Lori S.

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I thought I might gain or at the very least stay the same through the holidays since I spent so much time at my parents and inlaws- however, I'm happy to report that I was down another 2lbs this morning when I jumped on the scales!  That makes it 35.6lbs in 10 weeks and 3 days!  It's hard when your not at home where you know exactly what your putting in your mouth.  We came home on Sunday the 30th.  I was so glad to get home too.  When ever I had anything that was questionable I really paid for it by not feeling good even sick!  I'm not sure if it has anything directly to do with the band or just the fact that I haven't had any sugar or greasy fatty foods for weeks but I am grateful for what ever it was that kept me from having a free for all.

I go in for my second fill tomorrow the 2nd.  I don't know how much Dr. Kam will put in but I'm wanting to go very conservatively with the fills.  Even though he is now closer to me he's still about 3-3.5 hours away, and I really don't want to have to play the fill/unfill game.  

I'm going to start exercising regularly too.. there's really no reason I haven't been doing it all along, just plain old laziness!!   I didn't join any of the challenges posted by other bandsters but I am going to start moving today!!  My treadmill is right where I left it, my headphones and disc player are hanging on the side too.  Time to get going!

I will post again after my fill, I don't expect any surprises there but you never know.  I like to keep a journal of my experiences with this band and this is my journal. So until after my fill...

I am now down a total of 33.4lbs and it is slowing down some which I knew it would.  I feel really great!!  I have so much more energy and just feel like doing more now.  I took my blood pressure at Wal Mart yesterday- I'm not sure how accurate those machines are- an it was 116 over 64!  I took it again it was 112 over 63!!  I was so excited!  My 19 year old daughter took hers and it was 122 over 64- I told her that I win!  I really can't hardly wait to get off the medication-it tastes really awful when you crush them up!  I went the GNC while I was out and got some biotin.  My hair isn't falling out or anything but I figured it wouldn't hurt to take it.  Besides the biotin, I take 2 flintstone complete, a viactiv calcium chew and a teasponn of Omega 3 oil a day.  I've pretty much always been a vitamin taker so this isn't anything out of the ordinary for me.  

I finally finished my christmas shopping yesterday-good thing too today we're suppose to get a snow storm.  Now I just need to wrap it all.  I don't like wrapping much but it has to be done.  I'm done with all my holiday baking too.  I made a double batch of peanut butter fudge, a double batch of chocolate walnut fudge, 4 batches of cream cheese cut outs, double batch of peanut butter blossoms, one pan of Special K bars and a double batch of Chex Mix.  I did really well in that I didn't eat much of it.  I had a little bit of the chex mix and 2 cookies- the cookies made me feel really sick!  I didn't actually get sick just felt awful!  Serves me right, I shouldn't of had any of it!  Most of it is gone from my house now, I like to give it away in christmas tins.  It will be a very long time before I eat that kind of junk again.  

My second fill is Jan 2nd, I will be Dr. Kams first appointment at his new place of employment.  I'm not sure exactly how to get to his new practice but I bought my husband a Tom Tom for christmas so I'll use that plus down load directions off the computer.  What did we ever do before GPS sysems and computers?  Maps-I'd really get lost with a map!!  My husband has to work christmas day and I have to work the day after but on the evening of the 26th we're going to go to my parents for a few days.  We'll see his parents too during that time.  Hope everyone has a very merry christmas and a really great new year! 

I am now down a total of 31.4lbs!!  It has been pretty easy too.  That's not to say that sometimes I just want to eat because I do!!  At those times I just try to take my mind off it by doing something, anything, for about 20 minutes or so until it passes.  Sometimes it's alot easier to say than to do,but I realize that I have to do my part too.  And my part is to follow the band rules and to not over eat.  Someone posted today about so many new people  having problems with their bands.  I have to admit when I was pre op and trying to learn more about the band it scared the crap out of me all the bad experiences people were ( and still are) having-it really made me think twice.  Then I realized that many of these people, by there own admission , were not following the band rules- at least not as I knew them.  So no wonder they were having problems!!   I am not talking about everyone who have or is having a problem, just the ones who one day talk about how they wish their band would kick in and do it's job because they can and are eating everything in sight and the next time they post they think they might have a slip!!  Some good advice I read on here was something like "take from here what you find helpful and ignore the rest".  So that's what I try to do.

  I'm planning on doing some holiday baking in the next week or so.  My daughter will be coming home from school this weekend and I know she'll be all gear up to start baking!  I love to bake and I don't really feel inclined to modify my recipes to make them low fat or lower in fat.  I will probably rethink that because I don't want to gain or even stay the same during the holidays.  

