abrenner

Hi everyone! So here we are, another year out since our surgeries. Anyone want to check in? What are your plans to keep to your eating program for Pesach?? I am having a little problem that is indicating that I need to be UNfilled a little bit. Right in time if you ask me, LOL. Not that I plan to go wild on Pesach, but at least this year I might enjoy more. Especially erev Pesach after my kitchen is turned. I like to have salad with tuna in it for lunch (I do not eat matzah until after the first seder), and I was afraid I couldn't do that the way I've been feeling the last several weeks. I posted the whole saga (too much drama for my tastes, but that's the way it goes sometimes, yes?) in the general Fills board if you want to see what is up. Meantime, I wish you all a happy, healthy Pesach and as restful and restorative as it possibly can be.

I had my surgery quite a while ago, and have not had a fill in just over a year. My weight plateaued at 33 pounds last May and I was ok with that. I have a ventral hernia that is getting bigger, and I had to stop working out in the early fall. I'm now starting the process to get that fixed. Here's the weirdo thing. I had a head cold in February that resolved pretty easily. But about 10 days later I felt as if my band was tighter, and I wasn't able to eat as much and was PB'ing more. Then I went through a few days in real pain. Saw my PCP who said it sounded like gastritis, and I did two weeks on Prilosec (which I just completed on Sunday). I was remiss in going in for my one year post band checkup and getting my upper GI done. Things were ok and I really didn't have the time until now. I went in this morning and swallowed three relatively small sips of barium (not pleasant, but palatable if you hold your nose, LOL). The barium did not got through the band. So I needed to wait about 35 minutes and they checked me again. Still nothing. The radiology department called my bariatric doctor's office. They wanted me to come right in and get this taken care of, rush, rush, rush... And I've been living with this now for five weeks. The head surgeon, the lead on the team and the one who started the whole department, has made it crystal clear that he is the ONLY person authorized to fill or UNfill me because I have a compromised abdominal wall from many abdominal surgeries (ergo the ventral hernia - that is how you get them). I talked to the office and told them that I do not PB everything and not at every meal NOR am I uncomfortable all the time. I said that if I'd been allowed to take a sip of Water to thin out the barium it would've gone through. Bottom line - I go in on Thursday when the lead physician is in the office and he will take some saline out of my band. Have any of you heard or experienced anything where a lot of coughing or sneezing has forced saline in the tubing into the band, making it inflate more? That seems to be the current theory we are all operating under, because everything else is fine. Thanks for any and all ideas, responses, suggestions, etc.

Thanks, Slimmap, for the support. I'm not really upset right now (because I feel SO much better already but can still feel the rawness in my esophagus), just worried that I won't be able to maintain my current weight. I can't work out or even walk or swim for exercise right now because I have this hernia that is in the way & bothering me. I'll try wearing double support garments & walking my dogs to see if that works, but usually I get too achy or in pain to go very far. Gaining more than a few pounds back is what I worry about. Last night I did ok with how I ate. Not perfect, but ok. Thanks again.

Well, had an interesting morning at the bariatric doctor's. Turns out that my band/opening is NOT obstructed, but the barium showed significant swelling of the esaphagus above the band, and swelling (although not significant) of the stomach below the band. His response to this was to UNfill me by 7cc for six weeks to give my body a chance to heal. Since this was a fast onset, we are hoping it isn't too late an that in six weeks I will be fine again and can start the process of band tightening once again. I'm bummed, but not devastated. I knew that there was a big problem and that it was recent, so needing to be unfilled some was no surprise. Unfilling me totally was. The trick for me will be to stay with the eating program so that I don't regain a significant amount of weight. I would be really upset if that would happen. I think (pray) that I'm far enough along to stick to my eating program. Wish me luck!!

Liquidblue, That is awesome!! Go girl! I wish everyone here all the best and another great year of using our tools wisely and healthfully. Here's hoping!

I think your 37 pounds is extraordinary! Some of us have a really hard time losing weight even with the tool of the band, and the fact that you've done so well shows that you are really working with your tools to reach your goals. Good for you! I keep telling myself (and now you by extension) that I didn't gain the weight in one year, so if it takes me three to get to my goal weight I can live with it! Even the 37 pounds you've lost probably feels great I'm guessing. Have you treated yourself to some flattering clothing to reflect your weight loss? Sometimes that helps a lot. All the best and good luck! You are all my inspiration and heroes. I couldn't do this without any of you there along the way.

