terilynn112

I have photos of my incisions, and one has my hand pressing with a V formed around my port. It's a couple inches down from my ribs, about center stomach. It's between my belly button and my ribs. It's sewn to a muscle, and if your muscle shrinks before you have built up enough scar tissue to protect the port, it can/will tear loose. teri

They told me I should have felt it. I didn't. I thought it felt different yesterday morning, while I took my shower, but I said nah, it's my brain playing tricks. But nope, it's moved. I can physically move it from where it is with some discomfort, so I fear it's pretty much all loose. Tomorrow will give me either a surgery date, or a fill. I hate the idea of more surgery already. I feel like I've done something wrong. But I did as my dr said... after 6 weeks to bump it up. I had no problem with my last fill (11/4), but this time they couldn't do it. So it's been in the last two weeks. The only change I've made is I did the Jillian Michaels 30 day Shred video. It has some tummy crunches in it. I think that may have done it. Not 100% sure though. Teri

Mine has torn loose, and is twisted, Not fully flipped yet. We think. Anyway, they're attempting to fill it again on thursday with fluoroscopy. After they succeed, they'll decide on if it can wait until after theholidays or do it now. teri

Since most of us are off restriction on what we can do... does anyone wanna do a November exercise challenge? Like I hope to do 3000 steps on the wii fit 5 days a week for November. Which would total 60,000 steps. Anyone wanna join me? BTW I can do that in 30 minutes max. So it's a total of 600 minutes for a month, 10 hours. teri

Well after doing that video, my port site was a bit sore. I thought nothing of it. I went to have a fill today, and was informed I had done to many tummy crunches and have torn my port loose. I won't be doing it for a while. But the name of the video is... Jillian Michael's 30 day Shred. It's a 3 stage workout. Teri

Well I'm home from my "second fill appt". I will add appt, as I didn't get it. The dr couldn't access my port, so he sent me for an xray. It's flipped. Apparently we're not supposed to do tummy crunches. Guess what I did last weekend? Yup crunches. No one told me I can't do that. So it's gonna mean another surgery. Not sure if it'll be right away, or after the holidays. I will find out more thursday when they try to access my port with fluorscopy. I'm gonna glow in the dark from it all. The good thing is according to their scale I've lost 4 pounds in two weeks. teri

I go for my second fill today. I'm a bit nervous. Not like last time, but because he knows I goofed up and ate something I shouldn't have. I think I'm gonna get the lecture. I'll get another cc put in. Which will bring me to 5 ccs. Teri

My mom and dad are supportive, although both tried to talk me out of it. They've come on board now. It's my siblings that are non-supportive. It went so far with my sister (who has had RNY) that she told me I'd fail, just like she did. Truthfully I've already hit my first and main goal of getting this. I've already lost my diabetes meds. And I'm in so much better control of that. I'm more active and have so much more energy. I'm gonna say something... I went ahead with the band (obviously), and have NO Regrets. But when you do slip, and eat to much, or the wrong foods, you'll hear their warnings that it won't work. It's all I hear when I close my eyes now, because Friday I slipped. Wrong food choices. Anyway, that said.... I didn't fail. I already won my biggest non-scale victory. And ironically, I went to look at a sore on my toe (i'd kicked something), and I could get my foot up to touch my nose. Silly I know, but before yoga, and my 45 pound weight loss, I would not have been able to do that. You do what's best for you. I truely believe God gave us a choice to use it. Teri

Oh Gosh I've been on real food since Early October. For more than a month and a half now. I do think that would help. teri

I'm also 30's... well 37 to be exact. I'm a single mom of 3 great kids, all boys. They add a lot of spice to my life. They are the reason I decided to look into wls. I didn't want to be away from them for 3 days, so I thought the band was right. And the more I read, the more sure I was that the band was right for me. I've lost 45 pounds since starting my journey in April. I want to loose another 70 pounds more ideally. I can do it. It's just a lot of work. My band was placed 9-16-08, and I finally had my first fill November 4th. I get another tomorrow. I'm so ready for it. I'm so ready for more restriction, as I have very little right now. I'm working my butt of exercise wise. SO much so I'm sitting here in tears, from muscle aches. OOPS I guess I pushed to hard today. Teri

I just got word from my surgeon's office. I'm to be there tomorrow at 10:30am. Apparently they read my post on the group (local) I belong to. They wanna chat, and do my fill a few days early. So I'm getting my second fill tomorrow at 10:30 am (eastern). Then we'll have the rest of the day crazy, as that's my youngest son's normal therapy time. So it's been bumped until 3:30 pm. So I'll go from one end of my county, to home, to the other end. Yippee! And on all liquids. I've been doing so much work today, trying to keep my mind busy, and getting ready for the holidays coming up. I've actually sent my sugar bottoming out twice today. Once I had some Apple Juice. The second time it was so low, my older son handed me a 3 musketters bar (the bite size= 23 calories). I had two. I'm ok now, but I'm also sitting down, not daring to do much. My stomach is off some, haven't eaten much, due to the stress. So I think that's coming into the factor. I started taking a new vitamin (new to me anyway). It's walmart brand weight conscious. It's comparable to the one a day weight smart vitamin. Gotta say I love it. It's got EGCG in it. And truthfully it's got me all wired, like I have tons more energy. Not sure how it'll last, but I hope some of this goes away so I can sleep tonight. The EGCG is supposed to be a sort of a fat burner type something. I googled it, and sounds promising, but we'll see. I know it's got me HYPER! Just wanted to update all. OH and they are changing my antidepressant. It's a capsule, and I'm finding capsules don't like my band. I get tummy sick if I have to take it with applesauce-outside the capsule. Well I gotta get moving. Just testing the internet connection here, since I moved the pc. Teri

I do it most nights, but did a jillian michaels dvd, and OUCH I'm a hurting unit. I took a few days off. :smile2: teri

I'm going thru a rough time too. My sister (the one that had RNY and gained it all back) had predicted I'd be a failure, and with thanksgiving coming, knowing she'll be here. I'm really struggling hearing that constantly. I can do this. She is wrong. I won't fail like she did. Anyway, I just wanted to peek in. Teri

Sorry had to send my son on the bus, which requires a quick walk. I'm back now. The problem for me has been my sister telling me I'd be afailure. The truth is, it's haunting me. But I am taking back the power of what she said to me. She is WRONG. I'm already a success. I'm off my sugar meds. I've lost 45 pounds (yes i lost a pound). I feel better than I have in years! So I am already a success. That said, I'm also calling my surgeon's office. She thinks I am in dire need of a fill. So I'll do that today. While we talked I told her the problems I'm still having taking my antidepressant. It's a capsule, and they just seem to get stuck. I've opened them, but end up nauseated for the next 24 hours. So that doesn't help. She suggested talking to my primary care dr, but he doesn't want to change things, as we're new to each other. So I'm kindda stuck there. She suggested talking to dr Bob about it. So I may just do that. I think the biggest thing that has helped. She suggested keeping pudding (sugar free of course), and jellos on hand and when I feel the need to snack, to get one of those. They're like 70 calories each packet. So I got both. I also got the ice pops, but my tooth hurts from cold stuff. So that's not working well. So I'm calling my surgeon's office, and journalling. I'm working on my emotional well being. Teri

I had a wonderful sit down with a long time banded friend. She is also a psychiatrist. Anyway, she had some great suggestions that relate to the why I had the doritos. She had tons of encouragement. I am going to do better. She asked did I do better when I wrote down EVERYTHING I ate. I did. So I'm starting that this week again. I bought a notebook so I could journal it. She also suggested writing how long I feel satisfied after ameal. Starting that this week also. Another thing is she said the guilt from eating something we shouldn't will mess us up for a long time. So we have to let it go, not give it the power to make us feel guilty. I'm struggling with that idea. I have to run.... be back later, with some other news. teri

NO real advice, just a congrats! You've done great. That's almost 3 turkey (the size I get for my family). WTG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! teri

