Of Turkeys and Teacher's Conferences

Kevin took this about a week ago. It's not the best picture of me in the world -- among other things, I've spilled something on my shirt and you have a real good view of my turkey wattle -- but it shows progress. On the progress front, today is a big day because I crossed the 30-pound mark. Tomorrow is six weeks out. Not too shabby for someone in "Bandster Hell."

Bandster Hell is the period of time after your surgical swelling in your stomach goes down until you have had enough "fills," i.e., saline injections to inflate the band and give you good restriction. Unlike the malabsorptive procedures, particularly the Roux-en-Y, the band itself does nothing to abate hunger. Without restriction, the food doesn't stay in the upper part of your stomach, where it stimulates the vagus nerve, which sends satiety signals to your brain, for very long. You can overeat. Some people actually continue to gain weight during this time.

I can eat more now than I could a couple of weeks ago, but fortunately, I still seem to have a little restriction, particularly in the morning. And my doctor's CNP says that I may be one of the lucky few that does. Other times, I'm trying very hard to keep my quantities low and to make good choices. I haven't been perfect. I have had a couple of homemade chocolate chip cookies from the batch I made for Madeline's lunches. But I'm not obsessing about the cookies and filching 2 every hour, nor am I beating myself up about eating them. I planned that snack and made a conscious choice to eat them. They were good and I savored every nibble. (It took 30 minutes to eat 2 cookies.) It's unlikely I'll go back to the cookie tin except to put them in someone's lunchbox.

I haven't gotten sick on anything I've tried yet. And that's good, because throwing up leads to complications. I've learned from experience, however, that pasta doesn't do well in my pouch, nor does bread. The gluten turns pasta or bread into a gooey blob, which blocks the stoma (exit into the stomach) for hours on end. Not a good feeling.

Dr. S's nurse Pat let me go back to Curves at four weeks out, and this is helping with my energy. I'm sure it'll help with inch loss, too. I missed Curves while I was out. Now if I can just hit the treadmill the other 3 days a week.

I'm cooking Turkey Day dinner this week for family. I think there'll be 10 of us. My mother-in-law and sisters-in-law are doing some of the side dishes, but I'm cooking the bird and stuffing and making my cranberry relish, which has become a family favorite. I'll be picking up an Amish bird on Wednesday morning and putting it in a brine bath overnight. Last year, I learned that brining makes for a moist and flavorful turkey!

Now, the other picture .... I had a teacher's conference today. The verdict: she's acing kindergarten academically, but she talks too much in class and doesn't always pay attention. Nothing we didn't already know.