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The holidays flew by and another year is here. Hopefully things will slow down a bit. Things are way too busy right now.

I am a bit down. I haven't been losing weight for a few weeks now. I am down about 20 pounds. I was on vacation from work from 12/24-1/3. I wasn't very active and was really bad about taking my pills and shakes. I blame myself for this of course but as soon as I went back to work I started doing what I was supposed to. I started to work out after work and I am taking my vitamins. I am still bad about taking my shakes like I am supposed to. Since I had surgery I just don't want the shakes anymore and sometimes the thought of them make me sick. Another thing I am worried about is the quantity I can eat. I try to eat only a small amount, but I don't always do that. Nothing has given me problems but I have found that crackers and other carbs make me feel a little nauseous afterward. But I can eat chicken just fine. Maybe it was just the holiday parties where everyone was snacking therefore I thought I had to snack. I don't know. I just want to see the scale move again...

What a busy month?! I have to say I have never been this busy before. I am glad that I had my surgery in November and didn't wait until this month like I had originally planned.  It is close to Christmas and I am so excited. My sister is coming to town with my baby neice that I have only met once. This will be her first Christmas!

So I have been doing really well. I am surprised at how well I have been doing. I haven't had any issues with food. I have been trying things I probably shouldn't but nothing has come up or made me sick. My tummy has been hurting this morning so I may have overdone it last night at a christmas party but nothing major. (only had different cheeses and a mini quiche) I did get a little jealous as people were drinking last night and I couldn't have anything but water. There were also tons of desserts and nothing sugar free. I am now much more concious of diabetics and other WLS people who cannot have sugar. At work we have a candy dish and I created a seperate one with only sugar free candy. I have been obsessive about finding recipes to bake sugar free cookies and desserts. It isn't that I want to splurge and eat these things all the time but when everyone else is having these things it would be nice to have a cookie with them. At work we are having a white elephant gift exchange and they want everyone to bring cookies and I know no one will even think of sugar free. I never did before. So I purchased some sugar free chocolate chips and have some recipes to try. Time is just running out. We have a christmas party to go to today and my sister comes to town tuesday and I haven't had a chance to clean up or finish decorating. Ugh! Like I said too busy.

Things have been going pretty good. I have a bit of a headache right now but this is the first one I have had since first getting home from the hospital. Other than this I have felt pretty great. I am down 14 pounds since my actual surgery date and I had lost 16 pounds before surgery so I guess I am down 30 pounds since November 2nd. I am in clothes that I haven't been able to wear in a long time. I may even have to buy some new pants soon. I am at 269 which is lower than I think when I graduated from high school. The scale hasn't really moved in a week and a half but I have the excuse that I have been getting iron infusions. Which was a bag of saline a bag of iron then another bag of saline. So just like in the hospital I was getting pumped with fluids. Now that I am done with that hopefully the weight will start going down again.

I started mushies a week early. It is very difficult being the holiday season and going to so many potlucks to not eat something. I haven't gone crazy and I could care less about the candy (surprisingly). The first time I ate anything I was surprised at how much I could eat. I hear horror stories of people taking two bites and they feel sick. This was not my case. I probably only had a few ounces but it was more than I though I could have.

My toughest challange is drinking water. I have a hard time with the fact that I can only take a sip or two and have to put it down. Then I forget to pick it back up again a minute later and the next thing I know it is ten to fifteen minutes later. I know I need to drink more water and or I feel crappy.

Oh well maybe my toughest challenge should actually be my protein shakes. I just don't want them anymore. Sometimes I feel sick drinking them. It isn't so much the taste (but sometimes it is). I am supposed to have five a day =150 grams of protein. I sometimes only get 3 or 4 a day. I try to get three in at work then I only have to do two at home. I found that if I mix a scoop of powder with some sugar free pudding that it tastes okay. It really fills me up too. I was thinking that if I get some flavorless protein then I can add it to whatever I eat. My body definately lets me know when I need more protein because I feel super dizzy. Especially at night when I put my head on my pillow.

Day 10, I made it.