I've had multiple abdominal surgeries since I was 18 for various things, including a c-section 14 years ago (next week!!). I had a lot of scar tissue, but the biggest problem my surgeon had was that the wall of my stomach is so thin now that it was delicate to place the port for the band and also he is VERY careful about fills. Apparently I'm more at risk for herniation if filling isn't or wasn't done extremely carefully. So far though, so good! Still holding my 31 pound loss. Hoping to start moving that down another few pounds over the next month. I seem to lose a few, hold onto it for a month or so, then lose a few more. It is a slow way to lose, but steady, and while I haven't lost what some people report, I'm pretty pleased. So it will take me about three years to get to my goal. Big deal. Took 10 years to get to my highest weight, so what is three more to take the majority of it off? LOL. Anyone starting to think about the HH already?

Shearhunny, honey, Don't expect so much of yourself. Everyone loses weight on their own schedule based on the way that the body responds to everything, not just eating and exercise. Could be time of the month, heat and drinking more fluids, etc. Could just be that you are having a short term plateau. They happen. Thankfully I'd read that some people experience them for months and then with no reason to stop they just start losing again. I can tell you it happened to me over the winter/spring. I just started losing again in May after about a two-three month plateau when I hit my 22 pound loss. I have a very hard time losing weight which is why I chose the band. This way it is slower and for me safer. So instead of losing 60% of my weight in my first year, I will only lose about 30%. That works for me. I didn't get heavy in just three years, so if I can slim down to a reasonable weight after three years, I'm fine with that. I'm already enjoying what I've lost to date. So what I'll say, and I'm hoping others will echo, is that you are probably being harder on yourself than you need to be. This is a tool, not a solution. So sometimes the tools work really fast, and sometimes they just support what we've done while the rest of our body catches up metabolically. At least that is what I believe. As long as you are healthy and eating properly, exercising, and enjoying life, that is what it is all about. Good luck! By the way, I live near Philly now.

Hi August Bandsters! Well, I can't compare with the weight many of you have lost over this last year, and man am I impressed with all of you!! You all have really supported and inspired me along the way, and it has certainly been a challenging year for me. After three months of plateau, I finally started to lose again, and am now down a full 31 pounds! Understand that it is extremely hard for me to lose weight, even with the band and exercising, so for me this is a very big accomplishment. I'm so pleased for everyone here as we round the corners of our anniversaries. I'm raising my virtual glass of champagne to everyone. You all have truly rocked my world. I thank each one of you for your courage and kindnesses along the way.

Hi Shearhunny, First of all,try to stay relaxed. I know it is difficult, especially with that G-d awful pain when something feels stuck, but staying calm and relatively "ho hum" about it seems to help a lot in terms of dealing with the occasional PB issue (productive burp). Next, you might try something a little less dry for your protein for a few days or a week or so. I go with eggs, tuna salad, even chicken salad (fat free mayo of course). Or instead of fried chicken, try roasted chicken or boiled chicken, or add some soup to your roasted chicken or beef stock to your meat. Ground beef in VERY small bites with no buns and then let one bite go through before taking another. It takes a while to figure out what solid proteins will work for you as you start to get fills that really restrict, but it sure can be done. Sometimes I can eat steak! (Sometimes, not so much, LOL.) I find fish is pretty easy for me to get down most of the time. I stay away from breaded things and fried things as much as I possibly can. By the way, I grew up in Harrisburg & used to come to Duncannon with my father for business when I was a kid. Small town, still neat. Hope this helps! Amy

Hi Everyone, I don't post here often enough. I weigh myself each Monday. Today I was down another 2#! My weight didn't change much for the last two months but seems to be starting to move again. I've been sick and I don't know how much that has or hasn't impacted on the weight loss. I haven't been working out much either but that is due to my babying a pre-hernia that I'm trying to keep from needing to have fixed for a while yet. Anyway, as expected I don't lose weight easily, not even with the band. Just losing for the first time in years is a big accomplishment. It is very frustrating, but I keep telling myself that it will come off in time as long as I stick to the eating rules and do the little bit of working out that I can do. I'm so impressed with those of you who've lost such impressive amounts in what seems to be a short amount of time! You are all my heroes.

