Questions for my Surgeon - Any Suggestions?

Tuesday I go in for my last appointment per my insurance requirments and I will be meeting with the surgeon.  Here are some questions that I put together with the help of Tessirose (I stole borrowed some from her).  Can anybody think of something I should add?  Appreciate your input. 

1. What kind of band will I be getting and what size is it?  (At my first appointment, the surgeon said I have a choice between Realize and the Lapband.  He said that there is no difference, but it seems like there has to be some kind of difference.  Don't you think?  Maybe I'll ask my surgeon if his best friend was getting the surgery, which would he suggest.

2. Will I have any fluid in the band when it is placed?  (I asked the NP this question at my 4th month visit and she said band would be primed, but there wouldn't be a fill.  Just want to double-check)


3. How long do I have to wait for my first fill? In between fills?  (NP said I'd get my first fill after 4 weeks and they usually start at 4 cc - kind of sounds like a lot for a first fill from what I've read.)  Also want to get his philosophy of how long I need to wait inbetween fills. 


4. Do I need to lose weight prior to surgery?  Will he not do the surgery if my liver is too big?  I've read that liver size really shouldn't matter to a good surgeon. 


5. Will I be able to get my pain med prescription prior to surgery so I can have filled before I have surgery?  What about ambien - can I take with pain meds?

6.Ideas for Vitamins and supplements. (My NP said Flinstones are fine for vitamins.  Seems hard to believe that children's vitamins are okay for adults too). 


7. Will he be giving me something to prevent gallstones?

8. My father and brother are prone to bloodclots.  I've never had one, but should there be any extra precautions taken since I have a family history. 

9. Last question I have depends on my surgery date.  I'm hoping he can get me in first week of July.  If not, then I need to ask him how my vacation end of July can fit into my surgery/recovery. 

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend.  It is beautiful here today.  Sunny and warm with a slight breeze - not a cloud in the sky.  Perfect pool weather.   I got a little crispy so decided to come in and blog for a while.  Later tonight the plan is for the kids to do smores over the fire pit, while the hubby and I sip grand marnier.  Yum... 

BYOC Friday Courtesy of Drazil - Late as usual

BYOC - here we go again! A couple of questions to get to know each other better. Copy and paste into your own blog if you want to play!

1. If you could be a flower, which one would it be and why?


This is a hard one because I don't know a lot about flowers.  I looked online and found the Stargazer Lily.   It appealed to me because it has kind of a boring white outline, but inside is that brilliant pink.  Kind of reminds me of myself - I'm a little shy at first, but once I get comfortable all kinds of fun comes out. 

2. Which Sex and The City Character do you most relate to? (Thanks Jenny)


I had been watching the series on HBO for quite a few years before I read somewhere that each of the characters is supposed to be a side of one person so really all the characters make up one personality.   What a great concept!   For those of you saying, "Duh", all I can say is that I didn't think a show called Sex in the City would require deep thinking.  I think a couple of people said something about Carrie being so confident, but it's funny I always thought the opposite.  To me, she seemed a little insecure and the pleaser of the group.  She never wanted anybody to be mad at her and wanted everyone to get along.  That's definitely me.  I am not like her when it comes to fashion - she's a little crazy



3. If you had a crystal ball or could know one thing about the future - what would it be?



Winning lottery numbers. 

4. What's your biggest fear in your weight loss journey?



That I won't be successful with the band


5. Repeat question: Whose blog or comment spoke to you the most this week and why?

I liked Cara's post My 12 month Odyssey.  I liked learning about the good and the bad changes that have taken place in her life since the band.  Helps me know what to expect during my journey. 

Hopefully you won't fall asleep.

You all write these long, interesting posts and I can't think of anything that doesn't have the real possibility of putting you to sleep.  I'm hoping that will change once I get the band.  Maybe if I can keep my thoughts short and sweet it'll be easier to hold your attention.   

Can't remember if I've mentioned in any of my previous posts, but my Dad was diagnosed with cancer about 8 months ago.   He went through chemo and radiation and is now in remission.   He's such a trooper.  78 years old and the nurses told him that he tolerated chemo better than most.   When he first received the diagnosis, he didn't seem like he wanted to fight - he made comments that he wanted to be with my mom (she passed away 4 years ago).  My brothers and I told him that we need him and our kids need him so he did the treatment.   Thank God.   

Several people have posted stories about ghost/spirit encounters.  I definitely believe.  Back in March I did a post about my mom helping me out from beyond - cue spooky music.  I've had friends and family who have had experiences as well.  When my grandmother was younger, she was walking up the steps of her row home and she saw a mist pass across in front of her from the wall separating the houses.  A few minutes later the next door neighbor started banging on the door saying she couldn't wake up her husband.  He had passed away.  Another story - My best friend lived in her deceased aunt's house and saw visions of her aunt frequently.  I think that would freak me out. 

