Crystal R.
Happy Memorial Day Weekend!
May 25, 2007
I have been fluctuating between 169 and 172 for almost 2 months now. Looks like the honeymoon is over and I'm gonna have to get off my tail and make time to exercise. This surgery has been a great success but I still have about 30 pounds to go before I reach goal and know that this last 30 is going to be tough but I can do it.
I posted on the board a few minutes ago that on my way home from work today I saw a man walking on the shoulder of the interstate in broad daylight at rush hour BUTT NAKED! He wasn't even wearing a smile! Looks like somebody needs to step away from the crack pipe!! Lord have mercy I couldn't believe what I was seeing. There was a mini-van with lots of kids right in front of me. Someone had to have called the police and reported him. My cell phone wasn't with me or I would've. Oh well, I didn't even have to pay extra for the show on the ride home.
Hope everyone is doing well. I am so happy that I had this surgery (the RNY revision. It really is life changing. You do have to be very careful, though, not to transfer your addictions. I can see how it would be very easy to find another method of self-medicating when the food goes away. Bet you wonder what I'm talking about, huh? It's not an issue but I have really gotten used to having my cocktail in the evening and could drink more if I let myself. Luckily I'm a lousy hung-over person and don't have time to be out of commission. Well, I guess that's all I have to report this time. Everyone take care and God bless!!
Crystal
Overdue Update
Apr 03, 2007
The support and outpouring of love and prayers that I received from this board, my family and friends and even people that I don't know has been overwhelming. What a blessing and it is not lost on me how good God has been to me. I owe it to Him and all of those who were cheering me on to move forward with passion and become the person I was meant to be. I can't wait to find out who that person will be. Thanks for listening and letting me share my innermost thoughts with you. Love and many blessings!!
I have a WHAT on my WHERE????
Feb 07, 2007
Today has been a very surreal day. I've been dealing with what I thought were kidney stones for about 6 weeks and my doctor sent me for a CT scan today. They said it would be 24-48 hours before they got the report to my doc and he would be intouch with me. Two hours after I returned to the office I got a call from my doctor saying that there is a mass on my right kidney that did not look good at all. He was very concened and hopes that if it is what he fears that we have caught it in time. Needless to say I think I am still in shock and not sure what or how to feel about it. He made me an appointment with a urologist for Monday but I'm going to try to get in sooner because I don't think I can go through the rest of the week not knowing what this is. Very scary and I pray that it is nothing and that they are wrong. I will not just lay down. I will not go down without a fight! I would appreciate any positive thoughts or prayers you could send my way. Thanks.
January 20, 2007
Jan 20, 2007
Old profile entries
Jan 07, 2007
I am a 39 year old working mother of 4 year old twin girls. I have struggled with my weight since I was about 10 years old. As my 40th birthday creeps up on me I guess my mortality is slapping me in the face. It is time to start taking care of my body and my health so I quit smoking Jan. 1st of this year and it is my goal to lose 107 lbs in the next year or so. I have been approved for Lap Band and my surgery date is April 6th. I am excited about changing my life for the better but also a little scared. I know everything will be fine.
4/1/05
Counting down the days!! Five more to go. I started on total liquid diet three days ago and it has been ok until last night. I got very hungry and it was so hard not to have a corny dog while my kids were eating them for dinner. I have to keep telling myself that I can do anything for a few days and after surgery I won't want anything (I hope). I don't like being so hungry because I can't concentrate on anything else. It's very distracting when I am trying to work. The good news is I have lost 6.5 pounds since Monday so my journey has already begun! I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this!!
4/4/05
Less than 48 hours to go!! I am just trying to stay focused and make sure I get everything done that I need to in the next day and a half. The hunger pains have pretty much gone away so hopefully from here on out it will be smooth sailing until my surgery (and beyond!!). I have received several emails from other OH members and I must say that is AWESOME knowing that there are people out there that don't even know me who are kind enough to send their best wishes and encouraging words. What a difference it makes to know that you are not alone! Thanks to all of you and I CAN'T WAIT to join you on the losing side!!!!
