Adjustments

An adjustment is when your surgeon adds fluid to your band, or takes some out. Most bandsters refer to this as fills and unfills, but the official term is adjustment. I had an adjustment on Tuesday that brought me back up to 2.7 cc in my 4 cc band - a fill level I haven't had since my first bandiversary (Sept. 2008). So far, it's what I would call a "kick ass" fill. Exactly what I wanted, but I'm having to make a lot of mental adjustments to it.

For several months, I'd been eating two basic meals for breakfast:
1. Greek yogurt with cottage cheese, berries, and chopped nuts, or:
2. Oatmeal with chopped fruit & nuts

I really, really enjoy those breakfasts, especially the yogurt concoction. Inspired by my bandster buddy, Nina, I was going to try a breakfast parfait of yogurt, berries, and granola. But not right now, I'm sad to say. This morning I faced up to the fact that I can't even eat yogurt (never mind the goodies mixed into it) for breakfast now. It's back to protein shakes.

My favorite protein shake is actually very tasty. In the blender, I whiz:
12 oz LF milk (I'm using Lactaid now because I think I've got mild lactose intolerance)
1 scoop Click espresso protein powder (supposedly mocha flavor, but all I taste is coffee)
1/2 scoop Unjury vanilla protein powder
2-3 ice cubes

Act your age? Maybe not.

The other day I wore a new outfit to work. It consisted of this drapey lime green tunic over a white tank top and white leggings, white sandals, turqouise earrings, and a multistrand necklace of turquoise & green beads. I thought I looked quite fetching in this get-up, though it did occur to me that I might be pushing my luck as far as the store dress code goes.

I stopped at Higher Ground, the Starbucks-type coffee shop, for my iced skinny latte. An attractive man, about my age, was sitting at one of the tables outside the shop, and as I walked across the parking lot, I became aware that he was watching me. And why not? There isn't much else to watch from that spot except street traffic: an endless flow of pickup trucks.

As I got closer to the shop, I could see the expression on the man's face, and realized that he was not looking at me like I was a pickup truck. He was looking at me with interest...and possibly with appreciation. He gave me a little smile as I went into the shop. Not the usual all-purpose Southern "Howareyoo?" greeting, but (it seemed to me) a smile just for me.

Well, I felt like a movie star as I waited for my latte. It's amazing what a little admiration can do for your ego. The man was talking on his cell phone when I left the shop. The only other person who seemed to appreciate my appearance that day was one of my college-girl coworkers ("I like your outfit, Miss Jean"). A few hours into my shift, I caught sight of myself in one of the store mirrors and suddenly thought, "That man was probably thinking, 'Look at that old fool, dressed like a teenager.' I should just dress and act my age."

But maybe not. Surely I have paid my dues to the Appropriate Dress Society. I don't wear white until after Memorial Day. I wear a bra (plus outer clothes) when in public. I don't wear plunging necklines, Daisy Duke shorts, spike heels, tattoos or body jewelry other than earrings. I don't wear blue jeans to church, or a bikini at the beach. I'm 56 years old and am no longer very interested in what other people think of my clothing choices. So every now and then, I think I'm entitled to dress like a girl 30-40 years younger than me. There is still a girl that age somewhere inside me, and she's delighted that I'm thin enough now to take more wardrobe risks.

"Why do you even bother?"

At work the other day, at break time I found two other associates in the breakroom eating their lunches. One of them is a slender 19-yr-old and the other is a pudgy 40-something. They were eating Taco Bell specials and sharing an order of sugary fried cinnamon tortilla strips (I have no idea what they're called officially, and certainly don't need to know).

I pulled my lunch out of the fridge and set it on the table near them. I had a sunflower seed coated cheese ball (1-1/2" to 2" in diameter) and 1/2 cup of chopped apple mixed with lite cool whip and sugar-free butterscotch pudding mix. My coworkers both studied my little containers and exclaimed: "Why do you even bother?" (said by the teen) and "A meal that size is just a teaser!" (said by the 40-something).

