forgve70x7

Well, last weekend we went to California to take Emmanuel (our exchange student) surfing. It went great, and here is a picture of the three of us. Overall, I'm hanging in there but still haven't lost any weight (except for the 8 pounds courtesy of AF) for about the last 3-4 weeks. I'm finally getting my first fill on Friday too, so I'm hoping that will help as I have been struggling with eating more than I should be. But, from what I've read, it seems that most of us have had this problem. I started my other classes today so I'm back up to 12 credit hours, plus all my other fun stuff I have going on. I really want to get my grades up higher this semester too since I have kind of slacked off in that department!! I hope everyone has a great night, and I'll hopefully talk to you all soon. ~Nichole

Hi guys, my name is Nichole and I live up in Northern Arizona up on the rez. I'm getting my band done on July 9th and am getting excited. :whoo: I'm keeping a blog for myself at ngorman1025.blogspot.com and if you want to check it out, you are more than welcome!! Dr DeBarros is doing my surgery and I was lucky enough to have my insurance cover 100% (minus co-pays) of the surgery. They will also cover all of my band fills. I've had some problems with some people I have told about this surgery. Mostly my parents and a few friends. I'm doing this for myself and my health first and all the other good things after that. When I told my mom I was thinking about having it done, she asked me if my husband was making me do this. With her responding like that, it's really made me not want to tell her anything that's going on. Have any of you had problems with your family/friends accepting that you are doing this? I'm also wondering how you guys did on your 2 week liquid diet prior to surgery. I'm on day 3 and I'm feeling like I'm always hungry even when I'm drinking the Protein shakes. Any advice is much appreciated!! Thanks, ~Nichole

Thanks, he's definately our baby and I spoil him rotten!! I hear you on that one. The insurance thing is difficult even when you aren't changing companies. When does your new one kick in and who is it with? How is everyone else doing?

That is funny!! I've mostly been struggling because the first couple chapters were about stuff that I didn't quite understand when I took Pre-Calc. So, that's been my biggest downfall, but it all seems to be working out now. We'll see, I also have to take Calc 2 online. I live 3 hours away from my school, so this is my only option and since I wanted to do my content emphasis in Math, it's what I need to do. I've been trying to help our exchange student with his Algebra though, and it's hard to go back and do the easy stuff once you have reached this level.

Kristin, I am actually a Creative Memories Consultant, so I guess you could say I'm an addict!! I'm taking pictures through this journey to create a small book just for this. To everyone, sorry I haven't respond sooner, for some reason, I haven't been receiving the new post emails. And then I got on today and had 10 pages (with 50 posts per page) of posts to catch up on. So far in catching up, glad to see that everyone is doing well and hope it continues to go that way. Ever since the last time I posted about being in band hell, I haven't gotten back on the scale. Mostly out of fear, but I figure I'll just wait until I go for my first fill on the 31st. I've also been very busy adjusting to having a kid (or 2) in the house. We have a 17 year old exchange student from Switzerland that got here on the 1st and I'm also babysitting for a co-worker of my hubby. She has an 11 week old and that's been very trying this last week to get used to. I also started taking an online Calculus class, and I'm about to pull my hair out. So, if anyone can help me get through this class, that would be awesome!! We are heading to California this weekend to take Emmanuel (our student) surfing at Huntington Beach. It's a short trip, but it gets us out of here for a little while. Well, I need to finish catching up on the posts right now, but I'll check more often. Hope all is well for the rest of you!!

