Suziecat

Newbie, So glad you found us. I do hope we all can find that sharing our stories will end up helping us. It sounds like you really have been thru a rough time. But making the necessary connections and coming to terms with your emotional eating issues is a major step. How good you must feel having done that. Glad our are here and I hope you keep posting. You never know if something you say might be the inspiration for someone else.

Hey, I had been told by several nutrishionist that we should taken in half our weight in ounces. So if you weigh 200 pounds then you need to drink 100 ounces. I find some days I can do that but every 3 or 4 days I barely get any in. I think it is my bodies way of saying it has had enough Water for awhile. The sipping, drinking, gulping part is what your band will tell you it can hold. I guarantee the first time you gulp and your band doesn't want it, it will tell you. And once you suffer through that, you won't do it again. I'm guessing it is a choice as to what you feel like doing at the time. I hope that helps you out. Good luck finding what is best for you.

After having my first bout with the Protein drink yesterday I decided to tr some of the recipes that came with the mix. So this morning I used 6oz. of Water, a half of a banana and a tbsp of lite Peanut Butter. I'm telling you, it was awesome. I even let the family try it and they liked it. One thing I thought I could do is make it and put it in the freezer for a few hours and then have it for a treat. So I had that this morning and then for lunch I had a chicken tender and leftover salad from my dinner last night. My hardest part through all of this so far is the water intake. I can't drink 30 minutes before eating and an hour after eating. That is turning out to be the hardest for me so far. Last night we were invited to a fish fry over at a friends house. I ate my protein first. And then barely had enough room for a few sides. But the fish was really good. The sun has finally come out after not being here for about 6 days. Unfortunetly I can't do any walking. We are still snow packed and the street barely have enough room for two cars to pass. But as soon as the sidewalks are clear, I'm gonna be out there.

My non-gallbladder has let me know twice now that it doesn't like the Protein drink. Well, it's just going to have to get used to it for the next 30 days. I used ot be a big breakfast eater. But after the Band, I harly ever eat breakfast So this drinking the Protein Drink is hard for me to do. I usually don't eat till noon.

Update: Uggggghhhh, that is nasty. I tried the protein shake and I'm not sure I'll make it for 30 days. I opened the container and it smelt pretty good. Had that vanilla smell to it. I thought well it's starting out good. So I mixed it in the blender and took a little taste and whew. So I took about 3 strawberries and put them in a turned the blender on. Well, it helped a little bit but not much. So I think I will alternate this daily with the protein shake I got from my trainer. It at least taste good.

Well welcome, Prurrple. It's nice to have you here and I hope we get more to join us. Hopefully you will be encouraged by us and we by you. It's not an easy road but we all know we can do this Hilary, last night my sister asked me if I felt like I was being punished. That it was their way of saying if you don't do your job and follow the band rules then we aren't going to give you a fill. I didn't feel that way. Yes I was dissappointed but it lasted 2 seconds when I remebered reading your post. Thank goodness you posted before I left for my appointment, otherwise I may have had a fit in the room. Are you kidding me? I crawl in here with my tail between my legs and admit I was not a good Bandster and you refuse to help me. And like you I had to admit that she was right. She has no idea what I have done to my band in the last year and a half. The more she eplained to me, the more I saw she was right and agreed with her. I ended up buying some Protein mix when I left there. I'm going to start using it this morning for my breakfast. It's called "truestarhealth". It's got 120 calories and 18 grams of protein in it. I haven't opened it yet but she said I could drink it plain or I could add some fruit to it. Well, I have some bananas here and I bought some strawberries yesterday at the store. Hilary, I bet that was a real eye opener when he was talking about you dead before your time if you didn't treat the apnea and weight loss. How scary. That is what the Band Doc had told me about the hiatal hernia. I was waking up with the stuff in my throat and then I would just grab a rolaid and go back to bed. He then told me that eventually I wouldn't wake up. That I would just aspirate and die. I really hope that you take this seriously and follow their instructions. I'm sure it's not something you want to do and find it a nuisanse. But I hope his words will be a push for you. Thank You to all that have stopped by and offered your encourageing words. They are deeply appreciated. With good wishes and prayers we will do this and get back to losing and feeling better. Suzanne.

