7.75 ccs is the magical number for me!!
Can we all just have a 3 minute dance party for a second? I've been waiting for this since June 20th!
I went in today for a possible adjustment and weigh in. I was down 3.8 pounds since October 31st! After talking with the PA we decided that we shouldn't do a fill today because if it put me in the red zone, she would have to take out what she put in and a little extra to make up for swelling. So it's better to be safe than sorry. I'm a little disappointed but only because I've never not gotten a fill when I had the chance! But I know it's for the best and we set the next appointment for November 25th, so not far at all.
On another note, my working out is only happening about twice a week because I got a second job where I now work 40 hours a week but I still have my afternoon job where I work 24 hours a week, so I don't have much time for working out, let alone grocery shopping or laundry. I'm only keeping my afternoon job until January and then I'll only do the job that works me full time. It's less pay but better, dependable hours.
So, here is my quick update about me. Hope you all have a great Veteran's Day!
Monday, November 11, 2013
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Get yourself back up and dust yourself off
Okay, here it is...
As you can tell from my last few posts, I've been feeling discouraged and annoyed from not hitting my green zone yet. I have pretty much been told by everyone in my doctor's office that I am an anomaly. As of my last fill, I have 7.25ccs in my 10cc band. MOST average people hit the green zone between 5-7ccs. I apparently need more than that. I am fine with that and will go get a fill every week if that's what I need to do to hit this dang green zone. I am just SO very grateful for the PA who took me aside and told me I have the right mentality and am working hard to get there, so it WILL happen.
That being said, I am still not in the green zone. I'm hoping that my fill coming up on the 17th will put me there, but I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't. It seems to be very elusive. I may even call and see if I can move up my appointment to the 10th...
As far as weight loss goes, I had been steady loosing until my last appointment on the 26th of September where I was up .2 pounds. They didn't give me a hard time for it but I beat myself up for it pretty well. Even though, I wasn't in the green zone, I was always at least down and this was the first time since starting my pre op diet of being up in weight. Although, it sucked to hear I was up, it made me look at what exactly I have been eating. I ate about 80% healthy but every now and then that 20% of unhealthy food would come around and I found myself eating it. And my exercise was MAJORLY lacking. I had quit my last gym membership because I was paying almost $60 a month and there are so many cheap gyms near me that I thought it was silly to pay such a high price. But for about three weeks I didn't have a gym and it was still 90 degrees outside and so I justified sitting on my butt.
Well, that is over. Last week I signed up for Planet Fitness, $20 a month for the "deluxe" membership, which includes tanning, massage beds and other perks. And so yesterday and today, I've gone to work out and spent about 15 minutes on the elliptical and 20-30 minutes on the treadmill, depending on if I found a good show or not. Haha.
I just saw my family in late July and had only just started on this weight loss journey. I just went for a quick weekend trip in late September and a few noticed and commented on my weight loss but when I go home for Christmas in 12 weeks, I want to blow their socks off! If I work out diligently, cut down on diet pop, increase my water and watch my portions, then there is no reason that that can't happen.
So here are my promises to myself:
As you can tell from my last few posts, I've been feeling discouraged and annoyed from not hitting my green zone yet. I have pretty much been told by everyone in my doctor's office that I am an anomaly. As of my last fill, I have 7.25ccs in my 10cc band. MOST average people hit the green zone between 5-7ccs. I apparently need more than that. I am fine with that and will go get a fill every week if that's what I need to do to hit this dang green zone. I am just SO very grateful for the PA who took me aside and told me I have the right mentality and am working hard to get there, so it WILL happen.
That being said, I am still not in the green zone. I'm hoping that my fill coming up on the 17th will put me there, but I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't. It seems to be very elusive. I may even call and see if I can move up my appointment to the 10th...
