Sorry for the lapse in blogging, folks. Life has been, well … happening. Despite the lack of posts, I’ve been rather busy over the past two months. Both in my day-to-day life and in my “bariatric” life. This is going to be a bit of a catch-all post, but I’ve got a lot I need to put up!

Life in General

Part of the reason I’ve been, well, missing lately is that I’ve had very little free time. I got “promoted” at work. I put that in quotation marks because I got all the responsibilities of management without the actual title. Which is fine with me. I’ll only be at my company through the end of the summer, so it doesn’t make sense to give me a title. But, in the past month, I went through a hectic, two-week training for a new position, which I then assumed. Oh, and I sliced part of my finger off too. Right before I left for D.C. My first on-the-job injury. And that was on my manager’s last day. I don’t do anything half-way!

All bandaged up at urgent care

In the meantime, I’m also still trying to do some academic research for a professor, gearing up for starting my PhD program in the fall, and I’ve been house- and dog-sitting for the past month. So, just a bit busy. But I’m still here. And I’ve been busy in the bariatric realm too…

Obesity Action Coalition Day on the Hill

OAC Day on the Hill Participants; Photo Courtesy of the Obesity Action Coalition

On June 20th, the OAC conducted a legislative Day on the Hill. I was lucky enough to be a part of their advocacy efforts. We gathered in Washington on the 19th to coordinate our efforts and hit the ground running on the 20th. Our goal was to urge legislators to include obesity treatments in the essential benefits package of the healthcare bill. I was a part of the Texas coalition, and we had our work cut out for us, as the vast majority of the legislators whose aides we were meeting with are strongly against the healthcare package. Still, everyone we met with was very polite and very interested in our stories. The fact that the four healthy-weight individuals in front of them had lost a combined total of almost 550 pounds certainly grabbed their attention!

You can read my follow-up letter on the event here.

I am a political scientist by training, so this event was right up my alley. I cannot stress the importance of advocacy enough. The OAC does such amazing work for individuals affected by overweight and obesity. The work they do is about so much more than just access to bariatric surgery. I urge each and every one of you to look into their efforts. If you are not yet a member, what’s stopping you? This organization is our voice in Washington. Let’s be heard.

While in D.C., I got to spend time with some of my favorite people…

Shelly (Eggface) was there!

Shelly (The World According to Eggface) flew in from California. I always love the pictures we take together! And, sweet Shelly, she sliced her finger in sympathy for me!

On Sunday, I ran into Toni, Lynnda, and Mike of BariatricTV. We decided to play tourist and took a trolley tour of DC. Of course, it was an entirely spontaneous decision, and I didn’t have a camera with me… But it was a lot of fun!

BBGC North Texas Support Group

Two Bariatric Bad Girls at the First Meeting

The lovely Shana and I took it upon ourselves to start a support group! We both felt that the support groups offered by our doctors were mostly targeted to those closer out from surgery and the weeknight meetings did not fit our hectic schedules. So what’s a bad girl to do? Start a new group, of course! So far, we’ve had three meetings and a ton of fun! For more information, visit our Facebook page.

Spontaneity and Support

One of the gifts the BBGC has given me is a group of friends and a support network that I can call on and lean on just about any time. Whether I’m happy, bored, or upset, these gals and guys are just wonderful. A couple weeks ago, we had some out-of-towners visit Dallas for a weekend of Tex Mex, laughter, support, and karaoke. We couldn’t have had a better time, though we probably could have gotten a little more sleep throughout the visit. Many thanks to Mel, Travis, and Michelle for traveling to meet up with us!

Friday night dinner at Chuy's

We had a great local support group meeting Saturday morning:

Travis spoke on endurance athletics after bariatric surgery.

That evening we hit the town for sushi and karaoke:

Photo Credit: Travis Waddell

It was an awesome weekend and made us all wish we lived closer!

So much so that a couple weeks later, faced with a free day, Shana and I jumped in my car and drove to Austin for the day to visit Travis and his girlfriend Jina. Lovely hosts that they were, they jumped right on board with our spontaneity and showed us around Austin. We had a great dinner at Shady Grove, visited the original Whole Foods, and wandered around the Capitol grounds before we had to head back to Dallas because somebody (ahem — me) had to work the following morning.

Kaitlin & Shana at Whole Foods; Photo Credit: Travis Waddell

Dazed & Confused at the Capitol; Photo Credit: Travis Waddell

It was a great trip, and we’re already planning on returning sometime in August when we can stay a little longer! Thanks for having us, Travis and Jina!

Of course, bad girls that we are, Shana and I have been getting into trouble back in Dallas, too. We hit the kitchen on Thursday and cooked up a delicious salmon, red rice, and peach and fresh mozzarella salad:

Please don't drool on your keyboard.

Yes, you can eat real, delicious, healthy food after gastric bypass. It’s not artificially-flavored mushy junk forever!

That’s about it for now. I’ll try to be better about blogging on a regular basis, but I can’t promise that life won’t get in the way! It’s the nature of the beast.