freelance frog

Haha! I've been known to make up a few words in my day!! It's a fun way to record everything.... I've gone back and read over it a lot and met some really cool people doing it! Sent from my moto z3 using BariatricPal mobile app

That should say "blogged" the entire experience Sent from my moto z3 using BariatricPal mobile app

Thank you!! July 31 will be here before you know it!! when I had my lap band I plugged the entire experience and it helped so much I'm actually thinking of doing that again for this.... [emoji5] Sent from my moto z3 using BariatricPal mobile app

I'll try to shorten this long story! Back in 2011 I had a lapband! Until about a year ago I was a model lap band patient. The surgery was wonderful, I lost 156 pounds in less than a year, and due to a horrid issue with reflux, hiatal hernia repair, and more reflux when the repair didn't "take" I'm here... about to have a new weight loss surgery in hopes of both "fixing" the reflux, and dropping the almost 60 pounds I gained when all the fluid was removed from my band. I'm a little nervous, because technically a gastric sleeve can make reflux worse, but after going back and forth and back and forth on the issue, my doctor still believes the sleeve will be my best bet due to a separate issue I have that has in the past required prednisone therapy... even though I told him I'm never taking prednisone again... EVER... I don't think he wanted to take any chances. So...... we have a plan. And it starts with the removal of my band and me getting a sleeve. I'm ready to drop the extra weight, but more than that, I can not wait to sleep through the night again... reflux SUX and it sucks almost as much as weighing more than 270 pounds a whole lot of years ago!! I'm seriously praying this works! I realized today that I'd forgotten about this forum which I frequented previous to my lapband surgery.... and I'm so happy to know it's still here! I have questions... and it looks like y'all have answers! Anyway.... my surgery is at noon tomorrow!

I used to frequent this forum, and somewhere along the way I got used to a new normal, and I haven't been back here for a long time. I was thinking the other day, that I should check back in, and sprinkle some hope around... because more than 5 years later, my story remains a textbook case of Lapband success and I love sharing it for those who are struggling through their first few weeks and months post surgery! Today I weigh 138 pounds. I most certainly haven't forgotten I have a band... it's still VERY present in my life, and a daily reminder of so many things. I still have "stuck" episodes... more often than you might imagine.... there are still foods that I can't eat, and never will be able to... there still exists the very real possibility of cheating my band, overeating, re-gaining all of my weight and having the past five years be for absolutely nothing... but during all of these things I have gained a huge appreciation and love for myself that I never even knew was possible. And I don't know what tomorrow will bring, but today.... it was all worth it! Every single pound I worked so hard to lose! Every single ounce of blood sweat and tears I've put into trying to take care of myself. Every doubt I had along the way that I was eventually able to turn into hope, and every person who I hadn't seen in awhile who had NO CLUE who I was! That last one was and still is kind of entertaining to me! I won't lie... I still have a few hang ups.... I won't date men who wanted nothing to do with me back then... but who are all about going out with this NEW me.... they piss me off. I still tend to buy clothes too big for me... a LOT. So I've started forcing myself to try them on before leaving the store to avoid returning everything later! Other than those things, I think I've adjusted pretty well to my new body. I was fortunate enough to not have to have secondary surgeries to get rid of excess skin. My skin turned out to be very elastic, and because I worked out from the first week of my new life, it just kind of melted away with the fat. Sometimes it still blows me away that I have lost an entire other person's worth of weight... when I imagine carrying all of those pounds around with me for all the years I did, it's absolutely amazing that my body held out as long as it did. I love taking care of it now... and I love my other butt! Here's a current photo... it's a selfie, but it makes me happy, because it's a pretty accurate photo of me!

