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I started this journey in October 2012 and now its June 2013 and I am down 100 lbs.... It wasn't easy either I have made a lot of mistakes somewhere daily but I kept my focus worked out, even when I made bad choices I didn't let them affect me the rest of the day like I have done in the past. I have done weight watchers, counting calories and nutri system and have never lost much or stuck to something so hard. At first I felt like this was wrong because I was dropping weight fast and that I couldn't do it on my own before. Well I couldn't do it on my own I needed help and I found it and I will never look back on those 100 lbs or bring them with me to future. This is the best choice that I have ever made and I would do again if I had too... This has changed my life and I can’t wait to lose the next 75 lbs! :wub:

I've just had my one year post op check up appointment this morning and I feel very positive after receiving wonderful feedback from my provider. Although my losses have slowed dramatically these last two months, Adam told me that I am 100% successful and ahead of the curve in terms of my success with the surgery. My husband and I have really been focusing on getting more activity and my daily calories are in the range of 800-1200 a day - with protein first as always. I met with a trainer last week who has set up a program of simple strength training and cardio to help me get to my goal, which is a healthy BMI <25 - at 5'3" that is 140. Hubby, who also had a VSG two weeks prior to my own, is essentially at goal and is focused on building muscle. I am statistically right where Adam projected me to be (175) though the number has been back and forth between 175- 178 these past weeks. Just about all of my co-morbidities are resolved - though osteo-arthritis does not have a resolution but rather is managed, my pain and mobility is astronomically better than it used to be. Adam said that even if I do not lose another pound I am absolutely healthy - and that I have completely turned my health around from what it was 3 years ago. It feels great to know that I have made such great strides - finally, I am getting this monster under control. I showed him the alternate height/weight chart that factors in age and he said that absolutely as we get older it is fine if those numbers are a bit higher - it is still considered healthy. I have a tendency to rip myself to shreds and to look upon myself as a failure, a history of depression, anxiety, and disordered thinking can tend to do that and I had started to do the same thing with my weight loss progress, beating myself up mentally because I had not yet achieved my ultimate goal - feeling like a failure and forgetting to celebrate the magnificent successes I have achieved. Feeling down because of all of the excess skin, the terrible toll so many years of carrying so many excess lbs. does to one's body - feeling guilt that I had done this to myself, defeated. Feeling that I would never have ultimate success - it was a bit of a reboot to know that I am already a success in the eyes of this medical practitioner who was with me every step of the way with my surgery, the hematocrit levels that dropped to 19, the internal bleeding that followed, the multiple blood transfusions, the incisions that opened up at home when they finally let me return home from the hospital after a week - and sent me back to the ER. I was miserable for about 8 weeks after my surgery - it certainly took me a bit to recover. I feel wonderful now, and am close to goal. I need to cherish the journey and recognize the incredible positive changes that my family and I have made over the past few years. It certainly takes a bit of practice to treat oneself well - just like this ongoing physical metamorphosis, it is a process, and there is no finish line. I will get to that goal eventually

Today is day 3 of being banded. I am eating jello, popsicles, broth, water, and I have some sugar free apple juice. Oh and ice, LOTS of ice. I am so gassy its miserable, I bought the gas-x strips extra strength and they are doing no good. I dont know if its gas, or if its the band that is hurting but its a sharp stabbing pain right in the center of my back where my bra strap would sit. My incisions are itchy and sore but IDK what they look like, they are still bandaged up. If I lay down to take a nap and actually get some sleep when I wake up I feel awesome, then I move and that sharp pain comes right back. It's not there continuously it comes and goes. Hubby says its all the gas they filled me with. Ugh I cant stand it. I stayed over night in the hospital after my surgery, there was no way in hell I could have gotten in a car and drove home. NO WAY. I was in some serious pain!! But it seems to get a little better each day. I go outside and walk my back yard in laps. My back yard is about 1/10 of a mile all the way around. And I walk it at least 3 times. Someone else can do the math, I am not in the mood.. but I know its enough to make me have a small sweat (no, couldnt be the 100% humidity) and I come back in and I feel better. My daughter and I took my measurements today, and I need to take my ''fat'' picture. I'm not a religious person, and I am known to ramble but here is my prayer; Lord, please help this gas pass out of my body, let this band be the tool that I need to get my life back, please help me when I am falling and help me find the strength to overcome this and get through to the other side. - Amen.

I think I have split personalities, I'm not quite two weeks out, but one part of me expects that I should be 50 pounds lighter or something. While the other side knows better. On one hand I am already rethinking my decision, while on the other hand I am happy it has finally came. I am fighting with myself that I have only just begun this journey, and it has not even been 2 weeks. So, I am going back and forth with this junk in my head. I know I need time to heal and then time to get the right fill possibly,but the other side of me is like I'm not eating so I should be dropping weight right?. My husband says my face looks thinner even though the scales not moved. I think a part of me unconsciously expected to much, I think i secretly thought I'd wake up from surgery and be thinner and drop weight as I walked., a pound a day type thing. Consciously and reasonably I know that is not realistic by any means, but i still struggle with that other "personality" in me. I'm still fighting with that part of me that has helped keep me big all this time and has helped me fail in every aspect of losing this extra person I carry around. Maybe that's it, It is like a second person I carry around one that does not want to be pushed away or put aside. But I'm so done with that relationship. I want the thin me to be the only one I carry around. So, to do that I'm going to have to win this fight between my two egos and literally beat the fat out of the fat person in me. So with the help of this group, my Doc's team of professionals, and the thin person in me I will prevail. I have to do this, I have to be successful this time it's the bottom of the ninth with 2 outs, and I up to bat with 2 strikes and 3 balls and this girls not walking or striking out it is a hit I'm going for so I'm going to swing and with help of my new bat (band) I will hit a home run. ~~~Stephanie

