TxArcher

Wow man... Except for the Hurling part and the revision surgery, I would say that yours and my stories are nearly identical... I will just have to say DITTO on most of yours.

Don't know what to say really. I had my band in November of 2007. I went from 400 pre-surgery to 272 at my lowest. Since Sx I have been in 3 different jobs in 2 different states. My wife and I have had 2 more children... moved 4 times... I am still below 300... currently sitting at about 290. I blame my 15-20 pound weight gain on the 6 months my family lived with my parents. I was laid off and had to move back across the country to Texas to survive the situation. I then found out that I could "stomach" beer again. Hmmmmm lots of empty calories i guess. I have been off the beer for a month now and low-and-behold... i think I have lost a few pounds! I am somewhat annoyed with my band. I have NO insurance and have been experiencing a lot of "first bite syndrome" I am beginning to think I am either too full or my band has slipped. SUX. I miss the community I once had here on LBT. Seems as though most of the other Nov07 bandsters have drifted away as I did. Thanks for the email and piquing my curiosity to return to the site.

So, I have had a cough for 6 weeks now. Had it diagnosed in week 2 as Bronchitis. Took a week of Amoxil and then after no improvement, a Z-pak. The infection in my lungs was cleared up with the Z-pak. Through all of this, I have had a VERY STRANGE thing happen while in coughing fits. While coughing hard, I feel like my airway is TOTALLY clamped off. I fight and fight to breath but can only make a guttural gasping for air sound. I then have to belch (A LOT) in order to get my airway to open back up. From start to finish this can last anywhere from 15 seconds to 45 seconds. Heck, maybe even up to a minute... it is hard to watch the clock when you are fighting to breath. Anyway, i start to "slime" and my eyes just pour tears while doing this. Anybody else have any similar things happen with a serious cough.

i put 30 - 45 min. Sometimes, when i eat a salad, it can take me up to an hour to finish because of all the chewing that it takes to get the veggies down successfully. HA!

The company I work for started up a health campaign in January. Its a biggest loser kind of thing. My team "Fat Chance" is made up of me and 3 other guys. We really did not do much of anything to win, but WIN we did! We won the % fat loss category. There was also a total weight lost category. Top prize was $250, or a Nintendo Wii. I know what I am doing with my cash. That amount of moola should just cover a 6 month membership to a local gym. I am looking to hit my goal of 250 by the end of the year. Anybody else have an employer doing anything like this?

Abbisgood.........53.............23%.............?? Aubrie............65.............%...............31 BandChick64.......104............34.67%..........31.6 Bandpal...........136............47.5%...........24.5 BarbBee...........149............49%.............26.3 Cherlita..........60.............20%.............55 Cindyg............62.............24.5%...........34.5 Close.............50.............20%.............33.1 Firebolt..........67.............27%.............30.2 Foofy.............50.5...........18.5%...........35.5 gabeekeeper.......101............30% ............40.2 Hajohnson1........49.8...........18.2%...........39.8 Hollyberries......113............31%.............36.2 HoppingToIt.......69.............19.7%.............49.1 Huskerette........54.............22%.............30.5 kandiceb..........63.............26%.............27.6 linda.............52.............23%.............29.9 lindseyann2u......100............N/A.............N/A Maincat...........141............46.5%...........22 Mariegabrieleee...86.............40%.............36.9 Melanie1972.......80.............30%.............29.7 MollyBrown........36.............12.5%...........36.5 Momto1plus1.......123............45.7%.............22.9 NYGirl1...........102............33%.............32.6 plump_princess....57.............22%.............36 QatarPhil.........55.............19%.............32.2 Rachel............63.............%...............28.3 Robin_Bird........132.2.........43.3%............26.3 Sades.............44.8...........19.5%...........33.7 scarecrow.........125............40%.............27.3 Shalee04..........70.............28%.............29.2 Shortgal..........44.5...........20.5%...........32.9 Skinny_Jill.......71.............32.4%...........28.5 Staysee...........70.............20%.............48.4 Stephanie.........64.............27%.............26.5 strangeratx.......63.............27%.............29.6 Teresajo..........93.............36%.............27.3 Tmusicmaker123....73.............19%.............48.7 TxArcher..........122............31.5%...........36.7 tyman311..........61.............31%.............28 want2lose.........91.8...........32%.............31 lisawach.........104.0...........29%.............??

