Lioness81970

Hi Christine - I thought the same thing only I was drinking regular Pepsi or Mountain dew - about 3 20 ounce bottles per day. It was really rough giving it up in the first few weeks and now I don't even miss it. Sometimes I do need a pick me up - and I don't like coffee so I grab a Fruit 2 O - Citrus Energy Burst. Not sure if you've had it or not but it's the flavored Water with Vitamins and it does have some caffeine in it for a "kick" and the thing about it is like with the soda once the effect of the caffiene wears off I don't feel all sluggish.......maybe the vitamins that are in there?? Anyways, it does work for me and thought that maybe it would help you. I am happpy to say that I haven't had a soda in about 7 months and quite honestly I don't miss it either!!! Best of luck to ya and hope you find something else you can substitute for your soda!!!

I haven't been around as much as I used to but I thought if anyone could help me get through these rough patches it would be you all. A few weeks ago we found out my husband had lung cancer and it scared the hell out of me. I have been with this man for the last 12 years and have known him since my freshman year in HS. He and my kids are my life and I don't know what I would do if I lost him. Since then I just can't seem to stay focused on me. I haven't been eating the best food choices, I haven't been exercising the way that I should and every other thing that I KNOW I should be doing I haven't. I know that this should be a wake up call for me but in a way it seems like things have become the opposite. I mean sometimes I feel that if he's sick then why should I be healthy....when he's not. He has come to terms of this much better then I have and honestly I'm scared of what could or will happen. Has anyone been through anything like this? If so, how did you handle it or come to terms with it? I feel like my back is against the wall and there's nothing I can do......

I really want to thank all of you for all your support and kind words. I had been feeling really down and out about my husband....but I am much better now. I figured that he is enough of a mess right now and I need to support him and not worry about not doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing. I love my husband and I don't work without him. Good news though. The docs say that since he is only 33 the chances of him kicking this and recovering are alot better than someone who is older......a little ray of sunshine in a dark gloomy sky!!!!So as of right now I am trying to take it one day at a time. I am not going to beat myself up over not exercising today or eating 1 more cookie than I should. I am going to enjoy my husband and 4 kids and know that my band is there whenever I need it!! Thanks again everyone!!! :kiss

You know since being banded what I have found that I really truly enjoy eating? EGGS!! Who woulda thunk it!! Eggs with cheese, eggs with salsa, eggs with onion, eggs with ketchup.......lolol......I'm sure you get the idea!!!

DOnali - I tried the link but it didn't work. Did anyone have luck with it or is it just my computer?

Wow - this is weird because when I came on here I intended to post about the same thing. For the past 2 days I have had some serious heartburn. Never had it pre-op and really didn't have it until 2 days ago. I don't know if it's from the band or if it's just me - I can tolerate liquids just fine. I have had 2 fills and rarely if EVER feel any restriction so I am kind of curious as to this being band related or not. I have been taking TUMS and if that doesn't work I will go back to taking the Prevacid that I was given post surgery. Never needed before but kind of glad that I have it now.

I had a really bad day today and didn't make the best choices for food at all. I mean - after I ate the things that I did I knew that I shouldn't have eaten it and felt bad but I reverted to my old ways. This is what I had today: 1/2 subway turkey sub w/chedder cheese and vegetables, shrimp over fettucini, a roll, mixed vegetables, breaded cauliflower, 2 turtles and some butterfinger ice cream. Now I KNOW I shouldn't have eaten this stuff but it was in my mouth and in my stomach before I could even say stop. I don't know what it was but it seemed like I was just so hungry today!!! I mean - I have 3 cc's in my band and to me there is very minimal restriction. Every once in a while I will feel it down my back and know that I either took too big a bite or that I should stop eatting but that is rare. My doctor gave me a fill on the 25th of Feb when I had my port repaired. I saw him this last week and he said that since I had lost 5 pounds since the last time he saw me he wouldn't give me a fill. I would have to wait until April for another checkup to see how my progess is coming. I guess I am just a little discouraged right now because even loosing those 5 pounds was HARD WORK with the little resctriction that I have. I mean I can eat ANYTHING and trying to keep the weight off that I have already lost is a struggle. I mean if I could do it by myself I wouldn't have asked for some help by having the band placed.....ok...just feeling a little down and need some encouragement. Thanks!

