Pre-Op Testing - Scheduling

When I was approved for surgery and setup a date with the nurse I was told I would be hearing from pre-op testing to setup my Upper GI, bloodwork, and other tests. So I have been patiently waiting for them to call me for almost 2 weeks now. Finally I got tired of it and said screw it, I'm calling someone!

After talking to about 7 different people, who all kept transferring me to another person (I swear I talked to every department at the hospital) I finally just called the nurse back and told her I was getting the run-around. She gave me the direct number for Pre Testing and told me to call them.

So I did. I finally got a hold of a girl, and we got my appointment scheduled!! Its for August 9th.

I guess if you want something done, you've gotta do it yourself!

My Bucket List (work in progress)

My total outlook on life has changed since finally realizing that I am going to be having surgery. I've told y'all before that I am a pessimist, so I didn't really ever believe whole-heartily that I was going to have the surgery. I just knew something was going to go wrong. Now that I know for sure, 100% I am going to have it, my attitude has came full-circle, and I feel wonderful!

First thing I wanted to do, that I've said that I'm going to do for a while, was create a Bucket List. Speaking of, has anyone saw that movie with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman? It is AMAZEBALLS! I totally recommend it. Anyway, I've had in my head things that I want to do, but I thought I would make it official, then of course share with my peeps on Blogger! :)

Needless to say, it is a work in progress, but here is what I have so far:

1. Weigh less than 200lbs.
   
2. Go to a UT Volunteer's football game. (I LOVE football and represent my home team, but have never seen them play in person. I've been told from my friends that the stadium seats are rather small and therefore uncomfortable for a larger person.)
   
3. Go to a concert. I have NEVER been to a concert in my entire life. EVER.
   
4. Ride the go-carts in Pigeon Forge again. Its literally been 3 years since I could fit into one.
   
5. Ride a Jet Ski. Again, will be a 1st for me.
   
6. Have a child/children.
   
7. Tube/Raft down Little Pigeon River.
   
8. Be pulled on a tube behind the boat.
   
9. Go on a cruise. (Libby I'm waiting on you, lol)
   
10. Fly on an airplane.
    
11. Ride in a limo. Will be my 1st time ever.
    
12. Enjoy roller coasters again. Its been TOO LONG, my friends.
    
13. See Niagara Falls.
    
14. Go to Universal Studios & Islands of Adventure.
    
15. Walk to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

Granted, some of them don't necessarily have anything to do with weight loss, but they are still milestones in my life that I can't wait to experience. What about you, what are some of your "Bucket List" items?

Surgery Date!!

I just got off the phone with the doctor's office and my surgery has been scheduled for August 18, 2010!

I am so excited!!!

IM APPROVED!!!!

Ok, so I am REALLY bad about not opening our mail. I know I shouldn't be, but I get tired of always opening bills, so I usually put it off until I absolutly have to. So an unopened stack of mail as been on our counter since Friday, just looming. Ryan decided to open the mail last night at 10:30, before we went to bed. He threw me a couple of envelopes that had my name on it. Oh goody! Just what I wanted right before bedtime - to be stressed by bills!!!

So I open the first one, which is a bill from the insurance for Ryan's joyous ambulance ride on 7/3. Yay! Then I go in for bill #2, also from UHC, and begin reading it. The first line was something about "Sleeve Gasterectomy for Amy Adams" and I just stopped. I couldn't do it. What if it said no? What if I waited all this time and got my hopes up and told family & friends for nothing?? So I did what any sane person would do - made my husband read it to me! LOL

Long story short - I AM APPROVED!!!

OMG I am SO happy. I just started screaming "Are you serious!?!?" over and over. I was crying and laughing at the same time. My poor doggie Buster didn't know what to think! I grabbed him up and me and the hubby just embraced each other for like 15mins. It was awesome. Then we went to bed and ended up staying up (in the bed) until after 12 just talking about how awesome the next year is going to be.

This past Friday we got dressed up and headed to Red Lobster, cause he was feeling better now that his drain tube is out and wanted him some crab legs. I took that opportunity to go ahead and get my "before" pics out of the way. My current weight is 317lbs.

PS: I hadn't noticed how long my hair has gotten. Its about time for another donation to Locks of Love!

PPS: I really am vertically challenged, and since Ryan is 5'11" and I am 5'4", the angle of the pics REALLY do not help me at all.

Impalement & postponement of surgery

**WARNING - THIS BLOG ENTRY IS NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH**

Well, where do I begin. This weekend was absolutely horrible!!! I ended my last blog with the intention of having one last balls-to-the-wall weekend, but ended up spending a day in the hospital with the hubby and the rest of it desperately trying to catch up on rest as well as take care of him.

I guess I will start from the beginning. Shortly after my post on Friday about Jack Daniels I got a text from my future SIL Chelsie saying she finally got a job. Great! Then she told me it was from 3-11pm Friday thru Monday. WTF?! So basically I will hardly ever see her anymore, and our plans for the weekend were shot to hell. So I was pretty bummed, but just figured I could see her when she got off work and before she went in. So that was the first thing to "go wrong" this weekend. Little did I know Chelsie's work schedule would become the least of my worries.

