Sue Magoo

Marie: I was 324 to start, and 287 at surgery, and I got the smaller Inamed band. I'm at 219 now. I actually had some restriction before getting fills. In fact, I got stuck with tuna that was very mushy when I was on mushy stages. So, be careful. I have a friend whose son is banded. He was banded a week after me. He must have a much larger band. He's not lost as much as me - about 20 pounds behind me. I know that he can eat alot more than I can. In fact, she said he ate a steak & cheese sub the other day. It hurts for me to even think of eating something like that. I'm glad though that I can't because I would be tempted if I could. Good wishes with your small band. I love mine! Sue

Gilta: I have a hard time with Pasta and rice. They're not so good for me anyway, so bye bye rice and pasta. I have had toasted bread and that's okay for me. I don't dare try bread that is untoasted. Good luck. Sue

Congratulations Teresa! Way to go. I hope to join you in onederland in April. Please save me a spot. Sue

YoungNy: The pain is minimal. However, the fatigue is worse than the pain. I was exhausted for about 6 weeks. But, that was just me. Try to plan to "baby" yourself for a couple of months while your body is adjusting. Go to bed early, take Vitamins, get the nutrition that you need to sustain. I started a modified weight watchers type diet 3 months before surgery and lost 38 pounds before my surgery. I walk alot. My family was very supportive. I was so big I think they were just happy that I was doing something about it instead of slowly eating myself to death. I think it's the best thing I've done since I had my baby twenty years ago. I hope all goes well for you. Sue

Maryrose: Isn't it great when things get too big! Congratulations. Sue

Drs. Adam and Arthur Glasgow, Norwood, MA are great. I think they've done about 100 lap bands over the past two and a half years. They're caring, and they have great staff, and offer pre-surgical lap band seminar, as well as post surgery lap band support groups. Good luck. Sue

Squirral: I hope you get relief soon. You don't want to get dehydrated. Take care. Sue

Does anybody know where there are pictures to show the difference in the ports? I don't know which kind I have and was hoping if I could see one I could figure it out because I can feel alot of my port. Please share if you know, or post pictures of them. Thanks. Sue

Kim: Thanks for the suggestions. Sue

Sarah and Chiqui: I think I walked my ass off, literally. I started walking just a half hour each day. Now I'm up to 2 hours per day, 6 days per week. During the week I do it in four or five sessions. Three times a day I walk 15 to 20 minutes each, and during my lunch hour I walk for 50 minutes. Then, whatever's left I walk at night, or go on the dreaded eliptical machine. I got a great MP3 player - a Zune by Dell. I love, love, love it. I listen to great music and the time passes quicker. Popsicles have helped save my life. sugar free, of course. I love all of them, but especially the pineapple one's. Another trick I learned, if I feel hungry at night and want to keep eating, I just go to bed earlier than usual. Or, at least go watch tv in bed instead of being in the living room - too close to the kitchen. Another thing, I have a great Daughter. She's in college, and stays there during the week, but comes home each weekend. If she leaves any "goodies" behind I make sure that I bring them to one of my neighbors on Monday when I get home so that I'm not tempted. Those are a few of my tricks. Let me know when you develop some of your own. The more we share, the more success we'll all have. Sue

Hi: For me it was 3 months. Good luck. Sue

John: I think I might have the low profile port. I was banded last July. My port is right under the incision which is just slightly below the bottom and middle of my rib cage. I think I have the low profile port because it is very flat and it feels like it's only about a half inch below the skin. It doesn't bulge out at all, starting to get the top of my stomach flat and the port isn't visable at all, just a 3 inch scar. I hope that someone who definitely knows that they have a low profile port responds so that I can tell if mine is or not. Sue

Jen: My port is right under my large incision. I had hiatal (spelling?) hernia repair too. Fills are a piece of cake (oops, not eating cake anymore:lol:). My doctor uses a numbing medication first, then the fill. I can hardly feel it. He doesn't use fluoroscopy, just experience, and surgeons skilled hands. I was a bit stressed before first fill because of the unknown. It's so easy though, not worth worrying about. Hope yours is easy too. Sue

Hi Newgirl 07: I love thrift store shopping. I am very fortunate because we just got a new thrift store in my town last year. It is very clean and well organized. I have saved a ton of money shopping there. I'm thinking my best buy was a pair of dockers pants for $3. They looked brand new! I go every couple of weeks to check out what they got that is new. I giggle when I see the clothes that I donated there. I find alot of stuff with store tags still on them. So, they've never been worn. During the summer I go to Cape Cod. They have some of the best thrift shops down there if you're looking for brand names. Take care. Sue

Hi: You do have collar bones! You look great. I found my collar bones too. I'm melting from the head down. First I noticed that some of my chins were gone, then I noticed that I had collar bones, then I noticed that my boobs seem bigger because there's not as much fat under them. I'm hoping that I can lose some of this belly. Seems to be the worst part for me, the lower belly. Plastic surgery here I come......next year. Congratulations on your collar bones. Sue

Suzanne: I went through this tired stage too. Are you taking a Multivitamin each day? If you have issues swallowing a big multivitamin try the Centrum chewable Vitamins for adults. They taste bad but at least they don't get stuck. I think part of the exhaustion is in grieving your old eating habits. It was for me. So, eat as healthy as you can, take a multivitamin, and get extra rest. Once you start taking off alot of the weight your energy should come back. Take care. Sue

Ky: Welcome to bandland and also to this site. There are alot of supportive people here. Sue

