Baby but I are, I'm a star

I didn't sleep very well at all last Tuesday night. I was too busy losing weight. By the time I got to Dr. Genaw's office on Wednesday, the whole three pounds I'd gained last week were gone.

I was up three times during the night to go to the freakin' bathroom. I never do that. Ever. I finally got up for good around 6 a.m. and watched the media discuss the implosion that has become Mel Gibson. Two more trips to the bathroom. Seriously, WTF?

Erich and I had our leftover dinner for breakfast then we took a few pictures before checking out of the room.

My favorite shirt used to be a bohemian-looking, very thin pink thingy my mother-in-law made for me. I absolutely love it. I wore it all the time, and happened to have it on for my first visit to Henry Ford back in Feb. 2009. Erich snapped a picture of me on the balcony of our room that day. I brought the shirt back with me when I came for my surgery in July 2009, and we took another pic. And last week, I brought it again. That shirt has been altered a LOT but I still had to gather it in the back and tuck it into my pants so it wouldn't look quite so baggy. Here are the results of 16 months' worth of hard work (click to enlarge):



I think I look much thinner, but about 15 years older. People keep telling me I look younger. OMG, I don't see that at all. All I see are bags, sags and wrinkles that I never had before. But it's ok. I'm healthy, that's what's important.

I was in a celebratory mood leftover from the previous evening. Ole!



Erich and I had some time to kill before my appointment so we drove around a bit and found a couple clothing stores not far from the hospital. One in particular was totally awesome! CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP! I think Erich gets a kick out of seeing me shop. I swear, he encourages me. He looks for things for me, follows me around a store with a smile, holding stuff for me. He waits patiently as I try things on. In case I don't say it enough, my husband rocks. I get an armload of stuff and he tells me he just noticed a sign that their debit and credit was down. WHAT?!?!?! OMG! I almost started to cry. We don't carry much cash, either when we're home or in the States. DAMN! We bought what little we could and left.

When I checked in at Dr. Genaw's office, the lady who pulled up my file must've been able to see my before weight. She gasped. "Oh! You've done well, haven't you?" I told her yes, and showed her my before picture. She, and a guy sitting beside her, were very nice and congratulatory. They kept 'wow-ing' and giving me a thumbs up. It's nice to hear.

Again, Erich and I sat in the waiting room till we saw someone stumbling over a name. A young man came to the entrance with a file, looked at it with a puzzled expression then started to leave...then came back...then left again. "We're up," I told Erich, who laughed. The kid came back and said "Cynthia..." I stood up and said "Schiketantz." Really. No one even needs to say our name anymore. LOL!

I stepped on the scale and BOOM...219. So odd. I don't know what that three pounds was about and why I lost it all in one night of peeing my brains out, but I'll take it. Does stress bring on water weight gain? Maybe. I sure was freaked out by that speech. I guess when it was all over, the stress left me. By Friday, another pound had come off so I'm now at 218.

Dr. Genaw came in and looked over my blood tests. Everything was normal. Still no diabetes or anything. He asked me a bunch of questions about my health, what I was eating, and how I planned to keep the weight off. I told him I was gonna keep on doing what I'm doing. I can't imagine going through all this only to gain it back. However, I'm sure everyone who's gained it back has also said that to themselves at one time. I'm not about to get cocky. I know what a hold food has over me; it will have me forever and my hope is that I can keep it at bay MOST of the time. It's a constant battle, one I can't ever let myself think I've totally won. Dr. Genaw told me the failure rate is 1/3. So 1/3 of people gain it back after surgery. So really, the odds are with me. LOL! A majority are successful. I plan to be in that group.

He told me he couldn't believe I ever weighed 444 pounds. I said "Oh, I did. I have the picture to prove it." He shook his head at that photograph. I also showed him the tattoo on my back and explained the hearts, how there's one for every 50 pounds. He seemed so impressed with me and it makes me want to keep succeeding. Before he left, he told me "You're fantastic. You're a star. Keep it up." It's good to hear that. I thanked him again, for everything.

In the lobby of the hospital, we passed an ATM and Erich stopped to get cash so we could go back to that clothing store and get the stuff we had to put back. "My star needs clothes," he said. Have I mentioned that my husband rocks? After we got all the stuff I wanted, he led me across the street to another clothing store. Then asked if I wanted to go to a shoe store a few doors down. I kissed him and declined. "We've spent enough money," I said. "Let's go home." I'm telling you, he encourages me.

Did I mention my husband rocks?

Oh, and did I mention the freakin' CAMARO he bought for me?



I saw it on one of my wogs (walk/jogs) and fell in love at first sight. Three days later, I came home from work and it was in my parking spot. I couldn't believe he bought it for me! He said I deserved a reward for losing, literally, half of myself. The first thing I did when I started to get into the car was pull the seat all the way back. It looked pretty small in there. Erich said "It's already all the way back." I was like "Oh. Well...we'll see." I could feel him rolling his eyes. "Get in the car," he said. LOL! Of course I had tons of room between me and the steering wheel. My brain isn't caught up yet. Sometimes I wonder if it ever will be!

Speaking of wogs. Man, I don't know about jogging. I can do sprints ok but whenever I try to really train and increase my time, my knees just tear me up. I should be grateful that I'm able to be as mobile as I am and just do what I can do, I guess. I damn near ruined my body for 40 years. There still isn't any cartilage there! It sure feels a lot better than it did but maybe I won't ever be able to run the way I want to. If I can't, then that's ok. I can live with it.

Tomorrow night, I'm going to see Bon Jovi and Kid Rock (yes, together!) in Toronto with my girl Randi! Randi is having one helluva summer herself and well, we are awesomeness. She's lost 100 pounds and I've lost over 200. We totally rock, ya'll. LOL! We're gonna sit in those little seats just 'cause we can, but mostly we'll be dancing and head-bangin' ourselves silly. No pain. No stress. No self-consciousness. I can't wait!

By the way, this blog's title comes from a Prince song. It popped into my head when Dr. Genaw called me a star. LOL! Here it is, in case you're not familiar. I've added it to my cardio tunage.