6 months on

Well 6 months have whizzed by oh so fast.....The conference in Palmerston North was worthwhile. I didn't go to any of the social things cause I was too tired but it was a good day at the conference. I have now had 3 lessons in style for a pear shape which was very helpful. There were 2 women who shared their cosmetic surgeries to remove excess skin stories. We were reminded of the rules for having the surgery and how to make a success of it. It was a very informative enjoyable weekend.

I had my 6 month check up on Thursday. My bloods were all good though I need to now have B12 added to my list of life time supplements. My new weight is 110.8kg which means I have now lost 42.6kg! Whilst in Palmerston North I was rather blown away to realize that I will soon be able to fit the larger size of normal clothing sizes! I bought my first pair of size 18 pants a couple of weeks ago, that was quite a buzz...

I went to support group today with Brian and met a whole lot of people that I haven't met before including 2 pre-op people. It was good to have so many come this month.

One thing that I have learnt is that I am in the honeymoon phase which lasts about 6-9 months and is the time we lose the most weight. It is the time to establish good eating habits. The surgery is not a magic cure, it still has to be worked at.

I am so pleased with all the progress made.

Marie and I joined Curves at the beginning of November and are going 3 times a week and really enjoying it. We belonged to it 5 years ago and it has changed a little for the better. We have still been doing Zumba once a week too though a couple of times at home as an extra.

Have a great Christmas everyone and we'll update progress in the New Year.

clothing

Ok well it hasn't been a month since my last blog but I thought I would share what I think is exciting. I went and bought myself a new bra on Saturday. I had tried it on a few weeks ago and knew I needed to buy it so I went back into the shop. Good thing I tried it on again because I ended up getting one that was 2 cup sizes smaller! The poor shop assistant couldn't work out how she could have been so wrong with her sizing lol! It wasn't her fault poor dear :). Also, I had to get some summer tops so went out with Marie on Sunday and bought 2 - both size 18! So now I have a size 22 butt and size 18 top! Sorta wished they were more evenly proportioned but that will hopefully happen in due course :).

I tried Vibratrain 4 times but ended up not continuing with it as it gave me a sore back and Wendy (my chiropractor boss) told me that it wasn't a good thing for me at this stage. Marie and I have joined Curves instead. We were members when it first opened 5 years ago and decided to give it a try again. It is just over the road and so we will attempt to go 3 times a week as well as our Zumba on Thursday.

Well it's been a long time since my last blog. Things have been ticking along nicely. We are involved in so much more now and so I get busy and can't necessarily think of anything to say :)!

Have been doing Zumba with some friends and Marie at church. A couple of times this week I tried out Vibratrain - now that's some sort of weird sensation and generally I am moving around a lot more and more freely.

Even though Pytha gave me all those clothes, I haven't really got much use out of many of them as they are all too big! I went to Farmers and tried on some jeans yesterday and discovered I can fit a size 22 - yay. I also took a link out of my watch yesterday. I can now fit my bum into one of those green outdoor chairs - like Brian said, it's amazing what we take for granted and laughed at my 'little' achievements :). I had to go bra shopping as well but haven't managed to get anything yet.

Yesterday at work I discovered that I have lost a 10 year old! A 10 year old girl came in to work and in the midst of our conversation I asked how much she weighed and she said 34 kg so I will now share that my weight is now 118.3kg which is a loss of 35.1 kg which means I have now lost a 10 year old :) :) :) !!! I am just over a kg heavier than I was when I was full term with Marie and Damien and just a couple of kgs heavier than I was about 7 years ago so as you can imagine I am delighted with my progress and look forward even more to the future. In a month I am due to go to the weight loss surgery conference in Palmerston North so that will probably be when I report here again. Thanks to everyone for their support!

Weeks 12, 13 and 14

Wow 3 months since my surgery, time is just zipping along. This week I went for my final chat with Donna (the counsellor) and that went well, just talked about my goals etc and how to break them down into smaller bites. I also saw Zola - the nutritionist and Carol - the nurse. All my blood tests were good and so was my blood pressure so medically I'm ticking along just nicely :)!

