wham Bam Thank You Mam-I Have a Fixed Port

My doctor exhibited his speedy prowess today by getting my port fixed in a record two hours flat (from initial drugs to walking out of the hospital). I went prepared to sit around for endless hours. In August when I had the band fitted I arrived at the hospital at 6 am and didn't even see the surgeon until 5 pm. This time as I was scheduled first in his day I went in, shucked my carefully selected loose fitting clothing and was in a backless gown in record speed.

As I sat in my bed editing the paper I am working on (due tonight at midnight). One nurse, anesthetist, and whoever else needs to see my wrist band before I was allowed under the knife paraded through my room. Each commented on and asked about the illustrious paper. When I told them it was for a conference in September in Dresden they all started offering help. The anesthesiologist even carefully selected my drug cocktail so that I could get maximum loopy during surgery with the quickest offload afterwards so I would be able to concentrate in the afternoon. As I recovered he post op nurse kept bringing the paper up-almost as if she wanted me to start working on it right away (geeeeeeeez i was in no condition to read or write at that point!)

They were really a nice bunch. I find at my hospital (Oregon Health Sciences University hospital) that the departments are vyer hit and miss. They seem either to be excellent in terms of patient interaction, cheerfullness, and apparent competency or sheer inability to do their job and then lie about it. As much of my illustreous paper is about school trust Viewing the phenomenon in another field is interesting (yes I am a super nerd about learning!!!).

Well I am currently extremely loopy and need to sleep it off...so nighty night. I will writ emore later about the catual port itself. No one really said much about it other than the surgery was a success. My port had indeed twisted around.

nighty night-for now.

update-wow i was loopy. I am leaving that last bit because it is exactly how i sounded :) smooshy words and typos. The fast acting quick recover drugs were exactly that. I slept from 11:30 to 1:30 and I am fresh as a daisy now :) My side hurts a little but not nearly as much as it did after my full on lapband surgery. I can carefully bend down and pick things up from the floor and sleep on my non-port side just fine. I had my suggested liquid lunch of split pea soup and I am going to back to the (*)*(&*&% paper. I just found out I need to put it to 6 pages including references and I am currently at 10!!! I think I have my work cut out for me.

Update 2

Well the paper was due on April 30-I sent it on May 1 at 1:19 AM pacific time. Hopefully my lateness by 1 hour and 19 minutes will be excused. My husband suggested i put in a line about how the surgery put me back on my timeline. I decided to skip that to avoid any awkward questions when i meet these people!

The surgeon suggested that I might tighten up because of water gain from the IV and I think he was right. I am not as tight as I was last week but I am definitely tigher than i was yesterday. I got on the scale after I got home and had gained 3.2 of IV fluid!! that is just crazy but I am looking forward to eliminating it over the weekend.

I thought I had talked the surgeon into only putting me under lightly and with a local near the port revision. I assumed that had happened by my throat is irritated tonight so I am guessing i was tubed in some way..The nurse anesthetist said that i might need to be tubed if one of the medications made my tongue relax too much or I needed to go under fully. I am not sure which happened. My guess is the former. My surgery sight and overall body aches tonight. Whoever wrote me a prescription for pain meds screwed up(and I was too loopy to notice that co-tylenol was a morphine product). My husband picked up the prescription but it looks like he will be the benfactor. I am not going to risk hives for pain relief. I took at couple of regular tylenol at 9pm and it has eased the pain but not made it totally tolerable. Staying still works better :)...I have some left over hard drugs from the original surgery and I am going to dose myself up a little tonight before I go to bed.

My 19 year old daughter came home from her university tonight. Apparently they have a suspected case of the new evil flu on campus and have closed the school until Monday. I assume that if the case comes up positive they might extend this closure. I hope she hasn't dragged the flu home to us!

My youngest was sick with fever last week and missed a couple of days of school. She had fever, headache and a stomach ache. Although she did not develop an upper respiratory problem she was pretty darn sick. I had a one day fever a few days before (I have had a flue shot and it seems to have helped it a bit). I did not take her to the doctor so we will never know but at least she came through the thing unscathed.

My son-in-law is threatening to wear a mask at work. The hotel he works at is full this weekend with a ton of out of town visitors for a drama festival. I don't blame him for contemplating it!!

I hope this post finds all of you who read this feeling healthy or at least better!

The ride is coming to an end-

I think my nice and tight few days was due to hormonal help...I am back to my semi-open self and boy was I hungry today!! The band is still keeping it under control but I managed an entire toasted cheese sandwich for lunch...oh my oh my it was yummy. I just had some Viola!-a frozen garlic sauce, rotini pasta, chicken, corn, broccoli and peas laden meal that you dump out into a pan and steam for 18 minutes. I have managed 1/4 of a cup and am now stuck (obviously not too open). ahhh the joys of belching. I think I just cleared the offending item.

