lisacaron

This is amazing! It makes me feel good to know that there are people left in the world that care for others. Things like this always touch my heart and my soul and make me feel great! You all on this site make me feel that way often and it really is something powerful.

Awesome photo's my friend! You look so happy and relaxed!! Love it!

@@danni#L Sounds like port pain to me. The more we move the more we pull on the muscle that the port is attached to. I am over a year out and I still experiance some nagging pain once in a while in that area. The port is right at the site of where my waist band is and where my office desk sits so it gets it's fair share of bumping. The more weight I lose the more pronounced it is and the closer I find myself sitting to the desk Put an ice pack on the site when you are resting or going to sleep at night and take it easy to let your body heal. The port is attached to the muscle and it will generate some scar tissue over time but for me it's always been sensitive especially now as I work out more and do crunches and lifts etc. but I don't let that stop me from doing it. Eventually I know I will go in for a port revision and switch it out for the lower profile port. It;s one of my "goals" and rewards when I reach that weight!

@@Jenny L I'm sorry to hear that you are having to be benched from doing your work outs. The impact on your joints with running and P90x is pretty rough. Did the Dr. tell you what was going on other then inflammation? Is it arthritis? Why steroids? There are other medications out there that can help you to reduce the inflammation and not cause the weight gain that steroids can cause. My husband was put on Celebrex for pain and inflammation after his hip surgery. Ask your Ortho more questions and if you can see a Sports medicine orthopedic they are very understanding of people who have joint and other arthritic issues wanting to be fit and healthy etc. I hope you are feeling better and on the med very soon!! Maybe as you mend you can reduce the intensity of the workouts for impact but not give them up all together.

DOMS stands for Delayed onset Muscle Soreness. You can read about it here: http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/sore-muscles-dont-stop-exercising The first time I worked out with a trainer for my fitness assessment I could not walk for a week! Trying to sit and stand was horrible. I had bruises on my legs I know where not there before but they were very small and faint. After about 2 weeks...and my next work out it was so much better! Now I don't let it push me that far, I'm not out to prove anything just trying to get healthy and feel good. No pain no gain I get it..but I'm trying to lose not gain anyway I can handle a little soreness from a good work out but not bruises like I battled a bus!

When you work out you are essentially ripping or tearing your muscles. Breaking them down to build them back stronger. If you think about how that sounds having a bruise or a bump is not so unusual. Think of all the "bumps" that body builders have on their bodies The thing is that you should not really be seeing those at the surface as a bruise. I can understand the person who said they are on blood thinners having this happen as the muscle heals occasionally but as a rule it should not happen all the time. I would definitely agree with going in for some blood work to be sure that nothing is deficient or in need of remedy. As you continue your work outs always try to have some Protein and Vitamin C after to help promote healing and building of the muscles. Adding in the Vitamin C and other essential amino acids help to reduce the lactic acid build up in the muscles which can be the cause of soreness and some lumps and bumps as well. You can read about DOMS. Don't let any of this discourage your work outs, but defiantly check with your doctors for any deficiency that might be going on and the right supplements to take.

I feel you my friend. I have been having those days as of late myself. I had to have most of the Fluid taken out of my band and I was on a 3 week liquid diet. Let me tell you there is just so many days/weeks you can live on doing that! Once it was back to regular mushy/soft foods it was about to be off to the races time! It happened to me yesterday, I started eating mini packs of Peanut M&M's because they were there...OK yes I wanted them also but one or even 2 should have been the stopping point. Having that kind of day...had me in mindless eating mode and it took my stomach to churn from all the sugar and maybe even a bad peanut to wake me up and get me to stop grabbing them and shoving them into my mouth. I was not enjoying them anymore I was not even tasting them, I was just mindlessly chomping them! (possibly pretending it was someone's head I wanted to chomp on instead to get them to shut up...but I digress) Today, I packed my lunch bag with a Protein Bar, cheese sticks and lunch. I have been having a super frustrating day today as well, but instead of falling into that mindless mode again I am drinking my Water and chomping on sugar free gum. Blowing bubbles as big as I can and popping them loudly making them snap in my teeth. It's making me feel so much better Chomp chomp chomp. {evil grin}

I probably could pull that costume out and have it taken in a bit Ken was the skipper and you can see how we both changed since then. The first year we went to our friends party he was Dr. Love and I was the nurse. I have to tell you that those were pretty easy costumes to create. I went to the local Work N Gear and bought a set of scrubs for him and a Dr.'s Lab coat for myself. Bought some accessories in the local party store and walla! (Let me tell you that year the costumes were prophetic I had a 102 fever that whole night and the flu for a week later!) When your plus size sometimes costumes can be harder to find, but if your creative you can make and be anything! Halloween is my holiday, I loved having the crazy scary parties back in the day WAY back in the day my cousins and I would create a Haunted House when we lived in Queens. LONG before there were Haunted things everywhere you looked! We didn't charge we just let the kids walk through and boy did we put on a show! From the outside as you walked up to Spiderman in the and Batman on the steps to the witch that opened the door and let you into the porch a scene from Rosemarie's baby complete with black bassinet, evil baby and all. We had animitronic dummies that moved and real people like "us" hidden in the midst dressed up like monsters and gouls. Strobe lights and fog machines it was like a universal studios set and what a load of fun to create!! Here are some fun photo's that I could find to share...some from WAY back scary!

I hear the hot thing this Halloween is the 20's flapper and of course Frozen????I used to be able to think of great costumes. I will have to think about it this year. This is my favorite Halloween photo. I was the first mate close to my highest weight ever but I think I looked dam good!

I will confess this to you...I have been hitting the peanut M&M's today!!! Work has been making me CRAZY!This guys voice just grates on my nerves you know the kind of person that talks out their A** ugh!!! After a couple of packets of mini bags I have to say that ugh vomit feeling from overdose of sugar!! Isn't making this conf. call any better!!! I would have rather had the ants on a log for real!

I'm still here, but just like @@Debbie3sons said been busy working and on the site all around. Sometimes this thread gets lost in my feeds. How is everyone been doing? Any big fall plans? I think we have a Lunar Eclipse going on today, not that I can see it from where I am, but you can "feel" it in the air. Crazy...weather; people; the whole gambit! Just in time for Halloween!!!! Anyone plan on dressing up? Having a party? Avoiding the office candy bowls?

I can give you all my statistics and tell you about all my gains and losses and why "I" chose the band, but those things are not what is really going to help you. Everyone can find success and failure with any WLS modality. For that matter people can find success with Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig or Medicinal intervention. For most of us our reasons for choosing Weight Loss Surgery was because we have exhausted all other other attempts to lose our weight, keep it off, get and stay at a healthy weight. I can't tell you that your diabetes will go away because it may not. I can't tell you that you won't have high blood pressure because you may lose all your weight and still be hypertensive. I can't tell you that you won't get cancer, but I can tell you that losing weight will greatly reduce the statistics that these things will kill you. The reason to choose one WLS over another is YOU and your medical team. You can have a Gastirc bypass lose all your weight only to gain it back 3 years later, the same can be said for the sleeve or the band. You are the key here friend. YOU and only you can make this choice for yourself. What do YOU feel would be the most successful surgery for you? What do the doctors who have been taking care of you think? Do they agree with what you think? If not why not? These are some key questions to ask. After doing exhausting research on the modalities of WLS, finding out the pro's and con's of each surgery, and let me tell you that the worst "con's" against any surgery are almost always people's negative experiences amplified and not so much "fact". For me I need the facts, and no matter which one you choose or how you spin it the worst is always death, and/or major complications. This would be true of any surgery, for any reason. While some think this is an "elective" surgery for me that is not how I view it. For me it was a life saving surgery as much as if I needed open heart surgery and that's the idea I went into this with. I chose the band based on my research and personal experiences meeting others who have had other surgeries, witnessing their experiences and knowing myself well enough to know what it would take for me to be compliant with all of these types of surgery. I chose the band, because at this point in my life I am not ready to re-wire my entire digestive system. I do not want to have part of my stomach removed if it does not need to be. I knew I could and would be compliant with the band surgery and make it work for me and I loved the fact that I could alter it to fit my life and my life style. I can add Fluid and remove fluid. I have done so when I have gotten sick and then put more in when I was well. My husband who is also banded was able to loosen the band and take fluid out so that he could recover from hip replacement surgery smoothly, and then was able to put the fluid back in once he was off the medications he needed to take. Most of all when you hear all the good the bad and the ugly, take the time to work out and understand the mechanics of all the surgery options. Read all you can and I always advocate @Alex Brecher books! Decide what is best for YOU with the guidance of your doctors and medical team. I wish you all the best on your journey!

