Hi, guys. My name is Phil Coleman. I want to tell you about my
Monday, June 7, 2010
How did Phil managed to change his life forever?
Hi, guys. My name is Phil Coleman. I want to tell you about my
Up and ready for my bootcamp introduction
It was a busy weekend, and I'm rushed for time this morning. Another sleepless night so I'm feeling exhausted, but kind of psyched about bootcamp. Thank God for caffeine.
I did my best to do filling foods this weekend and not count Points, just my weeklies (non-filling foods). It's really hard to eat Chinese food and have any of it count as filling food. I failed miserably and used 11 of my weeklies at one meal. Oh well.
Also red wine is NOT a filling food. Ten weeklies wasted on wine in two days! I'm not much of a drinker and prefer to eat my extra weekly Points, but my mother-in-law isn't in town very often, so I let loose a little. It was fun but now it's back to the grindstone.
Bootcamp is at 7 a.m. which is going to make me late for work, but I've already made arrangements that I'll be in at 10 a.m. This is my intro class, after this it'll be 6 a.m. classes which will work out fine with my work schedule.
A few pictures from the weekend...
Lots of beautiful fresh produce.
I did my best to do filling foods this weekend and not count Points, just my weeklies (non-filling foods). It's really hard to eat Chinese food and have any of it count as filling food. I failed miserably and used 11 of my weeklies at one meal. Oh well.
Also red wine is NOT a filling food. Ten weeklies wasted on wine in two days! I'm not much of a drinker and prefer to eat my extra weekly Points, but my mother-in-law isn't in town very often, so I let loose a little. It was fun but now it's back to the grindstone.
Bootcamp is at 7 a.m. which is going to make me late for work, but I've already made arrangements that I'll be in at 10 a.m. This is my intro class, after this it'll be 6 a.m. classes which will work out fine with my work schedule.
A few pictures from the weekend...
It was an absolute zoo at Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle. Gorgeous weather, hundreds of people.
Flowers everywhere.
Lots of beautiful fresh produce.
Market Spice shop, my mother-in-law's favorite store. She spent a fortune in this place.
Lots of fresh seafood.
More flowers.
Me and mom, and I was horrified that my belly was showing. These pants are too big and were falling off of me. I look like a bum and chastised my husband for not telling me my belly was hanging out. He said he didn't notice (!).
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Fermented Grain Recipes from Around the World
In my last two posts on grains, I described how traditional food processing methods make grains more nutritious and digestible (1, 2). I promised to briefly describe a few recipes from around the world, then got distracted by other things. Here they are.
Africa: Ogi
Grain fermentation is widespread in Africa and is probably nearly as old as agriculture on the continent. The nutritional importance of fermentation is suggested by the amount of time and effort that many African cultures put into it, when they could save themselves a lot of trouble by simply soaking and cooking their grains.
Ogi is a common West African porridge that's eaten as a staple food by people of all ages. It's even used as a weaning food. It's made in essentially the same manner from corn, sorghum or millet.
Whole grain is soaked in water for one to three days. It's then wet milled, mixed with water and sieved to remove a portion of the bran. Extra bran is fed to animals, while the white, starchy sediment is fermented for two to three days. This is then cooked into a thin or thick porridge and eaten.
South America: Pozol
At first glance, some people may think I left the 'e' off the word 'pozole', a traditional Mexican stew. However, pozol is an entirely different beast, an ancient food almost totally unknown in the US, but which fueled the Mayan empire and remains a staple food in Southeastern Mexico.
To make pozol, first the corn must be 'nixtamalized': whole kernels are boiled in a large volume of water with calcium hydroxide (10% w/v). This is a processing step in most traditional South American corn recipes, as it allows a person to avoid pellagra (niacin deficiency)! The loosened bran is removed from the kernels by hand.
The kernels are then ground into dough, formed into balls and placed into banana leaves to ferment for one to 14 days. Following fermentation, pozol is diluted in water and consumed raw.
Europe: Sourdough Bread
Sourdough bread is Europe's quintessential fermented grain food. Before purified yeast strains came into widespread use in the 20th century, all bread would have been some form of sourdough.
Although in my opinion wheat is problematic for many people, sourdough fermentation renders it more nutritious and better tolerated by those with gluten/wheat sensitivity. In an interesting series of studies, Dr. Marco Gobbetti's group, among others, has shown that fermentation partially degrades gluten, explaining the ability of fermentation to decrease the adverse effects of gluten in those who are sensitive to it (3). They even showed that people with celiac disease can safely eat wheat bread that has been long-fermented with selected bacteria and yeasts under laboratory conditions (4). Rye contains about half the gluten of bread wheat, and is generally nutritionally superior to wheat, so sourdough rye is a better choice in my opinion.
To make sourdough bread, first the dry grains are ground into flour. Next, the flour is sifted through a screen to remove a portion of the bran. The earliest bread eaters probably didn't do this, although there is evidence of the wealthy eating sifted flour in societies as old as ancient Egypt and ancient Rome. I don't know what the optimum amount of bran to include in flour is, but it's not zero. I would be inclined to keep at least half of it, recognizing that the bran is disproportionately rich in nutrients.
Next, a portion of flour is mixed with water and a "sourdough starter", until it has a runny consistency. The starter is a diverse culture of bacteria and yeast that is carefully maintained by the bread maker. This culture acidifies the batter and produces carbon dioxide gas. The mixture is allowed to ferment for 8-12 hours. Finally, flour and salt are added to the batter and formed into dough balls. These are allowed to ferment and rise for a few hours, then baked.
My Experience
I've tried making ogi (millet) and pozol, and I have to admit that neither attempt was successful. Pozol in particular may depend on local populations of bacteria and yeast, as the grains' microorganisms are killed during processing. However, I do eat fermented grains regularly in the form of homemade brown rice 'uthappam' and sourdough buckwheat 'crepes'. The buckwheat crepes are tasty and easy to make. I'll post a recipe at some point.
The first two recipes are from the FAO publication Fermented Cereals: a Global Perspective (5).
Africa: Ogi
Grain fermentation is widespread in Africa and is probably nearly as old as agriculture on the continent. The nutritional importance of fermentation is suggested by the amount of time and effort that many African cultures put into it, when they could save themselves a lot of trouble by simply soaking and cooking their grains.
Ogi is a common West African porridge that's eaten as a staple food by people of all ages. It's even used as a weaning food. It's made in essentially the same manner from corn, sorghum or millet.
Whole grain is soaked in water for one to three days. It's then wet milled, mixed with water and sieved to remove a portion of the bran. Extra bran is fed to animals, while the white, starchy sediment is fermented for two to three days. This is then cooked into a thin or thick porridge and eaten.
South America: Pozol
At first glance, some people may think I left the 'e' off the word 'pozole', a traditional Mexican stew. However, pozol is an entirely different beast, an ancient food almost totally unknown in the US, but which fueled the Mayan empire and remains a staple food in Southeastern Mexico.
To make pozol, first the corn must be 'nixtamalized': whole kernels are boiled in a large volume of water with calcium hydroxide (10% w/v). This is a processing step in most traditional South American corn recipes, as it allows a person to avoid pellagra (niacin deficiency)! The loosened bran is removed from the kernels by hand.
The kernels are then ground into dough, formed into balls and placed into banana leaves to ferment for one to 14 days. Following fermentation, pozol is diluted in water and consumed raw.
Europe: Sourdough Bread
Sourdough bread is Europe's quintessential fermented grain food. Before purified yeast strains came into widespread use in the 20th century, all bread would have been some form of sourdough.
Although in my opinion wheat is problematic for many people, sourdough fermentation renders it more nutritious and better tolerated by those with gluten/wheat sensitivity. In an interesting series of studies, Dr. Marco Gobbetti's group, among others, has shown that fermentation partially degrades gluten, explaining the ability of fermentation to decrease the adverse effects of gluten in those who are sensitive to it (3). They even showed that people with celiac disease can safely eat wheat bread that has been long-fermented with selected bacteria and yeasts under laboratory conditions (4). Rye contains about half the gluten of bread wheat, and is generally nutritionally superior to wheat, so sourdough rye is a better choice in my opinion.
