Well, I am really beginning to feel like maybe I've got a handle on this whole LapBand thing! :smile2:

So, I have also gotten busy with getting back to a normal routine. I have some GI Bill benefits left from when I was in the Army NG and they will expire soon, so I decided to finally go back to school! I have enrolled in an online school (trying to go to a class on a campus is impossible!) and it is the Art Institute of Pittsburgh Online. I have chosen the Associates in Graphic Design. I hope to go beyond that and get my bachelors but I don't want to commit to something I can't afford! I am very excited and hope to start on the 21st - if all the financial aid things go well.

I had a follow up appointment with the doctor yesterday and had to bring both kids (James 8 and Molly 4). I wasn't concerned because it was really just a visit to make sure I was still doing okay. So when I go in I have to fill out a little survey about how I'm doing and what I eat, etc. And the doctor looks it over and she is very happy with the weight loss AND with the fact that I am staying full and not hungry for so long between meals. But she is concerned with the food portion sizes. She wants me to stay at 1 cup of food per meal. And I am well over that at each meal. But I'm not snacking or anything. So she talks to me about how I am in the hazy zone between the yellow and the green on where my band should be. So she decides she is going to give me a fill. RIGHT THEN!! I was pretty nervous and didn't see that coming at all!!!

So I lay down and she pushes around and finally finds the port and marks it with a marker (which I still can't get off!!). The she gives me a shot of Lidocaine to numb the area. Which burns like heck, but okay. Then she puts the needle in and draws out the 3ccs that they put in the band during surgery. Then she puts it back in along with an additional 3 ccs. It didn't hurt but the sensation was SO WEIRD!! :huh2: I didn't like it at all. And then I started to feel like I was going to pass out. I was all sweaty and my vision was getting black and everyone was starting to sound very far away. The doctor said it was okay because I was already lying down! I took some deep breaths and tried to calm down a little. That helped some, but I was still very sick and about to pass out. The she said that I had to sit up and sip some water to make sure that it would go down. With the needle STILL IN! :eek:

Luckily I didn't have to sit up on my own - the back of the bad lifted up to sit me up. So I was in an upright position and feeling even worse. But I dutifully sipped the water and tried to focus on whether the water was going down or not. I wasn't a hundred percent sure, but it didn't feel like it was sitting in the back of my throat, which is what the doctor kept asking, so I finally said it was fine - mainly just to get her to lay be back down and not pass out! Especially in front of my kids!!

The doctor was wonderful and she had stood between me and the kids while giving me a shot, so that if they HAD paid attention, they couldn't see anything but her back. Not that they noticed anything but the Nintendo DS and the Ben 10 video game.

So I was finally allowed to lay down and she took the needle out. She called the nurse and had her come in with a cold washcloth to put on my forehead. I felt like such an ass!! :frown: I wanted to get out of there so bad. I just kept thinking that once I got to my truck I could turn the A/C on full blast and put all the blowers on me and finally cool off and stop sweating!! The feeling backed off a little and I sat up on my own. It wasn't painful - just a twinge. The only real issue was my feeling faint. While I sat there, I sipped some more water and tried to take deep, calming breaths but it was only working so much - I couldn't get rid of the feeling entirely. Finally I stood up, I was so determined to get the hell out of there - the kids were starting to get restless and hungry (my appointment was at 1:40 and we didn't get home until 3:30!!) and I decided that I was just going to white knuckle through it and go home. But the nurse wasn't convinced and wanted me to take a few more minutes (gee, I guess they DO know what they are talking about!! :tongue2:) Finally she offered me some apple juice to try and get my blood sugar up. That is when I realized I had not eaten lunch! With my daughter's doctor appointment before mine and then mine, we left the house at 11:30 and we had a late breakfast. I just figured we'd have a later lunch when we got home at about 2 or 2:30. But that was not the case, and now I was super sick! I normally never have an issue with my blood sugar (I have super high insulin, but not high sugar so I never have to test it or anything) but I guess I just pushed it too far this time!

Three sips of the apple juice and I felt a million times better. Still a bit shaky, but the after effects kind of shaky - not the I might still fall right over shaky! So I finished the metal juice (apple juice from the metal can that makes it taste like metal juice) and felt well enough that I was allowed to go home.

So for 24 hours I was on full liquids again, which wasn't too bad. I was a little sore and off. I don't know how else to describe it. It doesn't really hurt and it doesn't feel too tight but I definitely feel SOMETHING different in the whole belly area. And my left shoulder started hurting really bad. Which was a real issue right after the surgery. Clearly there is a nerve or something located right near the stomach and the band that is touched when the band is adjusted or whatever that travels right up to the left shoulder. But it is the next day and I already feel better with no shoulder pain, so it is a small price to pay.

I had gotten used to swallowing pills whole and not having an issue, but I swallowed one whole last night and definitely felt a twinge. Again, not pain and not stuck, but a little flag went up and I took the message and cut up the rest. And I had to take it slower to take them all. I have quite a few meds to take and when you cut them in half - well, I can finish a propel taking sips with each one! And after the first few sips with pills, I felt that twinge again telling me that I was going too fast. So I slowed it down and did fine. I am able to eat less and feel full too, so obviously the fill was the ticket! :thumbup:

So I am excited to see the results after this fill. I have been so happy to see the steady decrease on the scale. Not to rub it in or be annoying, but I have found that every time I get on the scale, my weight has gone down by at least a pound. So I am a total of 30 lbs down from the start of this whole process!! :laugh: About half of that was from the pre-op diet, but it still counts! Pounds lost are pounds lost!! I can't wait until I can really see more of a difference in both my clothes and my face. You'd think after 30 lbs you'd see something, but I haven't. I AM going to start taking monthly pictures though so I can really see the progress. Maybe I'll start including them with the blog. Hmm.....

Anyway, while it was too long, I have told you the whole story, but now let me sum up:

I LOVE MY LAPBAND!!! :tt1: