Question About Fills

1)  How long post-op before your first fill?

2)  How many cc's did you receive?

3)  How many fills did you have in your first 3 months post-op?

4)  How many cc's did you have in your band at 3 months post-op?

5)  Did you have restriction by that point?

6)  How much weight did you lose in the first 3 months post-op?


Yeah, lots of questions.  Here are my answers:

1) I was 6 weeks post-op.

2) I received 3cc's in a 10cc band

3) I'm still not quite 3 months out and that is the only fill I have had.

4) I am still at 3cc's in a 10cc band.

5) I think I have a little more restriction than I did before the fill.  I cannot eat bread without getting stuck.

6) I have lost 18 pounds since surgery, although I'm hoping to make my first mini goal of 20# gone with tomorrow's weigh-in.

I asked all these questions because I feel like I am losing the weight really slowly.  I've been losing a pound a week except for the first couple weeks before my fill and last week when I lost 3.  I am exercising daily with laps in the pool and 30 minutes of treading water in the deep end.  I think I'll bust out the Wii Fit again and start doing it again, too....I just don't like how you can't get 30 continuous minutes.  I walk around the board in between "games" to try to keep heart rate up. 

Oh, and I took a sneak peek this morning and saw One-derland.....we'll see what the scale says tomorrow on the official weigh day!

An Award

Thank you to "T" at Diary of a (Former) Fat Chick for bestowing upon me a Beautiful Blogger Award!  She made my night last night...especially after the disappointment of not making it to goal.  Be sure to check out her blog as she is soon to be banded and is rocking the pre-op diet!

Hmmm....now to think of 7 unknown facts about me.   I've been thinking about this all day and still don't know if I can come up with 7!

1) I love gymnastics!  I was in gymnastics from the time I was 5 through high school.  I joined cheerleading only because we didn't have a gymnastics team.  I was like that girl in "Bring It On" that totally didn't fit in the clique. I coached for a while in my early twenties in Texas.  I watch gymnastics every Olympics and even watch ABC Family's "Make It or Break It".

2) I watch Disney and Nickelodeon even when the kids aren't in the room.  Hubster makes fun of me for it, but I'm so used to it that I don't even realize I'm doing it.  LOL

3) My two favorite foods are my mom's broccoli casserole and her homemade mac and cheese.  She makes the best mac and cheese ever and oh yes, I was a glutton.  I could literally live on it for the rest of my life!  Both mom's classics go great with my dad's homemade wings on the grill!

4) My all time favorite movie is "City of Angels" with Meg Ryan (before she overdid the plastic) and Nicolas Cage.  I still cry every time the candle on the table goes out in the cabin.

5) I love rock n' roll!  Everything from the classics like Bob Seger, to punk like Stabbing Westard, to the industrial like Coal Chamber.  I don't think most people who meet me would ever imagine me headbanging in my car with the radio up full blast!

6) I am a Pisces and I think the generalizations about my sign's traits describe me very well. 

7) My dream when I grow up is to be an OR nurse.  I find surgery absolutely amazing...but on that note, I absolutely cannot handle wound care without getting light headed!  Go figure!

Now to choose 7 more Beautiful Bloggers to share the award with:

Kellie - Our Everyday Blessings

Fiona - The Incredible Shrinking Woman

Jess - The Little Bandit

Jonique - Road To Rediscovery

Gail - Gail's Journey

Cheeseburger Girl - Adventures With The Lap-Band

Ashli - Skinny Tastes Better

To the award winners, copy the award and post it on your blog.  Then tell us 7 little known facts about yourself and pick 7 more winners!

Look Away!

It's just like a train wreck!  You want to look away, but you just can't!  It's hideous and gruesome, yet you just can't stop looking!  What is it you ask?!  It's me.......in a 2 piece! 

I know I said no pictures, but Kellie asked, so here I am...in all my so-pale-I'm-translucent, enough-rolls-to-stock-a-bakery and enough-cottage-cheese-to-start-a-dairy glory!  This is the first time I've worn a two piece swimsuit that was not a cover-all tankini since I was a freshman in high school!  I definitely rocked it better back then! 

Brace yourselves....it's not going to be pretty!

Grrrrrrr!!

I am soooo aggravated right now!!  My goal this week was to hit my first milestone of shedding 20 pounds.  It would have been a 4 pound loss in one week.  I checked the scale yesterday and was at 200.  Wanting to make sure I made goal, I got in the pool and treaded water and swam extra laps....made it a work out to count.  Then I step on the scale this morning - certain I made it to Onderland!

201

W. T. H?!!!  I gained a freaking pound overnight!

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!

On a positive note, I took the kids to see "Toy Story 3" and it was really cute!  I love the Toy Story movies.  So here's to "Infinity and Beyooooond!!!"   Have a great weekend!

