The End as We Know It . . . and I don't feel fine.

Well it's been over 3 years since I last wrote in this blog. A lot has happened. We sold our first home and bought what we hope is our "forever" home. I lost my job at the end of 2010 and 2 jobs later, I think I'm settled again. C has a new job now, A is in public school (1st grade!) and K is in a new pre-school closer to the new house. We moved about 40min south of where we were to be closer to family. It's good and bad. LOL So that wraps up what has happened in our day to day lives. Next up is my health. Why do we need to talk about this you ask? Well it is the segway into where I am in my weight loss journey today. Ever since I had A, I've had some pain in my right leg off and on. I finally got to my breaking point in 2012 and sought help. Long story short, my leg pain is actually a totally fried right hip. I have a torn labrum and degenerative arthritis. I tried physical therapy and a cortisone shot and all helped for a short period of time but nothing lasted. In September of 2012 I had arthroscopic surgery on my hip and 6 months of physical therapy. Fast forward to now, the hip is still fried. The only option I have left is a Total Hip Replacement. Yes you read that right. A THR (the abbreviation you will see from here on out because I'm far to lazy to keep typing it out) at 40. But wait, it doesn't end there. I'm too fat for a THR. In order for my surgeon or my second opinion surgeon to do it, I have to lose weight - a lot of weight. The risks and complications are too high at my current weight and BMI. My surgeon recommended weight loss surgery before the THR. I left the office in tears that day and cried for a very long time. I started my journey to the THR in September of 2013. In late October, I sought the help of New Horizons Health and Wellness and their medical weight loss team. I'm down about 15 pounds since September. NHHW has me on a low calorie diet and I see them once a week. It's not enough. I do not have the willpower to do this day in and day out right now. Plus their plan has me exercising every day. That is great in theory but the reality is my hip says otherwise and I exercise when I can. I try to do Aqua Aerobics a few times a week but the schedule does not always allow for me to get there. So here we are in January of 2014 and I want and need to have the THR before summer. That is my goal. In order to do that, I need to kick things up a notch. So when I go to NHHW tomorrow for my weekly appointment, I'm picking up my first week of OptiFast. I will be on a partial fast from tomorrow until the 2nd week in February (I have a trip to FL planned the second weekend of Feb). What is a partial fast? It's OptiFast shakes, bars, and soups for 4 meals/snacks a day. 1 meal can be lean protein and veggies. I HAVE to stay on course or I could land myself in the ICU with pancreatitis. That thought alone is enough to keep me on the straight and narrow (or wide in my case.) After I get back from FL, I will go back on OptiFast until C and I go away in March. I'm hoping that this will give me enough of a jump-start to keep things moving and get to the point where I can have the THR. So that is where I am. I have a few other health issues going on but you will only hear about them if they don't resolve themselves shortly :) If you hear about them, I'm going to be a little bit bat-mad. Wish me luck - I'm going to need it!!!