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faybie's Journal

A blog by faybie

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My band journal

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funny... not ha ha though

I was reading my journal. I haven't added an entry in a while. It was quite fun reading my thoughts just after being banded. I was reading my daily meals too, funny I wasn't making very good choices back then. I had cookies for dinner one day... jeesh. I make much much healthier choices these days. I should keep more of a log of my food. I tried on fitday, however it is so hard to find matches for foods that it got frustrating. Just ran my numbers. I am down to a BMI of 29. That was nice to see. I have been up since 5am. I don't normally wake up until 10am on Sat. I want to make breakfast however my family is still asleep. If I grab a small snack it would be my breakfast, so I have no choice but to wait for them to wake up. I am going in for a fill next week. I can't wait! Oh, and I also just took measurements and I went down 7 3/4" in the month of December. Such a great feeling. I remember browsing the site before surgery wishing I could already have results like people on here. Within a blink of an eye here I am reaping the rewards of my journey. I love my band!!!!! I want to shout it from roof tops that I LOVE MY BAND!!!

January 6, 2007

4

1 day before surgery

My surgery is tomorrow. The nurse at the Dr. office spoke to me last Friday when I finally got the letter from my Oncologist that he has released me for the surgery. I was having a very very hard time on the self induced liquid diet. Just as a standard script she goes "remember to keep eating low carb, then on Sunday night no more red meat, and no food after midnight before the surgery." That was a LOT less restrictive that I was trying to be. I didn't last on the self induced liquid diet, however I did have a liquid breakfast or lunch since I started the liquid phase. I stayed low carb all the way until today and I have been 100% liquids today, even though it is not a requirement. I am very nervous and excited at the same time. I was fine all day up until about 15 minutes ago when I was setting my "Out of Office" on voice and e-mail. I have been browsing the "Before and After Pics" today. It is such an inspiration to see peoples results. I have lost 12 lbs. since my first Dr. visit according to my home scales. Tomorrow I will get the "official" number at the Pre-Op. I have to be there at 7am, which means that my mom and I will leave my house at 6:30am. I pretty much think that I have everything ready. I shopped early for foods and items that I would need. I think I am off to have chinese hot n' sour and egg drop (the liquid part only) for dinner tonight!

August 29, 2006

3

Day 7 - 2nd day back to work

Well, this morning I have very little aching pains at any of my incision sites. When I move or bump things I feel minor pain from them. Desks and conference room tables are the perfect height to bother my incision sites. =( I am really glad that I decided to come back to work on Day 6, because I don't feel bad enough to be home, as a matter of fact I have more energy now than I did two weeks ago. I have no idea if this is "for real" energy or some kind of natural high from the excitement of the situation. I tried soaking my timed release wellbutrin yesterday. That didn't really seem to work because I soaked the pill for 6 hours and it hardly did anything to the pill. Well, today I tried crushing it just a "weee" bit and THAT was a worse idea. I got all of the medication and once and was a "jittery fool". LOL. I will just let is soak for 6 hours from now on as that seems to be the best of two not so good options. When I woke up this morning, my body felt lighter, and I just "sprung" out of bed. It seems like my body is carrying around less weight, which it is, 20 pounds to be exact. I am also not wearing a bra at work again today. I have been chosing my outfits carefully in order to accomplish this . Normally, I hate to go bra-less, but the pain of wearing a bra is so unbearable at the moment that bra-less doesn't bother me one bit. After yesterday's sausage fiasco, I gladly ate my Dannon carb solutions strawberry yogurt for breakfast. One of the things that has been on my mind is........that I anticipated much more pain. I read where women had excruiciating gas pains and extreme soreness at their port sites etc. I do have all of that, but I can't really qualify it as excruciating or extreme. After 2 years of going through chemotherapy, malignant tumor removal, removal of malignant tissue from the area of my tumor, and extreme pain that I would qualify on a scale of 1 to 10 an 8. Compared to the pain at my tumor surgery site during recovery this seemed almost like a cake walk. To give an idea of what my pain scale is like, I would qualify childbirth at about a 7. This whole ordeal was about a 3. I honestly have always thought that I had a very low tolerance to pain. I wonder if I do? It seems interesting how everything is relative, maybe this ordeal is more painful for people who would consider childbirth a 10. I guess because I know there are things out there that hurt worse than childbirth it may make my version of pain a bit skewed. Oh well, just something I was thinking about..... Morning Scale: 212 Food today: cup of coffee black w/ 1 equal Breakfast - Dannon carb solutions strawberry yogurt 4oz. (couldn't finish it all) Lunch - 2 oz of fat free cottage cheese and about 15 grapes cup of coffee black w/ 1 equal Dinner - 1/2 cup of organic creamy broccoli soup Excersize: None

