lizrbit

id do it again in a heartbeat. Id lost over 90 lbs before twice in my life prior to the band, each time with medication, but it always came back and then some. I got to apoint where dispite diet i was gaining and continue to gain. Excercise only slowed the process down. Now look! fifty five lbs down and still going! i could not have done this on my own. i even had to answer this question for real after the leak and my heart didnt even have time to beat between the end of the question and my unconditional YES absolutely.

pebbles you will definately know. Ive had it happen in a restraunt with my husband, and the ONLY thing that helps me specificly is to go outside and walk. Once i walked fifteen blocks to get something unstuck. We are all different though. I have a banded friend who goes to the bathroom and bends over and just stays there until it is "better". i tried it once and it does take the pressure off the bottom of the stomach. Just tip your top half lower than your middle and gravity helps relieve the pressure. I still walk it off though for the most part.

me too! i was rebanded May 24 with a small ten cc AP band! it rides MUCh more comfortable and im not guessing about restriction anymore. i can definitely tell now. I concur, yay for us!

it sounds like swelling? have you tried chewing up a tums? I know that sounds wierdly simple but it might help your stomach relax. Maybe one of your medication pills became lodged in your stoma? If thats the case it will pass quickly but id try a tums or two and if that doesnt help anything, and if it were me, id call the dr back if its not better by tomorrow afternoon. sorry you are going through this. ouch.

GOOD LUCK ALEXANDRA!!!! (your going to love this)

owie honey....holy cow....yow. man, i hope it doesnt interfere with your date too. I was so proud of you! I hope it works out well.

RIGHT ON BABYGIRL!! woo! im plugging for ya! i had to build up to mine too. it took me im guessing, about two weeks to build up to the first eight mile ride, riding everyday. Then early in that i had to take days off in between to let my bottom rest (before the biggirl seat), but now i ride it easy, no sweat, even farther if i have places to go. AT the rate you're going, you will get there in no time. Three weeks? i bet its great building it up! You are accomplishing this thing right now that you couldnt do before! Every day you go even a little farther than you did the day before, is a major accomplishment and should be celebrated! Hows your view? what insights do you have while riding? do you have an ipod or something that plays music? I found music a great addition, and you can customize playlists to go along with your ride, leaving one ear open for others. I had to use mapquest to measure distances. It helped me know what progress i was making. I dont really want to be one of those hard core bike people, but i cant tell you how much i enjoy riding a nice long trail, or making my way to work each day.

So far so great. I had fish last night and it was heaven. it was my first real solid food since the rebanding. My surgeon is a proctor for Inamed, which allowed him access to the new band early. It truly is a different feel. I find its much more comfortable and theres no doubt about restriction. with the older band i felt restriction the day of the fill but it didnt last as long. (remember though i had a severe leak) Im very excited about this, and im excited to see other people with it/getting it too.

babygirl, you can go to walmart or academy sports or even buy one online...you can buy a 'big girl seat' by itself and they are very easy to put on. (easier than the gell seat cover) my boys got me one and i dont even use the gel seat cover anymore. Its the same seat they usually put on the one speed cruiser bikes (so comfy too, like riding on a bench).. here is the link to the one i have. target... Target : Bell GelTech Seat with AirGel pockets

Hey guys. Mlevel, i just got my iron supplements from walmart. Stuff i cant stand the taste of goes right into the protien shake to be pulverized and drank down. The taste of the fresh blueberries or strawberries hides much. the yogurt hides much too. The recipie for the protien shake varies according to what i can tolerate that day but a typical one goes like this: 1 deal of probiotic yogurt 1 scoop whey protein 1/2 can of slim fast high protien or eas protein shake a quarter of a cup of fresh frozen fruit, i keep bags of strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries in freezer for variety. one packet of metamucile (i bet i spelled that wrong)..orange flavored two tablespoons flax seed oil (fantastic for your hair and nails) and then add two tablets sweet acidolpholis add my calcium add iron if i cant take it that day (just drop it in) and add the collegen tablet. mix that stuff till its like cake batter and there ya go. its a way to get in breakfast on days when i dont wanna do breakfast and because its so high in protien and calcium, the rest of my day im not grazing or worried i didnt get enough food in.

it turns out i have the new AP Band, small size. It has fill in it, dunno how much but the restriction is perfect. it wears comfortable too. Listen to this...my surgeon did a thing where he didnt have to resuture, but instead fitted the new band exactly into the old bands place. i feel groovy, today first day of soft foods. Im good for about three to five oz.

