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Just got the call from my bank!! I'm approved!! SURGERY IS OFFICALLY A GO! I never thought this would happen so fast! It's something I just started really investigating in January, and it looks like I'll be signed tomorrow, and can schedule surgery as early as the end of this month... Funny, all those nervous feelings are gone- I'm totally confident in the choice I'm making, and frankly, I'm ready to have my LIFE BACK. I'll keep you posted!!

Well I was always told by my surgeon that lapband patients should never throw up and this question has come up many times on the forums what happens if you get a stomach virus. Well I haven't had one in about 2 decades so I was kind of hoping I wouldn't ever get one again. Well last night after dinner my stomach felt like crap. I only ate a small amount of pork but I took some prilosec and went to bed. Holy crap at 2 a.m. I woke up heaving up what I thought was all my internal organs and had massive amounts of diarrhea I know TMI. The good thing was the only thing that was coming up was gas so it was just horrible dry heaving. I was home alone because my husband was away and I knew I could not drive to the hospital with a bucket heaving as hard as I was. I figured I would take some compazine I had from my gallbladder surgery and I called my surgeon. He said drink water even if it comes back up because it will make the throwing up less violent and meet him at his office at 6.a.m. Well so much for the compazine because that wouldnt even stay down. My doctor met me at his office at 6a.m gave me a shot for the nausea because he is nice like that and sent me for a stat ct scan. By now I was only throwing up about every hour. My little band was fine thank God. He said at three years post op that it is probably well adhered to the stomach so it would take more than this to move it. Of course I have major swelling so he told me clear liquids for the rest of the week and through the weekend and not to try to put any food in there even if I am hungry. He gave me a shot for the nausea which thank God has gone away and told me to drink plenty of gator aid for now. He didn't think there was a need to remove the fluid, just resting the stomach would do fine he said. Well the one good thing about all this is I hate more then anything to throw up and I was thankful that nothing came up. So now ya know if you have a stomach virus the first thing to do is call your doctor to guide you. He is there for me no matter what. I dont feel embarrassed to call him and this time I needed him. I don't like going to the ER's for things like this because there are worse off people then me in there. So now if the other end stops I will be fine. Trying to eat some italian water ice slowly just to get some fluids in. So my hope is to not have a stomach virus for another 4 decades now lol.

I watched the end of The Biggest Loser and the man voted off said, I did not want another man to raise my son. I loved that. I don't want another woman with my husband or her wearing my jewelry and being grammie to my grandsons. So I can quote him too. I now know I am doing something to keep me around longer. Enjoy your day. Have a happy Fat Tuesday to all who celebrate.

One of my favorite Mexican foods. I've been eating this stuff for about 4 weeks straight. I got all the ingredients at Walmart. It cost about $4 for 2 days worth of meals (4 - 6 meals in my case). It's very filling and sticks with me. 1 lb of chicken breast. 1 pkg of Taco Bell Taco seasoning. (I tried other name brand taco mixes and the store brands, Taco Bell tastes the best and is just as cheap. There is a Taco Bell chipolte version as well, but I liked the regular version the best. ) 1 can of gebhardt refried beans w/fat. (I tried the non-fat version and I like the fat version better. It only has 2grams of fat per serving.) Salsa or Picante or Taco sauce to taste 1 pkg of your favorite shredded cheese. I grill the chicken breast and run it through my food processor. Mix the taco seasoning with about 1/2 cup of water and mix it thoroughly. I mix it in my protein shake shaker. Toss the chicken into a pot or pan and add the taco seasoning. Bring it up to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Let it simmer for about 20 minutes. Mix the chicken and beans in a bowl. Add some salsa if it's too thick for your taste. Spoon some of the mixture into a bowl and top with cheese and salsa.

Some of you know that I have had 3 miscarriages. My hub and I have no problem getting pregnant, but I just can't get past the 1st trimester. Well in the last week I have had 2 friends give birth and 2 annouce they are pregnant. My BFF for 20 years called me yesterday to tell me her news, she is pregnant with baby number 2. She is already through her 1st trimester and just found out she is preg. Don't get me wrong, I am happy for her and her husband. They have one daughter and have been trying for 3 years for another child with no luck. They had given up hope, but low and behold she is preg and 3 months in. Her due date is my granfather's birthday. While I am happy for her, my heart does break for my babies, my 3 that I can't hold. My doctor told me I could try again this summer and we plan to, but I am just so scared. All the test they have done have come back with nothing wrong, so they have no idea why I keep miscarring. My OB/GYN says that as soon as I think I am preg, like one day late, to come in and he will do an ultrasound and if I am he will start progestrone to hopefully keep the baby. I don't know what will happen, but I am scared. I am scared of gaining to much weight, I am scared of losing the baby, I am scared I will never have a baby. The name of today's game just seems to be scared!

