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dzelak's Blog
 

First Fill

Hi I'm Dawn and I had my lap band surgery on Dec 8th 2010. I have lost 20 pounds so far. I have stayed at this weight now for two weeks. Tomorrow I go for my first fill. I have been watching what I eat. I have tried to exercise but I have a bad ankle. I will try to work through that. I am hoping to lose another 20 pounds before the end of Feb. Any feed back would be great since all my friends have had the gastric bypass and I'm the first to get the lap band.
dzelak

dzelak

3
bandedehs' Blog
 

Protein Amts?

So I am almost 3 months out from surgery. I've only lost about 13lbs which is kind of discouraging except I know some of the reasons for that. I've got crazy bad arthritis which has hindered my exercise plan. Over the holidays I ate poorly. At least I could not eat large amts, but I definitely indulged in sweets & not-great-nutrition-choices.... I have had 2 fills & am definitely restricted & I am surprised that I haven't lost more weight w/ the small amt of food I can consume. Said all that to ask this....are you experienced banders really getting close to 100g of protein a day? I had this great plan of how I would consume protein in liquid form most of the day & add in fish/chicken/eggs, but I am really struggling. One of the nurses w/ my surgeon said 60g is good, but 100 should be my goal. I just do not see how that is possible to consume w/ the restriction I have at this time.
bandedehs

bandedehs

1
A Year of Possibilities
 

Post-op Day 4: Brought To You By The Letter W

What was I thinking not taking today off work? Mondays are my busiest days, with only one prep period. And I have lunch duty this week. Not to mention that my sixth graders are being particularly chatty and unfocused today, which is really annoying in light of the other Ws to follow.   Why when I went back to my apartment to grab my umbrella (because it rains so often in the desert) after missing the bus to work did I also take some of my medicines out of my bag? Specifically my Children's Advil. My port site incision is HURTING. Granted, not the worst pain I've felt in my life, but it certainly doesn't make me want to be around kids today. Fortunately, my lovely friend and school nurse is going to give me some medicine next period while my students are in the library, so hopefully it will feel better soon.   When is nap time? I am tired. Not exhausted, but I could certainly use a nap. Tragically, I don't get a nap today. And the overhead ultraviolet lighting is only making my eyes feel heavier.   **********Nine Hours Later**********   W also apparently stands for wind, and no, I'm not talking about gas. I'm talking about my second wind, which came around 11:00 this morning. Upon reflection, I tend to tell my students I don't wake up until 10:00, so I'm only an hour off my game. Sweet!   And lastly, W is for weigh in. I had my first one post-op today, along with a dressing change which I was dreading. The dressing change was actually no big deal at all. Everything looks good, according to the doctor. And, drumroll please, since beginning my liquid diet eight days ago, I have lost 8.8.bs! Woohoo! This drops me from 292.6lbs to 283.8lbs. In just over a week! In the past nine years, my highest weight was 324lbs. and my lowest was 274lbs. My first goal for myself is to see a number lower than that. I am super excited!
meloney

meloney

3
Yanet Lopez's Blog
 

Finale Te Me Puse La Lap Band!

Hola amigos finalmente me puse mi lap band en Mexico ,estoy tan agradesida con Los doctores y enfermeras que hicieron possible esta cirujia y el cuidado que me brindaron.ahora a comensar una nueva Vidal con mi lap band ,Asta ahora todo ba muy bien mi esposo me a apollado al cien por ciento con mi desicion.gracias a todos ustedes que contestaron a mis preguntas.los mantenre informados.
Yanet Lopez

