k-neath
11-29-2008
Hello,
My name is Kelly. I have been researching WLS surgery for years and have now decided that I am going to do it. I started my journey on September 3, 2008. I went to a seminar and had a consultation with Dr Leslie that day. After that I knew for sure that lap band surgery was right for me. On November 25 I received approval from my insurance company and my surgery is scheduled for December 1. I am having some anxiety issues today (Nov 29). Basically every horrible thing that can happen I am convincing myself will happen. Thanks to the OH friends, I am working through my anxiety and realizing that I am no different from anyone else and that I am not actually crazy for all the terrible things I am thinking. I have begun to settle down a little bit and am just looking forward to the surgery part of this journey to be over so that I can start my new relationship with food and basically my new life.
I have an awesome husband that I love sooooo very much. He is so completely supportive; he just doesn't want me to get tooooo skinny 
. I told him that I can't guarantee anything. He took the whole week off after surgery from work to stay with me. I told him that his main job is to make sure I get my fluids in and walk around numerous times a day. He takes his job very seriously so I don't expect to get dehydrated or too lazy. I have a 2 year old daughter that is my life. She is the most amazing child I have ever known. Not a single day goes by that she doesn't amaze me in one way or another. I am so excited to get healthier and more active so that I can keep up with her and continue to keep up with her as she grows and has interests that require me to be around and active with her. I also have a step daughter that is 11 years old. She spends every other weekend with us and holidays and stuff. She is such an awesome kid and takes such good care of her sister and helps out. No attitude for the most part (although she is not a teenager yet) and is just a really good kid. We plan to have more kids some day but are thinking we will probably wait a couple years before we do.
I work full time and also go to college for my BS degree in Business Management. I am slotted to graduate May 2009 so five months to go and I am done with that. I can not wait to have my life back and not be consumed by homework and studying and worrying about homework and studying. I am looking forward to a summer with no school. I'm thinking that I may take some golf lessons and try to improve my game which hasn't improve much since the first time I swung a club 7 years ago.
Well, that is pretty much my story. Enjoy
12-2-2008
I had surgery yesterday and was home the same day. I am feeling pretty good and am looking forward to my journey and being successful with my band. sip sip walk walk rest rest
More to come.
6-16-2009
Well, I am a little over 6 months post op and feeling great. I have officially lost 30lbs as of yesterday. I have another 71lbs to lose before I am at my first big goal. I struggled at the beginning of this journey with having no restriction and can honestly say I didn't follow the pre-fill rules very well. BUT for the last few months, I have been doing great and have been losing weight very well. I now have about 8.5cc's in my Realize band and am feeling pretty good restriction. I could probably use another .25 to .50 but I won't push it for now since I am still losing good. My WL was slow to start out with but now I am up and running. I exercise 6-7 days a week for at least 30 minutes but usually much longer. I feel like crap if I don't exercise. Thankfully I have always loved exercising, I just do it more often now. A friend and I did another 5k a couple weekends ago and I improved my original time by 10 minutes. The next one we are doing is July 11 so I am back in training and hoping to shave at least another 5 minutes off my time. I am looking for a support group close by to check out but no luck so far. I'll check back in soon. KK
9-28-2009
I am just about 11 months out and made it to Onederland on September 19th which just happened to be my b-day. Today I weighed in at 197 so the scale is still consistenly continuing to drop and I am loving it. I started this journey out in a loose 24 and am now wearing a loose 16. I am actually going to pull my 13/14 out this weekend and see how far off I am from getting into them. I am so excited. I haven't worn a 13/14 since 2002 or so. That is the size I was in when I met my husband. I was looking through some old pictures this weekend and was just completely disgusted. I think I have to buy a new wedding dress this time next year and get some new pictures taken that I can be proud of. I loved how I looked at my wedding then but now I can't stand looking at the pictures. So glad we decided to go the cheap way with those pictures because not one of them will see a wall in my house LOL. My wedding anniversary is tomorrow - it will be 2 years but we've been together for over 8 years. My goal is to be down to 180 by Christmas and then fight to get to 150 by next summer. I have been working really hard and exercising every single day of the week and trying my best to watch what I eat. I know there is room for improvement there and I am working on it. The portions aren't the problem anymore now I just need to make better decisions and I'm sure the scale will start moving faster then 2lbs a week. Although, I am happy with 2lbs per week but would like to get a couple bigger weeks in every once in awhile. So far this week is going well (it's only Monday) so we'll see how it goes. I lost my measurements book so I don't have anything to compare my measurements to right now. I will have to look for that book again one of these days. I also need to post new pics since it looks like the most recent was at 221 and I am now 197. Not much else going on here. Enjoy KK
1-20-2010
