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First day back to work....again...since surgery. I worked Tuesday last week, but ended up in the ER Tuesday night b/c of a major kidney stone/infection- fun times. I'm working a full day today- but only 1/2 tomorrow b/c I need to go back to the hospital to have them take this stent out so I should be good to go after that. I weighed myself this morning, was kinda bummed to see only a few pounds off, since my first week was super successful. I went from 240 pre-op to 238 the day prior to surgery (2/27), first weigh in was on 3/4 and I was already down to 228. Today 226. I'm having a REALLY hard time getting my fluids and any kind of food/protein in- it's not that I can't keep it down or that it hurts or anything like that- I simply have NO desire to eat or drink... :/ I guess that's better than what I was dealing with before...right?

I'm actually fairly certain that I'm not a nation in central Eastern Europe, but beyond that, things start to get fuzzy. While I was off the bandwagon, I forgot all the rules about listening to my body and my band to determine what was hunger and what was head hunger. Actually, it would be more correct to say that I ignored all those rules, and now that I'm trying to pay attention again, I think my skills have rusted. I'm not sure I was ever very good at really distinguishing between head hunger and real hunger, but at the moment, making that distinction seems harder than ever. Maybe it's because I was a slacker for so long, or maybe it's because during the coming ten days, making the distinction is going to be the difference between getting an additional fill at my next appointment and not getting one. I think the pressure is getting to me. I'm back on solids today and trying to tell how long one of my small meals is really lasting me, and I'm having trouble deciding. I know the only thing to do is to track my calories, get all my protein and keep at it, but that isn't actually helping my confusion. For now, I think I'll just eat my meals and wait for my stomach to growl and know that does mean I'm hungry. And maybe I'll learn what a soft stop is before I hit my 10 year bandiversary. :-)

So before I climb onto my soapbox let me start by saying this is in no way directed at anyone in particular. It seems lately there has been an onslaught of folks either pissed off or discouraged and some even wish they didn't have the surgery because of lack of scale movement. I cannot recall how many posts I've read over the course of the week from someone 5 days to 20 days post op who are just downright frazzled over the fact that the scale has not moved. Again, this is not directed at anyone in particular and as I think back when I was first banded I kind of had that moment of frustration where the scale didn't move and I questioned whether or not I chose the right surgery. I was in the same place a lot of you might be now. I did a lot of research on this surgery for about year before finally going through with it. Out of all things I wish I was more prepared for was the actual weight loss. See I had this assumption that because I had the surgery I was going to begin pulling big numbers immediately. Because I had surgery I was going to see large drop in weight very fast. It never happened...and 11 months post op I can tell you it never has happened...or maybe it has. You see I am obsessed with the scale and have been since my preop days. So I will step on the scale far to often to be able to see big numbers. I finally made peace that this is the way its going to be and I am OK with that now. Everyone loses weight differently and what may work for me may not work for you. Our bodies are so different. So comparing yourself to someone else is not very realistic. If you are due to have surgery or just had surgery I suggest you do yourself a favor and avoid the scale. You will only torture yourself with it. First month post op is all about healing. Even though this may have been the easiest surgery you ever had there was still a substantial amount of trauma to your stomach and digestive system and it needs time to heal and for the swelling to reduce. Swelling alone with play havoc with scale enough to drive someone bonkers. Just do yourself a favor and leave it be. As for the pre and post op "diets" your Doctor prescribed. I really don't believe he provided those guidelines as a sense of torture. Liquids and mushies is all about letting your stomach heal for a few weeks before trying to eat solids. Remember you have a new version of your stomach now and it has to be treated like a newborns. Milk, baby food and then on to solids. I wish you all well and much success. Try not to be hard on yourself and do keep your expectations in check. Remember Rome was not built in a day. Band one day and skinny the next is for dreams only. It takes hard work and determination. Like my friend Carolinagirl always says, You have "want power" and you just have to used it. Being 488lbs I had a tough time deciding if the band was the right me. I was so worried because I had so much weight to lose. I spoke with my Surgeon and said he thought I would do well with the band but he was more than willing to do gastric if that's what I wanted. He was right about the band. I am not at goal yet but it is very reachable now and all doubt is out the window. Work with your band and become one with it and possibly good things will come. Cheers!!

