JaxBandster

Hi there! I would check some of the other threads to see how we are doing. There are a couple existing threads where we are checking in with our status. Most of us have had our first fill and some have had their second as well. 3 lbs since 3/27 isn't bad at all! The say you should lose between 1-2 lbs a week on average. I have been finding that I will plateau for three weeks, then I will have my TOM and bam, I drop that entire week. Kind of weird but I don't care how it does it, as long as it comes off. Your doctor's instructions sound correct. I don't necessarily go by the one cup thing but when it's all said and done that's usually all I can eat anyway! Tonight for dinner I had a 6 oz filet mignon with some mixed vegetables in cheese sauce, probably about a half a cup or less. That was really all I could eat. As long as you focus on your protein first and your veggies second you will do great. What I normally do is take a bite of veggies for about every 3 or 4 bites of protein just to mix it up a bit. I then wait as long as I can after a meal to drink so the full feeling will last longer. Welcome to the group!

Oh man Amy that really sucks. I don't understand doctors who do that. They give you this tool then they don't give you the fuel it needs to help you. I don't get it at all. Do you have any other options for fill doctors? I know it has to be discouraging but just keep up the good work you have been doing and hopefully the next fill will give you what you need. Hugs

Call your doctor and see what he suggests but it sounds like you may need a small unfill

Here I am! I go tomorrow for my second fill and I'm ready to have it done. I've been doing well, but feel like I am able to eat much more than I should. Today I am down 50 lbs from my highest weight of 277! My official weight at the doctors was 270 so I have 7 more lbs to lose and according to my doctor I will be at the halfway point (220) to goal (170)! I figure I should be able to get there in a month. I'd like to get there by my next fill date in three weeks. That would also be five lbs away from the lowest I ever got dieting on my own. Only difference is, this time it's not coming back! Otherwise, been being a homebody, riding my Harley, and doing a bunch of nothing. Hope everyone is well!

Oh Crystal, I'm so sorry to hear that you are going through all this. My daughter's best friend ran away for a week over the holidays. She is like a second daughter to me and I was really worried. I know she's a tough girl but she has some issues going on and I wish that she had run here but she didn't. She will come back when she is cold, tired and hungry. Believe me. In the meantime, it sounds like you did some emotional eating but I think you would have made far worse choices before you had your band. Just try to get back on track, drink Protein shakes if you get hungry, or sugar free Jello. Try to have things around that aren't going to hurt you too much if you over indulge. Everything will be okay. Hugs

I think I'm ready for my next one this Friday. I am still slowly losing but I feel like I'm able to eat too much. I don't want to be severely restricted, but I want to make sure I stay on top of my appetite which has always defeated me before. Gonna suck that I'll have to be on liquids and mushies over the weekend though! Should have thought about that when I scheduled! LOL

Some surgeons put fluid in at surgery

I also find that Dr. Cywes is very motivating. His group session with us was very motivating. There were three of us and he said he couldn't find anyone to pick on! LOL You probably got to see the liver pictures today too right? That is motivational in itself! There was a girl in our group that had a small notebook with several pages worth of questions. He took the time to answer every one of them and I am glad she asked them as her questions made me think of my own. I go back a week from today for my second fill. I can't wait!

Hah! That is way cool! What a great NSV.

What an outstanding NSV!!! I was looking at my side profile in the mirror today and thought that if I didn't have my saggy tummy and my love handles that I would actually be rather pleased with the way I look. That's not too bad considering I just started losing weight about four months ago! Guess I shouldn't complain about this taking so long huh? I think I am losing inches right now. I've noticed my watch is feeling more loose so something is happening. I've been trying to drink more Water today and continue with my yard activity. Got the weeds in the back pulled and tomorrow I will mow, etc. Oh! I do have one NSV. My husband stepped on the scale tonight and he has put on a couple of pounds since going back to work. So between my losses and his gain, we now weigh the same! For a while I was as much as 30 lbs heavier than him. Not anymore! I should mention that he has lost a bunch of weight lately and was actually losing weight faster than I was for a while. I never liked weighing more than him although it has been nice that we could share our Harley tee shirts LOL

Does anyone have the dates for their first fills yet??? Put em here. We can do them just like we did the surgery dates! JaxBandster.........................March 11th

2bemeagain I think it's better to go slow with the fills to be honest. There is less of a chance of becoming so tight that you can't swallow your own spit. I don't want to be one of those people who practically have to stay on a liquid diet because they are so tight they can't get anything down. I know it's probably a delicate balance. I don't mind being hungry every once in a while or even fairly often. But when I eat, I want to fill up fairly quickly while still being able to enjoy eating. Does that make any sense? I know one guy on another group I'm on that is so tight he can't drink for three hours before or after he goes to sleep. He can barely eat anything. He has even has the professionals on the board tell him that he's too tight and runs the risk of slippage. But that is the way he feels he needs to be to be successful. I'm quite the opposite. I wouldn't want to live life that way. I'd rather take it nice and slow, as frustrating as that sometimes is.

It is my understanding that the port is sutured to the muscle in your stomach but that sometimes those sutures come undone and that is why the port flips. You may want to verify this elsewhere on the site or with your doctor though. Definitely glad to hear that your doctor is going to do a fill at the same time! Have you heard from them yet??? LOL I'd be chomping at the bit. My doctor doesn't numb the area when he does a fill. No need to as the area is already numb from the nerves being cut from surgery. I can pinch that area and can't feel anything. When he did my fill all I felt was him pressing on my stomach.

