Vicki J

Well thank you, whippoorwillow. Let me know if I can answer any questions for you. Where are you in the process? Vicki

Angel - If you have to be on a mushy diet forever, you're too tight. You will have to spend some time on liquids, full liquids and then soft foods. Each doctor is different on how long they want you on it but it's not forever. Sometimes it seems like that because we get bored with it. LOL Congratulations on your seminar date. It will speed by. Are you self pay? Vicki

Hey there Angel - Well, a lot depends on how you're getting the band (insurance/self-pay). With the self-pay it's a lot quicker in most cases. Insurance depends upon which insurance you're going through. I have been banded for 7 months now and I went through Kaiser in No. Cal. I was on their 1200 calorie pre-op diet for 6 months prior to surgery and lost 70 of the 119 pounds I've lost on that. If you're going through insurance you may be required to do a 3 - 6 month doctor's supervised diet. They are trying to figure out if you will follow the plan and also they are trying to shrink your liver. Again, it depends on how you're paying for the surgery. Having the lap band and finally getting to the place where the restriction is just right for me is such a blessing. I traveled without my food scale for the first time this last weekend and was terrified that I gained weight. But I listened to my band and when she whispered to quit eating I did and she took really good care of me. Notice that I said whispered. A lot of people think that they are supposed to have this band that puts a strangle hold on their stomach. They tend to get too tight because of this. Restriction is a feeling of satisfaction not a punishment for eating. If the band is yelling at you, you've gone too far. One of the things I love about the band is there is very little I can't eat. I eat like a normal person in smaller amounts. Surprisingly since I don't feel like a failure anymore, I don't seem to binge eat anymore. Success has really changed my attitude about food. Also, when I eat the dense Protein and fruits/veggies for the day, I don't feel like I need the junk. I will usually grab some chicken strips at KFC if I'm absolutely in a pinch and can only eat one. Yeah, it's not the best of food but like I said I only do it in a pinch. I've been blessed in the fact that I have not had any complications with my band. I try to keep an eye on what and how I eat so that I'm trouble free. The surgery is pretty simple but you'll have to not lift your 2 year old for a few days. The surgeon will tell you for how long. This does not stop you from sitting on a chair/couch and having him come into your lap for some loving. Other than that, ask some more specific questions and get us some more information on how you're going to pay and we should be able to help you more. Good luck on your journey and hopefully it will be a quick one for you. Vicki

Shortgal - I am so sorry to hear this has happened to you. Hopefully he'll use the same incisions and the scars won't change. I would kind of ask him about this being the second one that has happened in his practice since the new band. It hasn't been around that long and maybe he needs to figure out what "his" problem is. I'm not saying that your doctor is a bad doctor by any means but maybe he just needs to re-evaluate his installation of the new band. Good luck on your surgery. I am sure that once the problem is fixed you'll be a total success. Vicki

Yeah, Susan's kicking butt. She's gonna be buying all kinds of clothes to keep up with the weight loss. Way to go Susan!

I never had any luck on just Phentermine. I had to have both parts and boy did I loose the weight. It also gave you that mega energy - LOL. I was like a high strung bumble bee. Unfortunately, like everyone else I gained it back and more. I tried to tell my doctor years ago when I was on WW that if I ate a piece of bread extra I would gain and if I didn't I would continue to loose. He told me it was all in my head. I thought PCP's were good at anatomy - it sure wasn't in my head it was all on my butt. :biggrin: So I got no help. I guess I missed the ear stapling thing. Darn, I can't believe I missed and didn't get the chance to fail at a diet. :thumbup: Anyway, for exercise I have been working out at Curves. It was great because it is designed for women that are not in the greatest of shape and it does work. They have a new computerized thing going where the machines adjust the workout as you get in better shape. It really kicks your butt. I haven't worked out in the last month due to the air quality. I have slight asthma and I don't want to get half way through a workout and have a problem. I also think I'm going to check out full gyms because I'm not the fat kid on the block now and I would really love to do some different things. I would love to do some belly dancing or rock climbing or even laps in the pool. I'm getting quite adventerous these days. I also enjoy going out and rock hounding which is a new thing for my DH and me. It gets me outdoors and it definitely is exercise. We also get to go to new places doing this and it's a blast. Being at a normal weight has opened up the world to me again. I am in such a better place not only physically but mentally and emotionally. I look at life in a whole new way. Just think by this time next year you'll be a hotty. It's so hard right after banding because it's like having a new car without gas. But you seem to have a great attitude about this time in the journey. You're going to be so happy with how easy life can be in keeping your weight in check. I talked to a friend of mine who got the band and she was kind of beating herself up because she was loosing so slow. She said that her head just wasn't in it and she wished she could be like me. This is a girl who has lost about 70 pounds since October '07. I mean what kind of failure could loose 70 lbs? I told her that she was loosing and that means she must be doing something right. She thought about it and had to agree. The band will keep you going if you even give it a little chance. Oh well, enough chewing your ear off. Keep in touch with me and let me know how you're doing. You can always PM me. I get the stuff on my phone and can answer emails. PM me if you want my email. Vicki