As far as weight loss goes, I had been steady loosing until my last appointment on the 26th of September where I was up .2 pounds. They didn't give me a hard time for it but I beat myself up for it pretty well. Even though, I wasn't in the green zone, I was always at least down and this was the first time since starting my pre op diet of being up in weight. Although, it sucked to hear I was up, it made me look at what exactly I have been eating. I ate about 80% healthy but every now and then that 20% of unhealthy food would come around and I found myself eating it. And my exercise was MAJORLY lacking. I had quit my last gym membership because I was paying almost $60 a month and there are so many cheap gyms near me that I thought it was silly to pay such a high price. But for about three weeks I didn't have a gym and it was still 90 degrees outside and so I justified sitting on my butt.
Well, that is over. Last week I signed up for Planet Fitness, $20 a month for the "deluxe" membership, which includes tanning, massage beds and other perks. And so yesterday and today, I've gone to work out and spent about 15 minutes on the elliptical and 20-30 minutes on the treadmill, depending on if I found a good show or not. Haha.
I just saw my family in late July and had only just started on this weight loss journey. I just went for a quick weekend trip in late September and a few noticed and commented on my weight loss but when I go home for Christmas in 12 weeks, I want to blow their socks off! If I work out diligently, cut down on diet pop, increase my water and watch my portions, then there is no reason that that can't happen.
So here are my promises to myself:
- I am going to go to the gym at least 5 times a week for a minimum of 30 minutes each time. After working out, I, then get to reward myself with a massage session. :)
- I am also done weighing myself at home. No more weekly weigh ins. I will only go off of my weight from True Results. (If my numbers aren't good when I weigh at home, I discourage myself.)
- I am going to cut the 20% of unhealthy eating down to 10%.
- I am going to drink at LEAST 64 ounces of water each day.
- Also I am going to get better at posting here more often. Call me out if you don't see me posting, folks!
I hope everyone has a great week!!
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Feeling annoyed.
Well these last few weeks have been up and down, literally! On my last update, I had just gotten a fill and was 286.6. When I left for Kansas (August 2), I weighed myself and told myself that I'd like to come back the same weight which was 283.8. When I came back to Arizona (August 12) I weighed 280.2! I was amazed and super proud of myself for LOOSING three pounds on vacation. I did make it a point to stay on mostly healthy foods while in town and I never over ate. I also went walking with my Mom and stayed very active with my friends/family while in town.
This morning, I weighed-in and was 283. Ugh. Back up three pounds. My eating isn't different and if anything, it's healthier! But I haven't been very active this week, which I know isn't good and needs to be changed but three pounds seems like a big gain for someone that just had WLS! Feeling down and out after my weigh-in I called True Results to see if I could get in this Thursday (tomorrow) instead of waiting another week for my scheduled fill. Luckily I got in and am going at 11:15 tomorrow!
I need to make it a point to ask if I have a 10cc or 14cc band because last Tuesday was my LB support group and when I told them that I have 6ccs in my band and feel next to nothing, they were all shocked. I am 95% sure that I was told that I have a 10cc band so everyone was blown away that I could have 6ccs and not feel it. If I hadn't done a barium swallow and saw it in there myself, I'd be doubting if I even had anything in there at all and maybe this was all some sort of elaborate scheme to get $10,000 out of me. (Did anyone else have that fear? Maybe I'm just totally irrational and silly thinking this surgery was some get rich scheme and I was the target.... haha!) Anyway, back to my topic, I am going to be asking them to double check my chart and see if I have a 10cc or 14cc band just for my own knowledge.
Now on to the big stuff that has been pressing on me for a while now. As most of you know, I am a college student going for court reporting. I was supposed to start classes this last Monday but after coming back from vacation, I found out that my financial aid was not coming through this semester due to being capped for an undergrad student. My only choice was to pay out of pocket for this semester, which is about $800. Obviously, I don't just have that laying around so I had to drop my classes. Luckily, I have a TON of at-home-study material and am kind of home schooling myself this semester while I am DESPERATELY looking for a second job so I can start saving money up. My plan is, depending on how well I do with my home study program, either save up to pay out of pocket and finish one last semester at school and pass all my speeds, or save up and move back to Kansas to save on rent/utilities because student loans will be due by then and finish school online. I have amazing family and friends no matter where I decide to live, but for now, everything is kind of up in the air.
