Wade

Hi Katydid and Piglett Glad the sickness has passed Katy. You still have a long way to go so good to hear you are resting. Keep it up! I had an emotionally blackmailing mother too. She also suffered from severe depression so had low self esteem so tried the emotional blackmail thing to see if she could demand love. Not good. She was the main reason I got married young (to escape) and then, when that didn't work, why I left Ireland and came to Perth. She has passed away now. Keep strong Katy and put yourself first. Cheers.

Oh Katy you poor girl! We have been thinking about you and mentioning you here on the site so you know our thoughts were with you. What a lot you have been through. I have been in Bethesda too and know it is a lovely place and you had the best of care. It's great to be home in your own bed but do not attempt to try to do too much. Once again I am offering to do anything that may help you. Or if you need someone to talk to or would like to borrow some books, or need a lift anywhere. Don't know where you are but I live near Highgate/Northbridge. So maybe I could pick you up when you are feeling better and we could have a coffee out somewhere. I know this is the least of your worries now but - how is the weight going? How do you feel with your band unfilled. Take care of yourself and thanks for making the effort to get in touch. Cheers.

Hi Chris Welcome to the site. It's a very helpful and supportive place. Good to know that other folk are going through the same things. Well done on the weight loss so far. It must have been very frustrating during the 3 months when you were not losing. But you are on your way now. I was banded on 10/10 and have lost 6 kgs in the first month. Had my first fill on 7/11 of 3mls and have only dropped one kg since then. Still feeling quite hungry but not eating as much, of course, as before banding. Still not doing the right thing all the time! Pigglet, I see you have a fill of 3.5mls and have restriction. I have 3mls but not feeling any different. I hope to feel a difference after my next fill. Well done, 35 kgs is great. I think you got banded in June? Keep on keeping on! PS Still no word from Katy. Still thinking about you. Hope everything's working out.

Hi Pigglet Thanks for the advice about the small bites and the chewing. Yes, I'm not doing that really either as I don't have to. However, I am keeping my portions smaller. I'll take your advice and start practising for when I need to do it. When you say the cup measure - do you eat a full cup or a 1/2 cup? I'm amazed to read on here that some people can only eat 1/3 or 1/2 of a Lean Cuising meal. I can eat the whole thing! Great to have the advice and suport on this site! Cheers. Hope Katy gets in touch soon. We're all sending you good wishes. :eek:

How are you Katy? It's a week now since your op. Let us know how you are going. Hope the vomiting has stopped now as that won't be good with stitches. I've had my first fill - 3mls and I don't feel much different. I suppose I'm not as hungry as I was the last week before the fill. I can still eat everything which is great. I went out for my first social dinner last week, the night before the fill. I just had an entree (4 scallops) while the others were having their main. I also had a taste of their entree and a taste of their dessert. Oh, and 3 glasses of red wine. It was fairly hard but not as bad as I thought it would be. I had a bad night last night. I wasn't hungry as had too much for lunch so I drank over a bottle of red wine instead. Of course that made me want to eat so I had about 20 Ritz crackers and a bag of microwave popcorn. It's come to that as there was nothing else nice in the house! Boy, did I have an hangover this morning. So I had to go to the local Asian to eat something for a cure! Just had chicken and a little rice but feel very uncomfortably full now. Guess that's another lesson learned - stay away from the booze. I have actually been very good since banding (4.5 weeks). I have had some red wine but not too much and about 3 beers. I have found that I haven't wanted beer (and I was worrying about missing this before I started this journey). I guess this gets easier when you see the weight going. I can't notice much difference at the moment. Hope everyone is OK. Cheers. :rolleyes2:

Thanks so much for the advice Pigglet about the Metamusil and eating after fills. I will definitely take that advice and go with Fibresure as the whole experience was dreadful and I don't want that again. It would be a dream come true if I could just eat everything but in smaller portions. Have to wait and see how I go. I will take your advice here too and not go for too much fill. Getting sick is the last think I want. Cheers.