When I got my lapband a year ago I went back to work on day 6. I was super tired and still couldn't bend and so on, but I when I got to day 10 I remember feeling so much better. Well today is day 10 and I went back to work. Yes, on Black Friday! I don't have any money anyway so I didn't bother extending my leave one more day. I have an office job and sit for the majority of the day unless I have a customer that I have to get something for. I figured that today would be a super slow day. Which it is. I am at work now and it is lunchtime. I have barely seen anyone. Though I have tons of things to catch up on. You would think that I would get paid more considering people were freaking out that I was going to be off for a week and a half.

So yesterday was Thanksgiving. It was a pretty good day. On the message boards there were so many people on liquid diets freaking out that they weren't gonna be able to eat anything. I am most definately still on a liquid diet but I was fine. It is funny because the only thing that I actually wanted was the green bean casserole. That is my favorite and I don't know why my dad still made it since only my mom and I eat it. I was a good girl and backed a basket with protein shakes, water bottles and my vitamins. When I got there I prepared some broth with cabbage, celery, onions and some turkey. We strained everything out and I had the broth. My sister and I were determined to drag my boyfriend and her husband to the movies so as soon as everyone was done we left to see 2012. When I got out of the car I realised that I forgot my protein shake. Ugggg! So I had no water and no protein for almost three hours. I was a bit uncomfortable not only because it was a three hour movie but because I am starting to itch. OMG do these incisions itch.

So when I got home I immediately had a shake and started cleaning up a bit. I was putting away the laundry while sitting on my knees since it is still hard to bend over. Well I guess when I started to get up I released the blood flow and it all rushed to my head. I got so dizzy and light headed. I stopped trying to get up and called for my boyfriend. Of course he thinks it is nothing and says just a minute. I have my head on the dresser and close my eyes. The next thing I know my boyfriend is asking me what I am doing and not to get up by myself. I thought to myself what are you talking about. I had blacked out or something because I had no clue what was going on until I felt the room spinning again. I started freaking out and he laid me on the floor. I must have hit my head on the dresser too because felt that way. I heard a loud noise like running water and I asked what is that noise and he didn't hear anything. I realised that it was in my head. I laid there for a while and the dizzyness went away and the noise stopped. My boyfriend wouldn't let me get up though he made me stay there a bit longer. When I did try to get up, which it is still hard to bend, I had to stop mid way because I was still a little light headed. It was then that I realised that I hadn't really had much water that day. Since I cannot drink anything 30 minutes before a shake and 30 minutes after a shake it limits when I can drink. And the movies didn't help. I don't know if this was it or just sitting on my knees and cutting off the blood flow did it. Maybe both.

Today I feel fine though. I have to say that I can't wait for the itch to go away. Sometimes it is okay others it is not. It is like a tickle and if I touch the area near the bandages then that is it. I have to itch away. I will try to just pad my tummy but it takes forever for it to go away. Just moving and my shirt touching my tummy can spark an itch attack. Last night when I got home I almost started to cry it was so bad. Then I remembered we had some Cortizone anti itch cream and put it between the bandages and it worked. When I showered this morning and got dressed I noticed that two of the bandages were coming off. Since they got all wet in the shower I had to take them off. The steri strips were on and it looks like it is healing good. One of them came off by the time I got to work though. I have my two week follow up on Monday and I am sure he will pull them off anyway.

I was so excited when I woke up this morning. I got to have a protein shake. It will seem like a insignificant goal to some but when you are only having water, broth, water, broth etc. It really is exciting to add shakes and have more flavor. I had a BSN, Syntha6 Vanilla shake. I am not supposed to add flavors for another week, but that is okay because this is one of my favorites just by itself. It surprises me when so many people say that they can't find shakes that they like. I guess since I have been having protein shakes for two years now I have worked my way through this. I also am fortunate to have the Vitalady store only an hour away. I went there early on and they will prepare what ever sample for you to try for free. Or you can purchase samples to take home. This is where I found Syntha6. It is so delicious. But there are other kinds that I have found to that are good. I think that some people don't realise that you have to only put a couple ounces of water. The more water you put the more watery the flavor is. There are also tons of things you can add for more flavor. I personally like peanut butter. I recently found PB2 online. I had read others talk about it on the forums so I thought I would try it out. I ordered some and will try it next week. I am sure it will be great.

