nycm00

Hey Special K.... I had a colonoscopy years ago and I hated the prep, but loved the feeling after everything was done. All cleaned out and well rested from the meds they sedated me with. I remember I slept all day after the procedure. Hope everything went well for you. Christine

Thanks Scrappy. I am really looking foward to my appt tomorrow for the fill. My husband and many friends who were with me through all the testing to find out what was wrong with my stomach think I am nuts, but I need to get the eating back under control. Thanks for the encouragement and your success is a wonderful source of inspiration. Christine

Hi guys, SO much for the 5 day pouch test, could not even make it through one day. Oh well. I am back on the treadmill today and looking foward to my appointment with the doc for a fill on Friday. I want restriction so badly! I can't believe I hae let myself gain back 16 pounds since my total unfill in March. What a mess. I just want to start losing again. I need to be able to use this tool I had installed, but right now with no restriciton I feel like it was such a waste of time and money and I feel like a failure. Well, I am up, and I am now getting on the treadmill. Chrisitne

Oh Tess......I am so happy to hear from you. I have slid down that horrible slippery slope and allowed myself to wallowin the muck at the bottom. I did decide to get a fill a couple of weeks ago and feel absolutly no difference in what I can eat....so going for a nother fill this Friday. I hope it can get me back on track. I got on the treadmill this AM and am doing the 5 day pouch test thingy.... see how this goes. Again....great to see you back! And great to see you are still losing. Christine

Hi, I know it's been a while....Glad to see you guys doing so well with your PS. I am going to schedule a fill!!! I am so excited....The GI doc says that since I am gaining weight and very concerned about that I could give it a try to help with the quantity restriction. I currently have a horrible problem with meats and hard cooked veggies or eggs....and that's with an empty band. I have to chew, chew, chew everything....even with an empty band, but I am getting a fill. If I have to eat like a bandster because of my gastric emptying problem, why not have the band help me out with quantity? So I will call today to schedule a fill and hopefully be losing again soon!! Christine

The CT of the pelvis is to look for any underlying problem that cannot be seen on the ultrasound. Makes sense, but just delays the biopsy even further. I was upset about the delay at first, but now I'm feeling much more at ease since the thing is no longer hurting me. I have this feeling it's all going to turn out to be "nothing", but can't imagine what it is. Christine

Congratulations Lynn on deciding to go ahead with the TT! Christine

HI guys....I've been MIA for a few weeks, and have just read all the posts I have missed. Sounds like many of you are doing all the right stuff to get back on track. Congratulations on the re-comittment to yourself! Scrappy, so glad to hear that your healing is going well. You are an inspiration. Amanda, sounds like the trip to Alaska and the memorial for your mom all went well. Been thinking about you. I have more issues....as Fenton so kindly once pointed out I must have been really bad in a previous life.... I have lumps....on my hips....they are weird. I felt one in the shower one day a few weeks ago and figured it was a lipoma (benign fatty lump) No biggy! Well, over the next week a new one popped up on the other side that was painfull...so I took a look at work one day. Well, it did not look like any lipoma I had ever seen and surprise, surprise there were many of them. I showed a couple of radiologists and they immediatly suggested getting a biopsy. Of course life does not move that quickly.... Now after another sonogram and consults with my doctor and another radiologist I have a CT scan of the pelvis scheduled for Weds and an appointment with a surgeon scheduled for August 3rd (masses on the hip are not so urgent). They are doing the CT scan before they will do a ultrasound guided biopsy of the largest lesion on my left hip....that's the fastest growing and the strangest looking on ultrasound. Well....it no longer hurts and it seems to have slowed the growth...all good things. The worst it could be as far as I can tell is a liposarcoma and the most likely is fat necrosis (but why the heck is the fat around my hips dying/growing/hurting?????) I figure if it's not cancer of some kind, maybe it will be one more thing to present to the insurance when I want my tummy tuck. If I have panniculitis (fat necrosis) it would be a good reson for a panniculectomy, and maybe they could fix my hernia at the same time. The stress of all this combined with my mother having hip replacement surgery and my lovely husband thinking I am having an affair (HA-HA-HA) has led me to a 13 pound weight gain over my lowest weight. YUCK! Still have a very hard time with solid Proteins (empty band) and the bad stuff goes down oh so easy! Christine

