bandster_1007

i'll work on getting that done in a couple of days. the good picture is on my cell phone, i just need to go get a sd card.

i got it cut yesterday. my hair is already dark brown, but my lady suggested that we darken it up a bit, to make it appear fuller. i can't really think of anyone whose hair is cut like mine, but i will try to describe it. she died it a neutral dark brown, then she took about 3 inches off of my length and about 6 inches on my shortest layers. so my shortest layers fall about at my face. it is incredile the difference that it made. my hair looks much fuller. and my face looks a lot thinner too. i will try to figure out how i can post a picture..i don't have a digital camera. it is framed to fall loosely around my face. the color made it really shiny too. she suggested that i use tea tree oil shampoo to stimulate the scalp. she wouldn't let me cut it off into a bob, because she said my hair is too pretty long.

are you kidding..that would look great on you now!!!! but, do you have thin hair, it looks thick in the picture. I can make my hair curly or straight with ease. i just add mouse and let it air dry it's curly, if i blow dry it (brush or not) it's straight, if i just let it dry it's wavy.

coo, i totally relate. although i've had this fill now for 2 weeks and it is not easing up on me. but the first few, well, all the sudden one day i was loose and that was that. i'm not sure why it happens so fast, but they say that the smallest difference in the stomach makes a huge difference in what we can eat. i'm pretty tight right now with my **supposed to be but not *** tom, yesterday i could only get in 400 calories, 4 ounces yogurt for Breakfast, 1/4 cheeseburger for lunch, and 1 1/2 chicken nuggets for dinner(and a donut..i know i know)...nothing else. i keep waiting for that day whenever i'm able to eat whatever, but it isn't happening yet. now this morning, i was able to eat my entire breakfast bar where last week i could only eat 3/4, but i still can't pass the 1/2 sandwich test (which means i need a fill) so... yesterday, i had a weak moment ..i was starving...and i had nothing at work to eat, so i had a donut. AWFUL. my body was trying to pb, but nothing was coming up. i'm in the bathroom drooling and coughing and choking and nothing would come up. still not as bad as the fish, but no more donuts.

i've been banded, but i've not lost a lot of weight yet, and my relationship seems to have gone to hell. i like what someone said about dealing with the demons now that we can use food to shut them up. a lot of my problem, i believe is me. i respond to things differently, and i'm just not feeling it. i think it is because i have been so preoccupied. but we don't have sex anymore..i just don't want to. when we do, soon after he says or does something that i think is stupid, so we are back to square one. also, i want to have more kids and he doesn't....so.l. if i were losing a lot of weight, i could blame it on the wls, but the fact is, it was this way to begin with. i love my husband more than i have ever loved anyone, but sometimes you have to decide what love means that you are willing to put up with. not everyone is perfect and everyone is going to do things that piss you off or hurt you sometimes, but is that worth throwing everything away? ok, so i think i just went on a rant preaching to myself. but, i have been having problems and i think it is coincidental that it comes after wls.

ok, i'm over 4 months out. i too felt exactly what you are feeling. also, i was cleared to go to mushies early. i followed the rules for the most part, but my doctor said most of the foods that you have eaten today are in the mushie stage. however, the problem with the foods you are eating is that they are high in fat and calories. take this from some one who was where you are and went to mushies early. i followed the rules the first 6 weeks, but i was able to eat 4 pieces of pizza plus breadsticks and a drink 5 weeks after surgery. more than likely you have no restriction. follow your doctor's rules on the consistency of the foods that you should eat, no one else's. but be careful that you are choosing healthy foods. it is hell, and it only gets worse, but if you can choose healthier foods and keep from gaining you will be much more happy down the road. 4 weeks post op i had lost 12 lbs, which was good. 6 weeks post op at my first fill i weighed 2 lbs less than i did pre surgery, 3 fills later, i'm just now losing weight. my doctor's office believes that if you can eat it you will, otherwise we would not have needed the surgery. although this may be true for you, you want to follow the rules as far as the consistency of the foods. if you don't you may pay for it way later down the road. as far as your food choices, you are the one that has to deal with that consequence, just as i have. personally, i have no will power, and i had a lot of trouble controlling what i ate. now i have restriction and i don't even want pizza or anything like that. so.....it will get better and it will take time, but if you are totally wreckless with your food choices the scale will show because your band is not helping you yet.