September 6, 2006

3

Day 8 - hit with the post op blues everyone has been talking about

Wow, boy was I hit with the post-op blues last night and this morning. I watched a pretty sad moving on TV last night and it made me cry. I didn't stop crying until over 3 hours later. I couldn't sleep, all I did was lay there and cry. This is very strange because I take medication that regulates my moods and I haven't had a cry like this in a long time. I know there is nothing wrong and there is definitely not anything making me upset. So, I just kept grabbing tissues and cried it all out. I was still tearing up this morning a small bit. I keep reading how at about 11 days post op, you lose most of your restriction because the swelling finally goes down. I really can't eat very much right now, but I really don't want it to increase. I like it how it is.... I feel perfectly full on very small amounts of foods and satisfied, I might add. Still can't wear a bra to work. I wore one today and took it off within the first hour. It is just too irritating to my port site and tight on my diaphram still. I asked the Dr. to move my port site a bit lower but that didnt happen. I guess when everything shrinks the top part of my stomach will no longer be touching my boobs anyway, and the higher the port the more discrete it will be. For the long run, I guess it will be ok. Now that I have finished lunch, I regret not eating a protein. I saw a nice pre-made tuna in the cooler section of where I got my potatoe that would have been a much better option. I need to find more sources of protein. I tried the unjury powder and gagged. I wish they had the stuff in a pill. LOL. hmmmmmm. That is what I will do this afternoon, browse the web for more protein supplement choices. Morning Scale: 211 Food today: cup of coffee black w/ 1 equal Breakfast - 1.5 eggs scrammbled with cheese Lunch - 1/5 of a baked potatoe w/sour cream, margarine, chives, lettuce and salsa. protein snack - Quick Weight Loss Center's Protein Supplement - Cappacino (left over from previous diet, obviously) Dinner - 1/3 of a chicken, broccoli, tomato crepe from La Madeleine. Excersize: None.

September 7, 2006

3

hmmmm.....I need to come up with more interesting titles - Day 13

Wow, so its day 13. I can walk at my normal pace now. I can also wear a bra with no problem, yesterday it still hurt. I still cannot eat over 4oz. at a time. The pressure in my chest definitely tells me that it will send it right back up if I dare. I am still staying full for hours and hours. I wasn't even hungry at lunch today, so I only ate about 2oz. I was at lunch with my SIL. She knows but I would have felt bad not eating anything at all. She ate a whole filafl (sp?), fries and pita bread. My favorite dress is missing and I am majorly bummed. It was a basic black dress that I could throw all kinds of shirts over to give it different looks. I am lost without it. I have easily lost 5 or more outfits from my wardrobe. The last time I had it was on vacation in Maine. I checked the suitcase, not there. So, do I go find another one that fits now or wait until I fit into the smaller identical one that I have? hmmmm. I may not even be able to find such a dress, it was so awesome. =( Morning Scale: 210 Food today: coffee w/ 1 equal Breakfast - 1 scrammbled egg with cheese and 1/2 slice of bacon. Lunch - 1/3 of a spanikopita snack - protein cappacino drink Dinner - snack - Excersize:

September 12, 2006

3

More NSV's

I found a black dress yesterday. Whew! I was able to buy it a size smaller. It's a bit more fashionable too, with its little flare at the bottom. This morning, of course, I put the dress on. I selected a blouse to go over the dress. I put it on and walked to the mirror. The shirt was too big, it looked ridiculous. So, I walked back to the closet and got a second shirt (same size) and looked in the mirror again. The second shirt looked just as bad. LOL. My husband is waiting on me at this point because we carpool. I walked to the closet and got a third shirt, this time a size smaller. It looked great. So, that was my first official "clothes too big" moment. w00t! He He, when I walked out of the bedroom, my husband gave me that "look" that I took too long. I laughed and said I had to try on 3 shirts to find one that wasn't too big. He smiled and said "thats great reason to take so long".

