Still Banded and back in the Zone

Emily & me riding bikes while camping.



Just a quick update.  I am still around and my second band is finally working for me!  I was rebanded last July after my band slipped.  Since then it has been a major struggle to get on track.  This has been  a physical and emotional roller coaster for me, but I think I am finally in the green zone. I am at my lowest weight ever - 177, and seen to be losing at a steady pace of 1-2 pounds per week.  It took this long, but I am feeling great.  My band is tight and I have trouble with a lot of food.  My doctor says he is very happy with my weight and would be happy if I maintained this weight.  I want to lose another 10-15 pounds though.  Anyway, I thought I would check in.  I hope to visit more frequently and keep up with all your blogs.  It's so great to see all your familiar faces!

Take care,
Dawn

Banded Again

Well I am starting all over!  My band was replaced on Wednesday July, 20th.  My surgeon could not revise the old band - it slipped too far.  He said I had the size of a grapefruit sticking above the band - no wonder I was in pain!  I think the slip was there for quite sometime now that I look back and think about what I was experiencing.  Hubby has not gone through any of the tightness or constant Pbing that I was.  He has done so well with his band.  Anyway, I went into emergency on Monday, and was admitted the next day.  They kept me on fluids all of Tuesday.  I was operated on at 1:15pm Wed. & was out of the O.R. by 3 pm.  Let me tell you, this one hurts way more than the first time.  I am having the shoulder pain this time & a killer headache that won't go away.  I also had a lot of nauseaa. The doc put in a LapBand this time.  He was afraid if he put in another Realize band, it would eventually follow the same pattern as the old band and slip again.  He said he is pretty confident that he positioned it in a good spot and that it should not slip.  He said I should keep the band on the loose side.  He definitely feels I had the slip because my band was too tight.  He told me to go slow with this band.  By the way, he is not my original surgeon, he is his partner, so I only saw this doc two times before.  I like him a lot but he is leaving the practice :(. 

So I am on a clear liquid diet until tomorrow.  The Full Liquid for 10 days, then on to mushies.......  WooHoo I forgot how much fun this was - Not!

It's Been a Long Time......

I want to thank Jen- http://jenslapbandjourney.blogspot.com/  for reaching out to me.  I can't believe it's been almost 6 months since my last post. I really miss all of you.  So much has happened in the last six months.  I started a new job as a controller at an auto dealer.  I worked there for a few months and decided to quit.  The stress of the job was too much for me and I was really getting burned out.  Hubby told me to quit - so I did.  Sounds foolish, right?  I gave up a great job.  I now work part time in the consumer relations department for a bakery located 5 minutes from my house.  I love the time I get to spend with Emily this summer.  We had to completely revamp our family budget and we are ..... wait for it.... COUPONING! Oh yes we are!  It's a fun hobby and we are really saving a bunch of money.   We also started camping.  We bought a 27ft travel trailer and we absolutely love it!  We are still geocaching too - that's a lot of fun.  We are growing a garden this summer too.  We planted tomatoes, a variety of peppers, eggplant, squash, strawberries, onions and watermelon.  It's doing great and I love taking care of it and watching it all grow!

On to band news:

Unfortunately not so much has happened on the weight loss front.  I am still the same weight as I was 6 months ago.  Hubby has gained a few pounds, he needs a fill and he will be back on track.  So for the bad news - I found out today that my band has slipped.  I have been having a lot of problems with my band.  I thought I was too tight, so I had some fluid remove a few weeks ago.  That didn't help much.  Last week we were on vacation in the Outer Banks and I could barely eat and had excruciating abdominal pain.  At first I thought it was gas.  It felt like someone was grabbing my insides and twisting them.  I got an appt with the Doc as soon as I was back from vacation.  He took more fluid out & sent me for an Upper GI.  I got results today.  My band is at a 108 degree angle. It should be at 45 degrees.  I must have surgery to remove & replace it. It gets better.... My insurance will not cover the procedure.  So, the patient advocate at my practice said if I am admitted through Emergency, insurance will pay.  Great, right?  Even better, my surgeon is on vacation until the 27th of July.  I can't get in to see him until the 28th!  In the mean time I was prescribed vicodin and an anti-nausea medication, and told to stick to a soft diet.  So, I am probably going to visit the emergency room in the next day or two and go from there.  I will not last another week like this!

I thought I would post a few recent pictures for you guys too  -



Camping - Father's day weekend



My Niece's wedding reception in March



Geocaching - May




At Cape Hatteras Lighthouse - July



New York - April

So Jen, you picked a the right day to reach out to me, and I thank you.  I am probably going to need a lot of support in the coming months and I would like to start hanging out with you guys again.  I hope that's  OK?

Our One Year Bandiversary

January 27, 2011; DH & my one year Bandiversary. What a year it’s been!



2008 - At Our Heaviest



2010 - Happier & Healthier

Our bands did what they were supposed to do; we both lost weight, we are both off of our blood pressure medicine, we both have more energy; we both look & feel younger and are much more attractive.


DH met his goal within 6 months of getting his band. He weighed 268 lbs at his highest. Today he weighs 180 lbs. I’ll do the math – 88 pounds in 6 months . The band was definitely the right choice for him! He can eat anything – just not in the mass quantities as he did pre-band. He is happier & healthier than I’ve seen him in many years. I am so proud & somewhat in awe of him and his success.

