July 2 - July 8
LW: 133.6
TW: 133.0
Well, one full week of focus gets me some progress. I can't believe how hard it is to get small reductions . .lifted with my trainer Monday, yesterday walked (some jogging) 4 miles on the TM, and we just got back from 9 holes of golf, but with a cart. It was so hot and muggy.
Sarah, I'm thinking about you today. I hope you're doing well recovering. Don't push yourself . . it takes longer for us to heal now. Check in when you are able.
Today is our oldest granddaughter's birthday (Oregon) and she is 16 years old! I can't believe it. Her mother sent a photo of her getting her driver's license today, and another one of her driving the car home! Yikes 😱
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LW: 129.8
TW: ???
Hi, Ladies. Surgery went fine (I think) and I was discharged around noon today, which was a bit sooner than expected. I say "I think" because when the surgeon visited yesterday, he told me it would be at least 7 days before we know if the new connection is healing as it should. As you can imagine, I am super, super sore. I had 4 laproscopic incisions and one longer incision (about 3 inches) that he had to make to get the piece of colon out. But he said he thought everything went well and that it was really a good thing that we did this because despite all the antibiotics I've taken lately, there was still about a 3 inch place that was "angry." I got a private room and the hospital staff was very attentive, but they gave me too much fluid, too fast, and I'm swollen today like you wouldn't believe. The arm where the IV was placed is huge, my knees are like melons, my feet are swollen, and my whole trunk looks like I did when I weighed more than 20 pounds than I do now. I know it will eventually go away, but it hard to deal with. This also happened to me the last time I was in the hospital. I blow up like a balloon. It's hard to deal with and makes everything else (the pain and stiffness) harder to deal with. I'm told that walking several times a day for a short time will help me heal, so I need to go do that, but I wanted to pop on and say hello.
I also wanted to let you know what else happened in the past couple of days. Hubby had a dizzy spell about 10 days ago that he thought was being caused by water in his ear. He had had a summer cold, so he started taking mucinex. When we got home from the funerals, he still didn't feel quite right, so we went to our primary doc. She didn't see fluid, and being a very cautious sort, sent him for an MRI. Well, he had that yesterday morning and it showed signs of a stroke. So he was sent to the ER for a CT scan and several other tests. He was downstairs at the hospital while I was upstairs. Turns out he did have a stroke, although he has no after effects and feels fine now. They said it was such a small clot, it was almost too small to see. They did not admit him, but put him on plavix and aspirin. Honestly, in the past 2 years we've had that major pipe break, the death of my niece, my breast cancer diagnosis and radiation, the death of my great-niece, the deaths of my sister and brother-in-law, my colon surgery, and his stroke. I do think enough is enough! Better times have to be coming.
Sheesh, when we first met online your granddaughter was 1 year old and now she's driving. Oh, my. Time does go too fast.0 -
Good afternoon ladies.
Sarah - so so happy to see you post. Glad you are home. And yes, walking will help with the gas and the bloating so be sure you get up every few hours and move around. You will feel so much better in a few days. I am so so sorry to hear about your hubby having a stroke!! YIKES!! It does seem to come in big waves… We're here for you.
Sheesh - Holy Cow!!! I know how you feel about the grandbaby driving!!! Such a fun/scary milestone!! and GREAT job focusing!
While I didn't make any training sessions last week, I did go last night. I'm feeling it a bit today. It seems harder this week. No training tomorrow until Tuesday. Packing tonight to head out to California Friday morning for the holiday weekend. Had another support meeting last night. They discussed eating for the holidays and offered ideas for travel snacks etc. A couple of other items that came out of it were keto friendly bread options. I ordered a couple of them for groceries next week to see if I can add them. Also a couple of protein bars. I got the IQ bars today. Made with pea proteins and tastes a little funny, but I might get used to it…or not. We'll see. I'm feeling snacky again today. Veggies are on the grocery order - that's in process now, so hopefully they'll be here soon.
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Sarah, I was so glad to see you had posted. . I know you're not feeling great today, but I promise, you will feel better a bit more every day. I know you'll follow all the recovery instructions, the swelling will go away, and you're going to be happy that the issue has been taken care of. I'm so sorry about your hubby. It sounds like a mini stroke? I had 3 that they were able to see on the scans, and the last one left me dizzy for a month. I know how upsetting that is, and you both are dealing with so much already! It really does feel unfair. You're right that better times have to be around the corner!
Lois, it's good to read you did training. . . and Keto friendly bread? Please share the brand. I have had the pea protein bars called TruBar, and the chocolate chip cookie one is pretty good. Safe travels this weekend. Are you going to DL?
