jmegirl

Me too! All but 2lbs for me were immediately post-op, we're talking within 5 days. It's been a looooong month, I'll tell you that. I just had my first fill on Friday so hopefully that'll do the trick!

Wow, in 2 days you changed your mind, haha. I was a 38 BMI when I made my appointment and had no problems. I was a 39 BMI when I went in for surgery, lol. But still, no problems. You should be fine! He's the nicest man, he's so friendly and he'll answer every single question you have. Good luck to you!!!

Your surgery was about 3 weeks after mine. So by my calculations, that means you should probably start feeling that nagging hunger within the week. I'm praying you don't if your fill isn't until January!!! :angry_smile: Everyone is different, so you might get lucky and not feel hungry for a month or two after surgeyr. I got lucky since, when my hunger came back full force, I only had a week to go before my first fill.

Fill Centers USA will do your fills regardless of where you had your surgery. However I've heard they are a bit pricey. You can check their website to see if there is one near you. That being said, my surgeon is in Colorado and I'm in North Carolina - now that's a far hike! My surgeon offers free fills for the first 3 months, and $15 fills thereafter. So I can either fly back to Denver every time I need a fill, or drive 3hrs to Fill Centers USA and have them do it. I prefer to have my surgeon be the one who does my aftercare, so I'm flying back and forth to Denver for my fills. But Fill Centers USA is so expensive that the costs actually even out. If I get 4 fills in my first year (which is entirely plausible) then I'm spending no more than $100 more to go to Denver each time. Granted it's 4hrs on a plane one-way, but hey - sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do! :angry_smile:

I don't think you should be worrying about whether or not you'll PB in the morning. You should be worrying about whether or not you can get an 8am appointment to get an unfill. :angry_smile:

ya know, it's hard to say if i've got restriction or not. i don't feel the hunger pains that i did before my fill, so that's a plus. but i also don't really feel "full" after i eat. if i let myself, i'll sit here and eat a meal the size of what i used to eat with no problems (remembering to chew chew chew, of course). but if i eat half of that, i might not feel full, but i don't feel hungry anymore - it's hard to explain. basically i just need to work on my portion size and i think i'll be ok. but i definitely ate less this weekend than i had been eating in the week prior to my fill (when i was feeling hungry every 3hrs) and as a result i lost 2lbs between friday morning and this morning. :wink_smile: that being said, i'm scheduled for my 2nd fill in a month (jan 9th).

I had my first fill last Friday. My doctor had me lay down and he did an ultrasound, found my port, marked it with a black marker, stuck me with the needle and he was in just like that. Did your doctor use an ultrasound machine or did he just blindly poke around? I don't think I could've taken more than one of those pokes - that sucker hurt like the dickens!!!! :wink_smile:

There's no reason to be scared ladies! As far as I can tell, PB'ing only happens when you've eaten too much. So, if you pay attention to portion control and you listen to your body when it says "I'm FULL!" then you shouldn't have a problem with that. Now, as far as sliming goes, that's avoidable by just making sure to eat moist foods - especially meat. Stay away from dry turkey and chicken, and stringy meats like beef and pork. There's really nothing to be scared of. You know, these things are going to happen to all of us eventually. But don't get so paranoid that you only eat 5 things for the rest of your life! Just remember the Bandster Mantra - "Chew Chew Chew" - and you should be good to go! :wink_smile:

Bring 'em all! I'd be happy to take some of them off your hands. I should be into 16s in the next 40lbs or so! :wink_smile:

My first goal is still 50lbs away, which is when I'll be in Onederland! My prize for getting to Onederland....my first tattoo!!!! :wink_smile: So yesterday my dad asked me what I wanted for Christmas, and I told him to buy me a pair of Size 10 jeans, so I can wear them next Christmas!

Well I'll definitely be in town that Thursday night January 8th. My flight gets in at 5:45p. Hopefully everyone else will be able to join us, I'd love to meet more people!!! =)

That's impressive! :wink_smile: I only lost 10lbs in my first month.

Oh my gosh, it's fabulous. And it's store bought!!! :biggrin: http://www.imaginefoods.com/products/product/1666.php I have only found it at one or two of my local grocery stores. The website may have a place to search for local grocers who carry it. It's sooooo good. It says "Cuban" but don't let that fool you - it's not the least bit spicy. I put a little shredded cheese on it when I eat it. YUMMO! :biggrin: Oooooh looks like you can order them online!

