Woofay

Drewslou~ Are you hanging in there? How's your knee? Hope your getting around okay.:myscared:

I'm only a little over 7 weeks out from surgery, but yes, I would do it again. So far it's worked very well for me.

Good Sunday morning to you too, Lap Dancer! I loved everything you wrote about food. I sort of pigged out too a couple of weeks ago. :think ( I hate the word binge, I don't know why, but that is what it is.) Goodness I hurt. I had truly wished I would have just gotten sick and gotten it over with. But I didn't. I suffered for like 3 hours. (well, suffer is a bit of a strong word) So at least I have the reminder of that and if I do get out of control, I'll pay for it for a while. Hopefully this next fill will put me to a better place of eating less also. I can still eat quite a bit before I'm uncomfortable. I know I'm not supposed to do that, so I hope it helps. You may not need another fill for a while (you asked that a couple of posts ago). Everyone is different. You may get to a really good place on your first fill. Wouldn't that be great? But if you gotta come back........it's another reason to get together!!! I have no idea of good hotels in Aurora. I bet if you call the office and ask Marilyn, she would point you in the right direction. Mal! You've actually had some pretty good luck lately! You didn't know how bad your mouth would be, but you got it taken care of. Didn't think you could afford both, but you did. Didn't know if the infection would push banding back, but it didn't. Had the threat of something truly wrong with your band, but it was fine! Sounds like your ready for your jackpot and possibly you need a lotto ticket too! Michelle, how great that your club has yoga and meditation. Tea ceremonies? I've never heard of that. You'll have to share more on Wed! Also, something just came to me, Angie is in California this week isn't she? That's why she couldn't come and perhaps why she hasn't posted? Have a great Sunday, All!

Michelle! Now who's being hard on themselves? I'm not sure that we will ever "master" how we eat. I think that's why we gain weight back so easily. I think that all of us can lose weight, and do it quite well. It's staying there that is the hard part. The band won't let us slip back to the gaining side. You're doing great! And at least you are aware of it, which is most of the battle. And by the way, protein shakes are yucky! Hee hee

Good morning, all! Mal, I hope you enjoy Vegas! My hubby and I are celebrating our 16th anniversary on the 8th, but I think that I used up all my money on my gut, my mouth, and my other trip to Vegas in April. That was my first trip there, and I had the best time. Can't wait to go again. We didn't stay at the fanciest place, The Imperial Palace, but it sure was fun. Next time we hope to stay at New York, New York, and just stay in there and play. I'm excited for you and so glad that your band is okay. Maybe you'll hit a jackpot and it will pay for your band and mouth?! (wouldn't that be something?!!!) Marcy, have you thought about where you are going to have your fills done? Have you looked around in Alaska to see if there are any doctors there able to do fills or unfills in case of an emergency? Or do you plan to come out here for Dr. K to do them? Also, if you plan to do certain protein supplements, maybe you should get some while you are here, to help save some money on shipping? If milk is almost 8 bucks a gallon, how much would IDS Protein Vials or Isopure be there?:omg: Angie!!!! Where are you? Did you have another fill this week?? Are you feeling okay and did it give you better restriction? My second fill is Monday and I need insite as to how this one will be. Also, I hope that you are going on Wed! Michelle~ Your description sounds pretty much like everyone elses. Luckily, I can't give first hand experience of that yet. Lordy, I hope Monday doesn't cause me to experience it! I'm such a big baby. 4 more days. Have a great weekend everyone. I've got a pergola and an arbor to get put together today. Hope it stays sunny and beautiful all day!

Mal!!!!!!! I'm so happy for you! He didn't need to do anything?? Not even drain it or anything? That is so great! I think I'll do a little dance for you too! As for the trip to Vegas....I wanna go too! :confused:

Good morning, all! Soooo good to hear from you, SunnySea! I hope this new doctor is good to you and it works out! Angie! Where are you?? You are going, right? Well, I'm on my way to have a crown put on that last tooth I had root canal done to. Because I just don't think that I have spent enough money on my mouth this year....heehee!!! My scale went down again...yeah! I know, I'm not supposed to visit it that often, it was an accident. (School's just out, and I've heard that one a lot lately!) Have a great one!