Yanet Lopez

0
sheilamj1fan's Journal
 

Day 14 On Liquids

Okay today I completed my 42nd mile! Since Monday I have been walking and running a total of six miles! Anyway as far as protein I had:   42 grams of protein in the form of a shake 20oz water vitamins Can of Cream of Celery
sheilamj1fan

sheilamj1fan

3
Caribear's Blog
 

Fears And Concerns

After thinking about it for a long time, I have decided to put all of my fears and concerns down here in writing, no matter how irrational or insignificant they may be. I like to imagine that a few years down the road I will come back here and read this and think "Oh, how silly I was for being afraid of that!" So, here goes...   I am afraid of being one of those unfortunate ones who doesn't lose a significant amount of weight with the band. I am afraid of dying on the table and leaving my family to pick up the pieces. I am afraid of having too much excess skin after I lose the weight and having to battle the insurance company to have it removed. I am afraid of the pain of post-op and recovering from surgery again. I worry that even with the band, I will not be teaching my son to have a healthy relationship with food. I am freaked out by the idea that I may become attractive to other men, and that I will not be able to deal with any attention that I might receive from them (that one takes a lot of bold-faced honesty to actually write down) I worry that my band will slip or erode, and that I will have to have it removed or revised. I am afraid that I will sabotage myself subconsciously and consistently "eat around the band." I am afraid that my boyfriend will not know how to handle my weight loss and either leave or cheat. I am afraid that I will have to struggle so hard to lose weight even with the band that I will give up and decide to be fat and happy vs. thin and miserable. I am afraid that my fibromyalgia will get worse after I lose weight. (I have had several acquaintances with fibro and WLS tell me that this has happened to them) I am afraid that my fibro will keep me from exercising and therefore cause me to gain all my weight back. I am afraid that I will become so paranoid about gaining weight that I will become obsessive about tracking calories, and lose my joy. I am afraid of having the surgery, losing all this weight, and still dying of a heart attack at 50. I am afraid of being labeled as a "cheater" for having surgery instead of doing it the old fashioned way. I am afraid of being under the magnifying glass when it comes to people who I choose to tell, and that they will constantly be watching me and waiting for me to mess up. I am afraid of dealing with my bipolar grandmother once she finds out that I have had this done. She is super judgmental and can be very mean and thoughtless sometimes. I am afraid that some other family members might start getting passive-aggressive when I start really losing weight, as if I were competition to them instead of just being happy for me. I am afraid of losing my boobs. I know this is probably tmi, but they're already on the small side for my weight and I don't want to end up flat-chested. I am afraid of losing my promise ring. It is already starting to get loose and I have only lost 10 pounds. I am afraid of losing a bunch of weight, having my rings resized, then gaining back so much weight that they don't fit anymore. I worry about becoming seriously depressed again after my surgery. I did with the last ones, and nobody told me beforehand that it was normal to get that way post-op. I am afraid that I have already done too much damage to my body and that even after losing weight it won't heal. I am afraid of being denied by my insurance company and not being able to have the surgery in the first place.   That's all I can think of at the moment. The rational part of me says that most of these are silly, and that the rest of them won't be as big a deal as I think they will. But in any case, I have them written down now so that I can look back at them in the future.
Caribear

Caribear

9
luvmylapband's Blog
 

Its Crazy

i was sitting here tonight thinking of different things that affected my body when i weighed 441lbs and i was looking at the bottom of my bare feet and i know this is winter and everybody has dry feet but i can remember when my feet would hurt so bad and they were cracked horribley and would bleed and now there just dry and they look better then what they use to ! i know there's people that feet grosses them out and im sorry but its things like that when you get the weight off that every part of your body gets better ! im sorry if that was a boring blog i just had to share cause i was thinking about it and maybe you have went through it to!
mandyMO

mandyMO

3
starting a new chapter
 

Ill Fitting Clothes

Well--my pants are getting pretty loose now, but I refuse to buy new ones cause I have so much more weight to lose. So---at least for my work pants-which are work issued ugly pants--I decided I had to break down & get a belt. So since I need a plain black leather belt, I just went to JCP & the mens dept. Well when I found the right belt size, I realized that its length was almost as tall as me!!! YIKES!! I AM NOT BUYING THAT!! My waist is almost as round as I am tall???? DENY DENY DENY!! I hastily changed that plan & decided that I will risk a walk down a camera monitored hallway & have my pants fall to the ground to the amusement of everyone!! Americas Funniest Home Videos here I come!! lol
new chapter in life

