A day of shopping

Some great friends of mine own a charter airline and today they had empty legs going over to west palm beach this morning and back to Nassau this eve .so the wife in the couple, their 6yo daughter and I went along for an intense day of shopping. I had some things to get for my upcoming Asia trip and some other bits n pieces including a new TV for my bedroom. ....the old one I have makes am awful piercing noise and I know its going to die soon.
Got me a nice big flat screen with built in side load DVD player.
Also got shoes. Ummmm like 15 pairs of shoes. I can explain. ...I've got lots of shoes that really should be tossed but I need shoes and shoe shopping on this rock is right up there add one of the most frustrating experiences ever. I hit the biff time in tjmaxx today so now can toss the old ones.
OK that was my dirty little secret for today. It was so nice to be able to but built our heavy items for once because I wasn't flying commercial
Band's still empty three and a half weeks and still have decent restriction IF I eat the right sorts of foods and lISTEN for and obey the soft signs that I've eaten enough. Right now the predominant soft sign is burping. I had planned to rush in to my surgeons office for a fill Monday. Then said Thursday for sure.. ..keep thinking I should get it filled for the month before I go to Asia and get it emptied again for the trip but I'm going to keep going and see if I can manage this myself by keeping on doing what I know I should be doing.

B loody blog spot

Wrote a post earlier this eve to show you my swim practice site . Stupid post is still publishing.
I swam about 1200 meters....out to a buoy and back 8 times. Felt good.

These are the photos I took for you.

No idea how they'll publish from my phone.

This morning my friend and I completed w6d3 of couch to 5 k. A 25 minute run. And it felt pretty good. 7 weeks ago I hated every. Single. Step. Of the one minute runs. And I sounded like a very ill Darth Vader. This program really is amazing.

Today's number.. .. 46

Nope . Not the amount of weight I've gained in the 3 weeks my band has been wide open.. ..that's more like 7....completely manageable and acceptable for me.
No. ...there are just 46 days till three girlfriends and I head off on our Asia trip.
Thailand. Vietnam. Cambodia. OMG I am so excited I could spit.
2 1/2 weeks. 
Three of us are here in Nassau and we fly to Bangkok via London. We have about1 10 hours layover in London so what better way to spend it than in a spa near Heathrow airport.
I'll edit this when on my computer and not my phone to include links to the trip itinerary and the spa. ..or maybe I'll just do another blog.
Did w6d2 of c25k this morning and have a 45 min  bike ride tomorrow bright n early. Then a day in the boat to a nearby island. Another day in paradise

Another day in Paradise

Saturday evening my dad and i managed to pull off a surprise birthday party for my mom. We rented a 56" sailboat for a dinner cruise and invited her closest friends along. It was absolutely lovely. Thought I'd share some of the photos.

me... self portrait. of course

it was so fun to just sit on the bow and enjoy the water and cool breeze

that's my dad

no idea what i was laughing about

the sunset was stunning

that's my mom on the right

i look drunk or dying. i was neither.

we cruised past the cruise ships in Nassau Harbour

Wide open with restriction

My band has been wide open for 2 weeks now. I'm up about 7lb s which for me is an absolute miracle. I feel this time that had I been Good these two weeks I'd be the same weight. Truth is, I'm wide open and still I have restriction....  when I eat properly. and I haven't all the time... or even close to all the time. Hence the gain. Dr d is back on the island and although I can't make it to his next clinic Thursday, I know if I call he'll sort me out.
But you know what. I'm going to be strong and now that my two week food fest is over I'm going to eat. And drink properly for a week and see if I can manage this myself for a bit.... take on a bit more of the heavy lifting so to speak.
BTW... look forward to more consistent blogging from yours truly. Just got my snazzy new phone and downloaded the blogger app. Yay!

