Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Stuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!

Wow. So, OK... I admit, my band hasn't really done much in the way of restriction for me and I've been sloppy with my eating since I knew it wasn't stopping me. I've had 3 actually stuck/PBing episodes. One was on broccoli rice and it was seriously mild. Like, I just kinda went "bleh!" and spat it out. The next was on a TINY bite of a grilled hamburger patty (something about it just got lodged). It was about 3 weeks after the rice incident and was a bit more severe, but I've also had hamburger since then and it went down fine. Tonight, I had the MOTHER of all STUCKs.

My daughter is spending the night with her grandmama so she could get more playtime in with her cousin, so my hubby, the baby, and I decided to eat out. Aaron wanted chinese, so I said it was fine. We went and I got a tiny bit of fried rice and singapore noodles as well as chicken with broccoli and an egg roll. I knew the chicken dish would go down OK and I was planning on gutting the egg roll for the cabbage. But, silly me.. I just HAD to try a bite of rice. It went down OK. Not great as I felt it going down, but it didn't stick either. So, I had a bitty bite of noodles. Again, I felt them going down, but they didn't stick, so I didn't think much of it.

Took a bite of broccoli and relaxed and... OMG! I all of a sudden thought I was gonna DIE it hurt so much! My hubby looked at me kinda strange and I said, "I am SO stuck." He simply replied, "Go to the bathroom." Well, thanks, Captain Obvious. I didn't really want to yak as I was walking to the restroom, so he handed me the empty bowl he'd picked up to put his shrimp heads and crab claw leftovers in (another topic altogether, but EWWWWWWWW). I snatched it and hoofed it to the potty, PBing as discreetly as I could into the little bowl.

When I got to the bathroom, I really let loose and it was nasty, lemme tell you. I don't know how 2 SMALL bites of food turned into such a yarp-fest, but it did and it was uncool. I came back to the table and watched hubby eat. I ate a couple of pieces of chicken and a bite or 2 of broccoli, but I must say, I wasn't exactly craving Chinese by that point.

Aren't our bands weird? I have eaten sandwiches, part of a bagel, a doughnut... All sorts of things that should have stopped my stoma up GREAT and they didn't. Then, I eat a VERY careful 2 bites of questionable food and have to PB? Really? What made tonight different? Has anyone experienced a very temperamental band that works when it wants to and then doesn't at other times? I'm curious if this is normal or if I should assume something's not right.

Until next time, mi amigos, Voya con Dios!

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Fathers' Day Weekend

OK, so... I'm biased and all, but my kids SO have the best Daddy in the world. LOL In fact, as I type this, he's cleaning the kitchen. Which I probably should be doing as it's Fathers' Day, but... He's just doing SUCH a good job! Both kids are even relatively quiet in there with him. Well, my 3 year old is whining, but... That's kinda just what they do at that age, isn't it?

Sorry I haven't given out enough thanks to all of my new followers and commenters-- nor have I had much time to cruise y'all's blogs and leave comments myself. My in-laws were in town for Fathers' Day weekend and we've been pretty darn busy! My hubby has decided he loves my band because he gets at least half of my entree. At Wintzel's Oyster House, he got over half of my sirloin (this is after I split my entree with both kids, too!) and then at Bonefish Grill he got more than half of my Fontina Pork Chop. And I wasn't even giving him the evil eye when he snared a bite without my permission!

I feel so much more confident, really, now. Hearing from all of you that this is normal, that I can fight through BH (bandster hell) and that IT WILL WORK has changed my attitude SO very much. I just can't say thank you enough! I really feel hopeful and better prepared to endure the next month until my seminar and then however long I end up waiting after that for a fill appointment (it's like herding chickens, I tell you!). But... I CAN DO IT!

And y'all have all shown me that! Thanks again!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!

My fill just got pushed back to the bloody middle of July. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! A month-long extension of bandster hell? Seriously? What are these people, DeathEaters? Are they Voldemort's minions??

Somehow, I was not told that I have to attend a "foreign banding seminar" before my first fill. When I just called to confirm my TUESDAY APPOINTMENT I was told, "Oh... You haven't been to our seminar... Our next one is July 16th and we can't schedule until then."

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

Sheer torture, I tell you. I'm being punished. I'm having karmic retribution for my fairly common cases of road rage. I'm in purgatory to make up for insensitive comments to my crazy mother (she IS as nutty as a fruit bat, I assure you). I can't say "it's not fair" as I deserve worse, but... I NEED THAT FILL, DANG IT!

Well, since I have 18 days to sit here and twiddle my thumbs, apparently... I'm thinking I might try this. Anyone heard of it? The 5 Day Pouch Test

Gotta go feed my rugrats. I'll chatter with everyone later!

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Sorry for the huge gap in posting :(

...I must confess, I didn't update because I so rarely got comments... I figured no one was reading and it only got me down! So, if you're reading, please leave me a line of encouragement or something. Lord knows I need it!

I am just over 6 weeks into being banded. I'm feeling quite well-- still a touch of stingy pain at my port site when I bend over too much, but other than that, life is back to normal. Oh, and a touch of shoulder pain still that didn't really start until WEEKS into being banded. C'est la vie, no?

I lost my first 15 pounds the week immediately following my banding. And I was overjoyed. Now... 5 weeks later, my grand total loss is.... wait for it.... wait for it... 11 pounds! (yeah, it's a letdown, huh?) I'm frustrated. I also have to confess I've been eating like crap and not exercising, so who's to blame, right? ...Yup. My own big butt.

As I've healed, though, I've noticed I get a stuck feeling more often when I eat my no-no foods (rice in particular for me, but also some breads, pastas, and eggplant(?)). I've only gotten officially, slimily, PB-y STUCK once, though. And it was on some broccoli rice that I decided surely I could handle at 4 weeks. Yeah. No. Ewww.

I'm vowing to work this band, though... And work it hard. I get my first fill this coming week and I'm excited. And ready-- OH so ready. I don't care that our heat index is around 106. I'll work out. If I have to do the same 2 Yoga Booty Ballet DVDs over and over again, I'm down with that. My 3 year old loves to dance and will boogie along with Mama. The 9 month old? Well... He might have to yowl at me from the floor and pray I don't step on him as I shake what my mama gave me.

I know that many people don't lose in their first 6 weeks after banding. I know that it's about healing, not about losing at this point. But, I also know that I paid near $9k out of pocket for my surgery, our flights, our passports, our food, etc. And I have this horrible fear of mucking this up like I have every other weight loss attempt ever. And I admit it... I'm scared to bits. I want this to work and I wanna have willpower but... Obviously, if I had much of that I wouldn't be shopping in the plus sizes, now would I? I'm not whining. I'm not. I'm just disgruntled.

And I need support. Seriously. I need people who're there saying, "Go Liss Go!" or "Move it, Fat@$$!" Heck, I don't care. Just say SOMETHING to let me know I'm not alone.