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I checked in to the hospital earlier than anticipated Monday, Aug. 26th (they called and said they had a cancellation and could I come in early!). After a few hours of prep and waiting and more waiting, I was finally wheeled away. Surgery went quickly, doc said about an hour and NO hiatal hernia to repair after all! Apparently sometimes the endoscopy will pick something up but then when they actually get in there, there's nothing to sew up. Recovery was long for me. I had a hard time waking up from the anesthesia. I was in a ton of pain and almost collapsed when they got me out of bed the first time to go to the bathroom (no catheter for me) but thank goodness for my husband and a strong nurse that held on tight. First night was rough - not going to lie. I wasn't prepared for the pain from the gas they fill your tummy up with. I have 6 2 inch incisions on my stomach and no bandages! I came home yesterday the 27th and took my pain pills religiously thru the night to allow me to sleep. Each hour gets easier and easier pain wise. I'm up and walking a bit and doing 2 oz. or protein shakes at the top of each hour and as much water as I can get in. My daughter just shared her chicken noodle soup broth with me and it was HEAVEN. It feels very strange at first to have anything going down to the stomach pouch but I'm getting used to it. I weighed 266 going in to surgery and gained a few pounds from the gas, fluids, etc. but my weight is going down quickly. I can't eat until 9/19 when I go back for my 3 week appointment but I'm prepared with all my shakes and supplements, etc. I'm so happy to have the actual surgery behind me and be moving on. And I can't say enough about the staff at Swedish Hospital in Seattle - they are AMAZING!

A couple weeks ago, I hit my pre-op weightloss goal and recived my sugery date with the understanding that it was pending insurance approval. As of today, I had not heard from the center or my insurance company. One phone call later and I was informed that not only am I approved by insurance but that I'm the first on the list for my surgeon. Um, this just got real and I think I may have wet my pants a little. LOL Excited. Nervous. Butterflies everytime I think about it.

Well, I am basically 7 months post op. My weight loss has slowed down to about 10 pounds a month. It doesn't bother me as long as I continue to see results. I haven't been super strict with my diet. I am on the go a lot and started relying on my bars and shakes a little too much I think. I need to start cooking more so I am in control of my food and get that dense protein in my diet. I think that would help me a lot. Other than that things are well. I have no complications. My surgeon is happy with my progress and thinks that I will be very successful. I don't see him until my 1 yr. post op appointment. My blood pressure and resting heart rate is lower than his!!! I believe it is all the cardio sessions I do. I continue to work out 5-6 days a week and feel awesome. On the days I feel I need a break I just take a break. I don't feel the stress like I used to pre-op. The stresses of what I eat, when I eat, how many times I work out etc. I guess I just have faith in myself and this process. It is working, is continuing to work, and I am faithful that if I do the right things it will work in the future. Thank you body for adjusting to this process and doing what you are supposed to be doing...LOSING WEIGHT!

Day 2: This day did not go buy as smooth. Not as busy & the hunger or ghost hunger (I have plenty of storage I will be fine…) still stuck to the diet just mainly had a headache, broke-down & bought Crystal Light Grape Energy to relieve the caffeine headache.. My Surgeon prefers no caffeine during pre-op, along with avoiding ibuprofen due to it being a blood thinner, & to try not to take Tylenol. Where you get the Rx version as Post-Op., which is all, ok, just a Pain. I ended up having a hard time going to be cuz my belly thought it needed the Fast Food one of my older kids brought home, well actually just the wrappers.. MAin it was the smell that made my tummy rumble... I thought you know this is a good trail now. I can’t make them change how they eat just because of what’s going on with me. I prevailed. Surprisingly felt better for it when I walked away. Best of all no regret! Small victories. Sad thing the stuff doesn’t even taste nearly as good as my head always thinks it does. So I am Happy. I did better on water, I got right on target. Protein 64 so it’s improving. Day 3: Finally had my Blood Labs early this morning. Now I’m just Crossing my fingers that nothing major is found. The blood work wasn’t bad didn’t even feel where she poked me, no bruising either which is unusual for me. The horrific thing was the Urine Test. I awoke to Mother Natures Wrath. Ugh most embarrassing… I know I’m not the only one, one of the nurses said it’s the drastic change in my diet. Which I have had before & I am pretty sure it’ll happen again at some point. LOVELY life as a Woman!! She also told me some of the more scary stories of people.. #1 STAY AWAY FROM ALL FIZZY DRINKS. Or basically this whole process is in vain. The #2 is do not push your self to eat, like Stuffing your self most people don't eat to much for a very long time, she said that's why you go to your post-op appointments. Good thing I have already heard this info from the Dietitian & Dr. along with pretty much everyone else who I have seen. Water I got right on, well I'm drinking my last bottle before I head to bed, also & Protein I got 75!! I think it’s a lot of choices & making the best of it. I also found to curb the hunger to cut the vegetables up small so they look like a lot more, the old toddler trick worked today. It took a lot longer to eat it also. The biggest problem I found, with the dry meal rule is getting all the water in during the day. Unless you get up earlier specially when you have a lot of driving to do. It’ll work its self out. The joys of continuing to learn..

