Back Pain Update

So, I appreciate all the great advice and kind words from you all.  Let me start by saying... I have tried many things.  Chiropractor (tons), Decompression Therapy, Light Therapy, I bought an inversion table and used it many times a day, drugs, steroid injection, physical therapy, and more.

The injection gave me absolutely no relief and may have actually made the pain a little worse.  After going back to the pain management doctor and talking about options, he went over my MRI with me.  I have a true rupture that is very substantial.  He called it gargantuan.  I met with a neurosurgeon.  He also said the rupture is just too large and too far gone for anything but surgery to work.

I feel like I gave it the college try.  It has been almost 4 months and I can't live like this anymore.  A week from Thursday (2/12) I will be having a microdiscectomy.  As far as back surgeries go, it is fairly easy.  It will be out patient but the recovery will be hard for me since I will be so restricted.  I will go back to work after 4 weeks off.

I can't believe I am having surgery again.  But, I feel positive that I can finally get some relief and get on with my life.

It has been a couple months... UPDATE

Okay, so it has been a couple of months since I have blogged anything.  In mid October of last year I started having sciatica.  It was annoying at first and I was able to get by with Motrin.  By the time I posted my last post I had begged my doctor to do something and she sent me to physical therapy.  A few weeks after I started physical therapy I went to see my doctor and had a major melt down.  By that point I wasn't sleeping (maybe 3 hours a night) and was really hurting 24/7.  The Motrin was barely taking the edge off and I was having a hard time functioning. 


My doctor referred me to a pain management doctor.  By this time it was late December.  I saw the pain management doctor who sent me for a MRI.  The MRI confirmed I have a ruptured disc.  The doctor said he wanted to send me for a epidural injection and hope for the best but he thinks surgery will be needed.  My injection was scheduled for 1/13 but on 1/11 I went into Urgent Care with a bad sore throat.  I had an infection and needed antibiotics.  The injection can't be done while sick or on antibiotics so now it is rescheduled for 1/27.  I am still not sleeping, taking lots of narcotics, anti inflammatory and a nerve pain blocker.  It makes very little difference.  I am miserable! 


Sitting hurts, laying down hurts, standing hurts... I am so tired and miserable.  The strangest thing is, I have no idea how I hurt my back.  For the past few years I have had issues with muscle spasms a couple times a year.  I would take some muscle relaxers for a couple days and be good as new.  This is an entirely different ball game.  I work full-time, and getting myself through the day can be really hard.  The mornings and nights are the worst and if I can get myself moving and stretched out I can tolerate the pain with the meds. 


With all this going on I have totally neglected any exercise or good diet.  Sometimes I eat just because it makes me feel better.  The good news is one of the only things that brings me relief is walking.  So, when I am up in the middle of the night I get on the treadmill and walk.  I walk a couple miles every morning before work.  The bad news is that my diet has not helped me and I have only maintained me weight.  Losing is not at all of a priority though.  Surviving is my only goal right now.


This post sounds really depressing, and though I am hating every second of this... I am making due.  I am just praying I don't have to have another surgery. 

The Sleeve is a Strange Animal

So... I lost my motivation, and then I found it again, and then I lost it for a couple of days and then I found it again.  I am trying to string together enough days of motivation to start making a difference.  My anxiety has been through the roof lately, and I just don't handle eating well when I am in a place of panic.  It becomes the least important thing to me even though I know eating well improves my anxiety. 


I have had chronic anxiety my whole life... and I am on meds which help a lot.  Lately I am wondering if I need my dose upped.  Anyway, I am not looking for sympathy or excuses.  I just want to keep it real.


On to my sleeve story.  In January I will be two years out from my sleeve surgery.  I had a band for nearly 3 years before that and felt like I had a pretty good handle on the basics of eating post weight loss surgery.  Today, I was eating dinner at work (I work until 9) and I was eating some plain baked chicken (forgot the bbq sauce) and brown rice and some carrots.  I was eating at a fairly good clip because I had lots of stuff to get done.  I do this often and it is never a problem.  Well after I finished eating I was sitting at my desk working on stuff and I started to feel really nauseous..  Then I started having stomach pain.  I can't tell you how long it has been since I have been "stuck".  For God sake, I can easily eat 2 pieces of pizza while driving if I want to with no issues.  After about a half an hour it was getting worse and I knew I was going to puke.  I bet it has been a year since I have puked from a sleeve related reason.


