Saturday morning

Not surprisingly, I have not been able to surrender my scale just yet. It's being nice to me and I must cling on. I got up early this morning, round 6 AM. Not something I typically like to do on the weekends, but oh well. I went on my walk around 8 AM in the park. The weather was cool, 55 degrees and a little balmly. Perfect. I did my 2 miles although the last 1/3 was a bit of a struggle. My legs still hurt from walking earlier this week up and down hills. I weighed in this morning at 368.0 lbs. Yea!

I'm not feeling too great right now. I ate about an hour and a half ago and about 15 mins ago my stomach started churning. I get this wave of nausea that cascades over my stomach every 30 seconds or so. I think I am going to lay down for 1/2 an hour to see if things settle down. I didn't eat anything weird, just two eggs, some diced ham and a tablespoon of diced onion all scrambled up. I've had my morning supplements and 32 oz of water.

I hope it goes away, I have a long day ahead of me.

Good things

For some reason I woke up out of a pretty good sleep at 4:30 this morning. I am feeling the effects of it now. I got up and decided to try to get an hour or so worth of work done. It's at the end of the quarter and so many of our vendors are updating their product offerings and pricing so it's prudent for us to have all these updates ready to go by the beginning of the quarter which just happens to be this Sunday. I was up for 30 mins or so before I realized I hadn't weighed so I undressed and hopped on the scale, honestly anticipating being up a couple of pounds, instead I was down almost 2. Today I weighed in at 369.6. Woo-hoo! Remember this from October of last year:

I think when I get down to 369 is when I can start really loving my DS because I will know it has taken me somewhere I know I could not have gone myself.

Well, I did it! One major goal reached! I spent the next 1/2 hour number crunching. Assuming a goal weight of 200 lbs, I've lost about 46% of my excess weight, 147.0 lbs. This month alone, I lost 4.75% of my total body weight. Pretty cool. Buh-bye 370's.

Today I also ordered a camera. It's possible that I am happier about that. I settled on the Nikon D80. I can't friggin' wait. It should be here by Monday. You know what that means, I am definitely doing some full body progress photos. I am not sending my family any because I want them to be surprised come reunion so only y'all get the sneak peak...well, I think my sister reads this so I may have to hide from her ;).

So, I made it five whole days without cheese and lost 8.8 lbs in four days. Needless to say I won't be eating cheese products anytime soon. I don't anticipate this rate of loss to maintain, but I think it's pretty clear that I do much better when I keep things clean and simple. This upcoming month, I am going to keep doing what I have been doing and we'll see how things go.

All around a good day!

Who moved my cheese?

I am amazed at my results this week. Amazed and a little bummed out. I knew had a certain degree of lactose intolerance. I avoid milk & cream like the plague, but I never thought I had a problem with cheese. It's easy right now to forgo cheese, but I know I am going to start really wanting it... I guess I better get rid of what I have in my fridge this weekend. Today I weighed in at 371.4 lbs. Believe you me, I was shocked, that's 7 lbs in 3 days. Obviously that's a result of dropping some water weight, but still, pretty amazing. It also proves my little theory that even when you think you aren't losing, you really are.

Tomorrow is my 7 month anniversary and so far I am down 16.6 lbs for the month. I had to re-adjust month 6 and was down 14.4 lbs for that month. I hope to maintain a good loss for the next 5 months, at least 15+ lbs per month, then I can lose the last 100-110 over the next year. Dr. Marchesini says I should end up around 250 lbs and post plastics (whenever that happens) I should comfortably end up at 200 lbs or so. Me? I have other plans. I really want to see sub 200 pre-plastics.

I'm 1.4 lbs away from my lowest in 10+ years, probably more like 12. I arrived in Atlanta at 404 so I can't say when I last weighed sub 370 before then. As I lose more weight I am noticing more changes in my body. My arms are starting to feel and look different as are my hands. My legs below the knee look exactly the same to me although my knees look almost normal. I am enjoying the leg crossing and the ease of which I put on socks and shoes. All things taken into consideration, I've had a fairly road, there are many out there who have had a tougher road than me and I am truly grateful.

I'm going to write Dr. M and let him know how I am doing. I love that man.

