Susan S.

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September 21, 2006
Well yesterday was my second fill.  No further weight loss but I also have had no restriction, hopefully now I will have some restriction.  Dr. Peters put in another 1cc of saline.  He retracted the plunder on the needle and pulled out 3/4 cc of saline.  So now with the fill I have somewhere between 1 3/4 and 2 ccs of fluid in the band.  As with the first fill, it was very uneventful.  I need to plan more time for them though.  Back in school now and very busy with that and trying to keep up my exercise committment.
August 23, 2006
Had my first fill yesterday and really felt nothing but I just had tuna and cracker then ate what I should not have and now I feel more congested then full.  The fill was uneventful, Dr. Peters put 1cc in my 4ml band and said that I might not feel it as the band was loose at installation (like a car).  We shall see how I do later today and tomorrow at Hershy Park.  DH and I are taking the kids, should be a fun day.  I lost another 6 pounds in the 2 weeks and am now down just over 21 pounds and am exercising fairly regularly.  It will be so much easier when school starts on Monday and the kids go back the following week.  Its amazing how much I need a regular schedule not my kids "do whatever, whenever schedule."
My last post stated my classes but I've dropped business law and added calculus which makes me very happy.  I have to take business law eventually but I really want to continue the Calculus!

August 4, 2006
Yesterday was my first post op visit with the doctor and nutritionist.  According to the Drs. scale I am down 15 pounds, the nut 16 pounds.  I go back in two weeks for my first fill, then the following week back to school.  Now that the surgery is over and I am feeling good I really am bored and want to get back to school.  This semester I am taking philosophy, womens studies, international economics and business law.  Its going to be a challenging semester but I am so ready.  Now I have to figure in how I am going to volunteer at the kids schools this year.
One good thing, I measured before surgery and I am down 7.5 inches which is a great incentive considering the scale has not moved in well over a week.

July 19, 2006
Yesterday I was feeling puny, I haven't been sleeping and I don't do well without sleep.  My husband has been gone on a business trip since Sunday and I don't sleep well for the first few days he is gone but last night was better and I am wide awake today, plus I went for a walk this morning working back up to my daily 3.5 mile walks (okay, today was only a mile but I'm taking it slow). 

Now I can start to turn my attention to other things (this was consuming), going back to school on August 28th.  This is going to be a challenging semester because I am taking more classes than I normally would but I need to graduate and go back to work to help pay for my daughter's college then my son is 2 years behind her! 

Life is good.

July 17, 2006
I tried this yesterday and my update did not take!!!!

Anyway, I was banded last Monday, July 10, 2006 and other than slight pain in the incision where the port was put in I feel great!  I am missing food though and am now starting to move off protien shakes and only pureed and thinned real foods.  I was really missing savory flavors.  As of today I am down about 12-13 pounds (all of it in my feet).  My belly is swollen just enough to make my pants tight in the front and remain loose in the back (As I loose more weight I hope my front shrinks enough so it looks like I have some sort of behind). 

About recovery, my family has been great.  My husband driving me around everywhere I needed to go, the kids vacuuming, loading up groceries and carrying laundry.  I had a funny conversation with my mom last week about not being able to drive and for the two of us this is so true.  When she had her gall bladder removed a number of years ago she was told not to drive for 2 weeks.  So she decided to walk to the post office instead (about 3 miles round trip from her house) and what does she do,  she falls, trips over her own two feet, and down she went.  We laughed because this is so typical of what we do.  The very next day (3 days after my surgery) my husband drives me to our kid's swim meet.  It is packed at the pool as usual.  The kids are loading in the cooler and all I have in my hand is one very light weight chair.  What do I do in front of 400 people.  Trip of a small piece of lifted concrete and land.  I was very embarrassed and this is so typical.  Thankfully no damage done.  We are much safer driving.

My surgery followup appointment is on August 3 (almost a month after surgery due to Drs. vacation) and already I am looking forward to mushies!

