jobyone1

I see you're a Phillies fan as well! I hope it's a great season! Please tell me more about the sleeve. I had to have my band removed and I"m struggling ever since but so afraid of another surgery.

Gosh I just started getting these to my e-mail box after over a year! I'm so glad to hear from all of you. I had to have my band removed in January 2009 because it slipped. I immediately gained weight. I have been on and off diets ever since and regained ALL of my weight. I am so sad. I went to Dr. Ortiz and they removed it and told me I have to wait a year or so but since then I have been trying - unsuccessfully - on my own. I go up and down. Sometimes I feel like I can do it and I lose weight, other times I feel like I need to get surgery again and I gain. I have been looking in to having the sleeve surgery. Anyone have success with that? I'm not heavy enough for my insurance to cover so I would be self-pay. Any info on it and surgeons would be so greatly appreciated!!!

Anyone notice that their stomach muscles are SOOOO WEAK??? Before surgery I could do inclined situps, after surgery I can barely do one on a flat mat! I have been doing crunches on the ball to try to work the strength back up! It is quite the uphill battle though. Next, I get stuck last night on soup!!! Granted it was escarole soup with mini meatballs and pastina - but seriously! I was heaving and hiccupping for an HOUR! I think it was the meatballs. I get stuck everytime I eat meat or grilled chicken. Anyone else with this? I am practically going vegetarian and not by choice. I can only deal with tofu, beans, tuna with lots of vinegar and mayo to make it liquidy, some eggs, some soft fish, and chicken if it's mushed up or in sauce. I can't eat any solid meat at all or I am stuck for a long time. I am finally losing more weight so I"m not willing to get unfilled. I think it's just the price I have to pay to get to goal!

Ditto on Dr. Ortiz and Dr. Martinez. I went to him all the way from New Jersey and it was less expensive and he was GREAT. He is an incredible surgeon and they are available to you on their cell phones any time. They are wonderful. Dr. Ortiz does the surgery and Dr. Martinez assists. I was in and out in 20 minutes!

Sounds like it is a common thing. Tight in the morning and loose at night. It is a shame that it is not the opposite! They say it is best to eat less at night and more in the morning!

I joined this forum back in May when I was pre-op. I had the surgery May 25th and now I'm on my second fill. I'm at 1.9cc and I am very well restricted. It is still a daily struggle though. Getting to the gym almost every day, eating lean proteins, passing on the sweets and fried foods - what a chore! However, the band has made it easier than it has ever been. I'm down to 163 and I feel proud of my weight loss. My poor husband was banded with the VG band in June. He has not lost ANY WEIGHT. He regained all of the weight he lost on the liquid phase. I feel so sorry for him! He is on his 2nd fill to 5cc (a 10cc band) Zippo - NO RESTRICTION at all! I watch him gulp his food like I used to and I salivate thinking how good it must feel to swallow like that! The VG band is much more difficult to get to a good restriction. Our fill doc is local - it's $155 a pop with no fluro - which is reasonable for the NJ area. I hope that soon he will have some restriction and I will be able to share the journey with him. The eating plan they suggest does not work at all for me. I tried 3 meals a day and totally stopped losing weight! I was eating less but not losing. I don't know why but the 5 to 6 small meals works great. It is hard to remember to eat every 3 to 4 hours but when I keep it up - I lose. I was stuck above 165 for a while and lost the 3 lbs with the mini meals. I really recommend it! I got this book called Fire Up Your Metabolism by two twin sisters that are nutritionists. It is full of helpful advice and great pointers. The only thing that we can't do is drink water with our meals, but other than that most of the advice is good. What they say is that you need to keep your metabolism running so that your body burns what you eat instead of storing it. The only way to do this is to eat 5 -6 times a day. Before the band I could never stick to the portions they recommend but now I can't eat it all! One question, I am so tight in the mornings. I can't eat breakfast so I normally have a half a shake and then a whole one around 11am. Why is this? It makes it difficult to eat throughout the day when food doesn't go down well until about 4pm! I feel like I would lose weight faster if I wasn't eating the majority of my food at night! Anyone have any suggestions?

Hey May bandsters! I have been reading up on all of you and it is great to hear about the success and life changes everyone has made. I haven't been on because things have been going so well. Losing weight and working out! Sometimes PBing and getting food stuck which totally sucks. Weight loss has slowed down considerably now and it is difficult not to get discouraged. I am losing only about a half pound a week. Anyone else slowed down with this. Also, I find that I can eat a lot a night and almost nothing in the morning - is this normal?

Hi! I had my first fill on Thursday and my husband had surgery Friday. I have NO RESTRICTION. I told the doctor the next day but he said 1.8 cc was fine for a first fill. Dr. Martinez told me after surgery that my band was very loose. Do I need to go all the way back to <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comSan Diego</ST1:p</st1:City> for another fill? I live in NJ. How long should I wait? Will it tighten up any more? How can you get a fill and feel nothing. I just ate an entire plate of food. I am sticking to the diet - lots of veggies, brown rice and shrimp but it's like before I got the band. Trying to control my portions and what I eat. Any advice???<!-- google_ad_section_end --><!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

I have the same problem! Other than the gas and needing to chew, I can eat a lot! I still get hungry the same! Anyone had a fill and feeling more full????

Let's do the water and the exercise! 20 days in the month of July and 64 oz of water sounds great! We should make it at least 30 minutes long. I don't want to cheat and count jogging in place for 10 minutes as a work out!

