expecting company next week, so I thought that this would help them out a bit, by not having to do any major cleaning after returning from their mini vacation celebrating their Wedding Anniversary!. Hopefully she will take this as the gesture that I have intended it to be. That I just want to help her, not that I don't think that she is keeping the bathrooms clean enough. I know how hard it can be to keep up the house, when you work full time. With my medical problems, if I hadn't had my Sister In Law (who cleans houses for a living) doing the heavy cleaning for us, I would have been up a creek, especially while I was still working.
After I finished doing most of the cleaning, Walt and I went to a Steak Restaurant to eat dinner for our Anniversary, called Logan's Roadhouse, here in Sacramento. It was really good. At least our meals was great. Kat never wanted to go there whenever we mentioned it, so we figured that they must not be very good. But we decided that we wanted to try it anyway, so we went there tonight by ourselves. And we liked it well enough, that we will go back.
Tomorrow morning, I have my haircut appointment with our friend Roxanne. I can't wait to get it cut and out of my face!! LOL After I get out of my appointment, I will go visit with my Mom for a while, before I have to leave to put gas in the car, then pick up another Pillow at Bed Bath & Beyond, then go back to Fry's Electronics to exchange my new Trackball/Mouse I bought the other day. Then drive back to Kat's, so that I can finish cleaning the bathrooms, and wash the sheets on the bed that we have been sleeping on. THEN, after all that, we will be picking up our friend Hannah, so that she can take us out to dinner! And then of course, we will be leaving on Friday morning to drive back to Nevada and home.
Well, I guess that I should get off for now, got lots to do, and so little time. Until next time.....
Aloha My Friends :)
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Hey Ya'll,
Well Ya'll, first off I want to say thank you to all of you who have left me comments regarding my recent Upper GI testing etc. I would have posted sooner on how I have been since my appointment with the Surgeon, but our internet service went out on Friday, and I have been in Withdrawals!! LOL Ever since my appointment, I have had NO ACID REFLUX!! And no problems with getting stuck, etc. I have been able to eat with no fear of problems. And I have been able to actually eat less and be more satisfied....imagine my surprise???
But seriously (really, seriously, I have had serious Computer withdrawals!!). Saturday, our Son Russ drove down with his Mom's truck to help us with clearing out the Storage Unit. That was the intent, at least. Instead of cleaning out the Storage Unit of excess stuff, all we ended up doing was moving the stuff around, and making room for the Piano. We decided to move the Piano from the RV, into storage for now. After all, we aren't currently using it and it is taking up space. We will put it back in later.
So we didn't get RID of anything that was in storage, but at least we made room for the Piano, and got it moved. But in doing so, Walt appears to have acerbated his Neck pain. It has been hurting him ever since his accident, but it had been getting slowly but surely better. Now it seems to be back to square one! If it doesn't start feeling better soon, he will go back to the Doctor to make sure he didn't really hurt himself.
The only complaint that I have right now, is that I have been having problems sleeping again. Not because of the Reflux, but because I have just been having trouble getting to sleep! I am lucky if I get to sleep by 2 am, (which is pretty much normal for me). But lately it has been more like 4-5 am! And Walt has made sure that I DID NOT OVERSLEEP!!
Thursday morning I was up by 3:45 in order to make it to Reno. Then, if you can remember, because of my wild day spent in the bathroom, after the Upper GI that morning. I didn't get to sleep until about 2:15 am, and then I had to get up at 5:45 am on Friday, in order to drive back to Reno for my appointment with the Surgeon and the "official" results.
Then that night (Friday), I didn't get to sleep until about 3:30 am. And of course, I couldn't sleep in because of going to work in the Storage Unit. So when Russ arrived earlier than expected, Walt woke me up. Oh well....but then again, that night (Saturday) I couldn't get to sleep again!! It was about 4 am again when I went to bed, and again....Walt woke me up EARLY!! We were planning on doing the laundry at 9 am Sunday morning, but he woke me up at 7 am!!! He figured that if we got there early, we wouldn't have anyone wanting to use the machines, and we could use all of them and get the laundry done faster. But noooo, we had 2 different men come in to use them too!!! LOL So the early bird didn't help us at all this time!