I hate trees

If I had claws right now, I'd be a happy girl. That way I can scratch my eyes out because they burn and itch so bad right now, it's all I can think about. Good grief. After work, I went walking with B around her very hilly neighborhood, we walked maybe 3/4 of a mile and I was pooped. I actually huffed and puffed, but it was good. I actually felt like I worked out a little bit. Anyway, her neighborhood is full of trees and therefore covered with tree pollen. I'm not even exaggerating. There is a thin blanket of green pollen covering everything. What's funny is when you're in it, it doesn't bother you, it's when you go back inside is when it starts to torture you. Ugh. I've been putting cold compresses on my eyes so I won't scratch them out. Not fun.

Anyway, weighed in at 374.2 lbs this morning and 374.6 after work. Craziness. Anyway, I'm going to have to break out the Benadryl tonight otherwise I will get no sleep.

Oops

So I totally forgot something when I talked about my paradigm shift. My seven month surgiversary is Friday, so I can't not weigh until then. So Friday after my weigh in the scale goes away for two weeks. God help me. BUT good news. Since I've eliminated cheese, wheat products, etc. I'm down to 374.2 after getting back up to 378 and some change. This is within two days. Woo-hoo! Poop issues have been non-existent.

I went walking on my lunch hour yesterday. Ugh. The pollen here is deadly. 5200+. Can you believe that? I swear, I've never been this affected by allergies like I have been this year. I went to bed last night with my eyes itching like crazy and woke up with them nearly caked shut. BUT I press on. I convinced my friend, B, to go walking with me every night after work. We're going to go in her neighborhood since it's really hilly (yikes), well, most of Atlanta is, but the park I used to walk in wasn't. I'll let you know if I survive.

Whoa.....

So I was going through my closet earlier looking for some spring/summer type clothes to wear since it's been so hot all of sudden here in Atlanta and I came across this white, collared dressy type shirt. I bought the thing a couple years ago online. When I ordered it I bought it at a size that I thought would make it kinda long and roomy, but when I got it it was tight and uncomfortable. I immediately banished it to the abyss of clothes I've bought but never wear. Anyway, a few months ago, I can't remember when I came across it and tried it on. It was very tight in the arms and it wasn't even close for me to button it, so again, banishment. Today, I come across it again and decide to try it on. It flippin' fit and I had a reaction I was not expecting. It stopped me cold in my tracks. I literally stood there for 2-3 minutes is absolute astonishment. I still can't believe the shirt fit. This is such an impossible thing to articulate well, but the best word to describe how I felt was dumbfounded. I literally had to convince myself this was the same shirt. I haven't really had *that* type of reaction to my own body and it just freaked me out. Part of me still can not believe it's the same shirt. WTF? I just had a feeling of not being who I thought I was.

Y'know what though, how ironic is it that this happened today when I was feeling frustrated with my weight loss. God is funny that way, I guess.

I must be trippin' but it was completely and utterly unexpected. I gotta tell you though, it does feel good. :) More motivation to keep trying my best to do this right.

Paradigm Shift

I am going to do something radical for the next two weeks. I am frustrated with my weight loss. I've done pretty darn good the last few weeks, not great, but certainly not bad and I've only seen a 10 lb loss or so in a month. Unacceptable. I still have clost to 200 lbs to go and that rate is just not good. I've been thinking about some of the things I can change and one thing for sure is I am going to up my protein at least 20 more grams per day. 90 grams per day just isn't enough so I am going to introduce back in a protein shake either during the day or in the morning. I lost the same amount in the past four good weeks that I did in the four not so good weeks, so I figure, if I am going to be good, then I might as well put myself in the best possible position.

Besides more protein, I am going to eliminate cheese and wheat from my diet. I love cheese, cheese is my favorite food. I eat cheese every single day and have for most of my life, but I think cheese is causing me problems. I am having constipation issues and my bowels are just plain sluggish. I wake up feeling stuffed and not the good "stuffed", the good god, I feel like I have 20 lbs of poop in my gut stuffed, especially today. I've been pooping all day. I eat a lot of cheese, probably 4-6 slices of American and then I snack on cheddar and Monterrey Jack cheese cubes. Then there's the Nature's Own Wheat Bread I now love. I eat 2-3 slices a day some days. Both of these are gone for at least two weeks.

The other thing I am going to do is only drink water. I've taken to drinking a cup of coffee every morning at work. I put in creamer and a couple packs of Splenda and it's great, but I've never been a coffee drinker and since I'm not 100% sure what the effect on me is, I'm cutting it out.

