salsa1877

22 pounds is fantastic!!! Most people don't lose a lot of weight until after their first fill. In fact most doctors and patients will tell you that the time between your surgery and your first fill IS NOT ABOUT LOSING WEIGHT! If you do lose...great, but it is about healing. So you are going to be hungry and eating more, because while the band itself does provide some restriction it is not enough for most people. You should feel less hunger and more satiety after your fill. Hang in there...one more day!

I use Centrum Chewables. When I first started taking it, I thought I was going to throw up. Now I look forward to it cause it tastes rather good!

Jumping in from another board, but it sounds like you are VERY tight. I have had this EVERY time I have gotten a fill and because I live 6+ hours away from my doctor, have not been able to get an unfill right away...but that is not a good thing. There are going to be some people that say that as long as you can keep liquids down that you should stay with the fill. However, that is not what my doctor suggests, and not the advice I would give you. If you stay this tight and things keep getting stuck you might end up having a total unfill (I had to!) but if you go in sooner, rather than later, they will most likely take just a bit out. As for whether or not you should be tight at 4cc's, I had to be completely unfilled because I couldn't handle 1.7cc in a 10 cc band. As I have lost weight I have actually had less and less in the band. Now I am completely unfilled in hopes of maintaining and I have still PB'd on chicken because I ate too quickly. Fill amounts are very different from person to person. My first fill was at 3.6 then I had to be unfilled totally. My second fill was 2.5 followed by a .7 unfill. My third fill brought me back to 2.2 followed by an unfil to 1.7 and then a total unfill. The band is very fickle! So long story short, I would go back to the doc and have some taken out...sometimes it is as little as .1cc!

There is quite a bit of swelling after a fill, so I would actually stay on liquids for the next day or so and then gradually work my way back up to more solid foods. I don't tolerate fills well so I usually had to be on liquids for almost half a week before I could try foods again.

Drinking Water always makes me hungry. It did before the band, and it probably always will. So that is why I only drink water when I am getting ready to eat. I drink my water...wait a half hour and then eat. I can (and always have been able to) guzzle my water quickly. Even when I was so tight I couldn't eat I could get water down very quickly. So I just guzzle away, wait and then eat. I don't know if it makes my pouch any less restricted because I am completely unfilled right now, but I do know that it will trigger that I am hungry.

I have told everyone! I am a high school teacher and when I started dropping weight FAST I knew I had to say something to my students and other teachers. I was new to the district so I didn't want people thinking I was doing drugs. I just make sure that I teach the people that I am telling about the band. I always somehow squeeze in there that I am changing the way I eat and going to the gym. They all know that I am training for a half-marathon so they understand that I have changed my lifestyle. I had one person ask me if I thought this was the easy way out. Well I filled them in on everything that we have to do as bandsters...they said...I would rather just diet...that seems like a lot of work.

Only if you throw up after anesthesia are you required to get an unfill. My PS was adament for nutrition purpose. Plus I am 6 hours away from my doc so if there was a problem I didn't want to have to ride in the car for 6 hours after my TT. I am just cautious. Besides I am having a heck of a time stopping the weight loss. MY PS also doesn't want me below 150 because of the amount of skin she projects she will be taking off. Hopefully she doesn't go by her scale because hers is about 3 pounds lighter than mine. I know the only time in my life I complain about a scale weighing light!!! Glad to hear that things are cautiously optomistic. Still jealous of all you people getting yours done before me!!!

Thank you for the compliment...but don't sell yourself short. 58 pounds is amazing! My doctor considers the surgery a success if you lose 50 pounds in a year...you still have several months to go and have already lost that. I am currently at goal...until after my TT. My doc doesn't want me below 150 so I am frantically trying to mainain. After losing, losing, losing, maintaining is a whole different battle! Good luck and just stay the course. You will make it too!

