WOW been a few weeks since I have updated you. I have been busy and honestly too lazy! LOL

I am now up to week 5 this Thursday since my banding. I am doing really well. I have been eating normal food for about the past 2 weeks …. yes yes I know I should have been on mush BUT I couldn’t take it anymore. So after 2 weeks of liquids and a week of mush I ventured into normal foods.

I started with things like noodles and other soft foods. I really didn’t have a problem with normal food and adjusted really well. I have slowly been getting hungrier and hungrier and I can handle more food. Last night I had Pizza …. yes I know it is bad but I was at my Dad’s and he ordered it and it was that or starve! LOL So where normally I would eat 5-6 slices …. I ate 2 … I actually struggled to eat 2. So my appetite is reduced but it has gone from 4 fork fulls of noodles to 2 full slices of pizza. So it has increased in the past 2 weeks.

I have missed both my dietitian appointments! Slack I know! But this month like I said has been so busy. We have been to Canberra and to see my folks in NSW and now Marc is in the USA on a last minute business trip. I did however have a phone consultation and she gave me the rundown on starting solids LOL. I played dumb and listened. I was too chicken to admit I was on solids and had been for a week!

This week however is super exciting!!! I have a banding workshop and my first fill!!! YAY. I never thought I would be excited to be able to eat less, but I am!

So I will update again after the workshop, I doubt anymore will happen before then! Oh wait no … I am going to do a shirt term (4 month) goal post. I have decided to set myself a goal!

I will also weigh again on Thursday

Jen xx

Ok so today is day 7 after surgery and my first weigh and measure! Lets see the results!

Starting Weight - 110.5 kg (243.6 lbs)
Current Weight - 104.8kg

Total Loss - 5.7kg

Starting BMI - 39.6
Current BMI - 37.6

Clothing Size - 20

Starting Hips - 132cm - Now 126cm <6cm
Starting Waist - 118cm - Now 111.5cm <6.5cm
Starting Thighs - 71cm - Now 63cm <8cm
Starting Calves - 44.5cm - Now 42.5 <2cm
Starting Arms - 41cm - Now 39cm <2cm
Starting Chest -117cm - Now 112cm <5cm

Total cm lost - 29.5cm

I reached my first milestone yesterday without even setting it as a goal!

Since my 35th week of pregnancy (November 2008) I have not been able to wear my wedding ring, only my engagement ring. But yesterday on our 2nd wedding anniversary I put both of my rings on and guess what? THEY FIT!! They not only fit but feel so comfortable! I am so happy and never want to take them off.

So sometimes the most exciting milestones are the ones you don’t plan!

Yesterday was our 2 year wedding anniversary and even all I have been through only 5 days from surgery I was still thinking about food! My head kept telling me “Oh it’s a special occasion there must be something yummy you can eat?”. The whole day I knew we were going to see a movie and I was visualizing the candy bar in my head asking myself “What can I eat that will turn to liquid instantly?”.

I have come to realize that food for me is not just physical it is mental. I need food for comfort, for celebration and for boredom. Food consumes my life!

We went to the movies and I decided on ice cream as that can turn to liquid instantly and after a lot of thought added Maltesers to my list because they are easy to suck into nothing along with those I ordered a medium Pepsi. I got Marc to eat the top of my choc-top and I ate the ice-cream until it got to the cone and I realised I couldn’t go any further so I gave it to Marc. During the movie I sucked on 4 Maltesers and drank around 7 sips of Pepsi, not even 1/4 of the cup! After the movie ended I realised I really need to change my ways. Enjoying myself is not about food, we were there to see a movie that went for 1.5 hours … am I really that bad that I can’t go 1.5 hours without thinking of ways to slip junk food down my band?

I always thought the people who blended up Mars Bars and Cheeseburgers were crazy! But honestly I understand where there heads are. Food is emotional and mental it is not physical. I am not hungry at all so really I am only eating out of habit and cravings!