Lastly and the most painful and difficult, I am putting the scales away. I really identify with Deluzy's post about one's subconscious issues dealing with hitting certain milestones or goals during this weight loss journey. I truly believe that my issues as of late have a lot to do with my own fears about being thin -- essentially, the great unknown. Scales are evil, we all know this and I've been weighing everyday for almost 6 months and I think it would be good to have that break from it. I will to, by the way, take it to a friends house because the temptation will be too great!

Anyway, to recap.
1. 110-130 grams of good protein a day.
2. No cheese or wheat products. Gonna focus on good non-processed meats, fish & veggies.
3. Water only. No sugar-free drinks, no coffee, no diet sodas.
4. No weighing. No scales.

My lowest this week (Wednesday) was 375.0 which is right at my lowest in 10 years (I swear I can't believer I weighed 516 lbs, geez). Today I weighed in at 378.4 lbs. I suspect that tomorrow, if I were to weigh, would see a significant drop, but I won't know. I started the month around 387 or so so you can see how not happy I am right now. Easter Sunday is when I will weigh again. My hope is to be down 10-15 lbs or so. It's weird I feel like I've already lost the weight, but I just need to be cleaner with my diet and nutrition in order to reflect it.

Anyway, it's near perfect weather here in Atlanta and I'm going to run around and enjoy it whilst I give my allergies a fit!

Update
One more thing to add, exercise! I walked after work once last week and woke up the next morning with stuffed up sinuses and watery eyes, but I'm not going to let the pollen deter me!

BFF

After playing phone tag for a few weeks I finally got to talk a few minutes with my best friend today. What a complete joy! I totally miss him. Tomorrow he is off on one of his adventures, two weeks in London & Paris. One of the first things I want to do when I get down to a comfortable weight is to plan an adventure with him. I can't wait, I've been waiting to do that for years.

This year looks to be one filled with travel. I have my family reunion in early June. My college reunion (if I opt to go) is a week prior. I want to go to a football game in September, one of my oldest friends is getting married in October and of course, I want to spend Christmas back home. Oh, I almost forgot, my Brazilian switch buddies and I are planning a one year reunion in Savannah sometime in late August. Should be fun to see how everyone is progressing.

I am down to 376.8 which is a little depressing as I almost feel like I should be in the low 360's if not high 350's by now. I dunno. At times it feels the scale doesn't move at all. I may have to do the unspeakable and only weigh once a week. I think at this point there is not enough daily change and enough day to day fluctuations to drive me insane. We'll see if I can actually do it.

I managed 90 grams of protein and 1500 calories. Not bad.

Size 10

I acquired a pair of size 10 pants from B at my support group meeting Thursday night and I've spent an inordinate amount of time starting at them. It's my dream size. At one point yesterday, after staring at them yet again, I caught myself thinking to myself that I will never be that small and I realized that I was essentially setting myself up to never be a size 10. I've often caught myself thinking less than positive thoughts and I truly believe that you manifest what you put out in the world. The words I strive to live by are this:

Thought is creative.
Fear attracts like energy.
Love is all there is.

If I put out negativity/failure/disappointment into the world, that is exactly what I get back, so this is a roundabout way for me to say that I will be a size 10. I will wear those pants and they are currently prominently displayed in my bedroom as a reminder of where I want to be. I may even start to take my progress photos with me holding them up, as a reference of sorts.

At support group, we had a clinical psychologist lead the discussion. Almost immediately we strayed away from his Powerpoint presentation and spent the next two hours basically having a group discussion about all things DS/WLS. We talked about strategies for success, our fears and everything in between. I tossed in my two cents about an ongoing concern I have about being the same person when I get skinny. Skinny is a completely foreign concept to me, I don't know what that is, I don't know what that feels like and it's a little scary when I think about getting there. My weight loss has been sluggish as of late, I'd say the last 4-6 weeks or so. I think it's because I am right at that threshold where things are starting to be really different for me. I think I've been dealing with a little self-sabotage, maybe not being as vigilant as I should and then getting unduly frustrated at the lack of consistent progress. It's been said once, it's been said a thousand times, they operate on your body, not your head. That is why support group is so important for me. I need my DS friends to keep me in check, to remind me I'm not alone and to celebrate and commiserate with. I'm not sure where I'd be without it.

