vinesqueen

3Loves, My clinic recently said that they have some evidence that fills done too early contribute to complications. I don't know of anyone who was ready for a fill that early, especailly since the stomach isn't healed until week 6 or 8. I would recommend that you wait until you are fully healed.

hmmm, it might be more effective, but does that translate to better patient care? I wonder how many clinics are more interested in "show me the money" than good patiet care. I am so lucky that I chose a clinic that is more interested in good patient care. They even recently added a surgeon who's experienced with Cushings!

Sara, I can't think why this would cause any trouble! I must admit, I don't think I've ever seen this question posed before. As far as your band and ice goes, chew away!

Oh honey, breathe! I thought I was having the same problem with a leak, because I had gotten two fills, and I was getting less and less restriction! I was in a near panic.... In my case, the fill person had let out more fill then he had put in each time. So, I'd gone in with originally near 2cc, and by the time he was done with the two "fills" I was at 1cc. Fills are not easy to do. The fill is under pressure, and it is possible to let out the fill when yo are not meaning to. It is possible that she has let out more fill instead of putting in more fill. (((((Hamu))))

Well, I'm sort of a geek, so I got my fat free mass, my FFM, and added 25-35% additional weight, since those are the healthy ranges for a woman of my advanced age. So, my fat free mass is 140 pounds, give or take a few. 25-35% would put me in the 170-190 range, and about a size 12. My dear sweet 93 year old grandmother who is practially skin and bones, weighs 145 pounds. Tiny little bird woman. The head fill nurse at my clinic thinks I should weigh 125 pounds based on my height, but that doesn't take into account my muscle mass.

I was going to go back and edit my original post, but well, I didn't feel like digging through 16 pages. I'm fat because I have a brain tumor and gain weight at 1000 calories a day.

Hippo birdies, two ewes!

Hey you! Happy birthday, May the cities in your wake, Burn like candles on your cake!

Since the band isn't working for me, probably won't ever work for me, I'm taking a break from LBT. I'm gaining weight on 1200 calories -- I'm gaining at 1000 calories, and no, my clothes are not getting any looser. I'm down one entire size in a year. I can't do this any more. I can't bare to see everyone succeed where I cannot. Im just beating myself up. I had such enthusiasth, I thought for sure that the band would be the answer. So many people have had such wonderful success, and I thought I too would be one of them. That I would finally be able to lose the wight. Nothing else ever worked for me, and as it turns out, the band didn't work for me either. The definiton of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results.

Thank you all so much. I didn't mean to imply that LBT was pointless, just that any attempt to lose weight or thoughts of losing weight were pointless. I'm still gaining weight, 10 pounds in the last week. Which of course, means that I need to be doing a lot of testing for the cushings, trying to catch the tumor on a high. I know that being home with my family has been such a good thing for me. I had been away from my husband and son for far, far too long.

Thank you all so much. My mother's surgery went really well, and she's doing great. Now I can concentrate on me, since I don't have to spend so much energy being worried about her. I sure don't know how or what I"ll do next, but I think getting some counceling will probably be a good idea. I still don't know how to deal with this information. And thank you so very much Capt'n Jack! That is exactly what I needed! I'll be spending some more time up at my sister's house, probably most of this next week while our mother is still in the hospital. Thank you all so much.

Well, I always thought the "New Mexico isn't US" were urban myths, I mean, how could someone not know the geography of their own country???? But no, people don't have the slightest grasp of gradeschool stuff.... A woman my sister worked with wanted to know if someone else was going to drive to Hawaii from Washington state.... She also told my sister that her mother had a "genital heart condition." She was oh so very offended when my sister started laughing. When I was in exhile in Idaho, the young woman at the beauty college wanted to know if my husband told me to major in Business. Like my husband would ever tell me to do anything...

Your body is cut into pieces when large shards of broken glass fall from a window far above your head. Hmmm, when I was a baby, a picture window blew in and shattered on me, filling my play pen with large shards of glass. So, I guess this is yet aother case of "been there, done that."

