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This morning after I got out of the shower, I wrapped the towel around me, usually it comes undone the minute I move, oh, anywhere, but it stayed around me until I had to get ready, I guess this is some sort of a nsv (if it is than yay!!!) Which got me thinking about goals. Also it got me thinking about how oblivious men are. Before Christmas, my co-worker was telling me about these rings that she gave her son's girlfriend for Christmas, they're called stackable expressions (google it!) so I tell my boyfriend about them (and not for nothing they are not that expensive!) for a Christmas idea and sure enough, guess what I don't get?? But he did give me a nice necklace. Okay back to goals, so I've decided that with every ten pounds I lose I'm going to get one ring. Of course I'm not going to buy them every time I lose ten pounds, but for example, when I lose 50 I'll go to the jewelers and pick out five, cannot wait! If I look at another shrimp again I'm going to be sick. I'm all shrimped out and that is one of my favorite foods, oh well they always have it at the grocery store. Next week I'm getting a fill and the mds requirements are two days of liquids two days of mushies and then solids by Friday, I totally forgot about this, so I guess I'm going to have to freeze the meatballs I made last night and also the corned beef and cabbage I'm making this weekend, but hey it's always good to have meals on hand! Last night I went to the gym for 45 minutes on the elliptical. I like love to listen to music while working out, I have the iheartradio app on my phone, and I put it on to the spin cycle station, which is great club music and NO COMMERCIALS it keeps me motivated enough that I don't even realize that my time is almost up. By the time I got home I was too tired to pack a breakfast and lunch for work tomorrow, so I had to resort to the cafeteria here, which is okay. I had a veggie egg white omlette with a little cheese it definetly filled me up. I've realized I cannot be so obsessed about how many calories/protein I consume a day. If I eat something and I'm full, then I'm full. I'm going to try that for the next couple of weeks and see how that goes. Can't give up on my chobani though! Have a good day!

So Im going to tell you my pleasure of what makes me feel really good i like to sit in the shower sometimes hot sometimes cool and i like to think of the future of how i want my new style to be when im thin how i want my makeup should i save for a boob lift or buy the things i always wanted at the mall or just walking thru the mall without feeling out of place going to a spa gym etc and feeling good craving that cool feeling at the beach having romance feeling cute and fun having energy looking good naked waking up rubbing a flat stomach feeling that fresh breeze after sweating at the gym those are outta thousands of stuff i wanna experience<3

In 24 hours I'll be banded...queue Europe's "The Final Countdown". I can't believe it's finally here. I remember the first time I seriously considered the band, last May at my son's little league pool party. One of his coaches (whom I considered to be a "guys" guy) told me he'd had the band for about a year and was loving it. Loving the time he was able to be more active in his son's life, the ability to get more out of life, how it brought him closer to his spouse, and I just remember thinking "if I would just swallow my pride and accept I needed help with my weight, I could be a lot happier". You see, my wife was already planning her lap band at this time and I fully supported her decision to get healthy and reclaim her life, but up until this point I had pretty much resigned myself to being a "fat" dad... the one who was a master at the barbecue pit during family cook-outs but who didn't get into the pool with his kids or play catch with them...because it's too hard. I know the band is not a magic wand that fixes all aspects of one's life, but for me most of my unhappiness stemmed from not having the ability to control my own issues with food to the point that it was affecting my relationship with my kids and my wife. Tony is 10, I have 8 years left with him "full time" and only about 3 more until he becomes his own person and starts socializing outside the home, how long before he doesn't want to do anything with me regardless of what I can and can't do physically? Josh is 4, if I keep going the rate I am I will die before I see him turn 18. 2005.. the start of my weight gain. In regards to my marriage, we had our kids very young. We've never had the time to ourselves to really be just a couple. We have always made plans to travel and enjoy each other when the kids are grown, but without a healthier lifestyle what are we going to be able to do? Watch Food network and visit every buffet restaurant in the state? I want more than that! I want us to climb a Mayan Pyramid and see top of the Eiffel Tower. I want to be intimate without fear of throwing out my back. And now here we are, 7 months later. one day away from go time. I have the usual nervousness and apprehension that comes with any procedure, but all in all I am ready. Ready to make the effort to change my life, ready to put my family and my own health as the number one priority in my life. READY. follow my whole blog at http://gerryslapband.blogspot.com/

This blog is being created to keep me stay focused on my goal and have accountability as well as hopefully be a resource for others who are considering starting their own journey. My journey started a few years ago when I started researching Weight Loss Surgery (WLS). I went to my very 1st seminar and found it quite informative. Until my husband went to the seminar he was not very thrilled about what I was considering and after that I have really have had his support. At that time most insurance companies were still not covering the Sleeve (VSG) and I myself had never heard of it but found myself quite intrigued with the information. At that time I was considering the lap band procedure. After the meeting I was ready to make my change but got really discouraged when the group that the Dr uses to handle all the insurance and scheduling, etc seemed to be more about themselves and the money they could make than what was good for the patient. Since I got the huge vibe that they were all about the money I decided to call my insurance company to see if there were other options and explained how this group wanted to charge for everything and it was all out of pocket and they sd it wasnt covered by insurance. My insurance encouraged me to find another doctor. I decided to do more research and decided surely I can do this on my own, yea right! So here I am 3 years later. I made my decision to go ahead and have WLS in October 2011 when my lab test came back to the dr showing that I was no longer a borderline diabetic that I now have type II diabetes and knowing my family history I knew this wasn't something to play around with. My doctor asked if I had ever considered WLS as if it was his idea, lol, and I told him I had and he wrote up a referral for me and it was ready for pick up in just a couple of days. So here's my calendar of events so far: October 25 - had annual physical and blood test done Nov 1- Drs appt - got results from test and Dr sd wd give referrel for WLS Nov 10- Bariatric Seminar Nov 11- Drs appt regarding blood sugar levels Dec 12- Drs appt Jan 12- Drs Appt ( gotta make sure I see doctor for 6 consecutive visits to keep insurance from denying surgery) Jan 12- 1st visit with surgeon Jan 17- Psych eval- was told eval wd be sent over by next day to surgeon with approval Jan 25- Upper GI and lab work done Feb 3- 5 mth visit with Primary doctor Once my 1st visit with the surgeon was done, I have felt as if I had been on a rollercoaster of dr's appts but I totally don't mind at all! My Dr appt with my surgeon went very well. One of the requirements they have is you must bring a support person with you to your 1st appt. They don't care whom you choose as long as the person is 18 or over. My surgeon told me the sleeve was a excellent choice and provided my husband and I with very informative information of what to expect in the coming weeks as well as when I have the surgery and my hospital stay. He also encouraged for me to go ahead and get plugged into their support group that they have which I find is a very good idea. I could use all the support I can get. One of the things that made me feel so much better about this is the whole process is totally different then the process I started going on 3 years ago. This is being handled as any medical need where everything can be filtered thru my insurance instead of made to feel as if this is elective surgery therefore if you want a support group you have to pay for it out of pocket, if you want insurance filed you have to pay for it out of pocket. I am so glad my Dr referred me to such a fantastic group. I have done my research and the Dr's are excellent and have had no deaths from the result of their surgery. In fact I didn't find not one negative thing about the entire group. One thing I do want to say is that the surgeons office gave me a list of Psychologist that I could use if I chose too to schedule my Psych eval. I actually called and spoke to one of the staff at one of the offices and I could not believe the fees, besides the 20% copay they sd they charged $185 to actually send the eval to the surgeons office and insurance did not cover that she did a quick calculation and sd it looked as if I wd be paying somewhere around $400 for my 1st appt with filing fees included. I decided before scheduling I should call my insurance company (Cigna open access) and I'm so glad I did. I called my insurance and they sd my employer actually has a EPT plan with the insurance and they gave me a list of names and numbers along with getting a EPT # for me and told me I could have up to 3 visits free and there wd be no cost for the evaluation that insurance wd take care of any cost. They also informed me if I needed any additonal visits after my surgery or even before that the visits are only $10 a visit. WOW! If I had not called my insurance I wd have paid out quite a bit of unnecessary money and I don't know about everyone else but I work hard for my money and have no desire to throw it away unnecessarily. I decided to go ahead and start working on trying to lose weight before my surgery and start walking to work on my endurance so once I have the surgery it won't be as difficult. I already know that alot of people are going to ask why have the surgery if you can lose weight on your own, the problem is i have never in 20 years been able to get below 201 lbs and the last few years with the pre diabetic sugar highs and now full blown diabetes it is even harder to lose weight. WLS is not a quick fix but it is a tool to help people get the help they need. I'm looking forward to my journey towards good health and am very open to words of wisdom and encouragement. Tammy

The last couple of days have been tough. Yesterday I was sorta hungry but in looking back on my intake, I was right where I was supposed to be. I had my vitamins and fluids too. Normally, I get home and have so many things to do, running around with my two boys that I don't have time to be bored but the schedule has been good this week, therefore I have had some down time. Well, I was bored. TV doesn't interest me much. There are only a couple of programs I care to watch. I was too tired/lazy to work out so I sat there with my thoughts. I have that problem somtimes, I am bored stiff but to lazy to do anything about it. That was yesterday. Ultimately, I ended up reading for several hours. Although I slept well, I still feel tired. Now I feel bored at work instead of bored at home. One of my big motivations for surgery was to lose the weight and find that source of energy inside. I'm down 36 pounds in five weeks and I do feel better but I am not yet seeing an increase in energy. Let me know if you find my motivation some where, because I seem to have misplaced mine. LOL

I'm here in San Diego. I eventful flight - however, I did buy the "extra seat for a person of size" and of course I didn't need the damn thing, I fit in the seat just fine. They said they would refund me so I'm cool with it. So a little victory there I. Itself. I havent flown since before I got sick - so I just didn't know. I was shocked that I did fit in the seat, armrest down, etc because so many standard seats are tough to take. Anyway - I can't sleep. I'm nervous.... I keep running through my mind and wondering what I'm doing here!?!? Guess its just some last minute jitters and the hunger talking. Knowing that I'm a high BMI and knowing that puts me toward the end of the day sucks too, but it is what it is... End result is my health and happiness. It's just hard to be in San Diego, where one of my oldest friends lives- I didn't know how I was going to handle being so close to him and not seeing him- it's been since 1999 since I have seen him.... But he and his wife are up in the bay area visiting a couple other friends of ours so it's like it was meant to be! Hubby is snoring away in the bed next to me. I'd like to sleep but it just doesnt wanna happen. I wanna get up early, get a shower and go put my feet in the ocean for a minute. Then I will head for the airport and continue on my journey. I hate this no water after midnight thing - it sucks.

Today was my birthday - in 36 years old and 2 days away from the second biggest life changer so far. The first was getting sick. This one though, will change my life for the better. It's actually going to give me back what I desperately want - my health. I leave tomorrow for San Diego. Looking forward to just getting the ball rolling more smoothly down the hill. I don't know how many others are having surgery that day, other than one person I met here! I'm sure I'll be last, or close to last, as I have a very high BMI- and that's ok - I'm prepared for that. Wouldnt mind being first tho - but I'll wait my turn

WELL SATURDAY WILL BE THE START OF A NEW BEGINNING IN MY LIFE. FOR THE PAST FEW DAYS I HAVE HAD SUCH AN UPLIFTING FEELING LOTS OF ENERGY (EVEN GETTING TO WORK IF NOT ON TIME SOMETIMES EARLIER LOL) THIS FEELING IS GREAT. I HAVE LOST 10 LBS FOR FAR. I AM A TYPE 2 DIABETIC AND MY NUMBERS HAVE BEEN GREAT THIS MORNING IT WAS 96. IT PROVES THAT WATCHING AND CUTTING OUT CARBS REALLY HAS AN IMPACT ON SUGAR. I DONT MISS THOSE FOODS WHEN I SEE THE RESULTS OF WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I WATCH DIET. I FOUND A GOOD CLEAR LIQUID THAT WILL MAKE MY POST OP DIET NOT BE SO BAD. ITS CHINESE CHICKEN BROTH ( NO WONTONS OF COURSE) IT TASTES GOOD AND ON COLD DAYS IT JUST WARMS ME UP. LOOKING FORWARD TO STARTING MY ZUMBA VIDEO SOON. !!!!

Well, I just had to write a few words about what happened today when I went to see my primary care physician. Let me tell you a little background first. I am seven and a half months post op. I had my surgery June 18 in Tijuana, MX. And I am thrilled to no end with my results so far. Have lost right around 98 pounds. (It varies depending on the day.) I was living and working in California when I decided that I wanted to have the surgery. I am a travel nurse, but my home is in Iowa. I traveled home to Iowa in June for a couple weeks off, then my husband and I were going to fly to San Diego and travel on to Tijuana for the surgery. I went to see my PCP the day before we flew to San Diego to get my meds refilled. I hadn't seen him again till today, so hadn't been in his office since June of 2011. When the nurse called my name today, I got up to follow her to the exam room. As usual, she led me to the scale on the way to the exam room. In the past, I have frequently declined to get weighed, as I didn't want/need to be depressed by what it said. But in my new, current life, I am not afraid of the scale anymore. So I hopped up on the scale to see what it would say. (I had already weighed myself at home this morning and was 160 lbs without a stitch on!) The digital readout of the doctor's scale said 162, which is about right, since I had a pair of jeans on and a pair of boots. The nurse went to write it down, and said "hold on a minute! What is your name again? What is your birthdate? When were you here last?" I told her my name, birthdate and that I was last seen there in June of 2011. She then replied "well who ever weighed you that day is an idiot! They wrote the wrong weight down. They wrote that you weighed 260 pounds!!!! I need to change that!" I laughed and told her there was nothing wrong with the weight in the chart, that I had lost almost 100 pounds in the last 7 1/2 months. She was amazed and had all kinds of questions. When I told her that I had undergone a Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy she didn't know what it was. So I gave her a short course on VSG. Anyway, I guess I can count this as one of my NSV! P.S. the doctor told me I looked amazing, and was SO encouraging. He thought I made the right decision and told me to keep at it.