The Third Fill

Just got back to the office after my 3rd fill.  And guess what??  I got 2 ccs!!  The PA put 4 ccs in to begin with but when I drank the water it barely went down, so she kept backing the saline out until I felt ok.  So now I am at 3.4 ccs in my 10 cc band.

On a side note, do you ever feel like you can't believe things are working/going so well that something is bad is bound to happen?  My life right now is pretty much damn near perfect.  I love that I am finally losing weight, I am very excited about my new position here at work, my money situation is looking up, I am in a constant good mood...Maybe this is how "normal" people feel??  Anyway, whatever it is, it feels good to feel this way for a change! 

So, that's it.  Just a short post to report on my fill!

Off to listen to the new Britney CD.

This Week He's Moppin' Floors, Next Week It's The Fries

Sorry for the obscure title, but that is how my brain functions.  It's a line from "Gold Digger" by Kanye West and I thought it was apropos for this:

I finally received the job offer for a Team Leader position here at work - and I accepted.  Very excited to start down this new path!  The raise doesn't hurt either!  Gotta get bank for all those new clothes I intend to buy!

And tomorrow is FILL DAY!  Yay!  This will be my 3rd fill.  I can hardly believe it!  And it will be a test of how assertive I can be.  I will definitely be asking for a more aggressive fill this time.

My mom's neighborhood is having a community garage sale this Saturday, so I spent all day Sunday going through everything I own to pick out stuff to sell.  Came up with TONS of stuff, mostly clothes though.  So then I went to Office Max to get price tag stickers.  You can get a package of 350 stickers for $2.50, *and* they are pre-priced in denominations from $.10 to $20.  This is supposed to make it easy, right?  Then, OMG, what in the hell is wrong with me?  I had several items that the stickers wouldn't stick to.  So I got out my ribbon holder with its Martha Stewart ribbon and some paper and made my own price tags for these items.  Here I was sitting in the middle of the floor cutting paper, punching holes, tying ribbon on GARAGE SALE ITEMS.  When I was attempting to tie a tag on an item I was asking TEN CENTS for, I thought it might be time for a 12 step program for Organizing OCD.  Aunt Sue, do you have answer, because this is straight up Aunt Sue behavior! Oy...somebody help me. 

Hope everyone has a fabulous Monday...I will report back after my "kick butt and take names later" fill approach.

Lots Goin' On...

WARNING!  This will be a post of complete randomness.  Don't say you weren't warned.

So my restricition?  Yep, that lasted 2 whole days. Then went right back into feeling NADA.  Oh well.  I go for my next fill in less than a week.  I will be having a nice little chat with my conservative surgeon - no tea and crumpets provided.

If you know anything about me, you know that A) I am not a patient person, B) I am impulsive, and C) I love my dog entirely too much.  Now C has nothing to do with this post, but when you are trying to make a point you have to have an A, B, and C.  All that to say, I AM DYING, well not literally dying, for some info here at work.  Can't say what yet, but in the name of Britney Jean Spears, someone better make a decision SOON.

Speaking of Britney Jean Spears...I heart her.  Excited for her new album to come out next week.  Should have some good work out tunes.

Oh, and I am down 35 pounds.  Yay.

New Food Find

Yummy goodness!  I got these at Target today (after I tried one from a co-worker):

I got the variety pack with White Chocolate Macadamia, Peanut Butter Cookie and Lemon Zest.  They also come in a variety pack with Nutz Over Chocolate, Caramel Nut Brownie and S'mores.  They are only 80 calories a piece and they have 4 grams of protien.

I also bought these:

These have have 12 grams of protien and 190 calories.

Ask And You Shall Receive

That fill that was doing absolutely nothing for me?  You know, the one I was just complaining about in the prior post?  Yeah, well, I must have really pissed it off because yesterday and today I have be T-I-G-H-T, tight!  Wowza!  Have been eating tortillas since I was banded with no problems - not anymore.  In fact I almost had a PB incident here at work during lunch.  I actually had to run into the bathroom.  And of course, me being me, I checked all the stalls and saw someone was in the last one so I went back in the hall and paced.  Didn't want to gross out the lone person in the bathroom, heaven forbid!  Noooo, I'd rather feel like a golf ball is stuck in my esophagus for an eternity.  Thankfully, I became unstuck and no longer had to worry about bathroom occupancy.  Bet that was more than you needed to know!  Oh the joys of being banded!

It remains to be seen if this restriction will last, but I must say it is nice to finally, truly, feel the band working!

To Fill Or Not To Fill???