One thing I did take away from the head doc was that there were four components for success:

1. Follow your doctor's orders and work your plan (nutrition/water/supplements).
2. Regularly attend a support group.
3. Exercise.
4. Keep your head out of the sand. Do NOT be oblivious.

I've been lacking in #1 and #3. I am restarting my walking program as of tomorrow, I really miss the "alone/me" time. Since it's been awhile, I am going to do at least one mile, two if I feel I can do it without passing out. #1 is a constant work in progress, but at least I am always working on getting it right. I am going to bump up my protein a little bit. I've been feeling a little sluggish lately. It could be the new working schedule, but with the addition of exercise, I need a little insurance.

Well, I weighed in today at 378.4. My goal to reach 316.0 by mid June is attainable if I can kick start my metabolism with increased protein and exercise. Regardless I'd still like to lose another 100 lbs by my one year anniversary. That would be divine. At times, I think, shit, I still have 200+ lbs to lose, but I do have to remember that I do have 18 more months to get it done. The first 6 months are always the most dynamic, now I am entering the long haul and need to re-evaluate some of the things I am doing. Whoever said this was easy is nuts!

One thing that Kim said that caught my attention was that consuming sweet-tasting no/low sugar stuff still affects your body in negative ways. Your body is still getting "sweet" signals. I read something about this some time ago, I wanna say that it was shown that your insulin still kicks in when you consume a lot of artificially sweetened food and drinks. My problem as of late has been sugar free drinks and sodas. I can chug that crap all day, I even found myself making the stuff sweeter than normal. Well, as of right now, no more of that stuff. My overall carbs have been in the 40-60 grams per day range. Friday I was dealing with a bout of constipation. Can you believe that crap (pun intended)? The culprit was the acidophilus. The first bottle I bought at GNC had 1 billion microorganism per pill. They firmed up my poop great. I took one pill twice a day. The second bottle I bought online at vitacost.com. Each of those pills has 10 billion microorganisms per pill. Thosse bad boys caused me to clog up bad. Good grief. It's been months since I've had to bitch about constipation. Today, I gave them a rest. I think I will go back to the less potent variety. They seemed to work good enough.

Rambling Thoughts

Yet another thing I don't quite understand but will continue to do is take acidophilus. I have no idea why, but if I don't take it at least twice a day, I'm guaranteed to have bathroom issues. AND if I take it early in the morning instead of right before I eat breakfast, then I don't have to poop at work at all. I'm still paranoid about that.

If there is one and only one thing I remotely miss about being heavier is the padding on my ass. My butt always hurts, especially in my chair in my home office. Sucks. I've tried 5 or 6 different things (cushions, pillow, etc.) and need to nail down a solution soon. It's totally distracting and kills a lot of the enthusiasm I have for working.

My hair continues to fall out. Believe you me, I am not happy about that. I'm hopeful that it will stop soon. I talked to my sister, S, at length about it. I think the addition of Zinc to my vitamin regimen helps a lot, I have also greatly simplified my daily grooming routine. I try to limit the damage with a curling iron, I use a light oil a few days a week and I wrap my hair every night. I used to relax my hair every 4-6 weeks, but I haven't relaxed my hair since like a few days before Christmas and I probably won't til maybe June. I may be dropping the curling iron all together and opt for a ceramic flat iron. I dunno, whatever works. The thinning is most noticeable at just above my temples, at the sides and in the front. I'm trying to be pragmatic about it and not freak out too much. I knew it was going to happen, but when you go through it, it's like panic in slow motion or something.

Anyway, last week I sucked big time in the water department. I got the food and supplement regime nailed, now I just need to get the water thing down. Unfortunately I have acquired a taste for coffee in the mornings. I have a couple of cups at work with some creamer and splenda. Yum. I also discovered Diet Pepsi Jazz - Caramel Cream (which is near blasphemy in Atlanta as this is Coke country). Good Lord, I love this stuff! I'm definitely a caramel girl and this is right up my alley. Unfortunately, I don't think the caffeine with the coffee and Diet Pepsi are doing me any good and I'm not drinking as much water as I should. Once I cut those down and starting drinking more water, surprise surprise, my weight jumped up a few pounds, but it's back down now. Today I weighed in at 379.2 lbs, fully hydrated! Buh-bye 380's! Woo-hoo!