Hi everyone! I hope you all had wonderful, easy, PB free Pesachim and sederim. Mine was just wonderful through and through. Bonus - I only gained ONE pound the whole time! I'm amazed with all that I ate - I sure felt like I ate more and would've gained more back, but not according to my dear, darling digital scale. Go figure. So, how did you do? B'shalom,

Or should I say, my dirty NOT SO LITTLE secret? I was banded in August 2008. I just broke the 25 lb mark last week, finally - yay me! I think you might know I'm a tough case and have a really hard time with weight loss, ergo the choice to band. My dirty secret is that since I was banded I've had a serious condition that has zapped me of virtually any extra energy, and so the area that has suffered the most is my house. I've never, ever, ever lived in filth before - and believe me, this isn't just sloppiness anymore - there are true areas of filth now. I've been making myself nuts over how to get my kitchen cleaned up in advance of Pesach so that I can make my share of the two sedarim I'm attending. I mean literally making myself sick over this. I had to stay home from work this morning to give myself some extra time in bed, it's been that bad. The upside is that while I took my bath I came up with what I think is the solution for me. Let me start by saying I'm not shomer, but keep kosher - and to the point where most of you would probably be comfortable eating my food. I realized that the best use of my tax refund money, time, and what energy I have would be to go rent a place at one of those extended stay hotels near where I live, and there are about six to choose from, kasher THEIR kitchen (many have full sized fridges & stoves, some with ovens, some without), and do all my cooking there!! I can get my friend to help me shlep my K l' P utensils & cooking gear over for me and keep them in the room and closets. I can get them to be sure it is cleaned properly & then just kasher it all myself (I even have an electric teapot for doing the sink, and most places use stainless, which will be a help. It isn't hard for me to foil up burners or empty fridge shelves. I already did my full-sized freezer here at home, so I'm ready to go. This way I can start to do my cooking when I need to, and still get my own kitchen kashered in time for Wednesday morning, but the food for the seders will be done & stored for me by Tuesday night! That's my situation. I wish you all the very, very best this Pesach. I'm ready. I need the vacation, believe me. A zissen Pesach and chag sameach! Amy

I agree with you as well. It just burns me up when people speak so meanly about anyone who chooses a surgical option to their weight issues. NO ONE wants to be an out of control eater in my opinion. Seriously. Eating disorders aside, and I think overeating is as much a disorder as anorexia or bulemia, no one deserves to be judged for the decisions they have made. I think one thing that is going to help those who come after us (and perhaps ourselves) is to confront people who make offhand remarks or try to simplify our decisions and educate them on the seriousness with which all (or nearly all) gastric surgery patients treat their situations. I think educating people on the fact that you don't just call up a surgery center on a Tuesday and get banded that Friday needs to be stated LOUDLY and CLEARLY, both in the commercials for bands and from those of us who've been through the process. I take my hat off to everyone who has done this, whether you've been successful or not. I tell people who ask me that this is not for the faint hearted and that it takes a huge committment to make the decision to take a surgical weight loss option. Kudos to us all!

Hi everyone! I love this site and have found it to be invaluable to me during my weight loss journey and the process. I am a tough loss and slow loss patient, and sometimes my patience wears thin, LOL. How's THAT for punny and ironic? Anyway, that isn't why I'm posting today. Here's my question. Before I go to the trouble of nagging my nurse at the bariatric center to let me photograph a Realize Band on a table empty, with 1 cc, 2 cc, 3 cc, etc. until it is full, I wondered whether anyone else has done or seen something like this. One thing that I know that helps many people, including me, is to have an idea visually of what I'm dealing with here. So when I'm told I have 7.5 cc in a 10 cc capacity band, what does that LOOK like in terms of diameter of the opening to my stomach. I haven't found anything out in cyber space that gives me this kind of information, so unless I am reinventing the wheel, I'll be taking photographs and posting them sometime in the second half of April most likely. That is when I have my next vacation and can take the time to set things up and do a pretty good job - I don't want this to be too cheesy and unprofessional looking. I may use my digital camera to set up the shots, but I'll use my regular, dependable Nikon SLR (oh do I wish I could afford the digital version) film camera and then have the film transferred into a digital format to upload. Thanks to everyone for sharing your stories, pain, joy, advice, honesty, concerns, and support. I don't think I could've done this without you.

