One Year Ago

One Year ago tomorrow I had my revision from lap band to sleeve surgery . Its been a long , rough, good year. Lots of things have changed in that year.
 A year ago I was in constant pain . My body ached daily , my joints ached daily, chronic fatigue  and I was unable to eat solid foods for close to a year . Throwing up was part of my daily life and I was 100 pounds over weight . Mentally I was probably as miserable as I have ever been in my life .
My doctor took a chance on me and agreed to do my revision surgery . After spending  a week in the hospital due to swelling I was out and on my own . What has changed ?

I now have a full time job, working 12 hour shifts in a hospital . On my feet walking 12-15 miles a SHIFT . My body does not ache near as bad as it did a year ago and my joints have normal " old age" aches and pains ! I am in school to hopefully get a nursing degree some time in the near future.

Now to the surgery / change itself. I will be the first to admit I am a bit disappointed in how my weight loss has gone since my revision . I am 40 lbs down in a year. I am down from a size 24 to a 14-16. The weight loss has just not come off like I had wanted. Its a known issue with revision patients that we can loose slower than others. The reason is not well known , but some suspect its due to the lap band screwing up our metabolisms so badly . I still have some health issues I am dealing with that can affect my weight. The major one is my chronic migraines, I get 15-18 migraines a month . I am currently waiting for botox approval to try to get them under control . I am hoping once that happens I will be able to work out more. Until then I am working out when I feel like it , which ends up being about twice a week  . I also may have a thyroid issue, which I cant get that checked out until January .

Over all physcally I feel 100% better than I did this time last year. I felt better the day after surgery than i did the day before surgery , pain from surgery and all !
Was it all worth it , to have the revision ? YES ! I would do it again .

Weight issues may always be a struggle for me . At some point I want to loose another 40 lbs, IF i lost another 20 i would be happy. I will get there some way some how . I am not gaining though !
Its all a work in progress. I believe if i can get my migraines under control enough for me to work out on a regular basis which I really want to do I could be down to where i want to be in less than 6 months . So we shall see!


Its been a good year over all !

Pre Lap band Weight 250

Pre Revision a year ago 225

One year 40 lbs gone (not much progress but some)

5 days in the hospital and Im Finally home !

I had my revision surgery on 11-14-2012 after surgery they told me the band removal went fine and they were able to repair a hiatal hernia , that was a surprise to them ( and me ) and sleeve me in one procedure. I was SO relieved to have had it done in once procedure.  The day after surgery I started throwing up water and unable to keep it down . After a couple more tried they ordered an EGD for me . They told me if the scope went through easily then and showed no obstructions I should be fine and not need another surgery , but if it did not I could have excess scar tissue from the band and I could need another surgery . WHAT !! Yikes . So they did it and it showed no obstruction some swelling around the band area ( where the band was ) they told me to take liquids slow . For several days I was still throwing up just water, in fact it freaked me out because it looked like I was throwing up some blood as well. Finally around day 3 or so the water was staying down . So finally I was able to go home today . NOT an easy process that's for sure , but I am glad its over. The doc told me to progress my liquids slowly , as long as I was keeping liquids down I was fine , the minute i started if i did throwing up liquids I needed to come back . But to just take it slow .  So here goes ! Cross your fingers everything stays down now .

Skinny Tee's ... do they work ?

A couple of days ago I made a comment on the Skinny Tee's  Facebook page . The comment was not meant to be ugly in anyway , however it was a comment I believe to be accurate. The comment was " I think i said this before. I would be MUCH more willing to buy these if they were shown in a realistic woman's shape .. the fact that I believe you said you would show them in " curvy " models and all the pictures are of a stick thin model really turns me off. It does not show me what the T can do for " real " Women , which is a shame I was really hoping to see realistic shapes on women to see what it could do ." 
By that I meant on the website they show a thin woman in all the pictures .  It is hard to tell if the Skinny Tee's actually do what they say they can do . 
Skinny Tee's website says the following about the Tees:
"Skinny Tees is a collection of tanks and tops for fun, flirty and fabulous women. Started in 2009 by fashion industry veteran Linda Schlesinger, Skinny Tees was created to quell woman’s most essential need and hardest fought fight…the search for the “perfect tank!” The line began with just a handful of colors and one simple, but perfect, one-size-fits-all style. Soft, seamless and fitted, Skinny Tees shape, flatter and frame the body whether worn alone, layered, over or under clothing. With over 60 colors and over 20 different body styles including tanks, tees, tops, skirts, dresses, bandeaus, tights and active wear Skinny Tees fit any occasion."

After my comment the company was nice enough to send me 2 samples to try . A Cami and a tank .
I wore the cami around the house for several hours and wore the tank to work today under a shirt.
I have to admit I was prepared not to like these, I had in my mind what they would not do .. however I was pleasantly surprised..  I am pretty pleased with them Even though they are one size fits "most" they are not super tight, they were comfortable to wear. NOW as for the "Skinny" part to be honest that is hard to tell on me right now because I am over weight  , BUT I am anxious to see how the " one size " works as My weight comes off after surgery .. I can say it probably trimmed me up a little for lack of a better word " sucked" me in a bit where i needed it .
Again I am anxious to see what they do as my weight comes off . Over all I really liked them , they are very comfortable. You would think with them being one size fits most they would be tight on someone who is large like I am , but they are not. Also the best part for me , you do not get " flat boob syndrome " like alot of shape type wear items give you . That happens usually because they are so tight , too tight they flatten your breasts out . I did not get that with Skinny Tee's .