I've been following the nutritionist's advice and have been averaging around 90-110 or so grams of protein a day. I've been aiming for 1500+ calories a day, but I'm falling short. Here a typical day:

B: Homemade breakfast sandwich, 1 egg, 2 slices of cheese, 1 slice cooked salami, 1 slice toasted & buttered Double Fiber Whole Wheat bread
S: Atkins bar or 2 oz of cheese cubes.
L: 1 oz turkey, 1 oz salami, 1 slice cheese, pickle slices on 1 slice D/F WW bread
S: 2 oz cheese cubes
D: Two chicken drumsticks eaten over an hour. If I am lazy then I'll repeat what I had for breakfast.

I don't eat more than one bar in a day otherwise I get gas. That's not too bad, I don't think. I'm seriously lacking in the veggy department, but that'll come in due time. I think once I have the water thing down, I'll work on cutting out some of the more processed foods & cheeses and try to go more natural.

About the progress photos. They always trip me out. My mind is still so far behind my body. I sent those pictures to my sister and my parents and they freaked out. Geez. They were all great reactions, but it's just weird because in my own body, I don't see what the big deal is, but when I see pictures of myself along this journey something in my brain is askew. I think it's because my brain is seeing myself (in my day to day life) in the same shape, my proportions are the same, just the dimensions, if you will, are different. For example, when I look at myself naked, to me, I look the same, because my brain is recognizing my shape as the same, but it does not register that I am much smaller. I measured my waist the other day and it's down 12 inches since I last measured in October! I'm shrinking, but I haven't yet gotten to the place where my shape has changed. When my shape truly changes, I think that is when really start to see it.

Yeah well, this Daylight Savings stuff has got me all messed up. I feel like I need a nap or something. The only good thing is that I will be able to start walking again. It won't be until after work, but it's better than nothing!

Lab Rat

So, I got my labs done last week and got most of the results back. Unfortunately, I couldn't get them all covered by insurance so I'll have to pay for them myself. Anyway, there were some interesting numbers in the results. First, my cholesterol was a whopping 127. How crazy is that? HDL: 29, VLDL: 16, LDL: 82. Not too bad, I just need to increase my HDL and lower my LDL a tad. Time for fish oil I guess. When I was a hardcore low carber the lowest I ever got was 152. My blood sugar was 85, but then again, it was 84 when I had it last checked, go figure.

I weighed in at 380.2 lbs this morning. Woo-hoo! I've been losing fairly steady for about 10 days. We'll see if that continues.

Picture time! Here is a comparison picture of me over the months. The last picture is kinda bad - taken today with a lowly webcam:

Give me the strength

I had a birthday party yesterday. Totally unexpected but 99% of it was pretty good. I went over to BP's house to talk business and was surprised by a B-day dinner. Why two weeks after the real date? Well, BP's husband, the chef, got back from overseas in the past week so she relegated planning the festivities to him. Sigh. I'm not really mad about it, the boy can cook! We had an excellent meal and this insane cake that I only took two bites of. I got a couple of good gifts and had a pretty good time, until of course, BP just had to make some snarky comment for no good reason as I was packing up my stuff to go. I swear. I readily admit that I probably overreacted and I know I have a very low tolerance for her shit and I probably am too quick to get pissed off, but goddamnit. I was pissed off the rest of the night through to the morning. Did I tell y'all about the melt/break down she had at the end of last year? Her sister just happened to be in town and witnessed the whole thing. I did not and apparently it was bad enough to prompt her sister to plead with me to not cause her any grief, blah blah blah blah. So not only am I supposed to take her shit, I can't even say anything about it. My solution? Stay the hell away unless absolutely necessary.

I alternate between seething contempt and great sympathy, it's messing with my mind. Sometimes I wish I wasn't so freakin' empathetic. I can see my sisters rolling their eyes at me. They are much more worldly and knowledgable women constantly. They don't understand why I still bother with this woman (besides the fact that we own a friggin business together). It's just how I am. I don't want to be more cold hearted (I'd like to be smarter about how to deal with her). One of these days, I'll talk about the book that changed my life, Conversations With God, but in short, one thing I learned is that what matters most is love and if my actions stem from love (and compassion and sympathy) then that is all that matters. It's difficult to be loving without regard for consequences and without regard to what other peoples intentions are. That's how I try to look at the situation with her and life in general. Anyway, I just figure there must be something here I am supposed to learn. She's in my life for a reason, maybe it's to teach me how not to be. BTW, I don't want to make her out to be a horrible person, because she has some great qualities, unfortunately her bad ones overshadow the good sometimes. She's come through for me a couple of times, it's just that when she starts earning brownie points with me, she does something that makes me to jab my pencil in her eye.