Well, I think that tonight I will finally get off my lazy butt and go work out on my treadmill!!  It will probably be in shock, it's been awhile since I've been on it.

Well it's official!  I now weigh less than 200lbs!!  This morning I weighed in at 199.4lbs.  It's been a little while since I've seen this number so I'm kind of excited-but what's even more exciting is that I will never see 200lbs again!!

I'm so glad I got this band, it's to date the best thing I've ever done for myself.  I feel so lucky, I log on to OH just about everyday and read all the post.  It seems like so many people are struggling prior to getting good restriction and either don't lose or gain!  I have been very fortunate that I think I have some restriction, and when I say some, I mean enough that I'm not really hungry.  My biggest challenge is the head hunger.  When that rears it's ugly head I just go on line or find something else to do for a while, it always passes.  In fact I often "forget" to eat!  I never in a million years thought that I would forget to eat!!   I do need to work on that, the Nutritionist want's me to eat more often-not necessarily more food just spread it out more during the day.

I went to my PCP Dr on Friday.  I really want to go off my blood pressure medication.  The first time the nurse took my blood pressure it was 98/48 which was wrong.  Then she made some comment about how I was feeling and took it again.  Of course the second time she took it it was 140/72.  When the Dr came in she took it again and it was the same 140/72.  She told me that I was doing great with my weight loss but I need to lose a few more lbs before going off.  She said that when I hit 180lbs that I could take a half dose and when I hit 170lbs I could go off but still need to be monitored.  I'm due for my annual in Feb and am hoping that I can be on a half dose by then.  She then asked me all sorts of questions about my surgery(I don't think she has many if any patients whose had lapband-I know she has several RNY patients) and checked out my scars and poked around until she found my port.  Since I had just gotten a fill on Tuesday my port sight felt kind of bruised so that was a bit uncomfortable.  She was surprised how deep the port was.  I think Dr Kam told me that it's 2.5 to 3 inches deep.  I thought he said that he attached the port to the inside of my abdominal wall as opposed the the outside-but I could be wrong.  Well we got really dumped on last night, I think I'll go shovel off the front porch while my hubby snow blows the drive way.  It will be good exercise!

I had my appointment with Dr. Kam yesterday for my first fill.  I am officially down 26lbs!  Both he and the Nutritionist said that I was doing extremely well.  Dr. Kam even called me "hon"  pretty weird considering I didn't really like him (personally) when I first met him.  I found out that I have a 10cc band and he put 1.5cc in.  He numbed that area before sticking me- by the way he probably jabbed me at least 5-6 times before he found the the right spot.  Thankfully I didn't feel it but I did hear a kind of loud "pop" when he hit the port valve.  He said that was perfectly normal.   After my fill I had to talk to the Nutritionist for a couple of minutes.  Come to find out according to her I'm not eating correctly- right now I drink a protein shake for breakfast around 9:30 if I'm not hungry at 12-12:30 which I usually am not, I wait until 3:00 and have a pudding or a jello or maybe a couple of tablespoons of cottage cheese.  Then dinner around 5-5:30 which is usually my biggest 3-4 oz of protein and maybe a vegetable( I not really big on vegetables) then a cup of 1% milk around 9ish.  This totals about 600-700 calories with 60+ grams of protein.  She said that I should be eating 5-6 small "meals" every 2-3 hours(with the same amount of calories and protein).  And as I get more and more restriction I will have to eat that way so it's better to start now, plus I won't have a lull in my blood sugars(which I admit I do in the afternoon especially if I skipped lunch).  I am going to start doing that even though it makes me a little bit nervous- I don't like eating that many times it just seems wrong to me.  Like a licenses to over eat- even though it's not.  I think it's the way she worded it- 5-6 "meals".  Now if she would of said 3 meals and 1 or 2 snacks, in my twisted way of thinking, that would of sounded better to me.  I don't consider a pudding cup or a cup of milk a meal but she does.  So really all I have to do is stick one "snack" in there somewhere.  And of course, keep working on the water intake.

I'm now down a total of 24.8lbs!  I seem to be down everytime I get on the scales!  I know that it should be slowing down but for now I'm really enjoying it.   I think I might be one of the lucky ones you read about every now and then- I think I might have at least some restriction without having had my first fill yet!  Or it could just all be in my head- either way I'll take it.  I have been logging all my food intake on fitday.com.  I haven't yet gone over 800 calories a day and not because I've been trying to stay that low I just haven't been that interested in food!  Who'd a thought, me not obsessed with food and what I would be eating for my next meal even if I just sat down to eat!!!

