JustWatchMe

Best decision I ever made. Good luck. These early weeks will be a faint memory soon. Then you will reap the benefits and start to really live your life. Keep posting!

My band is 14cc and my first fill started with 5cc but the NP drew out half of a cc when she didn't like the barium swallow rate. She drew it down to 4.5 and I swallowed again, and I could feel the difference. I've had no issues at all and will have my second fill in three days. I was scheduled for my second fill three weeks after my first, but I delayed it for my overseas vacation. Your experience sounds unusual but maybe others have had that episode. Are you certain the symptoms had nothing to do with seeing the needle? Good luck to you. PS: mine is done with fluoroscope and I watched it go down. Did your doc use X-ray as well?

!!!!!!!applause!!!!!!!!

This post made my day. Woohoo!!!!!

@@gowalking, book your trip! I am serious. I could not walk one block without gasping six months ago. On this trip I walked a zillion miles and up and down hills on rocky terrain every single day. On Tylenol! No NSAIDs, no painkillers. I feel like a new woman. Italy showed me there's a lot of life left in this 53 year old body!

The Spanish Steps were nice, but totally under construction, as is the fountain at its base. No matter. We walked through Rome and the girls did some souvenir shopping. We've seen so much in two weeks. I've loved being here and absorbing the sights, smells and tastes of this beautiful country. There's a white flowering climbing plant that grows everywhere here. It has the most beautiful aroma. I don't think it will grow in Chicago because I haven't seen it anywhere. Anyway, it truly was the trip of a lifetime. I'm pretty sure I put on a few pounds here, but I'm giving myself permission for that, and getting back on my food plan when I return home. Also will be walking more outdoors. My shoes survived! I have my second fill Friday. Not a bad meal in two weeks, anywhere. I had a tomato and cucumber salad for Breakfast along with my scrambled eggs today. Thank you all for expressing interest in this self-indulgent thread I started. I felt buoyed by your long distance support and it kept me accountable every day and helped me not to go food crazy. We even went to the Lindt store yesterday and I ate two chocolate candies over two days. I gave away the third piece. A few photos will be uploaded when I'm home on my PC. Thank you again, and if anyone is traveling, I'd love to read your adventures too. Arrivederci, Roma!

We went to the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica, and the Trevi Fountain. Feet are dog tired, ha ha. I was very impressed by the map room in the Vatican museum. The accuracy of maps made hundreds of years ago was upwards of eighty percent as known today. Tomorrow nothing planned yet except maybe the Spanish Steps. It's our last day here. I'll be sad to leave.

@@Bandista, I'll check it out at home. For some reason I'm not getting the audio on that link from my phone. Thanks!!!

@@lisacaron, imagine a Relay for Life type event for raising obesity awareness. I've lost as many family members to obesity related illnesses as to cancer.

Roma! We walked to church, and then to the Colosseum. I prayed for my feet. Mass was long, and in Latin. Beautiful music. The weather here is sunny and warm, and starting to get humid. I cannot imagine the stifling heat in full summer. They were sold out of the English audio tour, so we just wandered in the Colosseum and Forum on our own. It was amazing. I was struck by how this thousands of years old structure is right next to a major roadway. (Go ahead, Google map it. Right. Next. To. It.) It stood for thousands of years, and here we come in the last hundred years and introduce constant gasoline and diesel fumes to these enormous walls. We don't deserve this planet. Another magnifico lunch with my daily glass of wine. It made the walk back to the hotel easier! My shoes are still holding out, but today we walked on the craziest stones ever. Huge flat stones, small round stones, medium jagged stones. I will post photos when I get home. Ouch. Stairs, stairs, and more stairs. There are a lot of stairs in the Colosseum. At least I did not have to run up or down them while being chased by a lion. I accidentally on purpose packed nothing stronger than Tylenol in my bag for this trip. My knees and feet have regretted that a few times, but so far I'm bouncing back every day. Hard to believe. I feel like I've been on Survivor! When I get home, I will definitely walk more, and outside rather than on the treadmill. If this vacation taught me anything, it's that I am physically capable of much more than I thought. Well, we will sleep soundly tonight and then take a tour of the Vatican museum tomorrow. Caio for naio!

