BrownEyedGirl

So far so good. I'm amazed at how good I feel. I now understand those recently banded women skipping out of here yesterday when we checked in. I'm experiencing very mild discomfort. My menstrual cramps were way worse then this. Burping sometimes sends a sharp pain, but again, I've felt worse. In fact, I felt far worse after dental surgery. I was up and around within a half hour of my surgery and blogging about 2 hours after that. It would have been sooner but I was yacking on the phone. In case you didn't know, OCC has free calls to US and Canada from your room! That was cool. I had a lot of piece of mind being able to call my son. Well, that's it for now. We check out in 20 minutes. Blessings.

I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Ortiz last year and he said, "What is crap? Crap is food that has been processed. You eat processed food and you're eating crap!" I was thinking crap has all the nutrition taken out of it too. Just like processed foods. So, when I was tempted to eat junk food, I just asked myself if I really wanted to wolf down that crap. lol.

It went great!! I bought that Isopure also. Just keep in mind that you don't want a fatty liver that complicates the surgery. That's what I kept telling myself. Everytime I said no to something I imagined my liver getting cleaner. I lost 10 lbs exactly. lol.

I had my lapband surgery put in a few hours ago and I'm feeling great. I'll blog more about the experience another time. But for now I'll say the popsicles taste like heaven. Everyone here is so professional and kind. I was very nervous and emotional beforehand and it wasn't as bad as I had in my mind. I'm sore on my left side where I think the port is but other than that just mild discomforts. I've hurt far worse on bad back and leg days. Well, that's it for now. I think I'll nap or watch TV. Blessings.

For those considering this I just wanted to let you know that I had my surgery a few hours ago and I'm feeling great. I won't be running any marathons but I'm walking around and eating popsicles. I'm a little sore but not at all as bad as I expected. Anesthesia wore off quick. I do want a little nap but other than that it's all good. I DID IT! Well, with the help of Dr. Ortiz and staff. Be blessed. I know I have.

<i{m going to go ahead and type as i would in the <us and you{ll see what <i end up with. The keyboard is in Spanish!! lol. <of course it is but <i wasn{t expecting it. <i sat down and thought "no duh i{ts in spanish". <it took me forever to figure out how to do the @ symbol so <i can check my email. <it{s on the Q key and you have to hit the Alt Gr key on the right side of the space bar. Well, enough of that nonsense. <i{m in T<j and we went to the Rio <plaza (?) mall. <it was nice. <i was suprised to see that Sears sells fine cosmetics like Chanel and Dior. Even <helena Rubenstein, which <i haven{t seen since <i was a kid. So far so good. <pretty easy. <i{m nervous but by this time tomorrow it will be hours behind me. <i should clean up all the errors of this post but <i{ll look at it as a souvenir from TJ.

Good for you on being honest with yourself. I came to the same place as you are now. I'd do anything to lose weight I thought, except diet and exercise. I'd eat my healthy meal and then when I was hungry eat the one I wanted to eat anyway. But since I just had chicken and broccoli for lunch I thought my diet was broken. Forget the trip to Taco Bell I made on the way to pick up my son from school. I also quit calling myself overweight. I'm fat for crying out loud. Yes, I'm overweight but I also fall into the fat category. Yes, I know, it's a hurtful mean word, but it's also true and that's what hurts the most. How on earth can I be offended when other people notice I'm fat? I'm blocking their field of vision!! How can they not notice?! lol Anyway, all the best to you. I pray you meet the success that you desire and more importantly, achieve the health your body and spirit need.

