Necessary Mutilation

Weight: 230 lbs.

Given the fact that Tom and I would be stuck eating cold cuts another night,  I offered for us to go to a buffet for dinner, so that we could both partake in someone else’s cooking and an opportunity for a vegetable or two. I called Tom before I left work at 5:30, and said that I would honk when I arrived. We were both very hungry, and stupidly, I ate as if I’d never heard the word “bypass” - fast and furious. I had some chicken soup, a salad, and some baked fish before…URP! What the hell was I thinking?! Why oh why do I not learn from past experience?!

I had assumed that it was the chewy meat that I had had last time that had done me in, but clearly it is more likely the bulk and pace of what I am eating instead.

God I am still in pain! I feel as if food is packed from my bowel to my esophagus, and is stuck everywhere in between. No amount of urping and burping is providing relief, and I guess I will have to hope for time to do the trick. I can’t even envision taking my vitamins right now, as I picture them just sitting on top of a sausage like structure of impacted food, and/or creating a situation like that on the Monty Python episode when a man eats a “wafer thin” after dinner mint against his better judgement, and the rest is history.

If I could throw up I would…but alas, I am left to suffer with my stupidity, and hopefully this will leave more of an impression than the quick fix of a good upchuck. Once again, note to self…!

Well, it is difficult to think of much else to say that won’t add to my pain, although I just must say that the bank has not yet done its thing to reimburse us despite another promise, and clearly will require even more time or follow up before things are resolved. I am trying not to get too unnecessarily crazy about this, but I must say that it pushes all my buttons having to do with trust, customer service, honesty and responsibility.

Hey, maybe if I keep talking about this, I WILL be able to barf! 

 Nah…it’s not worth it!

Weight: 232.5 lbs.

In case it isn’t obvious from the title, I barfed at Old Country Buffet after going like 7 hours without food, and then wolfing down some of their beef stew. The bathroom that I urped in was so disgusting, that it made me urp that much more - and I should be down some good lbs. tomorrow as a result. Blechhh!

Before this, Tom and I went to a few nearly washed out garage sales, including the one with the broken electronics, to return these purchases. The couple was kind and apologetic, and we ended up actually buying more stuff to replace the unuseable items - go figure.

After this, Tom and I worked hard organizing and putting away not just these finds, but many other long overdue things as well. This included the remodeling of our laundry and “old clothes” area in the basement, and I ended up finding many more clothing items to replace my ever increasingly baggy ones that have been taking up prime real estate in the bedroom closet. Poor Tom has had to practically relocate as I keep encroaching more and more on his closet space…but he too scored some good basement “finds” (although his are BIGGER!), so he was too happy to care.

And, in case it isn’t already obvious, we never did go to our metal detecting hunt, mostly due to the fact that once again it rained like all day, and other than die hards, we can’t imagine that any self respecting person would chose to spend the day digging in weather like this. Garage saling, yes, but digging…?

Lastly, we both stopped for haircuts in the nick of time before Super Cuts closed, and I am somewhat pleased to have a combover to my horribly scaggly and balding head. The poor woman worked very hard on me and into minutes past closing, only for us both to realize afterwards that I am still balding and unruly - although in a neater, short cropped sort of way. So I am no longer sporting the maniac look made wilder by incessant rain and winds, and now may stand a chance to visit Kris at the psych. center without staff suspiciously eyeing me when I leave as if I am an escapee rather than a visitor!

Weight: 235 (!) lbs.

Not surprisingly, I gained weight! My new, slovenly, hedonistic lifestyle being pampered and indulged may have suited my personality, but not my girth. So, now I am back to  cooking my own food (well, reheating leftovers, anyway), working and tending house. But worst of all, I am back to writing my own posts - I miss coming home and reading all the cool stuff others had to say, and even if not for the fun and food, its worth a trip again, just to have the pleasure of having others fill in for me! Hopefully, those of you brave and kind enough to take on this task weren’t too put out by this, and maybe even enjoyed the chance to write whatever you wanted for the day. And I just loved how each of you chose something different and interesting, and of certain value to others at any stage and type of the weight loss journey. It reminds me of how everyone always asks what they should bring when we have a big cookout here, and I rarely dictate, because I know that rather than 20 bags of the same chips, without instruction, people will naturally all bring different and interesting dishes to the table, and it is rare that there will be repeats or items of little interest to others. Half the fun is delighting in the mix of what is brought, and enjoying each for what it has to offer and how different it is from the others.