OK, OK so June 17th has come and gone and I am further from onederland than I was two and a half months ago when I was un-filled. But I am determined. I have just booked a trip to Hawaii for December. I will be under 200 pounds by then! Christine

Scrappy...so glad to hear you doing so well! Incredible! Congratulations. Harley....I can imagine there must be some relief with the decision being made. I have been trying so hard to stay happy in my marriage for so long now I can only imagine that the relief of finally knowing where it's all going brings some relief. I can imagine the other side of that is the loss of those long ago dreams. My thoughts are with you. Congratulations on the size 8 jeans! That is an awesome place to be! Potatie...have fun in Vegas!! Christine

Fenton, welcome back. I too have been on a slippery slope. I have re-gained almost 10 pounds! YIKES! This morning the scale said 222~! OH MY!!! I will get this thing back under control. I too have no restriction and probably never will, but I do have my slow gastric emptying thing going on which is sort of like a band without the quantity limitation. The bad stuff goes through so easily and the solid Proteins just hurt after an hour or so. Do you know what Dr Ren's rebuttal to my coment about soft foods being higher in fat and calories was? She told me to cook some vegetables until they were nice and soft.....how nice does that sound?....?....? Yes, she certainly knows how to shut me up. Good to see you back here. Many of us seem to have dropped off, but I really would love to see an update or two every now and then. Christine

Scrappy...I'll be thinking of you tomorrow. You will do fine, but I totally understand your fear. Gosh I was scared when I went under for the band. I will send up a prayer for you and check for a post in a few days. I wish you a speedy recovery! Christine

Amanda, I am so sorry. I know she has not been well for a while, so I pray she is now at peace. I pray all goes smoothly with the arrangements. I know how difficult it is being on the opposite side of the country when someone passes away. Huge cyber hugs coming your way. Your entire family is in my prayers. Christine BTW....I have not checked this site since my last post....which was some time ago. Glad I could be here to lend some support. I give thanks for being given the push to log on today.

Harley...your photos are great...looks like you had a great time. So happy for you. Hungry4....glad the surgery went well. I think it's great that you got a low profile port out of the deal. Congrats on having restriction again. Christine

Wow Rhonda!....Congratulations on setting your appointment. I am so excited for you and can't wait to hear all about how it goes. I hope to eventually drop these last 40 pounds and then venture into the land of plastic surgery. Best of luck! Christine

Hi Bandana, Yes, I try to get it up...with some success, but the pain continues on. If I did not get it up the pain would last even longer. Best of luck to you. I hope you don't have to do this often. If you do, maybe you need a slight unfill or to chew, chew and chew agin. Christine

Wow, sounds like many of us are going through a rough spell. Amanda....sorry to hear about your mom. I hope she is on the mend soon. As we age it gets harder and harder to heal. It really should make us all appreciate the fact that we have lost the weight we have and are way healthier than we were pre-surgery. Kerri....I too am having a very hard time right now and have no other options due to my stomach issue. I was starting to look into the VSG when I thought my issue was band related, now I know there is no other surgery I should attempt. An example of my trouble is yesterday for lunch I had 4 bites of chicken with broccoli and brown rice and was vomitting all afternoon and in pain until 11 this morning....that's with an empty band....I have only had Water to drink since then and a Protein shake this evening. The broccoli was too hard and I guess I should stay away from the brown rice (FOREVER!!!). I can eat Cookies, yogurt and ice cream all day...junk goes down and stays down. I do OK with salads too as long as it's just chopped lettuce and grilled chicken (very small pieces) It's like having a band without the quantity limitation (I miss that). Penny...glad you got your fill and are back on the losing side of things. Christine