Hilary, We just got home from my appointment with the band Doc. And it went just like your appointment. I didn't get a fill either. She asked me a lot of questions and I answered as truthfully as I could. Had to, my husband was in the room also. Anyway, she said she was not going to give me a fill and she said that she had heard that I had already made an appointment for 4 weeks. So in that time I need to follow her instructions about eating and what to eat. Protein first and then the other food. She wants a Protein shake in the morning and then regular meals for lunch and dinner but protein first and chew chew chew. She said the reason she wants to do this is tofind out if the band is working right and she will be able to gauge how much of a fill I will be needing. I agreed with her. Didn't want to. Heck I drive all the way there and paid my co-pay and walked out with nothing. But I told my husband on the way home that I was upset with not getting a fill but I was ok with it. I told hm the reason why was because I had read your post and realized that we are both kind of in ths same boat. Thank you so much for sharing your appointment with us. I was able to handle my appointment better. If Hilary can do this, then so could I. So when we left the office I bought the protein shake mix. And then we went to the grocery store on the way home. I got a bunch of meats and tuna. and I bought fruit so I can mix it in with my Protein Drink. Strawberries were on sale so I bouhgt a bunch of them. I'm so ready to start this next step. I need to get my log book out so I can write all of that down. It sure is going to be hard to give up my popcorn, dang. So, Thanks again Hilary and Kari for the advice and help and for just listening. It means alot.

I did a couple days of Water pills, so I ready for my weigh-in tomorrow. They even called to confirm my appointment. And the roads are all clear for us. It's about a 35 minute drive to get there. Hillary, How did you appointment go? I hope very well.

I won't be seeing my band Doc. It will be his assistant. But I might run into him there. I just want him to know that I haven't given up on this journey. Once a month there is a support group meeting and I used to go to them all of the time. The girl that was in charge of it was also the girl that did one of his commercials. Well I haven't been to a meeting in about two years and I recently found out that the girl went and had the sleeve done. She had a problem with her band and they removed the liquid so the band could heal. During that time she gained back alot of weight. I'm not sure about what time she decided to go with the sleeve. I just don't want him to feel like I let him down. He was just as excited about me getting the band as I was. His whole staff are some of the most understanding people. They even all went on the 2 week pre-op diet just to see what everyone was going thru. They didn't last very long. lol. My first back surgery was about 3 years ago. I was walking everyday and I kept noticing that I was having a slight limp every now and then. It eventually got worse and I noticed that my hip was buckling underneath me. I made an appointment to go see my Doc about it and he sent me to the hospital to have an MRI done. We left there and by the time we walked in our house, the hospital was calling. They wanted me to immediatly get in to see a neurosurgeon. So I went in to see my sisters Spine Specialist. He took one look at the MRI and asked when I could go in for surgery. I had a tumor growing on my spinal cord and it was taking up room in the disc. They had to go in and remove all of it. Luckily it turned out to just be a cycst. I recovered fast and within 4 months I did my very first 5K. This last surgery has knocked me for a loop. Dec18th. I was in the shower and had poured some shampoo in my hands. I then reached up the wash my hair and BAM. It was all overwith. I managed somehow to rinse off and got out of the bathroom and told my husband that we need to go to the ER. Very long story here, but I will give you the shortened version. 3 trips to the ER. On the 3rd. trip we went to a different hospital and they finally did an MRI and found that I had 2 very seriously herniated disk. L3 and L4. They admitted me to the hospital on Dec.24th. On Dec. 28th. I was sent home because the Pain Doc was out of town and I wouldn't be able to get into see him till Jan. 4th. All they did was keep me in a drug induced stupor and sent me home with more drugs to keep me comfortable till I could see the Doc. By monday the 31st. I was readmitted to another hospital and they kept me comfortable till the surgeon got in. Not a good thing to get sick during the holidays. Anyway the surgeon came in the next day and talked to me about surgery. Said he would be in the next day to see how I was doing. The worst part for me was sitting. That is what brought on the excrutiating pain. I mean horrible, I would never wish this on anyone, Pain. So each time I had to go to the bathroom by the time I got back into bed I was balling like a baby. The next day I had just got back from the bathroom when the surgeon walked in and was shocked to see the amount of pain I was in. By 4:30 that afternoon I had been transfered to another hospital and was in surgery. Woke up and absolutely no pain anywhere. It was all gone. But what I had to deal with now, was almost 3 weeks of being bedridden and then surgery. My poor legs had taken a beating. I just about had to learn how to walk all over again. I don't have good days. I have days where I try to do the best I can with getting around. I hate it. But I'm sure if I could start loosing weight again that it would be a great help to my recovery. Sorry for the book. But there is so much more I left out. Like the 2 near falls from the nurses. But I'm home and ready to get back to getting the weight off and back to walking again. I have kind of given myself a goal to reach for. My uncle is suffering from Alzheimer and the kids had walked in the 5k a few months ago. So I'm going to use that as my goal to reach for. To be able to walk with them in the next 5K. I wished I lived by the ocean so I could walk in the sand. But we do have some really amazing walking trails here. Hope you had a good day. We are now under a Blizzard warning for our area. We got 10 inches of snoa last Thursday and now they are calling for us to get almost 12 inches of snow tonight. No walking for me. But glad they will have the roads cleaned by the time I go to see the band doc.

