Tuesday 16th January 2007

It's been an interesting week. I have been talking a lot to my parents about their own weight loss surgery, if it is viable and if it's something that they would be able to adapt to afterwards if they went through with it. It's not the easiest thing in the world to cope with, changing habits of a lifetime to achieve weight loss. I have drafted an email for Dr Dillemans though, on their behalf and I will send it when they send me their medical notes and I can see first hand exactly what is what. Dad is also getting approval from his cardiologist before we proceed so all in all, it's quite exciting for them.
They have been to their GP to get her seal of approval and she is happy enough for them to go ahead, so that is another positive step in the right direction. They told me the GP asked about my excess skin once I have lost all my weight, to which they didn't really have an answer I don't think. They asked me about it later on the phone and I told them that I have been referred for Plastic surgery but the waiting list is about 4 years to even get a consultation. Dad said that when the time comes that I need plastics, then they would fund it for me. WOW !! This is amazing news. I am bowled over ! I can finally dream of a reality that is going to be a flat stomach and pert boobs !! I know my tummy is going to need work, there is no two ways about that, and I suspect my boobs will be heading south since they already are, but the rest of me will be ok. I just want to be able to wear nice trousers without a big bulge in the way. Wear nice bra's without my floppy skin hanging out over the edges, and to not be ashamed of my body. I am even more determined to get this weight off as soon as I can now. I want the 10 stone off by October and then to maintain til after Christmas and then I can book my plastics for this time next year. Possibly sooner, I don't know. It depends on this weight shifting. I am so close to being half way there already !! 4 stone 5lbs today, although I haven't really lost much this week.
My other problem is constipation. OMG !! I know I don't eat much so there is not much to come out the other end, but I haven't been for what feels like days, and I really need to !! I have been taking Bisacodyl every day, but clearly it's not working for me.
I am sitting here in a pair of lovely size 20 trousers, brown and quite dressy, with a brown jumper and a brown poncho over the top. I think I look great today !! It's so nice to be able to get up and get dressed in clothes that make me feel so great. I can do up my size 20 jeans too, but zipping them up would be a challenge. I am happy enough in my 22's for now, and I will wait for another couple of weeks to get the 20's on comfortably. There is no point being squeezed into clothes just for the sake of saying you are a size smaller. They generally look terrible when people do that, like they have been painted on, which just makes you look ridiculous.
Aidan is off school today and yesterday with Scarlet Fever. He is much improved since he started the antibiotics thankfully, but he had me really worried the other night. I had to cancel my shift to stay home and look after him. It would not have been a good idea to have incubated scarlet fever and taken it to hospital with me either though !!
I am feeling really restricted with my eating today. Even a cup of tea was hard work to swallow comfortably this morning. It goes like this some days. It's all part of the learning curve I guess.
I have just finished reading Carnie Wilson's 'I'm still hungry' book about her gastric bypass and how she got her brain around her weight loss too. It was a good read, and she is funny and entertaining, but I could not help but think, 'I wish you'd think for yourself. You go running off to your family, your friends, and most annoyingly, your therapist, before you will make a decision. It's madness !!' It's a very american book, but I enjoyed it, and I could relate to a lot of it too, so I am pleased I read it. I am about to get stuck into her first book, Gut Feeling, which leads up to her bypass, and the desicion to have it.