To make sourdough bread, first the dry grains are ground into flour. Next, the flour is sifted through a screen to remove a portion of the bran. The earliest bread eaters probably didn't do this, although there is evidence of the wealthy eating sifted flour in societies as old as ancient Egypt and ancient Rome. I don't know what the optimum amount of bran to include in flour is, but it's not zero. I would be inclined to keep at least half of it, recognizing that the bran is disproportionately rich in nutrients.
Next, a portion of flour is mixed with water and a "sourdough starter", until it has a runny consistency. The starter is a diverse culture of bacteria and yeast that is carefully maintained by the bread maker. This culture acidifies the batter and produces carbon dioxide gas. The mixture is allowed to ferment for 8-12 hours. Finally, flour and salt are added to the batter and formed into dough balls. These are allowed to ferment and rise for a few hours, then baked.
My Experience
I've tried making ogi (millet) and pozol, and I have to admit that neither attempt was successful. Pozol in particular may depend on local populations of bacteria and yeast, as the grains' microorganisms are killed during processing. However, I do eat fermented grains regularly in the form of homemade brown rice 'uthappam' and sourdough buckwheat 'crepes'. The buckwheat crepes are tasty and easy to make. I'll post a recipe at some point.
The first two recipes are from the FAO publication Fermented Cereals: a Global Perspective (5).
If what you're doing isn't working, try something else
I had another sad little loss today. I weighed in at 162.8 for a loss of 0.8 pounds. Seriously. That is pathetic.
I counted Points for all of two days, last Saturday and Sunday. I tried the rest of the week but I hate it. Really, really hate it.
It's time for something different. What I'm doing isn't working for weight loss. It's great for maintenance, but I'm NOT at goal.
My new plan is eating Filling Foods. My Weight Watcher leader has been suggested this to me for months, but I shudder at the thought of not counting Points. However, that's what I'm doing now, I am NOT counting Points. I eat mostly filling foods anyway, so it won't be that different. Today is day one of eating filling foods. Kind of scary to not even try to count Points.
The gym has also lost it's charm. I still go almost every day, but I'm going because I have to, not because I want to go. A friend sent me a groupon link for a month of bootcamp for $39 (usually $247). Yes, that's a savings of 208. How could I refuse. I signed up and start on Monday morning. Each week I can attend as many boot camp classes as I can handle. I'll see how it goes. My plan is four boot camp classes a week and two gym visits.
I watched the video on the bootcamp website, and I'm just a tiny bit concerned. It looks really difficult. I've done bootcamp classes before, but never at a bootcamp fitness center. I hope I'm as strong as I think I am, but I could be wrong. At least it sounds interesting and a real challenge. If I make a fool of myself, well, it certainly won't be the first time. :)
It's an absolutely spectacularly beautiful day here in Seattle. Not a cloud in the sky. Sometimes I think because we become so accustomed to the dark, gray, rainy days, that when the sun shines, the colors are even more vivid than normal. Pictures tomorrow, I promise.
My mother-in-law and her husband are in town for the weekend, on their way to Alaska for the summer. We're spending the day with them in downtown Seattle, Archie McPhee's Novelty Shop (mother-in-law's idea), Pike Place Market for salmon throwing, and somewhere for a seafood dinner. It should be fun. I love my in-laws, they're actually a blast to hang out with (and they like me!). I'd be friends with them even if I wasn't married to their son.
Have a great weekend!
I counted Points for all of two days, last Saturday and Sunday. I tried the rest of the week but I hate it. Really, really hate it.
It's time for something different. What I'm doing isn't working for weight loss. It's great for maintenance, but I'm NOT at goal.
My new plan is eating Filling Foods. My Weight Watcher leader has been suggested this to me for months, but I shudder at the thought of not counting Points. However, that's what I'm doing now, I am NOT counting Points. I eat mostly filling foods anyway, so it won't be that different. Today is day one of eating filling foods. Kind of scary to not even try to count Points.
The gym has also lost it's charm. I still go almost every day, but I'm going because I have to, not because I want to go. A friend sent me a groupon link for a month of bootcamp for $39 (usually $247). Yes, that's a savings of 208. How could I refuse. I signed up and start on Monday morning. Each week I can attend as many boot camp classes as I can handle. I'll see how it goes. My plan is four boot camp classes a week and two gym visits.
