DonnaB

Brenda, I'm so sorry to hear about your mother and your cat. You're going through a rough time - give yourself permission to fall down on the diet journal for a few days - you'll get back on track. Keep going to your meetings and keep up with your water intake and your food consumption as best you can. You'll start logging again as soon as your life calms down a bit.

I almost forgot - get some liquid Tylenol PM Golden Vanilla to take with you. It'll help you sleep and give you a little pain relief - I didn't need any of the pills the doc gave me - just the Tylenol was enough.

Shop, shop, shop till you drop. That first day post-op is more of a drop day, but after that, enjoy your trip! My husband and I found an upscale shopping mall and put in some walking while I shopped for a new handbag! I think it was the Gallarias mall - I can't remember for sure but the front desk will be able to help you out if you want to find it. Another thing I recommend is to spend a lot of time in the lobby of the hotel. You'll see lots of people (women mostly) who are there to have surgery with Dr. Rumbaut. All you have to do is make eye contact and give a nod and a smile, and before you know it you're sitting around a table discussing surgery, weight loss, life in genereal, and making friends. I met 5 women having WLS that way - 4 of them Rumbaut patients! I'm in contact with 3 of them to this day - we're band-sisters! Enjoy your trip, take it easy, but enjoy yourself. Come back to LBT when you get home and tell me how it went.

Pull up information from Inamed - or whichever band you've got - and take it to your doctor - insist on seeing the doctor. 12 months before a fill is just nuts. If they won't discuss it with you, you should find another doctor for your follow up and fills. If they're as inexperienced as it sounds, you might consider finding someone else for fills just on that basis. 12 months? Yikes!

My doctor recommends 60g of protein per day. Protein isn't what makes you lose weight though. Protein keeps you feeling full and satisfied for a longer period of time so you'll eat less frequently - which is how you lose the weight. Calories consumed vs. calories burned is how is works, no matter what any diet book says. You gotta burn more calories than you consume to lose weight. Period. www.FitDay.com is a great (and free) food log/journal that helps you to calculate your resting metabolic rate and tells you exactly how many calories you may consume on a daily basis and still lose weight. It will even allow you to set a date on which you wish to reach your goal weight and calculates how many calories you must restrict in order to reach your goal by that date. It's pretty cool. I've never been much of a calorie counter or food logger but I'm really seeing a difference since I started using FitDay. Give it look. Good luck on your weight loss journey!

Best wishes Dawn! I had surgery with Dr. Rumbaut in Monterrey on Tuesday, March 7, 2006 so I will be banded exactly 9 weeks on your surgery date. You'll be up and running in no time. Don't worry about missing out on those "last meals" - you can eat almost anything you like after recovering from band surgery - just lots less of it. The thing is, you're satisfied so you don't feel like you're missing out just because you can't gorge yourself. It'll be fine. You'll see. Log on when you get home and tell us all about your trip. P.S. The Sanborn restaurant, which is across the parking lot from the Hampton Inn where you're staying, has excellent Chicken Consomme - not too spicy, not too bland - perfect for pre-op AND post-op diet.

Welcome to LBT VAMarsh. Do whatever you need to do to get your husband on board with your plans. The surgery and band rules you must follow are hard enough when you have the support of your spouse - I can't imagine what this journey would be like if my husband wasn't behind my decision 100% Best wishes on your weight loss journey - keep in touch so we'll know how you're doing.

Welcome to bandland. It's funny to me that you're having this problem, I had the opposite problem for a good while after my surgery - I felt like I needed to burp but couldn't. It was terrible! Just when I decided I'd have to learn to live without burping *bbbbrrrrruuuuuuuurrrrrp* I burped. It was heaven! lol Don't worry, it all evens out.

I'm also a big fan of www.FitDay.com Sometimes I don't want to take the time to add new custom foods but I'm always glad that I did it anyway. Seeing the numbers in black and white has been eye opening and very good for future food choices - for instance, I know if I want to eat something I love but is high in calories or fat, I know I'll have to eat something lower in calories or fat for subsequent meals so that at the end of the day, my calorie/fat count will be within my limits. In other words - I'm actually thinking about my food choices instead of just eating whatever I want. So far it's working. Good luck to you - give food journaling a try.

Happy Bandiversary! I hope when I get to mine I'll have as much success as you have. Congratulations and best wishes for a full, happy, active life! Cheers.

OK, here's my belly: One week post-op: (274 lbs) 4 weeks post-op: (265 pounds) [/url] 8 weeks post-op (ten minutes ago): (256 pounds)

No worries - the only chocolate in my house is sf ff chocolate pudding. I suppose I could OD on the stuff but I doubt it. Death by chocolate. hmmmmm.

Hi Janet, Are you going to crash the DFW Bandsters lunch today? I was going to but I woke up in a crappy, mean, pissed off mood. My husband was sooooo thrilled. I was going to go with him to get his hair cut, pick up my engagement ring (loose stones - aaaahhhhhh!) and then go up to Plano for Linner (lunch + dinner = Linner) (or Dunch I suppose). Oh well - it's best for the world if I stay in my house. My poor dogs though. Grrrrr. Hi everyone else on February Unite thread. I'm too cranky to try to find nice things to say. Sorry. I suck. I'll be nicer next time. Or at least try. Or keep to myself.

Comcast on Demand has belly dancing? Huh? Splain please. I have comcast - I could use a good laugh, er, I mean workout. How do I find it? I guess I could just go look around but asking is so much easier!

I think a journal is a great idea. If you're honest with yourself in the journal you should be able to see patterns and trends. Even if you don't get relief from a compulsive behaviour, if you decide to go back to therapy, the journal will be a valuable tool for your therapist. I started keeping a food journal which has been both useful and enlightening.

