The "Gall" of it all...

So for about the past 4 months I have been getting these terrible "episodes" as I had coined them. I thought that it was band related at first. You know...eating too fast, taking to big of a bite, forgetting and drinking fluid on top of my food. Basically, any on the list of Band do's and don'ts. I began to realize these attacks were happening whether I was eating or not. About a week ago the attacks became severe. All I can say is the pain was worse than labor or childbirth. I could not sit, stand, laydown. I would have to pace and walk around outside. I would start to dry heave until my throat was sore and raw. I knew I better get in to see my Band Doc. I made an urgent appt. and next thing I knew they were sending me for a stat ultrasound and EGD. Yep, you got it....Diagnosis Gallstones. So this coming Monday I will be having Gallbladder surgery. They have connected me up with a surgeon who has experience doing them on patients with the Band. I am glad about this. I am also glad it wasn't my Band causing me to be ill. When the pain was at its most severe I actually thought "What the hell did I do getting this thing put in". That is the first time I have ever doubted my decision to be banded. Good News, I have put those thoughts out of my mind. I plan to get fixed up and back on track. I have been on a bland diet this week to prevent any attacks so I had to giggle when I saw this cartoon!! I miss reading your blogs, maybe while I am laid up I can catch up on my reading. Hope you are all doing well.

One Year Bandiversary~Video Montage

What a difference a year makes....

Last year on my Birthday I had surgery to remove a skin cancer from my forehead and I was on a liquid diet preparing for my Band surgery the following week. It was one of my first posts to my Blog. Let's just say lasts years Birthday kinda sucked!! Today, is a whole new story, what a difference a year can make. Today, I feel better than I have in years. Not only have I lost 60+ pounds, but I am healthier, happier and more active. I can honestly say I feel "44" years young!! I am such a visual person so I went hunting for pictures from last year this time and I came across this one...All I can see is a puffy, overtired lady. The next picture was taken this week when my friend took me out for lunch...I look alive!

My sweet boys greated me with Happy Birthday kisses bright and early this morning and they both picked out flowers for me. Tonight my hubby and I will be going out to my favorite restaurant in Scottsdale. Can I just say...I am so blessed!

Epilepsy

I have been a bit absent from blogging this past week or so and I wanted to share what's been going on. A week from last Monday we woke up to sounds coming from our boys bedroom. We thought one of them was having a nightmare or something. My husband yelled for me to come in there and I found my 10 year old having a massive seizure. Even though I am a nurse it was the hardest thing to watch in your own child. He has no history of seizures and had no obvious event that could have provoked one. We went to the hospital and they ran tests including a CT scan, blood work etc. The good news is those tests came back ok, so he doesn't have a brain tumor or anything like that. So, today I am taking him for an EEG so they can monitor his brain waves for anything out of the ordinary. Its been a tough week, wondering if its going to happen again etc etc. I sure hope he is not developing Epilepsy as that can be a hard one going through life...please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we look to find the answers. Thanks

Happy Labor Day

Wishing you all a safe and fun Labor Day! We decided to stay home this weekend instead of trying to get out of town. We had a pretty stressful week and it seemed like more work to plan something then to just relax at home. Today, I will take the boys to a pizza and a movie. Later we will BBQ and swim. Simple but relaxing.....

Vitamix

This weekend we bought a Vitamix. It was super expensive(500.00) ahh choke... but I hear from so many that it works fabulous. So far we have made two different smoothies from the recipe book and I am impressed. Both we added spinach, tomatoes and zucchini to them and you would have never known they had veggies it it. Super Cool! do any of you have one? If so, any favorite protein shake recipes to share?

Tonight I am going to make the Tortilla soup for dinner. Later today I am meeting up with about 6 other Arizona Bandsters for lunch. Super excited to meet them all and get to know them in person better. I will try and take pictures to post later on.

Big Booty and Barium Swallows

So I was browsing through our pictures on the computer and I came across this picture and seriously had to do a double take...I was like OMG, my Ass really used to look like that??? I showed it to my hubby and he said "who is that?". He didn't believe it when I told him it was me. So even on my worst days I can look at this and say "you've come a long way baby"!!

I went to True Results today and had a really good visit with the NP, she gave me a psychological Adjustment instead of a Band Adjustment. We talked through some of my recent stressors and stumbling blocks and got a game plan set up. Since it is close to my One year she also did my annual Barium Swallow to check out how my Band is doing and everything looked great. Positioned well, no pouching and barium went through well. It was a relief just to make sure everything was still okay.
Hope you all are having a good week. I get to meet up with some of the other AZ Bandsters this weekend for lunch, so I am super excited. Also very excited that BOOB's is getting closer...

On a lighter note...

Yesterday we celebrated our 12th Wedding Anniversary. We went to Outback for a yummy dinner, went to the mall for chair massages and then Scott surprised me by getting me the Past, Present, and Future Ring I have had my eyes on. I love this guy I tell ya!!!! I am so blessed to have married my true soulmate, and best friend.

