Good News

My doctor just called a few minutes ago to tell me that my pre-operative blood work has come back with some good news! My A1C (diabetic blood indicator) is at 6.8! For those of you that don't know - it's supposed to be at 6.0 or lower to have a healthy baby. So I'm already well on my way to getting that hurdle crossed.

My A1C in January was a 12.0 - so I've come a long way!! My doctor was really pleased with that, but now the fun begins... we'll start tapering off the medications in less than a month and see how my body reacts.

The only other news that he gave me was that my thyroid was borderline high - which he said can happen on one set of labs and be completely different the next time around. So he's going to give me some samples of a pill to take for that and we'll see what happens while I'm in the hospital or afterwards.

Overall - that is very good news - and about the first time I've gotten news from blood work like that in a long time... Have I mentioned that Dr. Weinstein is the best doctor I've ever seen in my life?!

Weekend Fun

Our first halloween decorations...

Our new television for the "gameroom" aka: football central

John's Music Center

Gameroom couch with end tables - but still no coffee table. The drama continues - so they delievered our dining room furniture and one end table three weeks ago, and were supposed to deliver the rest on Saturday. When they showed up, they brought the same broken coffee table!! So we sent it back and we'll try again this weekend. I've been instructed to send it all back if they don't get it right on the third try.

This is what I found when getting out of the shower the other day.

This is what John sees everyday when he gets home.

Here is a shot of Maggie - looking really old.

Other notable highlights of the weekend - lets see... my Math mid-term is complete and I got a 100!! With some great support and guideance from my loving husband.

The yard got treated for brown patch... and I gave the girls baths... well Maggie got a haircut and a bath. It was actually really a nice day outside, and I enjoyed a little time in the sun/shade. Since I can't be in the sun much - I took my rays when I could and stayed on the patio for the rest of the time. Oh - and John put up some outdoor speakers for us - which is really cool. I was outside listening to the radio while he was able to be in the living room watching a game. Isn't technology great?

That's about it - I go in on Wednesday for my last bloodwork and tests before the pre-operative stuff at the hospital. Normally - you'd have to have bloodwork, an echocardiogram, and an ultrasound of your galbladder before you get scheduled for surgery. I just had an echocardiogram done a couple of months ago - so no need to redo that. The wonderful lady at Dr. Ferrari's office scheduled the surgery as long as I promised to have everything done as soon as I could. So anyway - I'll have that this week, and we'll be all set.

Amazing People

The people in God's kingdom are so amazing! I have two people out there that I've never met praying for my surgery and eventual goal of pregnancy. I've emailed with a wonderful lady named Becca that has been praying for good outcomes of this surgery for me because she knows what it is like to struggle with infertility - as she's a survivor of infertility herself.

I've been on several message boards for patients that have had this surgery or are in the process of getting it themselves, and they are amazing. One group in particular provides "surgery angels" for people - which means that someone takes the time to keep in touch with John on the day of my surgery so that she can report back to the message board about how I'm doing. She'll keep checking on me over time as well for support and advice. I haven't been assigned one just yet, but I just think these people are amazing.

I'm attaching a prayer that I recieved from a lovely woman from San Antonio that I met on the message board. I've never met her in person - but she sent me the most amazing prayer - it's so touching...

Thought I'd share the prayer I said for you today. Hope it helps to ease your fears.

Dear Lord,

We lift up our WLS sister, Kim, into Your good and loving hands. We ask that You surround her with the white light of the Holy Spirit and keep her safe. Please place Your angels all around her and give her total peace in her decision.

Oh, Master Physician, please guide the hands of her surgeons and be with her entire surgical and medical staff and help them to make all of the right decisions to help Kim have a very uneventful surgery.

Father, we ask that You be with Kim’s family and friends during this time as well and that You bring Kim safely through this surgery and give her a very healthy and speedy recovery.

We ask this in Your Holy Name . . . oh Loving God, who taught us to pray . . .

Amen.

Hugs,Gayle

Only in God's kingdom do you find people that you've never met - that can give that much love and support during your times of need.

To my knowledge - Gayle doesn't have a blog... but Becca does, and it's hysterical... she really has a great gift in journaling the adventures of her family.

It's happening...

I got this picture from my mom yesterday, and I thought that it was appropriate for today's message... because I'm going to need a lot of friends over the next few months to keep me from falling.