This morning I woke up when my boyfriend when to work and I wanted to sleep more. I have been sleeping in my recliner since my mattress is on the floor and also I was told this was so much better than doing the bed right off the bat. I was so uncomfortable. Not only because I have an obsessive cat that has to sleep on my chest, but because I can't move around in it very much. So I though I would try it out. It wasn't bad. I don't like sleeping on my back expecially with cats running around I was scared they would run right over me as sometimes they do. I was able to slightly lay on my side and fall asleep. It was nice. I think I will sleep there tonight.

Well I feel better than I did yesterday. I don't know why but yesterday was not a good day. I just felt aweful all day. I was also having head hunger because my boyfriend was cooking mac & cheese in the crockpot. I also didn't want to eat my multi vitamins. I just couldn't stand the taste anymore. They are Kirkland children's chewable (Costco brand). I have to take three of them four times a day and I am totally switching. I didn't have a problem with them before surgery but now they are too sweet and sour. I haven't had any problems with my other pills that I swallow so I will probably not do a chewable this time. Hopefully this will reduce the amount per day that I will have to take also since they won't be childrens. So yesterday I had my first BM. I had been wondering when it would happen and if there would be problems since others had said they did. I wasn't bad. Since then I have had diarrhea though.

Today day five I have been okay. I have not been taking my pain meds as often and got up to shower this afternoon. I felt pretty good and wanted to venture out. I got dressed and went to Fred Meyer since it is large and I figured I could walk around and get some more broth while I was there. I was slow but steady. I am sure other people are walking miles on their treadmills or going to the gym but not me. I have been pretty week. After picking up a few things and checking out I was totally pooped when I got to my car. I had promised to pick up dinner for my boyfriend and still had to stop at Taco Bell. It hurt to get into the car this time and I sat there to rest. I made it home with everything and realised I pick up too much and was probably going over my 5 lbs limit. My left incision hurts and I should take medicine but I figured I would take it in a few hours when it is time to go to bed.

I have to say that I am excited for day eight. I get to start my protein shakes. Since my surgeon is stricter that most of the other surgeons it seems like my diet is crazy. The first seven days I am on only clear liquid sugar free diet. Then day eight I add the protein shakes but stay on the sugar free clear liquid diet until week five when I can have mushie foods or pureed food. I am glad that my surgeon is so strict because I know that this diet will totally help with my weight loss. When I got my lapband done last year I stuck to this diet and I lost 40 pounds during the four week liquids post op. When I started the mushie food I stopped losing and never lost again.

So last night I went to the Midnight showing of New Moon. Even though I just had surgery I wasn't going to miss out. It wasn't too bad as far as pain. We did go to a theater a bit out of town because it was nicer but the drive wasn't too long. I took my meds before the movie which kind of made me sleepy but the movie was so good that I coudn't have fallen asleep.

Oh by the way I passed gas for the first time post op last night (not at the theater). I wasn't having any gas pains up till then, but was glad that I had the Gas-x. It wasn't so much as pain but discomfort since I needed to but couldn't at first. Walking helps.

Anyway, this morning when I woke up I noticed that I wasn't as sore. The pain on my left side incision isn't as bad when I get up and sit down. I am also more mobile. I am trying to walk as much as possible around the house but it is small. It is also raining outside and I live on a hill. I am also trying to get in all my prescribed vitamins and water. It is okay now but when i also have to do the protein it will be a bit tough. I can do this though. I will be sick if I don't.

I had hoped to write a bit before my surgery but it kind of snuck up on me. I haven't even taken a photo or measurements.

