freelance frog

I'll try to shorten this long story! Back in 2011 I had a lapband! Until about a year ago I was a model lap band patient. The surgery was wonderful, I lost 156 pounds in less than a year, and due to a horrid issue with reflux, hiatal hernia repair, and more reflux when the repair didn't "take" I'm here... about to have a new weight loss surgery in hopes of both "fixing" the reflux, and dropping the almost 60 pounds I gained when all the fluid was removed from my band. I'm a little nervous, because technically a gastric sleeve can make reflux worse, but after going back and forth and back and forth on the issue, my doctor still believes the sleeve will be my best bet due to a separate issue I have that has in the past required prednisone therapy... even though I told him I'm never taking prednisone again... EVER... I don't think he wanted to take any chances. So...... we have a plan. And it starts with the removal of my band and me getting a sleeve. I'm ready to drop the extra weight, but more than that, I can not wait to sleep through the night again... reflux SUX and it sucks almost as much as weighing more than 270 pounds a whole lot of years ago!! I'm seriously praying this works! I realized today that I'd forgotten about this forum which I frequented previous to my lapband surgery.... and I'm so happy to know it's still here! I have questions... and it looks like y'all have answers! Anyway.... my surgery is at noon tomorrow!

Haha! I've been known to make up a few words in my day!! It's a fun way to record everything.... I've gone back and read over it a lot and met some really cool people doing it! Sent from my moto z3 using BariatricPal mobile app

That should say "blogged" the entire experience Sent from my moto z3 using BariatricPal mobile app

Thank you!! July 31 will be here before you know it!! when I had my lap band I plugged the entire experience and it helped so much I'm actually thinking of doing that again for this.... [emoji5] Sent from my moto z3 using BariatricPal mobile app

I used to frequent this forum, and somewhere along the way I got used to a new normal, and I haven't been back here for a long time. I was thinking the other day, that I should check back in, and sprinkle some hope around... because more than 5 years later, my story remains a textbook case of Lapband success and I love sharing it for those who are struggling through their first few weeks and months post surgery! Today I weigh 138 pounds. I most certainly haven't forgotten I have a band... it's still VERY present in my life, and a daily reminder of so many things. I still have "stuck" episodes... more often than you might imagine.... there are still foods that I can't eat, and never will be able to... there still exists the very real possibility of cheating my band, overeating, re-gaining all of my weight and having the past five years be for absolutely nothing... but during all of these things I have gained a huge appreciation and love for myself that I never even knew was possible. And I don't know what tomorrow will bring, but today.... it was all worth it! Every single pound I worked so hard to lose! Every single ounce of blood sweat and tears I've put into trying to take care of myself. Every doubt I had along the way that I was eventually able to turn into hope, and every person who I hadn't seen in awhile who had NO CLUE who I was! That last one was and still is kind of entertaining to me! I won't lie... I still have a few hang ups.... I won't date men who wanted nothing to do with me back then... but who are all about going out with this NEW me.... they piss me off. I still tend to buy clothes too big for me... a LOT. So I've started forcing myself to try them on before leaving the store to avoid returning everything later! Other than those things, I think I've adjusted pretty well to my new body. I was fortunate enough to not have to have secondary surgeries to get rid of excess skin. My skin turned out to be very elastic, and because I worked out from the first week of my new life, it just kind of melted away with the fat. Sometimes it still blows me away that I have lost an entire other person's worth of weight... when I imagine carrying all of those pounds around with me for all the years I did, it's absolutely amazing that my body held out as long as it did. I love taking care of it now... and I love my other butt! Here's a current photo... it's a selfie, but it makes me happy, because it's a pretty accurate photo of me!

