judych

i have either dry red wine or dry white. Very nice, especially the white with ice and cold soda.I dont have any affects.

yes, for many weeks i experienced soreness and pulling in the muscle where my port sits. Im over three months post op now and sometimes i still get a sore episode.. i dont concern myself about it . Everything seems to be working well..i think the fact that the port is implanted into muscle means that there will be some discomfort for a while. its certainly a different sensation to the other incision sites I had.

i can imagine ... i dont know that i would have lost any weight at all without mine. lol. no, for sure, i wouldnt have !!

thats what i need to know. i originally was going to lose about 70 lbs... im halfway through that now. im not sure that i will even have to get down to that original weight loss figure as my health issues with my joints are already gone. its just my hypertension now... i was wondering how i would just maintain my weight once i got to where i want to be. my weight loss is slow... at the moment about a lb a week after having weeks of no weight loss. im post banded three months now.

you say you are on holiday? have you eaten anything fattening or something that wouldnt go through the band?? just a thought.

i am interested as well. I also have a question.... when we reach our green zone and our ideal weight... how do we maintain it without losing more weight?

i did the same thing and it wasnt a problem in the end. i was just too hungry to continue with just liquids..

i found the pineapple juice didnt work for me.... i was too sore to tolerate the juice and threw it back up again.... but thats not to say it wont work for you.i would imagine by now you are a few days out from the fill. What have you been able to eat?? the usual procedure is to just have fluids the first 24 hours then gradually progress from that. i find that i have to wait a lot longer than a few days.. but everyone is different. if you just take it easy with fluids for now you will find that it wont be long and you will be eating normally. With solids, start out with softer foods.

how did your friend get on?? what trouble did she have with a puncture ??

i have have to take one large tablet a day for blood pressure. i find that crushing the tablet up fine and introducing it to my cup of coffee of a morning works really well for me. I havent been able to take much in the way of pain killers but the b/p meds i do have to take daily. I find it works well.

MelVan... i just want to say good luck with your knee operation. Im sure you will be really blessed to find out how much more you can do after the replacement. ive had both my knees done. The only think i find i cant do is kneel.... thats a problem sometimes but i get around it. On average Ive been losing about 1 lb a week... the last couple of weeks ive slowed more but ive got another fill coming up sept 5th. I would love to have a swimming pool close to where i live. the sea is way too cold for me now.

Im the same. i was banded in march. my first fill was 3 cc's. it took nearly two weeks for me to settle down after that fill. then, after another month to five weeks i had another fill... this time 1cc. after two weeks i still couldnt eat or drink properly. i had 0.05 taken out and after a few days it settled down . im about to have another fill.... thats early in sept. im not sure how i will go with this one either. ive not had any weight loss to speak of in well over a month now. i still get episodes where food gets stuck. i think thats because im still getting hungry and swallowing too quickly. its winter here and very cold this year. In retrospect its not a good time for me to be losing a lot of weight as i feel the cold badly... especially this time around with weight loss. I had a major incident early this week with steak getting stuck. i was ill with it for six hours... bought up so much liquid but couldnt bring the meat back up. im still sore from that. it was so scary. it was still bad after middnight that night and i could barely swallow small mouthfuls of Water to stop dehydration. Sorry.... im getting right off the subject here... i didnt mean to do that. just to say... i have the same thing. i will always have a hard time adjusting after fills im thinking. maybe we are just very sensitive and there is more swelling with our pouch.. who knows.

i wish you luck. it sounds like you are on the right track with low carbs. im trying to work out a diet along similar lines right now for myself.

i had that for at least three months after surgery. im now post op nearly five months and its gone. im sure that it will go in time. i know a lot have had that discomfort, im not sure with others how long theyve had it for... but mine is gone now.

Ive never heard of them either... how fascinating. Let us know when you find out more. judy

LibraJennifer.... i was having trouble with most meats just like you and then i bought myself a pressure cooker. Ive found that using the cooker for meats has made all the difference to what i can eat now. meat is moister, and it has more flavour. Plus the fact that most things are ready a half hour from the time you start cooking. If you really do miss your meat i suggest you try a pressure cooker. i bought an electric one.... its fantastic. judy

...firstly...i would remove the underwire if you can manage without it. The gas, unfortunately, is a part of the post op process. there are meds you can take for that. i personally pick fresh dill from the garden... steep it in hot water and drink it. that helps me a lot. i still get gas sometimes and im five months out. Im not sure about the diarrhea.... perhaps someone else can help you there?

give it time. .... you didnt put the weight on overnight and it wont come off overnight either..... it takes at least six weeks for the body to heal and re adjust from surgery alone , without any other factors. Be patient. The surgery will reward you... .wait and see.

hi beanie007..... First of all i just want to say how proud i am that you have done so well.... its a magnificent achievement so far and you should be really proud of yourself. I cant give you any advice on loose skin, perhaps someone else can do that.. im going on 66 and my skin isnt going to bounce back, not the way i would like, lol, but hey, im not complaining. lol. REgarding the difficulty that you experience at the beginning of a meal?a lot seem to have this... and i do at times as well. some do have a few sips of a hot drink to help relax the band then??and just wait a little while??in fact, i must try that. but, mostly, it seems that if you wait the discomfort out then you can continue with your meal. that happens with me. it must be difficult not being able to burp through your meal. i find everytime that if i put my hands on my head and push my chest forward, and wait , the wind will come up. this is worth a try.(you would need to give this a little time to work though ) theres nothing like having wind in your pouch to give you a lot of discomfort, i know. its one of my problems. AS for having the very few bits of chicken and chips? i do that as well... i dont see anything wrong with it, and obviously its not interfering with your weight loss... i wouldnt worry too much about that. it does show you that you can eat more of a variety, with a great deal of moderation, but you can do it. that in itself must be a comfort. i wouldnt worry about it being the']'wrong food'' . Obviously its not hurting you. I cant think of any other advice to give you, other than the hands above the head ..... but i am impressed with your efforts. you are doing magnificently. I congratulate you. hugs judy

hi Sophie... Im Judy, and i live in TAsmania Australia. i was banded on 23r march 2012. you will get great support and info on this forum... Ive found it invaluable since feb... ive learned such a lot. welcome.

ido hope that you feel better now. i dont know about a flipped port. ...but, i had a flu bug with vomiting about three days ago. i couldnt vomit anything back up though and it was the weirdest feeling. i havent had any issues since, apart from some gastric pain.

im the same. i love to gulp very cold water. i find that i cant do more than two gulps at a time... but thats fine. it seems to satisfy me. i do know that i appreciate very cold water now more than ever before.

i agree with every reply.. to me it sounds like your body is very efficient with running on practically no nourishment at all..... it shouldnt be this way.You need to tweek it.( get an unfill and start staggering the amount of calories you have day by day... even have one day a week with just Protein. )this may help your weight loss to get moving again. Definately ask for an unfill and start tracking your food again.... are you having Protein drinks?

i think its somehow tied in with irritation around the band. i know that when i eat too big a mouthful or dont chew enough then i get things like hiccups and sneezes... so i do think its all due to the surgery, that it will pass. Try not to stress over it.

having hypo thyroid certainly has made things harder for you, im sorry to hear that your thyroid isnt working up to scratch. Ive bought some MACA root powder which is extremely good for thyroid and adrenals and ive used that. you could do a search online for it. i bought it from australia but i believe its grown in peru. let us know how you get on with this.... its not an easy road that you are on.