Sorry, I'm just seeing this Nana~. I'm sort of having a life melt-down big time. Very pretty, and I think $75 is a reasonable minimum for it. I don't really do tribal, I'm more a Cab girl at heart, (haven't moved to the dark side yet... ) I know some of the turkish style bra/belts sets go for $300, but I haven't priced any tribal. But I do think I need a choli, and I don't sew. what sort of prices will you/do you charge?

I'll be wearing my last-year's tankini. Black. I like the tankini for several reasons, not the least is that when the top slips up and shows off my oh-so-sexy tummy it freaks out my skinny girlfriends that I'm not freaked out.

Hi Bako, of course you are nervous! You are about to radically change your life. You are taking a major step, surgery. Your life will never be the same again, so of course you are about as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs! I thought I was going to wear a path in my industrial strength carpeting the week before my banding. No one can tell you with honesty that this is the best thing for you, because only you can decide that for yourself. I do know that the band saved my life. I do know that so many people have awesome weightloss success with the band. We can tell you how it affected ourlives in so many positive ways, but they are our stories. And I kind of think that if so many people are able to sucsessfully lose weight or change their lives, that it just might be something positive in your life too. Be kind to yourself, and try not to wear a path in your carpets.

Excuse me, but who's looking at you with discust? Shame on them! We all have our own issues. Yeah, toast. warm buttered toast with jam. MMMMM. I can't do toast, at least I don't think I can. And of course, "big breakfast" is such a subjective thing. One egg, a couple pieces of baccon and a slice of toast could be considered a "big breakfast" If you still haven't lost much weight at 6 months out then it's time to start screaming at your PCP about this. It is not normal or resonable to eat a low calorie diet and not lose wieght. There are some heavy emotional issues that go along with where you are. Time to make that appointment and talk about what could be the issue. Do NOT let them push back and tell you that you need to work harder. Be kind to yourself.

good luck! I know that it is so difficult right now. I think that we have a real need to eat solid foods, that there is some brain thing that happens with chewing and swallowing, the whole eating ritual. You are stressed from not only not having the food ritual, but the young adult stresses are so dramatic. You've had your very first NSV, dealing with your daughter without resorting to eating a huge amount of food. Excellent work on your part, be proud of this NSV, it isn't an easy one.

well, I'm seeing a new doc today, I've gotta do something about these damn head aches... I've had a head ache since frelling NOVEMBER. The last doc told me that I'd have to wait 4 months to get into their headache clinic, but since I've had a head ache this long, what's 4 more months. (insert the hair-on-fire emoticon) I'm going to ask for a referal to a therapist, since I really think I'm gonna need some help dealing with everthing. I've tried and tried but I just have no idea how to deal with the concept of a brain tumor. I mean, what the hell do I do with that information? I've been spending a lot of time the last week escaping reality by slipping into my favorite video games, but I know that isn't a long term solution. I spent Mother's Day with my mom, sister, grandmother and adopted sister. It was for the most part really great, except for having to deal with my meglomaniac younger brother, who's managed to convince himself that he's the only true heir. He went off on our adopted sister and told her that our mom's house was his house, and she was there at his whim only. WTF???? My mother is absolutely thriving on all the attention and the possibility of dieing on Friday. It's so weird, I mean w-e-i-r-d, yet so my mother. I haven't seen her so animated or happy in years. it's just so bizare. Anyway, thanks again so much for being here, it does mean so much to me. I know that I'm not very active here right now, but well, I'm fighting to maintain some sort of mental stability. (insert the hair-on-fire emotion here)

Because there are other folks who are having the same difficulties as your, I would strongly suggest getting a second opinion here. Not only for fills, but ask for a metabolic pannel. There are some other issues that could be wrong. I'm not losing weight, but I have Cushing's.

