Tuesday Weigh-In and Other Goings-On

Starting Weight   226.4 (9/6/12 at Lap Band Consultation)

Today's Weight  211.2

Total Loss of  15.2 pounds

Loss This Week  - 3.8 lbs    Wahooo!!!!!

I know it's Wednesday and not Tuesday but just didn't get to finishing this yesterday.  For a slow week, this has been a busy one.

I guess it all really started on Sunday.  I screwed up, big time.  Not unforgivable, but big.  I told you guys/gals about taking my sweet Kylie to the Justin Bieber concert, right?  Right.  So, her dad dropped her off on Sunday after lunch and we planned to go get our hair and nails done before the concert, so we did.  And we had so much fun hanging out together.  We found the perfect shade of purple polish for her and we had her hair washed and trimmed and styled.  Soooo cute!  We got home with enough time to get changed into our fancy concert duds and head to the stadium.  We made great time using the recently opened toll road and found the right parking garage with no problem.  I hand the attendant our parking pass and she scans it and says that this particular pass is dated for next week.  Sista say what?!?!?  The parking pass was dated October 29th, not October 21st.  I was just about to start cussing the ticket place for sending me the wrong pass when I pulled out the tickets.  Yup, same date.  October 29th.  We were a whole 8 days early.  I boo hooed, as in bawled my eyes out.  Kylie, on the other hand, was fine.  All she said was, "Well, today was a ripoff!"  Ripoff indeed, baby girl!  I called the hubs and he talked me down, but I was so upset.  I felt like I ruined the entire day by getting the date wrong.  I still don't know how I got the date wrong, but I did.  On the bright side, at least it wasn't 8 days late and now she has a whole week to get excited about it.  Still, I feel bad.

We have our 2nd Annual Halloween Party at our house on Friday and we are so not ready.  It's hard to start putting decorations up because of the cat and we still have a life to live before then, so most of the decorating will be done Thursday night.  I have been scouring Pinterest for ideas on food and drink, but I think it would be more for me than for the drunk people that will be eating it.  I certainly can't be having any of that food right now.  I'm barely getting down cream of wheat.  I tried to have a little malibu the other night and it didn't feel very good, so I stopped.  I just need more time.  Pics of the party next week, though.  Should be epic.  Our parties generally are.

I went to the doc yesterday for my 2-week post-op followup.  All is well.  They did the x-ray and all the plumbing looks good.  I was looking at the x-ray and had to ask the guy what those wire looking things were.  They looked like hooks and eyes and for some reason I though that's what they used to stitch me up inside.  Yup, bra strap hooks.  Yet another blonde moment for me this week.  This is becoming a regular habit, huh?  Incisions looks good, however, and my rash from the steri-strips is healing well.

Pool is almost done.  They came to plaster it this morning and will acid wash it and start filling it up this afternoon.  After it's full, we will have 4-5 days for the acid in the water to eat away at the plaster to reveal the aggregate beneath.  Can't wait.  I just have to keep the drunk idiots out of the acid pool on Friday night.  That should be fun.

I hope I have time to make the TTT for tomorrow, but we have a Cowboys game on Sunday that I have to get stuff ready for.  It's gonna be getting quite chilly here in the DFW Metroplex starting Friday.  That should make work on Sunday a blast.  Oh, well, it's a paycheck.

I now have 10 followers on this lovely little bloggy-poo I have here.  That makes me feel good.  To think that others are interested in what I have to say and that support me in this journey is monumental in my eyes.  Love you all and leave me a comment so I can follow you back!

TTFN

Ten Things Thursday

A wee bit late, I know....

1.  Yep, I'm still itching over here.  I found some stuff called Calagel at the pharmacy and that is helping some, but not gone completely.  The itchy areas don't seem to be as raised as they were and definitley not as red, so I know it's working, but it's taking its sweet ass time.  Grr!!

2.  For the most part, all of the incisions look good and seem to be healing well.  The one inside my belly button, however, is still oozy.  Is this some sort of drain site that they didn't tell me about?  Should I be worried?

3.  Kids go to their dad's tonight after school and we won't see them until Monday, well we'll see Kylie on Sunday but I'll get to that in a minute.  I hate when they are gone all weekend.  I'm sure you'll see this in my TTT every other Thursday from now until they are gone to college. :(

4.  The pool is almost finished.  They cam yesterday and laid out the forms for the decking around the pool and hopefully will pour the concrete tomorrow.  Then, starting Monday, they'll clean up the backyard and the walls of the pool and get it ready for plaster.  Once the plaster is dried/cured, whatever it has to do, JUST ADD WATER!  And acid.  Since the plaster color we chose is almost black, they have to add muriatic (sp?) acid to the pool water and let it eat away at the plaster for 4-5 days to reveal the black aggregate.  

5.  The dogs are about to go nuts.  Poor babies have been kenneled inside during the pool construction process and while we are at work.  By the time we get home at night they are ready to bust loose!  

