I got nominated for our company's annual awards.
Each year, everyone in our company is given forms to nominate our fellow employees for exhibiting superior professionalism and producing high quality work. It is a huge honor to even be nominated.
This is my first year of eligibility and I am astonished that I have received this recognition. I've worked for this company for the past 5 and a half years, but was a contract worker before joining the company officially at the end of 2006.
The awards ceremony is in March. I don't expect to win because of the other far more visible people in my category, but it is going to be quite surreal to be on the stage.
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I had my first clinical appointment today in the process of preparing to have gastric bypass surgery. This visit was only the first in a series of steps to ensure that I am fit enough to endure the surgery and am willing to make the lifestyle changes that are mandatory after the surgery.
I saw a quick class on all that is involved in this process and had turns with a nurse, a nutritionist and a psychiatrist all within the span of two and a half hours. I must say that the clinic is very efficient and handles a high volume of patients with the greatest of ease. They schedule groups of 6-8 people all at the same time and rotate us through the various offices at lightning speed. I was quite impressed.
My next steps are to have a physical (which I needed to do anyway along with getting my annual mammogram), get an EKG to check out the condition of my heart, have a breath test to check for the presence of bacteria in my stomach that could lead to a peptic ulcer or stomach cancer, attend at least one session of a pre-surgery support group, and obtain a referral letter from my primary doctor detailing my weight history and all diets I have attempted within the last 5 years. And I have to schedule a visit with the surgeon - Dr. Davis.
I also have to lose 10% of my current weight and take daily multi-vitamin and calcium supplements to get me into the habit that I will have to continue once the surgery is done. Centrum now comes in a chewable form and I highly recommend them. They are much easier to take than having to swallow a pill of the same size.
And even though I am completely certain that this surgery is the right decision for me, I did have more than a bit of anxiety today in dealing with how fast this is all moving now that I have decided to do this.
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I have been a political junkie all my life.
The first time I remember being interested in an election was when I was 8 years old. My grandmother was puzzled as to why her granddaughter was so determined to remain awake until the final results for the 1976 presidential election came in. She was not a political type and neither was her husband. Yet, she had to fight me tooth and nail to get me to go to sleep when I was clearly on the verge of nodding off while trying to stay glued to the television until the bitter end. She won that battle. But the next morning the first words out of my mouth were to ask who won. Was President Ford still the president? Or did Jimmy Carter win? I was too young at the time to really tell the difference between the two politically, but I knew the race was important because they were fighting to be President of the United States.
Now in the year 2008 I fear that I am on the verge of having no delight in what has been one of my great passions in life.
Why?
This election is historic. It is the first time in 80 years that there is no sitting President or Vice President running for office. You would think that would be a good thing. The more candidates, the more options the better, right? Wrong! The sameness among the field without any distinct choices has left me feeling quite melancholy about the foreseeable future. Who will lead? And will they lead us in the right direction? I can't say. But I don't foresee this election doing this country much good in the long or short term. I think it will leave us more divided than ever.
Politics and its historical ramifications were one of the few interests that I shared with my father. I have felt his loss even more so with this election falling so soon after his death. He and I were two peas in a pod when it came to politics. On this, we saw eye to eye. I could sit and talk to him for hours about the state of the nation and its leaders. We would handicap the races and talk about the odds for each potential candidate being elected. It was sheer bliss.
But this feeling of dissatisfaction and unease with the choices presented is a unique experience for me. I have not been so adamantly opposed to so many candidates in my life. I grew up with Ronald Reagan being larger than life. He led this nation during the time that I really became politically aware and he remains the standard by which I judge all those who run. Now we have pundits and leaders we had grown to respect tell us that all of the values and principles that Reagan stood for is over. They say we should get over ourselves and accept this new path.
And it leaves me asking the question - Is this it? Is this all there is? And that leaves me quite sad indeed.
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I returned to blogging to document the process that is going to save my life. It will be a long journey and I wanted to join those online that have already undergone it or are contemplating it.
Gastric bypass surgery is something that I have known that I needed to do for about 5 years now. However, I was fearful of the risks of surgery as well as not being able to admit to myself that I couldn't handle losing the weight on my own.
If I had to pinpoint the moment in time I realized that I needed to deal with this now, it was when my father died last May. He had been an alcoholic for over a decade and had only become sober a few years before his death. The damage to his body was enormous and he hastened his own death through his excesses with booze. He would still be alive today were it not for the abuse that he inflicted on himself. I don't want to hasten my own death by remaining overweight. I don't want for my body to become beyond repair because I did not seek help before it is too late. I want to learn from the mistakes that cost my father his life before it was his time to go.
So, next Monday morning I will be submitting to rounds of testing - psychological and physiological - in preparation to have the surgery. I will meet with a psychiatrist, nutritionist and nurse to chart the best course for me to take in becoming healthier and happier. They will measure my current physical and emotional state to prepare me for the day when I will finally regain control of my body after a long struggle to do it on my own without success.
After having already taken the first step when I attended an orientation session for Weight Loss Surgery at Methodist Hospital on January 9th, I am excited and quite anxious to take a more active step forward in what I know is the best decision I could have made.
The doctor that will be handling my surgery was referred to me by a co-worker. She had her surgery over 5 years ago and has had nothing but glowing things to say about Dr. Davis. And when I attended the orientation session, she was one of the success stories that he used to show what is on the other side of this journey. But in all the times that we have had these discussions what I did not know was that the doctor and his son, also a weight loss surgeon, were part of a television show called Big Medicine on TLC. It is now in its second season and Discovery Health is airing the first season's episodes. I have been TiVoing both seasons and getting a real feel for their personalities and it has made me even more comfortable with my choice to go ahead with the gastric bypass operation.
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When I arrived at work this morning there was a buzz of excitement. We were told to amass in the boardroom for a conference call that would span all of our regional offices across the country.
What was the big news?
The company that I work for has made the list of Fortune Magazine's 100 Best Companies to Work For 2008 for the first time in only its second year of application.
The criteria used to qualify us are the policies and culture of the company and the results from the annual Employee Opinion Survey.
What number were we? Well, I will keep that confidential for my anonymity's sake, but suffice it to say that it is a really high position especially for a first time entrant to the list.
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