Well, last week I had my week's work-up at OHSU. My PIC line closed off, and the tape they used ate the skin off my arm, so I've been fighting an infection there. It really chewed up my arm, but it finally stopped hurting. I got my famous jugs yesterday, so I'll do the first UFC tomorrow. I'm so wound up tonight, that I'm probably high.... Heh, any where else, in any other context, that would sound bad. So, I didn't perform at the bellydance party on Friday, like I was supposed to. There will be other solos so I'm not really upset. I just couldn't face the questioning looks with the way my arms ended up being chewed up over the week. It would have just been too hard dealing with the questioning looks. Too hard. Sunday afternoon I got a call from my sister. Our mother had been having some serious health issues, and the doctor called her on a Sunday, and told her that's she's got pancreatic cancer, it's verified. So now I have to deal with that, and with my rotten brothers. Sunday night my Spudboy started throwing up with diarea, so I spent all night in the ER with him while they pumped him full of IV bags, pain medications and anti-nausia drugs. I think I got about 15 minutes snooze time in the ER. Monday, after we got Spudboy home, and socked away in my bed, I think i got about 90 minutes of sleep, I was too wound up. I had a job interview at 3:00 and had to find and print my resume. Had to get the printer out, the good paper, and all that stuff. Road constrction in addition to not being sure where I was actually going for my interview added to the stress, but I arrived in plenty of time. I WOWed him. It was only an informal interview, to see if either one of us wanted to set up the full and formal interview loop. A full loop is an 8 hour loop, and is quite the endurance test. Anyway, I WOWed the guy! He's off for a 10 day inspection of one of the facilities in India, but he wants me to think about where in the organization I think I would fit best, what I would like to do most within the organization, where I want to focus. Yesterday I had a partial unfill. I "only" had 1.5 cc in my band, but it was too much. I was getting tighter and tighter, and we decided that I should have .25 removed. I have had every meal without pain or PBs or slimes. Heaven! I'm hungry, and I know I'm eating more than I should. Funny, only a Banster would think that an entire chicken breast was too much food? I'm not tracking my meals, which is added stress I don't need right now. NWWLS has a new surgeon who's joined their practice, and he's an experienced neuro-endo-surgeon who's apperently one of the leading docs in the area, both subject and geography. He quickly outlined what the surgery would be in I had to have the adreanals done. So, tomorrow I get my test resutls from Dr. L. I am excited and scared at the same time. I don't know what time he's going to call me. And I'm sitting here, wound up like a top.

What a sucky way to be welcomed into the Banded Gentry! You might have a sensitivity to the tape or the glue. I'd call the office and see if either Debbie or Jessie can recommend something. Definately let the clinic know that you are having this reaction.

Hi MelAnne, I'm so very sorry you are struggling so. Sweetheart, you are only 3 weeks out, and your body is still in the WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO ME phase. I think just about everyone goes through this. But you said you were gaining weight. Okay, was this gain when you moved from liquids? It is so very frustrating for this weight gain, but it isn't really, it is a matter of your colon now having matter in it, where it was empty before. I believe it was Capt'n Jack who said that the colon can hold up to 15 pounds of matter. Now, you are absolutely right, the band does not work for everyone. The band does not work for me, but I have other things going on. If you are continuing to gain weight even after you have had your prper fill, you will want to talk to you doctor about this. Do not let them push you off, because weight gain on little calories can be a symptom of a very serious condition. Getting filled is not a game, a lot of people get good restriction with their first fill. But the band does not work without a fill. It isn't designed to work without one. Any weight loss before your first fill is BONUS. Please don't be so hard on yourself.

I want to thank you all for your kindness. This is amazingly difficult. My father died from cancer 7 years ago, and now my mother. I'm a wreck. But thank you for being out there, listening to me, offering unconditional support. That means more to me than I can ever express.

Oh Sho, I'm so sorry to hear this. I know no-one wants this, and I'm so sorry you have to go through this. So very sorry. Do they have to do this "open" or can they do this vaginally or lap? ((((hugs))))