JanetC

(( Hugs!! )) Hope all's going well with the doc appointment & that a miracle occurs & the pain (and Nutcracker) disappear!

I too am having gas pains that are driving me crazy. I know I'm a new bandster & that this could very well still be CO2, but it's screwing up my life. I'm trying to pin-point exactly what causes them. I use fitday.com for tracking my food... but now I'm keeping a diary too. It reads something like: 6am pain: 0 9am pain: 1 -- slight shoulder twinges, but nothing bad. Drinking Isopure Protein drink 11:30 am pain: 5 12pm pain: 7, drinking AchievOne Protein Drink 1pm pain: 1 (perhaps the pain was from being empty?) 2pm pain: 3 2:15 pain: 6 (what on earth?) 2:30 pain: 7 eating chili (on the empty theory) 2:45 pain: 1 (wow, that was fast!) 3:30 pain: 4 more in stomach then shoulder (hmmm, maybe ate too much?) 4:30 pain: 1 I don't know that this is going to help, but I've got to have SOMETHING to give my doc. Just walking in & saying I have gas isn't going to help him much. My current theories: possible food allergy swallowing air while drinking / eating getting over hungry over eating all of the above? Good luck with your pain, hope they figure out what's up! And congrats on your weight loss, that's awesome!!!

We love road trips... and June 1st is our anniversary, so we might even spend the night down there & call it our present to each other. I've never been to Houston! :eek: (I'm a Texas noobie.)

Wooohooo!!! The 27th is tied with the 13th!! Go go go go go!!

Something that popped into my head... everyone was in their comfort zone, plus they didn't have a star work with them this week. Wonder if maybe they slacked off on the practice, thinking they had it all covered? Hope they learned their lesson!!

I've heard that once you get good restriction, drinking immediately following eating will have dramatic results, lol, as in it comes right back up. I haven't experienced it yet, just the thought scares me! I do know that I can eat more if I take a sip with every bite. I'm really trying to stop that habit NOW!! I love the idea of a swish-and-spit. And the mint for when we're out. We have Listerine strips, bet they'd do the trick! Thanks for the tips!

Alexra, you look AWESOME!! :eek: Congrats on all your hard work! (Saw your pic at the bottom of your sig & had to comment.) Our doctor was very, um, lenient on the post-op diet. Clear liquids 2 days, all liquids 3 days, then 1 food was added per day (mushies & eventually solids). Some docs seem to require a month of liquids, then a month of mushies. It really varies per doc. We got our fill moved up to week 5 (it was scheduled for week 6). Some surgeons require 8-12 weeks... it really varies. I only told my family & a couple of friends that don't live in town. Mostly, I don't want folks looking for change. Especially not in the beginning. The first 6-8 weeks are for healing... ANY weight loss during this period is a perk. So I didn't want people asking me how much I've lost this week, lol. Too depressing! Now that we're in week 6, I'm all for telling the world! Keep asking questions! We love answering!

Congrats on the great loss Diane! Keep it up! :eek: For those of you who haven't been tracking your inches... why not start today! When the scale doesn't move, it's a great treat to measure & see that things are still changing! I suggest measuring at least: arm bust waist hips thigh I go crazy & measure everything (left & right wrist, left & right arm, neck, upper chest, bust, ribs, waist, hip-7, hip-9, thighs together, left & right thigh, left & right calf, left & right ankles, lol, can you say obsessive compulsive?)... and then I add 'em all up every time to see how many overall inches I've lost. If enough folks start tracking inches, I'll make a chart for that too! I'm all about the charts!

Heh, if the 13th wins, we'll just come to the next one. Mikey's got this thing for banana pudding, lol, watch out!!

Btw you doctors "Spiegal & Spivak"-ers! I'm assuming you're in the Houston area. The Houston LBT'ers are getting together on May 13th (unless we can talk them into changing the date, lol): http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=16587

LOL Tammy!! You THINK you might be a rabbit? 40 pounds lost in 7 weeks -- CHECK! (That's 5.7 pounds a week!!!) Cute fuzzy white tail -- CHECK!! Soft pink-lined ears pushing through the hair -- CHECK!! Nose that twitches at the sight of carrots -- CHECK!! If it looks like a rabbit, hops like a rabbit, feels like a rabbit... it just might be a rabbit! (( Hugs girl!! )) You made me grin out loud! lol!

