Update! Surgery, Recovery, and Everything in Between!

Hello, Everyone!

So glad to finally talk to y’all again! I know several of you have reached out to me wondering where I was and what was going on.

(Me today, July 15, 2019)

It’s been a whirlwind since I posted last, and just whenever I’m about to upload an update, something else pops up. So, I decided to post something up BEFORE life decides to go off on me– LOL!

So, let’s start at the beginning. It’s taken me awhile to share this with y’all because I never like to share things unless there’s a happy(-ish) ending involved. LOL

The beginning of the end of life as I knew it, all started in May 2018. I had been having problems which I brought up to my doctor. It was a shock after some tests that I needed to have emergency surgery to remove several large fibroids who all thought it was a great idea to set up shop in me. Getting them evicted was a harrowing ordeal.

I was told by my OBGYN that I was going to have a super easy surgery, and that in two weeks’ time I would be back to my old self. Easy peasy, right? Ugh – no! I had complications that followed and so many other things happen as a result of this surgery – even after more than a year has passed, I’m still in pursuit of getting back to my old self.

And when I tell you this surgery was out of the blue – that’s putting it lightly. I only had 6 days to prepare and I swear I was running around trying to get everything in order. I remember asking the doctor about the recovery time and asking him to postpone the surgery since my son was going to graduate High School in 3 weeks. My doctor swore I’d be recovered by then, so there was no need to reschedule; it was all going to be a breeze. Ugh…so not the case. Ugh….

May 2018, recovering after surgery with the best caretaker ever! :)

Anyhoo, fast forward to June 2018 and #1, I couldn’t believe I was still alive and #2, I somehow found a way to keep going despite not being able to do everything I used to without help. I uploaded a few videos here and there, until I last posted back in December 2018 where I shared some of my favorite things which could double up as great gift ideas for the upcoming holidays. (Julie’s Great Gifts – video on YouTube).

After the holidays wound down, I was getting my second wind and I thought maybe I had found my motivation pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and that I had given my body enough time to fully heal and try activity once again. I so wanted to join in with everyone on the new year restart in January. Plus, I thought it was great timing that my son was about to start college in the last week of January 2019 and my planets and stars would align and everything was going to go back to business as usual.

Well here’s where the you-know-what hit the fan, you guys! I was not prepared in the least for the amount of time and energy I would need for this college endeavor. I quickly realized why so many people pay out the wazoo to send their children AWAY to college – in another state! Goodness, I was so spoiled and used to dropping him off at 8:00 am at his school less than 7 minutes away and having the whole day to myself until he came home after 4:00pm before he graduated. Not so anymore.

I found myself going back and forth to pick him up at his college which was close to 40 minutes away, and since Texas’ car insurance rates are ridiculous for men under 25, my son driving himself to and fro was out of the question. His semester ran until May of 2019 and I can tell you I was about to drop from the drastic change in schedule.

Still, I trudged along as best I could always thinking – as soon as this ____ (fill in the blank) is over I’m going to get it together.

Me in February 2019, trying to get it together :)

But in the meantime, so many things came at me at once, even attempting to list everything that’s been going on would start to sound like the premise of a country song, so I won’t even begin to tell you what all went down and is still going on.

But, it’s been non-stop, y’all, and I kept waiting and waiting for things to calm down until I finally realized  there was never going to be a perfect or ideal time coming up – I just had to take the plunge and adjust the chaos as best I could around me. So, finally after a little over a year, I’m back to moving and getting my workouts in – albeit slowly. Still, it’s a victory in and of itself, because I never thought a year ago I’d be back to engaging in any movement without pain.

And though I’m not back 100% (I still haven’t gone back to jogging), I’m slowing inching up there. So, after a year of not exercising, what’s been the outcome? A weight gain – yup! I’m up 10lbs, but that in itself is another victory since I can easily gain 8 lbs in a weekend of splurging. I mean there is a reason I got to close to 400lbs and it wasn’t because I was big boned– trust me, when I eat, your girl can EAT.

Another outcome is I’ve added a whole slew of gadgets and recipes that have helped me maintain my sanity through this trying time and I can’t wait to share them all with you.

So, what have you been up to all this time? Share it with me!