HeatherO

The second trimester has been much better for me (if you disregard the overly tight episode last week where I needed an unfill). I am hungry from time to time, but it is manageable. It is not the same as the first trimester feeling if I don't eat NOW I am going to die. My quantities aren't excessive either, even with a complete unfill. One thing that has helped me is that I eat more often now. I don't have to eat a lot, but I don't go more than 4 hours without having a bite of something. My tastes have changed in that I crave specific things. Or maybe it is not so much I am craving something as much as it is I don't want most alternatives. Lately a regular "4th" meal has been half a banana with a 100 cal whole grain toasted english muffin with pb&j. It is not too many calories . . . it sticks with me for a long time and is very satisfying. I have also been eating about two yogurts a day every day . . . they are full calorie though because I don't want excessive sugar substitutes. The Yoplait whips and thick and creamy yogurts have really hit the spot and they are the only type I buy lately. For me I think the key to not getting excessively hungry is to keep eating regularly in small amounts.

Losing at a steady but not too rapid pace (1-2 pounds weekly), taking in appropriate nutrition with Vitamins and enough Protein and keeping regular exercise all help your body keep up with the weight loss and lessen problems with excess skin, or at least make sure that you are giving your skin the best opportunity to shrink healthily. Most of it has to do with heredity, skin elasticity, age, length of time obese, etc. You may not have control over a lot of it.

I had this feeling too with tight restriction. It was just uncomfortable, but not painful. It was definitely a feeling of pressure or of being slightly swollen. Having a slight unfill makes the issue go away.

It sounds like your on the right track and doing the research. Having supportive parents also helps. The only person who can tell you if the lapband is right for you is you . . . because you are the person who will be living the banded life. Definitely check out the teen forum as well, it is a great place to meet new people that have went through what you are going through now.

I am interested in learning more about this as well. I have used them in Europe and the Middle East . . . but never here in the states. I think it would be a wonderful thing to have.

It is very important for you to stick to your post-op diet to allow your stomach to heal properly. You risk the future of your band by eating solids so early . . . they cause your stomach to have to move during digestion and your band may not settle properly. chicken is also something that many bandsters have a problem with. The texture seems to be difficult for many a bandster and you should take it easy when introducing this into your diet. Watery mashed potatoes are not so bad . . . but it is still too early at one week out. Many other people have done this, some have problems, some don't, and some won't know for a while if they have caused damage that will harm the band down the road. Do you really want to risk your band just to eat solids a little early? What is a couple of weeks sticking to a post-op plan if it could mean a lifetime of better health at a lower weight? If I could advise anything, it is to get back on plan until solids are allowed . . . which isn't very far down the road.

I think it all depends on your restriction level. With tight restriction, any fluids will almost instantly cause me to pb or just be very, very uncomfortable. Right now with an unfilled band I can eat and drink together without issue.

Does your fill center doctor withdraw the Fluid first to see if you really have the expected amount of fluid in there? This would help you see if you have a leak. It sounds like you just don't have enough restriction, but many of us do not have much restriction until our bands are close to being full. It also makes a difference depending on what kind of food you are eating. If you are eating a slider foods like chips, ice cream, etc . . . the band will not help you. If you are eating healthy foods with Proteins first and primarily veggies and fruits secondarily and still don't have restriction to remain full, you might just need another fill. If you can make it back to Mexico, or even to the fill center, you should get a fill done under flouro to make sure everything looks good.

Kat, I really hope that Manda is better soon. I can't believe the ER is so swamped. I don't know if that is typical or not since I haven't been in more years than I can remember. My thoughts are with you.

