MistyD65

Last week: 277.6 This week: 273.5 Just over 4 pounds! Woo hoo!! o/ Must have been all the yard work I've been doing cleaning up from Hurricane Ike. And no, I don't want another hurricane for more exercise!:smile2: AND........I've hit the 30 pound mark! :smile: As a reward I'm going to make an appointment to get my hair permed. It's been so long since my last one that it's almost all grown out! Keep up the great work everyone!:thumbup:

Wow... only one ounce of food at a time. Is that one ounce by weight or volume? It just seems like such a small amount to be able to eat. Have you been back to your doctor? I think I'd have to ask him about that. From what I've read, most people's pouches hold between 1/2 to 1 cup of food.

When I eat out, I have them bring me a glass of Water, for "emergencies" such as extra hot salsa! But I put it out of reach so I don't drink from it out of habit. If you take a small sip, I don't think you are going to hurt anything. I usually try to wait an hour after eating before I drink. And it IS weird. I'm so used to drinking with a meal. But I just don't do it anymore. At home, I don't fix anything to drink with my meals.

Hang in there! Sounds like maybe you aren't eating enough. Do you know how many calories you take in each day? My nutritionist recommended 1000-1200, and up to 1400 if you are exercising vigorously and often. Since you say you are starving yourself, your body is probably trying to do its darndest to hold onto whatever it gets. Eating more, but still within limits, can actually make you lose more weight. As far as fills, there are specialized "fill centers" across the country. Fill Centers USA is one that I know of. You are not getting the attention you deserve from your hospital. Does the Lap Band program at Mercy offer aftercare - nutrition advice, counseling, support groups, as well as fills? I think I would call the director of the program and make a complaint about your calls not being returned. You might check out the Illinois Support group threads here Illinois Local Lap-Band Support - Lap Band Surgery and Lap Band Discussion Forum to find out more about fills in your area. Best of luck and don't give up!

Did your doctor recommend the aggressive fills? Mine said that almost every time he has done a more aggressive fill (at the request of the patient), the results are not good. Even if you have a fill done under fluoro, and everything seems to be passing through the band just fine, from what I've read here, most people find that it can take several weeks to really feel the effects of the fill. By that time, what seemed like just the right amount of restriction becomes too much, and you can't eat without PBing. I would rather take the slow route than face the risk of hurting myself by rushing the trek to the "sweet spot".

:biggrin: The library is still closed, so this weekend's (9/20) meeting is once more postponed. I will call the library as soon as I see it has reopened and try to reserve a meeting room for NEXT Saturday (9/27), hopefully for 2 PM. Watch this space, as well as your email, for an update. I hope everyone is doing ok after Ike.

And please welcome our newest Bandster...call her the Hurricane Bandster...misskitty84!!! Neither high winds nor storm surge kept her from being banded this week!:biggrin: Aww BrownBear, that really sucks!:thumbup: I'll go out and try to push some power guys in your direction! Regarding this Saturday, the college library is closed, so once again our meeting is postponed. I will call them as soon as they reopen and see if I can reserve a meeting room for NEXT Saturday, the 27th. I'm going to shoot for 2 PM again. Watch your email for exciting developments.. lol:tongue2:

It was never mentioned as a no-no by my surgeon. I keep some in my purse for those "not-so-fresh" moments, but seldom chew it. I've never had any trouble with gas from chewing gum, but I only chew it for 10-15 minutes at the most. Once the flavor is gone, it's outta there. But I can understand the very real possibility of a big problem if it is swallowed. Perhaps I'll switch to mints once I finish this pack.

Ah, well that would explain the higher charge. If the fills are not normally done under fluoroscopy (x-ray), then having one done that way is going to cost more. My doctor does not use fluoro. If I were to need a fill done that way, we would have to do it at a hospital - thus more expense.

When were you banded Parul? That's going to have a lot to do with it. When I started soft foods in week 4 post-op (and before any fills) I was eating 1/2 cup of chicken or tuna salad and 6 Ritz crackers with no problem for lunch, and 3 oz of chicken, fish or turkey plus 1/2 cup of vegetables for supper. At first that would satisfy me for a good 3 hours or more, but now, in week 6, it only holds me for about 2 hours. It's not surprising that your 1 ounce of food is only keeping your hunger away for an hour. Are you just physically not able to eat any more than that, or is 1 ounce at a time what you doctor has told you?

Hey Illion. Katy fared pretty well. Lots of tree debris to clean up, a few isolated places are still without power, but I count us as very lucky. My house only lost power for 7 hours Saturday morning. We ended up with one large tree limb down in our backyard, but thankfully it didn't hit anything. Did you have any effects from the storm?

I'm glad you asked this. I've been wondering about it, too. What I don't understand is, if you've already eaten most of your meal, theoretically filling up the pouch and covering the stoma, why would a last, poorly chewed bite get stuck? I wouldn't think that bite would be anywhere near the stoma yet to block it, but the effects are instant. Any ideas?

Those commercials should come with a disclaimer: "Lap Band takes care of constant hunger AFTER you go through post-op Bandster Hell; AFTER you have 3,4 or more fills, which can be 6 weeks apart; AFTER you get a handle on Head Hunger; AFTER you change your diet to eat protein first....etc., etc." Yes, it is going to work, but it's not going to happen overnight. I'm afraid many are misled by the advertising for Lap Band, and even by the seminars held by surgeons. And this web site should be required reading for anyone considering getting banded, because it gives a "warts and all" overview.:thumbup:

Nope, no binding for me. I don't recall ever hearing anyone else mention having one after Banding, but it might not be a bad idea. I didn't have any trouble at all with my incisions, aside from them really itching as they wre healing. My avatar pic is from one of the happiest and most exciting times of my life...meeting Simon Le Bon in Las Vegas in 2005. That was my motivation for losing 40 pounds at the time. Kept it off for 2 years, then it piled back on. THAT was my motivation for finally considering and having Lap Band.

My doctor required a "swallow study" the day after surgery, so I decided to stay over to avoid the drive back to the hospital. That also happened to be the night we got bad weather due to Hurricane Edouard, so I was happy to not have to travel in that. Plus, it was nice to be waited on hand and foot, to have IV pain meds and an adjustable bed.

Hope you hear from you PA soon. What kind of binding are you having to wear? I only had 4 little incisions with the liquid bandages and my port incision with liquid bandage and steristrips. And looking at your avatar, I have to ask...are you a Duranie? I am!

Bless your heart, you sound like you really want to make this work. Does your Lap Band doc in Austin offer a support group? That would really be helpful. I looked through the Texas Local Lap-Band Support Groups forum here and didn't see an Austin group...plenty of DWF ones. There is also a support group here on the forums for teens. Teens - Lap Band Surgery and Lap Band Discussion Forum I'll bet talking to someone near your age would be good too. Support is going to be key for you right now. You can also look for a mentor here - and experienced bandster to guide you. You say you've lost a lot of muscle because of your lack of Protein. Sounds like that would be a good place to start - getting more protein in your diet. Make protein the main part of your meal, followed by veggies, then carbs if you have any room left. Did your doctor or nutritionist give you any meal suggestions? Start keeping a food journal. Write down everything you eat, portion sizes, etc. Also make a note of what time you eat, how long it takes you to finish, then make a note of when you are hungry again. Best of luck to you, and I will be following your journey and rooting for you!

I use the TwinLabs Chewable Calcium Citrate. I take 4 a day - 2 with my morning meal and 2 with my evening meal. Each tablet is the size of 5 quarters stacked together, but they are my "candy". To me they taste like a weak SweeTart. Vitamin Shoppe has them on sale online, but if you have a shop locally, they will honor the internet price. Just print out the page showing the product and sale price from the website and take it with you. There are only 60 tablets in a bottle, so it takes 2 bottles a month if you take the recommended amount of 1000 mg. It also has 100% RDA of Vitamin D and Magnesium.

At the bottom of your list of subscriptions, where it says "Move to Folder", you can choose what kind of alerts you get when someone replies to one of your subscribed threads. You can choose no email notification, instant notification, daily or weekly notification. You can also delete subscriptions and move them to different folders that you can make.

There's a handy list of commonly used abbreviations in the FAQ. :smile: Lap Band Surgery and Lap Band Discussion Forum - FAQ: Lap-band Abbreviations

True, but she may be worrying about being able to get a pill down. I know I'm a little concerned about that.

My doctor allowed me to take Milk of Magnesia. It did the trick.

A clean, soft eraser used very gently works amazingly well on the sticky adhesive.

We made it through ok. Power flickered off and on all night, then finally went out around 6:45 this morning. But it came back on almost exactly 7 hours later at 1:45. We have one good-sized limb down in our backyard, but it looks like all it did was nick one shingle. Our pool is FULL of leaves, and there is lots of debris on the ground. But I'm not going to complain. I think we got off pretty lightly. Glad to hear you are doing ok Brown Bear, aside from not having power. I hope more folks will check in soon!

I think LAP-BAND is a registered trademark of Allergan. They show it with the mark beside it on their site. The generic term is Adjustable Gastric Band. But it's kind of like Kleenex and Q-Tip. Both of those are brand names that are now used generically.