4/5/05
This will be my last post until after surgery. I pray that everything goes smoothly and that I am back to providing you updates by tomorrow night or the following day. Thanks again for everyone's support!
4/10/05
Well, my surgery went great. They started at 7am and I was back home by 1:30pm the same day. I had no pain at all the day of surgery. The second day was a different story - I was very sore but with the pain meds it was bearable. The next day I was doing well enough to take my kids to school and go to the beauty shop for a pedicure. I wouldn't recommend this for everyone but I've always been one to push the envelope a bit. I have gotten better each day and tomorrow I go back to work just 5 days after surgery. The hardest part so far has been the hunger. I am soooo hungry! I feel no restriction and can drink a 16 oz bottle of water in about 15 minutes. I can't wait til I can eat regular food again. I keep telling myself that it is only temporary and things will be beter in no time. I'll keep you posted. Ta ta for now!
4/22/05
I went for my 2-week post-op visit today. The good news is I haven't gained any weight since my 1-week post-op visit. The bad news is I didn't lose anything either. Oh well, slow and steady wins the race. The program director told me that I can call and make my first fill appt. next Wednesday. Yeah!!! I am very anxious to start getting fills so I can lose consistently. I have lost 12 lbs so far and that is good but I want to keep the momentum and not stall this early in the game. Will check in again soon.
5/10/05
It's been a while since my last post. I've been on a roller coaster of emotions regarding my band. The first couple of weeks were pretty rough because I was so hungry. I had my first fill at 3 weeks to the day from surgery. I go for my second fill tomorrow (5 weeks out). I understand that I won't feel restriction until the 3rd fill so I don't have high hopes for tomorrow's visit. I'm just trying to be patient and hold steady with my loss so far until my band starts working for me. I'm about 50/50 on making good food choices but I'm working on improving that. I don't regret my surgery at all I just wish I could zap myself 6 or 8 months into the future where I should have a noticeable difference in my weight which I think would enhance my desire to follow the rules. This weekend will be a true test because it is my 40th birthday and we'll just have to see how I handle it regarding food, cake, drinks, etc. Wish me luck!!
5/23/05
Here I am again. Still not confident with what I'm doing yet but hoping to get there eventually. Wondering if maybe my head wasn't as ready as the rest of me to have this surgery. I know I'm being unreasonable in my expectations but hard not to when it seems like everyone around me is dropping weight like crazy. I recommitted myself to this process again tonight and will work hard to take all the steps necessary to ensure my success. Lots of outside stresses lately and I'm definitely a stress eater. I'll keep you posted. As far as weight loss I haven't really lost any more. Until next time.....
5/31/05
Well, I go for my third fill tomorrow morning. I have mixed feelings about it for a couple of reasons. First, I feel like I have restriction in the morning and at lunch but then at night I'm wide open EXCEPT for tonight. I was tight tonight and I am sure it was due to stress. I'm going ahead with my fill tomorrow and we'll see how it goes. I think I've gained 2 or 3 lbs in the past couple of weeks so I definitely need the fill. I'm hoping now is when I will turn the corner and start losing consistently. I continue to believe that this band will work for me if I will just let it. Still need to go in a see Dr. Fowler again so maybe he can give me some insight. Stay tuned...
