RaquelinTexas

Thanks guys. I did great on only liquids day 1. Day two I was back at school and did great all day, but when I got home I was so hungry I ate 4 crackers with Peanut Butter on them. I chewed until they were a soggy mess, but it helped the hunger. This morning, I am back to only liquids again. I will try a Protein shake tonight (yuck) to help with the hunger pains. Missy, keep up the good work. Fluff, thanks for encouragement. I will post again tonight to see how the day went.

Hello Everyone- I am a VERY sporadic person to this site, but I saw your heading for the support group and knew that I needed to post. Reading through the many pages, I can only say how much I was glad I was NOT the only one going through my problems. I failed my band miserably. I was originally banded in June 2008. By June 2009 I was at my goal weight. By December 2009, I had gained half of my weight back due to complications that required I have Fluid removed in significant amounts. In June 2010, I was back at my original weight pre-surgery. They removed all of my fluid for two months. I stated my fills again in August and was slowly....very slowly getting back on track. I had three fills up to two weeks ago, were I went for a barium swallow and found out that I had over stretched my pouch. They took out half of my fluid and told me to go on liquids for a week, then mushies, then regular. Ha! After almost two weeks of pigging out, I forced myself to go on liquids today. I had kept my appointment for the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Knowing that I was going to have to weigh in and have another barium swallow, I kicked my butt into gear. I am constantly berating myself for my failures. I literally had thrown away all of my original clothes, so I have about 5 outfits I can wear to work. I had made it to the promised land and ate my way back into hell. I ask myself Why? all the time. But, I know why. I love food and I like to eat. I am hoping that with your support and my own lousy will power, I will get back on track. Please pray that I can make it these next 10 days on liquids only. I will try and post every night on my lead up to my fill. Then, I can only pray that they can give me a fill and that my esophogus is back to where it should be. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. - Raquel in Texaws

Hello All, I was banded on June 27, 2008. It started out wonderfully for my first year. The weight melted off, I followed all of the guidelines, and made it from 230 to 168. Shortly thereafter, the honeymoon ended. I started PBing after almost every time I ate. I started to go for unfills, more and more frequently, and began a dance of 1 step forward 2 back. In June of 2010, I decided to have them take me to a complete unfill. I injured my back pretty significantly and needed to be able to take horse-sized pills. When I went back on Aaugust 27, for my first fill since June, I weighed 229 pounds! Only 1 pound less than when I started out two years ago. To be honest...I can blame no one but myself. I wish I could say it was the band or the doctor or the port, but it was just me. I LOVE food and I LOVE to eat. That's how I got myself into the situation to begin with. So, I am now filled to 3.0 in a 10 cc band. I go back in three weeks for another fill. The problem is, I still have no restriction and that is a major problem for me. I decided that coming back to this forum might help give me the support and strength that I need to make it work this time. Please let me know if any of you have had this happen and what you have done to get yourself right. I look forward to hearing from you all.

Hello All- I was banded June 27th and my first fill is next Tuesday. I am a teacher and needed to get it in before I go back to school. Has anyone GAINED weight once they went on to regular food? I lost 21 the 1st three weeks and this week have gained 2 lbs. I am frequently hungry 1-2 hours after eating and my tummy grumles a lot. My doc said it was time for a fill to help with the hunger coming so quickly. In any case, the place I'm going for a fill does the x-ray and barium swallow, so I feel pretty good about that. My surgical sites are still a little tender, though, (I'm a red head, what can I say) and I am worried the fill is going to hurt. Advice anyone?? Thanks.

Thanks for posting something positive--it seems like everyone reads and replies to the negative posts. I get my first fill next Tuesday and it is really nice to hear that all went well. Thanks again. Raquel

Hi Everyone- I have ben reading all these posts and I see those ticker-trackers. How do I get one and where do I go? Thanks.

Thank you!!! I feel technologically inept. : )

Hi All- Reading through some of the blogs I realize how happy I am now that I can eat "real food". I guess I have been pretty lucky because when I was liquid only, I felt fine...not hardly hungry except the last few days. Then, when I went to mushies I felt fine again. Now that I am eating 'real food' I still feel like I am eating mushies because I have to chew so well. My scarring looks pretty good. I have 1 big, ugly scar, and 1 that is smaller but still kind of ugly. The other 3 will probably leave no scar at all. I have only really been eating 2 meals a day because I am using hunger as my guide. I'm not really hungry at all in the morning, so I have my cup of coffee and move on about my day, I also haven't even really been missing my Diet Coke's or the breads and carbs. I still have a few mashed potatoes w dinner since my hubby hasn't figured out how much to cook yet. So far, so good. I see my surgeon this coming Thursday, so I will see what he says. Otherwise, I feel good and am happy about the surgery. Back later this week.

Hi All- Reading through some of the blogs I realize how happy I am now that I can eat "real food". I guess I have been pretty lucky because when I was liquid only, I felt fine...not hardly hungry except the last few days. Then, when I went to mushies I felt fine again. Now that I am eating 'real food' I still feel like I am eating mushies because I have to chew so well. My scarring looks pretty good. I have 1 big, ugly scar, and 1 that is smaller but still kind of ugly. The other 3 will probably leave no scar at all. I have only really been eating 2 meals a day because I am using hunger as my guide. I'm not really hungry at all in the morning, so I have my cup of coffee and move on about my day, I also haven't even really been missing my Diet Coke's or the breads and carbs. I still have a few mashed potatoes w dinner since my hubby hasn't figured out how much to cook yet. So far, so good. I see my surgeon this coming Thursday, so I will see what he says. Otherwise, I feel good and am happy about the surgery. Back later this week.

I noticed your surgery date was close to mine. I was banded on June 27th. How are you liking it so far?

I have 5 (three are really small, one is about 2 inches, and the other is about 31/2 -4 inches). I took my steristrips off at 2 weeks because they were looking pretty grim. My scars are healing well except for the larger two. But, I figure I don't plan on wearing a bikini any time soon, so no worries.

Congratulations on your surgery tomorrow. I will be thinking of you. I found the night before to be really easy, but I was nervous once I got to the surgery center. The gas pain and port incision were pretty rough and it took me longer to feel better (almost the 1st week). But, I am a redhead and I always take longer to heal . I also had to have extra medicine for nausea BEFORE the surgery because I always get really sick coming out of anestesia. Best of luck and keep us all posted.

Hello- I'm Raquel and I was banded two weeks ago today. :cool: I am new to this forum and hope to connect with fellow minded individuals who have the goal to finally get healthy and stay that way. I was a self-pay (ouch:ohmy:) but I feel it will definitely hold me accountable for staying true to the 10 golden rules. I go for my 1st follow up with my surgeon next Thursday. I had to commute to Dallas from the procedure (3+ hours) so Dr. is trying to be reasonable with visits on gasoline. Luckily, my fills can take place in Austin (only 1 hour or so). So, Hello, and I hope to be hearing from you guys. Best of luck!

Hi Mary- I am very happy with my choice thus far. The only thing that I was a little unprepared for was that it took me longer to really heal than I thought it would. Even now, I find I still get a little more tired than I was prior to surgery, but I figure I will just have to build up. Other than that, I feel good. The hardest thing for me right now is not drinking while I eat. I am an avid drinker (nonalcoholic) and it is really hard for me to sit down and eat without something to drink. How about you?