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I brought a pair of skinny jeans last week. Size 18. I don't ever remember buying that size before its been so long. When I held them up, I thought, well maybe next month I should be able to fit them. But I tried them on, and they came right up and buttoned. No sucking in. I wanted to cry. Literally. I ran and showed my husband. I'm trying on 16 this week just to see how they would feel. There are days I hate this band and days I'm in love with it. Today, I'm loving it like McDonald's. :wub:

Hard to believe that it's been 1 month today. I really can't believe the difference! This weekend has been absolutely awesome. Saturday, we worked at the Food Bank, then came home for lunch and a nap (I had tuna salad, hubby had tuna salad sandwich with fresh fruit and potato salad). Then we worked on the fence around our barn, as some of our hens have been sneaking out during the day to go foraging around. We live out in the country where we have foxes, racoons, possums, bobcats and even black bear. Not to mention the dogs that everybody seems to like "dumping" out here. So now the girls can't get out and get eaten. I would dearly miss their fresh eggs! Their eggs have been a god-send during my initial recovery! Later we went to town, and went out to eat. I was nervous about going, but felt that it was time for me to step out and see what I could handle. We ended up at Red Lobster. I ordered the wood-grilled scallops, shrimp and chicken, with asparagus on the side, hold the salad please. I was able to eat 2 scallops and about 5 stalks of the Asparagus - they were super tiny. Got a "to go" container and brought the rest home. DH even ate super slow with me, (got a to go container too) and we spent the time talking and catching up on stuff from the week.DH even confessed that he was absolutely terrified for me having the surgery, but wanted me to be happy, and felt that if this was what it took, then he would support me. He said that he was so thankful that it was working for me, and that I was feeling really good, and he was also very glad that the first month was past. Today, while I was getting ready for church, I noticed that my pantsuit was way too big. So I had a mild panic attack thinking that I didn't have anything to wear. I looked further back in the closet and found another pantsuit that I hadn't worn in a long time. It was a size 20. I held the pants up to me and told DH that there was no way I could wear them. He said for me to try them on. So I did. And what a shock it was that they went on with no problems, and even after I zipped them up . . . they weren't the least bit tight!!!!! I was so shocked!! I've lost 30lbs so far, but I didn't know it would make such a difference. Prior to surgery I was a 24W, and now I'm in 20's. I keep thinking that maybe they have the wrong size tags in them. After church, DH and I enjoyed our leftovers. I still couldn't finish all of mine, so I had them for dinner tonight too. On Friday, as I was taking Mom to town for 2 of her doctor's appointment's, she said, "I don't think you notice this, but you have so much more energy". I said, "Well, I'm almost a month out from surgery, and if my energy wasn't starting to ramp up, I'd be a bit worried". She said, "No, that's not what I meant. I mean your energy is much more that it was even way before the surgery. Before the surgery, you always seemed tired. I am really proud of what you've done. It takes a lot of courage to do what you did, and I'm really proud of you for doing it". Wow - Mom made my day! I know my Mom loves me, but I can't recall the last time she told me she was proud of me. And, since she's mentioned it, I have to say, that of course she's right. I hadn't really noticed it, but I DO have more energy than I've had in a while. What a blessing this has been for me so far! I look forward to the next 30 days to see what is in store for me

Sometimes I agree that people should mind there own business when it comes to others. Since I took a leave of absence for 6 weeks after surgery I have co-workers constantly asking me what happen. First question did I have weight loss surgery, you have lost so much weight, so I said took personal leave meaning none of your business unless I disclose it too you. So before surgery they use to ask me if I want to order something to eat. Mind you no one knew I was having surgery. So the other day, they decided to go get food without me and I say why you did not tell me you were going to get food and she says because you ain't gonna eat it anyways. How stupid can people be? How you know what I can eat? It kinda upset me but thank God I carry something in my lunch bag, and she can continue to be over weight eating all that take-out fried food. It never cease to amaze me that because people are unhappy they want you to be unhappy too. Just venting.

