buzden

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Wow,  a whole year has gone by since I had my surgery.  Overall this has been a very positive move for me.  I had strong reservatoins before having the surgery and really hoped that I could somehow finnaly mange to lose the weight on my own.  Now looking back one year later I am glad I did it.  I am more than 70 lbs lighter and still going down.  There has never been a time in my life that I have been able to sustain wieght loss or even maintain a steady weight for a whole year.

I had hopped to be smaller by this point.  I am still a very large man and have a long way to go.  But I have to keep reminding myself that this is not a race.  As long as I am still making progress I am happy.

One thing I have learned is to use my band as a tool.  I have had several adjustments.  It is important to keep the correct amount of restriction.   When I have the band set right things go well.  At one point I was reluctant to have the band tightened.  I thought I should try to limit food and only get the band tightend when I "really needed it"  This resulted in a weight loss stall for two months.  Finally when I actually gained some weight back I went in and had an adjustment.  The weight loss resumed.  From then on, I decided not to wait any more. 

I am looking forward to a new year with the band.  I think it will be a good one.  As long as I can weigh less next year I will be very happy.

It has been a while since I checked in.  I had an adjustment today.  My doctor commented that I seemed to be very open.  I had noticed that I was not feeling much of a restrictoin.  In a way I was glad to hear that.  It had been harder to control my eating and over the past few weeks I had stopped losing.  Now that I have been filled I am hoping to resume my weight loss.

After I left my appointment I started thinking about why my band had become lose.  I hope there is not a problem.  I will have to ask about that at my next checkup.

In any case I feel a new sense of motivation.  I am optimistic for success with my new fill.  I have a two new years resolutions to share:

1) I will not wait to check in with my doctor if I think I need a fill.

2) I will try to get some amount of exercise in every day.

Wow, it has been 5 weeks since my surgery.  So far everything is going very well.  My recovery has been fast with no complications. 

I had my first adjustment on October 6th.  Although I was able to control my portions and continue to lose weight I felt that the band wasn't tight enought.  I was not getting that full feeling I was supposed to have.  I had a second fill this Monday and I hope this will get me to the so called "sweet spot".

I got on the scale today and I weighed 299!  It is great to be under 300 lbs.  I am very happy with my progress so far.

This surgery was a very good decision for me.

I am almost two weeks post op.  I have to say that I had built this up in my mind to be a much worse expereince that it actually was.  Everying has been easier than I anticipated.

The first week was the clear liquid diet and my recovery.  The pain was not so bad, my energy level was higher than expected and I was not hungry and therefore did not miss not eating.

This past week has been the full liquid diet.  I am starting to get hungry now at meal times.  Over the course of the week I have built up to eating 800 calories a day.  I had one bad experience with some split pea soup.  I think it was too much fibre.  I had gas pains for a few hours.

Next week I will begin the pureed foods diet.

While all of this was going on I started a new job last week.  I was also worried about that but it seems I did not need to worry.  I think the job will be a good fit for me.   One lucky cooincidence is that my new boss will be having WLS in a few months.  This instantly gave us somthing to bond over.

It has been quite a journey for me.  10 months ago I was depressed and thought that having surgery represented a failure and the end of me enjoying my life.  Now, I have a new job a new outlook and so far, I am looking forward to my new life post surgery.

I am surprized at well I feel.  I was sure that I would not handle the clear liquid diet very well but I am.  I have a growing hunger each day, but it is easy to control and I will be able to have full liquids starting tomorrow.

My energy level is also good.  Not 100% of where I was before the surgery but not bad.  For the past two days I have been getting up, and out of the house, going along with my wife on various errands.

All in all this has not been a bad experience and although I had my initial doubts I am comming around to feeling that this will be one of the best decisions I have ever made.

It is my second day and I am feelining good.  I was able to get my 48oz of liquid in today.  My evergery level is better than I expected and the pain less than I expected.

I had som diarrhea today.  I will have monitor that and check with my surgeon to that everything is ok.

Yesterday was the day.  My wife took me to the hospital in morning and I had my band inserted at about 11:30.  Everything went smoothly and was released to go home later that afternoon. 

My sugeon reccomends 48oz of water or other clear liquid per day, but that is proving hard to do.  It already 7:30pm and I am only at about 25oz.  I guess this will get easier as the days go by.

It is very strang to not be eating and not feel hungry.  It is a good feeling and and I am looking forward to the progress I will now be able to make with my weight.

My family has been so supportive.  It has really helped me.  My wife has been caring for me, my children both made special presents for me and my Parents have come to visit and check up on me.  It is very nice to have this kind of support.

The only bad thing at this point is some pian from my incisions and a gas bubble that is also causing discomform.  Nothing too bad though.

The day of my surgery has almost arrived.  I am excited and scared.  I have never spent the night in a hospital or had a major procedure done.  I am not expecting the experience will be very pleasant.

Still, I am ready to move on with my new life.  I was worried I would miss food and eating the way I have been, but as the date has appraoched food has seemed less interesting.  There is so much more to life, and I am willing to make a radical change to get there.

I spoke to my new boss on the phone today.  Next Tuesday I will start my new job.  My new boss is planning on having WLS as soon as she can get approved.  At least I know I have something in common with her from day 1.

I hope I can sleep tonight.

See you all on the other side.

Wow, the day has almost arrived.  It is hard to believe how much change is about to happen to me. 

Six months ago I was very depressed about my continuing obesity problem and it was effecting my whole life.  I was disapointed in myself for not beeing able to control the problem on my own.  I have learned a lot since then and I am happier and now and ready to move on.

I have been through so much preparation for this.  I have been evaluted, advised and counseled by my surgeon, internist, psycologist, exersise physiologist, and a registered dietician.  I have been tested and evaluated and examined.   Now I am approved for surgery.

In two days I will have Lap-band surgery.  One week later I will start a new job that I am very excited about.  I will leave my old life behind and start a new one. 

This is exiciting and fightening at the same time.

I will keep you posted as I move forward.

Stay tuned!

It has been a very long time since I last posted here.  So many things have happend, but in the end it should all be good for me.  Here is my update.

First, I have not succeeded with my weight loss on my own.  I really had hoped that I would be able to it.  However, like so many other people I did not.  At first this was a very depressing situation.  I felt I was a failure and that I should have been able to do this without the aid of surgery.  I know now that this was foolish.  With the help of a psychologist and my supportive family I was able to get past this and realize that having surgery was not failing, it was taking charge of the situation and gaining a tool that will hopefully allow me to succed where I have failed before.

On August 22 I was approved by my insurance company for surgery.  I am currently scheduled to have my procedure done on September 16.

As if this was not enough drama in my life, I will be starting a new job as soon as I recover.  More about that annother time.

I am really excited about  starting a new chapter in my life.  I will  try to post more regularly here as I appreciate the support I have found here in the past.