Sale on Fills and Missing My Boys

Fills:
I thought I would post about my second “first” fill. A little summary first. I was banded on February 10th and had 3 cc in my band. I had my first fill on March 9th, when Dr. Doug put it up to 4 cc. On March 22nd, after many days of PBing and vomiting I went sobbing back to his office and he took out fluid (Click here to read about that). Two weeks of letting my stomach heal and I was back for a refill last Wednesday (at 8 weeks post-op). I am now back to 3 cc, the same amount I had at surgery. It sucks. I have a bit of restriction again but am getting hungry every 2-3 hours. So I don’t know if I’ve even had a first fill—I failed my first and gained a couple of pounds—that d*mn gravity pull thing everyone was talking about last week—hex on it.

I am taking it slow. Next time I see him I will ask for just 0.5 cc. I think it best to take it gradual given my problems the last time. Dr. Doug also told me that there are a few who will hit their “sweet spot” with only a few little fills. I will gauge what I need by looking at my weight loss. I have basically been stuck at the same weight for the last two weeks but am down a smidgen of weight (0.4 lbs) today. I’ll see if this refill will help. The good news is Dr. Doug has dropped his fill charge from $75 to $50. A 33% off sale. I love sales. Just so you know, I use a local doctor for my fills as it is a 5 hours drive to the surgical clinic where they are free. I think my doc here is giving me a break because I also see his nurses for nutrition counselling and pay for those visits ($15 every few weeks).

Missing My Boy #1
My son is one of the wonders I created (along with his older sister). I’ll give some credit to DH because I did need his “input” for those few seconds. If you take the “S” off my name, you can guess his name. He’s always been called by this short name unlike my male follower in UAE (did you guess the name yet?—please don’t put it in any comments). Anyway, Little A is now 24 and left for South Africa two weeks ago. He and a friend (who is originally from South Africa) are having a bit of a vacation and doing some mission work in Durban this week so I haven’t heard from him—I’m sure there aren’t many wireless networks around the area. LOL. My son is very involved with the Pentecostal church. In his teens, he began with the youth group and just embraced the church as his second family. Neither my husband nor I attend church so it is a with a bit of amazement that we raised this pretty cool kid.

He was in South Africa three years ago with his youth group for some mission work in Swaziland. They helped a village build a well for clean water and other odd jobs needed by the communities. It wasn’t a “go in and take over” but a “we can help with what you need done with this little bit of money”. They had raised a few thousand dollars from garage sales—I donated a ton of stuff and it helped me clear out my clutter. I felt good that it was going to a good cause but it also de-cluttered my life in the process. Only a few hundred dollars brought clean water to a small village. Suitcases of clothes and some medical supplies were also taken on the trip. My son told me what a great experience Africa was to him. We sometimes forget the size of this world and feel helpless. But it only takes one act of kindness to change a life. The little boy in the first picture smiling from ear to ear. For a few hours he had some visitors who cared and they left him with some warm clothes, food and a few dollars. And a village has clean water to drink. That is what mission work is--there is no bible thumping or sermonizing. It is the simple acts of kindness that people do for each other.

Beautiful smile! This child (about 10 yrs old) was raising his two younger brothers and caring for his sick grandmother. His mother had died of AIDS.

Here are some of the villagers.

Water source for the Village. Villagers would fetch this water, boil it, and then drink it. The animals also drank directly from this pond.

The end result. With a few dollars and help from all the villagers a nice stone path was built to get to the plastic barrel serving as a well to hold filtered spring water and keep it separated.

 To the left is my son with the grandson of the lady where they stayed.

The trip wasn't just work and no play for the group. They also had some fun sightseeing in Kruger National Park and along the southern coast around Capetown. I’ve included these pictures as I think they are beautiful and I am so proud of my little baby. He is making a difference in this world, one tiny bit at a time. He’ll be back home at the end of April but mom’s have the right to miss their babies no matter how old they get.

The coast of South Africa where the Atlantic meets the Indian Ocean.

Missing My Boy #2

My DH is leaving on Tuesday for a business trip to China and the Philippines. So Boy #2 will be gone for two weeks and I will have no one around to tempt me with lovely dinners. Right, LOL. My DH is much better at pouring wine than he is at cooking. When we first met he made me Coquille St. Jacques (scallops in cream sauce with mashed potatoes). Amazing. It wasn’t until we married that I found out it was his only recipe. Oh well, he’s good in bed!  I’ll miss him too but will sleep like a baby!

So for the next while I’ll have to depend on my blogger friends to keep me company. I mentioned in a comment that reading the blogs is like following a soap opera. I can’t wait to find out what the next episode will be. This past week had many revealing posts and it helped me see further into everyone’s lives and my own. I feel like a voyeur at times. I guess we should all get ready for our summer hiatus and a cliff hanger post (Noooooo!). I also love that I have gotten to know a bit of your lives. But for those who find it hard to post revealing parts of themselves, it doesn’t matter. We are a community that accepts everyone—tell as much or as little as you want. Someone mentioned a worry about being judged—never! You have become my kids, my sisters/brothers but mostly my friends. I hope you let the old lady hang around and enjoy this ride a bit more.

And one more request. If you are following me, please leave me a comment with a link to your blog if you have one. I can't find the link in your profile and would love to follow you.

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