Hello my lapband family, I know I haven't been on here in gods knows when but let me tell yall of my progress. First off I'm down to a happy 195. I know I can't believe it either. I now work out 5 to 6 days a week and have fell in love with it :wub: . I love it so much I crave for it when I have to miss a day crazy I know. Also I'm really learning how to eat I'm still not perfect and I have some pit falls but I'm still a work in progress none the less. Well I hope to update more often until then have a good day.

It's official! I saw Dr. X on Monday for my monthly follow up. I have hit the the 50 pound loss mark. If you really think about it ... that's a whole big bucket of blubber. Fifty pounds is definitely life changing. Just about every aspect of my life has changed. My complete wardrobe (all three levels) are obsolete. My sleep habits have changed ... no more snoring. My exercise went from zero to above moderate. My eating habits have greatly changed for the better. My overall activity level has improved. My blood pressure went down and my resting heart rate is at the GOOD level. I'm only a couple of beats per minute over EXCELLENT and not far from ATHLETE. That's a hoot! So you can probably say that I had a complete makeover. Both in outside appearance and inside my head. It's the head part that's the hardest to change. I will have to struggle with this for the rest of my life. If I ever give in, it'll be back to the level 3 wardbrobe and I can't afford that. Well I think it's time to get a real grip on what 50 pounds of fat ass real is. We reviewed it at the 40 level and that was kinda fun. And very eye opening. So let's look at fifty. 1) $200 in quarters ( that would be 800 coins) weighs fifty pounds. This begs the question: What would you rather have? 200 bucks or my ass full of quarters? 2) An average 7 year old child weighs fifty pounds. My kid is growing up right before my eyes. Remember? He was only 3 at the 40 pound level 3) A bale of hay weighs 50 pounds. My ass weighed about 10 bushells full. 4) A baby pygmy hippo weighs 50 pounds. We can all think of something wittty to say here. Let's leave at this: A few months ago, hanging out with me would be like hanging out with 5 baby hippos. Less the cuteness. 5) 2 big sacks of potatos weigh fifty pounds. Formerly easily consumed by me either fried, baked, sauteed, mashed, boiled. It didn't matter. Also, A potato is the Father of the Chip. Forever whorshipped. 6) A medium pit bull terrier. 50 pounds of sheer muscle. Can't say that about 50 pounds of ass. 7) 5 bowling balls. Yep. Strap 'em on and go up and down the stairs a few times. It never gets old! If we had time, I would go around the house and weigh all the appliances. I know my ass was at least as heavy as your average microwave oven. Or maybe even your refrigerator. It was big and it was heavy. Now, not so much. Yes, I am still of large ass. But not of fat ass. Hopefully soon, I will be of normal ass. Fret not my friends, I will always be YOUR horse's ass. Hasta la vista, baby! Johnny! P.S. I'm in the game for real now. Dr. X gave me another full c.c. in the band. I'm at 35% restriction. I will report any changes soon

