Where did the last two weeks go? It’s all a blur. A fun blur at that.

Let’s start with the party – the Pester/Strange/Listermann/McCafferty party was quite a success. The food was incredible. We had a pot luck. One dish was better than the next. Food was everywhere. So was the laughter and camaraderie that family brings.

All of Fred’s brothers and one sister, Joyce, were there with their spouses and Fred’s twin, Dave, brought his gorgeous grandchildren. His sister, Mary, from Lexington, was under the weather and unable to attend. We missed her.

I made everyone step out of their comfort zones at the end of the meal. I prepared a bingo-like game with comments on them like, I was in the Army, I work in a school, I speak a foreign language, I am a twin etc. The person with the most names won. There were four twins there, some with and some without their twin. Once the crowd settled down from running around getting names, I went through each statement and made everyone who applied to the answer stand up. It was neat to see how much we all had in common and how unique each person was too. There was lots of storytelling and tattling on one another. It was fun. I think everyone knew each other better after.

I got the feeling that Fred was pretty proud of our gathering. Apparently he had never hosted a party before and he was nervous about it. I will say one thing…Fred has really come out of his shell since we first started dating. I think he likes being a social butterfly right along with me. I’m so glad.

Now in the food department – oh snap – another month goes by. I continue to eat carbs. I continue to lose weight…..but……very…..slowly……… I lost a mere two pounds.

Guilt seems to be such a part of this experience. Again, the good girl – bad girl scenario. I think that is programmed so deeply within me that the idea of retraining my brain seems insurmountable.

I went to Dr. Curry’s Cincinnati office on Thursday. His nurse practitioner gave me a fill after giving me a fluoroscope scan. That was really fun. I stood in front of a white disk with the camera aimed at my gut. I could see the lap band clearly. I could see my heart beating and everything moving. It was “cool.” Then I drank barium contrast. I could see it go down my throat and pause very briefly and the top of the band, then stream through into my stomach.

I was surprised to learn that the port where they stick the needle in to give the fill is below my stomach. Somehow I thought it would be a the top. I guess my understanding of biology is limited. Anyway, I lay on the table and the nurse filled me with an additional .3 cc’s of fluid. I think the opening of the band is an 8 now. The maximum is a 9 I believe, or maybe 10. Anyway, this time I really feel a difference. I cannot eat the quantities of food I was eating. I really can only get about 1/4 of a cup down in one sitting. That is going to be helpful.

I went to breakfast today with the “giggle-girls” and could hardly eat a thing. That was thrilling really. I’m also not hungry at all. I hope it lasts this time. Not being hungry does help me make better choices when I can only get a little bit of food down. I do want the best bang for my buck. However, I think I’m going to pray a novena (not that I’m Catholic) for God to help me stay away from ice cream. That cool, creamy substance flows through the band so easily – – and tastily. Sigh.

I’m suppose to be logging my intake of food daily too. Oh the rebellious one that I am! I hate journaling. It’s so annoying. I’m sure I’ll get slapped on the wrist for this, but I don’t want to do it. I know it will help me stay in line better, I know it will give them an idea of my habits. When I first had the band in I logged everything. It was scary. I wanted to be sure I got all the nutrients in. I was faithful to the log for the first three months. Then, I got comfortable with the band and the doctor said he didn’t want me to feel like I was on a diet, but rather eating protein above other things. Well, I’ve stayed fairly true to that, but I’ve added carbs into the mix.

My hope is that this fill is the “sweet” one. The one that will stay with me and make me feel full all the time. That is a wonderful feeling. I can’t describe it other than to say it’s freeing. Perhaps I’ve said this before. Still, feeling full makes one think differently about what goes into the mouth.

Let’s hope I can keep the momentum.