First Post-Op appointment was today!

So today I had what I can say is one of my best doctor appointments.  I went to have my first appointment after my lap band procedure.  The Physician assistant came in and pretty much started out by saying the usual pleasantries then said let me read my notes.  She pointed out that she had seen me on Sept 28th and today was October 28th.  So in one month I had lost..........27 pounds!  She was extremely happy.  I too was very happy.  The dietitian was called away to a family emergency so she will call me tomorrow and hopefully get me started on a soft diet.  So at that stage.....if I can smash it with a fork or blend it in a blender I can have it.  So I am looking forward to getting some real food in my body.  Wow 27 pounds in 1 month what a great start on this journey!!

So tonight I was sitting here and my stomach was really talking to me and I am trying to figure out why I am so hungry.....after thinking about it I realized in regards to calorie count I was about about 300 for the day.  Today I had a protein shakes and then two different soup at hands.  No wonder I feel hungry.  I think when Tony gets home and has something to eat I may have some jello or something. 

Twenty-seven pounds seems like a lot but I guess I do not really see 27 pounds gone.  I do feel somewhat less tired and I do admit that my jeans are not snug and some of my shirts look better but I guess I have not had one of those moments where I really look in the mirror and say wow, but I am sure it will be soon!

This weekend is Halloween so I am sure the kids ad I will be busy with lots of activities.  So my first fill of my lap band is set for December 2nd so that will be nice that it will be after Thanksgiving.  Well I hope you had a great day and Friday and the weekend are right around the corner so enjoy the time with those you love! 

Our trip to Ohio and unexpected challenges

Greetings from Tiffin Ohio.  So as you may know, we are in the state of Ohio this week to attend the funeral of Tony's grandma Virginia.  So my crazy buckeye husband was born and raised in the great state of Ohio and still has many family living here so this was sort of a home coming for him.  I have known all along that we would be traveling to Ohio for her services but I guess I never expected it to be this soon after having major surgery especially a surgery that is very diet restrictive and maybe be even more  emotionally  filled.  So as I type my note I still have about a half a day in the state of Ohio and with our extended family.  So if by morning anyone has read this they may understand my mood a little better.

 Warning this may be ugly!!!!

 This week has sort of sucked emotion wise for me.  So I am still stuck on soup, protein shakes, jello and pudding.  So you can imagine how not simple or friendly that is to travel.  So on our trip this way we stopped in the town of Wabash Indiana where we had a really fun picnic lunch at a park including playground time.  So my lunch was some yogurt.  Not to bad.  I have learned to love what I am eating while others around me are loving what they are eating.  I did try a little chip that I ate as if I were a rabbit nibbling it but in the end I got the chip taste/sensation.  Also nibbled on a little turkey.  I am finding that sometimes getting the taste is enough to settle my urge of wanting something.  When we arrived we were joined with lots of family and a total of 17 of us went to a Pizza buffet.  Well that was totally fine with me until......I found out they did not have soup even on the menu or on the buffet.  So this is where my big skill of self talk came into play.  Well that failed miserably.  As most of you know I can cry at a Hallmark commercial.  So I felt that I was about to loose control so I asked Tony for the keys and told him I needed to go to the van or a walk or something.  Well even though I told him to stay with his family he still came outside with me and so did one of my sister in laws.  I reassured them I was fine and just needed to focus.  One of my fellow lap band friends said she grieved food.  Hmmmm is that what I would call it?  Well not exactly.  Even though what they were having  looked and smelled great it was not so much that I was not eating that, nor was it that I was not eating, it was just I felt left out of the social exchange that food includes.  Hard to explain but I just felt sort of excluded in the joy of the moment.  So first major social occasion where I really could not talk myself through it.  Not a failure just a learning experience.

