The time of my life!

Well folks. I've reached a crossroads in my life. I think I'm finally getting to a point where I'm able to see my progress and be proud of where I am. I'm enrolling at 24hr Fitness in a couple weeks when I know everything is fully healed. I will be starting back slowly at school in Fall (probably 1-2 classes) to finish the second half of my degree. I'm about to do a 5 mile walk for an awesome cause and I have the most amazing friends and family on the planet. After that, everything else is all gravy (low fat of course!)

Don't forget if you want to donate to the KC Heart Walk go here:

http://heartwalk.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=426529&lis=1&kntae426529=2AD23022AE0449A7A3DFA59257954649&login=t

Any and all donations and or participation are greatly appreciated.

Well, on that note, I'm headed to Omaha for the weekend to watch the Royals minor league team the Storm Chasers play some ball! So excited! Hope everyone has an awesome weeked!!

Peace, love & cupcakes!

2011 Heart Walk

This year I will be participating in the Kansas City Heart Walk in Theis Park on May 21st. It'll be 4miles to start a new me and hey, to contribute to a good cause! I'm really excited and can't wait to be a part of something huge!

If you want to help me out by donating or if you want to join me in my quest, go to
http://heartwalk.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=426529&lis=0&kntae426529=0486D3A91CF6421FBC24AE68B574E026

Make sure you know my name, Jordan Johnson

Thanks in advance for your love and support!!!

Hello again...

I realized sadly that I hadn't posted in 5 days...well. On Friday, e8 days post-op, I was down 10 lbs since surgery!! Things are excellent in my little spot on the map! I am healing beautifully and am having no post op pain. Even the port pain is most of the time absent, however, when bending or moving certain ways I still feel a twinge of pain. Overall, this experience has been wonderful. Nothing was as bad as I anticipated and I was able to go back to work Sunday and had an ok first day.  I will say, due to my hiatal hernia repair, the first day back at work gave me the WORST left shoulder gas pain that I had since surgery. I had to call the nurse on call who told me it was probably just because I my body was adjusting to the increased activity. It last about 90mins and then didn't come back the rest of the day or day 2 so I think it worked its way out!

Oh and one other thing. I had my first slime/stuck issue. If you are unaware of the term for banders it is when food has not been chewed well enough or is too doughy and plugs up the stoma that the band has created in the stomach. Sliming happens when tou are stuck or plugged and your esophagus is trying to create extra lubrication to get the food down, it's not very pleasant. So here goes, if you don't want to read about my little nasty experience, skip down! For a short second when I got home from work yesterday I forgot I was banded. I walked into the kitchen and took one of my sister's homeade french fries (which are healthy, baked and yummy!) and stuck it in my mouth, chewed maybe 3 times and then swallowed. Oh and I knew immediately!! I drank a couple of slow drinks of water...still stuck. Panic set in. It wa a little painful but the scariest thing was worrying about my band. I kept thinking "oh please don't mess up my band...please don't mess up my band!!" I took another drink of water and felt the need to try to get it up. I went in the bathroom and a little bit of slime came up but that's all. I felt the plug go down and I was fine. Able to eat dinner and made sure I CHEWED about a thousand times. Sorry if that was TMI but I promised that this would be a full disclosure blog!

Well, other than that one issue, things have been great. The really weird thing is that nothing sounds good to drink except water. I tried different flavors of Crystal Light but nothing tastes good right now. But water, sweet blessed cold water!! It tastes amazing right now which I guess is a good thing! I shall post again soon!!
                                            Jordan

One Week Bandiversary!!

Ok folks, it's official! ONE WEEK BANDED!! Holla!!!

I was also able to do a diet upgrade!!! Here was dinner:

Turkey Sandwich (well I just ate the turkey and pickles;)

Cheesy corn

Baked Beans





It was delicious!!!







Ok and because it was a momentous occasion (like I need one) here is a video commemorating my one week bandiversary!!!

Post-op Truths

Ok, so not gonna lie. After I blogged yesterday...I WAS MISERABLE! The worst pain I had was day 3 but yesterday I felt the nastiest. I had to take my Zofran for the first time and had a little scare when I got a low grade fever of 99.5. I was a little freaked out but once I pushed some fluids and rested my temp came down to a lovely and normal 98.5. Thank you body for reminding me that you run me, I don't run you!

