My Surgery

Posted on May 14, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Phew… it’s been a helluva week. It is Sunday night, I THINK, and I’m on a flight from Hangzhou to Hong Kong. I boarded this plane less than 72 hours after being under general anesthesia for liposuction. I feel like crap! And that’s putting it mildly.

Just want to pre-warn that there will be some pictures of during and after my surgery. So stop right now if ya don’t wanna see… Hey! Don’t scroll down, you have to read first! 🙂

Wednesday, May 9 (Happy birthday Charity… I love you and I’m a shitty aunt for not sending you birthday wishes)… Kitty and I leave at 615 am for the train station.

Four hour train ride to Wenzhou, where we get checked into the hotel and go to hospital for 2nd consult with cosmetic surgeon. He and the Director of the Cosmetic Surgery department make me feel at ease, discuss what will be done on Thursday, go over the informed consent thoroughly and the papers are signed. Nice dinner out with the hospital admin and the guest speakers for tomorrow’s events. I had wine. I deserved it, lol 🙂

This is where I’m going to answer the question that 3 people have privately emailed me this week… Why did I have liposuction? Quite simply, at 48 years old, having been obese for most of my adult life, and having lost nearly 100 pounds in 8 months, I had fat that wasn’t going anywhere. It had settled in a few places that I didn’t like. Most noticeably to me was the inner aspect of my knees. About 6 weeks ago I noticed that my legs were getting so toned from running that my thighs no longer touched… WOO HOO… But my knees still did. I did tons of research on what kinds of exercise would get rid of it and the bottom line is none. I didn’t like it. In clothes (SIZE 10!!!) I looked great. But naked, not so much. I’ve been doing yoga 2x a week, running 5+K 5x a week and using the stretch bands 2x a week and it wasn’t budging. Not that it matters, because I had liposuction because I wanted it 🙂 And that is what is the most important.

Thursday, May 10 (Happy Birthday, Sydnie Renae, momma sent your mommy a text message, thanks for the response back)… Up early for a marketing event at the hospital. My job, stand on stage with the other dignitaries and support the company’s cross-straight relationship with Taiwan with a new IVF clinic using the latest technology. Very exciting for our Wenzhou patients!

My surgery was originally scheduled for 10 am, after the event, but was postponed until 2, so Kitty and I headed back to the hotel for a rest. It was around noon that I found out that my blog had been suspended… I wrote about that yesterday, but I was more upset about that happening than the surgery! I wasn’t nervous about the surgery, because I felt completely confident with my decision and completely confident in my surgeon. At 2 pm Kitty and I went to the 7th floor to see the surgeon and get drawn on.

Kitty and I on our way back to hospital for operation…

I then put on jammies for the walk down to the OR. I was able to walk in and get on the OR table myself. The anesthetist introduced herself and the Chief anesthetist came in and introduced himself. I was unbelievably calm. My heart rate was 57 bpm. Kitty was by my side. And as they gave me he “put you to sleep medicine” I looked over at Kitty and asked her if that’s what they gave me… I woke up 3.5 hours later. Here’s a peek at what happened in the OR.

Getting the fat sucked out of tummy..

This is my surgeon proudly displaying jar #1… There was a second jar with 700mL… And yes jar #1 is full to the top 🙂

I woke up a little panicky, but then Kitty reassured me she was there and I calmed. I was shivering u controllable. I kept trying to clear my throat because it’s hoarse from being intubated. I was on a heart monitor and kept asking for my glasses so I could monitor my vital signs 🙂 For some reason I was fixated on my oxygen saturation rate (it would drop to 89% and I’d take deep breaths to get it back up… lol). Kitty never left my side. When everyone left the room she told me that they sucked out 2500mL of fat and 400mL came from my knees. She’s such a good Doobie! I vomited 7 times. They had me on a drip of Fentanyl and no anti-emetic available. Something we’ll talk about at the follow-up. I turned off the fentanyl, since it hurt worse to puke.

Friday, May 11 (Happy Birthday, Sadie Rose! Momma loves you and I sent a message to your mommy… I’m sure she gave it to you!) My daughters gave birth 22 hours and 35 minutes apart 8 years ago, giving me to gorgeous grand-girls!