Hi Katydid My heart goes out to you. I don't know how you are keeping going. Thank goodness the surgeon removed some fluid. Hope that helped. I couldn't believe that he wanted you to keep going in that condition for another 2 months. I don't think anyone could tolerate that. Best of luck on Monday. I will be sending you good thoughts on the day. I have been in horrendous pain with constipation. Far worse than childbirth I reckon (or maybe my memory of that has faded as it was so long ago!) . Nothing worked and it lasted 3/4 days. Better now and when I weighed myself this morning I was 1.6kgs lighter. No wonder I was in pain! I drink fresh vege juice in the morning - celery, beetroot and apple and take Metamusil 2 a day and I will now add the prunes as advised. Hope that is the last of it. Lost 6.6kgs in 3 weeks. Very happy with that. I have a question though of you folk that are further down the track. I have been able to eat everything. Will that change when I have my first fill next week? Is that when the problems can occur? Don't really know what to expect. Good luck everyone and Cheers.

Hi Katydid That is a fantastic weight loss. You must be very proud. What a difference it will make to your life when you are feeling better. Yes, imagine carrying all that extra weight around. I am always tired too. Terrible news about your hernia. No wonder you cried. However, it is fixable and, even though it means more surgery, you have overcome this before and will be able to do it again. Are you still getting sick? Best of luck. Keep in touch. Cheers.

Well done on the weight loss, Katydid. What a great achievement! Pity about all the illness though. Let us know how you go. Not much more weight to go now. You'll be a skinny-minnie by Christmas! I'm still at a weight loss of just over 5 kgs in a little over 2 weeks. Happy with that. I have discovered that I can eat and drink everything so far, which is good, but I will have to keep away from temptation. Constipation has been my biggest problem. Speak soon. Cheers.

Emma Yep, I thought it would have been the gas from the beer as that was the only time I had it.

Hi Emma Yes, did you have it too? Could you pinpoint what caused it for you?

I have only been banded less than 2 weeks and have lost 5 kgs (11lb) which is great but the scales is stuck now. What I did is to write a loss of 4kgs into my diary for every 4 weeks (which is what the loss should be) and I will write beside that what the actual weight loss is. What this has done has helped me see the end of the goal - which will be in 11 months. Then, when I am discouraged, I look at my diary and say to myself - I'll be this weight by Christmas, this weight by my birthday, etc. Now I know it won't really happen exactly like that but it gives me something to hang onto and to visualise. Cheers.

Thanks everyone for your enquiries. I am feeling great. No problems at all. Only 12 days since banding so early days yet. I have been able to eat anything I have tried so far. I even had a beer yesterday but did have a pain under my left breast afterwards - don't know if it was due to that or eating too quickly or what. It is all a bit of trial and error at the moment. Worth it though to know I can have a beer an odd time. To be honest though I haven't really wanted any so that's good. Still only lost the 5 kg but happy with that. scales not moving very much at the moment. Have to learn patience and that it is a long journey. Katydid - sorry about the bad news but it's a relief to know what the matter is instead of second guessing. I don't know how you keep going without food and sleep. I guess you do what you have to do. Do you work or have to take care of a family? Must be hard. My offer of help is there any time - something practical to help. Still sending good vibes. You'll get through it. Keep your chin up! Cheers.

Hi Katydid Sorry, I thought everyone was given a copy of The Blue Book. Must only be Steve Watson's patients. It is a book on lap banding written by a Melbourne surgeon and is very helpful. As I said, it tells you to go right back to the beginning and start with fluids if you are sick. I was given anti-nausea tablets and anti-reflux tablets and panadol liquid and strong pain medication (which I didn't need) on leaving hospital. Had to pay over $100 for them mind you but the dr obviously felt they were needed. Let us know how you go. Cheers.