What the heck am I going to do now that Biggest Loser is over and LOST if off the air?  I guess I'll watch the show that Jillian is doing, although she gets on my nerves sometimes.  Does anybody watch Drop Dead Diva on Lifetime channel?  The second season starts June 6th.  It's about the spirit of this pretty blond model who enters the body of an overweight woman.  It's a comedy with some dramatic undertones. 

Has anybody tried the new diet TropArocka Snapple that Brett Michael's developed on The Apprentice?  It's really good.  My local store is sold out of it. 

I'm looking forward to this weekend, but I have to be careful with eating.  My last weigh in is on Tuesday and I really want to be down from last time.  I am so excited to get my surgery date, although I know it won't be official until I get the insurance approval.  My surgeon said he can work with me on my surgery date.  I'm kind of torn.  I have vacation the end of July so I'm thinking if I can't get the surgery first week of July then maybe I should wait until after vacation to get it.  I don't want my recovery to hinder my family's good time.  I'll let you know what happens.  I'm also planning on telling my boss on Tuesday too.  Not sure why I'm nervous.  I know a lot of you chose not to tell your boss and/or coworkers, but it's just awkward since I work for the hospital where I'm getting the surgery.  I know it's my business, but in the long run I think it will just be easier to tell them.   

Mother Nature has been kind of pissing me off.  Weather has been crazy - definitely not May-like.  We go from very mild - sometimes cool weather to today which was hot and humid and we're expecting severe thunderstorms tonight.  Initially, the weekend was supposed to be cooler again - low 70s.  Now it's looking better - mid to upper 80s and sunny, which is great pool weather.  OMG - I AM TALKING ABOUT THE WEATHER.  I AM TOTALLY BORING!  Think it's time to sign off. 

BYOC From Drazil

So here we go - 5 questions courtesy of Drazil - some funny and some serious - to get to know each other better! Join in if you dare!

1. If you had 3 wishes what would they be and why? (you can't wish for more wishes or money!)

• That my mom was alive and healthy.
• That my children have happy and healthy futures
• That cures were found for all deadly diseases. 

2. If you had all the money in the world and perfect circumstances - how many children would you have and what sex?


I currently have 2 beautiful girls.  I think I'd like to have a boy.  My one daughter said she'd like an older brother so she could scope out his friends.  My younger daughter said she'd want a younger brother so she wasn't the youngest.  So I guess 2 boys - one as the oldest and one as the youngest - for a total of 4 children. 


3. Have you ever faked it? (Because I need to laugh...feel free to skip this one if it's too personal.)

I did once and I felt like such an ass, I couldn't bring myself to do it again. Never fake it with my husband.  If I'm in the mood, he can take care of business.  If I'm not, I take care of his business and call it a day.




4. What movie character do you think you look like?


When I was thinner, I was told I look like Ricky Lake after she lost weight.  Ironically, now that I'm fat, I don't look like the fat Ricky Lake. 

5. Repeat question. Which blog or comment spoke to you or stuck with you this week and why?

Lori of A Journey to Embrace did a great post yesterday about how she is at the point where mind, body and soul are finally working together.  Really enjoyed reading. 

Drazil of It's Just Me, Drazil and Sheniqua did a brave post about depression. 

All A Matter of Perspective

A nice, calm and respectable lady went into the pharmacy, walked
up to the pharmacist, looked straight into his eyes, and said,
"I would like to buy some cyanide."


The pharmacist asked,
"Why in the world do you need cyanide?"


The lady replied,
"I need it to poison my husband."


The pharmacist's eyes got big and he explained,
"Lord have mercy! I can't give you cyanide to kill your husband, that's
against the law?  I'll lose my license! They'll throw both of us in jail! All
kinds of bad things will happen. Absolutely not! You CANNOT have any
cyanide!"


The lady reached into her purse and pulled out a picture of her husband
in bed with the pharmacist's wife.


The pharmacist looked at the picture and replied,
"You didn't tell me you had a prescription."

Sangria Sunday

It was such a beautiful day today.  The family and I spent a few hours sitting on the deck and I sipped on some wonderful homemade sangria.  Everybody puts up such great recipes so I wanted to pass on one I found for sangria.

1.5 liter of dry red wine

(I use Frontera Concha Tora Cabernet/Merlot mix)

1/2 cup brandy

1/2 cup triple sec

1/2 cup sugar (you can vary amount to your sweetness level)

Mix all of the above together

Add:

1 lemon cut up

1 apple cut up

1 orange cut up

(I usually squeeze some of the juice from the slices into the sangria)

A lot of recipes call for 10 oz club soda.  I don't like my sangria fizzy, but some people may want to add. 

