*Love*

I had my first fill today & it was a breeze. It was painless & quick. I did feel something when the needle penetrated, but it was not something I was familiar with. It was not pain, or a prick, or sharp. I did feel a small & short prick like pain about 10 minutes later. Wierd. :confused2:

I don't know about the others, but I got my piercings long before I gained the weight. :thumbup: I was only about 140lbs at the time, & quite a bit younger.

I believe the reason for 'no metal jewellery' is in case they end up having to use a defibrolator during surgery, you could get burned at the metal sites. I replaced all of my gold piercings with plastic & they were still there when I woke up after surgery. :thumbup: (I had told the nurse about them just before I went under.) BTW - My port scar is 1" to the right of my belly button. Even being that close, my surgeon did not remove my belly ring.

I wanted mine on my right side (lower than my belly button) where I have a small tattoo. I thought it would be a good way to mark the location for fills. My doctor explained to me that he does not put them on the right side. He does not want the tube to cross the centre of the body in case one ever needs emergency centreline surgery & it gets cut like in heart surgery, or something on the right like an appendix. I ended up with my port lower than my belly button on the left, though not as low as I would have liked because now my port scar is right beside my belly button. I would have prefered it to be hidden in my pants.

If you are having hunger pains, you are waiting too long to eat. I was told by my surgeon to eat every 3-4 waking hours whether you are hungery or not. If your body gets to the 'hunger' stage, it may think it is being starved & will store the food for hybernation (slowing down metabolism).

Maybe you aren't following the rules close enough. Something as little as an extra healthy snack several times last week affected my ability to lose that week. I woudn't worry about what time you do things. The space between your meals is far more critical. Never let your body get hungry before you eat, make healthy food choices, always eat your Proteins first & don't have your beverages until at least a half hour after you eat. This is what I do: Love’s Meals I eat no more than 1 cup of food every 3-4 waking hours. Breakfast @ 11:00am: - 1 egg scrambled with 1 ounce of cheddar cheese & some chopped black forest ham - 1 packet instant oatmeal (flavoured, or natural + 1 tsp honey) with skim milk, 1 ½ tbsp raisins, 1 tbsp toasted wheat germ, & 1 ½ tbsp ground almonds or walnuts Snack @ 12:30pm: - 1 cup plastic juice box of apple or orange juice - a small can of original V8 lunch @ 2:00 or 3:00pm: - a High Protein vanilla Boost dinner @ 6:00 or 7:00pm: One pot meals frozen in 1 cup containers: - chilli, made with ground turkey - spaghetti sauce, made with ground turkey, & a bit of macaroni - sheppard’s pie, made with ground turkey - beef stew - Canadian bacon & potato stew - chicken dishes made with a little rice or Pasta & light cream of broccoli or chicken Soup - Kraft dish made with chicken, corn, salsa & cheese Evening Snack @ 10:00pm: - 1 cup Silhouette cherry yogurt - 1/3 container of fat free cottage cheese with tuna salad, 1 cup total - 1/3 container of fat free cottage cheese with fresh or canned fruit, 1 cup total - 2 rye crisps with 2 tbsp hummus - 2 rye crisps with 2 tbsp almond butter - 2 rye crisps with 2 tbsp guacamole - 2 tbsp Peanut Butter - a hard boiled egg - ½ cup almonds or walnuts - a ‘baked’ apple - cored apple stuffed with 1 tbsp raisins & lemon juice - 1 oz light cream cheese wrapped in 1 oz smoked salmon - 2 oz cheddar cheese I take a chewable Centrum or Flinstone’s multi-vitamin & liquid Calcium / magnesium after breakfast & a chewable Vitamin C after my evening snack. I try to get 4-8 oz. Water in first thing in the morning, on the drive to & from work, & before bed. I am only getting in about half of what I'd guzzle pre-band. I work out during Coronation Street. Since I hate exercise, I need something to distract my while I do it. :thumbdown: I find keeping to a routine in my day ready helps. Having meals ready also keeps me from thinking about what I am going to be eating that night, all day. I sent this to my nutritionist this week & she thought it was just fabulous.

My days starts later than most, so I don't take a lunch break. I sip one of these everyday while I work at my desk.

You can see mine here: www.lapbandtalk.com/members/-love--albums-progress.html

I have done this. I have struggled with diets & trying not to gain more for the last 20 years. I needed to find a way to get to & maintain a healthy lifestyle, before it really got out of contol. Anytime I hit 157lbs, I have more trouble with my asthma. I believe most of the people on this board wish they had found a solution much sooner. You will find that you will lose far slower than a person with a high BMI, but if you stick strictly to your doctor's program, you will still lose. I am self-pay, so for me, the huge amount of money I spent (my retirement fund) keeps me on track. I have been fortunate, I am 8 weeks out & still don't need a fill.

Just tell them you are on a restrictive diet, period. Once they see a change in your size, they will be jealous.

The idea is to NOT wash the food through your band. If you wash the food through your band, your pouch will be empty & there will be room for more food. We got these bands to eat less & consume less calories, not to find ways around them. :scared2:

My ache has increased drastically in the last month or so. :thumbdown:

I was told by someone that was done by the same doctor as I was, that he no longer sutures the ports to the abdominal wall. It is free to move. I am assuming that is the case with me. Is this what you mean, or do you mean it has come off the tubing?

No local surgeon. I was done by Dr. Yau at the TLBC clinic in Toronto. Their inclusive fee is $18,000.

I am in Waterloo. :embaressed_smile:

I bet a lot of people wish they had done something sooner as well. :cursing:

One of the reasons this works so well for me is because now I don't spend a any part of the day thinking about what I am going to eat/make/buy for supper, it's done & decided as soon as I take a container out of the freezer before work in the morning. I have about 10 different meals made up. I have 2 cup portions for my DH. Right now, he is finishing of my stash of yucky Nutri-System meals. I rarely cooked otherwise, but this way, now I am cooking for several days at a time, so I don't mind it that much. I also don't deprive myself of flavour this way.

Crockpot meals are good like beef stew, turkey soup... There are a bunch of chicken & rice or pasta dishes you can make with lite cream campbell's soups or salsa. You can make things with ground turkey like: chili, spagetti sauce, lasagna, sheppards pie...

Pre-package your own. I cook up a bunch of one-pot meals & freeze them in 1 cup containers. You can't eat a second helping if you don't defrost one. :cursing:

Those types of conditions usually only apply to insurance coverage. I was self pay & tired of struggling constantly for over 20 years to try & keep my weight from climbing. The way things were going I was gaining 10lbs per year. I needed to stop this before it caused more health issues. As it was, I had trouble breathing once I hit 157lbs. My doctor also suggested that a healthy lifestyle could reduce my migraines. I have an ulcer from pain killer use.

That is highly unlikely. I imagine there are insurance issues, liability issues, sterile issues etc. The room in the private clinic I was operated on was an old bedroom (I think) of a house, so space would be an issue too (no viewing gallery like on tv shows).

I have 4. I was expecting 5, possibly 6 since I had asked for my port to be put lower than typical. I think belly size may be a factor...whether the tools can reach everywhere they need to.