So. Nutrition isn't important?

Video here

I really do be to differ. I really do.

It bothers me on a few levels that this woman, who has only been banded 18 months, is saying that "nutrition isn't important, foods that slide down are".

But, she isn't just saying it, she wrote a cookbook full of recipes. It has;

4 soup
6 entrees
12 mains
9 desserts

Now. Beyond the liquid phase, 99.99% of banded people will not eat soup, for obvious reasons. An entree sized meal is what a pretty well restricted bandster will eat, so I see the value in entrees. Mains.. Yeah, you don't have to eat it all... But the deserts? I question their place in a band related cookbook. And why 9? When there are only a total of 18 other useful recipes?

But, I don't think that the recipes themselves are very nutritionally sound. Not balanced. From what I saw, there was little in the way of solid food, but more slider type foods. Foods that will empty out of the pouch quickly, leaving bandster hungry again.

A huge congrats to her on losing 69kg, but I am sorry, it doesn't make her qualified (in my mind at least) to write a cookbook aimed at bandsters. And her saying "Nutrition doesn't matter" is a load of bullshit. We, as people with a WLS in place need to be EXTRA careful with what we eat. We need to make sure we do receive proper nutrition through what we eat.

Red rag to a bull.

And less than an hour after I watched this story, the TV I was watching it on stopped working?

Cowinkidink?


(LOL, I don't really think that, but it's funny, no? And I will finally get my HD LCD TV! Yay!)

Dear Anon,

**This is what I am replying to**
Anon here. Dude, I have nothing but respect for you. No need to be apologetic - you've worked hard and accomplished a lot. I'm just saying not to judge morbidly obese people by saying they're just making excuses why they fail - unless, of course, you mean fail to get banded, etc. I'm just saying that doing it without WLS - I wouldn't judge them for failing.

P.S. You still have PCOS? That's sad. Did your other conditions improve?

Sweetie,
I am NOT judging anyone. People DO make excuses, and crap on about why they can't exercise, why they MUST eat crap food, and can't possibly eat healthy food (Usually "too expensive" "I don't have time to cook" and "I don't like it").

I have a friend with a clotting disorder, who had WLS, who had the best excuse in the world NOT to exercise. But guess what she did? She sucked it up, and did what she could, and lost crazy amount of weight. She now looks and feels like a million bucks. Why? Because she put in an effort, despite having issues, she ate well, and exercised.

I am not judging, but I can say that it is WHY they don't lose the sort of weight they want to lose (making excuses). It's not rocket science. If you don't eat right, and exercise, even with a band, or other WLS, you ain't gonna lose weight. And when people are told this, they go insane.

It's not a judgement, it's a fact.

And why would it be sad that I have PCOS? It doesn't bother me. Yeah, I am a bit hairy, and my cycles are a bit off, but there are worse things in this life, like... Say... Dunno... Cancer? Death? HIV?

And yes, everything else has improved out of sight, my type II is in remission, my blood pressure is perfect, and my hip no longer gives me grief. For that I am truly thankful.

But I have to ask, why go anon? Have the balls to say who you are for Thors sake.

Love,
Sam (Chickie)



And a big THANKS to all my buddies who have sent their congrats on me getting this job. It means a lot girls.

(SCREAMING LIKE A LOON)

I GOT IT!

I GOT IT!

I GOT IT!

I GOT IT!

I GOT IT!

I GOT IT!

I GOT IT!

I GOT IT!

I GOT IT!

I GOT IT!

I GOT IT!

I GOT IT!

I start Tuesday 12th of August!!

WooHoo!

I am employed! (again!)

I am replying to this

***Waaaay before I became morbidly obese, I was an exercise addict - you can't get too much of a good thing LOL. Like I would go on these hour and a half runs and then force myself to stop out of fear that I might have to miss the next day's run if I overdid it. Golly, if a person is going to be addicted to something, let it be running!

Sadly I was in an accident and suffered major injuries which prevented all working out for several years, and every attempt to get back into shape met more injuries....

Now I'm morbidly obese. I don't make excuses for myself, but I do think you might have fogotten what it's like. If I try to exercise at this weight, my old injuries spring back in an instant (trust me, it's brought me to the physical therapist every time, sometimes unable to walk.) I bought a rower instead, and my old rotator cuff tear reared its head. My goal at this point, after the lap band, is to have my shoulder surgically repaired so I can exercise again. I miss it soooo much!

