Fantastic Weekend

Yup - the weekend was a blast, first of all we met my dad, his girlfriend and some other family friends for dinenr at the local RSA (returned serviceman's association)where unfortunately there was no announcement!!

Dad quickly figured out that as both Simon & I were not drinking that he would be able to and that we would drive him safely home, which was fine, apart from we were not planning on staying till 11pm!!!!! Man that man can dance!!

Got home and feel into bed, up and roaring the next morning to get the bbq up and running. Had to take the dog over to my dad's for a play date, pick up some chairs and then get the supplies for the BBQ. Got home with about 2 hours to spare to get everything prepared and set up. Thought I might be able to have a little lie down but everyone started arriving bang on time. That's family for ya!!!

Forgot to take some pics during the event, but did manage to get a couple of the kittens and one of the big back yard!!

So here they are. Leeloo is the tabby and Riddick is the black one



Back yard view of house


Leeloo



Riddick

Okay since you asked so nicely....

Shock Horror, two posts in two days.

Actually I had a bit of a brainwave, I am wanting to actually update my blog more often, but I really struggle for things to say, cos life is not that exciting, you know, get up, shower, have breakfast, drive to work, work, go home, watch telly, play WOW, go to bed and start the day over.

SO, after reading some other peoples blogs, I thought I would do a bit of a pic update, some from around my life and some that I just take for the sake of taking. Now these are going to be from my camera phone, so the quality might not be very good.

But to start I thought I would show you a pic of my house, and a couple of Simon's motorbike. (I got the hint Leetoo).

Ok so I really am a slack tart.

This country lifestyle just makes time whizz by. I have been having such a good time here that I really forget to write in my blog.

Now, for those that don't know, we are living in Marton, so that means that I travel 35 mins to work everyday and it means that Simon does not have the car. Now Marton is not the biggest of places, but it is big enough for it to be too far for Simon to walk to the shops, and he was going a bit stir crazy. Our solution?? A motorbike for him. It would give him his independance back and also some confidence as since his back surgery he has kinda felt as though he was not good at anything. We had cleared with his surgeon that he was allowed to go back on a bike, as long as he didn't go off road, which he is not planning on doing.

Anyway, we found a suitable bike at a suitable price on but it was in Taupo, and we needed to pick it up on the Monday or Tuesday. Now being my second week at work, I was not really in a position to take time off, although they gave me the Tuesday anyway. So I get home on Monday night, and ask Si if he thinks we should just go up to Taupo that night and stay at his parents caravan, that way we would be ready early in the morning to get the bike and maybe I could get back and do a 1/2 day at work. So we did just that, grabbed some dinner and ate it on the way (cold chicken/buns/salad etc) and we got up to Taupo at about 9pm and got the bike that night.....making it even easier for me to get to work the next day.

Went to the caravan and went to bed only to be lying there awake. So Simon and I decided to pack up and start on the way home, me in the car and him on the bike. We had compulsory stops where we met up to make sure we were fine to continue, and we made it home about 1:30 am. Set the alarm clock for the morning and went to bed. Ended up getting to work about 90 mins late, but all good, and no need to take annual leave. YAY!!!!

Thursday the kittens came to work with me for their check up and vaccinations, all good with them. Porsche came in on the Friday for hers, and also to see teh vet about her slight incontinence issue which was not an issue, but the two lumps she had turned out to be a problem, and the vet had to remove one and send it away to be checked. Turns out is was not cancer, thankfully but it was a very nasty looking thing.

The weekend was pretty quiet and this week even more so. Tonight we have our weekly flag 500 card game with my dad and several ladies at the high school and tomorrow night we are going to dinner with dad and his girlfriend. I am pretty sure that there is going to be an announcement, but I am not sure, and will keep you posted!!!

Having a BBQ on Saturday with extended family and friends as a sort of housewarming and "yay we are in the manawatu" bbq. It should be great!!!

1 Week Down

Sorry for the lack of updates since I had to make my mad dash to Hamilton. It has been kinda crazy witht he moving, the Hamilton trip, and starting the new job.