new chapter in life

3
Blog 98799
 

513 Days Post Surgery - Feeling Great... Almost

So when we last spoke I was planning the hysterectomy on Dec 16th. There was no cancer and the surgery went off without a hitch. After the first two days or so, almost no pain medication was needed at all. I was recovering and feeling great. Then... on Dec 29th I began having pain. It was located up underneath my right breats. We went in to the emergency room about midnight. About three hours later they sent me home. Turns out I had gallstones. All they told me was to take the pain meds I had gotten for the hysterectomy that I had never needed. About 6 hours later, I started vomiting. Since the pain never went away, back to the ER we went. This time they admitted me and did an emergency gallbladder removal. Even though this surgery was lap and the hysterectomy was open, it is so much harder coming back from this one. The experiences were completely different; different surgeons, different hospitals, planned vs emergency.   Not to mention that they kept me in the hospital for three days with orders of 'nothing by mouth' in anticipation of having to do another procedure that never happened. Three days with only the occassional ice chip when I whined to a sympathetic nurse.   But now I'm home, recovering nicely. I have my final followup with the hysterectomy surgeon tomorrow.Hopefully he will clear me to go back to work soon.   In any case, I am down to being just overweight, not obese anymore. Yaay!
clohse

clohse

0
_Jen_'s Blog
 

Adding A Wtloss Chart To Your Blog

{DRAFT DIRECTIONS - I'll keep refining these until they are near exact - That will help folks who are new to using web applications - last updated 1/8/12 1pm pst} This is how add the Chart to my Blog.   Sign up at Myfitness Pal website   Enter all your wt and wt loss settings via the settings link   Go to "Reports" Tab   Select "Progress", Choose a report type "Weight" , Reporting period "Last 7 days"   Click "View Report" button   Once the chart is generated, using print screen or 'snip it' in windows create an image that you can save to your desk top (remember the name! this is the image you will override each week as you see progress)   Log back into LBT. Create a Gallery for this new chart image.   By doing that you do not have to 'host' the image on a 3rd party server you can utilize the URL from the LBT gallery as a means to post the chart in your blog, forum posts etc.   Each week, re log into the myfitness pal site, update your stats, repeat the screencapture sets & upload the newest chart image to your gallery.
_Jen_

_Jen_

0
Cleaned out the Pantry
 

Cleared Pantry - Huge Step

Well I did it. I have never in my life cleaned out my pantry and tossed out anything but I did this morning. Out with the crap, the snack food and anything else that may interfere in my pre/post progress. Better to get in front of this now so that it's not an issue for me post surgery. It's amazing how much money is spent on "comfort" food. I've heard that my taste buds will change. I wonder what it will feel like to see the crap that I used to stuff my face with and have no desire for it.... Not sure what my new addiction will be. I'm already addicted to shoes and purses and Lord knows i don't need anymore of those. Let's try something healthy.....Hmmm I'll keep working on that.   Smooches to self - proud of you girl!  
Who's That Girl

Who's That Girl

3
illgeturhairdid's Blog
 

I Don't Know What To Do About My Family Anymore....

