Night Out

Friday night, Julie and I and some other girls went out to Fat Jacks Bar and Shooters Bar. 
I took the time to do my hair extra curly (it is natural, but I have to dry it very slowly for it to look nice) and do my make up just right, especially my eyes.  I washed and dried my favorite jeans (almost too big for me now!!) and wore my best black shirt.  I thought I was looking pretty cute!  Julie picked me up at 8:30pm and we headed to Jacks. 

 As soon as we got a table I saw this guy that I had gone out with years and years ago walk into the bar.  Let me just say, I cannot stand him.  He is so obnoxious I just want to slap the shit out of him every time he opens his mouth.  Lucky me...he ended up knowing all of my friends that I was there with.  What did I do to piss off the universe this time? He sat with us the entire time we were there!  I had to suffer through his loud mouth and him trying to touch everyone.  We finally left and went to Shooters Bar and I really thought he would come out there, but he never did. Thank goodness!  

Shooters was DEAD.  I guess people don't go out on a Friday night anymore.  It was not packed at all.  There was, however, a very strange man there.  He was randomly dancing with every woman.  Just going up to her and dancing beside her or behind her.  If you have ever seen the Ellen Show, she had a contest called Dance Dare.  Please, if you haven't seen it...watch this video!!! Ellen Dance Dare Winner
Funniest thing EVER!!  Here are a few more must see  videos:  Video 1 Video 2 Video 3

So, back to the random dancing guy...  Girls were not impressed by him or his moves.  He finally came over to my friends and I and tried to dance around and behind us.  I pressed my body against the bar so he couldn't get behind me.  He told us that his daddy was the richest man in America and that he was the richest guy to even set foot in that bar.  He told us his name, which sounded very rich indeed... something like Preston Wallace Thorn-dyke Wales the 3rd or something equally rich and famous sounding.  He even had an odd rich kid look to him.  He was clearly an escaped psych patient that decided to stop there and dance...randomly...with every girl there.  To make things even funnier, this really tiny old lady (in her 70's at least) came in and started doing the same thing this man was doing.  They never spoke to each other as far as I could tell, but she randomly danced with everyone, men and women.  I finally said "Is this randomly dance around people you don't know day?"
Security finally made him tab out and leave. What a weird guy.  He was obviously mentally ill.  The whole thing reminded me of Ellen's Dance Dare contest.  Please watch the videos!

After we left Shooters we went to IHop.  Julie and I shared a meal.  We are lap band sisters, ya know? We had eggs, sausage, bacon and hash browns.  It was so good!  It came with red velvet pancakes, but we can't eat bread products like that.  It might gum up and stick in the band.  I boxed up the pancakes and took them home to my children. We had an awesome waiter named Michael.  He was a pretty funny guy.  He kept making fun of us because we wanted him to hurry and get our food even though we had just gotten there.  We were so sleepy though, we just wanted to hurry and go home to our beds!

We made a side trip at 2am to the ER (Julie and I  work at the ER) to pick up some sheets that Julie had left in the monitor room... I had to run in there and get them for her because she thought she smelled to much like smoke.  We had acquired this horrible smoky bar odor...  it was nasty.  I hate that smell.  I used to be a smoker, but I quit about 3 years ago.  Now, I hate the smell of cigarettes.  

After I got home, I put my smoky clothing in the washer and closed the lid.  I sprayed body spray all over myself in an attempt to kill the stench.  I finally got into bed around 2:30am.  

What a night!! 
Looking fwd to doing it again soon!! 





  

Gonna Drop It Like It's Hot Tonight!

...OK maybe more like luke warm...but it's going to be a blast either way!

My friend Julie and I and a few others are going out tonight!  I am so excited!  Thinking Fat Jacks first, then Shooters (Texarkana, Arkansas).  A few non carbonated drinks for me because I deserve them, but not too many!!  Empty calories, they are!!  It is possible there could be dancing!  Watch out Texarkana, Wendy is going out on the town!!