I mentioned about my nails and Carol said yes both nails and hair suffer due to the lack of protein and it usually starts around now so I guess my hair will start thinning a little too now (should've waited before I had my haircut lol)!

I got my hair cut and coloured Friday week ago and it so gives you a perk up. That Sunday at church I had so many people complimenting me on my weight loss it was embarrassing!

I realised I'm hardly ever throwing up now which is good. Just when I realised that I went and throw up that meal LOL. Gravy with meat and bacon in it are so not nice the second time around!!

I went to see Pytha the other day (my friend who had the lapband at Christmas) and she passed some clothes on to me which is very much appreciated as my wardrobe was looking decidedly empty.

Had our last dance lesson on Tuesday and have the ball/social tonight. I wasn't able to get a dress or anything but have got a nice new top to wear and lovely new dancing shoes. It funny how different it feels to dance in proper shoes.

I have purchased Zumba off trademe and am waiting for it to arrive. There is a group of about 6 of us from church who are keen to do it together so we will go and use the church and the big screen.

So for the past 3 weeks losses, week 12 I lost 300g, week 13 I lost 1.3kg and week 14 I lost 300g. I now weigh 124.2kg which is a grand loss of 29.2kg! Just 800g more to go and I'm at 30kg! Wow! Maybe this week :)!

Off to support group tomorrow.

Just a Couple of other Thoughts

I forgot to put on my blog today, I've been noticing for a few weeks that I can lift the skin on different parts of my body which seems weird lol! It ok now but not sure about when I lose the bulk and have the excess skin. Another downside has been my nails. I was told I could possibly lose hair because of not getting enough protein but it appears that its my nails that have been effected. I had thin nails to start with but in the past couple of weeks they have been peeling really badly which makes them sore because they not very thick. Hopefully the multi-vit I'm having will help to remedy this in due course.

Weeks 10 and 11

Well my blogs are getting shorter and further between but quite frankly I don't have a lot to say atm :).

The weekly throwing up has really slowed down which is great. I need to make sure that I am eating properly though because it could be so easy to eat alot of wrong foods for me because they are easier to digest and don't necessarily get stuck.

Went to support group last week which was good. I got there and there was only 1 lady who had been there the previous time I had been and unfortunately it was the lady I hadn't really talked to so I wasn't sure if she was from the group or not. She saw me looking rather lost and came over and asked if I was looking for someone which was very nice of her because I did feel a little silly. After that 3 other people came so there was 5 of us. I met a guy who had the surgery 1 year ago. He weighed 180kg and was down to near 100kg. It so amazing seeing peoples before pictures. There was another lady there who I hadn't met before either so it was neat to have the familiar as well as new faces.

Brian was sick last week and a number of times I wasn't sure if I was coming down with something or not. I had lots of baths or showers to warm up and then went to bed with a Lemsip and wheatbag to cuddle and by morning was fine.

Speaking of baths, I don't have them that often due to the great effort of getting out of the bath at the end of it all. I had my first bath in I don't know how long whilst Brian and I were at the Mount. I can actually get myself out of the bath quite reasonably now so I have been having some baths at home :).

Mum has put some of my outgrown clothes on TradeMe. Another step in saying byebye to the old me. I can now fit the 2 pairs of pants that Louise passed on so that now gives me the option of 4. Mum gave me some new undies the other day but didn't tell me they were all different sizes and so I wondered why I could only get 1 of the pairs 1/2 way up my thighs when I realised they were an L! Oh well, one day I will be there.

Still really enjoying the dancing. Marie and I went to look at dance shoes. We were only looking for her and they had some really nice ones. I was looking through a catalog and found that they had some shoes that I could possibly wear so I asked the lady and I was able to try on some with a very very low heel. It was very strange to be walking in them but it's just because I have spent the past 20+ years wearing flat footwear. I really liked the look of the shoes on my feet, much better than the Nana shoes I wear for work. We have both ordered a pair of shoes and hopefully they will come soon because they are coming from Taiwan.

I've decided the reason I have a bit of trouble with the dancing is because as a bigger person I haven't really been used to lifting my feet properly and also the sensation of being swung around is really foreign. I know over the years as I put on the weight I have got more frightened of things because I think mainly of the fear of falling and falling heavily. I've been thinking heaps lately of things I want to do when I'm at a more reasonable weight so we'll see what happens.

Ok now for the weigh in. Last week I weighed 127.4kg which was a loss of 2.5kg and this week I weigh 126.1kg which is another 1.3kg off! That's a total loss of 27.3kg now or my boss said to say it in pounds cause it sounds better so that's just over 60lb!

Week 8 and 9

Yay I am now in the 120's well only just :). This morning my weight is 129.9kg which was a loss of 700g this week and last week I lost 800g. So since March I have lost 23.5kg and since my surgery 14.1kg.

To answer Rebeka's questions, I do manage to throw up about once a week but it nothing serious just food too dry or too big. I am still in the trial and error stage of my food eating but haven't had any major problems with anything at this stage.

Last Thursday I went to the Food Show with Damien and my friend Lesley and we nibbled our way around all day which is not a good thing to do on a regular basis or else there will be a massive weight gain. I had times when I didn't try things because they just wouldn't fit in but no loss. It was a great day and the 5th year I have been. We watched 3 cooking demos which were 45 minutes each so I wasn't eating at those times lol. I didn't have any adverse effects from any of the food I tried, no dumping. I even tried some alcohol all be it an extremely small amount but it didn't go straight to my head.

Brian and I shared our 22nd wedding anniversary on Friday and went to the Mount for the weekend. We went out for dinner on Friday night and I had some yummy scallops and decided to try a cocktail which was also very nice and best that everything was eaten and drinken slowly. Brian told me not to eat fast because he didn't want me to throw up a lovely meal :). So I did as I was told.

Dancing lessons have been fun. We had done 2 so far and have learnt the quickstep and chacha though I must admit at times I'm a little un-co. We (Brian, Marie and myself) are the only ones in class who have never danced before and we are all doing well.

Went and saw the surgeon last week for all of 5 minutes. He weighed me and just asked how I was going and was pleased with my progress and how I am noticing things and so I'll see him again at 1 year. I have started on my iron, calcium and vitamins which will be a daily staple for the rest of my life. I am no longer so tired and have more energy.

At work I have asked if I can do more so am starting to do some of the office jobs that Wendy's mum was doing which I suppose is what I was born to...

I'm off to the support group again this Sunday so look forward to meeting up with those I have already met and to meet some new people.

Week Six and Seven

Well camp is over and done with now. Was a bit of a tricky week. I came home Tuesday for work Tuesday night and Wednesday morning and then headed back up. I weighed myself Wednesday morning since I wasn't here Tuesday morning and had lost .700g for the week which took me 100g shy of -21kg! Ripped off! Lol!

Anyway, whilst at camp I recognised some of my trigger points. One of them which I already knew was eating late at night. To combat that at home I go to bed early then I'm not downstairs where the food is and I tend to drift off to sleep about 9pm anyway. Wasn't necessarily able to do that at camp and so did have a snack at least once at night which was not a good choice because it was rashuns. Another trigger was the cold weather. I took my own food and tried to eat what I could of the camp food but mostly it was my own and not necessarily the comforting warm food I desired. I had lots of hot drinks and 1 of the morning teas I had a small sausage roll. The last trigger I have come to recognise is boredom. If I have nothing to do or very little to do (which has been the case at work lately), I want to eat. I don't at work though I have had sugar free lollies. So now knowing these trigger points I can be more aware and make sure I have a plan of attack to combat those times.

At camp I went for 2 walks along the beach with Shona which was fun. Pity we don't have the same scenery at home :(!

On Friday I went and saw Zola (the nutritionist). I told her I could lie to her about how things went at camp but I told the truth and it was fine. We discussed the triggers I have and about where I go to now with my eating. I was surprised by how much she was expecting me to go up to with some of my meals. Generally I have been having a weetbix with protein powder on it for breakfast and maybe a yoghurt. Some times I have had a poached egg and cruskit, maybe some cheese. For lunch I have been having a cruskit with hummus or meat spread and cheese or a poached egg or some leftover protein from dinner or tuna. Tea I have been having some form of meat (mainly chicken though I have had beef, pork, fish) with a couple of veges (broc, cauli, carrot, a small amount of either potatoe, pumpkin or kumara). Zola told me not to have too much of the starchy veges.

