nurseratchett

Hi Everyone, I have not been on the board for quite a while( 3 weekends of company in a row) but I did want to share I finally got my Virgin Fill ! Yesterday , 1.5 cc in a 10cc band. It was weird I could feel the band tighten right around my stomach as he filled it ! I was told Liquids for 24 hrs and then Mushies for 24 hrs and then reg foods. I do feel the restriction especially when I drink something cold. I feel it in my pouch and then slowly drain into my lower stomach. So far so good !Today we went out to breakfast and I even ate a half of a pancake w/sugar free syurp and half a 2 egg Cheese omelette and then I was Done !! Very tight and I hope I stay that way !! Yikes my fill cost me $340 bucks because it was under the Flourascope ??:bandit I heard the DR say it would be that for the next fill also and then ONLY $250 :bandit Yikes as I keep saying that price alone will curb my appetite:faint: I would be interested to hear what some of you self payers like myself are paying for fills. I live in Arizona and it really feels like that is a lot to pay for a fill ?? I lost 28 pounds so no complaints about that and the best thing is my Doc. finally gave me a release for Cortisone injections for my hip and knee Yipee !!:clap2: Hope everyone one has a restful and relaxing weekend, Joanne

Dr C. I have a friend who had a G.B. about 4yrs ago. She lives in CA ( San Diego area ) She has gained most of her weight back and requested the Lap Band. Her surgeon said it was not possible. Since this was your first Lap Band over G.B. do you think this will be done more often. Thank You in advance for your time, Joanne

I saw Al Roker on another T.V. show (Not The Today show )He admitted to a weight gain of 20 pounds and he was working out with Oprah's personal trainer.....But I saw him this AM on the Today Show in a wet suit and bless his heart he looks like is struggling with more tha a 20 pound gain :-( I also noticed as he was walking he has a much more pronounced limp again. He had a hip replacement about 5 yrs ago and the extra weight is putting a real strain on that new hip ! It just proves that the Gastric Bypass is not sure proof either. I have a friend who is going to Jenny Craig again after having the G.B. and losing 120 lbs she kept it off for 4 yrs and it just started creeping back on as she was able to return to her old eating habits. She has gained about 80 lbs back and is very depressed ! She is NOW asking her surgeon for the Lap Band but he says it is not possible. Just my 2 cents, Joanne

The Only Meds I am taking for pain is Motrin for my joint pain and I have taken it for years. Perhaps our dreams are more vivid because our stomachs are not so full and our bodies don't have to put forth all the effort to digest all that food that may also allow us to sleep deeper which in turn allows us to dream more ? Who Knows ?? But I am glad to be dreaming again after 11 yrs. Hope you are all having a restful weekend ! Joanne

Just a word from someone who is 59 yrs old and tried every diet and excercise program 3xs or more. I always thought I would be able to do it on my own..... Well It just did not happen. Now my joints are gone ! I must have a hip replacement as soon as I lose enough weight so I can make a good recovery.I'm trying to lose 50 pounds w/o being able to do any kind of arobic excercise because of my hip. I also weighed 300 plus pounds for most of my adult life.I say have the surgery while you are young it will be so much easier.Be glad you insurance will pay for it as many of us had to pay our own. I say don't put it off. It is far from the easy way out. The Band is only a tool to HELP you lose weight. I do not consider having any kind of surgery "The Easy Way Out." Good Luck On your Decision ! Joanne

Well I never even thought about connecting my dreams to the surgery ?? But as I think back I have not been a big dreamer for years. All My dreams seemed to just stop ?? when I lost my Mom and step dad with in 8 mo. of each other. It was wierd !! It was odd enough that I mentioned it to my husband and co workers and we all came to the conclusion that losing my parents so close together was pretty traumatic and so that was probably why ? Now fast forward 11 yrs and suddenly I am dreaming again in detail just as I used to. In fact I had a reacurring dream 3 nights in a row about a friend I had lost touch with. It was so vivid that I searched the internet for her e-mail address and e-mailed her..... I have not heard from her yet I'm wondering if something bad has happened ? Last night I had another Vivid dream about living back on the farm with my parents again ? So long story shorter just perhaps Jeanette you might be on to something OOO-WEE-OOO:eek: You are not alone !! Joanne

Hello Fellow Bandsters, As I wrote yesterday I found some Zuchinni Patties 70 cal each/2 protiens each.I had 3 for dinner lastnight with a forth of a cup of Cottage cheese and a Morning Star Farms sausage patty 80 cal /4 protiens They were great!! For desert I had a sugar free popsicicle (sp?)The Patties are in the frozen food section and the brand name I bought is Golden. They were $3.99 for 8 patties I'm going to buy 2 more pkgs today ! My goal while I continue to be in Band hell is to find foods that fill me up and are full of flavor with not to many Calories These fill the bill and my stomach too:clap2: I just thought some of you that are in the same boat might enjoy these. You can also put a dollop of Lowfat sour cream or salsa or both on them. Have a Great Day ! Joanne