Hi and thanks again for all your support with this. I really am thrilled to have found someone who went through this (not that I would wish it on anyone). But you've helped me feel positive about recovery for the first time in almost six months. I still have to try the tennis ball thing, but I will. I have been on Diamox since early December. I was not on a sufficient dose at first, and am now on 1500 mg. a day. That is the maximum dosage I can take, apparently, and I must say I really did notice a big difference quite quickly. I started to feel like I was breaking through, though about three weeks later, so I'm now on just 20 mg. of generic Lasix per day. What that has been doing is helping with the headaches. I still get headaches, but I get a few hours of relief each day, and am starting to see that each day I'm getting a little more time without a headache as I stay on the protocol. The ONLY risk factor I had at all to cause this was the weight, so as I lose it can only help me. Why this didn't happen a year ago when I hit my top weight for the first time is a puzzle, but not something I can spend time thinking about. Now I spend my time trying to focus on being healthy. I follow my food rules, go to the gym (and if it isn't my best day I may only do cardio, but I try to pair one other group of exercise in with cardio each time I go, such as weight training that I did the other night, and tomorrow I will swim or do yoga, depending on how I feel). I can't wait to get all my energy back. I spend weekends resting, and my house shows it, believe me, LOL. Thanks again for the support. I can't tell you how helpful it has been to me. Best,

Hi everyone, Went to the doctor and got another 1 cc fill today. I've lost a whopping 20 pounds since my surgery on 8/13/08. I see that some of you are doing so well! I know each of us is individual. I hear the doctor reminding me that we knew going into this that I would be a tough patient in terms of really earning each pound I lost and that I wouldn't likely lose a lot very quickly. And with my medical history, including another pretty interesting and intense something that kept me down this fall, I don't want to lose too fast. I'm just down. I really want to lose the weight already! I haven't been allowed at the gym since Thanksgiving until a few days ago, so it will take me another week to get up to speed there again and be able to go and then probably several weeks until I'm well enough to actually work out for my normal 90 or so minutes (I developed a condition called pseudotumor cerebri - where my body was making too much spinal Fluid for some unknown reason, and it really had me quite debilitated for several months). Coming to you looking for "aw, Amy, hang in there - you'll get there" from you. OK, how much more direct can I be? LOL. Not really having a pity party here, but still could use some bolstering up from my fellow August bandsters. Thanks a heap. I really need it. My doctor thinks that I'll lose between 35-50% of my target weight by 12 months. Grrr....

Thanks Barb. Good luck to your niece. I hope her journey leads her to a full and complete recovery with no further need for more than monitoring. May she live to be 120! Amy

I am so sad! I was planning to attend but got invited to a family Bat Mitzvah that weekend and will be tied up. I'm so disappointed - I'd wanted to meet other bandsters and hopefully get support, love, and tips! I'll be thinking of you all.

Thanks so much for this! I didn't know about laying on the tennis balls. I don't think my headaches are migranes, just uncomfortable headaches since I don't need to be in darkness or get barfy from them. I do find I am clenching my teeth from them, though. I'll try the tennis ball things. I hope my experience with the pseudotumor is as good as yours. So far I've broken through the meds twice and was just put on Lasix last week to see if that would help (which it has not, yet). But then, my opening pressure at my spinal tap was 4 times normal, so I really have a lot to fix here, LOL. I see the doctor tomorrow. IF he fills me at all, it would only be about 1/2 cc. I think I'm just about, if not at, my sweet spot, and really think that I have to discipline myself NOT to eat around the band. Thanks again for everything. You've really reassured me in regards to the spinal pressure.