8675309~ Well, it sounds like it would benifit you. Did your Doc give you a reason as to why he thought this might not be for you? He must have had his reasons, hope he shared them with you. Drews~ so glad your knee is doing okay. Michelle~ do you know if Angie is going? Angie~ You gotta go! :confused:

Hi, 8675309. I too was selfpay, so I didn't need anyone's approval either. However, Dr. K sent over paperwork to my GP to put in my medical file, like any surgeon would. I called my GP to see if they received it and the office congratulated me on having it done. They told me they were looking forward to watching me on my new life. So, I can't figure out why your GP wouldn't recommend it. Maybe you don't meet the general criteria to have the band done? Is your BMI higher than 40? Do you have other medical problems related to your weight? Have you been overweight for more than 5 years or have a history of weight loss and gains? Even if you choose to go the insurance route, I don't think you have to have "permission" of your GP. Call your insurance to see what you need to do. My insurance stated flatly that they do not cover any kind of WLS. So, that was my answer...heehee! Good luck with whatever you choose!

I was scared of the whole process too, Michelle. I think we all were a little after what happened to SunnySea. You know, I realized I keep writing the date of the 7th...I know it's not. Its the 6th that we are getting together. Angie~ what day are you having your next fill? Sometime next week also, isn't it? Sorry you got booted off at work. :cry You'll hafta make up your posts in the evening.

Hey, Michelle, I like your new picture too! Drewslou~ How's your knee? I hope it's not too sore. But if it is, hurray for pain meds! I stepped on the scale. The more I thought about it, the more it had to be done. (Ha!) And low and behold, it didn't go up. Woo hoo! It hasn't gone down any either, but I guess I wouldn't expect it to with the crap I ate this weekend. The funny thing is, I do give in to my craving, but it seems a lot less makes me happy. I know it's not good to eat tatoe chips. (really!) But, I don't have to eat the whole bag anymore. Several hand fulls makes me happy. I was a real bad binge muncher. Seems to be getting much better. Anyways...sounds like most of us have a pretty busy week or two coming up. Fills and flights... Dynamo~ do you think that you are at a good fill? Are you considering getting more? Just wondering how close to "right" the first fill is for people.

Hey! Thanks, Mal! I am quite sure that my face is the only place on my body that has lost weight. Wanted to put a different picture on there, just because I get bored. Anyone else notice how slow this web site is now that they put all those ads on here? So glad they "improved" the site!

Hi, All! Guess we all had a good weekend...there were no posts for days! I understand the food stress, Michelle! We had a big BBQ with family, neighbors and friends. I can't say that my will power was as good as yours though. Plus my TOM is here and I have very little to no will power for those few days. I haven't even bothered to visit the scale. Guess that's why I'm not so grumpy about it. I've decided to follow the process, like you said, instead of looking for an instant fix to something I have taken years to accumulate. I don't even know how badly I've wrecked the scale. Mal, when is your visit to Dr. K to find out about your port? How are you feeling? Angie, when is your next fill? I can hardly wait for the next one. I swear, I still have very little to no restriction. I'm still always hungry. Lap Dancer, are you feeling hungry too? You haven't had any fill yet, have you? I think I'll let Dr. K fill me as full as he wants. I was a little scared last time. If he thinks that I need another 2 cc, darnit, I'll let him! Hee hee! Hope everyone is feeling well. Wish SunnySea and TatorBug would pop in and say hi. Can't wait for the 7th!

