I was just looking over this blog and realized it's been a LONG time since I posted anything. I was reading my last post on September 17, 2015 where I talk about the upcoming Pumpkin Run. I wound up not doing the Pumpkin Run, because hours after I wrote that blog post, my mother passed away. That was a very emotional time, as I'm sure you can imagine. I can't believe 6 months have passed already. It just doesn't seem like it was that long ago.
And time does heal all wounds....
A lot has happened in 6 months. I suffered a small stoke in October. Talk about stressful for the family!!! We were out at our church camp for the weekend when it happened. Granted, we were only about 1 1/2 hours from home, but when a medical emergency pops up, even 1 1/2 hours seems like a LONG ways away. My hubby was awesome through it all, he made sure my needs were met and after getting me settled in at the hospital, he made sure that all our friends who came with us to camp were able to get home OK. Thank GOD it was a small stoke and I don't have any after effects. I did have to go to occupational therapy because I did have problems with my left hand, but that is mostly resolved now.
There is one other HUGE downside to having a stroke. I was hoping to have the skin removal surgery done this spring, but since I had the stoke and I'm on blood thinners, we need to postpone the surgery. I have to wait until a year after the stroke, and I have to be able to be off the blood thinners before we can do the surgery. Talk about disappointment. I cried in the surgeons office after getting that news. I've been on a plateau with my weight loss for several months now, and I was really hoping that having the surgery and losing all the excess skin and the sagging belly would help me to really get back into being able to exercise more and start losing again. *sigh* However, there is hope for me, and I just need to work harder at doing what needs to be done.
I saw the surgeon for my 1 year follow up (saw him about 4 months after the 1 year mark) and he is very happy with my progress. He briefly asked about now going in to do the gastric bypass, but since I have Crohn's that is totally out of the question. He said that I can continue to lose weight, it will just be a bit harder now that I'm past the 1-year mark.
Now that spring is in the air, I want to spend more time outside. I'm going to get my bicycle out of storage and start riding. I'm going to start exploring the forest preserves around my house and get some walking/hiking in. I'm going to go back to walking on lunch.
The battle isn't over yet, it was just kind of put on hold for a while because life got in the way. Now is the time for a fresh start, a renewal, a time to get over the hump and out of the hole I've been in for a while and get my butt (and the rest of me) back in gear.
And I'll start blogging again. :-)