Zola has given me a small plate that they use for the lap band patients which I'm to have 1/2 the plate protein and the other 1/2 free vege. At this stage I may not be quite up to the amount but I have with a couple of meals. I find it weird that some days I can eat quite a bit at say tea but the next day not be able to eat nearly as much at the same meal! Zola also told me instead of 1 cruskit to have 2 and to have them 4 layers high of protein! I was rather horrified at that thought but I will get there eventually.

Sunday I got back into having people over for a meal which is something I have really missed. I used to have people at least once a week but since pre-op I haven't had anyone. I told Brian that after camp I wanted to get back into hospitality.

Yesterday (Monday) I went to Advanced Physio for an exercise consul (it's part of the package). They have given me some exercises to do at home with a Swiss ball to strengthen my core. Now all I need to do is find our Swiss ball. In the afternoon I went and saw Donna (the counsellor or more correctly life coach). We had a good session talking about setting goals for myself in all areas of life as this year is full of changes for me. I have had the op, got a part time job, the children are doing correspondence and don't need me the same. I came away with some great tools that I'm going to share with my children.

So today is week 7 since my op. This morning's weight is 131.4kg. That is a loss this week of 1.1kg and a total loss now of 22kg! Yay!

Oh, another thing that happened this week, on Friday I had to go and buy myself a new pair of pants. I had been wearing my very over stretched size 26 which were holding alot more than that size, more like a size 30 butt, anyway, I bought a pair of size 24 which are a little big but the size 22 a little small so I'm happy with what I got and will wear them the most I can to get what I can out of them lol! When Mum was in Aussie a few weeks ago she bought me some size 24 undies which I have enjoyed wearing lol! One of the exercises I did with Donna was imagining myself once I have lost the weight and I'm really looking forward to going shopping and buying normal clothes at a variety of shops.

One more thing, there is going to be a homeschool ball at the end of term (not sure if we will go), but they are having dancing lessons the next 8 weeks so Brian, Marie and myself are going. They start tonight so another fun new exercise to do.

Week Five

Had a good week this week. Eating more solid food but still getting really tired. Zola rang me on Friday to see how I was getting on and told me she had sent me info in the mail to help with the next stage of my journey.

It kinda weird cause some meals I can eat a decent (for me at this stage) amount and others I can't eat a whole lot. Brian and I went out for dinner Monday night since the kids went to Dad and Mum's. We had chinese and I was surprised how much I was able to eat. It was really nice though :).

Tiredness is still a big factor but I'll get there. It still quite normal to be tired because I'm consuming so little. Didn't help that I was out late Saturday night, and had 2 late nights the next 2 days but they had to happen because family life continues. Also, I've been working some extra hours because Nancy has been away. I'm working for her all week this week which brings my normal 6 hours up to 19 hours so I have had a sleep in the last 2 mornings to compensate.

This week I weigh 133.2kg a loss of 1.2kg this week and a total loss of 20.2kg! That just over 3 stone since March - wow I'm really stoked!

Next week I'm off to Kids Camp in Auckland and so will again take my own food in case there is nothing there I can eat but I'm sure I'll be able to have something. Really looking forward to the week ahead.

Week Four

Wow it's been a whole month since my surgery!Am on more solid foods now though have to learn to chew, chew, chew. Have had a few incidents of food stuck due to not properly chewing which are not the most pleasant but not as painful as the first time.

This week was a bit yuck as on Tuesday night I developed diarrhoea which lasted until Saturday morning. I rang the surgery on Wednesday and they thought I might have eaten something too fatty or sugary but I had started keeping a food diary and knew exactly what had passed my lips and knew there was nothing in it. The nurse told me to get some Imodium which I finished Thursday midnight. They rang back on Friday to see how I was going and I had made an appointment for see my doctor which I was told to keep. I went to the Dr and he told me I had a temp of 38.4 (I need to get a thermometer)! He seemed to think I had an infection so prescribed me some more of what I had been taking and told me to take panadol 2 x 4 hourly as I was having cramps too. I was due to go away for the weekend which he said I could do if I felt ok.