Oh Sue - I completely understand what you are saying!! Really I do and I am glad that I have lost all the weight that I have - there is not doubt about it..........but what I am saying is that I have VERY LITTLE restriction.....I can eat ANYTHING that I want. It is a struggle every day to make the right choices in foods (and I know with the band it would still be like that) I am just struggling to KEEP the weight off due to the lack of restriction. I feel like I am on a diet all the time . Do this, do that - don't do this or that. And quite honestly I think that's what made me do it. I mean I can LITERALLY eat damn near the same amount I could pre-band and that is what is the hard part. Believe me when I say I AM grateful for the amount that I have lost so far!!

Hi Renata - I just had my port repaired about 2 weeks ago - and I don't think I woul dhave had any pain BUT I eneded up catchinga cold 2 days before having the repair. That is what caused the pain - all the coughing and sneezing. It was done under a local and I didn't feel anything - just some tugging and a little pulling but aboslutely no pain. It will be ok!!

Today I was at work and was really getting hungry so I went down to our cafeteria to get something to eat. Well since my lunch hour wasn't for another 3 hours I figured that I would get something for then and something for lunch. I settled on some chicken soup and a cod sandwich and figured what I didn't finish then I would have for lunch. So I'm sitting at my desk and I had a few bites of the soup and decided that I would have a few bites of the sandwich. Either I was VERY hungry or that was the BEST sandwich I had in a LONG time. So I'm sitting there and I'm looking at it and my head is saying this is soooo good..... we're gonna eat all of this. About 1/2 way through the sandwich I took a bite into it and chewed and when I swallowed I felt it going down.......like it was really struggling to make it's way there. Now the thing that I don't understand is why I feel it in my BACK as opposed to my chest or stomach but I felt it. It wasn't painful but it was VERY uncomfortable. So silly me I take a sip of my water and that just put the icing on the cake. I couldn't swallow and it felt like it was just coming back up. I had to get up and walk around and after about 5 minutes the feeling subsided and I was ok. No PB'ing or sliming or anything. But what was worse is that my head was still screaming "I WANT THAT SANDWICH!!!!" :deviousBefore I had surgery I would have eaten that whole sandwich and the soup and probably still had room for more or even worse yet GOTTEN more. I had started wondering if the band was going to work for me because I wasn't seeming to have any restriction. Well I can tell you today that my band spoke loud and clear to me. It said " I am VERY much here and I AM BOSS!!!!!:angry" Just what I was waiting for !!!! Now once my head catches up to my stomach we will be alright!!

Well just to let you all know everything is fine and I am feeling 100 % now!! I was totally awake for the surgery. It was an actual cold that I was getting. It moved from my kids to me and that is what was causing all the problems. I am fine now though and ready to get back on the band wagon! lolol

I went in on Thursday to have my flipped port repaired. Well everything went well and I thought it would be smooth sailing as when I got out of the OR I was fine. Boy was I wrong. The pain started hitting me about 6 that night so I took some of the pain medicine that the doc had prescribed. That was a mistake. I got dizzy and nauseous so bad!! Anyways this morning I called him and he told me to take some liquid Tylenol and so far that hasn't been doing anything for me. To top it all off......I am getting a cold. I have a runny nose and a cough and sneezing and boy does it ever hurt when I cough or sneeze. I am a walking disaster!!! I am PRAYING that this doesn't last too long.........

Ok so this is the deal. I had my second fill on 2/23 and just started on solids again. I really don't know what "restriction" feels like unless what I am about to explain to all of you is actually it. I noticed that when I was eating a corn dog that I must have taken too big a bite because when it went down I didn't notice anything in my stomach but rather my back?? Does that sound right?? It felt as if it was trying to push it's way though. It wasn't really painfull but rather uncomfortable. Does that sound right? Should I take that as my que to stop eating when and if I ever feel like that again??

Welcome Christa!! It's a great board and a great group of people!! Glad you found us!!

Hey everyone!! I went for my 2nd fill last week Monday but unfortunately the doc couldn't feel the port and wanted to do it under flouro. I went this morning and thought everything would be great but when he got a clear picture of my port he was able to get it dead center. Well I thought everything was going ok but it would not fill. The doc had me do a 1/2 sit up but still wouldn't budge. He tried to manipulate it with his hand and still didn't work. He looked at it from every angle imaginable and found that I have a flipped port. So know I have to go in on 2/19 to have it fixed. My question is if anyone here has had a flipped port and if so how was it corrected? He has me scheduled for outpatient surgery on 2/19 and just wondering what it entails. I have a million questions that are going through my mind right now but at the time he said it I couldn't think of anything.....:confused: I searched the archives but really didn't find any info on it so thought I would post this. Thanks in advance!!!

