I wish I had discovered this website before my surgery. I've been wanting a way to document this process . . .journey if you will and now I have it. So, here goes.

I had my surgery on february 13th, 2009. I weighed 372 lbs and had a BMI over 50. I'm 5'11 so my height tempers some of my weight. I'm 29 years old and felt that I needed to do something before I turned 30. Weightloss surgery had been on my mind for the last 6 or 7 years.

Though heavy - I've always felt good. It wasn't until I was about 25. I had lost 65 lbs on the low carb diet. Within a year and a half I had gained it all back plus some. After experiencing what it was like to be smaller and have more energy made it very hard. I felt every pound now. Saw how more difficult it was to get around.

I've been miserable for the last 2 years or so as the weight has packed on even more. I knew I had to do something. So, fast forward the whole first visit to the doctor, approval process, preop appointments, etc. etc.

THE SURGERY

Of course I was nervous about the surgery. My biggest fear was that I would fail. The surgery that was to take 1hr ended up taking 3 due to some scar tissue I had. My doctor told me he had to place the band a little deeper than usual due to the scar tissue. I was in recovery for about an hour and whisked home. I live about 2 hrs from the surgery center - I slept all the way home. All I remember was that it had snowed earlier in the day so as we were going through the mountains I would wake up and see how beautiful it all looked but need to immediately close my eyes because I was so nauseous.

POST OP

The first day I slept. All I ate that evening was a popsicle and some water with my meds. I didn't have an appetite. By the second day I was in a little pain but decided to go off of my meds so that I wouldn't be so loopy. Took some alleve instead. My stomach hurt all the time that first 3 days and I couldn't figure out why. Turns out it was gas. One day I let out a big burp and felt relief. That same day I picked up some gas x, and stopped eating the sugar free pudding and popsicles and haven't had a problem since. The first 3-5 days were the hardest. I lived off of broth, soup at hand, pudding, and yogurt (mostly yogurt). I didn't really have an appetite.

The first 3 days was clear liquids - I tended to be hungry all the time and questions whether this was working because I thought the point was this would make you feel full - I later realized this was because my band was open and all liquids just went straight through. I was so scared to take a big gulp of water because I thought it would instantly fill and stretch my pouch. I moved on to full liquids for 1 week. I had a protien shake that contains about 35 grams per serving that I drank with milik. I made it through the liquid phase by living on yogurt whick I would slowly eat for 30 mins. I often didn't even get through 1/2 of the 6oz container.

After the first week I moved on to the soft diet phase. Srambled eggs were my saving grace. I could also eat pureed foods - I pureed some chicken soup that had noodles and chicken. I ate a couple of bites but just couldn't do it. I decided to forego the pureed foods and just stuck to yogurt, cream of wheat, and soup.Occasionally I threw in things like cottage cheese, mashed potatoes, and sweet potatoes - which went down very well.

When I got to to 4th week I was ready to do solid foods. For 4 days in a row atleast one of my meals was Broiled Salmon, brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes, and a salad. I ate it all on a small plate and had a lot left on my plate. I was however surprise at how much I could eat. I've felt like this is what a normal person would eat.

Another thing I was surprised about was how consumed with food I was. Every activity in my life revolved around FOOD. "We're going over Mom's house tonight - Let's pick up something to eat", "Let's pick up a movie - And order a pizza too", Let's stay in - grab some snacks". I would open my mouth to say these things and realize I can't do that anymore. I physically can't. I didn't make the experience any less though.

My first real "come to Jesus" moment was when at a work conference I was confronted by a buffet about 5 weeks after being banded. As I stood in line I found it amusing because usually when present with a buffet my thoughts would be "how do I put as much food as possible on my plate without people noticing how high my plate is stacked". I would look at other people's plates to see if anyone else was eating a lot. As I would eat I would think about seconds, or dessert, or thirds, or what I couldn't fit on my plate. This time I had to think about how do I get to enjoy the BEST things in the buffet in the little amount of food I could actually eat. It was a sandwich bar - so I opted for HALF a sandwich instead of a whole. Didn't SAMPLE all the salads there but just took a small spoonful of what I thought I'd enjoy most. For dessest - 1 cookie - not a handful. I ended up splitting the cookie with a friend. It was that moment that I knew the lap band and I were gonna be good friends. It wasn't just a physical change - its was changing the way I thought mentally and my approach to food.

WEIGHT LOSS

At my first post op appt 2 wks after my surgery I had lost 10 lbs.

4 weeks - I had lost 20 (Was supposed to get banded but couldn't - see my next post)

6 weeks still at 20 (My doctor said it was because my band was still open - got filled this week)

PRINCESSJENE-

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