HeatherO

The wedge pillow is an excellent idea. You could also use a comfy chair at home if you are uncomfortable in bed. Just make sure that you have something soft, cushy and supportive to prop up your feet and maybe if you have a small pillow or two for behind you to find a comfortable angle. Nothing beats a good recliner, even if you havent had surgery or a new baby or anything of the like. My family loves our recliners :0)

I am having a really odd situation. My period is over one week late, but any pregnancy tests I take say no. I haven't taken another since last Thursday because it is a little depressing, annoying and pricey to keep taking them with no results. So what is up with that??? I have never been over a week late before. Could it be that all of the weight loss is causing strange things to happen with my cycle???

One last thing, as far as the apple cider vinegar goes . . . it all depends on what your biggest problem is. Are you suffering from the acid or just the reflux from the blocked stoma? If the problem is that things are just not working their way through the stomach, then that vinegar is just going to be sitting in your stomach for a long time and that might not be pleasant. Our stomachs are not normal when we have an issue with a bit of blockage and the vinegar might make it worse . . . specially if acid is not really the problem. If I ended up regurgitating the vinegar and coughing on that, I am sure it might make me sick. For me, mine was reflux from food/drink that could not go down so it came back up. However, under normal circumstances I think the vinegar is a good idea. If you still have a little blockage from something that is still in your stomach and not going anywhere . . . I have read that pineapple juice (strained of course since pulp might not help) or a little bit of meat tenderizer mixed in Water or papaya enzymes will help to break up whatever has you blocked.

I had the same problem and ended up having an emergency unfill last week. If I knew last week what I know now, I would have stopped trying to eat and went on nothing but "clear" liquids for a few days to give my stoma time to relax and let the swelling go down. I kept trying to eat mushies, would get sick, which would cause more swelling and continued repeatedly. I have a 4 hour drive before I can see a doctor so I tried to get through it on my own, but I think I did not battle it aggressively enough by going on Clear Liquids for a day or two, then back onto full liquids before mushies started. The worst part about it is that I was OK on a Sunday night but by the following Thursday I was in bad shape because it progressed so quickly. Mine got bad enough so that I could not lay down for more than 10 minutes before I was coughint on regurgitated food . . . and the last day I could not drink more than a couple of teaspoons of Water every few hours. The unfill was instant relief . . . I could feel the difference before ever taking a sip of water. While you are suffering with the extreme reflux, it helps not to lay down. It is better to sleep in a recliner or a chair if you have to . . . not the most comfortable but better than continuous coughing and choking. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

I had a terrible headache as well for a couple of days, but it was definitely due to caffeine withdrawal. I was drinking a couple of cups of coffee and diet pop daily before banding . . . then I drank nothing but water and protein shakes. I had to live with it until a few days later it worked is way through my system.

That is crazy because you know the hospital did not pay that much for the implant . . . and then people wonder why the insurance rates go up so high every year. What kind of markup is reasonable, certainly not more than 100%???

Congratulations Mikki!!!

I was told to wait at least one year. People definitely conceive easier after losing weight . . . and perhaps if you are physically healthier it might be easier to carry the baby to term.

Sounds like a cute idea for the grandmother tea party . . . and the ManBQ. My husband wouldn't want it if it was focused on fatherhood, but no reason not to have a general get-together.

Ouchhh . . . I really hope you are feeling better soon.

Congratulations on not gaining anything extra. It will be so much easier to get back on track again. Will you be going in for a fill?

I stumbled across this accidently. My bras before were 40 or 38 D's. Well after losing more than half my weight, I was no longer filling up the cup and the straps were falling off my shoulders constantly. It just wasnt a good fit anymore. Well, I tried on a bunch of bra's in various sizes and discovered that what fit and looked best was a 36 DD. I never would have guessed that my smaller breasts needed a bigger cup with a different band size. Minimizers do just push it under your arms which is none to attractive. However, I found that side shapers work better than minimizers in that you still appear smaller with a better form and you now look good from all angles. However, I guess it probably depends on everyones physical body shape.