It might be my imagination, but I think it's better after it sits for a few hours.  Pour over ice. 

Another good recipe for rum punch is

1 part Malibu Rum
1 part cranberry
1 part pineapple juice

Can you tell I like to drink?





Hope everyone had a great weekend.  I can't believe it's over already. 

Luckily, I get to meet Linda tomorrow for dinner.  That makes the weekend being over a little easier.

 

BYOC Friday

It’s another Friday episode of BYOC where we answer just 5 questions (some funny, some serious) in order to learn more about our fellow bloggers whether they are old or new followers. Copy and paste to your blog if you want to play along!




1. If you could be a cartoon character – who would you be and why?

I'd be Shrek because he's fat and green, but doesn't care. Either him or on the opposite side Jessica Rabbit.

2. Who was your teenage heart throb? (Thanks Fiona for this one)

Shaun Cassidy, Leif Garrett and Kiefer Sutherland in The Lost Boys. 

3. Do you believe being overweight is about a mental obstacle or do you believe it’s simply about overeating/food?

I think it is both. I know that I am an emotional eater - eat when I'm happy, sad, depressed, bored, etc. But in a way, I guess that is an addiction because emotion is what turns most to their drug of choice.  I was just overweight until my mom passed away and then I moved into morbidly obese.  Everyone thought I was going to go into a deep depression when my mom died, but I didn't.  I ate my way through the pain.  There are times when I am so into the food and enjoying every bite and then there are times when I finish without even remembering I ate. 

4. What’s your all-time favorite song?

So many songs for so many reasons. Of course there is "When A Man Loves A Woman" sung by Michael Bolton because it was the first dance at my wedding. "Boys of Summer" by Don Henley because it reminds me of lazy summers when all I had to worry about was getting an even tan. "Cry Little Sister" by G. Tom Mac because Lost Boys was such a sensual movie and Kiefer was so hot (see answer to question #2)


Hotel California by the Eagles because it tells a really compelling story.  And I love most dance songs because I like to dance.  You will see me in my wedding video shaking my butt (which was not so big back then) to "Baby Got Back" by Sir-Mix-A-Lot and "Everybody Dance Now" was also on our song list. 

5. Whose blog or comment spoke to you/stuck with you this week and why? This is our “you get to be famous for a moment” without having to follow all the rules of an official blog award question.

Jacquie’s blog really made me think about how quickly we can lose someone we love.   I've been trying to do better with living in the moment.

 

Two Wolves and Amazing Race Finale Spoiler

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about the battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.


One is Evil - it is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego.


The other is Good - it is joy, peace, love hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

For those of you who are extremely deep, please don't think I am trying to say that eating is evil and not eating is good.  That's not where I am coming from at all.  A friend emailed above to me and I thought it was kind of cool and it made me think, so I passed it on.  It has nothing to do with living with the band.  It's more about being the person you want to be through your actions. 

Linda of Linda's Bandwith and I were supposed to meet for dinner yesterday (for the first time), but unfortunately I had to cancel because my daugher was sick.  I sounded like a total idiot when I called to let her know (for some reason I was really nervous) and am hoping that she will still want to meet this upcoming Monday.   Keep your fingers crossed for me.  I can only imagine how I'm going to be in Chicago.  I'll probably be speechless, which might not be a bad thing.  Just ask Linda.   

WARNING Amazing Race Spoiler - don't read if you haven't watched finale.

I had a very nice mother's day.  Yummy breakfast made by hubby and kids.  Went to see Ironman II, which I enjoyed a lot.  Then back home to watch Amazing Race finale.  Wasn't thrilled with who won - my vote was for the cowboys. 

Hope you are all doing well. 

Gwen of Secret Diary of a Band Birl

Gwen of Secret Diary of a Band Girl - we can't leave comments on your blog.  I had this problem when I first started my blog.  I don't remember how I fixed it, but I know I went to blogger help  and typed in "people can't leave comments' and it told me how to fix. 

Michelle of The life of my LapBand mentioned you needed support and would love to leave some as soon as you fix your comments. 

By the way, I started my blog 6 months prior to surgery to and am so glad that I did.  It's not strange at all to start now.  I've gotten so much support during this time.  It's not easy to play this waiting game so it's good you are here. 

BYOC Friday from Drazil

I know it's Saturday, but I draftet this on Friday, so I'm still going to use my TGIF picture. 

BYOC Friday! This means we answer 5 questions you wouldn't normally blog about – some fun, some serious – in an effort to get to know each other better. You’ll see BYOC blogs all over blogland today so join the party if you wish! Because mama pimp told us to.

1. Do you have any nicknames? (Thanks for this question Joey)
Just Bon short for Bonnie.  Ironically a lot of people ask me if Bonnie is short for Bonita - which it is not. 