la8..thank you...my husband doesn't want any more children so..we aren't trying actually. kind of sucks when 2 people don't see the same thing when it comes to having more children. this is a great sacrifice for me.

coo, it has a lot to do with your stomach muscles adjusting to the tightness, losing some of the fat pad around your stomach (with weight loss), and evaporation within the band. my doctor says, imagine putting your finger around a sponge and squeezing and squeezing until you can't squeeze anymore. you think you are to that point, but then you can squeeze more. that is how your stomach is, it takes a while for the tissue to get to a point where it does not move around and stays tight. not to mention that each time we lose weight we are also losing the fat pad around our stomach.

i told everyone. and i regret it daily. they put you under a microscope..and then you have days where someone walks up to you and says, "my neighbor had that same surgery as you at around the same time, and he died this weekend". ...i don't want to know..and stop looking at me. (of course if i were real successful, i would probably feel different, but i am a little slow).

i told everyone. and i regret it daily. they put you under a microscope..and then you have days where someone walks up to you and says, "my neighbor had that same surgery as you at around the same time, and he died this weekend". ...i don't want to know..and stop looking at me. (of course if i were real successful, i would probably feel different, but i am a little slow).

it does thank you. and in your picture it looks like our hair is very much alike. in color and everything. however, your face is thinner than mine. guess i'll take off a few inches and see. at least if i cut off enough i can donate it.

my doctor put me on metformin, and my band doctor took me off. he said it makes you hungry. ok, so i was hungry, but i wasn't wanting sweets. now i do. i did not have any stomach problems taking it.

i had my fourth fill last saturday. i too had agreed with you on this post about restriction, but i lost it after a week. i'm over a week out now, and i can still eat very little. for instance, we had chilli for dinner last night, and i could only have 3 bites. i can eat 3 slices of pickles (the hb style slices) and i am full:eek:. i know that i will loosen up some, and i probably need to as it is very hard to get my Protein right now. but i'm riding it out for now. although the scale shows 214 today (pms), the other night i actually weighed at 206. that was an awesome feeling. i must have been dehydrated though...because i really weight about 211. it is great to finally be losing the weight isn't it? i had finally broken down and bought new clothes BEFORE i lost any weight because it was a new season and i work in an office and i needed to. i had sworn that i wouldn't until i lost weight, but i did. most of those clothes are already too big for me, and i'm finding clothes that were too small when i had the surgery are fitting or are loose!!! i finally get to feel some of the excitement. i have energy now, my blood pressure is down, i actually want to clean my house instead of sit on the couch..now it's time to exercise!!! now, we just have to find that fill that keeps us here :wub:....maybe this is it!

ok, so here it is february. most of us are 4 months out or almost. Here i am, and according to my doctor's scales i have only lost 5 lbs. (according to mine, i am almost at 17)..i was retaining A LOT of Water they day i got weighed. so, i am eating less, i have had 4 fills and i have 7.8 cc's in my band. i keep having people tell me that the "band does not work" and most people don't lose their weight, etc. i was feeling fine, but today, i'm kind of bummed. i need some of my fellow tens to remind me that it is ok, and it just takes a while. is anyone else in this month losing slowly too? i am following band rules minus the exercise, but my doc says that i should start losing from just the surgery soon. he says i need to exercise for my health and appearance, but that should not be the only way that i lose weight. with that said, i'm going to start, i just haven't yet.

i am losing slowly also, but i think restriction is key. with each of my last 3 fills i felt like i was getting restriction, but each time i got a little tighter. i was hesitant this last time about getting another because i thought i was tight enough but i wasn't. i'm not going to lie, i like being tight. but i think each person's definition of tight is different. that is why i like to follow my doctor's definition. his is inability to swallow your own saliva, acid reflux, night cough, inability to eat solids, soft food syndrome, etc. sooo...with that said, i went from being able to eat 2 meatballs and some salad to being able to eat 1 meatball. i think it takes our heads a while to wrap around what real restriction is. i think most of us are scared to death of actually eating that little, but the thing is we can survive on it...as long as we are tracking our Protein and calories. only you can be your judge as to whether you need a fill or not. you do not want to be too tight, but it may be that you need a little more restriction. but, you are not alone. i've discovered already, that if i lose my restriction, i am not going to lose, and i'm slowly figuring out where that needs to be. i currently have 7.8 cc's in a 10 cc band, but i will be getting another fill in a month, because i lose restriction after 2 weeks (this one may be a surprise, but that has been typical). and the only way i realize that i lose restriction is by tracking. suddenly i can eat more calories than i could before, and that means i need a fill (assuming i am choosing healthy foods).

