A Smaller Target: Monday, Monday

Weight 184.5 (pharmacy scale)

Thanks for the kind words about my political rant. I don't expect everyone to agree with me -- I mean, what are the odds of that-- but I don't expect anyone to try and silence me. It that sort of thing just makes me want to write about politics even more often. In fact, fair warning, there's a rant about Wal-Mart coming soon.

But in other news...

I'm getting ready to leave at the crack o' dawn for Portland OR on Thursday. I'll be there on my own (Paul's staying home finishing up some work and looking for a new job) except, of course, for my family including my brother and his girlfriend. I'm staying for 12 days both because it'll be my first visit since June and also to thwart the airlines who otherwise would jack the fares. My mom and I talked quite a bit last night and I expressed my worry about needing to eat healthy and not give into my carb cravings while staying in their house. She told me the great news that a) she's lost 30 pounds since July and b) that she and my dad have stopped having the carb-y crap in the house. Woot!

The bad news she had was that my sister Eloise (who is down to the 180s herself and must look amazing) was in a bad car accident over the weekend. Her car was hit head-on by a young driver (16 yo) in an SUV who lost control of the car while making a left turn when she hadn't slowed down enough. Eloise's car was apparently totalled and she was taken strapped to a board to the hospital. She's okay --got to go home and everything-- but she's very very sore and has back pain. But the amazing part of this is what the police officer at the scene told her, that if she hadn't had her seatbelt on she probably would have been ejected through the passenger window and killed.

You see, something I didn't know was pre-op Eloise's seat belt didn't fit and so she didn't wear the lap part. In a very immediate sense having had her RnY in Feb 2005 and losing over 220 pounds saved her life. I'm so thankful that my parents gave her the money to pay for the surgery. It's not without risks, of course. Eloise's IV B-12 treatments are proof of that. But I can hardly bear to imagine her having been in this accident without a seatbelt.

Plans for plastic surgery continue apace. I've got to find time to go in for a thyroid test before I leave as there may not be time after I get back. A huge packet of information came from my surgeon's office and answered a number of the questions I had about post-op recovery, drains and the like. According to the package, it will be about 2-3 weeks after surgery before I feel like I can stand fully erect (!!!). And 6 weeks before I'm supposed to engage in vigorous exercise. So I guess there'll be lots of short walks and plenty of time for blogging. I just hope that I'm well enough to travel to Portland two weeks later for Christmas. Reading the instructions it sounds like it will be a near thing.

I have an intake appointment with Dr. Soo on December 5 and then have to be at the hospital at 5:30 AM on December 6. Surgery starts at 7:30 am. I can't really believe I'm going to do this.

But calendar says it's definitely coming.

PS. A shout out of "Go Baby!" to Melting Mama who's busy over on her own blogging being an amazing mom and also dropping baby weight daily. You go girl! (And your new wee one is too cute for words.)