6.  Our Halloween party is next Friday night and we haven't even decided on costumes yet.  This is no bueno.  We still have cleaning and decorating and shopping to do besides.  Not to mention next week I will be getting ready for the Cowboys game on Sunday and we will be closing up shop at the State Fair.  Fun stuff, I tell ya.  We have nothing going on for 2 weeks, then everything happens the next week.  

7.  So we have been cordially invited to a ball!  I like to say that.  It sounds so...Royal!  It really is a ball, since it's called the Dallas Margarita Ball, but it's really a fun name for a black-tie charity event.  Heck, for me I just like the excuse to get all dressed up, fancy-like you know.  I ordered my dress online and I ordered it a little big.  I plan on taking it to have it altered the week before the ball.  I'm hoping to make it to Onederland before the ball.  That's a little over 2 weeks and 14 lbs to go to get there.  I'm not gonna push it since I'm still recovering, but it sure would be nice!  I'll post pics of my fancy ball gown later.

8.  Eating some oatmeal today, wahoo!!  It's weird, I feel really  hungry, tummy is growling and the whole nine, then I get something to eat and after two or three bites, I'm done.  I'm not complaining, it's just a weird feeling.

9.  I love my hubby.  He is the most wonderful man I know.  He is stressed this week and I want to make it all better, but I can't.  I'm trying to back into doing the stuff around the house that I usually do, to help out, but it's slow going.  All I can do is hug him and love him.

10.  Taking my sweet girl to see the Biebs on Sunday.  What have I gotten myself into?

First Official Post-Op Weigh-In

Starting Weight   226.4 (9/6/12 at Lap Band Consultation)

Today's Weight  215.0

Total Loss of  11.4 pounds

That big ol' number up there at the top is awful.  I have never weighed that much before in my entire life, and never will again!!  I am very impressed at the numbers so far, but I can totally understand the losses considering the diet I have been on this week, if you can call it that.  I'm trying to get more calories in but I'm just not hungry.  

According to my calculations, I have been getting about 300-400 calories per day, which I know is nowhere near enough.  I am still on full liquids and I'm doing good to finish a cup of soup before I'm full.  I try to have something nourishing to drink with me all day, but I'm just not interested.  I wish I could have said that a couple weeks ago before I polished off 3 slices of pizza.  I tried some cream of wheat for dinner last night and it went down alright, but I was only able to eat a couple tablespoons before I was done.  I have been drinking my protein shakes for breakfast, but it takes me a good 45 minutes to finish it, again not really interested in eating.  

I go in for my 2-week post-op next Tuesday and we will see if anything changes by that time.  Until then, I'm gonna keep trying to get some good stuff in my little tummy and hopefully get some energy going.  

Still Itching for Relief

I called the doc yesterday and he told me it was okay to take all of the steri-strips off, since some of them had started falling off on their own already.  Now that all of the strips are off, I have blistery oozy patches of pink at each site.  I have been wearing cotton tanks so it can breathe and keeping a paper towel between my skin and my shirt to keep them from sticking together.

I sent hubs to the store last night for some Benadryl for bedtime and he came back with ZzzQuil.  Best hubby ever!!  Same active ingredient as Benadryl, but  a lot more of it.  As I was dozing off last night, I could feel the spots stop itching and went off to dreamland.  Fast forward several hours to sometime before it was actually time to wake up, I woke up itching.  I was worried to take any more wonder drug for two reasons, I had no idea what time it was and I wasn't gonna look, and I could tell my stomach was completely empty.  I wasn't sure how the meds would go over on an empty stomach pouch, so I laid there thinking about not scratching until I went back to sleep.  I woke up this morning with wet splotches all over my t-shirt from the blisters oozing during the night.

I know it will eventually go away, but all I can think about is scratching.  It's not feasible to take the allergy meds during the day, I will just be too sleepy to get anything done and then not want to sleep at night, so I suffer.  Poor pitiful me, I know.

Now that my pity party is over, on to better news!  I will be posting my very first official weigh-in later today and I'm so excited.  Also, we are going to Mudstock this weekend.  I don't plan on getting muddy this year, but I 'm so thrilled to be able to get out of the house and go ride the trails.  I will, however, be watching all of the idiots that will be in the mud, get stuck.  I'll post pics of that debauchery next week!

Did I Contract Poison Ivy in the OR?

Itch. Itch. ITCH!!!!!!

I think I may have poison ivy at all of my incision sites...or maybe not.  It sure feels like it, and looks like it.  Based on web research it seems I may be having an allergic reaction to the steri -strips. As of today, I am 5 days post-op. I feel pretty good except for this excruciating itching. Grrrrrr!  The hive-like welts and blisters are only around the incision tapes so I assume its an allergy to the adhesive.  From my experience with poison ivy (think of an 9th grade girl who looked like the Man Without A Face - very traumatic), it certainly is acting the same as the dirty leaves, but is only in the areas of the tape.

Any help you veteran bandsters can offer? I have had several surgeries before and never this reaction.  I know I need to wait for the tapes to come off on their own, and I have used hydrocortisone cream and medicated powder to alleviate the insatiable need to scratch.  The powder works better in my opinion, but not enough.  Sadly, the itch areas look worse than the incisions themselves on the two spots where the tapes have finally come off (belly button and at the base of my sternum).  Will there be scars from the rash?

