3rd year bandiversary........

Well, it's 3 years today since I got my band. I never thought 3 years ago that I would still be fighting with my weight. I am, however, very grateful to have lost the weight I have lost. And I know I couldn't have lost it without the help of the band. I have about 6 weeks left until I go for another upper GI. I am hoping (praying) that this time I will be healed and the doctor can give me a fill.

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. It's been sunny and showering all afternoon. I worked a little on Bob's quilt that I am making. I am making a pot of chili for dinner and we are watching "Uncle Buck" with John Candy. That movie is a classic and I just love it. I laugh at the same places every time I watch it. It's nice that it doesn't get dark early any more. My tulips that I planted last fall are growing and several have buds on them. I am so anxious to see the colors on them. When they bloom I will take some pictures and post them.....well, the chili timer is going off.........

Missed an important milestone.....

Yesterday was my blogoversary and I missed it. Well, at least I didn't let too much time go by before realizing it. I have been doing this blog for 3 years now. I don't take as much care and time with it as some of the better blogs I follow. I sometimes just think I have nothing of interest to say. In fact even when I do post sometimes it isn't of much interest. :) I am coming up on my Lapband anniversary too and I hope I can remember to post on that day. So much has happened in the last three years. I have lost nearly 100 pounds and I have had complications with my band and I have done some traveling and lots of camping and also learned how to quilt. I still have a love of collecting recipes and cooking them. I have learned so much from all the blogs I follow. I want to thank you all for being so creative and also for teaching me various things along my journey in life.

I have expanded the blogs I follow to include foodie or cooking blogs, quilting and crafting blogs, all kinds of weight loss blogs, and a few that I just find interesting. Here's to another year, and hopefully I can reach my goal in this year and resolve my issues with my band.....

Hello, Monday...........

Just got back from my workout at the gym. I decided a couple of weeks ago that I would do my workout on the elliptical first and then the weight machine circuit. I was doing it in reverse order and some days I just couldn't do my 30 minutes on the elliptical. I was too tired from the weight lifting. So now I do it in reverse order and some days I can do 45 minutes on the elliptical.

My hubby put my quilting frame together on Friday. Now I need to put my machine on it and try quilting on it. I am a little intimidated to try it. I only have one quilt ready to be quilted and I hate to try it out on that one for my first try. I might take one of the prayer quilts we make and use that as my trial quilting project. It takes up one whole wall in our spare bedroom which is now my sewing room. We moved the bed to the computer room so that is now our guest room/computer room. Now I have excess stuff I need to give to Goodwill and find a place to store the remainder of it. I feel like I am constantly whittling down my belongings and it's driving me crazy. But they say if you haven't used something for two years you should give it away. It is really crazy hanging on to things that I don't use, I know, but some of them are very dear to me. Is anyone else facing this same problem? How are you handling it?

My hubby is on a diet for the first time ever. It isn't really a diet, more like cutting back a little. But he hasn't lost any weight after 3 weeks and he is ready to give up. I try to tell him, tactfully, that he isn't really on a diet because he eats large portions still and isn't eating lower calorie foods. He has stopped drinking soda and drinks water only now. He also doesn't eat between meals and before bed like he used to. But he eats large portions mostly at dinner and isn't doing a lick of exercise. I told him he is consuming enough calories to maintain his weight and he needs to start walking or riding his bike or something. He says if he doesn't lose in another week or so he is quitting his "diet" . Men!! So stubborn. He really needs to take off weight. He is over 300 pounds and is diabetic. I worry about his health all the time. He is in denial and doesn't want to do anything about it.

Well, I bought some fabric to make some curtains for the kitchen window so I am off to get that make. Hope everyone is having a good Monday.

Cat Patches: I've Been Featured!

Cat Patches: I've Been Featured!

Finally...........a completed quilt

I finished this quilt this week. It is going to the Squares of Hope group at the church I attend. We make and give out quilts for members or someone they know of who is sick or grieving. The fabric was donated by someone in the church. We have received boxes and boxes of fabric. I chose these five prints that seemed to go together and made this rail fence quilt. The batting was also donated. It's a high loft polyester. Not my favorite because it's hard to sew and work with. But it is warm. And it will comfort someone who needs it and before it is given out our prayer team at the church will pray over it.

Now I have to get back to Bob's (my hubby) quilt. It's a fish quilt that he picked out the kit for at a quilt shop we went to last September. I want to get as much of it done as possible before I start another for the church.

All I have left to do is to make a label for this quilt.