Yours are so artistic! Nicely done!

Mikey said something about a road trip??? Wooohoooo!!!!! Please, please, please don't make it the 13th, lol, we can't come then!

OMG!!! ROFLMAO! Protein drinks don't LIKE to come out the nose!

Tammy! Thank you SOOO much for your kind words! I count on ya'll for keeping me going! In fact, lol, the new chart was to get me to quit crying about my weightloss, lol. I'm now chanting, "I'm a rabbit, I'm a rabbit, I'm a rabbit!" I'm sooo happy that this thread is still going! I was afraid we'd get through surgery & stop posting. You guys are my lifeline! Thanks to all of you for being great! Wow, Michelle!! Take a second & think about what you just typed, lol. YOU LOST WEIGHT WHILE TRAVELING!!!! OMG!!! Don't remember the last time that happened to me! Hope your next trip goes well! It sounds like you did an excellent job on your food choices, that all sounds delicious AND healthy!

LOL Straw! Congrats on the weight loss! Now forgive yourself as the inches take time to catch up. Anytime you want to try out DDR (the best form of exercise there IS!), lol, just give us a call! Oh wait, lol, you don't have our number do you!!! Mwahahahaha!! (j/k, send us a PM!)

Ok, so we're all at least a month out... some of us are at 2 months! I know that statistically these numbers are all off (not everyone has updated & those that are 6-8 weeks out have had longer to lose)... but I thought I'd take a snap-shot of us at "1 month out". At most, we're 9 weeks out. At that point, if you're at 9+ pounds, it qualifies you as a rabbit. There's not many of us that aren't hopping! Remember we're expected to lose 1-1.5 pounds a week! Anything higher & you're rocking!! Also, this is technically still the healing period, so be nice to yourself!! ANYthing you lose right now is a blessing, not an expectation! I'll think about a way to make this more accurate for our 2 month snap shot. Congrats to Tammy on her absolutely amazing loss!! You go girl! Lost 40+ --------------------------------------------- Jerseytammy (0 pre-op) (-40) 2/8, 7 weeks Lost 30+ --------------------------------------------- ReneBean, (36 pre-op) 2/6, 7 weeks pj robinson (pre-op -14)(post-op -16)(total -30) 2/7, 7 weeks Sandybells (-21 pre-op) (-31) 2/24, 5 weeks Lost 20+ --------------------------------------------- Gentlespirit (-27) 1/24, 9 weeks Gadgetlady (Elisa) (-20) 2/6, 7 weeks Gloria37 (Gloria) (-26) 2/6, 7 weeks Northernsun (12 pre-op) (-29) 2/7, 7 weeks Dancer (0 pre-op) (-20) 2/9, 7 weeks Gwendolyn (-17 pre-op) (-11) 2/13, 6 weeks Mikey (-13 pre-op) (-25) 2/13, 6 weeks SherryW (-25) 2/13, 6 weeks April10 (April) (-21) 2/14, 6 weeks dcmoore (Diane) (+2 pre-op) (-21, -16.5 inches!) 2/15, 6 weeks skbishop78 (Stacey) (-18 pre-op) (-25) 2/20, 5 weeks Sunta (-4 pre-op) (-20) 2/21, 5 weeks Ms. Vicki (pre-op -3) (-20) 2/27, 4 weeks Lost 10+ --------------------------------------------- msks (-12) 2/2, 8 weeks Skinnyagain? (Tonya) (-15) 2/2, 8 weeks tinainfortunaca (Tina) (-20) 2/2, 8 weeks SkyeBlu (Skye) (-15) 2/10, 7 weeks mommy2xp (-14 pre-op) (-5) 2/13, 6 weeks sourflower (-15) 2/14, 6 weeks denog3 (Debra) (-16) 2/15, 6 weeks Janet (-2 pre-op) (-14) 2/15, 6 weeks LBdancer (Lou) (-3 pre-op) (-12) 2/15, 6 weeks ricanlady (-10 pre-op) (-4) 2/16, 6 weeks angiepUK (Angie) (-12) 2/17, 6 weeks Julie* (-10 pre-op) (-14) 2/21, 5 weeks Magic (-7 kg / 15.4#) 2/22, 5 weeks nanster (-15.6) 2/24, 5 weeks RoxanneRoll (Dena) (-12) 2/27, 4 weeks

Oh my word, Kellie!! I cannot get over how great you look! Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing the reality of it all! Especially the, um, pinny lift. It's a huge area of concern for me. I'm afraid as I lose it's going to sag even more... like I need more sag there! Those scars are amazing! I think they already look better then your port scar! Can't wait to see them at 3 months! (( Hugs!! )) Thanks again for sharing it all with us!