Hi Katydid Thanks for taking the time to let us know how you are - not good. So sorry to hear of your ongoing problems. Glad you are seeing the GP - sounds like you need professional help. If there is anything physical I can do for you - shopping, cooking, cleaning please let me know. Otherwise, I'll just send you good wishes and wait to hear from you. Cheers.

Katydid I have been re-reading the blue book and noticed that it said that if you are sick you should go back to fluids and then work your way back to mushies and then solid food. Try that. I was also given anti-nausea tablets in the hospital. Do you have any? Cheers.

Thanks everyone for the good wishes. 4.9 kgs and yes, I'll claim them. No problems yet but I am still on fluids so early days. Katydid - so sorry to hear about your discomfort. How awful for you. Don't apologise for moaning - that's what the site is here for as well as celebrating the good times. Who better to moan to than other l.banders who can understand and sympathise? You are such a good support for others so you have a right to expect the same back. If I was that bad I think I would be asking for the surgeon to contact a colleague to help if he is away. Too long to wait until your appointment. Are you getting enough sleep or are you up all night? Keep your chin up. I will send you good vibes. Well done on the weight loss. Cheers. Wade (female)

Thanks to everyone for the good wishes. Everything went fine and I'm back in work now (Monday). No problems at all yet. Now that it's done I feel so much better mentally - much more optimistic. The scales is showing a 4.4kg drop in 3 days but couldn't be right. It's probably all Fluid loss. Anyway, why I feel so good is that I now know that it won't come back. Before this all losses came back eventually. This time it's different. I think I read other people say that on the site. It's great to have all your support. Cheers. Wade

Thanks Katydid It's Stephen Watson and Hollywood Hospital. Going home for my last meal now and a beer! I'm hopeless! I'll let you know how I went. Cheers.

Hi Everyone Thanks for the tips on beer. Kartydid thanks for asking about the drs appt. I saw him last Thursday and am being banded tomorrow - Friday 10! He had a cancellation and I thought why not go for it as I have been thinking about this for about 2 years? I'm excited and scared and sad about losing the old way of life. I probably put on about 2kgs this week just eating the wrong things in anticipation of not being able to eat anything! Can't win. I'll let you know how I go. Cheers. Wade

Hi Cherry Blue Glad you are feeling optimistic again and that you can eat normally. My greatest fear was about the inability to eat lots of normal foods and the vomiting but, since I wrote that on the site, I have been getting feedback from people that they can eat normally. So that is my last fear gone and I am raring to go! See Stephen Watson on Thursday. I read a posting on the site about a guy in the US who is not having any fills and Katy Did said she had only one fill. Why do some people have fills and others not? Cheers.

Thanks for the advice Katydid. Yes, I love soups, yogurt, ice cream (but then what don't I love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). Still apprehensive but am almost 100% that I'll go ahead. Leaving work to go to the pub now for a beer while I can! Cheers.

Thanks, Katydid, I feel better about it now. No op date yet, I am only seeing Stephen Watson for 1st appt next week. Cheers.

Hi Ozscot1 and Pigglet Have just posted a reply to Katydid but had not read your emails yet. Thanks so much. It is so reassuring to know that there are people out there who can eat almost 'normally'. It would be great to continue to eat almost everything but in much smaller portions. I could cope with that. Yes, I am 'second guessing' as you say and won't know until I have it done. Yet, I was almost about to pull out as I couldn't deal with vomiting - so, your replies have really helped, thanks. Cheers.

Thanks for the encouraging reply, Katydid and well done on your achievements. How much have you lost and how much more do you have to go? I have been very fearful of the throwing up thing as I hate that more than anything else. Perhaps if I learn from your experience it won't happen to me. What I can't get my head around is that it is for life, such a long time (hopefully) and I keep thinking that I will never be able to enjoy food again, go out for a meal, etc. However, If I don't have it done I may get bigger and bigger and then I won't be able to live my life to the full anyway. I know I have to just focus on one day at a time and perhaps eating and going out will not be a priority for me in the future. Cheers.