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| Sarah is Struggling | |
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| Topic Started: Jun 4 2007, 04:28 AM (247 Views) | |
| sarahinparis | Jun 4 2007, 04:28 AM Post #1 |
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Hello to all It is nice to see a new place with so many familiar names. Ok, my history in a nutshell : High weight around 250 several years back. I've been overweight pretty much all my life, and around 220-250 most of my adult life. In 2001 I got serious and lost about 75 pounds, 50 of which has been permanently lost (I have never re-passed the 200 lb mark). I am American, I moved to France in Jan 2003 and gained back some of the weight I had lost. I have ranged from 180-195 since then. My latest attempt to lose I had crept back up to 194. Today my weight is at 184. My current struggle : aside from my desire to lose weight for vanity & general health reasons, I was pretty motivated by my WEDDING IN ONE WEEK (on June 11th). So I had kicked things into gear, was diligently dieting, back to tracking food & pushing the exercise. And.... my back (which has given me trouble off & on for years) decided this would be a good time for a crisis. I now have sciatica, in a very severe & incapacitating form, which has been present for about 5 weeks, and incapacitating for 4 weeks. I can only stand for 10 minutes without extreme pain, so gym is long long gone and all I can do is try to watch what I eat (which has been successful in so far as I have not gained since the problem started). I am now heavily medicated & have an appointment w a surgeon on Friday because more conservative options are just not helping, and I cannot go on like this. I have a busy week ahead of me -- my sister & mom arrive from the US tomorrow morning, then I have a few doc appointment & several wedding things this week (eyebrows, pedicure, etc). Saturday we are having our big party (before the wedding, instead of the day of) and Monday is the wedding. We have decided to push back our honeymoon in Italy to the Fall, and instead will go away for 3 nights to a chateau in France not too far. I hope to schedule the surgery for the week after the wedding. Hope everyone on here is doing well, and I will be here with my objective to stay as healthy as I can under the circumstances, and NOT GAIN while I go through all of this. |
PROGRESS, NOT PERFECTION. My Blog : http://3fatchicks.com/diet-blogs/round | |
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| Righ | Jun 4 2007, 04:32 AM Post #2 |
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Oh Sarah
 Its great to see you again, that sounds really awful. I can only hope that things go ok for you at the surgeon and it gets sorted. I know you're a serious exerciser so being laid up must be very tough, so Huggs |
 Carl 6'1" 43 weeks weighing in | |
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| shygemini | Jun 4 2007, 09:43 AM Post #3 |
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oh sarah i'm so sorry to hear about your back Huggs THis must be an incredibly stressful time for you with your wedding coming up, the pain to deal with and the surgery coming up. I really hope you have a wonderful wedding, i'm sure you will look beautiful and have a memorable day  That and your health comes first right now...once those are past you, you can focus again on exercising and really eating well, but i applaud you for trying to stay as healthy as you can right now...i'm not so sure i'd do the same!Take care and be looking for your posts, and happy to see you here! |
 
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| TeachX3 | Jun 4 2007, 09:53 AM Post #4 |
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Hello Sarah and welcome to Fit4Life! I am so sorry to hear of the medical problems... Huggs and I pray your wedding is beautiful and that you can get the proper medical treatment you need to live a healthy and happy life!! |
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My Beliefs & Opinions (Public Blog) ► Age 41 • 5'5" • Medium Frame • Began: 01/17/07  | |
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| Cherriterri | Jun 4 2007, 09:55 AM Post #5 |
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Congrats on the wedding Sarah!!! You must be excited it is so close!! I'm sorry to hear about your back but as Shy said, concentrate on getting better then worry about the exercise. Great job at maintaining your weight loss so far. |
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| Katee | Jun 4 2007, 01:57 PM Post #6 |
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Welcome to the forum. Congrats on the wedding. I hope they're able to do something for your back and the pain goes away! |
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| purrrple | Jun 4 2007, 06:08 PM Post #7 |
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Sarah, oh chickie! Huggs my goodness you are going through the wars! I feel really sorry for your pain! Huggs On the bright side... Wooo Hooo you're getting married and you're going to make an absolutely lovely bride! enjoy your week leading up to it with your mum and sis as much as possible. Oh, you're going to have an awesome wedding! Dance Party Take care remember you have done great so far with the weight loss and maintenance. When you are all fixed :unsure: then all else will fall into place. Huggs |
 
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| NicC | Jun 4 2007, 09:16 PM Post #8 |
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Well considering your circumstances maintaining your weight is quite an accomplishment. Congrats on your wedding but I wish your back was not an issue.