You can't tell by the picture but the ring is surrounded with Rose Gold, I love it because it has a real Vintage look to it. The picture does not do it justice...

High's and Low's and I am not talking weight here.....

The past two weeks have been a rollercoaster of sorts. It started with my hubby and numerous trips to urgent care and finally the ER. I have only seen him this sick one other time in our marriage with his gallbladder, this time it turned out to be a raging UTI from him having Prostatitis. Darn those Prostate's when they start acting up. Anyhoo, he is on the mend but having a man with wee wee issues has been no picnic I tell ya. A few days later we had his brother,wife and 3 small children stay with us for about a week, school started for my boys, I had a luau for about 50 people at my house last night and today I found out my sister's sweet 4 year old lab died. Man I loved that dog. Every time I would visit my sis I would sleep on the blow-up mattress and Maggie would climb up and lay next to me like she was a lap dog or something. I think it was the straw that broke the camels back because driving to the store tonight I started bawling my eyes out. I think I just needed a good girl cry....
Once I put it all back into perspective well except for Maggie dying (that just sucks) then I started to feel better. In fact I think I will take a bubble bath tonight...you know Calgon take me away!!!
I will leave you with a couple cute pic's from the party last night. My friend works at Costco in the Bakery Dept and she made this super cute cake for our party. Also, a pic of Maggie Moo

Rest in Peace Maggie

Night Splash Waterslides with the boys

A fun NSV last night. I took the boys to Sunsplash Water Park that on Saturdays they have Nightsplash from 7pm-11pm. It is so hot here in AZ that this is a fabulous options so that you don't get baked in the Sun. Anyhoo, I rode all the major slides and it was fun, scary,and exhilerating. My boys were so happy that Mommie would go on all the slides with them this year! The best part is I didn't feel like I had to be launched down the shoot like a beached whale!!!! Oh and I dared not to wear a shirt or cover up over my swim suit who would have thought....here are some examples of the slides we did

The Golden Girls

so my coworkers and I found these wigs at work today and decided to have a little Friday Fun....we had the whole office cracking up!!!

Maybe we are the '3' shades of grey.....lol

August Pic

Here is my monthly picture for August. I bought this cute sundress to wear and the amazing part about it is....... It's a size large!! I used to wear dresses like this and felt like they looked like a tent on me. This one not so much. Yaa!

High Altitude Bloating

We went camping this weekend and were up at about 6000 ft. I have never had an issue with my band being tight in planes or altitude as of yet. See that bloated bag of chips, well thats exactly how my tummy and band felt on this trip. I think its just because I had a fill this week and its tighter. But boy could I feel the difference. I kept getting gas pains the same kind that you have right after surgery...I would have killed for a gas-x strip but we were in the middle of nowhere. Anywho, we had a great time, the weather was beautiful, the forest magnificent, and the thunderstorms spectacular!! I Love when we can get away to the mountains for the weekend. Home now, getting caught up on laundry, bathing the kids etc etc....Hope you all have a great start to the week tomorrow.

Target practice

So I went to True Results Tues and saw the new Nurse Practitioner. All I can say is Amy warned me....The NP was super friendly but when it came time to give me a fill OH My..does she need more practice. She numbed me up, stuck the needle in and preceeded to poke around trying to find the port. She hit the sides about 6 times and it made this terrible noise. It was all I could do not to grab the needle and access it myself. She nervously said "IV ports are a little easier to find than lap band ones" I was like "really, I didn't notice...ya right!!" Today I have a very sore tummy from all that digging around. I hope they give her more Lap Band Ports 101 classes before I have to see her again. So excited today to move from liquids to mushies..woo hoo!

Buyers Remorse

Sometimes wouldn't it be nice to be able to take back that food choice for a full refund, just like the sweater you thought you liked but realized later you could not afford?? I feel like I had a case of Buyers(Eaters) Remorse this past weekend. While I was in Reno, I made some food choices that I wish I could take back for that FULL REFUND. Exhibit A:

Oh yes it looked heavenly to the eyes, I thought I bet that would be fabulous...I bought it, took it to my room and dug in. It took me the whole weekend to eat the damn thing and after it was all said and done, I thought "Was it really worth it?" not really, I mean it did taste delish but was it worth spending my hard earned pounds off for??? Not really...but since we can not take back our food choices then I must press forward and try not to impulse buy next time!!!

I think my Gallbladder is on the fritz...

I have heard many people have trouble with their gallbladders after having different types of gastric surgery. Well, I think mine is on the fritz...
2 nights ago while home, husband out of town and boys already asleep I had the worst episode I could imagine. I felt like I was having a heart attack. It was so bad I tried pacing around, ripped my clothes off, laid on the floor, my stomach, the toilet. I literally thought I was dying or that my band has slipped or flipped or something. I kept thinking I better put some clothes back on in case they find me dead!! I seriously considered calling 911 but then the nurse in me said "what if they get here and you are suffering from gas only"! Anyways, I dug out some of my old medicine from when I had the band put in, took some expired Gas-X and did some serious praying. About an hour later the severe pain finally subsided. I had all the classic textbook Gallbladder symptoms. You know us Nurses have to always Self Diagnose...Anyways, if I get any similiar symptoms again I am headed straight to the Dr. If it was my Gallbladder me no likey....