I started on this journey at 238 lbs. One year later I weigh 184 lbs. The band has worked for me too, just not as well as it did for DH. Don’t get me wrong, I am so glad I had the surgery. I just wish I would be closer to my goal weight of 150 lbs. Correction – I was closer to my goal weight – but I gained 7 pounds since December 17th. I’m not happy, but it is what it is. The Dr. gave me a 1/4cc fill today & told me not to worry. He said overall I am doing great & the combination of a new medication for my pinched nerve pain (Lyrica – causes weight gain), the stress of my new job & the holidays got the best of me. Dr. Ceppa still has faith in me that I will lose the weight & get back on track. I am going back to basics; journaling, weighing my food & focusing on protein. I need to become a good blogger again too. It’s what works for me. I know many believe the band should keep my portions in control for me – this is not the case. I need to “diet” to be successful at losing.

I want to thank all of you that encouraged DH & me over this past year. Without you & your blogs, I would have been lost on my journey. We love our bands and would recommend this surgery to anyone that has a serious weight problem. Our bands brought us back to life.

Geocaching - Fun & Great Exercise too!

We went out today for the second time and found three caches!  It was a lot of fun.  It was cold out but we all bundled up.  Here are some pics from our found caches:

Not Quite in Control

If you look at my weight chart, you can see that my weight is going in the wrong direction.  I attribute this to the holidays - but also to my eating habits of late.  This new job is stressful - I love it - but it's a different computer system & I have to learn all over again.  Stess is always my trigger to eat wrong.  Not an excuse - it's just how it is with me.  I guess the fact that I can identify this trigger is a good thing.  Now I just have to get it under control.  I am visiting the vending machine for cookies & licorice instead of eating something more healthy when I'm hungry.  Not to mention my dealership celebrates everyone's birthday with a cake for all to share.  There have been at least six birthdays since I started at the end of November.  I had cake about three times.  There is also a popcorn machine in our showroom.  It smells like a movie theatre quite often & it makes me so hungry!!!!

My back pain is an ongoing saga in my life.  I had a course of three epidural steroid in jections for my two herniated disks and pinched nerve.  The first shot helped immensly, the second & third not so much.  I am now back to a pain level of about 8 out of 10 - I am suffering.  I made the comment that sometimes I wish my leg had no feeling & I could just drag it beside me - that is how much pain I am in most of the time.  The pain center wants me to see a neurosurgeon.  I want no parts of surgery.  There is no guarantee it will help & I just started a new job.  They also recommend I try a drug called Lyrica.  It is mainly prescribed for Diabetic nerve pain & Epilepsy. But they found that it also works in Sciatia that causes nerve pain.  So I started this drug on Wed.  It made me a bit loopy at first, but I am adjusting to it now.  One of the main side effects (there are quite a few & I am a bit concerned about them) is weight gain.  I am worried about that.  I worked too hard to gain my weight back.  But if the drug helps, I feel I need to take it - a real catch 22!  So far I notice a bit of pain relief.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that this drug will work for me.  It needs to build up in your system & takes a few weeks to make a real difference.  I am on the lowest dose right now.  I am mentally drained by this whole thing. And physically I am a wreck.

On a fun note- have any of you ever gone geocaching? You use a hand held GPS to find Caches that are hidden in certain areas.  The cache usually contains a log book to sign & and sometimes a little coin or treasure.  There is one at the park behind my house.  DH, DD Emily & I tried to find it last week with no luck.  There was snow on the ground & it was getting dark.  We will try again.  It is rated as somewhat difficult cache to find on this website that we use: GEOCACHING.COM . Anyway this is great family thing to do.  I look forward to getting out, getting exercise & having fun.  I just pray my pain is in control so I can enjoy this activity.

I want to say that I am sorry that I am not here as often as I used to be.  I am unable to blog at work and most evenings I don't have time or someone else in my house is on the computer. I will continue to check in & update my blog.  I need to do this for me.  It's great to read back & see how things have changed in my life.  I hope I don't lose too many followers; but I completely understand if I do.

Take care & and be healthy!

Happy New Year!

Here's to a Healthy & Happy 2011!!   This is the first New Year's that I have not made a resolution to lose weight or start a diet on January 2nd.  I know that my band will keep me in check in 2011 & I am looking forward to losing the rest of my weight and getting to my goal sometime this year.  It will happen, I just need to go back to the band basics:  More protein, no sliders, smaller portions & I will get there.

I am still amazed at the changes that the band has made for DH & me.  We are satisfied on so much less food - yet we enjoy EVERYTHING!  When we were in our surgery prep stage, I was afraid that we would never be able to eat the same again after we got our bands.  That is so not true!  Yes, bread & a few other foods give us trouble, but if we chew & eat slow we do ok.  Our portions are just so much smaller & we are satisfied on less.  Food tastes better to me now.  I think I appreciate it more.  Speaking of food, you should see my kitchen!!!!  DH & I hosted a New Years Eve seafood dinner.  There are tons of leftovers including Chocolate Peanut Butter cake.  I cooked New Years day dinner yesterday.  Here in PA we eat Pork, Saurkraut & homemade (ie: lots of butter & milk) mashed potatoes on New Years day.  There is PA Dutch Folklore that says if you eat this on New Years Day it will bring you luck the rest of the year.  EVERYONE I know in my area has this meal on the first day of the year.  My mother in law made the desserts - yes plural!  Homemade Cherry & Apple crumb pies with vanilla ice cream and Emily made cupcakes that she decorated for New Years.  WOW - This is bad!  But we can only eat a small portions so we are doing ok.  Still, there's a lot of food around!!!!

DH took Emily ice fishing on Friday.  Emily caught both of these bass (it was her first time ice fishing):

They caught a lot of fish!  DH said the ice did not need to be as thick this year in order to hold him - lol!