riley4183

:sneaky: Holy Moley LapBandGirl! Woo-hoo! That's incredible. I was banded 2/23/09 and I have lost, let's see, a whopping 24.8 lbs since surgery . . . congrats Jules, B, everyone! I guess we all lose at our own pace - but BOY does it EVER feel good to hit one of those milestones! And what terriffic lifestyle changes you have all made! YAY US!!!! Riley

I do eat super healthy, and I have for a long time - I was vegetarian before this journey started (until November 08) and I am looking forward to beiung vegie again. Robin is veggie so she gets it, but I had to commit to eating meat for 1 year . . .anyways, my PROBLEM has always been not WHAT I ate, but how frekin' MUCH I ate! Cows get fat eating grass, and I got fat eating super-healthy vegies! It's about the quantity, and one of the main reasons I picked the band - quantity was my problem. What scares me now is that, once again, I am eating more than (I feel like) I should, so am I even getting rid of the main overeating that got me close to 300 lbs. in the first place? I wonder if any other bandsters have this dilemna?

I don't really have before pics . . .I have some taken at the end of my 14-week Kaiser class, but I was already down 40+ lbs. then. I have one taken at a NASCAR event last summer - it was 106 out there, no shade anywhere and I have just run through the spray from a water truck to just survive in that heat - but it is so unflattering that my friend who took the shot took it back! eww. I can tell you that I was not using all 3 chins, so I lost one real quick and don't miss it :-) Oh my gosh Christine, I eat a LOT and never have gotten that "full" like after-thanksgiving feeling back that I had in the weeks after surgery. Breakfast: Decaf soy latte (made with sugar-free chocolate Soy Slender, 7 g, protein 70 cals 1 net carb), OR decaf black coffee and (after 1/2 hour or more) 1 cup fresh fruit "Snack" - diet jello (really a clear liquid, not a snack) Water water water Lunch: 4-5 ounces meat & cheese OR extra-firm tofu (I happen to love the stuff) OR 2 hard-boiled eggs, PLUS 1-2 cups lettuce with no-cal, no-carb Walden Farms dressing, PLUS either a sugar-free nonfat pudding or fat-free ricotta mixed with splenda and unsweetened cocoa poder (fake chocolate mousse!) I also walk for at least 30 minutes @ lunch (I walk 3x a day) Water water water "Snack" - chicken boullion (again, a clear liquid) or diet jello or another Soy Slender decaf latte - but if I really need something to eat-eat, whatever protein is leftover from my lunch, a string cheese or a boiled egg or something. Yes I know snacking is BAD and I am just perpetuating the habit, but I start at 5 am, have lunch at 11, and I really need something before I get home at 6!!!!! Water water water Dinner - 4-5 ounces ham (still left from Easter!) + an ounce of cheese + a cup of cooked vegetables. Or last night, I had the 2 boiled eggs than the salad. That's a LOT of food! It also takes me far too long to eat it - like, close to an hour. Salad is not on the menu yet, but I am having issues with constipation and need more roughage so I have added them - I just chew well. The fruit I chose is also not on the menu yet (no berries yet, and I eat blackberries, raspberries, blueberries and strawberries, which are the lowest carb fruits) except for occasionally watermelon, which is what Robin recommends (melon) as a fruit at this stage. I do not eat ANY bread products (have discovered that my rashes and peeling skin went away when I cut out wheat, what a blessing!) or potatoes (they make me crave more, with butter and salt please), so pretty much all of my carbs come from fruits & veggies. Robin said it was fine to put protein first, then vegies, then fruit and forget about the starches as long as i was getting some carbs from fruits and vegies. See, I do listen to her! I am worried that I am eating too much, but everything seems to be working out fine. I have been stuck 3 times already since my fill (never was stuck before the fill), once on ham, once on a sliced strawberry, and once on hard-boiled egg. All 3 times I was eating and talking to someone else and not paying attention to my chewing. That's why I eat so slow now! I am starving now - nothing since 6:30 last night, and have been going for almost 4 hours alreadytoday - and going to go have a nice cup of blackberries, which will take me a half hour or so to chew! Not interested in anything else right now. I log everything at www.caloriecount.about.com, which gives me an analysis at the end of every day. I get between 55-70 grams of protein, 20 of carbs 20 of fiber and less than 1,000 calories. So it's really healthy, but it is SO MUCH FOOD! I am afraid that I have stretched out my pouch :sneaky: but neither Dr. Baggs or Robin seems to think there is any problem, they are thrilled with my weight loss and Robin just keeps saying that everybody's different. Nicole - how did you phone appt. go? Riley