I know what you're talking about. I think a lot of us did the extreme thing. I'm probably one of the few people who would still take phenfen if it was available. Well, not anymore. I found something healthier. You're right, everyone needs to have some patience because it will happen at the rate that their body decides. It's so hard though. I have been blessed with a good result from this journey. I lost about 70 of those pounds prior to banding because it took Kaiser so long to get me through their system. I asked the doctor if I lost too much weight if they would kick me off of the program. He laughed and said that they went by the starting weight. By the time surgery happened he wasn't laughing and was impressed. I couldn't have stuck to it if I hadn't had the band to look forward to. Towards the end of the wait I was chanting that the band was coming and to hang in there. It was so hard even with the good results I had had. Fortunately, I have reached my sweet spot and living with the band is great. I find I'm not as motivated to be the blue ribbon dieter now that I'm close to goal and I know that it will happen one of these days. Funny how the attitude changed from failure to hard core dieter to I'm ok with myself in just a year. I see that you're just starting your journey. It's a wild and emotional trip. I think that one of the most surprising feeling was being overwhelmed when I got into the single diget clothing. I find myself standing with clothes in my arms in sheer disbelief that they are mine. Yep, it's a wild ride. Good luck!!!

Oh, yeah, this nurse is a bariactric nurse who has been banded and written a book regarding lap bands. Personally, I think she has some good qualifications. Can she be wrong? Yeah we all can. She states that it is a time when the body is adjusting to the change in weight loss and change in calorie intake. Please don't think I'm defensive about this. I will say it again, I'm not an expert and everything I have said is STRICTLY an opinion to be taken as nothing more than that. Vicki

Stephanie - As I said before, I don't know. I am not in the medical field and I am not an expert. I do know that when I get to a stalled point I often feel like I've been there FOREVER. God, it's bad. But if I keep track I not only see that it hasn't been forever but in a lot of cases there is a pattern. That's just me though. I usually can find out why (if it's not a normal stall) by looking at what I'm eating. I agree with you that the weight loss due to not eating is NOT a healthy loss and effects all of your body. My statement was never directed at promoting that method of loosing. Hopefully with the band and other WLS available we'll see more people loosing in a more healthy manner. But even as a bear looses weight during hibernation so will people loose weight when they don't eat. Our systems do not slow down in the same manner as a bear's does. This is just MHO. Again, I'm NOT an expert. I am just humbly expressing an opinion.

