Long Over due update

[Neal R.]

Hi all. There are so many new faces around. Great to see. I still lurk here so Susan doesn't strip my Mod status (:thumb:), but don't post nearly like I should.

It's been quite a year. Such an emotional roller coaster.

First the personal stuff. Almost a year ago, we found out my dad had pancreatic cancer. We weren't sure how long we would have him and were afraid he wouldn't make it til last Christmas. Pancreatic cancer kills very quickly as you know. What a blessing it was that we had him until last week, He made it right at a year. And he lived in relative comfort the entire time. He was able to drive up until 3 weeks ago. Thankfully, when he did take a turn for the worse, he only lasted 2 weeks. I was able to be at his bedside at home when he passed. I am sad, but thankfully we had as much time as we did and he didn't suffer much. During this year, we also had the birth of my daughter and my dad was able to get to see her and hold her. She was grandpa's little pumpkin! lots of highs and lows.

As for my band, not much has changed. I never did loose what i gained after reaching goal, but am still very happy. I went from a 56 inch waist to a low of a 34 inch waist and am currently wearing 38's. I hope to loose about 30 or 40 pounds still. so I went and got a fill today for the first time in forever. I knew it was time when I was able to eat a whole Cabana Bowl (like a taco salad without the lettuce), shell and all from Taco Cabana. Ironically, I have not dieted (code for eating way too much crap!) or exercised in over a year and have maintained at my current weight for the last 12 months. Yay for the band!!! I am still down over 80 pounds from my pre-op weight!

So my fill went very well, My Dr does it under flouro, so they were able to confirm I hadn't stretched anything out which is what I was afraid of. They gave me .5cc fill, not sure what my total is or if I had lost any fill, but i feel very tight now. Going to monitor it to make sure its not too tight.

Time to get off my butt and be more active and make better food choices too. I am addicted to facebook so I am on there a lot, but I will make an effort to post here more too. I need the support for sure!

[Nick N Ava's Grammy]

Welcome back Neal.. so sorry to hear about your Dad.. my Dad also passed away from cancer, but it was liver cancer 22 yrs ago.. seems like yesterday. Congratulations on the birth of your little girl.. they're so precious in so many ways.. I'm sure your Dad loved her deeply as any Granddaddy should and would. It's good to see you back on here.. I remember you were the first one I contacted here for help when I first joined.. you were so kind to welcome me and get help for me. I thank you for that. Keep coming back.. I sure miss the ones that were here and have left when I first started on B2G. But I've met so many new people that are amazing in support for me too.

Good luck and I know you'll do great with your weight loss.. it's a non stopping battle, we're in it for the long haul eh?

Take care!!

[redgrldj]

WElcome back Neal.. You were missed.. I am very sorry to hear about your dad...

[KristiR]

Neal, I'm sorry for your loss, I know how hard it is to watch someone go through pancreatic cancer. It can be so painful for them, your father was bless in that department it sounds like. I'm glad he didn't have to go through much painful suffering.

Remember the good times you had with him Neal! Keep him in your heart. I bet he was so proud of your weight loss.

With love,

[christie]

Welcome back, Neal. Sorry to hear about your dad, but that was the *best* loss story (none of them are good but some of them are positively horrific) I have ever heard about someone with pancreatic cancer. That disease is just plain evil. Thank goodness your dad had a relatively good year....I'm so sorry though that you lost him.

Sounds like your band has been working for you, EVEN in times of stress. That is great. You're an inspiration to us all.!

[GirlWithIn]

Sometimes life just gets in the way, glad to see you back, sending bigs hugs for the loss of your father, and a big congrats on the new baby girl!

[chrispygal]

Neal! So great to see you post. :) I'm so sorry about your dad. I've witnessed a love one pass away from cancer and it's a really tough thing to witness. But to have your dad meet and bond with your baby girl, that's priceless. And Neal, you need to know that you are a spectacular example of a lap band success story! You have done such a great job and should be very proud of yourself!

[Patrick]

Neal, nice to hear from you again. You have certainly had a full year. Sorry about your Dad, but nice to hear that you two had plenty of time to say goodbye. Look forward to following you as you get back into the bandsters life.

[brwneyedbeauty]

welcome back Neal we have missed ya.. Sorry to hear about your dad.

[Dr.A]

Welcome back dear friend.... missed you!!!

[Neal R.]

Welcome back dear friend.... missed you!!!

Thank you and thank everyone. I hope that this year will be a lot less emotional and I will get to go to next years conference. That is my goal.

Angela, you are still the only person I have met in real life on this board and would love to have seen you again!

Thank you to everyone else too. Good to be back!