Hello everyone . . . I hope you enjoyed Superbowl Sunday, whether you are into the game or not :0). Pamela, I am also feeling left out. I realllyyy want to see your tat in progress. This weekend was not a good eating weekend for me. After being so tight and uncomfortable last week, I was a big eater over the weekend. Maybe not so much a big eater, just eating not the usual bandster things. I had 2 pieces of pb&j toast for breakfast on Saturday. 4 Arby's mozarella sticks for lunch and one bite of chicken sandwich (it was gross for some reason . . . the chicken tasted weird and it seems like they must have dipped it in a vat of mayonnaise which I don't eat). I had Japanese spicy chicken at the Otani grill on Saturday night (I only ate half a cup because I was full on Miso soup and the salad before dinner of which I ate every bite). I kept eyeballing the sushi menu (but didn't order) through dinner . . . awfully tempting but I am not allowed to eat it during pregnancy. Sunday breakfast was a boiled egg, 4 or 5 oven-baked french fries, my favorite turkish cheese, a little lettuce, radish with fresh squeezed lemon and some green onions, and a few olives. Lunch was over at my friends house from China . . . she cooked something with maybe chicken in a soupy sauce that smelled funny and I couldn't eat it. I had slices of apple, orange and pear and 3 or 4 orange cream cookies. She also made a tea of dried dates and honey that tasted very strange and somewhat unpleasant but I drank it anyway. Dinner was eggplant mousakka, yogurt, a slice of bread and a small piece of cinnamon coffee cake for desert. My friend from China told me I should limit my pear intake during pregnancy because it is not good to eat very much of it . . . but rice wine is healthy during breastfeeding in limited quantities, I guess it must be cultural differences. I told her lightly that alcohol is also not allowed during breastfeeding because it passes into the infant. It is strange how much tastes differ amongst different cultures. I like chinese food from restaurants, but it must have been americanized . . . because authentic chinese food is really difficult for me to eat. Last time my husband and I went together to their house for dinner, they made shrimp, it was jumbo sized and was the whole thing, head whiskers, beady little eyes, legs and tail, etc. They cooked at the table in a electric wok thing in the center of the table. The chicken and tofu was good . . . but when they cooked the huge shrimp and put one on my plate I noticed the whisker was twitching. Now I know it was dead . . . being cooked in hot water like that, but I can't understand why the whisker was twitching (the whisker was maybe 8 inches long as well). There was just no way on earth I could peel off the extraneous body parts and actually eat it. I was embarrassed about it as well because I know it is rude not to eat it. Does anyone of us of the american persuasion not mind if the seafood is looking at you while you are eating it, or am I just overly sensitive???

I had the same thing as StartingOverNJ for the first fill. It was aggressive but my doctor used the same methodology. They added saline until my flow was blocked off completely, and then withdrew a slight amount. This method got me to my sweet spot by the second fill which lasted for most of the time that I was losing the majority of the weight. I feel like I was extremely lucky in that I didn't have many months to wait to feel any restriction. I am sure I would not have lost anywhere near as much if it was .5 cc everytime.

It might not be as bad as you think. My starting weight and goal weight were almost the same as yours . . . and after I lost everything I have just a little droop at the bottom of my stomach and my derriere is a tad wrinkly . . . but I am decent. I am not even thinking about plastic surgery. (Also I had my first child very young and got a lot of stretch marks at that time so my skin is not the greatest - but it has held up well even so as far as weight loss is concerned. I think I might have scared myself by watching too many programs on tv with plastics after major weight loss. If you are looking for semi-normal and not bikini model looks, you might just end up pretty pleased in the end.

Sometimes my stomach is overly sensitive and I just have to go on minimal or no fill for awhile. I am currently unfilled and it has helped tremendously. I think going unfilled for a while might make you feel a whole lot better.

I am off and on depending on how I am feeling. When I feel good I go, when I feel sick or fatigued I don't. It has almost been like one week on, one week off. I have just started swimming and have had to cut back on my aerobic classes because it hurt my back too much to be jumping around intensely. One thing I noticed is that when I do get exercise in, I feel great, energetic and healthy. When I don't go my energy level seems to plummet and I would be much happier in bed with a good book then up and about.

I am so excited for you. Even with a c-section, he is here and he is healthy. I am sure you can't wait to go home after weeks in the hospital. So has DD come in for a peek yet???

OMG, if you thought the syringe hanging out of the belly picture was tough to look at . . . you should see what was there today. It is under katiebug as the username and it looks like a naked picture, with only a bra and tubes of a bloody looking substance draining from her bare pubic regions to bags of body fluid hanging from her breasts. What is up with that . . . and on the homepage no less??? If it was in the PS threads, OK, but that is enough to shock anyone on the home page. And here to think I don't like to take pictures showing my legs because they are too pale, lol. What am I doing on the computer off and on all day today, lol. I guess I need a life.