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 FALL CHALLENGE PARTICIPANT WALK FAST, EAT SLOW | |
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| sarahinparis | Jun 5 2007, 03:13 AM Post #9 |
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Thanks, everyone. The timing of the sciatica couldn't be much worse, but at the same time at least I have something to distract myself with. I have an appt w a surgeon on Friday, and our big party is on Saturday. Hopefully I will be able to have the operation within a few weeks & be on the road to recovery. With the forced inactivity & being housebound & often bored I am worried about ballooning up in weight -- so I really hope being on here from time to time can help keep me focused enough to maintain my weight. And yes, I am very excited about the upcoming events. Its great to have the family here, and I feel so blessed to have met this great guy & be starting our life together. He's been great -- patient, kind, helpful, supportive & encouraging during this minor health crisis, and I know it's not been easy for him. So a few more days of wedding prep -- would like to get my eyebrows done, manicure & pedicures, and need to find the perfect lipstick! Today we will pick out my bridal bouquet (mom wanted to help w that) so the to-do list is shrinking, finally! |
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PROGRESS, NOT PERFECTION. My Blog : http://3fatchicks.com/diet-blogs/round | |
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| sapphire | Jun 5 2007, 03:48 AM Post #10 |
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Hi Sarah, sorry to hear that Huggs I hope the appointment with the surgeon goes well. Congratulations on getting married, I'm sure you'll be a gorgeous bride Have fun being pampered. I hope the shopping for the bouquet goes well.Take care Huggs |
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| sarahinparis | Jun 6 2007, 03:14 PM Post #11 |
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Bouquet... check Manicure...check Pedicure...check Eyebrows....tomorrow w my sister Lipstick...still to do, maybe we will swing by someplace tomorrow on our way back home. I am checking my weight daily just to stay on track prior to the Big Event. I actually have 2 events, our big party is Sat night (before the wedding) and the wedding itself is a civil ceremony, smaller thing, on Monday. I had dresses made for both, both are custom-designed & fitted bodices, so I really need to make sure the weight doesnt move too much. Luckly, the drugs I'm on make me forget about just about everything, including eating. And I am trying to stick to healthy habits esp for breakfast (being in Paris w visitors, breakfast rapidly becomes a caloric nightmare, when we buy croissants, chocolate croissants, and several other butter and sugar laden pastries -- and everyone wants to try each one, PLUS a big loaf of fresh bread w butter and jams.... yikes! I try to eat just fruit & cereal & maybe a yogurt for breakfast, that way I avoid one of fat traps of the day. I had an epidural steroid injection tonight at the hospital. The hope is that it gives me 4 or so good days (like it did 2 weeks ago). I am still going ahead w the surgeon, but I need to be able to get through the next few days w reasonable mobility. I hope i get enough improvement to not be on the loopy drugs on Sat night & Monday. But at the worst, i'll be on loopy drugs and avoid all alcohol...even the champagne <_< |
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PROGRESS, NOT PERFECTION. My Blog : http://3fatchicks.com/diet-blogs/round | |
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| MagicRe | Jun 8 2007, 07:36 AM Post #12 |
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oh, sarah....how wonderfully chaotic your life is right now....with the exclusion of the horrid sciatic pain.....i am very good friends with that one, you are in that period of time that will never be repeated...the last few days before you get married.... i think you have much on your plate, not to mention the drugs, the surgeon and the pain, that what you're doing to maintain is enough..and if you slip a little, i wouldn't worry about it....focus on the wedding and the honey moon and the man and the day.....the rest will take care of itself. and, if i haven't said it before, let me say congratulations and mazel tov to your wedding.