Empty Band.... still

This is going to be interesting. I'm quite proud of me.... I was supposed to call Dr D at 5 this evening to arrange to meet up over at the ER for him to fill my absolutely empty band up a bit again. We emptied it completely to provide some MUCH needed relief Monday morning.
Well I've still got good restriction. No pain, but definitely restriction so long as I listen to my body and don't try to keep shoveling food in just because I can. Yesterday late morning I had a bit of tuna and grits (yummmo). I still felt quite satisfied and not in the least bit hungry when lunchtime rolled around so I opted out since I was going out to dinner at one of my fave restaurants.
I had a small piece of brushetta, then ordered the fried calamari appetizer. I had a few pieces and then offered it up to my friends to have some.
For the main course I ordered the seafood risotto. I ate about 1/3 of what came on my plate and was well satisfied. I of course had a few bites of the sticky toffee pudding and ice cream we shared between the three of us and the cookies that come with the coffee my friends ordered.
Today for lunch I had the leftovers of the risotto - about 1/3 cup. Probably could have stopped at 1/4 cup so need to watch those soft signals.
I had a chocolate bar as well this afternoon. Definitely gotta watch that.
Well anyway the reason I was supposed to get filled up this evening is Dr D is going away tomorrow until the 16th.
Usually we hesitate to leave me unfilled for long because I pack on the pounds like NOBODY's business.
But since Monday my hunger pangs have been appropriate and manageable and y restriction level quite good. I am sure it just means I'm still irritated and swollen and so things haven't settled back down yet.
Which means between now and the 16th, I could turn into a fiend who'll eat anything in sight.
But as I discussed with him on the phone this evening, I'd prefer to fight that battle than to get filled, he leave the island and THEN I realise it was too much too soon and I spend two weeks in pain and unable to eat and drink.
Pray for me people. Pray for me.

Bad blogger. Feeling awful

So in addition to finally WRITING a blog the other night. I also FINALLY started trying to catch up with my blogger friends. I'd figured part of the reason I wasn't so into blogger was because I'd connected with so many of my bandmates on Facebook. Well I realise now that there are a few who I love who aren't on Facebook at all. So I missed out on Catherine's engagement announcement. And there are others who, like me, are guarded about what they share on FB... some remain in the closet about their surgery so even though I've been following them on FB, I've missed out on some really big news.... like Angela's lapband removal and revision surgery. I feel like such a heel.

The new face of BeriBeri Syndrome....

A month or so ago, I started getting a weird itching and heating sensation along my jawlines and in my ears. I could best describe it as being 'under the skin' and it was driving me INSANE. I made an appointment with a new dermatologist at the hospital, even though I sensed this was not a skin issue.
She was fantastic. She'd already looked at my file and had questions about my nutrition post-lapband.
She agreed this was not a skin thing, but rather an inappropriate nerve reaction.
So she ordered up some blood work. When the test results came back, she called me immediately. Turns out I have Beriberi syndrome. It's a B1 or Thiamine deficiency and can be fatal. Luckily we caught it early and the symptoms should be reversible. The important thing was that we arrest the development, get my thiamine levels up to an acceptable place and hold off the really bad symptoms --


"Untreated, beriberi is often deadly. With treatment, symptoms usually improve quickly.

Heart damage is usually reversible, and a full recovery is expected. However, if acute heart failure has already occurred, the outlook is poor.

Nervous system damage is also reversible, if caught early. If it is not caught early, some symptoms (such as memory loss) may remain even with treatment.

If a patient with Wernicke's encephalopathy receives thiamine replacement, language problems, unusual eye movements, and walking difficulties may go away. However, Korsakoff syndrome (or Korsakoff psychosis) tends to develop as Wernicke's symptoms go away.

Possible Complications

• Coma
• Congestive heart failure
• Death
• Psychosis"

Turns out Beriberi is VERY uncommon in the developed world because we are so well fed. But when, like I have due to my lapband surgery, you cut out - red meats, leafy greens and fortified whole grains - you lose your thiamine and develop beriberi. Most cases in the development world are found in alcoholics.

SO learn from my lesson, good people. I was TERRIBLE about taking vitamins and supplements and figured I was ok. Not so. I immediately started taking a chewable multi-vitamin and since then have had very few flare ups.

Stuck. Again.

