Stage 4

I'm on stage 4 foods now. Soft foods.. the next phase after mushies, but before being able to eat anything. Soft poached or boiled meats, like turkey meatloaf. I have tried Corned beef hash, that goes down easy(too easy, it's way too fattening) Luckily I can only eat about 2/3 of a cup of it. . And I had a few bites of Beef w/ Broccoli chinese food last night. I chewed it 35 some odd times like I was supposed to and I did fine. I'm really focusing on listening to when I am full. I am terrified of throwing up or having something get 'stuck'. I feel like I don't have enough restriction, but I'm really afraid of getting a fill and being too tight. Did I mention how much I hate throwing up? But then again.. the scale didn't move for 3 weeks! But finally.. today. I am down 2 more pounds. My total loss is 19 pounds. I can't wait for it to be 25. That just sounds like such a good number! "Oh yes.. I had surgery and I've already lost TWENTY-FIVE pounds .." see? doesn't that sound wonderful to say??? I'll keep you posted.. I WANT to say that soon. My goal is to lose 8 lbs by Halloween. That's 6 weeks away. That's only a little over a pound a week. Should be doable. It's my first real Goal I've announced out loud and didn't feel like it was unattainable. Feeling good.. and feeling empowered!

Getting easier...

Every day life gets a little better with the lapband. I go in for my one week checkup tomorrow. At that point I believe I'll be able to have full liquids (vs. the clear I'm currently on.) Which is great news.. because I'm seriously worried about my protein intake. The protein water is disgusting. It's got kind of a slick texture, hard to swallow. It's just not good. I mix it with water and that helps, but then that is that much more of it that I have to drink. 20ounces= 40g of protein. I got about 2/3 of it down yesterday, but the day before that I just coudln't stomach it, and today I had one glass and it was all I could do not to throw up. So ONE day of good protein intake.. the rest have all sucked. I'm taking Biotin supplements for my hair- hopefully a week without adequate protein will not do too much damage to my precious hair. As far as the pain goes I'm doing so much better. Still occasional bits of shoulder pain, but the heating pad does seem to help that. No more weight lost though.. but I'm not going to be discouraged. I will add the gym soon and then see how it goes. Since all I'm drinking is fluids, my body has probably gone into starvation mode and is holding onto every calorie for dear life! I'm excited to hit 20 though. That will be nice. But I already feel better.. so I want to stay focused on that rather than the scale.

Home

I'm home and having a rough time. I ended up staying in the hospital for 2 nights, as I was not able to drink enough fluids for them to want to send me home. I was feeling terribly bloated and like something 'just wasn't right'. I felt like I had gone to the Fair and eaten one of everything! seriously not fun. Dr. Floch came to see me after his office hours on Friday and said that when he placed my band it was loose, so he had added 2 CC's of fluid. Which is normal, but that maybe I was too tight. He did an unfill right there in my bed, through my very tender abdomen. I just sat there trying to be tough and held onto the thought that maybe this would relieve the pain/bloating I was feeling. It didn't relieve it instantly, but at least the procedure was over, and I was hopeful. I was in so much pain at that point, that him prodding around really wasn't as bad as it could have been. He was sorry he hadn't come armed with some lidocaine, but hadn't expected to be unfilling me. The bloating feeling remained that night, but I was able to walk around.. so I just walked and walked walked for at least an hour or so. My nurse was very sympathetic and would rub my back and ask how I was doing when I'd pass her in the hall. When I settled down to sleep the gas pains in my shoulder were still pretty bad so I asked for pain meds. It worked and I slept for a solid 3 hours-- first time since I had been there. The next morning I woke up feeling so much better. I drank my whole tea, I finished my water cups (1 every 15 minutes for 2 hours or so). When Dr. Floch came by he saw I was doing so much better so they let me go home. Well.. at home I was doing okay, drinking tea, eating broth, but then I end up at night with that same bloated feeling. GasX doesn't seem to really help. I can't figure out what the problem is.. I'm trying to get in as much fluid as possible, but there is NO way I am making 2 liters. yesterday I got in 1 liter, barely. but they had released me saying that was my minimum, but 2 was better.

SURGERY DAY!!

The day has finally come for surgery! Wow.. it seemed so far away and now it's HERE. The start of my new life.. a whole new adventure. I'm looking forward to feeling better, to finally feeling successful with losing weight. Already I'm down 10 lbs from a month ago. The pre op diet was awful but I survived. I've heard from others that part really is one of the hardest parts. I did break down and cheat one night and have a shrimp and 3 little broccoli crowns, but I figured as long as it wasn't carbs-- I'd be okay. Shhhh. That was 5 days ago, it should all be out of my system by now. My stomach is sure growling loudly-- I think it's tired of jell-O, broth and popsicles. Me too. Off to shower and face this day... xoxo