after twelve years of not riding because of my size, about a week after i was banded the first time i hoped on a bike available at the house i was renting and rode a block. then eventually a mile, then three miles...four..worked up to eight miles daily for a month before i had to fly home. For my birthday, my sons got me a brand new bike complete with big girl seat and bell, flashy lights for the spokes and i use it daily. Love my bike.

sheree! also.... re mushies and pureed. Im heading there myself after a band replacement three days ago (i had leak, dr caught it fastand surgery was a breeze) and im on liquids, have been for a week so far. some suggestions?: Liquid stage: eas protien drinks from advantage are thinner than slim fast and contain a lot of protien, which will keep you from feeling horrible. Butterball chicken broth is the best one to me, tastes JUST like kentucky fried chicken. Full LIquids: liptons cream of chicken cup of soup (instant) is light but thick and feels like heaven going down. Pureed and mushies...last time i had this part licked. I cooked chicken in broth, diced it and threw it in the blender with some seasonings (broth and all) and measured it out and froze the contaners so that i could reheat them in microwave. DId same thing with pork roast and mango chutney and pecans. Even Tuna Helper, with double the tuna made the blender cut, divide and freeze and all of these things was heaven when i needed it. Got me through just fine and i never felt i couldnt make it. GOOD LUCK!!! (cup of soup also comes in broccoli and cheese)

Hey Sheree! congrats on your surgery date, and welcome to the board. its a HUGE board with a very diverse range of people, offering every knotch on the degree of philosophy belt you can imagine. Gotta keep in mind how BIG this board is, and how MANY people there are on it. Chicky, i totally disagree! on two points. 1) im one of your biggest fans and 2) my surgeons office is completely staffed with bandsters who are at or below goal, and yep, diet and excercise. I do agree with you that it seems that people can come up with any excuse not to excercise if they really dont want to, but how can, and who can offer real support if someone is sitting there with a whataburger crying about not losing weight if they wont go outside and do something? cant make people do nothin.... anyway, Hey people. Its nice to see you!

so today i stepped on the scale and almost cried. as of today, im a third of the way from my goal wieght. Ive lost fifty lbs since starting the banding process. fifty lbs. since feb 13. not bad. had a complication and ya know sometimes stuff happens...but it worked out. The thing im celebrating the most, is that on Jan 13 of this year, i was researching the band and somehow still thought that id always have this weight. I thought my 'goal weight' was a joke, that while being a nice fantasy, couldnt possibly be obtained. When i stepped on the scale this morning, i thought, "im a third of the way there, this is totally doable, this will happen" I "only" have a hundred lbs to go now. how cool is that, eh?

thank you EVERYBODY for your support and how neat it is to read your stats! this really is going to work. yeah im three days out from surgery from having a full band replacement. the leak was at the top of the band. I have one of the new ones now and i see it as an upgrade. Im looking forward to doing this with real restriction. i LOVE dr st laurent. I cant stress that enough, or how much i trust him completely. He is very knowledgeable and will explain ANY part you want, as many times as you need, and never tires in his care. He makes you feel like you are his only patient. He answers his own email and returns his own phone calls. His staff is extremely helpful and..they are just that instead of a buffer between the patient and the surgeon. Everyone Ive dealt with in that office has been understanding and pleasant and they really know what you are going through because MOST of his staff are banded. I really, truely, trust the man completely and feel very lucky to have him for my surgeon. If i had a fill dr up north where i live, this leak could have been so easy to have missed because i was an easy stick and had no other symptoms other than really struggling with the same eight lbs for the last two months. Its great to read all of your posts and signatures and see your successes! Its encouraging. Right now, i feel nothing but gratitude.

yeah but so much of that will depend on your dr too. I have NO idea what size my new band is. I go in early tomorrow morning and i can find out then, as well as if i can get a small fill before going home to maine. I have a show in galveston July 14 in the strand, so realisticly i cant really come back until then. My surgeon likes to see his patients every four weeks and has graciously allowed me every five to six weeks for the airline discount. im very excited because i get to have real live soup today. real live stick in there soup! woo! thick, creamy soup!

