I know it's been a while since I've posted. I have been busy dropping the weight! Woot woot! I actually finally progressed to an almost completely normal diet. My best friend and I went on a cruise to Mexico for 5 days. That was challenging to say the least! For those of you that haven't been on a cruise, it is a fatties dream! LOL! There is food everywhere, every minute. You don't have to cook, clean, or pay for it! It's all included! I don't know if it's because of the band or the fact that I was just on a high from losing so much weight but I really wasn't even tempted to over eat or anything. I did a great job at sticking to the portions. It wasn't always easy to stick to the types of foods so I did kind of slip up a little. I refused to take the elevators almost always. I knew that I was eating a little differently than I should've been so I took the stairs everywhere. It made me feel good to know that not only was I eating way less and way healthier than I would've before the band but I was also CHOOSING to take the stairs!! I would've never done that before! When we got back from the cruise I was terrified that I didn't lose any weight or worse, that I had gained some! I refused to get on the scale!
I got back from the cruise and reached my one month mark which meant that I could officially use my brand new treadmill!! It's very compact and totally convenient. I fold it out, plug it in, and walk on it while I'm watching my TV shows at night. I've always walked Jaxson in the afternoons and that's great but I needed something to do while watching TV. A treadmill sounded like the best option. I set it up on Monday and started working out. I turn off the AC, put ankle and wrist weights on and get going. I decided that I wanted to start slow and build myself up. I wanted to make sure not to push myself too hard and get an injury. I'm pretty clumsy and dangerous! Haha. I've been doing 0.5 mile in 15 minutes, a 15 minute break, and repeat for 2 hours a night! The first night I didn't think I'd make it past 5 minutes but I did. That tiny little triumph helped me push myself even more. Last night I did it without feeling like I might die before the time was up!! Pretty exciting.
I had my first fill appointment yesterday which meant that I would have to face the scale! Ugh! I was definitely worried. I got on the scale and BAM! I am down 37lbs which means that I lost 5 more pounds! OMG! I wanted it to be more but I was thrilled! I have to remind myself sometimes that losing too much weight too quickly is not healthy.
In order to get my first fill I had to go on this crazy diet. Day of fill is full clear liquid diet, day after is full liquids, next day is soft foods, and then finally normal foods. Those of you that know me know that I absolutely despise broth, jello, and popsicles but that is pretty much all that you are allowed to have on a lovely clear liquid diet. I woke up yesterday morning and I wasn't hungry at all. I was thinking, "Oh yeah, I've got this. This clear liquid thing is going to be a breeze!" However, my stomach was just being lazy and hadn't quite woken up yet. By the time 10 am rolled around my stomach was making more noise than a rock concert. I tried a cup of disgusting jello. That worked for about 10 minutes. I tried a popsicle and another cup of jello but there was no filling up the monster! I wanted to stab everyone in the face. I was driving to the doctor's office and screaming at people for no apparent reason! Good thing I didn't have access to weapons at that point!
When the doctor called me back I had to climb on this table, put a pillow in the small of my back, and tuck my shirt under my bra! Ugh! Showing my stomach to someone is almost like showing my missy. Almost. He made me put my arms over my head and lift my legs. Then he stabbed me with a massive needle! The first needle missed my port. Funny thing is that I didn't even feel him stab me! Once again I was under the impression that this would be oh so easy. WRONG! I had to do it again and it was very difficult to hold my legs up for such a long time! He finally got the huge needle into my stomach muscle! Then he made me STAND UP with this huge needle hanging out of my stomach! Then I had to walk over to the X-Ray machine, drink some barium, and then he proceeded to push the fluid into my port. By the time I had walked over to the X-Ray machine, my stomach was burning and hurting pretty badly. Then he pushed the fluid in and I thought I was going to cry! Then it was over and I had to go drink some water to make sure that it went down okay. The burning in my stomach lasted for about 2 hours. Then it went away, thank God. It's just a little sore today. Most people require several fills. You have to wait for 2 weeks before each fill to give your stomach time to adjust. Some people have only 1 fill and some end up having 5. The goal is to get to the green zone which means that you are able to eat the small amounts, stay full, and lose weight. If you're hungry between meals and not losing weight then you need more fluid in your band. If you are not able to keep food down and not losing weight, you are in the red zone and they have to remove fluid. It's a pretty interesting process. I'm hoping that I can reach the green zone quicker. The doctors that do the fills using the X-Ray machines usually get their patients to the green zone faster because they can put more fluid in at a time.
Today I am feeling much better. I am on the full liquids diet. The protein shakes are keeping me completely satisfied. I haven't been hungry all day! I will be really glad to be back to normal foods. You don't realize how much you miss chewing until you aren't allowed to have anything that can be chewed! Haha. Hopefully the next fill is a little easier!
