La_madam

Where is Ginny? has anyone heard from here lately? I have not seen her post in a long time.

Maybe you are at a plateau... Also by what you wrote that you eat..you need some more portein.Most band Dr's wil ltel lyou to eat 60 grams of Protein a day and eat your protein first during yourmeal, then veggies, then fruits then if you have room eat your carbs. I do not always follow this rule but I do make sure I get in the 60 grams of protein a day. I do not do oatmeal, for 2 reasons , 1 is that it is a carb and if I eat in the morning Im hungry all day long and 2 is because it goes through my band too quickly. Start your day with protein. Soup is also a bad culprit..loaded with sodium and liquid calories that goes right through the band also. Cut those 2 things out and add protein in place of them and see if that helps. Also sometimes when I exercise too much I do not lose and my muscles retain Water. Most of my weight loss has come from NO exercise, just better food choices and smaller portions, I know the day will come when I will have to work my butt of to tone and lose the last few lbs but for now I'm seeing results..slowly but none the less it is still weight loss. Are you drinking atleast 64 oz of water a day? That is what helps me to lose. Your band is working, you are doing great. Plateaus can be discouraging. I did not lose but .5 of a pound in a month and a half and last week I lost 1.5 lbs..hang in there also try tracking your food on fitday.com. Good Luck

Shaz..Yes there have been people who have gotten to goal with no fills...and had enough restriction from the original band placement. Not many of them but there are some that I have read about on other boards.

Nancy, it is in Dr. Ortiz's book that if your Dr. does not get ALL of the air out of your tubing during your FIRST fill, you could get a different ammount showing in your next fill. When I had my first fill..I remember vividly the Dr. removing all of the air from my tubing with the syringe before he added the saline. It was a feeling and sensation I have never experienced before, when I asked what it was I was feeling he told me he was extracting all of the air from my tubing first or I would get air bubbles where it would look like I had more saline then I actually did if he did not remove the air first. This could be why you have less then you thought. According to Dr. Ortiz the saline does not evaporate but air does. It is possible and some have had a leak in their tubing though Here is a quote from his book. "If the original fill volume is not the same in the next visit, the patient should not panic. Usually it means that there was air in the system. Rarely will it be a true leak in the system that needs a reapir." " Experienced Lap band specialists have found that if there is air in the system, it will leak and part of the fill will be lost. liquid does not leak from the band normally but air does. My first fill was 1.1 cc's and when I went for my 2nd fill I saw the syringe with 1.1 cc's that he pulled out. I now have 2 cc's and am going in on Monday for my 3rd fill so I will be eager to see if he pulls out 2 'ccs then.

What a nice husband you have

This is why I was told by my Dr. & nutritionalist to eat 60 grams of protein a day ..to not lose lean muscle mass and to eat it first during a meal.

Penni, glad to hear you are out of your funk. You are so right, you have come to far to let anyone destroy that! Great NSV..seeing those smaller sizes, lets us know our bands are working. Congratulations!

Thanks for sharing the info on coffee, I would be a lost soul without my java and great job on the weight loss Betty..Keep it up!

Alex, why arent you out shouting this too the world from the roof tops? What an amazing job you have done. Not just are you an inspiration to all of us with your weight loss, but I find your posts and all of your knowledge on the band very inspirational also. Congratulations to you

Count me in! Those rates are cheaper then what we paid last time at Excalibur..I would love to room with you again Vera..I will bring my parka so I dont make you girls keep the air on low.

Blossom I eat whenever I want..as a matter of fact Iam eating vegetable thins ( crackers ) as I type to you. and I am feeling restriction this just helps me to eat less at dinner time so I am notsitting with a pouch full of food after 6:00 Everyone is so different, you will find what works for you. I eat my 3 meals but I also snack becasue of my sdnacking my 3 meals are smaller. I like to keep my metabolism moving all day is why I snack..I must be doing something right 73.5 lbs in 9 months As far as your fill..does your Dr. require liquids after a fill? mine has me do 3 days of liquids in case there is swellingfrom the fill. Again I'm sure you have heard that sometimes fills take there time to kick in. Did he use flouro and the barium? Were you able to see your restriction and how the barium flows through your band? DOn't fret about the 3'ccs in a 4 cc band at the start of your journey. I met a woman in my Dr.'s office who had her first fill of 2.4 in a 4cc' band. Maybe this one will be the sweet spot. I go for my 3rd fill Monday I may be at 3'ccs too after that!