I had my very first non-scale victory today and wanted to share it with my other family!! I have been feeling very discouraged because I don't seem to have lost any weight by what the scale says for the last 2 weeks. Well this morning I couldn't figure out what I wanted to wear to work and was rummaging through my closet looking for something when I came across this red pants suit. This suit used to belong to one of my best friends and I always used to tell her that I loved that outfit. When I had my band placed she came over with the outfit and said " This is yours now. I know how much you love it and this will be an incentive for you." Now it was a size 22 but had been taken in to about a size 18 because she lost weight and just couldn't seem to part with it. Anyways, I had some black pants on and thought to myself.......I wonder if the shirt will fit me. So I tried it on and it did. Then based on the way the shirt fit I said "hmmmm...........I wonder how the pants fit." I tried them on and THEY FIT!!!! I wore the outfit to work today and got so many compliments on the outfit and everyone said they could really tell I was loosing weight! Talk about being on cloud 9!!! Just wanted to share this with all of you!!!!:banana whoooo hoooo :banana

Another thing that I found rather enjoyable is Minute Maid Lite - it has 10 cals and 2 carbs in a 12 ounce can. They are really good.

Do any of you notice that you have port pain after having er... ummm...well....sex?? I noticed that yesterday and today my port sight has been hurting a little - not anything unbearable but it's there. I have read a lot of posts that say the sex drive has kind of left but quite honestly it's been the opposite for me. My husband says I am draining what youth he has left!! :confused: But my question is: is this something that's normal or should I talk to my doctor about it? Just wanted to get some feedback before I talk to my doctor.

I know my surgery didn't entail that either. It almost sounds like the doctor was doing something new?? or that the doctor wasn't very experienced?? That is really scary. Sounds like he was doing a combination of the lap band and bypass?? I am really confused cause this doesn't sound anything like my surgery..........

Well woke up this morning and wouldn't ya know it!!! I am 1 1/2 weeks EARLY so I bet that is the reason for the standstill. I am not going to stress on it anymore until after I finish my cycle. Not to mention stressing isn't going to help. I really do need to keep reminding myself that this is for the LONG HAUL!!!! Rome wasn't built in a day and I didn't gain this weight in a day!! I feel much better now cause I really thought I was doing something wrong or the band just wasn't working for me!! Thanks so much!!!!

and I feel absolutely NO restriction what so ever. I mean I can still chug water and although I HAVE been eating the bandster way I put the band to the test yesterday:nervous I wanted to see if anything would happen if I ate faster than normal. I made tacos and spanish rice for dinner. Although I only ate 1 taco and a little of rice I could have easily eaten another one!! The only thing that was visible to me was afterwards (about 10 - 15 mins later) I got the hiccups. So my question is this - should I wait a little longer for it to "kick" in or should I call the doc and have another fill?

That's the reason that I asked the question. It has been a week but I haven't lost anything since I have had my fill. I eat much less but ........ well I don't know. That's the reason that I wanted to know what the vets thought!!

The insurance company will tell you anything. Sometimes the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. My insurance (UHC) said the same thing when I called in and I was banded on 11/25. What I sugest to you is to get a copy of your memeber rules and see for yourself. Go over it with a fine tooth comb and see if it is in the exclusions. If you have it in writing then you know for sure. Don't go by what someone on the phone tells you.

And I must say I wasn't prepared for what happened. There was a lot more pain involved than I anticipated and I am not a big wuss at all. My doc is very expereienced so I had no doubt that he knew what he was doing so that didn't scare me. All the while I was thinking to myself "I can do this - I've had 4 kids and I had the surgery done. I can do this." He numbed me with a local and I just knew everything would be ok. Then he pulled out the needle that he used for the fill and I must say it made me very nervous seeing how big it was. Anyways, it was done under flouro and he found the port right away BUT couldn't get it into there. That's were all the pain was involved. I couldn't do anything but grin and bare it cause I wanted to have the fill done and there was no way around it. But then my temperature spiked and I just started sweating. I just knew something was wrong with me and I was gonna be admitted to the hospital. Well the doc got a cold towel and put it on my head and just had me relax. That seemed to help. But what else freaked me out was that there was more blood than I anticipated......I pray that ALL fills are not like this!! Anyways I got a 2 cc fill in a 4 cc band and I am hoping it will last me awhile. Has anyone else had bad experiences? If so does it get better?

are you sure it's not your port? or maybe the tubing from the port to the band? I know that my port is on my left side right close to my rib cage. I feel mine on occasion. No pain - just a weird feeling.