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coolcrystal

LAP-BAND Patients
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Everything posted by coolcrystal

  1. coolcrystal

    Where do you live?

    My dad was military, so I actually grew up in Fairbanks, Alaska there near the military base... And I even walked to school in snowboots and snowsuit... what fun.. then we moved to DFW/Texas where it rarely snows, but ices... HOWEVER, yesterday we had a snow storm and it was the biggest snowflakes I've ever seen. Even bigger than the ones in Fairbanks! And just like that, they were gone. Woke up this morning and the streets were clear and now it's sunny and almost all melted. It was fun for one day...
  2. coolcrystal

    Weird ain't it??!!

    We can eat mac and cheese???????? WOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I just figured that was totally off the menu because it's pasta.. I'll have to give that a small try.
  3. coolcrystal

    So, can you feel it in there?

    Ya'll crack me up! 6th toe~! LOL.. I wanna see! And the "oatmeal cookie.. whoops" comment...just the sound of that makes makes me feel stuck and I didn't even eat it. HA HA
  4. Just curious, can you guys really feel your band inside your belly? I sort of feel like sometimes I have that knot in my stomach like when your nervous about something?? and when I have to belch it sort of hurts a little bit.. sometimes I think I can feel it touching my back. HA HA, but I know it's not touching my back.... I mean, it's not like a bad feeling, just a weird feeling. What do ya'll feel?
  5. coolcrystal

    Banded 03/03...

    Hey there, I was banded on 2/25 and dealt with all this, only I belched all the time.. LONGGGG belches which I think helped alleviate some of the gas pain in my belly. My upper belly was all mishapen and bloated and I was in pretty bad pain for 4 solid days. By day 5 I ventured to movies.. and was still somewhat sore. By day 7 I was great.. The swelling and bloating does go down, it just takes a good 7-8 days. It will be fine next week and you'll all be telling this to others....
  6. coolcrystal

    Any ideas why my feet go numb?

    ONe of my friends had this issue as well and I found a good answer on the internet for it, but can't remember where it was. But, it had to do with the shoes and positioning of feet in certain positions like on the elliptical and treadmill... they said to shake your feet out and make sure your tenny's were correctly fit. but it had to do with positioning of feet in one position for a long period of time.
  7. coolcrystal

    List your lapband confessions here.

    OMG, everybody is cracking me up here! For my post op diet I followed it exactly until I got to day 5. It said "watery cream soups" on the schedule and I tried refried Beans for the first time.... then on day 8 it said "refried beans, yogurt and mashed potatoes" , but I called my banded friend and she said that if I wanted to try something more solid try tuna with some light miracle whip on grain or wheat crackers and mush it up really well in my mouth, So I did. I had three crackers with the tuna very slowly and it was wonderful!! Then another banded friend was like, "NO, your stomach will try to churn the Protein up and you could hurt yourself".. so, this whole time I have been freaking out since Tuesday wondering if I had a slip or something.... and scared to even eat refried beans now.. lol... but after reading all this, I feel so much better.. I will continue with the mushies until day 14 which is what he requires... On monday I will try a little more gutsy items. Oh and my big "naughty" item..... I drank half a chocolate shake yesterday!!!!!! My god, I've never tasted such a wonderful shake in my life!!!!!!! My biggest enemy before was breads... I ate so much bread a day that I can't believe I am still alive at all! since I know I can't have the bread, which was my main naughty item, I think I'll do good on this band and oddly, I still have lost of restriction right now. One of those sugar free pudding cups fills me up right now and a can of cream Soup lasts me like 3 meals... The one thing that makes me feel a little better is something my doc told me.. he said that after the first week everybody is different... what might be my day 8 might be another's day 10.. in other words, if I feel I'm ready to eat something on his schedule thats a few days ahead, then go for it.
  8. coolcrystal

    New and lots of questions

    (1) Will my Tufts PPO pay for this surgery or a portion of it - As Wheetsin stated, you'll need to call your insurance. It depends on what company you work for and what the guidelines are they require. Some require a certain BMI. (2) What is the recovery period really like - I was great by day 5 and going to the movies. Days 2,3,and 4 I was really too sore. Days 2 and 3 my hubby had to help me in and out of bed, like laying down and raising up because my stomach was too sore. Depending on your size, when I walked my belly would jiggle and it hurt. It hurt taking deep breaths, coughing, and sneezing. (3) How much are you expected to lose per month - Depending on how big you are. Most of my friends lost 10 pounds a month, but that was because they were bigger... starting out at 300-400 pounds... I think you lose more when you are bigger, but again, some might only lose 5 pounds a month.. 5 is a healthy and good amount. (4) Anything else I should be asking or - there are many questions to ask, but the first question should be asked to your insurance if they don't cover it, you need to ask yourself if you are willing to do self pay for this surgery and what are your options.
  9. coolcrystal

    So, can you feel it in there?