Speaking of finding a second job, I had a phone interview with Home Depot today and they scheduled an in-person interview for Friday. It is for a merchandise executive associate position, it would be part time (25 hours/week), in the early mornings M-F paying $10/hour. Please pray that I get this job! Sitting down and writing about this interview just made me realize that it will be on August 23rd, my niece that passed away's birthday. I'm going to need extra prayers if I'm going to pull off this interview.
That's all that I have going on right now. Let me know how you guys are doing! I feel like everyone on here has been quite lately!!
I need to make it a point to ask if I have a 10cc or 14cc band because last Tuesday was my LB support group and when I told them that I have 6ccs in my band and feel next to nothing, they were all shocked. I am 95% sure that I was told that I have a 10cc band so everyone was blown away that I could have 6ccs and not feel it. If I hadn't done a barium swallow and saw it in there myself, I'd be doubting if I even had anything in there at all and maybe this was all some sort of elaborate scheme to get $10,000 out of me. (Did anyone else have that fear? Maybe I'm just totally irrational and silly thinking this surgery was some get rich scheme and I was the target.... haha!) Anyway, back to my topic, I am going to be asking them to double check my chart and see if I have a 10cc or 14cc band just for my own knowledge.
Now on to the big stuff that has been pressing on me for a while now. As most of you know, I am a college student going for court reporting. I was supposed to start classes this last Monday but after coming back from vacation, I found out that my financial aid was not coming through this semester due to being capped for an undergrad student. My only choice was to pay out of pocket for this semester, which is about $800. Obviously, I don't just have that laying around so I had to drop my classes. Luckily, I have a TON of at-home-study material and am kind of home schooling myself this semester while I am DESPERATELY looking for a second job so I can start saving money up. My plan is, depending on how well I do with my home study program, either save up to pay out of pocket and finish one last semester at school and pass all my speeds, or save up and move back to Kansas to save on rent/utilities because student loans will be due by then and finish school online. I have amazing family and friends no matter where I decide to live, but for now, everything is kind of up in the air.
Speaking of finding a second job, I had a phone interview with Home Depot today and they scheduled an in-person interview for Friday. It is for a merchandise executive associate position, it would be part time (25 hours/week), in the early mornings M-F paying $10/hour. Please pray that I get this job! Sitting down and writing about this interview just made me realize that it will be on August 23rd, my niece that passed away's birthday. I'm going to need extra prayers if I'm going to pull off this interview.
That's all that I have going on right now. Let me know how you guys are doing! I feel like everyone on here has been quite lately!!
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Checking in!
Okay, so I am two weeks past my last fill and I feel nothing. NOTHING. I can eat anything (everything). I eat larger portions than I should, I can eat bread like nothing, nothing in phasing me. Now, having said all that, I have gone ABOVE and BEYOND to stay eating healthy foods so that even though I'm eating bigger portions than what's ideal, I'm eating smart calories/protein.
Yesterday it hit me that my next fill appointment was a month from that day. I was SO discouraged that, here I've just paid close to $10,000 out of pocket for WLS, and I'm not feeling ANY effects of it. I decided to call and see if maybe there wasn't a cancellation and I could get squeezed in. I am pretty sure someone was looking out for me, or maybe the receptionist picked up on my discouragement and she got me in for the next day (which is today).
So, this morning I go in before work and I go fill out my little papers about how I'm still hungry and the basics of what I'm eating for meals and whatnot. I get called back and weigh in and found out I was down 3 pounds, which I am pleased with! So I give the NP a heads up that the last lady poked around a LOT and barely was able to get in the port and that she had mentioned needing a bigger needle. Today's NP said that the bigger needle is a lot bigger and that she would rather try with the normal one first. I trusted her instinct and to be honest a bigger needle didn't seem appealing!