Around 400 a.m., my bladder starting bothering me, the foley was pulling, the bag was full. Kitty couldn’t fine a nurse, so she got me out of bed and I went in search for a syringe, so I could remove it myself! Which I did!

Kitty lovingly went back to the hotel to bring me yogurt for breakfast. And the news that the Taizhou CEO really, really wanted me to go there for their Sunday water birth event. He’s a really nice guy, I laid out the terms of what would need to be done to make it happen and within in an hour it was settled… Kitty and I were leaving Wenzhou to go back for one night in Hangzhou. So off we went… Less than 24 hours post op… Before we left Kitty took these lovely pics of my bruising…

Bruise over upper abdomen, over liver area…

This is the right side of my body… Wonder why I feel like I’ve been hit with a Mack truck?..

Here’s the sun setting at the Wenzhou train station…

Into Hangzhou late… Straight to bed, repack early in the morning and I walked to work with Olivia. Nice slow walk. Kitty got all my medicine together and I had my daily dose of antibiotics. Not a big fan, but this is China and I teach infection control… ‘Nuff said 🙂 while sitting there getting my IV, my CEO sends me a big bouquet of flowers…

Warning… Bad hair moment!

Saturday, May 12

Then BACK to the train station to go to Taizhou!

Beautiful room in Taizhou. I make Kitty and I dinner… Now listen here folks… If I can haul my little stove, pan, spatula, meat and onions 3 hours on a train, 48 hours after surgery and stay on my diet… Then SO CAN YOU! 🙂

About 3 minutes after we finish eating, we get a call that the car is downstairs to go to dinner with the CEO and guests for the next days events. We went and picked at the food. In bed by 9 pm and Kitty and I watched Big Momma, Like Father, Like Son… We laughed until we cried… Funny movie.

Sunday, May 13… HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY

Up at 7 to go to hospital for IV infusion before event. I stir fried steak for Kitty and I and had a yogurt with Splenda and flax seed meal. While getting my IV I practiced my speech for the ceremony.

Then downstairs for the event. I delivered the first water birth baby in Taizhou a couple months ago and the mommy was there with the baby…

Here’s the wall banner for the event…

Then lunch with the gang and back to the train station for the 3 hour trip back to Hangzhou. Long, sad ride knowing these were my last few hours with Kitty 😦 Her last day is Tuesday, so today was our day together. Kitty slept, as per usual…

We get to the Hangzhou train station and my driver Jerry scooped us off and off to the airport… Geez oh Pete! Jerry put the front seat down, so I could elevate my legs on the ride… He’s awesome!

Hangzhou airport… Goodbye Kitty! You’ve been the best personal assistant over the past 8 months. You’ve grown and improved and probably learned more from me than you should have, lol. Through you I’ve learned patience. Kitty’s last cute quote as she wiped my tears away, “now stop crying, you’re smearing the eyelash make-up”… Love the girl.

I look like crap in this picture… 5 cities in four days. This shot was taken less than 72 hours after I came out of surgery. Everyone keeps saying I’m strong. I think I’m stupid!

Flight to Hong Kong, uneventful… Here’s a shot while we were landing…

So, to wrap things up…
1. Elective surgery hurts the same as non-elective surgery.

2. I had the following done:

a. Inside aspect of knees
b. Above the knee
c. Inside upper thigh
d. Upper abdomen
e. Two spots on each side of my back

3. No one tells you how shitty you really feel after liposuction. I’m here to tell you that you feel like:

a. You’ve been hit by a truck
b. You’ve been run over by a train
c. You’ve been dropped from a 20 story building
d. You’ve run full on into a brick wall
e. You’ve been beaten with a baseball bat

4. Hard to find pictures of what you look like after liposuction, I’ve shared them here. You look battered. You LOOK like you’ve been beaten with a baseball bat. I guess a lot of people don’t want to say they’ve had work done, and that’s OK, but I really would have liked a little insight!

5. I would suggest a bit more rest than I’ve had. That said, I’m vegging out in a hotel room in Hong Kong. I’m suppose to get on a train to Guangzhou today, but I’m thinking I’m not going to do it. I need ME time. They have a lady who is wanting to be the first water birth in Guangzhou and they are waiting for me… She’ll have to wait… This momma is going to take care of herself today… Babies can wait 🙂

Ciao!