It's been awhile since I've been here, and I thought I should check in and say hello! It's been awhile since I've updated "My Other Butt" blog as well, I'm thinking close to a year. I know, I know.. I ought to be ashamed of myself, but that year has been an over-sized portion of awesome, and I'm just not finding room for guilt and shame today! I have always been a lover of life, and I have always known that there is a difference between existing, and living, yet the past year has had many lessons to teach me about knowing my own value, and refusing to settle for less than my own happiness. In the process of painting my life with ALL of the colors rather than being too lazy to change the two or three I have always settled for, I learned that I had NO idea what it meant to step outside of my comfort zone, or to really think outside of "the box." It makes me chuckle to think that I thought I'd been doing both of those things for years! In about a month it will be two years since my lap band surgery. Most of the first year was spent in awe of how quickly my body changed, and the second year has mostly been spent in awe of how my mentality, attitude, metabolism, energy, health and perspective have changed. And after all of that, I can say that I'm still the same person that I always was, I just have new vision and appreciation for the things that I was blinded to for so long. When I first began this journey, I could only hope, dream, and wonder what changes would take place for me in two years time. It seems like in the blink of an eye my focus changed, my will became infinitely stronger, and I find myself making a valiant effort to learn how to be "selfish." It's not easy. It is my nature to be a pleaser and a giver, neither of which are bad things until giving to others and pleasing those I love become more important that what I need for myself. I speak up more. I say "NO" more. I no longer feel guilty for speaking my mind or saying "no",these days. Both of those in huge contrast to the way I dealt with them two years ago.... I'm learning to stop saying" I'm fine" when I'm not, and I'm learning to be honest when asked what I need, or what I want. (Gasp). Both of those are things I've been unable to do for far too long, and have often seemed nearly impossible to overcome. I'm successful, and still I fail sometimes too, but it's pretty amazing to be able to see a reason to keep trying, and for my motivation to be ME, rather than letting guilt and fear of hurting someone continue to drive me along. . Within the first 10 1/2 months I lost more than the normal weight of another person my size. And suddenly... I was too thin. Wait.. WHAT? Yep, you saw it right. I got too thin before my first year out from surgery. It took my boyfriend, my family, and my good friends to convince me that I needed to have some fluid removed from my band so that I could eat more. For the first time in my entire life, I needed to GAIN weight, and I can't begin to tell you how terrifying that was for me. I wasn't even remotely convinced that I could do that without ending up back where I started. I suddenly knew first hand why it was so important to pass a psychiatric evaluation in order to be approved for the surgery. The entire process has affected far more than my physical body.. in fact, I'm very sure that so far the physical changes are minimal compared to the emotional and psychological changes I've seen in myself. Right now I weigh 149 pounds. I am barely over 5'3". I wear size 7 jeans, sometimes size 9. I was down to size 4. I wear size large shirts, and had been down to a small and occasionally extra small. My body is curvy, and I look very average, and very healthy. My hair is starting to look shiny and thick again after getting very damaged, thin, and dead looking that first year. I am still my own harshest critic, and I will always be afraid of waking up one day and the past two years of my life will have been nothing more than a dream. It's still surreal, and I'm afraid I may never let my guard down and get comfortable enough to stop worrying about giving up and getting fat because I forgot to take care of myself first, or I forgot how lucky I am that my band worked exactly how it was supposed to without complication and without taking 2 or 3 years to reach my goal. For me, it was magical, and miraculous, and though I wish I could say easy, I absolutely can not. I worked hard. I learned to listen to my body and what it needed. I learned to stop denying my body, mind, and spirit. I made some sacrifices, and I overcame strong fears to do the right thing for myself. Don't believe for a moment that any of it was taking the easy way out. Don't believe that when I say it was "magical" that I mean without effort or pain. And if you're just starting out on your journey or perhaps just researching the lap band as an option for yourself the most important thing you should know is that everyone's story is different. You may do it faster, you may take three times as long to see results. You may breeze through every aspect of it without incident, or you may find obstacles at every turn making you question your choice or your ability to see it through. Standing here nearly 2 years later I don't have a single regret. Lap band was the perfect choice for me. And even though I accomplished what I set out to do, my current weight and body aren't the best part of the deal for me. The best part is at the end of the day I know who I am, I love who I am, I didn't poison my soul or compromise it by being afraid to stand up and speak out, and none of that can be purchased or forced on anyone. For me it was the positive result of taking care of myself nomatter how inconvenient, time consuming or difficult it got to do so. I wish the same realizations for all of you! Here's me: with nephews and grandbabies

Just stopping by to say it's ALLLLL worth it!! Every gas pain, every struggle, and every doubt that creeps in (because they do sometimes!) I'm 15 months out and have lost more than 150 pounds. I feel healthy and strong and I look damn good if I do say so myself! The first year flew by for me, and thinking back on it it's better than a dream come true! I'm a different person in so many ways, and there is just no price tag that could be placed on that kind of gift. It wasn't easy, but watching the pounds melt off was so sweet that I wasn't even tempted to slack off! I've always loved life, but the 125 pound me loves it with gusto! Hang in there!