I make it a point to only stare at the ceiling while they do these fills because seeing needles in my body make me faint. She numbed me and and poked around for a while and after a bit I hear, "Oh....umm. Okay. Ohhhhhhh, oh my, um, okay. Okay. Okay." By this time, I am freaking out a little. I'm trying to look at her to read her face while avoiding the needle sticking out of my stomach and I see her bring the needle up and it full of blood. Now, seeing the needle with blood wasn't even a red flag to me because it seems like a normal thing but she was freaked out by it, which made me start worrying. She starts talking about how she hit a pocket of blood and she pulled out 3ccs of it and now it was gone but to be safe, she wanted me to do a barium swallow. So about a minute later, her and, I'm guessing, her boss came in and took me to the imaging room. I did the swallow (which tasted and looked like chalky water) but it is only one gulp so not too bad. She let me watch it after and it was really cool to watch it come down and pass through the band and into the stomach. She also checked my port site, which was also good. They took me back to the exam room but now I was worried that I was going to turned away from a fill and was feeling sad. But the NP and her boss came in, said she would still give me a .5cc fill and wanted to check for more blood pockets. She checked and found another one and pulled out another 2ccs of blood and the boss didn't seem surprised by it at all. She said it's common in hiatal hernia patients but she was surprised when I told her I didn't have one... Haha! Anyway, she said everyone's body is different and it was nothing to worry about. Honestly though, I wasn't until I thought it was going to prevent a fill.
I am officially at 6ccs in my band now. The NP said the average person is in the green zone anywhere from 5-7ccs so since I'm right in the middle, I hope I'm there! :)
On Friday I'm flying to Kansas for 10 days so I'm not sure how much I'll be updating here, just an FYI.
Yesterday it hit me that my next fill appointment was a month from that day. I was SO discouraged that, here I've just paid close to $10,000 out of pocket for WLS, and I'm not feeling ANY effects of it. I decided to call and see if maybe there wasn't a cancellation and I could get squeezed in. I am pretty sure someone was looking out for me, or maybe the receptionist picked up on my discouragement and she got me in for the next day (which is today).
So, this morning I go in before work and I go fill out my little papers about how I'm still hungry and the basics of what I'm eating for meals and whatnot. I get called back and weigh in and found out I was down 3 pounds, which I am pleased with! So I give the NP a heads up that the last lady poked around a LOT and barely was able to get in the port and that she had mentioned needing a bigger needle. Today's NP said that the bigger needle is a lot bigger and that she would rather try with the normal one first. I trusted her instinct and to be honest a bigger needle didn't seem appealing!
I make it a point to only stare at the ceiling while they do these fills because seeing needles in my body make me faint. She numbed me and and poked around for a while and after a bit I hear, "Oh....umm. Okay. Ohhhhhhh, oh my, um, okay. Okay. Okay." By this time, I am freaking out a little. I'm trying to look at her to read her face while avoiding the needle sticking out of my stomach and I see her bring the needle up and it full of blood. Now, seeing the needle with blood wasn't even a red flag to me because it seems like a normal thing but she was freaked out by it, which made me start worrying. She starts talking about how she hit a pocket of blood and she pulled out 3ccs of it and now it was gone but to be safe, she wanted me to do a barium swallow. So about a minute later, her and, I'm guessing, her boss came in and took me to the imaging room. I did the swallow (which tasted and looked like chalky water) but it is only one gulp so not too bad. She let me watch it after and it was really cool to watch it come down and pass through the band and into the stomach. She also checked my port site, which was also good. They took me back to the exam room but now I was worried that I was going to turned away from a fill and was feeling sad. But the NP and her boss came in, said she would still give me a .5cc fill and wanted to check for more blood pockets. She checked and found another one and pulled out another 2ccs of blood and the boss didn't seem surprised by it at all. She said it's common in hiatal hernia patients but she was surprised when I told her I didn't have one... Haha! Anyway, she said everyone's body is different and it was nothing to worry about. Honestly though, I wasn't until I thought it was going to prevent a fill.