Tuesday included a wonderful protein shake while Tony and the kids had a decent continental breakfast with bacon and Cinnamon rolls.  I think Seth ate enough  for both of us.  After the funeral we had a nice potluck dinner prepared for us and I ended up having one of my cream of chicken soup at hands. I did try a bite of pumpkin pie filling and some jello minus the fruit in it.  So lunch eating wise went pretty good but sort of felt that none of the adults wanted to sit close to me.  Hmmm do I stink?  So then tonight at dinner they all had left overs and I had...you guessed it soup at hand  Creamy tomato.  Well I did not eat it all and I think part of might have been I just felt a little uneasy.  So I just finally was in emotional overload again and I needed to run to the store for a couple of items and when I ran to the room Tony came up with me and I sort of told him I just was emotional spent.  So something I have learned is that I need to voice my feelings better and this journey has made it extremely important especially when talking to Tony to tell him how I feel.  So world how do I feel??????  I am sooooo glad that decided to make these changes in my life but.....it is hard.  So far socially, it has been the hardest.  In our country social things revolve around food,  family revolves around food and I am finding because I am not eating what everyone else is eating I feel even more excluded.  I know this is not done on purpose but maybe by guilt of what they are eating.  News flash!  I would rather someone eat what they want with me,  rather than me eating what I am eating at the time by myself. 

Tony also had another idea tonight.....maybe since I am loosing weight so successfully maybe my hormones are all like...What the hell is going on??  So weather it is hormones or learning to ride out the bumps in this journey I know that thus too shall pass. 

I go to the doctor on Thursday for my post op check and I am really excited.  I am thinking that I will see great success thus far on the scale, thinking I may get to go to foods that I can mash, hopefully get to return to work next week and hopefully be released to maybe even start walking the treadmill or something.  So for every moment I think this journey is tough I know that things are so much better because of it.

I have always been a very open person and when I first decided to blog about this journey but  guess I never expected to put myself out there so emotionally.  I do this because I want to educate and support others.  We all have challenges and I never want anyone to just see the great things about the lap-band or think it is easy. It is work and I am thankful for those around me who are able to support me during the hard moments.  So until probably Thursday please do something for yourself and do something nice to someone near you, it just might make their day and yours!  God Bless! 

Wow what a week!!!

Wow! Is about how I can sum up this week.  So Tuesday was the day of my surgery and before I left I weighed in at 307.5.  The surgery went great and most of Tuesday was spent resting lots of sleeping to be honest.  Wednesday morning I woke feeling pretty refreshed and ready to face the day ahead.  Early morning Tony went to see his grandma who was dying of cancer.   Tony called about 9ish to let me know that his dear grandma Virginia had passed away.  Rest of the day I pretty much rested and sort of thought about the week ahead.  By Thursday morning I was down to 303 I think and so I was pretty excited.  Friday morning I was down to 300.5 and so excited that on Saturday I was going to have a Biggest Loser moment when that scale went below 300 for the first time since before I was pregnant with Raegyn.  We had a girl scout cookout that I was not able to eat at but I knew that once I got home I could have some soup and prepare for my small victory in the morning.  So Saturday morning came and as I prepared to step onto the scale I prayed that I would see a 2 as my first number and I looked down to see.............297.2????  You got to be kidding me.  I pretty much ran in to tell Tony who was still sleeping.  I was so excited!!!  So I will admit rest of Saturday was sort of tough but in the end I made it through!  We traveled to Pontiac to Tony's Grandma's funeral services.  Now let me remind you I am on a liquid diet at this time.  I can have protein shakes, soup that is pretty much strained, jello, that kind of stuff.  So I started my day off with a protein shake so when we got to the funeral home and all the kids found the wonderful tray for fruit and pastries and another family members in laws brought I was able to say wow that looks nice but I am feeling content.  We had a wonderful funeral service for Grandma and the ladies of the church made a nice luncheon.  I am thankful that even during my pre diet I would drink my shake sitting with my family while they would eat yummy stuff, was able to practice disciplined social interaction that does not have to  revolve around food.    I almost think it bothered some of those around me, since they felt bad,  that I was having water rather than the meal offered to us.  Sure some things looked really good and smelled great but I think that me being able to look at the goal and know that I can do this I was able to still sit and have a nice time with those around me.  Afterwards we headed back to the house and after a few pictures and I was changed it was time for some yummy potato soups that I tried to get without chunks.  So I had a small bowl of soup and felt great since the soup was awesome.  The lady who use to help care for grandma is a wonderful cook and she brought this big container of potato soup and that is my staple food while in Pontiac and that is fine with me since it is so yummy.   So after some family visiting and such it was time for more food.  What is that smell??  BBQ pork???  Now that is not fair!!!  So it seems that smells is what is driving me nuts.  To bad I don't have a cold so that I would be unable to smell that bbq.  So I heated up some soup.  Took a baby bite of Seth's beef stroganoff and a baby bite of bbq from Tony.  At this point my band is not very tight so I probably could have cheated a little but like Tony said I have come so far why mess it up now.  So I am being good letting my stomach heal from all the trauma from the surgery. Overall we had a great day with family except for the reason as to why we were there but Grandma would all want us to be happy, loving, and continue her legacy of being a wonderful person to others.  Once we got home I was worn out.  I had a Popsicle and pretty much went to bed a little before 10.  My incisions are a bit sore and the muscle wall that my port is in is sore which is to be expected so by the time I went to bed I was sure ready.  So this morning my first stop after the bathroom is the scale  and the big news was..........295.5  I am so amazed in the success that I am seeing. 
Last night while driving I admitted to Tony that I am sort of kicking myself a little.  This whole lap band is a journey/process, but last night I told Tony that I am glad that I decided to do this and sort of wish I would have done it before now.  On one had I am so proud of myself for being so disciplined and such because I am really seeing the results.  On the other hand I ask myself why is it that it took me this long and why could I not just make small changes why did I have to pretty much take an all or nothing approach.  I told a friend that the 2 weeks prior to surgery were going to be tough and probably 2 weeks after surgery and so far I rocking so it seems that my future keeps getting brighter and brighter for me.  Today will be filled with finishing laundry, some house work, and packing.  The kids are wanting to go to a Halloween party tonight so we have a busy day and I better get going before Tony has to head to work and I loose my best helper.  Like I said I am sore and I have a 20 pound lifting restriction so I am able to adapt to doing some chores but still pretty limited on what I can do.  Thanks for every one's support and condolences since Tony's grandma passed away.  We will be traveling to Tiffin Ohio tomorrow so we can do services and burial there.  Travel after a lap band surgery could be interesting but I am going to travel with soup at hands, jello, an protein shakes.  Thanks again for your support and I will hopefully be able to post more blogs in the next few days!  Have a wonderful Sunday!