I have been too excited/nervous/scared to sleep and have been getting everything ready for tomorrow. I'm not sure what this means but I think I'm more scared about the liquid phase than the surgery. Probably just means that I love food far too much. Someone here mentioned their "love affair with food". That sums it up for me. Now I need to start a love affair with my health and the life being thinner will bring me. There are so many things I don't do because of my weight and I'm sick of it. I posted earlier I'm having a problem with one of my sisters. I'm so disappointed in her. Every stressful time she bails on the family and uses it as a time to wield her disappointment of past perceived wrongs. And boy does she perceive so many things as wrong. One time I had to hear her scream at me because when someone offered me fish they caught I didn't say, "Can I have some for my sister also?" Did it matter to her that he gave me two dozen and I already figured I'd give her half? Nope, she just kept on screaming at me at how selfish I am. And here she is playing "Ignore" to let me know she doesn't want me to have surgery. Well, I'm done with that. I'm going to tell her that I won't put up with that anymore. It may be goodbye until she grows up and learns to control herself. She doesn't want me to have this surgery because she thinks I'm doing it for my husband. Well, I'm not. He's not the one using a walker some mornings, icing their back and taking tons of Advil each day. He's not the one facing health related problems because of weight. He's not the one avoiding social situations, fearing the camera, and being terrified someone will post a group picture on the internet and put my name on it, because of their weight. That's all me. I'm doing it for me. But what if I was doing it for my husband. What if I wanted to bless him with a more attractive body? He's my husband for crying out loud. Unlike her I've never seen my marriage as a "me versus them" thing. Even in the tough times. I do hope my husband gets enjoyment out of a thinner me. Why not? In fact, I'm sure he will. But first and foremost I will get the most enjoyment of all and I have a better chance at good health. Now on to a thinner me. Blessings.

I just need to vent. One of my sisters hasn't called me all week even though I've called her and have emailed her. She doesn't support what I'm doing but has acted as if she's kind of accepted it. But now that the rubber meets the road and I'm having surgery tomorrow she's made it about her. I wrote friends and family asking them not to call while I'm in Mexico because I get charged even if I don't answer and I want to keep the phone open in case my son needs to call and I'm sure she's having a fit about that too. She does behave horribly to me and others and never apologizes. If she does she spits out, "I'm f-ing sorry. You happy now?!" and always holds it over your head that she won't talk to you again if you point out what she does wrong. I think when I get home her and I are going to have a talk. It may be the last one we ever have but that's up to her. What is coming out is that when she is needed she's not there. In fact, she uses it as emotional blackmail and punishes others during stressful times. I'm done being fat and I'm done with this kind of behavior from her. Just venting. Now time to pray. We leave in a few hours for TJ. Surgery tomorrow! Woohoo! I wish I had some kind of happy pill now. I could use it!! Oh, and on a positive note, other sister is very supportive and encouraging. Way to be, sis!

Chad, I'm having the same problem on my laptop. I can't imagine I have javascript disabled on both (whatever that means). I have Internet Explorer on both. But since others with different Internet whatchamacallits are having the same problem maybe it's not my computer. Following is all the technical information I know about my computer: It's black and has buttons and lights. Thankies!

Congratulations! What sweet news to read first thing in the morning.

LOL. I wasn't going to say that because it sounded mean but she said I had Pretty Face Syndrome that's why I was fat and she had Butterface Syndrome and that's why she works on her body. But since YOU said it first I'll go ahead and share the whole story. I'm blessed in having a sister in law that's as close as a sister. She's always encouraged me in my weight loss. She wasn't being snide when she said that. Shout out to sis in law! As far as what I think, pictures of my face look better than what's in the mirror and pictures of my body just don't make sense! Just whose body is that attached to my head?!!

I don't even "know" you yet but feel as if I do from reading so many of your posts and looking at your pics. Awesome "before and afters" by the way. You look great and are an inspiration! I wish I could meet up with you so I could get some encouragement and advice but I'll be making my way down to TJ with hubby for Friday's surgery. OMIGOSHICANTBELIVEIMHAVINGLAPBANDSURGERYFINALLY!!!!! eek!

Oh my!! Once my brother in law called me a heifer and I said, "Fat I can fix, but ugly you're stuck with"!!! I'm still fat though ... and he's still ugly. LOL God forgive me for that. I never thought to make it a bumper sticker. I wonder if that's where that windfall of cash he got came from. He stole my insult!!

Today I was struggling as I made my son's lunch. I wanted to eat a Pop Chip, toss a cheese square into my mouth, and nibble at some lunch meat. And I'm only on my pre-op! I'm kinda scared about how this is going to go during my 3 weeks of liquids. I made it through making his lunch but it was torture. ("torture"? what a wimp) Have any of you faced this problem while you were on liquid phase? How did you handle it? Right now I'm telling myself, "You don't want to blow several thousands of dollars on a 25cent portion of food. It's not worth it!" or "Is that bite going to be worth the agony of a slipped band?". Things like that. I could try telling myself how good I'm going to look but that's never worked before. Maybe scaring the poop out of me will.