Welcome. This blog is dedicated to all the people out there who didn't take the easy way out. It doesn't matter if you had the bypass, the sleeve, or the lap-band, it's not easy going through all the changes associated with weight loss surgery. This is why I wanted to bring some comedy to the table. I can't really bring anything else as I wouldn't be able to get it down but, laughter makes everything better and I hope this blog makes your experience just a little easier during those tough times. I can't promise everything I type will be funny...hell, I can't even promise a little bit will be funny. All I can promise is that I will be honest, blunt, and sometimes I will look at situations a little differently than most people. My name is Tricia and I have been fat my whole life. Even when I look back at photos of myself where I was "thin", I remember still feeling fat in compassion to my friends. However, I was always active and in shape so I didn't really let being the bigger one in my group bother me. Then when I was 20 years old and in college, I developed really bad back issues. In the past 17 years, I put on over 100lbs, began feeling like a blob, and I felt my self esteem fall drastically. Three years ago, I watched my sister, Cherie, go through gastric bypass surgery and I have to admit, watching her loose the weight made me very happy for her but not so happy with myself. I would watch her sit at family dinners and nibble on very little food and then announce how full she was. I remember thinking that I could never give up enjoying food like she did. But, the more she lost the more I thought about giving everything up just too be thin. Then in December of 2010, my back finally gave out and I had to leave work. This was devastating for me as have always been a worker and the idea of going on disability was heart-wrenching for me. After many doctor's apts, I was told that I needed a new disc in my back but the only way to be able to have one is if I lost a LOT of weight. Apparently, fat people can't get new discs as the disc doesn't seem to set right. Who knew a titanium disc was so picky? So, I began the long process of nutrition classes, Life Skill classes, doctor's apts, and finally surgery. On April 12, 2012 I had Dr. Gail Wynn, from Christiana, De., remove a big portion of my stomach. Since then, I have experienced so many funny, strange, crazy things that I figured it would help if I shares some of them. I don't know if anyone will actually read this Blog, but at least I'm getting my thoughts out there. Hope you all enjoy them.

11 days ago I was wheeled back to the surgery room (yes, I remember this) and I told all the doctors, "Have fun taking the majority of my stomach out. I'm so ready for this...just don't mess up." The last thing I heard before I was knocked out was laughter. If you ask me, that's a great thing to hear before you undergo any major surgery. When I woke up, there wasn't any more laughing. Actually, I had Nurse Hatchet as my post op nurse. I remember thinking, "this lady is in the wrong field." She wouldn't listen to me when I told her how much pain I was in. All she would say was, "of course you're in pain, you just had surgery." Needless to say, the hospital messed up and didn't give me the right meds and that's why I was in so much pain. If Nurse Hatchet would have listened to the half asleep, babbling girl in post op, she may have noticed the hospital's mistakes and fixed them. Instead, I had to deal with horrific pain for 5 hours before my husband finally said something to the nurse who was caring for me in my room. Due to my chronic back pain, I am on some major feel good drugs. Knowing this, they still put me on medication that was lower than what I normally take. However, thanks to my passive aggressive (sometimes there's no passive about it) husband, I was placed on the correct meds and began healing. Once I came home, I was shocked at all the gas I had to expel. While in the hospital all I did was burp a few times but once I got home, the gas couldn't find a way out fast enough. It didn't care why exit it used as long as it escaped. I learned that walking helped me get the gasses out even faster. The crazy thing is that no matter how long I walked, the gas seemed to wait to exit once I was done and in the house. My husband swears I held it in and let it out in the house on purpose just to prove he didn't marry a woman. He has told me multiple times this week that I am a man with a vagina....because no woman expels that much gas. To be honest, there were times I wondered if he was right. Then came the mood swings. My moods were swinging around like the chimpanzees in your local zoo. Maybe even more accurate would be my moods were going up and down faster than any express elevator I've ever been on and the aftermath of my mood swings was equal to any hurricane that has ever passed through the area. To make it worse, all my anger was directed at my husband. He had a huge bulls-eye on him and I aimed for a perfect score as many times a day as I could. The worst part is that I felt myself verbally attacking the man I love and I couldn't stop myself. He could say, "how are you doing today?" and I would unleash my wrath upon him because he was being condescending or just plain overbearing. The poor man became so afraid to talk that even that began to piss me off. Lucky for my marriage, things have calmed down quit a bit. So for now, we are not headed to divorce, but this journey isn't over yet, so we'll see. The other thing that I seem to worry about more than I ever have is my urine and bowel movements. I never thought I would care this much about how much I peed and what my poop looked like or why I haven't pooped. I feel like a mother changing her child's dippers except the baby is me and the dipper is the toilet. I found myself calling my sister and asking if it's normal that I haven't pooped in five days. Apparently it is. Good to know. Now I can sleep better. It seems like in a week and a half, I have experienced some crazy things. I can't wait to see what other crazy things I experience down the road. No matter what they are, I will try to find the humor in them and share. Good luck to everyone else out there going through this. And, to the people who are just thinking about having this done. It's not easy, but it's not as hard as you might think it is either. Just make sure you find the funny in everything. Because if you can find something to make you laugh at it all, it's much easier to swallow than any crushed up pill you have to take after surgery.

One of the major problems with losing weight and then regaining it is that all the cute smaller clothes hang in my closet taunting me!! I have been having "one of those" weeks. I've done very well losing the required 25# for the surgeon to schedule my surgery. However, this week I hit a snag! Now in my head, I know I have eating correctly and I even added in riding my bike, but when the scale pops up it just does something to you. Well that's what happened...stupid scale was up 4#...4#!!!! I KNOW it's water, I KNOW it's that time of the month, I KNOW alot of stuff but apparently my scale doesn't care. So take that, add in being bloated and irritable, and hot and sweaty! Now add in a special concert that hubby and I are going to (Third Day!!! Whoot Whoot) ...and enter the closet...it went something like this... I have to figure out what I'm going to wear so I go check out my closet. Well I have 2 pairs of jeans that fit but dang it, it's 90 outside and I'm already sweating. So summery loose dress?? Ugh...I look pregnant! Take it off! So I try some capris....ok, these fit but the shirt I want to wear is too short, and my belly hangs out (YUCK)! I take it off and try another shirt...nope to tight around the bra region (hate the back fat bulge!!). Try another shirt....ick! Back to looking pregnant! Get mad, and put on one of my baggy tshirts! Flounce back out of the closet to try to put on makeup...but I'm sweating....UGH!!! Go stand in front of the fan! Now, meanwhile hubby is showering and trying to be supportive. "Honey, you look good" "No that shirt looks fine" "It doesn't matter what you wear, I love you" You know, saying all the right stuff...but all I know is how I feel...and I feel like crap!! So I get to the point, where I'm not going!! But hubby, bless his heart goes and finds an old Third Day thirt....which actually fits, hangs low enough to cover the belly, and doesn't make me look pregnant! Love that man! OK, fine...I'll go! And off to the concert we go. And at the concert, after my little tantrum God showed me where I am making some progress....We actually got to do a meet and greet with Third Day and it was informal so we were sitting on the floor. Well I could get down on the floor, AND get back up under my own power. And then during the concert I fit in the seat, and didn't feel like I was pushing over on my neighbor. Little things, but I am making progress...slow progess...but progress in the right direction to get me my sleeve!!!! Now if only the scale would agree...unfortunately the doc doesn't take NSV...only numbers!!

This weekend although nothing really special, it was nice quite and really all i did was stay at home and work on house projects. My husband and i refinished an old desk, and that got me to thinking. When we started our project this desk was his mothers and probably her mothers before that. Any ways this desk was in pretty bad shape. One of the drawers was completely broken, The broads that held a mirror a long time missing was broken off and useless, it was dusty, dirty, and it had marker on it and it just looked like it had been through hell and back. My husband asked me should we fix it or trash it? I said well i need a computer desk lets redo it. And Saturday it started, we broke out the wood glue, nails, sander, and wood stain. And yesterday while i was at the store i came home to my new computer desk sitting in my little study area of our little house. It looks so new, but it still looks like its been here a while. Maybe it was the desk that made me think or maybe it was just a really hard week last week but im kinda like the desk. I was beaten up and hurting and in need of a repair. And now im well on my way to being new and restored but at the same time i still have all the marks from the old me. Well i wouldn't really say marks, scares, scratches. Bottom line is im still me I have just changed the me that i was into the me that i am I don't really think any different i just have the ability to do things that i didn't think that i could do before. I dont know maybe i am different but i cant say that i am unhappy about my changes. Im not im pretty happy about it and some people around me will either learn to like the new me or not. Which ever well i guess ill just have to wait and see right. OK well i said what i started out to say and now im going to deal with life so i hope everyone has a wonderful day.