It's been awhile since I've been here, and I thought I should check in and say hello! It's been awhile since I've updated "My Other Butt" blog as well, I'm thinking close to a year. I know, I know.. I ought to be ashamed of myself, but that year has been an over-sized portion of awesome, and I'm just not finding room for guilt and shame today! I have always been a lover of life, and I have always known that there is a difference between existing, and living, yet the past year has had many lessons to teach me about knowing my own value, and refusing to settle for less than my own happiness. In the process of painting my life with ALL of the colors rather than being too lazy to change the two or three I have always settled for, I learned that I had NO idea what it meant to step outside of my comfort zone, or to really think outside of "the box." It makes me chuckle to think that I thought I'd been doing both of those things for years! In about a month it will be two years since my lap band surgery. Most of the first year was spent in awe of how quickly my body changed, and the second year has mostly been spent in awe of how my mentality, attitude, metabolism, energy, health and perspective have changed. And after all of that, I can say that I'm still the same person that I always was, I just have new vision and appreciation for the things that I was blinded to for so long. When I first began this journey, I could only hope, dream, and wonder what changes would take place for me in two years time. It seems like in the blink of an eye my focus changed, my will became infinitely stronger, and I find myself making a valiant effort to learn how to be "selfish." It's not easy. It is my nature to be a pleaser and a giver, neither of which are bad things until giving to others and pleasing those I love become more important that what I need for myself. I speak up more. I say "NO" more. I no longer feel guilty for speaking my mind or saying "no",these days. Both of those in huge contrast to the way I dealt with them two years ago.... I'm learning to stop saying" I'm fine" when I'm not, and I'm learning to be honest when asked what I need, or what I want. (Gasp). Both of those are things I've been unable to do for far too long, and have often seemed nearly impossible to overcome. I'm successful, and still I fail sometimes too, but it's pretty amazing to be able to see a reason to keep trying, and for my motivation to be ME, rather than letting guilt and fear of hurting someone continue to drive me along. . Within the first 10 1/2 months I lost more than the normal weight of another person my size. And suddenly... I was too thin. Wait.. WHAT? Yep, you saw it right. I got too thin before my first year out from surgery. It took my boyfriend, my family, and my good friends to convince me that I needed to have some fluid removed from my band so that I could eat more. For the first time in my entire life, I needed to GAIN weight, and I can't begin to tell you how terrifying that was for me. I wasn't even remotely convinced that I could do that without ending up back where I started. I suddenly knew first hand why it was so important to pass a psychiatric evaluation in order to be approved for the surgery. The entire process has affected far more than my physical body.. in fact, I'm very sure that so far the physical changes are minimal compared to the emotional and psychological changes I've seen in myself. Right now I weigh 149 pounds. I am barely over 5'3". I wear size 7 jeans, sometimes size 9. I was down to size 4. I wear size large shirts, and had been down to a small and occasionally extra small. My body is curvy, and I look very average, and very healthy. My hair is starting to look shiny and thick again after getting very damaged, thin, and dead looking that first year. I am still my own harshest critic, and I will always be afraid of waking up one day and the past two years of my life will have been nothing more than a dream. It's still surreal, and I'm afraid I may never let my guard down and get comfortable enough to stop worrying about giving up and getting fat because I forgot to take care of myself first, or I forgot how lucky I am that my band worked exactly how it was supposed to without complication and without taking 2 or 3 years to reach my goal. For me, it was magical, and miraculous, and though I wish I could say easy, I absolutely can not. I worked hard. I learned to listen to my body and what it needed. I learned to stop denying my body, mind, and spirit. I made some sacrifices, and I overcame strong fears to do the right thing for myself. Don't believe for a moment that any of it was taking the easy way out. Don't believe that when I say it was "magical" that I mean without effort or pain. And if you're just starting out on your journey or perhaps just researching the lap band as an option for yourself the most important thing you should know is that everyone's story is different. You may do it faster, you may take three times as long to see results. You may breeze through every aspect of it without incident, or you may find obstacles at every turn making you question your choice or your ability to see it through. Standing here nearly 2 years later I don't have a single regret. Lap band was the perfect choice for me. And even though I accomplished what I set out to do, my current weight and body aren't the best part of the deal for me. The best part is at the end of the day I know who I am, I love who I am, I didn't poison my soul or compromise it by being afraid to stand up and speak out, and none of that can be purchased or forced on anyone. For me it was the positive result of taking care of myself nomatter how inconvenient, time consuming or difficult it got to do so. I wish the same realizations for all of you! Here's me: with nephews and grandbabies

Just stopping by to say it's ALLLLL worth it!! Every gas pain, every struggle, and every doubt that creeps in (because they do sometimes!) I'm 15 months out and have lost more than 150 pounds. I feel healthy and strong and I look damn good if I do say so myself! The first year flew by for me, and thinking back on it it's better than a dream come true! I'm a different person in so many ways, and there is just no price tag that could be placed on that kind of gift. It wasn't easy, but watching the pounds melt off was so sweet that I wasn't even tempted to slack off! I've always loved life, but the 125 pound me loves it with gusto! Hang in there!

The first six months I could eat whatever I wanted.. just not a lot. The last six months my restriction kept me from eating things like bread, rice, lettuce, hamburger and chicken that wasn't super moist... but strangely enough I've always been able to eat steak!! I think it's because the texture of it lets me chew it so well that it just goes down easily. So.. I've sure eaten a lot of steak lol! I don't honestly eat a lot ever now. My meals are very small, and everyone freaks out about that, but obviously I'm eating enough. I'm healthy, and never go hungry! I really miss eating salads, but I can't chew lettuce well enough I guess so it never settles well. I love that it takes very little to satisfy me but that also makes me need to constantly be aware of what I do eat because it has to count!

When I first started my journey I thought about how I would reward myself too! Somewhere along the way in this past year the constant weight loss distracted me and when I reached my goal (I lost 150 pounds in one year) I completely forgot about that. I'm skinny now hehe... what an AWESOME reward!! I wear size 4 jeans and size small shirts now... REWARD! Honestly, I can't think of a single thing I could give myself that would outshine what I have already done for me~ a new body is about the best reward I can imagine! Happy Losing Everyone!! Trust me, it's BEYOND worth every struggle you will encounter!

Happy wedding planning!! Loved your blog today ~ I love hearing positive stories, and it doesn't happen all that often it seems! Isn't it fun to share?! Congratulations to you! You look AMAZING Miss BOMBSHELL!!

Thank you phatkatblue!

I wasn't put on a special diet either! I was happy about that lol, I wasn't looking forward to what everyone else was having to do. Now that I'm at my goal I can tell you not to worry about it.. it didn't make a bit of difference for my journey!

The day of my surgery I weighed 273! My highest recorded weight was 278 I believe.