31 pounds

Today, I hit another milestone.  When I stepped on the scale, it read 319.  I’m out of the 320’s AND I’ve lost 30 lbs–31 to be exact!  Yesterday I wore a pair of jeans that were a size smaller than I’d been in before surgery.  They were even a little loose.  The next size down is just a little too small.  I feel great and my fill is obviously working.  I’ve lost 4 lbs this week, plus the 8 I’d gained between 3/10 and 3/19. 

One month pictures

Here are my pictures, one month post-op (one month tomorrow).  I have lost the 8 lbs I gained back, plus 2 more.  That’s 29 lbs total.  

I’m not sure why I always end up looking so pissed.  LOL  I’m really not.

First adjustment

I had my first band adjustment today.  My band holds, I believe, 14 cc.  It is the newest AP band.  Dr. M. put 3.2 cc in today.  He does his fills under fluoro, and fills until he sees decent restriction.  I couldn’t believe how quick it was.  I do have a little seroma under my port incision and it leaked all over me during the fill.  Gross!  I’m on liquids today, and supposed to have purees tomorrow then regular food on Wednesday.  We’ll see.  I have to take it slow with water.  I had chicken broth for dinner and had maybe 1/3 cup and I felt full.  Very weird sensation.  Hopefully the weight loss starts again.  I can’t imagine I’ll be able to eat much for a while.

Update

I saw Dr. M yesterday.  My incision is not infected.  He said it looks fine.  I may have had a slight reaction to the absorbable stitches on the inside or the dermabond on the outside.  On the downside, I have gained a few pounds this week.  He asked what I am eating and I told him.  I’m getting in 600-700 calories (700 is a big day LOL), eating a mix of soft and mushy foods, only eating 1/2 cup at a time, maybe 3/4 cup sometimes.  I’m feeling a lot hungrier lately.  He said he doesn’t really pay attention to loss before the first adjustment, which I will have on Monday!  He thinks I had a fluid shift and I’m retaining some water right now.  My scale was back down 2 lbs today, so I think it is resolving.  I’m watching my sodium intake and getting in all of my water.  He said I’m doing everything perfectly, don’t change anything and try not to worry about it.  He thinks things will take off again next week after my fill.

Frustrated

Last week and this week have been really frustrating for me.  After seeing Dr. M last Monday, I hit a plateau and have not lost any weight.  In fact, my scale has gone up.    I am so upset and frustrated.  From what I read at Lap Band Talk, this is fairly normal.  I started soft foods, which has been exciting.  I’m keeping track of my calories and I’m eating about 700 a day on average.  Today, for instance, once I have my nightly protein shake, I’ll be just over 600.  I’m getting in about 60 grams of protein a day, a little more somedays.  Dr. M wants me to get 50-55 grams, but I thought it would be better to aim a little higher.  I was having issues with getting in all of my water, but I did really well yesterday and for today, I have about 20 ozs to go.  I won’t go to bed until I finish the bottle (1.5 Liter) that I’m working on. 

I have an appointment w/Dr. M tomorrow because my port incision is looking weird.  It has a big scab on it that keeps sort of peeling off but not really.  Very strange.  I think it might be infected.  It is a little red and warm to the touch.  He said it would be better to have a look, just in case.  I’ll ask him about the plateau while I’m there.

Doctor visit today

I saw Dr. M today for my first post-op follow up.  My official weight on his scale was 323.  That’s a 27 lb loss since my last appointment on 2/20.  He was very happy with my weight loss so far.  He checked my incisions and said that everything looks great.  I can have puree/baby food consistency foods, then in about 7-10 days I can start soft foods.  I go back in 3 weeks on April 2.  He said at that time we will discuss a fill, but I might not need one right away because the band was tight when he put it in and I already have some restriction.  It will depend on my continued weight loss and how much food I am able to eat at that point.

 My mom took me to the doctor and she hadn’t seen me since surgery.  She said that she can tell I’ve lost weight.  I went back to work and my co-worker said the same.  That, plus the scale, makes this whole thing worthwhile. 

In the hospital…

These are pictures that Eric took of me in the hospital.

Pre-op 

 Post-op (about 4 hours after surgery when I got my room–you can see my friend, the morphine pump button in my right hand LOL)

Before pictures

These are my before pictures, taken 2.23.08.

 

Met a goal, sort of

I didn’t mention this in my goals, but one thing I’ve been looking forward to was being able to weigh myself on my home scale.  It only goes up to 330 lbs, but I actually got up to 350.  Well, today, it finally happened.  I weighed 330 exactly this morning.  I’ve been so ashamed of my weight for a very long time that I never wanted to mention what it was.  Well, I’m not going to do that anymore.  I’m proud of myself for losing weight.  I haven’t lost 20 lbs in a very long time.

Yum…cream soup…?!

After almost 2 weeks of nothing but clear liquids and protein drinks, I got to add “full liquids” to my diet today.  I was so hungry all of a sudden today.  For dinner, I mixed a can of cream of chicken and Campbell’s cheddar cheese with a bit of water and 1/2 a can of milk.  Eric portioned out my allotted 1/2 cup, which I didn’t quite finish before I was totally full.  There is a ton left in the fridge for tomorrow, Friday, etc.  LOL  It is weird to be satisfied with so little food.

I can add mushies if I want, but I think I’ll be okay until I see Dr. M. on Monday.  I’m so scared of messing up something.  So far so good with liquids though.  Nothing has come back up.  I’m still struggling to get in my water and today, I think I’m going to come up short on protein because I ate dinner late and had planned a protein shake for dinner before calling the dr’s office and getting ok for the cream soup.  LOL