kittyforet

I had to pay for everything. Even the hernia. My insurance excluded everything. I hear some people only have to pay a portion due to the hernia, but I had to pay in full $9995 for the surgery and first year of aftercare.

Clear Lake area.

I am in the Clear Lake area. Not much as far as groups that I know of, but would love to get together sometime. I do meet with a small group of ladies (6 or so) once a month in Alvin. Feel free to email me, as i check that more than here. kittyforet@yahoo.com

I was banded by Dr. Reilly at True Results Houston.

I used him for my Lap band. Nice guy

High school cosmetology teacher and full-time wife and mother. Never a dull moment unless everyone is asleep. My kids are 12(son with autism), 9(son) and 5(daughter) and keep me busy when I'm not at work. Hubby works shift work so half the time we are passing each other. I work a lot of extra hours with my job, trying to make sure my students earn their hours and skills required to become licensed by the state. Can be very stressful at times, but also very rewarding. Some days though its all drama.

I had to have some removed in April 2012 and have not gotten back the same restriction I had before. I was about 7.5 and too tight; my doctors office was closed so I had to go to the emergency clinic the surgeon recommends. I think they took out 1 cc but was not told exactly how much. Since then I've been getting small fills and gained 10 pounds. Eating too much and the wrong stuff because I COULD. It was almost like I gave myself permission to be bad. Earlier this month at my appointment I asked the nurse to remove and measure my fluid, which was supposed to be 8.5. Imagine her surprise when it only showed I had 6.3! No restriction at all at that point, even the barium swallow showed fluid flowing right through the band. Now I'm up to 6.8 and for two weeks I couldn't tell any difference. Last night and today, however, I've experienced first bite syndrome. Last night it was a few bites of chicken breast and today it was fish. Too big of a bite and my band is back at work. Will be doing liquids the rest of today. So far nothing has come up but I can tell I screwed up. So long story short, I lost restriction and am having a hard time getting it back.

Some days I feel like a failure. Not because I drink soda (I no longer desire it), but because I make a conscious choice to abandon what I was taught and ignore the rules. I have days where I eat the wrong things and don't exercise. I go through times where I wallow in self pity about how I'm not losing like I did in the beginning. But the one thing I cannot do, no matter how much I want to, is blame my band. It does its job; I am the one not following the rules. So, that being said, I'm starting over. Following the rules but not throwing in the towel if I slip up. Picking myself back up after a bad day and reminding myself that I lost weight before and I can do it again if I follow the rules and toss out the bad food that goes right through the band. Just because I can eat or drink it doesn't mean I should and I have to get past that. Make today the day that you start fresh. Follow the rules. Pick one goal this week and start making it happen. Drink 64+ oz of water. Exercise 15-30 + minutes per day at least 3 times this week. Eat protein first and stay away from soda and slider foods. Ignore stuff that doesn't help you personally. Every day is a new chance to do what's right. I'm far from perfect and don't pretend to be, but I can start over and so can you. We all fall short at some point but we aren't perfect. My goal this week is to drink 64 oz of water daily and exercise 4 days for at least 30 minutes. Already have one exercise session done, now to work on the water. I'm also tossing out the trash (chocolate candy) that is staring at me. It's not in my plan so it's gotta go away or I'll eat it until I am sick to my stomach. Feel free to message me and we can hold each other accountable. You can start over. You're worth it.

Some great sites other than those already mentioned include Michelle's blog at theworldaccordingtoeggface and bandfriendlyrecipes. I've never had anything bad from either of these sites. Want ice cream?!?!? Michelle has many versions to try! And all are made with protein! Yummy!

Great! I'm not a runner. Wouldn't be able to run to save my life. I've stopped going to the gym since school started and my kids had baseball but now that the season is over I'll get back to the treadmill. I've seen several people post that that did the C2 5 k but I'm scared of running. Walking I can do. If I can get motivated I might join some of my coworkers in May doing the gritty goddess 5k obstacle run. They had a lot of fun. We shall see. Sent from my iPhone using LapBandTalk

Please send it to me too. I'm very interested! Kittyforet@yahoo.com Thanks! Sent from my iPhone using LapBandTalk

How did you get started working up to a 5k? I have no running experience. Sent from my iPhone using LapBandTalk

I'm in Houston. Actually Clear Lake area. I was banded by Dr. Reilly at True Results in June 2011. Been struggling lately but hoping to get back into the gym now that two of my kids aren't having baseball 5 days a week. I'm on Facebook but I don't publicly share that there, as my boss is my friend and not a lot od people at work know. Feel free to friend me but send a message saying you're on LBT. I'll be happy to share my experiences via email, text or private message. Kristi Sent from my iPhone using LapBandTalk