So, thank you all once again for allowing me my break away — and what a break it was! My friend asked in the car on the way home what everyone’s favorite part of the trip was. Janet said that having a delicious strawberry daiquiri, her first in like 20 years, was up there amongst beach walks and the sights. Tom was too busy driving to answer, but had earlier told me that he too enjoyed the beach and just being away with good friends with no major agenda. Debbie seemed to like it all, and like me, seems torn between whether the view, food or overall experience of getting away was best. The first night Tom and I were put up, gratis, by the Borgata, while my friends were unfortunately given a rather crummy room at Caesars. When we joined them at Caesars the 2nd night, I called to see if we could upgrade to ocean front rooms - and voila!, we ended up living in the lap of luxury, care of Harrah’s, for the remaining 2 nights. I even took a picture of the awesome LCD TV built right into the mirror in the bathroom (tuned into The Family Guy!), ’cause I thought this was way cool and now find that our bathroom at home just doesn’t cut it anymore!

We also visited the beautiful pool at Bally’s adjoining property, but didn’t actually go in it. I would never be caught dead in a public pool, so I had a reason, but Tom, who had even brought his suit, just decided against it for no real reason. Or, perhaps it was because he was busy being dragged from spa to spa and gift shop to gift shop by me, who had been comped so many dollars in freebies, that I was whipped into a shopping frenzy in an attempt to ensure that I didn’t leave any money on the “table.” And boy did I have fun — even better than garage sales! I bought a few gemstone globes to add to my collection garnered from other casino junkets, a pretty windchime, numerous bath products, gifts and other sundries. Tom even got a new leather wallet, 2 pairs of swim trunks that he probably won’t use next year either, and FOOD!

Here is a picture of the receipt from our indulgence at Pickles, the NY style deli at Bally’s for which we had a $150 voucher that had to be eaten in one visit. The irony is that I can only eat a little now, and my two girlfriends are toothpicks with little appetities. This left Tom to eat the lion’s share, and us to use 6 (yes, six!) take out boxes ‘o fattening food, lest it go to waste. And even then, if you look carefully, we only used $120 of the voucher. We joked about picking up some strangers from the boardwalk and feeding them too - which is actually a very bad joke because it is evident there that some people truly could benefit from a hot meal and some shelter.

In any case, I/we ate great, or terribly, depending on what perspective you have on this. You may see that only one item on this menu is even remotely redeeming - or perhaps two, if you count the sugar free dessert. (BTW, I was referring to the chili).

So…I ate bits and bites of this and that, and many other huge and amazing meals elsewhere too, given that Harrah’s kept the comps flowing. One night, as pre-planned, we ate at McCormick and Scmick’s, and I got the most incredible scallops with pumpkin risotto. Normally, in the past, I would have laughed at a plate that had only 4 scallops on it. But now, 4 was actually maybe one too many, but the tastiest and most elegant dish that I can say that I’ve had in years! Tom and I are very simple eaters, and unfortunaely he had trouble finding something recognizeable to eat, so just chose the fish fry instead. Same with Janet, who actually dislikes seafood, and simply ordered a salad (albeit, exotic) instead. Debbie’s fillet mignon was fabulous, and then we all split 2 cool desserts…and still didn’t use the whole voucher, once again. Although this meal, we came close!

I must say that our worst eating experience, perhaps even more dismal than the Ponderosa that we stopped at in Cortland NY on our drive home, was the Caesar’s buffet. God, it was pathetic, and the lady carving up the prime rib was rude and nasty, reminding me of the hunk of beef that Barb had thrown to her by a similarily rude server on our recent trip to Bally’s buffet.

Well, enough about the food part of the trip. Here’s a picture of Tom and me “snuggling” on the boardwalk, while on a beautiful evening stroll with our friends. We walked the boardwalk and beach many times, with my favorite being in the early morning of our return trip, when it was still very cool (like 7:30 am) and the beach was almost empty. Except for a lone metal detectionist who we “befriended”, and who it turns out, lives in Kenmore, NY, which is only minutes from us! We told him about the local metal detecting group that we belong to, and he seemed pleased and plans to come to our next meeting. He said that the best thing that he had found, BTW, was not the handful of coins he dug up on the beach, but the possibly diamond watch his daughter-in-law picked up off the casino floor!