Hi there. Sorry I was out of town for the weekend and not even around electricity let alone a computer. But at least the air was clean!!! To change your ticker you need to go to the page you made it from and follow their updating instructions. They're usually pretty easy. As far as Dr. Le giving you 2cc's, I will be surprised if he does that. I think (and I could be wrong) that since you've had some of the signs of restriction (i.e. pbing, getting stuck, etc.) I think he is going to be causious because Dr. Le is very concerned about people having problems. I know that one time when I went in for a fill he balked at giving me one because I was loosing weight. I informed him that I restricted my calories to 1200 no matter what and was exercising and therefore would loose weight by that alone. I then explained that I was getting hungry in less time then I should be. He gave me 1/2 cc. Think about how you're going to approach him because you have to paint the whole picture for him. I believe this is the way with most conservative doctors. If you go in demanding from him (from what I've heard - not from experience), he pretty much gets stubborn. I never had much trouble with him so I can't say for sure. Keep in mind he's VERY concerned about getting someone in the position of needing an unfill and having problems from that. He's looking at the long term. I know it's frustrating right now because you haven't found the "sweet spot". I'm so happy I finally found mine. My band has decided to tighten up a little on its own and I haven't been able to eat as freely as I had prior to this. Still no troubles but she lets me know she's there more often. Maybe the "fill" at the time of surgery was Fluid that the band came with and he isn't the one that actually filled it. Maybe that's the confusion. All I know is that he said I had 2cc's when I went in for my first fill and he gave me 1cc. Let me know how you do down there. Good luck!!!

No problem. You're at the harder end of all of this but keep in mind the band and it's adjustments will be here soon.

Latrice - Dieting is never easy since it is not only a restriction on our food intake (which we as obese people eat a lot) but it is also a life style change. Many of us have kids or spouses we must prepare food for and it makes it even rougher. I am fortunate in that my kids are grown and my husband is the cook and truly understanding and supportive. He has always cooked lean, trimming the fat, and boils veggies. I, however, ate large quantities and yes ate junk food. So, what I did was I relied on my Weight Watchers knowledge. Keep in mind a calorie is a calorie no matter where it comes from. Yes, Kaiser would love for us to be perfect but the truth is even they aren't. LOL So, I tailored my 1200 calorie diet to fit my life style. Yes, I dropped the junk food to an extent. I allowed myself things like a SF chocolate pudding at night or my SF Suisse Mocha in the morning with whipped cream. But I counted every calorie and this took away valuable calories from the 1200 calories. But for me this is how I didn't feel deprived. I then pretty much stuck to the plan they gave me. It's VERY important to eat the Protein. Make it dense protein like meats because that's what will keep you full longer. Also, they added more veggies to our diets. They gave us 8 cups. That's a huge amount and made it so that if you needed them for Snacks you could eat them (there's a spray on ranch dressing that will give you just a taste of ranch w/o many calories). They also warned us against going more than 4 hours without eating. They added a snack with a protein and a fruit if we had a long span in between meals. I have lunch at 1 and therefore that snack came in handy. This was also extra and not part of the 1200 calories. Finally, when things got really tough I would tell myself over and over again that surgery was just a couple of months away and I could do this. Keeping in mind that the help was around the corner helped me a lot. Since banding and about 9 months after starting the program, I discovered that if I give myself a break emotionally it makes it easier. There are times that I have made some less than stellar choices and I beat myself up. I remember one time pre-band that I came home angry at something. So to the fridge I went and I ate 4 chocolate SF puddings instead of my normal one. I then called my daughter and told her how bad I had been. It was sure hard to talk in between her laughter. She said, "Oh yeah, Mom, you're bad...4 SF PUDDINGS? That's really bad...hehehehe" I then realized that I was mad because I felt like I had failed and that I had done this for the wrong reasons. I also realized how much worse I felt because I did it for the reasons I had and not because I just wanted more. So I discovered the real reason for my failing before. Later I found that when I wanted something because of a special occassion if I gave myself permission to have a small amount I not only felt ok with a small amount, I enjoyed the event and whatever I was eating more. That day and the next morning I didn't feel like a failure because I did what I had chosen to do, how much to have and I stayed in control. Taking that control is empowering. You have to keep in mind that this is a life style change and not a prison sentence. Life is not made up of no goodies. At least not in most of our lives. But you have to keep track of how much you're eating. If you don't eat protein and you only eat sugar then not only will you be not as healthy but you will be on a roller coaster of energy and hungry sooner. Take time to plan your meals. Make them something you enjoy. They say not to read or anything. Some people need this type of thing so they pay attention to what they are eating and chew, chew, chew. Me, I need the distraction so I don't hurry through my meal. Again, taylor it to you. Work for the prize. That prize is the thing that will help you achieve your goal of being thinner. It's tough and I know it. But now sitting 7 months out from being banded I can tell you it's truly is worth it. Keep in touch with me and if you need some support PM me. Of course, you may not like my long windedness. LOL But I'm here and I'll help whenever possible. Good luck and work on just today. You can't change yesterday but you can improve your tomorrows. Vicki