I really need to send out a huge Thank You to all of you. I talked to my husband this morning and then went right to the phone and called my band Doc. I have an appointment for this Thursday to go have a fill. I am over the moon. But I'm still alittle scared. They will be seeing the weight I have put back on. I'm still down from my surgery weight but I have put on some of the weight I had lost. So because of you guys, I have taken the first step to get back to myself. Thank You. Suzanne.

Hilary, thank you so much for the kind words. I'm a strong believer in if I can't make the band work for me then what makes me think I can get the sleeve or GB work for me. All of them are mind workers. You have to be in the right frame of mind for them to work. I have several friends that have had the band and recently switched to the sleeve. Yes they lost weight but within months of having the surgery, their weight loss has slowed down and they are now questioning having the new procedures done. At first they were only able to drink and then slowly add food to their diet. But we all know that if we eat, we want to eat it all. Just a few bites aren't going to make us happy. But with the band I know that if I am eating too much, that I can go back in for a fill. What do you do if you have had the other surgeries. There is no going back in and tightening a GB or sleeve. I came here right after I had my surgery. I found out about this site from a girl I knew that had a band. I met the most amazing people and we still chat everyday. I have come here again looking for that support when I first came here years ago. It's a huge part of my weight loss journey. I need to get support and to give support. Like I said in my earlier post. I was 3 pounds short of loosing 3 pounds. It was at that point when I had to go in for surgery on my spinal cord. The Doc had put me on a walking schedule to help my surgery site heal. I followed it to the T. Within 2 months of that surgery my husband and I were off on a 3 week vacation to L.A. for a wedding. It had been 25 years since I had been back home and I told myself that I didn't know when I would be back again so I was going to enjoy the foods that I hadn't eaten in 25 years. I didn't really over do it. ut it was the start of my downfall. By the time we got back from our vacation, I was headed back in for some surgery that I had to postpone for the spinal surgery. So here is my second surgery in 4 months. That is a lot for anyone to do. I don't know how those poor people do it that have to have multiple surgeries handle it. Bt I lost my focus on my weight loss but kept telling myself that I can get back on track, I did it once I could do it again. And then Bam. The old gallbladder said it was done with me and I was headed back into surgery. The this last December I was admitted to the hospital and was put into a drug induced stupor while I waited for the Doctors to enjoy their holidays and then get with me to decide what the were going to do. On Jan. 4th. I was headed back in for surgery again. I came out a broken woman. This last surgery knock the wind out of my sails and I am so trying to bounce back as fast as I can. But my body isn't letting me. So I was laying in bed searching websites when I found this posting and it was just what I needed. It has given me enough push to get me to call the band doc and get back in and get my band filling back to where it was before I started all of the surgeries. I need to remember I can't do this by myself. I need support from people like you and my band docs support. Have a great day.

Last night I was laying in bed just surfing this web site and came across the post here and I have to tell you guys, it touched my heart. It made me do some deeper soul searching then what I have been doing. I was banded in Oct. 06. I fought long and hard for my band. I wanted it and wasn't going to let the insurance company stand in my way. I beat them. But I had started Weight Watchers before attempting to get the band and I continued to follow WW's while I was on my Quest and even after I got my band. So I was on my way to loosing the weight that I had let get out of hand. I had a long road to go and I was well on my way. I walked almost everyday and even joined Curves. I even ended up getting a job as a trainer at Curves. People were impressed with my journey. I had got to about 3 pounds away from having lost 200 pounds. And then all hell broke loose. I ended up having 3 surgeries within a year and a half. And now another one back in January. It has really taken the wind out of my sails. Through all of it I managed to put back on about 90 pounds. I am totally pissed at myself for letting it happen. During this last surgey, one thing that I have always feared had happened. I had to be transported from one hospital to another to have surgery. I have always feared having to be picked up and possibly hurting someone. The two EMT's couldn't have been more gracious and luckily I was able to get on and off the stretcher by myself. So after the surgery the Doc comes in and talks to me about my surgery and that when I lose another 100 pounds to come see him and he will do more surgery because he was not able to do all of it then. He said that he felt the band had let me down and that I need to look into having the sleeve done. I talked to my husband and we both agreed that I was not going to get a sleeve. My band didn't let me down, I let my band down. I'm the one who chose to eat around it and not follow the band rules. So after reading your post here, I have gotten the courage to call my band Doc and go into see him. It's been over 16 months since I have had a fill. I'm not going to lose a thing if I don't get myself back to the restriction I had prior to all of my surgeries. I need to get back to that girl that was so gung ho about getting her band and so proud of my accomplishments with it. Thank You so much guys for posting. I really hope that we can come here everyday and encourage each other like you guys have with me. Thanks for posting and I will do my best to let you guys know how I am doing. Thanks, Suzanne.

