First 20: Gone!!!!

My first 20 pounds since leaving the hospital are officially gone!  They were actually gone as of last Saturday, but I was on vacation in Ponte Vedra with my family, my Mom and Don, and Stefanie's family.  Ponte Vedra is about 30 minutes south of my house, and we rented a beach house right on the sand for 7 nights.  It was great!  That is why I haven't written on my blog in over a week, and why there aren't any 20 pound pictures like I promised before.  But they are here now! 

Everyone is really starting to notice, and I am too.  Not just in how my clothes are fitting, but when I look in the mirror my face looks smaller to me, and I'm seeing bones and stuff in my neck that I thought were lost forever!  This evening while cleaning up the kitchen I showed Geoff how I can just suck in a little and my pants actually fall down to the ground.  Abby thought it was just about the funniest thing she had ever seen! 

I still don't have tons of energy, but I know that will come with time.  The nurse last week at my 1 month check-up told me to give myself 8 weeks to fully recover, and it has been only 6 as of today.  I was also able to speak with the nutritionist at that appointment last week, and it really helped put my mind at ease about some things, and answer some questions I have had.  I found out that as long as I'm doing things the way I'm supposed to that I should not ever again drink with my meal, and  should wait 30 minutes after each meal to drink.  I will also have to chew up my food until it is mush for the rest of my life.  These are two things I thought would change after a few months, but those are definitely things I can do to be successful with this for the rest of my life. 

Abby started school today and Mary starts her 3 days a week at Mothers Morning Out next week, so I'm hoping to start some sort of exercise schedule.  I don't know yet what that will entail, because it is still so hot here that walking outside just sounds like torture to me!  I have to figure out something though, because I know that will help with my energy level also. 

Well, here they are - the pictures.  After looking at them I can't tell much of a difference.  I do see that I stand leaning to the right, which is weird, and that I picked the most awful outfit to take these pictures in!  What in the world was I thinking?  The ones on the left are the day I had my surgery, and I weighed 253.3, and this morning when I weighed myself the scale said 229.9.  That is 24 pounds in 6 weeks - not too shabby! 






I will write again in a few days as long as we don't get blown away by hurricane Irene here!