As long as I can remember my mother has been overweight. Over my 27 years on earth I have watched her go from overweight, to obese, morbidly obese, to super morbidly obese and I'm not even sure what comes after that... She weights over 600lbs now though. She's one of those people who doesn't leave the house, has like every known issue related to being over 600lbs, and has recently developed neuropathy in her right foot- in my head I know it's only a matter of time now before she loses that foot/leg. I'm so scared for my mother. I'm scared of being like my mother or becoming like her. I've removed 80% of my stomach for crying out loud.   My uncle is diabetic and is now legally blind as a result of him never following his diet. His kids get mad at you and fight with people over giving their father junk food. Like with literally yell at you that's their father blah blah blah. So last night at a birthday party they want to send me home with cake for my parents. Helloo0o0o0o0o double standard much?   My sister weighs a little over 400lbs and is trying to get insurance so she can have VSG or RNY. Yet knowing she wants to do this she can't stop eating cookies, brownies, candy and whatever else she wants. Even before deciding to have surgery I was conscience of eating those things- and once I decided to have surgery they were a thing of the past for me. The insurance she is may get is only gonna pay for Lapband or RNY. And I'm thinking, she'll have to do RNY because of how heavy she is. And I want her to do it and be healthy! I don't want her to be happy for me but dying with jealousy and longing at the same time when she looks at me. But how is she gonna do this when she never exercises any self-control? No one in my family does! And with RNY she'll have dumping syndrome!   What do I do for my family? I love them so much and I hate watching what is happening to them. I wish they felt like they were worth fighting food for. I want my mother around when I beat PCOS and have children and she's not going to be. I know it is terrible to say but I mostly just need it off of my chest. I almost wish she'd just die now so I don't have to watch it anymore. It's just gonna get worse and become even more taxing on my sister and I as she gets worse and we have to take care of her even more. As it is every meal is brought to her and taken away from her. Tantrums to go get bologna or pizza hut are not uncommon.   And all of this is going on while I still recover from my VSG surgery. I feel like something has to give. When is it enough? When do people wake up? When does it get better? When do we get to be happy?
illgeturhairdid

illgeturhairdid

7
LJM's Blog
 

On A Positive Note

so...this is my very first blog, ever ! i don't really know what a blog consists of, but i had this terrible urge to create one and write... i guess mainly because i fell off the bandwagon. when i started this journey i was full of hope, dreams and determination. That was 5 months ago. i remember how i keept saying to myself that i had failed at every other diet, excercise promgram and i was not going to fail at this. but here i'am once again admitting that i have failed, that i am a filure! i can say this time its different. Because i am taking responsibility. in the past it was always the ''pill'' i was taking's fault, or the excercise regime was too hard, or i dint have time to exersice. but this time i take full responsability of not losing any weight. if ther is a plus that does make me feel a little good is that i have not gained any weight.   since my surgey in 8/11 i have lost 20lbs. I know thats great, and i felt sooo good, it was empowering to fit back into my closthes and be able to bend down and cross my legs without holding my knee !!! but i know in my ♥ i could have done so much better. I realize as i am typing that there is a deeper reason to why i cant stop eating bread and rice and fried foods and exercise regulary. ( i did undulge in those foods, but not in excess ) I am scared of the road to success, becuase it implies the posibilities of failure and quiting. i face it , its happened evertime. thats why i droped out of every activity in my life. I am scared of not succeceeding so i dont try very hard and i dont give it my all. There i said it !! how liberating. That is the truth, in my mind i keep telling myself "' why try if your going to fail in the end?" why go thru all this trouble if sooner or later your going to go back to your old ways. I am scared of giving my all, every ounce of sweat, strenght and feelings if in the end i will feel like worst of a failure. A failure for giving all that I am and still failing. Vs not giving it all and at the end i can say to myself " well atleast you didnt pour everything into this !", makes the feeling of failing less hurtful.   i dont know if others out there can relate. I can say that today is another day and that I am going to try again, and again. This time i am going to give it more and try to change my mentality that its going to fail. i am going to have a little more faith in me and my abilities to succeed. I am going to be positive for a change. My husband says i am a negative person, i answer by say i am realistic of the posibility or realistic of all that can go wrong. for once in my life i am going to be realistic of all that can go right and of the positives.
LJM

LJM

1
LJM's Blog
 

On A Positive Note

so...this is my very first blog, ever ! i don't really know what a blog consists of, but i had this terrible urge to create one and write... i guess mainly because i fell off the bandwagon. when i started this journey i was full of hope, dreams and determination. That was 5 months ago. i remember how i keept saying to myself that i had failed at every other diet, excercise promgram and i was not going to fail at this. but here i'am once again admitting that i have failed, that i am a filure! i can say this time its different. Because i am taking responsibility. in the past it was always the ''pill'' i was taking's fault, or the excercise regime was too hard, or i dint have time to exersice. but this time i take full responsability of not losing any weight. if ther is a plus that does make me feel a little good is that i have not gained any weight.   since my surgey in 8/11 i have lost 20lbs. I know thats great, and i felt sooo good, it was empowering to fit back into my closthes and be able to bend down and cross my legs without holding my knee !!! but i know in my ♥ i could have done so much better. I realize as i am typing that there is a deeper reason to why i cant stop eating bread and rice and fried foods and exercise regulary. ( i did undulge in those foods, but not in excess ) I am scared of the road to success, becuase it implies the posibilities of failure and quiting. i face it , its happened evertime. thats why i droped out of every activity in my life. I am scared of not succeceeding so i dont try very hard and i dont give it my all. There i said it !! how liberating. That is the truth, in my mind i keep telling myself "' why try if your going to fail in the end?" why go thru all this trouble if sooner or later your going to go back to your old ways. I am scared of giving my all, every ounce of sweat, strenght and feelings if in the end i will feel like worst of a failure. A failure for giving all that I am and still failing. Vs not giving it all and at the end i can say to myself " well atleast you didnt pour everything into this !", makes the feeling of failing less hurtful.   i dont know if others out there can relate. I can say that today is another day and that I am going to try again, and again. This time i am going to give it more and try to change my mentality that its going to fail. i am going to have a little more faith in me and my abilities to succeed. I am going to be positive for a change. My husband says i am a negative person, i answer by say i am realistic of the posibility or realistic of all that can go wrong. for once in my life i am going to be realistic of all that can go right and of the positives.
LJM

LJM

1
CVWillis' Blog
 

Comments From My Intervention

The comments from last night were "why do something that drastic, you aren't that big, my stomach sits in my lap too, you know it didn't work for our other friend, she's still big, you can just exercise and get the weight off, girl, that BMI chart is not made for black people, we are built differently, are you sure you want to do that?" All just silliness!!!!!!   I have been told that since I am tall I carry my weight well, but I am tired of carrying it!!! I am 5'9 and weight 302lbs. To me I am huge!!!! I am the size of football linebackers!!!! I carry my weight in my stomach and breast. I have very toned muscular legs. I can get in a size 14 but can't button them up. So I wear a size 22 to get around my stomach. Which leaves the pant legs WAY too big. So I am NOT proportion to me. I am extra excited to be one size one day soon.   I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I know it's not a train!!! Regardless of what people say or think. I am doing this for me. So when I look in the mirror I can see the WONDERFUL person that God created. I will no longer live in this prison of fat!!!! There is a life out there that I want to live and I am going to go out there and do it!!!!   "I'm so excited ... I just can't hide it ... I'm about to lose control and I think I like it ''' whoo hoo!!!!!" <---- That Smiley just aint right ... LOL!!!!!!
CVWillis

CVWillis

8
Shannon Avila's Blog
 

Thyroid Problem And The Lap Band

I was just wondering if anyone else has thyroid problem. I was told by my doctor that the lapband will still work even though I have thyroid problem. He said I can still lose the weigh. I was banded on the 20th of December and from the time I started my liquid diet to today I only lost 25.5 pounds. My first fill will be 01/20/2012
VIDALIABANDSTER

VIDALIABANDSTER

3
doit's Blog
 

First Fill 1/9

I have question about grinding meds. Can you take small pills like Claritan or do you grind everything? Also kind of the same question do you take small chunks or grind everything to a powder? Thanks. Congratulations and good luck to all the blogs I have read. They are all encouraging and exciting.
doit

doit

4
A Year of Possibilities
 

Post-op Day 3: Brought To You By The Letter S

S is for sleep: Last night I slept almost completely on my back, as opposed to propped up, and had the most wonderful, restful night's sleep since before surgery. We're talking 12 hours. It was amazing. I can't imagine how much more amazing it will be when I'm actually comfortable enough to sleep on my side again.   S is for sneeze: So, I've sneezed a couple of times since surgery and it was no big deal. I held a pillow across my belly a didn't try to stifle my sneeze and, surprisingly, it didn't hurt. However, last night while I was on the phone with my parents in America, I didn't want to sneeze into the phone so I did the whole pinch the nose thing. BIG MISTAKE! Oh, man did that hurt. All along the left front of my torso. And it throbbed for like an hour afterward. I hope I didn't tear something. Today it feels much better, but still.   S is for shower: Since I live alone, I was hesitant to shower while the general anesthesia was still in my system. So today I took my first shower since Thursday morning (no fear, I have been sponge bathing). It was heavenly I could have stayed in there for hours. If only the hot water lasted that long.   S is for stupid: I have some very weird food allergies. I am allergic to passion fruit, cucumbers, bananas, watermelon, and honeydew. Nothing too major happens with these allergies, just some scratchiness in the throat or some horrible acid reflux. Prior to my surgery, I picked up a couple of those Isopure 0 carb 40mg protein beverage thingies - a yellow and a green. They're not horrible, but they're not the most tasty things on the face of the planet either, as they sort of have a chalkiness to them. So I had the yellow - pineapple banana - prior to surgery and decided that I didn't particularly care for it as it gave me acid reflux. Because of the banana, duh. Today, I grabbed the green one - green apple - and as I am drinking it, I start to have a scratchiness in my throat and I start to cough. I read the label and, stupid me, it doesn't just say green apple, it says green apple melon! Stupid, stupid Pamela! So I stopped drinking it. The good news is that the coughing helped to bring up some of that nasty I've had a tube down my throat crud that was still lurking.   And that, dear readers, is the end of our sponsorship from the letter S.   This evening I am venturing out of my flat to acquire some more children's Advil, as these incisions are quite stingy, and to go down to the Little Theater for a read through of Arsenic and Old Lace, in which I will be co-starring as Abbie Brewster. That is, of course, if the three roles that presently are vacant get filled during last minute castings tonight. If these roles don't get filled, the show cannot happen. Part of me is really sad at the prospect of the show possibly not happening, and part of me really hopes that the show doesn't happen. Weird? Don't get me wrong, I'm super excited that I got a co-starring role and I love the woman who is playing my sister, but I've got a boatload of things already on my schedule, plus trying to manage my I can't eat solid foodness, plus there's a really awesome concert coming up with Ahmadi Music Group that I really want to be part of but the director said I can't if I'm not able to come to rehearsals for it and the rehearsals are on the same night as Arsenic rehearsals! Jiminy! Nonetheless, I am having about an hour and a half nap then popping into a cab, chicken broth and juice in tow, to jaunt down to the theater. Should be fun!
meloney

meloney

4
3 Flight of Stairs Nearly Killed Me
 

You Mean 2 Tell Me I Can't Tackle A Flight Of Stairs - Wth?

Went to see the Michael Jackson Cirque De Soleil show tonight. Awesome is an understatement. I knew I was a little out of shape but it was confirmed when i couldn't hike three flights of stairs to the arena. By the time i got to the top of the 2nd flight i didn't think i would make it but i pushed trough.....Unbelievable. Say it ain't so. I can't climb 3 lousy flights of stairs without huffing and puffing. Lord, lugging around the extra weight is such a bummer.   The 130lb siamese twin that is attached to me has to go. I'm not sure when this all happened but hopefully I won't have to deal with it much longer. Tomorrow is a new day and will be my first official day of getting things in place for my new lie. I'll start with 30 minutes on the treadmill at 24 Hour Fitness and then I'll come home and clear the pantry of anything that will no longer be needed. If I start now, the transition won't be so hard later. Can't wait for the day that I can run up those same stairs and hen re-read this blog....    
Who's That Girl

Who's That Girl

3
MissTiffany203's Blog
 

Anyone With Aetna Insurance?

Anyone with Aetna Insurance? ; I want to get the lap band done ASAP. I was just wondering, How long does it take for you to get it done? For example: If I have my first appointment on Jan. 9th will I be able to get it done 3 months after or 6? I understand I have to meet the requirements (which I know I already do). Answers please? =(
MissTiffany203

MissTiffany203

5

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