I think I need an emergency unfill. I pb'd badly on Saturday and since then I keep pb'ing. The problems is, when I have a bad episode it always seems to have a snowball effect in that I get progressively worse days on. My stomach is sensitive and swells easily. I can get fluids in now but it takes hours for them to go down. I can not have anything thicker than Clear liquids today (pb'd slimfast) but I am worried that by tomorrow, perhaps I won't be able to do liquids at all. This has happened to me twice before since I became pregnant but this is the first time that getting to my fill doctor will be so difficult. My fill doctor however is 4 hours away and the weather has been absolutely terrible. I wanted to go yesterday but the roads were not clear. I am not sure I can drive it in the shape I am in right now. Has anyone ever attempted to go to the ER? If so, what was your experience? Do you think I can get an emergency unfill there?

Oops, posted to the wrong thread.

A PB is a productive burp. It is when food is stuck in your pouch but not all the way in your main stomach and it comes back up again. It is not like vomiting in that it doesn't really hurt or have stomach juices involved. This only happens to banded people.

Where can I find pepper jelly? I have never tried it before and I think it might just make an excellent appetizer for when I have company and just need some snacky food. Kat, I am sorry you are having a rough go of it. Unfortunately this is happening everywhere. I can't believe I still have a job myself since we went from over 150 people to less than 50 in about a years time. It is tough enough to stress over the job, but then you have the Rx $'s as well to think about. My thoughts are with you. As far as that $5 a week for life . . . that just brought me back to my childhood. I would have considered $5 a week for life unbelievable riches beyond my wildest imagination when I was little, lol. Jennifur, sorry your PMS'ing - definitely no fun. I am discovering that pregnancy is worse than PMS by far. I burst into tears this morning because I couldn't find an email this morning to tell me which building the graduate school colloquium was being held in, lol. This wasn't just teary eyes either, but full out sobs . . . I think I was just stressed over being so sick this last week. This is after crying last night when the baby was born in the Baby Mama flick . . . and this is a silly comedy, not a tear jerker. If you can't lift your arms today . . . it should be interesting tomorrow. :thumbup: I am always 2-3 times more sore the next day or two. I think maybe I am weird, but I really like the soreness you get after a good workout. It doesn't really hurt but tells you "yes, I accomplished something good and I can still feel it."

My sweet spot where I lost most of my weight was 8.3 cc's.

Thanks. I have lost a little since becoming pregnant. My OB became concerned and asked me to add a supplement into my diet. I probably will gain a little over the next 18 weeks of pregnancy but I don't think it will be alot. I was just unfilled completely last Thursday.

I lost some after surgery but it sooned stop falling off. I really didn't start losing consistently until after my second fill. I lost almost all of my weight on my second fill - which lasted for a very long time. I didn't tell people at work or in general to avoid that situation. My husband and brother know along with the people on LBT of course. Other than that, I wanted this to be my own journey without everyone's thoughts, suggestion, doubts, supervision, etc. Some people need a lot of social support . . . but for me I preferred to work on this on my own.

Welcome snow princess :0) The first month is rough, but it gets easier very soon thereafter. It is just a time of adjustment and being hungry but not being able to eat much. I hope you are feeling better about banding very soon.

I haven't had this happen personally but I have read about others who have gone through it. Not everyone has their band removed. However, I also think it makes a difference if the infection is around the band itself or just near the port tubing. Some people have their port removed and then later a new port is put back in if the infection is around the port. Some people go on extended periods of antibiotics to battle the infection. I think luluc (if I remember correctly) may have gone through this. Do a search on her user name to read some posts regarding infection. There are others as well. You may be able to get information through posts or by PM'ing people that have written about the topic before. Another thought is just to start a new thread regarding infection and how it has been handled. Perhaps even a poll might help. If you do this, it might be helpful to put it in a main forum instead of complications in that it might get more reads/responses.