Also, when you're morbidly obese, you have too much insulin in your body, which drives down your blood sugar and causes your body to store more food as fat. My serum blood sugar has been tested at 50 two hours after a meal, when it should be elevated. Blood sugar should never drop below 70!

I'm sure this sounds like a load of excuses to you, but without the band, would you be where you are now? You say not, but read that magazine article about you - you did try for a year before getting banded. Now that you're thin enough to run, and thin enough that your metabolism is healthy and no longer hyperinsulinemic, you can run and exercise and don't crave garbage food all day.

I've spent the last four and a half years in a humiliating series of failed attempts to regain my health through diet and exercise. My hunger would overwhelm me at every attempt, and my injuries would prevent exercise. I hope and pray that the band will take off enough of my hunger to enable me to finally succeed.

Just be thankful, not judgmental!

Anyway, congrats on your success. I'm not criticizing you - just answering your question of whether I think you've forgotten. I hope that a few years after I get my band I, too, can forget what it was like to be morbidly obese!!! :o)

Anon
***






(Had a SUPER long post written out, but this sums it up)

We are all human. Like it or not we are all, in reality, on a level playing field.

It's up to *you* if you wanna play or not.

And no, I am not judging anyone. It's not my place. I can only judge my own actions, and for me to be accountable to myself I must be honest. I have just seen that people who take a good, honest self inventory have a better shot at making this work.


XOXO,
The chick who still has PCOS, a bad knee and at her highest weight, high blood pressure, chronic knee & hip issues and Type II Diabetes.

And for the record, I forget nothing. I have yet to forget my time as a teen mother. Just because I am not a teenager anymore, does that mean that I have forgotten what it was like? The struggles? The pain? The humiliation? The *true* judgement? No. It means I remember all too well, and have fought tooth and nail to get where I am today. I will do what it takes to get what I want. And I refuse to be apologetic for getting what I have worked hard for in my life.

I should know by this afternoon

If I got the job or not. Or if I am being considered for the job that is coming up in a couple of months.

Hopefully I get this one. I need to get out of the house. NOW.

Is success personality based?

Some of the people who don't do as well as they could have an excuse for why they can't exercise, eat right or make the required lifestyle changes.

And if people challenge this, they cry tears of blood.

Others I see, take responsibility for everything they do. They know they must exercise daily, eat right, and make the required lifestyle changes.

No. I can't sit on my ass all day, watching tv or playing on the net and expect that I am going to lose weight (or maintain) Yes. I have to exercise. No, I can't eat pizza, burgers, fries and other heart stopping crap and expect that I am going to lose or maintain. I have to eat good food, in smaller portions.

I have to look after myself in order to maintain what I have lost. I have to be sensible. I know that if I went back to behaviours that made me MO, I would once again become MO.

It's really pretty simple.

But, I am sure there is a reason it would be hard to understand for some.

Life, work and other crap

First of all, a big thank you to everyone who has had me and my family in their thoughts over the last couple of weeks. It's been a rough year so far, and hopefully things will get better from here.

That job that I applied for (and got) I couldn't end up taking.

They wanted me to start Monday 21st, and I would have had to take Wednesday, then Friday off work. They needed someone to start, with no time off the first week, so I decided that it was better for everyone if I didn't take the job.

But. I was standing at the car, in the car park of the crematorium, and my phone rings. It was another one of the jobs I had applied for. They asked me if I could come in for a 2nd interview. So I have a 2nd interview for a retail job (jewelry, it fits me somehow, right?) on Tuesday. Wish me luck.

So, we got home, and DS's fish were floating. Poor little bugger. He is crushed. Dexter, Harry and Brian are dead (yes, I let him read and watch Dexter). RIP little fishies (is it bad that I considered giving them to the cat?)

And now I am sick. Sore throat, body aches, a high temp (can't find my thermometer, so I don't know exactly how high) and now I have the shivers. Good times. I will have to dope myself up on cold & flu tablets for Tuesday at this rate

So, good and bad, it's all there. I think this is just life, right?

Well, it's almost over

FIL was cremated yesterday.