6/22/05
Hello there! I just returned from getting my 4th fill. I am now at 3cc's in my 4cc band. I could definitely see when I did my barium swallow that I am TIGHT. I lost 5 pounds in the last 3 weeks since my last fill. That is very encouraging and I hope to keep that momentum going forward. I have been walking more and consciously making smarter food choices. The big problem I've been having is eating too fast, too much and not chewing enough. All of those things added together equals LOTS of PBing. I have developed a close and very personal relationship with my toilet. Dr. Maese scolded me (in a funny way) this morning and told me that life as I knew it was over as of TODAY. With this fill there will be no more room for error and no forgiveness with my band. I have to remember my mechanics, portion control and slow it WAYYYYYY down. He said if I PB a food, from that point forward take it off my list. He said it is a sacrifice for a year then we can loosen me up a bit once I get to goal then my choices will be more broad again. Another thing he said was to eat like a supermodel. He said eat like Cindy Crawford, NOT Jackie Gleason!! LOL!! I guess he has a point. I told him he forgot to put a band on my brain and he laughed. I also asked him to guarantee me that I would look like Cindy Crawford if I eat like her and he guaranteed it so I'm gonna hold him to that one!! I'm feeling better and better about things and I just have to remember that this is a process and I'm slap dab in the middle of it but I think I have turned the corner and will see some steady loss going forward. It sure has been tough trying to re-train my head to catch up with my band because my brain still wants all of those things I'm not able to have and it still wants to have large portions but my body is just not physically able to do it so I have had a definite struggle going on within myself. I hope that my documentation of my struggles can in some way help someone else on down the road. I have NO REGRETS and I am looking forward to my new life as a normal sized person. Ta ta for now!!
7/22/05
Well, it's been a month since my last post. I've had another fill to 3.1cc's and still I don't feel as if I have great retriction but I'll keep plugging along. I've lost 1 pound in the last couple of weeks but I'm totally ok with that as I know I've lost inches. I wore a dress today that I have not had on in over 5 years. I got so excited that it fit that I tried all of my clothes that I had moved to the other closet because they didn't fit and guess what.....THEY ALL FIT!! I can't express how happy that made me. I'll take my SV and NSV where I can get them. If you are going into this thinking it's going to be easy you are in for a rude awakening. I have had to struggle for every pound lost and my fear is it will only get harder the more I lose. That's ok though because I'm up for the task. I WILL succeed. 22 pounds gone forever. Talk to you soon.
7/25/05 - I have been waiting for what seemed an eternity but I can honestly say that I FINALLY have some momentum. I have consistently lost 2-3 lbs per week for about a month now since I reached what I guess is my sweet spot for now at 3.1 in my 10cm band. I don't feel as tight as I did before at 2.6 but I don't know if I'm really not as tight or if I just have my mechanics mastered. I don't really care why as long as it's working. I have lost 24 lbs and can definitely tell a difference in my clothes and people are starting to notice. Very cool. I can already tell that plastic surgery is my next self improvement journey after I reach goal. At 40 the skin doesn't snap back like it used to. All I can say is keep the faith and trust that your band will start working when you get proper restriction and not a minute sooner. Peace Out!
8/12/05 - Hello again! I haven't been very good about updating my profile. I can tell you that I am really starting to feel like I have accomplished something. My clothes are hanging on me and I am down 27 pounds so far. I don't want to get too overjoyed because I have a long way to go but I know I will get there. Patience IS a virtue and you just have to trust that you will start losing once you get proper restriction. Also, you have to commit yourself to making smart food choices and that doesn't mean you can NEVER eat a cookie - it just means you can NEVER eat a whole BAG of cookies!! My portions are so much less than they used to be and I'm realizing how much portion distortion I had before. It's empowering to know that you are in control of things. I am so thankful that I was able to get banded!!! I can't wait to reach ONEDERLAND!!! It has been over 13 years since I saw a 1 in front of my weight! Tata for now.
8/31/05
Hello again! I finally feel like I am settling down into my banded life. I would guess that I am right at my sweet spot or very close to it. In the past couple of days I feel like my last fill has "kicked in". I am now at 3.1cc's in my 4cc band and am losing between 1.5 and 2 lbs per week average. I am down 32 lbs and LOVIN' IT!! My clothes all hang on me but I am holding out until I absolutely HAVE to go buy new ones because I know that I will have to buy new clothes again before this is all over. Now don't get me wrong, I am all about new clothes but don't want to get serious about a new wardrobe until I reach goal. The renewed sense of confidence and self-esteem that I have experienced already has inspired me to step out of my comfort zone and start my own home-based business. It has been the most liberating thing I have ever done. Already my success has surpassed anything I had imagined this early in the game. I want to share this feeling of hope and accomplishment with anyone who wants it - and I must say the extra $$$ is not too shabby either!! If you are interested, email me at [email protected] and I would LOVE to tell you all about it. That's it for me right now so until next time!!
