lisacaron

@@Band Aid mom very exciting!!! I'm sure that you and your daughters will do great!! It is wonderful to have people in your life that understand where you are coming from. My husband and I were banded 3 days apart and it really helps to be able to work together on our journey and understand what's going on with each other. If you are all having surgery the same day, I really do feel for your husband if he is going to be the primary care taker for you all at the same time. My advice is that if you are able to stay the night in the hospital do so. Also prepare your home with everything you will need X3. Ice packs, heating pads, Gas Ex, sugar free ice pops, Sugar free Jello, shakes, all of the things you will need so your husband doesn't have to be stressed getting things for each of you to make you comfy. You will find that you will have lots of supporters on this site!!

@@Deedee13 you are right about the mucinex. This will only make your issues worse. You want something to "dry" it up. See your Dr. and and ask for a nasal spray. Additionally go to the pharmacy and try getting a saline nasal spray this will help to clear and dry up the sinus and prevent some of the post nasal drip. I am a horrible allergy sufferer and I have post nasal drip more often then not, and these things are definitely a big help especially during cold and flu season. You want the area to be clear and not create a breeding ground for bacteria and viral infections which is what post nasal drip does. Because the area is moist most of the time it creates a breeding ground and we can get sick more often. It also doesn't help our tummy or our stoma when it's clogged up with nasty stuff. Mucinex is great if your impacted sinus or chest congestion but if things are moving try something more to dry it up then to make it more productive now. I also find a cup of warm tea will help to clear the mucus from the stoma and make eating more palatable and smoother as well, and tea is a natural antioxidant that will also help to boost your immune system. Feel better!!!

It's Monday!!! Back to reality!! I have to be honest I really enjoyed these holidays. The time off from work was awesome. 2 weeks of 4 day weekends plus some extra time off. I have to tell you I am spoiled and I was getting used to it!!! TOO used to it and now it's time to get back into the groove again of getting work done and focusing on my goals. Here are a few fun photo's of Ken and I on NYE.

Today is New Year’s Eve, and it’s the end of another calendar year and the start of a new one. I have been thinking a lot about all the events that transpired over the last year, thinking to myself and wondering if there is something magical in the changing of the year. At midnight tonight the numbers of the year will change from 2014 to 2015. Thinking about this had me thinking about all the changing numbers in our lives….and wondering if we can find magic there as well…. We can find so many reasons to celebrate and often those “celebrations” can be the very things that sabotage us. All the food the drink the sweets oh my!!! I find that it’s easy to lose the magic amidst the buffet tables of chocolate covered everything, roasted, toasted, glazed and sugared where even the sweet potatoes are candied. You vow to just enjoy a bite OK maybe two and raise a glass to toast the season, and then you find yourself amidst the crowd being offered this and that and handed beverage after beverage and you really aren’t eating so much as grazing among the sugar plum fairies that dance in your head. Before you know it someone has passed Uncle Joe and/or Aunt May just one too many beverages and you are now caught in the center of the next family drama. Your friend spilled wine on your new couch and your niece is making out with the neighbor in the basement. {{Scandal!}} The magic of the “New Year” has lost its shine. The high of the Winter Season’s festivities has crash landed into a New Year. That slate wiped clean….or rather the sparkle and glitter have flaked away leaving behind a pounding head, a bloated belly and the weak resolutions to “eat better” and get thee to the gym! So my friends I ask you how do you spend your New Year’s Eve? Do you set it up and time it out perfectly with the ball dropping in Times Square or some other place on the planet? Do you plan an elaborate party or plan to attend one? Do you snuggle up with your loves and quietly celebrate?? No matter how you choose to celebrate, think of all the times the numbers in your life that change, not just from year to year but each number on the scale, each birthday, and anniversary, each day, hour, minute and second that provides us yet another opportunity to celebrate life!! Forget the family drama and the scandals navigate the buffet tables and beverage bars with mindful thoughts of celebration knowing that today is not the last time you will celebrate. Your head and belly will thank you in the morning and if you’re lucky you might just find that the sparkle, glitter and magic remain in your life and your resolutions are more of a commitment to yourself. To be happy and healthy and to celebrate life all through the year!!