I was waking up during the night and downing rolaids like crazy. So one day at one of the support group meetings I mentioned it to one of the nurses and she said for me to tell the Doc nexttime I went in. So I hesitantly told him and he ordered a barium swallow. And yup, it showed a hiatal hernia and that it needed to be repaired very soon. I asked if he would take the gall bladder while in there and he said he couldn't due to cross contamination. So I had it repair and then the following year I had y gall bladder taken out. I'm really glad I had the hernia fixed. I feel a lot better and not aping for bottles of rolaids,

Ok, I am now able to log in with my old account. But I will keep the other incase this happens again. Sorry that my post was long but I actually left out a lot of stuff that has happened. Just wanted to give you guys a somewhat of what has been happening to me. Suzanne

Good Morning Girls. Ok, today is the start of the challenge. Hope everyone is up for it. I'm almost ready. This is a hard time of the y but I'm just going to have to learn to slap my hand when I go to reach for something. One thing I'm going to do is hold off on my baking. Usually by now I'm making Cookies. That's just going to have to wait. So good luck to you if you are doing this challenge. Hang in there. Angela, Poor Tuffi, Hope it's just that all the food was too rich for that little tummy. I will keep Tuffi in my prayers. Hi Michelle, you guys getting ready for your big trip? We had so much fun that day. I felt like I was a young girl again. It brought back so many memories of when I was younger and our dad would take us. Have a blast. Today is our day to work at the hospital and I'm really excited. We haven't worked since right before the surgery. So it's going to feel good to be back there. Have a great day and hope you have success today with the challenge.

Shar, have you been getting our emails. I hope you know that we have all moved.

Hey. Wanted to post a reminder that starting tomorrow we are starting our challenge. From Dec. 1st to the 30th. We will try to lose weight. You can set an amount if you want, the idea is to just get thru the holidays without gaining anything. So, Good luck. Bitterly cold here today and we had some snow flurries. The sun is supposed to come out in a few hours. But the tems will still stay down. Brrrrrr.

Hey Debbie, glad to see you finally got to post. I hope things are going well for you. Not much going on here, usual daily stuff. Ginna try to get my personnal taxes paid today, well maybe. Have a good one.

I'm not a violent person so I won''t be able to do that for you Tracy. You think Plain might be up to it. Or he may like it to much. lol.

Debbie, so glad you had a good T-day And that you also got to bring some leftovers home. That's the one bad thing about not having it at your place, no leftovers to snack on later in the day. My sister brought stuff home from the dinner they went to and it was really good. Just wish she wouldn't have brought the 2 pies home. LOL. Hopefully it won't take long for you to come over to the other site. Untill then we are having a challenge. Our challenge is to lose weight during the holidays. Starting Dec. 1st. thru the 30th. the goal is to lose weight. It doesn't matter how much, you can set your own goal like maybe 4 pounds. It's going to be tough to do with all the goodies of the holiday but I know it can be done. I did it the first year I was banded. We had a great football weekend in our house. All of our teams won. We are enjoying it while it last. Cold today and they are now calling for a major storm towards next weekend. Should be our first chance at a major snow fall. Have a great day.

Debbie, so glad to finally hear from you. I was really getting worried. That was such a nice compliment from the singer. Pat yourself on the back. Today I getting a few things done. Only a few more things to do but I'm taking a break right now and watching "Julie & Julia". What a really cute movie. Hubby just went in to take a nap so all quiet here. He'll be back to football soon enough. Michelle, I hope you guys have a great time at Disneyland. I know we did back in Sept. Take lots of pics. Back to my movie.

I'm here Cindy. I'll stay as long as it takes.

I went over to the other site and posted. I love the lay out. No adds on the side. Love it. What's on the agenda for tomorrow??? Michelle, your dd doing any better? I hope so.

I found it and posted. Added it to my favorites. Now I can float back and forth.

Kat, I pm'd you about 5 days ago and you have never answered. I'm taking it that you didn't get it. That's ok, nothing important. I was chatting about the conversation we had on FB. I may just call you tomorrow at home. I tried to figure out how to start a thread over there. I'll still work on it. Poor Debbie. That really pisses me off. Like she doesn't have enough of a hard time manuvering her way thru here. Tracy, tell her I miss her and hope we get to chat with her soon. Ashley, how about a bird's nest or something like that in the bare spot. Or get a small bush of poinsettia to stick in there. I bet the fluffing would really help with that though. I agree, I hate to fluff also.