Sunta

Hi Everyone, Well it's been a busy week this week. I had a sedar to attend in NY at my husband's grandmom's house, and then tomorrow I have to cook a sedar for his parents, and then on Sunday, we're going out to Easter dinner with my dad! Ugh! So much food! I have been sooooo hungry this week and even though I have a little restriction, I am starving all the time! The scale is not budging at all. I have been going up and down the same two pounds for about five weeks now. It's soooo frustrating! No real weight loss since two weeks after surgery! I am getting really discouraged. I wonder if I call my doctor if he would put more fill in before my scheduled appointment four weeks from now. This hunger is driving me mad. I am glad I haven't gained, but every moment is a struggle to not eat. I am very angry that despite watching my calories and going to the gym, I'm just not seeing any movement on the scale. It's so annoying! I don't understand why I'm not losing if I'm counting calories and exercising. Maybe I need to drop to 1,000 calories a day, but at that level I'm way too hungry and can't even sleep at night because I'm starving. Sigh.

I think that "eating less and exercising more" is absolutely true and would do the trick. When I say I have the band, I then have to explain what it is because people always ask, and it takes a long time to explain. Seems the band is a bit complicated to understand for those who don't have it! Or, you could combine Jonathan and Jack's answers and say you are having a torrid affair with Romanian triplets and the four of you do lots of cyrstal meth and ex-lax...

I already posted about my first PB, but I wrote this story for my husband and then decided I just had to share it here: It was a warm and sunny day. A perfect day for eating sushi, in fact. I pulled up to the Palm Market and, braving the thunderous and tremendously annoying construction noises taking place on the street outside, I went in. I raced to the refrigerated section, only to find it devoid of the sweet and salty ocean nectar I have come to know and love as my own personal ambrosia: sushi. So I asked the dude at the counter what the deal was and he told me it would be delivered momentarily. I stood around like a lone weirdo and pretended to look at some magazines near the front of the store. (Katie will have a silent birth! Angelina devastated as Brad leaves her alone in Paris!). Finally, a dude comes in with a large crate. From the looks of him (Japanese) I could tell he was my man. I raced behind him, drooling and rubbing my hands together as I tried to suppress my moans of impending pleasure. After he finished putting out the glistening and just-made jewels of tender delicious morsels, I quickly made my selection: a California roll/tuna/eel/salmon/shrimp combination. I had no inkling of my impending doom. Late for work, I raced to the car, almost giddy with delight. The previously mind-scrambling construction noises sounded like a symphony written just for me. Strangers smiled as if to say "have a delicious day!" and all was right with the world. After arriving at work, I tried desperately to keep from eating (I had just eaten a bland but protein-rich Zone bar), but just one hour later I broke down and retrieved my little tray of heaven from the fridge. My first bite was transcendant; California dreamin' complete with life-giving avacado and the precious crunch of cucumber. Mmmmmmmm... I tried to eat slowly and carefully, but things were just going so well... Right after I finished seven of eight pieces, and before embarking on the pure joy known as shrimp, it began. Pain like a knife, a heart attack, and a fire all rolled into one sliced through my chest. My eyes started watering and I broke out in a cold sweat. "Oh shit" I thought, as I slowly got up to go to the bathroom. I paced the bathroom praying feverishly for whatever was stuck to go down. I guess God is off today, because the horrendous pain continued for several minutes. Growing desperate, I suddenly remembered the advice of my fellow bandsters to sip on some carbonated soda to try and unstick a stuck object. Thankfully I had some Coke Zero in the fridge. I grabbed it and went back into the bathroom. I took a tiny sip. Immediately, I felt scores of air bubbles rising into my throat. "Oh good" I thought "I'll burp and everything will be ok". HA! Instead of burping, I bent over the toilet, and like a cat with a hairball (or an alien performing some kind of mating ritual), I began to produce crystaline slime that dripped from my mouth into the toilet. I stayed like this for a while, as my chest felt like it was being ripped in half. Finally, in an almost anti-climatic (but totally not anti-climatic) moment, I produced the smallest, almost imperceptible burp, and with the burp, I released very gracefully and elegantly, a giant premordial otherwordly glob of slime. As if in a movie where a ghost gets trapped in someone's body and is expunged as a whirling cloud of plasma, the blob (which was so impressive that it really should be considered its own organism) plopped into the toilet and immediately formed what looked like a tornado, with a huge base at the bottom and a vortex with a hollow center, reaching all the way to the top of the water. I was so stunned at my ability to create such an object that I just stood there staring at it for about five minutes. It stood suspended in the water as I imagined the house from the Wizard of Oz caught up in its center. I tried to identify the offending food, but all I saw was some swirls of diet cola, much like the dark dust that whirl up into an otherwise white twister. Oh, and a couple particles of chewed-up rice. So massive and unique was this byproduct of my lunch, that I actually considered rushing to grab my camera phone and taking some pictures to commemerate my first bandster upchuck. Then I figured that that would just be over-the-top disgusting. Regretfully, I flushed the toilet, and watched as the seemingly living cloud of mucus slid away from my vision forever. Now, I have only my memories. And a really sore esophogus.