Ok, I was sleeved on Friday, and didn't really feel like blogging in the hospital, so I will try to include as many details as I can here. Friday, March 8 - wife drove me to the hospital at 6 am. Nurses brought me in to empty my bladder, get changed into the gow, sign some paperwork, and get the IV started. I kissed my wife, and got wheeled into the OR at around 7:30. The next thing I can remember is the nurses calling out my name trying to wake me up in the recovery room. I opened my eyes and saw a clock on the wall said 11:30. I was struggling to determine if I was dreaming or if it was real. I started trying to determine if I was in any pain, and noticed it was hard to take a deep breath. They wheeled me up to my room about a half hour later. I was so tired, and all I wanted to do was sleep. They gave me a button to push for Morphine, and told me to use it as often as I needed. The morphine made me nauseous whenever I would use it, only temporarily, but enough to make me not want to use it too much. I had some belly pain, but mostly what I would describe as "tightness" in the belly. Worse than the belly was the gas pain I felt in my chest, and a pain in my left shoulder which I am reading now was also from the gas. The doctor repaired a fairly large hiatal hernia while he was in there, so I think that compounded the chest pain and gas pain. Sleeping at night was hard - basically every hour was 45 minutes of sleeping and 15 minutes of being awake. I used the morphine about once an hour throughout the night, just to get some sleep. Also, another thing that was hard was the cotton mouth. I wasn't able to drink anything at all for the first 24 hours, but was able to swab the inside of my mouth with water. It helped some, but was annoying. The first day was pretty much Hell, and I was praying that it would all be worth it. Saturday, March 9 - I awoke in the morning, and was told that the doctor would be in at some point to do an X-ray to make sure there was no leakage. One thing I forgot to mention about Friday was that they would give me a heparin shot every 8 hours or so, and that would continue for the whole hospital stay. The doctor showed up, and they brought me down in a wheelchair to do the X-ray. I had to stand there and drink a few sips of barium solution, the first fluid I had drank in about 36 hours. Doctor said everything looked great, no leaks, and the hiatal hernia looked like it was healing nicely. I got back to my room, and was given a 'food' tray, clear liquid bariatric diet. I tried to get some liquid in, but it was very hard. They disconnected the morphine, and switched me to Tylenol with codeine in pill form, which had to be crushed and put into liquid. It was so bitter and hard to drink. I only ended up taking 2 doses, and haven't taken any pain medication since 6:45 Saturday night. Overall, it was a much better day than day 1. I got up to walk and to urinate a few times, and it did help with the gas pain. Sleep on Saturday night was much better than Friday night. I was still a bit uncomfortable, especially the constant burping and the pain in my left shoulder. It was hard to stay on my back all night, but slept pretty good, only waking up one time to urinate and I walked the length of the hall a couple times while I was up. Sunday, March 10 - was told I would probably be going home, which is what I was expecting. Felt even better than on Saturday. A lot of waiting, just wanting to go home. Around 11 am I realized that they had never brought me a breakfast tray. It was daylight savings, so the clock on the wall still said 10. I mentioned it to my nurse, and she couldn't believe it. She asked if I wanted them to send something now, or just wait until lunch. I had been sipping on water, and said I could just wait until lunch. They brought the lunch trays up, and mine wasn't included there either. The nurse had to call and have a tray sent up. They ended up sending a tray of clear liquid diet food, not clear liquid BARIATRIC diet food, which means that some of the things had sugar. Luckily, the only thing I was really interested in was the chicken broth, which was on both diets. This was the only issue I had with the entire hospital stay. The nurses were great. Probably around 1 pm, the doctor came to remove my Jackson Pratt drain, which was probably the most unpleasant second of the entire thing. He counted to 3 and yanked it out. I let out an audible yell, which is unusual for me. It wasn't so much that it hurt, but felt very strange. I'm not even sure I could describe it to someone who hasn't been through it, but I've replayed it in my mind several times since, feeling the same feeling again each time. I was released, and went home, it was good to be home. I will try to add more later, just wanted to get these thoughts down before I forgot them.

