Karen101

:lol:Yesterday I had my fifth fill to 6.9 in a 10 cc band, and for the first time, restriction. Hallelujah!!!! Now I can really get going on this weight loss journey. My symptoms are only being able to eat about five pieces of meat and I'm full, and am not thinking about food as much inbetween meals. I've been waiting for this moment from the beginning, so I hope it's for real.:thumbup:

You might want to think of it this way, seeing as you want to quit smoking anyway, use your LapBand surgery as a unique opportunity to quit your bad habbits. You are going to feel not well for awhile, so why not use this to your advantage. In my own experience in the past year, I quit my diet Coke habbit in November when I had the flu and I haven't gone back to it and I don't miss it. I was feeling crapy anyway so I used the opportunity to quit one of my bad habbits. When I had my lapband surgery in February, I quit taking sleeping pills, and have not gone back to them at all. I don't miss them. "Use the force Luke." :Dancing_wub: You deserve the best.

I'm not aware of a support group in Victoria, but have recently asked if anyone would like to get together if they live on Vancouver Island. Anyone from the mainland who would be interested is also welcome. If there is a Victoria support group, I would like to contact them, so if you are out there please let me know. Thanks.

:thumbup:If you're up for a ferry ride, the SWLC nurse in Victoria does a great job. I've just had my second fill and wouldn't have know she had done it had it not been for the sensation of liquid travelling through the tube into my band. There wasn't even a pinch as the needle was inserted. You can get her phone number from the SWLC in Toronto.

Hi To All, For those of us who live on Vancouver Island, I would like to know if any of you would be interested in attending a luncheon. The date and location would be decided by the attendees. The luncheon would be open to patients, support people and those considering banding, regardless of the clinic where you were banded, or, are intending to be banded. If anyone is interested please PM (private message) me from this list and I will co-ordinate the responses and with your help, and hopefully organize our first ever luncheon. Thank you.

I use a sports sock and tuck it lenghtwise under the girls. It works like a charm and the cotton soaks up all the annoying extra perspiration. Hope this helps.

I was banded Feb 8/08 and am three weeks post-op. I've lost 20 lbs from my starting weight and 14 lbs since the lap band. Needless to say, I'm ecstatic about my progress. Today is my weigh day.

I remember a year ago when a friend told me she was going to Weight Watchers and that she had lost some weight and was feeling better about herself. My response: "Oh, I've done that in the past and it didn't work for me, I don't do groups well." Needless to say we have moved on from friends to acquaintences, and not because I wanted to. I am ashamed of my response and more ashamed that I was so unfeeling and not able to positively acknowledge her decision to take back her life. We all have life's lessons presented to us, but what is important is what we take away from our experiences. You are doing this for yourself, not anyone else. Congratulations!

I encourage you to discuss this with your surgeon before you go under the knife and then let him/her decide what they want to do. You do not want to put yourself at risk. Perhaps you might consider some counselling to determine whether or not you are really ready for this next step in your life. It is your life and no one else can make decisions for you. You need to be actively involved and committed. Good luck with your decision/surgery, if you go ahead. Remember, everything is an opportunity if you take a second look.

Good luck with your journey. That is what we are on, and at some point we have to take control of our lives. My Lap Band was another step along my journey and where ever possible I'm taking my life back, from food, from drugs, and from places where it doesn't belong. I am moving towards a destination where I am nurtured in my relationships, body and spirit. I know, for me, this is an important spirit lifting experience, and one that I will continue to work on for the rest of my days.

For the last four months I've been getting rid of unhealthy habits in my life. When I had the flu in November I used it as an opportunity to quit drinking diet coke/pepsi. I already felt miserable so adding to my misery a little didn't seem to make any difference. With this success under my belt, I decided that when I went in for my Lap Band surgery on Feb 8th, that I would get rid of my sleeping pill and muscle relaxant, which I am happy to say are gone from my life as well. I'm getting a reasonable nights sleep and not fretting over what these pills have been doing to me. I gave up coffee twenty years ago, and switched to diet coke/pepsi, for my caffeine fix. I know this reply isn't exactly about coffee, but I wanted to share my experience with using sickness or other painful events to get rid of unhealthy habits, as an easy way to become free of them when you are not feeling so well anyway. Everything is an opportunity if you take a second look, so don't sweat the small stuff. Good luck with whatever you decide to do. Hugs, Karen PS: I now drink lots of Water, herbal tea, soy milk, and juices. I've also had to give up gum chewing. I've replaced everything with getting healthy!