September 14, 2006

3

thurs before surgery on wed.

I was suppose to start my (self induced) liquid diet yesterday. I had a slimfast chocolate shake in the morning for breakfast. When lunch came I didnt have the will power or desire to have another shake. I had tamales that the house keeper brought me. Then for dinner I went out to a favorite local restaurant. I ate half of what I normally eat and skipped their homemade brewed beer. So, I ate less than half of what I normally do there including no beer! Far cry from liquids only. I am drinking my strawberry slimfast drink for breakfast at the moment. It doesnt really taste that great so it is hard to drink. I take a sip about every 2 minutes. I have been drinking it for 20 minutes so far. I don't even think I am halfway finished. Its Thursday before my surgery on Wednesday and I am very nervous. I still haven't received the letter from my oncologist that he is ok with the procedure. I am going to try to call dr. spivak's office and see if there is a different way to get permission.

August 24, 2006

2

Day 6 after surgery back to work.

Today, I am back to work. I slept about 21 hours yesterday, so I have plenty of energy. I had bought the sports bras to wear to work but this morning when I put it on, it was hurting my diaphram so I decided to wear my normal underwire bra. BAD IDEA! I have already taken it off and feel much better. I have on a business professional jacket so no one is the wiser! Every morning for breakfast pre-banding, I would go down to the deli in our building and get either a breakfast taco or a breakfast croissant. This morning on the way to work, my "Mind Hunger" kicked in again. I no longer wanted the sugar free yogurt I had brought for breakfast. I went to the deli and order one scrambled egg and a piece of sausage. =( I divided it into two servings with half an egg and half a piece of sausage. I cut the sausage up into really really tiny pieces. I must say the sausage gave me the worst heart burn I have had in a LONG time. Luckily, I had tums at my desk. I felt awful for about 2 hours until just about 10 mins ago, I let out the loudest most bellowing from the bottom of my stomach burp I have ever burped. Amazing! I felt better immediately! Also, a nurse called from Dr. Spivak's office this morning to see how I was doing. I asked her what size band I had. I remember the nurse telling me that I had a "small" band after surgery, but I was so loopy, I can't trust that memory. She didn't have my surgery write up in front of her and she said she would call me back. I mentioned to her that I can only eat 3oz at a time before feeling full. She said that was fine, but that I needed to up my meals to 4-6 times a day instead of 3. She said 3 meals a day is if you can eat 5-6 oz at a time. I also asked if I could schedule my "30-day" appointment with her and she told me that was actually a combined appointment for follow-up and fill and that I could choose the day. As long as I wasn't having any complications the Dr. didn't need to see me. She told me that it would be time for a fill when I felt no restriction and wasn't losing weight and that this time was different for everyone. I found this interesting because I have seen several women post that 3 weeks after surgery they felt no restriction and had plateau'd. I will post what my Dr.'s nurse said later in the ABC Sept. forum. I am off to have tilapia (fish) for lunch. I can't wait, I have been craving fish since surgery, so I am very excited. I will have my 3oz of fish and my husband will eat the rest of the meal. This is less for both of us. Oh, and my husband told me this morning that he has lost 6 lbs. since I began this journey. My measurements: I will enter the exact measurements later but as of this morning I am down 3/4 " off both my hips and waist, and 1.5 " off of my chest. Morning scale: 212 Food Today: 1/2 cup coffee 1/2 pkg equal Breakfast - one scrambled egg & 1/2 piece of sausage patty Lunch - 3 oz of tilapia with about 8 asparagus spear heads Dinner - 2 tsp. of guacamole & 2/3 of a cheese enchilada Snack - Sugar free jello caramel pudding cup Excersize: None

