9/12/2010

Weight: 244.4 lbs

09/05/2010

Weight: 244.8 lbs

Notes: Coming tonight.

08/22/2010

Weight: 244.8 lbs.

Notes: Well it seems that (altough it is empty) the band is working for me. My stomach is still a mess though, I am going into the doc this coming Tuesday to discuss the episode last week. I am going to push really hard for an ultrasound to see if I in fact have gallstones! I suspect he will want to start the filling process again too.

8/17/2010

Notes:

So I didn't mention it in my Monday post cuz I did not think much of it so here we go. On the prior Saturday sometime around 3pm I started to feel sick to my stomach. This happened while I was working on the boy's playhouse (painting cedar shingles) and I kept having to sit down because I felt like I was going to barf. This lasted about 4 hours and when it stopped I felt fine, had not interest in food, but I all seemed well. Well, Monday during the later part of the day it started again and lasted until 1am Tuesday morning. Hmmmm, something is not right I thought so I called my weight loss Dr and he said ".. get to a hospital now and have them drain the band .."! "What"! This is going to set me back at least 4 weeks or longer. He stated (based on my input) that he believed the band was too tight, my stomach was irritated and swollen, and that by leaving it as is it will only get worse as I put food down. It could get to the point where my stomach closes up and nothing will go down, even water! He said it could get bad and because I cannot get to the office (currently in Virginia for training) the safest thing to do is to empty the band. Ugggh!!!!! He did retract his ".. get to the hospital .." and pointed me to a local bariatric facility that specializes in the band. Long story short I go in (disrupted my training for 1.5 hours) and the nice P.A. drained the band. He started to drill into the specifics of my problem and he believes that this could be gallbladder related (the fact that I got sick about 3-4 hours after my last meal which happened to be a horrible greasy ham and eggs breakfast). He said that I should have an ultra sound immediately to rule this out! I let him know that I have been on Urso for the past 4 years and that this drug was designed to dissolve certain types of gall stones, he was not phased. Anyhoo, I called my Dr. back today and relayed all this info and once he gets the report from the folks down here in VA he will decide whether or not I should have an Ultrasound to look for gallstones. Ugggh!!!!!

When do I get my massive weight loss?????

8/16/2010 W9WLB

Weight: 247.2 lbs

Notes: Well as you have figured out I am moving to a two week schedule for the posts due to the fact that there is not much going on in between weeks. With that said let's begin :) I have now had my second fill (up to 6 CC of saline) and I can finally feel the band doing its job. I can't eat much anymore and whatever I do eat is staying in my stomach much longer. However, I am having a funky side effect (waiting on my doc to call me back) in which I am getting extremely nauseated at the end of the day. There are times where I feel like I am going to vomit it gets so bad. I sent my doc an email last night explaining the experience, hopefully he replies soon. I hope he doesn't tell me that I have to have fluid pulled out because I am in Virginia and will be here until Saturday. I am going to stop eating normal foods and switch back to gentle solids and lots of liquids! Up until this minor issue I can honestly say that I have not noticed the LAP-BAND much at all, I had been eating like it too! With this recent fill I am quite aware that this piece of plastic is now living inside me and I have to be very careful not to upset it J The upside is that I am going to lose much more weight and that is why I am going through all of this. Anyhoo, I have to remember that I cannot eat any of the old food that I am used to eating, don’t want that stomach pain around.

Cheers, Louis.

8/1/2010 W7WLB

Weight: 247.4 lbs

Notes: Yippie, the weight is downward trending again :) Anyhoo, I had my two week visit with the doc and they determined (based on my begin hungry all the time, eating much more than I should, and the weight trending upward) that I should have my first fill. The band, when in stalled, has no saline in it and it has a 14cc capacity. They put in 3 cc's and sent me away for 2 weeks to see how much I can eat, what I can tolerate, and most importantly how hungry I am in between meals. Now on to the gritty details of the fill: First they numbed the area with lidocaine which burnt like hell when they first injected it. Next they wait about 1 minute to make sure it gets numb and then they stick this god awful mother of a needle into your gut, through the fat, and then they push it through the dome of the portal and it made an audible "POP". That big needle burnt like hell when she stuck it in, however once in all the pain went away. When she was pushing in the fluid I actually felt something weird inside me and I let out a little gurgle like burp! It was all over within 1 minute so I can't complain too much, it should be noted that I am the worlds biggest baby when it comes to pain like this. After the injection she made me sit there for 5 minutes to make sure all was well then she had me sip a cup of water to make sure it would go down and it did. I was sent home and told to drink only liquids for a day and then one day of mushy food after that. So here I am three days later and I can honestly say there is no difference in how much I can eat and how long I stay hungry afterwards. I am being extra careful with what I eat and how much of it I send into my mouth. I want to keep losing weight even if the band is not fully working yet, it could take months before they have it tuned just right. Anyhow, that is all I have to say for now.

Cheers, Louis.

7/25/2010 W6WLB

Weight: 249 lbs

Notes:

Outside of the fact that my weight is slowly creeping upward, this past week was business as usual (trying to figure out what to eat and how much of it is the right amount). Over the last two weeks I have gained about 1/4 lb or less per week, this is in stark contrast to my having lost about 2-3 lbs each of the several weeks prior. I can say that this is happening because my stomach is obviously not swollen anymore, and given the fact that the band is wide open things are almost identical to prior to my having the weight loss surgery. I say almost identical because there are some small changes that remain even with the swelling gone. I still have to take small bites and chew my food well; otherwise I will be in a world of hurt. Also, there is an upper limit on how much food I can eat before I feel uncomfortable. That upper limit is still much higher than what I can expect to eat once the band is adjusted optimally. I am struggling once again with food choices and with my demons at night. The good news is that sugar free ice pops and fudgesicles usually save my ass and keep me from eating my son’s cookies and/or any little treats we keep around for him. More good news is that I am going in on Thursday for my 2 week visit with the doc and I am expecting that they will give me my first (of many) fill. Also worth mentioning is that my stomach has reacted negatively to certain foods, I was under the impression that this surgery would not alter what I can and cannot tolerate as it relates to food? Yesterday I had a hamburger with mustard and pickles; I ended up with cramps (sort of like diarrhea cramps). I ate the thing slowly and I made sure I chewed it quite well so I can’t blame it on food getting stuck (which I would not expect anyway given that the band is wide open). With all that said tomorrow is a new day and any transgressions that may have occurred this past week are behind me and I am not looking back, only forward. I may trip and fall but I am always going to get back up and keep on fighting.

Cheers, Louis.