cornerdeb

Wow, you are very brave. I am glad you are trying to get healthy. I was banded December 18, 2007 by Dr. Schwartz. He is a very matter of fact kind of guy. Scott his assistant is the best, he does our fills. I like him alot. The band has done me a world of good and I have had some problems with adjustments and figuring out how best to deal with some of the problems. I am losing though and that is what I really want to do. I think I couldn't lose without this restriction, it has taken me this long at this age to lose my weight and I know I could never have done it on my own, I had tried many times. I totally understand your fear with your health problems, be careful and I will try and respond if you want to write back and forth. Best wishes

I went through the same thing on my 2nd fill. Oh my gosh I also thought I was going to die. I waited it out through the night, kept spitting in a cup. Met my fill guy at the hospital and he took what we put in the day before out. He said I must belong to the 1/2 cc group. A couple of weeks later he put in 1/2 cc and I left on vacation for San Diego. The next day I called him cause I was stuck, he talked me through it cause I couldn't do anything else and I didn't want to go to the emergency room where they wouldn't know what to do. I walked which helped the swelling go down, I kept throwing up, and took cold liquid ibuprophen, it finally opened up some, but the rest of the trip I was very very careful. I have been losing but not able to eat breakfast and lunch because of the swelling. Dinner is no problem. The band is finally starting to loosen up after 2 weeks and I am able to eat a couple of bites of lunch. I feel fine, but extra careful from now on.

O.K. so this is the answer about my morning tightness from my fill guy, he is an assistant in the docs office so I call him the fill guy. Anyway, he says I am swollen in the morning, retaining liquid. He wants me off salt or cut back. When I get stuck he wants me to walk and even take cold liquid ibuprophen (childrens). I can't eat lunchmeat it gets stuck. When I am swollen, nothing soft or things that can't be chewed all the way will go down. Amazingly, I live on tostadas in the evening when I am tight. The crunch of the tostada shell disolves and I can swallow it. The beans go down easily. I put lots of cut of lettuce and some cheese. Good stuff. Morning right now I take a couple of bites of chocolate protein bars. One bite let it go down then another bite. We've been having discussions about cold vs. warm liquid when you are swollen, my fill guy says cold, the colder the better. He says the doc thinks if you are having spasms then warm liquid. Hope this helps a little. nonfat latte, good stuff.

I don't see a big difference in either one. I drink a cup of coffee on some mornings, no difference. It all still gets stuck. About the best thing that works is walking when I'm stuck and taking some liquid ibuprophen. I am trying the "getting off of salt" and taking a diuretic. One day I'm not cured, oh man, LOL.

I went to the Dr's today and asked about the hot vs. cold water. The guy who does are fills, said that he and the doctor vary on their answer, but this was the answer. He said the Doc says if the person is having spasms then they should have warm liquid, and the assistant says that if you are swollenl you should have cold. He thinks that I have Edema and will be swollen in the morning after sleeping and not peeing. Said I need to get off so much salt and do some diuretics, natural ones. I recently was taken off my blood pressure meds which had a diuretic in them, so of course I am retaining water. He felt if I exercise more to get rid of the excess water that will help. He said try it and let him know. All of this is still being tested. I will try to get rid of the liquid and see how that works. Cranberry pills (natural diuretic) and lemonade (pure lemon and sweetner) another natural diuretic. I'll let you know how it works.

OMG I think that is so funny, my Dr's office wants me to drink cold liquids, to bring down the swelling. I wonder if that is not the problem. It does help after awhile, but I haven't tried anything hot yet when it is constricted. I'll ask when I go in Tuesday. :ohmy:

I started with a bmi of 37.4, I also have Type 2 Diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholestoral, this all factored into the approval. One knee with arthritis too. I was approved so fast it made my head spin. I am so glad, I am feeling much better, glucose is dropping and taking less and less medications, just got off blood pressure meds. Good Luck and best wishes.

I am enjoying my morning coffee each morning. I started the 1st few months with decaf and asked and was told I could switch to caffeine. I mix it up most times half and half of decaf and caffeine. I have had one beer only since banding, did not have an bad reaction. Didn't finish the beer but I never did, not a big drinker. I like wine but haven't had any yet, mostly because of the empty calories and the rest of the bottle would go to waist unless I had company. Still losing, everything in moderation.:ohmy:

Yes mam, I have been where you are and don't like it at all. I want to be off all the insulin. Seems like a vicious circle, eat something you're not supposed to have to take more insulin can't lose because of so much insulin. I am trying to get motivated to exercise more and hopefully that will help. We all need to help each other. Hearing from others going through the same problems helps me. You are not alone. Stay focused and know the diabetes is a big fight we can win. It is hard for sure, we all pray that they find a cure.

