Start

Tonight I went in for my first class. I met with the MA and she took my BP and weight. Unhappy to say that my weight is 209.9. WOW that's up, even from last Thursday! But even more serious was my BP, it was 160/100. That's bad:( All the more reason to be doing this! I met with the Nurse Practitioner and we went over my labs. Not too bad. CBC, liver and kidney function were fine. Cholesterol was 184 and blood sugar was 101. I then met privately with the Behaviorist and went over my plan one on one. Her name is Louise and I love her! After this I had an hour long class of learning the program, what and what not to do/eat and question time. I think I can do this, not gonna be easy but I CAN DO THIS!!

As I was leaving, one of the ladies who just finished week one said to me "enjoy your last supper", so I did and went to Dos Coyotes!

I got home and filled in the family a little bit. Olivia is the most supportive and really cares and is so excited for me. Maggie and Izabell are like "how'd your thingy go?" Maggie jokes and says "did you have to get up and say, my name is Lisa and I'm an alcohlic?" Haha! Ruben says he will be supportive. I'm sure it will be hard for him too since he loves food so much! And Momma won't be cookin all his meals! I then called my Mom and talked to her about it. She hurt my feelings a little. Not meaning to, just the normal Mom concerns. "Isn't it going to be hard through the holidays, who's going to cook all the meals, will you be able to just put a pot of soup on, can you have drinks over the holidays?" These are all legitimate concerns and I have thought about all of it but really Mom, when have I ever let my family down.....really let them down? I will let them down if I continue on this path of a slow death and maybe even have a stroke or heart attack! I will manage, we will manage :)

Tomorrow morning I start the "food". If that's what you call it! All liquid with some variation of flavor and consistency. Until then, I'm going to go enjoy my last peanut butter cup and a HUGE glass of milk!

"New Direction"

Feelings of excitement, anxiety, hope and fear fill my heart today. As I enter into a "New Direction" as I start a Medically Supervised weight loss program tomorrow. Basically a supervised starvation. I keep telling myself, I can do this as I stress and think about all the food I should be "chewing" today. The Holidays are upon us and that seems to be the worst time to turn your direction on food. The doctor said I should wait until after the holidays but I say NO. Do I want to add 5-10 lbs. of "seasonal" food? NO!! Weight Watchers was ok. 29 lbs. in 6 months wasn't bad. But then after vacation in July came a whole new set of stresses.

Ruben's Mom cancer. Put a whole new swing into our family dynamics. He was absent most of the time during September-October and when he was here, he was a zombie. And to top that off, I broke my arm the day before we found out she had cancer. 3 casts and 6 weeks of therapy and 75% permanent use of my hand and wrist. Trying to hold a household together with an absent spouse and trying to hold him together, is trying. Crap, who has time for this!! All the while, I started home-schooling Izabell-a lot of times she has been a self starter and learner. I hope I have not done her a dis-service. She is far ahead of where she should be and doing a lot of junior high work only being in 6th grade. So fingers crossed that I have done my job. Olivia started high school and oh how I worry about this child. She is so spirited and hard-headed. She has had to deal with "girl" drama and girls can be so mean. Being part of the leadership team for school, building a homecoming float in our driveway leaving the paint mess, that is still there today. I don't have time to deal with that either. She also had a challenging volleyball season with a new coach which resulted in Olivia resigning 2 weeks before the season was done. I hope it has not broken her spirit and the love for sports. Maggie-she has gotten herself into a huge pickle. She decided to take 2 AP classes and 2 Honors classes her senior year. Of all years!! This should have been an easy year to enjoy herself. Instead she is stuck studying for 4-5 hours a night. Her grades to, have suffered from our stressful 3 months. College apps are done and now the waiting game to see if her academics and extra-curricular are good enough. I am starting to feel a tinge of empty nest as the reality of her going away to college in 8 or so months. Oh my, where has the time gone?

Stress-we all have it in different forms and some worse than others. I am not complaining or giving excuses, but the bad thing for me is, I am a stress eater and always have been. Late nights are the worst when it is quiet and I think a lot. Lack of sleep also results from this. Average of about 5 hours a night for me. But on the flip-side, I could sleep all day!

