Back to Square One

So we are back to Square One. Paul told me that at least it isn't Square Zero where we've been before.  I spent the last 3 days throwing up so when I went in to see the doctor, he said that there was too much inflammation so he took out ALL of the saline in the band.  It has to stay that way for three weeks and by then the inflammation should be gone and we start over with the fills again.  So, I've been on liquids for several days and at least today everything stayed down.  At least I'd lost another 3 pounds.  I'll have to watch my intake closely because it will be easy to over eat.  At least, the band is still in.  I read that they have recalled this particular band because of a problem with the tubing stretching, however, they are not replacing any that have been put in already.  It seems that they do not believe that there is a problem with leaving the ones in that have already been put in.  More things to continue to think about.

Ups and Downs and Downs and Ups

We had a great time in Massachusetts visiting my brother and his family.  We went and saw the change of the leaves (amazing how that happens up there) in New Hampshire and Maine and saw the ocean harbor in Newport, RI.  It was too windy to take a harbor tour so instead we went shopping.  Got some great fudge and some souveniors to bring hom.  In New Hampshire we went to Keepsake Quilting, a great quilt shop, in an area that is beautiful with a lake that has a name I can't pronounce (Lake Winne?????).  We went to a Shaker village and got lunch, the chicken and dumplings were awesome.  Checked out the museum/shop and was amazed at the workmanship of the items they made.  Then we went to Kennebunkport, Maine and found Mabel's Lobster Claw where I ate an entire lobster (just the meat, really) and shared a piece of peanut butter ice cream pie with chocolate sauce on it (four of us shared it so by doing that we scared away the calories :)).  Had a wonderful time.  Had no problem with eating.  Stopped when I could tell I was full.  THEN....I came back to work on Monday.  I'm not sure if the stress of work and pace is so fast but I ate lunch (soup and cornbread from home) and I guess I did not chew well enough but it did not stay down.  Monday night I stuck to small stuff and some cereal well soaked in milk and everything was fine.  Then again on Tuesday at lunch, I ate a few bites of fish and squash and realized that it was not going to stay down.  I was right.  Tried to drink a smoothie and it didn't work too well.  Drank a Starbuck's Vanilla Frappacino very slowly and it seemed to be okay although my chest was hurting some.  Tried some jello and that was the end.  It all came up.  I managed to keep my medication down before going to bed.  I'm taking it slow today and thinking that the esophagus is very irritated by all of this up and down activity and so I'm going to try small amounts of liquids today.  Luckily I'm off work and plan to sew and quilt today so that is possible.  Hopefully I don't have to go back and have some saline taken out.  It is definitely interesting the issues that having this lapband can bring.  I'll just deal with them in the quest for the land of the lost weight.  God bless your day today.

Let's try again

Went in to the doctor today and had gained a pound.   I knew that I did not have enough constriction and we talked about it so the doctor added one ml of saline.  That give me 5.5 mls in.  So far, so good.  Big bummer tomorrow as I will be on a plane most of the day going to Boston to see my brother and his family.  Having just liquids all day may be an interesting feat.  We'll see how it goes.  I can see it now, "Could I have hot water please, hold the tea bag, I don't need it."  Then I put one of these soup packets in and I have soup.  Should be a fun time.  I'm really looking forward to going.

Sometimes you fill and sometimes you take out!

Today was a take out day!  Not food, saline from my lapband.  The doctor put an additional 1.5 ml in last week and from Saturday until today, I have spent 2 out of 3 meals throwing up what I just ate.  Today wasn't bad but I didn't eat much.  I've lost another 4 pounds in that week which is too much so he took 2 ml out because it appears the restriction was too much.  Hopefully all will soon be good again.  I absolutely hate throwing up. All of my life I have been this way and so this has been terrible for me.  Anyway, it's not good to do it because you can have the band slip that way and they can only fix that with surgery, which I don't want anymore of!  I'm back on liquids for a few days and hope that the inflammation will go down and I can eat again.  I know, whine, whine, whine......

Sigh....part of what was lost is now found.....

I have found that sometimes the lapband still allows me to eat more than I should.  It showed by 1 pound on the scale at the doctor yesterday.  They didn't think it was a big deal because I've only had one fill.  So he added more to the band yesterday which meant yesterday evening and today, I've been on liquids.  Now I'm on soft foods, more or less, but am not having a problem.  I can tell it is different though and that is good.  All is getting better.  I think......

Too much food can be bad

As my title says, too much food can be bad.  Bad in that it makes you throw up when you have a lapband in.  I have discovered that, when I'm at work, I tend to eat too fast because of a lack of time.  I have thrown up at least 4 times in the last two weeks because of this.  So, I am having to relearn how much to eat, how fast to eat and how to chew things up completely.  You would think we would all learn this as children but obviously, the lesson was lost on me.  I'm working on this.  I actually suspect that if everyone did this type of eating, we would all lose weight and be healthier. 
I have an appointment next week with the bariatric doctor and I think we are going to need to put in another fill.  I am able to eat too much and not have a problem.  We'll talk about it.

Have a great day.

Home from the Mountains

I've just spent a wonderful four days in the mountains of Northern New Mexico in a place called Casa de la Vega in Blue Canyon near Las Vegas, New Mexico.  Yes, there is more than one Las Vegas.  This Las Vegas is a small town that has a small university (Highlands University), a WalMart, McDonald, Wendy's and several other fast food restaurants and a charming downtown area with a cute little quilt shop called Threadbare.  I managed to find some wonderful material there before we went to Walmart to buy groceries for the cabin.  Our family has had this cabin (or has been building it) since I was six.  It is a lovely place to go and relax.  This weekend was relaxing and hectic as we had 11 people there on Saturday and Sunday and celebrated my granddaughter, Lily's, 1st birthday.  Lots of fun and family.  I was so glad to see all of my children and grandchildren and my husband's parents.  We spent Sunday morning on the cabin porch worshiping God surrounded by the beautiful nature that God created.  It was so great to sing with my family, as we manage to get all four harmony parts in, most of the time.  We fixed 2 meals a day and I didn't have a problem with the lapband at all.  I was anxious about eating chicken as I'd had problems for a few days with it but Emerald's chicken salad was great and I had no problem.  Chew, chew, chew, that was my mantra. Eat slow and enjoy the company and that is what I did.  When I get back to Tucson, I shall check the scale and hope to see a loss but if not then I will continue on down this path until I get to the weight I need to be.  In the meantime, I have had a great weekend and hope everyone else did too.