Today is New Year’s Eve, and it’s the end of another calendar year and the start of a new one. I have been thinking a lot about all the events that transpired over the last year, thinking to myself and wondering if there is something magical in the changing of the year. At midnight tonight the numbers of the year will change from 2014 to 2015. Thinking about this had me thinking about all the changing numbers in our lives….and wondering if we can find magic there as well…. We can find so many reasons to Celebrate and often those “celebrations” can be the very things that sabotage us. All the food the drink the sweets oh my!!! I find that it’s easy to lose the magic amidst the buffet tables of chocolate covered everything, roasted, toasted, glazed and sugared where even the sweet potatoes are candied. You vow to just enjoy a bite OK maybe two and raise a glass to toast the season, and then you find yourself amidst the crowd being offered this and that and handed beverage after beverage and you really aren’t eating so much as grazing among the sugar plum fairies that dance in your head. Before you know it someone has passed Uncle Joe and/or Aunt May just one too many beverages and you are now caught in the center of the next family drama. Your friend spilled wine on your new couch and your niece is making out with the neighbor in the basement. {{Scandal!}} The magic of the “New Year” has lost its shine. The high of the Winter Season’s festivities has crash landed into a New Year. That slate wiped clean….or rather the sparkle and glitter have flaked away leaving behind a pounding head, a bloated belly and the weak resolutions to “eat better” and get thee to the gym! So my friends I ask you how do you spend your New Year’s Eve? Do you set it up and time it out perfectly with the ball dropping in Times Square or some other place on the planet? Do you plan an elaborate party or plan to attend one? Do you snuggle up with your loves and quietly celebrate?? No matter how you choose to celebrate, think of all the times the numbers in your life change, not just from year to year but each number on the scale, each birthday, and anniversary, each day, hour, minute and second that provides us yet another opportunity to celebrate life!! Forget the family drama and the scandals navigate the buffet tables and beverage bars with mindful thoughts of celebration knowing that today is not the last time you will celebrate. Your head and belly will thank you in the morning and if you’re lucky you might just find that the sparkle, glitter and magic remain in your life and your resolutions are more of a commitment to yourself. To be happy and healthy and to celebrate life all through the year!!

Today is New Year’s Eve, and it’s the end of another calendar year and the start of a new one. I have been thinking a lot about all the events that transpired over the last year, thinking to myself and wondering if there is something magical in the changing of the year. At midnight tonight the numbers of the year will change from 2014 to 2015. Thinking about this had me thinking about all the changing numbers in our lives….and wondering if we can find magic there as well…. We can find so many reasons to Celebrate and often those “celebrations” can be the very things that sabotage us. All the food the drink the sweets oh my!!! I find that it’s easy to lose the magic amidst the buffet tables of chocolate covered everything, roasted, toasted, glazed and sugared where even the sweet potatoes are candied. You vow to just enjoy a bite OK maybe two and raise a glass to toast the season, and then you find yourself amidst the crowd being offered this and that and handed beverage after beverage and you really aren’t eating so much as grazing among the sugar plum fairies that dance in your head. Before you know it someone has passed Uncle Joe and/or Aunt May just one too many beverages and you are now caught in the center of the next family drama. Your friend spilled wine on your new couch and your niece is making out with the neighbor in the basement. {{Scandal!}} The magic of the “New Year” has lost its shine. The high of the Winter Season’s festivities has crash landed into a New Year. That slate wiped clean….or rather the sparkle and glitter have flaked away leaving behind a pounding head, a bloated belly and the weak resolutions to “eat better” and get thee to the gym! So my friends I ask you how do you spend your New Year’s Eve? Do you set it up and time it out perfectly with the ball dropping in Times Square or some other place on the planet? Do you plan an elaborate party or plan to attend one? Do you snuggle up with your loves and quietly celebrate?? No matter how you choose to celebrate, think of all the times the numbers in your life change, not just from year to year but each number on the scale, each birthday, and anniversary, each day, hour, minute and second that provides us yet another opportunity to celebrate life!! Forget the family drama and the scandals navigate the buffet tables and beverage bars with mindful thoughts of celebration knowing that today is not the last time you will celebrate. Your head and belly will thank you in the morning and if you’re lucky you might just find that the sparkle, glitter and magic remain in your life and your resolutions are more of a commitment to yourself. To be happy and healthy and to celebrate life all through the year!!

