leo

don't go for te swedish band. From what i read it's in the process of being redesigned.

Wish you good luck getting your approval!

It could just be the gas that is still in your body. My port area was swollen for quite some time. Try taking some gasX to get rid of the gas.

Well I am happy, I just experienced my first PB. I wasn't experiencing much restriction lately so I thought I would switch over to solid foods. In the morning I ate some schrimp and eggs. Then now around 3.15pm I ate some rice and veggies and pork. I ate 3 bites of rice and then was happily chewing along on a piece of pork. Everything was fine. But then disaster struck, I couldn't swallow the food, it was just stuck in my throat. I got the hiccups so I tried to use some water to wash everything down. Bad idea!!!! It didn't want to go down the bottom so It went the other way!!! Up my throat. I threw up once, felt a little better but still felt like something was stuck. So I drank some more water and surely there it went again I threw up. I repeated it 3 more times and felt much better. Why am I so happy??? Well I finally proved nothing was wrong with my band, there is restriction there, but because I have been mainly drinking soup the last couple of days, I didn't notice it. Guess I better remind my self to eat slowly and chew and eat only 2 oz at a time from now on.

hi JoAnn, you will do great. Don't think to much about the surgery.

That should be about right. I am going to have a fill in Tijuana and it cost $150. But once you factor in the plane ticket and hotel stay it comes out to about $600 dollars.

Whenever you feel the urge to eat something unhealthy. Drink some Water or juice. I notice that I loose the urge to eat something bad after I drink the water.

Susan helms from the mexican bandsters yahoo group had the exact same problem as you, she could not keep any fluids down and actually not even her own saliva. She called her doctor and was admitted into the hospital for 2 days on IV. After which she felt a lot better. Here is the post she put on the group "Thanks to all of you who responded about my problem with thirst. I have been in contact with Dr. XXX throughout the night and I am hoping I have turned the corner on this thirst thing. I have what he calls Late Post Operative Obstruction which he says happens but very infrequently. I was able to swallow enough liquids in the hospital to have my IV removed and be released. The next day at home was fine and then BAM I swelled all up again. Tiny sips of ice-cold Gatorade every 10 minutes have stayed down so I hope this is the solution for me . I can't say enough about how kind and concerned Dr. XXX and his patient liason, XXX , have been. Sue H."

You really need to see your doctor and get some IV fluids. don't delay amberrose!

hi neyda, I see you have lost 4 more lbs. I'll update it on my site..

you should be able to find people on the mexicanbandster group on yahoo that are familiar with Dr joya.

My nutritionist said I could drink all the Water I wanted between meals. Just sip it when you feel thirsty. Try to drink a glass of water before you eat your meal. And I agree tangerine waiting 2 hours after a meal is too long. I normally drink water about half hour after the meal. There is no other way to put 64oz of water into my body if I had to wait 2 hours after each meal.....

I have a question ... Will everyone need a tummy tuck after the weightloss?? My skin is very sensitive, Even the bandaid that I put on the incision caused my skin to flare up. I don't think I could recover from a tummy tuck....

Annette, I know what you mean with the pain/pressure feeling. I get that to sometimes, and thats when I just stop eating. I have lost 21 lbs so far, and eventhough I still am obese, I feel a lot better about myself. And to know that in time I will be at my goal weight really helps me stick to the program.. goodluck!

Talking about Gas, I had to goto the bathroom like evey 20 mins to relieve myself of the gas on my flight back from San Diego. Thank god I was sitting right next to the bathroom lols.

I agree with Wednesday. My doctor told me that I am healthy when I had my last physical. But he said I should try to loose some weight otherwise when I get older I would have a lot of complications because of my weight. Thats the main reason I decided to get banded.

I experienced a bout of pbing recently, and like tangerine said, I didn't have the full fledge stomach contractions. Everything just came up. I can also eat more then 1/2 cup, Just eat till your satisfied like tangerine said. You shouldn't worry to much, the band will start working like people describe after you start getting your fills. The first 6 weeks is really for you to adjust and heal.