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY, MOM!

Posted on May 13, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Today’s post is about my mom. In 4 days she will be 81 years young. I thank God every single day that she is still here, because even at 48 I still need my mom… A LOT!!

She’s healthy, she eats well and she exercises. This is a picture taken in 1979. My mom was 48, the same age as me… Hot Momma!

My older sis, Roni is on the far left and my little sis, Nannette, is on the right.

I could write a 10,000 word essay on my mom, but I’m simply going to say this… You’re a fantastic mom! Being the Girl Scout leader, softball coach, Rainbow Girl Mother Advisor, biggest supporter and cheerleader have framed my life. And I am thankful that of all the mothers that God could have placed me with… He placed me with you… Lucky ME!!

Love you, Momma… Happy Mother’s Day

Why I Love WordPress

Posted on May 12, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Just a quick note about my account suspension on Thursday.

Just 2 hours before my surgery on Thursday I got a message from my friend Mary saying she got an error message when she tried to read my blog. I told her to reboot her computer, LOL 😀

Ten minutes later another midwife friend, Lynne, posted on my FB wall that there was a problem with my blog.
So I go to my home page and I’d been suspended for a terms of service violation. What!?! My heart sank, I can’t deal with this! I’m having surgery in 2 hours 😦

I press the link to send a message to find out what happened and how I violated the TOS. I told them I’d do whatever they asked to rectify the situation.

WordPress responded to me in LESS THAN 30 minutes! They apologized for the inconvenience and unsuspended account. They thought there was some type of spam.

I did my homework before starting a blog. I checked all of the options out. I have to say I am SO happy I chose WordPress for sharing my life journey!

Thanks for the excellent and fast customer service, WP!

Back in Hangzhou – Feeling like I’ve been beaten!

Posted on May 12, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Got back around 11 p.m. last night. Feeling like I was hit by a Mack truck. Amazing how much elective surgery can hurt. I am loving my compression garments.. for the most part. I think the sorest part on me is the back… funny that, since that is where the LEAST amount of fat was!

I am still not quite up to a full post. I will work on that tonight! I hope all is well. I’m up, mobile and taking my pain meds every 4 hours.

Ciao!

Quick Update

Posted on May 11, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Thursday was a fasting day because of surgery.

I survived. I wasn’t scared at all. Kitty was amazing! They sucked just over 2000 mL of fat out of me. My knees don’t touch anymore and that makes me happy.

I feel like I’ve been beaten with a baseball bat. I’m sore as hell! Checking out of hospital in 30 minutes for 4 hour train ride back to Hangzhou.

I will type up a full report, with some pics, tomorrow. Thanks for all the well wishes, you all are awesome!

One pic. Me at 4 am looking for a nurse to take the catheter out. Found a syringe and did it myself 🙂 Healthcare practitioners make the worse patients 🙂
Wearing my very sexy compression garment.

Dukan – Day 265 – Nip and Tuck

Posted on May 9, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Wednesday was a PV Day 🙂

Yesterday’s weight: 74.2 kg
Today’s weight: 73.6 kg/161.92 lb

Wednesday started out with a 30 minute run at 5 am, then shower and then picked up by driver at 615 for the train station. 4 hour train ride to Wenzhou. I spent the time doing diet coaching via email, this is what Kitty did:

Checked into hotel and went for final consult with the plastic surgery docs. Then an afternoon rest before dinner out with some interesting folks. I had duck tongue again. It’s actually quite tasty 🙂

This was towards the end of the meal.

I have no idea how I lost weight from yesterday. I ate and ate last night (Dukan approved, but a lot!) and I had a couple of glasses of wine (not Dukan approved!). Anyhoo, I did and that makes me happy. I’m less than 7 pounds from my goal of 155 and they’ll suck some of that out today in surgery 😀
So, wish me luck friends! Kitty will guest post later today with an update. Surgery T-2 hrs and counting!

Ciao!

Morning Inspiration

Posted on May 9, 2012 by flamidwyfe

If you need a bit of inspiration to get off your butt and get moving… WATCH THIS!