A little non-scale victory

When I get out of the shower I can now wrap the towel completely around me without a huge wide gap showing half my belly and girly parts!  Not a beach towel, but a normal sized bath towel!  It may not sound like a big deal...but I'm so stoked that I hope the neighbors don't come over unexpectedly because they might just catch me running around in just a towel!  LOL

I also bought a 2 pc. swim suit...and not a tankini.  No, I will not wear it in public and there will be no pictures.  But it's cute enough to hang out in my own back yard pool.  I still have the tankini with the swim skirt for public excursions or if we have company.  But I'm getting there!

I'm down from a size 22/20 to a 16.  I needed new bottoms, so I hit up Goodwill on Monday.  From noon til 7 their clothes are half off.  I got a couple pairs of shorts and a cute denim skirt.  I also picked up a super cute Etienne Aigler purse that looked brand new dirt cheap!  I was in need of a new summer purse and this is cute and beachy looking.  Love it!

Anyhow, hope all of you are having great weeks.  I'll know tomorrow if I made my goal as it's the official weigh in day!

Please remember to keep Jayden and his family in your prayers.  He is still in the ICU, but with his blood transfusion and some platelets he is stabilized for now.  They'd like to run some more tests including a scope but have to make sure his blood is clotting normally so they don't cause more problems.  Thanks!

Prayers Needed NOW!

Baby Jayden has been admitted to the ICU today after his parents found him with his face and bed linens covered in blood.  He then started vomiting blood clots.  The doctors are running tests, and he is currently receiving a blood transfusion due to low blood counts.  Please pray for him, his family and the medical team caring for him.

Thank you!

Pay It Forward

With the cost of a transplant often exceeding $500,000, many transplant patients are unable to shoulder the financial burden of such a procedure. The Children's Organ Transplant Association (COTA) is a national charity dedicated to organizing and guiding communities in raising funds for transplant-needy patients.

Born on December 23, 2008, Jayden was diagnosed with Biliary Atresia due to his body going into shock after life-saving open-heart surgery to correct a congenital defect at just a week old. Doctors at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri recommended a life-saving liver transplant. He is currently on the transplant list, waiting to receive his new liver as he is suffering from pediatric end-stage liver disease.  His family's estimated out of pocket cost for the transplant related costs is $40,000.

You can donate directly to his COTA fund by clicking the link below.
http://www.cotaforjaydeno.com/

"Jayden's Strides For Hope"
Jayden sporting our team shirt at the March for Babies

If you cannot donate directly, I ask that you take a whopping 2 minutes out of your day each day and vote for his charity in the APX Alarm Gives Back Contest.  The charity with the most overall votes will win $100,000.  The charity with the most votes in each region will win $30,000.  It would be incredible if we could rally together and make "COTA for Jayden Olmstead" the top charity in the Central Region.  If we could make it the top overall charity - we could not only help Jayden and his family but other families with children in need of a life saving organ transplant as anything not used by the Olmsteads will be donated to another family in need.

 

Here is how to vote:

Click this link:  http://apps.facebook.com/apxgivesback/

"Like" the page.

"Click" the button that says 'Start nominating and voting'

"Type" in "COTA" next to the drop down box that says 'Most Recent' and click 'Go'

"VOTE" for COTA for Jayden Olmstead

 

It's that easy!  Copy and paste these directions and share them on your blog, email them to your family and friends, share it on your facebook wall, tweet it; etc.  You can also use the "Vote For Jayden" collage on your blog.  If you need the html to make it a link, just let me know.  I'm glad to help!
 
Please pass this on and help make a huge difference in one little guy's life!

The Sisterhood...

of traveling clothes.  How does one get in on that?  I could really use some size 16/18 shorts, capris or swimsuits anyone has shrunk out of and would like to pass on.

But that also means I will have quite a bit of clothes to share!  I know for sure I've got two pairs of capris and two pairs of olive colored camp shorts.  I've got a few shirts too that are getting too big.  I also have 5 size 40DDD bras if anyone is interested.  3 are white, one is nude, and one is purple and blue and pretty. :)  The others are your average over the shoulder boulder holders brought to you by Playtex.

I was just updating my ticker and I was a bit surprised.  It took me to the page that graphs your weight loss and since January I have lost a total of 27 pounds.  Just when I was about to beat myself up for only being down 16 since surgery.

I'm trying to not be to disappointed about not being able to get a fill right now (see yesterday's post).  I am still losing a pound a week and I haven't really been excercising.  Although this afternoon we finally got to swim in the pool in our back yard!  It was heaven and I promised the kids we could go back out around 7 so they could see it with the light on in it.  Anyhow I did a few laps and spent a lot of time treading water in the deep end.  I must say, I love it...excercise without sweat and really not a whole lot of huffing and puffing.  I also did "water running" where I ran in the water from one side to the other in the shallow end...that did have me huffing and puffing a bit!  LOL  I also want to get some plastic weights and do water aerobics in the shallow end so I can tone up those batwings.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  I'm off to eat my dinner (salad) and drink a Landshark by the pool while the kids play!

