OnMyWay2Fit

Hello fellow bandsters.I was banded three years ago in December. I have had no regrets and very few problems till now. For some reason ,nothing but liquids want to go down. Not even a protein shake/ smoothie. This has been going on for about 5 days. HELP!!!

Thanks, My problem is that since my banding, the surgeon has moved to another state. I had traveled 3 hours to him before and now he is over 6 hours away. I will look to see who I can find around my area. This is the only problem I have come across in almost three years. Keep up on the good work you are doing. Isn't it great to feel so much better than you did at 365. It changed my life.

I had some port pain after surgery for about a month. It felt huge.I actually thought that the bulge was a hernia, because I was lifting things I wasn't supposed to too soon after surgery. Boy did I feel stupid when I found out it was the port.:cursing: As I lost the pounds, the bulge went away.:thumbup:I can only feel it now when I use the stomach muscle . When I get filled , he actually has to push down on it quite a bit to fill. It doesn't hurt. It is definitely not noticable to any one but me and maybe my husband. It feels about the size of a golf ball cut in half.

I went through the whole hair loss thing for a couple of months. Boy was it scary. I didn't think it was ever going to stop. IT DID. Now it is growing back great and it seems to be growing fast. The protein and boitin did do the trick. Protein is sooo important in this weight loss journey. The doc said I depleted my protein store . Not enough of it was also causing me to get light headed when I would stand up too fast. I guess it has something to do with the protein helping your your blood stay where its at and not want to drop when you stand too quick. ANYHOW. GET YOUR PROTEIN.

I would love for my mom to be banded.!!! She is 58 I am only 39. I was banded on 12/26/07. I love my band. It has changed my life in soooo many ways. My mother shares somewhat in my happiness. My family health history was one of the main reasons for me getting banded . I wasn't diagnosed with diabetes yet, like my mom. I didn't show signs of heart disease yet, like my mom.. I was still able to enjoy my children and I will be able to enjoy the grandchildren I hope to have someday, unlike my mom. All these are things that are affecting my mom now. She has missed out on so much that even I didn't see, because I was right along side her obese every step of the way. She is gaining weight faster now than before my surgery. She said that seeing me go through the changes would give her the encouragement to lose some weight. Instead, we go out to eat or we go to a family picnic and she wants to finish my plate. HELP.! She is only 58 and I want her to be around for a long time. She has the money to pay for it. I am afraid to say anything else to her about it, because I don't want to push her away when I think I could help soo much.

I live in a ranch style house, but when I would go to my mom's I dreaded going up her 14 steps to use the bathroom. I haven't noticed the crunch for a while so maybe its gone. I will tell you that I voluntarily push mowed my back yard and had no problem whatsoever with my knees. That is something I would have never tackled before. I wouldn't have had the energy to do it before. I wouldn't even wanted to be seen doing that before.

Try going to search and type in shopping list. That really helped me out before my surgery.The list includes things you would never think of.

I was banded 12-26-07. I have had 4 fills. I cancelled and rescheduled my next one because I think I may have gotten to that sweet spot.I had very little restriction all the way up to my last fill. At that point I had a total of 6.5cc in my 10cc band. This last time (@ 7 weeks ago) he only added .5cc(Total 7cc.) I did not know if I was going to be able to handle that last fill. It took a good 3-4 weeks before I could anything thicker than a smoothie to go down. I am actually going to ask if he will remove half of the last half he added. I am very tight in the morning which makes it hard to get in all the vitamins and nutrients in the rest of the day.I guess it is different for each person. These little problems would still not prevent me from doing it again. I have 76 good reasons to keep going as I am. GOOD LUCK to ALL!!!!:thumbs_up:

I never would have thought I could be in ONEDERLAND by my six month Bandiversary.I'M THERE. 199 today and 6 month isn't till 6/26/08. Congrats to all on all your losses. No regrets at all. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Everyone, keep up the good work.:thumbs_up::tt1::biggrin2::biggrin::thumbup::eek:

I was so excited to respond to the thread ,that I didn't even check my spelling before I submitted the reply. Really, if you are having second thoughts, go to search and type in "second thoughts" there will be dozens of responses.Those should help you out. This forum has been more help to me than anything or any one. Keep in touch and good luck. Evelyn

The pros soooooo outweigh the cons when it comes to this drastic change yoiu will go through.You sound exactly how I felt prior to my surgery. Only a few were told.Definately not his family and I did get a little support from my side.They were mostly big and I think a little jealousy was there. I did it for me though and not any of them.I didn't want to end up with their health issues in the years to come.Now they see the changes in me. I smile all the time. I don't mind getting my picture taken. I have sooo much more energy to do things with my kids.I don't hurt in the morning. I sleep better. The sleep apnea is gone. I don't think about food all day. I don't get hungry. Little things make so much of a difference. I can go on and on. Me stomach doesn't touch the steering wheel. I can sit and cross my legs like a lady. I can feel bones where I couldn't before. I can buy clothes that I like and not just what fits. Please get rid of those second thoughts . I hope you too get a chance at a new found look on life.Before is just wasn't living.

I had my third fill 3 weeks ago. At that time, I told the doc that I thought the weight loss was slow(only 7 lbs. in the last 6 weeks). I did feel some restriction, but not too much .He added .5 to the 6.5 I already had in the 10cc band. Now even after the 3 weeks, I am having one heck of a time eating most of the time.Two spoons of mashed potatoes and I am done.About 3 oz. of yogurt and I feel like I need to PB. It hurts occasionally when my vitamins go down. I have dropped 12 pounds now in 3 weeks, but it sure hasn't been a comfortable three weeks. I don't know what to even attempt to eat, because it hurts so soon after. Then there is other times when I can eat a pack of crackers with no problem, or a bowl of popcorn with no problem. IS THIS NORMAL????? Should I wait till I go back in three weeks. Will it get easier in a week or two. Should I go back to the doc before my next scheduled visit and get some removed. Let me know what you think. This is the first problem I've run into and I will admit it scares me a little.

kari68, You just helped more than you know. I should have read everyones reply before my last post. I did not realize that there was a difference in restriction at different times of the day. It helps.I don't quite understand why this is so.

