JennyC724

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Well, somehow it's 3 months since my last post and I have to say, first and absolutely foremost - I LOVE MY BAND! :) I have been so happy on this journey! It has been easier and more exciting than I ever could have imagined! I weigh 249. Can you believe it? I certainly can't! I did not ever think I'd see the underside of 250 ever again in my life. I think I truly believed that I would be morbidly obese forever, because there was no hope. My band is hope. In fact, if I had to name it, it would be Hope! I have lost 45 pounds and it has basically fallen off. I am still able to eat anything, but I find that I have lost my appetite and I just don't WANT to eat. I'm never really hungry and when I am, it's an interesting feeling, and I like it. I never used to feel hungry before, because I never stopped eating long enough to! So now, when my stomach growls, it's such a surprise!! :) I have to admit though, I haven't started exercising and I know that's bad. I know I'll have a ton more energy once I do, but I just can't find the time right now, with the boys still so little and Kevin and I with our opposite schedules. But, I'm working on it, trying to freecycle.org some exercise equipment and get moving on that. I think it will also boost my loss, because right now I guess I"m a bit of a turtle, losing about a pound a week. But that's enough for me, it's just amazing to see the scale go downdowndown! I have had my moments, usually when there's lots of sugar in the house like cake and ice cream. I gained 6 pounds after Grampa died because of all the leftover stuff in the house, and I really thought I was done for, the ride was over and I had failed the band. But, just two decent weeks later and that weight plus 2 pounds was OFF and I was below 250, which has been such a major goal of mine! Now of course, I have onederland in my sights and I'm hoping to get there before my 1 year bandiversary in May, but I'm thinking that it might be more realistic to hope for by my 39th birthday in July. And I'd like to be at goal by next christmas! I don't need fast miracles, although that would be NICE, I just need steady miracles and that has been the case so far! So far, I haven't had a PB and I haven't slimed except on the stupid pain pill the day after surgery. I have gotten things a bit stuck and that's uncomfortable but it was a wake up call that I need to take better care of my stomach and band so I don't stretch things out or make things slip. And for some reason, today I have had horrible port pain, but I think that's because I lifted tons of books yesterday - ouch! I hope that goes away fast. I haven't had a fill yet and I don't think I actually really need one, but I will go back to Dr. Bertha in November and I'm really hoping to weigh 244 on his scale (which will be about 240 on mine) so that I have lost 50 pounds exactly since Day One. We shall see, that's a lofty goal because it's 9 pounds in a month and I haven't done that since right after surgery. But that's my goal! My next goal is actually 229 which will give me a BMI of 34.8 - only Obese, wow imagine that! Here are my goals and the dates I've accomplished them -

Weight Loss Goals

294 – START  5/15/07

262 (BMI 39.8)  7/9/07

249  10/10/07

229 (BMI 34.8) 07/31/2008

219

209

199

196 (BMI 29.8)

175

164 (BMI 24.9)

155

Well, here I am, just about 7 weeks out from banding, and I feel GREAT!! If better health and more energy were all I was looking for from this band, then I have succeeded already. I have so much more energy, I realize now that I was living my life half asleep before the band. I feel so great that people remark that I'm like my old self again, dancing around happily during the day and singing all the time and feeling GOOD! I can't BELIEVE how good I feel!!! I have lost 30 pounds (officially 29.5) as of right now, and the first 20 came off EASY and the next 10 weren't too hard, but I have only lost 2 pounds in the past 2 weeks and there has been a lot of bouncing up and down 1 or 2 pounds. I have been eating more than I was before, because I'm a little more hungry than I was immediately after surgery. I try to make most of my food choices low carb because that really does seem to work for me and it's the easiest way to get all my protein in, too. When I stick to low carb, I lose! When I slip and my old eating habits come back (bread and pasta galore), I gain. So, my daily struggle is to choose foods wisely, and to FIGHT that head hunger and the picking and snacking that got me into trouble in the first place.
I have had shoulder pain for the past few days that feels like the gas pain felt immediately after surgery, and I'll be seeing the doctor next week anyway for a recheck so I'll have to find out what he thinks of that. It sucks!! It hurts! Carrying the baby around makes me achy too because he's so heavy, so maybe it's just from that! I will probably be planning my first fill soon, and hopefully that will give me a lot of restriction and jump start the weight loss again, too!
Okeedok, that's it for now, I just wanted to check in so that when I'm thin and at goal, I can print out my journal as a reminder of the struggle it took me to get there!!

