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Video Three Part 1



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Youtube Video Blog is now Avaliable to View

Happy Anniversary to me!!! It's been one year exactly since my surgery and I'm almost 20kg lighter! That's gotta be better than a kick in the teeth right?

I know I'd be 20kg heavier by now if I hadn't had this surgery so I'm just grateful for the opportunity to change my life!

As promised, my youtube video blog is now available to view.

Please feel free to comment, ask questions, rate and subscribe!

You can view the first video here. Keep an eye out for little boxes popping up (semi invisible ones at the top right hand corner) where you can click to view the next one in line.

Clinic Appointment 6th Juy + Adjustment #8

Weight at last weigh in: 135.4kg
Current Weight: 133.1
Amount of saline in balloon : 1610ml
Amount added: 100ml
Amount lost since last entry: 2.3kg

OK, so Tuesday the 6th July saw me back at the Obesity Clinic for my last 'monthly' appointment! From now on I will be seeing them every 3 months.

I am 800g off making my 20kg lost goal! 20kg in a year isn't a bad achievement I don't think! It's been slow, consistent and gentle, which I'm told is great for sustained weight loss.

I'll do something I haven't done before, and kind of tell you guys what I went through with each element of my appointments. They are 4-fold. I see;

Warren - Psychologist

Taryn - Dietician

Michelle - Nurse

and

Dr Layani - Surgeon


Warren:
This time I had to fill out a questionnaire. I had to do it at my first consultation, then again at 6 months (I think). They compare my answers and see how my over all mental well-being is going. Whether it's improving or not with my weight loss.
I hop on the scales and tell Warren my weight. He writes it on a print out that's all about me. He asks me questions off this sheet of paper...eg how have my sleeping habits been? Alcohol & Drug usage and exercise habits. We discuss what I should be doing and what I might be able to do to increase my exercise mentality and self-efficacy. He has a real thing about my depression being linked my self-efficacy. Which is always amusing for me, because he says it with a South-African accent.
He's usually pretty happy with me, I made my lifestyle change early on, eg fixed my food issues, so it's just mainly been about getting me out there and exercising more. At the moment I'm without a car so he agreed that I'm doing enough incidental exercise and I don't' need to be adding 'dedicated' exercise as well. He tells me I can do this, that I'm already doing well and that I'm a really pretty girl and so much will open up for me when I get to the end of my journey. I'm flattered of course, it's always nice to be told I'm pretty lol.
We agree that I need to use my pedometer more, which I VOW I will do...as soon as I find it! I mention my portion sizes have increased, and I'm having earlier dinners so Warren suggests I speak to Taryn about what I can do, maybe have a 4th meal.

Taryn:

I walk in, and weigh myself yet again. Her scales are 200g different to Warrens so I tell her to write down Warren's scale measurement :P.
We discuss my increased portions and decide that I need to have a larger lunch, really cram it in there or maybe have a milkshake with banana in it around 3pm. Maybe add some protein powder, but if I ever have to drink that crap again it'll be too soon so I agree to milk and banana...I'll add some vanilla essence too though.
I say I want a 100ml adjustment and Taryn agrees it could help.

I go out and wait to see Dr Layani, but Michelle comes and tells me she needs me to do a wee. lol. I have to have a pregnancy test. Joy... NOT. I go off with my little jar and do what is needed and as soon as I come back into the office and take a seat, Dr Layani calls me in.

Dr Layani:

I go in, he says hi and shakes my hand. Asks how I am doing, how much I've lost and if I need an adjustment. I tell him I'd like 100ml and he says ok. We go through to the 'procedure' room and I assume the position.
The 'Position' is laying on the bed, shirt up to my bra level, skirt pulled down to below my belly button. He feels around for my port then jabs a long needle into it.
I have to admit, that always feels weird. I can feel the port pushing into what ever organs are below it and it feels strange and foreign. He starts to push the fluid in and I can feel my implant getting heavier on my stomach. I can always feel it, I'm very in-tune with my body. Dr L mentioned that out of all the percutaneous placements he did (the procedure has been changed to laproscopically now)that mine is the one he got perfect. Which makes me feel great and terrible, because one of my friends is one he didn't get perfect and her balloon has to come out.
Once the adjustment is done Dr L says goodbye and slips back into his office.

