Donna113

I'm in Fall Creek and would like to join a support group in the area. Because I work in the Galleria area, I'd prefer to meet on a Saturday or Sunday. How about Sunday mornings at a Starbucks?

That happened right here in Houston, Texas. The 2nd 3 year old boy within 24 hours. Just the day before another 3 year old boy on the other side of town also died in a car after being forgotten by his grandma. It's incomprehensible to me. I have a 15 year old and and 8 year old and I just can't imagine how that can happen. I am tired, I work full time, I commute 1 hour each way to work, I've just never, ever forgotten that my children are in the car, no matter how tired and distracted I got and believe me I've been pulled in so many directions at times I thought I was coming unglued.

Because I work in the Galleria area, it's kind of hard to get to Atascocita at 6 on weeknights. How about weekends? Sunday mornings at a Starbucks?

Gigem, were you supposed to get your fill by Dr. Spivak in his office and then they sent you to the surgery center instead? I was supposed to get my first fill by Dr. Spivak last Thursday and they rescehduled me for a later time that day then called me back to try and send me to the surgery center and I said no, I want Dr. Spivak only so I'm supposed to go see him next Tuesday but I don't want to keep playing this game and have them keep pushing me off because I NEED MY FILL NOW..... I FEEL LIKE I CAN EAT AN ENTIRE COW!!!!

I'm definitely interested in having a local support group. I live in Fall Creek (new community in Humble) and would love to be able to meet up somewhere here rather than go downtown. I have yet to be able to make it Dr. Spivak's support group since being banded because they only meet 2X a month and the last meeting was cancelled due to the Tropical Storm that never was....

1-tillydog, wsw27?, florida girl 2-trudeip, mackie, BethO,guitar247, minidriver 3 4 5 6 7 8-Zeama, Tamspri, knd, JaJeanne, 9-Missrach, st4r69 10 11-mellalot 12 13 14 15-Mellimel71 16-lotzasunshine; Dionna113 17-Long2BFree 18-CapitolChick 19 20 21-pennylane 22 23 24-daniml, nyllrap 25 -NewJEM 26 27 28 29-Chellets 30 - mamanmidwife

Please don't get discouraged and feel it's inevitable you will regain the weight. Here's a famous quote by Ford "Whether you think you can or you can't, either way you are right." Remember, your life is what you make of it and you make of it what you believe. Both of you have worked way too hard for way too long to let it all go downhill now. I believe in you and admire you for what you've already accomplished. I know you can keep it off.

Who was your doctor? I'm in Houston and Dr. Spivak did my surgery on 7/16/08.

This is something that is very confusing to me... how can you get in 60-90 grams of protein when you are only allowed to eat 3/4 of a cup of food 3 times a day and they don't want you to eat liquid calories? How do you get that much protein from food when you're limited in the amount of food you can have.

Tottie, I lost 8 lbs in my first week post op 2 lbs in the second week, nothing in the 3rd week and 3 lbs in the 4th week but have put 2 lbs back on over the weekend (had a party and ate too much plus it's that time of the month). So, we're all hanging out here together before our first fill. Once we get our fills and hit the "sweet spot" we should start losing a lot more. I think our bodies also need time to adjust to drastic reduction in food intake as well. Right now it's probably hanging on to every single ounce of fat so we have to let our bodies get over the shock and kick in the metabolism by exercising. I know I will STARVE if I exercise and don't have any restriction so I'm waiting until after I get my fill to start exercising.

I was originally scheduled to get a fill today but my doctor's office called me yesterday to say my doctor couldn't do it today but that I could go to the surgery center and they have people there that could do it. Since this was my first fill, I wanted MY doctor to do it so I told them no, I want to see my doctor for my first fill. So now I have to wait until next Tuesday.... I'm really, really hungry and feel like I have absolutely zero restriction. There isn't any food I can't eat, including bread, rice and pasta. Nothing bothers me and I still don't know what it's like to be stuck or PB or any of those things. Have any of you been stuck, PB'd or thrown up?

Usually after about 3/4 to 1 cup of food I felt very satisfied but am about to start my cycle any day now and noticed over the weekend that I could and did pig out. I had a house full of guests and a major party on Saturday. It was actually Sunday and Monday that I ate a lot and I put on 3 lbs! Anyway, I'm going for my first fill Thursday so I hope that really helps. Today, to offset the weekend a bit, I've only had a protein shake for breakfast and lunch and don't feel hungry at all. Not sure what I'm going to do for dinner.

I'm goig for my first fill on Thursday. Tomorrow will be 4 weeks exactly since being banded. I have to admit I'm a bit scared about the excessive tightness people tell me about. Are you feeling excessively tight?

Based on the lap band book provided by the center where I had my surgery it seems that stretching of the pouch occurs most often through throwing up and PBing. Also, the nurse at my doctor's office said it's very difficult pre-fill to stretch your pouch. Based on some of the research I've done and the postings in LBT I think they want you to limit what you eat and how much you eat to allow for healing and to rest your pouch so that the band can settle into place properly.

Honestly, Melody, easier than it sounds is not the point... it sounds bland and boring and a recipe for long term failure. The point is to be able to eat in moderation and maintain for the remainder of your life. To never have coffee, tea, gum, a glass of wine or a piece of candy sounds WAY too restrictive.

Thanks that link worked. I'll recommend the site to others who are still waiting for appeals on rejections.

And we will be ultra sexy in our little black dresses by this time next year, if not sooner.

Welcome NewMama and Foxxymama. NewMama who was your doctor? I was banded on the 16th by Dr. Spivak at True Results.

I'm so glad she's doing fine. I started getting all kinds of panicky thoughts about her. Please let her know we're all anxiously awaiting her return to the forum.

joiful, are you losing any weight?

I self-paid because my employer has a WLS exclusion on our insurance but I see many on here who are very discouraged because they can't afford the surgery and their insurance has a WLS exclusion. I went to the link and could not find an FAQ and didn't want to sign up as a member. Can you possibly copy and paste the info?

I've been doing the same as you Daisy (comparing my weight loss to those banded at around the same time I was) and feeling like I must be doing something wrong because it looked like so many others were losing so much more than I. It turns out that most list their weight loss from the time they originally looked into the band including pre-op diets so even though it may say they lost 25 lbs and were only banded 2 weeks ago, the reality may be that they were on a 3 week or longer supervised diet/liquids prior to being banded. At least that's what was explained to me and since it makes me feel better, I choose to believe it. Anyway, we are all different so we probably will have different type of losses.

I know what you mean when you say you wish you could just get up from surgery and magically be at your weight. I'd pay $100k for that! Ultimately though it is about getting healthier. In just these short 16 days since banding, I feel great because I have not stuffed myself once in those 16 days; all the bloating is gone and all the joint pains are gone. So even though I only lost 11 lbs, since I am no longer poisoning my body with foods that it could not tolerate, it has stopped punishing me with pain. How much is pain free existence worth?

Once I reach my ultimate goal, have the PS out of the way; a head to toe spa treatment including hair and makeup, then an ultra sexy dress for an ultra sexy weekend with my husband.

WTG Sue on your awesome weight loss! You're an inspiration of newbies like me.