So, the day I had surgery, I felt fine, just a little achy. I went home and was able to walk around and didn't feel a lot of pain. I took my pain medicine (percocet pills) and drank clear liquids and felt pretty good. Then, I went to bed and it was REALLY REALLY hard to get comfortable to sleep!! It was painful to move too much, my stomach really hurt and I couldn't roll and turn to get comfortable. I couldn't sleep on my left side like I usually do because the port incision hurt the worst. I guess because more time was passing since the surgery and the pain medication they had give me was starting to wear off, but I had a really hard time sleeping that night! The next morning, I woke up in massive pain! Because I didn't wake up overnight to take any pain medicine, it was a LONG time since my last pain pill. I felt like I had been hit by a truck. My stomach muscles were killing me, and I had excruciating and relentless stabbing left shoulder pain from the gas. It was HORRIBLE and I was totally unprepared to feel so bad!! I could barely talk, it hurt so much to do so. I immediately took a pain pill and IT GOT STUCK!! I still don't quite know why my doctor doesn't give liquid medicine like most do. I thought I was going to throw up and I stood by the sink spitting and salivating (sliming, I guess) and practically crying in pain and misery from the nausea. But, I guess it passed because after about 5 minutes of hell, I felt better. I chewed all my pain pills after that :)
I felt really bad that day and had no appetite and didn't really move or do too much. It hurt really bad to sleep again that night so I slept on the couch sitting up, which was a bit better. I felt pretty much the same the next day and was disappointed that I wasn't feeling better. When I took two pain pills, the pain in my shoulder would lessen, and the pain in my abdomen only really hurt when I moved so I didn't do too much! This went on until Monday, when I had to go back  to work! I was terrified that I was going to feel like crap but thankfully, except for the shoulder pain, most of the other pain was gone by then. And I figured since the shoulder pain wasn't anything that I could cause damage to by moving, I wasn't worried about having to be active at work, although I did take it easy. I was also VERY cautious about what I ate because I was so scared of something getting stuck again!!! Things were going well and I was losing weight! I lost almost 17 pounds that first week, if you can believe that, and have been pretty much at a standstill ever since. I'm still supposed to be on mushies but I'm having a hard time sticking to that, even though I KNOW it's critical to help the band settle into place. I have also started exercising, walking 2 miles every day, 5 days a week, and I'm trying to figure out how to get even more exercise into my days. The pain is all gone, although it took a good 10 days for the shoulder pain to really go away completely. Unfortunately, I got a RAGING and very painful incision infection that is finally healing with antibiotics and gauze packing (not fun!). I think that's about the whole of it, my story from start to finish, or at least from start to current, because I hope it ends with 100+ pound weight loss. I have  TON TON TON more energy, which started a few days ago. In general, I feel GREAT and I'm SO HAPPY that I did this!!

I thought I'd write this down, exactly as I remember it, in case anyone else is interested in all the details before their surgery and also so I don't forget! My mom took me to the hospital (Morristown Memorial) and since my surgery was scheduled for 7:30am, I had to be there at 5:30am! Since I had to shower with antibacterial soap before we left, I got up at around 4am, which is usually just about the time I'm getting to sleep!! :) We got to the hospital on time and basically sat around and WAITED! There must have been 20 other people in the same day surgery waiting area and there was no one taking information or doing anything else "administrative like" so we sat and waited and I was starving and half asleep! Finally, they called my name by around 6:15am and I gave my information, got my wrist bracelet, and sat back down yet again to wait. At around 6:45, a nurse came and got me and I had to go get changed into my hospital gown and get everything else started. My mom waited outside for me until I was done and they called her in to wait with me for the final few minutes.
I put the gown on, and the booties and the cap (and undies because it was that time of the month so they gave me stuff) and had to pee for a pregnancy test (which was NEGATIVE, as it HAD TO BE!!! :) and then a bunch of people came by and asked me the same questions about when I ate last and if I had any allergies. Then came the IV. The guy who put it in was a master and got it in in one easy shot in my midforearm of my right arm. I told him that I usually have to do that on patients who want to bite me and he told me he did pug rescue and has saved 18 pugs!! Pretty cool! They gave me an antibiotic shot through the IV and they gave me a shot  of heparin right next to my belly button, but it didn't hurt at all. Then they went and got my mom. We hung out together until they took me in to surgery pretty much right on time, by 7:30am. They wheeled me to surgery and I had to scoot over onto the surgery table, which was very tiny, I'm lucky I didn't fall off!! The anesthesiologist told me he would be giving me something to make me less nervous and wow, did that help! I was feeling pretty stressed out about the whole thing, praying nonstop that I would wake up and not die, and live to see my boys grow up! I was so nervous!!!!! Once I got the shot, I got a little loopy and a lot less nervous. I was waiting to see the doctor show up, thinking he'd talk to me first but the anesthesiologist never told me that he was giving me the "good stuff", but he must have because next thing I remember is waking up in recovery!
My first conscious thought was - I LIVED!! I can't wait to hug my boys!! I wasn't in any pain, actually I felt pretty good, not too messed up like usual after anesthesia. The nurse came and checked on me a few times and pretty quickly, they told me they were taking me down to radiology. I was wheeled away. In radiology, I scooted onto the radiology table and they took two x-rays of my tummy area, one with me lying flat on my back and one I had to roll up onto my side. That was a little uncomfortable but not too bad. Then, they did the fluoroscopy. I had to take a sip of barium and hold it and swallow when they told me to, I think they took 3 or 4 view of me in different positions. They actually tilted the table upright a bit so I was half standing on a platform at the bottom, I guess so gravity helped the barium go down. That was pretty cool. The tilted the table upright and I stepped off and back onto my bed and they rolled me back to recovery. This time I was in a different recovery and I got to get out of bed and sit in a reclining chair, which was nice. I still had the IV going, but they offered me some water and a pain pill. My mom came to hang with me and soon, they told me that my x-rays were all normal. Someone checked my vitals and my bandages and it was time to go. It all happened so fast! My best friend was getting rolled into recovery right as I was getting dressed so while my mom went to get the car, I sat and talked to her. She was in a little bit more pain than I was, I actually felt GREAT that day!!! I was wheeled out of recovery and downstairs and into the car and we went home!! That was it, my lapband surgery from start to finish!!!
I'll type up more about my first week and recovering later!!