September 5, 2006

2

Day 12

Well, this past Saturday was my birthday. I was just looking at what I had to eat that day. What a BIG difference! I was discussing with my husband what we would normally do on birthdays and I saved myself probably 3000 calories (what would that be? more than a pound). We usually go to a very fancy restaurant and have a five course meal with bread, appetizers, salad, main course and dessert, not to mention the wine. Not only did I save myself from that but probably saved $130 by not going out. I also usually get cakes from the "dessert gallery" on birthdays in our house. Those cakes run $50 a piece, however they are truly amazing cakes. So a grand totol of $180 savings right off the bat from not obsessing over meals on my birthday. What a nice adjustment. 10 years of that and I have saved myself 1800 bucks just on ONE day a year. Not that this ordeal is in any way related to money, its just an interesting side perk. =) I peeled my steri strips off last night. The nurse said they should come off between 6 and 10 days and they didn't. So, I decided to take them off. Every incision looks great. The largest one of course is my port site. It is not quite as healed as the others. One of my spots doesnt even have a scar it has a small pink spot. Hard to even tell there was an incision at all. I couldn't find my "madera" (I think thats what it is called) for minimizing scar tissue. So I will stop by the store soon to get some of that. I wore a bra to work again today. I may be able to make it through the day with it on. I just have to be sure and sit up straight. If I hunch over at all, it hurts too much. The port site is tender. I wonder how long that continues?........ I was also sick all weekend, so I spent most of it in bed. Sore throat, achy muscles, runny nose, coughing, congested ..... the whole works. I took cold medicine and it didnt help, so today I have taken an allergy medicine. I hope that helps.... Morning Scale: 210 Food today: Breakfast - 4 oz of 50% fat free pimento cheese with a small spoon of fat free mayo. Lunch - Dinner - snack - Excersize:

September 11, 2006

2

no where else to put this...

Measurements log sometime before surgery hips: 49 7/8 " waist: 41 7/8" chest: 45 1/2" 8/30 day of surgery following pre-op diet hips: 48 7/8" down -1" waist: 40 1/2" down -1 3/8" chest: 44 3/4" down -3/4" 9/18 hips: 48 3/8" down -1 1/2" waist: 40 3/8" down -1 1/2" chest: 43 3/8" down -2 1/8" 12/2 hips: 47 1/8" down -2 3/4" waist: 38 7/8" down -3" chest: 42 3/4" down -2 3/4" rt thigh: 26 1/8" lf thigh: 26" calf both: 15 1/2" bicep both: 12 7/ 8" 01/06/07 hips: 46" down -3 7/8" down 1 1/8" from last month waist: 38" down -3 7/8" down 7/8" from last month chest: 42 3/4" down -2 3/4" no change from last month rt thigh: 24" down 2 1/8" lf thigh: 24" down 2" rt calf: 14 3/4" down 3/4" lf calf: 15 1/2" down 1/2" rt bicep: 12 7/8" no change lf bicep: 12 1/2" down 3/8"

December 4, 2006

2

Goodness!

1/20/07 hips: 45" down 1" from 1/07 waist: 36 3/8" down 1 5/8" from 1/07 chest: 41" down 1 3/4" from 1/07 rt thigh: 24" no change from last measurement lf thigh: 24" no change from last measurement rt calf: 13 5/8" down 1 1/8" from 1/07 lf calf: 15 1/2" down 1 1/2" from 1/07 rt bicep: 12 1/2" down 3/8" from 1/07 lf bicep: 12" down 1/2" from 1/07