P.S.
My goal for this week is to get down to 199....then I will officially be 20# since surgery in order to make my first weight related goal!  I also want to lose 10 more before July 9th in order to surprise the hubby since by then it'll be a little over a month since we've seen him.

No Phil...

Need Will!  Anyone seen Will Power around?  If so, please send him my way.  I need him to hang around for a bit since I'm unable to have Phil.  Phil is a whore and wants a $250 administrative program fee.  Really Phil...you're such a sell-out!  It's not like I haven't already had the surgery.  Now all I need is maintainence, so what is this $250 program fee getting me?

I think Phil is friends with Murphy...you know, that guy that made that one law.  Otherwise we could only assume there is some strange cosmic alignment occuring that Phil would require that kind of money at the same time Murphy blew into town.

So, Will...Will Power...please report to my front door.  Accomodations are ready for you.  Thanks!

Didn't See This Coming

As you can see from my ticker, I'm 15 pounds down from surgery and 20# down from my last visit to the surgeon pre-op.  Not really too far into this whole weight loss thing, but I can see some physical changes.  Unfortunately, I'm not real thrilled with them.

I mentioned in another post about the "boobie-do".  You know...where my belly sticks out further than my boobies do.  It's a new thing for me as I've always had quite the rack.  That rack balanced me out...gave me the classic hour glass shape.  I've always been an hour glass and now I feel much more like a weeble-wobble.

Look Mom!  I can flyyyy!

Then there's the issue with my upper arms.  If you've been with me from the start, you know that my upper arms are the one area of my body I hate most.  Now with the weight loss, I hate them even more.  It's like I'm losing the fat that kept them inflated, so now the flabby stuff is like the flaps on a flying squirrel.  Just call me batwing, baby!  Maybe I wouldn't be as self-conscious but now we're in Florida and I refuse to wear 3/4 sleeves in 90+ temps with super high humidity.  I am all about comfort....but in order to be comfortable, my batwings are always on display because I'm either in tank tops or a swim suit.  Is it even possible to tone that area?

I really didn't see these feelings coming.  I'm losing weight, I'm getting healthy.  Shouldn't I be feeling more confident?  Feeling like I can take on the world?  Shouting from rooftops that finally, I'm losing it and it will stay gone?  Instead I'm having way more self-image issues that when I was at my heaviest.  Has anyone else experienced these kinds of feelings?  What did you to get over it?

My So-Called Life (Part 2)

So here I am in Florida.  My house is still in disarray with half unpacked boxes scattered about in every room.  I've been here a week now, and really had hoped to have the house looking more like a home by now. 

I'm also busy trying to find a job.  I haven't heard anything from the Air Force Base, despite calling to check and leaving messages.  I took a chance and applied for an OR Tech position.  I doubt I hear anything, as I don't have any experience in that area....although I would love to get it!  It's a foot in the door to my dream job of being a surgical nurse.  Meanwhile, I'm trying to get my Kansas license endorsed by the state of Florida.  Not an easy task.  Not only are their fees 5x that of the last three states I've been licensed in, there's quite a few other hoops to jump through.

Due to surgery, I had lift/weight restrictions due to the hiatal hernia repair that prevented me from being able to my job as the night shift nurse.  I was only cleared to go back a week before our move.  I was thankful that I had the blessing of being able to watch my BFF's son to supplement the lost income.  Then with getting our home ready to sell/rent, renting a new home here, and the costs of the actual move, it all added up much faster than expected.  Hence, why I had to swallow my pride and do something I swore I'd never do again.  I had to ask my parents for a loan until we start getting regular rent from our tenants, Ty signs in and we get the remainder of our move reimbursement, and I can get a job.  I haven't borrowed money from my parents in over 10 years, but unfortunately, due to my days of being young,dumb, and irresponsible I was only able to finish paying them back 5 years ago.

I've worked hard to fix the mistakes I've made in the past, to be more responsible, trying to set a good example for our kids.  Having to ask for money made me feel like I failed at all of that.  I felt guilty because we aren't able to do it all on our own...because I had to ask for help.  I got lectured because I don't work full time all the time because they always have.  Yet, when Hubster deployed the first time, I didn't move back home like planned...I stayed in Oklahoma where I had no family or friends to take a job in pediatrics.  I worked the entire deployment and continued working full time until 3 months before we moved to Kansas.  I was written up for leaving work to take my son to the ER when the daycare called reporting blood in his stool.  It was the final straw to a lot of things that went on in that office...stuff I just kept letting slide.  I continued working weekends with two of the doctors from that office and we were fine.

