travel_anna

Lets do a nosy poll. 1. What have you learned about yourself since you have been banded? I don't really enjoy food - I never did. I just eat when I am bored. 2. What has surprised you most about being banded? How much I have to chew. Sometimes I stop eating a meal, just because I am tired of chewing! 3. What foods do you miss that you can't/won't eat anymore? Sometimes I miss the taste of french fries. But I never eat them because they get stuck... 4. Do you regret being banded? No way! Best decision ever, even though I have had slow weight loss and have to be unfilled for about 6 weeks because I was too tight for a few days. 5. Would you recommend the band to anyone? ...and everyone... 6. If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything? I wouldn't have gotten such a big fill the first week of July - it only set me back for the whole month of July because I had to have such a large unfill. Really, I just needed about 0.2ml more (where I am now) and it would have been perfect. 7. Would you do it all over again? Absolutely 8. Has your self esteem improved? Without a doubt 9. Has being banded changed your personality? I have always been outgoing, and when I got heavier, that changed. I am back to the person I always used to be. 10. What do you dislike about being banded? People making comments like, "Are you feeling alright? You didn't eat much. I ate enough for the two of us."

I typically have a sip or two of water before I eat if I am out or at work. But I never drink during the meal itself and usually wait about 30 minutes after. I don't actually look at the clock or anything, I just go by approximates.

Hello all - I am wondering if anyone has had any experiences traveling to places at higher altitudes. I leave this week for a 2 week vacation and will be at altitudes of 10,000 - 13,000 feet the entire time. Right now, I have very little restriction (due to unfill after being too tight last month). I'm hoping that even if I do swell, I have plenty of room since right now I'm virtually wide open. Anyway, basically, I'm looking for people to post their experiences at high altitude. Did your band swell? Did you have trouble with more restriction? Did nothing happen at all? Anyone have experience with this? Thanks.

There is a whole forum on the pregnancy and lapband. Look along the left side of the main page for it. I'm sure you'll get lots of info there.

I take Flinstones, two of them. Works for me without problem.

Well - reading this almost makes me depressed. Everyone is talking about losing 60 - 100 pounds and I am soooooo far from that. Anyway, my goal for my 6 month mark is to be in Onederland - I started at 241, and it would give me about a 40 pound weight loss in 6 months. Right now I'm 212. I'm struggling right now because after being way too tight and getting an unfill, I now have ZERO restriction (next appt Aug 16th, right at my 6th month mark). I haven't lost anything in 6 weeks - the longer this plateau lasts, the more off track I feel like I'm getting. Surely, this weight has to break sometime soon! But, I'm trying to stay positive and eat good foods and workout. And, I leave for a 2 week vacation to Colorado to go hiking on Aug 1st - I can't wait. Surely all the hiking will help with the weight.

Same thing happened with me and my 4th fill. I tried to wait it out, but ultimately went for an unfill. By the end of the 4 days I waited, everything was so swollen, I had to take out so much that now I have LESS than I had before that 4th fill. I have no idea whether waiting it out will work for you - I hope so. But it sure didn't work for me. Now that all the swelling as gone down, I have less restriction than I would have had if I just hadn't gotten the fill in the first place, or had gone back the next day and taken out exactly what they put in. Good luck.

I would think it would be okay, but the insurance companies can be such sticklers, it wouldn't surprise me if they said 6 consecutive months. But, worse case, they don't count the April date and you go 6 consecutive from June - Nov. You would be approved then in Dec. But, I would certainly try to submit the April - Oct dates and see what happens.

I was told that you had to be in the office every month. It can be with either a nutritionist or a physician. If it was me, I'd make sure I was there every month and not every 6 weeks.

My workout schedule sometimes vaires by week, depending on how often I'm working overnights or 30 hr shifts. But as a general rule: Monday - 45 min cardio Tues - 60 min mixed fitness class Wed - 60 minutes swimming laps Thurs - 90 minutes of Power Yoga Friday - 60 minutes of eliptical and core weights Sat/Sun - either hiking or biking, generally long 2-3 hrs. Anna

Hi all - I went and had a fill on Monday. I knew I was close to that "sweet spot", but since I was still eating about 2-2.5 cups of food with a meal, I wanted a small fill. So I had 1ml added - I'm now up to a total of 8.5mls in my APS band. Well, on Monday, after I had the fill, I had trouble keeping down yogurt. I was able to drink Water and liquid without hiccups or burping or anything. Now, 2 days later, I am starting to try solids, and I am really tight. I haven't had any vomiting, but I can't eat much. For example: 2 ravioli over 30 minutes 1/2 container of yogurt over 30 minutes 1cup water over an hour. This seems REALLY tight to me. But I know in the past, after a week or two, my fills always seem to be not quite as full as I first get them. I'm thinking I should just "wait it out" and see what happens over the next week or two, to see if it loosens up, as it normally does. Does anyone else have this experience? Do you think I'm crazy and should just go get unfilled now? Thanks for any advice or stories. Anna