So, glad that yuckiness is aside and today has been a much better day. No nausea, got out and walked around...ate a fairly decent lunch of mashed potatoes and just polished off a popsicle. Oh yeah, be jealous!!!

My room needs to be cleaned but most of the stuff is little things on the floor and quite frankly, the port hurts the most when I lean over...so, that'll have to wait. Darn, I hate it when I just can't clean!!

My Royals played some impressive baseball last night!!! Go boys, go boys! What an exciting season so far!! Lovin it!!!

Ok, gonna go do some other fun stuff, which probably won't be anything exciting!!! Once again thanks for all the well wishes...you guys rock!

  Peace, love and cupcakes,

             Jordan

Oh sweet port pain!!

I can DEFINITELY feel my access port now. For those of you who are not familiar there is a port that can be accessed via needle to fill the lap band's inside cushions with saline solution. This helps to close the band tighter to create greater weight loss or in turn remove solution to create a larger opening to the stomach. The port is sutured onto the abdominal wall muscle so when you lose weight, you don't lose the port...well, I can definitely feel it now. That's where 95% of my pain is right now...not much else is going on in the life of Jordan...here's a video to prove it!

Flash from the past...

Everyone has asked me in the past year...."So when did you first start having a problem with your weight?" Let me put this into perspective for you. I was born February 5th, 1986...somewhere between there (I was almost 4months preemie) and my 5th birthday it was apparent that I was not a typical gangly skinny kid...I have prepared some photographic evidence...

I'm the fat kid in the front row who can't button her sweater.

So...there you go. I don't blame anyone. I don't look upon my youth with disgust...actually I'm grateful for it. My parents are amazing...I had an amazing Mom who was always encouraging me and an incredible Dad who was constantly telling me I was beautiful. That's the secret to my self esteem. I had amazing people in my life who saw deeper than my fat rolls. 

I have friends who are plus size. And for some of them I just WISH I could bottle up my self esteem and let them use it. It breaks my heart when I realize that they didn't have the same support I did growing up or feel the same way about life. I've NEVER let my size be a barrier. And now, whether it is or isn't a true barrier...it won't be anymore. My journey begins................

Dum dum dum...day 3

Ok, so I've heard before that the third day post op is the worst...I now believe it! Even still, it has not been horrible I just had to break down and actually take some of my hydrocodone. I don't like taking narcotics but it did help me nap really well so I will probably take it at bedtime tonight.

Speaking of bedtime...I have been sleeping on the couch. We have a sectional that has recliners so sleeping there has been the best. It's much easier to be reclined while sleeping and getting up!

So, here's a video if you want a quick snapshot of the last 24 hrs. I didn't mention in the video but I have not had to take my Zofran yet which is good!! It seems like things are going really well right now!!!

25 1/2 hrs post op!!

Woo-hoo!! I'm banded!! What a thrill. The past 24hrs have been interesting but overall a really positive experience! I had great night and it was not nearly as scary/painful as I anticipated. Oddly enough the worst part was back pain caused by the stupid hospital bed! My amazing night nurse Lynn found me a comfy chair to sit in which helped the back pain/gas pain immensly!! I stayed in it for a good 3hrs before bedtime!!!

I'm posting a couple vids and watch if you're interested! Be forwarned at the end of the first video I show my tummy with my incisions so if you are weary of stitches at all...don't watch til the end. There is a warning on the video right before I show!!

Anyhow...I feel great today! Just passed gas for the first time! Laugh away but it was amazing!!!

So, without further ado...
(sorry had to link to YouTube since Blogger wouldn't upload my vid :( 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8W0ZzpU_Ys

and because my screen saver cut me off so rudely...here's the rest!

and for those of you who want to see the up close shot of the sutures...

My lovely incisions!! Gotta love the nice jaundice look of the betadine!!!

The incredibly gorgeous flowers sent by my low fat cupcake muffin Tamera!!!

Me and my doc!!

Surgery day!!

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Surgery Day Shout Out!!!

It's surgery day ya'll!!! Let's get this thing going!!!!!! Much love, will blog after and if you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, don't worry, you'll be one of the first to know!!!

8 Hours on the clock!

Here we go! I'm so excited/nervous/scared but really mostly excited! What a page I'm turning!!! Here's a little video about my day and my pre-op jitters! Will post a special something in the AM before I leave for the hospital!!!