    The feeling is getting better now... This is day 10 and I'm starting to feel pretty normal, though I do feel the lump where the port is, but not sure if it's just scar tissue under there or the actual port; I thought it would be deeper. Sometimes I still get that "nervous lump" as I call it in my stomach, but maybe that's just when I'm full. It's pretty amazing... Only one time since being banded have I actually felt a hunger pain and that was because I hadn't had anything in hours and was really hungry. I feel 100% satisfied all the time. I hope this feeling lasts till my first fill on 3/25. I wonder what it will feel like with a fill... I wonder if it will hurt super bad when they prick me.. I hope they can find my port okay.. It's funny, before I was worrying about the surgery and now its the fill.. HA HA
  10. coolcrystal

    Post-Op 1 week, no weight loss

    Hey Denise! I think you're doing great! Plus, you are at a pretty low weight to start with. Dang, I looked fabulous at 200 pounds and would kill to be that weight again! I'm probably just losing this much a day because I have a lot of extra to lose and way more than you. I think the bigger you are at first the more you lose in the beginning. I'm sure here shortly it will start steadying out and I'll also be down to one pound a week. My big goal is to just get down 4-5 pounds a month and I'll be very happy!
  11. coolcrystal

    Hello from Texas

    Hello Texan! I'm from the DFW area! Welcome to the forum.. It has helped me tremendously being here and I hope it helps you too.. Good luck!
  12. coolcrystal

    Scar Stages Share yours!

    Thank you! I'll probably take another picture for day 14 and put them side by side or something. I had the steri strips too.. the only thing that sucks about them is getting them off... I took this pic right after I had gotten the last bit of the steri strip off in the shower... they bugged the heck out of me and that glue.. ICK. I still have pieces of it on me that I can't get off! I can't wait to see yours after you get all that off :thumbup:
  13. I've gone down a clothes size as well so last night I went to wal mart and went to the clearance racks.. I got a pair of pants for 5 bucks and a shirt for 4 bucks... Luckily I have tons of other clothes in sizes like 14-24, but I only had one pair of black pants and they were way too big for me... So, try wal mart. Oh, try Ross as well. I found an elastic wasted skirt there for only 7 bucks the other day. Size 2x.. That will fit me for quite a long time since it has an elastic waist.
  14. coolcrystal

    Scar Stages Share yours!

    Here are my scars - Day 7 (I took this on Monday)... there is actually still some like gummy tape residue on some of the scars... I can't get the crap off.. oh well.. I'm sure it will eventually wash off. There is also one little teenie scar further up that I didnt' realize my hubby cut off in the picture as it's under my sweater but its the smallest one and completely healed and not noticeable.. I feel weird posting my stretchmarked belly, which, let me tell you, the picture MAGNIFIES stretchmarks.. lol The port scar looks really huge, but it's just shy of 2 inches. ( And thanks to Losingjusme for resizing this for me!! love ya girl! ) <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p> <!-- google_ad_section_end -->
  15. coolcrystal

    Post-Op 1 week, no weight loss

    I found that on my liquid phase I wasn't consuming enough calories... like only 500..and only dropped 1 pound in two days then when I added cream of chicken soup I lost like 3 pounds the next day... now I'm eating tuna with a little bit of light miracle whip on multigrain crackers, glass of milk for breakfast, Isopure clear bottle throughout the day, some sugar free pudding... and I'm dropping steadily 1-2 pounds a day... So, I think I have to get like 1,000 calories a day to really drop the weight or else I go into starvation mode. Right now I'm averaging that... and feeling full all day long.. I feel great! Do you ever watch Biggest Loser? there was this one where the black team thought they were helping themselves by working out 6 hours a day and only eating 500-800 calories and they didn't lose anything.. Jillian was SHOCKED.. then she found out that they weren't eating enough calories.. the next week they got back on track and their numbers were amazing. So, I always just remember that episode...
  16. coolcrystal

    Scar Stages Share yours!

    I want to post my scar pic but it's GIGANTIC.. can I please send it to somebody and have them resize it? the program I have at my work won't let me resize it....
  17. coolcrystal

    A nice surprise!