Hello all!! Today makes day 4 for me. It's been pretty exciting! I woke up this morning with no pain. I almost cried, I was so happy. Then I moved, and the gas woke up..lol I think my Dr. wanted to make me a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Balloon, he filled me with so much gas. But I have been laying with the heating pad, walking, and sitting up a lot in bed. My urine is a weird pink-ish yellow-ish brown. Not dark, but I have increased my water intake. At first I was afraid to even drink water because I was soo positive it would get stuck or something. I have discovered as long as I don't gulp it and give it a few seconds between drinks I can actually drink quite a bit of water, that makes me happy I'm only doing 4 oz every 30 minutes or so, but I think that's a good start. I don't feel like I have water belly or that I am stretching anything. And when I drink water it makes me burp, so its a win-win situation! Also, this morning when I got up I had sinus drainage and you know how that makes you feel nauseated. I tried some chicken broth, didn't help, water didn't help, nausea bracelet and drops didn't help so I went and made me a protein shake, only had about 2 oz of it, but it got rid of the nauseous feeling. I know some people have said they were on clear liquids for 2 weeks then the solid liquids for 2 weeks then on week 5 onto smushies. I have gone over my paperwork over and over, and it doesn't specify when I am suppose to start stage 2 liquids, but I had to have something this morning. it was either put something in there or throw up. And I DONT want to throw up! **Oh happy news** I just had my first bm post surgery!! YEAAAHHH!! No straining, I think the protein shake helped move the mail. I am going to stop with the pain medication, I am not a big fan of pain meds anyways, I don't like the way they make me feel but they are great for sleeping! I have liquid Tylenol for the minor cramps and ickies so that should be good. If not I still have the other, One thing I am going to to today is shower!!! I feel nasty. hahaha anyways I will try to write here every day about how my journey is going. :wub:Later Taters

I forgot to do a blog last month. Oops. I find I frequent the WLS and Sleeve groups on facebook much more frequently than here. And of course MFP. Libb3C there if you would like to add me! I have logged for like 745 days? SW 242 Height 4'11'' 6 month Pre-op loss (-28.6) Surgery date 8/8/11 213.4 1 month - 194.2 (- 19.2) 2 months - 180 (- 14.2) 3 months - 170.2 (- 9.8) 4 months - 164.4 (- 5.8) 5 months - 167.2 (+ 2.8) 6 months - 162.4 (-4.8) 7 months - 155.4 (-7) 8 months - 149.6 (-5.8) 9 months - 143.4 (-6.2) 10 months - 139 (-4.4) 11 months - 132.6 (-6.4) 12 months - 126.8 (-5.8) 13 months - 121.4 (-5.4) Made goal! Normal BMI! 14 months - 118 (-3.4) 15 months - 116.2 (-1.8) 16 months - 114.8 (-1.4) 17 months - 112.6 (-2.2) 18 months - 114.6 (+2) 19 months - 109 (-5.6) 20 months - 108 (-1) 21 months - 107.2 (-.8) 22 months - 107.4 (+.2) **Please note: my normal BMI range is 99-124 at 4'11''**

Today I had my 2 week post-op appointment. It was originally scheduled for exactly two weeks after my surgery but my surgeon got called out of town and so they bumped it up to today. I'm at 11 days post-op today. My visit with my dietician went well. I was instructed to have a protein-dense diet and stay away from red meat, fruits, vegetables and starches still. I'm looking forward to cooking a fresh halibut dinner tomorrow night. I plan on pan searing the halibut steaks with either a dill cream sauce or with a lemon dill beurre blanc. For the kids and Will I'm going to be serving it over asparagus, though I'll end up just eating the halibut. I have been going to a local spot to do bar trivia for the past year, essentially as long as Will and I have been together. One of his friends is the quizmaster and our team consists of two of Will's friends and two of my friends. I stopped going to trivia two weeks before my surgery because I knew I was going to have to not go for a given amount of time until I recovered. Then in a fit of feeling sorry for myself, I resigned myself to not going for a few months because I was worried about not being able to eat or drink anything there. I felt like I was just taking advantage of the hospitality of the bar if I didn't go there to eat or drink and just play trivia. I'm still on the fence about whether or not I'm going to go tomorrow night. I told Will I'd think about it. I'm so excited about moving to soft foods. I plan on having scrambled eggs as breakfast most mornings now. Though I'll probably end up having my Premier Protein chocolate shake when I first wake up at 6 just to make sure I'm getting a good amount of protein in at the beginning of the day. I need to get to the store and get some more Chobani in addition to some string cheese so that I can get used to have them as snacks throughout the day. The current suggested diet is 3 meals a day and 1-2 snacks per day. The snacks on the recommended menu from my dietician are scheduled at 3:30 pm and 8 pm. I'm going to play it by ear and see how I feel in the mornings between 8 and noon. That's a long time for me to go without putting anything in my body now that I'm used to eating every two hours. I'm feeling very close to normal and every day is progress. I'm having a bit of problems with my attention, however, and that worries me a little. I work in software development and manage a QA team. I worry that if I am not at the top of my game mentally when I return to work it is going to negatively effect my team. I had scheduled with short-term disability to return to work on July 1st, but the first month runs out on June 21. I'm doing so well that I'm sure that I won't get authorized for that extra little bit of time so the 21st is my target date for being completely recovered, both physically and mentally. On a more personal note, I've started to have sex again. Over the past year it's been hit and miss with either of us being in the mood. But since my surgery my sex drive is through the roof. All good things.