Officially banded!

So the big day arrived yesterday and overall it went great!  I was scheduled to arrive at 8:30 and it seemed like no one was there when we pulled in.  Surgery mornings there at Olympian Surgical Suites are almost tranquil.  It was so nice how quiet it was and how much attention I was given!  Of course I had to take a pregnancy test and for the first time ever I was glad I passed.  lol   I got to change into my wonderful hospital gown, a few standard tests and starting of the dreaded IV.  The lady did great starting my IV so that was a huge relief.  They give all patients for this procedure heparin a blood thinner shot into the belly to prevent blood clots so you know I was all for that since my mom and all her clotting issues.  So finally they let Tony come back and sit with me for a little while.  Dr Rohrschiebe came back and chatted and made a good joke that lucky I was second since he just finished doing the first case and it went great so he knew this would go even better since he had already had his practice run.  They are so nice there, which helped me relax.  Pretty soon around 9:30 the anesthesia guy came in to give me a little something to relax and boy did that work!  He told me after this you may not ever remember going back to the room and boy was he right!  So the next think I remember is taking big breaths and starting to wake up.  This is typically the worst part for me since I tend to get sick and well I did just a little.  The wonderful nurse gave me a little something for the nausea and well that knocked me out.  I don't know if I have ever slept that much after a surgery.  Poor Tony I was not keeping track of the time and once the doctor came out around 10:30 to tell him that my surgery went great my organs look great he did not see anyone till around 12:15.  Needless to say he was a bit worried but knew I was in good hands.  So it seems once Tony was allowed back there things really got moving.  Was given some water and that went down with no problems.  Pretty soon it was announced we were going to walk to the bathroom and that went well and since your up how about you get dressed.  By 1:15 we were headed home.  That made me very happy.  I was so groggy but I was able to go home!  We stopped so Tony could pick up my liquid vicodin.  Wow I am getting alot of vicodin lately!  When we got home my wonderful nurse Tony got my situated in bed and I got to rest off and on till about 4:15.  Each kid and dog checked on me a few times.  The kids have been so helpful since having both of my surgeries.  I guess I am a good nurse to them so they are trying to mirror my behavior.  I got to have a  couple of sugar free Popsicles last night and water.  I was very sleepy last night so if I talked to you on the phone sorry if it was short and sweet.  Went to bed and slept pretty good.  I seem to wake up every two hours to go to the bathroom so that was good.  I am sore today and a bit gassy.  They fill your stomach with a gas so they can work and well you have to get rid of that so thankful lots of hiccups today so far.  The kids are at school and Tony went to see his family.  So today is a good day for me to rest and not feel guilty for ignoring anyone.  I am sure shortly I will be doing some traveling so I better get rested up as much as I can.  I appreciate the many prayers and well wishes I have gotten so far.  Some people do not get this kind of support from their family and friends.  I am lucky.  Well today I can have sugar free jello, Popsicles, water, sugar free drinks and broth so clear liquids. I am not allowed to have any carbonation for 2 weeks but I have pretty much given that up as of a few weeks ago.  Well I guess I will wrap it up for now and I will be filling you in more each day! 