After I thought about it, all the food I ate was really dry.  Also rice could potentially be a problem sometimes but hasn't been for months.  I got cocky, and I pushed my stomach... and I paid.  My misdeeds have been noted.  Hopefully I won't do the whole puking thing for a long time.

The struggle is real

Here I am, back again after a way too long hiatus.  I am now a year older and zero pounds lighter.  I was just too busy celebrating my pre-birthday, birthday, and post-birthday.



I did however, dress up as a squirrel for Halloween.  It was fantastic. 

Back On Track?

I had a very successful week of eating last week.  I followed my WW points to the t.  I had a loss of 4.6 lbs.  I am sure most of that was water weight from my out of control eating but I will take it.  This week had a bit of a bumpy start.  I had a work lunch yesterday with pizza, garlic knots, and salad.  Guess what I ate the least of.... salad.  It was delicious and I used almost all of my weekly point allowance. 

My husband is also following WW... or so he says.  I had him join and download the ap.  So far he has gained a pound.  I feel for him.  He has never had to diet before.  He needs to get his cholesterol down and get healthier.  He doesn't want to but he knows he should.  He hates having to track everything and he needs to learn to do it for himself.  O well... I will just try to be very supportive. 

The hardest part for me is cutting out my Starbux habit that has become a daily indulgence.  I think about it constantly. 

Here's hoping I will report another loss next Monday.

Update, Struggling, Being Honest

Barb is calling out all bandsters to update and reach out if needed.  I am no longer banded since I had my revision to sleeve in 2013.  Let's be real for a minute.  I feel like I am failing.  When I was banded in 2009 I was 260 lbs.  When I had my band removed in 2012 I was 199 lbs.  I then had to gain enough weight to qualify for a sleeve.  It was way too easy and by the time my sleeve surgery rolled around I was 246 lbs.  Today I am 189 lbs.  I am struggling to not plop over the 190 mark.  My sleeve has really gotten much less restrictive and I can eat almost anything.  The summer has been so much fun.  My husband and I have taken multiple vacations and eaten like we are on vacation every day.  There is so much dessert! 




My husband went for his physical recently and was told he needed to lose weight and clean up his eating because his cholesterol was sky high.  He has never really had a weight problem and now only carries around an extra 20 lbs.  We decided we would join weight watchers online and follow it together.  In theory this sounds like a great plan.  It is much harder in reality.  He gets 42 points a day and I get 29.  I am HUNGRY.  I WANT ice cream.  Some days are better than others, some are terrible.  Sometimes I lose complete control and eat a handful of chocolate chips.  But, I am trying and I know it is time to get serious for both our health.  My husband is also struggling.  He likes to eat out and loves beer.  He is realizing how hard it is to eat out and have enough points to be satisfied. 


The good news is that I haven't given up.  I am going to keep on trying and making improvements every day.  I am also going to try to update my blog at least once a week. 

Weight hasn't changed but life is rolling along

I haven't posted in forever.  Life is just being lived and I am enjoying myself.  Today I was cleaning out some old files at work and found some old pictures of myself.  Wow... I was really heavy.  I was uncomfortable and sad.  Now I am a normal person who could lose a few pounds but I am mostly happy. 

I have been exercising a lot more, but you all know that saying about not being able to out train a bad diet.  I don't think my diet is bad.  It just isn't good enough to lose weight.  I drink more wine than I should... eat more carbs than I should but for the most part my choices are healthy.

I finally completed my half sleeve tattoo that I have been planning for some time.  I love to garden.  I have multiple large gardens.  I have wanted a vegetable garden half sleeve for some time.  After roughly 6.5 hours of tattooing it is done!  I LOVE it!

 

That's all for me!  Happy hump day.