i had my first fill this morning under fluro...it took all of 15 minutes and i was a nervous wreck prior...it proved to be all for nothing. the worst part was having to have all my piercings taken out prior to the procedure! here's what went down...
i laid on a table and had a pic taken of my belly that showed up on a small screen beside my bed
i saw my port and the how it was attached to my abdominal wall with hooks (that was weird)
i saw my band which is nowhere near the port and in between all sorts of other inside stuffs!
i was given a shot of lidocaine to the numb the area-it burned a little like the heparin shots
the NP stuck a needle in my port area and felt for the pockets on the band (which i did not feel but could seen on the screen) the needle was attached to some tubing but i could not see what was in the end of it...
the bed was placed in a standing position and i was given a cup of contrast that i watched flow freely down my esophagus
she injected some saline i think about 1 cc and i drank some more contrast...the flow was a littler slower
she injected another cc and i drank some more contrast...the flow was slower still...
she injected another cc and i drank some more contrast...i felt like it was going to come up...
she removed a 1/2 cc and i drank some more contrast...i felt like i had to burp...
she removed another 1/2 cc and i drank some more contrast and then some water...and i felt ok...
so i got a 2 cc fill today on top of the one from surgery...so 3 total in my 10cc band
i felt like a had a lump in my throat for the first hour afterward, but i feel better now...
i am now back to mushies for two days...she said it appears i am tighter in the morning and i should try to drink a shake or yogurt in the mornings...
that's it:) now the fun begins...i must remember to chew...
I finally went to Lane Bryant to get fitted for bra's. I"m so sad that the girls are disappearing! UGH! one effect i didnt want. well anyway she helped my find my right size and she asked how i was losing weight and i gladly shared with her about my lap band. She thought it was great. She asked me what size i wore now and i said 12's/ she told me you are too small for anything in our store! I COULD HAVE KISSED HER! never in a million years would i ever think someone would say this to me. And normally i woiuld reward myself with food, but this totally motivated me to hit the gym as soon as i left the store! WOW that felt sooo good!!!
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!
