7/10/08 - almost 8 weeks since surgery, 249 - down 22 pounds from surgery weight of 271

It's been a while since I've posted anything here! I hit a plateau of about 2 weeks....it was characterized by my ability and propensity to eat considerably more than I have to date post-band, and the bouncing of the scale back and forth between the same 4 pounds, over and over and over and over again. Aarrgh!

I knew it was time for a fill, but my doctor's office is so busy it's practically an act of God to get an appointment. I called the office when I was 3 weeks post op in order to schedule a fill for 6 weeks out (the earliest they will let you have a fill), and they told me the soonest they could get me in was around 8 weeks post op. Kind of frustrating, but I reminded myself that 2 weeks is not the end of the world, for pete's sake.

So, I went in yesterday for my first fill. It was.....interesting! There was no pain involved. My doctor is one of those who sticks you with a little lidocaine or other such numbing agent, so that he can then poke around at will to find the port and not have to worry about causing you any pain.

The first interesting thing was that the port was not where either he, or I, thought it was. He commented that he was surprised that it was so low, because on his patients, he normally finds the port to the upper right of the port incision. But, surprise! My port was several inches below and to the left. Bizarre, because mine definitely started out above the incision right where he thought it would be. I was obsessed with feeling it for the first few weeks, but then just kind of forgot about it. I hadn't felt for it in quite a while. I guess, somehow, it moved?? Strange.

So, my doc was planning to give me 1 cc in my 4.5 cc band. He put the needle in, depressed the plunger all the way, and then pulled it back out again. Surprise, again! He pulled out almost 2cc of saline! And this is my first fill! He said, "are you sure you have the 4.55 cc band?" I just looked at him, as if to say, "you're asking ME, buddy?" And so he decided to go pull up my surgery record to make absolutely certain. He said that he almost always uses the smaller band on female patients, but he was confused because he only ever puts a fill in at surgery if he's working with a 10cc band. He said he wanted to be sure, because if I did have a 10cc band, he wanted to give me more than just the 1 cc for the first fill.

So, sure enough it turns out I do indeed have the small 4.5 cc band, he confirmed it in my surgery records. He also remembered that when they put the band on in surgery, it was spinning more than it should have been. He wanted to make sure the band stayed put and wasn't spinning after they closed me up, so that the scar tissue could form properly. So, he decided to put a little bit of a fill in, in order to stablize it. So, that .8 of a cc was what allowed me to feel restricted for the better part of 6 weeks, and drop 20 pounds! I'll take it! (I'm a little bit irked that no one TOLD me this right after surgery, but oh well, what can I do about it now...)

So, then I had to sit up with the needle sticking out of me and drink some water to make sure I wasn't too tight. What a bizarre thing: sitting on a doctor's exam table, needle and syringe sticking out of my belly, shirt up under my boobs with big flabby belly exposed, and drinking a dixie cup of water. He kept saying, "do you feel anything different?" and me: "um, yes, I think so?! Wait, no. It feels the same. Well, no maybe not, maybe it feels a little different???" I swear I couldn't tell the difference at first! Some people say they can feel things going from their pouch through the stoma, or they can feel it when their pouch completely empties, especially when drinking liquids. I couldn't feel a thing at that point.

I had some broth for dinner and a couple of sugar free all fruit popsicles. I think my stomach and actual hunger were satisfied, but husband was eating a yummy italian pasta dish and leftover pizza, and I had a MAJOR case of food envy last night.

Ah well, these sacrifices will all pay off down the road, won't they? Dare I quote - Nothing tastes as good as thin feels! Apologies. I usually want to smack anyone who says that to me!

So, today I'm definitely feeling some restriction, even with still being on liquids. I was drinking a protein shake this morning and tried to drink it too quickly, and immediately got a stuck feeling. This is a good thing. For the last two weeks leading up to this fill I was eating waaaay too fast and taking waaay too big of bites, with no negative repercussions! I was definitely too loose.

I'm just hoping this restriction sticks around for a while so I can get the scale moving again!!! But just in case, I've already booked my next fill, 6 weeks from now on August 20.

I have food envy today as well! I had my 5th or 6th fill yesterday and I am on liquids. It is killing me cooking and smelling everything. Ugh, I want a bite of something not liquid!