donali

I wasn't unfilled for my endoscopy, either. I was at 2.6 in the 9cm band.

My last name is Peter. Uh... I don't think I better add to that!! OH! Besides the "gutter" thoughts, I will say I tend to "peter out" on projects... I start out gung ho, and then my enthusiasm just sort of... well... peters out..

Hey Bright - I'm in for Fri/Sat, if someone will share with me... I don't snore, as far as I know, and I'm a non-smoker! The time is getting close!! Whoo hoo!!!

It wouldn't hurt to have your gallbladder checked out - mine caused what felt like severe back pain - but even if your gallbladder has gone bad, that wouldn't explain why you still have food from breakfast sitting in your pouch at night. I think it is definitely time for a second opinion, and possibly an endoscopy. I honestly cannot believe your docs are ignoring this - throwing up is the NUMBER ONE cause of slippage - and if you haven't already slipped, your chances of doing so increase every time you vomit. Your band is in danger, not to mention your esophogeal health - the reflux alone does great damage if not brought under control. No doctor should turn a blind eye/deaf ear to a patient's complaints of being sick for over a month. I am very disappointed in your docs' response (or lack thereof). Please do not let your docs' apathy keep you from getting this resolved. What you describe is not something to be ignored, or pooh-poohed away. If your stomach has torqued in any way there is danger of having blood circulation cut off, and then you are in for some severe problems. I am not trying to scare you - but really, your symptoms are nothing to fool around with. Do not suffer in silence! Make them fix this, or at least figure out for sure what's wrong. Elizabeth - not all slips/slip caused symptoms resolve with an unfill. Depending on what exactly is wrong, an unfill may or may not help.

Actually, your band CAN get tighter, depending on the band. If you have the AMI band, then yes, it does tend to self-fill. However, you more likely have the Inamed lapband, which does NOT self-fill. So even though your PB was four days ago, it IS still possible that you are swollen from that. Plus, if anything else is going on, that could compound it - stress, Water retention, menstrual cycle... Do liquids only for a day or two - that should fix you up if it's residual swelling from a PB...

Most of us are. Or were. The best you can do is honestly ask yourself: "How is that working for me?" If you're feeling frustrated, depressed, let down, I'd have to hazard a guess that it's not really working all that well for you... lol I mean, how has being obsessed about the numbers helped any of us? Seriously? What's that definition of insane? Doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results?

Keri - Fritos are not a forbidden food. You did not do anything "bad" - you made a food choice, that's all. Perhaps you could have made a healthier food choice, but this time you didn't. Maybe next time you will. Maybe next time you won't - the point is, it is only a choice, not a dictation. The changes you make in your lifestyle are forever - it is unreasonable to think that you will never have another frito in your whole life! And it's not necessary to give them up, either. However... You are less likely to eat foods you don't have handy in the house. The chances of you getting into the car and driving to the store for a ONE serving bag of fritos is not very high... If you want them badly enough you'll do it, but if you're eating just because they're convenient, then don't make them convenient. Regardless, though... You have done nothing wrong, so there is no reason to feel bad. This is for LIFE and HEALTH. This is NOT a diet.

Sonnie - I'm so sorry you're having so many problems. Vomiting daily is NOT NORMAL for a healthy banded person, and I'm glad to see that you are worried about it. However, I am extremely concerned that your doctors do NOT seem to be worried about it. Based on your story here, I immediately suspect a possible slip in your band placement. Demand that your docs check you for slippage - they should be able to tell by doing a barium swallow under fluoroscope. Please let us know how it goes!!

It amazes me how quickly I fall back into the same trap of diet mentality, in spite of all my good intentions and "training" and practice... Why do these traps continue to haunt us??? Because we are STILL thinking about our WEIGHT as the problem. When we focus on weight, there can be nothing but diet mentality response, because that is the only way we have been trained to deal with "weight" issues. Alex, you have done exceedingly well in the REAL challenge - improving your health! I would humbly suggest that you revise your goal to have nothing to do with "weight" - challenge yourself to get in an extra 15 minutes of exercise a day, challenge yourself to add an extra helping of dark green veggies, challenge yourself to drink an extra quart of Water. Look at your HEALTH plan, and determine where (if) you want/need tweaking, and make THAT your goal. I'm willing to bet the hungries recede once again. When we focus on our weight, we focus (naturally) on WHAT/WHEN/HOW MUCH/HOW OFTEN we will eat - so, basically we are focusing on food. Of COURSE we're going to feel hungry then! Start up a new, all attention absorbing project - forget about your food demons, concentrate on your health, and you WILL reach your "true" goals... <3 <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3 As you have, really, already... You are MARVELOUS!! <3 <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3

Hi All - Because Diane is a member here, and has posted, I wanted to let everyone know that she's having some problems and could use your thoughts and prayers. Diane had her band placed by Dr. Lopez, and I believe the removal was performed by him as well, since she is one of his patient coordinators.

