Teresa J.

Send Message

Block

Add Friend

Well, it's been a while since I have written anything and today I am having a "down" day.  Things have not been real good in the past several weeks.  I had my first fill on November 20, 2008 and that was quite the experience.  I had to convince my surgeon to give me a fill as I thought that was why I had an appointment with him.  It took some real convincing to get him to agree to the fill.  I was the first patient that they had ever done a fill for with the Realize band.  My surgeon had the interns attempt to perform the procedure and they thought they had it filled, but nothing came out.  They poked me several times, before calling the actual surgeon in and then it was decided to do the fill by floroscopy.  Wish they would have done that in the first place.  My insurance will cover all of the procedures so it doesn't matter the cost. 

Well, as of this time, I don't really feel any different.  My next appointment is not until 02/11/2009 and I already know this is going to be a very long time to wait for another fill.  I have not lost any weight in three weeks and have stalled at only 23 pound loss since my surgery on October 7, 2008.  I am hungry most of the time and can eat whatever I want to eat.  I have never had any real problems with my bowels and have not had all of the nausea and vomiting that I keep reading about with other WLS patients.  That's the big problem--I can eat anything.  This is not right.  I should not be able to just eat anything.  I have limits and I keep finding myself pushing the limits and going back to eating sugery, fatty foods.

Today, I got out my food eating stage list and am going to try and get back on track.  I can not fail at this.  This tool was put inside of my to help me with the overeating and to help me improve my health and lifestyle.  I have lost a few inches instead of the pounds, but compared to what other people are losing, I am not even close to be in the ranks at this time.

I am really confused when it comes to carbs.  I hear people talk about not eating bread because it is bad for you, but when I ask about other carbs-rice, noodles, pasta, potatoes--I am told that they eat these things.  These carbs are no better then bread.  I was chastized at a meeting because I said that I eat tortilla shells as wraps instead of eating bread, muffins, bagels, etc.  I have not been real good about staying away from pastas and that is a real problem for me.  

My goal was to be at 170 pounds by January 1, 2009 and I am too far away from that at this time to even try to make that goal.  So, I have failed myself once again.

Well, I am at the 5 week post-op point as of Tuesday.  Things have been up and down, but for the most part, up!!!

I had a set back the week before Halloween and developed a severe, excruiating unknown abdominal pain.  Actually, my husband loaded my up and we went back to Omaha to see Dr. Forse on 10/30/2008, after suffering for three days with this awful pain.  Dr. Forse was not sure either what exactly was wrong.  I was either having an irriated ovary in my tube or I had really irriated the abdominal wall where my port is attached to.  He gave us instructions that I am not lift anything more than a couple of pounds until I go see him on 11/20/2008.

Last week, I had a set back as far as food goes.  I was still only eating 1/2 cup of food about every two hours or so, but thought I could just start eating anything I wanted to eat.  I was eating whatever the rest of the family was eating, even though my husband mentioned numerous times that I shouldn't eat what I was eating.  I kept telling him that it was alright as I was only eating the 1/2 cup I am allowed.  At the same time, due to the pain I was having, I stopped exercising as that only increased my pain.  Well, to make this short, my 22 pound loss up to this point went down to only 15.5 pounds.

As of the past Monday, 11/10/2008, I got back on the wagon by exercising at  least 1/2 hour a day, walking our new dog (my husband got for my birthday on 11/01/2008) every morning, and then not eating my first meal until 8am.  I also started back by eating according to my nutritionist's plan.  This is now Thursday and so far, so good.  I have decided that not only do I need to take one day at a time, I have to learn to take one meal at a time. 

The holidays are coming up and this scares me to a certain point.  I have to work on Thanksgiving day, which doesn't really bother me as I don't feel that I am up to all the food and stress that this special day brings.  My real challenge for the holidays will come at Christmas.  Christmas Day dinner is going to be held at our house.  I have already been thinking about this and plan on using everyone in our families to help me get through this, especially when it comes to eating the crisp skin off of the turkey, which is just something that I always eat.  My goal is to not have even one little taste of the skin.  I have decided that I will not carve the turkey, nor while I serve it or clean up after the dishes afterward as this is when I tend to "sneak" the turkey skin.

Well, enough for now.  Happy Thanksgiving to all and may God bless each and every one of you and your families.

Well, this is Wednesday, October 22ND.  I had my first follow-up appointment on Monday, the 20Th.  My daughter, Nina, went along for the support portion.  Next month, my husband, Kim, will be able to go.