All of these things are learning curves and I am sure I will have many more in the future. I can’t expect to change a lifetime of habits in 5 days. My relationship with food needs to change and I am going to work really hard to change it.

I am going to do a food diary, because my biggest question during this whole journey has been … “What can I eat?”.

Day 1 - The first 24 hours

The first 24 hours are clear fluids only and no more than 50mls of fluids every hour.

Clear fluids include -
* Clear soup broth - example: Chicken
* Water
* Black tea
* Apple Juice

Day 2 to 5 - Fluids

The first 2 weeks are fluids only, anything thin enough to suck through a straw. The first few days I was sticking to mostly soup broth and meal replacement shakes, but yesterday I ventured to a chicken and corn soup. I blended it and added a little more water to thin it out and it was really yummy.

Fluids include -
* Juice
* Water
* Meal replacement shakes
* Soup - if soup is thick add water and be sure to blend any chunky soups to a thin consitancy.
* Tea and coffee

How much can I eat?

I am generally not hungry. I have no hunger pains at all and it is normally “head hunger” and habit that makes me eat. Head hunger is where my head tells me I want food, but my tummy feels full. On my instructions from the surgery I can have 30 grams of meal replacement powder mixed with 200mls of milk 3 times per day. I struggle to finish 100mls once a day. A typical day has been as follows.

Morning

Cup of tea upon waking
Water a juice throughout the morning

Lunch

100mls of meal replacement shake
Water and juice throughout the day
Cup of tea

Dinner

One cup of soup broth
Cup of tea
Water and juice

I will try and keep this food diary going for a few months to give everyone a better idea on how life is with a lap band

Today is day 4 after my banding surgery and while the pneumonia is making me feel lousy, the actual gastric banding feels great!

The first 2 days I felt like I had a big balloon in my stomach and I found it difficult to bend at the waist even slightly. I also found it hard to sleep in my bed as it was too soft and I needed to be slightly elevated. So I spent the first night on the couch and the next night in the hospital.

Last night was much easier! Yesterday I woke up and felt so much better in my abdomen. I can bend a little and also I can now sleep in my bed. I also find getting up not as hard as I did. It was really painful and awkward the first few days trying to get up. But now it is pretty much normal, however I am still being careful! I am so paranoid about the band slipping that I am trying to take it nice and easy.

I was weighed the night I was admitted into hospital and I had lost 4kg! So I guess that is a positive! I will weigh myself on day 7 and measure.

As for eating there hasn’t been much! I am really not hungry. I read the diet sheet wrong! I thought I was on clear fluids for 2 weeks, but the clear fluid portion is only for the first 24 hours. So now I can have pretty much anything I can suck through a straw. Mostly I am having shakes, chicken soup broth, juice, water and tea. I am finding 1 shake a day is enough, I can’t stomach anymore.

The wounds are getting a little itchy which means they are healing … it also means the sticky stuff is irritating my skin! I have big red welts on my body from all the sticky stuff they have put on me, even though I tell them I have an allergy! But I guess there is nothing else they can do.

Can’t wait till the next stage! Pureed food! LOL YAY

The past few days have been pretty eventful! On Saturday (5/7/09) night I had pains and a weird feeling in the left side of my chest, I went to emergency where they put me on a heart monitor and did some blood tests. We waited about 5 hours for all the test results to come back and they were sure I had developed a clot in my lung. Because I have had 3 anesthetics in the past 4 weeks I am at a high risk of clotting.

I was admitted at 2am on Sunday (6/07/09) morning and was given an injection of heparin to thin my blood and was told I would need a CT scan in the morning to see if their was a clot present. In the morning I was finding it a little hard to breath and found having the oxygen on helped. At 12pm I was taken to have the scan. They had to inject dye into my system, which was a very weird sensation! It felt really warm and then all of a sudden I felt like I was going to wet myself!

A few hours after the scan the doctor came to see me. He said their wasn’t a clot present but I did have pneumonia and both my lungs had collapsed a little. He said I could stay if I wanted, but was happy for me to go home on antibiotics.

