Well it has been a long time since I have updated this blog so I saw it the other day and thought I should leave an update!

It is now over two years later and I have lost 135 pounds! It is crazy to me to see how easy this was at times but how much I have given up as well! Bread and heavy meats are no more and there are times that things I loved in the past no longer look good to me! Crazy how something you have ate all your life no longer is interesting. I guess when they said the Lap-Band was a life style change you really have no idea how true that is. I am still loosing weight but at a small rate because I think I am adding more muscle now as I do kickboxing three days a week! Which is another thing I do for me and enjoy but NEVER would have done at my past weights!

Thank you to all that have walked and are now running with my on my journey!! My husband Derek is the best support any woman could have and I love him more then anything!

It has been a while since my last post but i wanted to give an update as of today 4/9/09 I have lost 90 pounds!! I feel great and I need to go shopping as my clothes are hanging on me at this point. i have thrown away all those 30/32 clothes from the avenue and now I am in a size 24 JEAN!! Doesn’t seem like alot but it is almost four sizes below where I was. I haven’t had a fill in several months and can eat almost anything still but LORD does it let me know when I can’t and I have to throw it back up! It is still a slow journey I am only loosing about two pounds a week which is great as I don’t have all the crazy skin hanging yet so I think because it is slow it is better!! I didn’t gain all this weight in a week and I can’t exspect to loose it that fast either 🙂 Looking forward to loosing another 90 pounds to get in those skinny clothes for summer 🙂

Well I went and had another fill on 1/5/09 with Dr Woodard and lost another 7 pounds over the Christmas/ New Years holiday so I thought that was great for all the snacking i did 🙂

Well this last fill I started to feel the restriction they talk about!! FINALLY
I am not hungry but do feel that full feeling in my chest right away which I was not feeling before so I am getting excited that the weight will soon start to fall faster.

Derek and I made a new years resolution we would Run every night and we have since JAN 1st except for tonight t was snowing pretty hard so we took a long walk in place of running but I feel good we exercised for day six in a row!! Looking forward to a thinner 2009

Attached some pictures of my before surgery and pre op diet at my heaviest and now three jean sizes smaller!!!

I am really excited to be down to 283lbs!!!

Not only am I down that but also down two jean sizes with out the muffin top.. LOL Down to a loose 26 jean from a 30 stretch pant or a 28 jean with muffin top everywhere which is exciting as well!! Made it through Christmas with only a few pounds back on but I know they will come off again before I weigh in again on January 5th with Dr Woodard and will get my 4th fill!!

I had my second fill 11/10/08 by Dr Woodard and it was so fast and painless this time!! I really do LOVE the office staff and of course Dr Woodard they all have a great funny bone and make it so easy!!

I am on liquids and will eat lunch for the first time today to see if I feel FULL for the first time after surgery!!

Keeping my fingers crossed!!! 🙂

Yesterday was two months on the dot since I had my Lap band Surgery!!

How do I feel?? normal as I did before surgery but I have alot more energy to get things done and run after the kids!! I get alot of compliments from people I work with on how great I look as well. Did I look bad before?? NO just fatter 🙂 As of this morning I am weighing in at 300 pounds which is great but I would like to see myself under 300 pounds and closer to 250 by Christmas!!

I get that hungry feeling in the morning but I never get that full feeling they talked about before surgery. So my band is only half working my doctor said so I need a fill to get that full feeling to back away from the food!!

I had my first fill on October 20th with Dr Woodard and it was alot different then I thought he couldn’t find the port openning so ended up sticking me with the needle four times which was a little uncomfortable. I got the magic fill they talked about and I didn’t feel any different then before. I can still eat anything I want and never get full but I am staying the same and not gaining weight.

As I told the doctor when I called if I could live in will power i wouldn’t need the lap band!! I need the lap band as a tool to say hey stupid push away from the table. I called and rescheduled another fill for November 10th and I hope that will kick start the weight loss again as I would like to be smaller for Christmas so we can get a family picture done!!