I have Jean's first edition, 2nd edition and the cookbook and refer to them often. Much better information than what my surgeon gave me! You won't regret that purchase!! Sent from my iPhone using LapBandTalk

All doctors are different but mine requires one day liquids then one day soft foods, then back to normal on day 3. Sent from my iPhone using LapBandTalk

I teach high school and some days I'm very stressed by lunch time. Thankfully I have a conference period right after lunch, so if I cannot eat during the lunch period I can take some time afterwards. It's also great because if I do run into problems eating, I'm not forced to deal with my students right away...it's crappy being stuck and having to pb in my office trash can while they're in the classroom. Some days it doesn't pay to eat at lunch though. Sent from my iPhone using LapBandTalk

I've had mine in place for a year now and havent had a period for 9 months. The first 3 months I had very sporadic periods and then they just stopped. Not complaining about that!! I have heard that the Mirena is good for up to 5 years and after 5 years it needs to be replaced...maybe if you're having periods suddenly and it's been almost 5 years, it might be time to replace it? Sent from my iPhone using LapBandTalk

I went with dr Reilly too. I'm in the clear lake area. Sent from my iPhone using LapBandTalk

Dr. Reilly did my surgery also and he's very helpful. Explained everything. Sent from my iPhone using LapBandTalk

Clothing exchange Protein bar/shake tasting Plastic surgeons Recipe exchange Exercise class/yoga Tour of a local grocery store to get food ideas Meeting with nutritionist to help plan meals/snacks Just a few ideas Sent from my iPhone using LapBandTalk

Welcome back!! You were missed!! So happy to hear of your little joy!! Can't wait to see pictures once she arrives!! Sounds like you'Ve done well with pregnancy and the band. Welcome back RozieCakes!! Sent from my iPhone using LapBandTalk

Banded June 20, 2011 by dr Reilly at true results. I live south of Houston. I'd be happy to be your buddy. Sent from my iPhone using LapBandTalk

I have several I like. I normally am too tight in the morning to eat real food so I rely on a shake to hold me over until lunch. powders I like: unjury chocolate splendor, vanilla, unflavored, chicken Soup Syntrax nectar Cappuccino, Caribbean cooler, strawberry mousse, roadside lemonade. All of these are currently in my pantry so i don't get bored with one flavor. I also stock several flavors of crystal light, MIO, and torani sugar free syrups so I never have the same flavor. Another option is to add a teaspoon of sugar free instan pudding mix. Yummy!! Chocolate powder + coconut torani syrup + splash of almond extract = almond joy Chocolate + Peanut Butter + caramel torani syrup = snickers Cappuccino + chocolate torani syrup = mocha cappuccino (hot or cold!) I will often make the caribbean cooler or lemonade with my snowcone maker and have it like a slushy. Sent from my iPhone using LapBandTalk

I haven't told my inlaws and hopefully never will. My mother in law, brother in law and sister in law are huge...my hubby is getting bigger these days too. My inlaws and husband have all been large, except my father in law... Hubby was always the smallest after his dad, but not so much anymore. 5 years ago my MIL was absent at my daughters birth because she was in Louisiana with my sister in law, who was getting gastric bypass at the time. I totally understand her being there for that. It's not like I was going to allow her in the OR with me anyway. My SIL has always been huge. Not sure of her exact weight but I know she wore 5x. She never made good food choices and exercise was a foreign word to her. Pretty much sums up my whole inlaw side of the family. Anyway back to her surgery. She was receiving state medical insurance so her surgery was free. Within 1 year she lost a lot of weight and looked great. Then something happened after year 2...She went back to her old eating habits and gained all of the weight back, and then some. She was given a huge gift in the form of free surgery that could make her healthy and enjoy life more and she trashed it. The main reason I don't tell my MIL...she is the biggest blabber mouth and if I fail at this everyone will know thanks to her. Then I'll be compared to her daughter and I can't take that. It might seem petty but I don't care. I worked hard to be able to pay cash for my surgery, my insurance excludes weight loss. If I want the world to know something, I'll tell the queen of gossip and you can bet in two minutes everyone in the USA will know. Not lying. I will be a success in spite of my inlaws. Sorry for the long post...guess I needed to get that off my chest. Sent from my iPhone using LapBandTalk