Finally, I got a band adjustment aka "fill"

I saw my doctor today and he filled my band with .5cc . I am so happy. I haven't had enough restriction and hopefully now I will. I was told to have liquids only for the first 24 hours. I ate some cream of cauliflower soup that I made the other day. It is yummy. I didn't lose any weight between this appointment and the last appointment which was December 22. Last time I went in the doctor wouldn't fill me because I had lost 6 pounds. He was concerned about my acid reflux and heartburn. Today he saw I wasn't losing but asked me if I still have heartburn and I said I did but I am controlling it with Prilosec so he said "OK lets get you filled". I would have been happy with a tiny amount but since he chose to do .5 I was pleased. Since my 2 year anniversary is next month they gave me my lab sheet to have my blood drawn and took my picture. I got the picture in my email when I got home. I couldn't believe how baggy my pants were. I mentioned it to my husband and he said, "yes they are" Now wouldn't you think he would tell me it's time to get rid of those pants because they are too big now? Heck no!!! Well, I need to go through my closet and give clothes to Goodwill. Even some of my tops are super loose on me. I noticed at the gym today the shirt I was wearing was too big. That is such a good feeling. I need to go shopping for some smaller sizes. Oh yeah!!

I still wish I had lost more than I have, but I feel as though the last year I've been on PAUSE. Since my band was completely unfilled for 6 months and then it only had a small amount in it really kept my weight at a standstill. I guess I should be happy I didn't gain a bunch of weight back. When I was filled to the most I had before I still only lost one pound a week, which isn't much but at least it was steady and consistent. I am glad the Gastro doctor found nothing wrong and I am able to proceed. I have continued my exercise 5 days a week and I think that has really helped me. I am stronger than I have been in so many years and I feel fantastic.

Well, I it's time for American Idol so I will end this now.

A New Week Begins...

Well, I was surprised by my husband yesterday with a small package. It looked to be jewelry. I was really taken by surprise. When I opened it I found a heart shaped pendant with 7 diamonds on it. It is beautiful. He really outdid himself. I was hoping for a card for Valentine's Day. I hope your day was as perfect as mine, not to say that I hope you all got gifts but that someone you care about was thoughtful and kind to you.

Our Pastor at church did a sermon on The Love Bank. He explained that if you did something kind, thoughtful or generous to someone, either your spouse or a family member or even a friend or a stranger, it makes a deposit in their Love Bank towards you. If you do something like get angry, or criticize, or some other negative act it makes a withdrawal from the Love Bank. It was interesting and made perfect sense. For the rest of the day we made it a point to be kind and complimentary towards each other. Not that we usually don't but it just brought it to the forefront that we should take the time to be more thoughtful and kind to each other.

The afternoon was nap time at our house as Sunday's tend to be. And then we watched some of the Olympics before dinner. We had leftover Chicken Enchiladas for dinner. They were delicious.

Today, it's back to the gym for my weight workout, the elliptical and Zumba class. Tomorrow I have an appointment with my surgeon for an adjustment to my LapBand. I cancelled my appointment last month because my band had gotten very tight so I didn't think I needed a fill. Now it's gone back to normal so I am going to see if he will fill it little. I haven't lost much weight the last couple of months and I've noticed I can eat a pretty large portion at times which is why I haven't lost much weight. Well, that's about all that's new with me.......have a good week.

Happy Valentine's Day..

I haven't posted on here in a few weeks and I need to get busy here again. I have been doing lots of work around the house as well as some volunteer work for our church. I read the last post I wrote about my burning my hand on the pan I took out of the oven. It just started to peel this week. I thought it blistered the night I burned it but the next day the blisters were gone. Now my hand is all peeling and the skin underneath is new and not super tender like it would be if it had peeled right away.

I have been struggling to eat better. My band was tight for a time but is now back to normal. I am thinking I should keep my appointment for an adjustment and get just a small fill. I have been having heartburn still but can keep it controlled with OTC meds. I have to eat dinner early and remember not to eat or drink anything beyond 7 or 8pm. I have managed to lose a few pounds but I wish it was more. When I was filled last year I was losing a pound a week, which is not fast but was steady and if I had continued to lose at that pace I would be at my goal weight now. I still go to the gym 5 days a week and I know it has helped me tremendously with my strength and balance.

I am wanting to start to learn quilting but I can't seem to make time in my day to get started. I seem to be busy most of the day with other daily household things so I need to organize my time better. I went to a friend's home a few weeks ago and saw all the beautiful quilts she has made and I got inspired but I haven't done any more than that yet. She made a beautiful king sized quilt for their bed and it had trees on it. It was so lovely.

