HeatherO

That was hilarious. It started off being a little off kilter . . . but steadily declined from there. The comment regarding Hitler really had me laughing :0).

I go by the bathroom scale at home. It seems to be fairly accurate and I am slightly more at the doctors office. The reason I like the one at home is because I can track daily, first thing in the morning without clothing. I feel like it is more consistent that way.

Good luck and congratulations. Your 50's are going to be interesting, that is for sure :0).

Laura, I am sooo happy you got an appointment. Seeing a chiropractor has worked so well for me it is unbelievable. I would pay three times as much out of pocket just because it helped sooo much . . . and then I am good for weeks. From nightly and daily misery (where every hour seems like it is going on for a century and you can't even concentrate) to weeks without hardly giving my back a second thought. My OB couldn't suggest a chiropracter either. She said it might be difficult to find a good one who will take pregnant patients because of the risks involved. found one who has a thriving business both close to my home and in amish country where he specializes in pregnancy. I guess the amish community strongly believes in chiropractic care during pregnancy and they come in regularly whether they have back problems or not, even for infants afterwards to ease the strain of delivery. I was actually quite surprised. I live near the city and there are no amish around here, but I have seen them in his office. Evidently he is so popular, they will follow him to the city when an adjustment is sorely needed and he is in his alternate office. They hire people to drive them (which surprised me a bit because I thought if you weren't supposed to drive, you weren't supposed to ride in cars). One week he was out of the office and I really needed an adjustment . . . his partner was in so he adjusted me instead. It never relieved my symptoms, my ribs started aching, and I was back a few days later looking for my regular chiropracter. There is something to be said for someone experienced with pregnancy.

OnMyWeighDown, CincyWeightLoss does my fills. I transferred to them last year and could not have been happier with the choice. They are excellent to work with and the office staff is very responsive to email, phone calls, etc. They have even waited late for me one night for an emergency unfill. They are definitely a great choice for banding and you should consider yourself lucky for choosing them as your provider.

Accident??? Please share . . . I hope everyone is OK and it is just a little fender bender at the most.

I had this problem in the beginning and was also embarrassed about it. I didn't want to eat anywhere but at home . . . and not rush out of the house immediately after. I even found that drinking Water would cause "noises" to start, lol. Anyway, if it is any consolation, this issue went away. I think part of it was that my body got used to the changes and the other part was that you learn how to get the air to flow better without noise. That probably sounds corny, but what I mean is, I can do tiny internal burps that don't make noise but release a little air so that it doesn't build up and come out in a noisy way, lol. It is like releasing air from the upper pouch into the back of your throat in very small increments. I can't explain how to do this, but just practice trying and you can probably figure it out. Perhaps another veteran bander might like to chime in on how to do this??? I am sure I am not the only one, lol.

I agree with the general consensus. You need to keep yourself healthy and your high levels need to be addressed. No better way to do that then to be proactive. You have also lost a lot of weight in less than a year so there is definitely an impact. Have you been diligent in getting in your Vitamins daily? If so, great, if not, I would just pick up today and make sure it is a part of your daily routine. Although I know it is a little scary after losing so much, you might want a small unfill. Maybe just enough to start picking up a healthier diet but maintaining your weight where you are now. I was in your same shoes and lost the weight in less than a year and had to relax the band a little. The strange thing is, even though I was seriously panicked about a small unfill and put it off forever, I needed it and found I could maintain or even continue to lose with less of a fill. This was easy because I was just able to eat more healthy things like Proteins and veggies that didn't have a negative impact on my weight.

It is absolutely normal and most of us are like this a few weeks out. You aren't really feeling "banded" until after you get a fill or two in. However, it is still really important to stick with your post op diet now to allow your band to settle well even if you are really hungry. Sometimes if you call your doctor to let them know how you are feeling, they may progress your post op diet slightly. Good luck, and just know that this time will pass. This is the most difficult phase of banding but it wont be like this for long.

I agree that the band can feel looser as well, but it is not the band that changes it is the padding of fat around the stomach. You might just be ready for a tiny fill to tweak your restriction . . . unless you are feeling good where you are now and continuing to lose. By the way, you look fabulous in your pictures. The change is amazing.

I wouldn't stress about it at all, especially since a doctor who did the fill has already seen it, diagnosed it and said it is nothing to worry about. My son had a really bad one once after an injury sliding across a linoleum floor into the corner of a coffee table as a small child. It caused a permanent little dimple on his cheek (but placement was perfect in that it looks like a regular dimple). It was no big deal at all, the doctor really couldn't do anything for it and it dissapeared on its own.