What a week!!!

Wow, in a matter of a couple days it will be time for my surgery.  Tuesday morning I have to be there at 8:30 for my 9:30 surgery.  By mid-afternoon I hope to be home relaxing.  Relaxing......that is an interesting word.  A word that has not described my week.  A bit stressful is more like it!  It is not like I had one major event that caused me to have a bad week it was just overall a trying week.  I went back to work this week 8 hour shifts since before my ankle injury.  We were expecting corporate company so anyone why does/has worked at Meijer knows that those can be the worse days ever.  I would rather it be Black Friday or Back to College time.  So work was not a happy place for me this week.  Tony's Grandma is in her finally days and imaginably so Tony is not taking that well!  It is hard to see your husband down when you know she has fought a great fight.  No football this week but we did have a few things on the calendar as always to keep up busy.  Tony and I are both sort of in a occupational rut and asking ourselves what do we want out of life, what is important to us?  Wow it stinks to be an adult sometimes!  So you might be saying yeah yeah yeah, how does this effect your surgery?  Well it sucks to be on an 800 Calorie liquid based diet when you have all this stress around you.  I had what I call a so so week with the scale.  I really thought that this week I would see more big numbers but I think my body is just holding on to some fluid I guess for comfort??  LOL  Overall I have followed the diet very well.  Instead of a yogurt a couple of morning I had some mixed fruit, I am sure it was over my 100 calories allotted for my snack but it is fruit for peat sakes.  We did take Tony Subway the other night so I exchanged my weight watchers meal for a 6" sub with veggies and low fat goodies. The only night I feel that I was naughty was Saturday when we had a cookout for a few of the boys from football and I think I was still pretty darn good.  So all in all I guess I feel like I did pretty good so why do I feel like I have been so bad??????  I guess it is just me and my self doubt that I have sometimes.  I have had several people ask me if I am nervous about Tuesday and I really am not.  I told Tony I am more nervous dying of a heart attack or having a stroke down the road.  That is why I need this tool now to make a change in my life.  My friend Dan finished the Chicago Marathon last week and was encouraged by his mentor to "pay it forward".  Well I feel that Dan had already started that by encouraging people like me that if I can do it so can you Jane.  Dan did offer to run my first 5K with me last night I told him maybe someday buddy!  LOL  Whether it is a 5K or what we all need cheerleaders and well I am thankful for those around me who are helping to encourage me along my journey.  Being the biggest girl in school or the big mom sitting over there is not fun and I want others to see the real Jane not the Fat Jane.  I have always had a good self esteem about myself but I almost wonder if things would have been different for me in school and maybe life if I would have not been the big girl.  Well I need to swing this back on a positive track! I am excited  about this week and what a transformation I hope to see over the next year especially.  So I guess when the days are hard remind me why I am doing this.  1st of all I am doing this for Jane, then my husband and kids.  I have never been the person to do something for myself so this is something new.  I may need to be reminded once in a while that I am important too!  Have a great Sunday and hopefully I will have some good updates t share during the week! 

What does the Lap-Band Procedure intail?