Holy crap, my fill really worked! I have lost like 5.6 lbs. since having my fill last Friday - 6 days ago! WOO-HOO! I LOVE this band! What a perfect tool. I can eat quite a bit - like, last night I had 2 hard-boiled eggs followed by a cup of salad - but it takes me SO long to eat it, and if I follow the "protein first, then veggies" rule and the no-water-during or after rule, I stay full. SWEET! Happy Thursday everyone! Riley:thumbup:

Woot! Woot! The big 5-0! Way to go Christine!! Love your band, love your scale, love your side!!! Woo-hoo!

MomCof3, are you still around? We're all getting post-band around here and need your expertise! What is Kaiser Richmond's approach to fills? Do they do just .5 at a time, or?? Is there some point at which you can just call for a fill, or do you always have to have 6 weeks between? Whatif youneed an unfill? Do you think it's the same for all of the surgeons? If not I'd still like to know what Dr, Im does . . . .and HOW ARE YOU?? Riley

Pintos & Cheese came while I was still on full liquids, so . . . . sometime around 2 weeks out?

Good morning Christine! How are you feeling hunny? The TB pintos 'n cheese totally worked for me too, and I got the cheese - YUM - and it filled me up! At least 2 of the speakers that we had at our 14-week class raved about them, too, as one of the first things that they could eat "out" that agreed with them, even though it did not mesh with the "rules." Interesting! OK, have to go work now - yuck, but I got bills . . have a great day ladies

I agree! I was of the notion that I could puree ANYthing - and I did! She said no to chili though, said that beans don't come back for quite a while. Skins? Fiber? Too gassy? (I did notice that part) I dunno, but I ate it and it worked great for me. I'm eating shredded (raw) cabbage too, and it's been fine. And strawberries, blueberries, blackberries . . . all Stage 5 foods. I don't get advanced to Stage 5 until I meet with Robin right before my next fill, May 22, which is almost exactly 3 full months out.

Yeah scale is going down again!! It took me an freaking HOUR to eat my lunch yesterday because all I brought was the ham and it had gotten stuck the day before - not too smart on my part, but I had already packed my lunch for next day when I got stuck . . anyways I chewed AND chewed AND chewed, it took that full hour to eat 1 slice of ham! This is like Easter ham slice, not lunchmeat, so 1/4 inch thick or so, and D-R-Y. I know you are not supposed to eat for an hour , but what am I gonna do?? I have discovered that I DO get full again, but it is different that right after surgery . . I feel it further up, and it takes me about 1/2 hour to feel it - not a few minutes like before. VERY weird. Also I am feeling a little tight once in a while in the mornings, which makes me want just black (decaf) coffee which is fine, today I also want strawberries - nice and moist - but I could NOT eat ham right now. So happy to see your posts Tina - happy band-day to you! Bad time for your internet to be down! Nicole, I practically lived on pureed chili when I was on full liquids, found out later from Robin that beans are not allowed until Stage 5 - same as salad! Oh well, I was fine. Happy Tuesday all! Riley

I had my first fill Friday, a whole 1cc (I had 2 in at surgery). We (Kaiser) have to wait 6 weeks between fills, so I think you guys are pretty lucky to be getting in there every week or month! I have to go see a nutritionist, too, before my surgeon will give me another fill, and how much they give me will depend in part on what the nutritionist says. So . . I don't get it. After my surgery in Feb., I was not hungry and could only eat a small amount before I got "stuffed." Nothing ever got stuck; I never knew the band was there, I just wasn't hungry and got full eating 1/4 cup. That went away a month after surgery, I could eat a cup + and not feel full. I figured once I got a fill I would feel full again with very little, and not be hungry . .right? Wrong. Now I am hungry and it's hard to eat because stuff gets stuck!! It takes forever to get full. I can't eat stuff like salads yet (I am still on "mushies") so what to do? We don't get to have protein shakes in my program. This is the hungriest I've been yet, even worse than when I was on liquids! And I have to wait another 6 weeks for a fill . . . . ideas anyone?

Oh gosh no, no YIM - I'm at work in a governmental office! Just posting on my little break . . . OK no shake, I am having some sugar-free soy milk and will wait until lunch :-)

Oh my God Nicole, you are almost in one-derland!!!!! We should have a (diet jello) party!!!

