Gastric sleeve surgery Dec.2 2015

I arrived the day before surgery along with my friend Robyn (also a patient). We came down with our husbands to do this journey together.. They checked us into the hotel rooms that we would be in for the duration of our stay. The next day (day of surgery)they transported us to the hospital to check in with the cardiologist, blood work and etc. Because I am older and they wanted to make sure I was a safe candidate for surgery, and it had been a couple years since my last EKG, so they took me to another medical facility to have an Echo cardiogram.. Everything turned out wonderful, and I was treated extremely well by everyone I came into contact with. 
 There were four of us ladies to have surgery that day, Heather (also from WA state, and Tammy from Texas, Robyn and I.. The others went before me, and I got back to the hospital just in time to meet Dr. Alonzo before I was whisked away to surgery.. No time for pictures with him.. =( The hospital was very clean, and the nurses were very good at what they do.
 The next afternoon we were transported back to the hotel, where we were greeted by our nurse with jello and apple juice. note:the restaurant at the hotel provided free broth throughout our stay. Later that day, our group went shopping! Yes shopping!! 
 Two weeks down the road I wish I had some of that energy! OMG!! I am sluggish, gassy/bloated and feeling sleepy all of the time.. Thinking we may have been slipped and energy cocktail in our daily IV of Antibiotics and pain meds... LOL I need some bad!! 
 My primary reasons for the gastric sleeve was because my Diabetes was getting out of control as well as my eating habits.. My blood sugar even with taking Metformin 2x a day reached 218, and it was bouncing all over the place, but never under 140,, Plus,,I could not stop eating even when I was full.. Dr Amonzo assured me after surgery I would not need to be on any medicine.. And he was so right!! 12 days post op- No medicine and my bs is under control and steady in the 89-109 range. YAY!! 
 The second reason my appetite... My cravings at this point are fleeting, they are gone before I know it.. Hubby is able to cook and eat in front of me and it does not bother me in the least. My husband was able to sabotage my diet before, now he cannot.. There is just no room in my tummy to take more than one or two small bites at a time.. I am going to make darn sure they are worth it!!
 If anyone reading this has any doubts about having this surgery for your health sake, just do your homework to make sure it is right for you.. I had doubts and plenty of them.. Surgery is a huge step, and doing it out of the country is huge.. My family was very much opposed to me doing it and thought I was out of my mind.. Granted I had my age going against me, plus I had a stroke last year.. But I did do my homework without them knowing, and when my BS hit 219 after Thanksgiving, I knew what I had to do to save my life.. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.. I believe this surgery will add years to my life. My mom is 93 years old and I expect to be around at least that long.

Counting down until Gastric sleeve surgery.

Scrap Kits - 5 of them!

Okay,,, I have been very busy trying to play catch-up here... =) Because I have had 3 computer crashes in the past 3 years, and hubby's retirement, I lost interest in PSP. Seems like I would just get all set up to play and I would have to start all over again.. Although when we went on the road with our motor home, I would bring my external hard drive, and I would save some of the scraps I created (when we didn't have wi_fi). =) Well,, because I was afraid of losing all of my goodies, I have put them all together and am posting them here, finally.. Hope you can use them.. Same TOU, for personal use only.. If by chance you use them in a tut please send peeps here to download.. Thanks & enjoy! Discovery Bay - Pictures that I took when on vacation in Discovery Bay, WA Download HERE BlueJeans Baby FIBJ - HERE Twinkle me please - HERE Twinkle Me Blue - HERE Sunflowers - HERE

Dianne Sierra's Clam Chowder Recipe

I made Clam Chowder for my ailing hubby today and a friend asked for my recipe.. So sharing here as well.. Enjoy! Dianne Sierra's Clam Chowder (I prefer fresh steamed clams, but use canned when not available, as I did here) 3 - 6.4 (184g Tuna sized cans) Canned Minced Clams 5 slices bacon cut into pieces and lightly browned 8 medium/large Red potatoes quartered and thinly sliced (w most of the Skin ON) 1/2 med Onion diced 1 Carrot diced 3 ribs Celery diced 1 Cup half and half 1 Cube Butter 4/5 T. Flour Salt and Pepper to taste *Oyster Crackers for garnish *Optional ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cook Bacon and set aside.. Prep all veggies At the same time.. Prepare potatoes and place in a large pot and just barely cover them with the JUICE drained off the canned Clams and a little water (but not too much water please) Cook potatoes , bring to a soft boil and simmer only as long as it takes the other saute veggies to soften.. You do not want them mushy.. In a saute pan add the whole cube of butter, celery, carrot and onion, salt and pepper. Saute on medium heat until softened. Stirring to keep from browning. Next: Spoon the veggies to the potato pot( but save the butter in the saute pan), and continue to simmer Chowder on low... Add the flour to the butter (in the saute pan) and stir it until it is smooth and well blended (about 2-3 minutes on med heat), add the cup of half and half (or heavy cream)slowly and stiring until smooth. I like to use a wooden spoon when I cook. Add this mix to the simmering potato pot and stir well 2-4 minutes, then add 2/3rds of the Bacon, stir, then when all is well blended, add the minced clams, Stir. Done! note: If the Chowder is too thick, add a little more half and half before you add the clams.. Do not cook the clams for long, they turn to rubber, so add them just before serving the chowder.. The clam flavor really comes from the juice from the clams that goes in at the beginning with the potatoes.. Serve with a few Oyster crackers and a few crumbles of reserved Bacon for a garnish.. Approx 6 lg. servings Total time about 30-45 minutes for me.. Enjoy I make this minus the clams and juice, for my Potato Soup or Italian Sausage Soup, you can also make Potato and Ham soup.... Just saying it is a great soup base recipe, one I concocted many years ago.. Enjoy!!!! ************************************************************************ ♥

and More

Hope you all can use at least some of these.. Enjoy ♥ Di

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