adventuresofanaussieragdoll

Even though it is still early now, I have been up since 3am.  Why? It is the first weekend in October & my Church has its Semi Annual Conference in Salt Lake City.  So I got up early in order to watch the Saturday Morning session.  Had problems with the internet this morning, so I missed almost 30 minutes of the session before I could get it to work.  It was really good.  Talking about how to be ‘in the world, but not of the world’.  How better to get a balance in your life.

Currently watching the Saturday Afternoon session.  We had three new Apostles called into the Quorum of the Twelve today.  There had been three deaths within the Quorum since the April Conference.  The last time we called three Apostles at once was in 1906!  They are the 98th, 99th & 100th Apostles of this dispensation.  It is a wonderful thing to see how God’s Church operates, simply & without rancour.  It is from the Quorum & the two Councillors to the President that the Prophet (President) is called following the death of the Prophet.  It is always the most senior Apostle who is called to the position.  When I say ‘senior’, I don’t necessarily mean the oldest.  Seniority is determined by the order in which they are ordained to the position of Apostle.  If more than one man is called on the same day (like today), then the order in which the ordination takes place will determine their seniority.  When the current Prophet dies, there willbe no politicing.  No voting.  There will just be a meeting of the Quorum of the Twelve, with the two councillors taking their places according to their seniority, they will pray about it & will sustain the most senior among them to the position.  He will then choose his two councillors. If someone wants to become Prophet, they would have to outlive everyone who is more seniorto them.  So unless they kill people, which would disqualify them for the position, they will only attain thenposition if God wants them to do so.

Well, I didn’t get out of the house yesterday.  Instead, I ordered the things I needed online to be delivered instead.  I weighed myself this morning.  142.2kg today.  That’s 3.5kg gone.  I think at this stage it is good that I didn’t go to the supermarket.  It was bad enough on Friday as I came home from the surgeon, to pass the cafė at the end of my street on the way home from the bus stop.  I was thinking…. I really would love a nice hot chocolate now.  But I didn’t stop. I kept walking back to the house without stopping.  The smell as I passed was terribly tempting, but I resisted.

Have to take Hamish for his checkup today.  Things are improving.  Except he managed to get poop stuck on his fur last night & managed to get it on things where poop should not be.  If you think I was not happy about it, you are right.  I saw a post from a Ragdoll breeder that I follow on Facebook today.  One of her clients has to relinquish her two male Ragdolls, Han Solo (his twin died soon after birth which left him as the only kitten in his litter) & Chewbaka because she is not permitted to keep them any longer.  If I was working & had a car, I would take them in a heartbeat to add to Hamish.  But I don’t, so I can’t.

More tomorrow.  Still not struggling with the Optifast.  Not bored with it yet, but I expect I will be the closer it gets to the surgery date.

Well, here I am again.  Reporting in as promised.  This is the longest continuous strech of posts since I started this blog years ago.

So, the weight this morning was 143.1kg.  That is a total loss of 2.6kg since I started.  So, I think I am well on my way to my surgeon’s target of 5-7kg before the surgery.  I need to go shopping to get some more steam veggies for the freezer, as well as getting some chewable vitamins & Berocca for after the surgery.  I also need to get some more Vicks Vaporub & eucalyptus lozenges.  The cough is getting better.  Not much coughing today, which is good.  If this isn’t gone before the surgery date, it will be postponed & I will have to go through the pre op diet all over again.  As much as I am, so far, finding the Optifast easy to tolerate I am not looking forward to having to do it all over again if I can avoid it.

Just sitting here, about to have my lunch & then do some knitting, while I watch the BYU – UCONN game.  Why does it have to take 3 hours to play just 1 hour of actual game? Soooo slow.  At the moment BYU is leading, so that’s good.

Looking forward to General Conference tomorrow.  The Saturday Morning Session will be about 3am due to us starting Daylight Saving during the night.  I’ve made sure my TV internet has BYUtv saved as a favourite, so it will be quicker to be able to watch.  With the TV now wired directly into the internet, I am hoping there isn’t too much buffering.  It is really annoying to try to watch it when it stops & starts.  Guess I will need to go to bed early tonight so I can get up & watch.  It is possible we may have three new Apostles announced tomorrow.  The last time they announced three at once like this was in 1906.

Talk again tomorrow.  I promised I will report daily.

As promised here is my report on Day Two in my journey towards what some refer to as ‘The Loser’s Bench’.

The first day of the Optifast diet went surprisingly well.  I mentioned to the surgeon at today’s appointment that I had tried Optifast when it first came onto the market here years ago, but that I couldn’t stand it.  Especially as it is being made with just water, not any form of milk.  I wondered if maybe they had changed the formula in the intervening years.  He responded that it is probably that I am finally in the right mindset to see this through this time.  I bought 4 boxes of Optifast last week to see me through the entire two weeks.  One each of four different flavours: Vanilla, Chocolate, Caramel & Banana.  They are all nice tasting.  I have one of these three times a day.  Usually breakfast, lunch & a late snack.  For dinner I have a packet of steam vegetables.  Quick, easy & satisfies the diet requirement.

I weighed in this morning.  I was 145.3kg today.  That is a loss of 400gm.  The surgeon wants me to lose between 5-7kg before the surgery.  On this diet, I think that is doable.

