Bremartus

Surgery this morning. We got to the hospital about 8:30 this morning. They started getting me prepped for surgery right away. I went in to the OR about 11:15 or so. And was home by 3 pm. My husband and mother were at the hospital with me. I even walk out of the hospital on my own. The gas pain is the worst in my upper chest area. It hurt to take in a deep breath. I have been up and walking around with very little difficulties.

I will be starting my second week on the c25k.
 
I had an aftercare appt today and I am down another 4lbs! I am totally happy!

Okay so i recieve a letter in the mail that I have to come in for my pre-op testing. I got so excited. This was saturday. Then as i was sitting at my desk i realize that my appointent was with a surgeon that I did not know. Because of my insurance the sugrical team had to hand me over to another member of their staff. I was like OMG i wanted the man I liked from the start. I have to meet with this new guy in a week so I hope I like him. Well I waited a year for this (my insurance did not cover lap band, so i had to switch plans) so i am going to have my band still on May 30th. i wanted Dr. Strom but at least they are part of the same bariatric team! Lap Band HERE I COME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
I'm so excited... and i just can't hide it ..... no no no no no ...... I'm about to loose control and I think I like it .... Oooohhh yeahhhh ..... lol

ok my anniversary will be may 20th! my goal was to be in a size 12 top and bottom(those of you that follow my blog, know how that's been going). well today i got a pair of size 12 jeans in the mail i ordered and tried them on just to see. OMG THEY FIT! now they are snug, but still comfortable. I COULD JUST CRY! i cant believe i made it and before my year! YEAH ME!!!!!

Today they submitted my things to the insurance company. I am so nerves and excited all at the same time. I started this process back on Jan 7 2012 and I have completed my psych eval and pre op diet/ nutritionist visits for 3 months. Those were the only things I had to do. I have stopped drinking coffee, teas, and sodas. I quit smoking in Dec of 2011 and I really don’t drink too often and when I do it is only one small glass of wine. I have been trying to eat good foods and not eating too many fatty foods or sugary foods. So from today I think it will be about one month till surgery. Wow time will fly I am sure.

Today is my one month anniversary! Wow time has flown by and I can't believe it has been 30 days. I am feeling great and my clothes are getting too big! Now that is exciting news (jumping up and down)! LOL
 
Looking forward to the next 30 days! One step at a time...

Anyone have surgery on february 21st 2012? Surgery went great. Now I am on the road to recovery.

So I weighed in yesterday and lost 0.9 lbs. This led to the immediate recognition of the fact that at the moment, I have a split personality. I call them Logical Me and Emotional Me.
 
Logical Me tells me that any weight loss is good weight loss. I'm currently in "Bandster Hell," that period of time between my surgery and my first fill when my appetite has returned, but the band is not yet offering me any restriction. Logical Me points out that a lot of people stop losing weight now entirely and many even gain some weight. She also wants me to remember that the slower the weight loss, the better my skin will be able to adjust and the less loose skin I may have when I reach my goal. And finally, Logical Me would like to point out that I've spent at least ten years getting to this weight from my last lowest point, so it's dumb of me to expect that I'll lose it in a couple of months.
 
Emotional me is too busy wailing and gnashing her teeth to tell me anything. Somewhere buried in her incoherent sobs, I am able to make out a few thoughts, though, like how can I not lose more weight when I've been eating no more than 1000 calories per day? Or, OMG am I going to fail this attempt at weight loss just like I have all the other ones after I've spent all this money on having surgery? Maybe the band won't help me. Maybe I'm just destined to be fat my whole life, and I'll just keep gaining weight even if I stop eating all together for the rest of my life. Maybe this was all a wasted effort and I should just go crawl under a rock and forget about ever being healthy and happy with myself.
 
I'd like to slap Emotional Me across the face and tell her to shut her w&!@# mouth. I know those thoughts are ridiculous, but that doesn't mean I can completely erase them from the back of my mind. All I can do is turn up the volume on Logical Me, keep reading the forums, and keep poking along at whatever pace my body deems appropriate. After all, when it comes down to it, I didn't get this surgery just to drop weight; I got it to help me make a huge and permanent lifestyle change that will result in gradual and permanent weight loss.
 
