february 13, 2010

so i got a new follower to my blog... which means i better start blogging again! YIKES! :) there's been enough to write about, just not enough mental wherewithal to get all of my thoughts out. get it together, bethie! seriously now.

i have recently jumped back on the weight loss bandwagon. for those of you reading that may not know, i had lap-band surgery in june of 2007. i initially lost about 80 pounds, and then dun dun DUN......... i married zach. and then i got super lazy. i gained almost all of that weight back in the next year and a half, which is something i'm not proud of. i have this amazing tool and i was not using it to its full capability. how irresponsible of me.

for those not familiar with the lap-band device or how it works, this is a great site to check out.

i had plenty of excuses for not getting my band filled. i can't get time off work to go. zach likes me just the way i am. i'm healthy enough, just overweight, so who cares? i don't have insurance. (then, when i had insurance) i don't know if the fill is covered by my insurance. i just moved to denver and don't know where to go.

well, i care. zach cares. my parents care. ultimately, God cares. i am supposed to be responsible and take care of my body. our future kids will care.

not to mention, i have PCOS.

PCOS is greatly effected by obesity. and PCOS greatly effects fertility. if i lose weight, the PCOS can get better, although it is not curable. whether or not the side effects decrease, i must take care of my body. afterall, i only have one!

so last week, when i was off work recuperating from gallbladder surgery, i went in for a consultation with a lap-band surgeon here in denver. i was expecting a meeting and to develop a game plan for getting a fill and moving forward. the surgeon decided to do the fill that day. well, he wanted to, but it didn't work out. we ended up having to do the fill the next day under fluoroscope. it's basically a fast-moving x-ray so that the doctor can get real-time images and, in my case, see exactly where the band port is and get the needle in the right spot.

the fill ended up taking a really long time, even under the fluoroscope. and with a great team of radiation techs. it didn't hurt, as they gave me a local anesthetic around the area where the port is located. but we got the fill done, which was the main point.

since the fill, i have lost about 8 pounds. this is a small victory, but a victory that i will celebrate. i am able to eat much less food than before the fill. i am looking forward to many more pounds shed.

stay tuned, won't you? i promise to post much more often.