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The pain pump delivers numbing medication directly to the tummy. It doesn't make me groggy, but the vicodin does a little. I doze on and off. I am not eating much. I had 2 half cups of cottage cheese and a protein bar. I just don't have an appetite. I have been drinking though. She was was more concerned about liquids than food today. Tomorrow I will resume a more normal diet but today all she cared is that I ate when I took my antibiotics and that I either had a protein bar or a protein drink. I am resting. I am sitting in my chair with my computer on my now expansive lap and check in every once in a while. I am not a big TV watcher so I get bored just watching TV. I would much rather be reading. I can't do a lot of it cause my eyes start to get droopy but in short bursts I can do just fine. Alright I have to say one more time that I have the BEST DH in the world. The poor man has to go with me when I go to the bathroom and yes...I had to pee in front of him for the first time ever. I know...TMI! But he doesn't even bat an eye. He checks on me regularly but is not overbearing. I think I have the perfect man. He has to empty my drains and doesn't think a thing of it. In fact...I think he likes playing doctor! The fact that he is not working right now makes finances tight but it is very reassuring that he is going to be here with me. Okay enough mushiness from me. I am going to get up and walk. My butt gets sore if I sit too long. And yes...I am allowed to get up and walk every 1.5 to 2 hours.

Jabba the Hut is NO MORE! The surgery was 4.5 hours long and I was discharged 1 hour and 15 minutes after the surgery was finished. Yeah....they are very efficient there! The doctor has already called me at home to make sure that everything is going well. She is the sweetest lady ever. Then the anethesiologist was a hoot. Seriously had the best bedside manner ever. Those guys are usually stuffy jerks but this one was cracking jokes and we were talking chemistry right up until I dozed off. During surgery she only removed 4.1 pounds. She was not able to get the tummy TOTALLY flat but said that she would do that at a significant priced reduction when I have my breast lift. She just didn't want to compromise blood flow. So there will be a tiny little pooch right underneath my breasts but the rest of the tummy will be flat. She actually went out and discussed it with DH before making the final decision on what to do. She could have made the decision on her own, but instead opted to discuss it with family...how cool is that! She truly is an amazing woman and doctor. You can already see improvement. I am obviously still in the binder but it is so flat! Makes my boobies look REALLY big now though! DH says he is going to have to get two sticks to beat off the high schoolers! I already had a few flirting with me at the end of last year. Kind of creepy...no one ever hit on me when I was fat. At first I didn't even notice that they were doing it...then I got freaked out.

Fortunately my school let me take my laptop home for the summer since they knew I wouldn't be able to sit at my desktop and work. So that is why I can be on here. The surgery was 4.5 hours long and I was discharged 1 hour and 15 minutes after the surgery was finished. Yeah....they are very efficient there! The doctor has already called me at home to make sure that everything is going well. She is the sweetest lady ever. Then the anethesiologist was a hoot. Seriously had the best bedside manner ever. Those guys are usually stuffy jerks but this one was cracking jokes and we were talking chemistry right up until I dozed off. During surgery she only removed 4.1 pounds. She was not able to get the tummy TOTALLY flat but said that she would do that at a significant priced reduction when I have my breast lift. She just didn't want to compromise blood flow. So there will be a tiny little pooch right underneath my breasts but the rest of the tummy will be flat. She actually went out and discussed it with DH before making the final decision on what to do. She could have made the decision on her own, but instead opted to discuss it with family...how cool is that! She truly is an amazing woman and doctor. You can already see improvement. I am obviously still in the binder but it is so flat! Makes my boobies look REALLY big now though! DH says he is going to have to get two sticks to beat off the high schoolers! I already had a few flirting with me at the end of last year. Kind of creepy...no one ever hit on me when I was fat. At first I didn't even notice that they were doing it...then I got freaked out. Well I should probably go post on my plastic surgery thread. I am going to just copy and paste this as I don't want to think!

I am home and actually not in a whole lot of pain. Just a little groggy. They sent me home about 1 1/2 hours after I was out of surgery. That place was crazy!