Well today is Day 8 post op from the VSG surgery. I am feeling great, a little moody. I think that is because I am ready to get out of the house. I should be excited I am starting Full Liquids today. I have two new recipes I made. I got a Sweet Potato dried soup from World Marked I just finished making and I made Protein Frozen Yogurt hearts in Raspberry and Peach. I tried one of each this morning and the peach was my fav. I did some research and found out about a greek yogurt that has a ton of protein in it. I got it at Albertsons. I have lost 13 lbs since surgery. I think that's good. Not sure what the average is for people. It's Labor Day weekend this weekend and my husband said he might take me out of town. I hope he does! I could really use a trip!

so today I met with the nurse practitioner, and the results to basic blood work came in. Karen made me feel so comfortable as I was sweating bullets soo excited and nervous lol. Yet she blew me out of the water when she told me was has had the lap band for the last six years and was telling me the how her journey is and was.. come to find out she is thinking of transitioning from band to sleeve. She was able to answer my questions and was eager to get me started. The only down fall about today was finding out I have a thyroid issue .. I have a hypoactive thyroid and was given meds today bbblaaahhhh but I am a big believe in things gotta get worse before they get better .. and I don't out today that I miscalculated my weight and I am about 3lbs lighter then what I thought (= I was told I might be able to be sleeved around Christmas !! shesh soooo exciting ! im sorry for rambling but u can tell im excited lol .. ill be going to my first seminar Tuesday night.. hope u are all doing amazing !!

The nurse just called to tell me my labs yesterday look great and my diabetes is GONE! My blood pressure is down to 102/62 - amazing and the MS is still at bay. I feel so good and I'm still 56 lbs from my goal. I'm back at school and my colleagues have been wonderfully supportive and kind with their reactions to my deflated self. Had a few people not recognize me, so that's fun. The kids are so cute, they look at me with a bit of shock, but don't say anything, obviously struggling with what's appropriate in the situation. I love my job! Shopping is getting easier too. I was so excited yesterday to be able to shop in the 'regular' sized area and get XL (instead of my usual 3X) tops. Freedom! It's been blazing hot in Iowa for the last 10 days so I've been running on the treadmill, which I've named 'the evil one.' I LOVE my trail jogs in nature, but the evil one has pushed me to go faster and further, so that's something at least. Wondering if I should sign up for a 5K run in the area since I'm doing 3.5 miles easily now. I don't have a group that I'd be able to run with, so I'm leaning towards . . . not yet. Dear husband has been so wonderful, making me feel desirable again and so powerful. I love that man. I couldn't have done any of this without him.

I did something I didn't think I'd EVER be able to do Saturday night: I attended a bachelorette party for a good friend, jumped on a party bus with 11 other ladies and didn't touch a DROP of alcohol the entire night. Well, ok, there was ONE sip at a comedy club after my friend sent her margarita back twice claiming it had soda in it so I just had to see for myself how truly hideous it was. And it WAS. But that was it! We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant. My FAV food in the world. Not a chip passed my lips. No beans. No rice. Just some grilled chicken with a bit of salsa on it and a few black beans. The moral? If I can spend 7 hours on a bus full of crazy drunk people, pass on Mexican, (oh and did I mention there was cake?), pass on cake (I shall leave the "shape" of cake to your imagination) - I CAN DO THIS. Just how tough was this? Oh so hard. Normally I'm the life of the party, and at my current height/weight I can put it away. Bottom line - WILL POWER. One week until surgery. I've turned down fruit, beer (gulp), chips, etc. My size 0, 19 year old daughter left a 1/3 eaten Snickers bar on the counter the other day (who DOES that?!) and I wrapped it up and stuck it away for her later. I wasn't even tempted to finish it as I would have been a month ago. I want to be healthy more than I want the 2 second gratification of tasting chocolate. The other thing I'm learning is that food is for FUEL, not for emotions. Old me: "Hey! It's sunny! I need a bowl of cereal! Oh crap, it's raining, I should probably make a pot of pasta and have 3 huge bowls. Look at that, I'm sad - better grab some chips and dip" (you get the idea). Now I'm listening to my tummy for cues that it needs fuel. Let me close this post by saying - to know me is to know how hard this has been and will be for me. BUT I'm doing it and so can you. Stay positive - eye on the prize.