After I lose a little bit of weight I would love to get a pair of their Yoga Pants . Considering the cami and tank is so comfortable i bet the yoga pants are VERY VERY Comfy ! I am a HUGE sucker for yoga pants ! 

Over all I really liked them !! Thanks Skinny Tee's for the chance to try them out and to do something that is hard to do ..prove me wrong LOL !! 

Think twice about lap-band surgery for weight loss

Think twice about lap-band surgery for weight loss


The above article is a consumer reports article on the lap band.
It warns of the dangers and speaks of the more common issues people who have the lap band have. No surprise huh ? Some people NOW may say , well duh Mindy.. But here is the problem , The issues listed in this article were not made "known" to the public and even not added more clearly to the makers website and info until well after myself and many others had their surgeries .
Do I want to be a " Negative Nancy " now about the band ? Not really . Do I think the band can work for some people ? To be honest that remains to be seen . Of the many many many people I know who were banded around the time I was ( 2007) I would say 80% of them have either not lost all the weight, are at a stand still with weight loss or lost their bands all together and around the same amount have had SOME kind of problem.
Are the later bands not as big of a problem than the earlier bands ? I dont know ..
I do want people to know to be very cautious of the band now . If I knew then what I know now I would have gotten a sleeve .

Credit: I saw this article on Formerly Fluffys Blogg and wanted to repost it !

T shirt Extender Pictures 2

T shirt Extender Off

T shirt Extender On


I wanted to show y'all the difference w/ the Blush T shirt Extender on w/ this shirt.
Why ? This is one of my favorite shirts, I have not worn it in over a year because of the weight I have gained. The shirt is very thin, so any kind of muffin top shows very badly . Also I have very thin yoga pants on in this pic.

I had this shirt on this weekend w/ the extender and someone told me " looking good dropping those pounds huh !" Im wearing this thing all the time LMAO !!
I hope you can see a difference, I know I can in person .

(excuse my dirty mirror )

Blush T Shirt Extender Review # 2

I have been wearing this nearly every day now since I got them ( about a week or 2 ago) and I really like them.

For some reason the black one is tighter than the other ones I got but I like it.

They work 2 different ways depending on what the size is you got and how they fit.
(at least for me )

If you get the larger one ( the white one for me ) the work as a cover up if you will for your gap in your jeans and so when you bend over and reach up no skin or muffin top pops out . Or if you have shirts that are too short and you do not want all of the above to happen . All good things . All things I looked for and all reasons why I ordered them.

The black one , since it is a bit tighter , does all of the above AND works as a tummy control garment as well . The white one does as well but just a little bit. The smaller sized ones really suck you in . (I will post a picture in a bit of a good example ) If you do not position them in just the right spot , the smaller size can tend to ride or roll down , but once you find the right spot they tend to stay.

So I think I might order a smaller size in the white and a larger size in the black so i have one of each in each size . LOL

Does that review make sense ? LOL

Review :Blush T shirt Extenders

( The reason for the 2 different names, they just changed the name to the T shirt extender , some shops did not like the name " topless " so they changed it)
With out Blush T Shirt Extender On


With Blush T Shirt Extender On




HOORAY, My blush T shirt Extenders came in today ! I got the 3 pack from The Daily Grommet for $39.95 w/ free shipping. Great deal.

Let me start off by saying I am reviewing this because as a weight loss surgery patient I wish I had found something like this 4 years ago . I was not given these, Or anything like that. Ever since I had weight loss surgery I have tried all kinds of body shapers and I hated all of them. They either rode up , were too hot , didnt work or all of the above. I wont say I like something If I dont . So I would like to share this info with my other weight loss surgery buds !

First off the material is SOOOOOO Comfortable. I do not like things that are hot, or will make me hot ( even though I am very cold natured now that I lost weight). Its much thinner than a t shirt so it breaths, it stays in place very well. I have been wearing it around the house for about an hour now . (I will wear one to work tomorrow which will tell me a lot , I bend over kneel up and down a lot at work )

To do what I really wanted it to do , which was cover my pants so my back does not show or my muffin top does not show when i raise my hands up ( while at work ) its awesome . I wont have to feel self conscious about my fat flopping out . Or when I bend over having to worry about that "gap" that happens now because jeans are too low and shorts are too high it seems now .

As an added bonus it does seem to smooth out the muffin top !
I ordered a med ( per the size chart ) it fits snug against my skin but moves w/ me really well. I think if I had ordered a small it would better as a Muffin top smoother ( sorry don't know what else to call it LOL) BUT I don't know that I would personally like it that tight ! When I lose more weight I will probably need a small so I'll order it then .

My over all impression so far ... Best thing since sliced bread !

Favorite New Product : Rockin Refuel

If you have read my blog for any amount of time you will know i cant/dont do but one protein drink because of my migraines.
Well i went to my local grocery store this weekend and they had a coupon , if you buy a box of cereal you get a free 3 pack of those horizon organic chocolate milks. I thought I'll give those a try see how my son likes them .
Well they were out . So they let me exchange them for these Protein fortified chocolate milks, There are 20 grams of protein per bottle.
I dont drink a lot of milk anymore. And i thought these have the potential to be REALLY freaking NASTY !!!
But guess what ? They are AWESOME. They taste JUST LIKE Chocolate milk. NO Nasty or funky after taste , JUST MiLK. Here is what they are !

http://www.shamrockfarms.net/rockinrefuel.asp

My oldest son wants me to get these for him to help him bulk up he drank the other 2 I had. They are a bit high in calories. But if you drank half of one it would be good. Or add half of one to a milk shake ?

Anyway i thought I would share with ya !