[MoOrLess]

as I said on FB Neal...hugs and prayers for you and your family. My dad has been gone for many years and it still seems like yesterday....I'm so glad you were able to be with your dad and to share your new daughter with him! What a blessing!

You've been missed on here - I'm glad you're back -- and I can't wait to meet you next year! :)

[gregken77]

Neal ----Lost my Pa to the exact same cancer. Im glad he got to see your new baby. Did you get pictures of them together? Anyway I am sorry for your loss. We lost Pa almost 10 years ago and it seems like it was just yesterday! My God has it been that long? Im getting old! Turned 38 on the 12th of this month! :(

[Neal R.]

Thanks everyone for the kind words and well wishes! Good news is I have lost 5 pounds since my fill last week. Good start for sure.

[Patrick]

Way to go Neal, back in the saddle again.

[Neal R.]

Not as good of a week. I did manage to loose one pound during halloween week, so I guess I can't complain too much

Back at it again today, walked 2 laps around the company lake (3.2 miles) during lunch!!

[Stitchy]

Twin, I'm glad to see you again. I'm sorry to hear about your father. Losing a parent is hard.

I'm glad to hear that you got a fill. I think (actually I know!) that the liquid can disipate over time. I was down .4cc over a 2.5 year period. So, a fill was a good thing for you. Don't let the weight get out of control. Work that band!

[Bandedmomof7]

Neal--
So glad to hear from you again. You are one of the ones that has provided us sooooo much inspiration! So good to have you back on.
I, too, am so sorry for your loss. It is sooo hard to lose a parent. May your heart be comforted in this tender time!!
Stay in touch!

[Neal R.]

Thanks for the support!

My official weigh in day is Monday, but when I am serious about loosing, I become a scale whore and weigh all the time and I am down another pound and a hlf this week so far, that makes 7.5. I have been real good about walking since I don't belong to the gym anymore. We have a "lake" around work that is 1.6 miles around making it a 5k if you go around twice. I have walked the 5K every day this week and 4 times last week!

[Rini]

Hi Neal soglad to have you back with us! I am totally a fb whore myself so iknow what that is like but we always have to com eback to b2g! AS a matter of fact Neal you are the reason i found this site. I happened across your link on the internet june 2008. So thanks for that! Look forward to getting to kno wyou better. I am so sorry about your dad. I can only imagine your heartache but you must be so greatful that he got to meet your daughter. I don't know if you are a spiritual person but I do believe that he is watching over you and your family always. BE well and see ya around!!!!!!!

[Neal R.]

Thanks Rini - look me up on FB if you want. it Neal Riggins :)

[Neal R.]

Had a good week. Did my official weigh in this morning and lost 3 pounds last week. Thats 9 pounds since my fill 3 weeks ago from tomorrow. Not bad at all!

[gregken77]

thats great Neal---You know when I get all freaked out about this band your pictures and story are one of the ones I go back to and remind myself ---hey if this guy can do it you can to. Your a big insparation. Great job on the weight loss.

[Neal R.]

Thanks Greg. I appreciat that and glad to help

[MoOrLess]

Had a good week. Did my official weigh in this morning and lost 3 pounds last week. Thats 9 pounds since my fill 3 weeks ago from tomorrow. Not bad at all!

fantastic Neal -- did you go update on Back to Lowest?

[Neal R.]

fantastic Neal -- did you go update on Back to Lowest?
Yep, I did :)

[PattiDi07]

Hi, Neal.... so sorry for the loss of your dad. And congrats on your baby. I'm sure it was an emotional roller coaster, as you described. Also, congrats on the weight-loss. You have inspired so many on here, and continue to do so! Thanks!

[Neal R.]

Still plugging along. Another 2 pounds last week. So since my fill 5 weeks ago tomorrow, I am down 12 pounds. I can live with that. I hate that i love food so much and I hate being a foodie, but I am and glad the band gives me some control back :)

[MoOrLess]

wow great job Neal...I guess that's why we have a band :)

[Patrick]

Hope to join you back on the road to recovery in the near future Neal. Not up to it now, with my personal life. Thanks for putting yourself out there to lead the way.

[Neal R.]

Hi all. There are so many new faces around. Great to see. I still lurk here so Susan doesn't strip my Mod status (:thumb:), but don't post nearly like I should.

It's been quite a year. Such an emotional roller coaster.

