dieka32

I kept checking in at the 24 hour fitness web site and finally found it advertised for $199. I scooped it up quick! Keep checking frequently and I bet you can too. BTW, I've had my bodybugg for 4 days now and I am loving it! Between the bodybugg and a fill this past Saturday, I am refocused and feeling so positive. The holiday eating was getting so out of control and I feel back in charge of myself now. It is a really fun tool to track your calories in/out and is such a motivator! Probably the best Chrismas present I could have given myself.

Someone on the previous page had recommended Dr. Helmuth Billy who has his main practice in Ventura and who also does monthly fill clinics in Truckee. I have gone to him twice now and highly recommend him. He is very approachable and affordable. I was banded in MX and he had no problems with that. It is about a 4 hour drive for me but it is worth it! The Ventura office # is: 805-648-2227 and the Truckee # is 775-588-4300.

I have MIA since August but am caught up on most of the posts. Everyone seems to be doing well and I am inspired by the weight loss! It's a comfort to know everyone has the same ups and downs as I do. I just had my 2nd fill this past Saturday and feel less hungry and way more satisfied. I still think I can eat quite a bit but I am happy with what I got. I haven't yet experienced the wonders of pb'ing or sliming and am hoping to avoid it all together. I went to a new fill doctor this time and am happy to have found someone who wants me to get fills on a regular schedule and actually use my band. I found out with my first fill that my surgeon actually is against getting fills. Believe it or not, he actually told me to focus on eating my greens and sugar-free jello. Um, hello, but I'm fat not stupid!! I think I could write a book on nutrition info on different foods. I was pretty p.o'd after my 1st fill. He will not be seeing me again! My goth name: Crying' Shame. Kind of boring, dead fart and petrified anus are way better. Keep on truckin' Lucky Sevens!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am almost four weeks post-op now and I think I am officially in bandster hell! I have been so hungry the past 5 or so days and more importantly, not feeling satisfied. I feel like I'm being a whiner, but I feel so deprived. We went to a amusement park last night and I ate a corndog! I feel so guilty today. Definitely depressed like I am going to screw this up just like I have screwed up every other weight loss plan I've undertaken. I need my motivation back. My biggest problem is that I tend to do things obsessively, either I'm completely perfect or completely NOT! I'm going to go to soft solids today, not supposed to until Friday officially, but I have to figure this out. Maybe if I stop restricting myself so much I won't feel the need to dive off the deep end. :help::help::help: Any suggestions anyone? By the way, I have felt no restriction from anything so far, not even the blasted corndog. Everyone is having such different experiences. When I read that some are full after 2 oz several weeks out after surgery I can't believe it. I wonder if it is because I have the biggest band, the Vanguard? Sorry for the pity party, just needed to get this off of my chest. I'm going to slug some water down now and go for a walk. On a positive note I am exercising 4-5 times a week and am down 24 pounds. I can do this!

Good morning to all my lucky #7's! I can't believe how many of us are already on today, looks like 10 are active right now! We are some involved bandsters! I am so psyched because I just weighed in and I have lost-drumroll please-9 pounds in one week! That feels so good and makes this liquid diet hell even more worthwhile. Actually, I shouldn't even say hell because I grudgingly went back to one slim fast low carb shake to replace one meal and it made a big difference in my hunger over the past four days. Tomorrow I start blended/pureed so I can start scrambled eggs, I am so excited it's like Christmas in July! Chimboree-glad to hear you had a good experience. After being our cheerleader for the whole month, now we get to be yours! Dini-I'm interested to hear if you have felt any more restriction since your first fill? Do you fell less hungry yet? To everyone else, I read your posts and feel like I know you all. Good luck to you all. Man, this weight loss is like a natural high! I feel so pumped! Off to work now, have a good day everyone!:eek::kiss2::kiss2::kiss2:

Hey all my Lucky #7's!! I am post op day 10 and went back to work 4 days ago. I'm feeling pretty tough because I worked 3 12-hour shifts in a row (I'm a RN in a ICU). I was a little nervous that I would be too sore but I think all the walking I've been doing has really helped! Everyone at work has been really supportive and it actually helped get my mind off of food and my increasing disgust with these liquids! :puke:I am soooo looking forward to starting the next phase this Saturday. I can eat pureed veggies and fruits and scrambled eggs. I just bought myself some eggbeaters and am counting down the days. I have a question for all those who have been banded and to those who will be banded I don't mean to exclude you :nervous:nervous! The question is, what size band do you have and how long out did your doc tell you to wait before your first fill? Just wondering if I'm one of the only ones with "The Big Boy", meaning the 10cc Vanguard band. Take care everyone and GOOD LUCK to all who are up for surgery this week!