Oh gosh, I am so anxious. I'm excited and scared. This is really a last resort for me and I want this to work. My husband says to focus on success not on failing, so I'm going to try that. The pre-op diet is difficult for me because, face it, I like to eat. I'd lost 8 lbs as of yesterday. But, as I always do, when I felt successful I rewarded myself. I didn't eat anything "bad", but I just nibbled a little bit of this and a little bit of that and today I had gained a pound back since yesterday. So, for the next three days it's 2 liquids and 1 lean cuisine. I made my son's lunch today and that sure was difficult. Hubby has been making them dinner but I do the lunches. Today was a real challenge. I don't know how I'm going to put his lunch together while I'm on 3 weeks of liquids without tearing off a piece of lunch meat and shoving it into my face. That's it for now. Laterz!

So, my sister-in-law says, "The reason you got so fat is because you have 'Pretty Face Syndrome'. People tell you how pretty you are and you just rest on that. I don't have a pretty face so I have to work hard on my body." Uh, thanks for the compliment... I think (?). I got to wondering about that comment and started looking at some of your pictures. There sure are a lot of pretty faces staring back at me. How many of us only look at our faces in the mirror and think, "I don't look that bad." I know I walk right past that bathroom mirror when I'm nekkie. Her theory is interesting but it doesn't explain people like "Jessica Freakin" Alba!! Also, I really don't think I'm all that pretty but it sure is nice she thinks so!

I'm not saying they were trying to be sexy. I'm talking about the concept where we put feeling good about ourselves over our health and what's good for us. I'm sick of being fat and being in pain or uncomfortable because of it. I can tell myself how good I look and pooh pooh others for not accepting my fatness or I can get off my butt and do something so hopefully I can enjoy playing with my son, riding a bike, golfing and hopefully live a longer and healthier life. Or I can sit around scarfing down food that has little to no nutritional value because it tastes good and feels good while I'm doing it and then increase my risk of diabetes, heart disease, joint problems, etc. I know skinny people have these issues too but I know I'm increasing my chances by being this size.

Ouch! I think I know what you're talking about. Internet Explorer 7 and I went under tools and looked under security and java applets were enabled. I have absolutely no idea if I came even close to answering your questions. I'll ask a techie geek friend (thank God for those) on Monday and maybe I can give you something to work with. Thanks.

After so many lines my typing disappears into the "other styles", "fonts", and "sizes" area. I can see the cursor move along but I can't see what I'm typing. Also, there is another white box down below and I don't know what that's for. I click on the "increase editor size" button and that box gets bigger but I can't type anything in it. What am I doing wrong? As soon as I can't see what I'm typing I get all discombobulated and start making tons of typos. Anyone know the dealie? Also, some of the emoticons are just red x's.

Here's an image that's hard to accept and the one that got me off my hiney and rethinking accepting being fat and rejecting the "sexy at any size" bunk. I'm at the hospital with my dad and in the waiting room I can smell greasy food. I look over and there is this obese family, a mom, dad, and daughter (in her 30's), scarfing down McDonald's in a hospital waiting room. And I'm talking supersized meals with some kind of gooey thing for dessert. For some reason I was embarrassed for myself looking at them. But then I saw and overheard why they were there. Mom is in a wheelchair with the bottom of her leg bandaged up. I say the bottom of her leg because her foot had been amputated because of deabetes!!! And even that didn't stop them from eating like that. Now, maybe it was their last meal before starting pre-op and getting banded. I sure hope so. Anyway, after seeing that desperate situation, I decided I needed to do something. I want to keep my limbs and am terrified of diabetes. Plus I want to look hot.

That is so AWESOME!!! Congratulations! You look wonderful too! What an accomplishment. There are some here on this forum that are an inspiration to me and you are one of them. I hope you go and do something fun for yourself. Like buy some skinny jeans! I have a pair in my closet just waiting for me to get into.

Reading some of the comments has got me to wondering what I should bring to make the experience easier. One person wrote about putting on pajamas to go to the surgery center in. What should I bring with me for my surgery and stay at the center? Should I wear only pajamas there? What will I be wearing overnight? Their gown? Then maybe I should wear a comfortable sweat suit. I've heard about gas afterward and someone took Gas-X. Isn't that a pill? Is gas an issue after surgery and is there something liquid I should bring for it? Should I bring liquid Tylenol. I know I'll think of another question as soon as I post this. LP

*tries this new chewing gum and walking thing..* ...... .....*trips*