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Sheesh, I didn't know that you had the three strokes. I'm sorry to hear that, but it's reassuring to hear that you haven't had serious repurcussions. I'm a little nervous about him taking the blood thinners because I don't want his risk for a bleeding type stroke to increase. Sounds like you were not put on any type of medication after your episodes?
Swelling is down a little bit today. Having a little trouble getting one of my meds filled. CVS says they need more info. The hospital says CVS contacts the prescribing doc directly. No one seems to want to be accountable. It's my medium stregnth pain med. I'm taking tylenol and have 4 capsules of a strong med just in case, but the middle strength one is caught somewhere along the path. It's always something. 😐️0 -
Oh Sarah - hoping it all sorts itself out soon. Keep moving a little each day and you'll be feeling better soon.
Sheesh - I knew you had some heart issues, but I don't think we knew you'd had 3 strokes. That's a fear of mine with my family history, which is why I'm at the docs office so often to keep an eye on things.
The keto breads…. Oroweat sandwich thins, and Thomas' keto plain bagel thins is what they were talking about. I bought the sandwich thins but forgot about them when I made breakfast this morning. Maybe I'll try one with lunch. I'm not a huge bread person anyway unless it's super tasty… Protein bars/snack bars are IQ something from Costco and Power Crunch from Kroger (remind me of the neopolitan wafer cookies as a kid. And no, we're not going to DL this trip. We'll be at the Welk Resort in Escondido and then down to San Diego for family dinner with Auntie. Lots of pool time with Rhea, I'm sure. I bought a pickle ball racquet set of 4 in case the kids want to play. Back Sunday evening. Just a quick trip. It started to go see our Auntie and turned into a mini family vacation. I'm just about packed and we'll load the van tonight to leave early tomorrow morning.
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Happy Saturday, Ladies. Hope those who celebrate, had a nice 4th of July. Kelly, hope you're enjoying the new house and time at the lake, if you're able to get there.
Sheesh, hubby did not have what is usually referred to as a mini stroke, which I think is a small bleed. He actually had a clot, which is a bit more serious. It has finally been a wake up call to him about his diet. His meds were keeping his blood sugar, BP, and cholesterol okay, but now he's seeing that reasons for watching his diet, especially salt and sodium and fat, go beyond the medicated scores. And I think he finally sees that although he gets lot of steps in a day because he never sits still, he also needs some intentional exercise. Again, numbers are not the entire story. So we are thinking about joining the gym again and hiring a trainer for at least a short time. Lots of expense, but hey—money has no value until you spend it! Right?? 😁We are truly getting into "get 'er done" mode. Painting (and it's so hard to choose paint colors), carpet replacement (I still don't want hardwood upstairs because of the noise factor—two lower floors—yes, but not the bedrooms), and having his bathroom remodeled. I would love to have this all done by October, when we have guests coming in from out-of-town.
I had not expected the soreness level from my tummy to be quite as severe as it is Hubby thinks part of it is because I don't want to take the stronger pain meds. And that's partially true. For one thing, I don't fully understand or remember the caveats I got about the meds from the nursing staff before we left. I think I may have a chat with my pharmacist today. Hubby gets upset and says I over-think things, and that may be true, but I'm a bit of a worrier and although I'm working on that, it's still part of my make-up.Well folks, that's about it from this corner of the world. Looking forward to hearing from everyone. There's a world out there I'm looking foward to to joining again soon!
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Sarah, I'm sorry you're having severe pain. I would think that you could take stronger pain meds for a few days, and then wean off. I'm sure you would not get addicted because you're so careful about your health. Treating the pain is important too though, because you don't want all the nerves in the area "angry". Doctors always told me to not let pain get ahead of me. . . it's harder to get on top of it once it's out of control. And, pain can interfere with quality sleep, which is most important for healing. Just be careful, and wean down and stop when appropriate.
How is your hubby? I hope he's fully recovered, or close to it, and that he will make the changes he needs to make. I didn't mean to make his stroke about me 😆, but yes, I had 3 mini strokes (that they found) over the years leading up to the last one that made me dizzy for over a month, and sent me on a quest to find out what was wrong. The heart anomaly, along with genetic Factor 5 clotting disorder from one parent, was throwing off small clots into my brain. I thought a mini stroke was defined by how small, and how quickly the brain rewires around it, which my first ones did heal. The one that gave me dizziness was when I had to retrain my balance, and I still get dizzy at times. Wanting to retrain my balance, get 40 pounds off, and get fit (and not die, ha ha!) is what led me to my trainer AND to retire from a stressful job. I did take a blood thinner (Plavix I think ??) for some months after my heart procedure, and then was put on regular aspirin, and finally baby aspirin, which I still take. The retirement was in 2008, I lost some weight on my own, but then got the Bodybugg in 2009 (?), had the heart procedure, found my trainer, and you ladies around 2010 for continued support with weight control and fitness, so thank you!! My hubby had to work a little longer than planned before he retired, so I owe him for that :)
Lois, you're on your short vacation, so have a wonderful, relaxing time away. Thanks for the Keto bread info . . unfortunately I like bread, so that info might help my diet. I hope you'll keep steady on health goals when you get back.
