LETTER FROM YOUR FRIENDS

Dear Celtic Girl

We your digestive system have tried to let you know how we are feeling, but you have constantly ignored our symptoms.

We are now resorted to write to you directly in an attempt to bring you to your senses.

Every time you overeat that niggly pain you get over your liver is a result of too much pressure in your new stomach pouch. For pete's sake girl, your new pouch is only big emough for 1/2 cup of chewed food. Half a cup of chewed food is NOT a 3 piece feed from KFC or a 300g T bone steak with sides.

Vagus Nerve in your stomach has tried to repeatedly communicate with your brain to tell you Stomach is stretched to capacity and you should stop eating. Alas,this has all been in vain, Vagus has even been reported as saying your brain was ignoring her, we hope that is not the case.

Those crampy pains coming from your small and large bowel are a result of the excess fat you are consuming in your diet.

Since you murdered our friend Gallbladder, you no longer have a place to store your bile, so all of us have to get a customed to that change, now when you eat high fat foods it throws us all in a spin and that's why you feel like the French have moved their nuclear testing from the Pacific to your colon.

You have been through a lot since you introduced Lapband as a new member of the family. We have come to accept her as one of our own even though she is not our own flesh and blood - why can't you do the same?

We have all discussed this and have decided if you do not start being sensible about your eating we will commence a class action challenge against you.

We have already discussed this with Rectum and she has agreed to shut up shop so to speak. Can you imagine what havoc that will do - the mind boggles.

We are sorry we have had to resort to this but desperate times deserve desperate actions.

We await your response

Your Digestive System

WEIGH IN AND FILL UPDATE

Weighed in this morning at 118.4kg which is a loss of 1.2kg for the week.

The restriction from my fill last week was not what I expected. Although it has cut back the quantity of food I'm able to eat, it has not stopped me thinking about food all time.

According to the lapband bible, its supposed to provide a level of satiety where you don't even think about food.

My answer to that is BOLLOCKS!!!! lol!

Ok, I know this is my first fill and the tweaking takes some time.

I'm constanting thinking what delicacy I can have next, suppose this is proof I have not eaten out of sheer hunger in the past but am a taste eater, savouring the flavours and textures good food brings.

For anyone that thinks a Lapband or WLS is the easy way out it's not I can assure you. You still have to have the motivation and do the hard yards to make it work. It has not miraculously turned my taste buds off all the high fat/high sugar crap I used eat and still crave.

Having said that I'm not sorry for having the procedure, just learning things along the way. Apart from the cravings the other big hurdle I have is my perception of what I can eat now compared to what I ate - quantity wise.

For example a pre Lapband lunch would be a sandwich made from turkish bread 4 inches thick with filling,a tub of yoghurt and a can of pepsi.

The reality now is I couldn't manage half of the sandwich let alone anything else, but I still have this perception it is not enough. I tend to overfill my plate and when I'm full I stop eating, then go back to it and pick it till it's all gone and I feel uncomfortable.

I think my combat strategy will have to be once I've had enough get up straight away and throw out the leftovers so I don't pick.

I have had a few minor problems with reflux since the fill, though it has only happened when I had some extra fat, like butter on my toast or after 2 squares of chocolate, so in one way it's good I have reacted that way as it will make me think twice about having the naughty stuff.

Today is Australia Day - my daughter and I went to see the movie Australia at the movies but alas it was booked out - I was disappointed, so we had to settle for Twilight. My daughter is a huge fan and has read all the books, this was her third time.The movie was good it kept me entertained, I might even start reading the books myself once I get through my Xmas pressie's. I'm about to start the Dawn French bio -Dear Fatty which I'm looking forward to.

Any way that all for today tomorrow is work again - YUK!!

FIRST FILL - COMPLETE !

I spend most of the morning sulking with the thought of having to travel into town and have my first fill done in the Radiology Dept.

I rang them in the morning to reconfirm my appointment and make sure I did not have to do any special preparation. I was then told I would need to pay at the time of treatment and nearly fell off my chair when she said it will be $300.00 - FARKING HELL!

I was in complete shock and said is that The price for every fill - yes came the reply, so I am trying to calculate just how many of these things I would need and nearly had a coronary in the process.

The procedure in general went well, I was taken into the room and they put me under the machine to see where my port was. The I met the lovely Dr who explained everything in detail,after a local anaesthetic in my belly (which did not sting by the way)he put the needle straight in (no pain or discomfort) and put in the 4 mls my surgeon ordered.

I then had to swallow the clear dye that tastes like a mixture of camel piss and yaks droppings to see what the restriction was like,which turned out to be too loose.
So he put in another ml taking it up to 5ml, had another swallow, this time too much, as I was refluxing it back up my oesophagus.

So he tries 4.5ml, had another swallow and BINGO - Bobs your uncle.

He then told me to go down stairs to the cafe, have something solid to eat and if I had any trouble to come straight back, suffice to say my fruit salad was enjoyable and went down well.

So now I am the converted and think it was a very good $300.00 spent, because if it had of been done in the surgery by the surgeon without the X Ray machine I would probably have gone home without the required restriction or having to up chuck everything until I got it sorted.

I'm all for doing things once and not ten times, so all in all I'm happy with the outcome.

The restriction is great again, I had 1 salmon rissole with a extremely small salad and about 5 potato wedges (made with a spray of oil) and fitting nicely on a bread and butter plate.

