toni_o

as many of us do, i'm working on learning how to eat with my band. so far, i've been successful with dropping weight--60 pounds in 2 months! :biggrin2: sometimes, though, i eat too fast. when i do that, i get the awful pain in the middle of my chest. with the pain, comes slime and occasionally vomiting. :cool: i vomited a little tonight, and afterward, i've got a bit of pain under my ribs on my left side.:tt2: i've sent an email to my fill nurse because i've heard how bad it is for us to vomit. deanna (the nurse) said she's a quick responder to email, so i expect to get a response tomorrow, but i'm still a bit nervous.:eek: also, has anyone noticed how hard weekends are? i do great during the weekend...every meal planned. the weekends, i sleep later, have a tendency to graze instead of eating real meals. time to translate the organization to the weekends, i guess! :mad2:

lily, that sounds painful and kind of scary! i'm glad you see your doc today. i'm not good at eating slowly either. now that i'm on regular food--i'm one month post op today and my doc has a quickly progressive plan--i've gotten uncomfortable a few times because i've eaten too fast. part of learning to eat with the band is eating slowly enough to recognize the signals of 'satisfied'. i have trouble catching it...mostly because i'm used to eating until 'full' not 'satisfied'. maybe we should both see if putting the spoon/fork down between bites will help? i go in for my first fill today...and i'm excited and nervous!

congratulations, big d! your progress is inspiring! i hope you're doing better after your bout with gout. (had to indulge the rhyme!) toni

it sounds like we're all just getting started...and can be great support for each other. yay us for our progress so far!

at 1 month out, i still have some discomfort, especially if i bend too much--or if my cat steps on my port incision (well, that's pain, really, not discomfort). the thing that gets me sometimes is that i'm still tired. my energy doesn't go very far. it helps to remind myself that even though the surgery was easy (short, out-patient), it was hard on my body. are you experiencing that? toni

you asked about hormonal issues of weight. i have hypothyroidism, and a slooooooooooooooooooooooooooow metabolism. i wanted gb or the sleeve because of the rapid weight loss. i wasn't eligible for either one because i have celiac disease (i can't eat anything with wheat, oats, barley or rye--anything with gluten). because i wasn't eligible, i embraced the option that i was eligible for--the band. so far, it's been good. the recovery is much quicker. normal activity returns quickly. my family is thrilled that i chose the band over gb because of the reduced complications. they're also about as supportive as a woman could want. that's how i chose. btw, i'm self-pay.

hey now...i've been here! (j/k) :biggrin: i agree that it seems slow lately. i'd like some folks to talk to! i've been posting without much response. am i that boring? lol :smile:

funny that i haven't thought about mini-goals...my dad was a master at them and did his best to teach me, too! lol :biggrin: my history is strong for weight loss. i've never had a tool to help me keep it off though, so it's not been maintained for more than a few months. so i've dropped 42 so far. my next mini-goal is -50. then it will be -75. i'd like to be at -100 by june, although that may be more than i can manage. i'm going to stay faithful to my eating plan and exercise... when the weight has come off in the past, i was not able to get below 250 lbs. less than 200 seems like a dream. i wonder what i will look like...what size i will wear, how i will feel. thanks for letting me share the journey with you!:smile:

gibson, it's a good thing you found your way here. your sense of humor is just what we need!

hi gibson! hi john! i live in burien, which is a suburb of seattle. i'm a social worker, and have two masters degrees. if school weren't so darned expensive, i'd finish my doctorate. i work in community mental health, and supervise a group of interns, the intake department, and a couple of staff therapists. i also coordinate the mental health contract with the county. in my free time, i hang out at home, play on the computer, listen to music, spend time with my family, read, play with my cats, do crafts, cook, and am starting to get some exercise. i'm really looking forward to having more energy! ok, who's next?

it's exciting to see those changes, isn't it? have you taken any pictures? i've dropped 24.5 inches and 42 pounds. i took a picture on 12/31/07 and one last night...and i can really see the difference. yay! it's really happening!

