Cyndy is Losing It

I'm doing it!
On Monday April 2nd I will be checking into the hospital and having a gastric bypass. I've wanted this for so long and it's finally happening. It's almost surreal. Will I really finally be on my way to being the hot girl I used to be? :)

Meet me: I'm a 45 year old who feels 30, and some days about 15. I work in advertising and love what I do. I'm funny, sarcastic, bright and nurturing. I love my friends dearly and I think they feel the same about me. I'm married to a funny, sarcastic, bright man who works in TV. I have a funny, sarcastic, bright 17-yr. old son who lives at home and will be graduating from high school this year. I also have a funny and bright (for some reason he's not sarcastic) 21-yr. old who just bought his first home - so needless to say I'm extremely proud of him.

I've never been thin, but I used to be about a size 12 and curvy, voluptuous and sexy. I loved how I looked. Then childbirth, then aging, and before I knew it I'd ambled right past curvy and chubby straight to fat. But I still saw myself as sexy, so when I walked by a mirror one day and caught a reflection of myself I thought - "Who the hell is that fat chick in my clothes??"

Time to do something about it, dammit.

So in January I went to the informational seminar that U.S. Bariatric has every Wednesday at Florida Hospital Celebration. It was very interesting and it got me very excited at the possibilities. What was so great was that not only did the surgeon give a great, compelling presentation, but then you just give them your insurance card and they do all the work for you, going to bat for you with your insurance company to try and get them to cover the surgery. They tell you to wait a couple of weeks to hear back from them.

I tried to not get my hopes up, but sure enough, in 2 weeks, I got a call from them telling me congratulations, I've been approved for coverage! Oh my God, I was so excited, but still wanted to make sure I had all the details. It seemed too good to be true.

So here I am, just 2 1/2 months later, and I'm getting ready to go in for the surgery in just 5 days. Wow.

Last Friday I had my "Pre-op Day" at the hospital. Had to take the whole day off from work and spent the day there, with lots of waiting, getting my physical, a metabolic test (big surprise, I have slow metabolism), and pre-registering with the hospital, but most importantly sitting through a 3-hour education class on how to eat, what to expect, etc. I was overwhelmed. Too much to absorb at one time. But they gave us all a big binder and I've been studying everything for the past few days and I guess I'm almost up-to-speed now.

I guess the first week is clear liquids only, then on to pureed foods for 2 weeks, then on to "soft solids". Mmmm, yummy.

Here's the things I remember for sure:

• No coffee for a month
• No starches like rice, pasta, bread, etc. for 6 MONTHS!!
• Sweets will likely make you sick (creates a sensation called dumping, which sounds awful)
• No more of my beloved Diet Coke or Diet Dr. Pepper (carbonation = bad)
• You can't drink during a meal. This might be hard. You have to wait 1 hr. after you eat to take in any liquids.
• My stomach pouch will be about the size of my thumb

So then they tell you about the pre-op diet that you're supposed to go on. I'm listening thinking, uh, huh, yeah ... and I'm looking around at the other people in the class and they all have the same expression on their faces. Meanwhile I'm starting to think that I need to make a list of what I need to eat before the surgery. :)

For the last 20 years since I've struggled with my weight, so I have always worried about what I'm eating --- in a restaurant thinking I should really order the salad with grilled chicken ... or if I'm ordering the Chicken Finger Basket then I'm feeling guilty as hell. BUT THIS WEEK ... I'm eating whatever I want. A pre-op diet is simply not in the works. I'll be good the weekend before surgery. But now -- uh uh. Bring it on!

So what would you eat if you knew you were having this surgery and wouldn't be able to have starches or sweets for a long time?? Just what would your list include?

Here's mine. It's right here on my desk at work and I'm crossing through things as I eat them:

• Steak dinner
• Krystal burgers (if you're not from the south, these are like White Castle burgers - little yummy squares of heaven)
• Marble Slab or Cold Stone Creamery ice cream with Snickers bar mixed in
• A big ol' piece of cake
• A Snickers Ice Cream Bar
• French toast
• A big Italian meal
• Buffalo wings
• McDonald's Big Mac
• Mexican food
• Brownie
• Krispy Kreme doughnut
• A cheese bagel with cream cheese at the cafe downstairs in our office building

In the past 2 weeks I've worked my way through most of these. The big Italian meal is tonight, and I still haven't had the Krispy Kreme, but don't lose faith in me, I'll get it in. :)

I was at Target (my favorite store! Don't you love it?) this weekend and as always I went to the clothes section and found a cute shirt, then thought to myself - why would I buy any clothes now? I don't know what size I'll be in 2 months, so why invest in anything now?

They say you'll lose most of your weight in the first 6-8 months. I've got 125-150 lbs. to lose, so if I could lose half of that in 6 months I'd be in heaven!!

Okay, enough for now. 5 days to go!