So Much To Look Forward To

I am NOT gonna give up. Why should I ?!

Just look at Lilly Day with her impressive moves at 95 yrs old, not to mention her lovely sequenced shoes... Love, Love, Love those shoes who directly reflect her personality and zest for life.

According to some kind of computer program, I am gonna live to be 91..... Do you know HOW MANNNNNNY springs I'll have left to celebrate? summers to deal with? Falls TO LOVE and winters to snuggle to keep warm?

Nope, I ain't giving up.... No Sir Ree Bob.

Soothing Beauty

I had my lap band surgery yesterday.  Being in bed for the last 2 days, I wanted to see something pretty, something outdoorsy.  I thought of the gorgeous road trip I just took and these pictures came to mind.  Hope you enjoy them too. ❤

Good Night!

This is it. I checked. There is no u-turn.

I've taken my shower #1 and I'm going to hit the sack. In a few hours, I'll get up for shower #2 before heading toward the hospital for the surgery. They certainly want me "clean", don't they?!!! I wonder what they have in mind!!! Hmmmmm 😜

I am in great spirit and ready for this challenge.

Oh, by the way, if by a one in a trillion chance, I didn't come out of anaesthesia, I want whomever I have ever said I love you to, know that I meant it, and I still do. That is just how it is and that's the kind of girl I am. 😘

Now go out there, have a nice day, and wish me luck. 😊

The Last Night

So what that I have to check into the hospital at the Crack of down tomorrow .... There are hundreds of minutes to live, laugh, learn and enjoy life before that. 😊  I chose to celebrate the "The Night Before Surgery" by going to see a great Documentary that was shown at Santa Monica Library.  A once-a-month program called "Docunight". 

My Inspiration!

The 65 year old Lola Angelisa Del Rosario's Zumba instructor posts her videos on YouTube to encourage and inspire people to get fit.

If she can do it, why not us?!

The Last Supper!

Knowing that I was going to start my 9-days pre-op liquid diet today, I thought long and hard as to where I was going to have my so-called "Last Supper"!

At every meal I have had during the past 4 weeks, I said to myself, "this may be the last time you will ever get to enjoy eating THIS DISH with no restrictions (or at all). So, I really enjoyed every bite and tried to eat everything I like.

Finally, I selected my local Souplantation (An extensive soup and salad bar) to have my "last meal" at, because of all of the fresh varieties they offer and also to sort of say goodbye to them (at least for a while!). Of course, I didn't eat all of the items in this picture, but at least tried some.

I have started my journey today.... Wish me luck. ❤

You Tell 'em Tim Gunn...

Fashion consultant and television personality Tim Gunn thinks it’s time clothing designers offered styles that work for everybody -- not only extremely thin models. After all, the average American woman is between sizes 16 and 18, or what the industry calls “plus size.” He admits the task of democratizing fashion will be a challenging one, as designs must be re-imagined and not merely resized.

Attention and Kindness of Others :)

Do you have one of those cousins that are so kind and loving that even the mention of his/her name warms your heart? You sort of know that he/she is always keeping an eye on you even if not present. Well, I have one of those. Her name is Toghi. All of a sudden, out of the blue, she texted me today about a friend who has had a similar surgery. She was ever so gently asking me if I wish to consult with her.

Lo and behold, "the friend" turned out to be mine, as well!!!

I called her and we had a very long conversation. She generously gave me her time shared her good, as well as bad, experience with her Lap-Band surgery which she had had several years ago.

She had some great advice but more than anything else, she was trying to get me out of the floor called "Fantasy" and dropping me off at another level called "Reality". I also learned how different people's "Fantasy", as well as "Reality", can be from one another.

The most important lesson I learned today was to start exercising right after the surgery and NOT to wait till I lose weight. My surgeon had also suggested that I start walking at least 20 minutes a day, even before the surgery.

Another subject that resonated with me was what everyone talks about; strong sense of nausea and regular vomiting. I had read about it and had had long conversation with my close friend (whom I call my American sister, Mary) and another family member, Maryam, but the friend I spoke with today, put it quite in perspective for me by saying that nausea and even vomiting is a common part of this experience, particularly at the beginning, until I learn how/when to eat/drink. Of course, it goes without saying that if you eat/drink VERY slowly and in TINY bites/sips, there will be less nausea and consequently less vomiting.

Her overall view of her experience was that she had done many things wrong in the first year but she has done much better in the following four. She shared a lot more of her stories with me including the fact that she has lost over 100 pounds. We hung up the phone in quite a celebratory mood. :)

NOTE: This is NOT her picture. I selected it from internet. It shows a before and after shot of a woman who has lost 73 pounds

What About Lap-Band?!

Ok, it seemed I was close to making my decision but still didn't know quite how it works. So, I asked and researched!

HOW IT'S DONE: MINIMALLY INVASIVE. MINIMALLY DISRUPTIVE.

The procedure is performed laparoscopically. That basically means that a tiny camera allows the surgeon to see inside your body as he or she performs the procedure. Only a few very small incisions are made in the abdomen (about 1.5-2.5 cm each). The band is placed around your stomach using long, thin instruments.
The LAP-BAND® System procedure is usually done on an outpatient basis and the surgery itself typically takes less than an hour. When the procedure is performed in an inpatient setting, the hospital stay is generally less than one day. In most cases, you’ll get back to your life in about a week
Adjustments to optimize the system are made through a discrete, comfortable access port that is placed just beneath the skin.

I watched several videos on Youtube including the actual procedure from start to finish. If you wish to watch, click on the link. Of course, it is not fun to watch or even fun to think about but I had reached to point of decision making. And the decision, I made!
Click on this link if you wish to watch the entire Lap-Band procedure in 10 minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfjDt419dM4

I am scheduled for Lap-Band surgery on December 7th. I am anxious, excited and a bit scared but have decided to go forward with it. Your comments, support, cheering are all welcomed. In fact, I look forward to them.

Is The 'Sleeve' A Right Fit?!

Curious and concerned, I turned to Youtube to check out another option: "Gastric Sleeve Surgery". (By the way, how did we use to live without Google and YouTube? Forget it, let's get back to the subject at hand!)

I wondered what could 'Sleeve Surgery' be! Was the surgeon going to put a sleeve on a part of my body?! Perhaps around my stomach?! Well, here is what I found; a video showing LIVE gastric sleeve operation by Dr. Oliak. In a short span of 20 minutes, I got to see the detailed, step by step, procedure of being chopped up! I asked myself whether I have "the stomach for it" (No pun intended - Ha Ha Ha) and came to the conclusion that I do not possess the required set of balls! See for yourself...


I then read somewhat about the procedure and this short explanation seemed simple, to the point, and appropriate for the blog.

"Surgery Overview"
"Restrictive operations like gastric sleeve surgery make the stomach smaller and help people lose weight. With a smaller stomach, you will feel full a lot quicker than you are used to. This means that you will need to make big lifelong changes in how you eat—including smaller portion sizes and different foods—in order to lose weight.

This surgery requires a large incision in the abdomen (an open procedure) or by making several small incisions and using small instruments and a camera to guide the surgery (laparoscopic approach). More than half of your stomach is removed, leaving a thin vertical sleeve, or tube, that is about the size of a banana. Surgical staples keep your new stomach closed. Because part of your stomach has been removed, this is not reversible."

Well, IF imagining chopping up my stomach, or having one in the size of a banana, or the last sentence of (THIS IS NOT REVERSIBLE), or even watching the video didn't help me NOT to select this procedure, picturing this drawing in my head, made the decision for me to NOT go for the "sleeve"!

So, the research continued....