I would really really love to chat any time. I'm on east coast US time. I wish we could make it a regular weekly thing...

When I was on full liquids, butternut squash soup was a staple. My favorite was Trader Joe's, and I would add in one cap of red wine vinegar and some garlic powder and sea salt. Yummm....

Just a thought: I do wish that docs would put more emphasis on counting calories. I mean, they say keep meals to a cup, but what if it's a cup of brie cheese??? Well, then I would be taking in 802 calories in one meal! If I did that with some similarly high-cal food three times a day, well, then I would not lose any weight! Now obviously, I would never eat a cup of brie cheese, but the docs never even mention calories, and I think calories are very important. I'm counting and do much better when I stay at lower calorie counts like 1,200 or under. I could very very easily exceed that by eating foods with mayonaise, cheese, nuts, cream sauces, etc. Maybe some bandsters who aren't losing are eating small portions, but are eating foods that are too calorie-dense? I just wish a greater emphasis would be put on it. In other news: I'm up to 45 whopping minutes on the treadmill!!! I can't believe how quickly my body is becoming better conditioned! I also ate my lunch today with NO chest pain! Thank god! It took me one full hour to eat half of a turkey sandwhich but it was worth it. I also treated myself to some fat-free chips and a weight watchers (itty bitty teeny tiny 80-calorie) cake. It was a great lunch and I'm still full almost two hours later! So maybe my restriction really is kicking in like it should! We'll see if this full feeling holds up for two more hours. I'm aiming for a small meal to keep me full for four hours. We'll see...

WOW!!!!!! I am soooo inspired!!! I pray that I look that AWESOME when I lose 55 pounds! It's a tremendous difference! Congratulations!

I think a hard-line policy is good or otherwise the board would be too full of advertisers. I would however like to know if we are allowed to add a link at the bottom of our posts to the companies we work for just in case someone here would need those services (for example; I work for a Web design company and heck yes I would love to be able to let people on here know the info just in case they need a Website!) if we are allowed to do this, how do I do it so it appears on the bottom of my posts? I think I have seen some other people do this...Thanks!

Oooooh my. Well I posted earlier about that horrible pain in my chest when I eat. Well, I was eating sushi today (I know... the rice is probably a bad idea!) and I guess I got overconfident toward the end (all had been going well up until the very last piece) and I took a bigger bite than I should have and... OWWWW! Oh my God the pain! I got up and ran to the bathroom and paced around for a while in horrible pain, praying whatever it was would come unstuck naturally. Well, after a few minutes, it was just excruciating, and I started panicking and sweating. I remembered I had read on here that taking a few sips of diet coke could help dislodge stuck food, so I got my Coke Zero out of the fridge and had one tiny sip because I was desperate. Immediately, I felt a bubbling and gurgling in my throat, as if all big burps were gathering there, but not coming out. After just a couple of seconds, I leaned over, and let out a nice petite little burp, and, almost effortlessly, a HUGE glob of some otherworldy material came up and into the toilet. Once in the toilet, it formed what looked exactly like a tornado; a vortex with a large base, and a tube with a hollow center that extended from the bottom of the toilet to the top of the water. I've never seen anything quite like that actually! It was quite impressive. Immediately after that, I felt five large air bubbles escaping and let out some big burps, and that was it! I tried looking into the tornado/mucus vortex to see if I could see what had been stuck, but all I could see were a few chewed grains of rice, nothing else. WOW! I can't believe how niave I was because I honestly thought I would never PB because I never vomit. HA! Here I am not one week out from my first fill and boom! Well, so now I'm initiated, aren't I? I don't know if I'm totally unstuck because my chest still hurts a little bit, but I think the worst is over. Well, now I for sure my band is there! No more sushi for me for awhile! It's weird because just this morning I ate a Zone Bar and it went down perfectly, and morning is usually when I get the chest pain. I guess I'm on to liquids and mushies for a few hours now!