And, in case you are dying to see what I did while on the beach, here’s a picture of some of my finds…beautiful sea shells of all types and my favorite- weathered pieces of glass and rocks that have fused together and look like little pieces of fossilized artwork!

Lastly, here’s a shot of Tom visiting the Korean War monument near Ballys…one of many shots as he stands amongst amazing bronze statues and poignant mementos and writings.

Now Janet, who had a quality camera and a better eye for a great shot, also took a zillion pictures, and I am hoping that if she shoots some my way, I may see fit to post a few other choice ones in upcoming posts. In fact, Janet took pics of things I didn’t even have our camera with us for, and she takes great pains to ensure a quality shot. (Hint, hint….)

In other trip and bariatric news, now I really know why they recommend against drinking this soon after surgery! I actually don’t remember having had as bad of a reaction to my frozen drink last time, as I did this time. Boy, was I like snockered after just one lounge drink! OK - so it was like a HUGE strawberry daiquiri with enough sugar in it to kill a diabetic, let alone alcohol. Not a good drunk feeling either - more like a wobbly, stoned, hung over feeling that only made me play that much stupider on the slot machines afterwards. And, the Pina Colada I had the day before simply made me sick - flushed, hot, dizzy…but still, no real dumping. Before you bludgeon me for being SO bad, these were the worst liberties I took - and otherwise, was at least a little moderate in my choices.

On Monday morning, and perhaps due to the Colada of Sunday night, I had such a bad migraine type headache that when out alone with Tom for breakfast, I couldn’t decide whether to eat  or throw up in my plate of food. I haven’t felt THIS bad in ages, and of course, had no ibuprophen to take until reunited with Janet tortuous hours later. And the fact that I got my “P” the minute we arrived (which subsided the minute we left,of course), didn’t help any either!

Unfortunately, as seems to be true often lately, the worst part of our experience was the gambling. Although we had truly planned to use just our free vouchers and possibly even take any profits home…needless to say, we are clearly way too stupid and addicted to have been this disciplined. So instead of going home with their money, and profit to us, we naturally lost both theirs and some of ours, probably paying in full for all our “freebies” and those we got for our friends, as well.

Oh well - all is fair in love and war, and overall it was a trip to be remembered and cherished, and very much, just what “the doctor ordered!” We certainly hope, and believe, that our good friends can say the same, and this too, made it all worthwhile!

Weight: 248 lbs.

Unfortunately, I am talking about our money!

Although we had a wonderful time in Atlantic City, I lost lots (of money), and gained a little (weight). The opposite would have been much nicer, but this was the more likely scenario.

So, here’s the rundown. We ate, gambled, ate, ate, ate, gambled, walked, ate, walked, walked, ate, and gambled. The casinos frequented were Harrah’s, Bally’s, Claridge, Wild Wild West, Trump Taj Mahal, and the Borgata. We lost in all but the Borgata, where we still lost, but won some in between and got treated so well that it was hard to be upset. Plus, I won on the Penny Train feature at the last minute ($898!) just before it was time to go, so this felt like a winning day even though the reality is that over the span of the trip we still were losers.

Continue reading “Losing Quick and Easy!”

Weight: 255 lbs.

I’m so confused about supplementation! Tom and I just got back from Wegmans where we spent an hour poring over the various vitamin aisles looking for iron tablets. As I no longer frequent the Bariatric Center, continuing to use their Fusion brand at this time would require that I order it on-line rather than pick up a bottle or two there as I had been accustomed to. Recently, I had found very inexpensively priced chewable multi-vitamins at Walgreens and purchased several bottles of them. They were reduced to like under $3.oo per bottle of 60 pills, and have more of just about everything in them than Fusion does, except iron. Plus, if I take just two rather than the four that Fusion requires a day, I will have nearly as much and in some cases more of necessary vitamins and minerals. So, as I have four bottles of these left and am nearly out of Fusion, I thought I was a genius to just buy some iron to go along with them. Echhh — what an ordeal. Did anyone else realize how many types of iron there are? Plus, varying forms and milligrams. Plus, some come with added vitamins for good-sounding reasons (so say the labels), and some do not.

Continue reading “Vitamin Rich But Money and Wisdom Deficient!”