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Member
Join Date: Jan 2009 |
Location: Pennsylvania |
Age: 50 |
Posts: 212 |
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Just a few updates from my blog (link at end). Sorry I'm behind, I get so busy with the kids out of school now. First sliming incident, and second fill (a little restriction now, but not enough). Down 44# and 22# since surgery two months ago. Best wishes all! -BG
6/14/09 Slimer
We tackled finishing up the hillside out back all day yesterday. Ripped out almost everything. My Mom had given me a plant that became very invasive...thick roots...probably 300-400 sq. ft. of it on a steep hill...all it did was catch every leaf in the neighborhood (and we back up to woods) and we don't see this area and hated all the maintenance, so we decided just to put in a low groundcover. I redid the paver pathway as well. Then we went and got (you guessed it) more bags of mulch...ugggh. I'm guessing we'll be seeing more of that plant...Roundup will be my new best friend. Anyway...we came in late and collapsed and ordered some Chinese.
I was on an post yesterday morning where we were all discouraged with our non-restriction, gaining and of course in Bandster hell (misery loves company). A gal was giving everyone a pep talk about 'getting the band to work for you' and how to work with your doc. She described her relationship with her doc and how she determines when she needs a fill (things like the type and amount of things she can eat) which she tells the doc and he agrees to give her more fill.
So, I decided to test things so I could tell my doc (making my 'argument' for another fill, remember)...ate a bowl of egg drop soup, then onto the meal...took a little of this and that and had a whole plateful of food in front of me and started eating. OMG!!!!! All the sudden I got the stuck chest pain and I PB'ed in my mouth (eww, I know). My poor DH, I think I scared him to death as I was clutching my chest and my already big eyes about popped out of my face, then his did the same...I'm holding my mouth while he ran for a barf bowl (while trying to be in stealth mode since the kids were there...hilarious now, not so much last night). He explained as I ran off with strings of mucus connecting me to the bowl that 'Mom just choked on something'.
The mucus was flowing from everywhere in between my PB's...where the HECK does that all come from???...when they say slime they're NOT kidding...I took the word 'saliva' that people banter about here when they're describing it literally and thought it would be like when you dry heave and a little foamy bile/saliva comes up....OH PEEPS...whoever started that rumor that it's FOAMY SALIVA that you just spit out is selling you a bill of goods (I'm tracking that rumor monger down! You know who you are and I'm coming after you!).
First of all spitting doesn't help much as it's too thick to spit (think raw egg white) and it doesn't just 'come up' (at least for me) you're basically PBing it up with violent retching of your body...no food comes up, just mouthful after mouthful of slime...It's the thickest mucus you've ever seen...I needed a pair of scissors to disconnect me from the barf bowl...if you didn't know better you'd think it was the stuff that comes out of your nose...maybe it's your sinuses suddenly emptying into your throat, who knows...I can't believe the volume of mucus I was trying to spit out. I had that one short stuck bagel incident before, but it was over in a minute when I PB'ed...NOT THIS TIME!!! I was holding my chest PBing and sliming for 10 minutes...THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DIE!!!
As it ended I was trying to retrace the incident, but couldn't remember what was on my last forkful...was in the Lo Mein, or maybe the fried rice, or more likely a great big piece of veggie that I hardly chewed (because I haven't had to chew much at all). I rested up awhile, but was able to finish the plate of food (now chewing very carefully) and an egg roll to boot, no problem...bummer.
I'm sitting on the patio watching the fish in the pond and resting my sore throat this morning with a cup of coffee (kids are off with DH fishing). I'm going to buy the Papaya enzyme tablets (break down proteins) that someone suggested to me about 3 months ago. I thought I'd wait to buy them when I finally got some restriction, THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA! It's nice to know my band is still in there, but I think I'll leave out the sliming incident when I'm begging for a fill on Tuesday.
6/16/09 Fill 'er Up!
If you remember, I called last week and changed my second fill appointment to today. It was scheduled for July 21st…SEVEN weeks after the first one…NOT going to happen…I certainly wasn’t expecting immediate restriction post-surgery, but with 7-8 weeks between fills, and banking on the averages that it takes most people 4-5 fills (not including the fact that I didn’t get the recommended ‘primer’ fill at surgery), I wouldn’t be at that average until the end of January…2010!!! And remember, that’s just the averages and it depends on how much your doc gives you at fills. What if it took longer/more fills…ridiculous. JMO, but if you’re feeling no restriction at all why in the world would you need to wait 8 weeks for another fill??!!…4 weeks, maybe. I’ve been telling myself since long before surgery not to expect good restriction until around the holidays…that’s 7 months until Thanksgiving…a more than realistic expectation…plenty of time to get in enough fills and plenty long enough to try my patience, but 2010, NO WAY! I’d asked to move up my appointment and unfortunately the only date she had available was today, I say ‘unfortunately’ because today was only 2 weeks since my first fill (when my doc’s schedule is 8) and my honest expectation was that I’d be denied and sent on my way, but it was worth a try.
