Gaining Weight and Adjustments

Weight at last weigh in: 138.7
Amount of saline in balloon : 1360ml
Amount lost since last entry: 0kg

I had my clinic appointments on the 1st & 2nd March and found I've put on 4kg in the past month so I had 100ml added to my balloon on the 2nd.

I can definitely feel the adjustment this time! From the moment I got up I could feel the pressure and in an attempt to keep to fluids for the day I had a skinny Chai Latte, only to be in extreme discomfort the moment I finished it, so I didn't go near anything else all afternoon. Well I did have a small amount of water and a little pepsi max, just to see if the pepsi could get me burping and the burping helped with the feeling of indigestion and heartburn. It did a little, but not nearly enough to be total relief. Later that afternoon I decided to take my son to get McDonalds for dinner, seeing as I couldn't eat solids I wasn't going to cook a whole meal, and whilst there I got a major craving for a cheeseburger. Now normally I don't give into my fast food cravings, well not nearly as much as I used to, and this time I really shouldn't have seeing as I was supposed to be on fluids only but I got myself one and steeled myself to eating so slow that a snail would be proud and chewing really thoroughly.
In the end I think I ended up downing the whole thing in the space of 50 seconds and you know what? I felt sooo much better for it. I think somewhere along the way my discomfort from the adjustment had become hunger pain and I couldn't tell the difference. That happened a lot in the beginning, right after my surgery and eating a little of something solid always made me feel ten times better.

I did feel better but my stomach still hurt, like it was over full even though I'd eaten so little. I know that's the whole idea of the balloon implant but surely not to the point of almost starvation. Ok, that was a little dramatic but you get my point. I couldn't even sleep comfortably, being a tummy sleeper, I was putting too much pressure on the implant, which in turn was squashing my stomach more, making the whole ordeal more uncomfortable.

By Thursday morning, the instances of heartburn and reflux were so common that I just had to go buy myself some Mylanta, double strength. The Mylanta worked wonders! Up until that point I was close to calling the clinic and asking them if Dr Layani could take 50 ml out of my balloon as soon as I could drive there but once the mylanta helped I decided to wait and see how things went after a few more days. It usually takes a few days, up to as long as a week, for me to get used to the new restriction, or rather my body to adapt, so I decided to wait and see how I went.

Each night got better, and I was able to sleep as I normally do last night. Today I woke up really hungry and went immediately to make myself a sandwich, which was gratefully received with no immediate discomfort, indigestion or reflux. An hour later, as I write this, I just feel the contentedness of being full. I am burping quite a bit, which is normal for me now, but there's no sign of any reflux. I say burping is normal because it seems there is no room left in my stomach to store those burps any longer so they come up the moment they are formed. Reflux really is feral. I feel for those banded people who have issues with it and PB. PB wouldn't be as bad though I don't think, at least there's no stomach acid to sear your throat with PB.

On another note I've been rather sick for a few months now with what seems to be sinusitis and lung infections. I've had a myriad of tests from bloods to Xrays and even a CT scan. I've yet to get the results of the CT but my xray showed nothing. My blood tests showed that my inflammatory response is way up but my doctor can't explain why. Anti-biotics don't help at all, well not with my lungs. They seem to help clear whatever the head cold things is that I get now and again but I continue to cough even once that's gone. It's not always a chesty cough either, it varies. Some weeks I'll be coughing up crap and the next I'm coughing so hard that I almost throw up and nothing comes out of my lungs. The tiniest whiff of something foreign, eg cigarette smoke, sends me into a coughing fit not to mention what dust does.

I am over being sick all the time, I just hope my doctor works out what is wrong with me soon.

Oh, and I've been using my pedometer, not as much as I probably should though. I've done 2 days with wearing it all day and averaged about 5000 steps per day. Once I get 7 days worth of measurements I'll average it out and start trying to add just a few more steps per day.

New Purchase

I am now the proud owner of a pedometer. They were on special at the supermarket today so I thought I had better get one. Our psychologist, Warren, keeps on at me about just doing an extra 250 steps per day, that makes a huge difference, so I finally got a pedometer to count them and do just that.

I don't know how many steps I take in an average day so first I'm going to measure that, over a week, and average it out. Then I'll try adding 250 extra steps per day, or maybe more and keep a weekly record of it.

I'll even add it to these blog posts, though I don't think anyone at all is reading them. It's more just a record for myself I think. I can't imagine anyone being interested lol and I've not gotten even one comment so I'm assuming I alone am keeping up with my own blog. hehe

Ok that's all for now, laters.

Adjustment #4

Weight at last weigh in: 134.8
Amount of saline in balloon : 1260ml
Amount lost since last entry: 2kg, 3 cm from hips.

I had an adjustment on Thursday the 11th. I had 100ml added to my balloon, via the port.
I now have 1260ml in my balloon and have definitely noticed the difference. I think I'm going to be a little tender for a few days yet, I usually am after an adjustment. I think my stomach just needs to get used to the new level of being squished.

Since the adjustment all I've had to eat is:

Lunch Thursday: Grilled Salmon and Salad
Dinner Thursday: 100g serve Pan Fried Barramundi
Breakfast Friday : 2 weetbix and skim milk
Lunch Friday: Medium Boost Juice smoothie
Dinner Friday: 1 hot dog in roll with mustard and sauce
Supper Friday: Small sliver of brownie with 1 scoop of low fat ice-cream
Breakfast Saturday: 1 Medium sized Blueberry pancake with maple syrup

I'm right into fish at the moment, can't seem to get enough! Especially salmon and barramundi! They're my new comfort foods. Rather than a big bowl of ice-cream give me a nice, baked piece of fish! I'm really not all that into sweets any more, but my brain doesn't seem to have gotten the message. I keep buying things like 1kg bags of M&M's that usually would have been opened the moment I got home, but I've had it sitting there for 3 days now and it's still not been opened.