February 12, 2006
It has been several months since I last updated. I have struggled with my band and didn't want to put anything that was not positive because I don't want to discourage potential bandsters BUT I also think it is important to keep an honest account of what's going on. I lost down to 41 pounds gone then STOPPED. I have had no restriction since Thanksgiving last year. I had a slight slip which resolved by taking some fluid out then a possible leak because I kept losing fluid and now we are still trying to figure out why I don't have restriction. I am at 4.1cc's in my 10cm band (holds 5cc's). I would think that at that level I would need to be very careful with what I eat and how fast, bite size, etc. I don't. It all goes does down easily chewed or not and nothing is off limits such as bread, pasta or anything else for that matter. I'm really getting discouraged as I've gained 13 pounds back and my clothes that I had bought are starting to get too tight. Somebody please STOP THE MADNESS!! I'm not sure what else to do.
March 20, 2006
Gee, where do I begin? After much research and detective work we (my docs and I) determined that, yes, I had a leak but we could not conclusively determine where it was coming from. So, we scheduled surgery hoping to only need to replace the port (leak will be found in port 99 out of 100 times) but were prepared to replace the entire band if needed. Luckily, one of my leaks was in the pad of the port and the other was in the tubing where it had been tagged with a needle during a fill. Now it is 3 more weeks before I can get a fill and I gotta tell you that my eating is out of control. I have never had the issues that I have had over the past several months with binge eating. I can't remember being so focused on self-sabotage before in my life and the kicker is I have almost single-handedly undone all of the success I had BEFORE the leak. I need that fill QUICK! I'm not discouraged. It has been very hard not to be depressed and frustrated and I definitely have been but I know that the band works because I was doing great before all the trouble so I know I will do well again when the problems are just a distant memory. To all who read this all I can say is KEEP GOING!! The only way you can fail with this is to give up. Complications are part of the game and you get through them. They are depressing, frustrating, irritating, ALL of those things but THEY HAPPEN AND YOU JUST GO ON. Be glad that they are complications you can overcome and are not life threatening. Success is not only a destination it is a journey and a MINDSET. I am a successful bandster regardless of the setbacks I have faced and how much I love lost then gained. I WILL ENDURE AND PERSEVERE. I WILL REACH MY GOAL. Peace, out.
April 6, 2006
I can hardly believe it has been a year already. What a roller coaster ride this has been!! I wish I could tell you that I have lost 100 lbs but my journey was not meant to be a quick one. It took me almost 4 months to get good restriction so I was a very slow loser in the beginning. Then I managed to get to 41 lbs gone when, as many of you have ready in my previous posts, I absolutely lost all restriction around the end of October. I couldn't figure out why I was able to eat anything and as much as I could shovel in all of the sudden.
The first thing that we found was I had a slight slip so I had to be unfilled for a couple of weeks then it went back in place and I thought life would be good again.....WRONG!! I still had no restriction even the evening after a fill so I went through a series of "test runs" at my fill docs office and it was determined that I had a leak. At that point we went about trying to figure out where it was coming from so I had another series of "test runs" with the opaque stuff that is supposed to show up on the x-ray to locate the leak. My leak never showed up on the x-ray. They decided to replace the port as an initial remedy because 99 times out of 100 the leak will be in the port or tubing near the port.
Long story short I gained back 27 pounds while I was unfilled and during my leak process. I was so frustrated and feeling like a failure and even questioned my decision to have the band over bypass for an instant but then decided that I had come too far to let a complication that I new was possible from the very beginning of this whole process get me down. I mean, the whole reason I got the band is because any complication I could have could be fixed and was not life threatening.
Finally, my port was replaced 3 1/2 weeks ago. I am now filled to 2.7 and have baby restriction and have lost 5 pounds since my fill a week and a half ago. I am VERY happy to report that I am on the BANDWAGON again and making progress in the right direction. To date I am down 19 pounds from my highest pre-op weight and on my way to a better life. I am so thankful to have this tool to help me in this war against obesity. So I hit a bump in the road but before I know it the whole thing will be just a distant memory and I will be healthy, happy and at goal.