I have this document for download on my site under "links" imtorb. I am also kinda stuck in a plateau just like you. But after reading this document I feel lots better. Fear of loosing the Weight Loss Battle You will lose the battle if you are willing to work with the band and do Your part:) But I can almost guarantee: ·You will have plateaus when you first switch to solids until your body gets used to being fed instead of starved (most likely 1-2 weeks but could be 3 like mine was) ·During many plateaus you will loose inches not lbs and finally a larger loss. ·Your loss in the first 30-40 days is a never to be repeated experience so enjoy it Then you begin the long slow journey downward (not upward) ·You will learn the fine art of PB's and what causes them for you is it swallowing air when you eat. Eating too fast.. Not chewing well or too big a bite.. Eating the wrong food for you...and not recognizing the no longer hungry after 1/2 cup (satiation) versus an I want to eat more cause I can or it tastes good or I crave (head hunger). ·You will watch your body shrink and will walk a bit taller literally and figuratively... Start slipping into booths in restaurants. Sit in chairs with arms .. Stop worrying about how strong the chairs are...Not having to ask for an extender belt on airlines.. Finding it is easier to and you have more energy to walk / go up stairs/ Clean house and do a million other day to day activities ... Slip in and out of bath tubs where the Water goes all the way around you instead of damming up and it doesn’t kill you to stand up from sitting on the floor ...Wipe yourself easily in the bathroom.. Watch the years fall off your face and drivers license picture .. Go to a restaurant and order an appetizer and still end up with leftovers to take home.. ·Go through doubts and several fills/defills until you hit the sweet spot fill level for you. ·Will have to stop several times along the way to reassess your eating habits (I could eat certain foods and get away with some cheating a bit quantity wise at 359 and still lose .. That had to go at 250) ·I have also found that I have to keep reminding myself 1/2 cup of solids 3 times a day only and drink my water (1 hour after meals until the next meal but not with meals) ·Eat Protein first ..Fruit and veggies second and non-complex carbs last. (Keep the fats, sugars and non-complex carbs low ..Still have them but keep em low). And believe it or not a plateau that indicates that you need a fill is 1.No weight loss for 4 weeks. 2.You are following all the band rules (8 times out of 10 we want to be able to break the rules and still lose.figuring if we get a fill it will miraculously start us losing without us having to do our part). 3.You are eating foods that are hard and stick in your band for the 3-4 hours not drinking your calories- You are hungry an hour after eating (really hungry not cravings) and the 1/2 cup doesn't stay in the band for 2 1/2 to 4 hours. 4.You are drinking your 60+ Fl oz water a day and not drinking with your meal or for at least an hour after. 5.Once you move from mushies to solids.. As much as possible get your nourishment from food that is solid. If you have problems with it sticking in your stoma.try it again chewing it well..Cutting it up finer or chewing it with other foods to keep it from recombining in your pouch and forming a plug (e.g. potatoes).. 6.Try to avoid Soups and or Protein drinks if possible (if you are able to eat your protein you will be full longer - some people have tight bands in the morning and cant eat so have a protein drink) 7.Whenever you hit a plateau.. Keep a food diary and log everything, including water, which goes in and measure the 1/2-cup of solids. Mine grew twice from 1/2 to almost a cup without my noticing lol. 8.Try weighing in once a week to begin with not daily. Later move to once every 2 weeks or once a month. When you are losing slowly weight fluctuates daily with hydration levels etc. At least this way you normally will see a loss and not a fluctuate on or gain. Yes the loses are smaller but they are down not up. 9.Measure yourself monthly ..Often you lose inches before you lose lbs. 10.Don’t compare yourself to others.. We all lose at different rates based on age/metabolism/food choices/ activity level.. But we can all lose Hope that helps I downloaded this originally from a yahoo group. It was written by someone called Sam.

I have seen this on other boards and it does take out the guess work.

I don't see it Alex.

Being chinese, I am actually the only one that is overweight. All my friends and family are skinny. When I was 155lbs they already joked around saying I was chubby, I always just laughed it off. But deep inside I felt bad. Especially my mom, she keeps saying I am fat blah blah blah. Thats why I don't have to worry about loosing any friends because of my weightloss. I know my friends won't even notice I am loosing, until the day I am as skinny as them. But come to think of it, nothing will really change, we still will be good friends it just happens that they won't be able to tease me about being chubby lols.. As for my MoM I don't really care what she thinks, I am never good enough in her eyes. She always has to compare me to my other cousins. Thank god she lives in Holland

The first week will be the time you will loose the most weight. after that expect to loose 1 or 2 lbs a week. Good Luck!

I never had second thoughts, just a fear of the unknown. But it turns out that the most scary thing for me was having that needle from the IV being stuck into my hand. I have no recollection of the actually surgery because I was out cold by the time I was on the surgery table. Roxanne I have my experiences written on my website, maybe they can give you a better idea on what to expect on monday... good luck with your surgery!!

Goodluck with the surgery, keep us posted k!

I think what Alex is trying to say is that we as bandster should step away from the diet mentality. The very purpose of the band is to have a tool to help you loose weight by making the volume you can put into your stomach smaller. Just eat whatever you feel like, as long as you don't only eat icecream, drink soda and other very high calorie Snacks, you should be able to loose weight. Slowly but surely!! chocolate in moderation is no problem lols, just don't make it the first thing you grab when you feel hungry!!