My fill nurse told me HOW she got it in so that I could remind her. So when I go in I just remind her of the scar tissue so that she knows that she has to "go in low and then come up under the scar tissue". This has seemed to help. The last time though I had a different fill nurse and the pain was awful. Probably why I am determined to not have to get a fill again!

You could take soup for lunch! Just have it already premade and just heat it up. I am assuming you don't want to tell anyone? I told everyone and their dog so it was never a problem for me.

What do you mean by sugar...should you cut out refined carbs like sugary sweets, white bread, and other CRAP foods...yes. I did, but I didn't cut out GOOD carbs. I ate lower carb than most people on my July thread but that is because carbs make me feel yucky. I would try cutting them out or reducing them substantially and see what happens? Are you clothes getting looser?

I have a lot of scar tissue over my port and yes my fills are painful. In fact when I went in for my unfill it took almost an hour. However this is very rare and fortunately (not for us) most fills are relatively unpainful.

Sorry to hear about the cancellation...but I don't think you want a sick PS operating on you. I say that now but I would be freaked out if mine calls in sick!

I think what Jack was asking was at this point...right now...are you eating because you are hungry or are you eating for another reason. I agree... we pretty much all got this way because we ate for the wrong reasons. Have you started doing that again, or are you just truly hungry. You do lose fat around your stomach and that is why the band loosens up. If that didn't happen, we would never need fills. You most likely have NOT stretched your pouch, you just probably need a fill...if you are eating because you are hungry.

I lost all of my weight being what most would consider "VERY loose". In fact after the first fill (which I then had to have removed) I went through the patter of fill/unfill then fill/unfill til I just had the whole fill removed. I completely changed the types of food that I ate and I started working out a lot. Because of that I lost weight steadily. Being too tight forces you to eat high calorie slider foods or even worse...high calorie liquids. My doc highly discourages Protein drinks after your first fill. There are plenty of foods that you can eat that will get you to the amount of protein you need. Make sure you are keeping a journal of what you eat. I found it essential to count calories so that I could be accountable. We WAY underestimate the amount of food that we eat an WAY overestimate the amount of calories that burn. Let's just say a 12 oz steak DOES NOT have 200 calories and walking for an hour DOES NOT burn 500 calories. One other thing...the band does not work FOR you...you have to work WITH it. So try some of the suggestions before and consider getting a small unfill. Then take the time to think about whether you are hungry or not when you want to eat. Sometimes you have to stand up to yourself and tell yourself NO! Your brain will want to eat even if your stomach is satisfied.

17000 and that covers everything including ANY problems that you would have in the following 2 years. He covers ALL the bills for any complications...you would never have an out of pocket expense. It also covers fills for 2 years (but to be honest they don't charge even after 2 years) and all fills are done under fluoro. I can't say enough good things about him and his staff. They are wonderful people!

Yeah I was an idiot and ate too quickly. I really never tolerated fills very well! I can't imagine what would have happened if I would have gotten the news that Kat got! I would have probably PB'd on my own saliva. Kat I am soooo excited for you! I am missing the trip with the Lucky#7s because I will be recovering...so you are lucky...you get to do both!

Kat - you have the perfect attitutude about being unfilled. I have been unfilled for almost a month and have lost 5 pounds. I will be unfilled until further notice. My surgery date is 7/03 but I needed to start maintaining and apparently I can't even do that unfilled. However I took the same approach that you di. I just pretend like I still have restriction. For me I actually do. I pb'd on chicken the other night. HOW IN THE WORLD DO YOU DO THAT UNFILLED!! Good luck...surgery should be here before you know it!

Good luck with this. I too work for a school district but our insurance REFUSES to pay for anything like this. So I took out ANOTHER loan to pay for this, but it will so be worth it. I couldn't have it done until July 3...but that is fine with me because I will be able to run in a half-marathon before surgery. Good luck and my fingers and toes are crossed for you!