The moral to this whole long story is don't give up. Nobody said this was going to be easy but the rewards are so worth it. Thanks for sticking with me through this and for all the support of all the awesome people on this board. I am truly blessed to have "met" all of you. Sharon T, Caeli, Frances, Marti, Mare, Nancy D. and many other of the veterans have all been inspiration to me as well as many of the newer bandsters that have come along since. God bless all of you and I look forward to keeping in touch and sharing our victories as well as our struggles. See you at goal next year on my 2-year anniversary!
Yours in pounds down,
Crystal
August 31, 2006
I don't even know where to begin. After having my port replaced in March of 2006 and I had 4 fills and lost 5 pounds then, once again, STOPPED. I had lost all restriction and could eat anything and as much as I wanted. The bad thing is it didn't matter how early in the day I stopped eating I had AWFUL reflux at night and literally went 3 or 4 months with no more than 30-45 minutes sleep at a time IF THAT. I was miserable, exhausted and at my wits end on what to do. I decided to switch surgeons. My fill doc referred me to a new surgeon and he did an EGD and found I had a significant prolapse and we proceeded to go through the motions with UHC to get approved for a repair and/or replace procedure. He wanted to get approval for replacement because if he got in there and couldn't fix my existing band or if it really was too big like suspected, without preapproval he couldn't replace it but only remove it then I would have to have another surgery later. I was not willing to go through all of that since I had already had TWO surgeries and an EGD in 15 month not to mention the countless visits to the fill doc for fluoro x-rays for leak checks, slip checks, etc. UCH came back and said they would not pay to replace the band because I was no longer morbidly obese because I had lost down to a BMI of 39.4 - now mind you this meant I was down 14 pounds from my surgery date 15 months earlier.
I WAS FLOORED. You mean to tell me that because I had lost 14 pounds in 15 months I was no longer qualified for surgery? YES THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT THEY MEANT. If I had lost 100 pounds and had a slip or needed my band replaced they still would not have paid for it. I would have had to gain all 100 pounds back before they would be willing to pay to do anything about it. This is something that NOBODY told me when I was considering the band. I couldn't believe UHC would pay all that money for surgeries and fills and then not pay to maintain it. So let's say I get my band repaired or replaced and I loose 100 pounds and it happens again. THE SAME THING WILL HOLD TRUE NEXT TIME. When I realized this fact that is when I threw in the towel on my band. I'm not saying it isn't a great weight loss tool I'm just saying that it no longer works for me.
I am now 16 months out, I have gained back all but 5 pounds since the day of my original surgery and am happy to report that when I got to a 40 BMI again (and that took about 3 weeks), we resubmitted the paperwork to UHC but this time for the RNY and they told me today that I am approved. YIPPPEEEE!!!
I have to tell you that when I first was researching WLS I was dead against the RNY because I didn't want to take those kinds of risks with my life when I really didn't have to but have since educated myself more on the procedure and have spent significant time with my surgeon asking questions and gaining knowledge and he has brought me around and I am comfortable with my decision to get the revision. I will find out in the next few days when we can schedule a surgery date and get the ball rolling.
I'm excited about what the future holds and know that God is not done with me yet and I still have lots of work to do here on Earth. My kids need their mom and I am at greater risk by doing nothing than I am by trying to improve my health. I don't have any co-morbidities but heart disease and diabetes run rampant in my family and the older I get and heavier I get the more at risk I am. I am so thankful to be in a position that I can be proactive about my health and look forward to keeping you posted on my journey. Hopefully someone will be able to take something away from this and benefit from it. God be with you all!