I am up earlier than I wanted to be this morning, Chloe woke me and of course she is asleep now and I am awake. I tried to go back to bed but was too awake to go back to sleep. Do any of you have plans for Valentine's Day? I don't have any. I bought my husband a beautiful card and I am going to fix a nice dinner but that is all I am planning. I doubt if he has anything planned. We'll see.

Well, I am going to try and catch up on some of your blogs now since I haven't read them in a while. Oh we do have a new baby in our family. My oldest brother's youngest son and his wife had their first baby on Friday afternoon. They named her Delaney Grace. Isn't that a pretty name? Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!

New Recipe, with an accident...

The other night I was trying a new recipe. It was Chicken Parmesan. Also, I have a new set of pans. They are Calphalon Unison pans. I love love love them. You can put them in the oven and even the dishwasher (although I always hand wash my pans) Anyway, getting back to my recipe, it called for cooking the chicken for a couple of minutes on each side and then placing the pan in the oven for 6 minutes. Then you turn over the chicken and add your pasta sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan and return to oven for 6 more minutes. When it was done I took the pan out of the oven and put it on the stove. The chicken looked divine. I needed the burner the pan was sitting on so I reached out to grab the handle and move it over to another burner. OMG!!!! I forgot it was hot!!! My hand was burned really badly. Searing pain made me run to the sink. I ran cold water and stood there with my hand under the water. I couldn't believe I had been so careless. I walked around the kitchen with my hand submerged in a glass of cold water while I put the food out and got everything else ready for dinner. The chicken was delicious by the way.
After dinner my hand was really hurting so I took a washcloth and wrapped up two ice cubes in it and held it in my hand. It helped for a while and then the pain would come back. I sat there this way alternating between the water and the ice for 5 hours and still no relief. I was afraid I would have to go for medical help. I was getting so tired. It was after 11 and I usually go to bed at around 10. I couldn't imagine trying to sleep with my hand in a glass of water. I have a tube of lidocaine from when I had my LapBand surgery to use for my band adjustment appointments. I don't use it because it didn't seem to make a difference when I do. Well, I thought maybe it would help my hand. I got the cream and gently rubbed it on my hand. The pain was horrible but I kept it out of the water hoping the pain would subside. It came and went for about a half an hour. Then I noticed it was easing off a bit. Bob suggested putting something over my hand to protect it and we thought a white sock would work. He helped me put the sock on. It looked as though it was blistering. I figured in the morning if it still looked bad I would go to Urgent Care. Yesterday I got up and it looked really red and tight and leathery looking. But there weren't any blisters. Today it looks even better. I think I lucked out.

My hubby had an outpatient surgery today at the hospital. He had hernia surgery. We are both pretty tired. He had to be there at 6:15 this morning. We also took our next door neighbor to the hospital too. She was having a heart catherization at the same time and was going to drive herself so I said just come with us. She did. Her procedure was delayed because her doctor had an emergency. She isn't home yet so I don't know the outcome of her test. She had it done 5 years ago and had to have heart bypass surgery. She is almost 84 and in great health. She is active and exercises every day and also goes line dancing two or three times a week. I hope she doesn't have to go for bypass surgery again.

My band has been so tight lately. I am glad I didn't get it adjusted last time I went to the doctor. I don't know why it is but this is the time of the year that I got tight last year. Since I was filled more than I am now it really caused some problems. It keeps me eating smaller portions for sure. Also I have to eat dinner by 6pm and nothing to eat or drink after dinner.

Have a good weekend everyone!!

It's Friday Already?

Boy this week went by fast! Last night I checked my Ipod to see if it was still wet and it appeared to be completely dried out. I turned it on and ...........it works!! I was so relieved. Now hopefully it will be able to function in all ways. I read of one person who said that he couldn't charge the battery once it had gotten wet. I still have most of the charge on the battery so I will use it today at the gym and charge it over the weekend.

I have an appointment next week for a Lapband adjustment. Last month when I went for one the doctor didn't want to give me one. He was hesitant because of the fact that my reflux came back when he started to fill the band again. He suggested I wait a few weeks. So I made an appointment for a month out. Now the last few days my band feels like it has tightened so I think I am going to cancel my appointment. I may just push it out another month so that I will have one if I need it next month. I have lost a couple of more pounds finally, now that I have a fill again. I have started to try to eat a little better. The good thing about my band is that I was able to eat what I wanted because I haven't been able to eat that much and still lost weight. But, I have decided that I need to be more mindful of what I eat. I am trying to get in more fruits and vegetables. Last night I made cabbage rolls since I was given a huge cabbage by someone. I had never made them before but remember them from when I was a child and I loved them. Well, Mister Picky wasn't thrilled with them. He is not a veggie eater and the cabbage didn't go to well with him. He loved the filling but not the cabbage part. I thought they were delicious. I got the recipe from one of the blogs I read but I can't remember who's blog at this time. Of course I made a dozen of these things and I could only eat one. He ate two. Now I need to find a home for 9 more. I hope they freeze well. I will eat one for lunch today and then freeze the rest. Or maybe give a few to my neighbor lady.