Sounds Great Lyle Count me in! All the way from Southern California

I do not know about you ladies but I got tired of wearing old lady bras..I was in the same boat as you were Paula..I went to Victoria Secret after Christmas since losing the 70= lbs ..I can finally fit into their bras. They only got to a 38 DD which is what I am wearing now. I have not lost any in my cup size since banding but that is due to the lift and implants I had done in 1998, before banding I was in a 42 DD..My 17yr old son looked at my before pics yesterday for the first time and he said it looks like my boobs are bigger now, I told him " no" you can just notice them more now since I lost all of the fat around the middle, no more fat gut, none the less.. the women at Victorias Secret are very helpful to measure you and reccomend a nice comfortable & sexy bra

http://lapbandtransformation.com/Adjustments.htm This is a great site on fills & adjustments..

Becca..Here is your pep talk. Get back on liquids! You do not want to risk anything going wrong with your healing Dr. Ortiz gave those instructions for a reason. The digestion process is why. He does not want you to eat anything that may cause the stomach to rumble and churn and turn during the digestion process. Your band needs to heal and set place and your sutures need to heal in place. Even thouigh it feels fine now it could casue you problems later down the road when you do finally got to eat solids and the real digestion process starts.You could risk slippage or your port flipping if you do not follow his instructions. Your lucky, seems he changed his post op diet since I had surgery. I was on Clear liquids for 2 weeks and then ful liquids for a week for a total of 3 weeks. It is almost over..hang in there

I'll give it a try angel.atheart@cox.net

Lookin like a "Hot Mamma" in those pics Betty.. Hey are you surei t is food poisioning? There is a stomach bug going around that I had allweek last week, it felt like food poisioning...whatever it is I hope you get to feeling better. I can relate I was miserable all last week.

Mary..what a reality check. Loved the honesty in your post. I know I have been in a slump to from the Holidays, reading your post has inspired me to get my butt back in gear. Thanks for sharing with all of us

Amoro It has been thought that some of the people posting on behalf of their Dr. are true patient coordinators trying to recruit, but on the other hand there are several people here who truly believe in their surgeon and will post their possitive experience. Iam one of them I love my Dr. and if anyone is sitting on the fence as to who to choose, if they ask me I will tell them all about my experience. I do find it odd though that another Dr. would bash another Dr., that seems very un professional and un ethical but despite what bkacknamaste says...the condition of the facility you will be having suregery in does matter...a sterile clean environment is very important as well as an experienced surgeon.

I sleep on my stomach!

Leigh, you are here on a Lap Band Board..so of course most of us if not all of us will tell you to go with the Lap Band I chose the Band over Bypass because there are less risks and complications. No dumping syndrome, no malabsorption issues, less down time, less healing time, less liquid diet, no re routing of my insides, the list goes on and on. I do not regret my decision one bit

There is a cream you can put on your port area before your fill..it is called Emla Cream. My son used it on his port before all of his cheno treatments. It worked well for him. It kind of numbs the area, we would put it on about an hour before they accessed his port to make sureit was nice and numb.

Dont take this the wrong way please.. It is not mean to sound mean or spiteful but honest.. how many other diets have you tried in your life time and been somewhat successful? How many times did you give up ? How many of those times did you gain the weight back? If it were that easy for us morbily obese people, none of us would be here. My take on this and it is my opinion only is that any person who has 100 lbs or more to lose needs the help of a tool like the band. The time it will take to get the 100 + lbs off, many or most get discouraged before they finish, to only gain the weight back again. For me losing 73.5 lbs in 9 months is something I have never achieved any other time in my life and I have tried all the diets known to man. This is the first time in my life that I do not diet. I eat what I want..I do not weigh or measure or have to eat specific foods or count points and I am losing weight, how great is that? Do you really want to follow a prgram for the rest of your life? I sure don't..I ate this Thanksgiving , I ate holiday crap all this holiday season and only gained .5 of a lb, that has never happened in my lifetime and now I have that .5 of a lb gone plus one more this past week. If you have any doubts then I would cancel..but just think about the questions I asked you . I knew I could not do it on my own, or otherwise I would have..I knew if I tried I would get discouraged and tired of following a strict diet I was 100% honest with myself and 100 % sure.. and knew it was time to have the lap band! No more fooling around.I wanted this monkey off my back once and for all!!! best of luck to you on whatever you decide..only you can make the final decision, we are just hear to give our input and support. Your 15 lb loss is great in just a short time, maybe you are an acception and wil lbe able to achieve "permanent" weight loss with the South Beach diet..I did not..I tried it, lost some weight, got fed up with having to follow the program. I gained what I lost back and then some

Congratulations, that is fabulous! ..It only gets better:)

Oh I forgot to mention along with my head cold..I suffered a horrible stomach ache..where I could not go to the bathroom and had horrible cramping and could not pass any gas either which is so rare for me...my family also suffered the same thing so there must be a little bug going around