I watched the video on the bootcamp website, and I'm just a tiny bit concerned. It looks really difficult. I've done bootcamp classes before, but never at a bootcamp fitness center. I hope I'm as strong as I think I am, but I could be wrong. At least it sounds interesting and a real challenge. If I make a fool of myself, well, it certainly won't be the first time. :)
It's an absolutely spectacularly beautiful day here in Seattle. Not a cloud in the sky. Sometimes I think because we become so accustomed to the dark, gray, rainy days, that when the sun shines, the colors are even more vivid than normal. Pictures tomorrow, I promise.
My mother-in-law and her husband are in town for the weekend, on their way to Alaska for the summer. We're spending the day with them in downtown Seattle, Archie McPhee's Novelty Shop (mother-in-law's idea), Pike Place Market for salmon throwing, and somewhere for a seafood dinner. It should be fun. I love my in-laws, they're actually a blast to hang out with (and they like me!). I'd be friends with them even if I wasn't married to their son.
Have a great weekend!
Day 54/365 Nutella is evil
I've said this before, and I'll say it again. DO NOT KEEP TROUBLE FOODS IN THE HOUSE! If it's there, you are just torturing yourself!
We got Nutella for a recipe that we wanted to do with our kids. I don't think we've ever had it in the house before and therefore I didn't know.
But yea, it's a TROUBLE food.
I rationalized how it would be good on toast with a banana for breakfast. I just had a spoonful for dessert. I will not be buying this again because it's too yummy and it's too easy to grab.
When I keep trouble foods out, I make better choices.
What I did today:
50 sit-ups
We got Nutella for a recipe that we wanted to do with our kids. I don't think we've ever had it in the house before and therefore I didn't know.
But yea, it's a TROUBLE food.
I rationalized how it would be good on toast with a banana for breakfast. I just had a spoonful for dessert. I will not be buying this again because it's too yummy and it's too easy to grab.
When I keep trouble foods out, I make better choices.
What I did today:
50 sit-ups
Friday, June 4, 2010
Going well
Hey everyone, the new crackdown is going well. I am following the plan and being a good girl. I think I finally want this. I think I am prepared to do what it takes. Its early days, but I am getting there.
Several things have happened recently that have meant I can, or rather have to, put things to bed permanently.
If you start a race, or a journey, or a trek somewhere massive - like the Marathon, or North Pole or Everest... sometimes you don't do it your first go. I do feel like my battle with weight could be any or all of those things. Its certainly huge - like my butt!
So, you would be mad not to attempt those things with some serious training. Hell I would be mad to try a 1km run right now!! So, I am considering my 3 years post band as my training to stay the distance.
I had a funny little thing happen to prove this yesterday. I went to TB's house after we got back from slimmingworld, and we were having a coffee and chatting, and she offered me an orange. Without thinking, I dismissed it with a "no thanks" and then realized that I said no because there was no way I could have eaten an orange a couple of months ago. It would have stuck like a pig in a poke and ended up in a choke barf session! So even after being released from that over tight hell, my mind has trained itself to remember its just not worth it for some things!
This is very interesting to me, because when I was filled I might have said yes to a cake, or crisps or something similar. So the 'Its not worth it' only came into effect when I weighed up choking and puking versus the TYPE of food stuff... it was worth it to puke on cake or crisps maybe?? My mind is funny like that. I never realized I did that balancing out on food - the pros and cons of eating something... Hmmm. That's really actually quite sad isn't it.
What I intend to do - as my mate Dave suggested - is get a fill at some point and never let myself get into that situation again. I should have been able to eat an orange. I just never bothered to take the time to learn how. Oh yeah, i chewed stuff to death alright, but I mean never really bothered to try foods I thought might be a bit harder going. I just cut them out. So that limits my food choices which then starts the chain reaction into where I was at with subsisting on sloppy or melt able junk food and takeaway at about 10pm at night cos then I can get it down.
These are all good things to remember for me, and I am writing them down on a piece of paper so that I remember these things when i get there again. So as Dave rightly suggested getting a fill should limit rather than omit things. I guess there will be things that i come across that i wont be able to, like I was never able to tolerate bread in any form after my band was filled. But maybe I didn't try hard enough or take small enough bites. I dunno. I am going to give it all a fresh try and armed with my training I should be able to notice the first signs of distress and slow the heck down!