I haven't had my first fill yet. I go on June 29th. Still, I thought that I would at least have some restriction. Is anyone able to eat a FULL PLATE of FOOD? I can! If I don't chew properly it will get stuck, but I can eat a large salad from Applebees with NO PROBLEMS... What's up with that??? Next, does anyone STILL have gas? A month later and I'm still farting! Anyone still with port pain? This morning I woke up with it really sore. Finally, I would like to know about your activity restrictions. My Doc said 3 weeks and then hit the gym but no ab work. I can understand that but I often feel like other exercises are hurting my port area- like chest press, push ups, and some of the tricep work. What are you all doing?

I would love that! I have been struggling to get to the gym daily and maybe this would be incentive.

Can someone tell me what is the magic bullet?

Thanks, I love the site!

I looked at it and it's much better! Thanks.

So interesting read eveyone's progress! To the person who is eating only 800 calories a day and her nutritionist told her to eat less: ARE THEY INSANE???? You can't eat less or you will pass out! We need at least that to do the 30 minutes of cardio a day that is recommended! I'm eating about that much on the liquid phase and losing weight faster than I ever have in the past. If you go onto fitday.com and enter your info. they tell you how many calories you need to lose weight and it is always over 1000. Being thin is useless if you have no energy and are unhealthy. My office wants about 1200 per day once you go on solids. Eating at that rate plus daily exercise will get you down about 100 lbs. in a year- or to your goal if it's less than 100 lbs. That is what Dr. Miranda told me and I believe her. Why do some doctors think that they need to starve overweight people and get them thin so fast?? Any good weight loss book tells you other wise. You need to just put in your time with good eating habits, small meals and exercise! I am also feeling better. This gas is out of control though. My family has gotten used to me walking around farting! I can't stand it but if I hold it in the pains are unbearable. I take Gas-X - what else can you do??? Anyone have their gas go away??? The other day I went for a power walk with a friend. I had eaten a cup of soup about an hour before. About 45 minutes into the walk, the gas pains were so bad, I thought I was going to pass out! I got the sweats and everything. When this happens I lie on one side and then the other a few minutes and it releases. It rolls the air bubble through my intestines. Anyone else having this??? Sooooo sick of liquids but afraid to cheat. I've been making homemade soups and broths to keep it at least a little interesting. There is a great veggie soup on the recipe section of this forum. I want to start tracking calories. I downloaded CalorieKing for a 7 day trial but I don't like it because it does not let you build your own recipes and I think that the soups I am making are lower calorie than the canned equivalents. Anyone have a good tracking site. I hate fit day - it's so complicated the way you have to search for foods but it's better than Calorie King. Good Luck Everyone!!!

I have liquid pre-natal vitamins from the vitamin shop. The only difference is 800mg. of folic acid and they have everything except calcium. I blend them with a yogurt shake and it tastes fine. They are only $15 for a 30 day supply and they are organic.

I was banded on the 25th. The trip was killer - 6 hour flight right after sugery. I thought I would die with the gas pain and the nausea the first week. Now I am 200% better. I still have plenty of gas - a real treat but not nearly what it was last week! I am on creamy soups right now. I really didn't want the fat or the calories from cream soups so I have been making a homemade lowfat cream of potato soup and a split pea that I puree, also, yogurt shakes. I don't know about the rest of you but the clear liquid was killer! It left me with no energy. Compared to that, my soup feels like a feast! So far I have lost 10 lbs in 10 days! I have never lost that much so fast! I am getting myself ready for the big slowdown. No one can possible expect to lose a pound a day. I was told no exercise for 3 weeks and no crunches for 3 months - anyone else with similar restrictions? I feel like maybe I should go to the gym and at least use the cardio equipment. It's been great reading about all of my fellow May bandsters. I keep you all in my thoughts as I am pureeing my soup!

Funny how different everyone's post-op instructions are. I was told that I couldn't break a sweat for 3 weeks after surgery. I am on liquids for 3 weeks clear for one and all liquids including soups for 2. I can walk but nothing strenuous. He told me no abdominal work like crunches for 3 MONTHS! That is a huge diffrence from your instructions. I think that I will return to the gym next week and just take it light. I mean, other people are doing it and we have the same band...

I just got banded on May 25th and I called the Doctor complaining of the same - ear pain but not really and ear ache, burning and sore throat. He is putting me on Nexium 40 mg. daily. He says this should clear it up. It must be GERD. He thinks it will go away as my body adjusts to the band but the medication does not have many side effects. Talk to your doctor. Maybe he'll say the same.

I arrived in TIjuana today to have my lab work done. I am going Obesity Control Center and have the surgery done by Dr. Ortiz and Martinez. They were very professional. I met with the cardiologist for an EKG, the nutritionist, and the nurse for bloodwork. I was there for 2 hours and met a few people who had it done recently. They were all very happy and pleased and feeling well. That made me feel great. Anyway, I will post after I am banded - can't wait!!!

I am still on pre-op but I went off for Mother's Day weekend. What a mistake! I gained about 5 lbs in 2 days. Now I am stuck with cravings all of the time. I am so glad to here that you were able to resist after being banded. Was it the fear of getting sick or do you feel less tempted?

Congrats on getting banded. I am getting so nervous I can barely think about it. How do you feel? I am losing a lot of weight on this pre-op diet but I"m going off for mother's day. I'm at 180 now and that's with no band yet but I am starving all of the time! I can't wait to look at food and not want it!!!!