Todays meal

Yeah, so here is a sample of the size of a meal I am having. This was a splurge.. I had made Jaron some steak and it looked so good. Im really not supposed to be doing red meats yet.. but yumm... I chew chew chewed my way through it.

Finally an adjustment

So I havent been keeping up very well, sorry. It's now December and I just got my first adjustment today. A few things had happened over the last few months to cause me to have to delay and reschedule my appointments....

Today wasnt too bad. I had to go to the regular office to get my vitals checked. And then I headed downstairs to the radiology department. There the nice lady gave me 2 regular size gowns and said.. here you can use these... I couldnt figure out how to make it work, so I stepped outside of my little cubby and luckily a nice gentleman was walking by and went to find me a larger size.

Then I went to the xray room... Their floroscopy table was actually made for larger people and I was able to get on it comfortably. They took a pic of my stomach with the xray... that was neat to see.. It looked just like the pictures from the book.

Then he came in and gave me a local anesthetic.... (those burn)..... Then inserted the needle for the saline to be put in.. that was a nice pinch (so much for anesthetics)..... All this was done with the xray on, so I got to watch it on the monitor.... It was very fascinating.... He put in 5 cc of saline. He said peoples stomach walls are all different thicknesses, so that number doesnt mean too much. Then they brought the table I was laying on up, to a diagonal position and I got to drink some wonderful Berillium (liquid chalk)...... so they could make sure it wasnt too tight and I could still swallow.... It was a bit tight so he took a little out (to total the 5 cc)..... after that, they brought the table back down..... and undid everything they had done.. it wasnt too bad at all.... Except then I kept burping up a yummy chalky taste.. ew..... I had some questions about... whether in the amount of time since my surgery I had stretched out my stomach from eating regularly.. He said I didnt that everything looked good........ so that is how it went today.

Now Im going to really get started... as Dr. Cunneen said this morning.. now the real dieting begins.....

Food portions are going way down. Ive already noticed a difference... I had lunch once we got home and definitely couldn't eat very much of it. So I need to get back on the walking and it will all come together.

Hope everyone has a wonderful and joyful Christmas!!!

Karla

One Month Later

Well its now been a month. All is going well as far as how I feel. I can pretty much each all types of foods. I just cant eat large amounts. I have found if I take too big of bites, it hurts. It seems to get stuck in my chest... ouch....

I have been trying to do my walking... Im not doing as good as I would like, but I am trying.

I go in for my first "fill" on Sept 22nd. Thats when the real stuff starts kicking in, as I wont be able to eat very much at all. Thats when they will be tightening my band. Right now its just on there, with a slight restriction.

Anyways.. Im doing ok... keep me in your thoughts, I need all the help I can get with will power. I go in for my first support group meeting tonight.. Hopefully that will help.

:-)

On my way

Well, its officially been 2 weeks since my surgery.

Things are going well... I only lost another 5 pounds this week, although she said I seem to be retaining water.

Saw the dietitian today. She said everything looks good. I gave her a copy of the meal plan I have been using and she approved it. Yay.

Im feeling good. My appetight is back, but I have been able to keep my portion sizes down, so that is really good. No more than a cup at a meal.

So Im still going on...

Till next time

10 days later

Hello.. I had my first Dr. Appt since surgery today.... It has been 10 days since surgery..

Get ready for this...

I have lost 20lbs since my las appt approx 2 weeks ago!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was so nice to see that all the effort and the surgery actually meant something.

I am soo happy.

The pic above is a current one. Several people were telling me that they can see a difference in my face.

Anyways, untill next time... Love ya'all

OK I hope I remember everything....

OK, so, its a little late, but I'm finally feeling well enough to sit here at the computer and not whimper. And Im sorry but its really long....

Sunday night, Gary, Jaron and I went down and stayed the night at the Hilton Garden Inn Valencia (Thats six flags for you Cali people). I had to arrive at the airport at 5am so we wanted to be as close as possible, but the prices in LA were rediculous. The hotel was awesome, the beds were the most comfortable ever, I totally recommend it to anyone (being that I used to work for that chain of hotels, I would anyways... lol)

Got up at 330am woohoo, after a night of not much sleep, (with Jaron being excited about the hotel, and my nerves) and headed to the hospital. It didnt take us very long since there was hardly any traffic. Got inside, took care of registering. I was very surprised at the price. With my insurance Im only responsible for up to $4000.00. And apparently I have already paid over $2000. I dont remember doing that but hey, I'll take it. Anyways. They sent us upstairs to the surgery waiting area. When it was time to go back to the pre-op area, I said goodbye to Jaron and Gary, with great big hugs. They went to have breakfast and then spent the day at magic mountain. (Jaron was really worried about mommy, so Gary was so sweet and took him to help him relax). From there they took the group of us (there were about 6) to the pre op, and assigned us each our beds. We undressed (behind a curtain of course), and got a lovely robe on. Then I got weighed. I was a little excited because I had already lost 4 pounds since the previous Thursday. So I was already on a head start. OK, so I get in bed, and they start the tests and questions. Blood pressure, Heart rate, etc, any allergies, etc. Got my IV inserted, didnt even feel it. Then layed there and waited. Being that it is a learning hospital, Several Dr.'s came by to say hi and that they were working with Dr. Cunneen. My anesthesiologist (who was surprisingly a woman), came by. And then finally my Dr. showed up. He asked how I was doing and if I was ready, and the we went on our way.

