WASaBubbleButt

What are you smoking in it?

Are you referring to hookah?

I'm with you on this one... to a point. I think if someone is losing a lot of weight quickly the protein is important. If they are not losing weight quickly I tend to agree with you. I think it's a bit much.

PS... According to Dr.C the low profile port is only a few mm shorter than the standard. So you might want to actually look at the ports and see if you think it will make that much of a difference considering the expense involved. I really think mine is still going to poke out. Just something to think about.

Nope, no signs of infection. Not hot to touch, no fever, no red skin, nothing. That's why this really confused me. I also haven't bumped it or anything similar. I am going to Mexico with three friends in the morning, I'll ask my doc about it. I don't actually have an appt but they do. I was just going because we were going to go shopping and have a little fun after the fills. I just found out something interesting. I was in Mexico with a friend getting a new port. She went to a person in the US that didn't use sterile technique for a fill and ended up with an infection. Our doc removed her port a few months ago, the infection cleared up, and he replaced it last month. I asked him if he was going to put in a low profile port since my friend is at goal. He said it is standard for most Mexican docs to put in a low profile port when they place the band. He said that they use fluoro for fills in Mexico so finding the port isn't a problem and so he can't justify putting in the standard port in the beginning just to replace it at a later time with a low profile type. He said his cost on each port is $600. So why cause the additional expense and the cost of surgery. I have to admit, I wonder if my port is going to stick out anytime soon even though I just discovered I have the low profile type. I have NO problem feeling it, it is verrry easy to find. I can't imagine what it would feel like if it was the standard type.

My sis is the skinny person in my life that is like that. I thought about it long and hard before surgery and came up with a plan. I approached her as though I wanted advice from my big sister about having surgery. I told her of my frustrations and inability to do it on my own and asked her for help. At first she said NO to surgery, she was really upset but she was thinking I was considering bypass, she didn't understand the band or what it is all about. After she understood the type of procedure she was all for it. She's now become my biggest supporter. She tells me all the time how proud she is of me, asks me all the time how much I have lost, and best of all... she told our oldest sister. She was telling me today that she called our other sister and rubbed it in that I have lost 80lbs and getting geared up for plastic surgery. (I don't get along with my oldest sister AT ALL.) When she found out that I am getting a breast lift/implants and a TT I guess she was pretty upset. HA! I had to laugh, my oldest sister is nasty and pissy, she's always been very critical of my weight and now she's the fat one of the three of us. Apparently within an hour of the telephone conversation she joined WW. Sometimes life is just really really good! I have to admit, my friends have been great. Nobody has tried to mess with my weight loss. I have also noticed that I'm spending a lot more time with banded people so that helps too.

My doc says 2 hours. The longer you wait to drink the longer you stay full. Also, some folks PB if they drink w/meals.

Everyone is different, what works for one might not work for another. I use Protein shakes regularly and I like them. If I drink one in the morning I'm not hungry for several hours. At 120 calories, 23gms protein, and 2gms carbs, it's perfect for me. But again, everyone is different.

I have a question. I know ALL newbies complain of port pain but I'm not a newbie, I'm 7 months out and my port hurts so bad I can't even run on my treadmill anymore. I had been doing 100 minutes daily and now I'm lucky to get in half that before I weenie out. I just can't do it because of port pain. Is there something to losing the fat pad above the band that can cause it to be irritated or something? It's getting worse daily. Does anyone else have severe shooting pains in your port this long after banding?

Well, his coordinator is helping his with his spelling. Maybe his coordinator wasn't helping him with spelling when he wrote his name?

No, really I haven't kicked the food monster. I think about it all the time. When I want to eat but I'm not hungry I drink Water, go run for a bit, something to keep busy. Honestly, I don't think the food monster ever goes away I think we have to learn to deal with it vs. fighting it all the time. At least that holds true for me. Now that I am losing weight I'm starting to notice things I had forgotten. The way I am treated, etc. Although I still FEEL like a heifer I'm treated very much like a lady. I'm helped faster in stores, I went to the Ralph Lauren store today and the difference today vs. a year ago is night and day. They couldn't help me fast enough. A year ago I had to beg for help. Same with the Docker store, etc. Much as I hated being MO I have to admit, I learned a great deal about human behavior and I'm still learning.

Yeeees, most MDs need help with spelling. I looked at your state's licensing authority and there is nobody by your name licensed in your state.