By the way, here are a couple pics of the dog. :)

Wendy, I'm actually in Fort Defiance, on the far eastern side of the state. I have been lazy about updating my blog, mostly because I had a set back in my weightloss. But, it's normal from what the dietician told me. I'm going to PHX on the 31st for my 1st fill and I can't wait because I'm in band hell right now and not feeling full and starving again an hour after I eat. I should have had my fill a week before that, but the Dr who's doing the fills the previous week is no longer covered under my insurance. Oh well, have you been banded yet? Where are you getting yours done? How old is your dog? It looks like a Sheltie, but I wanted to make sure. Ours is 16 months old, and we've had him since he was about 9 weeks. His name is Bart (after Bart Simpson) and he does live up to his name. If you want, you can email me at forgve70x7@gmail.com. I'm a lot better responding to emails than the boards. I forget to check sometimes. Hope you are having a good week, ~Nichole

Thanks for the quick responses guys!! It's just so hard to see the scale go back up when I've seen it come down so much in the last 2 months. The biggest surprise for me was that I haven't even been on the scale for 2 weeks. I'm trying not to be obsessive about weighing myself. Who knows, I'll get on again next week to see where I am then. This is a great group and I love being able to come on for support from everyone!!

Ok, so I'm really feeling down, and I thought you guys could cheer me up. It has been a crazy week for me as our exchange student got here from Switzerland, so that's been an interesting adjustment for us to go from no kids to a 17 year old. Anyways, what's really bothering me is that when I went in for my post-op appointment on July 25th, I was actually down to 239, which I was super excited. When I weighed myself this morning, I was back up to 245. I just don't get it. I know Aunt Flo is coming sometime this week, but that weight gain should only be a couple pounds. I'm not eating more than 1/2 cup at a time, but I'm not feeling full. And, I'm getting hungry again about an hour later. I am working out at least 3 days a week now, and walking the other ones when I don't go to the gym. I had to put my first fill a week later than it should be because the 2 surgeons alternate weeks for fills, and one of them is no longer covered under my insurance. So, I get to get my first fill on the 31st. I just don't know what to do or how to get over this hurdle. :help::help::help: But, I really feel down and out about it because I hate to see the scale going up. Of course, I'm sure Aunt Flo has something to do with my mood, but I know it's not everything.

Sunny, Are you on the heparin shots? If you are, that could be what's making things taste funny. I know a lot of people I have talked to on other boards, all said the heparin did that to them. It did to me too and unfortunately it doesn't go away until you are completely off of them. :phanvan ~Nichole

Welcome Back Sunny!! Glad to hear everything went well for you.

Lynette, that's a good thing!! Glad that worked for you. If it helps any, I've had to mail my laptop in 3 times in the last 3 months. They keep screwing other things up when they have it to service.

Dini, My Dr said the same thing and that if you drink with your meals, it flushes the food through the band. I know of someone who does this when she wants to eat more and essentially "cheat" the band. The only thing my Dr has said I can do is take sips if I need it because of spiciness or if it's too dry. Hope you're staying dry over there!! :eek: ~Nichole

Pris, I'm so sorry to hear about what's been going on. It is a huge decision that you need to make, but we are all here for you!! ~Nichole

I hear you. My hubby isn't that thin, but I only weigh 9 pounds more than he does right now, so it's actually so close to me weighing less than he does. I can't wait!! Great job at Curves!! I'm starting to work with a personal trainer tomorrow, so I'll be working on flexibility and all that fun stuff too!! Talk to you soon, Nichole:clap2::clap2::clap2:

Hey everyone!! Where has everyone been? I've missed chatting with you all!! :car: So I drove to Albuquerque yesterday afternoon (2 1/2 hours away) to fly to Phoenix and meet my hubby there. I had my first post op appointment today and it went great. My surgeons partner actually did the appointment, but I ran into my surgeon in the hallway on the way out. He looked at me and said he could see it in my face. I was super excited because I finally broke the 240 mark, just barely, but I'm under that weight finally. I have just been elated all day because of that. I was feeling down after not losing anything for the last week and a half, but I did this morning, so that's the one that counts. That makes it 29 pounds for me since June 7th. I have the new small AP band with the low profile port. I still have some pain in my port, but it's more of an annoyance than anything. And it mostly comes when I've been sleeping on my stomach. My Dr said this was normal and it will probably be like that for 6-8 weeks. The other thing I learned from the dietitian today is even if I am eating what I'm supposed to every day and working out that until I get my first fill in 4 more weeks(although it will actually be my 2nd fill since they put a fill in these new bands during surgery), I probably won't lose anything. So for those of you in the same boat I am, this explains it. It's not that you are eating too much, it's just that the restriction we may ultimately need is not there. Anyways, one more good thing that happened was on the plane yesterday. I still felt big, but when I put the seatbelt on, I almost jumped back up. I've normally had maybe an extra inch or so on the belt and never pulled it to tighten it because it would make it to tight. However, last night, I had about 8 inches on the seatbelt. I was so excited, and it's really helped my mood!!