Saturday morning my mom and I planned to go pillow shopping for her new couch. She was suppose to meet me at the house at 10am and we go to town from there. Well, I woke up at 9am to get ready, and the effing power was off. So I sat for 1 1/2hrs and just stared at the clock. I was SO PISSED!!! I hate when my time gets wasted, so I was pretty angry with the power company. During this time Ryan, who could find something to do in a tornado, decided to go outside and move some brush and dirt around in the back yard with a bobcat.

Well it finally came back on at 10:30 so I called my mom and told her, because it takes 30mins for her to get to my house, then I jumped in the shower. I had gotten dressed, put my makeup on, and dried my hair, and was fixing to put some clothes in the dryer, when the house phone rings. I looked at the caller id and it was Ryan, so I figured he wanted something to drink or something. I answered it and all he said was "Honey, call an ambulance or helicopter or something. I've lost a lot of blood. Bring a towel, I need you." (in a high pitched voice). So I tear out of the house with the phone in one hand and towel in the other and meet him at our building/shop outside. He had impaled himself with a tree branch on the bobcat and now had a gaping wound in his right knee with blood everywhere. So i immediately go into protective mode and started trying to clot the blood while talking to the 911 operator.

The ambulance got there FINALLY after 20 mins. My mom got there when everything was going down, as well as Ryan's dad, step-dad, papaw, and brother. They loaded me up in the front of the ambulance and Ryan in the back and transported us to the hospital. Once at the hospital they evaluated him and said he needed to go into surgery to see if his kneecap was still in align as well as the ligaments and muscles and to remove some splintered off pieces of wood and bark inside his leg. The branch was about 3 inches in diameter and went in and up towards his thigh about 5-6 inches. They had to put a drain tube in him, and stapled and stitched him up. They put his leg in an immobilizer cast and told him he couldn't put any weight on it. He had to undergo crutch training as well. They finally released us at 10:30pm on Saturday. I had to wait for an hour at Walgreens to get his pain medicine filled. We finally got home at around 12am on the 4th of July. It was after 1am before we got settled in and drifted off to sleep, only to wake up every 2-4 hours to either pee or take his medicine.

So, since Sunday he has been hardly moving around, mostly staying in bed. He is pitiful, and I know he is in so much pain. I feel so bad for him. I have been waiting on him hand and foot, making sure he is getting in his fluids and eating enough food. We were suppose to go to my parents on Sunday for a cookout, but they decided to come to our house. We invited Ryan's mom, brother, step-dad, and papaw over and had a multi-family dinner. It was so much fun. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family as well as in-law family. I love them so much!

So the events of the weekend have lead me to rehash my surgery. I am still 100% committed to getting surgery, but I feel that right now would not be the best time to have it, since Ryan is basically helpless. I don't want to put stress on him to take care of me when he can't take care of himself. Hopefully he will be off crutches soon. I am still going to continue with my appointments and stuff. Hopefully in a month he will be in better health.

So I end my post with some pretty gnarly pictures of his leg and one of the splinters - complete with horse hair on the end- as well as what it looks like stitched and stapled up, for your viewing pleasure.

To Jack Daniels... Farewell My Friend

Well not much has changed on the surgery front. I am waiting to hear back from the surgeon's office on what is going on with my insurance approval. Unfortunately the lady over the claim is off until Tuesday July 6th. I honestly think that my surgery will be either the 3rd or 4th week of July, but at this point it is just speculation.

On the home front I have been a very BAD girl. I mean VERY BAD. Well this past weekend was the hubby's birthday so we went to Hooters, along with his brother and girlfriend, whom I adore. Us girls are so perfect together. It's great having that "sisterly" feeling, being as I only have 1 brother. Anyway, after Hooters we decided to go back to our house and the boys were going to play PlayStation and Chelsie and were going to get our drink on. Sounds like a good idea, two chicks having a great time in the comfort of their own home (dang that sounds dirty) right? Well turns out I was completely unaware of the repercussions of "having a few."

I GAINED 4 POUNDS THIS WEEKEND!!!!!!

Yeah, you read right. I gained 4lbs as a result of eating out at Hooters and drinking 1/2 a bottle (yes, I drink it straight) of Jack Daniels whiskey. I am extremely ashamed of my actions. I haven't been exercising, but hanging out with Chelsie non-stop. I know everything is my fault, but I just haven't had the energy or self esteem to go out recently and now that someone wants me around I just went crazy. I know I need to set boundaries between relationships and exercise & healthy eating, but if this is what happens anytime I "let loose" then I never want to let loose again! 4lbs in a week is pretty freaking crazy. Although I am not the only one that gained. Chelsie said she gained 5lbs, but she also went through a pound of bacon in one week! Girl loves some bacon! lol

So for now I guess I am bidding farewell to my good friend Mr. Daniels.

I sure am going to miss him, but sometimes you have to let go of something you love to better yourself.

Who knows, I may have to give him another "kiss" this weekend, after all it IS Independence Day weekend. ;-)