When I am well restricted, I slow down or stop about halfway through a Wendy's chili. I can finish it off but I either need to eat it v.e.r.y slow or eat some now and some later. I think either you will have your fill "kick-in" over the next few days or you might be able to feel more after your next fill. If you can do the whole thing in five minutes, it must be passing through your band relatively quickly.

I know for certain that some people have been able to continue breastfeeding after surgery without issue. It is harder to get the calories in, but not impossible. Especially since you can take them in liquid form during the early days. If you really desire to keep breastfeeding but go forward with the surgery, you might want to consider just continuing with it and seeing how you do. You will also know closer to that time how well your baby is adjusting to solids and how dependent they are on your breasts as a sole source of nutrition. The surgery could always be scheduled and then pushed out if things don't feel right.

I think ejmdiva has a point. Banding isn't easy and you need to focus your full time, dedication and focus to making it successful. Pregnancy can also be hard (occasionally easy as well) but you are dealing with a lot of emotional/hormonal swings during that time. Most of us after banding have some hormonal balances that shift due to hormones being released that were previously stored in fat. That is why most of us get ultra bad periods and PMS in the months post banding. On top of this we are also giving up our previous long-standing relationship to food which is very difficult in and of itself. Even if you could be 100% the baby could come to no harm, which you can't but if you could, I think it would just be too much to deal with at the same time.

I was told 4 weeks.

It sounds like reflux and I had it too. It can be addressed by pillows or sleeping on a recliner or not laying down for several hours after eating. This helped me a little. The only sure cure was a slight unfill. When I am really tight, it is just easier for the food to come back up as opposed to back down.

That article was great . . . and reminded me that I need to drink my water. So for me today . . . I will drink at least 4 bottles of water as a minimum (2 liters worth) and I will log into fitday today to start charting my little indiscretions, lol. No more ignoring what I am or am not sticking in my mouth.

Awesome article and funny story. Thanks for sharing!!! You have made my day.

Lol, I understand completely. I knew it was going to catch up with me eventually, I just didn't realize it would happen all at once. We can definitely lose it together :0).

I am still laughing at that picture :0). What on earth were they thinking???

I think the thread got deleted because it was glorified spam and that is what I wrote. Too bad you missed it because you could have lost 2-3 dress sizes in 10 minutes, lol. Then the poster (only 1 post to their name) got miffed and said they were a real person and I am shallow and sent me a personalized email to that affect, unbeknownst to them their email address shows up in my email showing they are from the same company that they are not advertising for and I called them out on it. Not that big a deal, or even all that interesting . . . until luluc posts that she checked out their website and mentioned that instead of enhancing a person it looks like they are walking around with a full diaper. Not only is it ultra poochy in the back end, it is discolored, lol. It was the combo of the ridiculousness of the post with the picture of the fanny molder that gave me the giggles because luluc was so dead on. It is under fanny shaper on this page: Creative New Image - Products

I guess I am not too concerned about the post now, lol. It actually gave me a pretty good laugh where I was choking on my coffee when I looked at the website pictures. I guess I needed that today. If you are curious or need a laugh . . . here it is http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f18/weight-loss-while-banding-89434-new/

Aaarrgghhh, today is not my day. 1. I gained 10 pounds since my last OB appointment 4 weeks ago. I would have a really hard time losing 2.5 pounds a week, so how on earth can I gain that much so fast (I suspect it might have been that cheesecake for breakfast the other day, lol . . . or maybe those donuts that someone keeps bringing into the office). So after getting unfilled completely, I am well on my way to gaining an entire pregnancies worth of weight in a couple of short months . . . and I am hungrryyyy, so it is not easy to cut back, I guess I just need to make reasonable choices. I also need to accept that pregnancy is not an excuse for eating crap . . . if I don't need it, the baby doesn't either. 2. After a couple of thousand posts on LBT, I have finally managed to p*ss someone off in a post I made today. I got a nice personalized email on being shallow. I guess there is a first time for everything, right??? Kat and Laura, I hope you won't see fit to revoke my membership today. 3. I feel like I got a major case of PMS emotional havoc running rampant today, but how is that possible being preggers, lol??? I NEEDDDDD a good book and long bubble bath (but should forgo the chocolate that I might consider adding in, lol).

I had surgery on Friday, was back to work next Tuesday. I did fine but I was easily tired and it was hard to work a full day. It really depends on you. Some people are up and going right away, some need more time to recuperate. Pain was not an issue for me, just general discomfort and definitely fatigue.