Health #1-I need to do this! I need to lose weight! 2 years ago this month I found out I had a large tumor on my ovary, along with some other junk in my uterus and an elevated CA125 which by all accounts ment cancer. We wouldn't know for sure until surgery. Had to make plans for the "what if's". That was the longest, slap a fake smile on my face Christmas I had ever had! Surgery in mid January resulted in a total hysterectomy and thankfully got rid of any signs of cancer! Now recovery......a long recovery. I ended up with cellulitis and a gaping whole in my stomach that had to be stripped and cleaned twice a day for a couple months. I think it finally closed the end of April. I thank God everyday for the Mother I was blessed with to take care of me. Yes, my hubby, kids and friends were wonderful but my Mom had to do the heart wrenching task daily of cleaning that hole. She cried as I cried in pain. Only a Mother would understand. Now I only occasionally have a tinge of incision pain. That is nothing compared to HOT FLASHES. Yes, full-blown menopause started when I woke up from surgery. I can't take hormones because of family history so I just deal with menopause like any other ailment in my life. Suck it up!

Health #2 I have had surgery on both my knees. Arthritis and old injuries back from junior high. I was active until that junior high injury. Back them they didn't do fancy tests or surgeries. I had a torn meniscus and a cyst on my right knee and had micro-fracture done on my left knee because I have no cartilage. I still have no cartilage. The doc said no replacement until I'm 40 and lose weight. Well guess what, I'm 40 and haven't lost enough weight. So I live with the pain daily. Which in turn means no exercise because it hurts. Vicious circle. Excuse? Maybe, but who likes pain?

Health #3 When I had all my testing before my hysterectomy, they found that my L1 and L2 both had healing from an old break. Humm....maybe that old injury from senior year in Mexico? Who knows. I just know that it bothers me once in a while and I know the added weight I'm carrying around doesn't help.

Health #4 Last year I was diagnosed with hypertension and put on medication. My blood sugar and cholesterol are ok but that's just a matter of time. When I went in last week for a screening and had an EKG, the doc found that my heart is enlarged. Not good because that means it's working overtime. OK-TIME to do something!

I am blogging this for me. This is something I can refer back to when it gets tough. It is for you, if you ask why so drastic? I will continue to write on here through my journey to refer back to and remind myself why.

Look at Flickr

I started recently posting to Flickr. Although Blogger is great I have difficulties uploading pictures on it. Please check out my Flickr photos at www.flickr.com/photos/momto3girlz. I am able to unload more pictures at one time and don't get booted out!

Check HIM out!!!

Ok- I think all of us who have straight teeth take it for granted. When I met Ruben ( I'll be honest here) his smile was definately NOT the first thing I noticed. I do think people judge you by your smile and whether or not your teeth are straight. Every picture I have of him prior to 2 years 7 months and 15 days ago, he never smiled. But this morning he went and got his braces off. He came home and I cried the second he walked through the door and can't stop looking at this picture of him. His first words were kiss me baby!!! What a transformation!!! He teared up and told me he never thought he would feel this way about having straight teeth. He said it's like a woman having a boob job! He said he can't stop smiling. His self esteem is through the roof!!! After leaving here on his way to work, he stopped by Dr. Wiley's (our dentist) to show her. All he said to her was "I want to thank you for something" and smiled at her. She cried too.......she was after him for years to get braces and together we finally talked him in to it.I thought he was handsome before but now he is MUY CALIENTE!!!!! So next time you see him- smile and I'll bet he'll flash those pearly whites at you!!!

Olivia's class

Olivia's class had a woman from India come to visit and teach them to speak and sing in Tamel. Don't they just look thrilled!

Halloween

The girls and their garb.... Izaiah did not like being Flash....
Home Girl.....

Labor Day cont.'d.....

OYSTERS- YUCK! The boys waitng for their prize oysters.
And yes football- George and Austin had a football game about an hour away from Dillons, so we packed up for the morning to go watch. It was fun because we know a lot of the boys playing!

