Post Op check and weigh in

Blogland! Guess what? I have a loss! :)

Starting Weight - 291
Last Week - 276
This week - 274

Being post op this week, I have been bloated and swollen, so losing weight was not expected. Sure it is only 2 pounds, but I am stoked. The swelling is going down, but the gas pain came last night. Talk about a delayed reaction. Maybe because today I have been sitting down more. The last couple of days I have painted 2 rooms of my house, and converted/made an old bookshelf into a wine rack with an upside down wine glass holder. I have been pretty good at not lifting anything, but a paint brush and power drill doesn't weigh that much. Hahaha.

I just got back from my surgeon's office for my post of check. Everything looks good. I have some bruising, but all in all, things are awesome. I did mention I am sometimes having a hard time getting a deep breath, especially when I am wearing a bra, but she said it was because of the anesthesia. She said my lungs might have deflated during surgery, so I am just trying harder to fill it back up. Weird right? It isn't horrible, I just find myself catching my breath once in a while.

Eating (okay, drinking) has been great. I have been getting in my protein and soups. I haven't been hungry, which is I guess a perk of healing. I just have to remember my water. My doctor has me on the schedule in 5 weeks for a fill. At this point, I can't even imagine being tighter, but I am sure by that time, I will want one.

Thank you all for keeping me in your thoughts!

Day 2 post op

Wow. Things are going much better than I was anticipating. I feel great and I moved on to full liquids. There is a lot of funny gurgling and noises coming from my tummy, but no pain. I wish it wasn't pouring down rain. I really want to get outside for a walk.
So here I am, sitting on my couch, watching the biggest loser. I am now onto season 2. Hahaha. Makes me want to get up and start working it, but I know my time will come for that. Now healing is the important thing.
I have my follow up appointment Friday at 10. I hope the doctor likes what she sees. I did weigh this morning just to see how bloated I am, and I am up just 2 lbs. I'm not worried about that at all... but the weird thing is ( OKAY I might be gross here, so if you don't want to read, you don't have to) it isn't easy to pee. It doesn't hurt at all, it just feels like, you know, when there is someone around, its harder to relax.. that is how it feels. It's like a little trickle, and when I am done, I get up, and 2 minutes later, I feel like I have to go again. I don't quite know how to explain it. I'm sure it will get easier.

WARNING: Pictures of my belly fat ahead!

Here is a picture of my belly with my 5 incisions. The big bandaged one is my port. I feel that more than anything else. Not bad, just feels like I pulled a muscle doing sit ups.

Man I look swollen.

Why is it easier to post pictures of fat on these blogs, but I won't even let my family see my stomach?

Welcome to the other side, I have my Band!

Thank you all who were thinking of me today. Things went really well. I actually feel great!!
Here is the recap of the day:

We got to the hospital at 6am, checked in, and got dressed in the lovely gown and double sided traction socks. First the nurse came in, asked me my name, DOB, and what kind of procedure I was having.Obviously they knew, but they wanted to make sure I did. :)
She started my IV, gave me a shot in the belly to help prevent blood clots, then added some antibiotics to the IV. Next the anesthesiologist came in and asked me the same questions, and told me exactly how it would work and what to expect. That made me feel better, because being put under was actually more scary to me than the procedure. He was a nice guy to boot. Then in came my surgeon and asked if I had any last minute questions. Truly I felt so prepared from our previous consultations, and what I have learned from all of you, that I didn't have any. She did surprise me with the fact that I can shower whenever I want to. I was expecting to have to wait like 3 days. She reiterated my after surgery diet of today being clear liquids, then regular liquids the rest of the week. Next week mushies, then the following week solids if I can tolerate it.

I just realized I have been rambling with a lot of details. I hope you all don't mind. I guess I want to write it down in case I forget later. So bare with me the rest of this blog, :)

Here was the weird part. I was ready to be wheeled into the operating room, cool compression things around my legs that made it feel like a massage. I'll take it. I got to the OR and saw all the tools and probes. Holy Cow.. good thing they gave me a relaxant because then it was real. I scooted myself onto the operating table, they strapped me in, and the anesthesiologist said, okay, I'm putting the mask on. Took some good, deep breaths, and I was gone. I had some crazy dreams, but when I woke up, I couldn't remember what they were about. I did wake up with horrible back pain. I have a history of back spasms, and it sucked!!!! I told the nurse and she got some pain meds in right away, so after I had them sit me up to make it feel better, the pain went away fast. But then I started to shiver and my teeth were chattering really bad, so they gave me something for that too. All in all, that was the worst part, but it only lasted about 5 minutes. I was wheeled back to my room about 5 minutes later and was told to relax while I waited for the chest X-Ray. Every time I closed my eyes though, the room was spinning and it made me nauseous, so I watched Family Feud. I miss the old version. Oh well.

