amica813

Hi all! Glad folks are checking in! I've kept up with reading the posts, but haven't been good at writing. I've just kind of been doing my thing. So, my weight update - I'm down a total of 111 pounds to 140.5 and am 4 away from the doc's goal and 14 away from my personal goal. I hit about a 3 month plateau at 100 pounds lost and just couldn't make the scale move. I went for a check-up in May and the doctor wouldn't do a fill because he still felt I was in the green zone (limited consumption from a volume standpoint but no problems with vomiting and only the occasional stuck episode if I ate too fast.) I agreed and he gave me a month's supply of Suprenza which is a dissolvable phentermine pill. I didn't have any problems and got right back on track! I would have taken them for a second month, but was getting ready for hip replacement surgery. Which brings me to my second update...I had a hip replacement on July 1 and am headed back to work on Monday! SueBee, how did they do yours? I was extremely lucky to have an orthopedic doctor who does the anterior approach which means they don't detach any muscles or ligaments, just kind of scoot them aside. This usually drastically reduces your recovery time! Thank the Lord, it was a breeze! I was off the walker by Saturday after the surgery and I pretty much don't need the cane now. If I do a lot of walking I start to get tired and fall into a limp so I keep the cane handy just in case. I gained 10 pounds in swelling (yikes!) but got rid of that after the first week and am back on track with a 1 - 1.5 per week loss. I had some follow-up (bariatric doc) bloodwork today and go back again in August. I may do one more month of the Suprenza for the final push to the goal line. And now I have to start exercising! No more hip pain excuses! Keep pushing gang! We're getting there!

Nicole - thanks for the awesome suggestions! I know I'm bad about thinking I can do it on my own, and I also know I absolutely can't do it in my own. My surgeon didn't require any counseling but recommended the hospital support group, but I know some docs do. I kind of wish he had, but I've been pretty lucky so far that I can recognize when I'm emotionally eating; the challenge is to actually stop it. I've got pretty good restriction so that helps. And of course this group has been amazing! I think the fact that we've all experienced some of the same issues at the same time has really helped me at least.

Congratulations Ladybandito!!! Keep it up!

Sue - that's wonderful! I'm so excited for you!!! I can't wait to hit goal. I've got 15 pounds left to be where the docs want me, but I'd like to lose 34 more for a personal goal. I'm looking at a hip replacement too. I have hip dysplasia which turned into horrible arthritis because of my weight. I was hoping that the weight loss would alleviate a lot of the pain and would allow me to delay the replacement and taper off the cortisone injections, but I'm losing hope for that. I'm 2 months away from my next cortisone injection and I'm in constant pain. I'm to the point where I almost want to go ahead with the replacement, but I'm really scared about the recovery from it. Keep us posted with your progress. Way to go!

Just posted this to FB, thought I'd share here as well: · Today is my 1 year "Bandiversary"! I had Lap-Band surgery a year ago today - since then I have lost 87 pounds; I am no longer morbidly obese or even obese, I'm just plain old overweight; I've dropped 7 pants sizes; I have room to spare with the airplane seatbelt; I worry less about squeezing between rows of chairs; my Mom said if she had walked by me in the mall she wouldn't have recognized me; and I completed a 5K walk! I had to pay out of pocket but it's been worth every penny! My health is better, the arthritis in my hip (although right now it's flaring up) is better, and my blood pressure is no longer borderline high. My eating habits have significantly changed in a good way - I listen to my body and when it needs food or is full. I don't deprive myself of anything (deprivation diets didn't work before and I doubt it would work now) but I know what fuels my body and I eat those things first; if there's room leftover for a treat, I have it! I've only had 1 real bout of "emotional" eating since the surgery and I put a stop to it as soon as I recognized it. I am thankful to everyone who has cheered me on and hopefully I can be an inspiration to anyone who needs it. I still have a ways to go - 38 pounds to my personal goal, but that's a lot closer than the 125 pounds I needed to lose last January 9th!

Hi all! Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! Mine was fantastic - I hit my Christmas goal of 166.5 or 85 pounds lost! I was worried it wouldn't happen because I got hit with PMS bloat last week and it seemed I gained another pound just about every day! Salty foods and not enough water didn't help either. The bloat went away in time though and I'm taking my victory. (And today the scales said 166!) I'm out in the craziness today exchanging all my gifts from my hubby because the clothes were TOO BIG!!!!! ???†I even had one sweater I had to swap from a large to a small! Woo-hoo! I'm heading to Florida tomorrow to visit my family for a couple of days. Food is already a problem, though. Growing up we ate spaghetti at least 3 times a week because it was cheap, easy, and could feed an army if guests showed up. I knew my Mom would probably have it on the menu and I told them I would be okay if they fixed meatballs, but I couldn't really eat the noodles. I thought that was the plan, but I found out we've got 8 extra people coming so they probably scrapped the meatballs. Oh we'll, I'll figure something out. Keep up the good work everyone! We've survived Christmas!

Way to go Chrissylu!

Hi all. Sorry I didn't post last Monday. I was at 174.5 which was the same as the previous Monday. I did we'll with Thanksgiving, we went to our friends' house. They sent home some leftovers but one meal of leftovers is certainly better than a houseful! Yesterday I was at 170.5 for a total loss of 81 pounds. I'd like to be at 85 by Christmas but I'm hesitant to make that a "goal". It seems like anytime I set a specific goal I end up sabotaging myself; but if I just plug along and see what happens my results are always better. I should probably reflect more on that! On the topic of alcohol, I'm still okay with wine (my poison of choice). I haven't tried any liquor drinks, but I have a feeling they would hit me a lot faster. I try to stay away from beer because of the carbonation. If I do have beer I usually go VERY slowly and end up giving half of it to my hubby. Two NSV's - bought a pair of size 12 (curvy fit) pants; now I just need to focus on my thunder thighs and bat wings! I also survived my first holiday open house. I did about one small round of grazing, didn't even fill up a small plate, and I was done (plus two glasses of wine - told you it was my fave!) Prior to the band I would have stood at the table without a plate and just gnoshed!

Happy Monday everyone! I'm at 174.5 today. This is a huge milestone for me. I got down to 175 in 2000 due to a huge stress event, but I haven't been below that since probably my sophomore/junior year in college ('94/'95). And this time, instead of the weight going back up from the milestone, it will be going down!

Otaknam- that's scary! Too long to go before they fix the issue, hope you get some relief soon! Rimini- welcome! We are a very welcoming bunch! As for me, I'm on. The fence about my refill (ha!) on Wednesdy. I'm scheduled to go in at 1:00 which makes me nervous because I know if there's a problem I won't get back in until next Monday. He took out 1.2 cc which was too much. I'm hoping he puts 1 cc back in and it's just right... Just call me Goldilocks! As far as Thanksgiving, I guess I'm kind of lucky because it's not my favorite meal. Hopefully I'll behave!

Doc took out 1.2 cc yesterday and I am able to eat (yay, but also boo!). He said we had 2 choices, remove enough to level off the pressure or take all of the fluid out. He went with letting the pressure equalize. I'll go back next Wednesday when my stomach is nice and calm and have him put fluid back in. I had trouble at 5.4 so maybe we'll shoot for 5.2. I lost 3 pounds between Monday and Wednesday; wonder how much of that will stay off...

That's not right! I tried to post I was down3.5 pounds since Monday.

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Back at the doc today to have some of Monday's fill taken out. I was okay at lunch Monday but haven't been able to keep solids or liquids down since Monday night. I've also had terrible reflux at night. Hopefully taking half of the fill out will help; I don't want to take the full fill out!