The first six months I could eat whatever I wanted.. just not a lot. The last six months my restriction kept me from eating things like bread, rice, lettuce, hamburger and chicken that wasn't super moist... but strangely enough I've always been able to eat steak!! I think it's because the texture of it lets me chew it so well that it just goes down easily. So.. I've sure eaten a lot of steak lol! I don't honestly eat a lot ever now. My meals are very small, and everyone freaks out about that, but obviously I'm eating enough. I'm healthy, and never go hungry! I really miss eating salads, but I can't chew lettuce well enough I guess so it never settles well. I love that it takes very little to satisfy me but that also makes me need to constantly be aware of what I do eat because it has to count!

When I first started my journey I thought about how I would reward myself too! Somewhere along the way in this past year the constant weight loss distracted me and when I reached my goal (I lost 150 pounds in one year) I completely forgot about that. I'm skinny now hehe... what an AWESOME reward!! I wear size 4 jeans and size small shirts now... REWARD! Honestly, I can't think of a single thing I could give myself that would outshine what I have already done for me~ a new body is about the best reward I can imagine! Happy Losing Everyone!! Trust me, it's BEYOND worth every struggle you will encounter!

Just wondering if there are any Western Nebraska bandsters here. More specifically anyone who had their lap band surgery with Dr. Holloway in Scottsbluff? Just looking for local people to chat it up! Have a wonderful day!

Happy wedding planning!! Loved your blog today ~ I love hearing positive stories, and it doesn't happen all that often it seems! Isn't it fun to share?! Congratulations to you! You look AMAZING Miss BOMBSHELL!!

Thinking back on this year I remember most wondering how far I'd be when the first year was up. Never did I imagine that I would have exceeded my goal and be at the bottom end of all of the weight I had to lose. Today it's been 11 months, and I weigh around 130 pounds. A little less some days, a little more others. I haven't counted the inches lately, but it's a lot. I bought a new pair of capri jeans last week and they were a size 1/2. ONE/TWO!! What??? Those jeans are Maurices brand, and I'm pretty sure the sizes run big. They have to. Just a month ago I was wearing a size 28 waist. I was thinking that was around a size 7/8 I know I'm a little smaller than that now, but a size 1/2 seems ridiculously small. I tried on a size 26 waist and they were snug.. so I don't know. I'm thinking my true size might more accurately be about a 4 right now. My boyfriend looked at those pants and asked me if they were for a kid! Haha, very funny mister boyfriend! I continue to drop inches in a mad fashion, and I believe it's because I've been working out. A lot. I do the express circuit three times a week, walk/run on the treadmill at least twice a week and play racquet ball. I'm no good at racquet ball as far as the "rules" go. But it's such an amazing workout getting in there and pounding that ball around. And it's fun!! The guys from the free-weight room watch and laugh sometimes.. I'm sure I look like a complete dork in there (along with my daughter - in- law) running around, sometimes missing the ball, sometimes slamming it, and I always have my i-pod on with good move tunes playing, so I'm in my own little world so to speak... marching to the beat of my own life. Laugh mister weight lifters.. see if I care!! I haven't had a fill in over 2 months. I don't need one at all. I have tons of restriction still, and I'm really happy with where I am. I don't eat much at all, and it amazes me that I don't need to. That's huge for me. My life once revolved around when my next meal was.. what I was going to eat, how much I was eating, etc. etc. Now I forget to eat sometimes. Weird. I remember thinking that people who "forgot to eat" must be insane. Who forgets to eat? But trust me, it does get to that point. The other thing I tend to forget (believe it or not) is that I don't wear a size 2XL or XL even anymore. I bought a couple of those little spaghetti strap tank top thingies at Walmart a few days ago (you know the ones that are like $4) and automatically bought a size XL. Oops! Not so much. I need a medium now. Some old habits die hard I guess. I have bony parts of my body. Weird. I still freeze easily.. no fat to insulate. I'm looking forward to warmer weather and have really been enjoying the unseasonably warm spring like days we've been having lately. I'm up and moving so much more than I ever did before now. I feel like it, for starters. But I think it's mostly because I can! Not that I couldn't before, well... okay I couldn't do a lot. But now I have energy, and ability, and suddenly a desire to not let too much grass grow under my feet. Don't get me wrong, I can still laze around with the best of them for awhile, and still enjoy snuggling up and watching a movie sometimes, but when it's time to move, it's time to move! I ran (literally) to my car last week for something and my oldest son said "Now you're just showing off" I said "What? Why?" He said "I've never seen you run for ANYTHING.... EVER" Hahaha! Silly boy! I didn't even realize I did it! My boobs have shrunk! Seriously. It's like someone stuck a needle in them and let all the air out! Booooo! Remember when I couldn't wait for them to shrink? I thought that somehow they would just shrink a little, just be a smaller version of what they were.. but no. We're talking tube-sock with an orange in it pretty much. Ahh well. The photo you see here doesn't really show the whole tube sock concept...but bras these days are basically smoke and mirrors my friends! Unfortunately what you see isn't really what you get. Yeah, yeah, a little false advertising. 11 months ago I figured it would be 2 years before I wrote a blog like this one. At least 2 years. I have had a very short journey filled with amazing losses and amazing gains. I found my other butt in far less time than I dreamed possible (even though it really, really needs some firm and tone work, but looks awesome in jeans). I found my energy. I found my mojo. I found my life. I'm so grateful for the things this year has given and taken away. I will be back in another month with my one year pictures, and anything new to share. Thanks for your support and words of encouragement along the way! Follow me at http://www.myotherbutt.blogspot.com