I am stuck. this time on sour cream and onion potato chips. earlier today i was stuck on some butter pecan ice cream. I know. NOT a banner food day, but I've been stuck on just about everything I've eaten for a couple weeks (maybe more) now and figured today, just today, I'd try some foods that for me are usually sliders if ONLY to enjoy a pain-and-slime-and-pb-free day. No such luck.
As is usually the case with me, I suffer through this for weeks (maybe more) when it happens because I know what will likely happen when I get an unfill --- pack on the pounds.
But you know what, as I sit here at this very moment, I realise that I can't and shouldn't suffer like this any longer. Tomorrow morning Dr D. has clinic and I'll get his wonderful office team to squeeze me in. If not, I'll link up with him and make a date for one of the ER cubicles (bonus of working alongside my surgeon at the hospital!)
This latest string of stuck episodes has also prompted me to start blogging again. Not because I want pity -- my non-banded friends are well acquainted with my band issues and definitely sympathise with me when I get like this. No.... I am blogging because I realise that most of us fall off the blogging wagon when we've no longer got losses and losing milestones to chime in about. But this stuff is important too. For those of you considering getting banded, for those at the start of your journey, for those who like me, are continuing with our struggle nearly two years (or more) after having surgery.
A friend asked me today if knowing all this I'd do it again. I didn't hesitate for a second to say 'hell yeah' because I tried everything else and had no results. my Lapband has helped me achieve the results (and better) than I set out to achieve, but I have learned that there are pay offs.
being stuck on sour cream and onion potato chips with a likely chaser of butter pecan ice cream is one of those pay offs.
Now excuse me while I go and try to force the issue. I'd rather pb than endure this unbearable pain in my gut for a single second longer.

Sponsor my Ride for Hope!

I've been bad. No. I've been worse than that. Not a single blog entry since early November. And I honestly haven't been good about keeping up with reading others's blogs. But I can explain. What had happened was..... forget it... the technological excuse that I was using has now been resolved and I'm gonna do better. I promise.

Far too much business been going on for me to even attempt to catch up.

In a nutshell, band was emptied completely then re-filled early December because, as I pointed out to my surgeon (if i were the poster child for discipline and self-restraint I wouldn't have needed a band in the first place). Was doing well and then BAM! for the past 2 weeks Betsy's been tight and irritated. I've backed off food and am trying soup only to hopefully get things to settle down without needing an unfill.

I'm right now at about 148 and feel good here. Wear small and extra small tops and mostly size 6 with some size 4 pants. Can see myself going a bit smaller if I can get back into hardcore exercise but it's not a goal nor is it necessary.

I FINALLY had an MRI on my hip and pelvis after months of rest and physio-therapy failed to improve things. Saw my doc this morning and the good news is: I don't have cancer, nerve damage or arthritis. The bad news is my MRI came back NORMAL! So he was going to come down to the hospital this afternoon and look over it with the radiologist to see if they can find anything by taking various closer looks, but the long and short of it is I still have no resolution.

Work is going well. Keeping me busy, but I'm loving working in a healthcare environment.

sylvia my fur baby is doing well in case you were wondering.

It doesn't look like I'm going to make it to BooBs this year :( -- Earlier in September some girlfriends and I are going to Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia as our epic 40th bday trip and I'll be away for almost 3 weeks. I can't really swing another long weekend away (and getting to and from Chicago from here takes about a day of traveling each way because of stupid flight times). Also, just found out that the Triathlon I competed in on a relay last year is the 30th September and i'd promised myself that so long as I can get this hip thing sorted I'll do the whole thing. Worst case I'll swim or bike or both and just get me a runner!

Speaking of biking.... I've registered for the Ride for Hope in April. It's an awesome event that takes place on the island of Eleuthera. The course is 100 miles, but riders can do anywhere from 10 up... they have turnaround points throughout the course. My friend and I are aiming for 51-75, but if training between now and then is consistent and goes well, I might try for a Century. I'm including the link to my Ride for Hope page here so you can check out the event details -- money raised goes towards some very worthwhile cancer-related charities here in The Bahamas. You can also follow along on my training and other random updates. And if you can and feel so inclined, you can sponsor my ride. Everyone who signs up promises to raise at least $250 and I'd LOVE to raise much more. The very lovely (as demonstrated in her recent gorgeous photo shoot) Beth Ann over at Beth Ann's Never-ending Quest for SOMETHING was the first to sponsor me. THANKS LADY!

My Ride for Hope Page

Cheerios my lovelies