Name............Start.......Current...........Goal..........To Goal Momto1......... 151......... 146.............. M................M TxArcher....... 285.......... 278............. 270..............8 Sades........... 189.......... 189............. 180............. 9 Surprisingly, I went on vacation back to TX for 2 weeks and came back at 278 as of this morning on my bathroom scale. I think it has a LOT to do with the fact that I only ate Mexican food TWICE in that entire 2 weeks. (Oh how I LOVE Chile Rellenos)

Well, you don't have to head out for 6 months. We would love to support you in this adventure too. CONGRATULATIONS!

Hey, I'm in on the challenge... I am S-T-U-C-K at low to mid 280's. Sometimes I get frustrated, but i remind myself that I had almost 200 pounds to lose in the first place and it just won't come off that fast! Heck, it took me about 11 years to gain what I did and only 18 months to get back down to my freshman college weight... Now, with 210 on the horizon, that will put me back to my "freshman" in High School weight... (we'll see) When I hit 270, that will be lower than I was when I met my wife. Hmmm... hope she recognizes me. ???:thumbup::smile2: Name............Start.......Current...........Goal..........To Goal Momto1......... 151......... 149.............. M............... M TxArcher....... 285........ 285............. 270.............15

Way to go H! that makes me remember that I have GOT to get into a gym membership and actually use it! I am at the stalling spot and my activitiy levels MUST increase now for me to start losing again. I can't really go any tighter on my band, :smile2: i'm tight enough now. I just need to alter my activity levels... With still about 70 pounds left to lose, i have a long way to go, but it's encouraging seeing someone like yourself with the "stick-to-it" kind of attitude. Keep up the good work!

Hey Nymphs! Just thought I would step in here and check in. It has been a LONG time! I am down a total of about 115 pounds. My weight loss has been stubborn. I know that i need to increse my activity and my lazy arse just won't do it! I will be increasing my activity soon. I just rebuilt my old college bike and will use it to do some training. Gotta hit the hay now. I promise I will try to check in more often.

WOW! Bless you heart. Glad things are going well for you now. What a long and ?painful? process of healing. I pulled my bike out yesterday evening. I was all jazzed up about getting on it and knockin' out a few miles and low-and-behold, the tires were low on air!!! ARRRRGGGGG! Gotta get a pump before I get home tonight.

Abbisgood.........53.............23%.............?? Aubrie............65.............%...............31 BandChick64.......104............34.67%..........31.6 Bandpal...........136............47.5%...........24.5 BarbBee...........131............43%.............28.9 Cherlita..........60.............20%.............55 Cindyg............62.............24.5%...........34.5 Close.............50.............20%.............33.1 Firebolt..........67.............27%.............30.2 Foofy.............50.5...........18.5%...........35.5 gabeekeeper.......101............30% ............40.2 Hajohnson1........49.8...........18.2%...........39.8 Hollyberries......113............31%.............36.2 HoppingToIt.......69.............19.7%.............49.1 Huskerette........54.............22%.............30.5 kandiceb..........63.............26%.............27.6 linda.............52.............23%.............29.9 lindseyann2u......100............N/A.............N/A Maincat...........141............46.5%...........22 Mariegabrieleee...86.............40%.............36.9 Melanie1972.......80.............30%.............29.7 MollyBrown........36.............12.5%...........36.5 Momto1plus1.......119............44.2%...........23.5% NYGirl1...........102............33%.............32.6 plump_princess....57.............22%.............36 QatarPhil.........55.............19%.............32.2 Rachel............63.............%...............28.3 Robin_Bird........132.2.........43.3%............26.3 Sades.............44.8...........19.5%...........33.7 scarecrow.........125............40%.............27.3 Shalee04..........70.............28%.............29.2 Shortgal..........44.5...........20.5%...........32.9 Skinny_Jill.......71.............32.4%...........28.5 Staysee...........70.............20%.............48.4 Stephanie.........64.............27%.............26.5 strangeratx.......63.............27%.............29.6 Teresajo..........93.............36%.............27.3 Tmusicmaker123....73.............19%.............48.7 TxArcher..........118............29.5%..........37.2 tyman311..........61.............31%.............28 want2lose.........91.8...........32%.............31 lisawach.........104.0...........29%.............?? WOW! Almost 30% lost! Blasted half a % point! LOL.