The other interesting things that I have come to terms with is the breaking of my band. That has been a head fucker right from the word go. It makes me sore and angry in my heart that this had to happen to me, because I am pretty sure that I would not be here writing this blog the way its written if everything had been ok with the band from the outset.
I have been repeatedly told by our solicitor that I had a case against the NHS for what happened to me. I also had a case against the private doctor in London who did a vanishing act. I also had the case against the company that made the band and I did receive a large sum from them for their faulty product in December 2007.
I have consistently left the NHS on the shelf. I just didn't want to go there. I think maybe I was frightened that there would be some record or they would refuse to treat me in future or something like that. I certainly cant afford private health care plan, so I have to go with them. It all felt rather bad manners too, even though they fucked up on a major scale. I know the name of the doctor who said I was fine, the senior consultant radiologist who looked at these next x-rays and said there was nothing wrong (even though - now get this - they do follow up care for this operation at this hospital so am guessing he might have seen a band before in his 34 years as a radiologist!!!!), and everyone else who treated me that day including the nurses on duty the night I was admitted and who I - lying in my bed - overheard at handover in the early hours say "Bunny, she came in complaining of abdominal pain, given morphine but still in pain. Shes either a very very good actor or is actually in pain, but who knows"... Nice huh!
I have done nothing about any of it. Now, I cant do anything about it. It was 3 years ago on 21st May that it broke. that's the time limit for raising a medical compensation case.
Its like a deliberately left it until now so that I could just forget about it, or them. Maybe its ingrained in us to trust doctors and nurses, or whatever, or maybe I am just being really truly gracious and feel like I already took enough compensation over this. The NHS is in debt and its not like I had a leg off or something. I also paid for this surgery myself so maybe I think I brought the whole situation on myself or whatever, but I just couldn't bring myself to sign the forms and send them back to the solicitor. I just couldn't. Now it doesn't matter. Its fucking done.
Any time I go into hospital now I can at least know that there is no secret code on my files saying "GET HER!" But I also know not to be fobbed off. I know that they can miss some freaking big problems now for real. So at least I kind of get something out of it.
So here are my X-Rays. I have blanked my name and stuff and the hospital name... but you get to see inside my guts:
On this x-ray you can see the port with a nice big prong poking out of it (it's and inch and a half long btw) this stabbed me in the liver for 6 months. And, just by 'Acq Tm' you can see the band in position and the tubing trailing off downwards.
And here's the other one showing my port and disconnected tubing and the 2 big clips that broke off and fired like a rocket into my pelvic area (look at spine in pelvis)! That tubing whipped through me like a blown tyre, so YES, nurse, I was in freaking Pain bitch!
By the time I got back to see Dr. Dillemans in the November, the tubing was hanging further down in my pelvis... straight down too. It explained why when i went to the loo I felt like I was having a baby and had stabbing pains. Check out the port area too... explains why once I bent over, I had chronic pain in my upper midriff... it was stabbing my liver.
So there we go guys... its all over, I cant call anyone on this any more. Dr. Dillemans was appalled at the sate of it all and instantly fixed it all up for free the very next day and was amazing. I would thoroughly recommend him to anyone. I only know 3 other people this happened too and I sincerely hope there is no one else... but if your band ain't working, then get this sucker checked as it was a faulty batch or LapBands ok? Some people don't get pain... it all depends where everything's located and how long the tubing is etc... so don't give up on your little silicone buddy unless you know this hasn't happened.
So this is me putting it all to bed. *dusts hands off*
The other things that has made me in the mood to restart stuff is my weight. My actual weight.
Yesterday at slimmingworld I weighed in at 18 stone 1.5lbs (thats 253.5lbs). When I started my WHOLE weightloss expedition way back and originally joined slimmingword I weighed 18 stone 12.5lbs. That's just 11 pounds lost in about 6 years.
When I had lapband surgery on 14th February 2007 I weighed exactly 18 stone (252lbs).
I now weigh MORE than at my original surgery date.
So peeps, I have really really REALLY gone back to base camp.
