Good Riddance, 2022. Let's go, 2023!!

It's been a couple of months since I've updated.
Since that time, I've had my second hip replaced!  It's only been a tad over 2 weeks, and I just got my staples out today.  I'm still in some pain, but can walk (slightly hobble or limp, actually) without crutches for short distances.  I still use one or two crutches if I have to walk a long distance or be on my feet for an extended period of time, just to take the stress off of the still-healing implant.

I've lost more weight (85 pounds now) and I look forward to really being able to move with 2 good hips very soon!!

I still have never gone back to Community South Bariatrics.  They've tried calling and sending My Chart messages, but I just ignore.  I'm SOOOOOO done with them, and the satisfaction I feel in finally being in charge of my own destiny is cathartic.
I truly hope they re-evaluate the way they run their program.  It's sadistic.

Anyway, my plans for 2023 are great!  My associate photographer and I are re-launching our wedding photography services (which were abandoned when my hip arthritis was just too much to bear).  We have a wedding show in a couple of weeks, and I hope we can book several dates for this coming year, and into 2024.  I've really missed doing it, and it's great fun to work with my associate.  We do well together, and we produce a spectacular final photojournalistic product.  We should.  We've been tackling weddings since the mid 1980s.


2022 was a tragic year for me. 
On January 15th, I got a call from my son-in-law at 2am to say my daughter (25 weeks pregnant) had gone into full eclamptic seizures in their living room, and that an ambulance was enroute to their house.  He wanted to let me know so I could meet him at the ER.  I immediately got up and went to the hospital.  I actually made a wrong turn and ended up in the ER ambulance bay, just as they were unloading her.
They let us (her husband, David, and me) go back to see her right before they took her back for emergency surgery (c-section) to deliver the 15 week preemie.
My grandson, Andrew, was born at 1 pound 10 ounces and clung to life in the NICU.  Luckily, he was in one of the best NICUs in the midwest.

Five days after that, my granddaughter from my other daughter died unexpectedly at 7 weeks old.  She was absolutely beautiful and precious, and these 2 things happening in the same week made me a basketcase.

I then had my VGS surgery 2 weeks later.  I had a kindey stone 2 months after that which landed me in the ER.
I then had my left hip replaced in June, a gallbladder attack in November (ER again), and my other hip replaced in December (this month).

Almost lost a daughter, almost lost a grandson.  I DID lose a granddaughter, 3 surgeries, and 2 ER visits...I'm completely over 2022.

But the good news is this:
I've lost 85 pounds
I have 2 new hips
My grandson is 11 months old and is PERFECT (just small), but NO complications
My other daughter and her husband had a new baby boy who is now 9 weeks old, and looks just like his sweet late big sister.
I got to go to Colorado and really enjoy it, climb ravines, wade in the river, hike above the tree-line, see moose, elk, and bighorn sheep in the wild (and photograph it all)
I got to fly in a 1927 Waco Bi-plane!
And I squeezed my ass into a pair of size 10 jeans, which I have not done since my junior year of high school.

So, out with the bad, and I'll pack up the good and take it with me into 2023.

Have a great New Year, everyone!

Before and after


85 pounds gone so far

Grandson, Andrew
My sweet granddaughter, Riley (RIP)



Riley's baby brother, Jonah
Me, with both of my grandsons <3 



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