I will give it my best to do some sort of upper body excercise:scared: Until I can get my Hip replaced that will be all I can do :faint: Once summer gets here I will be in the pool swimming laps....so come on Summer :clap2: I found some Frozen Zuchinni Patties for 70 Cal I haven't tried them yet BUT I will let you know if they are any good right now everything sounds good to me:hungry: Wellllll with the exception of that Nasty protien drink I spent so much $$ 40 Bucks a box at GNC (Myoplex) because the Nutrionist reccomended it so highly UGH!!:omg: I had to have my husband take the boxes over to a friends house The sight of the boxes makes me physically ill. I lived on the stuff for a month and the thought of it makes me sick:sick Well On that happy note I am 2 weeks and counting til my first fill :biggrin1: Hope you are all having a Grrrrreat Day !! Joanne

That Girl ! You are not whining anymore than the rest of us ! I believe it is called Lap Band hell !! I am in exactly the same spot ! It never even registered with me when they said 6wks for my first fill ? I think I just wanted the surgery so bad. I had been turned down by my Ins.2xs. We decided to self pay and NOT delay any longer. Then when I came home from surgery,I had to force myself to eat and was so full with a fourth of a cup ! I thought at last this is what every overweight person has dreamed of eat a few bites and you are stuffed, Then ever so slowly as the weeks progressed so did my appetite Grrr ! Here is what I am trying to do ! Eat Plenty of protien ! I find it staves off the hunger. Have you tried the Low fat Laughing Cow Cheese Yum 1 triangle is only 30 cal sometimes I take healthy Choice Deli ( 6 slices is a seving)selects and lettuce leaves and smear the Laughing Cow cheese on the lettuce and roll it up ! You can eat more than one and it is so filling because it is full of protien. Don't think you are alone because we are all struggling and I am hoping my first fill will hold me for awhile because I have to pay $250 bucks a fill. Now that might curb my appetite :-( Hang in there ! Joanne

Hi Sunshine , You have had a rough week so do not be to hard on yourself ! It could have been a lot worse for all you have had to deal with. I usually weigh on Mondays BUT I chose not to today. I did not want to derail myself. I to have been snacking, I'm trying to make good food choices but I know I am eating more than I was. You are doing great do not be discouraged ! Joanne

It looks like you are eating a pretty good balance of protien foods and water. And you can treat yourself with a piece of Pizza on the weekend too:) You are a real inspiration. As for me each day that goes buy I am hungrier:hungry: and hungrier:hungry: With no hope for a fill until 3/15:faint: I'm just trying to maintain my 23 lb loss. Today I am starting back on the meal replacement bars and the only protien shake I can tolerate is Glucerna:phanvan so I am having that for dinner tonight. I'm going to try and kick up the protien since that does help hold the hunger down. Be very ,very happy that you have not reached Lap Band Hell that many of us are experiencing right now...... No restriction but still 10 days or more from being able to get the first fill. Keep up the great work !:clap2: Joanne

Wow ! That is wonderful, congrats on your Super weight loss :clap2: Have you even gotten your first fill yet ? Joanne

Shues, Congrats on your weight loss ! I'm just sorry it was under such a stressful situation. It sounds like you are on the mend now and if I had lost 37 pounds I think that would be a real mood elevator for me Joanne

I Love Lentils and I am wondering If you have ever cooked them in Chicken broth ? I have never cooked them from scratch before I always open a can ! But it sounds just like split peas and I cook those in chicken broth instead of water :-) Since the broth is salty I guess you would need to be careful when adding extra salt. Anyway thanks for the receipe. Joanne

Hi Sherilynn, I'm Just curious as to what day you were banded ? Since you and I have an appt.for our 1st fill about the same time ! I feel Like I am at a real stand still w/o a fill. My Dr. insists on waiting 6 full wks before the first fill. I was banded on 1/29 the absolute earliest I could get in was 3/8. On 3/9 we are having house guests from out of town for the whole weekend and a big Bar B que with about 10 people:eek: I decided to go ahead and get mine on the 8th anyway but the nurse talked me out of it since it is my first fill and I do not know how I will react. I guess with Guests in the house I do not want to be trying to deal with any issues in case there is any ?:sick Hope everyone is having a restful weekend, Joanne