Hi all. So I drove to Albuquerque yesterday afternoon (2 1/2 hours away) to fly to Phoenix and meet my hubby there. I had my first post op appointment today and it went great. My surgeons partner actually did the appointment, but I ran into my surgeon in the hallway on the way out. He looked at me and said he could see it in my face. I was super excited because I finally broke the 240 mark, just barely, but I'm under that weight finally. I have just been elated all day because of that. I was feeling down after not losing anything for the last week and a half, but I did this morning, so that's the one that counts. That makes it 29 pounds for me since June 7th. I have the new small AP band with the low profile port. I still have some pain in my port, but it's more of an annoyance than anything. And it mostly comes when I've been sleeping on my stomach. My Dr said this was normal and it will probably be like that for 6-8 weeks. The other thing I learned from the dietitian today is even if I am eating what I'm supposed to every day and working out that until I get my first fill in 4 more weeks(although it will actually be my 2nd fill since they put a fill in these new bands during surgery), I probably won't lose anything. So for those of you in the same boat I am, this explains it. It's not that you are eating too much, it's just that the restriction we may ultimately need is not there. Anyways, one more good thing that happened was on the plane yesterday. I still felt big, but when I put the seatbelt on, I almost jumped back up. I've normally had maybe an extra inch or so on the belt and never pulled it to tighten it because it would make it to tight. However, last night, I had about 8 inches on the seatbelt. I was so excited, and it's really helped my mood!! I can't believe how much I missed today as far as chats go, but we were driving back from Phoenix (about 5 hours). I hope everyone's surgery went well today and I'm praying for everyone this week that surgeries go well and that your recovery goes quickly without too much pain!! Love you all, this group is great!!!! :car: :) :grouphug: ~Nichole

Icy, I experienced the same thing. I think it's because most of the mushies I've eaten have had a lot of carbs. I did start going to the gym again yesterday and I'm hoping that helps me so we'll see. I know at this point I haven't bee doing all I could have as far as walking goes, but I gave been quite down this week not seeing any weight loss for over a week now. Hope this helps, ~Nichole

I agree with Lynette!! Since I've started eating, I've noticed a huge slow down in the weight loss. In fact, I've been stuck at the same spot for a week. I would say to make sure that you are walking or working out as much as you can to avoid the slow down! On the plus side, I just got back from going to the gym. I've just been walking around my neighborhood. But, I did 35 minutes on the elliptical trainer and feel good. I can't wait until I can do all my stretching again though. I feel like I can't right now because of the surgery and the fact that they fixed a hernia while they were in there. I know 35 min is a start and I can't wait to increase the time, but the other thing I need to remember is that I live at 6800 ft in elevation, so I could probably easily double that if I was down in elevation. Sorry I haven't been on much lately, it's been a very busy week, but I've missed talking to all of you!! ~Nichole

Jackie, BTW...congrats on the loss!!! That's so awesome.

Jackie, if you click on it then you will enter the PIN number you selected when it was created. And if you scroll down it asks for your current weight and the date. Once you save at the bottom, it will automatically update here without you having to re-copy the code. Hope this helps. ~Nichole

Yup, that's what it said in the discharge papers from the surgeon when I left the hospital!!!

Dini, she's adorable!!! :confused:

The way I look at it is that when we do finally get to "it" it will be more fun because of how much lighter I'll be!!

Lynette, You are lucky...my Dr said 8 weeks before any hanky panky!! :confused: Have fun tonight.