Well, spit...

Because I was still experiencing discomfort and vomiting, my surgeon's office set me up for an upper GI, which was performed this morning and showed a gastric ulcer. The result is that when I saw him this afternoon in his office he removed all the fluid from my band and has scheduled me for an EGD Friday morning. That test will give him a clearer image of the ulcer and he'll also be able to take biopsies and hopefully determine the cause. I've been on an NSAID for my knees for several years, and that's probably the culprit, although I had ulcers on two separate occasions in the past, long before I'd started NSAIDS and without any risk factors for developing ulcers.

So now I'm feeling more than a little discouraged. It will probably be 12 weeks before I'm cleared and will be able to continue use of my LAP-BAND. That's a long time for someone who has to fight for every pound she loses.

Oh well, we'll see what happens.

Backwards and forwards

I was so excited after my first fill. Losing about a half pound per day was awesome...and then I started having some problems. No, food wasn't getting stuck or anything like that, but I was experiencing epigastric discomfort that just kept getting worse and worse. By Thursday I was afraid to eat anything and by Friday I was starting to throw up. Now, everyone with a LB knows that you are not supposed to do that...ever. Finally, 10 days after the fill, the surgeon had to remove much of the saline he'd injected. That was followed by two days on a liquid diet and a gradual return to a regular foods. The upside is that the discomfort has subsided and only returns to haunt me when my stomach is empty - about 2 hours after a meal. The downside is that I've gained back about 3-4 of the pounds I'd lost.

As that saline was being pulled from my band I felt like I was taking a giant step backwards, but it had to be done. Now I'm hoping that by stepping back and giving any inflammation and irritation time to resolve, I'll be able to move forward again, albeit at a slower pace. That first fill of 1.4 cc was obviously too much; from now on we'll be "sticking" with (har! get it?) smaller amounts and seeing how it goes. I have another appointment with my surgeon next Monday. That gives me five days to see how my body reacts to it this time before we leave to spend a week out of town.

Now, here's a forward step that helps ease the frustration of the step back I had to take: I got a new outfit today...IN A SIZE 20!!!! That, friends, is a two-size difference from two months ago!

Like I've said before, this LB is a learning process. Things I read about and was told about have a whole new aura about them when you're actually living them.

See you next time...same bat time, same bat channel.

*Note to Self*

For the time being, remember to avoid:

1. Pills larger than a baby aspirin
2. Red meat, period. Even deli-sliced roast beef is verboten, at least for now.
3. Turkey bacon

Working at the relationship

It finally occurred to me that having this LAP-BAND is a lot like any other relationship. I'm learning about my band, learning how to live with it and adapt my life to work in unison with it. I'm learning its quirks and how it isn't always in the same mood at the same time every single day. It has its ups and downs, its good qualities and bad. But thank goodness the good outweighs the bad and everything I put into this relationship comes back to me multiplied. My body is developing a whole new language, starting to work in concert with the band. There are things I love to eat, things that are healthy choices, like apples (even peeled and sliced) and turkey bacon, that my band can't tolerate and so are banned from my life, at least for the time being. The next time I need an antibiotic it will either need to be a very small one or in liquid form, because my band doesn't do well with capsules.

It's a give and take, a balancing act and a lesson in compromise. We won't always get along or agree with each other's choices, but we'll work at it together until we can come to a mutual understanding.

Today's weight: 211.6 lbs.

Wow! Yippee! Wha hoo!!

The weight has been sliding off since my fill five days ago, but I'm still trying to learn to work with my band. One of the most important things I've learned is as soon as I feel the beginning of discomfort in my chest, STOP EATING. It doesn't matter if I've only taken two bites of my turkey bacon or a half cup of chunk chicken...STOP. If I don't, I'm double-dog guaranteed to end up with a pressure type of chest pain that literally stops me in my tracks. I don't feel that the food is stuck at that point, it's more a feeling that it's just sitting in the upper stomach taking up space and will hurt until it's digested.

The downside is that I'm hungry again within an hour after eating, which probably means I need a bit more fluid in the band. I'll call or e-mail the nurse today and get her opinion.

An oddity to me is the way my weight loss seems to be different than other times I've managed to lose. When I was this weight the last time (about two years ago) my 22's were tight and my rings were too. Now my rings are slipping and sliding on my fingers and my 22's are a tad baggy in the seat. My 2x shirts are starting to fit looser too; my DIL pointed out that my jacket looks like it's just hanging on me now. Weird.

Today's weight: 213.2 lbs.