shellyj.

I DONT KNOW EITHER AND I ALWAYS THOUGHT (sorry caps) it was a bunch of hoooey till it happened to me once. michelle

But I still beleive in a very tight band, with Protein and Vitamins, and being able t0 stop eating when your band gives you the signal toavoid pbing, gag, choke, get food stuck thus your not abusing the band and end up loosing it. (I CAN DO THAT..i prooved it long time now) I know its not the right thing to do..but i dont care! All i want is to NOT be 400 pounds, ready to die anymore! People dont have to eat solids to survive. I wont die, after 100 pounds,,,maybe, I'll get a new attitude. definately move more... YOUR band will not ever give you a signal that your full unless you eat something that will actually STAY in your banded area. you are filling your bottom stomache you should be filling your pouch. i would challenge you to eat SOLid protien at night. if it has to be junk try fried chicken or chicken nuggets. that discomfort you feel THATS the signal that OH my pouch is full...better quit eating. eating things that will slide through the band is EATING AROUND THE BAND. i am by no means perfect or even close. last night i had a MUNCHIE night..i had a dinner at 6 pm but worked till 3 am. needless to say i got hungry again. i ate 10 ritz crackers, a pice of zuchini bread, handfull of jellybelly's and a cup of ricemilk oh and 1 oz of beef Jerky. if i had just ate a leftover pork chop i coulld have saved myself a couple hundred calories. i hope i didnt sound to harsh before. please dont give up. i TRULY think a unfill is needed. michelle

nykee, megan has given you EXCEPTIONAL advice. obviously you dont want it you are determined to fail. i think your band sounds to tight if you are restricted to the point you are only able to get down "milk, juice, soup and mashed potatoes,& cheatoo's" then you are to tight youd need to be eating solids. at least a piece of fried chicken would fill you up. "The calories in milk, juice, soup and mashed potatoes,& cheatoo's my band allows at night is too much to cause weight loss" maybe you should just get unfilled and save yourself the anguish. WHEN YOU ARE READY TO MAKE THE CHANGES YOUR BAND WILL STILL BE THERE.

it sounds like a seroma, which is Fluid build up from surgery that doesnt absorb back into the body. it eventually ruptures or has to be drained by the dr. my fiance had it. he was put on anti-biotics for it and had to pack his wound 2 times a day. try not to get to freaked out, your body needs the energy to HEAL! these things do take time. my fiances seroma went on for 3 months. be patient and be diligent and super carefull when you clean it. definitally call your dr to see if he did a culture and if your not on antibiotics ask him WHY! (fiances was from plastic surgery, he was cut from hip to hip. the seromas can happen with any surgery) please keep us updated with what you find out. i'll be thinking about you and hoping for the best.

hey everyone! i just was online checking in and decided to say hi! things have been really busy for me! i worked my but off all summmer! i then went on a three week vacation to visit my family and friends. calvin brought his parents to TN to meet mine. we had a blast! but now its back to reality. back to work! bandwise...i wish i had better to report. things have been ok. i have had a few unfills and refills. the latest was a refill under flouro. thankfully my band hasnt slipped and shows no sign of erosion. the dr gave me a fill and i asked him to take out .1 from that, just for good measure. then went on my way. i seem to be good so far. going slow on liquids. so i see that lisa's got a new job!! i was a 'suprise lady' for 3 years so i need to email you! i hope all you oldtimers are doing great and newbies make sure your reading the old posts too! i keep waiting for things to slow down so i can read up on how everyones doing. i did peek in the photo thread and had to look at EVERY ONE again. its a powerful lil post. michelle 8-18-03 current weight unknown but my 16's wont quite button

hey megan, penni and betty! i promise to post my wedding pics...but it wont be till next june! babs! it was great talking to you! i hope you can get out this way or the next time i am in vegas maybe we can meet up! michelle

i was just in Foley last month on my way to gulf shores! i left the sunday before Katrina hit. i hope you all faired well. that area still showed quite a bit of previous damage. it'll be nice knowing when i am on vacation next year theres a local band dr.

HEY MEGAN! lol...its life i guess. they always said if you get to where you cant keep liquids down get an unfill ASAP. i have always done that. my dr (TN) thinks if you dont need atleast .2 then you dont need a fill. so i went in once asking for .1 and they gave me .3...no wonder i ended up to tight! i told them i would PREFER to pay 150 a shot and get .1 fills then to get overfilled again! just be careful with the fill amount. dont let them give you more than you think you need! i am a little gunshy when it comes to fill amounts. it just SUCKS to have to start all over from getting to tight. YES PROPER RESTRICTION IS THE KEY! michelle

i think re: it being a bulemic behavior depends on WHY your doing it. if your doing so that you dont ingest the calories then yeah sounds like bulemia...(regardless of if it goes down or not) if your doing it because of the pain or your pouch is full then i dont think it is. i know when i was really tight i could take a sip of a shake and that would start filling my pouch with 'slime' once it was full i knew i was either gonna forcefully PB and everything would come out or i could lean over the sink and *try* to burp (or flex those muscles) and all the slime would come out. if i waited for the pb i would lose the slime but also the sips of the protien shake. to me it was less stress on my band to lean and burp or DU (lol). i always worried that maybe i was making it a habit. like the easy thing to do if i got in a little pain. i dont think i was. i am not doing it anymore, my fill level now is resticting me and making me chew but i havent thought about the urps since my last unfill. (i have since been refilled) bobalooey, i dont think anyones intentionally *trying* to do any damage. my dr told me that i could have any food i tolerate so how would you know what you tolerate without some experementing. michelle