Thank you phatkatblue!

I wasn't put on a special diet either! I was happy about that lol, I wasn't looking forward to what everyone else was having to do. Now that I'm at my goal I can tell you not to worry about it.. it didn't make a bit of difference for my journey!

The day of my surgery I weighed 273! My highest recorded weight was 278 I believe.

Today it has been 10 months since I started this journey to find my other butt! Ten months have gone by so fast, and so much has happened, I don't know where to begin. So I will try to be brief, and let a couple of photos speak the volumes that I have to say! I am down more than 130 pounds, and I've honestly lost track of how many sizes. Let's see.. I'm wearing a size 28 waist jeans now.. not sure how that translates but I'm guessing it's a size 8, maybe 7. I only have 1 pair of jeans that fits perfectly right now, the rest get held up with a belt! I'm okay with that for awhile. I wear a size large shirt.. sometimes a medium, depending on style. The girls have begun to shrink. And I must say, on that note, to be careful what you wish for.. I now have pancake boobs... or darn close to pancakes anyway, and bra style is EVERYTHING!! hehe! Most of my shoes are big on me now which is something that still surprises me ten months later, because I never thought of how fat my feet used to be. I may have mentioned in an earlier post how much my wardrobe has increased because I now have three closets to choose from instead of just one.. definitely a bonus! I continue to be unrecognizable to lots of people. I still find it entertaining, and funny! When I look at old pictures of myself, I'm stunned, and can't believe the difference... so I completely understand how people who I don't see very often have no idea who I am!! My life has changed in all of the ways you might have guessed, and in many ways that I never would have expected. I am understanding even more why lap-banders are required to go through a psychiatric evaluation before they can be approved for surgery. Such huge life-changing things happening inside of such a relatively small space in time could truly send a person spinning off into nutzoid land. I think I'm doing pretty well at keeping my distance from said nutzoid land most of the time, but others may disagree! Here's a couple of photos taken this morning by my daughter-in-law who had me laughing hard the whole time! I have to say I still look at photos and think I look a little fat. I guess I'll always have issues. A friend of mine reminded me this morning that the camera adds ten pounds so maybe I should just go with that! I'm not done yet, but getting very close! It's after 3am and I can't remember the other things I was going to write, so I'll just call this good! Thanks for stopping by! Oh.. and NO I didn't dye my hair red! The lighting kinda makes the natural red in my hair shine in these pics though huh?! Looks like I could only add one photo for whatever reason.. you can see one more if you visit my blog at: http://www.myotherbutt.blogspot.com