I am going to wait it out now for some water and stop the food for tonight.

I have a paper due for a presentation by Thursday (operation day). I have been online a whole lot more because I am playing my usual avoidance game. I like them when they are done, I like to do the presentations..but the preparation sucks!!

Scale Is Sliding Down

I do not know what is going on with this band but I will take it! My band has tightened up since I got home from San Diego and Oh boy am I riding it as far as I can. Today I hit an all time low weight of 253-that is now 51 pounds lost.

My husband has gone on a bread-baking fest and for the first time in my life this doesn't strike fear in my very fiber because I am totally over the bread thing. I can have a bite or two or even a small piece and be totally satisfied with that (any more and I visit the sink and this is a great deterrent).

I was, for a while half tempted to cancel my port fix but decided that I need the thing in case I need an unfill just as much as I might need it for a fill. If a plane trip, or weight-loss or the phase of the moon can change how tight I am, who knows what could cause it to tighten up too much.

It is rainy here again our sunshine and warmth has gone away. Today was supposed to be partly cloudy but it is more just plain cloudy...I want the heat back!!

Pre-Op Testing and tadahhh I am now a size 18.

This morning I went back down to the hospital for my pre-op tests before my port fixing surgery on April 30. They listened to my breathing and heart beat, did an EKG, took some blood and talked about my meds, issues with anesthesia and medication allergies.

It all went very smoothly. The nurse practitioner was quite complementary about my progress, she was impressed that I was off my blood pressure meds and my left ankle hardly swells when I travel these days.

When they weighed in I was down to a solid 260 on the clinic scale and 4 more than that at home (I blame it on my blue jeans). I am still rotating up and down between those two numbers from day to day (yes I am one of those dreaded weigh myself everyday people). Recently the bottom end has been shifting further and further down.

After my treck into the doctors office I had to take my third daughter down to our general practitioners for a blood test then an hour south to drop off a grant application atthe state education department. Finally we drove up towards home and stopped off for lunch at Panera (sandwhich and soups). I had a bowl of chicken and wild rice soup (and even that had to be chewed and eaten slowly). Finally we went shoppinggggggg.

We went to a local discount store called ROSS (very similar to TK Maxx in the UK)..Not sure what the Aussies have because I have yet to visit! Anyway I went in serch of new sandals and slacks for work. I hit paydirt on both counts.

I really like sandals that have a loop around your big toe. They are usually hard to find but I found some. They even have a tiny heel but not uncomfortable at all. I also found some flip flop styled ones that actually fit. Normally I have trouble because I am all foot and no toes-so the distance between the top of the shoe and my toe crack is lacking and gives me blisters. These were nice and roomy.

I also found the pair of slacks i was looking for-and best of all they were a size 18 (still in the big girls sizes but creeping every more closely out!). At my largest I was a size 26. Today I fit into a pair that is a full 5 sizes smaller. I am now only 1 size away from the normal girl department and 4 sizes from my ultimate size 12 goal.

So tonight I am doing the happy dance..outside on the patio where it is a glorious 80 degrees f. Sorry you metric people-you'll have to go look that up!! My husband says upper 20's but he cant convert in his head. My 7 year old youngest daughter is playing with the sprinkler and all is well with the world :)

I lost some more weight?

Last week I was in SanDiego for a conference. I ate like a pig and drank like a fish yet still managed to take off 3 pounds. I did drink my water better and had to exercise for my dinner by walking from the conference center to my hotel and into town for meals.

On Monday it was two screwdrivers and and Irish pub for dinner. I had what was called an Irish potato pancake quesadilla. It had chicken and cheese melted in what they called a boxty. It went down much easier than the quesadillas I make at home with tortillas.

On Tuesday it was Tapas at a Spanish place for dinner. Here I had two sangrias and an array of tapas including chicken in some kind of sauce, a blue cheese filled date wrapped in bacon, meatballs,a bite of paella a coffee flavored creme broulee and bread pudding. Now I shared all of this stuff with everyone at my table but it was a very tasty dinner that went down very smoothly-almost too smoothly.

On Wednesday we had a late lunch at another pub and I had fish and chips with one screwdriver and finally on Thursday it was fish tacos and 1 screwdriver and then later two more of the things. I really only had one meal a day of any substance. For breakfast I always had a protein bar and for dinner it was a snack if it was a big lunch and likewise a snack for lunch like some tuna salad or yogurt if it was a big dinner.

For while I worried that when they dug around in my port all those times that they had finally poked my saline tube as I was able to eat most things quite easily. By the time I got to the airport to come home on Friday I had tightened back up (slammed shut is more like it!!). I attempted a small bag of cashews unsuccessfully even though I chewed them just fine. and then when i got home I made the mistake of trying to eat a small piece of pound cake..yeah well that was pretty dumb.

