donali

Thanks Ms Smooch... It is awful to put in writing the fact that I'm climbing back up the scale, particularly after everything I've learned. I'd have to say that my biggest faults are failure to exercise, overly generous portions, and the occasional sweet/carb attacks. As far as what causes erosion, no one knows for sure. There are certain things that increase the risk (they think), but I don't know that anyone can say for sure in most cases what the true cause was. All implanted devices carry the risk of surrounding tissue erosion, however - this is not unique to the band itself. Here's an old thread with some more info: http://lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=2725&highlight=erosion

RED !!!! RED !!! RED !!!! Uh, what was the question again?

He needs to contact his doctor ASAP, and let him/her know that the phenergen isn't working. Now is the critical time to keep the stomach as still as possible. Does he have the suppository type of phenergen, or the oral tablet? A week after my surgery I felt extremely nauseous for two days, but never actually threw up or had dry heaves, thank goodness. I can only imagine how much pain this must be causing him. Call his doctor right away!

Penni, I was just coming here to post something similar. While I have been enjoying the devious suggestions and creative ways people have thought of to snuff out Erin the Evil, I took them as I believe they were intended - in jest, and as a way to support a dear friend. However, at the same time I feel for Erin, and have a hard time with some of the degrading comments about her obesity. I know in my heart it's something similar to "if you're in the club you can make fun of people in the club, but if you're not in the club, it's NOT okay to make fun". From what I understand, she has been totally ignoring Lisa's valid requests to not bring food into Lisa's office, and to not offer Lisa food. There are obviously some deep rooted problems on Erin's side. However, we cannot control other people, we can only control ourselves. The world and people like Erin are NOT out to get us - they are just being themselves, as maddening as it can be. It is up to us to find ways to not succumb. The world will NEVER be a friendly place for people trying to throw off the chains of obesity, so we need to find the skills and tools to deal with these types of challenges, because they are ALWAYS going to be coming up. I wish Erin would hear Lisa and accommodate her requests. But since she can't, or won't, I hope Lisa is able to develop some tools that make her not only Erin-proof, but world of temptation-proof. xxoo

Nykee, can you not see that YOU are doing this to yourself by insisting on being too tight? You will do ANYTHING to succeed except be reasonable about the process and make it possible for yourself to be a success. You are NOT supposed to "never be hungry" - you are SUPPOSED to get hungry, eat a reasonable amount of healthy food WITHOUT PAIN OR FEAR, feel satisfied and stop eating. Until you get hungry again. Eating at 3PM would not suck if you were not TOO TIGHT. You would not need to subsist on soups, juice and milk if you were not TOO TIGHT. I don't care if you don't mind or not - that isn't the point. YOU are insisting on doing this the hard way. You are NOT getting the results you want because of it. Have you ever heard the saying, "Keep doing what you've always done, and you will keep getting what you've always gotten."? YOU are sabotaging yourself, and pretending that you are not. WE DO NOT HAVE TO DO DRASTIC THINGS TO GET RESULTS. Drastic measures are rarely effective in the long term, because they simply are not maintainable. And in case you didn't hear it earlier, YOU ARE SABOTAGING YOURSELF. Get a slight unfill and allow yourself to succeed. But unfill or not, NO ONE can lose weight subsisting on nothing but juice, milk, cheetos, Cookies, and the broth from various soups. You will NEVER be tight enough to be successful with those food choices comprising 95-99% of your menu. I am not condemning your choices - I'm just telling you the reality. I wish I could wave a magic wand and heal your hurts - your life has been a living hell, and I am in awe of how you keep going. Don't keep making your life hard because that's what you're used to. Please? xxoo

I'll bet they're drink markers - perch them on the rim of your glass so you can tell which glass is yours. For wine glasses the markers are made to go around the stem of the wine glass, but tumblers don't have a stem... Do they seem like they'd perch on the rim of a glass? Nothing worse than someone else drinking out of your highball glass when you're in the middle of a round of strip poker... Of course, that's just what I hear... lol

