Fill 'er up...a second time

Today was Fill #2. Unfortunately I felt the loss immediately..in my wallet that is...$100 lighter.

I was excited to go in for my adjustment since I have felt minimum restriction. This means that my stomach still has a larger opening than ideal. The goal is to hit my "sweet spot" which will limit portion sizes and give off the feeling of be satiated.

The process begins with P.A. Gabe inserting a needle into the port and withdrawing all the fluids in the band. This way he can see if there is a leak and then putting that back plus adding some saline. I have a 14cc band and had 6.5cc already in it. (A little goes in at time of surgery and then a bit more at first fill.) Gabe was adding 1.5 cc to bring it to a total of 8 cc. The sweet spot supposedly is between 7-9 for some and 8-10 for others. Some need more - hoping I'm not falling in that category.

While in the waiting room I filled out some paperwork prior to the fill and wrote that I'm not doing too well with water. I explained to Gabe that I'm not so thirsty but need to make a conscious effort to drink much more. Glad I didn't lie about that since when he checked my level, he saw that I had lost some saline - about 1.5 cc. He explained that this is because my body is absorbing fluid from wherever it can. I had not idea that the band was permeable.

I do feel that this is tighter today but won't know more until I eat on Sunday. Fluids only for today and tomorrow. I even tried a cracker with peanut butter and nearly choked after 1.5 crackers. What happens is that your nose starts running which is the first sign to stop eating. Your body produces mucous as a defense mechanism to rid the body of a foreign object. Again stop eating and spit out whatever is in your mouth. The feeling is not that you are choking for air but that a golf ball is stuck at the stomach opening and no matter how many times you burp it won't go down. Extremely uncomfortable!! Some old habits die fast...and I am back on fluids wholeheartedly.

My weight is down a few pounds since my last fill four weeks earlier but only a few. I've by passed my lowest and am on track again. I'll let you know when I hit the "80s."

Going to enjoy a nice cold glass of water. Until the next post!

The Celebration Goes On

Logan's last day at elementary school was quite sad...for Mommy. Logan didn't sniffle or show any emotion. It seems to have been just another "last day of school" for him. Not me!!!

I teared up when I walked him into school and saw my friend who does the attendance. You can't get into the school without passing Joanne C.

I welled up when we walked to the Main Office to drop off our thank you notes to the custodians, secretaries, principal, asst principal, and special teachers - art, music, and gym.

Nose started to run when we left Main Office and saw favorite Teacher #2 and and then walked in to favorite Teacher #1.

More tears as I heard such lovely things from his Horizon's teacher.

Got a hold of myself and videotaped the 5th Grade Scavenger Hunt followed by PTA breakfast for the hunters. By the time I picked him up -- after leaving the school for 30 minutes -- I was done.

That afternoon I went by the catering hall to help set up and then went home to get Logan ready. He wore the "boy uniform" of dressing up which consisted of khaki shorts and plaid button down.

The hall was so festively done up in red for our Amusement Park Theme. Each table had yellow, red, blue balloons in popcorn boxes. We had an ice sculpture as a center piece -- see melting version pictured above -- plus popcorn machine & cotton candy machine set up as you walk in. We had a photo booth (wooden booth for posing) and had our resident photographer a.k.a. yearbook guru take individual shots of students all night long. And the best piece to me was the mini roller coaster that was set up by the entrance. Even the tables were named with photos of various amusement parks throughout the U.S.

DJ was an hour late but really quite good. Food not so according to Chef Logan. The night was loud but fun. PTA chaperones were eagles & all over the place - men's room, ladies room, entrance, 3 dance floor spots, 3 photo boothers, cotton candy, and popcorn...duties for all.

Logan treated this like a true roller coaster. He had his high moments and his low moments but in the end it will go down as a memorable night.

And me - I ended the night meeting the moms at the corner pub for a drink. (Me - water...I had my 2nd fill today. More on the next post.)

Good Bye 5th Grade! Hello 6th!

Moving On Up

That's right...Logan had a Moving Up ceremony at his new school. It's still nicknamed a graduation by the parents but it's official name is Moving Up. I started our day by decorating the front of the house with a banner, balloon, and some graduation hat cut outs. Dropped Logan off at school in his suit and tie and then took off with dad to his middle school for an hour wait. Lucky as always I got a great parking spot and didn't even have to drop him at the door. We got great seats and waited for the festivities to begin.

