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This morning I had my first follow up appointment in 6 months. I had been struggling the last week or so deciding on whether or not to get a fill. I got some good advice and some suggestions and after talking with the PA today we decided there is no need for one right now. I am eating 3 meals a day with no snacking or cravings. I am going anywhere from 3 to 5 hours without getting hungry and I have found for me I tend to get hungry sooner after having the shake but with real actual food I can go 5 or 6 hours. At the end of the day I do believe I was factoring my fill needs on 1. Getting hungry at times sooner than what I was months ago. 2. Scale is not where I wanted it to be. So....# 1 is OK as I have narrowed it down to why I get hungry sooner and I can adjust. #2 is definitely not a good reason for a fill. Getting a fill certainly has nothing to do with the scale and getting a fill will not help the scale move any faster. Thank you to Missy for reaffirming that for me. I mean I knew in the back of my mind it was not a valid reason for fill but hearing it from someone else just made more sense. I also found this morning that my last fill was not in April it was actually back in January when I got .5cc. I had it written down in a notebook but hadn't actually looked it in a while. Lastly, my PA is going to work on getting insurance approval for a new sleep study. 240lbs later it is obvious an adjustment is need on my CPAP. Other then that I am living the dream and enjoying life. Happy 5th Anniversary to my beautiful wife Kelli (Kelli1016). If you read this then I wish you a happy Friday and I hope you're doing well and rocking your band or preop diet!!

So things have been going pretty well. I am getting one or two 30 min walks in every day and sticking to the diet. I was down to 229 lbs. this morning, the first time I have been under 230 for months. I was feeling very positive. I headed for Walmart for a few groceries. As I was entering the store, sitting on a bench in the entry area was a 30 something woman who appeared to be having trouble breathing. She was extremely obese, likely over 450 lbs (I can reasonable make that guess because I had an aunt who weighed that much and was about the same size). As a nurse, I was concerned for her and I asked her if she was ok. Through her difficult breaths, she indicated she would be ok and she said "I'm waiting for an electric cart. I just walked in from my car." I was stunned and felt a fear I hadn't experienced before....I could be experiencing those same symptoms if I don't take care of myself. Funny how I don't think I was ever afraid of being overweight before. It didn't interfere much with the things I do, but did I only do the things I was able to do, not everything I could do? That is a thought I am going to give much attention to as I go through this journey.

Come closer, I want to tell you something. It's kinda cool...but I don't want to jinx it either. I've lost almost 30lbs since my pre-op appt. on September 4. That's way cool...and very exciting! I don't want to tell just anybody, so it's just between you and me right now, OK? Thanks

Can I eat (insert food here) after Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy WLS surgery? The answer is... most likely. It's really going to depend on the person and how you have healed. I have not found any food that I could not eat, once I was back on full foods post-op. Surprisingly, the processed foods/snack foods/fast food was the easiest to digest. It was the healthy foods - boneless skinless chicken breasts, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, pineapple, apples and grapes that gave me trouble up until about the 6 month mark. At 9 months post-op, I can eat anything I want with only the occasional stomach growl. The best NSV post-op is that I have not wanted all those processed/fast foods that I craved pre-surgery. I can honestly say that I don't even think about going out for pizza or hamburgers any more. So if you're worried about not being able to eat your favorite foods post-op, you may come to realize that post-op you don't WANT to eat them ever again. :-)

Hello my darling Diary.. I am sorry I have neglected you. Work is out of control and I barely have time to breathe. Going online at home is not an option. This is the one area I don't need anyone in my life knowing about. Too stressed to even think today. But glad I was able to drop the 3 lbs I had gained a couple of weeks ago (damn you tasty alcohol beverages!). Spoke with a temp agency this AM seeking new work. They have several temp to hires...that's all I'll accept. Touching base with them Monday to see what they've come up with for me. sorry, too tired to focus. Will do full update monday. toodles.