I never gave my big clothes to good will or the salvation arm because I feel this way: We give them things for free and then they turn around and sell stuff for outrageous prices. Some of their clothes I could go to Ross and buy brand new ones for what thrift stores sell their clothes. I have a lot of nice dress clothes and I decided I would sell them on Ebay. In one day I made 80 bucks doing nothing more then sitting in my house placing things on ebay. Everytime I need to go down a size I just start listing the bigger items on ebay. Within a week I have enough money to buy a whole new ward drobe. Lets face it WLS and losing tons of weight is inevitable we all need new clothes. So why not make money off your good used clothing. I also am starting to buy things on clearance and sell them for full price. You would be surprised how many people will bid way over what you put the starting bid at. For instance: i put a pair of just my size jeans on ebay for $4.00 by the time they were done bidding I made $16.50. I think I only paid $7.00 for the jeans on clearance when I was wearing them. So I made enough to buy two more pair in my size now. There is money to be made folks. All you need is a paypal account to get paid with and they will send you a debit card to use if you want one. The first sales take a few weeks for ebay to give you the money but if you are a new seller they have to make sure your stuff is legit. So get to selling your old clothes and make some money for some new ones. I think I have found a new business to start. If I can find stuff on clearance for $2.00 at Ross no matter what size and sell it for full price I have made 150% profit. Use flat rate shipping, print your shipping labels off paypal, the will deduct if from your funds so no out of pocket expense for you. Go to the post office get a small box, tape the postage on and off it goes. Easy peasy. Now make some dough because who doesnt like to go shopping.

Had my 2 week check up yesterday. The last two weeks were a little rough on me, but mostly because I put my knee out, three days b4 the operation. Getting dressed, putting socks on, silly things became a problem for me that I had not expected! I am now drinking 26oz of water a day an 8oz protein drink with 42g of protein a day Food has been odd, I have no urge to eat at all, and have been trying to force one tea spoon of apple sauce or baby food into my mouth every day, but I simply dont enjoy it. However last my my husband strongly urged me to try some scrambled egg, and I ate two tea spoons with no troubles at all, it feels a little thick going down, but it's okay. I also eat a sugar free ice pop every night, it takes me about an hour lol but it's my guilty pleasure I have lost 32lbs!!!! I am taking all my pills, you know, the biotin and iron and calcium and vits.... my bp is now perfect, pulse is coming down , hardly no hair loss... at first it was tough, but people are right it gets better every day... I get a little tired quite easy, but one step at a time!

This morning I did my norm morning routine. Got up pottied and got on the scale before dressing (TMI I know, but it is always best to weigh in you birthday suit). The hubs walks in and hugs me and says "geez I can reach my elbows when I wrap my arms around you". Then he said "I'm proud of you babe, but don't get so skinny I have to shake the sheets to find ya". For those who don't know my husband is visually impaired. His vision is 20/800 - legally blind since birth. Granted he is well educated graduated with honors with a degree in computer science and is a well respected software engineer. He just can't see very well. So it's always been the running joke that he feel for me because I was large print (he always replied to that with you said that not me). Now he is joking saying I am getting so small he won't be able to see me anymore. The joking is all in fun- he is very supportive of my weight loss journey and is helping me leaps and bounds. But I must say it would be nice for him to have to shake the sheets to find me

So I am 4 weeks post op. I am still losing weight although I had my first week where I did not. I had the dreaded TOM and everything stopped for a week. Thankfully, this week I am down 3 more lbs. Total lost so far is 24lbs. This week I have also discovered what people mean when they say stress tightens the band. Boy does it ever. I had a rotten experience where I had to defend my son from some pretty nasty accusations this week. (no worries, eventually turned out in his favor) As soon as I arrived back home I felt for the first time almost as if someone had their hand around my stomach. It was the first time I felt like I wanted to throw up. I did not, thank goodness. I did full liquids for the rest of the day and half of the next day and things seemed to calm down. This week my husband and I have also decided to start saving to have ground broken on our new house. Dealing with banks, finances, mortgages and all of that has been stressful as well. I am learning how to incorporate the band into daily life and am very grateful it is here. We have even been able to go out to eat and I am doing well making better choices. Before, with all this stress I would be eating everything not nailed down. I am a stress eater and there is stress galore in my life. However, my fear of throwing up or getting anything stuck has really worked in my favor. I have not been eating out of control. If anything now I have to make myself get enough calories for the minimum I am required to have. i am still super excited to be banded. I think with all the stress of my life changes this is still going to be the best year of my life. I am becoming healthier. I have started to love to exercise where I hated it before. I love to dance and ride bikes. I am excited about life right now. For the first time in 20 years.. I feel like I can accomplish anything. That is really saying something when you are only 34. To have all of your younger years be miserable and suddenly find happiness is a blessing. I will forever be grateful to my surgeon and my wonderful family. They are the best support group I could ever ask for. Being part of this group is also wonderful. Being able to search for topics whenever I have a question has been very helpful. I hope everyone continues to post their progress.

Well finally I have arrived at a date that I had to fight for. After one and a half years - I had my vertical sleeve surgery and am now 1 week post-op. At first, I took several months gathering my information so I could make my best informed decision. And then had to appeal my insurance company's original decision to deny coverage for me. Went through all the pre-op process and testing - and now I am on my way!!!! I have 1 more week to go through for the liquid diet phase. I really do not mind it right now. I certainly am missing food. However, this surgery will give me the opportunity to break all my bad habits. In the process, I will be able to truly determine what all my triggers are and change all of my daily habits with food. Looking forward to lots of blogging as I run through this next year---to my best life ever.