My bed had a motor so the girl drove it over to the operating room. We get to the OR, I get scooted over onto the table, and then the anesthe. lady said she was gonna give me some oxygen to get ready. I was looking up at the overhead lights and they started swaying and looking all cool so I laughed and told her, either we are having an earth quake or there is more than oxygen in there. ..........

Next thing I remember, is that I was having a really good dream and somebody was saying "Karla, its time to wake up". I was kinda annoyed cause I was really enjoying my dream. lol.

But I gave in and decided to wake up. I was very very groggy, and couldnt talk. My mouth was extremely dry, and my chest hurt really bad. She asked me if I was in alot of pain and I shook my head yes so they gave me some medicine. I still couldnt talk tho, and a nice guy came up and rubbed some water on my lips. Yay, it was like heaven. haha. So after a while they decide its time to take me to my room. In my mind I was thinking, I need my bag so I can text everyone and let them know that I am ok... (And I was really concerned about it), but I kept my mouth shut.

I dont know if they switched beds while I was in there, but the guy who took me back to my room had more trouble driving or steering my bed and kept rubbing against corners.. ugh.... anways.

We get to my room, and as Im getting off my bed to switch to the one in the room, they asked if I needed to use the restroom. I then realized I didnt get a catheter (yay). I needed to go. So I slowly made it over, and then somehow made it back to my bed.

So I get into bed and then, I see my bag on a chair nearby. I asked for it. They got me all situated and I finally get to text everyone. It was close to noon at this time. Im not sure where the time went, since the surgery was only supposed to be an hour, and it started around 715am. So I figure I must have been in recovery for a while.
They had me on some good medication for a while, everytime I would try and stay awake, I would fall asleep.

Finally, After a couple of hours I was able to stay awake for a while. They said I needed to get up and walk , but my chest was still hurting. The nurse said it was the gas and that the only way to get rid of it, would be to walk around. Im not sure what time, but later in the day, I finally felt like getting up. I was able to walk about half way down the halls and back before it really started to hurt. I was very nauscious for a while. But once that subsided, they decided that I could have alittle food. Some broth, apple juice, jello, and tea. I wasnt hungry, but I felt like I wanted something. So I smelled the broth.. ew... It was not for me. I decided on the Jello. It was Orange. It was the most wonderful thing I have ever eaten... lol. I had about 2 or 3 tiny bites and was done.

I had to breath into this breathing machine thing to keep my lungs strong. That was really hard to do with the gas in my chest. Painful.

That night they got me all fixed up in bed. I didnt realize as I fell to sleep that there was an arch in my back and it wasnt supported. I was feeling really week so I didnt fix it myself, but by 5 or so in the morning, it was feeling really painful. The nurse was kind enough to put a pillow on my back.

When I woke up all the way. My back was in a horrible pain, and my legs were killing me. But I knew if I didnt get up and walk, they wouldnt let me go home. So I did. I forced myself around the hallways.

Then it was time to go home.

Yay, Gary and Jaron came to pick me up and we drove home. It was a bit longer from there being that there was alot of traffic.

Anyways, So now Im home. Im feeling much better, The initial gas is basically gone. Im living on clear liquids for a while. It took a couple of days but my appetite is back. Well at least my want for food. I cant eat much. Jello is good. but I cant finish a cup. And hat I do eat takes about an hour. Im getting pretty tired of soup broth. hehe.

I want to say thank you so much to those of you that were there for me.


Brittney, you took me to my first appointment.. THank YOU.... IF not for you I may never have officially made that first step.

Gary, Thank you for taking care of me.. Taking me there and bringing me home.. I hope you know I really truly do appreciate it. And taking care of Jaron for me.......

Merri, Thank you for being there for me. You are such a huge help...

And to ALL of my friends. Your support is what helped me get to where I needed to be.....


Soooo.....................THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!!!!!

Surgery Complete

Ok, Its done.

Im in alot of pain right now, but, Ive got some medicine that is supposed to help with it. I would like to give you more details about it.

I will get back on when I feel a litle better.