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| We'll count this one as Take Two. | |
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| sarahinparis | Jun 16 2007, 09:12 AM Post #13 |
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I am now officially a married woman! My rhumatologist delivered on his promise to have me in decent shape for the big party on Saturday night & the wedding on Monday! I was not 100% but I felt pretty good both days, kept off my feet except at the events themselves, and was able to keep the pain under control without being out of it on drugs. Both events were wonderful, really exactly as I had hoped & imagined them. Saturday was a big party on a private boat that sailed up and down the Seine river in the heart of Paris, a beautiful evening, about 135 guests, good food, music, and it was just fabulous. Our boat was docked after the sailing just across from the Eiffel Tower & it was so beautiful, romantic, fun & perfect. I had about 3 glasses of champagne the whole night, enough to feel tipsy & fun but not drunk. Monday was the wedding, just a civil ceremony at the town hall of our district in Paris. We had intended a big party for Saturday and something more intimate for Monday (mainly family & a very few close friends) and that's exactly how it turned out, so there were about 30 people at the wedding itself, and then everyone came back to our house for a glass of champagne in the garden before we left for our mini-honeymoon. Another beautiful sunny day, again the pain control was working, and it went just as I had hoped. I weighed myself on Sunday (the day in between the 2) and was still holding at 183, and both dresses fit perfectly. I had lots of compliments (but then again, all brides do...). I felt good in the dresses and the makeup & hair for both worked out perfectly. We had already taken the decision to cancel (well, postpone) the real honeymoon (in Italy) to this Fall, since I cant walk more than 50 yards nor stand more than 10 minutes without searing pain. Because we both wanted to do SOMETHING, not just go on about our normal life, we decided to go away by car for a few days to stay in a chateau with a gourmet restaurant & just take it easy & relax together. Which we did, choosing a really lovely place in the Champagne region. This chateau has beautiful grounds (which I couldnt walk around in, but we had a great balcony from our suite) and is a Michelin-starred restaurant that was fabulous (no calorie-counting on honeymoon!). My sciatica had been greatly improved by the epidural steroid injection on Weds night, but the effect was gradually wearing off each day, and Tuesday I was pretty much back to my pre-epidural state, which was bearable as long as I didnt move around much. But things got worse on Wednesday night, with a sharp increase in the pain, and for the first time since this started i had pain while lying down and was unable to sleep. I let my husband sleep, but when he awoke I told him we needed to go back to Paris, I couldnt continue. I called my doc, who told me to double up my pain meds (which are now at doses usual for cancer patients) and we wriggled w a bunch of offices to get the various tests needed moved up, so on Thursday afternoon I had the MRI and yesterday the x-rays, and on Monday I see the surgeon again. (This is now a week earlier than was planned). I apparently have a severly herniated disk w pretty advanced neurological symptoms (numbness in my leg, loss of reflexes) and one of the radiologists called the disk "fragmented". I am taking it VERY easy this weekend (basically moving the minimum necessary in my house) because I would prefer to avoid emergency surgery & I really want this particular surgeon (who is supposed to be the best in this type of problem). The pain drugs make me pretty groggy and out of it, but I wanted to resume some of my normal life by coming on here & updating my situation. When I get the pics, I will try to post wedding photos, and hopefully I'll be able to keep up w you all on the boards in the next weeks. I am also really serious about maintaining my weight, while I am so inactive, plus I need to maximize the fiber because the drugs I'm taking slow down the GI track a lot (sorry, TMI!). My husband has been a trooper through all of this, being kind, helpful, understanding and doing so much for me (running upstairs to get me something, going to the store, the list is absolutely endless). He is a generous and giving person & right now more than in general trying to make me happy & comfortable, so I keep having to steer him to healthier choices because he & I share a love of food, and it's one of the easy ways for him to do something nice for me... Sorry to have written a book not just a quick post, but the drugs make the thinking a bit fuzzy, plus I have had a lot going on to update on! |
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PROGRESS, NOT PERFECTION. My Blog : http://3fatchicks.com/diet-blogs/round | |
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| shygemini | Jun 16 2007, 10:58 AM Post #14 |
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i'm really happy your wedding went well and the pain was under control for it  :wooohooo: sorry to hear you are not doing well at the moment but hopefully you will be able to keep things stable until you are able to have the surgery...and things will go well and you can get life back to normal again! the wonderful thing is that your husband is being so caring and supportive...that is worth alot 
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| Cherriterri | Jun 16 2007, 11:03 AM Post #15 |
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 On the wedding! It sounds like it was beautiful and I am so glad things turned out the way you wanted. Take care of yourself and get better soon. |
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| Righ | Jun 20 2007, 03:20 AM Post #16 |
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Glad you had a fab time Sarah ! I'm sure you cant believe after all the prep that it is done
Get well soon and then enjoy that real honeymoon :thumbsup: |
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Carl 6'1" 43 weeks weighing in | |
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| purrrple | Jun 21 2007, 01:59 AM Post #17 |
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Oh Sarah! I'm sitting here feeling sorry for myself, nose dripping because I have the flu but you make me see that there are so many people that are so much worse off than me in life, so bigs hugs to you and hope that your pain is able to be sorted out real soon!!!! and Congratuations!!!! I'm so happy that you had such and wonderful wedding
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| TeachX3 | Jun 21 2007, 08:25 AM Post #18 |
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All my love and hope for a blessed marriage to you both!!
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My Beliefs & Opinions (Public Blog) ► Age 41 • 5'5" • Medium Frame • Began: 01/17/07 | |
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