Michelle:
She does my lovely pregnancy test, which comes up negative (it'd want to, I have a contraceptive implant which I had put in 1 month before my surgery). She then does my measurements and takes my temperature.

Then I get to come out and sign my form, so Dr Layani can charge Vibrynt for his time, and I finally get to leave!

I did get given a box full of tubes though to get my 12 month bloods done, so off I toddled over to the Pathology Collection Centre and they took 8 vials of blood!

Geez it's fun being a lab rat...NOT! I'm not funny with needles at all, I can even watch them going in, but having that much blood taken when you've had to fast (for both the adjustment and the blood test) isn't great for wanting to stay upright when you stand. I felt quite woozy after that and went and had some lunch.

I'm always told to stick to fluids for 24 hours after my adjustment, but as I've mentioned before I never do that and I'm just fine. When I try to stick to fluids I end up in heaps of pain. So I have a small amount of food and always feel heaps better.

So, over all it's quite an involved process! One that I only have to go through once every 3 months now! I will continue to update this blog though, when I remember, with my weight loss updates.

My next step is to purchase a set of scales that can actually read my weight and don't cost a fortune. The ones at the department store across the road were like $20 but only went up to 120kg. I'm still 13kg too heavy to weigh myself on them. The higher weight ones are around $50.

Will let you know how I go.

Clinic Appointment 8th June

Weight at last weigh in: 135.6kg
Current Weight: 133.2kg
Amount of saline in balloon : 1510ml
Amount added: 0
Amount lost since last entry: 2.4kg

Ok, so I should have posted this a few weeks ago, but to be honest I keep forgetting!

I had my usual monthly appointment, dietician, psychologist and see Dr Layani.

I've lost 2 more kg!!! YAY me

After July's monthly appointment I'll be seeing them every 3 months. Which means I think I need to get some scales to manage this at home.

I don't think I can go 3 months without checking my weight loss!

I will update after next months's appointment.. I promise.

Until then....see ya!

PS after next month's appointments I will be releasing the video blog I've been keeping on my jounrney. They will be available to view via youtube.

Adjustment #7

Weight at last weigh in: 137.7kg
Current Weight: 135.6kg
Amount of saline in balloon : 1410ml
Amount added: 100ml
Amount lost since last entry: 2.1kg

I've decided that from now on I'm going to take the weight of my balloon off my total weight. I know that it's going to be with me, hopefully, for the rest of my life but it is currently 1.5kg of water adding to my weight unnecessarily. It's not fat, so why shouldn't I discount it from my total weight?

I had 100 ml added to my balloon last week and have very noticeably more restriction.

After the 50ml I had put in last month I only noticed a change in my restriction for about a week, then I was back to eating the same as I was before that adjustment.

I've been able to really feel the adjustment this time. I could feel it as he was doing it too, it doesn't feel bad at all, just a little added weight and pressure on my stomach. Now I am back to only being able to eat 1 sandwich at lunch rather than the 2 I was having, and 1 piece of toast for breakfast down from the 2 I was having with a cuppa.

Once again, I was told to stick to fluids only for 24 hours but found by the afternoon that fluids just weren't doing it for me. So I had some food and I was fine. No pain whatsoever, I just definitely noticed my restriction right away!

I've been exercising more also. I've been going for walks by myself on the weekend when my 9yr old is at his Dad's, and he and I have also been going for walks in the afternoon, which he hates. I hope he'll get used to our afternoon walks and just accept them as part of our routine now. On our way home (after a good 25mins of solid walking) he likes to play at the park. Which is fair enough. If I make him come, the least I can do is give him a 10 min play on the equipment. I only give him 5-10 mins coz I don't want my heart-rate to go down too much before we start walking home. So most of the time I do a few laps around the equipment whilst he's playing or I do some stretches (which I'm sure makes me look like a tool, but I've been getting cramping in my legs and pain in my hip of late so it needs to be done)

Total weight loss for this month, not including the balloon weight adjustment, is 1.1kg. With taking the balloon's weight off also it's 2.6kg.