Welcome to the group! Feel free to chime in anytime! We are all going through our various challenges together and being involved really helps.

EVERYBODY CALLS ME: Karen, (among other things depending on who it is and why they are pissed at me!) MY PRIMARY RELATIONSHIPS INCLUDE: My husband of almost six years, Grey; my 21 year old son, Cody; my 16 year old daughter, Morgan MY NON-HUMAN FAMILY CONSISTS OF: 1 ten month old Rottweiler, Annia; two fluffball cats, Stormy and Willow; and about 40 fish in a 92 gallon aquarium I LIVE IN: Ponte Vedra, FL (halfway between Jax and St. Augustine) OCCUPATION(S): By trade I'm a cash manager but have been unemployed since August. For now I'm a SAHM. AVOCATION(S): Biker (Harley Fat Bob), stock trader FAVORITE EXERCISE: I really enjoy walking but can't due to plantar fasciitis. Hoping to make more use of my pool that we built over the winter. I COLLECT: Painted Ponies, carousel horses, tattoos, handsome men (I wish! LOL)

I'm really sorry to hear that you are having this setback, but I definitely admire your attitude. A year from now, when you look back, it will be a distant memory. When I asked my doctor about what he does in the event of a flipped port, he told me that they fix it right there in the office under local anesthesia so it doesn't appear to be a major fix. Please keep us posted what all is involved in the event any of us find ourselves in a similar predicament. Good luck and we'll be pulling for you. Hopefully they won't wait too long to fix it. I would ask them if they will do a fill at the same time they are fixing it. (just for giggles and grins)

Have you had a fill yet? Why are you eating like crap? Do you mean you are making bad choices? Eating too much? Both? If you are making bad choices, you need to look into the reasons why you are making these choices. If you are a carb addict, you need to figure out a way to battle that demon. If that means therapy then find a therapist. If you are hungry, you have to make the decision to eat Protein and not carbs. Nobody, not even the band, can make that decision for you. While the band is a wonderful tool that will help you will hunger (once you get good restriction) only you can determine if you are going to make it work. I hope I'm not coming across too harsh, I'm just trying to state reality. Half of your progress will come from the band, but the other half is completely and entirely up to you. You can absolutely eat around the band and even gain weight with it. Having the band doesn't give anyone carte blanche to eat anything they want. It is up to you to make good choices and not eat crap. I hear that the Beck Diet Solution is a very good book for changing your outlook about food. It might be worth a look to see if it can help you with your food choices and your outlook in living with the band.

Lori that is such wonderful news!!!!!!! I'm so glad that everything went well and that you are starting to see results on the scale again! You and I are close in our weight. I've been dying to get to the 220's again!! I'm thrilled for you! Congrats!!!!! Keep up the great work and keep on swimming! I know I am! (even if it is upstream!)

I lost pretty fast on the Three Hour Diet a few years back. Lost 60 lbs in eight months before I fell off the wagon and started eating like there was no tomorrow again. That is why I got the band. I am a very successful dieter. I just always go back to my old ways of eating and gain everything back! Thanks for the compliment on the weight loss. It has been pretty quick so far but I lost a great deal on the low carb pre-op diet (20 lbs), the rest is post op and now is down to a crawl. Trying to figure out what I can do to get it moving down like it was before, but maybe I'm just being too impatient.

Well now you can rest easy too! The ham was okay! :thumbup:

Thanks Jack! I always value your opinion and guidance. I was actually thinking today that it had been a few days since I had umm been productive LOL Maybe some MOM is in order!!! Going to be working in the yard again tomorrow so hopefully the increased activity will help as well.

Unfortunately it has been three days and I'm still sitting around 233. Still not counting it though. I think I may be starting to get close to that time of the month so that could be a cause as well. It's hard for me to track anymore since I'm perimenopausal and it happens whenever and however it wants to anymore. I'm still having a hard time getting calories in but trying my darndest. The good news is that I still really can't eat a lot. I made a great dinner tonight and put measured portions on my plate. It looked like a lot but I could only eat half of it. 4 oz of pork tenderloin, less than a half cup of rice and tomatoes, maybe half a cup of steamed brussel sprouts. Still needed more calories but I was full. I keep forgetting to eat during the day though and that is probably my problem there. I'll get the hang of this eventually and will figure out what works.

So what happened at the doctor appt???? I feel like I've been left hanging! LOLOLOL Are you feeling any better?

I think you are doing the right thing. The circumstances of her death sound very suspicious to me. If she did finally succeed in taking her own life, her family may use the band as a scape goat in order to avoid the stigma of having a relative who committed suicide or who OD'd, etc. I've been on this and other boards for six months and have only heard of one band related death and that was due to a stomach perforation during surgery. There are thousands of people on these forums and that is the only one I know of. As with all surgeries there are risks. But I've never heard of a band related death that far out from the surgery itself. Do what you feel you have to do to lead a happy life. The rest of your family doesn't need to know.

I used to show hunters and had horses throughout my childhood and into my upper teens when I lost interest, then I got fat. I would LOVE to be able to ride again (without hurting the horse! LOL) and maybe, hopefully, one day I can. Maybe another 20 lbs or so and I won't feel so cumbersome. (And can actually heave my fat butt up into the saddle! LOL)