​I was out today driving with my husband and we were talking about food. He is a diabetic. He said he would love a bowl of hot fudge and said to me, I am sure you do too. I said no, don't want to even have a taste. I am clearing my head of all my old favorites. Like buying fresh made bread and eating a loaf before I even get home from the store. Or having wonderful bread in a restaurant and eating more than one basket full. Bread is my very best friend. I still do have it in restaurants but have totally changed how I eat it. One restaurant I only eat the end crusty parts of the bread not the doughy parts. I know, it is still bread but it takes me longer to eat and I need my friend. Another friend of mine was my pint of ice cream almost every night and I added almonds and sometimes chocolate chips. I only have my SF Popsicles now. I hate fast food places so that was never a problem. I do miss really great french fries but I now have a small amount of mashed potatoes instead. I really really want to be thinner. I don't know why this time is different than the other 100 diets/weight loss programs, but this time I am going to be healthier and thinner. I hope you all agree and let's do it!!!!!!!! together. Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Had my appointment with the haematologist today, i finally have the results i need to have my operation, i have the factor in my blood but not the syndrome which is the thing that does the damage, so i can have my operation i just need to have blood thinning drugs after for a bit longer just as a precaution, just waiting to hear from my surgeon with a new date in april, so close now and actually believe i will have my op in april, who hoo, so ready for this, x

I've been down the last month or so because my weight didn't seem to be moving. I was following the doctors orders, doing what I was suppose to, but the scales were not moving. Then last week all of a sudden I came to realize geez my pants are falling down, my shirt feels bigger. The scales weren't moving, but the inches were. I purchase some summer shorts and capri's in 14's and 12's - holy cow, WOW!! A XL in the ladies section is to big, I need a large. Yesterday the hubs and I went to the mall to finish getting what we needed to our Florida vacation in a few weeks. I tried on a new pair of flip flops and was standing in the mirror looking at them. It took a second for it to register I was looking at my leg- OMG- it's not huge. I look nice. I am sliming down all over. When heading to the store I was tell the hubs- last year at this time I was poured into my 20/22 capri's and wearing a 2XL shirt; yesterday I had on a pair of 14 shorts that are loose in the waist and a size large ladies t-shirt. Wow- this has worked, I did it. I have lost weight. I feel good. At the start of this journey I said I would be happy to get to a size 12/14, well I am here. But, now I am thinking a 8/10 would be nice. Me in an 8/10 WOW- what a thought. I never imagined that could happen and I could still eat good food. I don't feel like I am being deprived or eating rabbit food. I eat the same things I have always loved, just less of it. I don't feel like I am missing out on anything. The only thing I could totally go for that I really should avoid is a slice of Cheesecake Factory Red Velvet Cheesecake. Most likely I will get one for my anniversary (we got engaged there), but I will likely eat it over a few days vs at one time or share it with the hub. So for anyone reading this just starting out or hasn't been banded yet, good news, you can loose weight and still eat good food. It's possible to have it all!!! Today I am on top of the world!!