Name............Start.........Current......Goal.......Loss....To Go Momto1plus1...173...........150...........159.........18.....-9 Bandpal..........151.14..... 148.5..........150.........2.6....-1.5 Cindyg...........190...........190............175...........0..... 15 Skinny_Jill.......151.3........149.9..........143.3.......1.4.....6.6 TxArcher........282............282............275........XXXX...7 Ok... Better late than never right. I am planning on kicking tail starting tonight after work. I NEED to get my weight coming off faster! Don't know if I have a snow-ball's chance of making 7 pounds in 2 weeks, but I can try! Anybody heard from Cindy???

Any news on the Upper GI? So sorry to hear that you are going through this. It sounds like your symptoms indicate a shift of some sort.

Thanks for the Kudos... I have lost a considerable amount of weight and I keep having to remind myself about that. My restriction is good now, maybe just a hair lose, but i would not DARE get a fill right now. I do NOT want to start that downward spiral of being overfilled. I just need to get to exercising and I know I will lose the 30 pounds left to get to my goal. FOCUS! What revision did you get?

Well... sorry, I hit my first "sweet-spot" just before I moved out here from TX. I only needed 2 top-off fills at christmas while I was visiting back home there. I have not had a need for a doctor to do fills.

WOW!!! i just had to change my ticker! Last time I edited it was Dec. 8th. It said I was 308. I am now 285. That felt GOOD!

I was just on the "where are you" thread and got the idea to start a thread to see what everybody does for an occupation. Put down what you do now and also what your favorite job has been. I am a design modeler for a heavy construction company. I use SolidWorks to design concrete structures such as, parking garages, high rise business buildings, prisons, etc. I think my favorite job--if you can call it that, was being an actor in a passion play about the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. I was a part of the show for 6 years. It is called The Promise and it is in Glen Rose, TX. There is also a show of the same play in Branson, Missouri. I played everything from a mounted Roman soldier to the appostle James son of Zebede, and in my later years of the show I was one of the Pharisees. I got to be the bad guys and good guys. Let us know what you do and your favorite job.

I dun did went and got me one of them fills! Seriously... I got a fill on the Monday before Christmas. It was a conservative .5cc fill. Seems to be providing some restriction, but not too much. I am going back in the morning for a "top-off" before I head back to SC on the third. Boy Hody... I forgot what it was like to have any restriction at all. I am tight in the mornings. A Muscle Milk shake does good for me, but by lunch I am pretty hungery. It seems like the later in the day, the less I am tight. My trip to Texas has been great so far. We are getting to visit with friends and family and the boys are getting worn out playing with cousins. I am hoping that this fill in the morning will get me back into a sweet spot. I am planning on getting started with FillCenters USA once I get back home and need another fill. well, I think I am just rambling on now so I will sign off. Happy New Year you Nymphs.