I hope everyone is enjoying the Holiday Season!!! As this year winds up and a new year is set to unfold, lets take some time to reflect on what we have accomplished in the past year as well as what goals we set for ourselves. Did we reach those goals? If not....lets ask ourselves where we are in relation to those goals. Did we get close...or did we fail to make a start? Did we give up? Do we need to revise the goal to make it more attainable for us? Lets begin to think about and write down some of our goals for the new year. Not just in weight loss, but in all area's of our lives. Health, well being, financial independence, work, family, schooling. Perhaps this year we might start something new, perhaps make a commitment to keeping a journal, taking scuba or sky diving lessons, practicing and participating in a race.... What are some of your goals, and what are you looking forward to in this new year? Liz and I are discussing putting a meeting together on January 10th. The date is tentative at this point, but keep following the thread and we will have more information to you soon! Happy Holidays!!! Be safe, happy and healthy wherever you find yourself as you ring in the New Year!

You look marvelous!!! I am going to remember these words...and hope that I can get to my weight loss goal and then think about this surgery. I may have to put this into my retirement plan so that I can have the surgery before I retire

I'd be interested in what kind of healthy living challenges. Maybe a bit more information??

@@Janett09 I'm looking at your photo's and you look totally amazing. I have to ask how did they do this tuck? I see only a tiny bandage on your belly button and your skin looks awesome. Please give us a few more details if you would. What was your recovery time, pain level etc? I have a very young cousin who lost a lot of weight and her incision site was nearly the circumference of her body. I'm not close to this point as yet I have a bit more weight to lose, but defiantly looking forward to having this done as I already have that hanging belly.

@@JackieBrown Love the topic! I was just talking to my hubby and a couple of friends about recommitting to our goals this year. I'm not shy so I've pretty much done all of the things you mentioned minus the Elmo tat mine is Winny the Pooh and Tigger, maybe this year I'll have them touched up a bit and give that tat and upgrade into 2015!! This year my focus is going to continue to be on my health and well being and to stop sabotaging myself with food and sweets after killing myself in the gym!! I'd like to reach a couple of goals that I have set, and begin working on our long term retirement plan. Yes we are young but now is the time to get those plans started!!! Especially given the fact that I want to move half way around the world in the next 5 years I'm going to be here often I'm sure to remind myself of these things and get some inspiration and continued motivation!!!

@@JustWatchMe you are awesome never forget that!!!!

I had to take a minute or two to catch up. I have been in digital detox for a few days. In all honesty I think we all need to cut ourselves a break every now and then. I know we all want to lose weight and be that “perfect” size whatever it is in our mind’s eye. We want to be healthy and happy and prosperous productive valued people. Friends you are already all of those things! Yes we have dysfunctional families, and some of us ourselves are dysfunctional! I think that’s what makes life interesting. Imagine how boring life would be if things were perfect all the time. If you woke up every single day with no drama, no thoughts of what you were going to do or eat or wear or think. Life is not boiler plate thank goodness! It’s those ebbs and flows that make life worth living. It’s the roller coaster ride that makes your heart race with excitement one moment and dread the next. It’s the not knowing of it all that makes the uncovering of it so much fun!! Some things SUCK (this is my word of the week by the way) they can suck the life right out of you if you let them. Or you can pop a chocolate truffle in your face and suck that up (I just did) or you can strap on your sneakers and get your *ss to the gym and suck that up ( I will later). You can dive into the Water and hopefully not suck up too much of it pool or sea or whatever J (Maybe it’s just me but there’s just something about fruits and vegies…that doesn’t inspire sucking them up but hey if it floats your boat grab that lemon and suck away!!) I’m not perfect, not in the least bit. My life can be insane and crazy and quiet and peaceful all in the space of a minute. The best part about it is that it’s my life and I am living it. I am human and yeah I get caught up in the who’s late to dinner, and who was going to bring the dessert and forgot, who is supposed to be my family but forget that they are even alive much less that I am. Sure I have feelings and they get hurt, and they get hurt pretty easily too. At the end of the day though…you know what….who the heck cares? I am hurt, I am feeling sad, and the best I can do is to feel it and move on. Sometimes I talk about it, I let the feelings be felt I let them have their voice and sometimes it’s louder than others and the burning hot molten lava covers the earth and burns up everything in its path…{{sitting in zen position deep breath….}} sigh… and then I move on. Nothing more I can do about it and if I throw myself a pity party…well I forget to invite anyone else {or I incinerated them} and I end up eating all the cake and Cookies and chocolate truffles myself!!! See now this is my issue!! J There are always going to be bills to pay money to be made and things to be done. Long before me and long after me, this will be true. All I can do is float along. Life is what happens around and in between those things. It’s not the cookies it’s the baking of the cookies and sharing them. It’s about sharing yourself and who you are with others and allowing them to share themselves with you. Thank you all for reaching out to share your thoughts and your stories, your inspiration, motivation and humiliation! (OK so that’s me) and I confess, I had a salad for lunch, a bag of bean chips, two chocolate truffles and may just have a candy cane too before the work day is done. I won’t beat myself up over it, but I’ll enjoy it and move on….to the gym and hopefully tomorrow I will be able to tie my sneakers!! My legs are still sore from Saturday and I think tonight is core work! Lord give me strength! Muffin top sounds so delicious doesn’t it…too bad it doesn’t look as good!!!

