Weekend Update

Not too much to report today - see how this poor little weight loss surgery blog will struggle for material? I am a bit vexed this morning because I just realized I don't have my kids on Thanksgiving, after all. Silly me for not checking the calendar. :( And here I've already told my parents the kids would be over, and everything. Normally my ex and I would figure out a way to split the day or something, we do try to accommodate each other. However, they are going to the ocean and will be away for the day. Sigh.

(This makes me unhappy, but the devilish side of me also thinks, 'whew, X can figure out the gluten-free/dairy-free Thanksgiving dinner!')

Speaking of GF/CF diets - my ex is backing down a bit on the diet. We all agree that Reid needs a sugar-free diet, to the extent possible. Taking sugar out of his diet makes a big difference, and you can see it when it is reintroduced. But with the GF/CF, we are all concerned that he is not eating anything enough. Pre-diet, he subsisted on cheese quesadillas, string cheese and go-gurt. Now, you're lucky if you get anything into him. He eats eggs, and meats, but he gets tired of them easily. And he is already so thin!! A real string bean. My concern is that we don't have anything to compare to in an "elimination diet," e.g. eliminating troublesome foods and reintroducing to see how it effects him. Gluten and dairy don't seem to affect him, so when you reintroduce, what does an effect look like? There are no food allergies on either of his birth parents' sides. I told X this morning I wanted to take him to a pediatric allergist/immunologist.

I was glad that X has been thinking about it, too, initiating an appointment with the naturopath (which my ex-MIL and his girlfriend took Reid to, grr. I struggle with the girlfriend being such a "player" in my kids' lives, but I recognize this is my issue to accept. Better to be too involved than to be making my children miserable when she's around. Oh wait, she does make the older two miserable! But again, I think that's from "over-caring" not any "bad" behaviors.) Anyway. X asked the naturopath to carefully chart his growth. He and I talked and we talked about not seeing a change in behaviors we were hoping for with the diet. I think he's backing down from it, which is nice for me to see that he's not so stuck on it that we're endangering our kid. We are talking about talking about a temporary modified custody agreement wherein Reid would have more time as a pseudo-only-child because we both agree that there are positive gains in that regard, for all our kids. I have a tremendous amount of mommy-guilt when I even contemplate such an arrangement, but I'm trying to put that aside.

I am struggling with my stairs! It is exhausting. This morning I did 52 flights down (in one shot) and Barb and I are doing 60 flights up this afternoon at lunch. But I have been reluctant to do the upward flights in lieu of the elevator. It is just tiring. But when I look at all the muscles that are emerging in my legs...wow! The effort is worth it, I know.

Hey - I did go to WLS support group on Thursday. It was good. The nutritionist has been grilling me about how my eating changes have impacted my daughter (or not), which is a little uncomfortable, because it's a bit of a sore spot. But I am happy to report that on Friday we did buy my daughter a used exercise bike from craigslist, and she hooked up the wii, as well. She was an exercise fiend this weekend! She and her girlfriend did the wii for a long time yesterday, too. My daughter has been seeing a counselor off and on who specializes in eating disorders. I wouldn't say my daughter has an eating disorder, other than compulsive boredom overeating. She has the same problems I did do - too big of portions, eating when there's nothing else to do, etc.

My surgeon was at the support group meeting, and he said I'm looking great. My next follow-up with him is 11/21, and I'm hoping to bump myself below the 164/165 I have been hovering at for a few weeks now. It's truly amazing how the weight loss slows down, you would think with these tiny portions it would just keep rolling and rolling. But I am still eating much too much on the weekend, and evening munching continues to be my weakness. The nutritionist suggests eating more throughout the day to help resist nighttime munching, but I am unconvinced. This is something I struggled with pre-op, and I ate plenty during the day!

As a follow-up to all my posts earlier this year about the Mirena IUD and its subsequent removal (which may or may not have been necessary - I would say at specific times of the month, I am still a hormonal mess, and may have been with the IUD, too)...I am seeing my GYN about uterine ablation (NovaSure) on the 21st, as well. My hematologist thinks it would be a good idea, or at least a "couldn't hurt" idea as we try to regulate my iron levels. I, too, would benefit from the piece of mind of knowing my uterus is closed for business.