About a half an hour later, I got up, then got in a wheel chair and was taken down to get the X-Ray while drinking the gastric coating solution. It was a bit different then the barium I was expecting, and didn't taste very good. After that was all said and done, I was taken back to my room. By that time, I just wanted to stand up and walk around, so the nurse let me change into my clothes, asked me to make a pit stop, and wait for the x-rays to be interpreted. Luckily that only took about 10 minutes. I was cleared to go. I got home at about 1pm.

I was so thirsty when I got home, I was sipping on coconut water while watching the episode of biggest loser on Netflix that I didn't finish last night. HAHAHA

Soon I was sleepy, so I went to bed for a good 3 hours. Still not really any pain. The place where she put my port is the most annoying pain, but really nothing. I can't believe it. After my nap, we went for a walk around the lake by our house. Walking really feels great.

So if you are still reading, thank you. Thank you for all the encouragement, and the good vibes sent my way. I hope tomorrow is just as good or even better than today.

I will keep you posted.

Last night before the rest of my new life

Well, the time has finally come. It seemed like such a waiting game, but all of a sudden, here it is. I get my Lap Band tomorrow morning!!!
Last week I was nervous, tonight I am excited. I feel really calm and happy. I had my man take my before pictures, and I had my measurements taken, so here are the results.. right out here on the Internet for all to see.

See you all on the other side!!!

Pre-op, weigh in, and gowns

Good morning blog world,

Here is my weigh in:
Starting weight - 291
Last week - 278
Today - 276

Total of 15 lbs down! Woohoo.

Yesterday I got the grand tour of our hospital... by way of doing my pre-op. First stop was same day surgery. I met my nurse that will be there when I go in at 6am Monday morning. I will be the first case of the day :). She was such a sweet gal. I was given some special soap to wash myself with in the shower the night before as well as the morning of. I was told what to expect, and that I should be good to go by noon or 1.
Next stop was the lab. Had to pee in a cup and give them some blood. Piece of cake.
The downstairs to diagnostic imaging for the chest x-ray. Again, a very sweet nurse! This is a great hospital, full of amazing people. Can't forget the wardrobe change...

I am such a dork, but the gown looks pretty sexy riiiiiiiiiight? :)

After that, I left the hospital and went to Safeway to pick up some last minute items for next week. Needless to say, I AM READY!!!
I've got a lot to do today at work to prep for a week without me.. I think they will survive, but it is a bit questionable. I love my job and the people I work with, but I am stoked for a week off.

I will try and blog through this whole ordeal. I really want to capture what I go through, so when I get frustrated later, I can look back and see how far I really did come.

Call from the Doctor

So I got a call from my surgeon the other day, and she wanted to inform me of the recent articles and information about the Sleeve. I was caught off guard with her call for sure, hoping that nothing was going to go wrong, but I was delighted that she wanted to let me make my decisions informed. She didn't really have an opinion on which surgery is better, she just told me the "facts". She does however, think I would be very successful with the band, and that her local track record is a 95 % success rate. I think she has done about 35-40 lap bands in this town. Only a couple have not lost what they wanted to. That seems good to me. She also said she really likes to keep up with her patients and keep them on the track of success. AWESOME!!!
I had done my fair share of research on which WLS I wanted to have. Gastric Bypass was out. My aunt had that done, and she never finished losing her weight, she looks malnutritioned, and I don't like the idea of having my guts rearranged. Maybe she did it wrong, but that left a bad taste in my mouth about that WLS. To me, the sleeve is like a mini GB. I know a lot of people have had success with it, and have even converted from the LB to the sleeve, but I still like the idea of keeping myself accountable to my doctor for each fill, having something that could be reversible, using the tool and learning how to change my eating habits bit by bit. (or should I say bite by bite?) So.. I'm sticking with the band!

She also told me that I will have a 10cc band, and will have 3-4cc's in it after surgery. Hopefully with that I can avoid "Bandster Hell"!

I am excited
I am nervous
but, I'm ready.

Did any of you have doubt right before your surgery? I am still losing quite a few pounds on this pre-op diet, and I have only had one day where I was extremely tired and grouchy. But my horrible inside the head voice keeps saying.. well if you can do it now without the band, why would you go through with it.. or... maybe you didn't try hard enough in the past...
Of course I tried hard, of course I could not keep up with this diet.. I would get tired of it, stop making good choices, say the word CAKE and gain it all back plus 10 more.
Must be pre-band jitters. All I know, is that when I get my band, I am going to rock that thing! I have a shopping spree to get to.

And by the way,
I just wanted to say thank you to all of you who are reading and commenting. You are really encouraging and such great supporters. More than I ever imagined participating in a blog would uncover. I am truly lucky to have found all you awesome, strong, women who want to share their lives with the rest of us. THANKS!!!!