Do any of you watch American Idol? We've been watching it since the first season and I am hoping they cut short the beginning part where they show all the people who are auditioning just to get on TV. Some of that is okay but two months of it is a little much.

Last week we watched New In Town with Renee Zellwegger and Harry Connick Jr. Have you seen it? We enjoyed it. Thought it was pretty funny. Renee has quite a sense for comedy. Got our new Netflix movie yesterday. It's High School Musical. I haven't seen it and don't know if I will like it but I want to see what all the hoopla is about. My hubby wasn't too excited when I told him what it was. We'll see. I pop him some popcorn and he'll be happy.

Well, the water line is going down in the Ipod but who knows if it will still work once the water evaporates? I could just kick myself for not being more careful. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.
Yesterday I had lunch with 3 friends at a fairly new restaurant in our area. They make the best bread. Oh it's delicious. Only problem is I can't really eat it because it's very dense. It is hard for me to get it through my Lapband. They sell several different flavors and they are all good. They opened a vegetarian restaurant where their bakery is. I had a cup of Butternut Squash soup and a small spinach salad. Very good. One of my friends ordered a vegetarian Reuben sandwich. She took it home for later as she was full after her salad. I'll have to call her today and see how she liked it. After lunch we stopped by a local winery so one of the girls could pick up her wine club wines. I had never been there before and was amazed at what a pretty place was just a few miles from my house. They built a cave that has beautiful inlaid tables made from wine barrels. There are sculptured figures on the stone walls inside and as you are walking in the cave they have scriptures on the floor from the book of Romans. It was very cold inside and it felt good to get outside to the garden area. It's been in the 50s the last few days which is pretty warm for this time of the year. Our area here in Southern Oregon has become quite the winery area over the last several years. We have several wineries and even a wine tour that takes in a couple of adjoining areas. I plan on checking a few of the other wineries out this year too. We didn't do any wine tasting during our visit but I'll have to come back and try some of their wines.
Today I plan to go to the Zumba class again. It rained pretty hard last night and now it's pretty quiet out there. I don't know if the rain is expected to continue today or not.

The Day Started Badly...

I went to the gym yesterday morning to get back into my workout routine after not having gone in two weeks due to the surgery I had.

I had left my workout bag in the car over the weekend. On Friday I met a friend there to show her around after she joined and took the bag but didn't need it. I pulled the bag out of the back seat and wanted to check my Ipod since it had been a couple of weeks since I'd used it and the battery might be low. My towel was wet, "oh no" then I pulled the Ipod out and it was wet too. In fact it had water trapped in the screen area. "NO!!!!" How could this happen? My water bottle has never leaked before, or was it just the moisture in the air. No the towel was too wet to be just from moisture in the air. I tried the Ipod and it still worked. I felt sick. I know that when electronics get wet and then dry they can corrode. I love my Ipod. I had it a couple of years and it contains some of my favorite songs. I kept it in my pocket while I worked out on the weight machines. Then I thought maybe if I wear it on my arm like I usually do my body heat will help to dry out the water in it. I put it on my arm for my elliptical workout and I even listened to it then. Then I tried out the newest Zumba class which is designed for beginners in the class. It was still a great workout and I was soaking wet from head to toe after class. I came home and told my husband about the Ipod. He suggested using a hair dryer on low heat to try to dry up the water. I tried it for a few hours off and on. I Googled "what to do with a wet Ipod" The first warning they all gave is "Don't turn it on whatever you do" Great! of course now I am screwed! Since getting it wet makes any warranty invalid (not that I still have one) I read some of the suggestions. Several people said to place in a container full of uncooked rice in a warm place so that is where it is now. I just checked it when I woke up and it still has water in the screen. It appears to be less but we'll see. I am just sick about this. It's not like it cost me twenty bucks. I guess in the future, if it continues to work after this I won't leave water in my water bottle. Some of the suggestions said to carefully open the Ipod and attempt to dry the parts but I am afraid to open it. I guess I just have to wait and see what happens.