@@twztdzsgrl Give your doctor a call. I find it hard to believe that you are on a clear liquid diet for more then a couple of days. Your body needs Protein and other Vitamins and minerals, I had to be on a 2 week liquid diet but not all clear fluids. Give them a call and ask them for an eating plan and let them know what's going on with you and seek their advice.

I can give you all my statistics and tell you about all my gains and losses and why "I" chose the band, but those things are not what is really going to help you. Everyone can find success and failure with any WLS modality. For that matter people can find success with Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig or Medicinal intervention. For most of us our reasons for choosing Weight Loss Surgery was because we have exhausted all other other attempts to lose our weight, keep it off, get and stay at a healthy weight. I can't tell you that your diabetes will go away because it may not. I can't tell you that you won't have high blood pressure because you may lose all your weight and still be hypertensive. I can't tell you that you won't get cancer, but I can tell you that losing weight will greatly reduce the statistics that these things will kill you. The reason to choose one WLS over another is YOU and your medical team. You can have a Gastirc bypass lose all your weight only to gain it back 3 years later, the same can be said for the sleeve or the band. You are the key here friend. YOU and only you can make this choice for yourself. What do YOU feel would be the most successful surgery for you? What do the doctors who have been taking care of you think? Do they agree with what you think? If not why not? These are some key questions to ask. After doing exhausting research on the modalities of WLS, finding out the pro's and con's of each surgery, and let me tell you that the worst "con's" against any surgery are almost always people's negative experiences amplified and not so much "fact". For me I need the facts, and no matter which one you choose or how you spin it the worst is always death, and/or major complications. This would be true of any surgery, for any reason. While some think this is an "elective" surgery for me that is not how I view it. For me it was a life saving surgery as much as if I needed open heart surgery and that's the idea I went into this with. I chose the band based on my research and personal experiences meeting others who have had other surgeries, witnessing their experiences and knowing myself well enough to know what it would take for me to be compliant with all of these types of surgery. I chose the band, because at this point in my life I am not ready to re-wire my entire digestive system. I do not want to have part of my stomach removed if it does not need to be. I knew I could and would be compliant with the band surgery and make it work for me and I loved the fact that I could alter it to fit my life and my life style. I can add Fluid and remove fluid. I have done so when I have gotten sick and then put more in when I was well. My husband who is also banded was able to loosen the band and take fluid out so that he could recover from hip replacement surgery smoothly, and then was able to put the fluid back in once he was off the medications he needed to take. Most of all when you hear all the good the bad and the ugly, take the time to work out and understand the mechanics of all the surgery options. Read all you can and I always advocate @@Alex Brecher books! Decide what is best for YOU with the guidance of your doctors and medical team. I wish you all the best on your journey!

@@Jkgbander I would ask them to check that port area again for you just to put your mind at ease that nothing is wrong. Since you have lost weight it could be that your port is extra sensitive now that it is closer to the surface then before the weight loss. Occasionally my port area bothers me as well. Sometimes I don't have to do anything, just wake up in the morning and it's a bit sore. I have a very small torso area and where my port sits is right at the point that my desk at work is, and sometimes if I am doing crunches or bending from that area it irritates me. I have also pulled the muscle in my side once or twice and caused some additional discomfort to that area. The more weight I lose the closer I get to having port revision surgery for this reason, I know I will "need" to have a lower profile port put in. That said all my issues with the port are related to the muscle, there are other internal things that could be the cause of pain and discomfort such as a port infection and you want the Dr. to rule those out for you. So go back and tell them that you want to be sure that there is no infection in the port, or the surrounding area and then see if an ice pack helps at the site.

@@SASSYSISTER19438 take a deep breath. You are in your first week of being banded and really my friend this is the worst part of it all. The port area is tender and everything inside is swollen from the surgery. You need to take the time to rest relax and heal. Lapband surgery even though it is laproscopic surgery is still MAJOR surgery. Your body needs to rest and heal. You probably had to releases some anesthesia left over in your body, and once you were able to move your bowels your felt much better. If you still feel nauseated ask your Dr. to give you something to help you with that feeling. For me what worked was a sweet tea that I just sipped on from a spoon. Make decaf tea and sweeten with Stevia or Sweet n Low splenda what ever works for you. Let it cool until warm and then just spoon it slowly. It helps to relax the esophagus muscles. You can take some gas ex if you are still having that gas feeling. I also found a warm compress under my back and shoulder helped a-lot. For the port area if that is hurting you put an ice pack on the site and that will help the inflammation and sooth the pain. Also make some sugar free ice pops these will help the internal swelling as well as keep you hydrated. Remember to give yourself lots of TLC, this is bigger then having a tooth pulled you had major surgery. Rest, relax and soon you will be feeling much better!! Let us know how your doing in a few days!