Michelle, glad you made it through ok! We had some hail the other night here in Philly but of course nothing like what you went through! Tammy: Mmmm chocolate! Maybe it's a good thing I PB'd for the first time today and my chest hurts, or I would want to eat a big piece of cake right now! Nanster: glad the scale is finally moving for you! JanetC: Congrats on keeping up the exercise! Ms Vicki: How are you feeling now? Any more PB's? I just had my first one today!!! Well, ok, so now I *think* I have restriction, mainly because it HURTS SO BAD if I eat too fast or take too big of a bite, and as I mentioned I had my first PB today (I posted a full, gross description on the general discussion forum). HOWEVER... I am still really hungry and not full/satisfied with small amounts. I PB'd, but I'm hungry! so yes I'm "restricted" but not getting full on small portions. Also, my weight loss is totally non-existant! That scale has not budged more than two pounds in five weeks!!! UGH! It's so frustrating. So now I'm faced with not only pain when I eat, PB'ing, but also, no weight loss! It sucks! Also, I go to the gym just about every day, and on days when I don't go, I walk alot. I'm up to 40 minutes on the treadmill with a "2" grade and have increased my speed to 2.2 (up from 1.8). Now you'd think 40 minutes on the treadmill 4-5 times a week would do something on the scale, right? WRONG! I hate hate hate getting on that scale and seeing the same weight all the time! I have GOT to take JanetC's advise and get a tape measure! Oooooh, so how long do you guys think I should stay on liquids after my PB today? I've read things on here ranging from no liquids to two days of liquids after a PB. Suggestions? This board keeps me sane...

Hi! I had my first fill this past Wednesday. At first, I had no restriction. Then a few days later, something strange started happening. Maybe this is "first bite syndrome" or something, but recently when I eat, I get a horrible (like, I start sweating and my eyes start watering and I my heart starts racing) pain when I eat. It is right in the center of my chest. I don't want to call it a "golf ball" because having a golf ball stuck in my chest would not hurt as bad! Rather, it feels like a charlie horse, right in the middle of my chest, and it burns. I can almost feel it coming on like a cramp and I think "oh no!" as it slowly but surely creeps up. Yesterday was the worst! I started eating a chicken sandwhich (though it has also happened with eggs) and it was so bad, I had to get out of my car (I was parked) and walk around the parking lot in severe pain. Finally, I heard a loud, large gurgle as a big air bubble escaped my throat in a burp, and suddenly, the cramp released and I felt much better. So, my question to you is: is this simply "gas"? Is it esphogeal spasm? Is it "first bite sydrome"? Is it all of the above? Oooooh man does it hurt!!!

Oooooo I am soooo hungry!!! What gives? I was LESS hungry before this first fill! I feel like the fill switched on my appetite 10 times more than before! Is something wrong with me? This morning I had almost an entire egg and bagel sandwich (I stopped myself from eating the entire thing, but it was hard!) and then just now I had like two full cups of hot cereal (oat bran) and I'm still starving! I have LESS restriction than before! I have 1cc in a 10c band. Hellooo... WHAT IS GOING ON???

I started out thinking I wasn't telling anyone but my husband and best friend, and little by little, I told EVERYONE!!! LOL! I have a big mouth. Mostly everyone was supportive. Some people did associate it with the bypass and everyone who I told said some variation of "I know someone who died getting the bypass". I had alot of explaining to do about the band itself. Once they understood, they were alot more supportive. The only really bad experience I had was with my cousin, who looked at me like I was crazy and said in a really nasty tone "why would you want to do that?" and has not spoken to me since then (three months ago; prior to that, we had emailed every day!). So, do be prepared that some people might flip out about it, and if someone is really emotionally immature like my cousin, they might even get really angry (for what reason I still don't quite know). It's funny, the people who I thought would be the coolest were not and the people who I thought would be upset were the most supportive! It was really weird. Good luck with whatever you decide.

I never had a bad experience going under anethesia. Once they put the mask on, I didn't know a thing until I woke up. It was fine, and I'm sure it will be fine for you too. Everything is so advanced now, that the chance of anything being unpleasant is slim to none. You'll be fine.

I gained about four pounds when I started solids, and have lost two of those. I have only lost two pounds total in the last four weeks despite watching my calories and exercising. I have lost 20 pounds all together in seven weeks from surgery.

Hi, I think it's pretty common to go through a brief period of depression after any surgery, but it's usually transient. I did but now six weeks out I feel great; no depression issues at all. I also am on Wellbutrin and find that it is fantastic. You may want to check about upping your dosages during the period right after surgery, if you are not already on the maximum dose.