I lost a whole shoe size and can now wear heels all day while teaching and not have my feet hurt at all. I stand on concrete floors all day and at 250 pounds...heels just didn't make it...Now I wear them all day and then go run 4 miles afterwards (in running shoes of course!) without any problem.

Totally missed the fact you made it to ONEderland. Ahh..chalk it up to delusions after running. CONGRATS! THAT IS A HUGE ACCOMPLISHMENT!

I lost all of my weight being what most people would consider "very loose" After my first fill I never really tolerated them again. I would get fillled, and then would have to be unfilled because I couldn't eat. For me the only way this was going to work for me is if I changed my lifestyle. I don't eat any of the crap food that I did before. I am a rule follower by nature so when my doc gave me the rules...I just followed them. We are highly discouraged from drinking anything with calories...so if it has more calories than crystal light...I don't drink it. I don't drink with my meals, and I EAT very healthy foods. At some point (and this is going to be hard to hear) you just have to stop making excuses for why you are doing something. I was sitting on the couch one day (and I had already lost a fair amount of weight) and I said...that's it...no more excuses. For me it was the exercise. That was what I had made the excuses on. So you have to have that day. You have to make the committment to yourself that you will not make anymore excuseses. Once you do that, it actually becomes a lot easier. Then no matter how loose your band is you have taken control. I have been unfilled for over 1 month now and have managed to lose 5+ pounds. It is the mind that we have to tighten (and that comes from within!)

I know that .1cc can make a huge differnce. I always went in and got an unfill if I had pain when I ate solid foods. Unfortunately for me I had a 6 hour drive EACH way so sometimes I had to suffer for longer than I wanted just because of logistics. However, if you are having heartburn and pain when eating, I would suggest an unfill. I know a lot of people will tell you to stick it out if you can get liquids down, but my doc is pretty firm that you should come in and have a slight unfill if you can't EAT real food.

My signature used to say 160 goal...lighter after TT. No I think I am done. I would love to get to 145 and have a normal BMI, but I am not trying to lose weight any more. If it happens it happens. I know that I am going to lose more than a few pounds with my TT. The average is 6 pounds...mine will be more I think. Goal after surgery is 150 and I will do what it takes to get there, but I think after they remove the skin that there will be no work on my part. My doc estimated 10+ pounds coming off in surgery! So basically everything at this point is gravy. I know how much I need to exercise to maintain and right now I am doing way more because I am in training. There is a huge difference. Exercising to lose weight, exercising to maintain weight, and training take very different approaches mentally and physically. I will lose more weight (hopefully not too much more) between now and my half-marathon. Then after I have recovered from the TT I start training for my Eugene Marathon. At that point I will probably drop weight again, but it will come back once I stop. My DH doesn't want me stick thin and I will respect that. I am healthy now and don't want to risk going too far the other way. I think I babble a lot but essentially it boils down to this...right now everything is gravy...after surgery I want to be below 150...beyond that...its gravy!

Now I have said this more than once, but today, in my scientific endeavor, I discoverd just how mental running is. I set out to do 4 miles today...which I accomplished quite easily. Then I decided that I was going to walk 2 miles because it was nice out today and I figure my legs need the miles. But after walking about 3/4 of the first mile I decided I would run back. Now I had not mentally prepared my self to run another mile today. SO 20 steps into the run...I stopped. My brain decided since I had not thoroughly informed my legs that I would be running an additional mile, that they did not have perform their duties. WHEN THE HELL DID MY LEGS JOIN THE UNION OR GET A LAW DEGREE!!! Seriously I couldn't run. SO from now on I just need to REALLY think about what I want to run so that I can give them "proper notice" so that they don't revolt! I finally know what those ultra union teachers feel when they have to work outside their contracted hours. (As you can tell my teacher's union pissed me off today! Whole different story). Well I am going to bed so that I can get up and work "outside of my contract hours" tomorrow. I swear if I hear that phrase one more time...INHALE....EXHALE.. okay better. Night all!