Second Chance

So about a week and half ago I went back in for surgery to replace my broken band.

It was pretty much the same deal as last time the day before I went in and had some blood test etc and met with my surgeon.

Next morning it was off to hospital unlike last time, this time I had a lot of waiting around. I moved from room to room waiting. I met the sleep doctor and his nurse before surgery and had a chat to them. The sleep doctor was different to my last doctor. I was the wheeled into surgery where there were what seemed to be about 5 people waiting including my surgeon.

The surgery room was freezing cold, I slid across to the chopping block and really don't remember much from there, I remember he put the IV in but that is about it. I woke up in recovery in a bit of pain, probably a bit less than last time. This time however I felt a bit crook but the lovely nurse asked me about pain and sickness then injected some drugs into me and I was sweet again.

It is so frustrating being in recovery because you really want to know what happened and check yourself over to make sure you are ok but you just can't because you are so drowsey, you keep drifting in and out of sleep.

I was then wheeled to my room where my wife was waiting and then proceeded to nod on and off for the rest of the afternoon. The pain to this surgery compared to last time was a lot less, I think this is because the surgeon left my port in place and just replaced the band and the cord running from the port to the band.

I was able to walk around all afternoon and go to the toilet, couldn't sleep much but that is because I sleep on my belly.

I went home the next day and had about a week off work. I returned to work last week. I am now off the liquids (10 days) and on to the mushies. All of my swelling has certainly gone as my restriction is almost non-existent at the moment. I am taking it very easy with eating ensuring that I eat slowley and only have small meals.

I have entitled this post second chance. The reason for that is that whilst technically this isn't a second chance as I am still a bandit who merely had his band replace, I am taking the approach that this second band is a time to re-evaluate goals and learn from the mistakes of my first time around.

By the time my second band went in I was at least 20kgs lighter than last time, therefore this allows you to revisit inital weightloss goals. For example I have a goal of losing 20kgs before 2011. I am also trying to tweak lifestyle changes from the first band.

I have opened up my communication of my goals more with family and friends this time, as I find them to be a constant source of inspiration and support. I wonder why it is we sometimes feel ashamed or embarassed about the band, we should be proud that we had the "balls" to go out there and get it done.

I know one mistake I constantly made with my first band was drinking whilst eating, it is just a habit thing and I am absolutley determined to break that habit this time around.

One more goal is to actually come on to this site a bit more often, if for nothing else but to just update my weightloss, there is something motivating about actually typing the numbers into the ticker as opposed to just seeing them on a scale. I love looking at the graph.

So I am now looking forward to this next chapter of my journey. I have lost about 7kgs in the last week and half since being out of hospital. I am looking forward to my first fill in about 2 weeks time.

Anyway that is enough for now.