January 20, 2007

1

Surgery day , day 2, day 3

Surgery day, Surgery was a breeze, I was out before I even knew I went into surgery. However, after I could'nt wake up from the anesthesia. I went to the bathroom asleep, did the barium swallow asleep and my dr. requires you to drink a bottle of water before leaving. I slept through that too. I would take a sip, fall asleep, then wake up, take a sip, fall asleep. I have no idea how long it took me to drink that water. Food on surgery day: 2 1/2 cups of creamy broccoli soup that I found in the organic section(this is the yummiest soup I have had in a long time) small sips of crystal light lemonade small sips of water all day Day 2, This was my most painful day so far The general anesthesia wore off and It was miserable all day. The pain wasn't unbearable, just miserable. I took more than the recommended dosage of the pain meds I think. I look 7 months pregnant. It's kind of cute because for medical reasons I can't have any more children. So I found it adorable that I looked 7 months pregnant for a day. My mom took me for my walk. I held my belly as if I was pregnant and got a few smiles from people. It hurt the most to get up and down from the chair and on and off the bed. I was really hungry all day today. I recognize my full feeling from reading this forum, however if I hadn't have known what to expect, I would have kept eating not realizing my limitations. I had a LOT of gas this day, but not in my shoulder like other people complained about. I would burp about once an hour and it would come from way down the bottom of my stomach and resonate all the way up. He He, by far the loudest and longest burps I have ever done. Food day 2: container of yogurt for breakfast, couldnt finish it all before I got full. no salt added butternut squash soup for lunch, found it in the organic section. (it was sooo yummy but not as good as the creamy broccoli, LOL) Dinner I had what was left of the creamy broccoli soup. It wasn't quite a full serving, so I had a feeling I would be hungry later. evening snack: I only had this because I felt excruciatingly hungry. I made a 3/4 of low sodium chicken broth. I put a bit of mrs. dash in it and heated it in a coffee cup. I sipped it like it was a warm cup of tea on a cold day. I wasnt able to finish it all before I felt full Day 3 I slept 18 hours straight. I haven't done that in a LONG time. I woke up this afternoon and a good bit of my sweeling has gone down. and the pain isn't nearly as bad as it was yesterday. I haven't even taken my pain meds yet and I seem fine so far. For Breakfast: I am having a yogurt cup that I put a half of scoop of unjury powder in and mixed. It does change the flavor, but I guess its ok for now. Dinner: homemade egg salad with 2 eggs, fat free mayo, dill relish and a dash of mustard. I ate about 2/3's of it. Dinner: 1/2 butternut squash soup, but could only eat 1/4 cup. Evening snack: low sodium V-8

September 1, 2006

1

Day 4 after surgery

Today has been a good day so far, my 2 year old jumped in my lap when I wasn't looking, reflexively I guarded my stomach, so he only hit the far left wound. My mom is here waiting for me to be ready to go walking. LOL. I hate it but love it. Mom's are great like that. I took my first real shower today and was very careful with my incisions. My DH used adhesive remover on places where I had adhesive build up from surgery and bandages. I am fortunate, I have a whole box of adhesive remover from when I was undergoing chemotherapy and we had to change my port bandage every 3 days and get the glue off from the tape. He gently placed bandages back over all of my incisions. For some reason, I feel more secure with bandaids over them for now. Emotionally I feel great. I feel like going back to work on Tuesday after the holiday will be just fine. Food on Day 4: morning: 1/2 cup coffee with equal, didnt drink it all. I was hoping this would act as dieretic, but it didnt. Breakfast: 1/2 cup of grits w/slice of cheese melted. Didn't eat it all. Lunch: Packaged low sodium potatoe and green onion soup. Only have to mix 8 oz of water. I first tried adding a scoop of unjury powder to it and it was disgusting, so I threw the first batch out and started over. This was the second time unjury powder was a failure. I need to research this and see what other ppl are doing with unjury powder.

September 2, 2006

1

Day 5 after surgery

Day 5 was yesterday, but I was too tired and sore to make an entry. I was more tired and sore on Day 5 than I have been so far. I also had a very throbbing headache. I didn't take any pain medication this day and only had a few doses of tylenol. I believe the headache was from "coming down" from the pain meds as this is how I normally react to vicodin and loritab. I slept all but about 3 hours yesterday. My husband said that he tried to wake me several times and that he has never seen me sleep so hard. I am normally a very light sleeper and the slightest noise has me O.O wide awake. For breakfast (at about 6pm): I had 3oz of my sugar free, low carb 4oz yogurt cup. each serving has very low sugar because it is made with splenda and a good amount of protein. Slept in between. For dinner (at about 1am): 1.5 pieces of lean cuisine ricotta ravioli I was down to 213 on my home scale today.

