Summerrain

Ty for sharing your journey, I appreciate reading everyone's story regardless if they had the band, bypass etc, in the end we all have one common goal. You look absolutely amazing and well done on getting to goal. Keep posting I'm happy to read your posts.

Can't believe the lack of sensitivity with the media. Couldnt they just report the incident and focus on the reason why this concrete gave way? Heck no, that doesn't sell papers, what sells is the degrading of this woman, regardless of whether she is 350 pounds or 150 pounds this is a human being with a heart and feelings like the rest if us creatures on this earth. I can imagine all the fat jokes this poor woman is going to be bombarded with. I just hope she didn't get hurt too badly.

Msrhonda is it more like a feeling of tightness in the area you mention? I remember with a few of my fills I had a similar discomfort in that area, at first it felt like I was too tight with the fill but after a few days it settled. It could be seeing as you've had a recent fill just some irritation and should settle, it did with me. With one fill that feeling came in after a few hours and settled within a few days, with another fill it came on a few days later and settled within a week. Fingers crossed it settles down quickly for you. I also remember not feeling hungry or wanting to eat at those times so I didn't and just made sure I stayed hydrated.

Yesterday I had a big day, my twins turn 15 on Monday so I had a party for them last night. Spent the day being busy cooking, entertaining. By the time everyone left and I finished cleaning up it was 2 am. The last thing I did before going to bed was to sit have a glass of Water and read the forums. One of the last posts I read was about someone getting stuck on pills and floridays response was to get a pull cutter. I wake up this morning to remember I dreamt floridays, in the yellow top in her pic, sitting at a table with a pill cutter cutting them all up and a big line of banded people in a line waiting their turn till floridays cut all the Vitamins up and distributed them, lol, had a good chuckle this morning with that dream.

Lol yes you were thin but you had that yellow top on. I must have been exhausted last night and fell into a deep sleep and of course reading the forums last thing made that dream happen, it was funny you were so quick cutting up the pills yelling next please, lol and I have no clue what you sound like. What was even funnier a lot if the people on the forums who have their pics up were in that line, I actually recognized the faces. I blame the band for my weird dreams! Lol

These next few months are going to be hard, youll crave all the wrong foods, you'll mourn food and/or the amounts you used to eat. I also remember craving greasy food about four or five weeks after being banded and I did take a bit but it tasted nothing like I remembered like it tasted and it was like I could feel it running through my body and made me feel awful and lethargic. It's going to take a lot of willpower but if you persist it gets easier and the rewards are so worth it. I found that when I craved things I had to stay away from or when the hunger hit hard I distracted myself by keeping extra busy or leaving the house and going for a walk and by the time I got back the cravings and hunger passed. I have also noticed since not eating any more rubbish my skin has improved a lot, it's a lot softer so that's another bonus for me.

I've found my grocery bill has gone down since ive been banded. There are five in my family, I've always bought good quality meat from a butcher and not the supermarket but now I no longer buy any rubbish from the supermarket, no more chips, biscuits, cakes, lollies etc. my trolley only consists if fresh fruit, vegetables and meat, chicken. If the kids do want chips from time to time they can go to the local Milkbar and buy a packet. If they are hungry there's always plenty of fresh fruit available to them. We never used to have a lot of take out but if we did with three men in the house just a trip to McDonald's would cost over $60. With $60 I can cook them enough fresh food for two good meals. And a pasta meal for under $10 that would also feed them for two meals.

I totally agree with your post and I'm one of those people that if I ask for advice I want the truth not answers wrapped in cotton balls but that being said when it comes to online forums, not just this one, I think we need to be careful how we respond at times because we don't know the person or their mental state. Sometimes a person can be so depressed that one wrong word or reply can send them over the edge. It's hard to read the tone sometimes and words can come across as harsh but not intended that way. I know personally I can never be rude when responding to posts in forums, I am honest but I'm careful with my words in case the person takes them to heart which can at times do more damage. We aren't all the same mentally or emotionally, some of us are stronger than others, some of us have been through a lot which can either make us stronger or weaker. I know from personal experience when I was in full blown depression mode my friends that were tough but not rude are the ones that made a positive impact on me and because of them I climbed out of that dark abyss I lived in for a few years. The ones that just said things for the sake of babbling are the ones that are no longer in my life and good riddance to them. Those are the ones that made me feel worse about my depression. So I say to all when you type a response online whether it be this forum or other forums reread your posts a few times and be mindful of the words we choose to respond with. Firm advice goes a lot further than rude advice.

As I got closer to the greenzone my fills were either .2 or .3 every two to three weeks till I got to were I needed to be and without blowing right past into the redzone.

I found that after every fill I had to relearn how to eat, as in taking much smaller bites otherwise I'd get that awful sliming which the body produces to help push the food through the banded area. If you have some swelling try doing liquids for a day or two then softer foods then reintroduce your solids. That will give everything time to settle down. If you are still having problems keeping anything down then I'd call your aftercare team.

What an achievement, congrats!

Woot well done!!! Can't wait to be in jeans.

Well done, you look fantastic!!! You can see how good you feel in that pretty smile.

Yes when I'm sick my band tightens up so I stick to liquids or really soft foods if I get hungry. I find when I'm sick I have no appetite at all but make sure I stay hydrated.

Never heard of this make, is it new on the market?

I had a slice of pizza with my family last week, I didn't feel bad, I enjoyed it and counted it into my daily food portions and I still lost last week. In the past I would have inhaled the whole pizza but I enjoyed one very small piece and left it at that. That's what the band allows us to do now, eat much smaller amounts. Sure you can't have pizza everyday and expect to loose but every now and again is fine.

Congrats, love reading these posts!!

You look amazing!!

As stated follow your docs instructions. Mine are I can drink with meals and have done so when I've needed to but follow the same rules with eating. Wait a min, sip, wait a min, eat. Also some that have been given the go ahead to drink with meals find they can't .

I had 4.8 put in my band on day of surgery and I have a 14cc band and am now filled to 8cc and am where I need to be. 7cc does seem a lot as the others have stated but if you're doing fine with it then you should be ok especially if you can still drink with no problems. You'll have to be very careful when introducing foods and take very small bites and chew very well. Best wishes to you.

The noises are all part of the digestive process and I found once I was on solids they settled.

You're fine, you haven't messed your band up. As you see in these forums there are a million different rules for each of us and we are all fine. I was only on clears for the first day then liquids after that, as long as your liquids contain no lumps you're ok. My instructions were on liquid phase anything that can go into a blender and turned to liquid is fine. My liquids included smoothies ( which I made) and creamed Soups. I'm six months out have lost over 80 pounds and have no issues with my band, no slip etc and I also started on solids at three weeks. You won't feel restriction till you start getting fills, you maybe one of the lucky ones and only need a few or you may need many to get to greenzone. You'll also hear no drinking with meals, I'm one of the ones that is allowed to drink with meals and do so when I need too and again I'm fine. The first few months are hard but it does get easier and you're right the changes we need to make are gradual and will happen with patience and persistence.

I'm six months banded the only visible scar I have now is the larger port one but that's just a faint line now and seems to be fading more and more. I'd rather a scar than the size I was.

I had two c sections, second one I had twins to care for and that was so much harder than a lapband. Lapband recovery was a walk in the park even with the shoulder pain.