I got my first compliment from my WLS skeptic husband today, ten weeks post op. He commented that I am in better shape than our Pompeii tour guide. She got out of breath walking up a flight of stairs and I didn't. Best part? I don't care.

@@gowalking, Pompeii was so interesting to visit. A man could throw his wife out in the street for two things. Infidelity (hers, not his, of course) or getting into the household wine. Brothels abound. The buildings and streets have sculpted, ahem, phallic symbols on them to literally "point" the way to the nearest brothel. Since sailors from many countries would stop at the port and didn't speak the language, the brothel walls had paintings of the "menu choices" on them. A sailor could simply point to the picture he wanted and then go into a room with a girl for that service. One part of town had a circular theater with excellent acoustics. In the corridor or alley leading up to it was a wall with scratch marks in it. Pompeiian graffiti! People standing in line waiting to get in would get bored and etch on the wall. They drew horses, gladiators, and of course, male genitalia. The male member was considered a lucky symbol of fertility and power. The plaster casts of the people who died affect you the most. Even a dog was captured in its death pose. The people did not die from the lava. They suffocated from the gas in the air, and then were buried in ash over time. Between the first quake and the second one, all of the boats made it out of port. But that was not nearly enough to rescue the population of the city. Vesuvius is much farther away than you would think. The baths were amazing. Double floors for insulation, lead pipes for Water transport. The streets have actual grated sewers just like we do today. I could spend a week there and probably not see it all. Almost forgot to mention that Pompeii was taken over by the Romans in 79 BC and the volcano erupted in 69 AD. I think that's what our guide said. Sorry if I'm getting the dates slightly wrong, but basically it happened two thousand years ago.

Well it wasn't until we were leaving the Amalfi coast that we realized we hadn't seen very much of it. Supposedly we should have taken a bus into Amalfi and Positano. Oh well. Live and learn. Sorrento was lovely and we thoroughly enjoyed our hotel as well. Pompeii was worth seeing again. There was no way to see it all on a two hour tour. Today was not much more than a travel day. We left Sorrento and railed it to Rome. Having an hour to kill in the Naples train station gave us time to observe a team of six panhandlers work the crowds. One would approach a tourist and the others would lurk nearby. If the tourist gave money, a couple of the others would then follow him, probably to grab the wallet from the pocket they just saw used. From our train seats, we also saw a team working one of the platforms, and a pickpocket jumped off the train and handed off a wallet to an accomplice on the platform, who vanished like lightning. It's an art form, I tell ya. We had a late lunch/early dinner in a little restaurant near our hotel in Rome, run by an Egyptian. Then back to the room. We're all tired today, so just being lazy tonight. Watched some Cake Boss and Spongebob Squarepants in Italian on TV. Tomorrow Breakfast and then mass. We'll walk around and see some sights on our own. Our next scheduled tour is Monday at the Vatican.

I'm sorry you're having so much discomfort. I had diarrhea as well, but not to that extent. My gas pain was in my neck area. I hope things turn around for you soon.

Do laundry ahead of time. And vacuuming. Carrying baskets and such up stairs was rough.

No Internet Friday in our hotel. Over the last couple of days, we spent a lot of time in Sorrento. The girls went down to the water and splashed around a bit. Intended to go to Capri but never made it. We visited Pompeii. Very humbling to see such a civilized society wiped out instantaneously. Our trip now takes us to Rome for the final leg of our travels. More soon, when I can get reliable Internet! I am afraid the pictures will have to wait until I return home to my PC. I can't figure out how to upload them from the phone app.

I am literally wearing holes in my shoes. I hope they last another day or two so I can get new shoes for Rome. We are at the Amalfi Coast and it is gorgeous. I bought a blouse in Sorrento tonight, and it actually fit. It was wonderful. The food remains easy and delicious. I am basically sharing all of my meals with my daughters. I haven't weighed myself here, but only because the fitness room did not have a scale that I could find. However my one pair of jeans seems a little loose. Wishful thinking? Tomorrow, Pompeii.