I was brought in and weighed…up one pound on their scale from two weeks ago. I tried to distract the nurse assistant (same gal I saw 2 weeks ago) from noticing that I’d just been there, by asking some questions (what I weighed at my consult)…I just didn’t feel like having to plead my case to her too. We got into a discussion about fills. Her sister had the LB surgery and went from about 500 lbs. to a normal weight, but it took her 8 fills (I chose to believe that she must have had the larger band, so that’s why it took 8 fills...didn’t want to ask if it was the small 10cc band as I would have gotten depressed). She (very obese) is having the LB surgery in November, so we talked about that too. In came another nurse (same one I saw 2 weeks ago) to ask a few questions…I’m thinking ‘Please don’t let her notice, I only want to have to plead my case once, and to the doc…don’t need someone kicking me to the curb before I even see him’. As I’m answering the questions I’m thinking ‘Here it comes, any moment she’s going to say…Didn’t we just see you two weeks ago?’ Then she disappears and in comes the doc…greetings, then ‘What are you here for today?’ Me, ‘A fill.’ ‘OK, follow me…pick a room!’ (there are two fill rooms). I’m waiting there while he goes to find the nurse to assist and I’m trying to remember all the points of my case I’m about to plead for getting a fill; no restriction, how much I’ve been able to eat…
(Same nurse) In she comes to swab the area ‘Oh, your port is on the left? That’s different!’ So I’m thinking she’s going to realize she’s having deja vu as I give the SAME reason’s I had for putting it on the left in answer to the SAME thing she said to me two weeks ago…no light bulb moment for her. In comes the doc and she yells 'Her port is on the left!!' (OK, now I'm having deja vu)...the doc just mumbles 'Yes.'
Then he asks me to assume the position for the fill ‘Raise your legs.’ WHAT?!!! NO QUESTIONS AT ALL?!!! Aren’t you going to ask me when/how much my last fill was? Aren’t you going to ask me why I’m back here after only 2 weeks?!! As he’s about to put the needle in he asks… ‘Have you felt any difference yet?’ I manage to stammer out the first sentence of my lengthy speech/argument I’d prepared… ‘I have no restriction at all’. 5 seconds later, we were done and he says ‘1.5cc’s and I want to see you in 2 months.’
Da da-da-da (trumpets blowing)! SECOND FILL!!! Woot! I’m guessing that no one noticed that I’d just been there. I guzzled down (I don’t expect good restriction yet, but I’m glad to be on my way there) the required one cup of water and ran to the scheduler. She asks me if I want to come in a little sooner than the 8 weeks he recommends….ummm ‘YES!!’ and before I know it I’ve got my appointment for July 28th (6 weeks from now and just a week after when this fill was supposed to be). ‘No need for an appointment card!’ I yell as I write it in my calendar and hustle out of there followed by well wishes from all.
I got outside the door and practically ran to the parking garage thinking that it was TOO EASY…someone is going to come running after me and haul me back in to take out my fill. If you’ve seen that IKEA commercial where the lady is running out of the store with all her bags thinking they made a mistake with her too low bill and yelling to her DH who’s sitting in the car ‘START THE CAR! START THE CAR!’ That’s the scene I had…I hustled with a smile on my face and even gave the big ‘WOOOOT!!’ as I pulled the car out. I called to tell DH on my way home and after congratulating me he said ‘You realize, maybe that’s not a good thing that they didn’t notice because someone’s asleep at the wheel.’…Debbie-Downer…...I don't care HOW it happened, I’m just happy I got a fill!
6/18/09 Restriction...Finding The Balance
OK, here I go dooming myself again...I think there's a tiny bit of restriction again after this 2nd fill. Hopefully, this time it will last more than a few days. I just ate some Greek yogurt with SF preserves for lunch and I felt it go through a few times when I ate too fast. Funny thing is, I had a regular bowl of oatmeal this morning, which to me is even thicker and lumpier and I didn't feel anything. I'm pretty full on 1/2C of the yogurt, but now I'm eating some hummus and crackers (less than 1/2C) so I can see how long a cup of food will keep me full (I'm guessing I'd be hungry too soon on 1/2C of mushies). BTW I know hummus is high protein and is often recommended in this mushy phase, but it has way more calories than I thought (plain hummus from Costco)...I'll have to add it up.