Hello Bandsters, I too am in Bandster Hell !! I woke up in the middle of the night and my stomach was growling :hungry: I was so hungry. I had some W.W. Saltines by the bed that I use to take my meds with. I ate 3 of those and sure enough it went right away. When I got up I was so hungry:hungry: I ate my normal sm. breakfast that I have been eating since my surgery and by 10 AM I was Hungry :hungry: Again. It has been that way all day. I've been feeling more and more hungry each day this week. I decided to call my Dr. and beg for an earlier date for a fill. Nope, it has to be 6wks? My Fill date is March 15 :help: . I hope I survive and do not gain any of the weight I have already lost back. The thought of going back on that Liquid makes me nauseated:sick but I'm afraid I will start inching up the pounds ladder again ! I do not want to be derailed:cry I guess many of us are in the same spot together. March 15 seems so far away. Thanks for everyone posting their Journeys. We are all in this together and it does help to know so many of us seem to be stuck in the same spot. We can do this ! Joanne

Congratulations Sunshine ! What a great transfomation you have made already ! Your before and after pics are a real inspiration. I have decided to weigh every Monday Soooo today I was down a little over a pound. I will not be disapointed but I was sooooo hoping for 3lbs, I will take any progress. The other day I was looking for something High in flavor,High in Protien and low in calories. I do not know what thread I was on maybe This one or somewhere but someone posted about the Turkey Pepperonie Yum ! She puts in in the microwave about 2min cover w/paper towel and it them makes like little chips. OMG ! I tried it and it was sooo good . I posted it over on the food thread but wanted to share it with my January Bandster Family. I use them as chips with my Cottage cheese and I mix Salsa with the cottage Cheese also. After such a bland diet this is a real Flavor explosion and all protien too! 17 slices of pepperoni 10grms of protien= 80 cal. They are portable too,just throw them in a Baggie and they would be good at work on a salad w/soup just lots of uses. The only draw back for me is 600mgs of sodium so I won't be eating these puppies every day! Thank You to whomever came up with this it is a life saver for me :-) Everyone keep up the great work ! Thanks to all who contribute to this thread ! Joanne

Hi There ! I want to share a great receipe. It is not my own I was scanninig another thread in hopes of finding some Ideas for something with flavor. Bingo whoever this person is I want thank her so much. Here it is you get Turkey Pepperoni I got Hormel(17 little slices only 80 cal. and 10 gms of Protien)Anyway put the slices on a paper plate and cover it with a paper towel and cook them on HI in the microwave for 2min. It makes them like tasty little chips. Then here is my addition I take cottage cheese and mix Salsa w/it and Viola ! Chips and dip :-) Very Hi in flavor,very Hi in Protien and very low in Calories. I had it for dinner tonight. I am sure there is a lot of things you can do with those pepperoni slices w/o making chips out of them. Just thought I would share ! Joanne

Hi Teresa , I was banded on 1/29/07 by Dr. DeBarrios at the Arizona Weight Loss Ctr.located in Tempe. I'm new to Arizona and am not sure how far away Tolleson is from Tempe. I know he takes Self Pay Patients since I am one. I think a fill is about $250. I am not sure since I have not had one yet ! Hope this helps. A Fellow Bandster, Joanne

Thank You Tonya for the 10 Commandments for Bandsters. How true every word of that is. Thanks to all of you who are posting their "FILL" experiences. It is taking some of the unknown away for the rest of us ! My Port incision is at least 4 inches long and still quite tender. I questioned my Dr. about Why ? it was so big and his answer was that he had to go deep to find the Fascia to attach the Port to.Obviously because there was so much Fat to dig through first. Soooo to me that sounds like when I have a fill they will have to use a very LONG needle to reach the port ? I am hoping they offer a little Novacaine first. I also asked if he did the fills under a florascope and he said NO he uses Ultrasound ? Has anyone heard of that or had that ? I too am stuck , 23 pounds and the scale has not moved in 5 days. I promised myself I was not going to weigh but I lied and did ! I guess I feel Like I am eating less than a 3rd of what I was and so I should be losing at least every other day. I know my Body is thinking it is starving and saving for the famine it thinks we are having. I am starting to crave things again, But really have NO desire to Overeat and for me that is a whole new way of life. Portion Control was always a problem. I am 16 days post op and will not have a fill unil 3/14 seems like a long ways off . I may call and try to get it a little sooner. I too am self pay ($11,500) and each fill will cost me $250 bucks so I need to make them count. Thanks to all of you for all the great info. Joanne