Labor Day- Camper, beach, sun, sand, bikes, oysters......what more could you ask for? Football???

Labor day weekend we went to Dillons Beach. No quads just fun!! The weather was so beautiful that the kids decided to try body surfing.
Sledding-my style, no snow!!!

cruising the bikes..... A bunch of college kids decided to play beer softball and our kids decided to join in (without the beer of course) you can see George rounding 1st base.

Come and Gone

Soccer season has come and gone! The girls had a great year.

Izabell was one of the older girls on her team so she got to shine this year! They lost all their games except the last one were Izabell made the only goal!

Izabell loves playing goalie Olivia celebrates after making a goal! Olivia merged with another team this year and they won every game. I don't know what this is....looks like she's dancing!! Maggie quit metro soccer and went back down to a recreation soocer team. She played with an older U16 team but she held her own and had a blast!!!
CAJ volleyball has come and gone......... Maggie LOVES volleyball and wants to go to college on the coast so she can play sand volleyball. I guess I am prejudice but she is one of the best players on the team!! She can serve well and is a setter.

ALMOST DONE

I went to the docs today for a recheck on my knee. I can get rid of the crutches at least part time!!! Around the house from point A to point B is ok. Anytime I go out of the house if there is going to be walking involved, I have to use them. No shopping yet by myself (unless I use the lark), UGG...... No squatting (or weed pulling as I see it), jumping, running, and no vacuuming standing up (too much twisting) What did I expect, a miracle? I will be spending a lot of time on my stationary bike, heck, maybe even lose some weight!! No quad riding at least for now....I go back in 3 weeks and he'll let me know if I can ride my quad at Easter!!

I guess my yard will look like a jungle for a little while longer and the dust bunnies will keep multiplying as bunnies do!!

Our new baby!!

This is our new baby Big Dog Pismo Boy. We got him when he was 7 1/2 weeks. He is now 12 weeks. He is a doll. Ginger needed a playmate and partner to have pups and after pricing stud fees, we decided to get our own stud, it was cheaper!!! He is a smooth mini-dachshund. After doing research on the internet, I found a breeder in Cottonwood which is near Redding. She and her husband drove him to me in Elk Grove because I was at a basketball tournament. As you can see, the kids and Ginger love him!!! The first day Ginger hated him, she bit him a couple times. By the 3rd day she was mothering him and now they play so cute together. They do have different coats but you can breed them. They will have a mix of short and wire haired.
It is a fight every night about who gets to hold the baby!
It is so much easier this time with a pup because when we got Ginger, Izabell was a toddler and she picked her up by her neck and pulled her tail.
He likes to eat hair so I think Maggie was scolding him for chewing her hair.
Hopefully we will have pups in the next 9 months or so!!!

Good report

I am back from the Dr. and had a good report!! All the swelling is almost gone and I have about 75% range of motion. All the pain I am still having is normal. I can put 10 pounds of pressure on it and add 5 pounds a day.....how do I do that?? Touching the ground is basically 10 pounds!!! No physical therapy for now. He wants me to try and do it on my own with a stationary bike and swimming. Ya right, like I'd swim right now in a non heated pool but Ruben and I are off to buy a bike tonight. Great, I'll have something to do besides stare at the dirty floor!!! I really shouldn't be so anal. There are a lot worse things to worry about. I guess I inherited it from my Mom!!!

The Dr. also told me if I am doing all I am supposed to and not supposed to, I could possibly get off the crutches and gadgets a week early!! WOW something to look forward to!!!

Where am I headed?

Where am I headed? Well not far with this things!! (Not pictured: an other set of crutches for the shower, 2 bath chairs, one for in the shower, one for out of the shower and a lark) I am so sick of these things!! Everything hurts!!!My collar bone, my back, my armpits, the palms of my hands and my other knee.

I have a new found respect for the disabled. Although I can see how they can adapt with a little trial and error. I made dinner for the first time the other night. It wasn't too bad scooting around the kitchen on my walker. I don't like being at eye level with the stove though-that's kind of scarey!!