If you had 3cc in during surgery (they prime the new bands) and you have had a fill of 1 cc that would put you at 4 cc. I had 2 cc in at the time of surgery and received the other 2.5 cc over 4 different visits. I received 1 cc on my first visit and .5 cc the next 3. Ask him how much they put in the band at surgery. If you have one of the old bands (if you were banded prior to Nov 07 - I think it was) then you may not have had any in at the time of surgery. But I thought you were banded after me. I have Dr. Le too and at first I was frustrated because he was so conservative. I too have to come from the Sacramento area. BUT I have never been stuck, pb'd or slimed. I have had an easy trip with the band and now that I am at my sweet spot I'm sort of glad he took it slow. I know of 2 of Dr. Alamai's patients that have had some problems. That doesn't mean that I think there's a problem with him but I do know that he is/was more agressive with the fills. Just wondering out loud here so all you Dr. Alamai fans don't lynch me. He seems like a nice guy. <smile, grin, ducking my head> I know how frustrating it is waiting for restriction. Hang in there it will come. Oh yeah, I had to wait 8 weeks for my fill because he was on vacation over the holidays. That sucked. It took me 6 months to get where I am.

Jorge - That kind of "I'm a failure" thinking is what got you to the place you are now. Stop and realize that if you were indeed a failure you wouldn't have gotten the surgery. When you learned how to drive do you think you could have stopped the car without brakes? No. Well, you're driving the food mobile and you don't have brakes yet. Go and start getting those things tuned up - get your fill. It may take a while until you have enough brakes to stop. That's ok. It will be there. Have faith. Start planning your meals and plan to have your 3 oz of Protein and then a good amount of veggies. If you still need a snack later on (say in 2 hours) have a PLANNED snack of fruit, protein, veggies or something like that. I know it's not as tasty as the sweet stuff but you'll like the results better. I always finish my day off with SF fudgesciles. Yep. Only 80 calories and it's the last thing I have in my day. With the band you can plan and therefore take control. This feeling you're having is not so much the "addiction" but the out of control feeling taking over. The more control you take the better. If you know that you're say going out to lunch with someone, check out the restaurant's menu online or take the time when you get there. Trust me soon you will be feeling another type of frustration when you're enjoying the "taste" of something and figure out the band won't let you finish it. The time is coming, friend. Mark my words. Also, loose the word failure. Unless you REALLY eat around the band you will loose weight. You will, however, only get what you put into the band back. Right now, you're healing. BUT - you have the chance to put the car in gear. GO NOW!!! Vicki

When did you get your band? The reason I'm asking is because at SSF they put 2-3 in the new band at the time of surgery. That would put you at around 4cc's. Not that that means anything if you're still hungry. I have a total of around 4.5 cc's in my band and I feel I'm right where I want to be. I don't have a strangle hold on my stomach but I'm satisfied with the amount of food a bandster should eat and don't get hungry between meals. I'm near the end of the weight loss portion of my journey and therefore I'm loosing slower but I'm still loosing. I really love where my band is set right now so I guess I've found that elusive "sweet spot" and have been here since early May.

jgilbert - I agree with the statement that this is an individual thing and whatever you put into it you'll get out of it. One thing for sure is there is no fooling the band. If you eat junk, it will not help you at all but if you follow most of the rules most of the time, it will help you tremendously. One of the nice things about the band is that you don't have to be perfect. Sometimes during the journey you need to take a wee break and unless you're eating ice cream all day, it will hold your place until you're ready to get back to business. Congratulations on the journey. Yes, Kaiser is overwhelmed with people wanting to improve their lives. The journey can be frustrating going through the Kaiser but it's worth it. Take care - Vicki Banded 12/12/07