Will keep you posted

Well as far as weight loss goes I am down to 304.6 and to see on the scale I will soon be under 300 pounds is amazing to me!! My next goal is to be 225 pounds which is how much I weighed before my first child was born in 2003 and then 215 which is how much I weighed when I was married back in 2002!!! I think Goals are great I have never tried to set that many weight loss goals in my past as they NEVER have been hit except the month before I got married and I needed to fit in the dress I bought and I was NOT going to let that sucker out!! LOL

I have been exhausted the past two weeks with one thing after another being sick, sinus infection and now pneumonia with bronchitis!! The doctor says my immune system is probabley not back where it should be as of yet because of surgery. So I am fighting through all this!! I feel so much better today now that I am on steroids,inhalers and the third phase of antibiotics!! I will survive and live another day 🙂 Damn it I will live longer then that as I am starting to get all this energy I have things to do and places to see 🙂

We arrived home and I situated myself on the couch where I was close to all the action! The kids and Derek were amazing I couldn’t have done this with out them. They were all so caring and helped out with my every need from breathing treatments and getting me crystal light to even letting me get my rest.

I sipped crystal light during the day and had my protein shake for lunch but still didn’t feel hungry yet. I had some chicken broth to mix it up a little also have sugar free fudge pop, non fat yogurt and V8 Diet splash if I needed it but the crystal light was fine with me.

How was I feeling?? A little sore and of course like I had swallowed an air tank. My tummy felt as tight as trying to squeeze a 10 pound bag of crap into a five pound bag and the gassy feeling was horrible!!! I tried to keep walking as much as I could but no relief yet. The incisions sting a little but no pain like I thought I would have. They sent me home with Vicadin and I haven’t used it except at night to make sure I can get some sleep as trying to get comfortable seems to never happen.  

The Great thing is I am not hungry at all!!!

Well Surgery was scheduled for 8am on the 3rd so we needed to be at the hospital at 6:10 for all pre-op. I was up at 3am with stomach pains I guess I was more nervous then I thought I was as I was up until we left the house at 5:15am and had to make a stop at a Burger king on the way to use there bathroom before I even got to the hospital and then went two more times when I got there. So lets just say my stomach was REALLY empty before surgery 🙂

Got to the hospital and weighed in at 331lbs and then started all the pre op. Got my pretty gown and IV and of course something to steady my stomach for surgery which helped. 🙂 They gave me a little shot to my IV line and everything else after that I had to get from my husband as I remember nothing until I woke up after surgery.

I woke up and they gave me that nice WARM blanket that is like your mother after a bad day at school back in your youth that just makes everything better.

They took me up to my room where I moved myself from the gurney to my new home for the next day and and a half so I knew it wasn’t going to be too bad. I shared my room with a nice older Polish lady that spoke no English but that was fine we could communicate with a smile and a nod and that worked for both of us. I had an IV in my arm and oxygen in my nose and of course my sassy white compression stockings that looked so nice with by hospital gown. It was like a flash forward to myself in a nursing home in another 60 years!!!

I was in the room by 12:30 and was eating ice chips to get that cotton feeling out of my mouth it was so dry it hurt to breath. So those first sips of water and ice chips were like the gates of heaven to a sinner. But I had to wait to sip the water until I went down to Xray

In Xray about 1:30 I watched the most amazing thing. They had me take a few drinks of a NASTY fluid and watch it go down to my Lap band. At first it looked like it was not going to my stomach so they waited about five minutes and had me drink the chalky white fluid which was worse then the last and then you could see it go down and into my stomach which was just crazy!! Well the band was a sucess and it was working and I felt no different then before except when I tried to stand or god forbid had to sneeze or cough.

By 3:00 I was walking laps around the nursing station trying to get rid of that gassy preasure in my tummy that made me feel like I was waiting to explode at any minute they said the walking would help that and also help prevent blood clots in my legs so I walked!!

I was then on clear liquids for the remaining stay at the hospital and that first taste of Chicken Broth was like Thanksgiving dinner in my mouth even thou I was not hungry at all they said I needed to take in some liquids so I did!! I was walking,drinking and using the bathroom after only a few hours out of surgery and was very excited about that. I had no pain at all at this point but only pressure I prayed I could get rid of ASAP!!

I was released from the hospital Sept 4th at 12:30 and felt pretty good just knew I couldn’t sneezy,cough,blow my nose or even spit out tooth paste with out severe pain to my stomach and on the way home found out the car ride over bumps and railroad tracks were not my favorite either.

I have lost 11 1/2 pounds and hope to be over the 15 pound mark by surgery day!! Dr Woodard said he wanted 15-20 pounds so I am trying to get to the point I need to be at. I took pictures of myself today 11 1/2 pounds down and don’t see much of a difference yet but when I reach the 25-30 pound mark I know I will. Keeping my eyes at the prize and looking forward to my new life that begins Sept 3rd 2008