The Lord Giveth...and the Lord Taketh Away

Or something like that.

So, last time I told you I would explain how the lap band works. I've realized as I talk to people and watch their eyes glaze over when I say that I have to have it adjusted that people don't know exactly what the lap band is all about.

First, let me explain exactly what the lap band is. It's a small(ish) band that is lined with small pockets that is placed around the top of the stomach where it meets the esophagus. From that band is a thin tube that leads to a port that is placed under the skin just below the right rib cage (at least that's where mine is).

Now the point of the lap band is to limit the amount of food that a
person can take in. When the lap band is in place, the pockets can be filled with saline to make it tighter and therefore decreasing the size of the opening into the stomach. Or if it is too small (which happens) they can remove saline to open it up more. This is all done through that port that is under the skin.

One thing that my doctor said that I always think about when I'm eating is that the esophagus is a "no waiting zone". Which means that whatever you swallow either needs to go through that opening into the stomach or come back up...yeah that's right, I said it. So, the key to this whole thing seems to be chewing A LOT and eating very slowly.

What I say is that it's forced portion control because you can only have about a cup of food. A lot of it is that you are eating slower so your body has time to realize that you're full. If you eat fast, you're body will let you know...trust me. But, it wasn't painful at all, just had to slow down and let things work their way through the opening and then I was fine. 

After the surgery, the band is left fairly open because the tissue around it is swollen so they don't want to restrict it too much more than that. But as you heal and the swelling starts to subside, the opening to the stomach gets a little bigger and you can eat a little more. I have been experimenting and didn't find anything over the weekend that I couldn't eat...

And then he taketh away -

After a weekend of being able to eat real food for the first time in almost 4 weeks (I MAY have tried 5 Guys just to see if I could eat it. I could with only one bun and I only had about a quarter of it. But it was GOOD!), I was finally feeling like myself and staying up past 9:00 because I was so tired. AND THEN...I went in for my first adjustment. This is when they added saline to those pockets to tighten up the band and make that opening smaller so I eat less food.

I knew that I would have to eat "soft foods" for a few days after the adjustment and was fine with that. I had planned on some angel hair pasta with a marinara sauce for dinner tonight, and that sounded AWESOME! Well...nope. I found out today that I am back on liquid only diet for the day and then the mushy food for tomorrow (though my new favorite thing is a fried egg white with cheese mixed in, so I'm kinda okay with that), and then on Thursday I can start back to real food again. Not going to lie...a tear may have slipped out when I heard that.

And that's it! I tried to find the least gross pictures that I could to demonstrate how it all works, and I explained very basically because that's how I understand it (I'm sure there are lots of scientific and medical things that can be said, but I'm blonde and 44 years old, so simple is better). I have actual pictures of MY surgery and the lap band on my stomach and everything - they are pretty gross!

Oh, one more thing that is kind of interesting: my doctor actually sews the stomach up over the band. This helps to keep the lap band from slipping (which is one of the bad things that can happen, but there are a series of events that have to occur for that to happen), but there is an added benefit because it actually reduces the size of the stomach and studies of his patients have shown that they lose more weight quicker.

Finally, I was only down 3 pounds from before Christmas (but 25 since Nov. 22 when I started this journey in earnest). I think that my body is a little confused at the moment and just really doesn't know what to do. I've started back to the gym and will be with a personal trainer starting next week and I'm keeping track of my calories, so my goal is to be down 5 pounds when I go for my next adjustment in 2 weeks!