You should be able to go 3 - 4 hours in between meals. It is suggested that if for some reason you have to go longer to have an oz of Protein or some other snack. Some days you may not be able to make it quite that long and it's ok to have a snack. Some doctors tell their patients to have a planned snack once or twice a day all the time. The main thing is to keep the calories between 1000 - 1200 calories. This is pretty easy to do if you pay attention to what you're eating. This is an individual journey and so trying to do exactly what the next person is doing might not work. Taylor it to you. Keep in mind it's also not a race. The more you relax and just chart out your course the better off you'll be. Another thing to keep in mind is it helps to be the one in control. For instance, when I know I'm going to a special event I plan for that special item. I make the decision on whether or not I'm going to have something I normally wouldn't have or not. When I do this I'm satisfied with my small amount, happy I participated and I'm right back on track because I'm not beating myself to death for "failing". You can't fail if you've made a choice and controlled the situation. Sorry for the "more information than requested thing". :thumbup:

The full feeling of days gone by will probably not be felt again. The feeling you will get now is something more like satisfied. I don't know what you're eating in your 4 oz but you need to make sure 2 - 3 of them are dense Protein. This will help a lot. Other things to look for are sodium content & making sure you're drinking your Water. At 25 pounds in 12 weeks you're right in the range that should be expected in loosing weight. Matter of fact you're on the high side. I know that you have been at a stall but that is probably your body adjusting and the muscle replacing fat. I realize this is not what you want to hear but it's a fact. One thing that a friend of mine had me do when I got frustrated during a stall is to make sure you've taken your measurements. Believe it or not you are probably loosing inches during this time. When I did that I discovered that she was right. The weight will come off but remember this is a healthier way of loosing. The slower weight loss that we get with the band keeps our body from being shocked and we don't have the issues that someother WLS have. Keep your chin up and you'll be amazed. Also, keep track of your weight loss and intake of food on something like fitday.com. When I feel like I've been stalled out FOREVER I go into my fitday and discover it really hasn't been that long since I've lost. Also, if I am having a problem, I can go back and usually find out the cause. For instance, even though I've had a hysterectomy I still stall once a month sometimes for a couple of weeks. It's a fact and I've learned to expect it and live with it. Of course, I pout effectively the whole time. :thumbup: Good luck on your journey. This time next year you'll be beaming at your success. Vicki

According to the bariactric nurse on another site there is no such thing as "starvation mode". Who do I believe? I don't know because it's hard to pit one professional against another. But she has a point because if there were a starvation mode then anorexics (sp?) and people with bolimea (again sp?) would not be able to loose weight. Hmmmm. Your body is going to move up and down on the scale no matter how good you are. You will also reach periods where your body is adjusting and will pause in the weight loss. Some call these plateaus some just say it's a short pause. My best friend during my weight loss journey was fitday.com because I could look back and check out my weight loss. Whenever I would go into one of these pause modes I could go back and really see how long it was or if there was a pattern. Those pauses always seemed so long and usually weren't that long. For instance, I stop loosing weight one week out of the month. I've had a hysterectomy and it kind of surprised me that I would have this just around the time my period used to hit. Oh yeah, I mean my TOM (I want to be politically correct here). Also, I could go back and check out things like sodium levels and stuff and pretty much see what caused the delay in weight loss. Now I expect the pause and know that following this brief intermission I will drop 2 - 4 pounds. All I have to do is hang in there. As far as only being able to eat a few bites and then you get hungry - eat solid Proteins. This will help with the hungry part of it. Eat it slowly because if you're tight it could be hard to get down. Also, don't be afraid of a well planned snack. This is an individual journey and we must figure out what works for each one of us. Fire - If you are having those kinds of trouble, get a small unfill quick before more problems are caused which could result in a total unfill or worse. Don't wait it out. You can always get more of a fill when you need it. People don't realize that they can not only get dehydrated but they can cause the lining of their esophagus to get damaged by stomach acid (heartburn/reflux) and it is one of the major causes of esophagial cancer. My dad died of this and I remember him drinking Maylox straight from the bottle all day long. Do not mess around with this. You could also loose your band. That sweet spot will happen soon enough if you're patient. This will happen for all of you, just take care of yourselves and work on eating less than 1200 calories and making sure that what you is is quality. Good luck. Vicki