Off to camp I went to the annual Home school mother's retreat. It was the 10th anniversary and I have been to all except maybe 1 or 2. I took Lesley with me for her first time and she really enjoyed herself. It was a bit of a blah weekend for me. My heart (excuse the pun) wasn't really in it. I went to bed early each night because I was extremely tired and I think there were too many people there and the weather was yuck etc etc. Any way, it was good to catch up with some old friends but I think I have done my dash with going to HEART.

I had a wonderful sleep when I came home on Sunday night. Yay! I think the diarrhoea may have been caused by a takeout cappuchino I got Marie to get me whilst I was working on Tuesday night as it struck within an hour of having that and I hadn't had anything else to eat for hours!

So I don't know if having diarrhoea most of the week counts as cheating but I was eating normally for me and so my weight for this week is......134.4kg - a loss of 19kg since March and a loss of 3.3kg this week!

I'm really noticing the baggy clothes and sometimes they don't feel the best to be walking around in but I can't wait until I can fit some smaller fashions so onwards and upwards this week :)!

Week Three

Week 3 has been fine. I am now on soft food. It was Brian's birthday on Saturday and we went to The Mount for the weekend as the children were away at Leader's Training camp somewhere on the Coromandel.

I had thought we wouldn't be able to go out for dinner to celebrate but then decided yes we could. I had looked in the Entertainment Book and seen a restaurant I wanted to try but when I looked online, their menu had changed. We spent Saturday morning looking around the shops at The Mount and Tauranga and decided to have lunch as it was quite cold. We looked at a whole heap of different menus but couldn't see anything that I would be able to have so decided to try the restaurant I had originally picked. Well, they had just changed their menu that day. I chose from the brunch menu a crayfish and prawn omelette with country potatoes and toast. I asked that the omelette be only made from 1 or 2 eggs not the 3 or 4 they used and no toast. Brian had an eye fillet. When the food arrived my omelette was huge! I picked a little at the egg and then ate what I really wanted which was the crayfish and prawn (there was also cheese and spring onion but I didn't really have them). I ate a couple of the small potato cubes and ate my food really slowly savouring every bite. I left just about all the omelette on the plate and just about all the potato too but that's fine. It was a lovely menu and on the marina too.

That night we went down to the food court to grab some tea and I couldn't see anything I could have but decided to have chicken nuggets from Oportos. Brian had a burger with chips. I ate 1 of his chips (which were cold) and 1 1/2 chicken nuggets before I discovered that I had a big problem. I'm not sure if it was dumping but I think it might have been. For the next 1 1/2 hours I had to go to the toilet or stop on the side of the road to spit up and eventually throw up. It's really weird because you get a really big build up of mucus which stops you from breathing or swallowing effectively hence needing to spit up all the time. Not a very pleasant experience and quite a sore throat by the end of it.

All week I have not noticed any weight loss and thought oh no not again. I had been having some cruskits outside of my 3 meals as I was hunger. I decided yesterday to write a food diary and keep an eye on what I was eating. I also started keeping a poo diary because I used to go every day and now I was lucky to go every few days which though I was told would happen, I still found it very disconcerting. Anyway, yesterday I thought I might have even put on weight - horrors! But, did my weekly weigh in this morning and I weigh 137.7kg - a loss of 800g - phew and yay!

This weekend I'm off to HEART and am taking my own food so will report back next week.

Week Two

Have finished my first week of the pureed food and now into the second. Seems to be going well though I have been a little hungrier on a few days. Trying to go to sleep at a reasonable hour as I know this is one of my triggers for over eating. Still sleeping on the couch, not sure when I'm welcome back upstairs lol!

Weighed myself this morning and there was no change, still 138.5kg. Zola did tell me that some weeks there wouldn't be a loss but I sorted of expected that a bit further in. Never mind, as Marie said "At least it's not a gain".

Went to the support group on Sunday and met 5 ladies who are a different stages of their weight loss. Two were 3 years post op, 1 - 18 months and 1 - 9 months and the other I'm not sure. It was the Hamilton support group but ironically I was the only from Hamilton there!It was great to hear their stories and look at their before and afters. Disturbingly they shared with us how much better their sex lives were since having the surgery with some details I don't think I needed to hear (nothing too racy though just too much info!).