So I should start from the beginning. I got the Lapband on 9/30/08. I lost close to 50 pounds while on my post op liquid diet. As soon as I started the mushie food I stopped losing weight. I got more fills and got up to 7cc in my 10cc band. I was doing okay except certain foods like chicken were really hard to get down. I would spit back up my food at least once a day. One day it must have been too much because I wasn't able to eat or drink anything even a few hours later. I waited until the next day and the same thing. It was the weekend so I stuck it out until monday morning to go to my surgeon's office but I started to throw up bile and stomach acid. It was so bad I was doing this every half hour. I was so scared but I didn't want to see anyone but my surgeon. When they fit me in Monday morning they ended up taking out a couple cc's. Two days later the same thing happend. I went back to the surgeon's office and they took everything out. They said I should stay unfilled for a month to give my stomach a break. This was in February 2009. The next month I got a fill but they started with about 4cc. I was okay the next month but of course didn't have much restriction. I was terrified to get another fill though. I didn't want to go through that again. In April I got another fill and two week later I got stuck again and was throwing up bile again. I went back and they took some out and I was okay again for a month. This went on for a few months fill then unfill then fill then unfill. In August my surgeon got really strict with me and said this wasn't working. He said I should think about getting something else done because my body was rejecting the band.

I hadn't thought about a revision at all except that I was kicking myself in the butt for not going with something else to start with. I asked him the likely hood of my insurance paying for the procedure. He walked me over to the patient coordinator and she spoke to me about what they would do. She also got the cost for the procedures if my insurance didn't pay. I went to another seminar so that I could take a look at my options again. My surgeon had suggested the Sleeve but my insurance definately didn't pay for it. I also found out that they didn't pay for the Doudenal Switch unless your BMI is over 50 which mine was I think 46. So my surgeon's other options were the RNY Proximal or the RNY Medial. From the paperwork provided and the research I did and talking to my boyfriend  I decided that the RNY Medial was the best choice for me. Since I failed once I though why do the Proximal and have the chance to gain the weight back. Whereas with the Medial the chances were smaller I would also be relying on more pills and shakes for the rest of my life. It was a hard choice. But I believe I made the right one. I suppose I will find out more as time goes on.

So my surgery was on 11/17/09. I arrived at the hospital at 5:30 AM. I was checked in then rushed back to change and start my IV. They were pumping my veins with a bunch of stuff. I quickly said good by to my parents and was taken back to the surgery  waiting room about 7:00 AM to meet my anethesialagist and meet with my surgeon. I believe my surgery started about 7:30 AM. I wasn't nervous this time mainly since I knew what to expect. Though my parents were horrified. I could see it on their faces. They knew the risks were greater. I guess they waited forever. I think I got out about 2:30 PM. Though they had a lot to do. I had my Lapband taken out. I had my gallbladder taken out and then they did the RNY Medial. I was surprised when I found out that I had eleven incisions.

When I got to my room and they were waking me up I was so groggy. I couldn't keep my eyes open. I was also nauseous and dizzy. I couldn't answer my parents questions I was to hard to talk. This was completely different from last time so I was out of my element. After my parents left I tried to rest. I just kept telling the nurses I didn't feel good. I was hooked up to morphine and did it a couple times but luckily they realised that this was the problem. It was making me sick. A few hours later they gave me Loritab and it totally helped. The dizzyness slowly went away and I was finally able to walk which earlier I could barely stand without the room turning. Once the dizzyness went away my only pain was the IV. I did notice a few times a stabbing pain in one incision on the left side.

When my surgeon visited me the next day he said that this was were my port was. Since it was sown onto a muscle and they had to take it out it would take a while to heal. So today that is really my only pain. I feel fine otherwise. I have the loritab and I have been taking it every four hours. If I don't then the stabbing pain comes back when I try to stand up or bend slightly. I am alone today and if I drop something I am screwed. I also have to keep my cats away from my stomache. This is difficult with my female cat because she loves me too much. lol.

So this brings me up to date. I am keeping on track for vitamins and printed up an excel spreatsheet I made up to keep track of what I eat and when to take vitamins. (if anyone wants a copy e-mail me). Since I have so many this is helping. I loaded my pill box (which is way to small) with the wrong amount but luckily I had it right on paper and fixed it. I am glad I am getting the liquids in okay too. I forgot to mention that at first I had a hard time swallowing. It would stop and come back up as foam. But that only lasted a few hours. I am also trying to walk as much as possible. I feel like going outside in the rain so I am walking around the house. Tonight as crazy as I am, I am going to the midnight showing of NEW MOON. I bought my tickets before I had even thought about another surgery. And there is no way I am missing it.

But now I am exhausted from typing so more updates later....