None of my coworkers there know that I had WLS. Well, one might suspect, because I used to work with her mom and my WLS is no secret at that company, and if that particular coworker has figured it out, I can trust her not to blab it to everyone else. I'm already famous at this store for my healthy meals ("What healthy thing you got for lunch today, Miss Jean?"). Now I'm famous for being weird, too!

But the funniest part (for me) was the fact that I was too full to finish the apple & Cool Whip stuff! I hid that from my coworkers, though, by taking my teeny containers to the kitchenette counter and hiding behind the fridge while scraping the leftovers into a paper towel before dropping the whole thing in the trash.

Falling in love with my band all over again

It may sound sappy, but I'm falling in love with my band all over again.

For breakfast this morning I made my usual cottage cheese & Greek yogurt with berries. Had to stop eating after 2 bites, so I think I'm going to have go back to Click protein shakes for breakfast and save the cottage cheese & yogurt thing for lunches.

I didn't cook any supper last night because I had to work from 3:30 - 9:00 pm. When I started getting hungry for lunch at 11:30 this morning, I looked in the fridge and remembered that we had finished all the leftovers of this and that yesterday. Finally I found a small container of chickpea, broccoli & feta salad - about 1/2 cup. I ate that (slowly and carefully), thought, "That wasn't enough to feed a gnat," and promised myself that I could eat some grapes and cheese for a snack mid-afternoon. Well, mid-afternoon came and went. At 4:00 pm I fed the dogs and realized I had completely forgotten about my snack. Bells went off in my head: I FORGOT A SNACK! I asked myself, did I want to eat the snack now? No, not especially. At 5:00 pm I started supper: a batch of eggface's cottage cheese pancakes, some cucumbers in vinegar, a lemon caper sauce made of Greek yogurt, and some smoked salmon. I had planned to eat two pancakes, 1 oz. of salmon, 1/4 cup of cucumbers, and 1 tablespoon of sauce. I ate all of that (slowly and carefully), but I was TOO FULL TO EAT BOTH PANCAKES!

I feel like telling my band: "It is wonderful to be reunited with you! I've missed you so much! I almost forgot what a dear friend you are!"

Another fill

The other day, I told a friend that I hoped my next fill would be a "kick ass" fill. I think I got my wish.

This morning I saw Dr. Weaver's nurse practitioner, Vanessa, for a fill. She put in another .3 cc, so I now have 2.4 cc in there. A long, long time ago, 2.55 cc was as close as I ever got to a "perfect" fill level (I put that in quotes because I'm not convinced there's any such thing as a perfect fill), so I didn't expect 2.4 cc to be quite this effective. Tonight I made baked ponzu-marinated salmon and a chickpea & veggy (finely chopped) salad for supper. I knew I should just stick to liquids, but the food smelled and looked wonderful, so I had a little bite of salmon. Everything down there in bandland protested loudly. As my British friend Kate would say, I am a very silly cow. When all seemed quiet again, I tried a few chickpeas. That went better, but having been strongly reminded about my band for the first time in a year, I wised up and stopped eating.

Holy Crapoli!

Holy crapoli!

So far I've gotten 3 EOB's from Anthem for my April 7th port repair surgery.
$34,628.70 - hospital outpatient surgery (insurance paid $3689.86; no co-pay for me)
$1,260.00 - not sure - think it's anesthesiologist (rejected by insurance because they need more info)
$5834.72 - surgeon's fee (insurance rejected $5,000 of it, I think because of a billing error, and paid $212.24)

That's a total of $41,723.42!

Like I said, holy crapoli!

Back on the bandwagon

After almost a year of no fill or not enough fill, I thought everything would be better after my port repair surgery on April 7th, but bad weather caused flooding that closed all the roads between here and Memphis, so I had to delay my follow-up appt. with my surgeon for 2 weeks. Good things are worth waiting for, right?

This Monday I saw Dr. Weaver, who said my incision looks good, my weight looks good (somehow I had managed to lose a pound since the port repair), I look good, and was I ready for a fill? Yes, ma'am! So I now have 2.1 cc in my band, and am feeling the difference already - early satiety, prolonged satiety, no negative symptoms, just my band doing what it's supposed to do. I feel like I have a new lease on life!