Maybe if I got that tattooed on the back of my hand, it would be easier to remember...

This weekend was a disaster food wise. But, today is a new day, and I'm just going to get back on the wagon and deal with it. I made the HUGE mistake of weighing myself on Monday and I gained six pounds. Then I realized it's my TOM this week, and I usually gain about 5 pounds from that. But still I'm just annoyed because the old me is still there in my head where I just want to eat everything over and over. I want to be able to enjoy times like these (ie Superbowl Sunday) with my friends, but I think at this point, for this year, any event that involves food I'm just going to have to stay away from until I beat this love I have with food.
 
Anyway, I'm back at work, back to eating healthy again and back to the gym, I'm not giving up!!!!

If I can lose these 18 pounds I would be 199. I would love to see the 2’s out of my life. I am going to work hard to have these 18 pounds gone before March 1, 2012. That is my goal and I am will meet it. During my progress I have not been making goals on my numbers; but I think it’s going to be important to me some goals here on out. I was happy to lose any weight. LOL
I must work harder this month.

I am now down 34 pounds!! so it has been 3 months and two weeks, but it is steady! Slow is ok as long it is steady. Just think if I continue at this pace in another three months and two weeks, I should be down 68 That would be incredible!! I am so hopeful!!

First, I want to apologize for all my whining last week. It was the first time I hadn't seen the scale move since I started this whole process. Anyways, I am completely ecstatic this morning! After weighing in at 219 Friday morning and feeling down, this morning I weighed in at 215!!! It's soooo awesome! I took the weekend off from the gym and I guess my body just needed to do some catching up. I had hoped to be at 215 today, and it's a miracle that I am lol. I literally jumped up and down and did a little dance in the bathroom. I even checked it twice to make sure I was looking at it right. I'm going back to the gym today, and this week, I'm not going to whine if I don't see the change on the scale because I know that the weight is going to come off as long as I'm persistent! Thanks so much for everyone's encouragement and kind words. I don't know how I would be getting through this process if not for this site and the people on it.
On a personal note, my love life is going in a really positive direction. After being single for 27 years (yes, that would be my whole life!) I have finally found someone who appreciates me for who I am, enjoys being around me, and likes me as much as I like him. It's taken us a while to get to this point, and even though we haven't reached the relationship stage yet, I feel as if it's going in that direction. I have lots to smile about today!
Adding some updated pics of me at 215 pounds!

just got the call frm the surgeons sectary yes they have medical clearance..all my ducks are in a row and we are so ready for tomorrow,so excitrd scared nervous i think it is a good thing only fluids today dont think i could eat anyway !!! if i dont blog tonite see you all on the banded side.. may god bless and keep us all !!!!!!

This morning after I got out of the shower, I wrapped the towel around me, usually it comes undone the minute I move, oh, anywhere, but it stayed around me until I had to get ready, I guess this is some sort of a nsv (if it is than yay!!!)
 
Which got me thinking about goals. Also it got me thinking about how oblivious men are. Before Christmas, my co-worker was telling me about these rings that she gave her son's girlfriend for Christmas, they're called stackable expressions (google it!) so I tell my boyfriend about them (and not for nothing they are not that expensive!) for a Christmas idea and sure enough, guess what I don't get?? But he did give me a nice necklace.
 
Okay back to goals, so I've decided that with every ten pounds I lose I'm going to get one ring. Of course I'm not going to buy them every time I lose ten pounds, but for example, when I lose 50 I'll go to the jewelers and pick out five, cannot wait!
 
If I look at another shrimp again I'm going to be sick. I'm all shrimped out and that is one of my favorite foods, oh well they always have it at the grocery store. Next week I'm getting a fill and the mds requirements are two days of liquids two days of mushies and then solids by Friday, I totally forgot about this, so I guess I'm going to have to freeze the meatballs I made last night and also the corned beef and cabbage I'm making this weekend, but hey it's always good to have meals on hand!
 
Last night I went to the gym for 45 minutes on the elliptical. I like love to listen to music while working out, I have the iheartradio app on my phone, and I put it on to the spin cycle station, which is great club music and NO COMMERCIALS it keeps me motivated enough that I don't even realize that my time is almost up.
 