The Hamilton trip went really well, and luckily fo rme, it was not all in my head. My 'out' pipe has reduced down in size to 4 mm in diameter when it is meant to be 12mm. That was creting the blockage and why I could not handle solid food. The procedure I do not actually remember as the dopy stuff they give you pretty much knocks you out for a little bit. Apparently the surgeon spoke to me for like 10 mins after the procedeure asking me questions.....and as you are 'under the influence' you tend to tell the truth.....sohe got the low down on if I had been good or not. Apparently I had as he said he was really pleased with me.

He did warn me that as they stretched my 'out' pipe to 18 mm in diameter my weightloss would slow down. Which he was not worried about as he said for me to have lost 42 kgs (inlcuding preop) in such a short time, slowing down would not be a bad thing.

After the procedure I stayed with Carol & Brian (Family friends in Hamilton) who are some of themost fantastic people I know, and my first actual solid meal after the procedure was heaven.Poached fish, mashed potato, brocoli and pumpkin. I had a small plate full and ate most of it execpt a littl of the fish.

The next day we made our way South again, and as Carol & Brian where coming down for a surprise birthday party, they kindly drove me right to my doorstep.

That weekend was pretty uneventful, just went to my Dad's girlfriends for dinner and then we played cards for a couple of hours. It is nice spending some time with my Dad. Actually speaking of cards, Simon & I joined Dad in his flag 500 club on Thursday night, and it was so much fun we decided we are going to go every week.

Had my first week at woek, and everything is as exepcted, a much more relaxed environment, doing the same stuff, talking to farmers about tb and using the system to input and manage testing. The up side of this job is that I get to got a pat and cuddle the cats and kittens in the cattery and see the dogs that are in for treatment or grooming. It is very cool and certainly if something is on your mind you can go and talk to a kitty about it.!!!

Oh I tried to put a video of my dog(Porsche)and kitten (Leeloo)but I haven't managed to get it to work yet. I will work on that.

Successful Move

Well we are finally all moved and mostly unpacked (about 90%). Still waiting for the internet connection. I am actually doing this from Palmerston North Airport while waiting for my boarding call.

I am heading up to Hamilton today to see my surgeon again. He is going to shove a camera down my thraot to see what is going on with my pouch as I cannot handle any solid food and my capacity is very small. If he discovers that I have a stricture then he will need to put a balloon down my throat and then blow it up with air to dilate it. It is apparently only a 30 min procedure, but youa re in hospital for about 5 hours as the meds they give you cause you to be really dopy.

If he discovers there is no problem with my pouch then I am in real trouble as it means the problems I am having are in my head!!!

I will be staying with family friends tonight and then tomorrow they are driving me back home as they are on their way to a function in Paraparaumu.

Anyway - better sign off, go to the loo and get ready for this flight.

Catch ya!!

Janine


The internet should be connected by the time I get back on Friday night so I will update then

A post on behalf of Janine - just letting you know she has moved, has no Internet yet till next weekend.
Move went smoothly, will update as soon as she can.

A full on time

As the title suggests everything is very full on at the moment with only a week to go before I am back living in the Manawatu. We managed to find a house that we can have the animals, and although it is 30 mins drive to work (The house is in Marton) it is the house we immediately felt relaxed. So it must be the right house.

Thanks for your comments re my pictures, although I honestly can only see the difference in the bustline. We talked about it yesterday at the WLS support group and one of the guys there has lost 180 kgs and he still see's himself as fat, so it is all about individual perception i think. I am sure later on, I will be able to look back and see the difference, but at the moment it is "too close to home".

I know that I can certainly start to tell in my clothes, and I think I will be having to do some interim shopping in the next couple of months. Thank goodness for hour lunchs!!!

HEHE, oh theother cool thing about Marton is the gym. Total cost for one year full acccess $360. So I will be definately signing up for that, Access is from 5:30 am till 10:30 pm so lots of time to fit it in. Oh and Marton also has a 50 metre Indoor and Outdoor swimming pool, although it still closes down Late March as the population is not really big enough to keep it going through winter. :-(

Anyway if not before - will see you in the Manawatu J

Two Months Post Op

Yup -it really has only been 2 months since my operation, and i have come such a long way.

Things have been pretty busy with organising the move, only 2 weeks to go till we move back home. Actually we are going to be living in Marton so it will still be a 30 min drive to work each day, but the rent was so cheap and it was one of the only places we could get to have a dog. And the section is going to be so good for her - 1/4 acre section for her to run around on.