I am home! Still a little groggy but otherwise doing great. Thank you to Janet for posting.

Alright...we are leaving in just a few minutes. IndioGirl will post when DH texts her. LJM will be posting on the blog. I will post when I get home! Buh-bye rolls! Hello Flatlands!

Alright...I am leaving in about 5 minutes. Janet will post updates when DH texts her. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers. They are appreciated!

Just got a call from the surgery center. My surgery doesn't start until 9AM tomorrow so it will be late when I get home. It is still scheduled for 6 hours so I should be out of surgery around 3PM. My DH will text IndioGirl and she will post when I am out of surgery. I will post when I get home. Thanks for all the well wishes!

Just got a call from the surgery center. My surgery doesn't start until 9AM tomorrow so it will be late when I get home. It is still scheduled for 6 hours so I should be out of surgery around 3PM. My DH will text Janet and she will post when I am out of surgery. I will post when I get home.

Good luck to all of you. Julie I feel you on the whole restriction issue. I had to have a total unfill because the over restriction combined with my need to increase calories for marathon training was killing me. As I lost weight I actually had to have less and less of a fill. It makes sense if the stomach lining thickens. I guess that is a good thing in the fact that erosion won't happen as easily. Good luck to all of you.

I forgot to post this for everyone. I found 97% fat free Hebrew National Hot Dogs at Wal-Mart a couple of days ago. They only have 45 calories per hot dog. So for those of you who are not planning to spend their 4th of July in a compression garment sipping on a vicodin margarita this could be a great alternative to bring with you to a BBQ. Also if you are looking for sausages...Johnsonville has great Turkey/Cheddar sausages that are 130 calories. If you can find the Jenny-O Turkey cheddar sausages they are only 120. I eat these a lot for Breakfast. I love em! You should be able to find any of these in the hot dog section of your favorite grocery store! I should have gone into advertising!

I forgot to post this for everyone. I found 97% fat free Hebrew National Hot Dogs at Wal-Mart a couple of days ago. They only have 45 calories per hot dog. So for those of you who are not planning to spend their 4th of July in a compression garment sipping on a vicodin margarita this could be a great alternative to bring with you to a BBQ. Also if you are looking for sausages...Johnsonville has great Turkey/Cheddar sausages that are 130 calories. If you can find the Jenny-O Turkey cheddar sausages they are only 120. I eat these a lot for breakfast. I love em! You should be able to find any of these in the hot dog section of your favorite grocery store! I should have gone into advertising!

Thank you for all the birthday wishes. I had a wonderful day. The best part is...this was the first birthday that I remember that I wasn't self conscious. We rode go karts today and I never once had to worry about if the seat belt was going to fit! In fact...it was too big and the guy had to help me adjust it SMALLER!

We had a blast today. Though food wise...ugh I got a little sick. We had some lemonade with real sugar at the fun center and then went and rode go-karts. I almost hurled. I don't normally get car sick, but I was so sick that I had to go to the car and eat some WASA crackers! I know it is my birthday and I go runng for the healthy stuff. Then we went and ate at a local Italian place and I had 2 raviolis that tasted like heaven. They were in a piccata sauce (which was pretty much all oil) and were heavenly, but again...got a terrible tummy ache and a roaring headache between all the oil and the sugar. Then I came home and took a nap cause I wasn't feeling all that great. We just had dinner and had homemade pork chile verde nachos. Seriously...it was healthy and I had to actually leave the room because I couldn't stop eating them. I will post the recipe later because it really is something that we can all eat...especially if you dont make it into nachos. DH just finished my lemon cake but I amnot sure that I can eat much of it. I am so full. I don't usually eat this late either, but I am going to have to make an exception because this cake is fantastic. My leg is doing MUCH MUCH better today. In fact there was no pain when we were bowling and mini golfing today. It was great. I didn't run out of energy. Only problem was the wooziness from the sugar overload. Well I am going to go check some of my other threads and then hang out with DH.