I had a full time job lined up here and worked with the Army for 6 months before taking a job closer to home.  That's when all hell broke loose with Hubster's second deployment and I really felt like I was losing my mind.  I went down to PRN with them and also worked with their urgent care PRN while I attended school full time and started working part time nights at the nursing home...where I was employed the remainder of our stay in Kansas.  In the time between going PRN and starting school, I babysat full time in my home for a little girl.  Same thing after surgery, I babysat.  I've always worked...but just not how they think I should, I guess.  Same old story...I'm just never going to be good enough to live up to their expectations.

They believe that because they were able to work opposite shifts, rely on family and neighbors to help when they had to work overtime, I should too.  But this is our third move in 5 1/2 years and we'll be doing it again next year when Hubster is finished with his training.  I don't have family or friends to rely on.  We were very fortunate that the CDC at Ft. Sill was incredible!  However, our experience with the CDC at Ft. Riley was beyond atrocious and is part of the reason we bought the house we did...the in-home daycare next door had an available spot for Monster.  We were again blessed to have great child care...unfortunately, when Hubster came home and school was out, she had no available spots to allow me to go back to work full time.  So that's why I worked weekend nights...it was the only time we could really count on hubby being home to watch the kids.  He had to leave in the mornings before any child care was available and before night shift ended and we never knew when he'd be home at night.  That's a logistical nightmare for trying to find child care.  A live-in nanny would be a great solution, but we're not rich and can't afford that option.  Once I made friends, they were an immense help, but one can only ask for so many favors before feelings start getting hurt.

My parents just don't seem to understand that I would love to have a full time job.  I am a phenomonal nurse!  I have the letters of recommendation, references and job performance reviews to back that statement up.  I LOVE being a nurse!  I love my kids and I love time with them, but I don't LOVE being a stay-at-home-mom.  I think working makes me a better mom because I appreciate my time with them much more.  I don't feel like I'm always asking them to stop fighting or not to do this or that.  My brain isn't mush from the millionth re-run of whatever is on Disney or Nick Jr.  After a day of work, watching that with them lets my brain decompress! :-)

However,  Hubster's career makes it really hard for me to work full time.  Every time one of the kids is sick...guess who has to stay home with them?  Me because no matter how many politicians, military PR or commercials you see...the military is not family friendly.  The military ALWAYS comes first.  So while Hubster won't get fired for staying home with sick kids...I can be and have come close to it.  But when you don't know anyone...there is no back up child care when they are too sick for school or daycare.  There is just mom.  There is always just mom because dad is always at work, away training or deployed.  There has to be some kind of constant in their lives, right?  Well that constant is me...and I hope I never make my kids feel like they aren't good enough.  I also hope that if they ever need help they never feel the way I did/do about asking.

Help Save a Life

If you are on facebook, please take a few seconds to try to help raise money for Baby Jayden's COTA account.

Simply click here and "like" the page.  Then endorse  the "COTA for Jayden Olmstead" charity.   That's all it takes. 

I'm also going to ask that you go one step further and share the link on your facebook page and/or blog.  Feel free to use the banner at the top of my page as well to spread the word.  People can donate directly to his account by clicking on the banner.

Click here to read more about Baby Jayden's Story.

I Need A Hug

plain and simple....

This move has been torturous in more ways than one.  Last night I had to swallow my pride and do something I swore I'd never do again.  Anyhow, my stomach is still in knots and am feeling a mix of anxiety, sadness, failure and more. 

Now that I'm banded I can't go eat a bunch of crap, so I have to actually deal with these feelings...and it sucks.  I think I'm just going to go back to bed....if I'm sleeping I can't feel anything or think about anything, right?

It's..It's...It's...ALIVE!

Yes, I am alive, dear bloggers!  The kids and I have safely made it to our new home in Florida.  Just got the internet up and going today.  Need to hook up the Wii now so the kids can watch movies until the Dish Network people get here.

Not much to report...we made a pitstop in AL to spend the weekend with the hubby where he is training.  Pretty uneventful.  Saw "The Toothfairy" and it was cute!

Our household goods arrived yesterday.  The kitchen is pretty much squared away and the computer is hooked up.  Everything else still needs unpacked so we will be busy with that tomorrow.  Hoping to make it to the beach before the oil hits...saw this morning it's already in Pensacola.  :-(  Such a sad situation...is anyone else amazed these rigs don't have an emergency shut-off valve?  I mean even the water to my toilet has one!

Anyhow, just wanted to drop a line and let you know that yes, I am alive.  Just trying to get settled in and make this house a home.  Wish me luck on the whole job hunting thing, too, please!  I need all the prayers, vibes and juju you all have got!