Weekly Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 1

Enough thinking about how I am going to lose some weight, and then making some plans that I don't follow completely.

I know I have seen some of the blogs I follow do this - so I am going to join in.  Not only will it help me get healthy, but as an added bonus it will mean at least weekly blog posts.  Plus a chance to make some awesome connections in the ALI community.

So here I go - week one.

*** Update ***
I originally wrote this on May 16.  And then all the broken ankle/gallbladder drama occurred.  I lost a bunch of weight, and then of course put a few pounds back on once I was eating normally (and not so normally as I had pizza last Friday and then dinner at a fondue restaurant on Saturday).  Let me start this all over again . . . 

1. Reiterate my goal and where I stand in reference to this goal.

Starting weight:  303.0        
Last Week's Weight: -

Current Weight: 303.0
Goal Weight : 288

My first goal is 5% of my starting weight.  I like breaking down a large goal into smaller, manageable pieces.      

Starting BMI: 44.74
Last Week's BMI:-

Current BMI: 44.74 (morbidly obese)
Goal BMI: 35 to 39.99 Obesity (Class 2)

Again, one step at a time.  My first BMI goal will be to get down to the next level.  This will happen at around 270 pounds.  So I will focus on my weight goals first.



2. Discuss what I am going to do to achieve my goals.

 A.  30 min of activity everyday
 - go to the gym after work on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday
 - walk at lunch on Tuesday and Thursday
 - play Wii exercise games on Saturday and Sunday

Since my ankle is still in a cast, and will be for another two weeks at least, the activity part is on hold for now.

B.  Eat less/better
 - count Weight Watchers points, right now I get 50 per day
 - drink 1L of water and 2 glasses of milk a day
 - 3 servings of milk products (see above plus yogurt) everyday
 - 5 servings of fruit and vegetables



3. Post a (reasonably healthy) recipe that I've tried, a cooking tip, a new idea for working out for people to try, a photo update of my weight loss, or anything else I feel like sharing.

I am excited that I get to ditch the crutches tomorrow and start putting full weight on my left foot.  One step closer to getting rid of the cast and getting exercise.

Michele @ Nowhere in NM (TTCer)

Mag @ Witty Infertility (TTCer)

Shannon @ Arkansas Runner (TTCer)

Donor Diva @ Motherhood via Egg Donation (TTC#2)
Karen C @ The Brooding Woman (TTCer)

The Cornfed Feminist (pregnant)

Kristy @ Relaxing Doesn't Get You Pregnant (pregnant) 

Nico @ Phred, Fwed, and Schweffel (postpartum) 

One Day @ Are We There Yet? (postpartum - twins) 

Laura @ Legos and Jets (postpartum) 

Bridget @ The Lost Stork (postpartum)

ks @ Inconceivable!?!?! (postpartum) 

jenn @ Adventures of a Nomadic Housewife (postpartum)

Meghan @ Maybe Baby, It's You...Two! (postpartum - twins) 

Just Us & A Miracle Baby too! (postpartum)

Heather @ The Road Less Traveled (postpartum)

DRMama @ Life Amongst the Palm Trees (postpartum) 

Emma @ Emma in Mommyland (postpartum)

E&R @ Dreaming of Babies (postpartum)
Helen @ Our Grand Adventure (postpartum)

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr Argghhhhhhh

@#$%!!!

Yet another crappy, horrible week.  I am feeling much, much better but now it seems the fates have decided to spread the misery to my husband.

He met up with a friend after work on Monday.  He stayed out way too late and had too much to drink.  I don't think it was unreasonable to expect him home before 9:00pm on a work night.  I had left my cell phone at work, so I called him from the home phone at 5:30pm to let him know I would not receive any text messages.  I then called him at 9:30pm, basically telling him in a nice way that it was late and to get his arse home.  He called my cell phone and left a voicemail sometime around 10:00pm.  Of course I did not get it

So I was mad and I cried some tears while falling asleep. 

I was jolted out of my slumber at 11:00pm by my husband yelling for help.  I was so freaked out.  Apparently he was waiting for the train home and tripped and fell down a couple of steps at the platform.  He rolled his bad ankle (the one he has injured before, last time was dancing at my cousin's wedding at New Year's), skinned & scratched his knee and tore his pants.  He was in a lot of pain.  Of course I am tired and cranky so at one point while fixing him up I mention that I was worried and he never called.  Of course he said he did.  So we ended up going to bed both a little miffed at one another.

Tuesday after work (well I went to work, he stayed home to rest & ice his ankle), we headed to urgent care.  They took X-rays but it's not broken.  They also gave him a doctor's note.

Yesterday he headed back to work with his ankle in a tensor bandage and crutches.  He gave them his doctor's note.  Everything seemed fine, and he was actually feeling a bit better.

Then right before 4:30pm one of his supervisor's calls him into his office and lets my husband know they are letting him go.

WTF?

Basically he was fired for taking too many sick days.  Screw them. 

He took off two days (May 23 and 24) to drive me to the doctor about my sore back, which turned into X-rays and a visit to the ER for a broken ankle.  The next day he was helping me get settled, bringing me food, etc so that I was not putting any weight on my foot at all.

Then he took off May 31 and June 1 to drive me to my Ultrasound appointment, help me get admitted to the hospital, and be there when I had my first ERCP procedure all related to my gallstones.

He had doctor's notes for all 5 days.  Well at least the last 3, actually I don't remember if we had documentation for my broken ankle, but if his work wanted it all they had to do was ask.