Testing

3 day jitters!!

Well, I'm 3 days pre-op now.  Actually I'm 3635minutes and 47 seconds. Wow. It's been such a long journey. Last February I remember being on a quest to eat healthier and be more conscious of what I was putting in my body. I started doing Yoga and thinking out health in a different way. After losing and plateauing and losing hope I came to the decision to radically change my life with LapBand. It's funny...when I went to my seminar in July it seemed like it would take forever to get through the authorization process. Then I was approved and it seemed like it would be forever until surgery...now I'm 60hours and 58minutes from changing my life.

Wow.

It seems so unreal, exciting and scary all in one! 

Thank you everyone for your support. This decision was not one that I came across on a whim. Much research and questioning was done on my part before I decided that LapBand was for me.

Next time I update will probably be the night before surgery...we'll see how the nerves are holding up then!!!

Side effects...

So, here are some side effects to this liver shrinking diet.

1. I have lost 11lbs as of Monday, I'm sure more now since I'm only consuming around 900cals/day.

2. I am sleeping great! I go to sleep quickly and wake up feeling refreshed.

3. My tummy is doing well. I barely have had any IBS problems since I started!

4. I think my mood is much improved! 

Ok, so this was brief but I was amazed at how wonderful this diet has made me feel. It's easy to continue the diet when it makes me feel so incredible. I'm officially at the one week mark...7 days till I can continue my journey to a new woman!!!

Thanks everyone for your kind words and support. Your love has not gone unnoticed. 

**Special note to my Sis, Mom, Tamera, Savannah, Melinda, and Vong for the special *extra* encouragement. You girls rock!!!

So exciting!

So...I've lost 11lbs since I visited the Nurse Practitioner on March 25th. That means this pre-op diet is really working! I know the goal is to "shrink your liver 25%" but the weight loss effects are awesome!!! I got out for a walk with my sister and the pups...such a pretty day!!!

I'm officially in the single digits!! 9 days until surgery!! I feel great! What an amazing thing I'm about to go through!! I'm getting a little nervous about anesthesia but other than that I'm super excited.

This process I'm going through is also very emotional. Someone asked me yesterday when the last time I was thin was. Well, I was born February 5th 1986...seriously...I remember in 1st grade when we went to get a Brownie's uniform there wasn't one big enough...I had to wing it. I have always been a fatty. I also know that I had an amazing family who were always loving and a father who told me I was beautiful all the time. Sometimes I cry because I won't be fat anymore. I know that seems odd but I have a crazy awesome wardrobe and I know for a fact that I have really helped out other plus sized people with low self esteem. It's hard knowing that it will all be different.

It's all a journey. A journey which I am happy to start but also a whole life that I am leaving behind. It's been a good run but, sorry obesity, you and me have to break up!

Here we go...

Well, here I am. I'm 10 days pre-op and super excited to continue this adventure! I am on my fourth day of my pre-op diet and it's going well. My body had a really hard time adjusting to going from 1800-2000cals/day down to 650cals/day. The protein shakes are great...not the tastiest thing in the world but they keep me full really well. I also think it is really making me appreciate the chewing/tasting process. When you are limited to protein shakes, sugar free jello & popsicles and sugar/sodium free liquids and 2 servings of fruit you really enjoy that one Smart One microwave dinner at night!

When I was grocery shopping for all of my preop diet stuff I got a little teary eyed. It's so strange to cry over food. Now that I'm a few days in it's easier than I had anticipated. I understand there are probably some things that I will not be able to tolerated after the band and some things that I just shouldn't eat because it's not healthy...but it was the actual goodbye process that affected me more than I thought it would. I'm really blessed though. I have managed to keep pretty distracted and really have been keeping full but the afternoon cravings are killing me. From about 2-4 I want a snack...nothing big, just some trailmix or something...but my eye is on the prize!!! I haven't cheated at all...which is also a great feeling!!!
 
I would love to start running once I lose the weight. The thought of the wind in my hair and the sun on my skin...the burn of my muscles and the feeling of victory. We'll see!!
 
Anyhow, I'm officially 10 days preband and I can't wait to get it over and done with and continue this new chapter in my life!!! Woo-hoo!!!