[ Lynette, I sure hope I can get as good as you with the exercise. Someone told me the walk away the pounds was good for beginners. Sunny-I was just at Barnes & Noble and my sister picked up the book, "Walk away the Pounds." It had journaling spots in it and exercises within the book. The best part was that it was on clearance and was only $5.98. It looks interesting!

:help:Lucky 7's I need some encouragement that I can do this liquid thing for another week. I am SOOOOOOO sick of soup that I am ready to die! I feel guilty because I read other people posting that they're doing just fine with it and I'M being such a whiner. I get hungry in the evenings and it's like I can't stop fantasizing about food. I stare at my family members food and feel resentful. I am so glad to have this surgery but I'm just feeling depressed about this liquid thing. Right now I can have liquified soup, yogurt, pudding, and protein shakes. One more week until I can start eggs and mashed veggies and applesauce. Good God that sounds like heaven! Ok, I feel better just typing this out. I will be strong, I will be strong, I will be strong..............................

Patti C- Congratulations! I can't think of a better way to reinforce how awesome this surgery is than to have an immediate improvement in your health. Way to go.:bounce:

Hey guys, hope everyone is having a good (or better in Lynette's and Patti C's case). Mango-Thanks for directing us to that link, it really made me feel inspired and excited to look forward to all those changes others report. Kristen-I had no problems after waking up from surgery. Some people do. This isn't a long surgery so chances are you won't have a bad reaction. They give you lots of meds during the surgery to ensure you don't have nausea/vomiting when you wake up! You'll be fine! Good luck, we'll be thinking of you! Chimboree-I love your sass. People like that guy at GNC can stick it where the sun don't shine. Taking the easy way out, my a--! Nurse 76-A while back you asked if I like Critical care nursing. Now that I do it, I would do nothing else! It is so interesting and you are way more autonomous. For me that is awesome, cuz I hate being told what to do! Good luck getting your RN, go for ICU when you do, believe me you will love it! Icybreeze-Hey my fellow Nor-Cal resident. I forgot to message you back and tell you I live in Gilroy. Only 30 minutes from you! I can't remember who posted the question about what we are doing for excercise, but before the surgery I was doing NOTHING, except swimming with the kids in our pool. Now I feel so motivated and have been walking for one hour (30 minutes x2) and I feel so good about it. I think it's easier to move already. So much less food dragging me down. I am post-op day 6 and feeling great. No more gas, the pregnant belly thing is much decreased and I have no pain. Hunger has only been an issue around dinner time, I think I'm missing chewing! A question for anyone: Have you found any UNFLAVORED protein powders that you can tolerate? I bought this HUGE just of designer whey natural protein powder at GNC a couple of days ago for $28. I used 1/2 scoop (which was still a lot it seemed like) and added it to some soup. It was beyond nasty, no way could I eat it. Anyone have some suggestions? Love all you guys, I don't post as often as others but I'm living vicariously through all of you!

Ashrae: I wouldn't worry about this. I also can take regular drinks and feel fine. I haven't really felt FULL, like after you eat an enormous meal but just satisfied like I didn't need anymore. I've been drinking a cup or so of soup at a time, a container of yogurt, a container of pudding, etc with no problems. But at this stage it is all liquids so I've been drinking water/fluids with whatever I'm eating. Some people have bands placed that are snugger fitting right away and so have more restriction. Believe me, my first band was too tight and it was sheer misery feeling that chest pain and pressure after drinking 1-2 ounces. I'm sure you'll have more restriction after having your first fill. Everyone has different experiences, I think it sounds like your doing just fine. No worries!