For some reason the link thingy didn’t work… So click here 🙂

Posted on May 8, 2012 by flamidwyfe

CultFit

A true inspiration who will be missed…

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Recipe – Dukan – Pan fried Tilapia – Day 263

Posted on May 8, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Monday was a PP Day 🙂

Daily Weight Loss: 1.1 lb/0.50 kg
Total Weight Loss: 91.8 lb/ 41.71 kgs

Well, back to where I was last Friday (my lowest weight). We’ll see what tomorrow brings. This is a recipe post, so here we go!

Pan Fried Tilapia
Serving Size: 1
Total time spent in kitchen… Less than 15 minutes.

Ingredients:
2 lovely Tilapia fillets
PAM pan spray (I used 2 TBS coconut oil, which is not Dukan)
2 TBS bran meal or flax seed meal (I used flax seed)
1 TBS Italian seasoning
Salt to taste
2 large leeks, cut in chunks
1 smallish red onion, cut in chunks

Ingredients

Put bran/flax seed meal and Italian seasoning in flat plate. Stir to mix.

Coating

Heat pan to medium. Coat both sides of fillets until well covered and place in hot pan.

Sizzlin’ hot!

Cook for 3 minutes and then flip over carefully.

Mmmm, Mmmmm Good smells in the kitchen!

Cook for one minute and then add the onions and leeks to the pan and cover. Cook for 3 more minutes.

I’m not on a DIET… I’m on a LIVEIT!

Remove the fish from the pan and plate. Continue to saute the veggies for a couple more minutes.

I pinched a piece off while waiting for the veggies… YUMMY!

Plate the veggies and eat… This is the first time I’ve tried using the flax seed meal like this. I usually get my fiber in by stirring it in my yogurt… I’m disappointed that I waited all this time to try it! YUMMY! Enjoy with those you love… I did!

Wonderful dinner!

Went for a run after dinner in the pouring rain, which was awesome! There was practically no pedestrian traffic in my complex and no smokers, which just kills me when I run through a cloud of smoke (yes, I’m one of those ex-smokers!). AND… I GOT MY FIRST RUNNERS BLISTER! LOL. I know this wouldn’t make most people happy, but darnit, I feel like a real runner now! WOO HOO! 😀 I now know to wear my wool socks if I’m going to run in the rain… lesson learned. I run two different programs while I run. Bridge to 10K (B210K) and Runkeeper. The B201K to coach me through the run and the Runkeeper to track my total workout and be able to map it with the GPS. Runkeeper is also tracking my daily, weekly, monthly and annual distances! Since March I’ve run/walked/hiked a total of 201.6 miles!

Bridge to 10K

RunKeeper

RunKeeper Map

And this is me… at the end of the B210K run… I still had about 7 minutes of cool down to do, but couldn’t resist stopping for a shot… the high from running is better than any drug. Seriously… why the hell didn’t I do this a long time ago? Elation – that’s what it is 🙂

Happy, Wet, Elated, Satisfied, Amazed, Accomplished… etc 🙂

That’s the Monday report!

Ciao!

Dukan – Days 261 & 262 – Epiphany

Posted on May 7, 2012 by flamidwyfe

Well, it’s been a couple of days since I wrote a post. Mostly because it’s very difficult to write posts on my iPhone… which I have to do at my flat. C–hina has a problem with ba—-logs and 😀 -book 🙂 And blocked my V — P — eN on my home IP. So the only place I can use it is at Werk 🙂 Talk about paranoid… hehe. So on my days off I only have access through my iPhone. Anyhoo…..

Saturday was a half day at work and a PV Day 🙂
Sunday was a day off from work and a PV Day 🙂

Over the course of those two days I GAINED 1.1 pounds/0.50 kgs
Total Weight Loss: 90.7 lbs/41.21 kgs

Not worried. I ate everything right, so it wasn’t that. And I’ve gotten plenty of exercise, so it isn’t that… I think it’s just a fluctuation. I do have to say that these last 10 pounds are going to be the hardest to lose… oh wait… i’m getting the fat sucked out this week… YAY! 😀 Liposuction is scheduled for Thursday afternoon, I have to do a marketing event for the hospital in Wenzhou in the morning… gotta “pay” for that free plastic surgery.

