Not much to write about today. Except that it is 1 week today till my surgery, so I am on the (queue song) final countdown now.

Breakfast: Choc shake, Berrocca.

Lunch: Optifast Berry Crunch Bar.

Dinner: 2 cups of steamed veg (zucchini, carrot, beans, broccoli & cauliflower) & 1 Optifast Choc Bar. 1 hour later Benefibre.

I weighed myself today, 2.5kgs lost. That’s a realy good start. This time next week I will be getting ready for the trip to Sydney for the surgery. I am a little nervous, a little anxious, even a little scared but I guess most importantly I am excited. Watching the video(s) I posted last night realy helped answer a few questions that may have come up.

My Mum-in-Law came home this morning & she is in good spirits with hardly any pain & discomfort. We are all very proud of her & will help her through the next part of her journey.

I got an early mark from work today & enjoyed getting home a little earlier. ShadowKnight had to go & pre-bowl for his league, so I tagged along. I bowled 3 games to help pace him & it’s the first time I’ve bowled in perhaps almost a year! I bowled fairly well, getting a strike or 2 & a few spares. 130-132-114. When I last bowled in a league I had a 125 average. So yeah, I was pretty chuffed with todays efforts.

Breakfast: Vanilla shake, Berrocca.

Lunch: Optifast Chocolate Bar, Benefibre.

Dinner: 2 cups of classic salad (lettuce, tomato, cucumber, carrot, capsicum) with a little salt reduced soy sauce & 1 Optifast Berry Crunch Bar.

Here is a video (Part 1 of 5) that shows exactly what I am about to have done during surgery. I learnt almost everything I had questions for from watching it & for me, it served as a great tool of reference. Please consider wether you actually want to watch it or not, as it can be fairly graphic throughout most of it.

Work was fairly good today, even though my mind was elsewhere. My mother in law had her surgery to remove the Breast Cancer. All seemed to have gone well. She will get results by the end of the week. Hopefully her follow on treatment won’t be too invasive & her recover speedy.

Breakfast: Strawberry shake, Berrocca.

Lunch: Berry Crunch Bar, Benefibre, Black Tea.

Dinner: 2 cups of classic salad (lettuce, tomato, cucumber, carrot, capsicum) with a little salt reduced soy sauce & 1 Optifast Choc dessert.

I also accomplished drinking almost 2.5 litres of water today! YaY mE!!!!

They shall grow not old as we are left grow old. Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them.
Lest we forget.

Today we commemorate ANZAC Day. We celebrate the achievments of those who fought the wars, & remember those who gave their lives for us to live the life we have today. Without these fallen heroes & those who came home to suffer a life of torment in their hearts this country would be a different place. One I wish to not begin thinking about. To all of our past, present & future Diggers…. Thank You!

It has been an emotionally charged day, yet I have managed to get thru it just fine. In fact, better than the past few days. Up until now. I have just spent the last hour & half looking after mum as she is now feeling quite ill. She had the vomits & pains in the tummy. So I have had to shower & clean her up, clean up after her then put her to bed with a bucket & towel. I have had to revisit her a few times afterwards to help her, but now she is quietly sleeping. I will have myself an extremely restless night with the door open, sleeping lightly enough to hear any sound, mumur or peep from her. But I do have to return to work tomorrow morning! I have had 3 days annual leave last week & considering Monday is a Public Holiday, I cannot stay at home to care for her. So I will have to depend on Dean. I hate doing this. This is my mum & she is my responsibility when unwell. But my hands are now tied. We have had such a spate of illness in our family recently where I have been required to leave work & lend a hand. With my surgery coming up I just  cannot afford any more time off work not related to myself. This sounds harsh & no matter how much I wish it wasn’t the case, this is life. Reality.

Breakfast: Choc shake.

Lunch: Strawberry Shake,  Berrocca, Black Tea.

Dinner:  1 Optifast Berry Crunch Bar, 2 cups vegies stir-dry-fry LOL (Zuccini, Bok Choy, Carrot, Red & Green Capsicum) with Garlic, Ginger, Lemongrass & Salt Reduced Soy. These are all on the allowable list so I was a happy chappy indeed!

Well today is meant to be a special day for me. Today I turn 33. However it is by far got to be the worst Birthday I have ever had to experience. In saying this, it hasn’t been all that bad.
Because of the surgery coming up & the diet I am currently on, I am unable to celebrate this Birthday in the fashion that I am used to. Normally we would either be having a special dinner at a restaurant with the family, or having the family down to our house & celebrating with our favourite meal or BBQ. I am missing this more than I ever imagined possible.

Also Breast Cancer was diagnosed in our immediate family last Thursday & she will be due to have surgery on Tuesday. Hopefully we will get some good news following it a few days later.

So emotionally our house is a little unstable at the moment. However, we will continue to support each other as usual & work on fixing things as they come to light. For now, I will enjoy the rest of my Birthday quietly in the arms of my soul mate.

Breakfast: Choc shake, Berrocca, Black Coffee (drank 1 sip only… ew!)

Lunch: Strawberry Shake,  Benefibre, Black Tea.

Dinner:  2 cups salad (Baby Spinach Leaves, Tomato, Cucumber, Red & Green Capsicum) with a couple of drops of Worcestershire Sauce.

Well today was a total write off for me. I am extremely glad I am on Annual Leave currently as I spent the best part of today in bed with a headache. So much to the point that I was nauseated & couldn’t bear to have my eyes open. So basically I had a migraine. This bothers me as I was sick mererly 1 week ago with a migraine as well.

Anyways, so today:

Breakfast: Nothing. Sick & in bed.

Lunch: Choc Shake, Berrocca, Benefibre.

Dinner: Strawberry, 2 cups Steamed Veg (Beans, Broccoli, Carrot, Zucchini).

Breakfast: Choc Shake, Supadryn, Benefibre.

Lunch: Strawberry Shake.

Dinner: Lemon Creme Dessert (tasted like shit!), 2 cups Steamed Veg (Beans, Broccoli, Carrot, Zucchini & Baby Spinach Leaves), Black Coffee.

I am about to embark on a new journey in my life. I have been contemplating this for some time now & finally have taken the steps towards making it happen.

On the 6th May I will be having Gastric Banding Surgery at St George Private Hospital.

This hasn’t been an easy decision to make, however it is up to me only to change my future.
I am expecting this surgery to allow me to:

• Reduce my weight significantly.
• This should then have a flow-on affect & allow me to control my PCOS.
• Encourage me to change my eating habits to good healthy choices.
  
• Raise my chances of becoming pregnant & starting that longed for family that Dean & I have spent the past 4+ years working towards.
• Help in maintaining my good Cholesterol & Blood Sugar Levels.
• Reduce the impact on my joints which I experience pain in my back, knees & ankles on a regular basis.
• Allow me to have a healthy & long future.

Today I begin my liquid diet. 2 weeks of Optifast meals 3 times per day before surgery. This allows all fat around the organs, the liver in particular to diminish & allow handling during surgery much easier. It also reduces pain afterwards & speeds up recovery.
So I am off to have my breakfast…. 1 Chocolate Optifast shake, 1 liquid Multivitamin, 1 glass of water with Benefibre followed soon after with a black tea perhaps?!? LOL

I am hoping to keep updating my site regularly regarding this journey so please join me for a few minutes each day.
Thank You!

I know I haven’t updated in quite some time, however I am still here!

Wishing you all a very Happy Easter xxxx