I was driving home last night. I took the interstate. I NEVER take the interstate, but I had to go do some shopping for my oldests 4 yr birthday party tomorrow night. I HATE INTERSTATES!!! I had this fella cut me off. I was a little miffed, but decided to let it slide off my back just like everything else. I pull my foot off the gas pedal to give some didstance between me and him. Ya know... the old 2 car length rule... Thats when I saw break lights... It looked like a gigantic-poorly-decorated-christmas tree! So the guy that just cut me off had to swerve to keep from hitting the guy he was TAILGATING! I thought to myself, "Good move on your part for the 2 car spacing. I was just almost stopped on the highway. Next thing I know is my head was HURTING and I INTANTLY had a headache! It wasn't till I saw a little cloud of smoke waft past my truck that I realized I had been rear ended! Nothing too bad on my truck, just some scratches to the bumper and some plastic damage. I don't really care about how the truck looks anyway. It is what I call an A-B truck. It is UGLY but it gets me from point A to point B reliably. The fella that hit me was in a full size chevy cargo van. My bumper put a crese in his front bumper. Hardley noticable. Poor guy, It was his birthday... Well, the lady that hit him in the rear... her car was SCREWED UP! The hood looked like an accordian! She drove the car away so it must not have been too mechanically messed up. Cops cited her for following too close. Almost $300 ticket! OUCH! AND 4 points! That cop said they had worked somewehre around 50 wreaks already that day! CRAZY! So... I say all that to say this. Do you think I need to worry bout my port or band? I got josseled up pretty good but everything seems to be fine.

I was driving home last night. I took the interstate. I NEVER take the interstate, but I had to go do some shopping for my oldests 4 yr birthday party tomorrow night. I HATE INTERSTATES!!! I had this fella cut me off. I was a little miffed, but decided to let it slide off my back just like everything else. I pull my foot off the gas pedal to give some didstance between me and him. Ya know... the old 2 car length rule... Thats when I saw break lights... It looked like a gigantic-poorly-decorated-christmas tree! So the guy that just cut me off had to swerve to keep from hitting the guy he was TAILGATING! I thought to myself, "Good move on your part for the 2 car spacing. I was just almost stopped on the highway. Next thing I know is my head was HURTING and I INTANTLY had a headache! It wasn't till I saw a little cloud of smoke waft past my truck that I realized I had been rear ended! Nothing too bad on my truck, just some scratches to the bumper and some plastic damage. I don't really care about how the truck looks anyway. It is what I call an A-B truck. It is UGLY but it gets me from point A to point B reliably. The fella that hit me was in a full size chevy cargo van. My bumper put a crese in his front bumper. Hardley noticable. Poor guy, It was his birthday... Well, the lady that hit him in the rear... her car was SCREWED UP! The hood looked like an accordian! She drove the car away so it must not have been too mechanically messed up. Cops cited her for following too close. Almost $300 ticket! OUCH! AND 4 points! That cop said they had worked somewehre around 50 wreaks already that day! CRAZY! So... I say all that to say this. Do you think I need to worry bout my port or band? I got josseled up pretty good but everything seems to be fine.

I know this has prbably been discussed here before... I am thinking about doing the 5 day test to see what happens... I also have gained some weight (10-15) I was down to 294 on my scale and the other day I weighed in at 308. 14 pounds. I think my band is getting more restriction from the fat-pad. I am heading back to Texas for Christmas and have a fill scheduled... I don't want to have gained weight AND restriction and in return, not be able to get my fill! Anyway, did the Pouch Test work for you guys and also, did you lose any weight??? Seems like WL would be a nice byproduct of this little test.

Name..-----.Start----------Current..----Goal.....--...To Go CindyG..............191...................191.............178......... .......13 Sades................186...................185....... .....175................11 Stephanie.........175..................169.5..........155............. ..14.5 shortgal.............173.6...............172..............168......... .......4 Bandpal...........172.26..............170.6........150................ .20.6 Momto1plus1...187....................185............174............... .11 lindata...............174....................171.5............169..... .. ..........2.5 Skinny_Jill........151.....................148...........143.......... ........5 mrskrzyz...........172.....................172...........162.......... .......10 kalipso2...........172.....................172...........165.......... ..........7 scarecrow.........190.....................190............180.......... .......10 Foofy.................226....................223............212....... ..........11 Hollyberries......245.....................245............240.......... ........5 TxArcher...........308.....................308............299.......... ........9 Well, I will put in for this in the final weeks of the challenge. I plan to do the 5 day pouch test and expect to lose some weight with that AND I am getting a fill on the 22nd. YAY!!! So.. 9 pounds... may not be doable, but it gives me something to shoot for.

Surgical Weight Loss 5 Day Pouch Test Pretty well defined... I figured if I could do 2 weeks preop diet I can do 5 days of this. Heck, maybe I will get back down to my 294...