TTFN,
Crystal
9/10/06
Hello there! I am approved by UHC and now have a surgery date of September 22nd. THAT'S LESS THAN 2 WEEKS!!! I'm very excited and haven't really become nervous and hopefully I won't. I have a real peace about things and I know that everything will be just fine. I've done a lot of thinking lately about what exactly I hope to get out of this whole ordeal and I thought I would make a list:
1) Long-term health - I don't have any co-morbidities but as I get older it is only a matter of time before my health begins to deteriorate. When I lose weight the chances of that happening go way down
2) I want to be able to cross my legs - DONE
3) Want to stop sweating like a pig from very little exertion (although we did have 40 days in a row over 100 degrees).
4) Would love to fit into a size 8
5) Want more energy to run around and play with my beautiful girls
6) Want to sit in an airplane seat and not have my bottom touching the person next to me.
7) Want to shop in the regular department.
I'm sure there are many more that I just can't think of right now but will add to them as I think of them. These are not in order of importance but just as they rolled off my brain. Well it's late and I still have things to do to prepare for Monday morning which is rapidly approaching so I will check in later. God bless!
9/21/06
Well, tomorrow is the day I've been waiting for. I'm not extremely nervous but maybe just a little. I feel like I have butterflies in my stomach. My husband had a meeting tonight so it was just me and my girls and we had a special night together watching home videos of when they were babies. They are 5 now and so grown up. They really enjoyed the videos and I did, too. It's so hard to believe that 5 years has gone by already. Just yesterday they were little babies and today they are in kindergarten. I don't know how it is possible but they just keep getting more and more beautiful. God truly blessed me when he gave me my little miracles. I've been thinking about a lot of things as far as my life and this surgery and I think it is important to document that I'm not doing this so I can look better (although that will be very nice). I'm doing this so I can be here to watch my sweet little girls grow up and graduate and get married and experience the joy of grandchildren and so many other things. I pray that God sees fit to give me the opportunity to do that.
I don't want to leave out my other daughter, Megan. She is 17 and is a blessing that came with my husband. She is a beautiful, extremely intelligent, loving young woman that I am so proud to call daughter. I couldn't love her more if I gave birth to her myself. We have been together since she was 4 and I hope that some of her goodness was a result of something I was a part of. We have always worked as a team with her mother and that has been wonderful. We are very blessed to have such a great relationship with the ex.
I am also so grateful and thankful for such a wonderful husband. He is without a doubt the best Daddy a child could have and is an excellent husband, too. I hope he knows how much I appreciate and respect him for who he is. I hope that he knows he means the world to me.
Another thing I am grateful for is my family. I have the best family in the world. It has several branches with the steps, inlaws, outlaws, and other extended branches of the family but they are ALL family and we all stick together. We may have our internal differences but cross one of us and you cross all of us. What we have is rare and the preacher that has been my aunt's preacher mentions that every time I hear him speak at any of our family gatherings. Tomorrow is the beginning of my new, healthier life. What a blessing! If life is this good now, I can't imagine what it's going to be like feeling great and being healthy. I can't wait to find out. See you on the losing side!!!
Love and blessings to all!
Crystal
9/27/06
I MADE IT!!! Sorry to delay updating my profile. I need to get better at updating so I don't leave anything out. I arrived at the hospital at 10:30am last Friday and my surgery wasn't scheduled to begin until 1pm. My Dad was already there waiting and I got signed in and they put me in a room. Just a few minutes later they came in and said they had someone no-show and they were moving my surgery up and that I needed to get down to pre-op as soon as I could. That was an unexpected surprise but I was ready. I got my gown on and down we went. I got down there and they put my IV in and the anesthesiologist came by and the nurse assistant came by and then I waited. It happened that they were delayed in the surgery before me so it ended up being 1pm by the time they took me to the OR. I got on the table, they gave me my "margarita shot" then the next thing I knew I was waking up in recovery. Everything went great and I was back up in my room by 5pm. I woke up in quite a bit of pain and my doctor ordered Demerol which historically has not worked well for me. I explained that the pain meds were not working and I needed more. I had to get pissy with them to get them to do anything and my doctor was gone by then so they called the on-call doctor and he wouldn't give me any morphine. I was as mad as a wet hen. He told them to give me a bolis of Demerol then every two hours I could have another shot in my IV. When my doctor came in the next morning to do my barium swallow he didn't understand why they didn't give me the morphine if the Demerol wasn't working. At the end of the day I survived it and the pain got better as time went on but there was really no good reason for me to have to suffer like that. Besides that everything went well. My barium swallow showed no leaks and I was at home that day by 1pm. It was pouring rain when my husband came to get me but we found a place where I could get in the car without getting wet.
