Sistergrl25
What a journey this has been! Still wouldn't change a thing!!!
Aug 31, 2009
Hey OH Fam! I know this is sooooo long overdue. I’m on here almost everyday updating my health tracker, and checking up on the success of others but always find it so difficult to report on my own. It’s sad because I always have so many thoughts running through my mind that I’d like to share. I feel like sharing as much as you can regarding this journey is so important. Reading the experiences others has helped me in so many ways. That’s why I “try” to keep my info updated so that maybe I can help someone else just starting out or needing some motivation or inspiration. But I’ll just keep reporting condensed versions until I fully get the hang of this.Anyway I’ve lost about 133 lbs to date OH! And I only have about 56 more to goal! It’s really hard for me to believe because I remember when those numbers were flipped around and I had lost about 56 with 133 or so more to go. I was like, “am I really going to be able to make it to goal? This road is gonna be longer than I thought” Its really bitter sweet (at least for me) when I see people that had (lap-band) surgery right around the same time I did and or are already at goal or really close to it. I say “bitter” because I feel like I should be at goal as well and I feel like I’m slacking and “sweet” because I get so inspired by these people and feel so happy for them. When I tell my friends and family this they’re like, “are you kidding me? Look at all you’ve taken off in less than a year!” I am really proud of myself yall, don’t get me wrong. I just have a really competitive nature which I embrace because it really gets and keeps me going. I also have to remind myself that I started out a lot heavier than most lap-band patients do (359 to be exact.) Plus I don’t believe in nor do I ever deprive myself of anything. I believe in order to be successful there must be a balance. I have my cheat days (probably waaaay too many) but once I them out of my system its back to work. My doc is very happy with my progress and credits me for losing like a bypasser.
But don’t be fooled OH it has not been all roses and daisies. My band and I are still working on being on the same page at ALL TIMES. Its funny cause when I first got out of surgery I had absolutely noooo apetite, this was probably due to the swelling and all. Then a week later the hunger monster was back! And for months I felt like I had no band. I was losing weight, but I felt like it was due to my efforts alone. I didn’t feel ANY restriction for about the first 2 months or so. I kept reading about people’s PBing stories early in the game and still had no sign of any band around my stomach. So of course I kept visiting my surgeon until I got good restriction. I felt good restriction at about the 4th fill. That’s right around when I first experienced “PBing and getting stuck”….oooh my. I wouldn’t wish “getting stuck” on my worst enemy. That feeling kept me pushing away from the table all through the holidays (to avoid that is.) While others were gaining I was dropping…it was great!!!! LOL! That lasted a few months because shortly there after (right around February) I felt like I was slowly losing that restriction. So of course I scheduled another fill right away. And the same thing repeated it self until recently. I would have good restriction then feel like slowly but surely I could eat a bit more. I never would get loose enough to the point where I could eat like I did pre-band. But I just wouldn’t feel like I was where I needed to be for optimal weight loss. I had goals meet!!!!
So right before I went on my vacation on August 8th. I had a fill scheduled just to make sure I wouldn’t go crazy in Trinidad (I really had a great time yall…pics soon to come) I mentioned my fill appt to my friend and he brought me back to planet earth as I so often need to be…LOL! He was like, “why would you have a fill so close to vacation? What if you’re too tight? I’m not spending my vacation with you in the hospital!” Realizing he had a point I was able to move my date up to avoid getting filled too close to vacation. After all we would be out of the country for a week. So of course I go see my rock-star surgeon Dr K. (she really is the best yall) and she gave me a speech about how everyone always wants to test the band, about how was too young for anything to happen to me, and about how I’m already progressing so well she didn’t see why I would needed a fill. But of course I had to insist that it was for the best. So she gave me a slight fill. And I was fine the first couple of days. I felt like I had finally hit my sweet spot. A few bits and I was done. And the scale was moving right like it should…down! I was loving it!!!! But this was short lived because 1 day before my trip (and thank God not a day later) I got soooooo tight OH that I couldn’t even drink water. I was vomiting everything! I felt as though if I so much as looked at food I would throw up. I was at work feeling miserable! So I had to make an emergency trip to see my doc to put me out of my misery. After waiting what seemed to be an eternity she came in and was like, “what are you doing here? After I gave her the run down she gave me the “I told you so speech,” removed a small amount a fluid from the band (about double what she had just put in a last week) and sent me on my way. I felt soooo much better. And surprisingly I found that I still had great restriction. So off to Trindad I was…well I drank more than anything because I found it really hard to eat. Some things were easier to take down than others (most of the unhealthy stuff that is) but I still couldn’t eat much. And a lot of what I could eat came right back up no matter how slow ate. In all I PBed so much that I ended up with dark spots on my teeth OH. Not cute at all! My dentist and I will be working that out next week. Good thing the invisaligns I’m getting come with bleeching trays as well. I can’t be sexy with jack-up teeth! LOL! But has anyone else experienced this? I’ve heard that vomiting can ruin your teeth due to the acid from the stomach but I thought that was over a long period of time. I have yet to come across this topic in my research so if anyone else has please let me know.
Anyway, this on and off restriction continued up until last Friday morning when I made another emergency trip to my surgeons office for another unfill. It was so bad I thought my band had slipped I was like pleeeeeaaase don’t let that have been the case. But once again a slight unfill did the trick and I was able to guzzle gallons of water again where before I couldn’t even take a sip! I expressed my concerns to the nurse who did my unfill (she’s had a band for over 5 years) she assured me that everything was fine and said that the band can be fickle that way. And she didn’t want to remove too much since I was doing so well. So after all of these ups and downs I feel ok and do still feel like I have good restriction (not overwhelming.) I still wouldn’t change a thing if given the opportunity for the following reasons:
-I hadn’t seen my BFF in about 5 months, when I met up with her last Fri her exact words were, “you need to stop…you need to stop! OMG!”
-I can fit clothes from stores like the Gap, Victoria Secrets Pink collection. I’m “squeezing” into size 14s…LOL!
-I’m getting rid of a lot of clothes yall including size 18s and I’m wearing dresses comfortably. Something I did not care for when I was in the 300s.
-I went to a friends bday party on fri (I hadn’t seen her in 2 years) she said she almost walked right past me.
-One of my other friends actually guessed my weight to be 180…really????? I’m around 230 yall.
-I went down a shoe size!
-I’m saving on my grocery bills!
-Bathing suit shopping was not as dreadful as it had been
-I’m actually jogging/running for miles at a time (I still take breaks though yall…not there yet but close.)
-I’m still getting compliments everyday
-My new nickname is skinny (soooo…not the case but its better than big mama)
-I can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel.
-My BFF actually told me to schedule my plastics consult for the end of the year….I have quite a bit of loose skin mostly on my upper arms and stomach area…nothing too severe…yet!
-I can squeeze into my sister’s, mom’s and cousins clothing (this is major for me yall cause for a long time I was at least 150 lbs heavier than all of my friends and family!
-My BFF and I can now share clothes…this is both good and bad cause now I have no excuse not to share…LOL!
-And many more!
Latest and Greatest goals:
-to be a size 12 by my bandiversary (Sept 25th)…this will be major as I’ve NEVER been less than an 18 EVER…until recently!
-to be below 220 by my bandiversay!
-to be NO MORE THAN 190 by Dec 31st…also very major!
Well until next time OH…I’ll see you at the finish line!!!
Sara
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About Me
JERSEY CITY, NJ
Location
29.8
BMI
Surgery
09/25/2008
Surgery Date
Aug 14, 2008
Member Since
