Woo! It’s been a while since I’ve written. It’s not because I haven’t had any news. It’s because I still have no functioning car and spend 4 hours a day riding the bus, giving me very little spare time. With the economy being what it is, I can forget about getting a car loan. I’m pretty much left with getting in-house financing, which means a 25% down payment. And the down payment is what’s keeping me from having a car.

Right now I’m down  86 pounds. Let me hear an Amen, sisters and brothers!

80+ pounds ago, I had really bad knee pain. When I would step up onto the sidewalk or step up onto the bus, I would place my hand on my knee to keep it from buckling and try to lessen the pain.

A few days ago I went to step up onto the curb and out of habit, I placed my hand on my knee and Voila! No pain! What’s so funny about this is my knee pain went away quite a few months ago. Why I remembered it and thought I was going to have it when I stepped up on a curb, I don’t know. It’s funny how the body remembers pain even long after it’s gone.

Unfortunately, I haven’t had much time to post to my blog on a regular basis due to my lack of car, which requires me to spend 4 hours a day on the bus traveling to and from work. I also have to spend a good chunk of the weekend on the bus to go shopping.

 The good news is I’m closer to having a down payment for another car, so there’s still hope on the car front.

Has life changed much in the 10 months since my gastric bypass?

You bet! Let me count the ways:

• I feel healthy.

Actually I’m at the 7-month mark now. I’m still losing slowly but surely. I’ve lost a total of 62 lbs. Woohoo! I haven’t reached onederland yet, but I’m 5 pounds away from it.

Unfortunately, my car is kaput again. It overheated, and probably has engine damage, so I am riding the doggone bus again. Yes, it sucks!

At the 6-month mark, I was allowed to eat bread, rice and pasta. Thank goodness! I can only eat a couple of teaspoons of rice, but it’s nice to add variety.

11/13/07

I had my 3-month check-up today. My bloody blood tests did not get faxed to the surgeon so he had no lab results. Ay-yay-yay!

He did not seem concerned about my low vitamin D and said to take a total of 800 to 1000 units of vitamin D. That is about twice the US RDA. I bought Bariatric Advantage dry Vitamin D, but he said it is too high with 5000 IU. I’m sure as heck not wasting these bad boys, so I will take about a 1/5th per day.

11/26/07

Despite all the talk I see about mourning the holidays after RNY, I can’t agree. I totally enjoyed my Thanksgiving dinner.

Let’s see, I ate:

• A chicken drumstick with skin (I thought it was dark meat turkey, but later found it was chicken. It looked better than the white meat and was delicious! Didn’t miss turkey at all.)
• Stuffing
• Yams
• Corn
• Stuffed mushroom
• Macaroni & Cheese

10/29/07

I am due for my 3-month follow-up with Dr. Khalili November 12th. I had my bloodwork last week. I got my results from my PCP’s nurse today. She said everything was good except my vitamin D was low. Aaaaaah! How can it be? A vitamin deficiency only 2 months after surgery? Geez!

I’m in shock.

I have been taking my 2 Centrum chewables daily, plus calcium and B12, religiously.

10/21/07

Well, I am back to normal energy-wise. I have walked for 45 minutes and could have walked longer, but my lunch was over..hehe.

I have now lost 33 lbs. I realize I do not lose as fast as others, and I have accepted that. There are benefits to not having weight drop off you quickly, such as not having a lot of sagging skin. Even though 30 lbs. is not a lot, I CAN see the difference. Woohoo!

I’m now on my 7th week of my diet and I can try anything, except lettuce. I can try lettuce this coming Friday. After that, I’m off the graduated food diet. I’m really off it now, since I don’t exactly miss lettuce. I can’t have bread, rice or pasta for 6 months, but so far I can live with that.

9/10/07

Well, actually, I think it’s foolish to say “Gone forever”. Surgery doesn’t cure obesity. It only helps you win half the battle. The rest is up to you. Okay, okay. I know you’re sick of that cliche, but it’s true.

I have to say I’m not happy with my weight loss progress. Although I want to scream on the Gastric Bypass Forum, “My surgery is not working. I could have lost more on a diet by now!”, I’m not ready to do that just yet. I already know there are things you can do to try to speed up your weight loss, such as: