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Sometimes it's hard to see progress until you put pictures side by side. I really haven't seen a difference in the mirror, but I have definitly noticed in my clothes. Pretty much everyone who see's me now see's a difference and can't help to comment. I'm 4 lbs away from my first goal that I set with my doctor to be at the highest healthy weight allowable by my BMI which is 169 lbs (I'm 5'9). I haven't seen the 160's in years, and I'm so thrilled to be so close. My optimal dream weight is actually 145 but I'm nervous that might not be attainable, and really I'm just happy to be in a healthy BMI. I've put in a lot of hard work to get where I am, and I'm kind of taking it easy over the next month, not really swimming but just enjoying the holidays. I have a date with my eleptical in my living room every night, and I'm okay with that. After the first of the year I will definitly surge and try working out hard core again. I'm hoping to see my first goal weight within the next couple of weeks. Height: 5'9 Highest (Surgery) Weight: 216 1st Primary Goal Weight: 169 2nd Optimal Goal Weight: 145 Sleeve Journey: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 8/17/12- PreOp/Surgery Day w/Pics Posted in Blog Week 1 (8/24): 204.8 (-11.2) Week 2 (8/31): 200.6 (-4.2) Week 3 (9/7): 196.8 (-3.8) Week 4 (9/14): 193.5 (-3.3) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 9/17/12- 1 Month Anniversary w/Pics Posted in Blog (-22.5 lbs) Week 5 (9/21): 191.6 (-1.9) Week 6 (9/28): 190.1 (-1.5) Week 7 (10/5): 187.0 (-3.1) Week 8 (10/12): 181.9 (-5.1) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 10/17/12- 2 Month Anniversary w/Pics Posted in Blog (-11.6 lbs) Week 9 (10/19): 181.4 (-.5) Week 10 (10/26): 177.9 (-3.5) Week 11 (11/02): 176.8 (-1.1) Week 12 (11/09): 174.7 (-2.1) Week 13 (11/16): 173.3 (-1.4) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 11/17/12- 3 Month Anniversary w/Pics Posted in Blog (-8.6 lbs)

Hello Everyone and thanks for taking a moment to read my blog. I'm Zazilia, married, no children 33 years old. On December 2009 I decided to get the lapband surgery because I was 280 lbs plus I was diagnosed with PCOS (Polycistic Ovarian Syndrome) And if I didn't lose weight i had big chances of getting diabetes (I was pre-diabetic) and heart disease due to family history. Anyways i went for it and got my band put in.... i lost 83 lbs (in about a year).. yay me! however back in that time i was single, lived by myself and had the right food at home at all times. When 2011 hit (married now) I, as well, hit a huge brick wall and i stopped losing weight. Eventually i started gaining the weight back and right before surgery (last week) i was 241 lbs. I was so frustrated with myself tried to do as good as i could, adjusted my band up to 7.75 cc's and i often got a pain on my left shoulder due to the lapband. I started getting everything together for my Sleeve surgery, spoke with my surgeon, and he saw how much i struggled and he approved of me getting the Sleeve, then went through a bunch of pre-surgical testings and sent it to my insurance , after a couple of months of waiting, my insurance finally approved it! (Anthem BCBS) When i went to my pre-op a week before surgery the nurse saw i was having high blood pressure for the first time which was another motivation to start losing weight again. She prescribed me dilaudid for pain, zofran for nausea and omeprozole for acid reflux to start taking them once im back home from surgery. The day before surgery (Monday nov 12th) i was on clear liquids and had nothing to drink after midnight. Then the day of surgery got here! (Finally!!) (Tuesday 13th) I arrived to the hospital, got registered did a pregnancy urine test then went up to talk to one of the surgical nurses about my health history, then they asked me to changed into my hospital gown and lay on a stretcher and a small room and they set up my IV and gave me an anticoagulant shot on my belly to avoid blood clots. Spoke with the anesthesiologist and my surgeon to make sure i was calmed and they explained everything that was going to happen. They took me to the OR and i changed from my bed to another one where they positioned me like a cross. The anesthesiologist gave me a shot through my IV to "get me high" those were his exact words then he gave me oxygen and then he said "ok now im going to give u the good stuff" i said ok guys ''have a goodnight" and i passed out. Next thing i hear is the nurse in the recovery room telling me to take deep breaths and the first thing that came out of my mouth was : "Holy Crap this hurts where's the morphine" lol they controlled my pain rapidly and took me to my room. The nurses were so nice to me, even though apparently the anesthesia gives me low tolerance cause i was being very "bitchy" to everyone (My husband made sure he made me aware of it once i was back to my self entirely lol) They checked my vitals every 4 hours, gave me morphine when i needed and i didn't have to wait. I started walking back and forth a couple of hours right after the surgery and i the pain stood minimal. They gave me little tiny ice cups (about 3 ounces each) and it tasted like glory! since my mouth was as dry as a shoe lol My biggest struggle after surgery was trying to pee! It was almost impossible because it wouldn't come out! and the nurses told me that was normal due to the anesthesia after that the whole experience wasn't bad at all. At the next day i felt good enough to go home, i was discharged at 2 pm and came home. I was instructed to be on clear liquids until today (Sunday) i drank water, diet snapple, sugar free jello and sugar free ice pops. Today i started full liquids and had a "EAS advantage protein shake" which took me about a hour and a half to chug down and some homemade chicken broth. Am I hungry? Absolutely not! Do i crave to eat everything even the inedible YES like my friend who had the sleeve done years ago and went from a size 22 to a size 2 told me, "they operate your stomach however the don't operate your mind" I weigh myself today and i am down 12 lbs in less than a week! So i hope i can continue being successful! I will continue to post updates of my journey as a "Sleever" and hope it helped someone out there! Thanks

I am very happy you found your ring. ​A few hints-eat protein first and chew, chew, chew. I started my sort of diet in March and was banded 7/30. I am not a breakfast eater so I started and still have every morning a protein shake. I love them. i only drink chocolate and I sometimes add decaf instant coffee and peppermint extract and lots of ice and they are thick like a McDonald's shake. I have a small blender that is also a drinking cup. Good luck. I wish I knew about this site before my banding.

I know that I turned into a hermit...all I did was stay in my house and sew (I quilt) during those last two weeks before THE DAY! I would go out and lay in the sun, and then back inside when it got too hot. I couldn't stand being out among others for the most part. GOod luck! and I'm happy you're almost there!

The closer January comes, the more nervous I become. I wish there were some other way to loose weight and keep it off forever. I am convinced that there isn't. The more I research, the more I believe this procedure are sound and will help me, even over the long run. Never-the-less I am scared. I'm sure almost everyone was feeling this, and are now healthier without all of the weight they were carrying around. (Deep Breath) Stay calm and Carry on. If anyone knows of a support group in Phoenix/Scottsdale that anyone can attend please let me know. The one that is offered by Banner is not feasable, as I just can't get there on time.

What a difficult road you've been on. Costco has protien shakes that have 30 grams of protien per serving. They are thin and easy to swallow. I don't detect an aftertaste. Hopefully those meds start to work and you are well soon.