Giving birth...

...to a kidney stone is nothing like giving birth to a child. It's worse! Ask me, I know. Passing a kidney stone is like trying to shove a bowling ball through a straw. It's pure hell, and it's something Bernie experienced this weekend, poor guy.

We'd gone to church on Sunday, then headed up the coast to drop Megan off at Girl Scout Camp (about 1.5 hours from home). About 30 minutes into the drive, he's feeling nauseous. We've got to get Megan to camp, so we push on. Before we get to our destination, he's lost whatever was in his stomach. We think he's got the flu. Fast forward to the drive home and he's miserable all the way home. Can't get comfortable. Feels nauseous and thinks he hurt his back at work. It should've clicked then, but it didn't. Both of us were focused on getting him home and into bed. By the time he got home, he was purely miserable but we still didn't put two & two together. No temp, but definitely sick to his stomach. It wasn't until early evening that he really started complaining about his back hurting. That's when it clicked. I described what it felt like when I passed my kidney stone. He didn't think it was that. I disagreed and called the doctor. Doctor said "get him to the ER." We got him there by 8pm, and after a CAT scan, chest Xray, blood & urine test, they confirmed kidney stones. An 8mm stone. EXTRA large by stone standards. The ER doctor was using his scan as a show & tell opportunity for all the ER staff. Great.

So, the urologist was called in. We could tell he wasn't thrilled about being called in so late on a Sunday night, but he agreed the best course of action was surgery to remove the stone as it was blocking (something - I don't know what), and everything inside and around his kidney was enflamed. They got him into surgery about midnight and out by about 1am. I stayed until he was resting comfortably in his room and then drove home for a little snooze. He was able to come home early Monday morning, and thankfully now feels 100% better. The CAT scan shows that he has more stones, but they're smaller in size. I guess that's the good news. The bad news, is that someday they'll try to pass and that means "here we go again." Hopefully because they're smaller in size, he won't be in as much pain and won't have to have surgery again. He'll see the urologist in a couple of weeks to determine if there are any treatment options.

Now, what shall we name this cute little prickly stone?

Seeing as I have followers...

Eegads! I have followers! Hopefully y'all aren't STALKERS! *giggle* I suppose since I have a few followers (I feel so popular), I'd better think about posting an update, eh?

The best & BIGGEST news is that I finally hit that 40 pound loss mark about 2 weeks ago! YAY! I am so excited I can barely contain it. And to make that news even better, I got on the scale this morning and saw another 2.5 lb loss bringing the total to 42.5 pounds in about 3.5 months. I went in for my 2nd fill this week and I can really tell how much I can (or can't) eat. I find that when I eat small (and I mean small) portions about every 2 hours, I do ok. I focus on protein. Always the protein first, then fill in with fruit or veggies. I really do need to find some recipies for some tasty protein shakes though. I'm getting a bit tired with what I'm currently doing.

Other news...Cory turned 19 on Monday. Wow. Sometimes that is so hard for me to get my mind around. First that I have a child that old, and 2nd that he made it to 19! *lol* He had to work on his birthday, so his dad & I delivered a bouquet of balloons to his workplace. I think he was a tiny bit embarrassed (but probably a little bit pleased as well.) Megan is off to a "leadership camp" this week. She was SO excited to go. I think she was just excited to get her summer started. She'll be home from that for a week and then she's off to Girl Scout camp for most of the summer.

It sure is quiet in the house without Megan here! That girl is a whirlwind of yakky-ness. I think she only stops talking when she's sleeping! :) I think I miss her and she's only been gone for 2 days!

Lots of news

I had my first fill on 5/11 (6 weeks post-op) and let me tell you I was ready. Seemed like I was always hungry before that fill. Now I'm back to "normal"...my new normal, that is. I'm still losing weight...1-2 lbs/week. Very happy about that! My port site is a bit tender. I can feel it under my skin, and the area around it just feels kind of bruised.

I had a bit of a scare the other night. I mindlessly (and really, it was the first time I mindlessly ate anything since surgery) picked up a piece of roast off the cutting board and ate it. Obviously I didn't chew it well enough because within a matter of minutes I was in PAIN. OMGosh...it hurt. I thought I was going to either hyperventilate or die. I couldn't sit, couldn't walk. Was trying to figure out what to do when I finally figured I was going to have to throw it up or pass out. I went into the bathroom and was able to put my finger down my throat enough to cause a gag reflex and that seemed to solve the problem. Didn't throw up, thankfully. I will NEVER eat mindlessly again!

The good news is that yesterday I went through my closet. I put all the clothes that were TOO BIG for me now in a box and I'm going to donate those to our local weight loss support group. Then I dragged out the two boxes of clothes I'd had packed away for 10+ years and tried all of those on. Most of them fit! I was SO happy. It's like having a new wardrobe without having to buy anything!

I'm SO happy I had this surgery. My husband asked me the other day "Why didn't we do this 10 years ago?" I wish I had. But now is good too!

A noisey house!

It's not that Cory's a noisy kid, it's just that when he & Megan get together, the noise level in the house goes up 20x, not just 2x.

We got home from Pullman yesterday afternoon. It was a good...but LONG trip. It sure was nice to be home again. And it's nice to have him home, too. Megan was VERY excited to see him and I don't think they stopped chattering to each other until it was bedtime.

Had a rough start this morning. I realized I'd left my purse in the truck last night after we'd gotten home, and that my keys to the truck and my office were locked inside. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that until this morning when it was time to take Megan to school. *Silly me* Had to ask my boss to come & let me into the office this morning, and am going to borrow my dad's car this afternoon so I can get into town for a doctor's appointment. Not a great way to start off the day.

Cory's off job hunting this morning. I sure hope he comes up with something. In a town as small as this, there aren't many opportunities. He really needs to work this summer to help pay for school. I don't know what he'll do if he can't find a job. I'm going to try not to sweat it too much, but I'll be much happier knowing he as work!

Skinnier Me!

Let's celebrate! This is the first time I've been under 200lbs in over 10 years.


Here's a photo of me 2 weeks before my surgery.


And here's my 5 week post-op photo. I have a waist!!

Shopping!

My clothes are baggy & saggy on me and it's not a pretty sight! I went shopping today and what fun it was to try on clothes that were two sizes smaller than "normal". I'm now officially out of the "plus size" size! YAY! Never to return!

Bird Poo

This can only happen in a two cow town! A friend of mine who lives in a neighboring town mentioned the other day that the power went out in town. Nothing terribly exciting about that. Inconvenient yes, but exciting...not so much.

Well, today, as I was cruising through the newspaper I discovered the reason for the outage. It was listed in the police reports. The outage was caused from a "concentration of bird droppings that caused a line failure." You wouldn't hear about anything like this in New York City! Hilarious!