Update!

I haven't updated in a while because I have been avoiding the scale. I am at a loss of around 40 lbs right now and my pants are getting way too big. I have pulled some smaller sizes out of storage and I have went from a size 24 to a 20 in the past two months. Considering I haven't been exercising that's still a great loss to me. I have recently been looking into bariatric and low-fat and sugar recipes to start cooking a little healthier. With Anthony deploying in just a few weeks I will have plenty of time to master that before he gets back home. As far as my incision goes I think we only have a few more weeks. Last Monday I was 5 cm deep, Friday I was  4 cm deep, and this Monday I was only 3 cm deep! The smaller it gets it seems the faster it's healing. I'm not going to lie, it's pretty painful. Changing the wound has been difficult because it is getting so small to where the 1/4" ribbon and wooden tipped applicator don't want to both fit in there. It feels like a scraping. I am doing it though, once a day now (YAY!). The top has been closing so we have had to start packing it half-way down and then pack the top more. If the top closes up before the depth heals we will get another abscess and I will have to be cut open again and we will back to square one! NO, thank you! I feel like I am doing okay emotionally, but we will see how that stays as the deployment gets here. I just need to stay away from food for comfort during this! On a happier note, my husband and I are attending a Military Adoption Workshop this coming week and we are really excited to get this process started. Hopefully we will be all set to start placement by the time he gets back from Kuwait! Tomorrow is my birthday and I have been super busy working on projects for an internship at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, so sorry for my lack of postings lately! I hope all of my hard work and efforts pay off and I get the job. Good things are going to happen for me in 2013. This is going to be MY year! :)

Photos to come soon!

Incision

I just wanted to post a photo of how small my incision is today. The bleach solution has definitely helped the rare becteria go away and we can already tell a huge difference in how fast I am healing. hopefully only another week or two of packing it. We will see at my Friday wound check appointment.

5 Weeks 2 Days Post-Op

It's been far too long since my last blog update. I have been so busy with deployment preparations and moving and the holidays. I haven't weighed myself in a few days, but I know I am losing weight. I am fitting into clothes that not too long ago were too small by a bit. My bras are not as full as they once were and that is something to talk about in itself! My jeans, while they are still hugging at my waist are beginning to sag in the butt and are super loose around the thighs. My incision has also shrunk a bit. We battled first the infection, and then a few weeks later found out that it was harboring a rare bacteria that kept my wound from healing. We had to pack it with a bleach solution twice a day for a week. Thankfully over that week it looks to have gotten much smaller already and it looks like it may heal by the end of the month if we don't run into anymore problems or setbacks. Thank goodness! Just in time for Anthony's deployment. We will be moving on the 19th of this month and I couldn't be more excited. We are going to save a lot of money and I will have an even better work out center at my disposal. I'm talking stair stepper, weight machine and all! I know that I have definitely lost 30 lbs at this point, possibly more, but my doc thinks that I will plateau soon, which is why I have been avoiding the scale. I don't want to discourage myself. I am so ready to exercise and I have an appointment on the 10th to see if I will be cleared for exercise and if so, off I go to the wellness center personal trainer. Anthony also got me ZUMBA for Christmas, the DVD series. There are free classes on Ft.Carson every week, so once I lose about 50 lbs I'll probably join them. My scars are kinda dark now, but the scabs are all gone and my doctor has cleared me to start using Merderma if I want to. The one in my belly button healed kinda weird and I feel that some new skin should form before I use it. I may start using that around my birthday on the 30th. My rings are nearly falling off and will fit on any of my fingers now, including my thumbs. I will post some pictures below this of my incision and scars, and a photo of my face where you can slightly tell that I have lost some facial weight. I will try to post again soon.

Photos That Go With 5 Weeks 2 Days Post-Op

This is a view of all of the scars:

This is the worst scar, where my drainage bag was removed:

 This is my belly button, which healed weird because of tearing during staple removal:

 The two right side scars:

 My packed incision.

Facial Photo: