wynotha
March 3, 2008
The new birth of a different person. I had my lap band surgery today and it went very well. I'm sore and in some discomfort but that is to be expected. I have five small incisions and I'm held together with glue. Dr. Broussard and his staff were GREAT. I'm so glad I have had this done and look forward to the opportunity God has given me to become healthier and to live a long healthy life.
March 4, 2008
I'm home! Still pretty sore but mainly from the trapped gas. I'm home and getting in lots of liquid. My biggest plan for today is to drink and rest. It is good to be home in my own bed though.
March 5, 2008
I woke up at 4:48 a.m. with the post surgery blues. After drinking my hot chocolate protein drink from Weight Wise and some positive self talk, I was feeling better. I took 1 tsp of liquid loratab for the pain and went back to bed for another nap. When I woke up I felt so much better. Mom gave me my Lovenox shot, took a shower, and now I feel on top of the world. What a great gift God and Dr. Broussard have given me. My biggest plan for today is to drink, rest and walk.
March 12, 2008
What a difference a week makes in my recovery. As of yesterday, I am basically pain free. The bruising is going away and the swelling has gone down considerably. I'm getting my energy back and feel like doing some house cleaning, cooking, and shopping. I'm am a little tired today and will probably just piddle around the house today. I'm finishing up my second week on liquids and I'm really looking forward to soft foods starting Monday. I spent some time this morning making out my menus for the next couple of weeks so that I will be able to fix what is needed ahead of time. I will be returning back to work next Wednesday and have mixed emotions about that. Returning to work will get me back into my normal routine eventhough I have enjoyed being off work for 2 1/2 weeks. So far I have lost all of the surgical fluid retention plus one pound so I'm now on the losing side again. Will post again in a few days.....
March 26, 2008
Wow how the last two weeks have flown by. During the last two weeks, I have had my two week checkup and had lost 14 pounds since the appointment prior to surgery. Dr. B seemed pleased. I have also returned back to work and have now got into a routine again. My workers were glad to have me back and a lot of people were surprised by my weight loss. They had a 2 1/2 week time period where they did not see me so they were surprised by how much I had actually lost since last October, 2007. Since I started this journey back in October, I have lost 46 pounds and 60 pounds from my heaviest. I feel wonderful and my energy level is increasing each week. I'm walking a mile three times per week again and will walk in my first community walk ever. My DH and I are walking in the "Walk This Weigh" on Saturday morning downtown. It is a mile walk around the AT&T Bricktown baseball facility and along the Bricktown Canal. It should be a fairly easy walk and will get a nice workout in before heading out of town to celebrate two birthdays.
My only regret about this whole journey is that I didn't do this years ago. The surgery itself was a breeze compared to what I thought it would be. Now that I'm eating food again, I have no complaints about the size of or what I'm able to eat. My weight is holding at the same place but I know that it will come off as I'm able to increase my exercise. Since I have not had a fill, I'm really watching my portions and stopping before I since that I'm full. I don't want to gain any weight before my first fill which is slated for April 22. I would like to get off some pounds before then so that I might be able to post pone the first fill.
I will post again soon.....
April 9, 2008
Well, I have finally broken the plateau of the last few weeks. I am losing again and my first fill will be on the 22nd if needed. My plan is to be in twoterville by that time. I have upped by exercise and drinking and am tracking my calories each day this week to see if I'm eating to little or to much. I'm just trying to figure out why I wasn't losing weight. I love this band so much. Today I wore a more fitting shirt with my jeans and received lots of compliments and questions of how much I have lost. They are really surprised that when I tell them that I have lost 43 pounds since October and 63 pounds overall. When I started this journey I was wearing 4-5X shirts, women's plus size 38 jeans and 32 dresses. Now I wearing 2-3X t-shirts, 28 jeans and 26-28 dress. I'm so pleased and excited with this life. My short term goal is to get into the 200's. I will probably cry. It has been years since I was in the 200's. I think it has probably been around 10 years. I know I was in my 200's when my DH and I were married in 1996. Not only am I becoming a new person, but a much healthier, happier and positive person. On this journey, I also want to become a better wife, Christian, and "mother"/grandmother. I will post again in a few days when I reach twoterville!!!
April 17, 2008
Well it has happened!! I'm in Twoterville now. I arrived here on 4-16-08. I'm so excited to be here. I haven't weighed this amount in over 10 years. I'm really stoked to be losing an average of 1 pound per day this last two weeks. I stalled for almost a month and changed up some things and now I appears to have been the correct thing to do for me. My next goal is 275 and I'm now only 20 pounds away from it. If this rate continues, I will be there soon. I will update again when I reach that goal.
April 24, 2008
I had my six week checkup this week with Dr. Broussard. I had lost another 11 pounds and did NOT get a fill. I feel great and the weight is coming off at a rate of around 3 pounds per week. Right now I'm at a stand still but I was losing around 1 pound a day so I guess I'm playing catch up body wise. I still love the band and it has good restriction right now. I go back in one month to see if I need a fill at that time. I'm hoping to postpone it again with really good weight loss over the next four weeks but I've got to get off of this plateau. It does become frustrating when you are doing things right but nothing happens but this if for life so there are going to be some ups and downs but the end result will be great. I just have to hang in there and not become discouraged. I will write again when I'm off of the plateau.
June 16, 2008
Wow, I didn't realize it had been this long since I last wrote on this journal. Let's see where do I begin. On May 22, I received my first fill and I never felt the stick. At the same time, I caught a stomach virus and ended up losing 14 pounds that week, but I have gained that all back when I could eat and drink again and became re-hydrated. Since that experience, I haven't lost anything and have been up and down. I have to admit that I haven't exercised as much as I should and seem to be off kelter since being so sick. I do have another appointment with Dr. B tomorrow for another fill and I'm sure my weight is up and that is a little depressing. Last week was by 47th birthday and I have had like three "birthday" dinners out and there are two more coming. I have been trying to watch what I eat, but eating out always poses a salt problem. I naturally hold water when the weather is hot so I don't know if that compounded with the salt intake is hendering my loss but I think it is and with not exercising daily hasn't helped. I need to get back to the basics and get my head back into it. I will write again soon.
October 14, 2007
I'm not unlike a lot of you in searching for a "tool" to allow us to lose weight and to keep it off permanently. I have tried most of the "diets" out there to only lose some of the weight and then go back to bad habits and gain what I lost plus more.
I have finally decided to research the lap band surgery. I have attended two seminars and a group support meeting and have finally decided on Dr. Toby Broussard at the Foundations Bariatric Hospital in Edmond, Oklahoma. My primary care dr. recommended this facility and its drs. After attending the seminar with Dr. Broussard, I like his demeanor and ability to answer all of the questions and his willingness to stay around to talk to all who had additional questions. I made my consultation appointment with him the night of the seminar. My appointment is for October 16, 2007. I'm a little nervous about it, but at the same time excited about the beginning of this journey towards the surgery by the end of the year or at the beginning of the next year.
The only downfall of this whole thing is that as a State Employee none of our insurance options are allowed to pay for weight loss surgeries. This is a special rider that our Employer has put on them. It doesn't make since to me not to offer preventative surgery instead of paying for ICU and all of the dr's, medications, hospitalizations for people who already have obesity related illnesses. Therefore, I will have to pay for this procedure by obtaining a home equity loan.
More personal information about me is that I'm 46 years old, married, no biological children, two step-sons and one "granddaughter" who is almost 6 months old. I do have a great niece and nephew who are like my grandkids. They are 4 1/2 and 2 1/2 and full of energy. The main reason I want to do this besides the obvious of being way overweight is that i want to live long enough to see these children grown and married with children of their own and have the health to enjoy every moment with them. I also want to be more attractive to my husband and enjoy doing things with him, traveling and doing some adventure vacations. I am also diabetic and want to get this taken care of and stop taking all of the medications and Byetta injections daily and not develop the more serious complications of diabetes.
I will log more after my consultation with Dr. Broussard. I hope to start the program next week and begin loosing the pre-surgery weight. Please pray for my strength in getting the weight off pre-surgery, surgery is non-eventful, speedy recovery and to follow the eating and exercising prior and after surgery.
October 16, 2007:
Today was the consultation day with Dr. Broussard at Foundations Bariatric Hospital in Edmond, OK. He was awesome. He was very straight forward, but kind. He answered my long list of questions. He told me the things I needed to do to get the best outcome during surgery. So now my journey begins. I will be having all my lab work done, meet with the nutritionist, exercise physiologist, have the psych eval on November 2, 2007. I will also have to lose 35 pounds prior to surgery. As soon as I can lose the 35 pounds a date will be given and I will soon be on the losers bench. I am very excited about this lap band surgery and will start my weight loss journey towards the 35 pounds.
October 21, 2007
I new this journey would take me to places I have never been and do things I have never done. Today, I met some lap band ladies at a local park and we on a Geocaching hiking adventure. I don't know how far we walked, but it was so much fun. We walked on and off trails, trailblazed through waist high grass, jumped over dry creek beds and crawled our way up a steep creek bank while holding on to tree roots or limbs. It was great fun and great exercise. But now I'm somewhat sore. I haven't used those muscles in a while. I learned a lot of information from these ladies who have had the band surgery. I new I would try new stuff after I had the surgery and started losing weight, but I never thought I would be out doing what I did today before having surgery. I had a great time and made new friends.
October 27, 2007
Today was weigh in at Weight Watchers. I was so surprised at a 4.8 pound weight loss. So, from the 35 pounds Dr. Broussard wants me to lose before surgery, I now have 30.2 more to lose. My goal for this next week is be close to 25 pounds remaining. I walked today with my DH and dog in a wilderness preserve it was so nice. My goal is to walk at least 30 minutes each day this week and drink lots of water and really stay with the program/menu I have written out for the week. I have a lot of energy today.
November 2, 2007
Achieved another of my goals - made all of the appointments scheduled for today. I had my upper G I completed, met to have my psych eval done - cleared for surgery, meet with the nutritionist and received a 1400 calorie diet, and met with the exercise person and received instructions for stretching, and walking/biking 3-4 times per week for 35 minutes each time. Go back on 11-30 to meet with the weight loss manager, Nutritionist, and exercise person. My goal is to have lost 10 pounds by then. Next week I go for a stress test to get cardio clearance for the surgery. Step by step I'm getting closer to the band surgery.
November 10, 2007
Exciting day for me. I lost 4.6 pounds at Weight Watchers this week. I'm now only 26.6 pounds away from my goal of 35 pounds to lose prior to having my surgery. My DH and I went for an hour long hike at a local nature preserve. It was a lot of fun and the weather is great for almost the middle of November. I'm getting more and more excited about my upcoming surgery.
November 30, 2007
I had my one month check since my initial consultation and I have now passed all of the tests, psych eval, and upper G. I. and have been completely cleared to have the surgery except for the weight loss. I was told to lose 35 pounds in order to have surgery. As of today, I have lost 16 pounds so I'm just about half way there. I have 19 more pounds to go. Chris has now put me on a 1200 calorie diet with one meal a liquid protein drink. It isn't bad so far. I'm hoping to have the 19 pounds off by the end of December so I can be scheduled in for a January date. I'm wanting to have enough time accrued at work to take off at least 2 weeks if not three. My next check is December 28th so I will know more then.
December 28, 2007
I had my two month check and didn't do well this month, but I did have a very small loss of 1/2 a pound so now I need to lose 18.5 more pounds before surgery. At least it was a loss over the holiday and that is counted a success for me. I tend to gain weight over the holidays and I managed to get through both Thanksgiving and Christmas with losses. I'm a little disappointed that I will not have my surgery this next month, but February is good for me too. It will give me more time to bank my vacation and sick leave up so I can have a two to three week leave. My next check is on January 25, 2008 and I will know more.
February 18, 2008
I'm on my way now. Last Friday, I had my pre-op appointment and have a little left to lose before surgery on March 3, 2008. My nutritionist, Chris, has me on a 1200 calorie diet this week and next week a full fast with protein shakes, bars, puddings, and soups to get the remaining 6.5 pounds off by my surgery date. I'm very excited and nervous at the same time. This will be a new chapter in my life and I one that I'm looking forward to also. This tool will be a life saver for me and allow me to get off all this excess weight and possibility get me off all my diabetic medication. I can't wait to get to my mini goals and reward my efforts with new clothes, trips, and an overall healthier life. I will post again after my surgery to let you know what to expect and what I experienced.....
