Marimaru

I don't think that one veggie burger with the bun is too much, but I know some people have been told by their doctors that they shouldn't have bread whether they can tolerate it or not. I was not told that, and do have bread sometimes. But once you get a fill you might find you can't tolerate the bread anyway.

Congrats on the normal meal!! You need more calories girl!! Protien is awesome, but you need more cals!

Well, I'm sure the unfill will bring some much needed relief. I've joked since my last fill that whenever I get pregnant and have an unfill there's a list of things I'm going to have. Obviously, that's a bad idea, and hopefully I stay away from most of that stuff. *hugs*

Hey, it's good to hear from you! I'm sorry that things are so crazy for you right now. I'm not sure what to say other than that.... I hope that things start to smooth out for you soon! Please keep us updated *hugs*

Congratulations!!! I hope to be joining you soon!

Hooray for thought provoking threads! I'm not sure I would say that I am afraid to be thin.... exactly. I am afraid that I'll get to a good weight, but I wont see myself as looking thin/normal. My younger sister was only ever 20, maybe 30 lbs over weight, and she's lost it ALL and look fabulous and always complains that she needs to lose more weight. *sigh* I am afraid of the attention. I've never ever had to worry about advances from strangers. I have no idea how to handle it. Fortunately, I'm usually with my fiancee, lol. In some way I think deep in my core I am afraid of success. I was stuck from August to April, and just now started losing again. I was about at the weight that I was when I graduated high school, which for some reason I remember very well. I think that I was sabotaging myself just enough to not lose. Now I'm almost to where I was size-wise at the beginning of my Jr. year, and that's about the smallest I can actually SEE myself (size 14). When I look down at my body (no mirror, just looking down), my thighs and my stomach look the same to me as they always did. I think that's one of the things that worries me the most. *shrug*

Dr. Billy in Ventura CA will take patients from Mexico. Penny has all of the information on him. I've gone to Dr. Kuri, and had fine fill experiences. The only thing to know in advance (which I didn't) was that everyone gets the same appointment time, and he just does them in order of who shows up first, and he isn't always on time, because he comes from surgery to the fill center. They do Tuesdays, Thursdays, and I think the 3rd Saturday of the month or something. Unless of course Dr. Kuri was your doctor, and his procedures have changed since I was there in June. I'm looking for a new doctor in my area (for convenience), and have found a Dr. Owens in San Pedro CA. If I get an appointment with him I'll try to remember to let you know how I liked him.

My flight home was alright. I got a little nauseas at one point, but it didn't last long. I was only on Clear Liquids for 24 hours, so I was able to buy a creamy Soup at the airport. If you are going to be on clears, maybe bring a couple Water bottles with allowed juice or something. I can't really think of anything clear that has a few calories and is airplane friendly. Good luck!

Hehe, sorry for the delay, here's some pictures. My face looks thinner today, but my hair doesn't look as good, so it's the good hair picture, not the good face picture, lol. :/ The anklet on the side has my name written in the wiring. It was a very unique and awesome gift .

myspace.com/marimaru

I work for the company my mom started 4 years ago. I don't know all of the specifics, but bascially she got a loan; she had to show her business plan, etc, rented a place and we started. We're not even doing what we originally set out to do, which was website hosting. I only have a handful of customers for that, but our main income comes from consulting; building websites/interfaces, etc for our client. If you asked me some specific questions, I could probably get you the answers. I've handled the 'run the business' stuff for the last 2 years; payroll, bills, pretty much everything but actually doing the taxes. I'm excited to hear what you are doing when you finally announce it :grouphug:

In my case, having gone through surgery, and being self pay (though my mom paid), has helped keep me in some degree of control. I don't workout like I should all the time, but I don't eat lots of things that I shouldn't. Ever now and then I'll get something that I don't usually allow in my house, but it's just every now and then. And there are some things that I just don't do at all (tub o' frosting comes to mind), because I make myself think "I did not go through all that just to sit here and ruin it all". I think the band limits what you can eat, but having the band also kind of empowers me a little to make better choices for the most part.

I also used my arms alot. It'll get better each day tho. Feel better!

From what I've read, the band can take away reflux for folks who have it, and cause reflux for folks who don't, or make no difference at all.. I think you should talk to your doctor about the fill. It sounds like you want a fill but are worried about the reflux, which makes sense. But if the reflux is being controlled with medication, I'm not sure why it would be a problem. Good luck!

That's great! Congrats!

Leener, I'm sorry that you are going through all of this. I know it's easy to jump to the worst conclusions, but do your best not to do that. Hope for the best, and don't think about the worst, okay? Please keep us updated, you'll be in my thoughts as well! *hugs*

I had to insist my doctor take out some of my fill. Like you I was having trouble knowing meal to meal what was going to happen. My swallow test looked alright to him, but I made him take some out, I said "I can't eat solid food". It really is so much better after, lol.

Emily, can you get us more details on that recipe? It sounds really good!

I had issues for a while where I had air in my stomach and it would cause me to PB (which is the same as you throwing up the food in your throat, just not as much trouble as some others, lol), and then I'd burp, and actually be able to eat. Try to be very aware of swollowing air. I guess lots of people swollow more air when they drink with a straw, but I swollow less air when I drink with a straw. Also, maybe chew up some gas x's 30 minutes or so before your meal, that might help. Like I said, I went through a period of having trouble with this, but then it went away. Hope this helps!

slow response, but Anillacookie, 47 lbs since June is really good. The target is 1 to 2 lbs per week, and you are right about in the middle of that. :confused: mkpurselley, If you are having trouble eating, you may need an UNFILL. Are you eating soft stuff/liquid stuff all the time?? You may be getting in more calories than you think you are that way. If you get a tiny unfill, and are able to eat solid meals, you might start losing pounds again. Though I can't say any of that for sure without knowing what your eating habits are like :eek:. As for me, I lost 5 lbs and kept it off for the month of April. Today the scale was down another pound and a half or so (analog), so we'll see if I'm still losing. I don't trust 'losses' on the scale, because it bounces around so much for me. I'm afraid to get my hopes up!!

The only folks I've heard of where gain like that happened is when they got an unfill. Or if they had a bunch of milkshakes all the time or something like that. It's possible for the pouch to get a little distended, but I don't think it's possible for that part of the stomach to stretch that much. From my best understanding, it's the most unstretchy part of the stomach. I've also heard (second hand) that some doctors say the pouch doesn't stretch, that a 'stretched pouch' is basically a slip, and the band needs to be repositioned (so the pouch didn't stretch so much as more stomach came up through the band). Hope that helps.

While I agree with La Madam completely, in that we should use the band to the best of it's ability in case anything were to happen, I also think that sometimes our body needs a break. Just be careful to not give yourself too big a break. :confused:

The two big bisquits of the shredded wheat is still around :confused:. I get it every now and then, mostly because I used to eat it at my gramma's house and it's nostalgic, lol. I also use benefiber when I am feeling a little 'stuck'. They have a powder one that you can just sprinkle in/on stuff. I've put it in crystal light and Soup and not tasted it at all. I will say that I tried to start eating fiber rich cereal every morning, and I think you need to build up fiber or something, because it caused me a lot of problems for a few days. I don't know if my body was saying that I have enough fiber, or close to it, or what. Just thought I would share that..

It sounds as if you probably more swollen than alot of people get. It's not completely uncommon, but it probably makes things a little more difficult. Walking around will help with the gas pains, and sleep will help with the healing. Just try and sip Water all day until it gets a little easier. Feel better!

That's great!! I think mini goals are really the best way to get through this. The 'end game' seems so far away, but mini goals rock! :confused: