I'llsucceed

What a great job you are doing! Well done. You'll be at goal before you know it!!! WHOOOHOOO For Christina!!!

Ohhh ((Huggs)) Listen I will admit I too would eat too much in the beginning sometimes. But you need to think of this. NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR THE WEIGHT LOSS!!!! Repeat it again. NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR WEIGHT LOSS!!!! This is a very important time. The most important "PREP" time. You'll be healing for a min. of 8 weeks!!! So remember you are in the process of prepping your band into place so that you can lose & succeed later on. In about 2 months or 11/2 mnths from now you will feel like you really are losing & you will be. I haven't felt much success & i am 2 months out BUT with my second fill (its been only 3 days) & I feel so much more like "I Can DO This". The second fill was very different from the first. With the first I didn't feel full until I was hurting & wanted to vomit(which I did 3 days). I was so scared like I was ruining everything I had did. BUT with the second fill its so different. Yours may be the third or forth fill- everyone is different. I feel full & with no pain & no over eating. Well except one time & not again b/c it really hurt. The band takes time to learn all the little signs it gives your body. BUT the signs do get stronger & you can learn to live with them & lose weight. SO hang in there, your on your way & very soon you will have a whole new feeling towards your band & will be much more happy. I Promise!!! :banana :banana :banana

First & Foremost my prayers are with you and your sister. For all its worth my advice is if she goes with the larger band & its sucessful won't that be wonderful. I do agree that she should get a second opinion no matter what on if she should heal first prior to placement of the new band. If the larger Vanderguard band doesn't work she would than still have an option of RNY at that time. BUT NOT TRYING the larger band & doing RNY right away may leave her guessing "I wonder if it would have worked." That being said its such a personal life decision. I know many people who have had success with the RNY. But the 2 that I know really well BOTH gained their weight(a portion) of it back after only one year and are very depressed. God Bless your sister & I wish her health & healing. Good Luck & let us know-either or you have our support always! P.S. If her insurance is covering it , I would also check that second opinion & maybe a third as to why this happened. Could it have been Doctors' poor choice of bands to begin with or just a complication that was no ones fault?

Hey Girlie- Sorry just got on & am just going to hit the hay! But I know I'll be talking w/ya soon. Hey I ordered our shirts today. All xxl b/c the xl looked really small & may shrink- I hope thats ok. You got beautiful deep purple & I got forest green & kirsten Black. They'll say- "Lapbanded & Losin' It " Ready this Monday! Talk w/ya soon- have a great nite!

HI Girlfriend- You are a winner! Plain & simple. I want you to think about one thing. Athletes. Yep Athletes. Do you think they jump on the scale every week? Or are concerned about their weight? NO They are not!!! Here is what they are always aware of: 1) How fast or far was I able to run today? 2) How & what did I put in my mouth today? 3) Did I get in my Protein today? 4) How long was my workout today? 5) Did I get all my Water in today? 6) How can I be faster/stonger & more healthy tomorrow? You are a Athelete Crystal & so are we all. Throw the damn scale away. Take your body measurements & chart them and your diet & activity only- not your weight from today forward. My advice is find your inner Athelete & let her take control. She knows what is important & how to prevail. You can beat this pleatue & so can I ! See you in Vegas-roomie;0)

Sorry you had to experience that. I just saw your post. More than likely it was gas? Right. I mean I had gas for aprox 2 weeks after surgery & your just at one week. Also I was on liquid for 2 weeks after for the healing time & than the Thrid week was able to puree my thicker soupds like potatoe. I would step back a bit from those thicker soups even if you did puree them. Just another week. Your swelling will be much better by than. I hope your felling better. Congrats on getting your Band!

Estela- Hi girlie! Well one of the best things you did was write it down. Right!? So you feel you ate too much for a time. Well promise to get back up on that horse or even simply just exercise double what you usually do! Don't be so darn hard on your self. BUT do get back in the saddle & start again. You want this- you need this & you will do this!!! So take Charge girlfriend & tame that hungry with good stuff! You CAN DO IT!!

:banana :banana :banana I'm :banana celebrating :banana :banana for :banana you!:banana :banana :banana :banana

Why on God's green earth were you not numbed??? I have had two fills & always get a numb shot ahead of time. Next time demand one. thats crazy! Seriously there is no reason in todays world to have to feel the pain of that needle jarring around inside of you. I would make my feelings know to my Doctor pronto. I hope all goes well with your next visit & that they locate the port just fine & you Don't have to have any more procedures. Let us know what happens. Best of luck!