July 3, 2006
One week to go.  I am nervous and a little down (although that could be weather related due to the recent storms and flooding).  I really miss morning coffee and am finding that I am missing the process of drinking the coffee as well as the caffine.  I tried drinking hot water (not a tea fan) but that was only Ok, perhaps in the winter.  I feel like I am in limbo-land and that my life won't really start until after next monday.  I am determined to do everything right!  I really don't want to feel any of the side effects.  I worry about the side effects that I can not control and the fact that my surgeon is over an hour away but I will deal. 
I had my final pre-op appointments last week and what a challenge that was.  I map-quested the directions to the hospital required MD's office and because of electrical lines down I was detoured and late for my appointment then they kept me waiting for 45 minutes to see the doctor for about 3 minutes.  That done I headed home to check on my kids before I turned around to head back to my surgeon's office for my final pre-op appointment with him.  Keep in mind that I live in south eastern Pennsylvania and my surgeon is in Delaware.  Not really far in miles but there is no direct route anywhere so it is easily over an hour drive.  So, I head back home and I am on one of the major highways which is suddenly blocked by the police and we are turned around.  Now, I have only lived here about 2 years and this is an area I've only driven through once or twice and I do not have anything with me but my map-quest so I call my husband and ask him to find a map and help me, in the meantime I find a sign to a city I know and tell my husband to forget it I will just head to the city and from their I can get home.  Well about 5 miles into that drive I end up getting turned around again and finally realize the creek had crested well above flood stage and there was no driving around it.  So I now have to head south.  All the while calling my kids letting them know what is going on.  I've taken so much time, I decide that I will just go to the surgeons office and see if they can't see me early.  In the meantime my husband calls and suggest that if I can find my way to Wilmington we can have lunch then I can go to the surgeon, that was a nice way to kill an hour.  I arrive at the doctor 10 minutes before my 2:00 appointment then wait until 3:30pm until he finally sees me (emergency) again for a 5 minute visit.  When I finally arrived home it was almost 5:30pm and my kids had been in the house all day.  They were really tired as was I. 

June 25, 2006
I am 2 weeks away from surgery and I think I am scared.  My neck has been killing me for about the past week and a half and I went to the doctor and now take muscle relaxants to relieve the pain.  It went away but the pain is now back and on the other side of my neck, Can you say stress!  To top it off my mother in law is ill and in the hospital (on the other side of the country) and my mother is the one taking care of her, THANK YOU MOM!  My husband is going to have to go soon to help his mother back to her apartment or into an assisted living facility.  She has gone back and forth about living with or near us but now I don't think she could stand the plane ride.  STRESS!
I have started eating things that I normally do not eat (things I gave up years ago because they were not good for me) what is up with that?  Thankfully I am not gaining weight but I certainly am not loosing.  My doctor only requires a 2 day clear liquid diet before surgery, I wish he required more!  I guess I am starting to mourn what will be more difficult to eat later.
Tomorrow I go in for the hospital pre-admission testing, wednesday I have my final meeting with the surgeon and sometime this week I meet with the doctor who give the final clearance to the hospital. 
Happy and Scared and Anxious

June 11, 2006
As of today I am 29 days pre-op and I am really beginning to get anxious.  In my effort to live a banded lifestyle I  purchased Tylenol for pain instead of motrin the last time I was at the store.  Last night my neck was in a great deal of pain due to a pinched nerve and the tylenol just did not work!  The worse the pain got the more anxious I got and I thought I was going to have to go to the emergency room.  I knew it would be a problem to go because my husband is out of town and we live across country from all family.  I just won't leave the kids (young teenagers).  This of course made me more anxious.  I found asprine and that helped and I bought some motrin and talking to the doctor about this is on the top of my list for my pre-op appointment.  I know I am anxious about having any surgery but the fact that family is so far away makes me more anxious and now is not the time for anyone to travel.  I know I will make it through. 

Anyway 29 days left!

About June 1, 2006
I am 2 months pre-op, finishing up my clearances.  My actual surgery date is July 10, 2006.
I am married with 2 teenagers and I am a full time student majoring in business.