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Back with A Vengeance
I know that it's been a VERY LONG time since I've written one of these. Life kind of got in the way. I got sick, gained all of my weight back and went through a year of doctors and tests. After being poked and prodded for a year and being diagnosed with several different things, I finally made a tough decision. Weight loss surgery. Eek. It's something that I have tossed around for about 11 years now! I have met with doctors, researched and even gone to seminars for all of the different options. I have met people who've had RNY, gastric sleeve, lap band, and liposuction. I've met people who lost all of their weight and kept it off. I've also met with people who lost weight and gained it back. The stories all start out the same as mine.
After I got sick and had to quit doing the shakes I kept the weight off for a few months and then it slowly started coming back. Ugh! After all of the hard work. I tried to do the shakes again but my heart just wasn't in it. One of my friends mentioned her success on weight watchers so I figured I would give it a try. I did it for a month and only lost 2lbs!! Discouraging. One night I was feeling especially bad about myself when a nutrisystem commercial came on. I did nutrisystem for a few months about 5 years ago. I decided to go ahead and give it a shot again. I placed my order and the food was pretty good. They have definitely improved on their menu since I ordered. I did it for a month and didn't order anything. I was hungry and pretty pissy the entire time. On top of that I got some really unfortunate news which really depressed me. I decided to give Nutrisystem another month but I started researching weight loss surgery, again.
I decided a long time ago that I didn't want to do the gastric bypass surgery. Liposuction isn't really an option for me because I have too much weight to lose. I checked into the gastric sleeve but it seemed more invasive than I was really wanting to do. The lap band seemed like my best option. I researched it again for another week or so and then I made my appointment. I met with a patient advocate, did bloodwork, my EKG, and everything on February 19, 2013. I suddenly became extremely excited. I felt like I might finally get the weight off and keep it off. I received a call on March 1 to tell me that the medical board had approved my surgery. I scheduled my surgery for March 19! OMG! I finally had a date and this was real!
I started my pre-op diet on March 5. The diet consists of a protein drink for breakfast and lunch and then a regular dinner. The protein shake should be high in protein, low in sugar, and around 200 calories. I chose GNC Total Lean. They have vanilla bean, chocolate, and strawberry. The chocolate was a little thick for me, I don't do strawberry but I loved the vanilla bean. You also have to give up sodas and bread. That is not just for the diet but for life. Some people are able to tolerate a little bread after the surgery but most can't. Sodas are not good because it's difficult to burp with the band and it makes it really uncomfortable and sometimes painful.
The day of my surgery, I had to be at the surgery facility at 7 a.m. I was extremely nervous but super excited! I had to get down to my socks and a hospital gown! So uncomfortable! They weighed me and I had lost 4lbs! Woo hoo!! They started my IV and I don't even remember the operating room! I came to at about 2 in the afternoon. My mouth was super dry from the Scopolamine patch and my chest felt like a pound of elephants were standing on it. It was literally the worst pain I have ever felt in my life. I had a panic attack. The nurse gave me some meds in my IV to calm me down and then she got me up and dressed immediately. I was then escorted to the XRay room, I took a drink of some nasty junk and they took a picture of the band to make sure it was good. Then she gave me a bottle of room temperature water to drink. The procedure is a day surgery. As long as there are no complications, you drink a certain amount of water, and urinate. Then they send you home. I got super nauseous and started dry heaving. NOT FUN! The nurse told me that I had a hiatal hernia that they removed. I had 6 incisions on my stomach. All of them were small except one that was about an inch and a half long. The chest pain came from the gas that they used to expand my stomach while they were doing the procedure. The nurse gave me some nausea meds. I was finally able to urinate a little and then I was off. My mom was driving me to Crockett from Houston.
The first few days after surgery I was in a lot of pain from the gas. I could only have clear liquids. I was still really drowsy and very nauseous. I started regretting having the procedure done! My surgery was on a Tuesday and I really just laid around until Sunday. Then I drove back to Houston and started back to work on Monday. The first week of work had it's ups and downs. For the most part, the gas pains were gone but sleeping was difficult. I noticed I was tired all of the time. I was allowed to eat yogurt, pureed soups, and stuff. Nothing lumpy! I had a hard time determining whether I was hungry or not. I realized that some of my pain was coming from hunger! The second week of work was a lot better. I seemed to have a better handle of eating. You can only eat 1/4 cup of food at a time which is about 2 ounces! It doesn't seem like a lot of food at all but it fills me up! Insanity!
I went for my post op appointment on March 28, 9 days after surgery! I was actually excited to get on the scale!! I had already dropped a pants size so I knew I had to have lost a little weight!! BAM!! 28lbs in 9 days bringing my total to 32! Suddenly all of the pain from the procedure was worth it!! I was so happy I couldn't stop smiling! I advanced to a different diet. Now I can eat soft cheeses, canned chicken, canned fish, steamed veggies, overcooked pastas, etc. Really soft solids. I can't drink 30 minutes before or after a meal. I have to make sure I get a lot of protein.
I'm learning how to eat right for the first time in my life. I am switching over to a mostly organic diet. A typical day for me now is a protein shake at breakfast, a bottle of water, greek yogurt, another bottle of water, the little tuna or chicken salad with crackers lunch kit, another bottle of water, 3 babybel light mini cheeses, another bottle of water, and then 2 ounces of pasta with cheese. I look at my entire day of food and that's how much I would eat for like a meal and a half! It's crazy! I'm never really hungry. I have to set a timer on my phone to tell me to eat because I will completely forget!
How amazing! I have dealt with this hunger my entire life and suddenly I'm not hungry anymore! It's amazing! I have way more energy than I ever have and I'm just happy! My anxiety has gotten better just in such a short time! I feel like a different person! My face looks different. I get compliments all the time about my weight loss. I am walking every day. I just ordered an exercise ball chair for my office and a small treadmill for my travel trailer! The funny thing is that I don't even miss the sodas or the bad food. I haven't really had a craving for anything either.
Next week my diet will advance even more and then on the 17th I will have my first band fill and I can go back to a regular diet. I am so incredibly excited to go get my fill just so I can see how much weight I've lost! Haha! I have another medical thing I have to address this month that should also help with my weight loss. I've had thyroid issues my entire life and the endocrinologist discovered the problem. I am going to have it corrected and hopefully it will further aide me in my weight loss journey.
A lot of people look at weight loss surgery as an easy way out. I can assure you that the lap band is not easy! It's not a magic bullet. You don't get it done and just lose all of the weight. You have to completely change the way you eat, the food you eat, the amount, and you have to exercise. On top of only being able to eat 1/4 cup of food at a time, I have to make that amount last over 20 minutes! I have to chew each bite of food 20 times!! If you eat too fast or don't chew properly it can make the food come up or cause your stomach to hurt. Most people lose about a pound or 2 a week. Some lose more. It really depends on how you diet. There are a lot of sacrifices that have to be made. You have to really be committed to changing your life to do something like this and I am. It took me a long time to get to this point but I am so happy that I am!! I am ready to do the work and ready to see the results!!
I'm going to try to blog more often. Hopefully, I can stick to it so that anyone considering the lap band can see my progress. Even if you don't have a lap band but are trying to lose weight, I hope that I can help inspire and encourage you on your journey!! Thanks for reading!
After I got sick and had to quit doing the shakes I kept the weight off for a few months and then it slowly started coming back. Ugh! After all of the hard work. I tried to do the shakes again but my heart just wasn't in it. One of my friends mentioned her success on weight watchers so I figured I would give it a try. I did it for a month and only lost 2lbs!! Discouraging. One night I was feeling especially bad about myself when a nutrisystem commercial came on. I did nutrisystem for a few months about 5 years ago. I decided to go ahead and give it a shot again. I placed my order and the food was pretty good. They have definitely improved on their menu since I ordered. I did it for a month and didn't order anything. I was hungry and pretty pissy the entire time. On top of that I got some really unfortunate news which really depressed me. I decided to give Nutrisystem another month but I started researching weight loss surgery, again.
I decided a long time ago that I didn't want to do the gastric bypass surgery. Liposuction isn't really an option for me because I have too much weight to lose. I checked into the gastric sleeve but it seemed more invasive than I was really wanting to do. The lap band seemed like my best option. I researched it again for another week or so and then I made my appointment. I met with a patient advocate, did bloodwork, my EKG, and everything on February 19, 2013. I suddenly became extremely excited. I felt like I might finally get the weight off and keep it off. I received a call on March 1 to tell me that the medical board had approved my surgery. I scheduled my surgery for March 19! OMG! I finally had a date and this was real!
I started my pre-op diet on March 5. The diet consists of a protein drink for breakfast and lunch and then a regular dinner. The protein shake should be high in protein, low in sugar, and around 200 calories. I chose GNC Total Lean. They have vanilla bean, chocolate, and strawberry. The chocolate was a little thick for me, I don't do strawberry but I loved the vanilla bean. You also have to give up sodas and bread. That is not just for the diet but for life. Some people are able to tolerate a little bread after the surgery but most can't. Sodas are not good because it's difficult to burp with the band and it makes it really uncomfortable and sometimes painful.
The day of my surgery, I had to be at the surgery facility at 7 a.m. I was extremely nervous but super excited! I had to get down to my socks and a hospital gown! So uncomfortable! They weighed me and I had lost 4lbs! Woo hoo!! They started my IV and I don't even remember the operating room! I came to at about 2 in the afternoon. My mouth was super dry from the Scopolamine patch and my chest felt like a pound of elephants were standing on it. It was literally the worst pain I have ever felt in my life. I had a panic attack. The nurse gave me some meds in my IV to calm me down and then she got me up and dressed immediately. I was then escorted to the XRay room, I took a drink of some nasty junk and they took a picture of the band to make sure it was good. Then she gave me a bottle of room temperature water to drink. The procedure is a day surgery. As long as there are no complications, you drink a certain amount of water, and urinate. Then they send you home. I got super nauseous and started dry heaving. NOT FUN! The nurse told me that I had a hiatal hernia that they removed. I had 6 incisions on my stomach. All of them were small except one that was about an inch and a half long. The chest pain came from the gas that they used to expand my stomach while they were doing the procedure. The nurse gave me some nausea meds. I was finally able to urinate a little and then I was off. My mom was driving me to Crockett from Houston.
The first few days after surgery I was in a lot of pain from the gas. I could only have clear liquids. I was still really drowsy and very nauseous. I started regretting having the procedure done! My surgery was on a Tuesday and I really just laid around until Sunday. Then I drove back to Houston and started back to work on Monday. The first week of work had it's ups and downs. For the most part, the gas pains were gone but sleeping was difficult. I noticed I was tired all of the time. I was allowed to eat yogurt, pureed soups, and stuff. Nothing lumpy! I had a hard time determining whether I was hungry or not. I realized that some of my pain was coming from hunger! The second week of work was a lot better. I seemed to have a better handle of eating. You can only eat 1/4 cup of food at a time which is about 2 ounces! It doesn't seem like a lot of food at all but it fills me up! Insanity!
I went for my post op appointment on March 28, 9 days after surgery! I was actually excited to get on the scale!! I had already dropped a pants size so I knew I had to have lost a little weight!! BAM!! 28lbs in 9 days bringing my total to 32! Suddenly all of the pain from the procedure was worth it!! I was so happy I couldn't stop smiling! I advanced to a different diet. Now I can eat soft cheeses, canned chicken, canned fish, steamed veggies, overcooked pastas, etc. Really soft solids. I can't drink 30 minutes before or after a meal. I have to make sure I get a lot of protein.
I'm learning how to eat right for the first time in my life. I am switching over to a mostly organic diet. A typical day for me now is a protein shake at breakfast, a bottle of water, greek yogurt, another bottle of water, the little tuna or chicken salad with crackers lunch kit, another bottle of water, 3 babybel light mini cheeses, another bottle of water, and then 2 ounces of pasta with cheese. I look at my entire day of food and that's how much I would eat for like a meal and a half! It's crazy! I'm never really hungry. I have to set a timer on my phone to tell me to eat because I will completely forget!
How amazing! I have dealt with this hunger my entire life and suddenly I'm not hungry anymore! It's amazing! I have way more energy than I ever have and I'm just happy! My anxiety has gotten better just in such a short time! I feel like a different person! My face looks different. I get compliments all the time about my weight loss. I am walking every day. I just ordered an exercise ball chair for my office and a small treadmill for my travel trailer! The funny thing is that I don't even miss the sodas or the bad food. I haven't really had a craving for anything either.
Next week my diet will advance even more and then on the 17th I will have my first band fill and I can go back to a regular diet. I am so incredibly excited to go get my fill just so I can see how much weight I've lost! Haha! I have another medical thing I have to address this month that should also help with my weight loss. I've had thyroid issues my entire life and the endocrinologist discovered the problem. I am going to have it corrected and hopefully it will further aide me in my weight loss journey.
A lot of people look at weight loss surgery as an easy way out. I can assure you that the lap band is not easy! It's not a magic bullet. You don't get it done and just lose all of the weight. You have to completely change the way you eat, the food you eat, the amount, and you have to exercise. On top of only being able to eat 1/4 cup of food at a time, I have to make that amount last over 20 minutes! I have to chew each bite of food 20 times!! If you eat too fast or don't chew properly it can make the food come up or cause your stomach to hurt. Most people lose about a pound or 2 a week. Some lose more. It really depends on how you diet. There are a lot of sacrifices that have to be made. You have to really be committed to changing your life to do something like this and I am. It took me a long time to get to this point but I am so happy that I am!! I am ready to do the work and ready to see the results!!
I'm going to try to blog more often. Hopefully, I can stick to it so that anyone considering the lap band can see my progress. Even if you don't have a lap band but are trying to lose weight, I hope that I can help inspire and encourage you on your journey!! Thanks for reading!
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