I am officially at 6ccs in my band now. The NP said the average person is in the green zone anywhere from 5-7ccs so since I'm right in the middle, I hope I'm there! :)
On Friday I'm flying to Kansas for 10 days so I'm not sure how much I'll be updating here, just an FYI.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Weigh in Wednesday and a little extra :)
June 20 (Day of surgery): 291
June 26: 286
July 3: 286.4
July 10: 287.8
July 17: 286.8 WHOOO!
I am glad to start seeing the numbers go in the right direction again. I was beginning to doubt myself. Not necessarily regretting the lap band, maybe disappointed is a better word. Either way, the numbers are going back down and I am stoked!!
In other news, I spent all day yesterday and most of today totally fan girling about Olan Rogers. He is a comedian/film maker. He has a YouTube channel where he posts quite a few different things but my favorite is when he tells stories. He is also a clean comedian, which is darn near impossible to find anymore. Go ahead, watch all his stuff, not a single cuss word or vulgar thing is said. I mean, and also, I just have to mention how he is probably one of the most handsome men, ever. (Okay, maybe I'm a little biased. haha!)
Anyways, he went on tour to do a free meet and greet with all of his fans. He hosted an Eat a Slice with Me tour, Jones Soda and pizza were donated to make this happen. My friend from school and I both really like him so we decided to go together to meet him! It started at 3 so we went around 2 and got in line. It was SUPER humid and still very hot and sunny. We got into the building by 3:45ish and to find another line but at this point we were inside in AC so we didn't care. Also we could see him! (haha, yes, I know how dorky I am.) Anyway, after almost two hours outside sweating like pig and on the brink of passing out from heat, we get inside, wait some more and then meet OLAN ROGERS! He hugged me three times and signed a poster for me. He is truly an amazing man and so humble. Also one girl in front of us literally passed out from the heat so her boyfriend started carrying her to the car but one of the crew went inside and came back with Olan and he came out, chased down the boyfriend carrying the girl passed out, and took them inside. We found out later that she ended up being okay and still got to meet Olan. Apparently he carried her princess style so she seemed fairly pleased with it... The whole time we were there they had water for everyone and told everyone to go get some (which I did, I think I ended up going to get like 4 cups worth.) But after that they went down the entire line with cups and water gallons. Everyone got water no matter what after that.
Here are some pictures, I look horrible and it's blurry but I don't care!! :)
If you ever feel the need for a laugh go to his YouTube channel and watch a little something, his laugh is contagious. This story is my favorite, though. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZO9tMetxno&list=PL9237F46A2E68117A&index=1
June 26: 286
July 3: 286.4
July 10: 287.8
July 17: 286.8 WHOOO!
I am glad to start seeing the numbers go in the right direction again. I was beginning to doubt myself. Not necessarily regretting the lap band, maybe disappointed is a better word. Either way, the numbers are going back down and I am stoked!!
In other news, I spent all day yesterday and most of today totally fan girling about Olan Rogers. He is a comedian/film maker. He has a YouTube channel where he posts quite a few different things but my favorite is when he tells stories. He is also a clean comedian, which is darn near impossible to find anymore. Go ahead, watch all his stuff, not a single cuss word or vulgar thing is said. I mean, and also, I just have to mention how he is probably one of the most handsome men, ever. (Okay, maybe I'm a little biased. haha!)
Anyways, he went on tour to do a free meet and greet with all of his fans. He hosted an Eat a Slice with Me tour, Jones Soda and pizza were donated to make this happen. My friend from school and I both really like him so we decided to go together to meet him! It started at 3 so we went around 2 and got in line. It was SUPER humid and still very hot and sunny. We got into the building by 3:45ish and to find another line but at this point we were inside in AC so we didn't care. Also we could see him! (haha, yes, I know how dorky I am.) Anyway, after almost two hours outside sweating like pig and on the brink of passing out from heat, we get inside, wait some more and then meet OLAN ROGERS! He hugged me three times and signed a poster for me. He is truly an amazing man and so humble. Also one girl in front of us literally passed out from the heat so her boyfriend started carrying her to the car but one of the crew went inside and came back with Olan and he came out, chased down the boyfriend carrying the girl passed out, and took them inside. We found out later that she ended up being okay and still got to meet Olan. Apparently he carried her princess style so she seemed fairly pleased with it... The whole time we were there they had water for everyone and told everyone to go get some (which I did, I think I ended up going to get like 4 cups worth.) But after that they went down the entire line with cups and water gallons. Everyone got water no matter what after that.