Yesterday was no different. I tried a few things unsuccessfully and finally had to make some egg salad. It even went down with a few moments of worry-I have always considered egg salad one of those slider foods.

Actually I am kind of excited. Maybe I can get a few more pounds off in the positive direction now. I hope so!

On Monday I go in for pre-op testing for the port fix on April 30. Hopefully everything is fine. My hair is falling out like crazy, my boobs have descended another inch or so. My clothes are starting to get big (mostly the necklines now fall down a little too low making my saggy boobs hang out!). At night I have started having to put the blanket between my knees as I have bones in there that rub annoyingly against each other and I found my ribs!! they are still in there quite deep but if I roll on my side in just the right position I can feel them :)

Tina

Pretty Quiet but I Have a Port Fixing Date

I have had a holding pattern feeling this week. I went back down to my low weight of 258 after the weekend in Las Vegas. I have been reflecting on how I ate while there and I think there are some things I need to improve here at home-

One, The meal portions that I put onto a plate are just way out of whack. Why I continue to fill a plate is out of control. I take the darn plate full of food and then end up throwing most of it away.

Two, I need to do a better job of eating meals: preparing them, eating at the table, and attending to what I eat. I am often guilty of throwing a quick meal together and then taking it into the family room to eat. In this setting I talk to my family, watch TV and do not pay attention. I either overeat or forget to chew. I then end up either throwing up or quit eating too soon and am then hungry again in an hour. When I turn to snacking I never make the right choices. and I start to gain instead of losing. The good news is the band helps me to keep this in check but I fully realize that I need to clean up my act.

Hopefully if I can keep my weight down to 258 this week so that I can go below that number as I will be in San Diego for a conference next week. When I travel I am always a good girl.

I went in Monday for an upper GI in preparation for the port fix I need. Even though I had to drink the oh so nasty barium again I have to say it was verrrrrry cool to actually see my band at work. I was totally correct that the stuff in my stomach is moving through quickly. I was totally correct in thinking that when i burped that the food was moving through my stoma. and the stuff really does back up behind that stoma and goes up quite high in my throat. Wowza! it is very cool to have a visual of what I imagined all this time.

On Tuesday I scheduled the surgery for April 30 (he wanted to do it next week!) and my pre-op check-up stuff after I get back from California. It is funny how Surgeons who cannot get you in for a fill for weeks on end can get you in pronto for some cutting! ;)

I'm excited for chapter II of the lapband saga.

Vegas Baby!

I just got back from a weekend in Las Vegas. It was incredibly fun and I did not even expect to like it. We stayed at the Bellagio, walked around town, gambled a little (I am a penny slots girl), went to a show, ate and drank.

The first night we got there for late dinner. I had a sea food fried rice dish with vegetables. I manage to put a small dent in it and then passed it off to my friend to at least stop the wait staff from asking me if I liked it. Then we went over to Paris :) (the casino) and played some slot machines and a table game. I bought a big old margarita in an Eiffel tower gift cup. my friend and hubby helped me work on it but even then I could only manage the slushy part in the tower the base I ended up dumping down the sink. At midnight I went back to the room to do some work and go to bed while my husband and friends returned to the gaming tables and slots. When I got to the room my stomach started to hurt-more and more. pretty soon I had to go throw up the drink and dinner (this one was a real barf-not the I ate too much or too big a bite kind).

On the second day I did my bottle of water, protein bar habit but found a bowl of fruit that I manage to have about 4 pieces of and that was it for breakfast. We then walked our way around the strip-to the MGM grand, New York New York and got some half price show tickets for Penn and Teller. We had lunch at an Irish pub where I had my new favorite fish and chips (one pice and about 5 chips). We took a cab up to the Venetian and wandered around and then walked back down to the Bellagio. We got dressed for dinner and went to Olives restaurant and had a delicious sweet potato ravioli starter, roasted chicken and strawberry crumble. I had about what seemed like 3 bites of each and then was stuffed. After that we walked down and watched the fountain do its thing, off to a cab and then to Penn and Teller. Over the course of the evening I had probably 4 vodka and Orange juice drinks (negating any savings of calories i had during the meals). Then I was the first to go to bed at 2am while my friends and husband went and gambled. I am obviously getting old!! I cant stay up that late.

On day three I had my water, protein bar and fruit. My husband and I soaked up some sun poolside and had a drink. At noon we checked out and then played a little slot machines (and I lost the 7 dollars i was ahead). wandered around the hotel a little. We attempted to have lunch but everything was too full so we left to the taxi for the airport. We had an OK lunch of talapia and refried beans at a mexican place. Then napped on the plane right home.

All in all it was a blast!! I did not think I would like Las vegas but I really did. My husband and I are already planning on going back for a weekend some time. We did not even come close to seeing everything. I would never, ever bring any children though! Lots of open displays of affection, breasts, and backsides. Besides shouldn't there be someplace set aside for adults only? ;)