Weekly Weigh In

Starting weight: 291
Last week: 281.6
This week: 278

Looks like this pre-diet is working. Goodbye 280's! I have been stuck on you too long.  The first day was challenging, but when I actually counted what I was eating, it shocked me how many carbs are in everything!!! Once I got in the groove of it, it is pretty easy and not too hard to follow. I am surprisingly not hungry (for now). I think I am a bit low on the calories, but I am motivated to do this right for the surgery. I just don't want to put my body in starvation mode.

ONLY 10 DAYS TILL MY SURGERY!!!!

I am getting nervous. But I am looking forward to having a week off of work. I really wanted my mom to fly up and "take care" of me, but the tickets in and out are so expensive, so that is out. My man is taking off my surgery day, and hopefully the day after (it's hard for him to take time off due to his HR job), but then I will be alone in the house the rest of the week. Good thing I have Netflix cued and ready to go.

Any preparation tips ya'll want to suggest?

Getting closer!!!! :)

Day 2 pre op

I won't write my meals every day, but today was much, much better. I still feel weird eating food, when all along the doctor's office kept referring to it as a liquid diet, but at the consult, they said to do this low carb thing. The funny thing is that the instructions also mention that if I cannot do or stay on the low carb diet, to switch to the liquid diet for the rest of the time. Personally, I prefer not to have choices.
Last night I ended up making a shepherds pie with cauliflower instead of potatoes. Mixed in some cream cheese, and sprinkled with cheddar, and OH MY GOODNESS! A-FREAKIN-MAZING. I really liked it. So I thought I found the recipe on Sparkpeople Recipe's, but when I looked again, I couldn't find it. So I tried going by memory. Even today, I still cannot find it. Oh well.. it was yummy anyhow.
I went over my carb allowance yesterday, so I feel bad, and thought maybe I should switch to the liquid diet, but I decided to try again.
So this is what I have eaten (and will eat tonight).

It is REALLY hard to only be at 30 grams of carbs. I work from 8 am till 7:30 pm (due to a part time evening job) so I have that muscle milk around 4:30 to last me till I get home at night for dinner. Not sure if I could cut those out. Maybe I should try celery or other "free" veggies instead to try and last me. Any suggestions? I guess I never counted carbs before. I just worried about protein and calories. So far the scale likes it. We shall see come Friday how big of a difference it can make.

Day 1 Pre Op

I didn't prep as much as I wanted this weekend. Other things took priority. Look what I did!

Before

After

I was am still so sore, and the pictures really don't do it justice, but I LOVE MY LIVING ROOM!!! It feels so fresh and even bigger.

So today I started off with some Greek yogurt. Oops.. it has 22 grams of carbs! My doctor doesn't want me to go over 30 grams a day for these 2 weeks. So that was kind of a bad start. I had a little bit of cottage cheese, some tuna right out of the can, about a cup of watermelon and grapes mixed (which had carbs too), and a protein shake. I like Muscle milk because I can mix it with water, and it has relatively low carbs/sugar. Really handy to have at the office.

I did great with protein, but double the carbs I should have done. The 22.1 would be the number of carbs if I cut out the fruit and Greek yogurt.
You see, the problem is.. it is only 4pm. Looks like salad for me tonight :)

I just sent the man out to get some ground turkey. I totally trying Lap Band Gal's turkey burger tomorrow.

But the cool part is, I am not hungry. You know when you psych yourself out for a really long road trip, and you surprisingly don't feel tired, even after 8+ hours of driving? I think that is what I did to prep/psych myself for this surgery. This is for a very important purpose. It is short term. It preps my mind for my new habits to come.

So I will survive :)

Weigh in

Starting weight: 291
Last weeks weight: 284.2
This weeks weigh in: 281.6

Down is a good direction! Monday I start my pre-op diet. I have some serious planning to do to make sure I am prepared. That is half the battle right? Lot's of prepping is planned for Sunday!

I need a hat like this...

Cheers!

I survived

Last week was craziness, but I survived. Survived the move, the extra hours at my second job, survived the wedding rehearsal, and then the wedding (which was beautiful). Congrats to my BF's brother and new sister in law!

We got all moved in, and mostly unpacked. I see a weekend of painting in my near future! :)

Funny story.. so my man was unpacking some clothes, and he headed to the kitchen. He said, "Honey, I am making you dinner tonight." I was excited, so I went into the kitchen to find this....

Not my CHINCHILLA!!! Poor Inca. Don't cook her.

Don't worry, no animals were harmed in the making of our home! :)  This man truly makes me laugh all the time!

So I saw my surgeon last week. They gave me my prescription, took my "before" pic, made me sign my life away, and my pre/post op diet instructions. It was very interesting to read what they want me to do. All this time I was preparing for a 2 week liquid diet, when in fact, they want me to eat low/no carb, low fat, diet. SOLID FOOD. They did say that if I am vegetarian or cannot follow the diet, to go on the liquid diet. Very interesting to me. I think the best plan of action is to prepare all meals in advance so I don't screw up. I start next Monday!!!!

I love my nurses and doctor by the way. They were just so excited for me and told me I had the right attitude to rock this. I sure hope so!