@@HealthyNewMe Nah just stop having parties and get invited to them instead!!!! It's so much easier to pick out the right outfit and bottle of wine!!! OK so maybe I'm spoiled..I have all those things. I call them my husband and children

@@Julie norton {{{hugs}}}} xoxoxoxoxox all those fluffy things headed your way extra extra today!!!

When you read the word Ego…what do you think of? Some arrogant self-righteous holier than thou person? OK you would be right, that’s me. That is also YOU. We all have an ego, it’s that part of us that we identify with that can be good or bad but mostly it keeps us contained. It’s thoughts of what is good and bad what is right and wrong are rigid. They are set in opposition to enlightenment and growth. Perhaps we do this because we need the challenge and who better to challenge us then ourselves? After all do we listen to our parents, our children, our teachers our Doctors when they tell us to do this this way or that way and that there is no other way because they said so?! Or do we learn our lessons best when we push against the boundaries of what we know or think to be true? The ego puts us in a box, and it’s our job to lift the lid no matter how many bricks we have piled on top of it, or baggage we stowed on top of it we must pick it apart and lift the lid. Eventually to free ourselves from the box to live the life we were meant to live. So I have found myself battling this ego of mine, there are days when I really think it’s beating me and I am just so darn tired I want to allow the box to stay closed and just lie down at the bottom until all the baggage falls in and crushes me. I want to stop trying to hold it all up! I have a strong will, a strong sense of self, and yet……and in that moment I had an epiphany! These are the very things that are holding me back. I am trying to lift a lid off this box it’s laden down with box upon box upon box of which I find myself at the bottom of. Holding it all up, and of course I am weakening! I am not meant to hold up all of this!! It has to drop, I have to let go!! How to let go without being crushed? Maybe because of my ignorance I deserve to be crushed beneath the weight that I have chosen to take on!!! And so the pity party has begun!!! Lisa has RSVP’d and decided to bring all the cake and Cookies and candy and make sure she ate her share of them all!!! Zing…. there it was again, that nagging feeling that this is my ego talking. My ego wants to sustain the pity party and keep me in that box. Keep me laden down with all this weight, keep that control at all costs. I admit it, I caved and I am cowering at the bottom of the box. My hands are curled around the peppermint candy and fresh baked cookies and as that little zap of enlightenment hit, I realized that the celling did not cave in. I am still here, yes I am at the bottom of this box. Yes I lost sight of what’s outside as I let go of the lid, but I have realized that if I am busy using all my strength to simply hold up the lid with all the weight piled high on top of it, there is no way I will ever get out! So today, right now my friends this tiny insight has put a hole in the box. It’s a tiny hole, I can see the light, and I can see a little more clearly what I am working with and what I must do. My next step is not to try lifting that lid again no matter how tempted I am. My next step is to recover., to heal, to breath to understand this part of my journey and to let it be. To be comfortable enough in this box to know it well enough that I can begin to dismantle and remove the weight on top of it that holds me in. Yes it may be one tiny peppermint sized bit at a time, and I know my ego is going to fight me every step of the way. I has beaten me back a bit…but if I can use my strength not only change what is but to affect what is I know I will find success.