I have not been getting my protein like I should. The protein shakes just won't go down in the morning. Slimfast is thinner ,but I even have a hard time with that.None of these problems started till my last fill. My morning coffee even feels like it gets stuck. Later on in the day the restriction doesn't seem as bad but it hurts to even eat things like applesauce or jello. I just don't know if this is normal or if I should make an earlier appointment with my doc. I understand that this is a big metabolic change, but my first 19 weeks went by without a hitch. Why now? Am I doing something wrong?

I was banded 12/26/07. I started losing my hair in early March. The doc said that I had depleted my protein store. ( Any extra that I had stored is gone now too). He said I needed to get more than what they recommended after surgery. When I was able to eat more regular foods I wasn't drinking protein shakes as aften and that is how it happened. About two weeks after I started back on the shakes and started taking Biotin, I noticed there wasn't as much hair loss. Now it is growing back fast and thick. My nails are growing like crazy too. Good luck . Remember protein, PROTEIN, Protein and then some more protein.

I haven't been back to the forum for awhile. It's nice to hear that all of you are doing so well. I have noticed a few things. My shadow is about the same size as my husbands (was 50% bigger last summer). I had to get my wedding rings resized because they were spinning on thinner fingers. I too notice my collar bones stick out. I had never even seen my collar bones before. I also have some decent cheek bones. The big lumps on me sides are actually my hip bones. I didn't realize how high they were. My pants always rested on the roll around what I thought was my waist. Isn't it great how the small things can make such a difference? I am not a teacher like a lot of you. I am a school bus driver .Since my surgery , a few of the teachers in our district are now thinking about it. GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF YOU IN YOUR WEIGHT LOSS AND LIFE GAIN!!!

I find that the last couple weeks I have been losing quite a bit of hair, and I am starting to worry. I just started B-12 Sublingual. Does anyone know if this may have caused it or if the multi-vitamins may be doing it. I go for my second fill Monday, march 17 and I plan on asking the doc , but I would like to hear from some of you also. Please help.

On September 17,2007 I went for consultation at Barix Clinics(275 lbs.) Because I was self pay I didn't have to go through doc supervised program. I did tell them at consult about previous weight loss attempts.When, how ,why,and any progress with them?. My BMI at the time was 42. Other than that I was healthy. They said the only thing stopping me from doing it within a week or two was that I needed a sleep study done ,because I snored. I found out I had sleep apnea.That put surgery off for 6 weeks. I finally got around to surgery on December 26, 2007. Between the consult 9/17 and the surgery 12/26, I got down to 248 lbs.(lost 27 lbs.). It hasn't been 6 months since consult and I am down to 230( lost 45 lbs.)Just try and be patient, or you can always do it the self pay way. The surgery is a tax write off.By the time I write it off, I am paying less for my new life than some people pay for a new car. Good luck with the wait. I don't know where you are from, but Barix Clinics has 4 locations .Give them a call.

My first fill was a couple days ago. The doc asked many questions on how I was doing with this whole banding thing .I said I was doing wonderful. He asked if I had and trouble with heartburn. I told him no! Now I am back on regular foods and am getting heartburn almost everytime I eat. WHATS UP? Am I doing something I shouldn't be? It was my first fill. He put in 5cc in a 10 cc max band.Please give me some feedback .

When I got my first fill on 2-7-08(last week), the doc was gatting some air bubbles out as he was putting the saline in .I asked why it was so important and he said that the air bubbles will expand when you fly.So ,maybe as long as you have no air in it ,you wouldn't have a problem.Good luck.I have never had the chance to fly.Enjoy your trip.

1st is 1 year ago,(family vacation to disneyworld) 2nd is 1 day before LAPBAND 3rd is 6 weeks post op I LOVE MY BAND !!!!!!

The heartburn isn't anything like what I had before the band. I didn't really have it much before the band . When I did before, it was much worse .This is mild but more frequent. Like you said.Just after I eat,but it's gone before the next meal. It's been 6 days since my first fill. I can definately tell the difference, but I am eating fine. Nothings coming back up. Thanks for the info.

Trying to get these pictures to post!!! Everyone's pictures have been such an inspiration. Thanks to all ! 1st is 1 year before band,2nd is 1 day before band,3rd is 6 weeks out,(notice the smile.It doesn't go away anymore)!

My DH doesn't like the sudden loss up top ,but I actually am doing great with it. He will survive because all my curves are changing, and he seems to really like some of those changes:wink2:. The sagging is not making me to happy ,but the pounds coming off everywhere else is wonderful. I just think back to how unhappy I was 2 months ago, and that makes it all worth it.:frown::smile:

I am not a teacher.I am a school bus driver. I couldn't drive for two weeks following surgery. I was able to get mine done 12/26/07 and only had to take off till 1/6/08. I only had to take 3 days off. With that weekend following the three days, I had my two weeks.Our contract states that you do not need a work release to come back ,unless you take 5 or more days off. Good luck. Work with the doc and maybe they can squeeze you in during spring break. I didn't let but a couple people know before surgery, but after it was done I found that those who found out have only given me more encouragement to suceed. Evelyn