brendacoulter

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Im BAAAACK!  And 40lbs slimmer. I promise to take some pictures while I am on vacation next week and post them. I had a rough spring personally. I don't want to go into the details right here and now but I am better and back out of hiding.

I had my first band fill last Friday. It helped a lot. The scale is on the downward trend once again. 

I got a 1.5cc fill. I was feeling very hungry before hand. Once I had somethingn to eat I havn't felt too hungry since. I did have a bad episode of vomiting yesterday, but it was all my fault. I was not chewing enough and eating too fast. I know better now!

I can't belive its been a month. Life has pretty much gotten back to normal for me. I have been back to work for the last two weeks. 

I see the surgeon this Friday and will likely have my first fill. I have gotten my weight down to as low as 294 but have seemed to settle into a plateau for the moment at about 296. I still get very hungry. I do feel satisfied on far less that I used to, so that is a good feeling. Therefore, I am glad a fill is on the horizon. 

Other than that. I'm just trying to keep my head above the snow!

P.S. I'll try and get some new pictures up this weekend.

I havn't posted in a while, sorry. I've been too busy LOSING! According to my scale at home I am 300.5 lbs this am. My pre-op weight at the MD was 316lbs. HOWEVER, it is on differnent scales, but I was down to 306 at the fist post-op visit. COOL, THIS IS REALLY WORKING!

Its only been a few days, but there has been some things I've found that "work" for me. 

1.I bought a bullet style blender before surgery. Found one on sale for 20 bucks at Macy's! It had been great for mixing up protien shakes and to puree small batches. 

2. Baby food for vegtables. The jars are nice to re-use to save other things you have pureed. 

3. Taking my metformin with protein shakes. I break them into 4 peices with a pill splitter. 3oz of pureed food per meal just isn't enough to take it with. Especially if you need to avoid liquids. 

4. A good cookbook. I ordered Eating Well After Weight Loss Surgery by Pat Levine and Michele Bontempo-Saray. The recipes are high in protien and low in fat. They even tell you how to prepare the recipe according to how far post-op you are.  I made the Deviled Egg Salad from page 33. It was really quite tasty. 

5.A small devided plate and baby spoons. I got a plate that had 3 sections to it. I just measure off my oz of food I am having for that meal into each section. The plate looks full. It also has a lid if I need to take a meal to go. I found it in the baby isle. Of course baby spoons are helpful reminders to eat slowly and take small bites.

6. Setting times for meals and shakes. Because I'm not hungry, I need to make sure I "get it all in". 

What dosn't "work"-Overdoing it!
Today I was feeling really great. The pressure from the CO2 used in surgery had finally moved along. I ended up overdoing it today a little. I did some laundry (didn't carry basket) Cleaned a little, and took a longish walk. I am pretty tired now. Tommorrow I will know better!

Hey everyone! I made it! I am officially a bandster. I had a terrific hospital stay. I want to specially thank all of the Nurses and Assistants that took care of me over the last 24hrs. Everyone was so warm and friendly. 

I feel pretty good. I am moving around pretty well. My discomfort isn't too bad at all. Most importantly... I FEEL FULL! I had some periods of hunger last night due to the increased steriods I needed post-op, but it wasn't anything a little bit of jello couldn't cure. Today I have already moved up to full liquids and started protein shakes. I still have to get in 1 more shake and 1 more meal plus fluids. Thankfully I have all night! I will start pureed in the am. So far I am very impressed and very pleased. 

Tommorrow is it! My BIG day!
I'm not sure how well I am going to sleep tonight. I've been running around getting last minute errands done, finishing laundry, cleaning up the house. I even installed a new toilet seat! 

I'm really comfortable with my decision after meeting with my surgeon on Friday. My endocrinologist left suggestions on what to do about my adrenal insufficiency post-op. That was one of my biggest concerns. I got my metformin changed from extended release to immediate release. I'm stocked up on soup, baby food, soy milk, yogurt, and of course protien powder. 

PACKERS RULE! Yee Ha!

See you on the other side........

A co-worker asked me today if its sinking in yet that I am finally having surgery. I'm not sure it has completely. Its different this time. I WANT this surgery. Not like my others that I HAD to have. 

Let take a moment to thak all my freinds and family for supporting me along the way, and understanding that this is just the beginning. 

My mom does Reki so she's been doing it on me. The other day she said "I had this strange image pop into my head, its like you had a zipper and a person was emerging from inside  you."
I said "well that's pretty accurate. ..."

Next week at this time my new life starts. I should be just getting out of OR. A few hours after that I'll be testing out my new equipment. 

This week I am concentrating on keeping myself healthy. I've been experiementing withh protein shakes (I like the GNC 100% whey). I bought baby spoons and even a divided baby plate. I am still exercising. Its been unusally warm this weekend so I've been swimming again. Thats one of the great things about living in Milwaukee, eveyone could use to loose more than a few pounds. Therefore I don't feel I am being stared at because of my size.  Besides, It was obvious I NEED THIS MORE THAN THEY DO! 

I had my pre-op testing and nutrition meeting today. It really wasn't too bed. The surgeon I see arranges things so that you go and get everything done in one fell swoop.  It took me about 3hrs. I have certainly been through worse when I was being worked up for the Cushing's disease. (i.e. Pertrosal Sinus Sampling)

My biggest fears are getting a wound infection and/or having adrenal crisis related to the surgery. I had a bad wound infection from my adrenalectomy.(which also was laproscopic) My surgeon is well aware of my medical history and has involved my endocrine doc, so I know I have places to turn for help if I develop some adrenal crisis. 

Other than that, I'm good. I'm ready ready ready.