Packing is going quite smoothly so all good. I started on my new supplements ( iron , calcium etc) and they were making me realy sick - like throwing up every evening meal, so i wnet to the healstore/chemist and we changed them all to ones that come in capsule form, and now I am doing fine.

I finally succumbbed to taking some comparison pics, I wasn't going to do it till 3 months, but I thought since it was 2 months and the camera was right there...I am actually surprised how much i seem to have lost of my bust, I would not have thought I had a big bust to start with .....and now, well, the photos speak for themselves......Other than that I can't actually see any difference.

Hamilton Update & New Beginnings

Hamilton went well, met Annie at the airport at 6:30 and headed off. Got in with good time and headed to the physio where wer had a joint appointment to discuss exercise etc. The guy who we were going to see looked so young and we were both a bit scared he was a "gym bunny" type person, but he was such a lovely guy who was so positive about where we were at , and how we could progress. He is working out a program and emailing it through to us.

The plan is to start next week and to do 30 mins of structured exercide every day. He also wants us to have variety, so we think for me it is going to be a mix of aqua aerobics/swimming & curves which i have been paying for but not going. Eventually we think that we might get a home gym instead of curves, but I will see.

We then hooned over to the my surgeon's office only to be an hour early, so Annie & I went for a walk across to the Hamilton Gardens, where we cruised around the Victorian Indoor Garden. Was only about 30 mins before we headed back to see David.

He was really pleased with how things are going with me, and reassured me that it is okay for me to be eating so little at the moment (in fact i eat less now than immediately after the surgery) and he was estatic that he seems to have "switched off" my addiction to food. For those of you who don't know, I NEVER feel hunger, so sometimes it is a bit hard to judge how much I can comfortably eat.

Then spent some time with the physcologist and we did some art therapy, which i really found quite beneficial as a thought process. Makes you drill down and get to what the real issue is and makes you question why you belive this. I came out with a statement that I need to remember which is.

I have the tools and resources and I CAN and WILL ADAPT

After that session it was off to see Zola, the nutricionist who was also happy with where I was at. She has given me some more meal ideas and also is not concerned that I cannot eat that much at the moment.

Got given my script for my pills that I will need to take for the rest of my life which is pretty much just iron/folic acid, multivites and calcium. I have to take the calcium in the morning and the the other two at night.

Headed to the airport early as Annie shuffled her appts around a bit, so we sat and chatted and laughed and laughed till our plane was ready. On the way home the Pilot announced it was going to be a bumpy ride into Wellington which didn't really worry me as I kinda like tubulence. Well this was the worst tuberlance i have ever experienced and I really was a bit scared. I couldn't show it though as Annie was struggling with it more than me, so i just sat there and rubbed her arm to hopefully give her some comfort.

Oh, now as I mentioned a couple of posts ago. we really want to to move back to Feilding/Palmerston North. Well, I was speaking to an old workmate on Friday, who now works for a company that contracts to my work and she said she would keep an eye out. So I get back to work yesterday and there is an email from her saying ring me i have some news of a job.....so I did, and it works out that one of her girls is leaving, and as I already know the job so well, she thought I would be perfect so she talked to her boss (who I know) and they offered me a job yesterday, and I have accepted and I move to Palmerston in less than 4 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The funny thins is that my old workmate is "NIX" who just last week I couldn't work out who it was who was leaving messages......all meant to be huh?

Now to find a house to live in!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OH and then, talking to Simon's parent's last night, htey announced that in a years time when his dad retires they are going to move to.............Palmerston North.!
Funny how everything just pulls together huh.

Anyway must run, have to get to work.

Ciao

Janine

Off to see the Wizard.....

Morning all ...she says from her very sleep deprived, half shut eyes!

I am catch a read eye flight up to Hamilton with Annie today to go and see our surgeon for our 6 week check up. Now I know I should hva a million in 1 questions to ask, but i can't think of 1.( will brainstorm and right them down in the plane)

Weighed in this morning on my scales and i have lost another 1.7 kgs - however by the time I get to Hamilton i think it will be a diff reading.

I am pretty sure the surgeon is going to be really happy with my results, so I am not really worried .

Will update when I get back tonight or tomorrow and also give you a run down of the past few days.

love ya

Janine