gina1107

When are you all meeting for lunch? Hey Sonia, I have a ? about the breast cancer walks. My mom is a survivor and I would like to make the 3 day my goal for next year. I think I may be too late to start really training for this year. I have wanted to do this for YEARS, but have always thought I was too heavy and out of shape for it. I see that you walk frequently. How diffucult was your first one? I guess I just am lacking the confidence to take the plunge. And how do I go about getting it all together? Thanks, Gina

Hi fellow forties! Jumping right in here..... I am Gina, 44 years young, wife of Tim and mommy to 2 very spirited soon to be 8 year olds. We live in northern Illinois (Aurora). I am a full time mommy and part time Rn. I was banded 3/17/07 at Loyola and have had a slooooow time losing. I love my band - I just hate to exercise and have learned the hard way that I dont care how much I hate it - it is a necessity. I can honestly say that this whole band experience has been a huge learning curve for me - as well as a lesson in patience. I am now ready to jump in full force and go for it. I know I am not going to hit my 100 pound loss goal by my anniversary and I am ok with it. I just want to get over this stupid hump I have been on since SEPTEMBER!!!! The scale has not really moved that much since early September. Nice to meet everyone, Gina

Mandy I would love to come to lunch Saturday. Unfortunatly my daughter has gymnastics on Sat from 12-2 pm, and my husband works..... no one to take her and pick her up. Hopefully I can come next time.

Hey Benson, I am in aurora also. I was banded 3/15/07 at Loyola. I have been a sporadic poster, but am back now. Nice to meet you. Gina

Hi Jeni, I was banded on 3/15 at Loyola also, in fact I think you might possibly have been my roomate the the next day in the picu! I am not sure b/c I cant really tell from your picture. I was in the picu (cant remember the room number) but I did have the bed closest to the window. Were you the girl that they put with the diabetic that had to eat all night long? If so I think you were my roomate. Anyway - I was supposed to have Shayani - started with him and went through all the testing with him. When he decided to quit my insurance wouldnt let him do my surgery so I had to move to Sarker. That whole ordeal set my surgery back almost 3 months. Needless to say I was not a happy girl. It all turned out ok in the end though. I really like Sarker although she doesnt want to see or hear from me unless I need a fill. Have you gone to any of the support meetings? I want to but something always comes up (work usually - I work nights). I really have to update my ticker. As of today I am 46 pounds down and feeling really good. I do need to exercise more though. I was starving myself for a good month or so and hit a brick wall. I just wasnt hungry and didnt want to eat. Then I went through the everytime I wanted to eat I would either get stuck or throw up phase ( not conducive to making you want to eat). I finally got through that phase and am now losing again - slowly. Hi everyone else! I have been lurking b/c I have been so busy with my kids activities and them going back to school. I am now ready to start getting active again as I need the support.

Amichelle, I had my band done by Dr Sarker at Loyola in March. I too started with Dr Shayani but he quit right before my surgery. It is a long drawn out story but I ended up having my surgery with Sarker and I love her. Loyola was great - I have no complaints. I am sure you have had your surgery already so I hope you are doing well. I have to update my ticker and I havent been on here in a while but I have lost almost 40 pounds and I feel great.

Actually she told me after both fills to have solids only. I even had her repeat it to be sure. I decided on a salad just b/c I was starving and needed something to eat. She also isnt huge on fills. She actually wanted me to try to go it with one fill forever. I had to tell her either I get filled or I eat New York. I didnt gain all this weight b/c I had wonderful willpower. I hear ya on the nightmares pre surgery. She sent me to Wisconsin Dells on that liquid diet. OMG I was a nightmare! I did it, but it wasnt pretty and is one vacation my family will never forget. Thanks for the advice. I do try to eat mostly solids. This is actually the first time I had that really good restriction feeling. I cant say I liked it, but I now know to back off alot sooner. I have had one session of pb that taught me never to eat skirt steak again. It is just a never ending learning experience. Gina