I'm only on my first fill and I have no restriction, so I'm not speaking from experience, but I do know that in the morning, all of my body is kind of swollen. Like, my rings are super tight in the morning and my ankles are a little swollen and my face is puffy. Could it be that our insides get swollen too and that's what causes morning restriction? By nighttime, my rings are loose, my face is not puffy, etc. Just a theory...

Hi Guys, So I had my fill Wednesday and this morning I went and got an egg sandwich on a bagel. I was planning on eating only like 1/4 of the bagel in small bites and like half the egg. Well, I polished off the entire egg plus one half of the bagel plus a few bites of the other half and now I'm struggling to not eat the rest of the other half! I'm not full AT ALL! ARRRRGGGHHH! I know sometimes it takes fills a while to kick in, but what am I supposed to do in the meantime? I am soooo disappointed and was really hoping for good restriction and thought I would have some because I could feel Water gurgling through more slowly and last night I had some air bubbles in my throat like when I first had surgery. I was so sure I was going to get restriction. I am so bummed out! I'm back to struggling just like before surgery, trying not to wolf down enormous amounts! This sucks! I guess I have to go back to trying and struggling to count calories and starving all the time. UGH! I can't believe that after my fill I could easily eat an enormous egg bagel! I am soooo frustrated...

I was allowed to eat tuna salad during my mushy phase and regular fish during my "soft solid" phase.

A friend of mine gave me excellent advice. She said "now that you're eating so little, make sure everything you eat is as nutrient-dense as possible." Those words really stuck with me. Vitamins, minerals, and amino acids fight off bacteria, viruses and infections. Without essential nutrients, our body's immune defenses are way down, leaving us vulnerable to attack. Mcdonald's and Subway do not serve nutrient-dense foods. The foods they serve are laden with preservatives, salt, and fat (even the "healthy" things like low-carb wraps are laden with preservatives). I agree with everyone who suggested a holistic approach here. An anti-candida regimine is always a good thing as well as nutritional supplements. I would start with a high-quality multi-vitamin from a trusted shop like GNC or vitamin shop, and then add in flax oil, garlic, immune-enhancing herbs, and probioitics. Along with that, switch to organic foods and eat well-balanced meals. Try a vegetable supplement "green" powder in your drinks to ensure you're getting your veggies in too. Diet is very powerful when it comes to health so don't overlook its power. Keep us posted!

Hi everyone! Here's what's happening: I went for my first fill yesterday!!! It was soooooo so easy! He put in some lidocaine and said it would "burn like hell". I was bracing myself and really nervous! Well it burned for a moment, and then it was fine. He then took a REALLY long needle and, after feeling for my port, injected 1cc of fluid in to my 10c band (holds 4cc of fluid). I didn't feel anything at all. I then sat up and drank some water which went down just fine! I am to be on liquids for 24 hours and mushies for 24 hours and then real food! My 24 hours of liquids ends at 4:00pm today and I can't wait to have some mushies to see if I have any restriction! At my weigh-in I had only lost 2 pounds in a month that really sucks but I'm attributing it to adding in solids and the weight that comes from the food in the colon. I'm really hoping I get restriction after this fill but I can go back for another one in five weeks if I don't. The doc was 100% fine with my having started mushies and solids early (five days early for mushies, five days early for soft solids, and four days early for regular solids) and said "look, if you're starving, you have to eat!" Also, BIG news about carbonation!!! Now, this came from the nurse who works the front desk, but she was also the one who told me to start early on mushies and solids which the doc was fine with. I had forgotten to ask him about carbonation, so when I went to the front desk to make my next appointment, I asked her why we weren't allowed to have it. She said "just because it can cause gas". So I said "but what if it doesn't cause me gas, can I have it?" and she said "Yes". And I said "but will it hurt the band in any way?" and she said "on no! Not at all. Most people who have the band do drink some carbonation. I'm not supposed to have it either" (because she had bypass) and she held up a big bottle of diet pepsi! So I said "Well, the thing is, I had champage and I was worried it would hurt my band" and she said "oh no, don't worry, it's fine. Alot of people drink it. You'll be fine." So... YIPPEE!!! Now, I know it's not the doc saying it, but I'll take it! I just went out and got a delicious Coke Zero!!! Yummmmm! Tammy: How's the Benefiber working for you? Nanster: I feel your pain on the slow weight loss!!! I only lost two pounds this month! It will get better! I believe it's our bodies adjusting to solid food and also just hanging on stubbornly after losing quickly in the beginning. I think it's going to be a long journey, but we will get there! JanetC: thanks for the first bite rules. I've been having horrible pains (even without any fill!) upon my first few bites. I must remember to sloooow down and I'm also going to try the hot drink. Everyone Else: Love you all! I'm so glad to have such a wonderful group for support! Have a pain-free, PB-free, low cal, high nutrient, delicious day!