All in all a disappointing night. I am worried for Taylor... it just wasn't as fun. He did prove that he really can sing... but the fun is what I'm looking for! I personally think part of the problem is these songs are too recent. It's hard to "make it your own" when you've been singing it with the real artist for the last 6 months! Does anyone find themselves hoping that they swap out the judges next year? Their dynamic has really gotten out of control, imho. They're all bickering with each other. I'm embarrassed for them!! I'm guessing the bottom 3 this week will be Ace, Bucky & Lisa. (Though I thought Bucky did great this week... definitely his groove.) I'm guessing Lisa will be going home. Mikey & I finally started voting, lol, so now I'm even more vested, like that was possible!! I do wish they had the vote setup to be "vote someone off" instead of "vote for your favorite"... I have too many favorites!

Go Nanster!! I love your self-talk! Hope it's as positive in the "real world"! I'm crossing my fingers for you Stacey!! I'm praying you feel restriction TODAY!! & can start feeling the band take some of the weight-loss burden from your shoulders! For those of you down on your weight loss (myself included), the "turtles" have a great spokesperson -- Vinesqueen (Crystal). Btw, they define turtle as losing less then 1 pound a week. (I keep praying I don't fit that definition!) VQ only lost 15 pounds IN A YEAR!!!! (She's being tested for Cushings.) Anyway, VQ recommends starting a NSV thread -- or journal if you don't want to post it here. Write down EVERYTHING that makes you feel better about you & this surgery. When the scale's not moving, it really helps to see positives elsewhere! If you want, we can start by putting an "NSV for the day" on our thread. Here goes mine for today: It's getting easier to get up off the couch. I no longer require a boost from Mikey, woohoo!!

I just noticed that it's gone (was looking for it to point someone to). Is it gone for good? Or just temporarily? Wanna start a new one?

So last night was my time to get depressed... in a BIG way. I woke up in the middle of the night & couldn't sleep. I ended up looking at old pictures & bawling my eyes out. I finally woke Mikey up when I couldn't stand it anymore. Poor guy! LOL. He didn't know what hit him! **sigh** I eventually got to sleep, but today I've got that "I cried all night" headache & eye ache, lol. Serves me right! I can't even point to what was wrong... just hormones, I guess. Bleh! Go Nanster with the NSV!!! That's awesome!! I can't wait to feel more energy! Wow Tammy!!! Grats on 9.5 pounds! WOW!! Stacey: I can feel my port, but I also seem to feel another set of "something" that's above my scar (my port is below). The upper set aches from time to time. I THINK (Dr Janet here, of course, lol) that it's where he sliced to get the camera in. It's pretty large & seems to be through my stomach muscle. I'll have to ask the doc next time I see him! My port itself is sometimes irritated, though I haven't noticed it feeling "hard". More... um... warm. Especially when I get gassy. I have to wonder if the gas makes the saline move around, lol. I sure get creative with my explanations!! Ms Vicki: Hang in there, fills are coming!! Hopefully your doc will attack those fills with a vengeance! Glad to hear you're not PB'ing!! And Tammy with the loose rings, awesome!! Congrats!

Oh my goodness, Kathy!! I missed the date & that this was a bump, lol. I was so scared for you!! Glad it all turned out ok!

The smallest band holds 4cc, the largest holds 10cc. At least that's what I've been told. Mikey's with you guys on the starving part. And until he got the 4.5cc in his 9cc band, he didn't even really have to slow down or chew. At least now he has to go slow... but he's still starving. He said he hasn't been full since the surgery. Poor thing! Hopefully all you with the bigger bands will get more saline & feel the restriction soon! That's cool that you were one of the first to get banded in Vermont, Julie! Though it does stink to not have a group! Maybe you could drive down to Boston... or up to Maine or something. I don't know if any of them have get togethers, lol, but it's a thought. I'm soooo glad this Monday is over! They always seem like the longest days!

Wow, gorgeous backyard & what an NSV!!! Congrats & way to hang in there!