Hi everyone, I posted a hello post a couple of weeks ago and then went into lurk mode. I had a major sinus infection that ko'd me for 2 weeks. Anyway I am back now and went for my 2nd fill today. She put 2 cc's in my band (which makes a total of 5.5 cc's). OMG talk about restriction???? I ate 3 forkfuls of the meat off my salad at dinner and almost hacked it all back up. It wasnt pb - I just ate too much. Hopefully we can get this weight loss train moving in the right direction again. I swear I walk, I exercise, I have tried to push myself away from the table but it just was not coming off. I did go get some Isopur and some Amplify from GNC and was excited about it, but my MD said NO protein drinks! She said protein bars are ok but she only wants solids - no liquids. I am confused about this. What is everyone else doing? I want to do whats right... Gina

I am up for rescheduling - just let me know what you all decide. Gina

Hey Mandy, I just found out that June 9 is not great for me.... my daughter has a gymnastics show that day from 3:30-5:30. Gina

Hi everyone! My name is Gina and I had a VG band installed March 15, 2007. So far things have been ok. One fill 5/7 and I have had my first experience with pb-ing (twice in one week)! I have lost a little over 20 pounds and feel great, but I need a challenge and some support to keep me away from cheese popcorn which unfortunatly does not cause the pbs- steak and bread are giving me some definite problems. Thank god I found this site b/c I have learned so much in the 2 weeks or so I have been here. Gina

June 9 is good for me.

I know of quite a few places. I live on Aurora/Oswego border so either way is good- as is Naperville. Are we targeting the whole Chicago area?

Hi I just found this forum and am actually really excited about it. My name is Gina and I have been banded since March 15, 2007. I am the only one I know who has actually been through this surgery so I really dont have many people who understand what I have gone through, and although I have tons of support from family and friends no one really understands if they havent been through it. I live in Illnois and had my surgery at Loyola Uiversity Health Center. So far I have lost almost 20 pounds and as of Monday I just had my first adjustlment. Since then I have found that I really need to chew my food better b/c I cant eat without something getting stuck in the band.... and it hurts! I am looking forward to talking to people who have had the surgery and see their success.

Thanks! There are some days I feel like I canteat anything, and then thereare others where I feel like I can eat New York. Tody was a New york type of day!!!

Hi I will definitly look for that post! I used to live in Lombard so I know exactly where that is. Nice to meet you Mandy. Boy it must feel great to be so close to your goal Gina

Thanks! I havent been on for a couple of days b/c of mothers day and the like. I did a ticker and I hope it works. It is weird to see my weight on a ticker for all to see, but we are all in the same boat here so I feel much more comfortable with it. Great name btw! Gina

Hi everyone, I just found this site and was so excited. I had my banding 3/15/07 at Loyola with Dr. Sarker. So far I have lost 20 pounds and feel pretty good. I live in the far western suburbs (Aurora) and am looking forward to actually talking to people who have been through the surgery. I am 43 years old and have about 100 more pounds to lose. Gina

Thanks Karla! I am so excited to be here. I cant believe the difference from before my fill to after. I now know that bread is a total NO NO, shrimp and anything breaded are nasty, and to keep a glass with about 1/2 of water handy at all times "just in case". Congrats on your weight loss- it is incredible. What an inspiration to see.

Hi I have bcbs of Illinois and was banded 3/15/07. The whole process went incredibly smoothly and I was very pleased. As long as I followed the tests the surgeon wanted done and had them done at the hospital I was using they were great. So far I have not paid a penny and they have covered everything. WE called quite a few times to verify that they were going to cover it all and they told us that as long as my primary care physician referred it, they were a go. I just had a fill on Monday and they are covering those as well. I honestly can say they did not give me ONE problem.

Thanks Betsy! I tell you it is sooo frustrating. I am going along fine then all of a sudden I am choking. I went out to breakfast with a friend and I thought she would freak when all of a sudden I started gagging. It is the trying to get it loose that hurts. This is all so new to me, and I guess it is all trial and error. Hopefully I will learn from experience. Thanks on the 20 pounds. I feel so much better already. I can only imagine what it will feel like after 100 more!