Usually on Sunday's we have another couple in the RV park that does their laundry, so Walt thought that if we went early, we would beat them to the machines and be out before they got there. But I tried to tell him that they usually didn't even get in there until sometime between 10 am (at the earliest), and 12 noon. So I knew that 9 am would be fine!! Because of all my lack of sleep, you would think that I would be able to sleep, but NOOOOO, again I couldn't sleep. So it was about 2 am when I went to bed, but at least 4 am before I got to sleep. Then of course, my alarm went off at 6:15 am so that we could leave by 8 am for Sacramento!
So I got up, and took a short nap in the car! LOL It was probably for the better, this way I didn't have to fret over Walt's driving over the Sierra's, and he didn't have to listen to me complaining about his driving!! LOL After arriving in the Sacramento area, we met our oldest Daughter Christa for lunch. We took her to our favorite Barbecue Restaurant near where she lives, since she had never been there. And we were taking her out to lunch for her 37th Birthday!! Oh My God! I am old enough to have a 37 yr old child!! LOL She absolutely loved it there! She wants to go back, and we don't blame her. If you are ever where they have a Lucille's Barbecue, check them out!!
Then we took our middle child, Kat and her Husband Elliott to dinner at The Outback. Of course I couldn't eat much, but oh my god! It was so good. I was really tasting The Outback. They have a really good flavor to their Fillet Mignon Steak! But since I knew that I would barely be able to touch the meat, I ordered it cooked the way that Walt likes it (Big Mistake), since he would be eating it for breakfast. I normally like it cooked Medium, but I ordered it Medium Rare for Walt. And even Walt admitted that it was cooked more like Rare, than Medium Rare (which he likes), so I couldn't eat much. But Walt got a great breakfast out of it!!
Then today, I met Christa, my Grand Kids, and my Dad for lunch. My Mom was supposed to be there too, but she is not feeling well at all, so I will go visit her on Thursday after my haircut, and hopefully she will feel better by then! I want to see her before we drive home on Friday. Tomorrow, I am having lunch with our friend Aggie. I am meeting her near a local Mall as I don't know the downtown Sacramento area very well where she is working tomorrow. She is such a sweet person to drive out of her way to make it easier for me. What can I say, isn't it great to have friends like this???
Aggie and I are meeting at The Elephant Bar. I have never eaten there, but Walt has, and said that I will be able to find something to eat from there with no problem. So I will go online later, and check out their menu. As we all know, it really helps to be able to check out a Restaurants menu in advance to plan out our meal....LOL.
Then since tomorrow is our 18th Anniversary, Walt and I will go out to dinner, just the two of us. I can't believe that it has been 18 years already!! And in another 4 months, we will have been living together for 20 years!!! OMG!! 20 years!!
Then on Thursday, I have my haircut in the morning. Finally!! My hair hasn't been cut since December, and as you know, the shorter your hair, the more often you have to cut it!! Then I will go visit my Mom and Dad before we leave. On Thursday night, we are meeting with another family friend named Hannah. She is actually Walt's best friends Mother, but his friend lives in Portland, OR, so Walt visits with her at least once if not 2-3 times each month while he is in Sacramento. He even calls her MOM!! And she jokingly calls him the "good son", or is it his friend, that calls him that!! LOL
Anyway, as you can tell, we have a lot planned for this week. So I will go for now, got so much to do still. Till next time....
Well, last night I continued running to the B/R every few minutes, all the way up until about 2 am! So I attempted to sleep in my Office Chair, which sits right outside the B/R door! I laid the Chair back as far as I could and covered up with blankets. But I just couldn't go to sleep, every time I thought that I would, I would have to get back up! So since my "issues" finally seemed to be slowing down at around 1:45, I decided to go to bed and try to get at least a small amount of sleep. Especially since I had to get up at 5:45!