Denise i feel the same way. I am incredibly lucky in that my insurance covered every bit of it. The only thing ive had to coverin all of it has been my deductable for the nutritionalist, and that was way small. I feel VERY VERY VERY lucky in all this, but especially in getting my surgeon. If i had just a regular fill dr i dont know if it wouldl have gotten caught. Would have been SO easy to just inject a cc and send me on my way because all along i was an easy stick and had no other symptoms other than i stopped losing and was really fighting with those same eight lbs for two months. its the second day out and last night i watered down a soy based Protein drink and got it down. Hallilujah God Almightilly i saw the light. I feel significantly better since drinking it. Going to do it again today and staying on that and chicken broth and special k protein waters for today and tomorrow, then on Monday i can have some squash soup! woo! amazing how good chicken broth tastes now. Im looking forward to seeing the scale go down now. woo! sister bandsters, call your drs and get your band tested for a leak!

this is encouraging news! im hoping to get a boob restructuring and a TT when enough time has passed after i lose the wieght. I have a c section scar in my "apron" and had planned on getting a butterfly tatood onto it, so that when i ran it would appear to be flying....

OH and i forgot about this part. i was groggy when he came in to tell me about the upgrade....and i could be totally wrong but i think i now have a bigger size band, like a ten ccthis time, and its already half filled to five cc. Im fairlly sure thats what got said, but ill double check. hes great about going over parts imnot clear on. we did a flouroscope and it really couldnt look more perfect. im to come back to houston in a month for an adjustment and a recheck to make sure everything is groovy. I LOVE MY SURGEON!!! i actually feel significantly better than i did.

hahaha! yeah im multiple band months now, a born again bandster! lol... Yep, the surgery is exactly the same. They took out the old and put in the new in one swift swoop. Im on Clear liquids for three days, then full liquids for four days, then mushy and pureed foods for a week, and im not to TOUCH or even think about full solids until two weeks from the surgery has passed. its a bit tougher though because i dont have the same kind of healing time here. i had today to sleep on couch and watch tv, but tomorrow i go to an aunts house in vidor, then Tuesday morning i see dr st laurent again for followup and checking everything, then i go directly from there to the airport to catch the flight home. (five hours on a tiny plane should be a blast) i wish i could just stay where im at for a few days its so quiet, but i dig my aunt and shes been a godsend in this thing. Ill enjoy visiting with her. Im excited about this new step, and im really lookin forward to having real restriction. Still though, its not bad that ive lost 45 lbs so far eh? and im hungry. i had some chicken broth lastnight and today and it was HEAVEN...i got down a soy based protien shake waterd down and WOW i never thought id tasted anything so good. i had to break it in half but still.

hey guys.. i dont know if i posted this on here yet, but i went in for a third fill and my surgeon found a large leak in my band! I was in surgery the next day to replace the band and that was yesterday. Im in pajamaland in my hotel recovering. Im so glad he caught it. I could have went on for months not knowing. i had no other symptoms other than i could eat large amounts of food. He added a lot, then couldnt pull any back out, and i could still drink multiple cups of water without problem (with ten ccs in a four cc band)...so its all done now. im even excited about the change. its a new model of the inamed band and it feels SIGNIFICANTLY more comfortable than the other band felt just regular. so, okay my pain meds are kickin in and im going to go lay down. i just wanted you guys to know what happened to me, and that it just happens and that its okay. Im going to wind up even better off than i did coming down here!

He did a full band replacement. I had a severe leak located on the top of my band. He was even able to install an upgraded band with smooth sleeve. It doesnt hurt near as bad as it did the first time, and its filled halfway already. we did a flouroscope after and im all good. still doing the "cant bend over" blues, but im chillen today. I live in Presque Isle located in northern Maine. I came down to houston because of Dr St Laurents stats and referrals. Im so glad i did. i had no other symptoms other than struggling to lose weight or feel restriction and if he hadnot have caught the leak i could have struggled with this for many more months. Im very happy with how it all worked out. Im going to an aunt's house tomorrow to stay until my next appointment with dr tuesday morning and my flight back home tuesday evening. I moved to northern maine four years ago. I was born in oklahoma, and ive lived all over the united states.

hello from galveston. shriners burn center here is one of the best in the nation. The little girl will be adopted very quickly as there are MANY concerned foster parents inquiring. the locals have all been talking about it and are just glad the little girl survived.

just kiddn..i dont know what caused this. Ill know more after the flouroscope. Leaks often happen in the port, and if thats the case they will just reopen the same incision and replace just the port. If the leak is anywhere else, they will replace the whole band. I cant sleep. im sittin here on the balcony watching the gulf (i got really lucky with the room this time) and im thinking about how much those first three days after surgery sucked. and starting over? after everything? I dont know if he will put a fill in it or if i have to start from scratch again. the place where im staying is booked solid through the weekend, and im paid up through saturday. It does look like ill be moving two days into the recovery. still, maybe its not as bad as that eh? maybe since i know what to expect, it will be easier. and i have this great room..and the caddy! for now, things are groovy. sleep is overrated anyway and im sure ill get plenty tomorrow.