There's a weight loss surgery conference down in Palmerston North in November so I have booked to go and also booked my accommodation. Not sure who I'm going with yet but at least I'm all booked.

Back to work today and maybe driving again for the first time today.

It funny how people think I'm just lying around trying to heal. They ring or see me and are quite shocked at how cheerful and well I am! I'm healing well and doing light duties and going for my little strolls even if it is only over to the mall or around our street and the next.

This weekend is Brian's birthday and him and I are heading over to the Mount for the weekend whilst the children are away at Leader's training. We're hoping to go out for dinner for his birthday as I will be allow soft foods and starting on seafood etc this week.

Here's to another good week.

Week One Up and First Week Weigh

My first week has gone well and I've managed the new eating regime quite good if I may say so myself. Sucks a little when you smell nice smells and can't have it but oh well, it will be worth it in the end.

This first week I'm on pureed food and will be next week too though I can have a cruskit with a protein source on it. That is the most important thing, a protein source each meal and quality at that. So I've had poached eggs, some soup I made post-op, cruskits with cheese or hummus on, porridge, yoghurt with fruit, weetbix with protein powder so not all that boring. I learnt my lesson last night when I tried to eat a little piece of mashed potato and it wasn't as mashed as I thought and it got stuck. Oh that was very painful! The notes I was given said I just had to ride it out or have a little water or diet frizzy to try and dislodge it though it could take anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours to pass! Thankfully 20 mins was long enough but I sure won't make that mistake again and make sure I chew everything completely!

So now to my weigh in.....Last week I had 2 weights as I weighed at home before going to the hospital and then they weighed me. There was a 200g difference with favour being on the hospital's side but the weight difference I will take for my records are from my scales at home since they are the ones I will be using most. So this morning I weigh.........

138.5kg - a loss of 5.5kg!

Of course Zola told me I'd have a big loss this week though she said about 3kg and then my weight lost could be varied depending on how my body wants to work. So, any loss, will be a good loss and I mustn't be disappointed if it is small.

I have now lost a total of 14.9 kg - yay!

Off to have the cuppa Marie has made for me now, will report again soon :)

The Beginning

For about 22 years now I have had a struggle with my weight which saw me go from about 70 kg on my wedding - 30 July 1988 to over 150kg the past 2 years. Due to being raped 2 months after my wedding and then subsequently a couple of years later moving to Blenheim with my husband Brian since he was in the RNZAF and the loneliness of the 2 years there, by the time we moved back to Hamilton in 1992 my weight had ballooned to over 100kg!

Whilst in Blenheim we had tried to get pregnant but that didn't happen and just before we left I had started having infertility investigations. We moved back to Hamilton and within 4 months I found I was pregnant with twins. I didn't put on too much weight whilst pregnant with the twins going up to 117 kg. I had Marie and Damien 18 March 1993 and after I had given birth went down to about 91kg.

Things seemed to go OK for a while but slowly the weight came creeping back, in fact, I don't know at what rate or when! I just remember dieting at different times over the years. In about 2004 I was about 140kg and so went to Weight Watchers. I lost 25kg and was so energetic and confident it did frighten me at times. I was on cloud 9 but later that year a friendship that was very special to me suddenly disintegrated and left me totally bewildered, depressed and within a very short period of time I had ballooned 30kg as I wasn't able to function and so we ate a lot of takeout meals. Over the next couple of years I tried to have some resolution to the situation but it ended up to only be resolved in my own mind.

In 2008 I went to counselling which is something I should have done years before because the insecurity of the rape and then the weight gain and peoples comments took a big toll. It was one of the best things I did because it helped me sort out a heap of issues and be at peace with myself.

Last year my mother, being concerned for me, suggested we do Sure Slim together. For a few months that went well and I lost 10kg. Unfortunately I like being hospitable and that particular diet didn't fit in with my lifestyle. So again, I put the weight back on (Mum didn't though, she lost her weight and looks really good).