The Lap-Band procedure is a laproscopic procedure where I will be put under general anesthesia for a surgery that lasts about an hour.  I will have a small incision which is where the port is placed(this is the round disk area that is embedded in the muscle wall and this is where they will inject saline in to fill the band to tighten the band along my journey), I will also have 4-5 more small cuts where they use instruments for the actual surgery.  I will be only in the surgery center for the day.  Hopefully mid afternoon I will be back home resting.  The band area wraps around the top of the stoma or stomach area (this works sort of like a funnel) I will have to eat much slower and I will get fuller faster.  After the surgery I will start out with a liquid diet, then mushy stuff, and by around 6 weeks I will be able to eat most foods that are cut small, chewed well and are not real tough.  As far as food much of it is a learned behavior and if I try to eat something that my band does not appreciate, well it will tell me.  The band is a gate keeper of sorts.  Much of this surgery is a mindset.  If you think about it, you have to make a choice do I eat a small amount of something healthy or do I eat a small amount of dessert? Well we all know the right answer to this. 

Tony and I went to a wedding last night and had a good time.  I had an enjoyable time but I have to admit I had to think out my dinner a little.  I ate like everyone else except for what was on my plate and how much.  Okay did I have cake??????  I admit it I did.  I sort of feel band in my mindset a little....I keep thinking about the Weight Watchers mindset where you can bank your points.  Gave up my 300 calories of snacks yesterday for well cake...I think probably an even exchange.  Today my dad and sister are coming to Seth's last game and they were wanting to do dinner, at Ryans....well at first I was like well maybe somewhere else but then I said no I can make this work.  So again I am going to skip snacks  and just focus on salad, maybe a baked chicken breast and some veggies.  Like I said I want to keep life as normal as possible for those around me.  I am looking forward to working on my discipline, so far so good!  I know I should not gloat but I am pretty proud of myself.  On 9/28 I weighed in at 322 well this morning I am 305 so I think I am working the program pretty well.  Surgery is on Tue the 18th so by then how much more will I have dropped??  I had hoped to be under 300 day of surgery I think I am going to make that!  Well thanks for all the support and those of you who are following.  Below are some pictures of what the Lap-Band looks like and its placement.  Have a great day!

Laproscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding

This is what I am going to have of  inside me!

Position of LAGB

This is what it looks like in place

So far so good!

So it is finally Friday!!  Yippee!!!  So I started my pre-diet on Tuesday and I have to say it has went very well so far.  It seems like the scale is already liking the progress so you know it makes it that much more worth the effort.  I have stated that I want to always be open and honest about the process so here are my confessions.  Have I cheated????  Possibly. On Thursday we went to visit Tony's family and as we were getting ready, habit came in to play.  He said, "we will just grab something on the road."  Well then it dawned on him that life as we know it has changed a bit.  I did not panic but said  that I can have some lean meat so maybe if the girls want to go to McDonald's I can get a chicken sandwich and toss the bun and just not get fries.  Well Tony felt that was to much temptation and he was probably right  so we decided to go to Subway where I was able to get a 6" sub mainly with veggies from the healthy menu.  It may have been a little over my 300 calorie main meal allowance but in exchange I skipped two of my snacks for the day so I was probably still under my allotment for the day.  I did have a diet coke both yesterday and today but really that is okay since diet soda is allowed on my current diet.  Once I have my surgery I am suppose to stay away from caffeine for a week and carbonation for 6 weeks so I am trying to eliminate diet coke now. Today we took the kids to Allerton Park in Monticello and had an  awesome day.  We decided to have a picnic and I decided that lunch was going to be my big meal.  So I had some ham and some carrots.  I have to say I am sort of surprising myself a little since of course at the picnic there was bread and chips.  Then on the way home Tony thought that we would stop for a DQ treat.  Poor Tony feels bad that he keeps forgetting about me but I want to keep things as close to normal for rest of the family.  It has not bothered me to sit with the family while they eat what that want including ice cream.  I did do the grocery shopping today and really had nothing in the cart that I could eat except for some 1% milk, a couple lean cuisines and vitamins.  What I did not have in my cart was chips, cookies and other crap so I did tell Tony that if it gets to be to slim pickings around here he may have to start getting the kids some junk food but I think those days are going to be less frequent now.  This is a family change, but a change for the better. Saturday I am going to do one of my favorite past times, garage sales, and then in the afternoon we are going to a wedding.  At first I was freaked out about the reception but I think if I eat smart I will be fine and can enjoy the reception.  I appreciate everyone who has shared many kind words of encouragement. I especially appreciate my wonderful husband Tony who has been so supportive of this whole journey.   Make sure you make yourself a follower of my blog so you do not miss an update.  Have a great weekend and I will be back soon with another entry to my journey as the new Mrs. Sprandel. 