It was a pretty scary thing, I know pulmonary embolisims are really serious and can be life threatening. So I was panicking a little and so glad when the test came back negative.

Today is day day 4 after my surgery, I will right another blog about how the actual lap band is going. I am feeling really lousy today but trying to walk around as much as I can to help me breath better.

So lets hope this is the last bump in the road! I have had enough problems in the last month!

Day one has been ok. I have been in a little more pain then I expected. It hasn’t been overly bad just a bit debilitating, I have to move slowly when I stand up and walk. Laying flat on my back is also a little uncomfortable.

When it comes to eating I have not been hungry at all. I have had to force myself to drink. I am on a clear fluid diet for 2 weeks and can also have shakes. I am not too worried about it, having no appetite definitely helps!

I got to see the cuts today when the nurse changed my dressings, they are not too bad. The main one where my port was placed is about 5cm long and the other 3 are small at about 1cm each. Not that it worries me, I would rather be thin with scars than fat! LOL so between my gallbladder, banding and c-section scars I doubt I will be wearing a bikini in the future!

So day one has actually been ok, I am feeling really positive about it. Now off to bed for a goodnight sleep.

The day started very early, I could hardly sleep the night before I wasn’t feeling nervous but I knew my subconcious was. I was convinced I was fine.

I finished packing my bag and got Cooper’s bag ready because mum was planning to spend the day at the hospital with him until I got out of surgery.

We went to the hospital and picked Marc up on the way.

I got to the hospital at 12:10pm and completed the paperwork. I then had to go to the pre-admission clinic where the nurse checked my blood pressure, discussed my allergies to sticky plasters and did an ECG. She tagged me and I waited for my name to be called!

I was taken to a special waiting area where I changed into a very sexy hospital gown and even sexier paper underwear! LOL I also had to put on TED compression stockings and a robe and sat in the waiting room anticipating the arrival of my chariot to take me to surgery. While I was waiting I was talking to the lady next to me, she told me she had a gastric band 4 years before and lost 40kg. She was really interesting to talk to and made me really excited.

Finally at 2:50pm the nurse arrived and took me to the operating rooms. I waited in a bed in another waiting room until 3:20pm and then I was taken to the anaesthetic bay. The anaesthetist was nice, although I asked him to use a local he didn’t and it took him quiet a few minutes to find a vein which left me a little upset.

I then walked into the operating room and laid on the bed they attached all of their gadgets including a thing on my forehead that tells them how awake or asleep I am. They gave me some oxygen and said goodnight! The next thing I know I am in recovery in a bit of pain with the best recovery nurse I could have asked for. She was so comforting and gentle, she made the whole process really easy she was just fantastic. I was then transfered to my room where Marc, Mum and Cooper were. I had my own room which was great, it made it so much easier to rest.

The night went well I was woken a few times so they could check my BP and woken at 3am for a blood thinning injection. The nurse who looked after me all night was fantastic, very sweet and helpful.

I had a shower and was allowed to leave at 9:30am.

The pain is fine while I am laying down, but it hurts a bit to stand and walk around. It is a little more painful than my gallbladder operation, but I think it may be a combination on the pain from the last surgery and this one as the used the same entry points.

All in all it was not a bad experience at all. The nurses were lovely and I was very well looked after.

I am so excited about the next step!

Ok so now it’s done it’s time to come clean….. I didn’t do the shakes. After having my gallbladder surgery I just did not feel like shakes. I felt sick and needed real food. I ate healthy 60% of the time but must admit the last few days I pigged out on junk food.

My final meal was from Parso’s Pizza their yummy chicken pasta with cream, sundried tomatoes, macadamia nuts and avacado! It was so yummy, but I did feel very guilty.

All day yesterday I was worried my liver would be too fatty and he would get in there and not do it. I was very silly not doing them and given the time over again I would have done them. The stress and anxiety over it wasn’t worth it.