Hi Nykee - All the advice given here is right on. I second the following points: 1. You are TOO tight. 2. You must be loose enough to eat REAL food - Proteins and veggies. 3. Bigger meals in the afternoon to help cut cravings at night. 4. Hot liquids in the morning to help loosen you. 5. More Water. Can I reiterate - YOU ARE TOO TIGHT. But, to help even out your restriction. 1. You are consuming waaaay too much sodium and not enough water. Of course you are going to have edema first thing in the mornings, which will make your band feel even tighter. Soups and cheetos are full of salt. Cheetos chew down to mush, and soup is a liquid (particularly if you're spitting out the meat and veggies), and does not help you stay satisfied. If you choose to eat this way, then you MUST make up for all that sodium by drinking tons of water to help your kidneys flush out that salt. Otherwise you will swell up like a balloon and your band will be too tight. 2. Do you have any kind of allergies or post nasal drip? Do you wake up congested in the mornings? That will make you tight as well. You need to keep your mucus as thin as possible, which of course is best done by staying hydrated. If you have some sort of allergies or tend to wake up congested perhaps you should try a decongestant before going to bed. Mucus draining into your pouch all night will also make you feel tight in the mornings. Here is an interesting article on edema, causes, and possible solutions: http://www.diagnose-me.com/cond/C576850.html I found these points interesting: "Low Protein levels in the blood that can be seen in malnutrition, kidney and liver disease. The proteins in the blood help hold salt and water inside the blood vessels so Fluid does not leak out into the tissues. If albumin (the most abundant blood protein) gets too low, edema occurs especially in the feet, ankles and lower legs." "It may take from 2 to 6 weeks following long term dehydration for your body to get used to being normally hydrated again and flush out the extra fluid it has been retaining." "Semi-starvation can cause edema. People with eating disorders may interpret the puffiness of edema or any changes on the scale as weight gain or getting "fat" and may panic and purge or take laxatives even more." You need some protein, less salt, and lots more water, IMHO. You also need a slight unfill. IMHO. Wishing you all the best - xxoo

I've got Casper, the ghost band...

Erin - I am so sorry to hear of your problems. You are right to be concerned about receiving a fill and then having your port removed - I hear of this happening, and I also hear that some docs don't approve. I wish you the best in that regard. As far as the wound vac, I had a friend who had what I think was something similar (I belive they called it a hemavac) that I was in charge of emptying. It was tubing that was inserted into the wound and anchored into place, and on the outside end was attached to what is similar to one of those air pumps that come with air mattresses, or exercise balls. You set the hemavac on a table and pushed the top down, and then put the plug in the top, and let go. The hemavac then starts to uncompress, creating suction on the tubing, and the liquids/infection are sucked out of the body cavity into the hemavac. Once the hemavac is full, or fully extended, it is emptied and then recompressed. As disappointing as this turn of events is, I'm sure the time will fly and you will get your port back before you know it. ((hugs))

With every sip of Coke think about how you are emulating and becoming Erin. :ducking shoes!!: Cindy is right on. Quit the carbonation altogether. You don't need it, and it seems to create a trigger for you. And all her suggestions for staying off carbonation are right on, too. And if that doesn't help, we'll just start calling you Erin... :evil grin: xxoo

Cows are big, I think, not fat. And the ones that are fat are undoubtedly fed grain after being out in the pastures...

Be very, very careful with Metamucil, particularly if you are recently banded. It is a bulking agent, and you certainly don't want it swelling up in your pouch, which it will do if you can't drink enough Water to wash it through. If you are like most of us right after surgery, you are already swollen and restricted. PLEASE do not go Metamucil at this time. Benefiber is NOT a bulking agent, so that should be okay. Glycerin suppositories would be my choice. Good luck!

That happened to me, and I did some research online for gallbladder attacks AFTER removal, and boy, was I shocked at how much info was out there! There is even at least one message group about it. So it is definitely a possibility. My attack, though, prompted me to have my "annual" endoscope to check on my band health, which was about 18 months after my banding, and that's when they diagnosed my erosion. So I have no idea if the pain was a gallbladder/bile duct attack (I had my gallbladder out in 1991 or so), or if it was due to the erosion... I might not hurt to go in for an endoscope just to be sure... http://lapbandtalk.com/showpost.php?p=13305&postcount=12 http://lapbandtalk.com/showpost.php?p=18974&postcount=9 But it is most likely just a bile duct stone... Please have it checked out and let us know everything is okay! xxoo

How about a fast gainers thread?? I finally put away my scale, so I can't say for sure my average weekly gain, but I've gone from a tight 18 to a tight "Just My Size" strechy 24 jean since 9/04... :sob: Funny (NOT!) how the things that were motivating NSVs on the way down are now milestones for depression on the way back up... I think those are "-NSVs"... lol I only post this to remind everyone that there's always someone else worse off than you, somewhere... Now it's time for me to re-read my motivational speeches... lol

Oh, just one more comment on this subject... Does anyone really believe that a race horse in training receives less food???? Think about it... To train an athelete to prime form (in this case, a horse), they are fed the best quality feed and are exercised everyday... FWIW...