thank you all for your replies. i am feeling much better now. you are all right, i need to be tracking, and i have to start exercising, if not for anything else, just for the stress. sometimes, it just seems so hard because i am so slow. but i'm starting to move again, so...i don't get another fill for a month, i hope that i will stay tight for this period of time. that is when i get in trouble, when i'm loose and my doc cannot fit me in.

thank you soooo much!!!! i needed to hear that. GUESS WHAT!! I got my 4th fill Saturday, and i'm down to 211!!!!!!! i've not seen 211 in over a year. I cna't believe it. i went from thinking i'm tight (being able to eat 2 meatballs and some corn)..to pretty tight..one meatball. 3 bites of a salad and i'm full. some people don't like it here, but this is where i want to stay. you know what..it is SOOO much easier to track your food when you are actually eating less. i have to try to avoid soft food syndrome too..but weirdly i have not been craving Protein, but boy oh boy do i love some carrots and cucumbers (in italian dressing). 6 months ago if i wanted a snack, it was definately not going to be cooked carrots or cucumbers. blech!!! it would have been potato chips all the way!!!

well..i just had a fill, so i thought i would update my breakfast....no more breakfast bars.. i had 2 ounces of yogurt.

miami, the rate of loss is very individualized, and basing your expectations off of someone else can lead to frustration and disappointment, or excitement. i have now changed my goal from losing weight to be healthy to getting down to 160 and then trying to have a baby. i've only lost 6 lbs according to my doctors scale, but 15 according to mine (i was retaining water on doctor day). i'm VERRRY slow, but i have not gotten good restriction yet.

thank you kana...i've been to the doctor and have since been diagnosed with pcos. i am not pregnant. now i have to try to hurry up and get pregnant.

ok, well..i am in your boat. i have lost about 13 lbs., and i swear they were all in my chest. (i'm very bottom heavy too, so now i'm starting to look very unproportional). the feel of them has changed a lot too. i had perfect ones.. (not bragging) they were full and firm and sat perky, now they are looking deflated, and slowly my nipples are starting to go south.....

today was not ordinary for me. i keep slim fast high protein bars at work for breakfast. well, i forgot that i was out, so i came to work and i had no breakfast. so i went to mcd's and i had 2 bites of hashbrown and 1/2 breakfast burrito.

wow, we are usually such a slow thread, but you guys really jumped in there and responded to me!!! thank you!!!! in defense of my doctor he did not say that i HAVE to have a hysterectomy, i should have said that. it is just what he recommends. he said one of two things will cure the problem, a: menopause or b: hysterectomy with hormone therapy and removal of ovaries. he said he can treat me with medicine as long as i like and he is leaving it up to me, but he strongly recommends the hysterectomy as menapause is a long way away. i'm definately not making any decisions now though. i've seen a lot of people on here who had significant improvement with weight loss and that is what i am hoping for. thank you all for recommending an endo. i will look into that, but right now i've had my fill of doctors. i think i will take this metformin for a few months and see how i'm doing then, if i'm not getting the results that i want i will contact an endo. thank you again...all of you for your fast and supportive response. i was depressed last night thinking that this was kind of rushing my plans and forcing me to make a decision early, but right now, i'll just wait....i'll leave it in god's hands. although i would like to get off my bc. and really leave it in god's hands :biggrin:

well, i had a big spill in here a few days ago talking about how i had all the symptoms of pcos. well i went to the doc yesterday, and i do. unfortunatley. he put me on metformin and will put me on spirole (?) for hair growth in about 6 months unless i have lost enough weight to stop the symptoms. he recommends that i finish my family and have a hysterectomy. Has anyone else had the recommended to them? He told me that i may have to use fertility drugs to conceive. he said there is a chance that i will not need them as i already have a 7 year old (which he said was nothing short of miraculous that i had sex and there was good sperm in the 48 hours out of an entire year that i could have conceived. so, now i know why weight loss is so slow, but i'm not going to give up. maybe the metformin will help..who knows.. now i'm trying to decide if i want another baby or if i want a hysterectomy..that seems so scary to me I'M 25.

i would do it again, but sometimes i wish that i would have opted for bypass, as i have not lost much weight. however, check back with me in a month or so, and i'll probably be singing a different tune.