These things should shock me, but actually they inspire me. Its like Running the Marathon and twisting your ankle at 10miles. Like Trekking to the North pole and having the huskies turn on you and eat the supplies just into the arctic circle. Like getting halfway up Everest and your Sherpa realizing that you don't have enough oxygen to complete the mission. So you have to go back home and re-load.
So I am HAPPY and well glad I get the chance to run this race again! Its day 4 and all is well!!!
The plan I am doing is Dieti-meal. Its shakes, bars, soup and mrp meals. VERY tasty and easily doable for a month. Its a VLCD full meal replacement plan. Each meal is 25% of your daily nutrients, so I have a shake in the am, then soup or shake for lunch, then 2 chocolate bars things to snack on when I like (2bars = 1 meal) and then instant sachet of spag bol or shepherds pie for tea.
I thought the meal sachets would be gross, but they are VERY nice. I have eaten worse at a restaurant... and you know how I love my food!!
I did consider really going for it with slimingworld, but at the moment I just wanna burn fat, lose weight and not have to think about it. I need a boost to my psyche and this is gunna do it.
So, slimmingworld better be ready for a lighter load on the scales next week!
Several things have happened recently that have meant I can, or rather have to, put things to bed permanently.
If you start a race, or a journey, or a trek somewhere massive - like the Marathon, or North Pole or Everest... sometimes you don't do it your first go. I do feel like my battle with weight could be any or all of those things. Its certainly huge - like my butt!
So, you would be mad not to attempt those things with some serious training. Hell I would be mad to try a 1km run right now!! So, I am considering my 3 years post band as my training to stay the distance.
I had a funny little thing happen to prove this yesterday. I went to TB's house after we got back from slimmingworld, and we were having a coffee and chatting, and she offered me an orange. Without thinking, I dismissed it with a "no thanks" and then realized that I said no because there was no way I could have eaten an orange a couple of months ago. It would have stuck like a pig in a poke and ended up in a choke barf session! So even after being released from that over tight hell, my mind has trained itself to remember its just not worth it for some things!
This is very interesting to me, because when I was filled I might have said yes to a cake, or crisps or something similar. So the 'Its not worth it' only came into effect when I weighed up choking and puking versus the TYPE of food stuff... it was worth it to puke on cake or crisps maybe?? My mind is funny like that. I never realized I did that balancing out on food - the pros and cons of eating something... Hmmm. That's really actually quite sad isn't it.
What I intend to do - as my mate Dave suggested - is get a fill at some point and never let myself get into that situation again. I should have been able to eat an orange. I just never bothered to take the time to learn how. Oh yeah, i chewed stuff to death alright, but I mean never really bothered to try foods I thought might be a bit harder going. I just cut them out. So that limits my food choices which then starts the chain reaction into where I was at with subsisting on sloppy or melt able junk food and takeaway at about 10pm at night cos then I can get it down.
These are all good things to remember for me, and I am writing them down on a piece of paper so that I remember these things when i get there again. So as Dave rightly suggested getting a fill should limit rather than omit things. I guess there will be things that i come across that i wont be able to, like I was never able to tolerate bread in any form after my band was filled. But maybe I didn't try hard enough or take small enough bites. I dunno. I am going to give it all a fresh try and armed with my training I should be able to notice the first signs of distress and slow the heck down!
The other interesting things that I have come to terms with is the breaking of my band. That has been a head fucker right from the word go. It makes me sore and angry in my heart that this had to happen to me, because I am pretty sure that I would not be here writing this blog the way its written if everything had been ok with the band from the outset.
I have been repeatedly told by our solicitor that I had a case against the NHS for what happened to me. I also had a case against the private doctor in London who did a vanishing act. I also had the case against the company that made the band and I did receive a large sum from them for their faulty product in December 2007.
I have consistently left the NHS on the shelf. I just didn't want to go there. I think maybe I was frightened that there would be some record or they would refuse to treat me in future or something like that. I certainly cant afford private health care plan, so I have to go with them. It all felt rather bad manners too, even though they fucked up on a major scale. I know the name of the doctor who said I was fine, the senior consultant radiologist who looked at these next x-rays and said there was nothing wrong (even though - now get this - they do follow up care for this operation at this hospital so am guessing he might have seen a band before in his 34 years as a radiologist!!!!), and everyone else who treated me that day including the nurses on duty the night I was admitted and who I - lying in my bed - overheard at handover in the early hours say "Bunny, she came in complaining of abdominal pain, given morphine but still in pain. Shes either a very very good actor or is actually in pain, but who knows"... Nice huh!