I was re-reading that and I want to make sure you know you don't have to loose all the weight before your other appts. They will schedule all but the surgery while you are loosing your weight. They will weigh you at orientation and at all other appts to see how you are doing. Vicki

MissLynn23 - Howdy neighbor! I'm from Penryn. I thought I would chime in here because I too went through the Kaiser program. Barbiek is right, it's a slow process but they pay for it all depending on your policy. From what I hear they are doing some of the things up here now like pre-op requirements. I don't know about that because last year we had to do it all in SSF. That's probably the facility you'll be going through. When I went into my PCP I had my records from non-Kaiser doctors, chiropractors, etc. expecting a fight. My old PCP at Kaiser said I had to be "a lot bigger" to have surgery. So I went in armed to the teeth. Guess what, my new PCP referred me right away. I had no problems after that. You will go through a battery of blood tests and if they find anything they will make sure it's ok. One person told me I would have the best physical I had ever had. Since I hadn't had a really good physical I guess that was a gimme. LOL I had a high ferritin level and ended up having a liver scan that showed I had "fatty liver". Now, when you have a BMI of 49+ isn't that kind of a "ya think" moment. Fortunately, I started my journey on time and with time my liver will heal. I didn't know that you could completely distroy your liver with fat just as if you had drank all your life. Wow, I learned a lot there. Kaiser will send you to an orientation first. Following that they will put you on a 1200 calorie diet and want you to loose +/- 10% of your body weight (no your extra weight - the whole thing). They do this to make sure your liver is smaller for a safer surgery and to make sure you will follow the plan following surgery. You will then see the director of bariactrics, a psychologist and a nutritionalist. Once you are cleared by all of them you will get to see the surgeon. Once you see the surgeon if you are cleared you will be put on the list for surgery. You may have to go to some classes but they are usually at Point West in Sacramento. The only class I had to attend down there was a pre-op class after surgery was scheduled. Patience is the necessary ingredient here but the surgery was pretty uneventful. Contact me if you have questions. Congratulations on starting your journey and don't let the doctor tell you no if you fit the criteria. Vicki

Next time you're tempted to cheat ask yourself if it's worth taking a chance that they might have a problem during surgery. The diet is to shrink your liver so that they can move it out of the way. You're probably ok right now but there are doctors that get in there and see that the liver is too big and simple stitch the patient back up. You need to decide if you're going to do what it takes to be successful. If you're not, don't waste your time getting surgery. That sounds harsh and I don't mean for it to be. However, this is a life style change and there are stages where not following directions can lead to disaster. Also, if you can't adjust to the way you need to eat after the band the least you'll have to worry about is failure. Treat yourself good. This is a wonderful journey that you deserve. Vicki P.S. Again, I don't mean to sound harsh. I apologize if I do.

That's a crock. They may suggest and maybe strongly but they will do what you want. If you go in telling them that your major problem is sweets or that you're a grazer they will suggest the bypass. If you tell them you eat quantity they will be ok with the band. But it is your decision. Don't let them push you around.

I am 55 and have lost 116 lbs over the last 12.5 months. Keep the faith even we old ladies can loose at a good rate. <grin>

Thanks Heartfire! I'm going to have to tell my daughter to get back with the program. She has been waiting for them to start having some of the stuff done up here. The kids only have one car so it's hard for her to run down to SSF all the time. This is great news. Maybe by the time you guys have surgery they will do them in your areas too. Keep me posted on any new information so I can pass it on to her. I know that there is one person on another board that had orientation in January and was banded in early June. That's quicker than what they were projecting by the end of last year. Hopefully they will get this squared around. Glad I could be of help. I know that I got so frustrated while going through the program and was happy because I knew a couple of people who had gone through it prior and could give me a few tips. Let me know how your journey progresses. I'm thrilled with my band.