So I bit the bullet and moved up my next fill from 4 weeks to 3 weeks.  Now I just have to remember to be a bit more assertive with whomever is giving me that fill!  Right now I can only eat about a cup of food at a time, but I get hungry about 2 hours later.  Today I had oatmeal with almonds and skim milk for breakfast and I couldn't even eat the full serving.  I had that at 7am and by 9am at work it felt like I hadn't eaten a thing!  So I had a banana.  Guess what?  I don't think I like bananas much.  Could only eat about half of that before it started tasting "funny"...For lunch I brought left over asparagus risotto and sliced peaches.  The risotto really seemed to fill me up yesterday so hopefully it will do the same today!

Hope everyone has a good Monday!  Looking forward to watching The Bachelor finale tonight...even though I already know the outcome (thanks Reality Steve).

Weekend Photo Essay

First, thanks to everyone who commented on my last post.  Your encouragement is much appreciated!  I know it takes a while to get restriction and I definitely need to work on my patience! 

I went to Trader Joe's today to do my grocery shopping.  Picked up a lot of different items (all between 90 and 250 calories per serving):


OATMEAL, ALMONDS & BROWN SUGAR



ASPARAGUS RISOTTO



CHEESE ENCHILADAS



POLENTA, SPINACH & PEAS



MINI BEEF TACOS



MY ESSENTIAL UNSWEETENED TEA AND SKIM MILK



PRE-SLICED CANTALOUPE AND WATERMELON





VEGGIE EGG ROLLS

I have also been walking more...the weather has been perfect.  Sunny and in the 70s. 

And finally here's my 2 month picture:

Are You There Restriction? It's Me, Amanda.

I keep calling and calling.  Still, no answer.  I read these blogs where people speak of "tightness" and I am jealous.  What does that feel like?  'Cause these 1.4 ccs are not cutting it.  I really feel that I am having to "diet" meaning my band isn't helping me as much as I think it should.  My PA said I can go back in 3 weeks for another fill and I think I am going to take her up on that offer, because this, quite frankly, SUCKS.  I am still losing, albeit s-l-o-w-l-y.  So that's good.  And I know I have to get better with the exercising...but still!  I feel if I ask the PA to be more "aggressive" she'll...I don't know...spank me??  Yell at me??  Yank my band out and say NO MORE???  Maybe I just need to be more agressive myself at my next appointment.

Anyway - onto the weekend.  Thank GOD!

Fill Number Two

Got my second fill today and you aren't going to believe how much they gave me!  Ready?  Wait for it...A WHOLE 0.4 CCs!!  Sweet Baby Jesus, was I disappointed.  I thought for sure I would at the very least get one whole cc bringing me to 2 ccs in total.  Nope.  So this was my experience (would love if other bandsters would chime in and let me know if this is typically how their fills go):

Water - ready to drink!

This is my "fill room"!

First, let me start off by saying that I apparently had 2 ccs in my band when I was originally banded (I had thought it was completely empty) - the nurse confirmed this when I asked again if I only had 1 cc put in during my last fill.  She said "they took 2 out and put 1 in".  Glad to know I am so on top of the fluids going into my body.

Anyway, the PA came in and found my port quite easily enough and removed the 1 cc I had in there and put in 3 ccs.  Then I drank the water and she asked if I could "feel the water trying to bubble back up in my esophagus"...???  I sort of could (I guess).  So she removed some saline.  Then I drank again.  I told her this time the water went down easier.  She told me she was going to take a bit more out since food is harder to get down than water.  And that's how I ended up with a whopping 1.4 ccs TOTAL in my band.  She did say I could come back in 3 weeks instead of 4 if I didn't feel good restriction.  So we shall see.  Today is back to liquids so the real test will come later this week.

Here's hoping to some good restriction!

Monday Ponderings

So I get my second fill tomorrow.  I am beyond excited.  I still am in search of that elusive restriction.  I am hoping this fill will be a bit more helpful than the last.

As we tend to do in blog land, I have been reading more and more blogs and I've run across an interesting phenomenon:  Band Vacations (having their bands completely deflated for a period of time).  This has me completely flummoxed.  Why would you want to take a vacation and thus set up possible failure??  To me, the best part of the band is if you want to "cheat" and have something lacking nutritional value, you can, but your band keeps you from over induldging.  I guess there are a few bandsters out there that miss eating in abundance?  I am not judging - I am merely reacting, as I can't imagine myself ever doing this.  I guess I looked at this journey as continuum.  I don't ever want to "go back" - if I never get to eat 4 pieces of pizza again, oh well.  I will gladly settle for one.

I'll report back after my fill tomorrow...until then...

Fail. ...so you get nothing! You lose! Good day, sir!

So, remember that stroller I got for Jake that I was so darn excited about last week? Haven't. Used. It. Once.  Yes, I have somewhat valid excuses - had a pretty bad cold this weekend that lasted through Monday and then Jake a had a bug of some sort.  But still.  I need to put the blinders on and FOCUS.  We all know that exercise is muy importante, right?  Now I just need to get that little nugget of info from my brain to my behind.  So I am challenging myself - starting tomorrow - no more excuses.  Time to get the ole arse in gear.