In my first 7 days being sleeved, the top 10 things I have learned : 1) In the world of competitive sleeping, I am a Gold Medalist. I can (& do) nap anytime, anywhere. 2) I am hanging up my stethoscope. My new fulltime job is to "sip, sip, sip". Staying hydrated is hard work. 3) The sounds coming from my new stomach are not lady like. 4) I am no longer a bashful burper. 5) Daytime TV sucks. 6) Not every belly twinge is a potential leak. I am a nurse, so I always look at the worst case health scenarios first. Hard habit to break. 7) Isopure gags me, but is tolerable if made into SF jello. 8) Old Navy makes super comfy yoga pants, even if I never assume a "Lotus" pose. 9) Clear liquid diets are doable for a few days. My favorite flavor is blue. and last, but definitely not least, as a wise forum member once advised me: 10) Never trust a shart!

My mom used that phrase, "honesty is the best policy" and I decided to start this blog with that thought. I have mostly failed at keeping up with my lap band program. I was banded in January of 2012 and lost 43 lbs in the first 4 months. I was very happy with the results, bought new clothes 2 sizes smaller and loved the positive comments from people who noticed the change. There was no support group in my area but thought I would make out ok. After all, I am a nurse and thought I knew it all. I guess what I didn't know was how many negatives in my life were supporting my bad habits. Not an excuse, but I had a 24/7 management job and it was killing me. So many hours, often 12 hrs a day and over weekends. I was emotionally and physically exhausted, lost my time to exercise and ate whenever and whatever I could and didn't take the time to plan it out. As the stress increased, I slowly began to gain weight back, a total of 20 lbs. I knew before the first year post LB that I couldn't keep up working like this and ever be successful with the LB. I just hadn't realized before how much work was affecting my life. At age 62, I decided to retire and I did. It has taken me nearly 3 months to "get myself back". I am no longer constantly fatigued and I have the time to take care of myself. Over the last several weeks, I am back to losing weight, 9 of the 20 lbs so far. I am trying to walk at least 30 minutes most days. I am also trying to find a stable spot with my blood sugars and how much of my oral medication I should take so I don't become hypoglycemic. I would like to use this blog to keep myself focused and gain support. I mostly see posts about success but not too many about someone who fails the first time around but comes back and meets that original goal. I want to be that person. I welcome any comments or advice you have. This morning I walked 30 minutes at a brisk pace. I weighed myself at 231 lbs. I had a nutrition packed shake (almond milk, protein powder, kale, blueberries and pear. 287 calories. I had one cup of beef stew loaded with veges for lunch that I made myself, little fat and low on salt. Wish me luck I can finish this day with a band friendly dinner and another 30 minute walk afterwards!

I've been banded for a little over a year now and I can remember when I attended my first seminar in October 2011 there was so many potential band patients. As time went on and I attended support meetings and gastric patients always far out numbered bandsters but there was still a lot of people. So now my Wife has begun her journey and is using the same center I used but a different Doctor. Doctor who was giving the seminar discussed all three option as they now offer the Sleeve along with the band and bypass. As I was taking in all the information it became quite clear that the band has fallen out of favor with the Doctors in the center. They'll still do Bands if that is what the patient wants. At one point the Doctor said "On average our patients lose 30 pounds in year one where the other surgeries have a higher success rate". Needless to say I disputed those numbers and then privately told the Doctor I believe she was being unfair with her assessment and then I questioned her that out of the number she is using how many were due to non-compliance vs actual complications/failures? Her answer was bluntly "That is why I like to push for the Sleeve over band as it requires less attention". Sounds pretty bias to me!! I then said so what you're saying is getting the Sleeve means it is successful regardless of the effort of the patient? And her reply was "Well there will always be guidelines and good choices to be made in order to be successful". .At that point I had enough and it sounded like she was blowing me off. I continue to follow up with my Doctor and I still attend certain support meetings but I can sadly see band patients being a thing of the past. I attend as a patient advocate in what is called a Panel of Experts which is made up of post op patients with at least more than 9 months of experience. I sit on this panel with bypass and sleeve patients. It is designed for preop to ask anything they want to the post ops without any presence from the Center. Basically a patient to patient candid talk. I will tell you the last one I had been to consisted of about 20 people and 2 were potential bandsters. I think I ended up answering 3 or 4 questions while listening to the Sleeve and Gastric speak.