Welp, I'm thinking for any person who has lost a significant amount of weight....the same fear/worry is there....what if I gain it back?? Oy !! The pic posted with this blog is a year ago today...my niece's wedding, I'm her legal guardian, and gave her away at the wedding. Anywho, this here is the first time I'd worn a dress in a long time (a size 8), the last time being 7 yrs ago for my bro's wedding (a size 22).
This pic is of me, mom and my sis...and things have changed a bit in this past year...this pic shows me with the curly hair I've permed for nearly 30 yrs (it's mostly straight now), but more importantly, it is probably one of the last pics of my mom with her "real" hair. Ya see, a couple weeks before the wedding, mom went in for routine gall bladder surgery, so she'd be all healed up and feeling better by the time of Rita's wedding. Welp, to our dismay, the routine gall bladder surgery turned into a stage 4 ovarian cancer diagnosis...and a week long stay in the hospital. Mom wasn't sure she'd be able to go to the wedding.
Welp, it was pretty much gloom & doom right after the dignosis, but mom decided we'd put the cancer on the back burner, and go enjoy the wedding. Which we did. But, as soon as that was done, we were fully immersed in the cancer journey/culture....spending nights researching possible treatments (mom's cancer is treatable--not curable) spending days doctoring (oncologist, heart & lung docs, home health staff, social workers)....spending nearly every other moment trying to advise mom what to do, even though it was hard since we couldn't be confident the outcome of any choice we helped her make. When mom pushed the oncologist to give an opinion on her prognosis--the doc said probably within a year her health would decline, and she might not be here.
You've heard of spoiler alerts, this is the "excuse" alert coming up...you kind of get the pic here, this person who'd been doing really well maintaining decent food intake and a regular exercise routine was kinda coming of the rails...watching mom go through this process was time consuming, and mentally exhausting. On top of that, two of the kids had just kicked off their senior year, and many of their important milestone activities were kind of put on the back burner, as mom's health took priority. We spent as much time with mom as we could...not knowing how this was all going to progress.
Mom's had ups & downs, but I'm happy to say she's come through them all...she made it to another Christmas, Easter, to the kid's HS graduation, and her 75th birthday....and is still kicking. Just as things started to level off for mom we moved into the graduation mode...and about that time, a co-worker retired, and my workload doubled....oy, it has been a mentally exhausting year.
I know I'm not in as good a shape as I was a year ago...I'm up about 10 pounds (although, I try not to obsess about the number on the scale...the number is a very concrete thing to look at)....I keep saying I'm going to really buckle down, and get things back on track. So, I keep starting....and then become derailed. Welp, this challenge is my latest effort to really gain a head of steam. I'm down 3 pounds. And, I'm liking that things have kind of quieted down now that school is back in session (the youngest commutes to college)...mom's health care plan has kind of leveled off...and my new co-workers are starting to hold their own. I've really missed focusing on me...yup, never give up, keep fighting the good fight....healthful living is good for the body, mind and spirit !!