Ooooohhhh....Forgot to post this. Here are the official results! Official time: 2:40:29! Here are the stats: Official Pace: 12:15 Age division rank: 76 / 96 Overall rank: 768 /1161 Gender Rank: 495 / 842 I am thrillled with the results. I can't imagine what they would have been if I had not been injured. Next year...I will own that course. Not too freaking shabby for my first attempt!

You can be excited for me....my leg is getting much better. It hurts and my muscles in my entire body are still fatigued, but it is gettinb better each and every day. I think that most of my problem was dehydration. I drank water at EVERY mile, but the weather was unbearably hot and frankly I didn't train for hot weather. That was a mistake on my part, but one that I will be ready for. Not all of it was my fault...we didn't exactly have a lot of hot weather. After I get the clearance from my PS at about 6-8 weeks to start training for the Eugene Marathon I am going to invest money into some proper running gear including a hydration belt. I bought one earlier where you can store water bottles while you run but because of the way my rolls are on my tummy it didn't fit quite right and really just pissed me off! However there is one that isn't so bulky but as you guessed it was more expensive. However, it will allow me to store more water than the 3 oz that you get every mile and will allow me to store my own electrolyte drinks. I thought that I had a stress fracture in my foot, but it is doing much better and perhaps it was just a bruised bone. I have done NOTHING for the last 2 days so I really am babying myself. Though I have to say...it sucks. I am BORED out of my mind and I am not sleeping well at all. I think it is because I just don't do anything all day. I get this way every summer. I am getting very excited for surgery. Though a bit anxious...but not for the reasons most people think. I don't know that I can sit on my butt for a week doing nothing. I was fine after lap band surgery cause I was a couch potato...but not any more. That is what kind of freaks me out the most. I got 6 books at the library today from six different authors so that I can send DH back for the authors that I like. Well...I am going to go lay in bed and read!

You both seem to be doing well...despite some occasional bumps along the road. That gives me such hope! My surgery is so close. As for the exercising my post op instructions tell me to do a 20 minute "brisk" walk everyday starting on week 1. My doc has said that she wants me to do this faithfully 4-6 days a week...but NO running. She said brisk is like a 2-3 mph pace that I can eventually speed up. I get to do that up until week 6. At week 6 I can then ease back into a normal regimine. I never thought I would be anxious about not being able to workout...but I am. I thnk that is the worst thing for me. I haven't been able to workout the last 2 days because of the injuries from the half-marathon and it is killing me. What the heck am I going to do when I can't REALLY workout for 6+weeks. She cut my gym privileges until Sept 3. AAAAAAHHHHH.....withdrawls!

You look fabulous. That is such a transformation. More importantly you look so much healthier. There is a glow in your skin now that wasn't there before (and it isn't just that rare sun in the Pacific NW!). Keep up the great work. WOW!!!

You did great this month! I hope you are proud of yourself! My suggestion is to pick a challenge next month that allows you to do some of the cross training that you were talking about. When I started I did sessions. I would only count a session if it lasted longer than 30 minutes. That way I could vary my workouts to include weight lifting, running, eliptical, and walking. Well I finished my challenge for the month and I will not be doing anything except limping around. My leg is still pretty sore and my foot is killing me. We went grocery shopping today and it was not a fun experience. Every muscle is sore. I have had so much Powerade zero today trying to rehydrate my body. When I stepped on the scale this morning I was down 3 pounds. I am not going to count it because it is mostly dehydration. That is another reason I am so sore. The heat yesterday was a KILLER. There was a big write up in the newspaper about how much the heat caused the athletes problems at the race yesterday. On top of the half marathon there was also the full marathon, a half Iron man triathlon and an endurance duathlon. SOme of these people didn't finish until 2 PM when the heat was in the upper 90s.

Frangi you look AMAZING. I truly hope my results are that good! Well your breasts will look better. Mine are going to have to wait...a long time...unless we win the lottery! Wow...that is such a transformation!