Luckily, I did go to sleep around 2:15, but was awakened at 4:15, when Walt got up to go to the B/R. So as soon as I became conscious, my Bowels said, "So you are awake! Good, we need to go again"! However, I did manage to go back to sleep once I was finished, until my alarm went off. ARG!! Which means that I finally got about 3 1/2 hrs sleep....but at least I did get to sleep. I wasn't sure that I would, and neither did Walt!! LOL And yet, again! Once I woke up this morning, I was back to having my B/R "issues". But luckily, it was truly winding down by this morning, and after going about another 4 times this morning, it wasn't too bad......but I still wouldn't want to repeat this experience!
So we left at 7 am for Reno, and checked into the Doctor's office by 8:15. My appointment was for 8:45, but they are really good about taking us back to be seen, if we arrive early. Which we really like. And as we expected, the Doctor gave us A REALLY-LONG-TALKING-TO about the Band, and how it is really supposed to work. Not that we are supposed to have the Band so tight, that we CAN'T eat! So after this, he said that I am doing ok, not great, but not too bad either, and most importantly, my Band wasn't Slipped, just over tight! He said that my pouch was slightly enlarged, but only because I was so tight, causing the pouch to expand a bit. But he expects it to go back to it's original shape, now that the Fill was removed. And they were happy that since my last appointment on February 11th, I have lost 8 lbs!! Of course, I think that about 5 lbs of it was yesterday!!
So he talked some more (or should I say....yelled some more!! He gets excited and talks so loud, that you can hear him from several rooms away!!)(how embarrassing, now everyone in the office knows what we were in for....hang my head in shame and humiliation), and told me that he wants me to start counting calories again (which is a good thing), and to eat a 1000 calorie per day diet! He also had Laurie come in and remove .5 cc of my Fill. Which gave me immediate relief. I was able to eat today with no problems....ahhh! He said that if I stick to the 1000 cal diet, I WILL LOSE WEIGHT!! So I am going to do it!! I am scheduled to go back in on April 20th for Laurie to assess how I am doing. Hopefully I will have lost at least another pound or two by then! If I can, I will be in the 160's!!!
Last night, I was surprised to see the scale read 169.8 before I went to bed!! Of course I knew that it wouldn't last, and by this morning, it had gone back up into the low 170's again. But I must tell you that I am now weighing in at 171.6!!! This is my lowest since Surgery. And I can say this, because this is not the weight that I weighted this morning....before eating and drinking, and....nude! This was tonight after eating, drinking and in my pj's!!! So I am going to take it! Maybe I will see another small drop overnight??? I can hope can't I??? LOL
After my Doctor appointment, Walt and I went to eat a late breakfast/early lunch. I ordered the Pot Roast, which came with Carrots, Corn, Potatoes, and 2 Rolls. I substituted the Potatoes for Cottage Cheese. Then I ate about 1/4 of one of the Rolls, (I know, bad girl) and about 2-3 ounces of the Pot Roast, half of one Carrot, about 2 bites of the Corn, and 2 bites of the Cottage Cheese. I gave the rest of the Cottage Cheese to Walt (because it wouldn't last without refrigeration anyway to bring home), and asked for a to go box for the rest.
During the meal, because I was barely eating my food, the Waitress came over to ask if it was ok, she was afraid that I didn't like it!! I informed her that it was fantastic. Then after I asked for a to go box for practically the whole meal, she again asked if it was ok. I told her that I had had Surgery and wasn't able to eat much, but that it tasted just great. So she felt much better. And now I have at least 2-3 more meals left from my left overs.
Tonight, we drove to Walt's Mom's house, so that we could go to dinner with her and one of my Sisters In Law. We drove over to the Country Club at her housing development, for their once a week gathering. They charge you $5 per person, which gives each of you a drink coupon, and they provide something to eat....well, most of the time they actually have real food. But tonight they only provided light fare.
They had a Salad that I wouldn't eat, except for a couple of the small Tomatoes in it (what can I say, I AM a picky eater!), as well as finger foods, such as Crackers and Cheese with a couple choices of Meat (Peperoni and Salami), then some diced Cantaloupe, thinly sliced Oranges and Grapes. All of the Fruit was excellent, and I had a little of each. I also had 4 of the Crackers with a total of 5 pieces of the Pepperoni and 2 slices of Cheese. All in all, it was a good tasting meal, but wasn't enough to keep me from being hungry a couple of hours later! So after we got home, I ate a 1/2 cup serving of Oatmeal. And after all this, I weighted 171.6!!!
