Month eleven in the life of the future pin-up girl

The last piece of the puzzle .. is exercise. And I'm struggling with it. I got totally psyched to start swimming with the Manatees and then two things happened. One - I found that my neck/shoulder injury was worse than I thought. Swimming was causing me so much pain that I could barely type at work. When I originally injured myself, I was off of work for 6 months. Can't have that again. Two - we got some bad news financially. For the last year, Chris and I have been working as the managers of our apartment complex... showing units for rent, dealing with noise complaints, that sort of thing. In exchange, we were paying $400 a month for rent. Unheard of in the Bay Area. It was really helping out while Chris is in school and only working part time. Well - the owners of our building (who we really love) decided to sell the building and the new owner will not require our services. So we're back to $900 a month for rent and struggling. So.. that means that the monthly fees for swimming are no longer in the budget. All of this brought me really down. I was feeling like a failure.. feeling a lot like I have in past when I've announced my intent to start a new diet.. and then failing with it.

I've spent time thinking about it.. working through the suckiness of the whole situation.. and now I need a solution. I do still have my Curves membership. I'm paying for it, forchristsake, might as well use the damn thing. But I know that I will need something more. I NEED to strengthen my core. The weight that I have left to lose is all around my middle (mid-tummy and back), with a little on my upper thighs. I'm still having back pain. I still slouch.. not from lack of self-esteem or anything, but from pain. Straightening my back out HURTS. I'm still taking Valium on occasion for the muscle spasms in my back. As lovely as the occasional Valium chill-out can be, I'd really like to not need them anymore.

And - in addition to all of this, my energy level still has peaks and valleys. I thought that this would have evened out by the time I was nearly a year out. I'm taking B-12 every day now. Maybe I'll need B-12 shots..?? My one year check-up is on September 18 (has it really gone by that fast?!), so Dr. U will be able to look at my bloodwork and see what the story is.

Some good news - my friend Michael's niece Josie had her WLS earlier than I had thought - she's about 2 weeks out now and doing well. Get those liquids in girlie! And - my cousin Stephanie only has 15 lbs left to lose and she'll get her approval from Kaiser - I'm so very excited for her!

If anyone has any advice about the exercise stuff, let me know. I need a serious kick in the ass.

My changing face

I created this slideshow for Anne over at Body of Work.  It really stuns me to see how my face has changed in just 10 1/2 months.  It's still hard to look at my hospital pic.. I guess it always will be. 

8 Obscure Things About Me (Thanks a lot Jen)

I've been tagged and now must tell you 8 obscure things about me.

The Rules:

1. We have to post these rules before we give you the facts.
2. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged write their own blog post about their eight things and include these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged and that they should read your blog.
5. 8 is a magic number.

Ok, here goes:

1. I skipped third grade and graduated from high school a year early. A boy named Lum Dinh, who was in my second grade class, ended up skipping two grades. I was jealous of him all the way through school. I'm sure he graduated from MIT and works for NASA or something.

2. I went to the tomb of Marie Laveau and made a wish and an offering. And my wish came true!

3. I was caught shoplifting when I was 13 years old, at a local drugstore. They called my parents and I got into BIG trouble. I felt very ashamed about it until the first time I heard "Shoplifters of the World" by Morrissey. Then I thought it gave me mod/goth credibility.

4. I like mayonnaise on my spaghetti.

5. I MUST sleep closest to the window in any room. Doesn't matter what side of the bed it's on.

6. On my Mom's side of the family, the girls were named after their fathers. Paul and Paulette - Steve and Stephanie - Andrew and Andrea - Dan and Danyele

7. When I was in elementary school, I would go to my babysitter's house after school. They were a crazy Portuguese family and I was very close to them. The father, Manuel, made homemade wine in his backyard and stored it in big wooden barrels. The son, Junior, and I would sneak into the back, drink the wine and kiss. I think I was 7 and he was 9.

8. I can rap all of the words to "Paul Revere" by the Beastie Boys.

So - since most of the ladies in the webring have already been tagged, I'm just going to tag three friends... mi amigas Mamacita Chilena, Katrina, and SignGurl. Have fun!

My first WLS complication

I ended up in the ER on Saturday night, with what ended up being a kidney stone.  It all started around 6 o'clock, just as we were entering the movies to see the "Simpson's Movie".  Within 10 minutes I was in so much pain that I had to ask Chris to take me home.  At this point, I really though I just had some bad gas.  I got home, jumped in the tub to try to calm down and waited.  The pain just got worse.  Chris called Dr. U - he recommended that I not wait more than an hour to get to the hospital.  I decided that I would wait a bit in hopes that I would feel better.  I never did - the pain centralized to my right abdomen and it started to throb.  We called Dr. U back and had him call the ER to tell them that I was coming.  I hobbled down the stairs and fell into the car - I was in so much pain.  That was a really awful car ride.  When I got to the ER, they got an IV started, took a blood sample, and then FINALLY gave me some pain relief.  They started with morphine, which didn't help much.  So then they went to dilaudid.  Better.. much better.  I had to drink 2 cups full of juice, water, and a contrast liquid to get me ready for a CT scan.  The CT scan found the kidney stone.  We were so relieved that it wasn't anything intestinal.  They basically told me that I would have to pass the stone, and that I would feel instantly better.  So I was sent home with lots of drugs, told to keep the liquids coming, and to come back if nothing had happened in 48 hours.  Thankfully it didn't take that long.  I finally passed the thing around 2pm on Sunday.  So - I'm fine.  I'm going to have to do some research about this, because I definitely don't want to go through this again.

Tell me something good!

It's been an interesting 24 hours - lots of news, good and bad. I like to keep positive, so we'll start with the good stuff! Thankfully my two friends in St. Paul, MN, Katrina and Susan, were unaffected by the horrible bridge collapse and are safe and sound. Our friend Aaron has made it though his second round of chemo and his load count has dropped from around 260 down to around 89, which means his tumor is shrinking. My friend Michael's niece Josie in New York has been approved for WLS - her surgery date is September 26, I believe. Michael tells me that Josie has been reading BTPUG - say hello Josie! My cousin Stephanie is in the approval process with Kaiser - she has to lose the 10% before surgery. I know she can do it! (Steph, I'll be right there by your side on your big day, ok? Can't wait to celebrate that approval with you). And today is my 2 1/2 year anniversary with Chris. He surprised me with a beautiful brass and enamel business card holder with a Fleur de Lis design. I was admiring it in a shop this weekend and he went back and got it for me. He's so good to me, in every way. I'm so lucky to have met him and to share my life with him.

So, okay - the not so good stuff: Aaron's son Tyler isn't doing well at all. I've linked his support page on the left there. His mom Ivy could use some kind words, so if you're so inclined, stop by. My dad has had another patch of bad luck and I'm hoping that everything turns out all right. I'm concerned that he's not sharing things about his health. And - I've had to delay joining the Manatees swim league for a couple of weeks - I've had some unexpected expenses so I won't have the money for the membership until my next pay period.

I'd really love to hear some more good news - would you mind sharing some? It can be WLS-related if you like, but it doesn't have to be. It can be anything that is brightening your day. Thank you!