Aaah this sounds so familiar. I hit my six week mark and was allowed to have normal food (actually I started normal food four days early). I went to a rib joint, of all places, and ordered a combo rib/chicken platter intending to eat just a little bit of it. It tasted soooo good that I ended up eating four ribs, a corn muffin, some green beans, a couple bites of hubby's chili, and a few bites of chicken (I didn't have a fill at this time). Well, I was soooo stuffed I thought my stomach would burst open. I became nauseated and had to take anti-nausea medicine. I got a horrible pain on my right side where my band is, and I basically had to lay down and not move the rest of the night. Lesson learned! I've now had my fill and from now on, it's slooooow eating and listening to my body! I don't want to go through that pain again...

I am soooo tired of hearing "this is dangerous" and "that is dangerous". A few months ago they were trying to say Tylenol could cause deadly liver failure. Well I'm sure it could given the right circumstances, but I've been using it for 30 years with no ill effects. Then they tried to say that caffeine could cause deadly heart arrythmia's. The media just loves to scare people; it's the media's pasttime much like knitting or stamp collecting. I have been guzzling 60 + ounces of diet soda (containing varius sweetners; aspartame, splenda, sacchrine) a day for over 25 years, and so far, so good. I've also swallowed gallons and gallons of chlorine while swimming every day for 16 years, and so far, so good. Now, will these things eventually kill me? Maybe. Will pollution eventually kill me? Maybe. Will Tylenol eventually kill me? Maybe. Will coffe eventually kill me? Maybe. Will saturated fat eventually kill me? Maybe. The point is... who cares! I want to live my life, enjoy my life, and go when it's my time to go. If we worry about every little thing that "could" or "might" kill us, then we wouldn't be able to leave the house! I believe 100% that I have a much, much higher chance of dying in a car accident on any given day than I have of dying from ingesting Splenda. Now excuse me while I go guzzle down my Splenda-laden flavored water. Yumm....

Oh boy, I could have written this post! The second I started solids, I gained four pounds, and there I have remained for weeks! I go for my first fill tomorrow and am hoping it curbs my appetite. I had been eating 1,200 calories a day, but when I gained the four pounds, I kind of got mad and started eating a bit more. I still haven't exceeded 2,000 per day, but I"m soooo hungry (I think from starving myself with liquids for a month!) that it's not easy to control my intake. I have high hope my first fill will cut the amount I can eat. Hang in there; it's a long process but it will be worth it in the end!

My true love is the person with whom I have the most in common in the world. We like the same shows, the same music (he told me the week after we met that when he finally found a girl who loved his record collection, that would be the girl he married), and have the same sense of humor. That being said, my true also has his own personality, his own life, his own interests, in which I don't share, and vice versa. I let him have his life and encourage his interests, just as he does mine. We do alot of things seperately as well as together. I think I really "knew" it was right when we would stay up talking all night and then still have more to say in the morning. I think it's really hard to relate to someone who does not share any interests, and yet not stimulating enough if someone does not have their own seperate interests too. A requirement I have for love is that the person is as smart or smarter than me. I want someone who is well-read, well traveled, and who has alot of strong interests and passions. I like being able to call my husband up with a question I have, and know he knows the answer. At the same time, I love that he has eclectic interests and tastes. I love coming home to find my husband watching intellectual shows just as much as I love to come home and find him watching the "E True Hollywood Story of the Saved by the Bell cast". My husband is my perfect soul mate, my best friend, and is unconditionally supportive of me at all times. I think the bottom line is that he really "gets" me, more than anyone in the world. He knows how to make me feel better when I'm down, knows what to say when I need advice, and lets me have the space I need to truly be my most authentic self. I love being able to forward my husband a news story or video clip and know he will 100% understand why I sent it, why it's funny/sad/meaningful to me. I love the feeling of being so completely comfortable in someone else's presence, which is a feeling I feel with no one in the world but him. I love the little things he does for me like bringing me surprises from business trips he's taken (one time he actually packed a Chicago-style hot dog and ball park beer in his suitcase and flew with it home to Philly for me because he knew I would love it!) He knows what to get me for Christmas, he inspires me to be a better person, he anticipates my needs and what's important to me. Gee, writing all this, I hope I'm as good to him as he is to me! The main point is, don't settle, Make sure your love is all of this and more. That "one" person IS out there for everyone, it's just a matter of finding him/her.