your time is coming up fast! good for you! it does seem awfully quiet here, doesn't it? toni o

i started at 440 in december. that's my all time high...as far as i know. lol i did the pre-op liquid diet for 19 days and dropped 26 pounds. i'm 3 weeks post-op and have dropped an additional 16 pounds. i've also down 24.5 inches. to get within 'normal' bmi, i need to get to approximately 145 lbs. during my first pre-op consult, the nurse suggested i could probably get to around 225, maybe 200. that's still considered 'obese'. at this point, i'm not sure how far i can go. i'm riding pretty high on my current success and want to shoot for the whole goal. in these three weeks post-op, my eating has been good and pretty easy. i had restriction from the surgery swelling. now that the swelling is gone, i'm still eating the way i should. i almost think that i don't need the fill that's scheduled for 2/12. i'll get it because i really want this tool to work for me. at the same time, i think 'gee, maybe i could just keep going'. oh wait...that's what got me here in the first place! lol let's all keep on keeping on. we'll get there... toni

good idea, chris! :-)

i've lost 42 pounds. i started a pre-op liquid diet on 12/27/07, was banded on 1/15/08, and have had 3 weeks of post-op eating. not a lot of exercise yet, but i do when i can. my bmi is high, so the weight is dripping off with my reduced calorie intake (approx 1300 calories per day). toni o

i've had some nsv's recently: most of my pants are too big. i can sit in my boss's chair and my hips don't touch the arm rests. and then there's a scale victory that has an attached nsv: i'm down 42 pounds since 12/27/07. that includes 19 days of pre-op liquid diet, and then 21 days of post-op eating. some--but not a lot--of exercise. i've also down a total of 24.5 inches! (and i finally resized a picture for my avatar...i can see the difference from photos taken on 12/31/07 and photos taken today.) toni-o

getting ready to join the gym as soon as i get the all clear from my surgeon. i can't afford much home exercise equipment, but i am interested in the balance ball. i'm a little nervous that i'll buy one and it will pop the first time i sit on it. do you have a balance ball? what kind did you get? have you had a good experience with it? info please!

jen, that's awful that the doctor didn't have a scale that would accommodate you! it seems like that would be one of the first things they would buy as they established their clinic. i hope your surgery was otherwise ok. you said that you're starting to lose. that's great! congrats! there's a section called 'food' and it includes all sorts of threads, including ideas for each stage of your surgery recovery. definitely worth a look! keep going...and keep us posted! toni o ps you were banded three days before me!

i bent over yesterday and i'm *still* sore! have my one week post-op tomorrow and am hoping for reassurance!

thank you for posting, dvsa (pam). i'm sorry you're having to deal with it, and i'm glad you *are* taking care of it.

i was banded last tuesday (1/15). the recovery is going pretty well, although it's pretty uncomfortable to bend over. the post-op liquid diet is a bit better than the pre-op version! i'd like to learn more about 'bandster hell'. did you have it? how did you deal with it? toni o

your first fill on thursday...wow! i'd be nervous, too. everything i've read is that the fills aren't that big of a deal. here's hoping that's true! i switched to low sodium soup because i've started retaining water in my ankles again. pacific makes a great organic low sodium tomato soup. yummmm. (i have celiac disease so i avoid wheat, oats, barley, rye...anything with gluten.) i WAY overdid it tonight...too much bending and twisting. i'm sore to the point of wanting to have pain meds before bed.

dr michaelson did my surgery on 1/15. it was easy and i'm doing well 5 days post-op. looking forward to mushies! i'm really impressed by the quality of care there...they could probably change their name from nwwlsurgery to nwwlspa!

i was just banded last tuesday (1/15). at consult, my bmi was 64. on the pre-op liquid diet, i lost 28 pounds and 4 bmi points. on the post-op liquid diet, i've not lost anything, but i know i'm moving along like i should. it's great to find this forum. as many have said, it can be disheartening to read about so many who start at the size i will be satisfied with. i used to be 5'11-1/2", and have lost 2-1/2" due to degenerative joint disease in my knees. bleh. i'd love to get some of that back...although i think it won't happen until joint replacement sometime in the future.

absolutely not the easy way out! i was banded on 1/15, and am right with you! toni