We had a nice July 4th. Went to a local in-the-park breakfast, parade, carnival, and antique car show with the kids and grandkids here. We saw a lot of people we knew and enjoyed catching up. . including hubby's old High School girlfriend, LOL! That was interesting . . We were worn out, so we grilled and just watched fireworks from home, and went to bed early.
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A few from July 4th. And, BTW, Kelly I hope you had a fun Canada Day July 1st!
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Such a wonderful family. You are so fortunate, Sheesh. Thanks for sharing the photos. The grands are such charmers!
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Oh Sarah - please manage your pain. You have to rest to allow your body to heal and you can't do that if you're in pain. Take it from - queen of recovery. You are too aware to become addicted in the short time you would need the meds. Hopefully you've spoken to the pharmacist and have it under control.
Sheesh - I love your family pictures!! So much fun.
We had a great mini vacation. The villa was perfect. My daughter and son in law spent most of the day with us and went home to sleep/rest. We arrived at the resort about 2 and our villa was ready so we were able to unload, get situated, had some bbq that my sil picked up for us and then headed to the pool with the splash pad and waterslide. Rhea had an absolute blast on the slide!! We got to the pool about 530 and it closed at 7pm (she and her mama were the last ones to ride it that day). I believe she went down it no less than 7 times and also played in the pool. We went back to the pool after breakfast and everyone was slow moving, so we were there in the heat of the day. It was 85 but it was killing me. I went into the pool up to my knees. The water was too cold for me. Then we packed up for a late lunch and drove down to visit Auntie. Auntie was so happy we stopped by and visited… we got back to the room about 830 and because we checked out at 10 am, hubby and I repacked the food in the kitchen and sent a bunch of stuff back with my daughter so we didn't have to bring it all home. We were on the road about 1030 and home by 5. We were going to take Rhea swimming one last time before we left on Sunday, but she was too tired and didn't want to go (she likes to go later in the day). I thought she'd be upset, but she wasn't. I'm so tired from the travel and I took yesterday off and slept in until 8 and then took a nap at 2. Yes, I was that tired.
I didn't stray too far off plan until the drive home - after eating my veggies that I had brought along, I started to crunch on some Doritos. I'm not huge chip fan, but somehow on the last part of the drive i had the munchies (possibly because everyone else was munching on red vines and sour gummies - which I dislike more than Doritos - lol).
I did pre order groceries before I left that arrived in time for lunch yesterday. Fresh veggies and salad to munch on. I ordered two steak dinners from Black Angus and had 1/2 of one of the steaks and veggies for lunch. For dinner I made a ham and cheese sandwich using the sandwich thins and munched on some sugar snap peas, celery and cucumber slices. That was enough to hold me until breakfast this morning.
I have my trainer tonight, hair appt tomorrow and trainer again on Thursday evening. Oh and I have to drive into Scottsdale on Wednesday for meetings…Busy week for me.
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Hi, all. Just popped by after logging food. I tell you—it would be much easier to try to stick to this post-surgery diet if I could just exercise and burn some of the extra calories off. Knowing that I'm above my usual limits and also still being swollen which makes me look like I've gained more than I actually have is making this stage of recovery tough. I am still very sore. Getting up and down is the worst because it engages stomach muscles, and of course, mine were cut. So I'm looking forward to the day when I don't have to dread getting out of chair or out of bed. I know that time is coming, it's just hard waiting for it to get here. And while I'm thinking about it, it's not addiction to the pain meds that worries me. It's all their other side effects. I know the nurses told me that some cause constipation, which we don't want. Some can make swelling worse and some some can increase blood pressure. I've taken mostly tylenol extra strength and two doses of the celebrex.
Lois, I'm glad you enjoyed the resort time and the time with your Auntie. Steak and veggies sounds delicious and healthy. I did laugh at the hot 85 degrees. You are usually so much hotter out there than we are, but we've been sweltering in 100 degree plus weather with high humidity. I just heard the storm warning signal go off again, so I think it's time to power down. The storms cool us off a bit, but the winds are scary. Too many trees coming down.0 -
Sarah - you are so correct!! I was sweltering in California at 85…and it was 108 when we got home…so hot everywhere. No escape!!! And it's supposed to be 113 tomorrow. Come on November for the cooler weather…lol
You need to just focus on resting and recovering. The swelling and the gains you can work on after you recover!! You're too important to us! You need to ensure you're here to keep us updated!!
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