Amazing!!! Love the dress and the smile you look GREAT!

@@Dragonfly8a I'm sorry that you are going through this, and I have to be harsh with you here for a minute. If you are bleeding internally to the point that you are seeing this dried coffee ground like blood you need to do a little more then just loosen the band! You need to get yourself to a Dr. and have an upper endoscopy done to make sure that there is no band erosion and/or slippage or other things like stomach ulcer and/ or the dreaded "c" word! No one wants to hear that but all those things can be possible so check it out and don't assume that it's all band related. If you have the all clear, then you need to keep that band relatively loose and allow your self to heal. You know what to eat and what not to eat by now, and you can make this work by hitting they gym and turning that 30 pounds into lean muscle. Don't mess with your health and your life over 30 pounds it's not worth it. You have done amazing so far, keep living and enjoying life and take care of yourself!! Please follow up and let us know how things are going.

@@dylanmiles23 Thanks Arlene that made me laugh! You are so right people are just AMAZING!!! I will tell you I knew a gal once who went on the Montell Williams show about her husband. Truth be told in our world we thought she was a loon...but compared to the loon's on TV she was pretty tame and that is saying ALOT!!! So happy for Jim!! You look awesome and I hope your having a grand time in FL. The weather in NY stinks...getting ready for a monsoon they are predicting tomorrow, and me with out my duck feathers! Ah well...hope everyone else had a great weekend!!

@@MattLAustin Dr.'s have their differences in where they place the port. I'm not sure why but maybe just preference. Mine is on the left side just under the rib. I can't measure between incision sites b/c as you lose weight and your body changes the site of your scar moves from where the port is sewn to the muscle under the skin. After surgery my port site was the most annoying pain, so if your not feeling it don't sweat it your Dr. will know where to find it Congrats on the surgery and welcome to Bandland!

Three cheers for fitbit their arsenal of products are great. I have had just about everyone of them and so far my favorite is the newest fitbit charge. If you are a smart phone user the flex is just as awesome though it will not count the stairs climbed, and you can only read the number of steps when you open up the app on your smartphone. The charge will do just about everything that fitbit one would do. It tracks sleep, steps, stairs climbed and has timers you can set to get yourself moving if you know that your supposed to be in the gym or someplace at a certain time. I also have the Aria scale for weight and body fat and they all sync together. I enjoy all their products. My hubby uses the flex and we like to "out step" each other every day