Yes! Thank Goodness I can swim, when we retired we moved to Arizona and have a brand new pool in our back yard. We are just counting the days for some warm weather. We moved here in May started the pool in June and did not get to fill it until Oct. 5th. We got to swim 2xs and then it was just tooooo cold. Unfortunately It is not heated . As for the Y I am not sure I would dawn a suit yet and go swim in public. I'm pretty secure in who I am with my clothes on BUT in a swim suit Yikes !! I just want so badly to do things like the Eliptical or just to be able to go out and walk around the block like I used to.I just always took for that for granted. I am hoping that will happen again someday ! Thanks for the encouragement ! Joanne

Good Morning Bandsters ! I feel so envious of all of you who can get out and walk and excercise ! Part of the reason I had this surgery was because I need a hip and knee replacement. The Hip will come first But loosing 50 or 60 lbs before I have the joint replacement will make me a much better canidate and make a better recovery. My Orthopedics Dr. wants to see me in 3 mo. I say to all of you who have had this surgery while you are still young( and I consider anything in the 20s,30s & 40s young even 50's if you have good joints and health) It was the right thing to do. I have always been very active and thought oh I can get this weight off but just never did. I have always weighed in excess of 270 -300 but never let it keep me from enjoying my life jazzercising,Dancing,working 40 hrs a wk.etc. Then I turned 50 and my joints just started giving out ! The more I would try and work through the pain the more Motrin I would have to take. The last 3 yrs of my life the only way I could walk and work was with Epidurals of Cortisone. My Husband and I have been married for 40 yrs and all we could talk about was when we retired we were going to travel and see the world. Well we both retired in May of 06 and so far we have no time for travel just my Dr's appts :-( I must use a wheelchair for Dr's appts,a mobility scooter for shopping and a walker for around the house and w/o Cortisone I am in constant pain. I am telling you guys all this so you know the decision to have this surgery was the right one. I am living proof ! On the bright side I have lost about 23 lbs and I am counting since I first went on the nasty liquid protien 2 weeks before my surgery and I am now 2 weeks post op. I ate a 1 egg omlette for breakfast this AM and a half of a W.W. english muffin w/butter spray and 1 pc of fake bacon, Yum it was delicious and I almost feel human again. That filled me up ! I do not seem to have any issues with the food going down but I do get full very fast. I will get my first band fill in March. Just appreciate any excercise you can get in even if it is only 10 min. I am hoping with each pound I loose I will become less dependent on all my mobility aides. You guys are all doing great and it is an inspiration to hear all your sucess stories. Joanne

Hi Everyone ! It has been a while since I posted ! I got my staples out yesterday and got the OK for no more Heprin shots Yipee !! My Dr. has told me to throw away my scales (I Know why they say that BUT Why did we do this IF it was not to loose weight ?) I did weigh and I have lost about 20 lbs since starting this Journey. I don't know how to do the Ticker thing ? Anyway I am not really hungry BUT my mouth wants some tasty good food !! All I can think about is what I should not have ;-( Yesterday we left the Dr's and we Drove through Wendy's and I got their Grilled Chicken Sandwhich and ate about half of the chicken fillet and fed most of the bread to the pigeons. It was OK but not nearly as tasty as I wanted it to be. I am really having a hard time trying to think of tasty foods to eat that will give me the protien I need. I Can not stomach another protien shake UGH!! Does anyone have any suggestions ? Thanks, Joanne Banded 1/29/07 298/278/198

Hello To All ! I am 6 days post op and I am delighted to find this Forum. I have been trying to read all 117 pgs of posts before I posted but I just decided to jump in. There is so much Grrreat info coming from everyone ! I am a Sr Citizen compared to most of you @ 59. I just retired in May after 25 yrs of being The School Nurse (Hence the user name) Lovingly given to me yrs ago by the students. I am Not an RN but a Health Tech. I started this Lap Band Process in Sept trying to get our Ins. Tri Care(Military) to pay for it .... It was denied 3xs they would pay for the by Pass But consider the Lap Band experimental. We finally gave up and paid for it ourselves. Tricare did pay for the hospital stay and all the work ups since I had a hernia which was repaired at the time of my surgery. I am doing OK but have had some problems with shoulder pain that seems to be directly related to the gas in my belly. I have other complications which is the need for a hip replacement which means my mobility is very compromised. And I am sure that is why I am having so much gas UGH! Today I woke up and decided that I was going to have some Cream of Wheat. I am one of those who were on Protien shakes 2 weeks prior to surgery Myoplex from GNC. I can not even look at the box with out getting sick to my stomach it was awful !!! Anyway the Cream Of Wheat was wonderful and sat very well. Tomorrow I am trying Light N Fit Yogurt. This is a huge thread but so full of good info and encouragement. Thank You All for being out there. Joanne, Dr.De Barros Tempe Weight Loss Institute Of Arizona