Hello - I have BCBS MN as well. I was approved almost immediately. My BMI was 42. I used the fact that I did 6 months of Jenny Craig last year to count as my 6 month diet. After the info session, visit with the bariatric surgeon, PT visit and one visit with the nutritionist for the bariatric surgery team I was approved. It was really not a big deal, as long as you follow their instructions. You can actually call BCBS and they will send you a packet in the mail about their requirements. There are certain "preferred gold centers" and that is where the cover more - the short list is Park Nicollett (where I did mine, Dr. Weatherille), the U, HCMC, Abbott, Unity(?). Anyway, they can tell you all of them... Good luck with your process. Make sure your employer doesn't have a bariatric surgery exclusion - if your employer has that rider, it doesn't matter what the insurance company will pay for.

Well...bummer... I got the unfill and now I have virtually no restriction. From too tight to nothing. Oh well...at least now I know that 7ml is not enough (what I have now) and 8.5ml is way too much. When I go back in August, I'll aim for a little over 7.5 and see how that goes. This is going to be a month full of determination and self restriction. I used to be able to "diet" well for a few months, but my weight loss would always trail off after that. I can do this for a month...I know I can.

Well - I went and got an unfill this morning. I just wasn't comfortable not being able to eat. I didn't go into this process wanting to be someone who could only eat 2 bites of food every several hours. I have never been one of those people who thought "oh great! I can't eat! I'll lose weight faster" - NEVER. That was never my intention with this post. I was just curious how long to wait to go for the unfill. I ended up answering that question myself... and went this morning.

This is one of my favorites. Add it to Water and shake. It tastes good (colder is better) and it gives you 5 grams of Fiber and 3 grams of Protein. I'd post a photo of it, but I have no idea how...sorry. http://di1.shopping.com/images1/pi/62/53/19/39335097-177x150-0-0.jpg

Hi again - I definitely know I am right on the edge of being too tight. I am not having vomiting or PB/sliming. I can drink liquids well and I am not dehydrated. I am more than prepared to go in for an unfill - trust me. I know very well that being too tight is not what I want. Poor nutrition, dehydration, risk of slippage and erosion. I am more than aware... I just remember from past fills that after a few days the restriction was less. In the past, I really didn't have much restriction after a fill and then no restriction after a few weeks. I was hoping that other people could share their experience with being at or near good restriction and whether the initial tightness goes down even at these higher levels of fill. If no one has felt that it "relaxed" after a few days when they were at higher restriction levels, I would go in for an unfill sooner, rather than trying to wait it out through the holiday weekend thinking it would relax some. Again, any stories would be helpful. Crystal, I agree that being irresponsible is irritating, but I guarantee you that is not what I am doing.

Ezma - Thanks for the clean food ideas. I love the idea of eating clean, although I haven't completely mastered it. Mostly because I am always overwhelmed at work (I work upwards of 80hrs a week most of the time). But, as far as eating clean, I love the cookbook "The New American Plate Cookbook" - It was put out several years ago by the American Heart Association. It is definitely the way we should all be eating, and the recipes I've tried so far have been FABULOUS! I'll try to post some recipes here over the next couple of days. Anna

I'm am debating either getting an iPod Shuffle or an iPod Nano - one of the deciding factors will be whether I want to try to use the Nike fit feature with the Nano. I would love to hear some feedback from some of you that use it - do you like it, does it really do a good job of tracking distance if you do a combo walk/run, etc... Thanks.

My four month anniversary was June 13th. I've had three fills and now have about 6cc in a 10cc band. I have lost a total of 37 lbs. Anna

I started swimming about 4 weeks after surgery. But I didn't sit in a hot tub for nearly 2 months. I had no problems.

There are several big WLS Clinic where I live - they all do seminars that are run by nurses.

Ezma - Wow! Congrats on the success so far. Love the hair cut too. Between the weight loss and hair cut you already look 10 years younger! Anna

I'm getting an award next Wednesday at work, and I have been dying to fit into this little (size 18 - little for me) dress. It now zips, but is a little snug. I'm just dying to fit into it by next Wednesday. And...as a back up plan, if I can't wear it then, then I'm aiming for July 4th.

I agree with you about long term calorie counting. I hate it. I'm refuse to be that "number crazed" person who counts everything and anything. I have been trying to just eat until I am full, and not count calories since getting banded. But, I thought for a week or so, just to break through this plateau, I would make sure my calories are right. Definitely no long term calorie counting for this chick either. Oh, and I've been a slacker on water the last 2 weeks, and so I'm going to get that up and going too.

I've been struggling with the same thing. I only lost 3 pounds in the last 5 weeks. And it is driving me CRAZY. So...I'm going to kick myself into gear. I've decided to track all my calories, write everything down and do 2 a day workouts twice a week instead of my usual one a days. If that doesn't get me off this F-ing plateau, maybe another fill in 3 weeks will help. That being said, I couldn't be more thrilled with the 40 pounds I've lost (including 10 before surgery).