It's been a year and half!!!

I can't believe that it's been a year and half since I've had my surgery. I'm asked daily if I regret it and I don't, I would never take it out. It's still the best thing I've ever done for myself!

To look at my post from 7 months post surgery go HERE! That was at 70 pounds lost. Tonight's post is at 1 and 1/2 years post surgery and 115 pounds lost.

I have 35 pounds left to go, and I will be at my original goal weight which will be 155lbs, at that point I will reevaluate and decide if I want to lose another 10 pounds.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to need some reconstructive surgery, but that will have to wait for a few years while we save up the money to pay for it.

So just as I've said before, if you don't care to look at my fat, please don't scroll down, if you want to see my results, then keep on going.

The first two pictures are a before and after of me, this is to show how my face, neck, and collar bone have changed.

Prior to Surgery rough weight 310lbs

Current day picture at 190lbs

Set of 4 side by side

Set of 4 front

Set of 4 back

First Adjustment/Fill...

This past Tuesday I went in for my first adjustment/fill for my LapBand, basically they tighten my band. The picture above pretty much explains how it all works, they take a needle filled with saline and insert it into my port to tight the band.

I was really nervous about getting my first fill. More nervous because I didn't know how it would fill, what to expect, or anything.

Everything went great with the expectation of me fainting and falling off the table onto the floor, knocking the cup of water out of my surgeons hand having him spill it all over me, and waking up laying on his floor with my mother, my daughter, and my doctor all looking over me.

I'm sure your asking yourself, why did I faint, well one reason is nerves, I couldn't get them in check as well as I thought I could, second, because the nerves in my stomach were messed with during the fill (which is normal) all my blood supply went to my stomach so when I sat up I didn't have any in my head and that causes you to faint.

I pretty much laughed at the whole thing, I'm used to be the one who all the weird things happen to, it's just pretty much me! I'm okay and nothing is hurt or harmed, I've been doing good since the fill, just trying to figure everything food wise out again, i.e. how much I can eat, what foods I can handle and which I cant, and etc.

Since Tuesday I've lost another 3 pounds and I'm almost to my post-Grandon, pre- Madison weight, that's a great feeling! I can't wait till I'm under 200!!! I'll continue to keep the updates coming!!!

Just a quick update...

So it's day 5 of recovery. The surgery went great, the healing process has been a bit difficult. It's hard not being able to pick up my kids or let them sit on my lap or sleep with me. The pain has gotten a lot better just real sore in the port site. Hopefully I can start my full liquids soon, the clear liquid stage is killer.

It has brought on many different and mixed emotions. You really don't know how much food effects you till you feel like you are in starvation mode. The liquid phases are so important to the healing of your stomach.

Recovery in general regardless of the reason just sucks, it's a long process and is never really any fun! I hope the next 2 and half weeks just fly by. I will be so much happier when I can start eating soft - solid foods. I've never craved an egg as much as I do now! I want tomato pie and a scrambled egg with turkey bacon and salsa, oh and topped with a sprinkle of cheese! Doesn't that sound good? These are all things that I can eat!

I've joined a lab band forum and have found tons of awesome recipes! So I've decided that I'm going to start a new section on my blog for recipes. I encourage everyone to send me recipes that you want featured or posted. If you could put the calorie, fat, carbs, sugar, and protein count with them that would be great! If you don't have all the information don't let it stop you from submitting your recipe anyways!

Give me a few days to get it all set up and then start enjoying the recipes, try them out and then let us all know how they came out!

I've found through all of this that, it's more than just putting a tool in your body, it's about, your lifestyle, eating habits, your support, and your choices. You have to have a tremendous amount of support, a shoulder to cry on, because believe me tears will be shed, someone to encourage you and remind you of your reasons along the way, but most of all you need to surround yourself around people who aren't going to pressure you into eating things you know you shouldn't.