Well, I missed updating my profile on my 1 year bandiversary but here I am. At the one year mark I had lost 70 pounds (Dec 1, 2009). It is now Jan 20, 2010 and I have lost just under 80 pounds. The weight loss seems to keep on going. I have had a couple of moments where I have struggled but no one said this was going to be easy. It is still hard to get out of bad habits but my band keeps my slip ups to a minimum. I don't know my exact fill level because I lost track a long time ago but if I had to guess I would say that I have 9cc's in a 10cc band. I am at perfect restriction right now and have been losing weight pretty steadily and in higher then average numbers for myself. I am expecting that to stop soon but it was great while it lasted. I started out at 251 pounds and am now at 172 pounds. I started out at a size 24 (some 26's) and am now a comfortable size 13/14 and even wear a couple pair of 11/12's. My goal is to hit 150 by summer and then try to lose another 10-15 pounds after that. I think I will be very happy at 150 but may still need to go a little further. I won't know for sure what my goal is until I actually get there because I don't know what I will look like or feel like at each weight. I just know I want to be at the most 150 but hope for less. I exercise 10-14 hours per week and I exercise HARD!!! I do Bootcamp classes 3 mornings a week, Body Step and Body Pump classes 3 days a week, run inside and outside (try to do that at least once a week - minimum of 3 miles), cycling class, Core Conditioning classes, Body Flow class, etc. I love my gym and I love the instructors. I have a friend (non-weight loss surgery) that I work out and run with often. She has been very successful too. We are training to do 10k's this summer and possibly a half marathon this Fall. I am also doing a couple triathlon sprints which are 1/4 mile swim, 22 miles biking, and 3.1 miles running. I have one in April and one in July so I have been training for that as well. I keep myself very busy and when I am not working out, I am keeping up with my 3 year old daughter who also keeps me very busy.
I love my band and have never regretted my decision to have this surgery. My weightloss has been slow and steady and I am so much healthier then I could have ever hoped to be. I am a very happy person now.
May 11, 2010
Hello, well I am still losing weight. I am now down 91 pounds and have 10 pounds left to get to my goal. I think I will continue to shoot for another 10 pounds after that and see how I do. 150 or less and I am a happy camper. Actually I am really happy right now sitting at 160 but I know there is still some work to do and we'll see. I hope to get to 150 by the end of June which could be a stretch. I am wearing loose 13/14's right now and 11/12's fit me perfect and I'm even wearing a couple pair of tight fitting 9/10's and feeling really great about that. My fill level is pretty perfect right now. Some days I feel a little tight and have the tweek my food for that day so I don't get stuck but for the most part I am eating like a bandster and loving it. Some days I miss not being able to eat large meals and pig out with my friends and family but the next day I am happy I wasn't able to. Pigging out is what got me where I was 18 months ago. I stopped the tri and half marathon training for this summer. I decided that I had to give up too many of the other exercise classes I enjoy so much to do the training and just couldn't commit to that this summer. I have to get to my goal before I revamp what is actually working for me right now. I am signed up for 2 10k's right now and will continue to run but on my terms rather then a training program. I do hope to get in a half marathon next summer though. I love to run!!! I never thought I would say that but I do. I love everything about exercising and, for me, the harder it is the more I love it. I do some very challenging exercise classes at my gym and am addicted. I have never felt or looked so great in my entire life. I hope to get some new pictures loaded soon so you can check them out. To all you people doing research, don't hesitate to ask me anything. I am here to help anyone anytime.
8-11-2010
Hello all, just a quick update on how I am doing. I am still sitting at 160, sometimes a little lower but I usually find myself back at 160. I have still lost some inches since my last update though because I am now in a size 9/10 and mostly medium shirts but some large too. I am fairly happy at this weight but still want to get down to 150 this summer. I am trying to get close to 150 with a little looser band then I prefer as I am trying to prove to myself that I can do this relying a little less on my band. Well, that isn't going so well but I will keep on trying. I am still working out 6-7 days a week, sometimes 2 times a day or more some days. I have found myself in a rut with sweets which was a huge problem for me pre-band. I am working through those issues and have confidence that I will begin losing again very soon. I am signed up to do a mud run in September. It is a 10k course with military style obstacles throughout. I am on a team with a couple of my girlfriends. I have begun training for the event and am super excited to complete it. I am looking forward to getting back on track and losing 5-10 pounds on my own and then getting a fill to help me in getting to my stretch goal of 140. I am hoping I don't have an issue getting that fill; I'm not sure how my surgeon will feel about me striving for that stretch goal but I am hoping he will be supportive and give me the fill I need. Then next summer I plan on getting pregnant with my second child and it will be a matter of keeping the weight gain to a minimum and staying in good shape so I can get rid of the baby weight quickly after the baby is born. I can not wait to get pregnant and have another baby. I have baby fever so badly right now that I wish I could get pregnant now but it doesn't work for us financially at this time. Well, that's my update for today. Happy losing, my friends!!!
Kelly