Tomorrow, our Son Russ is coming to help us go through the Storage Unit. We are hoping to be able to get rid of some of the stuff in it (for good), and to make room for my Electric Piano. Currently the Piano is in the RV, but since neither of us is currently playing it, we figure that it would give us more space in the RV, and one less thing that we would need to move while we transition from Carson City to Reno in 3 weeks! So tomorrow we should all get a good workout. And of course, Russ will expect to be fed for his trouble!! LOL This is always his preferred method of payment. To be taken to a Restaurant! Especially since the town where he lives, has next to nothing in the way of what you would consider a "Great Restaurant". So anytime that he goes out of town, he wants to EAT!!! LMAO!!!
Well, I should go for now, got lots to watch on TV before I go to bed....till next time....
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Hey Ya'll,
Well, last night I went to bed really early for me!! I went to bed at about 9:30 pm. But of course that was because I took a nice little Sleeping Pill!! LOL And this was only because I needed to get up at 3:50 AM!!! This was so that I could take a shower before leaving for Reno. I had taken a shower yesterday afternoon, but usually my hair looks like s**t after sleeping, if you know what I mean!! But after waking up so early, I found that my hair didn't look too bad...probably because I wasn't sleeping on it long enough!! LOL Plus because of the snow, I was going to wear a hat anyway!!
So we left for Reno at 5 am, and of course it started to SNOW!! I thought that the Winter Snow was over here! And here just last week, I had to turn on the Air Conditioner!! Go Figure....anyway, so we drove to Reno, and made it ok, arriving just before 6 am, like Walt wanted. So I left him there to practice Driving for his CDL Exam, which was setup for 1 pm today (Thursday). I then drove to where my Surgeon's office is, as well as where I had to endure my Upper GI.
I made a detour on the way there, so that I could visit the new RV Park that we will be moving to in a few weeks. It looks even better than it did when we visited it a few years ago, when it first opened. So we are looking forward to moving in. Luckily for me, there is lots of shopping close by. They even have 2 of my favorite Restaurants within a half mile from us!! We could actually walk over. Also close by is a Target, and group of Outlet Stores. I always wanted to live close to Outlet Stores. Now maybe I will be tempted enough to go shopping, which would also mean WALKING, and in turn EXERCISING!! This is a good thing, right???
But then I drove on over to the Medical Offices, arriving just before 7 am. You would think that that would gain me a fantastic parking space, right??? Well, this place is located right next door to a Hospital and has a lot of Medical Offices and Testing Groups in it. Not to mention an Exercise Place...so luckily for me, I do have a Handicapped Placard, and was able to find a parking space fairly close. Which meant that I only had to walk about 125 feet to the entrance of the building. Within 30 minutes of arriving, the cars were really flowing in! I couldn't believe it, by 8 am, they were fighting for parking spaces! So I am really glad that I decided to go early instead of waiting until 9 am to get there (my appointment check in time was for 9:30 am). So the early bird got the worm, so to speak this time. And once I got that parking space, I wasn't planning on giving it up easily! I had planned on staying there at the Medical Building until time to go pick up Walt as I was in covered parking (FREE at that), and it was snowing!!
After checking in, (and paying $230 towards my annual Medical deductible, as if this test wasn't bad enough).....I was called back to disrobe. I was expecting an Upper GI, like I have had in the past. But nooooo, my Doctor wanted to make sure he had a view of my entire Digestive System (or something like that). He wanted something called a Small Bowel Follow Through ((SBFT), which is a timed series of films) as well. This is what is said about SBFT, "the only way to be sure the Terminal Ileum is fully seen, is to see the Colon or Ileocecal Valve, which is the most Distal Segment of the Small Bowel, just before the Colon". And because of this, I wasn't given the standard Barium to drink. Trust me, I would have preferred it!