Yours truly,
Itchy and Scratchy

A Giant Pain in the Port and Missing the Mud

So, I know it's only been a little more than three days, but when do you start to feel normal again?  Of the six incisions I had, the port site is of course the most painful.  This comes as no surprise based on all of my pre-op research, but when does the soreness start to subside?  The pain meds they gave me (hydrocodone with acetaminophen) work a little but not enough to alleviate tha pain from the port site.

Good news is that I managed a 1/2 mile walk around the neighborhood this morning.

I love mud.  I love getting muddy.  I love going off roading in our Atv. I know tonight wouldn't be the best of nights to go, the trails are rough and steep and getting muddy is probably not the best idea with open wounds, but I'm so sad that I'm missing it.  I just want to know when it would be safe to get back to it.  Hubby says two months but I don't think I can wait that long!  Waaaahhhhh!!

Please share your experiences

Official Member of the Band!!

It's done.  Surgery was deon Tuesday morning and was home by about 12:30 that afternoon.  I cam out of General Anesthesia, very nauseated and in a lot of pain.  They couldn't give me pain meds until AFTER I got out of bed and walked to x-ray.  I swallowed some of the barium and he got a good shot of it making its way through the band.  10 minutes later I was back in x-ray to drink some more barium and make sure it made it's way to my small intestine through my new smaller stomach (from the plication).  15 minutes of standing later, I finally had to do it and threw it up.  Gross, I know.  I guess if I had to upchuck anything, the barium was the best thing. Then I finally got some pain meds. A little relief.

Hubs took me home and put me in bed.  I was/am so tired.  I've had a little chicken soup, 1 saltine cracker, Danimals yogurt smoothie thing, Gatorade and lots of water.  I'm having a little cream of wheat this morning, too.  Best tasting stuff ever!  I am usually a stomach sleeper, so sleeping on my back has been tough and makes my back hurt. 

Took a shower this morning and replaced the bandages.  I had thought I was only going to have 5 incisions, but alas there are 6.  After 2, who's counting anymore?  I have a pretty nasty looking bruise from the Heparin injection site.  Good news is that I'm down to 220.6 this morning before I showered.

I'm trying to stay up and moving around today.  The only place that really hurts is the port site.  It hurts to stand up, sit down, lay down, walk and anything else I might be doing.  Peeing is getting much easier and trying to pass gas.  Getting rid of gas is a big plus!!

I'm so excited to get going with this thing and being a part of this community!

XOXO,
Melissa

Surgery Day - the first day of a new life

Headed to the surgery center for my dandy band!!

Ten Things Thursday - So Busy!!

Thanks to the witty and beautiful Laura Belle at Beer, Dogs And Getting Healthier, here are my Ten Things!

1.  4 days until my dandy band will be installed!  Sounds like I'm getting a new TV, huh?  So in celebration of this momentous occasion, I'm having tamales for breakfast today.  Good enough excuse, I think.  I couldn't help myself.  The lovely ladies here at work made them fresh last night and they are still hot an oh-so-mouthwateringly delicious!

2.  The pool construction crew showed up this morning promptly at 7:15 am to start digging our new pool.  I am beyond excited about having a back yard we can actually use.  For about a month now, it's been a mud hole.  I can't send kids or dogs outside to play in that unless I am prepared to hose them down.  A month from now, we should have an elegant patio to relax on.  Just in time for cooler weather!

3.  Speaking of cooler weather, our high is only going to be 60 on Saturday.  In Texas.  Wow!  The Rangers game on Friday night is going to be a chilly one!  Maybe we get to go mudding on Friday night after the game. Hmmmm....

4.  We got a new toy this week and the kids love it!  We took it out for a ride on the local construction site and after the kids begged to go over a tall pile of rocks, we high-centered it and had to use the winch to get unstuck.  They had a blast!  We can't wait to take them out on some real trails.

5.   So the Rangers are on a pretty bad losing streak.  After being in first place all year, they are letting is slip right through their hands.  3rd straight post-season for us, though, so that's something to be proud of, I guess.

6.  Took my mini-me to Target on Tuesday after school and we were checking out some clothes for her.  I was looking for some pants, see #3, and she was browsing on her own.  She rushed over and said, "Hey, momma!  I found something over here that's gonna blow your mind!  Come see."  So she drags me over to a rack that has some sequined shirts on it in purple, pink, black and silver.  Mind blown.  She's so wonderfully random and I love her!

7.  A little scared of the liquids only diet coming up next week.

8.  We will hopefully be moving into our new offices soon.  I will be so glad to have an actual office instead of a hallway.  I can't stand having people walk behind me while I'm working.  Not that I'm working on anything top-secret, mind you, but still.  It makes me uncomfortable.  Am I weird?

9.  I wish the A/C worked in this building, or it was Saturday already.

10.  Our babies are gone to their dad's until Monday.  I always miss them as soon as I drop them off at school.  Sometimes, I look forward to the break, but I still don't want them to go.  

Have a great weekend!!