2. What was your “last straw”? The incident/situation that made you decide to get a lap band or commit to losing weight via any plan this time?

My best friend said she was going to get one and honestly the thought of her being skinny while I was still fat scared the crap out of me. 

3. What’s your favorite joke or funny story? (This is from Sandy – she needs some laughter to start the weekend and requested this one.)

So there was this poor girl with big ears who decided to be brave and go to the school dance.  All she wanted was for somebody to ask her to dance, although she figured it was very unlikely.  After a while, she saw Danny, the poor boy who everyone made fun of because he had a wood eye, making his way across the dance floor and headed in her direction. 

He came up to her hesitantly and says quitely, "Would you dance with me?"  Majorily excited she shouts out "WOULD I!  WOULD I!  Looking shocked ,he quickly shouts back 'BIG EARS!  BIG EARS!" 

Get it, he thougt she said "wood eye."  This is probably better as an oral joke versus written.  I must like oral jokes because I have another funny one about about a salesperson with a lisp.  Remind me to tell it in Chicago.  It was the first joke my Mom told me that had a cuss word in it, so I'll remember it forever. 


4. If you could be a TV dinner – what flavor would you be?

I think I'd be a chicken pot pie.  It's crispy on the outside but all warm and gooey in the middle, with a bunch of different things going on - carrots, peas, potates...and a side of warm cinnamon apples.


5. The question we do every week so everyone can be a little famous without having to do an official blog award….what blog or comment stuck with you or spoke to you the most this week and why?

It's hard to choose, but the vlogs are fun because I get to see people's personalities.

Weigh In 5 - Done

Thanks for all your input on protein powder.  I got the unjury sample kit in the mail today and tried the unflavored in some crystal lite peach tea and it was NASTY!   Looks like I have more experimenting to do. 

Hopefully everyone had a wonderful Cinco de Mayo yesterday.  I know I did.  We went to this restaurant with an outside deck and live music. Hubby and I met up with my brother, sister-in-law and a few other friends.  Since it was my husband's 40th birthday, I told him I'd be the designated driver, so he proceeded to have quite a few long island iced teas.  He got very tipsy which was funny because he rarely does.  On our way home, he proceeded to slur how much he loved me and how happy he is and some other things that I'll leave to your dirty imaginations.  He was so cute.  Until he had to get up this morning for work.  Not so cute then, but he managed to get to work and I talked to him a while ago and he's doing fine. 

I also had my weigh in yesterday.  Down 2 lbs since last month, 4.5 lbs down total.   That means I have less than 100 lbs to lose to get to my goal.  Now, I know what you are thinking.  "Ummm, Bon, you really need to work on your math because your weight ticker is showing you have 109 lbs to lose."  That, my friends, is because I changed my goal to make it 160 instead of 170.  My goal before surgery is to lose at least 10 lbs so I have less than 100 lbs to lose before I get the band.  I was excited to hear that at my June 1st appointment I'll be getting my surgery date.  I thought I had to wait until I got insurance approval, but I don't.  Obviously if I don't get approval by the surgery date, they will need to reschedule, but I'm hoping the insurance company will look at my file quicker if I actually have a date. 

Now off to catch up on everybody's blogs.  But one last thing, wanted to show you something I found that could revolutionize our weigh ins. 

I'm a Blogaholic.

Hi, my name is Bonnie and I'm a blogaholic.  I can't stop reading and commenting on blogs.  A few minutes ago I found myself hitting the refresh button over and over to see if any new posts would pop up.  I think I have a problem. 

You might think the obvious answer is for me to follow more blogs - right?  WRONG!  Because if I can't manage to keep up on everybody's blogs, I start to get anxious.  Maybe I'll miss a really awesome post that will have that nugget of information that will be the key to my success.  Or maybe someone will be going through a really rough time and my words of encouragement will help them get through. 

Luckily my addiction does not hurt my family.  I blog while we watch tv so no one really cares.  I guess it is costing money since my addiction is taking me to Chicago, but luckily I didn't have to steal or prostitute myself to get the funds.  I do have to pimp myself out a bit to my husband, but that's just fun, so it doesn't count. 

Going in for my weigh in tomorrow.  Then one month to go til my last appointment.  YIPPPPPEEEEE! 

I need to get serious about getting prepared for surgery.  I've heard that unjury is a great protein powder.  I ordered some online.  Does anybody have any other suggestions?  I've heard isopure is a necessary evil, especially right after surgery.  Anybody have anything else to use?  I was wondering about mixing unflavored protein powder with crystal lite - wouldn't that kind of be like the isopure, but maybe taste better? 

Hope everyone has a happy Cinco de Mayo tomorrow.