Well, this all helps. I also am one who has not been able to eat in the morning and even sometimes at lunch. By evening I can eat a decent amount. I don't like it because it doesn't feel like I am eating healthy. I have an appointment this coming Tues and will talk to the assistant who does my fills. I hadn't heard that this could be dehydration, but that makes sense. I wonder how getting hydrated could help. I would rather to have some of the liquid taken out and eating 3 meals a day at least. I am losing but it can't be healthy??

I got a fill yesterday, 2nd one and spent a miserable night. I couldn't swallow, had to keep spitting and threw up a couple of times, phlegm. I called the physicians assistant in the am and he met me at the hospital where he was and unfilled it back to where I was since he wants the swelling to go down. He said "you are now one of the 1/2 cc club members, he also said instant inflammation syndrome, haven't heard of that one. I am doing o.k. eating less food so not too big a problem, but I don't want to go through that night again. He originally started with putting 3 cc's nothing went down so he took 1 1/2 out and that obviously didn't work, so with the damage done out it came. I guess I'm on cold liquids for a couple of days to get the swelling down. any thoughts?:blushing:

Wow, that's good to know. I read most things need to be fist size. Protein first slowly to get you full, vegetables second they are good for you, and carbs last and the smallest portion is what I am doing. I have been getting my food stuck about once a week, so that surely makes me eat less. I have to jump up and down in the bathroom and hope I'm not doing any damage. Then I have to eat liquidy foods for a day. So as you can see I am eating less. My question is if I am staying under 1000 calories why don't I lose quicker, I am being patient but it is going slow. I am exercising more, Curves, and walking. Curves 3 times a week. I am hoping I will see some lower numbers soon. I got a exercise ball also, I use it when watching TV because I feel the pounds adding on when I just sit. Ladies we can do it.

I was told the same thing. And I really like drinking straight from the bottle anyway, you really do get less air. We don't need the extra air for sure. Same with straws but I don't think you get as much air in the straws. Others - I am finally able to eat a little more after my first fill. I felt the same as everyone and didn't want to eat more. But this last week I hardly ate anything and worried my body would think I was starving and not lose weight. I lost a couple of lbs, so that's good. I ate more today but not too much, got really full. I also started Curves to do some strength exercises, only went on Friday to get started. I like it, have to get my heart rate down though cause it was too high. Good Luck All.

It's great to see we can all help each other like this, I too got too much fill for my first fill. I thought I would wait it out and not go in to take some out. I called the Doc's office today and they said as long as I wasn't throwing up Not to come in yet. I almost threw up. I just don't want to go back to eating too much. They said to call tomorrow if it was still too tight. I have been eating pureed vegetable soup and scrambled fake eggs. I can drink plenty of liquids so I know I am not dehydrating. Losing 14 lbs would be scary though.

You sound just like me. I am so glad we all are in this together. I lost less than I wanted to this last month, but I know I need to exercise more. I haven't been exercising very much. I am considering Curves, I plan on going next week and checking it out. I got my 1st fill yesterday, so I am on liquids, good thing for the jump start on eating less. I don't like getting into the soft foods for the next two days, but that means Wednesday back on regular food. Good Luck all.

I got my first fill today, Yahoo. Banded 12/19/07. I haven't lost in the last two weeks and been eating too much. Didn't put any more weight on but sure wanted to lose. I am excited to get jump started again, with the liquids for a couple of days and then soft foods for another couple of days. The the mushies are not so much protein, but it's only a couple of days. It felt very strange getting the fill. I am on insulin so I am used to the shots, that didn't bother me. But didn't know how I was supposed to feel. :ohmy:Hurt my chest having the liquid in there but I guess that is the air. I can't burp at will so it took a little while before that feeling was gone. I feel o.k. now and again excited about losing more in the next few weeks. I'll have to ask at my next appointment what size my band is, I got 6 cc's today in my fill.

You are right liquids would be getting old. My coach started me on mushies after 2 weeks. The hard part for me is the carbs and my Diabetes. I am trying to eat more protein. I eat alot of soup, Progresso, takes awhile to eat it, but low in calories. I have very few problems and hope I have not caused any problems. I usually don't get full but sometimes can only eat a little. It's great to talk to people who had surgery at the same time.

:ranger: Thanks, about the doc will tell me if the band has slipped. I feel fine, but wonder how things will feel as we go along. I miss going out to eat, just for the being out part and sitting and talking. I just need to learn how to do that without wanting to eat it all. I took the grandkids out today and had a cup of Tortilla Soup, mostly tomatoes, a little chicken, good rich broth. It was pretty mushy which was great. My other treat is to go to Starbucks, a nonfat, decaf, latte. I haven't heard you can't have decaf, let me know if that is bad. Thanks everyone for keeping in touch.

That is a great idea, the small bowl, I know I am probably eating a little too much. I will start the small bowl. I was going to eat 1/2 of a baked potatoe for lunch tomorrow, but I think I will rethink that. I just had my dessert of 1 tsp low-fat peanut butter. My problem is I like variety. The Progesso low-fat soups are good and I puree them, but I am eating a cup which is about 120 calories. How will you know if your band slips?