Since then I've just been chilling at home and trying not to overdo it. I've been getting my protein in and following the rules to a T. Tomorrow is my one week post-op visit and I'm anxious to get my JP drain out. I will still have the G-tube for two more weeks. I've met some great ladies on the RNY and Main message boards. I feel like I belong there now and am so happy with the way things are going. This has been an awesome journey so far and I thank God for protecting me and bringing me through it ok. There was a lady Christine from the Main Board from Canada who had her surgery the day before me. She died from complications this morning. I said a prayer for her and her family. But for the grace of God go I. I realize how blessed I am and will never take it for granted. God is Good. Ta ta for now!
10/09/06
Hello out there in OH land! It's been a while since my last update. I've been dealing with a massive infection in one of my incisions and I'm on huge doses of two different antibiotics that have given me liquid stool for the past week and have kept me very nauseated. Today is really the first day I have felt almost human and I get better each day. I am just thankful that this is all I've had to deal with and know that there are other people dealing with way worse so I consider myself lucky. I have no regrets about having my revision to RNY and still look into the future with eager anticipation about how my life will be better and my health will be better to have this weight off. I'm a relative "lightweight" as far as WLS goes but know that I will feel so much better at my ideal weight. The scale hasn't moved as quickly as I had hoped but I can really tell a difference in my clothes and know that the scale will eventually move. I'm going to stop weighing myself so I'm not obsessing about it all of the time.
I had the pleasure of meeting a wonderful lady from the boards the week I was off work named Lorraine or "Moosemom". We had a great visit and I hope we can keep in touch. It's nice to have someone who can relate to what you are going through. I've also developed a blossoming friendship with Pinalope. She is an awesome lady and I can relate to her so much it's scary. See, I have already received blessings from this experience because without it I would never have met these two great women. There are so many other fantastic people on the boards and I hope to meet all of them at some point.
Work was very stressful last week which was my first week back. I got through it but was oh so glad when it was over. I know it's not good to wish your life away but I'm glad this is a new week. I will try to update more often and document this journey a little closer. I hope if you are reading this that you are able to take something away from it that will be helpful to you. I really enjoy reading other's profiles and it makes me feel honored that they would share a little piece of their life and their journey. That's it for tonight. Time to go to bed. Blessings!
1/7/07
Hello again! It has been a long time since I updated my profile. Let's see, I finally got rid of my anaerobic infection and since then life has been great. I have learned that I can have a certain amount of sugar without dumping but I don't test it very often. I also dump on high fat content foods. There was one night I came home from work famished and ate too much too fast and was absolutely miserable. I was in so much pain that I thought I was going to have to go to the emergency room but it got better after a couple of hours. I will NOT do that again!! Yikes!!
Do I have any regrets for having this surgery?........ABSOLUTELY NOT!! This is the best thing I have ever done for myself and I am only sorry I didn't do it sooner and have RNY instead of lap band from the beginning. Oh well, we can't go backwards and change anything so it's always best to move forward.
I have developed a friendship with a couple of ladies from the boards, Linda (Pinalope) and Lorraine (moosemom). They are great and I look forward to staying in touch.
As far as weight loss I am down 56 pounds and loving life. I have so much more energy. I am down from size 22 to a 14 and am over half way to goal in just over 3 months which is awesome. The loss has slowed to about 2 pounds a week but I'm fine with that as long as it remains consistent. I could definitely up my exercise to get the scales moving even faster. People are beginning to notice and it feels really great. I am so happy with my results so far!! Thanks for reading and I'll update again soon!
Blessings!