My hubby and I are going to be home alone this Thanksgiving-but that's ok because I think it will be easier for me.  This will be the first holiday since being banded and I'd rather not have to deal with questionable foods.  My mother in law is a really great cook but she uses alot of butter and cream and other wonderful fattening ingredients in her cooking.  Plus, only my mother and father in law, and one sister in law know that I had Lapband surgery (on my hubby's side).  I'd rather not have to explain my "odd" behavior during dinner to the "nosy" in laws(ie there's one brother in law and sister in law in particular)  they always have an opinion about EVERYTHING  and they are ALWAYS right.  Anyway, I'll be going to my parents on the 27th -my first fill is on that day- so I'll be seeing some of the relatives just not the nosy ones.  I'll save that for christmas!  I'll probably be more ready to deal with them by then.  

I have finally started my christmas shopping!!  I just love christmas shopping- my husband really doesn't like it too much.  I can usually get him to go once and that's it.  But once is enough "togetherness" for me too, he doesn't like to spend too much time in any one store and he's always rushing me unless were in a sporting goods store- then he could spent the entire day!!  We couldn't be any more opposite if we tried!!

We'll I'm baking a loaf of pumpkin bread to take to work tomorrow- I love baking good thing I don't really like pumpkin bread too much and watching QVC- I love QVC!!  

This has been a super busy week for me.  It was my first week back to work and boy was I tired!!  But I made it 8 hours everyday.  Sometimes I really hate my job other times it's ok- right now it's ok.  I'm down 20.6 lbs!!  I can't say that I feel it too much in my clothes but I do notice it in my face.  Just about everyone that knows I had WLS has said something about how they can tell I've lost weight.  I had pedal edema prior to surgery and I'm glad to say that most of it if not all of it has cleared up!!   I can't wait to go off my blood pressure medication, Dr. Kam said to wait about a month post op and then make an appointment with my PCP to see what she says about going off the meds.  Once I'm off that I'll be off everything!!  Right now I have to crush the blood pressure pill and boy is it ever disgusting!!  

I was advanced to pureed/mushy foods on Nov 1st and everything has been going smoothly in the food dept.  It's weird but I'm not really hungry very much.  My stomach growls sometimes but it's so weird- I still don't really feel hungry.  I've been very careful about measuring out my food.  I've only been eating 3/4 cup to a cup at each meal.  I really need to work on taking more time to eat, I still think I'm eating too fast.  At least twice at work I forgot and drank less than 30 minutes after lunch!!  At home I set the timer so that I won't forget.  I was a HUGE drinker before this band so I need to pay better attention.  I have one more week of pureed/mushy then I get to move on to soft foods.  I will still be on soft foods when I go in for my first fill.  Not sure but I think after each fill you have to repeat the full liquids at least for a day or two, then pureed/mushy for a day or two then soft.  Since I haven't had any "regular" food I'm assuming that about 5-7 days after my fill I get to start that.  I will ask when I'm there on the 27th.  I haven't really started to exercise regularly yet either.  I don't have a good excuse . Before when I lost alot of weight on weight watchers I exercises religiously- like 6-7 days a week for at least an hour and many times longer.  I wouldn't stop until I was drenched in sweat.  When I did this I did feel good but the time it took was just too much and I knew that eventually I would stop.  So this time, I want to exercise in moderation.  I have a treadmill, a weight machine and my daughter-in-laws elipicial machine in my basement.  I have hand weights, an exercise ball, bands, many different videos- so why don't I just get off my lazy butt and start??  That's the million dollar question!  I just bought a new pedometer so I'm going to start to wear that at least Monday - Friday.  I have a desk job but I do do a little bit of walking- the copy machine is 120 steps from my office round trip. ( don't ask me how I know it's that many) 

I had my 2 week post op appointment on Thursday the 1st.  I was down a total of 16lbs!!  And I got to move on to pureed/mushies foods for 2 weeks then on to soft foods.  Not sure what the differences is from mushies to soft they sounds almost the same to me.  On Tuesday the 27th I go in for my first fill.  Dr Kam said I was doing really good and my incisions look good too.  There a little bit itchy but he said that's a good sign that they are healing.  It's weird that the shoulder pain comes and goes but not anywhere near as bad as it was just anoying.   I feel really good and as though I could eat just about anything-however, I am playing the mind game with myself.  I'm not allowing myself to eat anything other than what I'm suppose to and I'm telling myself after I've eaten a third to a half of my meal  that I'm not hungry anymore and I save it for later.  So far, so good.

Tomorrow Nov 5th is my first day back to work.  I'm looking forward to it because I have been so bored but then again it is work so that part won't be too fun.  Especially since I've been gone since Oct 18th.  It will probably take me the whole week to just get somewhat caught up.  Oh well- at least I will be going into the holidays a healthier happier person.

It doesn't seem like an entire week has gone by since my surgery!  It's been a pretty easy journey so far.  According to my scales I'm down 12.5 lbs as of this morning!  I'll wait to update my ticker until I see what I weigh at my post op appointment on Nov 1st.  The shoulder pain that was awful is now but a memory- well I still have it a little bit but it's nothing like it was and I can now just ignore it.  

The worst part now is I'm bored!!  I could easily go back to work on Monday but I've been approved til Nov 5th and I don't want to mess up my short term disability so...  I think I'm going to go back to my parents on Wednesday, halloween- we have never lived anywhere where we had trick or treaters so my parents live right in town plus my Mom's a pre school teacher so she gets hundreds of trick or treaters.  I think I'll go down and help her give out candy.  Plus there's really good shopping close by.  

I was reading my "Guide to Good Health" notebook I got from my Nutritionist and it says that I'm to be on full liquids for 3 weeks post op!!  I'm going to ask about that on the 1st.  I have started to be seriously hungry yesterday and today.  I don't now if I can make it that long just on full liquids!!!  There are a ton of recipes in there too maybe it won't be so bad.  Weight loss in the past has been such a head game for me- mind over matter.  I've done it before and I know I can do it again.  What I think I'm going to love about this band is I've never been able to maintain for every long so that's when the band will kick in and give me a hand.  I know I will have to be very good  until I have good rescriction but I know that I'm up for the challenge.  

We'll lets see if I can remember everything that happened on Friday.  I arrived at the hospital at about 10 minutes to 6:00 and had to wait about 3 minutes for Nora my wonderful nurse to let my husband and myself in the building.  Nora immediately took me upstairs and told my husband to wait in the waiting room for about half hour then he could follow us up and she gave him directions.  She took me up to the second floor and had me change into a gown( and I use the term loosely) and use the rest room.  Then she weighed me and I had lost 2.2 lbs- I'll take it!  I then was put to bed.  Someone came in and gave me a pregnancy test!  That cracked me up but since I have all my "female organs" still intact it's policy.  She came back a few minutes later and told me I wasn't pregnant- good thing too as my husband had a vascetomy  about 15 years ago!!  Nora asked me alot of questions and put in my IV.  At some point I had a shot in my stomach which was suppose to help with clotting.  She also put some knee socks on me and then these velcro leg wraps that inflated every few minutes or so.  They didn't hurt or anything but were kind of annoying.  I talked to the anesthestiologist (sp?) another nurse and of course my surgeon for a few minutes each.  At 7:10am Nora gave me a shot in my IV that keeps your intestines "awake" during surgery and something that made me really tired.  The next thing I remember I was in my room and my husband was there.  It was about 11:30am and I was really really thristy!!!  I wanted to get out of bed and go to the bathroom but I had to wait a bit.  Finally, a nurse came in and unhooked me so that I could use the bathroom but she wouldn't let me walk around just yet- not sure why.  I then went down stairs to have a swallow test.  They took an x-ray, then had me swallow something and then took 2 more x-rays.  Dr. Kam was there waiting for me so he read the x-rays and said everything looked good. They took me back to my room and  within maybe 30 minutes I was able to get up and walk around.  It was hard to get in or out of bed but once I was up it wasn't really bad at all.  It felt like I'd been hit in the stomache really hard but at the time that was the only pain I felt.  It wasn't until I wanted to go back and lay down that my shoulder started to hurt.  I woundn't of known it was from being put under- the gas they use- if I hadn't read about it here.  That was a surprise even though I'd read about it because just because someone says something hurts or is painful until it happens to you, you really don't have any idea of what it will be like.  That was easily the worse part of this surgery so far.  A few hours later and many more laps around the nurses stations Dr. Kam came in and said I was doing great and could go home.  My husband and I went as far as my parents- about 1 hour 15 minutes- and finally came the rest of the way home today.  I was planning on comming all the way home on Saturday but I was feeling pretty good and it's always nice to have your Mom take care of you when your not able to do everything for yourself.   The hubby's not doing too bad but Moms just better!!