I dropped off the papers for the hospital.  I will be admitted to the hospital on the morning of my surgery.  The surgeon expects me to be in hospital 2-3 nights.  I see the cardiologist fr the final clearance on Wednesday of next week & have my pre-admittance clinic, where they will test my bloodwork again to make sure the Optifast hasn’t done something funny to it, on the Monday before the surgery.  I will book Hamish in for boarding from the night before my admittance.  Not having a car or anyone to drive me to the hospital, and I’m not sure what time I have to be there yet, I don’t think it will be practical to try to drop him off on the way to the hospital.

Things have gone so quickly, from when I started this process to when I am scheduled for surgery.  It just confirms to me that I am making the right decision.  More tomorrow.

Well, the journey has begun in earnest today.  Wasn’t sure whether to title this post Day One or Day 15.  It would depend if I was counting down to the Surgery day or counting up to it.  Looks like I have decided to count up.

My weight today is 145.7kg.  In the last couple of weeks or so, I have been eating things that I won’t be able to have any longer.  Sweets, chocolate, breads, bacon (Mmmmmm,,,,,, Bacon!) etc.  So, what’s happening?  Well, about 4 weeks ago I saw my Doctor and admitted that I cannot do this myself.  I have tried to lose the weight and it just hasn’t happened.  I have tried Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Gloria Marshall, Lite and Easy, Biggest Loser Club and just changing my diet.  I do alright for a couple of weeks and can get down to maybe 138kg and then it all falls apart.  My Doctor had talked to me a couple of years ago about taking the surgical option.  At the time I was determined to do this myself.  I thought taking the surgical route was cheating or being lazy in some way.  I have now come to understand that sometimes it is the only way to do this.  It isn’t cheating or lazy at all.

I cleaned out my fridge last night.  What food I wasn’t able to consume was thrown out last night.  Luckily it was the night for the rubbish bin to go out. So now my fridge looks like I am poor (which I am at the moment).  There are some things in there for later, my water filter and bottles of water (from the filter, not bought in shops).  That’s it.  Most of the shelves are completely empty.  The only raw food really that is in the fridge is the chicken breast for the kitten.  Hamish (the new kitten, well, not really ‘new’.  He’s been with me for just over two months now) appears to have some sort of irritable bowel syndrome.  He doesn’t like any form of packaged cat food, and I have tried lots of different ones.  He likes chicken breast (raw or cooked) and BBQ chicken.  I would buy the chicken and then strip the carcass and put it into a container and feed some to him at meal times, as well as have some myself.  I noticed his tummy seemed to be very round.  Almost pot bellied.  He had developed a habit of pooping under the settee in the lounge room.  Not only was it messy, but it was very smelly and not very poop like at all.  The vet has instructed that he only be fed 20gm of fresh chicken breast three times a day, with Slippery Elm powder sprinkled over it.  Plus he has 1/3 cup of a prescription dry food once a day.  I tried to give him some chicken liver (between 10-15gm) with the chicken breast, as per the Vet’s instruction, to give him more vitamins.  The first couple of times was fine.  But after that, Hamish would either leave the liver in the bowl or he would dump it on the floor!  After the first week of trying every meal, I gave up on the livers.  Hamish is still gaining weight, even with the very restrictive amounts.  Although, Hamish doesn’t like the small amounts at all.  He often meows at me wanting me to feed him more.  I remain resolved and haven’t done so.  I have an additional litter tray in the lounge room now, and he poops in there.  He won’t poop in the original litter tray for some reason I have yet to understand.  His poop is becoming more poop like and the smell is getting better.  Hopefully, I will eventually be able to move the litter tray out of the lounge room (It’s in a corner, not on prominent display, thankfully) and maybe into the bathroom.  Will have to see later.

So, two weeks from today I will undergo a Gastric Sleeve procedure.  I know it is drastic, but with a BMI of over 54, drastic is what is needed.  I have trouble walking up and down stairs.  I get puffed walking up even moderate inclines.  I’m not getting any younger and I need to do something about this.  Remarkably, I am NOT pre-diabetic.  That amazes me, every time I think about it when I consider what I would eat.  The amounts of sweets and chocolate.  I am at risk of stroke at this weight.  I already have high blood pressure.  By losing weight, I can reduce my risks, and possibly eliminate them altogether.  I will try to document my journey each day.

Today has been the start of the Optifast only diet in preparation for the surgery.  This diet not only should shed some weight before the surgery, but it will also shrink my liver.  This means it is easier for the surgeon to move the liver out of the way in order to perform the procedure on my stomach.

This whole procedure has happened very quickly.  As I said, I spoke with my Doctor only about 4 weeks ago.  I saw the assessment team on 9 September, and the surgeon two days later.  I saw the dietician about 10 days ago and will see the cardiologist for the final clearance next Wednesday.  The surgeon just wants to be sure there won’t be any issues with my heart due to my age.

I have been exempted from having to look for work at the moment.  It made no sense for me to be applying for jobs when I am not in a position to accept a job offer because of the surgery.  The good thing is it is giving me time to do some knitting.  A friend is having her first baby some time this month.  I have been dawdling with getting this finished.  Now I have to push myself to get it all done.  My own fault.  Time to get back to the knitting.  Talk again tomorrow.