September 5, 2006

1

updated measurements

02/24/2007 hips: 44" waist: 36" rt thigh: 24" lf thigh: 24" rt calf: 14" lf calf: 14.5" rt bicep: 12" lf bicep: 12"

February 24, 2007

1

Day 9

I noticed that I am walking faster today, almost back to normal pace. Soon, LOL, I will be able to keep up with my husband again. I had an interesting NSV today that I think has nothing to do with weight loss, so to speak, and everything to do with my "new found" positive feelings about myself. For the past two years I haven't really had a good positive image of myself. I lost my long straight blonde hair to chemotherapy. I was over weight even then, but I had my pretty hair to help me keep a positive image about myself. With that gone, it has been hard. Not to mention that my hair came back extremely curly! Everyone tells me how much they love my curly hair, but I just absolutely hate it, and I really mean ~~~loathe it! I guess this not so good feeling about myself has put me into the mousy quite type category, which I have never been in until this year. Well obviously looking at my numbers, I haven't lost much weight. I have been taking pictures and I can see slight differences because I myself know where I feel lighter so I can see those changes in the pictures. However, my husband really can't see any visible changes. So, I know this isn't happening because I showed up to work looking "thinner". Well here goes my NSV.... There is a very handsome man that sits just a few cubicles down from me. I have been walking past him since January, ever since I returned to work after my chemotherapy. He has not once ever turned his head, acknowledged my existance, looked up from his computer screen at me or anything of the sort. I even had to discuss something work related with him and he talked to me while he looked at his computer screen. So, I have walked by his desk countless times and never a reaction. These last few days, I have been talking about this "natural high" that I am feeling. Well, my natural high must be radiating, because everytime I pass this guy now, he glances up. He even said "good morning" to me in the kitchen. Interesting perspective into how positive or negative feelings about yourself can change a situation. Morning Scale: 212 (up +1) Food today: cup of coffee black w/ 1 equal Breakfast - ham and swiss cheese, about 3oz total Lunch - 3oz of Red Snapper and 4 pieces of yukka protein snack - Dinner - 1/3 of a La Madeleine chicken, broccoli tomato crepe. Calories 416, fat 21g, net carb 31g, protein 22g. Excersize: None

September 8, 2006

1

Food day 10 and 11, day 10 was my birthday!

Sat 9/9 - day 10 Morning Scale: 211 Food today: Breakfast - 1/4 of a bisquit with sausage gravy Lunch - 2 oz of chicken, 1 snack wells sugar free devil's food cookie Dinner - 1/3 of a La Madeleine chicken, broccoli, tomato crepe. snack - sugar free jello caramel pudding. Excersize: None Sun 9/10 - day 11 Morning Scale: 211 Food today: Breakfast - 4 oz of 50% fat free pimento cheese with a small spoon of fat free mayo. Lunch - 4 oz of home baked blackened tilapia. Yummy! Dinner - 2 snack wells devil's food sugar free cookies Snack - sugar free jello chocolate/vanilla pudding Excersize: None

September 11, 2006

1

12 days pre-op

I have been on the low/no carb diet that Dr. Spivak requires. I have decided after reading the forum that I am going to go straight liquids one week pre-op, so that is in 5 days. I am visiting restaurants that I will miss on my one month post op mushy diet. I am practicing my new eating style to get myself mentally prepared. I put my fork or spoon down between each bite. Just eating low carb style, my appetite has greatly reduced and things are tasting too salty and spicy. The salad at Niko Niko's yesterday was terribly salty, however my SIL said it tasted normal to her. I am very excited, nervous and anxious to begin my journey in band land. :nervous I feel that I will lose the weight very quickly. I have never had a problem with dieting. The problem I have is maintaining and keeping it off. So I am a Yo-Yo overweight person.

August 18, 2006

1

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