I have so much to write, I want to write up every detail in case anyone is interested in hearing about the surgery word for word, but right now, I'm going to bed!! I'll write more later but it's my first day BANDED!! YAY!!! Thin me, here I come!

Okay, so the surgery is just 5 days away (really only 4 because it's already 3:30am today!) and we went and got all of our initial post op needs today. It was fun, running around the grocery store picking out fat free sugar free everything!! I'm so excited, and so nervous, and so hopeful...
I'm also so tired, so I'll cut this short here and say -
SOON, I'll be THIN AGAIN!
Jenny

Wow! Everything is happening so fast, and on May 15, 2007, my best friend and I will be getting our bands! Amazing! We just met with the surgeon yesterday, had our nutrition appointment last week, had blood drawn this week! We have another nutrition appointment tomorrow and our psych appointment next week. Then, our presurgical class (3 hours long!) in early May and then we're banded! I have so much to DO so much to BUY so much to STRESS OUT ABOUT hahaha! But, soon, oh so very soon, I will be on my way to HEALTH!!!
More later....

We went to our first seminar last week. It was a lot of the same information that I have already read and know, but it was still pretty cool. We saw Dr. Bertha but didn't meet him personally. We have our appointment with him on April 16 (and have to finish our essays before then - it's like being in school yuck!) and we have our appointment with the nutritionist and psych before then too! I can't thank my friend Cara enough, she's the one making all the appointments and the phone calls for me! I wouldn't be on this journey without her! I can't wait to get these appointments started and be on my way to a thinner world! :)

I'm going to list here all the things I'm hoping to accomplish after losing weight and then mark them off as they get done!

Wear my wedding band again!!!
Be farther than a weekend eating binge away from 300 pounds
Lose 25 pounds and keep it off
Lose 50 pounds and keep it off
Lose 75 pounds and keep it off
Lose 100 pounds and keep it off
Lose 125 pounds and keep it off
Reach goal and STAY THERE
Not to always be in pain - knees, feet, ankles, hips, back!
Do Tae-Bo without stopping
Be able to qualify for disability insurance
To qualify for life insurance without a 50% obesity surcharge
Not to be embarrassed on the beach
To fit in my wedding dress again, just for fun
To empty my closet to make room for SMALLER sizes instead of bigger, like usual
To be happy to see myself in pictures
To be able to shop in regular stores and wear regular sizes
Not to have to pay an extra $3.00 for the extended size
To NOT need an extender for my 50DD bra
To be able to pick up my 2 year old and dance around with him
To be able to wear pants that button and actually button them
To feel sexy in an outfit again
To look forward to the next wedding I'm invited to without having to scramble for an outfit

 

Two exciting events going on - the first, Cara and I got our appointment for the consult with the doctor for March 26, and they sent us a packet of information to fill out. It makes it seem so REAL and so POSSIBLE that my life may change so much for the better!! :)
And two - I got an email from my health insurance in response to my question as to whether or not the surgery is covered, and they said YES!!! I know that doesn't mean that the approval procedure will be a walk in the park but I think I'm obese enough for them to okay it! I feel like I'm really on my way! YAY! I'm SO EXCITED! :)