I found out that I am dehydrated by about 5-10%.  I have truly been trying to get down all my fluids, but it is really hard.  I feel like now that I am still constantly worrying about food.  It used to be the feeling that I needed to know when my next meal was and exactly what was I going to eat. 

Now, I have to eat 6 times a day, drink 64 ounces of fluid, and get all of my daily protein requirements in.  In regards to drinking all of that fluid, I have to remember not to drink 30 minutes before or after eating.  So, in all actuality I have to subtract 6 hours out of my day for drinking time.  I usually get up around 6:00am - 7:00am and go to bed around 10:00pm - 11:00pm.  That gives me 14 to 15 waking hours minus the 6 hours, which is a total of 8 to 9 hours to drink at least 64 ounces of fluid.  When you think about this in sips at a time, it really does not boil down to a whole lot of  time to drink.

I still am having problems with being able to eat and drink all of this each day, but am working on getting better at it.  I know it will take time.

I was able to meet Dr. Forse again, and then I met the new dietitian, who does seem knowledgeable.  She did allow me to start working on a soft/puree diet a couple of times a day in addition to clear and full liquids.  She said that if something sounds good to me to eat, as long as it is nutritious and not bread that I could go ahead and try to eat it.  I also have to remember not to eat more than 1/2 to 2/3 (4 to 6 ounces) at a time.  At this point in time, that is usually not a problem as more often than not, I have trouble eating a full 1/2 cup of food.

I have lost a significant amount of weight, which scares me as I don't want to lose this weight to fast.  I want my skin to be able to remember to retract and get back as much as elasticity as it can possibly can.  Also, it is not healthy for anyone to lose too much weight too fast.  We have to all remember that we did not gain this weight overnight and that we shouldn't expect to loose it over night.

The day before I checked into the hospital, using my own scale, I weighed 197.50 pounds.  The day after surgery, using my own scale that I brought to the hospital, I weighed 207 pounds that I contribute to the gas and IV's that I had.  As of this morning, I now weigh 191.00 pounds.

I was able to get my Realize Band access ID number so that I can fully access their website and all of the tools.  This also allows Dr. Forse to be able to access my site as well.  The website is really cool.  It allows to me keep track of my weight whether I weigh daily or weekly, keeps track of my measurements and clothing sizes.  I can also keep track of my daily food intake, glasses of fluids, and vitamin reminder.  There is a place to keep track of my daily exercise and numerous other tools that I am still in the process of learning how to use.

For the most part, I am pretty happy and content that I did have this done.  There was a lot of pain, which I still do have some around the main incision site.  If I move the wrong way, it feels like an intense burning sensation that is pulling my port loose.  So, I am extremely careful as to how I bend over to reach an object. 

I can hardly wait until I can start really working out as right now I can only walked according to the doctor and dietitian. 

Please come back to my blog anytime as I plan on keeping it updated with each new experience or appointment.

Take care and may God bless each of us on our new journey.

Well, my surgery is done and over with.  My new birthday is October 7th, 2008.  I did have the Realize Band procedure done by Dr. Armor Forse.  I was informed the day of my surgery that I was his second patient to have the Realize Band done.  His first patient had just been prior to my surgery.  This was a little scary, but I was informed that the head surgeon for the Realize Band was also going to be in the OR monitoring Dr. Forse's procedures.  Dr. Forse has been doing lap band surguries since about 1981.

So far so good with everything.  I am on a full liquid diet and haven't had any problems so far with anything that I have tried to drink.  I use Nectar and Unjury products and Campbells Soup At Hand (drinking only 1/2 can at a time).  I really try to only take in 1/2 cup of liquid food every two hours and supplement with my decaffinated tea otherwise. 

This was the first time I have had surgery and really didn't know what to rally expect.  Things aren't as bad as I thought, but I am so fearful of ripping out my stitches.

After three phone calls today, I found out the BCBS has approved my re-approval and my scheduled surgery date is October 7th at 10:00am.  Immediately when I hung up the phone, I began crying.  I am not exactly sure why.  Maybe because I finally have a date or maybe it is that I am so scared right now, I don't really know how to feel at this point.  I did find out that I will be having the Realize band and have been told to use their website for all of my progress.

After several long, agonizing months of stress, tests, and frustrations, it looks like a might actually have a surgery date set for my Lap Band.  I was informed on Friday, August 29th that the doctor is looking at October 14th.  I will believe it when I am actually at the hospital on the table