Vines - Okay, I am no good example (except for eating more calories and gaining weight... lol), but HONESTLY - do not even consider lowering your caloric intake! As has already been pointed out, you cannot possibly get in all your nutrients in regular food in so few calories. You are losing inches like mad - STEP AWAY FROM THE SCALE!! Who cares if you weigh 300 lbs if you're a size 4??? Okay, your ankles and knees care, but you know what I mean. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING I have read from the people who know best - bodybuilders/trainers - say that you HAVE to eat enough calories for your activity level. They will also tell you that you cannot build muscle and lose fat at the same time. I don't know if I agree with that part, at least not when someone is a great deal overweight. Yes, people starve to death every day - eventually starvation mode gives in to the real thing - but you know what you're going to be burning? Fat AND muscle - 50/50. And... the heart is a muscle. AND... the less muscle you have, the slower your metabolism. In order to keep your metabolism high, you need to build lean muscle mass and FEED it - your body has to have enough calories to keep your muscle mass healthy. I would suggest you hunt down and read whatever you can about metabolism and effective body building. I'm sure you don't want to become a body builder, but at least learn and understand the techniques for what really works for people who are truly living it (unlike myself). An analogy: Let's say your body is like a car - your food is gas, and your muscle is the battery. Your car WILL run off the battery if it doesn't have food, but eventually your battery will DIE. Uh, get my drift? And believe me, if you ever become one of the unfortunate to lose your band, you do NOT want to be relying on a 600 calorie diet to keep your weight off. Trust me - it AIN'T going to happen. So do yourself a favor, and do it the healthy way and let your band help you. JMHO... xxoo

Candy, my heart breaks for you. There is no way to make this easy, BUT - most of us have had our hearts broken a time or two, and what they say is true - life goes on, and other wonderful opportunities present themselves. Give yourself time to grieve, but don't focus on "forever" - don't keep a candle burning for him, but no one knows for sure what the future may bring. Being apart may be just the thing he needs to see that he can't live without you. OR, being apart may be just the thing YOU need to find someone even more perfect for you - someone you don't have to fight with to feel alive with. Pamper yourself and surround yourself with your friends and family. It helps a lot to be distracted, and your heart will heal in spite of yourself. Promise. ((hugs))

Whoo hooo!!! SHELLY!! :banana: :banana: Good to "see" your face!! Glad things are going well, though busy. I'm so jealous about your acreage... Congrats!!

Teresa - WHEW! You just missed me... My nutritionist also recommended the chew and spit thing. I never tried it (on purpose!) - once something went into my mouth it was going down, unless by the time I'd finished chewing I realized there really was absolutely no place for it to go if I swallowed. Then I'd have to spit it out. But that was rare, and never intentional. She said when she told me this that she "didn't want to give me another eating disorder" with her advice. I don't think it would be considered a "disorder" unless it became compulsive or in some other way caused you harm... And I think most everyone at one time or another has been "stuck," and after a reasonable amount of time to try and let the thing pass on its own, realized that it was never going to go down, so it must come up... It's certainly happened to me, but I was always sore after, and looked forward to being on liquids only for a while.

I bring this up only because no one else has mentioned it yet - you all DO know that the acceptable "safe" practice after a PB is liquids only until the next meal? Even a little PB can irritate the stoma and cause swelling, and get you into a vicious cycle. PBs are to be avoided at all costs. Ducking shoes...

Oooh, oooh! Michael Landon, a big thumbs up! And I was always sweet on Hoss.... His dad wasn't bad, either. John Denver. We were going to get married someday...

Sean Connery Morgan Freeman Alan Alda Robin Williams Mel Gibson Among others...

[delurk] :waving wildly: Hi Vines! I'm trying to be a little more participatory, but read more than I write these days. Love your posts!! :banana: [/delurk]

You mean it's not true?!?!

Although a lot can change in the last two of the six weeks after surgery, the very most important thing to remember is that if you are already at a "perfect" restriction level (which it sounds as though you are), you do NOT want a fill - schedules be dam**D! You might be surprised though once you're finished healing how it will seem like your band suddenly disappeared! But if it doesn't, put off that fill! You are very wise for a newly banded person...