I have done nothing about any of it. Now, I cant do anything about it. It was 3 years ago on 21st May that it broke. that's the time limit for raising a medical compensation case.
Its like a deliberately left it until now so that I could just forget about it, or them. Maybe its ingrained in us to trust doctors and nurses, or whatever, or maybe I am just being really truly gracious and feel like I already took enough compensation over this. The NHS is in debt and its not like I had a leg off or something. I also paid for this surgery myself so maybe I think I brought the whole situation on myself or whatever, but I just couldn't bring myself to sign the forms and send them back to the solicitor. I just couldn't. Now it doesn't matter. Its fucking done.
Any time I go into hospital now I can at least know that there is no secret code on my files saying "GET HER!" But I also know not to be fobbed off. I know that they can miss some freaking big problems now for real. So at least I kind of get something out of it.
So here are my X-Rays. I have blanked my name and stuff and the hospital name... but you get to see inside my guts:
On this x-ray you can see the port with a nice big prong poking out of it (it's and inch and a half long btw) this stabbed me in the liver for 6 months. And, just by 'Acq Tm' you can see the band in position and the tubing trailing off downwards.
And here's the other one showing my port and disconnected tubing and the 2 big clips that broke off and fired like a rocket into my pelvic area (look at spine in pelvis)! That tubing whipped through me like a blown tyre, so YES, nurse, I was in freaking Pain bitch!
By the time I got back to see Dr. Dillemans in the November, the tubing was hanging further down in my pelvis... straight down too. It explained why when i went to the loo I felt like I was having a baby and had stabbing pains. Check out the port area too... explains why once I bent over, I had chronic pain in my upper midriff... it was stabbing my liver.
So there we go guys... its all over, I cant call anyone on this any more. Dr. Dillemans was appalled at the sate of it all and instantly fixed it all up for free the very next day and was amazing. I would thoroughly recommend him to anyone. I only know 3 other people this happened too and I sincerely hope there is no one else... but if your band ain't working, then get this sucker checked as it was a faulty batch or LapBands ok? Some people don't get pain... it all depends where everything's located and how long the tubing is etc... so don't give up on your little silicone buddy unless you know this hasn't happened.
So this is me putting it all to bed. *dusts hands off*
The other things that has made me in the mood to restart stuff is my weight. My actual weight.
Yesterday at slimmingworld I weighed in at 18 stone 1.5lbs (thats 253.5lbs). When I started my WHOLE weightloss expedition way back and originally joined slimmingword I weighed 18 stone 12.5lbs. That's just 11 pounds lost in about 6 years.
When I had lapband surgery on 14th February 2007 I weighed exactly 18 stone (252lbs).
I now weigh MORE than at my original surgery date.
So peeps, I have really really REALLY gone back to base camp.
These things should shock me, but actually they inspire me. Its like Running the Marathon and twisting your ankle at 10miles. Like Trekking to the North pole and having the huskies turn on you and eat the supplies just into the arctic circle. Like getting halfway up Everest and your Sherpa realizing that you don't have enough oxygen to complete the mission. So you have to go back home and re-load.
So I am HAPPY and well glad I get the chance to run this race again! Its day 4 and all is well!!!
The plan I am doing is Dieti-meal. Its shakes, bars, soup and mrp meals. VERY tasty and easily doable for a month. Its a VLCD full meal replacement plan. Each meal is 25% of your daily nutrients, so I have a shake in the am, then soup or shake for lunch, then 2 chocolate bars things to snack on when I like (2bars = 1 meal) and then instant sachet of spag bol or shepherds pie for tea.
I thought the meal sachets would be gross, but they are VERY nice. I have eaten worse at a restaurant... and you know how I love my food!!
I did consider really going for it with slimingworld, but at the moment I just wanna burn fat, lose weight and not have to think about it. I need a boost to my psyche and this is gunna do it.
So, slimmingworld better be ready for a lighter load on the scales next week!
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