I am feeling much better this week than last. I have started tracking my calories on My Daily Plate or Livestrong.com and my exercise also. Just tracking the food I eat is keeping me on track better than just trying to watch it. It's a simple program to use and it's free. It already had hundreds of foods built into it. We were busy today and when I started to fix dinner our 84 year old neighbor came by and stayed a while chatting with us. By the time she left we were both really hungry so my hubby said "lets just go get something to eat". I really didn't want the temptation of eating out but I agreed. I suggested Carl's Jr since I could get a salad there. I chose their Cranberry, Apple and Walnut Chicken Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette. It was yummy and when I got home I went to their website and checked the calorie content of the salad. It was 318 calorie and the dressing was another 160. Luckily I only used half of the dressing so my dinner was well within my calorie goal for the day. In fact I am still under my 1200 a day goal by 215 calories. I may have a glass of milk or a sugar free popsicle later on.

I watched Jennifer Hudson on Oprah today and she has lost 80 pounds. She looks amazing. She is the new Weight Watchers spokesperson. I'm sure you've all seen her commercials. She had lots of her cousins and other family members on the program with her and they've all done well. In fact I think they said they'd all lost close to 2000 pounds together. Then they gave each of the audience members 3 one year free memberships to WW so they could each give two friends or family members a membership. I thought that was pretty cool. I've never heard of Weight Watchers doing anything like that before.

Monday I took a yoga class at my gym. I usually take a chair yoga class (which is for people who have never done yoga or have limitations or don't want to get up and down off the floor). A new spinning class started during the chair yoga class and I've been taking that. I was missing yoga so I decided to take a regular yoga class. Whew!! It kicked my butt!! I was sore for two days. But I liked it. I plan to take another one tomorrow. I feel so good after the class because of the breathing you do and the gentle stretching of your muscles. You really work up a sweat too. It's strenuous but not like any other workout I've done.

I am getting ready to watch American Idol. Tonight they start in Hollywood with the elimination process.

Not yet.............

I was to go to the doctor on Tuesday for my upper G.I. to determine if my dilated esophagus had healed. The doctors office called me on Monday afternoon to tell me he wouldn't be available on Tuesday and they changed my appointment to Thursday (today). So this morning I went for my upper G.I.. Sadly, the dilation was better but not enough for him to fill my band. He said I would be in the same shape within a few weeks as I was before if he filled it. Now, I have to wait another 3 months. I am so frustrated. I asked him if I had caused this to happen by something I was doing. He said no, it was caused by my band being too tight for too long. I feel as though the last two years have been a total waste of my time with this band. I haven't lost that much weight in the two years due to this particular problem.

The original surgeon I had wasn't knowledgeable enough to take care of my problem (which I believe he caused). First, I think he should have placed a larger band than he did. I have a 4cc band. That doesn't allow much room to adjust. The most my band has had in it is 2.25cc and that was fine for about 6 months until I became so tight I vomited and then it swelled shut and I could barely drink for over a week until I got home from a vacation out of state and he unfilled me and sent me for an upper G.I. He decided to leave me unfilled a couple of weeks and then proceeded to fill me again, rapidly but now I had acid reflux and heartburn and would choke in my sleep. When I went bad to him he shrugged his shoulders and said he didn't know what was causing my problem. He implied that I just wasn't compatible with the band. Then he left the practice and moved to another town. For a few months we had no doctor on staff. A doctor from another town came in once a week and did fills and such. When I saw her she immediately removed my fill and sent me to a gastroenterologist for a scope test. So I was unfilled again. It took me three months to get my appointment. In the meantime, we got our new doctor at the bariatric center and I went back to him after the gastro doctor found no problem such as a slippage or something else. Our current surgeon is a lapband patient himself. When he filled me he wouldn't put as much as I originally had and I only had 2cc in my band. I went this way for about 8 months. I wasn't losing weight after a few months. I kept feeling no restriction plus I had killer acid reflux. I took Prilosec in the morning and at night and still had the reflux and heartburn when I drank water or any kind of drink with citrus in it. Plus, I had to sleep sitting up. I propped pillows behind me so I was almost upright and basically slept on my back.

When I went for my fill last October, my husband wanted me to tell the doctor about my sleeping situation. So, I did. If I laid down flat on the bed I had fluid or food come up into my mouth. I probably should have gone back to the doctor months before and told him what I was experiencing but I guess I was afraid that he would also say that I wasn't compatible with the band.

Now, he is saying if it isn't back to normal after another three months he may have to remove the band. I am so upset by this that I don't know what to do. I feel like a failure. Only I lost 97 pounds in my first year. I feel like now I am going to have to start counting calories again and dieting again after years of failing at that too. I pray that things go well now and I won't have to have my band removed. I am going to start really watching what I eat and continuing my exercise so at least I won't gain any more weight. Am I a failure, or did the doctors fail me? I don't know.

I apologize for going on about this but I want this documented in my blog so I can look back later and have it as my diary. Thank you all for your kind comments since I began this blog.

I am going to the church tonight with my quilt top. I am ready to place the batting and backing with it and quilting it. I am proud to have completed my first quilt top for the Squares of Hope at church.