I remember a couple of years ago mentioning to someone that I had wondered if I could borrow money off Dad and Mum to have surgery. I had seen programmes on TV but didn't give it another thought. Sunday 14 March 2010 Damien and I went to visit Dad and Mum and a friend of theirs was there. She asked if I knew of anyone who would be interested in a part time job in my area. She explained the job and I said I might be interested, she said she'd check with the boss and get back to me (I hadn't been in the workforce since I was 6 months pregnant and I home schooled Marie and Damien). After the friends left Mum again expressed concern about my weight and that her and Dad were worried about my heart (my only real medical problem was the arthritis in my knees which was making mobility difficult). She said they would like to help me with stomach stapling. I didn't need to think twice! I came home and told Brian and he informed me that he had been researching it and wondered if it was something we could save toward. I spent the night looking at local sites on the net and finding out as much as I could. Monday morning I rang my GP and had an appointment the next day with him. I had never met him before as my GP had changed but he was a really lovely man. I told him what I was wanting a referral for and gave him a run down on my history. He said he had had 2 patients of the past years have it done and he was happy to give me a referral. I got a call from Mr David Schroeder's office on Friday 19 March to come for consultations Tuesday 23 and Wednesday 24.

Monday 22 I got a phone call from Mum's friend to tell me the job was mine if I wanted so I started that Wednesday. It was so exciting, a new job and the prospect of finally losing my excess weight both offered the same day and both started the same week!

On Tuesday 23 I had a consul with Carol the nurse who weighed me (153.4kg) and explained to me the different procedures and then I had a consul with Zola the nutritionist who explained to me about the change in diet etc and made a tentative booking for my procedure, which I decided would be roux en y gastric bypass surgery, for Tuesday 18 May 2010. On Wednesday 24 I met with David the surgeon and then Ann the psychologist and then Donna the counsellor.

I needed to go on a pre-op diet for 4 weeks to help shrink the liver and lose some weight before the surgery. It started on Tuesday 20 April. It consisted of either a protein shake or bar twice a day and then a dinner of protein and non starchy veges - no bread, rice, pasta or alcohol for 4 weeks. After a bit of fine tuning with the flavours I liked I managed to get the diet done.

I had told a number of people that I was having the surgery and there were heaps praying for me especially when I got a cold the week before surgery. Thankfully it was mostly a runny nose and after talking to the anaesthetist was fine for surgery as long as it didn't go to my chest (which it didn't).

I felt at peace the whole time and wasn't nervous about what I was about to undertake. I turned up at the hospital reception and as I was waiting for the receptionist to get off the phone another lady came in, saw my appointment form and informed me that surgery would be canceled due to the surgeon becoming suddenly ill. A friend said we prayed for you, didn't think to pray for the surgeon (which people ended up doing). I went down to his rooms to talk to Zola to find out how far away surgery might be and what I needed to do about my diet. She weighed me and I had got down to 145.9kg (a lose of 7.5kg). She said she would ring me back re the date but it could be in the next couple of weeks or in June some time. She told me to stay on the diet so after checking supplies at home I went back on Wednesday to get some more to last me the next 2 weeks as they had rung to say my surgery was rescheduled for Tuesday 1 June.

I was still fine leading up to the new date and wasn't peed at all that my first surgery had been canceled. Come the night before though I felt like crying! I turned up at the hospital at 8am and was shown to my room where the nurse got me ready for theatre (I had lost another 2.1kg). I remember looking at the clock as I was being wheeled into the operating room and the time was 10.10am. The anaesthetist told me he was going to start administrating drugs to put me to sleep and that's all I remember until I awoke back in my room at 2pm with the family at the end of my bed!

I spent the next few days in hospital and other than a little nausea the first 2 days I had no real pain as they kept on top of pain management. There were about 5 of us who had the procedure done and I met most of the others. Sleep wasn't too forthcoming most nights and so I watched TV or did puzzles. On Friday 4 I left the hospital at 10am. I went to Mum's for the night because Brian had to go to Rotorua but I was home on Saturday. I had much better sleeps Friday and Saturday night - yay!

Today is Sunday and I have to be careful not to overdo things. I've been out a couple of times but am getting some rest in too. I have jumped on the scales a couple of times since I got home but I will wait until Tuesday and do a proper weigh and let you know how my weight loss since surgery has gone.

Here's to the new tomorrows :)