Anyway, I weighed in at 381.8 this morning. Woo-hoo! I've been eating really good lately, I haven't gotten over 120 or so grams of protein nor 50 grams of carbs. I like the balance. I got my shipment from vitacost.com today, I almost jumped for joy. Last month, trying to be frugal, I ordered these chewable calcium tablets. I don't want to over-exaggerate this, but these godforsaken things taste like a special mixture of chalk, glue and some kind of banned industrial solvent. I usually buy these tasty calcium tablets. Never again, I tell you, never. I learned my lesson. I'm sticking with what I like and what works.

Six Months

I often experience this phenomenon when I am on the cusp on awakedness (is that a word?) where I hear a loud sound which wakes me up. The sound is in my head, remnants of dreams, I suppose, maybe a train whistle or someone calling my name. This morning it was a beep. The first time I heard it, I didn't think anything of it. I assumed it was just a dream. The second time I heard it, I thought "did I just hear that for real?". The third time, I got up. It was 5:43 in the morning. It was my !@#$-ing smoke detector beeping! Not happy. Why does this shit happen when I'm trying to be lost in unconsciousness? Why does this not happen at 2 in the afternoon. Anyway, I had to throw some clothes on and go to Kroger. While I was there, I decided to pick up a few things that I had been meaning to pick up anyway. One of those things was a loaf of Nature's Own Double Fiber Wheat Bread. A guy at work was telling me about it. It has 10 grams of carbs, 5 of which are fiber AND 4 grams of protein per slice. Sounds pretty damn good to me. I also picked up some low carb ice cream bars that I had been wanting to try, among other things. Anyway, I got home, put the new battery in and went to back to bed. Couple of hours later, I made myself a sandwich w/ bacon, egg and cheese on a toasted slice of the bread. Delicious and filling. I dig it so far. We'll see if it wreaks havoc on my system or not.

I am finding that I can have a little more carbs than I initially thought, maybe around 50 grams per day. I have been eating maybe one or two La Tortilla small tortillas every other day or so for awhile. It's good because it keeps things moving. What I absolutely can not have is sugar. God no. It just does not work for me which kinda sucks because I do have a sweet tooth. Once, I tried some sugar-free gummy bears, boy was that a mistake. The gas it produced was horrific. I seriously thought my insides were going to explode, I was tempted to run to the emergency room, it was so bad. Right now, I am finding that Crystal Light does the trick usually when I am yearning for something sweet, but I really try hard not to eat too many things with sugar in them.

Today I weighed in at 383.8 lbs. That's down almost 133 lbs. Wow. I can't believe it's been 1/2 a year. I often think things aren't moving fast enough, but when have I ever lost 130+ lbs in a 6 months! In fact, I don't think I've ever lost over 50-60 lbs at a time. Hell, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact I will never be 400 lbs again.

My life has changed in so many ways since last August. I certainly feel more in the world, if that makes sense. I am finding that I can physically do more things that I couldn't before, like cross my legs, stand on my tip-toes for more than a second, stuff like that. The fact that I actually went shopping in a store should speak volumes. Mind you, all this has not been easy. I hope that people out there who are considering weight loss surgery, the duodenal switch in particular, realize how much work it is to be healthy. It's not all roses and peaches.

Knowledge is power. I've mentioned before how immediately after getting back home from surgery, I was not entirely prepared to handle it. I was so, so very focused on getting the surgery, surviving it and getting home in one piece, I honestly hadn't done my due diligence as far as post-op life was concerned and I suffered for it, but I can honestly say I've worked hard at learning as much as I can, even today. I'm not perfect, by no means, anyone who reads this blog can attest to that, but perfect was never a goal. I am trying to do the best I can and not f-up too bad. I'm still a newbie and have a lot to learn. I just feel lucky there are so many wonderful post-ops out there who are willing to share their stories.

Anyway, I am getting out of the house today. Gonna go see about getting myself a camera! Woo-hoo!