Wow, that's amazing. I think you look fabulous now Brandy. Way to go! I hope I'm able to stand next to you in my skinny jeans one day! Speaking of skinny jeans, I need to go out and buy a pair!!!! :biggrin:

That has got to be the most difficult thing for me to overcome on the weekends. During the week (when I'm chained to a desk working for 8hrs a day) it's fairly easy to stick to 3-4 meals a day. But on the weekends it's a free-for-all that I'm powerless to stop!!! :biggrin:

Sliming is when something gets stuck when it tries to go through the band. As a result your stomach begins to produce a lot of phlegm-type stuff to get it out, and it's rather slimy. So while the food remains stuck, 5 minutes or an hour, you're constantly spitting up this slime stuff that really just makes you want to vomit. Eventually, the food that is stuck will be moistened (by the slime) to the point that it goes through the band, at which point you stop sliming. PB is a "productive burp" which is basically when you're eating a meal and you've got too much in your pouch. You burp thinking it's just air, but everything you've eaten that is in your pouch just comes up with the burp. No stomach acid or anything, so it's not like you're throwing up - it's just all the food you chewed and swallowed coming back up into your mouth.

You shouldn't be restricted on water. Even with the swelling after surgery, water should still go through fairly quickly. It's the thicker things that take longer to go through the band, like creamed Soups and pudding.

My insurance required an 18-month supervised diet :biggrin: which is why I opted to be a self-pay.

If you're having surgery at Crown Pointe Surgery Center in Parker Hospital, then yes, the Hampton Inn is only 2 miles from the hospital. If you get stuck at stoplights, it's at most a 5min drive. They also offer a medical discount. I'm doing great! Recovery was a breeze, and I just flew back to Denver on Friday for my first fill. Everything is moving along quite well! :biggrin:

I also stayed at the Hampton Inn on East Cottonwood. They are very accommodating! :sad_smile: Not to mention it's a 2min drive to the hospital! :tongue:

I'm also a patient of Dr. K's and I absolutely love him. I just had my first fill Friday. I flew out to CO from NC, but I chose him because I'm self-pay and he was the most affordable with the best experience that I found. If you want to find a lot more of his patients, we all tend to gather in a thread in the Doctor's forum, called "Considering Dr. Kirshenbaum". The thread seems to always be at the top because we're a friendly, chatty bunch of girls! Good luck to you!

Wow, I'm shocked to find out that there are states that ask for your weight on your driver's license. Is that normal? NC doesn't do it...thank goodness! :sad_smile:

Hah, I used to watch it while eating an entire container of Ben and Jerry's! :sad_smile: Now it's really hard to watch that show without munching on something, but I do it!

Yay, we shall meet again! I'm considering flying in Thursday night and getting a hotel, because that roundtrip was terrible in one day. I was so sore from sitting in a cramped airplane seat for 8hrs throughout the day! Hopefully the seat will be a little less cramped in January. :sad_smile: After the last two days, I'm fairly certain I'll need the fill as well. I've heard a few stories about how the fill works. Some peoople say they're restricted right away, but it goes away in a week. Some people say it takes two weeks to even tell a difference, then suddenly the fill comes on full force. All I know is, last night I was able to eat damn near 2 cups worth of Beans, chicken, and rice topped with a little salsa - so something tells me I'm not restricted at all. Though I'm not feeling as hungry as I was before the fill. Who knows?? It's such a guessing game - it just drives me bonkers! :tongue:

My husband and I are newlyweds (May 10th, 2008) and this weekend we found out that his family expects us to host Thanksgiving at our house - you know, since we're the "newest part of the family", or some crap like that. Here's the snag - I'm getting my band exactly 21 days before Thanksgiving. :embaressed_smile: Going to someone else's house for Thanksgiving and eating very little would have been tough, but I'd have managed. Now, not only will I have to eat the food, but I have to prepare it!!!!! Refusing to host Thanksgiving is pretty much out of the question. There's no excuse I could come up with short of death that would keep me out of the kitchen on that day. So my question is - how do I handle this? What are some Thanksgiving dishes I can make that will fit into my Mushies Phase but won't be obvious? I think it sort of goes without saying that most of the people in attendance on Thanksgiving Day will not know about my surgery, so I need to make sure I don't draw any attention to myself. Can I eat dark meat turkey (it's moister than white meat) during my Mushies Phase, as long as I chew it 30+ times before swallowing? I know I can eat mashed potatoes and apple sauce, but what else? HELP! :cool2: