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Last year my family went to Disney World during the Christmas season and had a great time. Since my granddaughter will be 4 soon and can not go once she start 5 year old school my husband, daughter, son in law and his parents have decided to go this year also. I am hoping I can loose enough weight between now and then to go and not get so tired like last year. I'm really excited about the trip and hope I feel so much better. This is me & Mickey 11/2011

Today marks my 6 month anniversary.. I am 11 lbs from goal, but not trying to lose anymore weight. I officially posted my before, during and after pics in the success section of VST if you are interested in looking at them.. but i will post 2 pics here.. my before and after. I again would like to say thank you to everyon that followed my blog and my journey.. I hope I was able to inspire some of you and be a helping hand to anyone that needed it... And i appreicate all of your support. so without further ado.... me at my heaviest.. me yesterday 06-11-12

One year ago today i made a choice that has changed my life. One year ago today i said ok to having lap band surgery. Not knowing what was going to happen to me later on but scared and excited all at the same time. I didn't have my surgery until September but today is the day i said ok to changing my life forever. This time last year i was well on my way to three hundred pulse and my feet, knees, legs, back, everything hurt. I huffed and puffed everywhere i sweat doing the smallest things and i wasn't sleeping well and i couldn't figure out why. And exercise was a very dirty word for me. I didn't wear a swim suit all summer or even for the past seven years of my life. I couldn't wear the girly clothes because they just don't have pulse sizes everywhere you go. I was limited on things that i could and would do. I was unhealthy and unhappy and most of all i wasn't a fun person. On the inside i wanted to be someone who could do everything that i wanted but on the outside i knew that i wasn't. After hearing about lap band i knew that i wanted to do it and i knew that i was going to. So one year ago today is when i found my dr the next day i made the appointment and today here i am a little wiser and allot healthier. Im still not where i want to be but im so far from where i was. I have worn a swim suit and i have shopped at ever store in the mall and i don't have to wear a size XXX L and my pants are not a size 20 and my bras are not a size 44 D and my underwear are no longer a size 18, and i don't have a ring size of 11 on my ring finger. Today as of right now i wear a shirt size of Large a pants size of 13 juniors underwear size med and a bra size 38 B and my ring finger size is 8. Granted i have been through hell and i have been in bandster hell and i made it! I have had problems and i have still made it to here healthy, happy, and for the first time in a long time excited about life. When i am ask knowing everything that i know now would i still have done it my answer is always the same YES. Knowing everything that i know I still would have done it. Do i ever get scared when i feel like something is going wrong YES but i seem to always make it through the hard times and come back and looking back i would do it again every time. If you are sitting here today wondering if you should have lap band because of all the stories you have read and all the horrible things people have told you, im here to tell you that its all up to you. If you want to go for a healthier life then look at all your options and find the one that works for you but don't ever let anyone tell you that you cant do it. You have to do this for you not for anyone else! I love to exercises now and i go to the gym every day that its opened i am going back to school i have a full time job and i am married with three kids. Before lap band half of the things i do now where not possible but with the new me anything is possible. Don't ever get down on you because you can change and you can make your life what you want it to be! When you start don't let yourself stop and take the time to reward yourself. Make the change for you not for anyone else. OH and one more thing I got to meet Jessie James last weekend and i had the courage to ask him to take a pic with me something that i could have never done before lap band!!!!!!

I am not going to lie. I hate Mondays. And it's not just Mondays, it is really just whatever day starts the week off. I have had Mondays off here and there, but this is the first Monday I have been able to relax, kick back, and enjoy me. No worries of work the next day, no chores around the house (I finished those pre-op!), no school work to start. I have just been able to focus on my health and supporting my new lifestyle. I walked around the yard a number of times today. I got to take in all the flowers that are blooming - although sadly many of them have died due to the lack of rain. I got to listen to the birds, watch my dogs run around and have fun, and get in some good old sunlight vitamin D. I am not having as much pain as I had been having. I realize I have not updated this blog since I was still pre-op. I will write a synopsis of my immediate post-op experiences later on, as I am currently battling sleep. I am able to move up and down out of the chair easily now. I only am waking up once or twice a night, and not every time needing pain medicine. I am really taking the time to enjoy my foods. I don't know how long it has been since I made a meal really last. Today I had some homemade chicken soup broth and it lasted me like 45 minutes for just a small 4oz glass. It really was incredible and I felt totally satisfied afterward. Before surgery that would have been down in a matter of minutes and I would have been wanting more immediately. Even after a whole bowl I may not have been satisfied. I guess I just wanted to take a minute to share that even in just the first week after surgery, I am appreciating my life more. I am only looking forward to all the great things I will continue to rediscover in my life =) I hope everyone is doing well! I'll update more later.

Hello fellow bloggers This is probably just a little bit of vanity so please excuse me. It's just that I have finsihed sending off all of my paperwork now for my operation and I am feeling great. I should know if my ERSB has been approved by next week (should be fine) and once that is through, it is clear sailing to my date with Mr Sharpie. Well I still have to go through the pre-op diet of course but to be honest, there is a part of me that is looking forward to it...it means that it's the "end of the world as we know it"...lol. In the best possible way. I am so lucky that several of my friends and work colleagues have had this surgery and they have been so incredibly supportive, telling me of their experience which has really reduced some of my anxiety. For anyone dipping their toes into this pool (gastric sleeve) I highly recommend asking even what you think is the dumbest question of someone who has had the op, preferably close to where you will be having it. In hearing the stories of others there is a vast difference between how things are done depending on which country (or even which state) you live in. But for me, having someone to ask really functional questions of has reduced my anxiety significantly. I am sure as the date draws nearer that my neuroses will rear their ugly little heads again but for now, I am just excited. I hope that this feeling lasts for the next month! I am hopeful though and not stupid - it's unlikely but I am going to enjoy it for as long as I can!!

Yesterday was my one month post-op anniversary. I am 20 lbs down and really feeling good. I am still struggling to get the 64 oz of water my nutritionist wants me to get, but I am getting close. I have only had one fill and that was interesting. My doctor does fill with floroscopy so they can see and hopefully make sure they don't over fill. My 10cc band currently has 2.5 cc's. While my fill did not hurt a bit, I passed out. Apparently I have a sensitive vagus nerve, when the fluid was pushed into my band quickly I got dizzy and went out for second. It passed quickly and the doctor said that from now on they would have to push fluid slower as to not agrivate the nerve. I go back in one month and hopefully will be down another 20, but know that is unlikely. The first couple of weeks I was dropping lbs like no bodies business, but now it has slowed to the 2-3 lbs a week. I am just happy it is headed in the right direction. I am so looking forward to being in onederland. I am enjoying the lower grocery bill each week. I find I eat so little it take fewers groceries for me and my hubby. Don't get me wrong I am still eating, but I am just eating so much less than I did before surgery. Of course the extra eating and eating the wrong things got me to 244, so now I am turning that around. I am so thankful to have had a good experience thus far. I am so scared of getting stuck or throwing up that I am VERY careful when eating. So far I think the best part of finally having had the surgery is the feeling like food no longer controls my life, I control it. My days aren't about what and when the next meal is, it is about the here and now. I do wish I would have done this 5 years ago when I first looked into it.