Ty for such an encouraging post OPL. Yes I'm a single mom. Neither of the fathers are involved, or even send child support. Neither of them have ever held their sons. Their loss. The reason the doritos hit me so hard, was they sat there for HOURS uncomfortably. And my sister when I first broached the subject of wls told me that the band would set me up for failure. That wls was a waste of time and money, because if she failed, I most certainly would too. And I just keep hearing her "You will fail... you will fail"... to the jingle in the movie The Christmas Story where the boy wants the gun for christmas. And the teacher and everyone dance around the room singing, "You'll shoot your eye out, You'll shoot your eye out" then this giggling goes out... a wicked giggle. It's awful. The sad part of all this is she did fail. She had a bypass, lost so much she nearly died. And has since gained it all back. ALL and some. So yes she did fail. There are a couple reasons why I think she failed, but she failed. So because she did, I guess I'm expected to fail too. Why do I think she failed? Number one, she didn't go to support groups. It was all me. Number 2, she thought she could just reloose any she gained. It's not that easy. Number 3, she eats all the wrong foods. She eats easy foods mostly. Candy, ice cream. pastas. She no longer dumps. So what goes in, stays in most generally. If she gets to feeling bad, after eating, she will vomit. Number 4, she NEVER exercises. I think these things, don't know for sure, other than the what she eats, and no exercise. She's confessed that to my mom. She doesn't feel phsyically able to exercise. And it never makes a difference when she does exercise she says. I love my sister, but I really think that holidays are the best time to see her, as it's limited, and I'm busy. Fun for me, I get to do all the cooking, set up, and clean up, plus serving the others. So this will be difficult. Well I must get ready for church. ttyl teri

The risk of infection is WAY high if you do it at home. I am not a nurse, I want that clearly stated first. I had an epidural catheter with a port similar. I spent MONTHS learning to care for the doggone thing. I ended up loosing it due to infection. And my technique according to my dr's and nurses were perfect. So we never knew why I lost it. But I still blame myself for loosing it. MY son has hemophilia, and was scheduled to get a port a cath (again similar to our port, but for a different use), and I was scared crapless to give him the needle. I know how hard it is to hit those ports. I know how easy it is to get infected. That explained... would I ever, and with my experiences I could, access my port? HELL NO! I went thru a lot of pain, and money to get to this point. I won't risk my band being lost to infection! Teri

I made a thanksgiving type meal to get a feel for what I could eat. I find i will have to push around a lot, and use gravy to make the stuffing go down ok. I do fine with turkey. I did fine with potatoes. The veggies my mom usually cook bother me, so she's added in peas. I will sample the pumpkin pie, and bring home a slice of apple pie for the next day. I really don't want more than a little bit. And I'll have an adjustment 2 days before thanksgiving. So I will probably want less. I can eat more, but OUCH I don't like eating more than I can. teri

I hope you feel better soon.

Just a personal observation... men loose faster/easier than women too. teri

Mine also states where I am currently (been stuck there for a bit now), and where I was at surgery. I worked hard to get those pounds off prior to my surgery, and am PROUD to say I did NOT Crash diet. I had 8 weeks I worked my butt off at a gym, at home, and watching every little thing that passed my lips. I truthfully worked harder getting ready for the surgery than I have since the surgery. I got out of the exercise routine, and have had trouble getting back into it. And I wrote everything down. I'd write why I ate what I ate. How much I ate of it. I really need to go back to that. teri

I am not at goal, but I love where mine is. It's comfortable. I have lost enough weight around it, that if you look close you can see a small bump where it is. In time I'll switch over to a low profile port (you may want to request that). I quite quickly was where I wish I had the lower profile port. It's a simple surgery, so no biggy. teri

Mine also includes a pre op weight loss. I was banded 9-16-08 and have only lost 14 pounds since surgery. Depressing! teri

I'm so ready for them to go to preschool, because of the "effing threes". I like that. My mom called it the terrible twos, and even worse threes. She helped raise my twin neices. They're 18 now. They were identical. Sounds like you and I both got fraternal. I think you made a good choice. I however have had a bad day. Tomorrow's another day. I ate a lot of doritos. Not in a few minutes, but I was and still am quite uncomfortable. I am angry at myself. I'm tired (don't know if it was the type of food or what), and above all, I'm very disappointed in me. I went thru so much to get the band, and I screw it up? Why???? Because it's been an extremely trying day. Matthew has done nothing but cry (he's the one with CP), Michael is sick, and clingy. I've not had a decent meal all day, because how can one eat a real meal with two 2 yr olds tied to your hips? Seriously calorie wise the doritos probably won't hurt my count, as I had about 3 bites of Breakfast (small small bites of a 70 calorie yogurt), and no lunch. BUT I got no Protein in. I made a horrible food choice. But it's 5:19 pm here... and as of 5 pm, it's on to a new hour... and on to bigger and better things... bigger in fun, better in food choices. Teri