OK, just finished and I'm beyond stuffed. I'm starting to wonder if this restriction thing is going to be more subtle than I thought. Immediately post-op I called it a 'hard stop', meaning that it actually hurt...not bad like 'stuck OMG I’m going to die', but the restriction was a clear hurt feeling (like when you ate until bursting before, but only all in one spot). I'm wondering now if that was only because I was healing and the stitches holding my band hurt. Maybe regular restriction doesn't hurt like that, and I just need to pay more attention to that 'full feeling' (right now I feel like I ate a small bag of cookies...uncomfortable, but no 'hurt').
Well, I'm hopeful that at least I'll keep feel a little something. Even if it's only now and then it will be enough to get me back to following the rules, which I really want to get back in the practice of doing again. You practice the rules before banding and you have to follow them post-op (at least for me I could hardly get enough liquids in let alone eat too fast). Then just when you're getting it all down, you heal and the restriction goes and Bandster Hell begins and it seems pointless to stick with all the rules. If you find that you can eat anything and not have to chew any more than normal then you find yourself doing exactly that...heck, I was even thinking 'If I chew this steak to a puree, I'd certainly get hungrier faster as it will go through my stomach faster.' and you know what, it's true!
If this tiny bit of restriction stays, it will be enough to remind me to get back to practicing what I need to do for a lifetime...well, that and the fact that I've now experienced PBing and Sliming (want to avoid that again). It seems to me that there's definitely a big learning curve to balancing this restriction thing...I see so many here who keep their band so tight they're drinking most of their calories...many even self-admittedly do so because they feel they don't have the self control to limit their food intake enough if they’re loose enough not to PB or they like the limitation of choice and calories that a liquid diet gives. Then there are others who keep it too loose by choice and are really still 'dieting' and exercising to get the pounds off and that works for them (been there, done that…successfully, until I gain it back). I don't really want to end up in either of those groups (but I'll never say never)...I'm like Goldilocks...maybe I'm too picky, but I want it just right for me (and that 'for me' is different for everyone, and no, I'm not talking about the amount of cc's...I'm talking about getting it to the right level of restriction that works well for you). It's going to be tricky to find the right balance.
I'm figuring out there's even a balance to figuring out how much you have to chew. I know most people say you need to chew forever, but until your band is really tight, chewing a little less is probably a better thing as the bigger pieces will stay in the pouch longer (which is why my doc got rid of their 'purees' stage and made the liquids longer post-op as they go through too fast). I think it's all a matter of learning which foods you need to chew and which ones you don't. You see the ‘old timers’ here have a list in their heads of the things they can’t eat and the things they really need to chew a lot to get down.
So much to learn! It's all good though, as I'm obviously a 'tester' or really a 'test the rules' kind of person, so it's all like a big study where I'm the lab rat...keeps things interesting...I'm a gray person anyway (no black and whites in my world of color) and I live my life 'outside the box'. I'm all about change, so figuring this out along the way is perfect for me. I kind of feel sorry for those that are saying things like 'I'm following every ruland and tracking this and that perfectly, BUT...' Sometimes you've just got to figure things out as you go and it’s certainly not the same for everyone...the trick is to really start getting tuned into your body. I can't believe how mindlessly I ate and made choices about when/what/how much I ate before. Just the simple act of asking yourself 'Are you hungry?' that I started pre-op actually opened my eyes as to what was in store for me post-op. One of my mottos is 'Learn something new every day.' With this process you're not paying enough attention if you're not learning something new every day.
There goes the dryer signal...enough of this babble...I'm off to pack. Another road trip to Columbus and we leave in the morning. It's my nephew's HS graduation party Saturday and I have to get packed and start cooking for the items I'm taking to help my middle sister out. It's just DS2 and I going. DS1 and DD are going to the Dave Matthew's Band concert here this weekend (with each of their groups of friends) and DS1 has some more graduation parties to attend, so DH is staying to supervise. Here’s hoping going to solids will show some clear restriction!
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I'm overweight!
I'm OVERWEIGHT! That's right, no more 'Obese'! I'm officially a 29.9 BMI! 47 pounds lost total and just 2 pounds until Onederland! 
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