By the time I got home I was too tired to pack a breakfast and lunch for work tomorrow, so I had to resort to the cafeteria here, which is okay. I had a veggie egg white omlette with a little cheese it definetly filled me up.
 
I've realized I cannot be so obsessed about how many calories/protein I consume a day. If I eat something and I'm full, then I'm full. I'm going to try that for the next couple of weeks and see how that goes. Can't give up on my chobani though!
 
Have a good day!

In 24 hours I'll be banded...queue Europe's "The Final Countdown". I can't believe it's finally here. I remember the first time I seriously considered the band, last May at my son's little league pool party. One of his coaches (whom I considered to be a "guys" guy) told me he'd had the band for about a year and was loving it. Loving the time he was able to be more active in his son's life, the ability to get more out of life, how it brought him closer to his spouse, and I just remember thinking "if I would just swallow my pride and accept I needed help with my weight, I could be a lot happier".
 
You see, my wife was already planning her lap band at this time and I fully supported her decision to get healthy and reclaim her life, but up until this point I had pretty much resigned myself to being a "fat" dad... the one who was a master at the barbecue pit during family cook-outs but who didn't get into the pool with his kids or play catch with them...because it's too hard.
 
I know the band is not a magic wand that fixes all aspects of one's life, but for me most of my unhappiness stemmed from not having the ability to control my own issues with food to the point that it was affecting my relationship with my kids and my wife. Tony is 10, I have 8 years left with him "full time" and only about 3 more until he becomes his own person and starts socializing outside the home, how long before he doesn't want to do anything with me regardless of what I can and can't do physically? Josh is 4, if I keep going the rate I am I will die before I see him turn 18.
2005.. the start of my weight gain.
In regards to my marriage, we had our kids very young. We've never had the time to ourselves to really be just a couple. We have always made plans to travel and enjoy each other when the kids are grown, but without a healthier lifestyle what are we going to be able to do? Watch Food network and visit every buffet restaurant in the state? I want more than that! I want us to climb a Mayan Pyramid and see top of the Eiffel Tower. I want to be intimate without fear of throwing out my back.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
And now here we are, 7 months later. one day away from go time. I have the usual nervousness and apprehension that comes with any procedure, but all in all I am ready. Ready to make the effort to change my life, ready to put my family and my own health as the number one priority in my life. READY.
 
 
 
 
 
follow my whole blog at http://gerryslapband.blogspot.com/

I don't have much to update on right now. I just wanted to mention that so far I've lost the 40 pounds with no exercise what so ever. I know, it's absolutely horrible! I could make a gazillion excuses, but I won't bother. I'm realistic enough to know that the weight loss WILL slow down so I definitely need to jump on the work out wagon. I am joining the local gym on Friday. It has been an expense issue for me up until now, but I have to do it! I've run out of excuses and it's just time to get a move on. My doc still doesn't want me lifting until after my next appointment. I was a little surprised at that but oh well. I don't mind just doing the treadmill and such. It's better than nothing!

So, in an email yesterday my bandster friend C had a mama moment and told me that the money I spent on my band would be wasted if I don't exercise. She said that I am no longer allowed to ride the elevator at work unless Tom Cruise was waiting on me. My email reply: Can it be unless Clive Owen is waiting on me?
 
I tried walking up the two flights of stairs and made it through 36 steps before my legs started burning. The last 12 of 48 were a killer. *gasp*cough*gasp*cough*cough. But I did it!
 
This morning, as is my routine upon arriving to work, I hailed the elevator and, as I stepped on, I saw a half sheet of paper taped to the wall of the elevator. There, looking out at me, was Clive Owen. The words read "You weren't really going to take the elevator were you?....... I'm watching you....... You never know where I'll be....... xoxoxo - Clive."
 
Which caused me to laugh out loud. And turn around. And walk up to the second floor to see my friend C, laughing the whole way.
 
She said she had been waiting to hear my laugh. And then she apologized for forgetting that I work on the third floor, stating that I need to start small. Silly C. And yet, I still have a smile on my face, glancing frequently at Clive Owen looking out at me from the side of my computer monitor.