It can't be looked at as a diet it has to be looked at and approach as a lifestyle change, a decision you decide, a decision to live a long healthy life. That doesn't mean you have to give up all your favorite little treats, snacks, and goodies, it just means you have to learn to not have them every day of your life!

So I know I sound like I'm preaching, but I assure you I'm not, these are things I have to tell myself all the time. A daily remind, because sometimes just looking at my beautiful children just isn't enough.

Step by step and day by day, I will have to learn how to use my tool, and work through the up's and down's of my emotions. If there is one thing that my mother has taught me, it's to go through with the things you choose to do and commit to it. Don't give up just because it gets hard or you don't want to do it anymore. This is something I try to teach my children as well, and I need to set that example for them also.

Someone once said "No one ever said it would be easy, they only said it would be worth it"

The Journey Continues...

I've started my next step in my Lap Band journey! Needless to say, this step isn't so exciting or fun. On Wednesday October 21st, I started my two weeks of an all Liquid diet!

Sounds fun doesn't? Not really, but I've had/have a GREAT support system and when I feel weak and want to dive into a bag of chips they are right there for me. Reminding me of my goal and keeping me on the right path.

November 4th @ 10:30 a.m. is surgery, right around the corner. I have mixed feelings right now, feelings of excitement, nervousness, and a little scared.

Why scared? Because this will be a big change of life, one that I'm very ready for but it's still a little scary. I think change in general tends to be scary, it's the element of not knowing for sure what to really expect.

I'm very prepared and educated on the Lap-Band, but till you're there, your never really 100% ready!

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So the Friday before I started my all liquid diet, I had a Last Supper with some of my girlfriends from church! Those girls are just great, I'm so blessed to have them in my life!

Everyone brought there favorite dish to share, we had chips and salsa/queso from Chili's, oh so yummy! We had the best cheese ball I've ever had with crackers! We also had crab dip, I didn't get any of it since I'm allergic to sea-food but it looked so very very yummy!

Last but not least, Sara made one of her famous cakes, but put a twist on it, I found it very clever and it made me laugh!

She made me a "Stomach" cake, top with a lap-band on it. That cake sure did taste yummy!

We hung out, ate, talked, and played games till Midnight! Thanks girls for such a great time and a wonderful last supper!!!

Sara's stomach cake with lap-band

Lapband Update....

So as promised, here I am with another update! Before I update y'all on the latest, I want to take some time to thank everyone. If your a little confused just keep reading and you'll get unconfused.

When I first started posting about my Lapband journey, I had asked everyone to please give me their thoughts, comments, and suggestions. Many of you have done that in your own way, Clayton and I want to thank you for all your questions and concerns.

Although we might not see eye to eye with everyone, that's okay. We have read each and everyone of your comments/emails. We have taken the time to research the other alternatives that have been suggested. In the end, we have chosen to continue on the Lapband journey. We both feel that this is what's best for us.

We do respect every ones personal feelings on the matter, however, we now ask that y'all respect our decision to go through with this journey. Starting today, I/We (It will be hard for Clayton and the kids as well) need nothing but support from our family and friends.

If you feel that this just isn't something you can support us on, that is fine and you have that right, but from here on out, please keep it to yourself, as it will only be counter-productive.

We officially have a surgery date now:

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009.

Starting October 21st, 2009 I will have to start an all liquid diet and will be on that till the day of surgery, and the 3-4 weeks after surgery.

We are very excited about all of this, and we both feel that this couldn't come at a better time in our lives. As with any surgery there are always RISKS! We encourage everyone to learn and read up about the lapband, it has changed so much since it has come out a few years ago. If you're interested in learning more please check out: www.lapband.com

One thing we want to HIGHLY stress is this: I am NOT having the Gastric Bypass!!!

The lapband surgery is nothing at all like the Gastric surgery!!! The only thing that is similar is you lose weight with both.

So that is our latest update!

Lapband Update....