    I love that bracelet!!! Oddly... my birthday is August.. my stone is Peridot... me and my husband got married on St. Patrick's Day last year and our colors were peridot and cream.... and our last name is "LUCK-OW".. Luckow.... It's nice to have supportive friends like that!! when I was recovering last week I had one friend send flowers, my work sent a plant and another sent me like a lotion set... I wasn't expecting anything, but when you do get nice surprises like that, it feels REALLY good.... Congratulations to you and the journey you are going on!! :thumbup:
  18. coolcrystal

    Sipping slowly ?

    This is good to know.. I had been wondering this too cuz i've been scared to take big drinks...
  19. coolcrystal

    29Feb - losingjusme's plastics day

    Ok, that line just made my groin quiver in pain and my inner thighs hurt.... oh and my port throbbed a little too... :-)
  20. I am sorry to hear about some twisted people doing what they did to you. I hope one day your heart will heal over these things and yes, I would definitely go talk with somebody... though, I never had what happened to you happen to me, I worry about other things happening when and if I become a more slender me. When I was between 120 and 265 I was constantly sexually harrassed by men... I remember even at 200 this one guy at work said to me "god, everytime I look at you, you make my dick hard"... I went into a conference room and cried and I remember saying to myself "how much damned weight do I have to gain before a man stops doing this to me?" I then got to 265... I thought I was in the safety zone, but no, you then just get perverted men who like fat chicks and this guy said to me at work "my god your butt is so round and juicy.. what I could do to you"....... and guess what... I gained 30 more pounds... FINALLY at almost 300 pounds men quit doing this to me.. but then I was miserable. I asked my friend why even at 265 men would say this stuff to me and she would say "because you don't look that weight.. you've always looked good for your weight and carried it well"... but the real question is.. why must men be sick dogs!!!!!!!!! not all obviously as I married a total gentleman, but damn.. these men were always married older men. And I work for a very nice corporation.. it's not like I'm working at some sex video store or something... So, my biggest worry is.. being able to handle the sick things men say... the sexual harrassment... learning to stand up for myself and say something back.... and just overall, deal with comments like those. I think I used my fat as a protectorant against comments like these from the age of 16 to a year ago when that last comment was made to me about my butt.
  21. coolcrystal

    Band Slippage

    Hi there! You might want to go back to "home" page and go all the way down to the "Lap Band Complications" section and there are several threads there regarding slippage and what it feels like and solutions to fix it like getting completely unfilled and getting on liquids for a duration, etc... So, check that section out for some helpful answers... also, you might want to get a fluro done to see it on xray.. I believe that's how they tell.
  22. coolcrystal

    After 2 weeks of preop and 3 post op...

    I'm craving those pillsbury cinnamon rolls that you toss in the oven and put the icing on... even the orange ones are yummy.. I want one of those so badly. I meant to make some before I started the south beach diet, but forgot and those are definitely not SB friendly... I've been dreaming of them and then today at work when I went to get my water some person put about 8 jelly donut things by the watering station and said "free, take one"... Ok, I've been here for 11 years.. nobody has EVER and I repeat EVER put something like that by the watering station and of course my first day back to work since being banded and I had to see that. LOL. EVIL i say :thumbup:
  23. My doctor uses a 10cc AP band and a 14cc AP band and says he doesn't use the small bands anymore. He also said that the 10cc band pretty much fits on everybody and that rarely has he used a 14cc band, but he doesn't know until he gets in there. I got the 10cc. It's only been a week, but even when I was really swelled up, I haven't had any problems with acid reflux, pb'ing or anything like that. On day 2 I did slime when I drank too much for the first time.. it was like my mouth watered and I felt like I wanted to throw up, but it passed within 5 seconds. But that's because I didn't follow the directions probably and got to overanxious to "sip, sip, sip".. I did more like "drink, drink, drink". lol. Good luck to all of you that need to have your bands replaced. I'm sorry to hear that this has happened with the 4cc bands or whichever band you have. I'm sure it's a tough thing to go through... :thumbup:
  24. coolcrystal

    I've swapped addictions...

    I haven't lost much, but my husband swears my rear is getting smaller and seemed somewhat upset about it. LOL... I'm addicted to playing with my incision steri strip tape... It's been a week now (tomorrow) and I just want this sticky crap off me.. My incisions look sealed up pretty good, so I keep pealing little by little back. My hubby has to keep telling me to leave them alone.
  25. coolcrystal

    29Feb - losingjusme's plastics day

    Hey girl!! you are looking great! I'm so happy for you.. and, I got those same socks, only mine are tan colored! dangit, if I knew they came in that purply blue color I would have held out! I kept mine.. they are quite comfy actually :-)

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