I had an emergency unfill last week and have gained 1.5 pounds!!!??!!! I am a little frustrated, but not yet ready to solidify the gain in the charts. I am working extra hard to get back to ground zero - 150 pounds. If it lasts much longer I will have to bite the bullet and update the charts.

On liquids I was between 600-850. Once on regular foods again, I stayed at the 800-1000 range and stopped losing weight. I bumped up the level to 1000-1250 and have been losing steadily ever since.

I bought a kitchen scale and never really used it much. It is easier for me to just measure in 1/4-1/2 cups or to judge meat to be about the size of a playing card. It ended up being just one of those gazillion kitchen gadgets in the closet gathering dust, lol. I have bought 2 digital scales, one of which was pricy and weighed to fractional pounds. They both don't work well in that I can step on and off the scale several times repeatedly and get different measurements. There is no way you can gain or lose a pound or two in the time it takes you to step off and back on the scale. I use a scale with the little wheel that spins around because I always weigh in the same on it. I noticed it is 2 pounds less than the professional bar scale at the gym that I use for my "official" measurements. This scale has been reliable since banding for me . . . and it was only $7 at Target. So out of $125 bucks spent amongst 3 scales, I go by the $7 old-fashioned one while the others are in my bathroom closet gathering dust and will inevitably become garage sale fodder eventually.

It sounds like you are doing wonderful after 2 years. I love that your band is always there for you , even if you decide not to use it for a while when life throws something unexpected at you. It looks like you are halfway to goal . . . I wish you the best of luck in attaining it. I am sure you can do it if you work your band :0)

Wearing something form fitting and not dark colored, take pictures from the front side and back along with a few good face pictures and you should be good to go :0)

I can eat Cereal but I avoid it for the most part. It used to be a binge food for me, in that I couldn't get enough. It also goes through the pouch too quick and leaves me hungry.

Congratulations . . . it will be over before you know it. I can't wait to hear how it goes for you and I wish you the best of luck.

I would schedule another fill as soon as possible. Also, how much have you lost since 3 cc's was too tight. It might be ok for you by now. The sweet spot is elusive and I am amazed at how small the gap between no restriction and to much can be.

I could swing it with shorts, but I don't think I would. I like one pieces because of the extra control it provides.

I guess I am finally brave enough to post a couple of pictures. I really do not have a lot of before or after pictures because I usually avoid pictures like the plague, but I am beginning to see that maybe pictures aren't so bad after all. 75 pounds down and almost at goal. I will take some more current full length shots soon :0)

I wish you the best of luck!!! I am sending happy approval thoughts your way.

Without appropriate restriction, we are just on another diet . . . and if that worked well for us we wouldnt have been banded. I would also like to know how much you have in your band. Also, when you go in for a fill, do you have them withdraw what is currently in there to see how much it is in case you have a leak or something? The difference between restriction and not enough restriction for me is a very small amount of Fluid. At 6.8 cc's I am completely open, at 8.3 cc's I am very tight. If you are just getting .5 to 1 cc's at a time, it is no surprise that you have had a large number of fills without getting to your sweet spot. See if you can insist on coming in every 2 weeks or so until you reach restriction. Also ask if you can get bigger fills as well. You should be demanding if you are still not getting what you need. How about your weight loss? Have you been losing steadily since banding, or at least since the last fill or two? That can also be a sign if you have enough restriction.

I started getting nauseous after the first week until about the first month. I found that even drinking a couple of sips of Water was making me nauseous. It definitely wasnt just food. It kind of felt like early pregnancy and was an all day low-grade kind of nausea which occasionally varied in intensity. I took an over-the-counter medicine called Nauzene that worked beautifully. It is chewable kind of like a Tums and tasted decent, and it didn't have aspirin or salicylates (band-friendly) and only takes a couple of minutes to work. I found it at Walmart and have since seen it at the grocery store (Giant Eagle) and pharmacies (CVS) so it must be fairly easy to find. I probably sound like a commercial, but if it works, it works . . . and feeling nauseous continuously really sucks. I still have some in my desk at work, lol. By the time I reached my first month out, I no longer had this problem (which is why I still have some eight months later in my desk, lol). It went away once I healed and started eating normal foods again.