legallyKristin

MissMacy- Hope your surgery went well on Wednesday! Let us know how you're doing as soon as you're feeling better. Donna- yes the fills are the whole reason for the lapband. Lap-Band is short for Adjustable Gastric Banding. It is an ongoing weightloss procedure that is adjusted throughout your life because as you lose weight the band will losen up. Has anyone really explained this stuff to you?? I had to know everything about the band before I was even allowed to meet with my doc. There is a lot more that you should know before going into this. Kristin

Oh that looks so fun! Thanks for sharing!! I will have to try that Sunday morning, which is our usual omlet Breakfast. Kristin

If you tell the anesthesiologist they take extra precautions with asthma patients. I have allergies and asthma. I take singular 10 mg and zyrtec 10 mg and so I rarely need an emergency inhaler. Allergies do trigger asthmatic reactions. I worked for a allergy/asthma specialist for 5 years. They often go hand in hand. Kristin

P'Nut- thank you for the honesty of your post. It is very true that sometimes it feels like the "newbies" opinions aren't as valid because we're still in that honeymoon phase. However, we have all been fat, we are all learning and it is important to share and encourage so that we can help those people who are at different stages. REMEMBER- We're all chasing the same goal! This type of "I'm here and you're there" mentality does nothing to encourage one another. It is nice to share experience that you had through trial and error, but not in a condesending way. I'm more newly banded than P'Nut and she has been a great role model for me and has encouraged me with the Gone for Good Club. Thank you for all that you do. And just remember, "if you don't have anything nice to say, come sit by me." Kristin

Do you have any fill?? This sounds exactly what I was going through when my band was too tight.

Show the world how much you love being you and the right someone will love you for being you too. Kinda corny huh? But I can't complain. I've known my fiance since we were born. OUR MOMS were best friends starting when they were in kindergarten. We're 24, have been sweethearts for about 12 years, and engaged for 1.5 years. Here's a pic! He's loved me at 198 and 298 lbs, just because I am happy with who I am and that makes him happy. http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-1/1136773/YoungSweethearts.JPG Kristin

Mine is kinda obvious too. I'm a law student-just finished my first year!! But my "legal" name is Kristin so I thought it was kinda cute. I'm a dork, it's ok. Kristin

Yeh, I can't eat the dinners either. I tried in a time crunch last week. I got a golfball on the first bite. I really didn't need to eat it anyway, WAY more carbs and sodium than if I just made something similar ahead of time and froze it. I try to keep some quick dinners frozen for such emergencies. Which is easy to do since I generally have 4 meals off of one "pre-band" size plate of food. There are generally LOTS of leftovers.

lildarlin- I put light shredded cheese on a poached egg and eat it for brunch sometimes. Sometimes melted cheese helps stuff go down for me. My list of no-nos: -CROUTONS (my first and only PB & sliming incident) -Roast -Steak -Bread (any and all, booohhooooo! How I loved bread, as is evidenced by my bosoming backside!!) Kristin

I kept getting this pain too and it was because I was eating too fast. It should take about 20-30 minutes to eat that gum sized piece of meat. Once I started looking at my watch, I was able to better pace myself and avoid the pain associated with meat. Although I do still struggle with grainy types of meat, i.e. steak regardless of how slow I go. Hope things get better for you! Kristin

FunnyDuddies!! That top is toooo sexy! I love Torrid! :second: Kristin

Ohhh! Thanks for sharing that sounds yummy! I'm always looking for new things to throw on our grill. :second: Kristin

As an update, I did end up getting .2cc out and feel MUCH better! Thanks for all the help! :second: Kristin

Ok, I've searched the boards and I found that it seems to be that some people have a lot of restriction during their TOM. I gathered that this generally lasts about 2 days. I've been soo tight over the past three days that I'm only managing to get in Protein shakes. I've tried Soup, other soft/mushies and they get stuck/golfball. I'm about to go on vacation Monday and I really didn't want to get an unfill. But even drinking Water, I can feel it sit for a moment then slowly drain through the stoma. I got my first fill-2.0cc in 4.0cc band on 4/20/06. This was 3 weeks ago. I had a good level of restriction up to 3 days ago. Does this sound like my fill is just kicking in or is it still just related to my TOM?!? I'm probably just getting upset over nothing, but it's kinda frustrating not being able to eat anything substantive in 3 days. Thanks so much for all your help and support over the past few months, and thanks in advance for any help/suggestions. :Banane13: Kristin

