I think an update is in order ...long overdue. Thank you for your well wishes rose friends :-) I am doing so well weight wise - have lost 110 pounds and I am getting in better shape every month, by running, biking, swimming and weight training. I have had no complications from the surgery what so ever (Yet?) - I take my vitamin supplements and I eat very healthy - smaller portions than before. I just do not tolerate sugar - it makes me really sick (metabolic dumping syndrome - heart races - I sweat and get nausea - so I stay clear of foods with too much sugar). But loosing weight has also made me regain myself or discower new sides of myself. I have had to work hard on healing years of sexual and physical abuse as a boy - since I have become more in touch with my feelings - my core self - and it has been rough and not always pretty as roses in may. I was assaulted and it retraumatized me and gave me anxiety problems and the court case was tiresome ...to have him sent to jail. For a while I coped by drinking way too much - so I had to bite the dust and admit - that I had to quit drinking - that it was no way to cope with emotions running up and down ... it has taken and still take some therapy ...but I feel better and stronger and more grounded. I am looking for a bigger house ... so I am in between gardens - At least I will be able to keep my rented allotment gardens I use for cutting roses, propagation and veggies/herbs. It is spring so I work my butt off preparing the soil, building raised beds - but it is nice. Most new roses I buy this year I will grow in pots - so I can take them with me to the new house and garden (When I find one I can afford) and I hope that the garden will not be too shaded ...since it will limit the number of roses I can grow. I really look forward to the spring flush - 8 weeks and the roses will start blooming and 10 weeks - peak bloom! Ahh ... (hope the weather behaves the 3-4 weeks they peak!). I do the last pruning and weed these days ... I have not blogged about roses and gardening ... I have had to prioritize and work on the issues I mentioned. Roselvr: Yes - it is important to find a good surgeon that specializes in WLS surgery. And yes there is a risk of complications - but the chances of of improwing life quality is much better - and far out-weighs the risk of complications - most of which can be managed. But all surgery has risks of complications ... Doug - How blessed I was - to be able to meet you in Iowa. I often think of you and your wife and hope you are doing well - and that your rabbits do not eat all your roses. Hugs! Ingrid: If you have read this far - you probably understand why I have not posted much - but just read and lurked here on the forums the last year. The reason you have not seen pictures of me as a big guy - was that I was very good at avoiding camera lenses :-) I will post a before and after picture - this summer. Alida - Sure I remember you! I hope you and Gerbe are doing well - even though I must say that rose does not repeat well - I still love the scent of the flowers.

I hope that with the arrival of the new grandbaby, good things keep on coming your way from now on!! Congratulations to the granddaughter and have a wonderful time. It is so special the first time you hold that precious grandchild. I was fortunate and was there at the birth of my first grandson. The second one I almost had to deliver myself hahahaha But I did see the head come before the ambulance took off with them. Lucy

Yes, Kitty is home and acts like nothing ever happened. Just in case, I had a harness on him and walked him around outside when I first took him out of the crate so he could relieve himself, but all he wanted to do was visit and sniff each shrub or blade of grass that he'd previously marked as his territory. Just to see if any other cat had the audacity to claim it. Finally I walked him down to the orchard under the pear trees and he dug a hole and squatted for the longest time! Poor guy. Then he cried for something to eat, even tho the vet assistant said he had eaten the night before. They gave me an antibiotic in pill form, but I asked for the liquid instead. The last time Kitty had surgery, he accepted the dropper of med with no problems and the same goes this time. I did let him outside on his own later in the evening, but he always comes in at night to sleep so I wasn't too worried. So far the ear looks fine, I see some scab forming and from what I've observed he pays no attention to it(rubbing or scratching)I keep checking for any redness. The vet wants to see him in 5 days. Nancy and Annette, over the years I've seen Kitty(also neutered) with chewed ears (holes right thru), scratches down his face and across his nose and fur missing. He can spot a stray cat a mile away and there's nothing like the sound of a cat fight.

I am glad you all were interested in my Bella. Celeste, I hope you feel better quickly. You are a busy woman, and have plenty to do without rescuing...Zeus is such a beauty, he fills lots of heart space already. Kitchendetective, glad you caught up on Bella...thanks for commenting. Sherry, she stayed around even when she was very shy, so I think it was a little of both. Alex, there was a beautiful male too, wild, but he had begun to take food from my hand...I called him Higgins, Higgins would come to eat when I called "Kitty, Kitty", and soon we noticed that he had started limping and the following day the limp was quite bad, so we trapped him and took him to the vet. Both bones in the leg were broken, we had it set and splinted, but he died when they brought him out from under the anesthesia. I cried like a baby. There is one more feral that sometimes comes to feed, and I will trap and neuter and return her before spring (and kittens) if I can catch her. she is quite skitish...I have to do this out of self defense since cats always find me in the garden, and I need no more cats. Nancy, Bella has is so tame and so loving. I am enjoying her very much. It has been a saga. Cindy! So nice to see your name and a post from you, I have missed you. How are your cats, and the beautiful swans? This silly cat (don't they always) came up to me in the garden...our lives are filled with cats who found me in the flowers! As I hinted, there is a Murphy whose story I will share one day soon. Thanks you for your kind words and interest in Bella, Maryl. Higgins was enough sad story for me, surely don't need one with Bella. Thank you all again for your comments. kay