Horseback Riding Accident Recovery Day 19

I haven't used this blog very much, since I am taking so long to reach my weight goals.  So I will try to change the name of my blog and use it to write about my health.

Recovery Day 19
This week I typically get out of bed between 11 and noon.  Sleep helps heal, right? And it's less time for discomfort.  First I take an 800 ml. of ibuprofen.  In the shower when I close my eyes I lose my balance, so 3 times today I had to put my hands on the walls to steady myself.  I glance at my face soap and wonder when I'll need to use it again.  For now it is just clear, clean water for my face.  I do a nasal rinse before leaving the shower, my left nostril remains useless.  I wish I had straws upstairs in my bedroom because I have great difficulty trying to drink from my V-8 can.  My mouth and lips are still very swollen and I do think I will be delaying my dentist appointment that is scheduled this Friday to work on my teeth.  I search for a button shirt, since I don't like wearing pullover shirts that can touch my face.  My face has to air dry.  I do believe that today my forehead skin has healed.  As I'm writing I'm wondering, will a headache  be my constant companion from now on?  I have not left home since I went to sacrament meeting on Sunday.  But I must today, I have to get Katie's birthday present mailed.  I took pictures last night and realized it is best not to smile in the way I used to, that I need to keep my lips together.  Every time I start feeling down, I try to remember how grateful I am that I am alive and functioning as well as I am.

Trying to smile like I used to. 9-23-14

 

Smiling with lips together 9-23-14

Gastric Banding Surgery: 2nd Adjustment & Shopping

I had a 2nd adjustment on September 26th.  I had only lost 2 pounds in the last 2 weeks and I knew that I've been eating too much.  Mark went with me to my New U appointment and watched the RN do the adjustment.  I have never watched, I don't like needles.

Shopping trip on September 28th at Macy's in the City Creek Mall in Salt Lake City, Utah.

 

  

I went to the third floor to the large women's section.  When the 0x were fitting just fine, I decided to go to the regular women's clothes section and try on the XL size clothes.  But, I discovered that the clothes in regular women's covered the ENTIRE 2nd floor of the store.  Holy cow, I couldn't find  anything on sale.  I had found a dress that I liked, but couldn't find pants and was about to give up and leave when I asked a sales clerk for assistance.  She was so kind, and helped me find just the right clothes.  She found a cardigan to go with my dress and then found 3 styles of pants in 4 different sizes, since I had not shopped for new pants since my surgery.

 

 

Gastric Banding Surgery: New U appointment on September 12th

It has been 3 months since my last appointment at New U.  I haven't been in Idaho Falls on a Thursday for 3 months!

My weight loss was only 4 pounds - way to little for 3 months, well that is my opinon.  But they encouraged me.

I have been excited to wear clothes that I haven't been able to fit into since 2011.  A dress that I almost waited too long to wear,

( my upper hand is holding the edge of the fabric that goes way past the center where it should button)

and a pair of capris that I don't even have to unzip to pull them down.  I love feeling thinner, but then I see a picture of myself, and I still look so FAT!

And I've grown tired of trying to keep track of how much I weighed the morning of surgery, how much I weighed when I started the liver shrinking diet before surgery, and how much my highest weight was this year.  So my weight loss numbers are just going to be from my highest weight in January of this year.  So here it is..........I weigh 50 pounds less than I did in January!

Feeling Sick

I've had a couple times that I've felt really sick after I started to eat.  I think I was eating too fast or was it that I tried to eat one of my favorite old foods: french fries.  I would gag and spit for over an hour and feel horrible.  It happened on July 6th and then again one day in August.

New U appointment on June 6th

My weight loss in the last 3 weeks was only 2 pounds.  However,  the nutritionalist soon pointed out that I've been "stress" eating.   She asks a lot of questions to determine how things are really going. I have really been feeling overwhelmed and ate more than I should have. I had thought they would do an adjustment today,  but she decided I didn't need one.  If the band gets too tight-you start throwing up and feel really sick.  And since I am flying far away to my daughter's home in Indiana,  she didn't want to take the chance. Here are the goals we set:
1. Keep a food diary
2. Use my lap band portion plates (which I forgot to pack)
3. Get hard candies for times when I feel stressed.
4. Focus on drinking 64 ounces a day.
My exercise counselor wants me to
1. Get 10, 000 steps a day
2. Use my band to do strength exercises.  I packed the band, but forgot the list of exercises.

Annual Physical

Every year I have a physical exam with my primary care physician. Mostly because I have to have one every year to be a Boy Scout leader. So on June 3rd my doctor was thrilled with the progess I've made.  I was there in January and the difference in my weight was 38 pounds less!  I got encouragement from her for losing the weight slowly instead of what I hear from my husband and kids; "You should be doing better" etc. I am feeling healthier,  I just have a long road ahead of me

First adjustment on May 16th

Well, I'm a little behind on making posts. My first adjustment was a little weird.  The RN first withdrew all the fluid into a syringe so she would have an extact measurement of how much fluid was in the band. Then she put it all back in plus a little more. It was easier than I had expected.