I know that he was actually written up in early May (I think?) for missing days.  He missed 2 or 3 days from January to May due to his bad back.  Looking back I guess he should have took some pain meds and gone in late instead of missing the whole day.  Either that or gone to the doctor and got a note. 

Doesn't matter.  I BROKE MY ANKLE and then I was IN THE HOSPITAL.  If it was not for my mom being able to come down from Edmonton for a week, I have no idea what I would have done all alone in the hospital for that long.  Plus he actually went to work for most of my hospital stay, including the day that I actually had surgery.

To say that I am pissed off is an understatement.  Yes, he made some mistakes and missed too many days - but for GOOD reasons. 

At least they are paying him up until July 4 and he has unpaid vacation time as well.

We were going to find him a new job in August, after our trip to Cape Breton.  Well I guess we are forced to do that now.  Hopefully he finds an even better job that pays more.  Good luck to his company to find someone willing to do all he did for so little money (he wore about 5 different hats).

And now we return to our regularily scheduled program . . .

Well I am back at work.  I was actually getting bored working from home last week, so this is a good thing.

I still have the cast on my left foot.  The ankle is apparently healing well but the ortho doc told me to keep weight off it for another two weeks (until June 28) and then walk on it for another two weeks (until July 12) and then make an appt to see her at her office downtown.  Hopefully at that point I can get rid of the cast for good.  I know I am lucky that it is an air cast that I can take off and on (well just for showering), but it is really hard to get comfortable at work and sleeping with the bulky contraption.

I also went for a follow-up appt with my surgeon on Friday.  He took the last remaining steri-strips off my incisions.  Even better he removed the drain.  Now that was a weird feeling but it did not hurt.  This has definitely made it easier to sleep.

Apparently losing your appetite, and then being placed on NPO (nothing by mouth, so not being able to eat or drink anything at all), and then every once in a while getting to eat/drink only clear fluids - helps you lose weight. 

I have been careful and taking it easy since I got home from the hospital and was finally able to go back to eating anything I wanted.  I was also trying to watch what I ate before I ended up in the hospital, because it would have been so easy to gain weight with my broken ankle and spending most of my time on the couch.


I know I weighed myself on May 16 and I was back up to 322.2 pounds - the same weight I recorded on January 6 when I kind of started to getting healthy again.  On May 25, after the long weekend when I had no appetite (most likely the start of my gallbladder issues), I was down to 309.8.  I just weighed myself on June 16 and I am now at 297.0.  Back under 300 - and a total of 25.2 pounds lost in a month.  

Definitely not the way I would suggest to lose weight, but it did kick start me to watch my portions and what I am putting in my mouth.  In July (once the cast is off) I hope to be able to go back to the gym.

My next small goals would be first to weigh 290, as that was where I was at March 25, 2011 before I left Weight Watchers for the second time.  The next goal is 10% of my starting weight gone - so 289.  Very close to one another, so really just focusing on the 10%.

And then I turned yellow . . .

Well I guess I really need to get back in here and update my continuing health saga.

I was back to work with my broken ankle on Monday, May 28.  Then Tuesday I thought my skin looked a little yellow.  It was definitely itchy starting on Sunday or Monday.  On Wednesday my skin was definitely yellow and so were the whites of my eyes.  After work my DH and I headed to urgent care.

Urgent care finally managed to get preliminary blood results that showed my liver enzymes were elevated.  My veins are thin, deep, and they wiggle - so it took about five tries to get a good stick.  Ouch.

Urgent care sent me to the ER at the hospital in Calgary that specializes in all the abdominal surgeries (liver, gallbladder, pancreas, stomach etc).  Of course it was impossible to get an ultra sound to help with a diagnosis and we ended up discharged and back at home in bed at 3:00am. 

Thursday (May 31), I started the day with an appointment for my ankle.  Then way up to the NE part of the city for the ultra sound.  After a lot of waiting and poking and prodding we were back in the ER and then more waiting and finally admitted to the hospital.

Apparently I had a lot of gallstones and fragments that had blocked the tube from my liver to my intestines, so all the bile was leaching into my skin.

Friday I got my first ERCP (Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography).   A flexible camera (endoscope) is inserted through the mouth, down the esophagus into the stomach, through the pylorus into the duodenum where the ampulla of Vater (the opening of the common bile duct and pancreatic duct) exists.  They also trawled the common bile duct with a basket or balloon to remove gallstones and inserted a plastic stent to assist the drainage of bile.

They don’t put you under full anesthetic for it – it’s called conscious sedation – but I was fine, at first.  Later I was in a lot of pain, got some morphine, and then I was so nauseous and dry heaving until the Gravol kicked in.

Monday  I finally got surgery to remove my gallbladder.  They also inserted a camera through an incision into the common duct and removed more stones.

Tuesday they did my second ERCP.  Ugh.  My insides were still so irritated from surgery and the first procedure.  This time I was practically awake for the whole thing and I kept gagging and fighting the restraints.  

Then Friday they did a third ERCP and I was discharged.  It was still a horrible procedure.  They just can’t seem to get me sedated enough.  

After all that there is still one stone caught up high in the duct really close to the liver.  But they are giving me a break and I go back for a 4^th ERCP on July 10.

Now I have 5 small incisions that are healing well along with a drain that is still helping to clear the bile from my system.  It is weird to have a tube coming out of my body.  

I am not taking any pain meds, just finding it hard to get comfortable at night and sleep.  It is nice to be able to eat food again.  I had two days of clear fluids in the hospital (Wed and Thurs) and one night where I got to eat toast with jam (Sunday) - but other than that it was only IV fluids.

Cast clinic appointment on Thursday morning.  Appointment with the surgeon on Friday and hopefully he removes my drain.