Speaking of dinner, I have a lot of wonderful friends who brought us food or had us over for dinner for 3 weeks!!! Thanks Jen, Julie, Steph, Rena, Trina, Sheila, Stacie, Kerry, Sharon, Vicki, Melissa, Tammy, Lorraine, Debbie, Mike, Mom and if I forgot anyone, I am sorry!!! You all have no idea what a huge help that was for my poor hubby!!! Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!

I do have a Dr.'s appointment this morning so stay tuned............

Knee

Hello all! Yes I know it has been a lllooonnnggg while since I have posted anything. I can give you excuse after excuse but I think really it was just out of pure laziness and I've been getting a lot of flack from my peeps, so here you go!!!

I thought I'd share a little of what has been going on in my life. Last Monday, January 21st I had surgery on my left knee and I thought I'd share these photos I got yesterday from the doc. No there is no blood or gore but it's pretty interesting.

The 2nd picture down on the right is of gnarly tissue (looks like sea kelp) that they call rice cells. It is precursor to rheumatoid arthritis. There is not much they can do about those but they did take a chunk and sent it to pathology to test for cancerous tumors and other diseases. Good news-all tests came back clean! May develop into worse arthritis later.

3rd picture on right and 4th picture on left are of the damage he hopefully fixed. The light pink is of exposed bone that rub on each other. The white part is of cartilage. My cartilage is chunking away. Dr. Matheny said this was not normal because usually it wears down and doesn't chunk off. These light pink areas is where he drilled into the bone and did a procedure called micro -fracture. It tricks the body into thinking you have a break and sends bone marrow there to fill the space. It clots there and after about a year, turns into a faux cartilage. Bad news- this usually only lasts for a couple of years. The sucky part is it is non-weight bearing for 6-8 weeks. I'm only a week and 1/2 there!!!



On this second set of pictures (1st picture) this is of my ligament on the lateral (inner part) of my knee. Normally this looks like a piece of smooth tape but mine is shredded like spaghetti. No repair can be done because of the manner in which it is damaged (nothing to sew itself to) Can still move and knee is not "loose" so it still functions. The bottom 2 pictures are of normal cartilage which is on the medial side of my knee.

Besides the micro-fracture he did a repair on my meniscus, removed a cyst, and sucked out bone and cartilage fragments that were floating around in the synovial fluid. Conclusion-well despite all of this, I will have to have a total knee replacement. My "young" age is a big factor though. He is hoping this procedure will buy me a few years!

Dune Fest Activities

They had all kinds of activities for the kids. Here there were about 100 kids digging in the sand for prizes. I think they won a game. Too crazy!!Olivia and Ruben entered a relay race, one parent, one kid. She was eliminated after the second round. They had to race around the barrels. Olivia was good at it but her quad wasn't fast enough.
Our friend James had to race with both of his boys. Austin 9 and George 8. What a work-out!!!
The boys got 1st and 3rd. George won a trphy and a pocket quad.

For any of you quad enthusiasts, Maggie, myself and James are in the November issue of Dirt Wheels magazine page 130.

All in all, we had a BLAST!!! We now know what to do next year!!!!

Dune Fest

In early August, we took a trip to Dune Fest in Winchester Bay Oregon. We were supposed to go to Pismo but the Friday before we left, I got a call from the lady in charge of the event and she said they had room for us. There were about 15,000 people. Lots of quads!!!

On the way up there, we stopped in Medford to visit with my Aunt Vicki and spend the night. Thanks Aunt Vicki!!! It was nice because it cut the 10 hour drive in half. Ruben and I love Medford. Retirement??? Maybe....
At Dune Fest we stayed in a parking lot next to the Bay. Not the greatest location because we were a mile or so from the dunes. We took what we could get and had a gorgeous view! They even had a lane for quads, that's how big this event is!!!
We were literally in a parking lot. There were 12 of us in all and we made the best of it!

The kids played next to the water looking for crabs. We got to watch some locals with their traps and got to see one close up.