Living Life to the fullest....

I have been having lots of great adventures in my life the past few months. At the beginning of June my husband and I took our first real vacation away from our boys for more than two days. We went to Maui and had a blast. We were their for 8 glorious days. I did so many things I wouldn't have thought of doing a year ago...let me enlighten you all...
So I actually wore a two piece tankini, every day in fact, sometimes even walking around the resort, can you all say OMG Kelli!! For once in my adult life I didn't feel like I had to cover my entire body head to toe, amazing...now it doesn't mean I felt like I was Sports Illustrated cover model or anything but hey its a start! We went Ziplining and it was fabulous!! I actually was the dare devil of our group and went first and did some freestyle tricks coming down. I wouldn't dreamed of doing this before for the mere fact I would be afraid I was over the weight limit. I went snorkeling, and went on water slides and went on my first Helicopter ride (which I was scared to death to do, but it turned out to be an awesome experience)I went to buffets and didn't feel like I had to try everything there. Oh yes I did gain four pounds on my trip but it wasn't for overeating just eating too many chocolate covered macadamia nuts and Maui Onion Chips!! A girl still has to have a few vices ya know :)
We felt guilty for taking a vacation without the boys so we just got back from LA where we took the boys to Santa Monica Beach and also Universal Studios. Another first is a long time....The ride bars came down just fine and I didn't have to squeeze in yahoo!! Can I get an Amen sisters!!!

So I have been a busy gal with vacations, boys out for summer, and of coarse work too. I have had my ups and downs with my weight loss but am still down over 60 pounds. I still want to lose about 20 more but I feel like I can manage this. My last appt they told me I had hit my 15 month goal already at 7 months. This came as a bit of a surprise too me because I had been thinking I would lose it all by my one year Bandiversary which will be in Sept. I guess I had psyched myself in to thinking I had to lose it all in one year (or my band would expire or something??) go figure. Anyways, I still want to lose as much as I can before Sept 15th but I have learned that this is not a race but a life long journey. I miss reading all your blogs and look forward to catching up on how you are doing. Sorry for my blog lameness but this really is all about living life to its fullest right??
I will leave you with a few recent pics of me from Hawaii

I stopped blogging...there I said it...head down in shame..

Why you ask? I ask myself that all the time. I got into a bit of a funk or as in bandland we say "plateau" and I guess I thought no one would want to here about it. Well then life got really busy with my sons, work etc. and before you know it time passed and then I was embarrassed to post after so long. It wasn't until tonight when Miss Amy poked me with a text to look at her blog post and....here I am. I really am doing well and I would like to start blogging again. If anything I realize it helps me to stay connected with my own journey and I also miss hearing about all you wonderful people. Hope all of you are doing well, I have missed you....My husband, me and the kids are headed to Universal Studios, and Magic Mountain for a few days but when I get back I look forward to catching up..

This is a recent picture of me in Maui, I can't wait to share the rest with you.

Feeling much better since my slight unfill

I saw the Dr. and she took out half of my last fill and wow do I feel better! I hated to admit that I was too tight but I was. Now, I can get down much healthier choices and don't want to cheat with slider foods. I also appreciated the pep talk she gave me. I told her I had been a bit down on myself since I had not seen the scale move in about a month. She said I was doing wonderfully! My neck and waist measurements had gone down since my last visit and I had actually lost 4 lbs since my last visit. So I guess I need to just chillax some. On a different note, I dyed my hair tonight back to my more brown color vs red. I was getting sick of the red fading out to a funky brass color. I think it turned out good. Maybe before summer I will go and get some highlights put in. Also, have any of you had laser hair removal??? I checked into that today as well. Now that I can actually see my lady bits, I am keenly aware of the serious bush I have going on. I have always hated shaving there and waxing, or using Nair results in a painful rash. I have really fair, sensitive skin. Soooo...I am wondering if its worth the pricetag to do it?? Any feedback would be appreciated. Its heating up in Arizona so I have only a few weeks before I will have to officially get out the weed-wacker!!! Hope you are all doing well.. I will leave you with a funny.....

Old habits die hard.....

My Band has been pretty tight since my last fill. I wonder if I am actually in the Red zone. I haven't lost any more weight for over a month now. I haven't gained either so that part is good. I have realized with my band so tight I eat vary sparingly during the day but by night time it goes down much better. Consequently I am slipping into one of my old habits of eating Crap at night. This is not how its supposed to be and I know that. I see the Doc on Wed. so I need to talk this out and get back on track....