For dessert now I'm more likely to have a bowl of rockmelon with some ice-cream or vanilla yoghurt than anything else. Or a huge bowl of fruit salad with yoghurt.
Dessert used to be a MASSIVE bowl of ice-cream with mini M&M's, mini marshmallows, sprinkles and drowned in ice magic. Even the thought of eating those things now makes me feel queasy.

It helps a lot that my taste for sweets has diminished, almost to non-existence, since my surgery. I think if I still had the same sweet tooth as I used to this whole process would be a hell of a lot harder!

I plan to go for a walk this afternoon, might have to drag my friend out to come with me seeing as I'll be in the city staying with her. But I need to do it. It's been months since I got out and went for a walk, for dedicated exercise purposes.

I am really starting to believe that I'll make it to my goal weight now. At the beginning I always thought 'well I'm trying, even if I don't get there I've at least tried my best' and now I can actually see it happening. My clothes are huge on me, the ones that were tight now fit nicely and I fell more comfortable in my own skin.
I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, I can see I can and WILL make it!

xxx Cass

Oh and I also lost a further 2kg. So total for this month is 3kg weight loss.

February's Clinic Appointment

Ok so despite not doing much at all I've still managed to lose 1.1kg. I'm happy with that, especially because I've not been doing much at all. I'm going to look at how much a casual gym membership is down the road here and go swimming a few days a week.

Will update again next month.

Xmas, Holiday's and lack of exercise!

Weight at last weigh in: 137.7
Amount of saline in balloon : 1160ml
Amount lost since last entry: 0kg, 4cm from waist, 2 cm from hips, 500g muscle.

So it's finally past the Christmas holiday period, my son is back at school after 6 whole weeks at home (well one of which he spent with his Dad but still...) and I should really be getting back into exercising but I can't seem to find the motivation at the moment. I know that exercising will act as a kind of mood lightener and I could sure use that about now but I just really can't be bothered. It's still too hot during the day, I can't go early morning because I'm a single parent and there's no-one here to watch my 9 year old while I'm gone. I also can't go late afternoon because my son chucks a mental if we have to leave the house once he's gotten home, the joys of raising a child with Autism! I can't afford a gym membership or any kind of work out equipment, not that I have room for a treadmill or exercise bike in my 2 bedroom, first floor shaped-like-a-box unit.

I took my son on a holiday down south during the school break, we went and stayed with a friend of mine in Grafton and took a day trip out to Tamworth. Well we left on the Thursday and came back on the Friday. Wasn't even there a full 24 hours but I got to meet an online friend I've known for 2 and a half years and it was about time too!

I did mean to do a few sessions on my friend Amanda's treadmill whilst we were staying with her but never got around to it. There was always something better to do, which usually saw me sitting on my ass on my laptop or swimming in her pool! I suppose the swimming was a kind of exercise but I wasn't doing laps, it was for leisure not exercise.

My goal, to get to 122kg by the beginning of April, doesn't seem to be within reach but that's my own fault.

I feel I also need an adjustment. I'm now able to eat twice what I was after my last adjustment, which is still at least 1/2 of what I used to be able to eat pre-surgery, but it worries me. I am going to ask for another 100ml put in. They would probably like to put in 150ml but that would make the amount in my balloon all odd number and my OCD is flaring up lately and that would drive me insane!

I have my clinic appointment on Tuesday (the 2nd Feb) so I will do an update when I've been.

The appointment I had on the 5th Jan showed that I hadn't lost any weight but I'd also not gained any so that's something I guess. I'm not going backwards, but not forwards either.

My goal for the next month is to do some form of exercise for exercise sake. I don't enjoy walking so it's not like I could do that for enjoyment and be inadvertently exercising at the same time. Perhaps I could make a promise to try and swim at least once a week (funds permitting) for recreation and exercise.

I will have to wait and see I guess.

That's all for now.

I MADE IT!

I had my clinic appointment on Tuesday the 1st and the scales have finally moved! I have made it to 15kg total weight loss!


I got my hair done as a reward to myself.

Will add some photo's when I've finished it, it's still a work in progress.

Here's the hair, A photo of myself with my niece.

SURPRISE!!!!

Ok so I came home on Friday last week, the 6th Nov, to a message on my answering machine from the clinic, just letting me know that I'll be called by the Radiology people to book in an MRI that I need to have. No explaination as to why, or why we weren't told about it earlier. So I was booked in for the MRI on Monday, 9th, morning.

I turned up, waited an hour and a half and was finally told to undress, remove all jewellery and put on a paper gown! Then I was slid into the MRI machine, much like a hot dog into a bun. I held my breath when instructed to do so and was in there a total of 8 minutes! I still have no idea why I had to have that MRI but I take it that because I haven't heard anything back from them that all is right in balloon implant world because if it wasn't I am sure I'd have heard something by now (3 days later)

Well that's all the update I've got at the moment. I've been slack this week. Only been for my walk once and it was just around the block, only took me 15 minutes but it's better than doing nothing. It's just been too hot lately and I sweat enough as it is!