The children looked beautiful in dresses and suits. There was a very small handful of boys in golf shirts and slacks. More boys had shirt and ties while another handful had suits. Loved the suits! Logan gave me no problem with the jacket. In fact, I told him he didn't have to wear it but he thought his purple shirt was too much. Not at all...I'll email photos soon.

The ceremony was wonderful but it took a little while for me to realize that there are larger fan clubs for some children than others. Of course Logan falls in the "less" category. Me/dad and Bill/Betsy (somewhere in there) were Logan's fans. Remind me in the next life to marry into a big family and have lots of siblings and cousins for him to have hooting & hollering at this sort of event.

Now as this is my blog and not his...let's get back to me. After the ceremony we went into the cafeteria for some juice & cake. With 125 students and families you can imagine that it was a bit much. We stayed a short time, took some nice photos, and headed out to lunch. Unfortunately the restaurant (IHOP - nothing to fancy for my son!) was packed and we couldn't get in. He was thrilled to skip it and go get his newest DS Gameboy game - Guitar Hero. It is an awesome game, I must say. We went home and grabbed a bite from the local pizzeria. Logan was in Heaven. Okay, back to me. I wasn't. I actually had a little melt down and couldn't understand why. It was only when somebody pointed out that I lost out on my special meal (it's true - I had it all worked out) that I was so upset. Just goes to show you that food is an issue for me and something I will continue to fight until I really understand it's connection.

Maybe it's better for me to explain that after a late night of shopping and preparing for his graduation, getting all clothes ready for him, other him, and me, getting up earlier than Logan to decorate outsides, drop him off, get other him settled in, and than a little chaos at the ceremony...comfort food was my reward for a stressful time. AND let me add that I am very sad to see him leave his elementary school and move up and a bit away from me. Food is to me what a "last beer" is to an alcoholic. Happy to recognize this I hope to grow from this (spiritually not literally.)

Logan ended his evening with Bill and Betsy at Dave 'n Busters. Nice way to end an exciting day!

To Exercise or Not To Exercise - now THAT is the question!

The other day I finally got to sit down with a trainer at the gym to set up a program for me. This program which is part of my membership has an interesting trainer twist. You set up a program which consists of warm-up, machines, cool-down for a four week program. Then you meet at end of week four, eight, and twelve to switch it around & report back on progress. It's not the sort of trainer that stands next to you throughout your workout but more of a guidance program.

Interestingly enough the nutrition guidelines they suggest pretty much mimic what my doctor gave me. Two new things that I never heard about was 1) no fruit after 2:00pm and 2) no starch after 4:30 pm.

The plan that we set up consists of 3x a week at the gym and a daily 30-minute walk around the neighborhood. I'll keep you up on my progress as the weeks go by.

This week we are getting ready for Logan to finish his career as an elementary school student. He has a moving up ceremony taking place at the local middle school which will be followed by one more day of school. That evening he's off to a great big celebration at a local catering hall with the rest of the 5th graders. Lucky me I get to chaperone it. {{{no sarcasm - I really am lucky}}}

As he moves up, I begin my move away from being a constant presence in his school. This is due to the changing roles of a PTA parent. I'm so happy to have had the wonderful times with him and his school community these past six years. Over the years I was class mom, blood drive chair person, co-chaired a couple projects such as the weekly Book Swap and the PARP (parents are reading partners) committee, and even nearly got impeached from one - Family Fun Night. I also was able to volunteer at many different events - book sale, holiday sale, plant sale, father's day sale, Kindergarten registration, Self Esteem, Flying Carpets, and 5th Grade Committee. There was even a time that I worked daily at the school as a lunch lady. That was believe it or not quite exhausting. So now my role will change to a PTA meeting once a month and I will remain involved with the Blood Drive. Otherwise I think that's all I can do at the next level. But then again...I'll find some things that will keep me involved.

Today is a beautiful day and I'm able to relax a little as Logan and Zach get ready to play some kickball in the front yard. We open our pool this week so we're ready to begin this summer with a big splash!

