Teachlady

I was banded April 10, 2007 at age 59. Wish I could have done this 30 years ago!!

Tracy... I'd like to know too. I don't feel any difference post fill and was hoping for something just to feel the difference. I tried eating at my pre band speed and I was able to eat my 1/4 tuna salad, 1/4 red pepper, 1/2 cup diced peaches and a lo fat tapioca pudding in about 10 minutes. Yes, I feel full now, an hour later, but didn't while eating. I could have eaten that much again had I not had the will power to stop. If you find anything out about that, let me know. I just assumed the restriction would be immediate.

Good Morning fellow Shrink'n Violets!! It's FRIDAY.. that means the weekend is upon us. Oh wait.. I'm retired and every day is a weekend. I'm still feeling no restiction so I'm guessing another fill is in order when I go back to the doc on the 2nd of July. Bummer... I did so well without a fill, I was hoping a fill would really make a difference. But if I can hit 1-2 pounds a week off, I'll be very satisfied since I know it won't be coming back on without a complete collapse of my will power!! Had my scrambled egg beater with fiber sure this morning and am now sipping on my icy cold lemonade CL. Life is good! We had a heck of a thunderstorm last night. But at least it cooled it off a bit here. It's going to be in the low 70's today instead of the high 80's we had yesterday. Laura.. my DD got lacy white wedge flip flops to wear at the reception. She needed the flip flops so she could be comfortable and she needed the height of the wedge since her husband is 7 feet tall and she's 5'8". They had a great time at the reception and danced the night away. It was so much fun to watch them. ARD.. congrats on the great weight loss!!! TRACYK... you might want to try a glass of prune juice to get the system going again. Just a suggestion. KAT.. that's quite the adventure you guys have been on for the last 15 years!!! Congrats on finally getting it settled and coming out a winner!! TERRY... congrats on the "muscular victory"!! Yer gonna be one buff babe soon!! PAM... I can't believe you had to go through all that for a fill!! My whole fill procedure took maybe 3 minutes tops!! And I was on liquids for 24 hours only. You're gonna lose weight this week for sure!! Everyone have a great day and remember to follow those bandster rules!!:cheer2:

I love the dress!!! Especially the little cap sleeves. You made a great choice! Love the fun shoes too. Have you tried ebay for tiaras?? My DD had what we laughingly call her "online" wedding. She got her flowers, tiara, dress, veil, gloves and pew decorations online. Everything was beautiful and the dress only had to have one slight alteration. She said she wanted to be a "princess" and she definitely was.

"Yea me" is right, Tracy!! Good job on handling the burger.:clap2::clap2: I used to be a CL Classic Orange drinker exclusively, but now it's the Lemonade. I put my bottle in the freezer when I'm eating a meal and after an hour it's icy cold. It's a 33.8 oz bottle so it doesn't freeze solid! But it's soooooooooo good when it's that cold!

Whew.. what a day. Grandson Ethan was here all day and I took him out in his stroller. I walked for 45 minutes with him. Took my Crystal Light lemonade along with me and finished it 15 minutes before we got home so I was ready for lunch. I'm feeling no restriction at all, but kept to my portions. For lunch and supper I had the "un"sandwich, one with turkey and one with tuna.. all rolled up in a lettuce leave. I had to pace myself cause I could have eaten it up in 10 minutes. DH wanted to go out for soup tonight so we went to Culvers and he ordered the cream of broccoli soup. I ate all the mushy broccoli for him and he got the liquid. I had 3 spoonfuls of his small chocolate shake. He saved half of it in the freezer for another day. Tonight I'll have my yogurt with fiber sure for my evening snack. I just finished preparing a new flower bed. Tomorrow I'll finish laying the black liner and the mulching. Then it's on to the other new flower bed I made this summer. Today was 89 degrees here in northern Michigan. My swimming pool might be heated up enough to swim in again if it doesn't get real cool again. We had lots of strong wind here today too. The power went out several times and finally stayed out for about an hour. The cable and internet were down almost 2 hours. Everyone have a great evening and remember to follow those bandster rules!!:cheer2:

Good Morning, Fellow Shrink'n Violets.. Terry.. thanks for the post. I had my fill on Tuesday and am not feeling any restriction, so I just keep on doing what I've been doing. I'm still not eating between meals and eating just what is allowed at meals. Last night we went out to eat and I had a chicken fajita salad.. just ate a little bit of the chicken and it went down with no problems. Had a few bites of the lettuce and that was it. I know I could have eaten the whole salad, but I didn't. I didn't have my usual yogurt for evening snack last night. I opted for prune juice for obvious reasons.. arghhhhh. We went to Walmart and I bought two pair of stretchy jeans in size 16W... I started out in 22-24W. The 16W fits fine and even a bit loose. Only those people who know I had the surgery have mentioned the weight loss. Nobody else has said a thing, but then again, they have seen me do this many times before and I always have gone right back up. They are probably hesitant to say anything.. at least that's my story and I'm stickin' to it! Grandson Ethan is here today so I'll be taking him for a long stroll later this morning to get my exercise in for the day. Everyone have a great day... let's drink our water and get our butts moving for 30 minutes!!

I use Fiber Sure mixed in with my scrambled egg beaters in the morning and again mixed in with my yogurt at night. When things get really backed up, I drink a glass of prune juice. It's high in calories, but it's a natural laxative. I don't drink it every day.. just as needed.

I too had Dr. Bhesania in Port Huron and think he's TERRIFIC!!! You can't beat that hospital and staff for lap band surgery. I recommend it to everyone who is in traveling distance of the Port Huron hospital.

Wynn hotel is one of THE nicest hotels on the strip!! LUCKY you!!! Lots of celebrities stay there. Get me an autograph or two, k??

Laura.. Eva Longoria and Tony Parker are getting married 7-07-07. Maybe you could have a double wedding!!

Ok.. I had my scrambled egg and cheese for breakfast and it filled me right up. I'm just having my lunch now.. tuna salad with a slice of swiss cheese and a piece of red pepper wrapped up in a large lettuce leaf. I can feel the restriction. I definitely have to wait in between each bite now. Usually I could chow down on the "un" sandwich in about 10 minutes. This time it's definitely going to take the 30 minutes recommended. I put on a light sweater today that I have had for well over a year and could never wear it cause it was so clingy and showed all the rolls of fat. Today it is hanging loose and sooooooooooo comfortable!! I can't wait to see what surprise is awaiting me next in my closet of "I'll be able to wear this someday" clothes!!

Gilly... I travel 4 hours to get to Port Huron and it's worth every minute to me to have peace of mind that I'm getting the best care from very experienced doctors and staff. They are all wonderful and extremely competent and caring.

Tammy... sure hope you're feeling better today!!!

Good morning, fellow Shrink'n Violets... Well today is the first day after the fill and back to regular foods. I'm like Tracy... kinda scared to go there. I'm much more comfortable with the full liquids, but I know those don't fill me up like protein rich foods. Soooooooo I'll try my scrambled egg and cheese for breakfast and see how it goes. Today I have a flute rehearsal at noon and a choir rehearsal at 6. In between I have plants to plant that I just received as gifts. And the grass looks like it's never been touched even though I mowed it last week! We've had tons of rain and everything is busting out of the ground, it seems. I was not numbed at my fill and it was just like Laura's.. lift your legs to tighten the abdomen, then one poke and it was done. Drank some water to make sure it went down and I was outta there. Eight hours of driving for 3 minutes of doctor visit. But it's WORTH it to me and DH. Laura.. I second all of the comment on here about YOUR wedding. You do what you feel comfortable with. You are the ones who will have the memories for the rest of your life. Make them ones you will cherish. I had a beautiful wedding 38 years ago and to this day I still remember the fact that my dad didn't want to pay for anything. My mom argued and argued the point and he finally caved in, but it's a bad memory I've had for 38 years now. My DD's wedding 4 years ago was just gorgeous and we just stepped back and let her decide what she wanted. All we did was write the checks.. lol Course her dad performed the ceremony and I sang the solos. Such a deal! lol So just follow your heart and do what makes you and your intended happy. Time to fix breakfast. I got up late today after all the travel and running around yesterday. I love being retired!! Everyone have a great day and follow those bandster rules!!