Congratulations Purplegirl1818: Yippee! 199.0 I'm sure that Onederland is a great place to be. Please save a spot for me. I'll join you there in April. Sue

Cosmo: I've been there, done that. It can be overwhelming if you think of it in total. I tried to think about it in much smaller chunks, 10 pounds, 25 pounds, 50 pounds, 60 pounds, 70 pounds, and here I am at 105 pounds lost. I still need to lose about 55 or so, so I'm focusing on getting 45 off by my one year bandiversary, and the other ten by end of 2008. I think that starting the journey was the hardest part because I was dieting for 3 months pre-surgery without a band and I was nervous about gaining it back because I didn't have my band yet. However, I worked very hard and kept it off - lost 38 pounds presurgery. I hope all goes well for you and try to think of it in smaller chunks and then it's not so overwhelming. Take care. Sue

Msbutterkup23: Please look to the other bandsters here to recommend a surgeon that you can go and see for follow up, fills, and recommitment to your band. If you let people know where you live and ask for recommendations you'll probably be able to find a great doctor to help you with your band journey. I can honestly say that I feel like my doctor's group is part of my team for this weight loss journey. They share in my success and I feel like they genuinely care about my weight and well-being. I hope that you can find a medical group as good as mine. Take care. Sue

Lizalee: I started at 324 last April. I was banded in July 07. Today I weigh 219. It can be done! I hope to be in a size 12 for my goal weight, whatever weight that ends up being. I'd like to be in a loose 12, so I'm guessing at my height of 5' 7" that is going to be around 160 to 170 pounds, but I'll have to wait and see. I started at 26/28 and now I'm wearing 18's. So, instead of thinking of it as being 50 to 60 pounds from goal I like to think of it as I have 3 sizes to go. I think that I've been feeding on the success. I had a bad December and was shocked when I went to the doctor in January when he said my weight was up 3 pounds! My scale at home didn't agree, but I had a new scale, so I'm sure his scale was right and my scale was wrong. Anyway, I got over the shock of it, committed to another half hour per day of exercise, and now I'm down 10 pounds since 1/18. I'm sure that the fill helped, but the scare of gaining 3 pounds helped me to recommit to the goal too. We can all do it, and I think that believing in that helps too. Best wishes to you for your successful weight loss program. I've been walking my ass off - literally! Take care. Sue

Stacy: I've heard of zumba, but I haven't tried it yet. You've done great in your first five months. You can certainly do 50 more by August 1 going at the pace you have been. They say that if you build muscle your fat burns faster, so working out is probably important to keep at the pace you've been on. Congratulations on your first five months, and keep up the good work. Sue

Hi: If you don't want to count calories you could try counting weight watcher points. If you don't know anyone with an old weight watcher booklet that tells the points values, you could join just for a month or so to get all of the materials to be able to count the points. I don't actually count calories, and I think because I walk so much it's not an issue. I've been pretty successful so far. If you try to stick to eating less than a cup of food with each meal you probably won't need to count calories. Hope this works for you, or that you find an easier method than counting calories. Sue

Kristine: Are you taking really small bites, chewing like crazy, and waiting at least a minute before the next bite? Is it an issue with the quantity you are consuming? I have problems when I eat too fast so I use a one minute timer before I take my next bite. If it's not that, please call your doctor or your nutritionist and speak with them about what, how much, and how you're eating to see if they can make suggestions. Good luck. Sue

Ooops. Somehow my update from yesterday got deleted. Hope that doesn't mean that I'm going to gain those pounds back - lol!:tongue2: Name............starting#......current#.......goal#.....to go Anitak33...........245............218..........199.......19 Anna2766____.......232............226..........220.......6 TxArcher...........360............346..........345.......1 Candle.............218............209..........207.......2 chickatee..........188............179..........175.......4 Cookielover........202............202..........192.......10 cQQlgirl...........220............217..........210.......7 Faithmd............306............301.2........296.......5.2 georgiagirl........275............264..........261.......3 Hollyberries.......298............298..........285.......13 Hoppingto..........350............314..........294.......20 Irishmae11.........233.8..........234..........219.......15 Jennie1976.........290............251..........235.......16 jfran..............187............181..........177.......4 Jillrn.............176............171..........166.......5 Jsrico.............255............178..........165.......13 juliegeraci........220............220..........210.......8 KarenG.............207............191.5..........189......2.5 keekahari..........220............217..........205.......12 kjl315.............237.5..........228..........220.......8 legster............223.5..........212..........199.......13 LessnLess..........172............168.5........164.......4.5 liz_hager..........202............198..........190.......8 Manatee............188............175..........175.......0 Mandyjo............191............179..........180.......-1 metawnny...........252............252..........240.......12 MJRouse84..........274............233..........218.......15 nip50..............250............235..........238.......-3 Rainer.............264............250..........248.......2 Redtulips3.........248............231..........226.......5 RenewedHope........228............215..........210.......5 rharriet...........367............256..........248.......8 Sades..............229............199.7........189.......10.7 Skinny_Jill........195............187..........180.......7 Stacy73............230............222..........222.......0 SueMagoo...........230............219..........220......-1 Sunny112...........145............145..........140.......5 Susan4794..........240............240..........225.......15 Suzzzie............303............294..........290.......4 SWEETY.............180............174..........170.......4 Trystelle..........219............209..........205.......4 Twilight...........206............194..........185.......9 uxbus5.............240............240..........230.......10 want2lose..........236............236..........225.......11 wombat712..........154.8..........147.8........140.......7.8 One week left to go. I love my last fill! Sue