Shamrocks Friday Weight In - May 8 permalink aJoneen.........................+1 75 pounds lost! Bandana....................... 0 92 lbs lost BrandNewLisa............0 80pounds LOST forever!!! evelas5000...................-1 50 pounds Lost Desdemona...................0 Fenton...........................0 100 POUNDS LOST !! HarleyGirl....................0 85 pounds LOST! Hopeinapril................. .0 55 pounds lost! Kpodski......................... -4 Lynnt1215.....................0 NurseNiki......................0 Nycm00........................ -3 Potatie............................0 132 POUNDS LOST!! Scrappy_Friend........-7 160 POUNDS LOST!!!! SpecialK........................0 102 GONE forever! Sugarbean....................0 117 POUNDS LOST !!! Sharona.........................0 stellabella......................0 75 POUNDS LOST! Tess415..........................0 Thin2bme...................- .4 100 POUNDS LOST!! WestCoastMom............0 Wishin4...........................- 4 82 pounds gone!! So glad to be able to post a loss. I really am having a hard time staying on track. I would really like to make my short term goal of being below 200lbs....not sure if I can make it. This head stuff is horrible. Add to that the fact that my band has been empty for 5 weeks and it is making me miserable. I can do this if only I would eat right. I WILL DO THIS!!! Christine

Hi guys, I have not been on in forever. Banded March 2008....I am currently un-filled and not sure if I can ever be filled again. GI guy is recommending a band removal due to mild gastroparesis....stomach does not have good motility. Anyway....will meet with the surgeon later this month to discuss the many, many questions I have. (I think the GI guy is being a bit agressive in his diagnosis) Does anyone know of a good behavior modification therapist on Long Island....preferably in SuffolK County? I live in Sayville and could use some help since I can eat way too much right now and do not want to gain back the weight I have lost in the past year. Good luck to all! Christine

Quite here. Hope things are going well for everyone! Christine

Congrats Rhonda! I cannot even imagine being able to be there. You are doing awesome! Chrisine

Harley, I've been wondering how things were going. Have a great trip! Christine

Carrie...those automated systems are soooo annoying. Even waors are the voice activated ones...the kids always seem to be overheard screaming in the backround better than my prompts and it takes forever to get the point across IF I even make it that far. Sorry to hear about the stress. My stomach problem (gastroparesis) will not go away...it's a worsening problem. I find it so ironic that I had a band placed around my stomach to help me lose weight and now I have a problem that will eventually do the same thing. It could take years and years, but I will eventually be very thin....like it or not thin, on a soft diet or liquids. Hopefully I am talking about YEARS and YEARS down the line, but I just find it very ironic. The gastritis will come and go....hopefully it won't come back for a long long time. Christine

OK, so the results are in. I failed the one hour part of the gastric emptying study. I passed the two hour at the upper range of normal and the rest was fine. The GI guy has had me stop the Omeprozol I was on for the gastritis. (OK by me, I am no longer having those symptoms) The Omeprozol stops the acids in the stomach, since my stomach does not move the food through, not having acid there to help the digestion begin, might have been adding to my pain one hour after eating. It's been 2 days of no Omeprozol and I am feeling better. If the gastritis flairs up again I will need to take more, which may start a viscious cycle. Hopefully it will be a while before I have a flair up. GI guy says many small meals throughout the day is the way to go right now. I don't want to take the meds to speed up my stomach, because the delay is not significant enough and the meds have HUGE side affects. He suggests considering having the band removed if the problem worsens. He does not suggest getting the band filled (it is empty now....has been for a month). I will see what the surgeon says. I really would like a small fill. I can eat too much at a sitting. I really don't know if the surgeon will even consider it, but I will find out at my next appt which is not until May 26th...too far away for my liking! Christine

Esophogram does not hurt at all. It's just an x-ray where you swallow a cup of Barium and they watch it go down your esophagus and into your pouch. It takes a few minutes and is not so bad! It is a part of my surgeon's routine protocol to have one after a year being banded. Hope.....those dang carbs are horrible! Chrstine