Hi everyone, Thanks for keeping this thread going. Still about the same weight I've been: 22-23-ish pounds lost in the six months since banding. I'm beginning to realize a few more things about this process for me. First, I think I should get and read the book that tutornmom suggested, just as another tool in my arsenal. Second, I'm realizing two things about my physiology that I suspected for a while, but can now pretty much confirm. The first is that I do NOT have a normal "you are now full" signal. I lost that about 9 years before I was banded, and I don't really have one now. There are two foods that I know I will almost always PB, so I stay away from them - pizza and rice (I miss my vegetable sushi!). Sometimes dry poultry as well, but not as often. No problems with any other foods as long as I chew it all up well. The second is that I can eat around my band, even at what is probably close to if not a good restriction. I have read and followed the suggestions on the "Five Day Pouch Test" site and tend to follow the guidelines there in terms of "challenging" my pouch and limiting or avoiding slider food. It isn't easy all the time, but I do ok with that most of the time. I mean that even when I've eaten an appropriate meal portion I can still revert to my bad habit of eating until I'm ready to burst or I lose interest in eating anything more, as I did before I was banded. I don't fill up on junk either - I mean like having four chicken thighs and legs at one meal not one, 10 oz. of steak not 4 oz, things like that. Or a lot of veggies after I've eaten my Protein. I do have some carbs, but not many and not everyday or every meal. I've tried to see whether I do this more when I am feeling bored, lonely, anxious, sad, hurt, happy, excited, etc. to see whether I mood eat, and it doesn't seem to tie in with my emotions, thankfully. So for me it seems to be mostly about retraining my thought processes to match the tools (my band) I now have to use to help me lose the excess weight. What will I do with this information? I'm not 100% certain yet, but there are a few things I'll put out to you for comments and feedback. I think I have to suck it up and get VERY serious about portion control and forcing myself to stop eating after I finish my allotted food for a meal. I've already made the transition to not drink too soon before a meal, with a meal, or too soon after a meal, and I think with my really focusing my attention I can learn this as well. I think that this alone will make the difference. Keeping a food journal won't work for me - I just don't do it, no matter how many times I've tried. I don't yet know what to do about the "I still WANT to eat" feeling I get. It isn't tied to emotions or time of day or what I'm doing or not doing. I just want to eat MORE, until I don't want to eat anymore. It's hard to explain that any other way. That's going to be a very interesting challenge to figure out so I can get the better of that issue. Slowly, as my health is getting better (and I had a little setback this last week where I needed another medication added to my cocktail in order to stop my breaking through with the spinal Fluid problem), I'm getting back to the gym. My body craves this as much as my head does, thankfully. I know this because when we had a session with our Brownie Girl Scouts last week (which I co-lead), we did a whole badge on fitness where we did stretches and balance activities, and my body clearly was aching for more! I have a date with my BFF tomorrow morning to go to our gym and take a yoga class together. I miss yoga and look forward to adding that back into my fitness/workout regiment. I spend at least twice a week in the gym. I do cardio, stamina/endurance, swimming, and weight training. I don't necessarily do all of my routine each time I go, but do a mix of cardio, stretching, weight training, and endurance each time, depending on how I'm feeling and how much time I have to spend. Lately the how I'm feeling part has been the overriding factor, and here's hoping that I'll be moving forward with that again. More ideas? Thanks everyone. You really did so much to help me feel part of a community and not alone in this. Blessings,

What's a body bugg?

Thanks everyone for your replies - they really ARE helping! I will keep working on the patience thing. It is so hard. When I was younger I could lose weight by thinking about it, LOL. Now I fight and fight for every ounce. Bless you all. You are the best!

Thanks! You said exactly what I needed to hear right now. More from the rest of you? Please???

I am attaching a link to the best and yummiest whey protein I found with the OU on it! Dairy, but delish. This website has it the cheapest, but you can also find it at koshervitamins.com. Bodybuilding.com - Integrated Supplements Whey Protein Isolate - 100% Natural CFM Whey! On sale now! If anyone would like to have my two remaining canisters (opened but neither were ever used - I mixed one canister of Mint chocolate flavored into Dutch Chocolate - OMG it is SO GOOD), let me know. I live outside of Philadelphia and would even ship it to you. Good luck! By the way, I'm kosher but not shomer, and am probably considered "conservadox" by most people. I'd love to hear more about the support group though if you'd have me as a lurker.