Here are some pictures, I look horrible and it's blurry but I don't care!! :)
If you ever feel the need for a laugh go to his YouTube channel and watch a little something, his laugh is contagious. This story is my favorite, though. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZO9tMetxno&list=PL9237F46A2E68117A&index=1
Monday, July 15, 2013
Got my fill today!
I totally thought I sent a post while I was at True Results after my fill but I guess it didn't go through...
Anyway, I just updated that today with my official weight, I was actually one pound over my presurgery date but the nurse practitioner said to not worry. It's hard to maintain the weight loss from the pre op diet when eating normal portions which I have been.
She gave me something to numb the area and then started with the big needle. It wasn't painful but she had quite a bit of trouble locating my port. She poked around, a lot. I'm very glad I was numbed up. I had 4.5ccs in my band so she put in another 1cc and she was confident that that will put me in the green zone. She said most people are in the green zone anywhere from 5-7ccs.
I also got cleared to start hitting the gym. Basic walking, elliptical or bike things. No crunches yet :) I also got approved to go down the river with friends with this Saturday but apparently the weather might not work with our plan :(
That is really all I have to update for now! Hope everyone has an amazing week!
EDIT::: Does it sometimes take a while for the 'fill' feeling to take effect? I'm not noticing a lack of hunger and I have to finish the day on liquids.
Anyway, I just updated that today with my official weight, I was actually one pound over my presurgery date but the nurse practitioner said to not worry. It's hard to maintain the weight loss from the pre op diet when eating normal portions which I have been.
She gave me something to numb the area and then started with the big needle. It wasn't painful but she had quite a bit of trouble locating my port. She poked around, a lot. I'm very glad I was numbed up. I had 4.5ccs in my band so she put in another 1cc and she was confident that that will put me in the green zone. She said most people are in the green zone anywhere from 5-7ccs.
I also got cleared to start hitting the gym. Basic walking, elliptical or bike things. No crunches yet :) I also got approved to go down the river with friends with this Saturday but apparently the weather might not work with our plan :(
That is really all I have to update for now! Hope everyone has an amazing week!
EDIT::: Does it sometimes take a while for the 'fill' feeling to take effect? I'm not noticing a lack of hunger and I have to finish the day on liquids.
Friday, July 5, 2013
Update and Weigh in
Hey, guys, sorry I've been MIA. This week is a hard one for me. Monday marked two years since my niece passed away. It kind of taints the Fourth of July for me a little bit. I miss her. A lot. I try the majority of the time to keep an upbeat attitude about her passing, well, as much of an upbeat attitude as possible about a 13 year old passing away. She was beautiful, smart, musically talented, kind-hearted, loving and fiercely loved by her entire family.
She was also quite the goof ball.
Wednesday was my weigh in. I was up half a pound. I was quite annoyed about that but actually yesterday I started my "time of the month". So I'm discounting that gain. Hopefully it was just water weight and will be gone by next week. I am definitely eating pretty much normal food but I am eating healthy things. I am also eating small portions and am full for hours after so I think all the swelling in my stomach is gone and I am ready for a fill. I have that appointment set up for the 15th of this month. The biggest thing that I need to work on the most is getting back into the habit of drinking more water. And not with my meals... haha
That's about all that's going on for me right now. I have a ton of homework that I need to catch up and I need to do some cleaning around the house, so FUN weekend for me! Ha!
Maybe I'll talk my roommate into a movie this weekend, after we clean..
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