Adjustment #6

Weight at last weigh in: 137.7kg
Current Weight: 137.7kg
Amount of saline in balloon : 1410ml
Amount lost since last entry: 0kg

As I said in my previous post, we had clinic appointments at the end of March instead of the beginning of april because of the Easter long weekend.

I went back on Wed to see Dr Layani, my surgeon, for an adjustment.

I only had 50ml put in this time because last month, when I had 100ml put in, I was so uncomfortable for almost a full 5 days and that put me off getting another 100ml this time.

The 50ml really has made a difference though, I felt it the moment I stood up after the adjustment. It's not an uncomfortable feeling, just a feeling of slightly more pressure on your stomach. Like you've just had a spoonful or two too much of your dinner and feel fuller. I've noticed my portion sizes have decreased, not hugely but they have decreased and that's the whole point.

I'm into my 3rd day of this new eating regime and I have to say I've noticed a massive difference. I have more energy during the day, and yesterday I was still full from lunch when dinner time came around. I still made myself have something though, there's nothing worse for your metabolism than skipping meals, but I only had a really small piece of grilled salmon and 4 satay prawns. Normally I'd have a massive piece of fish and 10 satay prawns. Even the small amount I had filled me right up.

I've also been trying to make more of an effort to drink more water, but if I could live on coke or pepsi alone I would. I just love my cola drinks and water is so bland in comparison. Don't worry, my dentist gives me hell about all the cola I consume. I've been trying to drink the water with just a little cordial in it, just to flavour it but still...I hate it. And I really do feel drinking regular cordial defeats the purpose of drinking the water. lol

Well that's my update for this month. My goal for the following month is to do some 'dedicated' exercise, at least once a week. I've got to get back into walking again, and make it part of my weekly routine.

Wish me luck.

April Psychologist and Dietician Appointments

Weight at last weigh in: 138.7
Current Weight: 137.7
Amount of saline in balloon : 1360ml
Amount lost since last entry: 1kg

Ok so we had our clinic appointments for April at the end of March because Easter falls from the 2nd-5th April this year.

I had my psychologist and dietician appointments today (see Dr L tomorrow)
I've lost 1kg since my last adjustment, it's disappointing but I've only got myself to blame for not exercising more lol.

I'm going to have another adjustment tomorrow of 50ml, coz I've noticed my portion sizes going up again slightly.

Rather than being satisfied with the regular portion I give myself, I'm doubling or going back for seconds. It's still 1/2, if not 1/4 of what I could eat pre-surgery though but now that I've seen how little I can survive on anything more than that seems so much to me.

I think I'm also a little paranoid that soon I won't even notice the portion sizes going up and be eating way too much. I know my food issues are fixed. I don't binge any more, I don't make poor food choices nearly as often as I used to. I've made the lifestyle change with regards to the types of food I eat on a regular basis and I can't see myself going back.

I don't deny myself anything, if I want chocolate I have chocolate. I just don't seem to needs a much to satisfy the craving as I used to. 1/2 a Mars bar satisfies my chocolate cravings now where as pre-surgery it'd take 2 or 3 of them.

As far as exercising goes the working theory is that because I don't work, I don't have structure in my life so therefore have difficulty working exercise into my daily routine. Which is true, to some degree.

When my son is at school I just bum around the house, tidying, cleaning and net surfing. There's no real structure to that, I just do what I want when I want.
I do need to set aside an hour of time each day to do something I enjoy rather than just going through the motions. Whether it be exercise (I quite enjoy swimming) or writing my book etc. I need to work it into my day and stick to it. Sooner or later I'll get better at it and want to do it because that's what's expected of me at that time.

We've also made a plan to fix my hunger issues. I get really hungry at dinner and it's not good to have your biggest meal right before bed, even if it is "good" foods!

So from now on I'm going to have a massive breakfast, eg cooked mushrooms and egg on toast, then a medium sized lunch eg a tuna and salad sandwich or 2 and a light dinner eg some salad with dressing and a small piece of chicken breast. That way I'm burning the majority of the calories during the day and it should also increase my metabolism. The more you stimulate your metabolism to burn calories the better it performs.

I'll update how I'm going with eating a bigger breakfast in a week or so. Got to wait until shopping day on Thursday to get supplies!