The minister was an asshole, and conducted the service as though it was a normal Sunday service with the addition of a dead body up the front, and he fucked up the bagpipe's by having people sing along to it (a whole line out of sync no less) and smirked as he did so.

Bust aside from the prick conducting the service, it went okay. No blood was shed, and I managed to avoid the people I wanted to avoid.

Dad is at peace now.

Something band related I just thought of

I just realised that if I had NOT been unfilled for the last year and a half (or more) having this tube shortened would have been pretty traumatic.

I would have gone from (presumably) a nice fill level to zero.

Yet another reason I am glad I was unfilled.


And my boy. My big boy.

Picked up his suit today. Oh. My. Goodness.

First of all, I had to buy him a MENS suit (he is 11 years old) then when I went to buy him shoes, I had to buy MENS shoes.

He is 11. Not a man. No. Not a man yet. Not my baby!

He looks so very handsome in his smart black suit and blue dress shirt. I am just not ready for him to look like a man. Not yet.

I have spent the last few hours in tears

Visited MIL at the hospital, and who should turn up? Step BIL and his wife.

His wife is a fucking bulldog. She tells me that I should have everything done by now, and she wants copies so her darling daughter Kath can fix any mistakes I have made.

I was also told I didn't know FIL well enough to be doing any of this, and that I am far too young to understand anything much.

MIL just sat there and let them rip me to shreds.

The way I am feeling right now, they can all go to hell, and I will spend Friday shopping. I shall buy a pair of shoes in honour of FIL (he found great humour in my shoe fetish)

I have just had enough of the bullshit. I know I am not "good enough" for them because I was a single, teenage mother when DH married me.

So that's it. I am out. They can all get stuffed.

My life

Is turning into a fucking soap opera.


I just got a phone call from SIL. Auntie Jean died this morning, and the funeral is on Wednesday. At 9am. And it's only 250km away, so we are going to have to leave at 5am to get there.

I loved Auntie Jean, but I am just not sure I am up to it.

I hit a wall this afternoon

Not a real wall. But it sure felt like it.


By 4:30pm, I was so tired and sore I wanted to cry. I almost did. I don't remember being this tired, sore and emotional when I have had surgery before.

Maybe I am just expecting too much from myself to soon? Or maybe I have just turned into a big baby. I don't know.

What I do know is, I have no energy to put together a Keynote presentation of FIL's life (one that runs for roughly an hour) put together 200 order's of service for the funeral, and source 200 carnations, as well as get photos enlarged and framed.

No one is helping out with this funeral. DH has had to go back to work, and is of no help, MIL had her knee surgery yesterday (and is recovering well) and everyone else is just going about their business and leaving the lot to me.

I think I will cry now. I feel overwhelmed.


Oh, and Kath. It was nice to meet you this afternoon. But you really could have visited FIL before he died. You know, the one that was in the nursing home? The one you passed on a daily basis. Yeah. He died thinking you hated him. It would have been just as easy to visit him as it was for you to visit MIL this afternoon. It would not have been hard.

And I know that MIL asked if you if we could use your churches photocopier to run off FIL's order's of service, but frankly, I would rather drag my belly over hot coals than ask you for anything. It's nothing against your church, but when you ignored FIL during his dying days, and would introduce DH as your "Er, um, relative thing" rather than admitting he is your uncle (bearing in mind you are in your late 30's and should be more mature) it kinda coloured my opinion of you.
Hugs and kisses,
Auntie Sam
xox

(Oh, and I because I *am* younger, and far less mature than you are, I will refer to you as my "niece Kath" at every given opportunity. I know we embarrass you and that is why you talk shit about us to family friends and the church members. The day you were ordained was the day I lost all respect for the Uniting Church in Australia.)

Hmmm

The Park2Park is in 10 days. I wonder if I will be up to a quick 5km by then?

A 2.36km run

Was 2.36km too much less than 48 hours after surgery.

That is all.

I know better

Than to get on the scales after 4 bags of IV fluids and abdominal surgery that has me swollen beyond recognition.


I do know better. I swear.

Ok. I'm back

The surgery was very straight forward, with Dr Copp chopping off about a foot of extra tubing. It *was* all curled up, sitting on top of my diaphragm. No wonder I was in so much pain.

So I am sore & swollen, but happier than I was yesterday.