First the personal stuff. Almost a year ago, we found out my dad had pancreatic cancer. We weren't sure how long we would have him and were afraid he wouldn't make it til last Christmas. Pancreatic cancer kills very quickly as you know. What a blessing it was that we had him until last week, He made it right at a year. And he lived in relative comfort the entire time. He was able to drive up until 3 weeks ago. Thankfully, when he did take a turn for the worse, he only lasted 2 weeks. I was able to be at his bedside at home when he passed. I am sad, but thankfully we had as much time as we did and he didn't suffer much. During this year, we also had the birth of my daughter and my dad was able to get to see her and hold her. She was grandpa's little pumpkin! lots of highs and lows.

As for my band, not much has changed. I never did loose what i gained after reaching goal, but am still very happy. I went from a 56 inch waist to a low of a 34 inch waist and am currently wearing 38's. I hope to loose about 30 or 40 pounds still. so I went and got a fill today for the first time in forever. I knew it was time when I was able to eat a whole Cabana Bowl (like a taco salad without the lettuce), shell and all from Taco Cabana. Ironically, I have not dieted (code for eating way too much crap!) or exercised in over a year and have maintained at my current weight for the last 12 months. Yay for the band!!! I am still down over 80 pounds from my pre-op weight!

So my fill went very well, My Dr does it under flouro, so they were able to confirm I hadn't stretched anything out which is what I was afraid of. They gave me .5cc fill, not sure what my total is or if I had lost any fill, but i feel very tight now. Going to monitor it to make sure its not too tight.

Time to get off my butt and be more active and make better food choices too. I am addicted to facebook so I am on there a lot, but I will make an effort to post here more too. I need the support for sure!

Ok, after updating well over a year ago, I didn't stay on the wagon for very long. Not going to happen this time. i'm back for sure this time. I still never lost the weight I gained back. I am about 30 pounds heavier than I was at the time of my tummy tuck and about 50 pound heavier than i want to be. I started weight watchers last week. I really like it. My wife joined about 6 months ago and has lost about 65 pounds. I lost 5 pounds last week. I did not officially join, but have a phone app that calculates and tracks my daily and weekly points and excercise. It's like being n Weight Watcher and not having to pay. I made a commitment to excersise at least 5 days a week and stay faithfull to my diet. Honestly, the combonation of the band and weight watchers is great. WW helps with the food and the band keeps me from being hungry. Its a win/win for me. I feel like I eat too much to loose, but last weeks results don't lie, neither do my wife's non banded results.

I thought I was getting support from Facebook with all of my B2G friends on there, but its not the same as actually visiting this site. This site helps keep me accountable. Good to see so many old faces back like me.

The band is not a cure all for obesity (neither is any other WLS at this time). It is still a daily struggle, but we can do this.

[chrispygal]

The band is not a cure all for obesity (neither is any other WLS at this time). It is still a daily struggle, but we can do this.

AMEN! It takes a lot of effort for sure. We're worth it though! :)

[Patrick]

Like you Neal, I bounce around. Almost to onederland a couple of months ago, now have almos 20 lbs to go to make it. I will, and I will make goal, I will never quit.

[Goannabanda]

I thought I was getting support from Facebook with all of my B2G friends on there, but its not the same as actually visiting this site. This site helps keep me accountable. Good to see so many old faces back like me.

The band is not a cure all for obesity (neither is any other WLS at this time). It is still a daily struggle, but we can do this.


Hear, hear to that! Nice to be back with you old pal. I'm with Patrick, never, never, never give up!

[Rini]

Welcome back Neal! its never too late to start fresh. WW is a great place and if i hadn't dropped out so many times i would definitely go back but i associate the place with all my failures and find it hard to even think about that.However, out of all my weightloss effort places that i went to WW was by far the best! and i hear that you don't count fruits for points anymore. A def plus!

[newlifeat57]

Welcome back Neal. You have been missed! Like Patrick and the others I too have adopted the mantra to never give up!

[Nick N Ava's Grammy]

Welcome back Neal! I read a lot, but hardly ever post. I'm happy to see the people I started with when I joined this wonderful site 3 yrs ago next month.
I've been thinking about WW also, but when I had told my leader 3 yrs ago I was thinking about having lap band surgery, her response was "Well!!! You KNOW you're going to have to exercise with that too!!" She said she really didn't think this type of thing would help me at all, that doing WW would be my only way to succeed basically. Although there are other WW meetings around, the one she does is the closest.. sounds like an excuse doesn't it? I've been wondering what the new points system is, and have thought about joining online..I do go to the website and check things out a lot, also I do count points somewhat to keep my eating down. You've given me some things to think about.. thanks!! Congratulations on you and your wife's weight loss :)

[MoOrLess]

You took the words right out of my "thoughts" Neal....FB is fun and all, but it is not a built-in support system like the one we have here. Glad you're back my friend!