Tricia - Thanks you for the encouragement- I actually walked 41/2 miles tonight-It felt great!

I just got back from the Doctors & recieved my second fill. I got an additional .5cc. So my total is 1.5cc I was really nervous going in because i had been putting it off for awhile. To worried I wouldn't be able to eat enough. Yeah - how stupid was that- isn't that why we get the band to not eat too much?? But really I was scared of being to tight & not being able to feel full. Anyhow- I am only doing liquid today & tonight so hopefully tomorrow will be better & when I eat I will feel fuller longer. Right now even after pure Protein I am hungry within an hour or so. I had been gaining & losing the same 3 pounds for the last month. I sure hope this will jump start some weight loss. I also promised myself to start exercising TODAY! But I always seem to disappoint myself. Hopefully if the scale moves just a pound I will be more motivated. I will say when I was driving home I really felt empowered by the fill. Like I have control of my gut. It felt like when I was a teenager & used to take diet pills. Like I know I won't be has hungry as much as I was before with this much fill. It feels great to have control. I hope it really workd tomorrow when I try solids. Isn't funny how sometimes we put off getting a fill because we know it may work?? I mean I may actually have to eat less now. I don't know why its so hard to get my brain to let go off the past & big size proportions. Also about always thinking about what I'll eat next.

Thanks Michelle & Karen. No my Doc does not use Flora. He uses a sonagram thingy to locate the exact location of the port. But today he didn't he just pushed on my belly drew a circle & said your port is so easy to access. He numbed the area & in one try nailed it like a bull's eye. No muss no fuss. By the way i couldn't make it through liquids tonight & had a salad w/tuna. I was very careful to chew to I couldn't chew any more. All went fine. Hopefully I won't eat anymore tonight or if I have to I'll do sugar free Jello. I even went walking tonight!

GOod for you- I hope you an relax like you did when you were a teen ager. Have fun -- be carefree & get into a tad bit of trouble just to prove your still young;0)

I was told smaller meals 6 times a day. Aprox every 3 hours. This included 3 meals & 4 healthy snacks. Which would be like carrots- nuts-fruit & protein drinks.

I think its great that you actually do them instead of just talking about them like I do. I can't wait to do the first one with you and actually cross the finish line:0)

bumping for newbies

Good For you!! I felt the same about my experience. It is so nice to have people that really care about their jobs & treat you like a special person & not just something they had to do. Glad to hear of the wonderful care!

Darn- Maybe I WILL move to Cali-LOL LOL

Penni- You going to be the Marathon Queen!!

Babs -- i so remember the weeks after surgery. You will be blown away at how much better you'll be a week from now. The fun part is the bandages on your thighs will start to actually fall down a little bit as each day goes by. They just will get skinner & skinner as the swelling goes down. Get rest- Drink Water & walk as much as you can because it should help the healing process. I do remember how terribly bruised I was on the inner thighs- that took over a month to go away. Can't wait to see that gorgeous tummy!!!

Welcome to Band Land!!

I too have lost a friend just recently & am currently not talking to one of my sisters. Sometimes we need to look deep with in ourselves & find out what we may be doing wrong. I have done this and found out I have done NOTHING wrong-LOL LOL :0) :0) Even so, I called my friend up & said on her machine I wasn't sure why she stopped communicating with me but I was sorry if I did something wrong & that I missed her friendship. Maybe you can do the same & ask them when they call or you see them that you would like to understand why they have stopped hanging with you. They may realize they are the ones at fault or they may realize they have simply out grown the friendship. At least in the end you can say you've tried to be the more adult person & do the everything possible to save the friendships. Maybe they may surprize you. Maybe not. Just keep your head up & kill them with kindness & work on yourself right now. They'll come around & when they do - who knows maybe you won't even have time for them because you've met someone else. Good Luck.

Hey Trooper!! Its me- glad to see you on the board again. So I think you should come to Michigan & see Dr.Pleatman next time you need a fill. Please check out his posts on LBT & his website. You will be soooo happy That you did. He is great! When you come up (5hr drive aprox) we'll do lunch together! By the way You really should share this jerk of a Doctors name to inamed - you may save someone else from going through what you had too.

SO Far So Good

I hope your follow up went well & that your itchies have subsided a bit. Soon after you are all healed up you can start with a little coco butter to help with the itches. Just make sure you are 100% completly healed before applying any coco butter. Gald to see your doing well!