211

I haven’t been keeping up with things here, both writing about the weight loss process or actually doing the weight loss process. I put on some weight over the summer. I stress eat. Carbs, carbs, and more carbs. Being at home and not going to work is stressful for me. I need the changes during the day. School is almost back in sesh so it will be better soon.
Today I had my one year surgeon visit with Dr Slikkers. Grand Traverse Surgery is now called something else — Traverse General Surgery & Trauma Care — but they are in the same office and have the same doctors. I think they became more attached to Munson. My actual surgery date was August 24 (same day as Rick’s accident) but I was busy that day and didn’t take the time to write. I shared my before and after pic on FB today. It’s not a humongo difference, but you can tell the belly is flatter. When I went to that first visit when they took that picture, I spent a lot of time thinking about what to wear and how to do my hair. I knew they were going to photograph me so I wore a loose top to help disguise the belly and wore my hair down to help disguise my lack of a jaw and neck. This morning I knew they would photograph me again, but I didn’t really worry about what to wear. I wore clothes that worked for the weather and my plans for the rest of the day — a tshirt and denim capris. I put my hair in a ponytail because my hair is pretty much always in a ponytail (remind me to tell you more about my hair). I’m going to interpret that as I have more confidence in my appearance since I didn’t really care?
Dr Slikkers (the name is funny but he’s pretty awesome)(and kind of cute)(don’t tell him I said that) went through my lab results and nutrition wise I am doing great. I didn’t have issues with cholesterol or diabetes before, but the numbers are still better. I’m getting enough protein and vitamin B12 which are the tough ones. My iron is good because I don’t have a uterus anymore. I was happy to hear that my nutrition is good. Yay me! I can quit taking a daily omeprazole (Prevacid) now unless I need it, so I’m going to try that.
I asked about my umbilical hernia (you might remember from FB that I went to the hospital about a month ago because stuff popped through my previously-non-problematic hernia) and he confirmed my memory of a doctor saying that if you have an umbilical hernia the insurance companies are much more likely to pay for skin removal surgery on the stomach. I’m not ready for skin removal yet, but I would like to visit the idea when I’ve lost some more weight. The plan is to still talk to Dr Ashley about it at my visit with her (which I had to re-schedule but it’s still coming up soon) and basically get her approval of my plan to let the hernia sit there uneventfully while I lose more weight and teach my preschoolers through the school year, then in the summer see if the plastic surgeon can remove belly flap and repair the hernia in one insurance-approved surgery. The belly thing is/has been an issue because I have to use a powder there every day to prevent chafing, rash, itching, and various other disgusting things. Without a good medical reason it’s cosmetic surgery that is paid out of pocket. I would hope the skin issues would be enough, but the hernia will help seal the deal.
We didn’t talk about my hair at the office, but I’ll talk about my hair now. I lost a lot of hair, which is totally normal, and now the hair loss is back to a normal amount. Has been for several months. What I’m seeing now is fuzzy frizzy hair popping through the slicked back hair because I have new hair growing in, about two and a half inches worth. It’s almost like little tufts around my ears and can look pretty silly. This new hair growth also seems to be much more gray than brown. I’m 50 so gray hair is to be expected, but I don’t know if it’s more common for everyone’s hair to come in more gray or if it’s just me. I’ve been pretty committed to going gray naturally as opposed to coloring my hair, but seeing it graying so quickly makes me question my decision sometimes. Sigh. I am overdue for a haircut so I need to do that soon. I’m sure the talented ladies at Wink Salon will make it look much nicer.
School starts very soon, I’ve been in prep mode for quite some time, I started back to college to get my Bachelor’s in Early Childhood Education, and I will be very busy. Weight loss will not be at the top of my priority list. I will be in survival mode a lot of the time. Hopefully all the running around at school and the nervous energy will keep the appetite and weight in line. I’m not sure how to handle it if it doesn’t because I’m stretched to the max of what I can handle right now. Wish me luck!