So, after Thursday morning’s weigh in, I won’t weigh myself for 10 days. I don’t want to freak out. I know that with the natural inflammatory response of surgery, I will gain, that is the bottom line. Kitty (who will be with me throughout my surgery and recovery, bless her heart) has already said I want the fat that they take out of me WEIGHED… LOL. Kitty will also be taking pictures through the entire surgery and after AND she’ll write the post for Friday and possible Saturday… with pics. She’s such a good doobie!

The bad news 😦 Sadly, May 15th will be Kitty’s last day with me. As per Chinese tradition, she is “old” at the ripe age of 25 for not being married. Her mother is making her go back to her village and hook up with this guy she met over Chinese New Year. She promises me she won’t marry him if she doesn’t fall in love with him… and I believe her. She’s a smart girl and has learned a lot from her American momma (me)… LOL I am going to miss her like crazy. Vivi (not to be confused with Vivien aka ViviMokaLaka) is my new personal assistant. Nice girl, lots of experience, rolls her eyes at my sarcasm, because she gets it… she’ll fall in love with me… they all do 🙂

Saturday… INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE MIDWIFE. Since I was being a right shit about the fact that the Director of Nursing canceled our activities, I boycotted morning handover and rounds, did some PowerPoint work and left at noon to go hang out at the Vineyard with ViviMokaLaka and watch Aussie Football. I am a Geelong Cats fan, by association. And I really enjoy watching the game. I’ve stopped yelling things like “offsides” and “that was holding”… because those silly rules DO NOT APPLY!

Me on International Midwives Day:

I AM A MIDWIFE 🙂

I spent so much time at the Vineyard on Saturday that I ended up having lunch and dinner. Reuben, the chef, is from Boston and he reminds me of my son Nick. He also makes me whatever I want to stick to the Dukan Diet, which is awesome. I had an amazing grass-fed steak on a bed of gorgeous greens for lunch and then for dinner he made me a hamburger with sauteed mushrooms and onions and a wee bit of low-fat mozzarella… YUM!

**Added after post was completed, but before I published it… Ironically, while previewing my post, Reuben and his wife came in to my office! So we took a pic:

Notice the Chinese soda in his hand… he didn’t bring me anything 😦

Sharing lunch with the Vineyard cat:

She lives in the restaurant… I think it’s pretty cool… other people, not so much.

It’s all about the presentation… look how gorgeous this burger plate is!

Simple burger… plated perfectly 😉

Made it home around 830 and went out for a 35 minute run… in bed, sound asleep by 1030!

Sunday was my day off. I woke up bright and early at 535 a.m… WHAT THE HECK??? Tried to tell myself that this was a day off… we could sleep in until like 630, but nope, I was up. I hit the ground running. Made a cup of coffee and went nuts in the house cleaning. I finished up organizing Lucy’s boxes, which she is shipping back to Dubai, put my refrigerator magnets and pictures back on my fridge, LOL. Packed up two big suitcases full of stuff I don’t need here in China, to take back to the States in June when I’m home on vacation, cleaned out my closet… AGAIN… I barely have any clothes left, NOT COMPLAINING, did every piece of laundry in my house, including the sheets on both beds and remade with fresh “summer” linen (anyone want to come hang out? There’s clean sheets on the bed!!), packed up for my trip to Wenzhou this week (most underwear and PJ’s since I’m going to be down… and hey, PJ’s on the train ride back are appropriate in this country… lol). I also packed up my wok and the stupid hot plate I used for the first 4 months I was here, until I realized the gas stove worked… lol. I will use these to cook for myself in the hospital in Wenzhou… yes, I’m sticking to my damn diet! I swept, mopped and wiped everything down… and that was all BEFORE 9 A.M.! I slipped down and bought a few tea eggs from the tea egg lady and went back upstairs to check emails and FB. Phew! What a morning. In the afternoon my groceries were delivered from Shanghai and I separated out the meats, cut them into chunks for stir frying, and packaged up some for taking to Wenzhou. And at 430 Kira and Dan came over for a visit with the kids and Velina and Robin popped in with their baby, too. Kira and Dan are headed back to the States in a few days and I’m trying to get my fill of them before they go! Soren totally wrecked my immaculate house, lol, but he’s so stinkin’ adorable, I don’t care… here he is after drinking down his 2nd yogurt of the evening…

So cute I could eat him!

