My New Friend

I have been getting a lot of questions as I tell more people about my lap-band procedure. The most obvious is why. Well that one  is the toughest, but it boils down to the fact that I had become out of control with my weight and as I near retirement I wanted to actually have a life after that and this was something that needed to be done to have that life. It was only done after lots of careful consideration to what my life would be like after doing this.

Next question, what is it exactly. Well this is it in a picture.

The band is placed about two inches below the beginning of my stomach. The port is in the center of my chest, just below my rib cage, under the xiphoid process for medical friends, and is where the doctor will add saline to control the size of my opening into the rest of my stomach. By managing the size of the opening I will get a feeling of fullness on less food. It also means that I have to be more careful about what and how I eat. Some foods are gone from diet because they are not processed well and won't pass through the opening. Most of those foods are not good for you anyway and therefore won't really be missed as they weren't helping to begin with. So right now my pouch is about the size of a large egg. It will expand some they tell to the point where I will be able to eat a small plate of food. I have to chew everything I eat really well and I have to eat slower. I had my first meal since surgery yesterday, an egg with a little turkey mixed in. That took 12 minutes to eat. For a former speed eater, one of my problems, that was a life time. But that allowed me to savor the flavor of each bite, an egg never tasted so good.

I will have to go in about every 5 weeks to weigh in and see how my weight loss is progressing. If I am not losing at the right rate despite doing all the right things more fluid will be added. If I am doing good at the level already in place they will leave the fluid at the level. Right now it is empty, but it is already having an effect. If they find that I am losing weight too quickly, then they will remove some fluid. I will be doing this over the next year and then once I reach my goal weight I will only need to go in once a year.

Protein is my new watch word. I have to eat protein first and then if I have room other things. So meat first then vegetables. No room for desert.

So that's pretty much my new friend. It is there for the rest of my life and will help me reach my goal weight and then maintain it. It will remind me when I over did it and it will punish me if I screw up. So no screwing up. I have begun to lose weight again after the surgery and overall feel pretty good. I have been overwhelmed by the support I have received from friends as I tell them about this. Also I have already noticed that my pants are loose and my shirts fit right. New clothes are in the future, as are many activities I couldn't or wouldn't do in the past because of my weight.

Feel free to ask me questions about my new life, I am getting better at talking about it and mind less and less each day.

SW: 352   CW:306  GW: 220