Sorry...

Yeah, I know, it's been a while since I posted. I've been crazy busy...my husband and I are getting ready to move (tomorrow, actually), so I've been very occupied. I've also been working massive amounts of overtime for the last month, and house-hunting, and job-hunting. I'm pooped.

So. I ended up not getting the third dilation. I discussed it with my surgeon, and we decided that since I was doing better, he'd rather err on the side of caution and not have me be stretched again.

I'm actually glad we decided that. I'm getting better and better at eating, and while I'm still limited in what I can eat, I have more choices than I did before. I still don't feel hunger, so I don't have a snacking problem like I used to. More often than not, I forget to eat.

I'm down to 236 pounds, so I've lost 80 pounds, effectively. I've gone down some sizes, depending on the clothing. My mom bought me some new clothes a few weeks ago, because everything I had was falling off of me. I still have more to go, of course, but I'm feeling much more comfortable in my skin. Now I just need to have some energy to start toning some of this flab! Because I eat so little, it takes very very little to completely exhaust me. I'm nervous about loading up the UHaul, because it's just myself and my hubby doing it, and I don't know if I have it in me to carry the heavier stuff. Hopefully I can start dancing again, and get some aerobic exercise that way. I could start going for walks and whatnot. It's hard to plan when you don't know what your schedule is going to be like - once we're settled in in the new place, and with our new jobs, I can figure out an exercise schedule and regimen...and I plan to.

Look at this...another update!

Since my last dilation, I've been doing pretty well. I can actually eat now! I still have to be very cautious about what I eat, and I have to chew up everything VERY carefully, but I have a lot more freedom now in what I can and can't eat. That doesn't mean that I can just eat whatever I want; it means that I'm where I should be - having to test foods one at a time to see if they make me sick. And whether things make me sick changes on a daily basis. Some days I can eat quite a bit (for me - like three ounces in one sitting), and other days just a bite or two before I'm uncomfortable.

I've discovered that I can eat pasta, as long as it's well-cooked and small to begin with. I'm especially enamored of orzo, the pasta that looks like rice. It's nice and small, cooks up very tender, and doesn't make me sick at all...and I can tell when I'm getting full, so that I don't overeat. I had some grilled vegetables at a restaurant the other day, and they went down just fine. I'm staying away from bread for now - I have no idea if it will make me sick or not, but it's so darn bulky that one bite will fill me up. I can eat popcorn just fine, rice, chicken, and softer vegetables. Joe cooked up some diced squash the other day to put in with some orzo, and it was great. I'm fluctuating between 246 and 248 pounds right now, so I'm just under a 70 pound loss. I want the weight to start coming off again, but it's awesome that I have SOME variety in food again. I've experienced dumping syndrome several times, usually when I eat something that has sugar in it that I'm unaware of. It's NOT pleasant.

I have another dilation scheduled for next week, and that will be my last one. Actually, the doc will be checking me out with the camera, and if I've shrunk back down at all, she'll stretch me a little bit. I'm going to talk to her beforehand to determine where her cutoff is. I don't want to get stretched out too far, because it would negate the benefit of having the one-ounce stomach capacity. I also don't want it to shrink back up over the next few months and leave me in another sticky situation.

In the meantime...I'm having ginger chicken for lunch!