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It's done~Now make it work~

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And Then There Was A Pouch

I am really really glad I found a post to share my lap-band surgery experience. I thought about creating a personal blog, but felt it would lack the support from other lap-band patients. So here goes everything: I had my surgery on 10/31/2011. Halloween. Barely had time to grab halloween costumes for my boys-who have been super supportive of mommies post surgery needs-as supportive as 7 and 9 years olds can be:) Surgery went great, post 3-4 days was as painful as abdominal surgery is expcted to be and by day 6-7, I was feeling much much better. I took a three week leave from work which was great to get rest, adjust to the eating routine and just be stress-free to truly focus on recovering. I hated being on the liquid diet for what...4 weeks? That was hard as hell. But by my 3 week appt I had dropped 11 pounds.   I started at 256lbs. Im currently at 239 which is a little frustrating for me. But I defintely notice what many weightloss surgery folks notice....my clothes are all big. I was wearing an 18-20 pre surgery and purchased my first size 14 pants a couple of weeks ago. All of my old pants, whether jeans or dress pants, are big on me. I'm wearing my old bra's and buying size large sweats versus extra large. So I'm not too concerned about the scale, but it's frustrating and that's maybe because 256 and even at 239, it's the heaviest I have ever been.   I've had one fill and can't recall how many cc's I received, but I have another fill coming on 4/25/2012-which will be 4 months after my last fill.   I can certainly feel the restriction. But I do get hungry in between. Now I have a hard time eating the following foods (which is not a bad thing): rice, bread, eggs, pasta, and grilled chicken unless it's extremely tender. Can't eat fast even if I want too! It will come right back up and keeps me in constant control of how I eat which is fantastic. I buy less groceries, I order less when I go out. If I do eat too fast, the pain is a good reminder to not do it again.   I was advised during my last nutrion visit to not count calories. They want to know how I do and how I feel just by eating and go about my daily routine. So that's what I've been doing. One constant that I still deal with? Finding time to exercise! The size of my stomach changed (the little band anyway), but my normal every day schedule has not!   I'm determined to make this work for me and again, I can physically see that results are possible so I'm not giving up my fight to use this tool I've been given. Especially since the post surgery pain is still fresh in my mind:)
bluejeansdevotion

bluejeansdevotion

5
 

No Second Fill....should I Be :) Or :(?

So I went in today, and I'm down to 138. I'm just glad to still be below 240!   My blood pressure, which was a problem post-op, was high, but is never high when I check it at home. Nurse said to just keep an eye on it. Could be "white coat" syndrome (lol) = doctor visit induced anxiety.   So my doctor, who is fabulous by the way, said no fill. he wanted to know what I was eating---we went through the list.....beans....rice....tabouli.....salads....veggies...protein drinks....my list is pretty general. Yes, sometimes I have ice cream. He was concerned about puking and band slippage. He was iinclined to remove some fluid...   He suggested I take out the carbs and focus on eating the things I've been complaining about.....grilled chicken that I probably don't chew enough before swallowing=vomiting; fish=ditto; eggs=ditto His suggestion is that I take more time to chew and eat these foods that absorb the fat in my body....to speed up weight loss. I was avoiding these foods because they get stuck and cause mucus buildup and puking. So now, I'm going to try it his way. Nutrionist didn't agree with the negative carbs and told me all about how carbs fuel the brain but I've also done enough reading to know that I won't die from not eating carbs. I kind of trust the surgeon more than the nutrionists on this one.....   So I have a new eating guideline....that includes breakfast which for me is normally a cup of coffee because I'm never hungry in the morning. Then I'm going to try some pure protein....vegetarian protein where I can as I'm not a big meat person anyhow.   So, we shall see how this works. I wasn't too disappointed about not having the fill. Wasn't looking forwards to liquids and mushies for 3 weeks:)   Be well friends. We are here and there is no turning back~
bluejeansdevotion

bluejeansdevotion

1
 

I Beat-Up The Salmon!

I have not been able to eat salmon without puking since I had the surgery. That is until today. Dr. Jones instructed me to eat my salmon and grilled chicken, even tho everytime I did so, I would get that awful mucus build up, it would hurt and I would eventually "toss" some back out. So I've been working on eating very very slow, chewing a whole lot (which is all the basis of the band which we tend to ignore until it gets to this), and waiting 2-3 minutes, sometimes 5 between the very small bites. This morning I decided the salmon I cooked 3 days ago was not going in the trash. I tried it yesterday morning and it was pain and mucus. This morning, I took it even slower and guess what? It stayed down, no pain, no mucus and I ate my salmon! every piece of the 2oz piece of fish I paid so much for. It wasn't easy as I literally took one bite, and started chewing as I made my way to the shower. After the shower I took another bite and chewed as I put on some clothes, and etc etc etc...I took me over 30 minutes to eat it, but it stayed down and I ate slow which are the most important aspects of this band. Am I ready to tackle my grilled chicken? Let me get comfy with my salmon routine first:)   Cheers~
bluejeansdevotion

bluejeansdevotion

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