What's for lunch?

So today is 10/5/1O and as you are sitting there you may have just asked yourself what's for lunch.  Well I know what I am having for lunch for the next 14 days....pretty good planner aren't I??  Not really!!  Today was the day I was to start my 2 week pre-op diet.  I had a tasty..really it was, chocolate protein shake first thing this morning and then a some V-8 juice mid-morning.  I will be heading to the kitchen after this post to grab another 8 oz shake.  Tony asked me a little while ago if I was "hungry" yet.  To be honest a little but I really feel this is a mind over matter thing.  Rest of my day will include some more V8 followed by a weight watchers entree for dinner.  I can have some yogurt this evening so that will probably be my evening snack.  So in total I will come in around 800-1000 calories.  A far difference from my Fudrucker's burger and fries from last night.

 Can I do this????? HELL YEAH, I can do this!!!  I have had several people ask me if I am nervous.  To be honest I am not because for a long time I have been worried about being here for my kids in the future, being able to walk due to the stress on my joints, or just the fear of not fitting in something or not being able to physically do something with my kids .  We all know my parents did not give me all of their best  genes health wise so for medical reasons  is the number 1 reason I am doing this.  I am so glad to say that I may be a morbidly obese person but as of now I am very healthy but I do not want to wait for the day that the shoe drops and I am facing some of the same obstacles many in my family have had to worry about such as diabetes and heart disease.  I am so thankful for a few friends who have overcome the "I am a healthy obese person" mentality to help me to be inspired!  I thank my friends Jen W and Dan M who have shown me that one step at a time a healthy big person can achieve life long health and happiness!  I hope that sharing this blog I am able to also inspire someone to step out of their comfort zone.  Lap-Band is a tool in a new life that I have chosen to live.  Hopefully as we make this journey together I will be able to share how I got to the point of deciding that Lap-Band was going to be apart of  my journey.  Well thanks for joining me for my pre lunch thoughts, have a great day! 

Welcome to the journey!!

Welcome to the journey that I have chosen to pursue.  As you may know and some of you this may be a new announcement but on Tuesday Oct 19th 2010  I will be going in for Lap-Band surgery.  I have thought long and hard about this and I feel that now is the time to change my life forever.  I am thankful that I will have some followers on this journey!  I have always had challenges with my weight and the Lap Band procedure is a great tool to help me make changes in my life that will help me with my overall quality of life.  Here is a recap up till now:

A few times in the past I had thought about having Lap-Band Surgery but it was not until March of 2010 that the idea became a reality.  I met with  my new primary, Dr. Walker at Christie Clinic in Champaign and on my first appointment he asked me if this was something that interested me and I felt it was something that I wanted to look into more.  A few weeks later I met with Dr. Rohrscheibe who will be performing my Lap-Band Procedure.  So from March until June I joined Weight Watchers and lost 18 pounds, did my physical, my psch exam,dietitian visits  and my monthly doctor check ups all things to prepare for my insurance to decide if I qualified for the surgery.  Things were full steam ahead until June 10th when I injured my ankle by tearing the tendon in my left ankle which ended in me having surgery to repair it, while my ankle was injured I gained most of those 18 pounds back but my doctor was pleased that it was not more, so that was different from most doctors I have had in the past.  I was approved for my surgery by my insurance carrier but due to being on crutches I had to put it off.  On September 21st my podiatrist for my ankle released me back to work and the following day I scheduled my Lap Band surgery.  So today I am 16 days from my surgery and I am about to start my pre surgery diet.  I will be limited to 800-1000 calories a day.  This is primarily a liquid diet and it is used to shrink the liver before surgery.  I will keep everyone updated on this part of the process.  I will admit that I am a little concerned about this diet but I know that I can do it.  I will try to inform and educate everyone as I go along this process.  Thanks for joining in on my journey.