You probably have already heard this, but for me the ONLY way I could get rid of the gas was to WALK!! And I walked a lot. 2 days post-op I walked the entire Super Target, slowly of course and steading myself with the shopping cart and the help of my mom. But it really does help the gas and the pain go away. Hope you're feeling better soon! :second: Kristin

laaron- I hope that things go well for you tomorrow. At least your doc is trying to find the leak, my friend's doc just removed it without trying to pinpoint the leak to find out that it could have been repaired. Best of luck tomorrow. :second: Kristin

My Lap-Band package was $10,700 at Wish Center in San Antonio, TX -1 night hospital stay -all hospital/surgeon costs -psychologist evaluation -nutritionist help -exercise physiologist -post-op visits (NOT fills)

Terri- www.tickercentral.com I too am at 1.8cc now that I had .2 taken out. Being at 2.0 was fine for 2 weeks, then WHAM, I could barely get water down. I went on vacation and luckly got a lapband doc to suck out .2cc! I think this is a good level for me now. I was banded 3/8/06 and am down 31 lb, and 15 since my fill on 4/20/06. Hope everyone is having great success!! :second: Kristin

Tidge- I would recommend sticking to vegetarian refried Beans and scrambled eggs (if you're an octo-vegetarian like my fiance) because they have much more Protein in them and will keep you fuller longer and give you more energy. Mashed potatoes are carbs. While good carbs are great for your body...a lot of people get frustrated gaining weight on mushies before their first fill and it's generally because of less healthy food choices. And yes, those pains you're having should go away soon...try to walk A LOT. That's really the only thing that helped me. I was walking 2-3 miles a day after the first week post-op and the pains went away at the end of that 2nd week. Just a thought! Best of luck with your recovery everyone!

BakoGal- your nervousness is absolutely normal. You are changing your life when you get the band. But you are changing it for the better. I occupied my worried mind by doing housework the day before my surgery. It helped the time fly by and also I didn't have to come home to a messy house! Best of luck tomorrow morning!! :second: Kristin

I bought it for the recipes too. Honestly, I think a lot of the advice was aimed more at RNY/GB patients. Then they'd stick a little blurb in there like "this doesn't apply to lap-band patients". 75% of my pre-op information/answers came from lapbandtalk and the other 25% came from my surgeon. :second: Kristin

Wow! Sounds like you've got a fun Saturday planned FunnyDuddies! Hope you have a blast. Here's my stats: C 230 (-68 total, -3 week)

Hey everyone!! After 6 days of not eating and only drinking about 20 oz water/shakes a day I got fixed! I guess I'm one of those that the fill takes 2-3 weeks to "kick in". As much as I tried to blame it on that TOM, I couldn't take it any longer. I am on vacation back in my hometown and had to go to the only LapBand doc that I could find here. She was soo hateful about my incisions and port location, practically making fun of my surgeon to me. He's done like 2,000 surgeries and she's done 15. But I didn't say anything. Some people just want to be hateful, I was just happy to have some relief. Anywhoo... Diane- I got the .2 out today as well and am now at 1.8. I know you were happy to eat that tuna! And for me, I stop when I get that full golfball feeling as well, I hope that the "full" feeling doesn't change over time...I wouldn't know what to look for since I'm just getting trained to this feeling. Tricia- Hope you're doing better now that you can eat/drink! HeatherGurl- GOOD for you!! That elliptical will kick your butt, especially if you're not that coordinated...which is my problem. lol. ANYWHOO...hope all is going well for everyone!! Kristin

Hence why I said "For me."

Ok, I just had to share this with ya'll. I had the most embarrasing sliming episode tonight at dinner. My fiance and I went to La Madelines for dinner, I ordered rotisserie chicken. Fiance got a salad, and out of habit I picked out a few croutons from his salad. A minute later I wanted to DIE. I was hurting soo bad. I drank a sip of Water trying to get the crouton to go down, but it just kept hurting. Then I started to slime and then the water came back up, all over me and the floor. I wanted to die. Probably TMI, but anyway. That was my embarrasing night. Hope ya'll all had a wonderful mother's day. I'm finally finished with finals and headed home to visit my mom for a week, so I'll be kinda scarce in posting, but I'll be sure to check in on everyone!! Hope ya'll have a great week! Kristin