Since Friday I've been waiting to hear back from Roxanne who is my lap band coordinator. As of September 16th, 2009 at 3:12 PM I got an email from Roxanne saying that as of Friday she has sent my case to Cigna, my insurance company for approval.

It usually takes about 2 weeks, but can take up to a month. Starting Monday I will be calling Cigna at least once/twice a week asking about the status of my approval. This just helps them move faster on my case. The faster they move the faster my surgery can be.

Needless to say her email just made my whole day! We've been waiting what seems like forever to finally get to this point! The light is most defiantly at the end of the tunnel! As soon as we have a final answer with the approval I'll let everyone know!

Once we get approval, we have three more steps:

Step one: My 2nd appointment with the psychotherapist

Step two: My final consult with the surgeon

Step three: Pre-Register for surgery

After I've complete those three things, then it's time to schedule surgery! I'll keep y'all updated!!!

The new journey in "our lives"

Since April I've been working with my PCP (primary care physician) on taking steps to improve my health and weight. After months of talking and going over the good and the bad list I've decided to take the next step, and get the Lapband done. I know only a few of you know that I've decided to do this, but I feel that it's good for everyone who cares about me to know. I will be blogging about my journey and all the ups and downs that we will be going through.


As hard as some of this will be for me to admit I feel it's something I need to do. So here it goes, my weight has gotten very out of control. I am now starting to physically feel the stress of it, starting with my knees, they are pretty much shot, and the longer I go with my weight being out of hand the worse it will get. Next are my ankles and feet, by the end of the day I can barely stand much less walk, because they hurt and sometimes are swollen so bad. I get out of breath very easily and sweat when I've barely even done any activity at all i.e. just getting the kids dressed wears me out sometimes.


Not only is it affecting me physically, it's also taking a toll, health wise and mentally. I've had to start anti-depressants(or as we call them my happy pills) and I have high blood pressure now. My overall body is that of a 50 year old and I'm only 25.


The process to get the lapband is not a short one, it's pretty lengthy and you do have to qualify, which I did with know problems. If all goes right I should be looking at surgery by the end of October, but I will keep y'all updated on that.


So if your wondering what will this do for me besides the obvious, "lose weight". Let me go a little more in depth about how my life will be after surgery. After surgery my stomach will be the size of two cups. The first 6 weeks after surgery I will be on an all liquid diet, after that I will slowly work my way up to solid foods, once I can handle solid foods I will only be able to eat roughly 1/3 cup at a time.


This will be my new life, I will be losing 66% of my body weight. That is roughly 135 pounds, to put it in a visual term, that's another adult person. So if you're wondering why I say the new journey in "our lives" when this post is really about me, it's because this is a decision that will affect not only me, but Clayton and the kids.


It's very important throughout this whole process that I have support, I do understand not everyone is going to support my decision to have this done, and I do respect that, but all I ask in return is that you respect my decision as well. I am very willing and open to hearing everyone's comments, questions, and advice on this, weather good or bad. I've chosen to share this so I can get more opinions and different perspectives on this.



Now how does it all work?

Below in fig.1 is the actual band, this is what the band that I will have looks like. In the center of the band you can see what looks like sections, they are called balloons, they can be inflated and deflated.

Figure 1

Now in fig. 2 is a picture of how the band is placed, it will be placed just like that in me as well.

Figure 2

What happens is I will have the band half ways on my esophagus and the other half will be on my stomach. The band forms a pouch, that is where the food is stored as I eat, and then it's slowly released into my stomach. I will have a port on my side, which you can also see in fig.2 this is how they will access my band for adjustments. They take a needle filled with saline, and insert it into the port and that will blow up the balloons on the band to make it tighter if need be or they can take some of the saline out if I feel like it's to tight(all of that can be done in the doctor's office).

As I continue though the process I will keep up with my blog as well. I hope this has answered some of y'alls questions and informed you just a little bit more concerning the lapband. Of course you can always ask us anything or give us your input.