My diet isn't great and besides, most people don't want to go to 600 calories daily. Really, the thing to consider is how you want to eat. Do you want to eat what you do today but in smaller quantities? Do you want to go low carb? Low fat? Low calorie? Also, regardless of which food plan, how many max calories do you want to consume daily? If you answer this lots of us can give you menu ideas.

180lbs... I'm 5/5.

I'm of the opinion that conserving fat doesn't happen until someone is like little children in Africa. I've tried to find quality studies to back this one up one way or another but all I can find is calories in/calories out. I've done really well on 600 daily. As long as I am not hungry and grazing all day I'm good to go on 600 but I know lots of people don't want to do it that way. I want the "fat" chapter of my life over quickly! I can't wait until it is over.

What kind of pain do you have?

BTW... Hunger is not a sound, it's a feeling. This is a HUGE challenge for MOST bandsters. I've seen posts where people said that their stomach was making noise so they must be hungry. True hunger is *almost* painful. It's certainly uncomfortable but it isn't a sound. You will hear lots of noises being banded because with restriction your stoma acts like a one way valve. Air goes down into your bigger stomach but it doesn't come back up. So until you learn to stop swallowing so much air you will hear lots of noises. Again... very common. There is head hunger and true stomach hunger. Head hunger is when that chocolate cake is calling your name. You aren't truly hungry but you want to eat anyway. Or you believe it is time to eat. Stomach hunger is a feeling, an uncomfortable stomach feeling. If you are hungry after eating then try cutting out ALL sugar and sticking to Proteins. Proteins won't give you blood sugar spikes and make you want to chew on your right arm.

A couple of thoughts come to mind. When the band arrives to the hospital it is empty, nothing in there. There is a certain amount of priming to be done. The tubing is filled with saline as well. I honestly don't have a clue how much saline would fill the tubing, maybe 2-3cc?? That is one place it could have gone. Think about IV tubing. When you got your IV in the hospital there was air in the tubing. The nurse flushes the air out with IV Fluid. Same concept applies here. Another thought is that sometimes docs don't prime with Water but air instead during surgery. So when you get a fill they add saline to the air within the band. The 2nd fill he could have removed air and replaced with extra saline. Or, it could be a leak but I kinda doubt it. My vote is for scenario #1.

I couldn't feel mine at first but not -80lbs I can feel it without a problem. Whoops... not=now

Yes, fluoro makes ALL the difference in the world. It makes fills easier IMHO as I have had them done both ways. Never again will I have a fill without fluoro. Not only can he see the port and make it in a single puncture but you drink barium as he fills you and he can actually see how much restriction you have. You will be watching too. It looks a bit like a squirrel peeing. The more restriction you have the more narrow the stream of barium passing through your stoma. It also gives you an idea of the restriction you had before the fill but the difference after the fill as well. When you have a fill without fluoro you drink Water, the practitioner will ask if you CAN drink water. Well, water is ... watery. Barium is thick. If you can see thick barium going through and see the size of the stream as it passes through your stoma you have a better idea of how much restriction you have. Think about it, water will pretty well go through anything. Especially for newbies that don't really know what proper restriction is supposed to feel like. You don't need to worry about it, you can not only feel it you can see it with your own two eyes. So yes, fluoro makes a difference in how easy it is to access your port and the quality of the fill as well. As for not feeling your port... maybe you will be able to feel it later, maybe you won't. I couldn't feel mine at first but not -80lbs I can feel it without a problem. It's typically sewn into the fascia above a muscle and under a fat pad. As the fat pad decreases the port is easier to feel.

Your port is usually the first thing to hurt and the last thing to heal.

But don't you think you are balancing even if you splurge on a holiday? Skinny people eat more on holidays too. One of my challenges is trying to remember that perfection is not balance, it's impossible. I usually shoot for about 600 calories a day. If I eat 900 calories in a day and 300 in another day, is that splurging or balance? Maybe I am justifying my 900 calories days but I really don't think so. I track every bite of food that passes my lips and it averages out to 600 calories daily. BTW, restriction makes ALL the difference in the world!!

I don't like that stuff. It still ends up lumpy and sticky. Doesn't Jello make an instant unflavored? That recipe sounds good but I'll get frustrated with Knox. I swear, products like turkeys and knox see me coming and trick me before I even start.

Yep, I agree with you. Balance is the key. Now if I could just learn to balance the emotional stuff that goes along with this, I'd have it made!

Is the unflavored Gelatin the Knox stuff? I've tried working with that before and it's lumpy and sticky. I never did get the hang of that stuff. Is there like a Jell-O brand unflavored gelatin for the cooking challenged?