Today Is The Day!!

Hello all!  I am finally here!  Today is a day that is going to change my life!  :-)  Travis and I have to be at the hospital at 11:00 this morning, and my surgery has been moved to 1:00 pm.  I haven't been allowed anything to eat or drink (not even water) since midnight, so I'm trying not to think about how hungry and thirsty I am.  Thankfully, I slept VERY well last night...feel like I am well rested.  I'm actually surprised by how well I slept!  :-)

I want to thank you all for the many, many well wishes, hugs, prayers, kind thoughts, words of encouragement-you name it.  Thank you, thank you so much.  They mean so much to me.  There were a couple of you who posted to my wall on Facebook...please do not be offended or hurt but if you don't see your posts anymore, it is because I removed them.  I haven't shared my news with world of Facebook yet.  I will eventually, when I'm ready.  I've chosen to surround myself with the people I love dearly..people I know who have my back and support me and lift me up in prayer...I believe that the Facebook realm may open me up to some negativity and unwanted opinions, which is something I really want to avoid right now. 

So, off I go.  Thank you all again-I love you all.  Please continue to keep me in your prayers.  I will update again as soon as I can. 

3 DAYS....

Well here we are..."IT'S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN"!!!  Tomorrow is my last day of the full liquid pre op diet.  Tuesday I will be on all clear liquids.  And Wednesday, my life changes forever.  :-)  It's been tough this weekend...yesterday, I learned that one of my best friends passed away, just 5 days after giving birth to her baby girl.  I am heartbroken and shocked.  Yesterday, I fought a big battle against turning to food for comfort-like I would have in the past.  I fought and won. 

My heart hurts for her family, and her sweet baby girl.  My heart hurts for me and for the rest of her friends that will miss her so much.  But I am so thankful that I had her friendship, for however brief a time it may have been.  I am so thankful for her support and all of her encouragement during this journey. 

I will continue to keep the blog updated as much as I can.  Please remember me on November 17th.  My surgery is scheduled for 4:00 pm, and I have to be at the hospital at 1:30.  Thanks for reading!

11 Days....

Day 4 of the full-liquid, pre-op diet.  So far, so good-although we went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things, and there is a Subway there...and the smell of the bread literally made my mouth water!!  :-(  I walked past it very, very quickly.  This week I have been through hopefully all of my pre-op testing.  My endoscopy was on Wednesday and it went well.  I had blood tests, a stress echo and a chest x-ray on Thursday. 

It's hard to believe that in 11 days, I'm going to change my life forever.  I'm nervous, but very excited too.  I'm getting ready to put an end to a 16-year struggle...and I will win the battle and the war!!  :-)  I'm so happy that I've made the decision to do this.  I am so thankful for my wonderful, supportive husband (who is doing the liquid diet with me, by the way), and the support of my family and friends. 

I'm also finding that the closer I get to my surgery date, the more I see dissent and disapproval starting to creep out of the woodwork.  People ask, "Isn't the surgery too dangerous?"  No.  No more dangerous than having your gall bladder removed.  How many thousands of people have that done in a day?  "Will you ever to be able to eat again?"  Yes.  Absolutely.  I will eat again-I will eat normal foods again...just in much smaller portions, and I won't have to fight the mind trick that I need more.  "Can't you just lose weight the old-fashioned way?"  No.  I've tried that for 16 years, only to watch myself gain weight year after year. 

I'm ready to have my life back.  I'm 35 years old, and I want my life back.  I have a fabulous husband, a fantastic family, friends, church family, etc.  I have so much to be thankful for.  I am so blessed-and I am ready to live like the blessed girl I am.  I have no doubts that God is with me on my journey.  So I don't have much time for nay-sayers.  This is a path that I chose for myself.  With God's strength, and with the love and support of all my "cheerleaders"....LET'S DO THIS!!

15 Days and Counting

Hello all!  It's only Monday and a lot has happened!  My surgery has been scheduled for November 17th!  This week I go through some pre-op procedures.  Wednesday I go in for my endoscopy, and Thursday I go for blood tests, stress echo and chest x-rays.  Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers....it's gettin' real!!