18monthstoknow: I too have been a little concerned that I can drink so much at one time but I think we would know if it was too much. I had to have my band revised the day after my initial surgery because it was too tight and when I drank just a ounce or two I got this awful chest pain and pressure. So now with the right size band I can drink without feeling that sensation but still try to go somewhat slow and trust what I'm feeling. I think that is the most important thing. Also, don't worry about the weight loss (or lack of) but at this point the most important part is to heal and get in the rhythm of eating appropriately. The weight will come off, don't worry! Make sure you excercise and what else could be asked of you? You're doing great!

AshRae, I totally agree with you! More power to those who still feel "hot" or "sexy" as a big person but for me, no way. I know I'm attractive but I just feel so dragged down by this body. When I start moving like a 34 year old instead of 74 year old like I do now, then maybe those adjectives will come back into effect! I remember feeling HOT & SEXY, and I'm going to feel it again soon!

Hey all my fellow LUCKY 7's! I feel really good today. I only had to take one toradol yesterday and that was at bedtime. I slept for 8 hours so I feel like I'm caught up on sleep. My only problem today was I felt like my belly grew exponentially after drinking Water, a little juice and some Jello this morning (over the course of 3 hours). I literally saw the difference in size! I know I'm not overdoing it because I don't have the overfull feeling and no pain, so I guess I'm just chalking it up to the gas and popping more Gas-X. Anyone else had this? I'm relieved to see other people have reported an increase in weight 1-2 days post-op because I'm up about one pound. I'm not weighing again for 3-4 more days. As a (belated) introduction: My name is Karla and I live in Northern California about an hour from San Francisco. I just turned 34 and am a single mom of a beautiful 8 year old boy. I am a RN working in critical care. I have been overweight since I was a teenager except for a period of 2 years in my early 20's when I lost 110 pounds on my own. My biggest issues with food are portion control and losing control when I feel deprived. That is why I chose the band because I believe I have to address these issues in order to be successful. I am so relieved to have the band now and hope everyone else is feeling good, both pre & post-operatively. Have a good day everyone!

Hey Lucky 7's! I got back from the hospital today. My experience was stressful to say the least. On the way to Mexico, our flight was cancelled due to an engine problem as we were taxiing to take off. We luckily were able to get the last two seats on standby on the next flight which was two hours later. I was freaking out the whole time though because I was supposed to get to the hospital early and have the pre-op workup done and have surgery in the afternoon. The patient coordinator assured me that surgery would still be on but just pushed back a few hours. So I ended up having surgery that afternoon and it went without complication and I was feeling good. But when I went to try some ice, I got about 6 ice cubes melted and swallowed and started feeling this horrendous pain and pressure in my chest. I got really nauseated and come thisclose to passing out. It subsided after about an hour and the doctor told me he thought it was a esophageal spasm from the cold. The next morning I went for the contrast swallow x-ray and I could tell by looking at it that it wasn't going through the band. I also got the awful pain/pressure again. So to make the rest of this long story short, I had to go back in and have surgery again and had the band changed to the largest one(11 cc band). Thank god the surgeon was so awesome (Dr. Valencia is the man!), and I was able to put my faith in him to get this done. I now am so happy to be at home and feel pretty good except for the gas which just started on the airplane home, great timing huh? I would never believe I would be so relieved to drink a few ounces of broth and water, but it is SWEET after experiencing "the dark side"! Now I have to go and catch up on all the post that I've missed for the past 3 days, 25 pages I think! Hope everyone else is doing well and please don't freak at reading this. My doctor said he only had this happen to one other patient in the past 10+years of banding people. I am now an official member of the band, WOO-HOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

Dini, that's a great way to save the $$$! I'm going to do that too. Except with the amount of weight I have to lose I would be able to afford a trip around the world! Lynette, amazing show of self-restraint. Cake batter is a weakness, add it to my list of thousands. Way to go!:clap2:

That would be so awesome! I would love to do that. It would be fun and a good incentive and reward for losing the weight. Do you think one tiny cruise ship could hand all of our hotness though? LOL!!! I've never been on a cruise, it's high time! Only 1.5 more days of this liquid diet left for me. Yesterday I almost had a breakdown, I actually envisioned ripping my son's food off of his plate and scarfing it down! Today my strategy is to stay super busy cleaning and cleaning some more to keep my mind off of food. I'm so excited for surgery! How many people can actually say that?:whoo:

Ok, I mentally know this pre-op diet is only for 7 days and I know I should be able to suck it up and suck down those liquids but these shakes are getting to me! My pre-op diet consists of 3-4 protein shakes, nothing else. I have cheated a bit and substituted low fat soup for one of the shakes every day. I thought I was going to seriously lose it today though when we went to Wal-mart to get some more shakes and then ran through the food area for some dinner things for the rest of the family. Talk about drama Queen, I felt like throwing myself on the floor and having a tantrum while they were eating their sandwiches. Two more days and then surgery, it will be a relief just to be done with this phase of the process. To go from 4000+ calories a day to 700 has been a shock to the system. On the bright side of things, my weaning off of Diet Pepsi has been much easier as I am so focused on my limited food selections. Has anyone tried the raspberry lemonade Crystal Lite? It's the best, I've been sucking it down like crazy the last few days! Oh, and the second brightest thing is that I'm down 4 pounds since starting the liquids. So now as I'm typing this I'm giving myself a mental kick and saying, what the @#$# are you complaining about?! Ok, sorry for the verbal diarrhea, just had to get this off of my chest.

Isn't it amazing what you can admit when you're "typing out loud"? I admitted my weight on a post yesterday and had no qualms about it. However, I also told my weight to my mom and sis yesterday and was really nervous about it and they're the closest people in the world to me! It's a good thing to have a place to shout it out and not be afraid.

:)Hey all, just wanted to share a little shocker I got to experience today. I weighed myself as it is day 2 of the pre-op diet phase and wanted to see where I was at. The last time I weighed it was when I signed up for the surgery and I was at *gasp* 340 pounds. Now today after four weeks of living the 'last supper syndrome', I got on the scale and am now over the weight limit of the scale-350 POUNDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy crap, when I do it up I don't go halfway. Thank God I'm on track for this surgery. I have been feeling hopeless for so long about what to do about this weight and now I feel there IS hope. I'm not loving the Protein shakes ( I get to have 3-4 a day, big whoop) but I'm counting down the days, hours, minutes, until surgery. Icybreeze: I live in Gilroy, Garlic Capital of the World!!! An idea for a general question: "what is your dream piece of clothing to wear when you have lost the weight?"

OMG, I finally caught up with all the posts I missed in 5 days of not being online. My butt actually is feeling a bit sore and my son is whining that he wants his chance on the computer! I love this site, I'm 6 days and counting until surgery and am going through a bit of "oh my god I can't believe I'm actually doing this." I'm excited though and even more motivated today because I checked my blood sugar (my mom's diabetic and has a glucometer) and it was above normal, and I checked my blood pressure which was also borderline high. Several dozen pages ago there was a question posed, Are you embarassed by your weight? Well, I am. But I'm even more SCARED of my weight. I'm a ICU nurse and see on a daily basis people who have ruined their bodies with food, alcohol, smoking, etc. I have a major family history of heart disease and cancer so for me, losing weight means no longer living in daily fear that I will drop dead tomorrow of a heart attack. What a weight off my mind in addition to my body! Icebreeze: I see you're getting your surgery in San Jose. I live 30 miles away. How about you? Cherrybomb: Love your term "head hunger". It's my main enemy. LindaAA: I'm getting my surgery done at Hospital Angeles in Tijuana also. Who's your doctor? To everyone else, I think you are all awesome and I am so glad to have found this online support. Dini, Lynette, maryinak, breadylady, chimboree-I feel like you're the "mama's" of this group and feel like I really know each of you personally. Thanks for the Love!:kiss2:

Chimboree, thanks for pointing out my spot on the calendar. I was in such a hurry to claim my prized spot I completely missed it! I loved your goals for weight loss, what is it with the towel thing? That is my most favorite memory from the last time I was thin which was over a decade ago. Breadylady, I have really enjoyed reading your updates on how post op life has been so far for your. The detailed gas info had me cracking up! Dini, I'm sorry to hear about your negative experiences thus far. As a nurse, I can tell you each day will get better a little at a time. What is up with this shoulder pain thing? I haven't heard about this as a common side effect after surgery. Is it getting bettery yet? Hang in there Dini, you're in my thoughts!:clap2:

Hey Chimboree, please add me to the calendar too when you get to it. Thanks! Surgery scheduled 7/12/07.