OK ladies I have to share my story with you all. I divorced in 2005. LONG before I even knew or would think about WLS. I was HUGE I was close to my highest weight ever at the time. My husband who I had been married to for nearly 20 years and with since the time I was 15 years old, had three children with was cheating on me. (can you even imagine that someone would cheat on me?! me either..but it happened.) The relationship had been going down hill for a long long time. We were not happy being together and we would fight about everything. When I think about it now, I understand how very different we were. I grew up, and my ex never really did. Even today he is still a man child! The story in it's entirety would make you laugh and make you cry and make you cheer! I could write a movie about it no doubt...and someday... The crux of it all is that when we split (I threw him out. I think Beyonce wrote that song irreplaceable about me! Yes because everything you own in a box to the left. Or a garbage bag because just about everything was mine and my doing so he was left with nothing but his underwear.) I had a flash of major insecurity jeered on by him and who would want me...and be as "good" to me...hmm...if that was his idea of good...BAD would be better was my thinking!! Still I was having what for me is a rare flash of insecurity about myself here I was this 35 (at the time) year old obese MORBIDLY obese woman divorced....(ugly word) with three kids! Who would find that attractive? Who would want me?? Well I wanted me...I forgot me for a long long time and I needed find out who I was again. So I did. I ditched the husband and took up the mantel of single working mother of three! OMG just thinking about it makes me tired...friends who were half my age at work came along and hooked me up with Yahoo personals, and got me on the internet and there I was at night in my bedroom chatting with men I had never met before! (Scandal!) I was able to be bold and myself out there on the interweb.. (lol) and when it came time for that first "visit" of the ex and my kids...I couldn't take it I was so upset. I was about to curl up and cry but instead I got dressed and I went out on OMG what...yes a date! With some random guy I had never met only chatted with online. I met him at Starbucks and though he was not my type at all...he was not a wacko...and I felt like I had achieved a victory of sorts and got over my "fear". My ex was shocked to say the least when I got home and he asked where I was because I made him WAIT for me. I was around the corner but I still made him wait a good 20 minutes for me to arrive at the house. I told him on a date and I felt AWESOME! What did he think I would actually sit home and cry over him? Nope I was done with him and the crying, and it was time to move on and reclaim my life and remember who Lisa was and what she wanted out of life. I met quite a few nice people, and enjoyed dating for what it was and it helped me to build up my confidence and self esteem again. Then I met Ken. His profile said "rescue me" I thought to myself man I feel that way too. He also was separated going through a divorce and I thought just from reading his profile we had something in common. Well I'll save all the rest of the details for that book/movie...and suffice to say that we connected and 7 years later I was married again! Something I thought I would NEVER do again!! Never say never my friends! We both got married and we were at the largest weight either of us had ever been. Fast forward a year later and Ken was told he would need a hip replacement and no Dr. would touch him at his weight for that type of surgery. So we both had labpand surgery together 3 days apart. Today we are alive and happy post hip replacement surgery and working toward our weight and fitness goals. Don't get me wrong...divorce is HARD. It sucks, it's gut wrenching and if you let it it can destroy you. I can tell you this after the fact when you look back from a good place in your life you can see where both parties were at fault and you can accept your role in it and move on and you will be happier and healthier for it. You don't have to admit that to the other party just know it for yourself. There is life after divorce, and WLS and plastics and it doesn't matter if you are fat, skinny, blonde, brunette, green eyes or brown. The key to it all and to finding happiness is finding that in yourself first and foremost. Love yourself for who you are. If you don't know who that is take the time to find who you are and define what you want from your life and in a partner and go for it!!! Before I met Ken...I sat down with myself and wrote out what I wanted in my "perfect" man. I forgot about that..until cleaning out my bedroom and getting ready for his operation I found that paper and read it...and I can tell you that it described Ken to a "T" and I wrote it long before even having met him. You are all strong wonderful people and I know that you are going to find your way through it and look back and say ah ha... All my best to you!

@@ms.lissa I'm sorry you are having such trouble. I would advise you to speak with the surgeon who performed your surgery. Ask them if any Fluid was placed in the band during the surgery. Even a primer as this could be adding pressure to the band and the swelling you have internally. Removing even that tiny bit and any air could bring some relief. Acid reflux is a cause for irritation to the stoma. Though you may only feel it as it comes up the fact that your stomach is very acidic all the time can be causing this additional swelling. Try using some ice pops to get some hydration in and reduce some of that internal swelling as well. If you consume beverages like tea or coffee cut those out as they also tend increase the acid in the stomach. The same for any type of sauces or citrus juices/fruits you may be consuming. Try to stay bland until you are feeling better. I would also ask your Dr. to recommend a Gastroenterologist to perform an upper GI or endoscopy to check the actual placement of the band and see what kind of environment is going on in your stomach. This will help the doctors to determine what type of treatment you might need to reduce the acid and allow your stomach to heal and reduce the swelling in the stoma as well. A good pro-biotic won't hurt, and you can get capsules you can open and sprinkle in Soup, or in Water. Feel better and please let us know how you are doing!!

A while back I came across this quote..and I have made it one of my life's motto's. What you allow is what will continue. So good for you for not allowing these things to ruin your day, or night or your life. We all get tied up into other people's BS now and again and that's all part of our connection, but when it becomes uncomfortable we have the right to put a stop to it I have to remind myself of that far too often!!

Try using a tiny medicine cup to sip from. More then likely you have internal swelling as indicated by @briefs199. Eating some ice pops will also help you get your fluids in and even hopefully help to calm some of the internal swelling going on. Take it slow...you just had major surgery give yourself some time heal