Gilly, don't know of any in the Metro area, but I HIGHLY recommend Port Huron. They are a center of excellence, have a staff dedicated to lap band patients and the docs there have done almost 2,000 lab band surgeries. I have BCBS PPO insurance and was approved without any problems.

Nope...not at all. My insurance's criteria is 18-60 years of age, so I fit in that. My DH got banded May 22 when he was 62. He had to wait for a pre-auth, but that came through in 5 weeks.

Hello fellow Shrink'n Violets. I'm back from my fill and it was a snap. Just lie back, lift my legs up to push the port to the surface and zip, zap, needle was in and out in a second. Doc said to tell everyone here how easy it was. lol I'm way behind on posts and will have to catch up on them tomorrow. I did pm Kat about the Kindergarten issue. I'm watching grandson Ethan right now as his daddy is playing softball and his mom is working. Ethan is sleeping now so I can get on the puter. I don't notice any difference yet with the fill. I'm on liquids until tomorrow morning. Maybe when I get back to regular food it will feel different. Doc and staff were really pleased with my progress. I sure hope it continues!! DH is doing great too and goes for his first fill July 2. Everyone have a good night and remember to follow those bandster rules!!

Good morning, all. I reached ONEderland on Sunday. I hope never ever to be in Twoderville again..... EVER!!

Hi Rose.. I'm in Alpena.. way up north. We started the process back in January and I got banded April 10th. DH got banded May 22. We call those our "re"birth days. I would do it again in a heartbeat. It has been the best thing I've ever done for myself.

And Jen.. you're doing great!! You were banded after me and have lost 24#. That's SUPER!! Keep up the good work!! Has your doctor suggested a diuretic?? I take a water pill once a week. Without it, I would be having some edema issues. But once a week seems to take care of that nicely.

Here's what I eat during the day. Breakfast... 1 yogurt with Fiber Sure or 1 scrambled egg with Fiber sure and 1/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese cooked in. Lunch... 1/4 cup tuna salad (they have a great packaged one at Walmart), 1/2 cup pineapple chunks mixed together and topped with 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese, then heated. OR... sliced deli turkey breast, 1 slice swiss cheese, 1 piece of red pepper sprayed with 10 squirts of Italian dressing (spray kind) and rolled up in one lettuce leaf. Supper.. same as lunch. Evening snack... yogurt with Fiber Sure mixed in I don't eat between meals and I drink 64 oz. of Crystal Light Lemonade a day. I am fine with this routine and it works for me. I have wanted something like the lap band for years and I'm bound and determined I will make this work! I'm very pleased with the results so far.

Good Morning all you Shrink'n Violets... Today was weigh in and I MADE it!! I'm in ONEderland!!!! It's a beautiful day and life is good in bandland.

Good evening fellow Shrink'n Violets.. Grandson Ethan turned 1 today and there was a cook out party for him. DH sipped his Green Tea and I had a quarter cup of baked beans.. It was tough, but we did it!! I finally was able to get in the pool today. The water temp was 82! Did my exercises and then when the air cooled down I jumped into the hot tub. I LOVE my water stuff!! Now it's time to relax and enjoy my last glass of Crystal Light lemonade for the day. Tomorrow DH is installed as Pastor Emeritus in the church where he pastored for 19 years. They are having a cake and fruit, neither of which he can have, but it's not about the food. They put a really nice article in the paper and I'm really proud of him. It will be a great day tomorrow. Then Monday we head down for my fill on Tuesday at 8 a.m. I'm a little nervous, but I'm sure everything will be fine. Everyone have a great evening.. and remember to follow those bandster rules!!!

I take the chewy Viativ multi vitamins. I took them right after surgery with no problems..