Will post an update tomorrow with possible photos!

8-15-12 Pictures

Guess what?  I forgot that I will be at work Saturday and so will my son (he takes the photos).  So today is picture day!!  

These are my ONE MONTH after lap band photos!!

August 15, 2012

August 15, 2012

Almost One Month Post Op

I am 3 days shy of being one month out from lap band surgery placement.  I started all normal foods today.  I had a slice of pizza for dinner.  It was small, but I feel like I ate 5 slices!  In 3 days I will be taking my 1 month photos.  I know I took the before photos on July 5th, but the surgery was on July 17th.  People have told me that I look smaller, so I am excited to see the new photos and judge for myself side by side with the before photos.  It is hard to tell since I see myself daily and don't really notice change yet.  So, be on the lookout Saturday for 1 month photos.  

Feel free to follow me on Twitter:  @WendyUnBrOkEn 
Facebook:  Wendy Sterling Carr

Oh and I weighed today!  2 more pounds gone FOREVER!!!

Post Op Appt * EMT Test

I had my first post op check up yesterday (8/9/12) and everything is right on track.  I have healed up nicely and I am pain free now.  I go back in 2 weeks for my first fill! I am very excited about that even though they will be sticking a 5 inch needle through my abdominal wall and into the port.  Owww!  It will be worth it though!

When I got to the doctors office the first thing I noticed was how hot it was in there.  I saw people fanning themselves and sweating.  My mom went up to the desk and asked why it was so hot and they told her that in the middle of the night someone or a group of someones climbed over an iron fence and through barbed wire to get to the buildings air conditioners to steal the copper wiring from them!  It just makes me so mad that people like this are even on the planet.  I want to scream, "GET A FUCKING JOB like the rest of us!". 

I had to sit through a nutrition class (in the blazing heat).  I can now start to transition to regular foods as tolerated.  I am not supposed to drink anything 30 min before I eat, while I eat or 30 min after I eat.  That is SO HARD!!!! If anyone has any tips please share with me!

  Because of the heat, it was the most miserable doctor appointment I have ever had.  I know the poor staff  were miserable, too.  They did not even have fans in the back.  They had one fan out front, but it was doing very little to cool that huge waiting room off. 

Starting weight (first day of liquid diet) 7/05/12 :  257 pounds
Weight on surgery day 7/17/12 :  253 pounds
Weight as of 8/09/12 :  245 pounds
Total loss as of 8/09/12 :  12 pounds

_____________________________

August 20, 2012 I will be taking the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technology test.  I guess I should start studying to refresh myself!
Wish me luck!!



19 DAYS POST OP

I stopped weighing.  I get too emotional about it if I don't see a drop.  I am going to wait until my doctor appt to weigh again.  I go August 9.

My incisions are healed for the most part.  They are still pink and raised, but are no longer painful or itchy.  I only have minimal upper left sided discomfort due to the hernia repair. 

I have not had heart burn or vomiting or nausea in 19 days!  I've had bad heart burn since I was 19 and vomiting and nausea for the last year because of the hernia.  I was so miserable.  I literally ate an entire bottle of Tums every week.  It barely touched it.  Nexium controlled the heart burn the last 3 months, but not the vomiting and nausea.  I didn't even know what it was not to have that horrible burning sensation in my stomach, chest and throat.  It is NIIICE to be heart burn free!  No more vomiting! No more nausea!! My risk for esophageal cancer is less now.  YAY!

Everything in my life seems to be going according to plan.  I am just very impatient and want it all RIGHT NOW!  I want to be skinny NOW.  I want a relationship NOW.  I want to graduate school NOW.  I think you get the picture...
Patience... I need patience.