"It's like realllllly bad PMS, where I know I'm being mean . .. but don't seem to care." LOL (i am pms'ing now!) take those walks! walk your heart out! i LOVE taking a walk to clear my head and think things through. it is theraputic. not to mention it will build your stamina and tone those legs! if you feel like your gonna bite someones head off...take a big swallow of water! michelle

its only been 6 days. i would call and make the appt. BUT make it closer to the 14 day mark. sometimes fills 'kick in' a week or two later. i know they get expensive, i have had roughly 15-20 fills and unfills..at 150 a piece thats pretty pricey...not to mention i have had 2 under flouro. i would rather get MORE SMALL FILLS than be aggressive with them. once you get close to restriction the TINIESt amount will make a huge difference. the road queen brings up a great point! you are already eatin 1/3 less of what you were pre-op. that sounds good to me! ps...when i was at my perfect level of restriction i could eat bread, Pasta and all meats. its all in how you CHEW! good luck!

hummmmmph...why am i not surprised?????

hi! you could also have just gotten tighter from say a cough or sore throat even allergies. you could have also ate something that got lodged in your 'opening' causing you to swell some. i wouldnt speculate cause you'll find out for sure tommorrow! i have gotten to tight, to the point of not even my own saliva going down (2 times from a cold/cough, 2 times from getting overfilled) and i never slipped or had erosion. *fingers crossed* please let us know what you find out! michelle

hey vines, thanks good to see you to! hey kathy, yep thats me. there is a lot to plan! since i would rather splurge on the honeymoon i am doing all the planning alexandra, hey good to see you! your avatar is GREAT! i HAVE been off having fun! i have picked up roller skating! calvin and i walk 2 miles a night around our neighborhood a lot of nights, trying out new restaurants and whatever else comes up. i am still working from home and LOVING that! HEY VERA!!!! you look so cute too!!! how are things for you? 169!!!!!!! HOT DAMN!!!!! michelle

if you dont have restriction you get another fill! your dr should be going up in small increments till you reach restriction. you can also get a fill under x-ray (flouro) then your dr can 'see' everything. if you are self pay they are like $700. i just paid for one because i have had so many to tights and to looses. good luck! michelle

hey lisa! glad to hear about your new business venture. i was a 'surprise lady' for 3 years and had a BLAST and got paid doing it! moving to a new area i decided not continue for now. i dont know the town well enough. *high card* we sold some 'playing cards' i would explain that the cards showed full frontal incase anyone didnt want to participate (it just helped to build anticipation) then you just draw for the 'high card' quick and easy...although when you play this game do it while your going through the 'bath and beauty' stuff. the ladies will be preoccupied with the cards!!!! more to come... gotta do a site between replies! michelle

june 24!!!! we are gonna do it up in the mountains here in WA. we are putting in a offer tommorrow on a few BEAUTIFUL acres in the mountains...its like national forest! its perfect and will be the perfect spot to get married at! i love your avatar! you look great! michelle

of course i dont mind donali!!! and i saw where you joined the other site just so you could post a reply! how sweet. funny i was actually emailed that i should post a 'engagment post' on that site too. i have just been so busy i havent been posting much anywhere... vera...to answer your original question i am moving at the end of this month! 4-1-05!!! well thats the day calvin comes in town (i'll get to meet penni since she flies into nashville about an hour before calvin does!!!) and we are leaving that monday bright and squirrely! my grandmother is coming down to meet calvin. michelle

hi guys! sorry to not have made the post here. i changed my password to my screenname here and didnt write it down. i havent had much time to give online so i hated to post it and then not be able to reply to everyone. i came in to work today and had an email that ya'll found my post! thanks everyone for all the well wishes it really means alot to me! anyway heres the post and a link to some pics http://www.picturetrail.com/imafiance we havent set an official date or anything we talked about spring of next year... hi everybody! sorry i have been absent...i have been in WA visiting my sweetie and just got back sunday night! i have also been busting my butt with work...even though i am no longer an employee i am at work today but freelance rates are great!! i am moving in 10 DAYS!!!!!!! anyhow...about the title in my post...YES its official i said YES to calvin when he asked me to marry him!! he REALLY had it planned to a T. he sent me on a treasure hunt picking up presents and roses...it ended with him sending me to a day spa for a facial, sea salt rubdown and massage...i was in heaven!!! after that we were going on our 'dress up date' to a fancy schmancy restaraunt which was really romantic! then calvin surprised me and told me we had a suite at the hotel! when we went into the suite he had me wait in the bathroom for a sec while he got things ready...lighing candles...anyway he led me out into the room where he had 3 dozen roses...and tulips, and lillies and daffodils (all my favorites) it was GORGEOUS!!! he also had godiva chocolates for me and wine...he also set up the video camera (i thought he wanted to be frisky so i gave it a cleavage shot and asked him if he was trying to get me in the sack ) then he gave me my 4 'treasures' i picked up on the all day...the first was a pic of my brother (Will), the second a pic of me, the third a pic of the virgin mary, then the 4th a pic of him...he lined them all up and they are...will michelle mary calvin!!!! i got teary eyed when i realized what he was doing and he got on one knee and asked me!!! i said YES!!! ohh ladies...he did good!!! REAL GOOD!!! my ring is GORGEOUS!!! princess cut, platinum!!!! i cant wait to show it off in VEGAS!!! michelle