Hunger is all over the map that early on. I didn't have much hunger for several weeks postop on full liquids unless I snacked on a pudding or something between liquid meals. That would arouse my appetite. Enjoy it now because hunger will return eventually. Then you'll get band adjustments and have months of adjusting. I do best when I don't snack and when I eat few if any carbs. I'm ten weeks postop. Good luck and keep us posted! Also don't worry about calorie intake this soon. Protein first and hydrate. Some days I had 500 calories that early. Later you'll want more. But at 6 weeks out I was told 800. I average about 900 now except that I'm on vacation so it's higher right now.

Pistachio liqueur. That is all.

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I just realized that I don't need to carry an Atkins shake. I can carry an Unjury powder packet in my belt and just buy a bottle of water. Genius. Anyway, I just had the most lovely dinner all alone. The family went back to the Grand Canal in Venice without me, as my knees needed a well deserved break. So, my second meal of the day, at 10PM, was a lovely Caprese salad and pesto. It was so pleasant to sit in the restaurant surrounded by people speaking Italian, and just soak up the atmosphere. I ate only half of the pesto and brought the rest back to the room for my daughter. It is amazing to me that even with this wonderful food, I can listen to my band and stop when I feel the signal that I have had enough. The only thing I'm eating more of here than I would at home is the bread. I just cannot pass up this amazing bread and local olive oil. But, only one piece. The other thing is the wine. Okay, I guess that's two things. What can I say? It is really good. The other difference here is the portion sizes are all somewhat "normal". For example, I was not given a giant plate of pasta. I was given what amounts to about 1-1/2 cups of cooked pasta. Even that was more than I needed, since I started with the Caprese salad. Oh, and this was cool. The pesto was served normally with pasta underneath, but it was topped off with green beans tossed in the pesto sauce! I had thought recently that pesto was not going to be part of my regular diet, because pasta isn't necessarily the best band choice. But I don't need the pasta! I can make the pesto sauce, and toss it with any vegetables I like. Green beans were perfect. I might actually come home from Italy as a good cook. Tomorrow will be a long, long, long day of traveling by train and private car. We are headed from Venice, in the north, all the way south past Naples, to the Amalfi Coast. I expect not to have Wi-Fi until late into the evening. So, ciao for now!

@@MagillaDaLlama, I just want to say that your post is very inspiring. I need to stop making exercise excuses and stick to a daily exercise plan. Thanks for posting this!

For anyone who noticed, yes, I have poorly planned my meals the last two days. I guess I never thought food would be so inaccessible, since every corner of the US has junk food on it. I should clarify to say that I could have had chips or candy many times, but didn't. I stuck with water. By the way, you have to specify naturale water, or you get carbonated. Anyway, I haven't been carrying a purse, just my money belt, so it didn't occur to me to carry a protein shake all day while walking a medieval wall. But tomorrow I'm carrying an Atkins Shake no matter what. Two days in a row with too many hours between meals isn't a good plan. It's a setup for overeating. So far, it's been okay, and my daughter has indeed been sharing my food when we finally sit down to a meal. But better prepared than sorry.

Side note: when cellular data and roaming are turned off, you sure appreciate free wifi, like in this little grocery next to the train station. Life's little luxuries.

Oh, my feet!!! Today we walked around Cittadella. And I do mean around Cittadella. There is a medieval wall around the city making a circle of 1.5 kilometers. We walked the entire top of it as well as straight through town twice. We tried to find my husband's relatives but ended up on a wild goose chase in a taxi. We found a different family with the same surname. They were so sweet and brought all their family out to meet us, even though we were no relation. Old nonnas came out to talk in rapid fire Italian. It was a hoot. My younger daughter had one semester of college Italian so she tried to translate. The taxi driver took us to the totally wrong town the first try. Not a word of English. You can't help but laugh. We haven't eaten in ten hours. Oh yeah, the town takes a siesta of sorts in mid afternoon. Everything closes for a few hours. Tomorrow we go to the Amalfi Coast via Naples. This leg of the journey better involve some sitting on my tush by a swimming pool!!!