I told you that I’m scheduled at the end of November for my first gastric banding fill.  That’s more than a year and more than 50 pounds since my initial surgery.  I got sick and well, pretty much fell off the bandwagon until I started feeling better.

ast night I called my next door neighbor at our house in Australia.  It was wonderful to catch up with what’s going on with her and her family.  She and her husband are simply fantastic people and I miss them heaps.  Well, I did until Chris told me that she’s thinner than I am now!  Her treadmill broke a few months ago and I told her to go over to our house and borrow mine.  Little did I know that she was going to lose more weight than I had!

Now, I’m really motivated to lose another 5 kilograms before I head back to Australia for my doctor’s appointment.  I’m determined not to be heavier than she is!

I have only one more antibiotic tablet to take — just one.  I don’t need a doctor to tell me that I’m nearly all mended, I feel it.  The nasty looking wound has turned to mildly gross, but my sparkle is coming back.  I jump out of bed when I wake up instead of feeling around to see what hurts today.

So, what did I do to celebrate?  I made an appointment to get a fill for my gastric lapband.  When I got banded back in November last year I was supposed to see my surgeon in 6 weeks to get my first fill. That’s where saline is injected through a small port that’s just under my skin.  The port is just above my belly button and to the left about an inch.  I can feel it if I poke around but it doesn’t bother me at all.

When I saw my surgeon after the 6 weeks, she said I’d lost over 20 pounds and I didn’t need a fill because I’d already lost more weight than I should have for my size.  I’m quite short and I wasn’t grossly obese, but I had diabetes and hypertension so I qualified for the band.

So, then I moved to New Zealand in December and continued losing weight until April when I started having horrible pain to the right of my stomach.  I thought I’d overeaten and the band was talking back.  No, it was gallstones.  After many trips to the hospital by ambulance and months of being on the surgical waiting list, I finally got it taken out.  That’s how I got the nasty infection, you see.

While I was so sick, I pretty much said, “Screw it, I’m going to eat all the comfort food I need.”  And I did.  Because I don’t have any fill in my band, as long as I chew everything really well, I can eat anything and as much of it as I want.  I’ve gained about 5 pounds, which isn’t horrible but it’s going the wrong way.

My surgeon (and most bariatric surgeons) are shockingly busy.  The first appointment I can get is November 28th at 8:30pm.  My last appointment in January was at 10:30pm.  I told the appointment clerk that I’d take whatever she had and then I’d make my travel plans to Australia.  That’s where I lived in November and where my surgery was.

I can’t wait to get back on the losing trail again.  Now that I’m feeling better, maybe I can do it without the fill, but I kept asking myself why I’d want to.  If I’ve got an aid inside me that will make it easier to control portions, I’m an idiot not to take advantage of it.

Life’s good again!

Unfortunately I have an icky case of MRSA in one of the wounds.  MRSA is the nasty staph superbug that’s resistant to most antibiotics.  You can get MRSA when you’re in the hospital.  I haven’t forgotten you but I need a teeny break to get better.  Send good thoughts.