So I'm back in the game

One thing the Dr told me never, never to do is try to bring up any food (PBing) he said it weakens the oesophagus and has seen many cases where people have split their oesophagus's and died or nearly died, pretty scary I must admit.

I am all enthused again and rearing to go - WHOOPIEEEEEE!!!

FIRST FILL TOMORROW

Had my post op (gallbladder) visit with the surgeon today who also did the gastric banding. Everything is going well, no cancer in my gallbladder (not that we thought that) just inflammation.

The incision in my belly button has not closed up,it's been like it for over a week now. I haven't mentioned it to anyone as I was quietly waiting(holding my breath) until I saw the surgeon, in case I had to go in again and have it closed surgically.

It's about 2cm wide and 6-7 cm deep,lucky for me it just involves the fascia (blubber).I have been flushing it out with normal saline, then packing it with gauze strips soaked in saline, as was the treatment back in the middle ages when I was nursing.

Anyone watching me would think they are watching a comedy act, standing in the bath in the buff, squirting a syringe in my navel, then running back to my room to start the dressing, semi lying on the bed trying to look over Twin Peaks and Mt Everest to see my navel,so I can stuff in the gauze, quite a sight I'm sure.

Anyway I must be doing something right as he complimented me on my work and said the wound was nice and clean and keep doing what I have been doing - amen!

I was pleased and relieved I had lost 3 kg's since my last visit as I was worried I would show a gain. I am though 1 kg down from my last home weight of last week.

I had to laugh as he asked me was I able to eat solid food like scrambled eggs!! I mean scrambled eggs were done and dusted beginning of week 3, I said yes with a smirk, then he asked me could I manage a sausage again I said yes, then he asked me what is the hardest food you can eat, I think he nearly fell off his chair when I said I can eat just about everything, even steak!!!

Yes, old cast iron guts strikes again!!!

I don't think I have seen anyone get his referral pad out as quick as he did to write me a referral for my first fill - very funny!

So I'm booked in tomorrow to have 4ml put in a 12.5 ml band, I am a bit disappointed that I gave to go elsewhere for the fills.They are done in the XRay Dept as they are done under Fluoroscope,then I have a Barium Swallow to check there are no leaks.

It's just a pain in the arse as I have to make a separate appointment and make another 1 1/2 hour trip to the city, not to mention the fact it will be additional cost as this mob charge like wounded bulls, no bulk billing here.

One good thing re the cost of all of this is I was not charged anything for my gallbladder surgery, they put it through as a "No Gap" procedure to my health insurance, so was relieved I didn't have to cough up another $2K.

Any way better go and psyche myself up for tomorrow, I must admit though I am looking forward to having some restriction again and losing some more blubber - wish me luck!!

STUPID COW

Time to fess up.

I have been playing food Russian Roulette trying all my old favourites seeing which ones I can tolerate and which ones I cant.

Fortunately most of the naughty ones I cannot tolerate,anything high in fat gives me bad stomach cramps and diarrhoea real bad.This I think is a result of my gallbladder surgery.

I am overdue for my first fill, as I'm getting hungrier by the day and feel I want to snack between meals. I see the Dr next Monday so I hope he gives the A'OK for my first fill.

Consequently I have gained some weight due to my "stupid cow" behaviour - 2.6kgs to be exact. I can tell you emphatically now I will be working hard to rectify and modify my "Stupid Cow" behaviour. I didn't go through all this shit to go back to how it was before.

So it's back to logging my food and sticking to 1200 calories - again.

If at first you don't succeed, give yourself a kick in the arse and start again!

PROGRESS PHOTOS

Well here they are the long awaited progress photos. I was unable to find the one I wanted so had to settle for one of me sitting down ready to stuff my face at a wedding. I would of weighed between 135 - 141 kg(297- 310lbs)


The second lot were taken last Sunday, weighing 118kg (260lbs) I can notice a big difference in the face.

FEELING MUCH BETTER

With the exception of one day last week, I have been feeling much better each day.

Still not able to do to much for an extended period, but at least no more pains. I discovered the hard way I can't tolerate too much fat. After having some fruit cheese last week I developed pretty bad stomach cramps and diarrhoea - noice!

I'm supposed to return work tomorrow - yuk! Really don't feel up to it but I think I'll have to make the effort as it's been 6 weeks since I was there (Gawd, where has the time gone)

On the lap band front, things are going down well - to well in fact, so I think I will be due for a fill soon. I can eat well over the 1/2 cup of food your supposed to eat and have also started to feel hungrier now I'm feeling better. Tonight I have a nice piece of salmon I will bake in foil with some coriander and lemon juice.

True to my "cast iron guts" reputation I am having no problems with any foods, I can eat red meat and bread without it getting stuck, even rice is ok providing it is wet with some sauce through it.

Today I have started logging my food on the Calorie King site aiming for 1000-1200 cals a day which is what is recommended. I am also going to steer clear of red meat for a while maybe have it once a week instead of 3-4 times a week.

On Thursday I had a bit of retail therapy and bought myself a pair of size 18 pants and a size 20 top - pretty chuffed at that as I was previously a 24-26 - WOOHOO!!!

I had some photos taken today and as soon as I can find some pre-weight loss ones I will post them, I can see a huge difference particularly in the face.

It's onwards and downwards(weight wise) from here folks - I'm thrilled!!!!