Not losing much weight is not an indication of getting enough Protein. You need to log your protein intake or drink Isopure or some other Protein Drink. You'll never know if you're losing hair due to lack of protein unless you log your protein or supplement. Remember, you need at least 60g of protein per day. I take in more, just to be sure.

Don't try to eat post band portions. Without the band you'll only be hungry. anxious, and discouraged. Recognizing what a cup of food looks like is very different than being satisfied by one cup of food. If you could do that now you wouldn't need to get the band.

Doctors come and doctors go but this is the ONLY body you'll ever have. I don't know how old your PCP is, or you for that matter, but I do know that long after this doctor retires you'll still be in your body! Do what you know is the best thing for it. Besides, won't you feel great knowing that after your PCP witnesses your success with the band he'll encourage more people to get the band instead of the bypass? lol Congrats on your determination to be banded and good luck on your weight loss journey. P.S. Like many people here I know someone who had a RNY. She's 3 years post-op and has recently put back 30 of the 90 or so pounds she lost. That's a third of her weight lost, gained back within 3 years. And she still has to take a bunch of vitamins and suffers from sugar dumping.

The port is not supposed to float freely in your abdomen. It is supposed to be stitched to the facia of an abdominal muscle - fascia is that thin, silvery, stringy stuff you cut off the cut of meat (yuck) before you cook it! If your port is floating free, theres a problem.

Find a doctor who does BOTH surgeries. If you go to a doc who does only one type he'll recommend that you have the surgery he does. A doctor who does both surgeries see's the difference in the two procedures and - if he's been doing both types of surgeries for any length of time - will know which patient is a better candidate for each surgery. Don't go with one type of WLS over another on random recommendations. Figure out what you're willing to do to lose the weight and be honest with yourself. If you're not willing to make good food choices every day and follow the band rules - the band is not the surgery for you. If you can't tolerate sugar dumping and some of the other challenges involved with RNY then you should avoid that surgery. You're the only one who can answer these questions, but a good, impartial doctor will be able to help you figure out the best path for you.

Think of it as a drug you just barely escaped from with your life. Are you really planning on taking that drug again? After it almost killed you the first time? Just say no to Cold Stone Creamery!

Vines, Thank you for posting, clearly a lot of people have been thinking of you and wondering how you're doing. I wish there was something I could do to help you during this time of stress and change. I think of all you're going through and feel ashamed of the easy life I 'struggle' through; I think how strong you are and wonder what amazing heights you'll achieve if and when you've got the time to focus. I'm so very sorry about your Mom and I pray that her prognosis will improve. Wishing the best for you,

Hi Lety, I just saw this thread or I would have replied sooner! If anything you've given me more support than the other way around. Either way, it's good to have a band-sister - a little like a sister-in-law, huh? lol (hi Dorothy) I went for my first fill yesterday at Dr. Jayseelan's office. His RN and I discussed my band and how I was feeling, how much weight loss, etc. and we came to the decision that I don't really need a fill yet. I'm still losing and not obssessing about food so I'll go for a fill in another couple of weeks. OK, I know I really do need a fill, I'm able to eat way more than I should but I'm just such a chicken. I'm more worried about the fill than I was about surgery. I think it's because I'll be awake for the fill. I guess when I'm in a deep depression in a week or so because I'm not losing (or even worse, actually gaining) that I'll change my mind and have a fill. I gotta stop freaking myself out about this stupid fill. It's just a stupid needle. A really big, long, and (I learned yesterday) DULL one! Oh my God. *sweating* I got an email from Julie and I'll paste a little bit of it here: I did get a fill, the first one didn't work at all ($350.00) then I went back to Olympia the next week, it's a 2 hour drive, to get second fill. This time they only charged $150.00!!!!! And the nurse was "training" it hurt so bad, I sweat bullets. You can bet I will NEVER let her near me again. My side ached for 3 days afterwards. I desperately needed one, it's been just a week now and I'm losing again. Yikes! That really makes me want to wait for a fill! lol I know it's because her nurse was new but, dang! Julie doesn't have your email address and has asked for it - I'm sure you probably don't mind if I give it to her but I thought I'd ask you first. I haven't heard from Kirsten in a while, I guess I better email her to find out about her first fill. *sigh* I know the fill isn't a big deal and I'm just worrying and making it worse than it is. Right? lol Talk to you soon.

My band is working exactly as it was explained to me. I'm only a couple of months out but I'm eating solid food without pain or gas. I even went for a fill and decided with my doc that I didn't need it yet as my weight loss is ahead of schedule and I'm not hungry or thinking about food all the time. Now if only they could cure this LBT board obssession. lol Sorry if you're having problems deniseb but I also disagree with your generalized opinion that the band has been missrepresented. Maybe your doctor made it sound like a miracle cure but mine didn't. He said I'd have to do my share of the work and I am. Sally69 - 50 pounds in a year is very close to one pound per week. That's a lot of weight. It sounds to me like you need an unfill, a rest and then a smaller fill. Being too tight isn't what makes the band work and is counterproductive. My best suggestion is to discuss this with your doctor and try to work on a plan to resolve your side effects. Next best adivise: Give your band a chance to work before you have another WLS.

I had one massive horrible headache on day 2 pre-op liquid diet. After that all is well. I will say that I've been eating every 3 hours or so - meal, snack, meal, snack, meal as recommended by my doc - so I haven't ever been hungry since banding. I went for my first fill and they told me not to eat anything for at least 4 hours by the time I got home (sans fill - another story there!) and ate I was up to about 6 1/2 hours without eating and I had a horrible headache. I ate and thought the headache would go away but it didn't. Finally I had some liquid tylenol and my headache went away.