~Sleep Apnea~

I saw my internal medicine doctor yesterday to go over my sleep study results.  I was really hoping that I was OK now since getting the hernia repair.  I have felt better, slept better, and my kids say I am not snoring very much at all now.  So, when I went to the doctor I was hopeful that I would be able to get another sleep study to prove that I am better, but no...

Some background:

For the last 2 years I have had trouble swallowing food.  It would get stuck right at the base of my sternum and it felt like the food was growing and stretching my esophagus. It would be so painful at times that I would have to go make myself throw up.  I was also getting very nauseous every day, especially at night.  I would also vomit nightly, sometimes several times a night.  I had terrible heart burn and acid reflux as well. Acid reducers worked most of the time for the heart burn but I still had reflux/vomiting nightly and nothing would help that.  I started feeling very fatigued and weak about a year ago.  I couldn't seem to function beyond work and had to force myself to go to EMT school and go to EMT clinicals.  On my days off I'd stay in my pajamas and stay in bed all day sleeping off and on or reading.  Just walking to the bathroom exhausted me. Lifting my arm to turn on a light wore me out.  Having a conversation made me tired.  When I would go to work, I took caffeine pills to keep me awake and give me some energy. I was neglecting my kids needs.  I felt bad about that, but it was just too miserable to get up and do things. I was in a constant state of depression and had a lot of guilt.  I am sure my family thought I was lazy.  Hell, I felt lazy!  I didn't go out with my friends anymore because I just didn't have it in me to do so.  If I did go out with a friend, it was not for very long.  I got to where I'd have to call into work because I had not slept at all and I just couldn't function.  My whole entire body would ache and burn, also.  I couldn't even touch my legs.  They felt like they were one big bruise.  My neck and lower back hurt so bad at times that the only relief I had was when I was in bed being a still as possible. I had stiff joints and my bones cracked and popped all the time.  I suffered from headaches  several times a week.

One day about 4 months ago I posted on Facebook that I was having all these issues.  A friend/co worker of mine saw it and told me I should see her doctor.  She said she had some of the same problems and that her doctor made a huge difference in her quality of life.  So, I made an appt.

When I went to this new doctor, she made an impression on me right away.  She spent 2 hours with me going over my entire life worth of medical history before deciding what tests to run.  She questioned me about everything, even things I didn't think of as significant...she wanted to know about them all. She finally decided to do some blood work and a home oxygen level test.  She also diagnosed me with fibromyalgia.  I take cymbalta for that.

My blood work showed I was deficient in vitamin D and I was anemic (low iron).  That explains some of the weakness and tiredness.  She started me on vitamin D therapy, 5,000 IU  a day.  I started on vitamins with extra iron, also.  My home oxygen test showed that when I was asleep my O2 levels fell down to the low 80's.  I was at work when my doctor called and told me I had to do a sleep study that night. After work I went up stairs and got hooked up to a million different wires and they put me to bed.  Trying to sleep during a sleep test is hard but I did manage to get 400 minutes of sleep.  Enough for the study to be conducted. 

As you know, July 17th my surgeon went in and placed a lap band and while in there she found and fixed a major hernia.  Since the surgery I have not had any more nausea or vomiting/acid reflux. 


Back to present day:

So, yesterday I saw my doctor for the sleep study results.  The results were very very bad.  Basically, I have profound sleep apnea.  I have obstructive and central sleep apnea.  Sleep apnea is when a person stops breathing while sleeping.  My sleep apnea is so serious I will have to see a specialist on Aug 13, 2012. No wonder I was tired and weak...I wasn't sleeping!! 

Although  obstructive and central sleep apnea are both serious, central apnea happens when the brain stem doesn't send messages to the muscles that help you breathe.  Sometimes, the cause is an infection in the brain stem, a tumor or a spinal cord injury (I did have spinal surgery C5-6 in December 2010).  As you can imagine, I am a bit scared and worried.  My doctor literally looked me in the eyes and said I could die without treatment.  That was terrifying, to say the least... 

Please see this website for more information on sleep apnea.