Oh, Mal! I'm so sorry to hear this! But we'll all think positive and put in a special prayer for you. What made him think this? Do you have a large red area around your port incision? Hopefully he is wrong and next week will bring only smiles and good news. Are you feeling well besides that? Is your port area sore? I'll be thinking of you...try not to worry. (easier said than done I am sure.)

Thanks, Mal! I needed that!

Good morning, all! Welcome tahillia! Mal, you're doing so well! It's hard to believe that you're all ready for mushies and stuff! Aren't you glad? Slowly introduce stuff and you'll be just fine. And, yes, my tummy was very swollen, well over 3 weeks. It's doing just fine now and my swollen knot where the port is went down too. The swelling would seem so much better in the morning, but by late afternoon it was poofed back out there. Give it time. Poor tummy with all those holes and that tubing shoved in there squeezing its brains out! Hee hee. I haven't posted in a few days. I'm actually kinda grumpy about my weight. The scale was moving, but once again it's moving the wrong way. It seems if I get more than say, 500 calories a day, the scale goes the wrong way. (I may be exaggerating, for I am annoyed) I've been trying to do strict Atkins...mostly nothing but meat, cheese, eggs, and really watching any kind of foods that may impact the glycemic index. But it's leaving me unhappy with my food choices (kinda sick of it) and the #@**!! scale is just not working with me. And then, of course, all the thoughts of failing at this too keep going through my mind. I could be the 2% that fail at WLS. Plus I'm hungry. Not just in my head because I've done really well with diverting my "grazing all day" into other actions. (I'm gardening like a crazy person!) So, I've scheduled another fill on June 4th. That gives me enough time to see him before he leaves for Africa in case I get too tight. So, I actually think that I will start a different approach to this weight loss stuff. What Drewslou said the other night in that meeting has just stuck with me. "I didn't have this surgery to live on a diet." I've been doing that my whole life. So, maybe I can just start eating a little wiser, three small meals a day and call it good. The weight will come off in its due time. And that **#@!! scale is just about to kill me, I swear! Just keep weighing to once or twice a week, instead of 4 or 5 times a day. Sorry to be so grumpy. But also thanks for listening. You guys always make me feel better. My sweet hubby can only understand to a certain point. I can't wait until the 6th, and I promise to be much more upbeat by then.

Tighter when you exercise...now that's interesting. Do other people have that too? Maybe I should exercise more!

Hey Guys! I just saw my ticker with the last post and....I'm not morbidly Obese anymore! What does that make me? Regular obese!!???? Hahahahahahaha!:mad:

:mad: Hi Mal! So glad it's going well for you! I believe I was told about 3 days of clear liquids, then try a little shake, something not clear, and see how you do. Dr K explained it to me that it's all a matter of tolerance. I don't think that you really have to worry about the protein the first few days. Your body has a protein storage and a few days won't make your hair fall out. But when you're off the clears, try getting it in. Yes, the clear phase truly sucks. Or at least it did for me. Dynamo~ yes, I'm on for June 6th, and an address would be appreciated. I can get anywhere with mapquest! It is lovely outside and I've mowed, weed&feeded and sprayed roundup on the weeds in the rock. I've been out all day! Angie~how are you feeling after your fill? Can you tell the difference? You have a lot of fluid in your band, you should be feeling it! :mad: Dynamo~how does your fill feel? The weekend has been great! And my scale is boogying downward! Yeah!

Dynamo~ I'm so glad I didn't have a fluid fountain when I had my fill done. I'm quite sure that would have had me on the floor. But since my fill, my large softball of fluid has gone way down and I'm a lot more comfortable. The tenderness of it has decreased alot. Are you sore from your fill today? The doctor said he had to go pretty deep with mine too. He's so polite how he phrases it though. I said, "Does that mean I gotta lotta fat for you to go through?" He just smiled. Angie~ Good luck with your fill today! Let us know how you did! Shesha~ Congrats on the scale moving! From many years of dieting, I just hate when the scale stops moving for a few weeks. At the time, it just doesn't matter when you know it's going to move soon, but not now. Yeah for you! My scale is finally moving back down again too. You were right, Angie! But I'm still taking off the pounds I gained from my many last suppers. Have a great day, all!