Good Morning Friends!! The next meeting of the NYC/Long Island Bariatric Pal Support Group will be held on October 25th from 2PM till 4 PM at The Atrium at 805 Third Avenue. The building is on Third Ave between 49th and 50th Streets. The Atrium is at the back of the space on the lower level. We are looking forward to seeing many of our forum friends there. If any Jersey friends want to attend, please feel free to cross the Hudson and join us!!! Westchester, Rockland and any other upstate folks are welcome to come spend the afternoon in NYC as well! We are still working on our Long Island Venue's so stay tuned! For those folks in the outer boroughs if you are interested in putting a meeting together in your area, visit your local library and see if it might be possible to book one of their meeting spaces for an afternoon. You generally have to live in the area to do this, so if you'd like to see a meeting in your area, give us a hand to secure the space and we'd be happy to come to your area and host a meeting with you!! Hope to see you all on October 25th in NYC!!! Come back in a few days for some more "details" and the inside scoop for the upcoming meeting.....

If someone would like to put together a meeting location in Brooklyn I would be happy to attend!!! Let's try to work it out, any ideas?

My Grandmother and my mother always used to tell me to think twice before I did something. It's good advice because the second thought can be just the change in perception and perspective that you needed. Thanks for sharing!

Nope not weird at all. I think in maintenance phase you really do need to have your own scale so you can be sure your in a good place. Definitely keep it under lock and key though so you don't obsess about the number if you think that would be something to worry about

You are so right about the numbers on the scale not making or breaking us. I'm horrible with stepping on the scale and I should do it more often. The problem is finding a level space in the house to put the scale and then stepping on it constantly all the time and I'm a bit OCD about it and I always want it to be the same time of day, with the same "type" of clothing or lack of clothing...the scale has to be in the same spot...and so I just never find the time to get on the darn thing! I try to every couple of weeks or so. Thank goodness the number has never gone up it's always the same or down and that's a good feeling. Poor hubs though, he's not OCD like me and he will step on the scale wearing different shoes, or different close and different times of the day and you know that number can fluctuate all day long. More Water less water...big meal no meal..all those things factor in and he will feel down about the number. I don't know why because he looks GREAT. he's so slim and I tell him that all the time. He's happy...he was able to have his hip surgery he's back in fire gear, working and teaching and all that. I tell him the number is just that a number. I am never going to be 97 pounds again and you know what I would not WANT to be! When I was 16 and my skin fit my bones that weight was OK. Today I don't need to be that weight cause it would not fit the person that I am. I just try to be "healthy" that's my ultimate goal. Happy and Healthy. I get how you feel about your jeans though 100% . I don't like clothes that bind and pinch and jeans always did that to me. Now not so much and I will put on clothes that haven't fit me or were tight on me and find them loose and it's a nice feeling! Especially since that means this winter I will have clothes to wear without having to go out and buy too many "new" things I thought I would share some photo's of the hubby this time and you can see how really "thin" he has gotten even in Fire Gear!

I say go for the Halloween costume! You can be a sexy "witch" or a Movie Star!!

Very interesting. I had never heard it called bone broth before, but yes my Gram and Mom always made our soup like that and I still make it like that today. It is the best medicine for just about anything and everything that ails you that's what they used to tell me and I still believe it and know it's true. In fact I think I will whip up a pot tonight!! We all have a cold a nice pot of soup is just what the Dr. ordered Thanks!

Ah yeah we are all here...but I think most of us consider ourselves always learning. I have learned from people who have been banded WAY longer than I and I have learned from people who have been newly banded as well as from those who have even yet to have surgery. As well as from others who have had other types of WLS. There is always something new to learn and share, that's what's great about being on the site. Also it's a great motivator and inspiration for me

@@Jyoyonomore So excited for you!!! We will have to plan our next meeting for after your surgery so we can see how you are doing and give you our full support!! I thought it best to take September off with all the back to school and holiday's etc. Not to mention a bit of personal "stuff" minor car accident...and we adopted 2 puppies! It's really like having babies again, as we train them So it's been a bit of an action packed month for me and the hubby. Looking forward to seeing everyone really soon! Love to hear what you have all been up to!