I ended up drinking about 2.5 bottles of this CRAP, at 240 ml per bottle!! It took me about an hour to finally find the information about this solution on the Internet. In all the information on Upper GI, they always kept saying Barium, and I wasn't given Barium to swallow! I-would-have-preferred-it having had both, I know what I am talking about....). LOL What I was given was Gastrografin (Diatrizoic Acid), and this is what Wikipedia says about it: "It is given orally or byenema (Gastrografin, Gastrovist, Gastrovision, MD-Gastroview) to image thegastrointestinal tract. The taste is foul, even when mixed and diluted with fruit juice." Hell Yea it's foul!!! And I had to keep sipping it for over an hour straight! Oh I wish they would have given me the option of an Enema!!!
At first we were all afraid that this was going to take a lot longer than it did, because after I took my first 2 sips of this foul liquid, the Radiologist said that the liquid was barely moving through my Band......meaning that it is TOO TIGHT!! But because my Surgeon ordered the full Upper GI with the SBFT, the Radiologist said that we would try to get it. He wasn't too sure that we would be able to, as tight as I appeared. My fear was that I couldn't finish today, and he would say we needed to do it again after I had had some of the Fill removed!! He said it usually takes at least an hour, and up to 4 hrs for the solution to run through. So we figured with my tight Band, it could be up to 4 hrs. So I was not looking forward to this! Luckily for me though, once it started to flow through, apparently it flowed pretty well the rest of the way down!! So all in all, my testing only took an hour and a half, instead of the possible 4 hrs! Thank you God!
TMI ALERT! TMI ALERT!!
Now for some gross information. The main drawback to this solution, rather than the Barium, is that the Barium gets absorbed into the system, so no bad side effects except possibly having problems with nausea, etc....however, the Foul Tasting Crap that I had to drink, doesn't get absorbed into the system. They did mention this to me, but they didn't mention exactly how it gets expelled!! This is where the TMI comes in, so if you are squeamish, you might want to skip down about 4 paragraphs!! LOL Almost immediately....ok, well about 15 minutes after the test finished, I had gone back out to the car, so that I could do some reading while I was waiting the 3 - 4.5 hrs for Walt to finish.
Then it started happening. I felt like I needed to go to the bathroom, yet again (I had just gone before walking out of the building). I was on my way back in from the car, when my Dad called me. So of course, I got back into the car to talk to him, rather than continuing on into the building, as it was really cold today (did I mention that it snowed off and on all day???). Before we got off the phone though, I realized that I REALLY needed to go, and because of the solution, it wasn't going to wait. So I quickly got off the phone from my Dad, and made a quick walk back into the building, straight to the women's bathroom. YES! I did go some in my pants! UGH!! We're talking pure-liquid-waste here my friends, so there was no holding it in! And of course, I didn't have a change of clothes with me (who would have thought I would need one?), so I had to stay in them, luckily it wasn't too much....but still I knew it was there. And it only got worse!
From that point on, about every 5-10 minutes MAX, I was running for the bathroom! So I basically camped out in one of the chairs that is in the lobby there. So that I could high tail it to the B/R as often as needed!! I couldn't even go back to where I needed to pick up Walt, until about 1:30 pm (I didn't dare go that far from the B/R till then)!! That means that for 2 1/2 hrs, I was in the B/R every 5-10 minutes.....Once I did dare drive back to where I would be picking up Walt, I just made it before I had to hit the B/R....yet again....So afterwords, I purchased a LARGE drink (I was at Mc Donald's, I didn't want to wait at the Driving School. They have a Women's B/R, but I know for a fact that the Men use it too. Think about it, how many Women are there, compared to how many Men???), and I guzzled down about 2 1/2-32oz cups of Diet Coke! I was sooo dehydrated by then! It still wasn't enough, but definitely helped.
Finally Walt called me, to let me know that he was finished, and I raced to go pick him up. I had to go again, before we left Reno too, but then I managed to hold it until we got home. Then all bets were off! I am STILL going, but not quite as much, thank God!! But I will say, that I have lost at least 5 lbs in fluids today!! So tomorrow will tell just how much I get to keep off! LOL Hopefully at least 2-3 lbs of it! As of tonight, I weighted 171.6, which is 1.4 lbs below my lowest weight since Surgery. So if I can stay at least at 173 lbs, then I will be happy, since I had gained back up to about 176.6 (sorry Walt....I lied, I was ashamed to admit it to you).