To All The Fathers I've Loved Before

Very happy to say my day began with Logan. He returned yesterday from his cruise and Bill let him spend the night with me though it was their weekend together. Today Logan is back with his Dad and Grandpa and I believe returning tonight to spend some time with Nu Papa.

Today at Church the Priest shared his belief of the traditional family and what it is. He wasn't knocking divorced families or single moms but it's funny how I look into this with a wrinkled nose. In this day and age with the way the world is I would cherish being able to live in a "traditional family." But what is that tradition? In my mind it is two parents working as a team to develop the family unit. At the moment our familiy tradition is that I get to be mom and dad for the time Logan is with me and together we will make this a loving tradition.

So for the moms out there who do both roles, to the dads that do their best in their father role, to the ones we've lost - Dennis, Ol Papa and Opa, and to the ones still prominent in my life to some degree including Logan's Dad, mine, my step dad, and my former father-in-law, I wish you all a Happy Father's Day!

Now on to Karen's World...

Kitchen - currently in limbo.

Big TV - was picked up and set up. Loving it!

Lap Band - back on track and thinking I'm over plateau.

Gym - meeting with trainer this week.

Kickboxing - postponed due to working on Mon/Wed when class is held.

Little Blogger - Logan has began his own blog. If you'd like to be a visitor, please respond by "commenting" to this post and he will email you an invite to his blog which is called www.loganscruise.blogspot.com. You need to be an invited guest to enjoy his blog.

It's Good To Be The Queen!

Today I was treated to a one-hour facial at The Cornelia Day Resort by one of my hotel brokers. Now I've had facials before. I've had home facials, spa facials, student facials, and wellness facials. Before today my favorite facial was at Nordstrom's. At Nordstrom's you sit in a quiet area filled with soft, relaxing music as you soak your feet in a hot bowl of water with a warm towel draped over your neck relaxing in a comfy terry cloth robe and enjoying an herbal tea. After a wonderfully soothing facial, you are treated to a cold elixir. Lovely!

Well, today was over the top. I was first escorted to my private locker which had my name posted on it and found in it new slippers and a comfy robe waiting for me. I upgraded my robe to an upgraded size and changed into it - au Natural plus panties. Then I was escorted in to the quiet room where I sat on a lounge enjoying a nice cool drink of water. (They offered teas, juices, and water.) From there my esthetician Sophia escorted me to her room where I stripped down with a towel draped over my body and began my facial while enjoying their signature mineral infused foot bath, soothing light warm stone therapy and a nourishing antioxidant paraffin treatment for my hands and feet. She even took out this High Frequency wand that zapped the bacteria out of my skin. It was phe-nom-in-al!!

After the facial I could have relaxed on a chaise lounge in the library and read a book, take in great Zen music, and relax with champagne. But I went on to enjoy a lovely lunch in the rooftop garden with hotel reps from the Loews Hotels.

I was meant to be rich and pampered and am thrilled to see that some of the royalty treatment from a previous life still pours into my present life.

Ahhh-to be a Queen for a day!

www.cornelia.com/shop/index.php

Boo Boo Buddy

The verdict is in...torn crucial ligament. It's not life threatening (yet!) but there is a good chance the other leg will soon follow and then we're in trouble. The suggested surgery will require two days and nights in hospital, place a metal plate with eight (8) screws inside the knee, rehabilitation, and follow up care. Ka-ching! Ka-ching! We're looking at $3,800. Unfortunately that is not a possibility in our lives at the moment. I'm keeping fingers crossed that Dad hits it big with Lotto and that the other leg doesn't give out. Otherwise it's a matter of waiting for me to refinance to come up with this cash. My little fur-boy is only 7 years old and I can only think of getting him better. So keep the positive thoughts headed our way. And let's all remember - I'm a lucky girl. Things will work out. They always do.

Lap Band Talk Forum

I wanted to share with the interested parties a very informative link - Lap Band Talk Forum. This blog is still new to me and the idea of chat rooms is still very foreign to me. Being one of only two people that I know who had the lap band (Hi Mo!) I have limited opportunities to commiserate or identify what I am experiencing. This website gives me these opportunities. More and more often I find myself going to this link and posting a search word. From this simple inquiry I get loads of input from actual people who are going through or have gone through what I am. My most recent search was for plateaus. I am shocked that I am not losing weight the way I expected to. After all in the past I could lose 30 lbs. in a matter of six weeks. It's now past nine weeks since this journey began which includes the two months since surgery and I am just at that point now.