My surgery is now scheduled for November 15th. I still have some pre-operative things to do before hand, but it is on the books. I have to get an ultrasound of my gallbladder before the surgery and some blood work as well. Then on November 9th - it will get very real... that is when I will go back for my final appointment before the surgery with my doctor, have all my tests run at the hospital... and be set to go.

It's crazy how much will happen over the next month... and believe me... the people at my office are panicking... I'll be extremely busy over the next 3 1/2 weeks so the time will FLY!

I appreciate all the love and support that I've gotten up to this point! Please keep John and I in your prayers over the next several weeks, and even beyond that as we go through what will probably be an incredible year of weight loss and recovery. Then we'll look forward to hopefully having a baby!! Wow... it is so strange to actually see the light at the end of the tunnel... and the possibilities are limitless!

Week in review

Things have been so crazy lately - that my blog has suffered a little. I wanted to give an update on a few things...

Math Class...
Things with the math class are continuing to go well - I have roughly a 100 average - and I say roughly because it's actually higher. There have been a couple of assignments that were worth 108 points which brings the average over the typical 100%. John and I are really please with the progress. My mid-term is this weekend, and from there I'll only have two chapters to complete before the final during the first week of December. I can't wait to finish this up and be able to move forward with applying to the school districts again.

Tingling & Numbness in arms & legs...
Things with my testing so far have gone well. I had an ultrasound on my veins, and nothing major was there to report. I went to the neurologist to get her opinion and will be having a test on Thursday morning to see if I might have carpel tunnel syndrome in my hands. The test is called an EMG - basically they test the electrical reactions of your nerves and muscles by pricking you in different places. (YUCK!) The neurologist wanted to also send me for a MRI of my spine and my brain to rule out the possibility of me being in the early stages of MS. She didn't really think it was anything to worry about, but wanted to rule it out completely. She didn't have much good news in terms of my legs - she didn't see any neuropothy from the diabetes, and said that there isn't much that can be done about it.

Weight Loss Surgery
The news from John's company hasn't been good - so we've had to come around to plan B. For now, we are going to get a loan from a family member to pay for me to have the surgery. (Dave Ramsey... this is to save my life...) It is a very open ended type of loan, and I've come up with several options on how it can be paid off... anyway... I've got an appointment with my new surgeon on Friday morning to find out what the next steps are, and we'll go from there. John's plan is to go back on Medifast - those that remember us doing that - it's shakes and soups. He has a very strong will, and will be successful with that program. Since I won't be eating - there won't be temptation for him, and vice versa.

The reason we're pushing forward with the surgery for me is for a couple of reasons:
1) This will help get me off of all my medications for diabetes and blood pressure
2) This will cure the diabetes problem so that I can carry a child in the next 18-24 months

Please continue to pray for us, and I will keep everyone updated with the progress of how things are going.

Comment Challenge

Hi everyone,

I've been inspired by another blog writer to challenge all of you that are reading my blog to post a comment. It is really nice to get feedback on what I'm writing, and to know that people out there are actually reading.

Blogging for me is both therapeutic and also a way to share information with loved ones without having to do it individually... but I don't always know who is getting the information.

So I challenge all of my readers to post comments every time my blog provokes a question, a thought, a prayer or anything else.

Perfect Compliments

The title of this message will be more understandable later in the post, but first I wanted to post a couple of cute pics from the weekend.

The October Birthday kids in my family.

(from left one of our 2 neices named Taylor, my little sister Gabby,

my little brother Josh, and up top - our neice Brittany)

Here the kids are blowing out their candle - Lynne (in the back) is another October Birthday.

John's Dad and our brother-in-law Kevin round out the month of October for us.

Other pictures from the big birthday extravaganza.

Poor sock-legged Maggie

Maggie & Missy got manicures and pedicures today, and I accidentally clipped one of Maggie's nails to short. After stopping the bleeding - we put a sock on her leg just in case she had a little more bleeding... we thought it looked pretty funny - so I had to share.

For those of you that know - I am taking a math class in order to complete my elementary teacher certification for next year, and it REALLY wasn't going well at first. Well, my loving husband has gratiously endured with me on my first two assignments and we've gotten 2 A's! Which leads me to a philosophical moment - you know the saying "Great Minds Think Alike"... I think that really the best combination is to take two people with very different strengths, and put them together - they can handle anything.

