orea15

Shrinknme, thanks for sharing your doctor's comment. It makes perfect sense. I guess we need to find a middle ground between gulping down chunks of food and chewing it to mush.

I think it is a miracle I haven't been gaining more than a few pounds with the hunger level I have. I am avoiding sweets and most simple carbs and really trying to limit my calories. Today I took a leaf from my old WW days and made a pot of vegetable (zero point) soup. This one is mainly cabbage and onion with a can of beets chopped up and thrown in. I seasoned it witn a combination of beef and chicken soup bases and 1/4 teaspoon of gumbo file. I invented this soup in my teens and still love it. I eat a bowl with a half cup of cottage cheese in it. Yum! When this is gone, I'll do something with the other half head of cabbage. Since filling my pouch with solid food isn't working these days, I'll do this for the moment to help myself cope. So far today it is helping me keep the calories down. I go for my second fill Thursday. We'll see what happens then. <crossing my fingers> Best of luck to all of you. -- BTW 20 pounds in 3.5 months is great, right in the 1-2 pounds a week zone we are supposed to be able to do. Believe me, I would take it in a heartbeat and be down on my knees in gratitude.

I justify my LF popcorn as an aid to regularity. :-)

When I click on Chat, the page does not come up. ??? Weird.

That is their fill policy. I won't give up, I'm just having a rotten week. There is a lot of stuff going on here in my usually tranquil life and the only bright spot right now is that the stress may tighten me up for a few days! Don't worry, I'll get past this. Quitting is not an option.

I have had one fill that I had to wait 8 weeks for. My next fill is early next month. I knew this would take time, but I didn't know they would effectively undo all of my hard work getting my appetite to settle down and leave me worse off than I have been for a long time. I thought I would be able to continue my weight loss efforts that took off over 50 pounds this year, while I waited for my fills to kick in. I'm really feeling frustrated.

Count me in. I have lost almost nothing since surgery. I have been ragingly hungry since they put me on 2 weeks of sugary Optifast preop. I had my hunger down to normal levels before that, but it took me about a year to get there. So far this has been a huge step backward for me. I'm working like the dickens just to maintain. I really hope another fill or three make a difference because otherwise this has been a huge mistake for me.

Glad it went well for you!

I had my first one on the second of this month. I did get a numbing shot. I could still feel it, but it wasn't a big deal. I think what really might cause a sting, is if saline were to escape the port and the salt would sting you. I have had this problem occasionally when donating platelets.

Two things: You can put more than 10 cc in that band The more fluid in your band, the less it takes for a fill to make a difference. Sometimes only a drop or two will make the difference. So, don't worry... :-)

It's really a minor thing. Don't worry about it :-)

I waited around for a half hour then closed it down.

The chat room is open!

So true. I just returned their chicken soup flavor and they sent me my favorite, the French vanilla. It is lots cheaper online than at my local drugstore.

a) If he really loves you he will understand -- your body is your container, not you! If he doesn't, kick him to the curb c) If he is in our age bracket. he'll likely be sagging a bit, too. (Hopefully not where it counts!)

Funny, I almost added that my rings are worth much more than I paid for them! LOL I like to pick my own pieces and tell DH what he got me.

I think it is wonderful that you are being so good to yourself. Nothing to feel ashamed of. Good for you, in fact. I have some very nice pieces ofjewelry I rewarded myself for, when I hit my WW 10% and 50 pound marks in 2000. They still mean a lot to me. I hope I become a clothes horse, too. Orea

I'll try again. I've never had this problem before.

For some reason clicking doesn't let me enter. Grrr.

Congratulations to both of you!!! :regular_smile::thumbup:

I'll try to be there. :-)

I like this idea. I'm pretty flexible re availability.

I remember waking up in recovery and wondering what the hell I did to myself. Fortunately, I had been hanging around bandster forums and lists so long that I was able to smile at my own words and know I was right on track emotionally, because everyone feels that way from what I hear. I felt good by day 4 and pretty darn good on day 5, but I needed extra sleep for several weeks.

Nanirose, were you given any nausea meds? Are you still taking a narcotic pain med that might be making you sick? Mine did. Call your surgeon and talk it over. I got two different nausea prescriptions, as the first one didn't do it, but I had to get off the strong pain stuff to get my nausea under control. (Liquid Tylenol for adults turned out to be fine for my needs.) The worst will be over in a day or two. {{{hugs}}} Orea

Miralax is shockingly expensive. I tried a half dose at first, but I found that didn't do much, as it is very gentle. They do say it can take three days to um...work. So I don't think you have anything to worry about re the endoscopy. I got into a real post- band pickle because no only was my dist suddenly very different and Fiber poor, but i was also taking a couple of medications for "overactive bladder" with a side effect of constipation. Let's just say that fiber supplements, Raisin Bran, and Miralax were not enough for that situation. I had to take myself off the meds to get things moving again. Now I am very cautiously adding back the meds in a gradual way to see what I can tolerate now that I am on solid foods and back to my high fiber ways. Good luck! Orea