So! Now my appointment with my Doctor is tomorrow at 8:45 am....again in Reno. Luckily for me, I don't have to get up at 3:50 again! Just 5:45! But hey, it's still better than 3:50 any day. LOL Since the Radiologist basically told me that the Upper GI appears NORMAL, we are guessing that they will slap my wrists for not coming forward sooner, about my being too tight, and having the major Acid Reflux problems, then they will remove some Fill. How much, only tomorrow will tell....I will keep you posted. Hopefully they will only remove enough to give me relief, and not a lot to allow things to settle down. Again, I will keep you posted tomorrow!
Now for my question....based on the photo above, I am sure that you have at least guessed that it has something to do with Zumba (of course, not for Wii, since I don't have one! I would want it in CD or DVD form). I am really interested in it, and almost got into it while we were still living in the house where I had a lot of space to do it in. I have been watching these infomercials about it, where you can buy the CD's/DVD's etc, and work out in your own home. Now the question....for those of you who do Zumba, and I know that there are a lot of you out there....How much space do you need to do it in??? Remember that I live in a small 5th Wheel RV. Our living area only has about a 5x8 rectangular area that I could possibly exercise in. Is this enough? Just curious. I can't afford the setup right now, but I always loved to dance, and maybe at some point in the future, I could get back into it in my own home.
And before I forget, Walt passed the 1st portion of the CDL Exam! To me I think it would be the hardest of the tests. He passed the Pre Trip Vehicle Inspection Walk Around, where you have to walk around the Rig, telling everything that you need to check for before Driving off! I don't remember exactly how many things there are to go through, but I am pretty sure that there are about 138, and you can't miss more than 19 or 20!
Then, IF you passed this 1st test, which Walt did, you go to the next test. Which is The Basic Vehicle Control Skills Test. Which is basically where you show that you can Drive Forward and stop at a set place, be able to Back Up Straight, perform an Alley Dock, Parallel Park (driver side), Parallel Park (conventional side), make a Right Turn, or do a Backward Serpentine. The book says that they MAY have you perform 1 or more of them, but I am pretty sure that you have to do at least 4 of them (their choice, not yours)....Walt did fine, and would have passed this too, but he decided to try to Parallel Park better, and failed.
Even if you pass everything up to that point in the skills test, if you fail one of them....you fail, and have to retake the skills test again. Meaning that when he retakes the Exam, he won't have to retake the 1st portion (since he passed it), but he will have to retake the 2nd portion again! THEN, if he passes it, he can then go on to the 3rd and final portion of the CDL Exam, which is the On Road Driving Test!! If he passes both of them, then he is done, if not, he has to go and retake the final 3rd portion since he would have had to pass the 2nd just to get to the 3rd. So let's hope Walt passes both the remaining two categories the next time!!
Well, I guess I should get off for now. I have a few things I need to do before I go to bed....just to get up way too early again!! Till next time......
PS) Oh by the way, it is now Midnight, and I am STILL going! So I am not sure if I will make it to bed or not....hopefully I will get at least a couple hours of sleep, but hey, I don't want to go to bed if I can't stop going....remember, my side of the bed is on the far side and I only have about 6-8 inches between the bed and the closet, so I can't easily and quickly get out of bed, to make a run to the B/R! Plus the B/R is in the opposite end of the RV!! And I hope that I didn't offend too many of you!! (Blush)
I live in the greater Reno, Nevada area and I was Banded on November 19th, 2009 with the Lap Band. I'm 57 & retired due to Medical issues.
However, I had complications with the Lap Band and had to have it removed in May 2012. I was approved for, and had Gastric Bypass Surgery on December 18th, 2012.
I have a beautiful Daughter named Christa (39) & two beautiful Grand Children, Walker (13), & Emily (10).
I also have a fantastic Step-Daughter, Kat (31) & a great Step-Son, Russ (27).
My husband is my best friend, confidant &....well, you get the picture! He is everything to me.