Mal!!! Today is the day!!!!! Good luck! Here's hoping for a speedy recovery!:clap2: We'll be thinking of you and post when you can!!!!!!

Mal~ I buy those IDS 42 gram liquid protein vials over at the super nutrition store in town. They come in grape, orange and fruitpunch and I mix them with my water. They have no fat, 2 gm carb, O sugar and only 176 calories, 42 gms protein. I try to get half of one done before lunch, before dinner and after dinner. (I wait an hour after I eat before I start on them) I know with that I get at least 63 gm protein in. And they have a slight taste to them. I don't really care for the thick, sweet, milky shakes. I can do them, but not all the time. I mix the grape with the ocean spray diet cranberry juice. That juice is so good and only 5 calories for 8 oz serving. Also, for soup I bought (they have it at King Soopers) the organic (not because I'm a naturalist, because they are ready to eat and very good!) boxes of cream soups for the after the clear liquid part. They are so good, completely smooth (pureed) and so satisifying. The one brand is I think Imagine and the one I have now is Pacific Natural Foods. I could only do about 2 oz at a time and then just put the rest of the carton in the fridge for later. The Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato is awsome! I also made up sugar free jello and had some popsicles. Those few days flew (the clear part...ikky!) I used Better Than Bouillon for my warm clear liquid. (beef and chicken) It also makes good soup for the mushie stage if you heat some carrots and taters in it and cook it to death. The clear stage really gets old fast. Thank goodness it's only a few days. The regular liquid went fast and I never really got too sick of it. Good luck MAL!!!!!

Mal~no heaving. Just a lot of pressure/pain golfball thing in my sternum area.

Mal, that office scale is different from mine too! Drewslou told me a secret...just use the one in your house. It was different by almost 6 lbs for me too. See! You did better than you thought! Congratulations!!!! 12 lb is about what I did with the pre-op diet thingy, and that is pretty darn good! Well, I'm not sure what happened with my fill, but I can hardly eat anything today. I officially got some turkey stuck for like 5 minutes or so this morning. It never did come up, but lord I wish it had. I ate the same thing last night, but it was warm, soft and covered with gravy. Today it was from the fridge and harder. Thought that I had chewed enough, but apparently I hadn't. I also had a hard time eating my egg and sausage this morning. Never did make it through it. That was at 10. it's now 1:50 and I'm still not hungery. Trying to get my protein water in though. Isn't that weird? No other pains though...yeah!!! Hi, Angie! Good luck with the fill! I too, absolutely hate needles. I even joked with Dr. K about it. Told him I thought i was going to loose it. He laughed and said not to do that. Reminded me not to look down. (but I did....eeeeeeeeeeew!:faint: )

Mal, hope I understood your post correctly....you are being banded tomorrow? Woo hoo! I'm so excited for you. You've had a bit of a rough road, but it's all coming together for you now! It's not as hard as you think...and after you'll say, "this was what I was worried about?" Congrats! 4 pounds is a little disheartening, but pretty soon the pounds will come rolling off! (what do pounds do??? Roll, melt, fall off??? ) About the gas pain thing. It happened again after my breakfast yesterday. (egg and sausage). I took my gas x and it went away. Maybe I'm one that should do liquids/mushies for 24 after a fill? But it didn't come back last night! Yeah. Dynamo~ it sounds like you have a really great support person/trainer helping you on the way. That's great! I wish I could put the scale away! For I too am a scale whore...Good luck with your fill tomorrow. I'll be thinking of you. Like I said, it's not really painful, just weird. Has anyone heard from Tater or Sunnysea? Have a great day! Can't wait to get together. I hope your knee surgery goes well on Wed, Drewslou! I hope it's not too painful.