Thank you to everyone for the encouragement, support, and well wishes. The run was so invigorating. It was such a milestone in my journey and one that I won't forget. The leg is doing better, but I am pretty certain that I have a stress fracture in my opposite foot. I thought it was just the tendonitis that I struggled with early on in the training, but this is much more localized. Then swelling around the achilles tendon has gone WAAAY down thanks to lots of icing and some VERY chilly ice baths! Fortunately with surgery just days away I have no choice but to rest. I only have one last activity planned before then and that is to go to a fun center (bowling, arcades, go carts, mini golf, batting cages) for my birthday on Tuesday.

By the way...thanks for the compliments on the run. I too am very proud of myself. Now...If I could just sleep! It is 2AM here!

Yeah I am sort of frightened of ebay! I have never purchased anything except text books from there, but I think I could spend WAAAAAAAY too much money. Fortunately I have a good 2 months before I am going to be doing much running. I may get to do some walking/jogging by the end of august, but the PS had me suspend gym priviledges until mid september. So...we will see. But I will definetly check them out when it comes time. I will be training for a marathon in May here, which is a good time for us. Still cool...not freaking HOT like it was yesterday. But where I live the winter season is BRUTALLY cold...so I will need something to keep me warm when I am training. I will most likely have to do most of my training in the gym, but I am hoping to still be able to get outside when there isn't a layer of ice on the ground!

Wow that sounds painful! Yikes. I did want to let you know that when I was training for the half I didn't do a lot of long runs. I would do 1 per week. I would run about 4-5 days a week (but you are much more advanced than I was). Anyways...I would run 10-12 miles on Sunday and then the rest of my runnings days would just be a 5K. That is the nice thing about the half-marathon is that you don't have to do so many long runs in a week. I didn't do half bad on my half-marathon. The official results are still not posted but according to my nike+ I was at 2:41:11 and that is with forgetting to stop it...and with some pretty major injuries. The swelling near my achilles tendon has gone down significantly thanks to a lot of icing and some VERY chilly ice baths. But now I have a spot on the opposite foot that I fear is a stress fracture. It is VERY localized unlike the tendonitis that I had earlier on. Thankfully with the upcoming surgery I have no choice but to rest! As for running clothes, I am going to have to invest in something after surgery. Right now I have a running skirt that I love, but I too am a cheapo and the ones that they sell at wal-mart are too big in the legs and I get major chaffing. There is no way that I am going to be able to spend that kind of money on running pants though...not after dropping 17000 on my lap band surgery and 10000 on PS. I think cheapo and chaffing are here to stay for a while!:thumbup:

I finished it in an unofficial 2:41:11 according to my i-pod. Race results have not been posted yet. I will update as soon as I have. The run did not go as I had planned. I was not able to run the entire thing due to a MAJOR injury at mile 8. My leg is quite swollen...but I pushed through the pain as much as I could and slow jogged as much as possible. The achilles tendon is very sore and yes...I shed tears on the course from the pain. I also ALMOST threw up from the pain. The couse was AWFUL. I don't know how you get a circular course to be almost all uphill... but they did. We also started late and the last 5 miles are in the open...no shade and it was 89 degrees by the time I finished. However, I am still thrilled with my results. My ultimate goal was to be under 2:30...but that was pretty farfetched. Had I not had an injury...I would have easily made it. For the first 8 miles I was averaging a 10:33 min/mile. I would have EASILY been in under the time. However, even with walking part and the injury...I still made it in under my reasonable goal of 2:45. As I said before...I don't have the official results yet and I forgot to turn off my ipod so the time should be more like 2:40 something. I am VERY pleased with the run. I was afraid that I would be disappointed in myself...but I am not...This is an AMAZING accomplishment. I am so proud of myself. I have not only overcome 105 extra pounds, but if you could feel the pain that I experienced through most of this run...you would understand why I couldnt' run the entire thing. The pain in my leg was so severe that at one point the aid station people suggested that they call a medic. Since my leg was not discolored or bruised I figured that the tendon had not torn and I was going to finish. I walked/limped as fast as I could and did run the last mile. That takes determination and guts. I did it...I did it...I did it!