I may have mentioned earlier about having never plateaued before. The truth is that I never recognized that I was plateauing. I always thought that I had just lost some weight and fell off the wagon. Nope. Not true. It was those times that I had plateaued but didn't recognize it. So now I realize that even if I'm not having the weight fall off me I've changed enough about me that this will -- correction -- this is working just in a way it never did before. And that is what makes me know this time I will do it!

If you're curious about lap bands, take a look at this site by clicking the link at the very bottom of the blog.

"Cruisin'...on a Tuesday afternoon..."

Logan's on his way. Cruising down the Hudson (other direction than photo shows) on the Carnival "Victory" with his dad for a four day trip to Canada. Look closely at the photo and you will see my office building. On his last cruise Roland and I waited nearly 2 1/2 hours for the cruise ship to pass us. Just when we were about to give up we saw the bow of the ship to our right. Since it was nearly 100 degrees out we passed on this viewing. Right about now Logan is having dessert somewhere on the ship. His little body can handle the food...he's full of calorie-burning energy.

Me on the other hand not so. All is well and I'm actually starting to feel the "fill" more than I did a week ago. In fact I ate something too fast and it got caught outside the pouch. Quite an icky scary feeling. Kind of feels like you have a french fry stuck in the esophagus. That's pretty much what it is - food stuck in esophagus. Ugh! Chew! Chew! Chew!

It's actually too hot to keep writing. We've had a horrible heat wave that really has taken its toll on the tri-state area. Lots of brown outs and black outs. We've been the luckier ones with that situation. Not so for poor Gisele and Phil. They were without electricity all last night until early morning. Ugh!

Keep Cool!

Sex & The City - Who wants to be Miranda?

I had the opportunity to enjoy a movie of a much loved HBO TV series that ended a couple of years ago - "Sex & The City." Together with 10 other lady colleagues, I went to the theater in the city across from our office building. We began with appetizers at Chevy's, a sip of a Cosmopolitan (Carrie Bradshaw's signature drink), and enjoyed a 2 1/2 hour movie.

It was interesting to see (spoiler alert) how the lives of our heroines improved and digressed. Some people love it while others not so. Me - I think it was very real on many different levels. Having lived my colorful life as a single woman and as a former wife - I liked it.

What I found most interesting is that when we went around the table before the movie asking who do you think you are out of the four characters, nobody wanted to be Miranda.

Why would they? Carrie is fashionable, clever, and has a great job as a writer. Charlotte is the romantic one with a flair for being a proper lady. Samantha is the mature vixen who is strong, confident, and loves herself. And then there is Miranda - a cynical independent lawyer who is not the sexiest nor the most elegant nor the most fashionable. But I realized something. She is me.

After seeing this movie a second time with Tina, I realized that so many of her finer points are overlooked. She is independent and can rely on herself. She was a single mom with a little boy. She commutes to her job. She's witty and can tell great jokes about her own humorous life. She's a good friend who sometimes screws up. She sometimes feels alone in the world. Again she is me. And that's not a bad thing to be!

Update of Karen's World:

Good News! Kitchen cabinets came in hooray.
Bad News! They were too small. They hung 30" down from the ceiling and made me feel like I come from the land of Lilliput.

Good News! I have a new cube at work which has a chair for a guest and great counter space. It's very isolated.
Bad News! It's very isolated. It's like purgatory. Can't complain but can't jump in to song & dance as we sometimes did in my other corner.

Good News! Summer is here. It's in the 90s.
Bad News! It's in the 90s.

Good News! I had my fill and did not have a bad reaction.
Bad News! I had my fill and had a minimum good reaction. So I will schedule my 2nd fill for 6/27 instead of 7/11.

Good News! I walked 5 out of 7 days 30 minutes a day.
Bad News! It's not enough...I start kickboxing on Wednesday.

And so there ends today's blog.

~Karen