Soren… Momma Sandi’s gonna send you the Ayi bill for this week, buddy 🙂

After they left, I checked emails once again before bed… I had 2 emails from people who follow my blog (I AM SO AMAZINGLY HUMBLED THAT YOU ALL FOLLOW THIS BLOG). One of them was asking advise and the other one thanking me privately for a “put on your big girl panties and stop making excuses” comment I put on one of their blog posts. And this, is what I went to bed thinking about… excuses. And a long-time friend talked about starting her hcg injections AGAIN and I told her to start eating and stop using injections. And then this morning, a fellow blogger MJ, from emjayandthem, wrote this quote on a post from a couple of days ago: “if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always had.” And then one of my favorite momma’s I delivered a million moons ago had this to say on Facebook:

Edited…. Sue sent me this link to the article that this quote comes from:

“Fat looks on the surface as though it is about a failure of restraint. It isn’t actually any more an issue of restraint than it is for many thin or medium-sized people. Most eating problems don’t show. Fat, which may or may not mean an eating problem, does. That doesn’t make it immoral or contemptible. It doesn’t mean the fat individual has faulty judgment or inferior leadership skills. It certainly doesn’t sanction discrimination. What it does demonstrate is that cruelty and stupidity arises when we are pressed to make our bodies into uniform shapes. This creates widespread body anxiety, and makes us search for a scapegoat to feel secure. We know from other forms of discrimination what a fruitless and lousy deal that is.”

And my reply was this:

“I have to disagree with this, Sue. Having lost more than 90 pounds over the past 8 months from learning restraint, I have to say that fat is just that… FAT. It comes from improper eating and from improper movement. When I started my journey to get rid of the fat I walked just 20 minutes a day. I hear people use the excuse all the time, that they don’t have time… my answer… shut off the computer for 20 minutes and take a walk. That was MY answer. My friend John is a life coach, we had a serious talking in August, before I started my quest to lose the fat and the one thing that I took away from his teachings is that we just use excuse after excuse for the way we look… how unhealthy we are. Fat is Fat… Fat is not healthy. A certain amount of fat is healthy, but not obesity. We get fat from poor choices. And once we stop making excuses and recognize obesity for what it is, instead of coddling each other to make us feel better, our nation will get healthier. Love you and hope you’re feeling better soon ♥”

And collectively that should be an epiphany to all us… FAT IS NOT HEALTHY. OBESITY IS NOT HEALTHY… STOP MAKING FRIGGIN’ EXCUSES AND DO JUST TWO SIMPLE THINGS… EAT BETTER AND MOVE! It really is quite simple! The first person who really, really pointed this out to me was John Geraghty, in August, during my life coaching session with him. And at the time it made sense… but now… 90+ pounds later… IT MAKES SENSE! REAL SENSE!

The bottom line is you have to realize that being fat and obese is not healthy and stop making excuses… NOPE, it’s not your thyroid, NOPE, it’s not your diabetes, NOPE it’s not PCOS or any other malady you have… it’s your life style. It’s the crap you eat and the fact that you aren’t MOVING. And if you simply… SIMPLY change those two things, it will make all the difference in your world. Stop saying you DON’T HAVE ENOUGH TIME to cook… I cook every single meal in UNDER 15 MINUTES… stop making excuses you DON’T HAVE TIME TO EXERCISE… get off your butt and walk out the door and get in 20 minutes… that’s ALL you need. 20 minutes… Turn off your computer and go do it… that is after you’ve finished reading my post… LOL.

SIMPLY…. STOP MAKING EXCUSES AND GET HEALTHY!

Ciao!

I’ll leave you with this quote from Mel at wwangel… she inspires me to get off my ass and run… Thank you, Mel for pushing me harder than you probably know you do 🙂 I am proud to know someone who is running the NYC marathon this year… You Go my Kiwi Friend!