I can not believe how fast time is moving!!!! Just two months shy of a year! 107 lbs down and happy with it. I am able to eat more and that's a little scary!! I make sure I eat my protein first. Lunch is usually a grilled chicken breast with lettuce, grapes, and strawberries. I still measure my food because I worry about over eating. My work load is kinda heavy at this time, so I am lucky if I go the gym once a week I feel so guilty about that! That's why I stay on top of my food intake. On a typical day I usually intake: 2 Isopure protein shakes( 100 gr protein), 64 oz of water, two eggs in the morning, grilled chicken for lunch, Atkins bar for snack, and Chili for supper. I should confess now :Last week I ate three Oreo cookies, and last Friday I ate a bag of M&Ms!!! LORD HELP ME!! I hope this is not going to become a habit because I refuse to undo all my hard work! HIGHEST WEIGHT: 348 LBS TODAY'S WEIGHT: 241 LBS :wub:

Hello All, I was sleeved on Tuesday March 5 2013 and boy o boy has the past 5 days been rough. Day of surgery: I was poked 6 times before a usable vein was found for my IV. On the lighter side I had a great surgeon and she assured me that everything would be fine as I drifted into lala land but when I woke up I felt like I had been run over by a train. The recovery room nurses were very attntive and kept giving me pain meds until I was comfortable. A few hours later I was up in my room not much pain but when I was finally completely coherent I was greeted with the dreadful gas pains....I truely had no idea that the das pains would hurt more then after surgery. The only thing that helped was walking around and more pain meds....this summed up day 1. Day 2: I have not passed any gas at this point and only had little baby burps. After going down for my leak test I came back up to my room and a few minutes later I begin to have a rumbling in my stomach could this finally be the big one so that I am over this gas feeling??? WRONG! I have diarreha this went on for 3 hours...all I could think to myself is how is this possible I havent eaten anything in 2 weeks. I was later released in the evening and estatic becasue I thought to myself I will feel much better at home becasue I was home! MAJOR MISCONCEPTION! Day 3: The gas pain was out of this world and I am still not passing it but I am also begining to have some other pains, after reading VST I find that these are stomach spasms...at this point I can not decipher gas pain from hunger pain or either of these pains from incision pain. I began to feel like this was the worst decision of my life and all I can think about is how hungry I am and how bad I want to get out of the house even though it is snowing outside. My vision in my left eye is blurry and I dont know why. The day goes on and my gas pains get worse. I just decide to go to sleep and pray that I dont die. 4am Day 4! I log on to VST to see if anyone is having the same relentless gas pains and I find out about Gas X strips...although I know I shouldnt have I drove myself to the local Walgreens and purchased 2 packs...where had these strips been for the past 3 days what a relief and I am now begining to let the air out. I wake up and told my daughters I want out of this house and thy drove me to the mall under the premise that I would walk the perimeter of the mall to get in some excercise, I was only able to walk about 1/3 of the mall and had to sit for about 10 minutes before walking back to the car. I feel like I am losing the muscle in my calfs. We came in from the mall and I had to take a nap. I attribute the fatigue due to my lack of nutrition. Well it is now day 5 and I am finally able to pick up my laptop and share my experience with you all. Today I feel like the page is turning, still having some stomach spasms, not much gas pain and not much cabin fever anymore. I am looking forward to tommorow because I meet back with my surgeon to have my drain removed and hopefully she will allow more variety into this very bland clear liquid phase that I am currently in. My drain today does not have much fluid in it and I stepped on the scale and for the first time in over 8 years I am under 300 pounds!!!!! Today I am feeling much better and looking forward to the rest of my journey. I can wait to share with you all the rest of my journey.

So today I can eat and I'm at work and like clock work everybody is going out for breakfast. So the turn to me and say you want us to bring you something back I tell them no I have me breakfast. First person say oh your eating food today what are you eating and I pull out my light and fit greek yogart that has double protein in it and an orange. And right on que they say that's not real food. Your are starving yourself to deaf. I simply smile and say this may not be real to you but it taste real to me. I must add they don't know that I have the lap band and with them acting like this I damn sure not telling. Cause I would have to give them a piece of my mind if they said something out the way. I thought I would share this. Time to finish my great breakfast. Have a good day all. And see you at lunch time.