I am not a mathmetician by any means of the imagination, but John really excels in this area - so he is able to help me in ways that are unimaginable with my class. I owe him so much for all of his support and love with my dream to change careers... He has supported me every step of the way, but this time he's really going the extra mile to help me make sure that I pass this course.

In case you missed my point for this post... MY HUSBAND ROCKS! (and he's very handsome too!!) (oh - and don't forget the singing... he rocks at singing too!) (ok - last one - he's got tallent with various instruments as well.)

House Changes

We now have some really nice fixtures on our kitchen cabinets - this is a close up shot on it.

This is a shot of the cabinets together - we really like the way that they turned out.

Here is a shot of our dining room from the kitchen - the new furniture looks amazing!!

Here is a shot from the entry way - we are really pleased with the way it looks.

We've got some things to move out of the dining room before it is completely finished, but it already looks great. I'm going to paint below the chair railing - a really light tuscan maroon. I was planning on doing a dark suede color, but with the darker finish on the wood and the black leather - I thought that bringing in some color would look really good. I think it will tie the dining room in with the kitchen and breakfast room when we get everything painted.

We had to send the coffee table and end tables back - so we'll have some pictures of that when the new ones are delivered. We ordered some lamps that will go upstairs too - so hopefully we'll get the tables soon!! They were bashed on the corners and just completely unacceptable - so we'll be calling for a new delivery tomorrow morning.

Hope everyone is doing well!!

Spa Party Pics

Here are some pics from the day of the spa party:

Missy is enjoying a solar spa treatment...

Here we are enjoying the full effects of the focused breathing and masks.

Closer look at Taylor, Susan, and Betty enjoying the spa treatments.

I am now an official consultant for BeautiControl - so anyone that would like to enjoy treatments like this - please give me a call or drop me an email. There were many other things that we did, and enjoyed to fully relax. (I promise not to take pictures of anyone outside of my family!!)

Mom Video

Serenity Now...

As I sit here at work this morning - I'm reminded of that great line from George's Dad on Sienfeld... and boy could I use some of that today!!

My boss is a little over the edge - and as if it isn't enough to have an annual review... we have to go through a quarterly review now too. So this month - I've got to endure both of those meetings!!

I hope that it's not the same for everyone out there, but reviews really get to me. At least in the places that I've had them - it's been really tough. I come from a family that has a very strong work ethic, and I consider myself an above average employee. However, when these meetings come around - I am reduced to an average person.

Part of it is the type of boss you have that is giving the review - I know John's boss rocks and basically does whatever he can to help John get the biggest raise he possibly can. Pablo values John and knows that he brings a lot to the team there that they might not find in somone else. My boss on the other had is very quantifiable in nature - so if your goal is to do 50 of something... no matter what was thrown at you on top of that or the million of other factors involved... if you did 49 - you didn't meet the goal. If you did 51 then you did.

To me the workplace isn't quite as black and white... and somethings are all in the eye of the beholder. So it's tough to swallow at times, but as usual - I'll get through it and move on...

Lemon Law

Does the lemon law apply to people? If so - I'd like to get a refund on myself... I feel so much like a 95 year old these days - it's so much about my various ailments, and not enough acting like a normal 29 year old person. It gets depressing at times. I've got a week full of doctors appointments - well they bleed into next week too.

It seems that last Monday my body decided it has had enough of playing along... so my arms and legs started having periods of numbness and tingling. It's a very weird feeling too - my first thought was "I'm having a heart attack or a stroke" but I didn't really want to let on that I was scared that bad. I gave it a day to see if it was just a random thing for the day, but it wasn't - so I called my doctor.

He brought me in and since the surgeries are not happening as soon as orginally planned - we changed all my medicines, and he scheduled me to see a neurologist. I'm also having ultrasounds done of all my arms and legs to see if my blood is circulating properly.

I have the ultrasound tomorrow, and see the neurologist on Monday. In the meantime - I have an appointment with my nutritionist on Thursday... I'm sure that my boss is loving me right now!! Thank goodness he's going to Washington D.C. tomorrow and won't be around to actually see me gone. (He knows about the appointments, but out of sight - out of mind.)

I'll post updates as I know more.