Saw the doc again this morning

And in about 5 minutes I am headed out the door to be admitted into hospital to have my band tube shortened. All going well, I will only be in overnight.

See you on the other side guys!

Thanks

To everyone who has sent their condolences.

We miss the old bugger already, but we know that he is in a better place, and isn't in pain anymore.

While I was expecting FIL to pass away some time soon, I wasn't expecting it just then, minutes after leaving recovery.

We have arranged the funeral and wake. We have to talk to the minister tomorrow to organize the actual service.

He is a returned serviceman, so SIL and one of my nephews are playing the "Last Post" and our cross the road neighbour happens to play the bag pipes (complete with KILT!) and he will play "Amazing Grace" and a few others before / during / after. I have to sort out flowers for the wife, kids and grand kids to lay on his coffin. And SIL and I have organised bright shirts with bright ties and one of Dad's train tie pins for our boys to wear as a tribute (there are just enough for each of the 8 boys, and our husbands to each wear and keep one of Dad's train tie pins) MIL, SIL and I will all wear big, bright silk flowers on our blouses.

So it's all on track.

Hopefully if I do have to have surgery on Monday (the xray and u/s results were "accidentally" opened today, it said there is "suture matter evident" whatever THAT means. Is that what's causing the pain? Broken internal sutures? Does that explain the referred pain I am having in my left shoulder?) It will be a quick repair job. But I think I am at peace with having another surgery type if need be.

So there it is folks.

RIP FIL

06-01-1914 - 11-07-2008

Dad died peacefully in the arms of his loving wife at 1:30pm this afternoon.








To allow for MIL's knee surgery to go ahead, and my tube shortening surgery to happen (no erosion was shown on the scope), FIL will be embalmed and the funeral will be held in about 2 weeks.

His suffering is over.

Almost 4am

Wide awake & worried.

It had to happen.

What a day!

Ok. So in the end I saw my surgeon.

I have a scope tomorrow at 10:15.

He isn't too sure what's going on. It might just be the tubing rubbing up against my diaphragm causing the pain, but to be on the safe side we must rule out an erosion.

I will know by this time tomorrow I guess.

Either way, I think I will be having surgery on Monday to correct whatever the problem is.

We talked about what happens if the band needs to come out. We agreed that the stats on rebanding after erosion are shocking, and I am going to go straight for either a VSG or maybe an RNY. I would have to have a healing time of somewhere between 6 to 8 weeks.

Half of me is scared shitless. But the other half is actually happy that if something is wrong, I will not be forced to reband. I will be able to have a VSG if that is what I want.

We also touched on revising the surgery even if there is nothing wrong. He isn't too keen on it, but he said if I could convince him, he would do it. So we will see I guess.

Edited some time later
Now that the pain meds have kicked in...

Part of me hopes that it is an erosion, so the choice is taken out of my hands, and I don't have to convince my doc to revise me. It might not be ideal, but it is a way out. And right now, I want a way out. I hate being in pain, and being useless, and right now, that's what I am.

Band site pain +light headedness + feeling shaky =

A visit to the surgeon, right?

Well. Not according to my Drs assistant nurse, Benita.

The woman diagnosed me over the phone, was really quite rude, and told me that band problems are always accompanied by a red, raised port area!

Fuck no, they are fucking NOT. Liar and bullshit artist.

I told her that I am capable of reading, and that I have read studies and personal accounts of band problems being silent till one day - BANG.

Being the cunt I am when I am in pain, I thanked her for her time, and told her that I would sit tight till sepsis set in.

At that, she told me to let her get back to her, and when she did she had arranged for me to be seen at the Drs other rooms at Greenslopes.

Edited because I don't want to get sued should she read this.

I think

I might have just applied for a job. And I think I might get it. All I have to do it supply a resume, and I might start Saturday!

Bloody hell. How did this happen?

Let us define insanily

It would be, driving an hour and a hlaf to look after 7 children all day (3 with special needs), THEN take 2 of them home with you for a sleep over.

DS is as happy as a pig in mud. Me, I am fighting tears. I am tired, stressed and need a nap.

Thankfully DH is off work today, and is looking after all three boys so I can drive MIL around without them farting, fighting and screaming in the backseat.

I DO love them. I do. Honest. I am just tired right now.