Day 2, Let The Gas Begin!

The title says it all. Oh my gas pain. It is kind of stuck in my torso so it is uncomfortable. I walked 2 blocks yesterday and while it was great to get out of the house, it really started working that gas around. It is definitely absorbing into my system.*TMI* I let one loose this morning and my son said it shook the house. LOL

I took a shower this morning and should not have. I cried in the shower from discomfort and standing/bending and then cried again when my husband had to dress me. Thank God he loves me in my crazy phase.

I had my first complete protein shake for lunch which is 8 oz and was full. Almost uncomfortably full. It was the strangest feeling ever with such a small amount of "food." Obviously the band is doing its job!

Day 1

Well, I'm feeling much better than I did yesterday. I won't sugar coat it, it was the worst pain I have ever experienced in my life...and I have given birth! The gas discomfort, the incision pain, the mental aspect of "what the hell did I do" and telling my loved ones to remind me of why I put myself through that. Yeah. That bad. But, in hindsight I think a lot of it was also coming out of the anesthesia. Speaking of anesthesia, I was focused on Fiji when I went under but wound up thinking of my freakin office when waking up...and then almost puked. However, my anesthesiologist did tell me that he didn't think I was his patient because I didn't look like I needed the surgery. I told him I have heard that a lot lately but he hasn't seen me naked yet. :-) But to add insult to injury, my monthly visitor decided yesterday was the perfect day to arrive. Why not knock it all out at once??

Here is a picture of me before all of the agony




So after sipping on water and my fruit drinks that I got from the doctor's office all day/night, I am having my first shake. I had actual hunger pangs this morning so I figured that was a good sign. I am sipping so I #1 eat slower and get into that habit, but also so I don't overdo it. I took some pics of my incisions and have to say they are not that bad. The big one in the middle is where my port is. That is the most painful one too. My belly is SO big from the gas and swelling. It still is today.




I have decided to not be a scale stalker. I can't. I want to see the changes in my body instead of obsessing over a number. That throws too many people off and has me in the past as well (ie. when on WW). I will weigh in at my docs office on Friday and then decide from there how often to face the scale.

Thank you so much all of you for all of the well wishes, messages, texts and phone calls. It means so much to me!

I will leave you with the pillow that they sent me home with from the hospital. My mom, Corey & Austin all signed it and it makes me :-)

Twas The Night Before Surgery

I am t-minus 11 hrs from surgery and YIKES!! I'm nervous. I hope to go to sleep soon. If not I will watch Grey's Anatomy on my phone all night. Did my first shower tonight and have another in the morning. I'm thinking they are afraid I'll stink.


*WARNING*
Below are my "Before" pictures. For those of you who say "you dont need lap band!" here is just one if the reasons I am doing it. Talk about putting yourself out there, every nook, roll & cranny. Thanks to my mom for playing photographer...and Josie for modeling in the 1st picture :-)

I'll see y'all on the flip side!!!

Pre-Op Appt

Today was my pre-op and it was a long day. 6 1/2 hrs total between my doctor's office and the hospital. But it is all good to go. Friday cannot come soon enough!! Now I sit at work trying to make up for the fact that I missed 3/4 of the day.

I learned a LOT at the meeting on how to eat and supplement properly and am all stocked up on my liquids & supplements for the first month. 90 grams of protein/day does not come easy my friends, but I am up for the challenge. Don't want a bunch of hanging skin in the end. I know some will be inevitable but I will fight the rest :-)

I can report, however, that in the past 2 weeks since my last weigh in at their office, I have lost 9.3 lbs. I credit it all with the liquid diet I have been enduring the past 3 days and just loss of water weight, which means that my first week WL will probably not be as high as others because I have flushed out so much of the water already. I guess we will just have to see at my 1 week check up on 6/3.

5 lbs of Fat Chilling on My Lap

Barf!!

Liquids- Day 2

I survived yesterday, but not without having tuna (mixed with mustard and Franks hot sauce...SO good!!) at about 2:00. Did my Herbalife shake for dinner and I was cool.

Sick of shakes already so I am having soup today. Cream of chicken with herbs is YUM!! Stocked up on more soup and yogurt last night. I think I am ready for my liquid stage of recovery!

Liquid Diets Can Kiss My Grits

My doctor is not requiring that I do any sort of pre-op diet, but I decided that I would do one on my own so that my liver is not "inflamed" before surgery (they prefer that you lose 10 lbs before surgery for that reason). It.Sucks.

After gorging myself on about 58 lbs of steak and chicken yesterday at TdB (my "Last Supper" as my husband and friend put it), protein shakes leave a lot to be desired. However the shakes I am trying today aren't too shabby. I was super excited to find one in Dark Chocolate flavor. I am taste testing this week to figure out which ones I actually like before I live on them for 2 weeks post-op. See my lunch below.






Now, I know that it will be much easier once the band is in place and I have restriction, but dang. Thank heavens for the blog to get my food frustration out.

Today I Bought My Mini Goal Dress

Maybe a little fast, but so what! It immediately caught my eye at the FABULOUS Bella Bridesmaid shop down the hall from my office and it was a sample, so super cheap! It is 10 sizes smaller than what I am now. It is my goal dress for Slumber Parties Annual Convention 2011 which will take place in the Spring of 2012. I am secretly hoping to have to buy another one as well, but I love this dress!!

The always fabulous KL is modeling the dress on the hangar...the 2nd picture with her head cut off shows the shape perfectly. And yes, we do model clothing in the break room at the office :-)

Is This How It's Done?

I seriously have no idea what I am doing when it comes to blogging, but I think I get the gist of it...write your thoughts and let the world (or no one) read them :-)

I am having LapBand surgery on Friday, May 27th and decided to start this blog to document my journey not only for others, but for myself as well. We tend to forget where we started and this will be a good reminder.

I know that there are several people who are not terribly supportive of me going under the knife to lose weight, but to be honest, I really don't care. I am doing this for me, for my health. I don't think I need to "explain" myself, but I am going to list the answers to some questions that I have received in the past few weeks. Maybe you naysayers will understand a little more after reading:

1. Why are you doing this?
- Why? Because I am extremely unhealthy. I have hypertension, PCOS, borderline diabetes and am 110 lbs overweight! Why wouldn't I do this?! It was not a quick decision...it is something I considered for 2 years but was too chicken to pursue because I viewed it as the "easy way" out, just as many people do. I have learned that it is very much the opposite.

2. Why choose surgery? Didn't you do well on Weight Watchers/Atkins/Phentermine/Herbalife?
- Yes, for the 10 years off and on WW (and other WL methods) I did well...until the past 4 years. I have gained 50 lbs since getting married. I struggled to lose 20 lbs before my wedding and not for lack of trying. I worked out 4-5 days a week for 1-2 hrs at a time. I followed my points. I hired a private trainer and gained 15 lbs in that year (and no, not from "muscle")! I was diagnosed with PCOS in January and it all clicked. It is VERY difficult for me to lose weight simply because of the fact my hormones are out of control and over the past 5 months we have not been able to get them under lock and key.

3. Does your family support you?
- Most of them do, yes. My husband, son and mom (who are local) are excited for me to be given this chance and want to see me as the person I was so long ago. While I am happy, I was so much happier 80 lbs ago :-) My sister and step-mom are in IA and while my sister is excited for me, my step-mom was/is nervous about what I am getting into, but feels better since she read up on it. My dad is in his own world and I really don't think he cares either way :-) My in-laws are supportive and have also seen my battle first hand.
My work & Slumber family is supportive as well. My bosses love to tease me but see how excited I am, and my PIC (Partner In Crime) KL is awesome as always. She has even volunteered to take all of the contents of my snack drawer ;-)

4. Are you scared?
- Yes. Sh*tless in fact. Scared of the first surgery I will ever have. Scared of completely changing the way I eat (or even look at/think of food for that matter). Scared of having issues in public because I ate too fast or took too big of a bite or didn't chew enough. Scared about eating out and being scared to eat. Not being able to enjoy Aliante (or any) buffet anymore (gasp). BUT I know that I will have the support of my family and close friends (2 who have had WLS themselves) to help me succeed and, of course, the staff at Dr. Atkinson's office.

5. How fast will you lose weight?
- It all depends on me and my friend "the band" (I am thinking I should give it a name). They say generally you have a big loss the 1st month and then things slow down. I was told to expect 1-2 lbs a week, so I am setting the goal have lost 75% of my excess weight (or 80 lbs) in the first year. Usually you reach your ultimate weight loss at 18-20 months. I have already found a dress for Slumber Parties Annual Convention next year and it is 10 sizes smaller than what I currently wear now. :-)

6.Will you have the band removed after you lose your weight?
- Hell no! I still have my retainer in from when I was a teen...this sucker is not going anywhere.


I think that, for the most part, covered the questions I get regularly. I will be posting my "before" pictures on here as I will have my husband take them the night before surgery and will take comparison pictures every 20 lbs or 2 months...unless I am feeling particularly hot some day and just post for the heck of it. I really am quite the camera whore, even if I am a chunky monkey :-)