Thanks for the condolences, Sandie. It was indeed a devastating day. Will I get rebanded???? Probably not. Mostly because the re-erosion rates sound pretty high. And then almost tied with that is the cost - I'm still paying off the banding/port revision/removal! Just $12,000 more to go, give or take... :sick Not too much further down the list is my huge aversion to needles/IVs, hospitals, etc. I LOVED my band, though! I miss it everyday, although Casper (my ghost band name!) still makes himself known now and then. I'm trying to learn to listen to it more, like I was actually still banded... Sigh... The food addiction is hard to beat, for sure...

I ate them, but for me it was easy to get "stuck" with them - be careful, chew super well.

Tricia - I don't know why the docs don't want to listen to us... It's very frustrating! So you have to be your own best advocate, and get stubborn if you have to. I know exactly that crying yourself to sleep (or trying to!) helpless feeling, too. Boy, did that hurt!! And I wish it were only my port that had to be removed... Alas, they had to take the whole darn system out. *sob* :dead

L'Oreal makes make-up remover cloths that are sincerely magic. When I make up, I use as long lasting/permanent as possible without having needles involved... lol and these cloths take EVERYTHING off without making your face feel greasy or dry. I second the vote for MAC - expensive, but super good products. I particularly love my copper powder (I use as eyeshadow) - has a fabulous metallic shimmer. I also have spray-on glitter, and glitter in a gel base that I use to line my eyes on top of my regular Almay waterproof liquid black eye-liner. Glitter is IN, Vines!! lol I use it on my lips, my collarbones (or at least what's left of them - ), my cleavage (at least I've still got that!!). I see these ads on TV for bare minerals - that sounds interesting. I haven't checked out their website yet (the TV advertised www.trybareminerals.com) DANG - I just went there and their trial kit is $60!! But the product does sound amazing, and is supposedly SPF 15... Maybe the next time I'm feeling rich I'll try them out... I also use the non-transferrable lipsticks - they run from $7-$13, almost every manufacturer makes them now. Good luck! Have fun!!

The problem is, some people who have been banded a long time become less able to tolerate the restriction they had that got them to their low weight. Some bandsters develop GERD, and the only way it can be controlled for them is by removing some or all of their fill. So for those people, it is a distinct possibility that they could start regaining weight, particularly if they relied on the band completely for managing portion size with no regards to portion quality. And then there are those of us who have lost our bands altogether, so... maintaining the weightloss is just as hard as it was when we quit whatever the latest diet we were on... :sick However, GERD is NOT a given for all longterm bandsters - just something that DOES happen.

Tearing your port sutures is not an urgent matter unless: 1. You develop infection. 2. You are in too much pain. 3. The port pushes out enough that it is susceptable to irritation, and/or the tissue above seems to be getting thinner, like the port is going to pop through the skin. 4. Not urgent, but may be a reason for re-operation: if the port turns and becomes inaccessible, even with direct manual manipulation. Many foreign docs don't suture the port down at all - most American docs do, mostly, I believe, to aid in locating it. If the pain is bearable and/or going away, I wouldn't worry about it. You can have your doc check it at your next visit, but generally, if it's not causing you any problems I doubt he'll do anything about it. In my case, the port was still stiched in one place, and had twisted sideways, so the pain was almost unbearable the first two weeks and I lived on liquid Tyenol (extra strength!!). The only reason I didn't go to my doc right away was because I was on vacation (of course!). By the time vacation was over, the pain was greatly improved, but it was still uncomfortable, and I could see the port pushing out and I was afraid it would eventually erupt - but mostly it was the pain I was concerned about. My doc wasn't concerned when I showed him how it was pushing out against the skin, but I insisted it be fixed anyway, because it hurt! As always, you must use your own best judgment. The above is just my own personal opinion based on my own personal experience. Oh - what did it feel like??? It felt like needles of fire where my port was, turning to molten lava, and I can't even describe the pain of trying to turn over in bed. But I think it was SO painful because the port had twisted sideways. If the sutures had torn but the port remained flat, I think it would have hurt for a few days and then returned to normal. I had a fill between the tearing and the repair, and when the doc manipulated it back flat, OH I cannot tell you the relief! I felt good as new! Unfortunately, it didn't stay that way, so under the knife I had to go...

Very interesting article!! Long! http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/health/features/1868/index.html

I'm a duck at my dance recital - that's a bill on the hat... 9/1969...

2yrs Donali...

My sisters and I...

September 1963...

May 1962...

Easter 1962...

7mos Donali...

5mos Donali...