Good morning Nicole; I don't know if I should tell Robin or not. For my second fill, I have to meet with her first and the amount that I get for my fill depends in part on what she says. I mean I don't want to get yelled at or anything, but I also think I'm only hurting myself if I am not totally honest! I just got a little stuck on a sliced strawberry. I am not supposed to be eating those yet either unless I "peel" them so there are no seeds - c'mon! I sliced them up good . . . So I don't know if the salad thing is going to work or not now, seeing that I have gotten stuck 2x in 1 day since I got the fill! I was eating salads (lettuce only) with no problems before the fill, but maybe not so much now . . Boy, I can really see how folks end up drinking their calories. . I am hungry, but everything that I brought to eat today (strawberries, ham and asparagus) has a good chance of getting stuck! It makes me want to go have a protein shake - or some chocolate pudding, SOMEthing that will go down without getting caught. I am going to have to go home at lunch and get my leftover hot n sour soup. Maybe I need to go back to puree for a while . . . . . Riley

WELL I'm not sure how well that first fill worked, it was only 1cc so I have 3cc total in my band now. Dr. Baggs said I might not feel any restriction from this first fill, and I really don't - although for the first time I got something stuck yesterday, my third bite of Easter ham! It was mighty uncomfortable but went down with small sips of warm water finally. I did NOT want to eat after that, but of course an hour later I was hungry so I ate again. DOH!!! I really miss the "full" feeling that I got for the first month after surgery, I do not feel full at all now and I mean I ate like a whole (thin) slice of ham and then 10 (ten!) big fat (well-cooked of course) asparagus - whole ones! And I still did not have the full feeling like I did before. This was WAY over a full cup of food. So I really, really hope that the next fill will give me that back. Meantime, I am starting to eat like I did pre-band to lose the weight pre-op - salads and vegies, which are not in my current food stage. Grr!

That sounds perfect! BAD Vicodin Re: tylenol chewables, actually I did not buy the brand name because it had too much sugar, I got the store name (I think it was Rite-Aid, might have been Walgreens) jr chewables - grape flavored, but oh well! Before that I had the Safeway brand of kids' chewables, they were yummy like bubble gum but it took a long time to take 16 of them! And 1 bottle was only 2 doses. It was so worth it tho, to be off that Vicodin. I took it only at night for 1 night and then decided that the tylenol was doing just as much good.

When I was preggers & had to take extra iron, it worked overnight. But you've been depleted, it may take a wee bit longer to re-build your stores up to a "feel good" level! I'll bet you notice a difference right away tho. And not taking the thyroid meds can't be helping things either! Oh well, you're back on track now. Blame the forgetfullness on the vicodin - that's what I would do :thumbup:

3 days!!!!! Girlfriend, "crap" is right! Poor thing, I really hope it helps! I had all my vitamins ON my bed with me so the rolled over and nudged me every few hours, LOL - so I would remember to take them! I get TERribly week with no iron. Feel better soon hunny!

Wow Christine, I so hoped you'd feel good by now . . .you are too too tired girlfiend? How are you on iron? You ARE taking your vitamins with iron, right? In my experience, it took a good 24 hours to get the after-effects of the Vicodin outta me. I just can't stand that stuff! It sure works tho :-) Feel better hunny!!!:thumbup:

Nicole, keep on them! They will not be there over the weekend so if you need to be seen, you need to go this afternoon. Call Liz if need be, let her nag him & then you won't have to feel bad about it. Dr. Baggs told me today that they dig out a little place for the port before they stich it in, and the blood & fluids fill in that "hole" & make it stick out & be uncomfortable under your ribs. . . . . . after a few weeks, you body re-absorbs those fluids and you get flat again in the port area. In your case, it sounds like the fluids are just coming out! So my fill - YAY! It's SO cool. You lie down, he looks at all your scars and tells you how great they look, cleans the port area (his nurse started using iodine on me - I'm allergic - & they stopped and got that off of me and cleaned it with something else) - then he give you a little shot of local (just a little pinch - REALLY), then he puts the big needle in, which I did not feel AT ALL. He draws all the liquid out - they have to make sure you don't have a leak - then puts it all back in + 1 cc (for me anyway). I FELT THAT! SO cool. It was the first time I ever felt my band! Then, while he still has the needle in there, you drink a couple of sips of water through a straw to make sure that you are not too blocked. If you can swallow, you are done! You sit up and get a little band-aid. That's all there was to it! Clear liquids only for 24 hours. Your little tummy must revolt and swell a little, because I can feel it when I drink water now. Cool! I had 2 cc's in my band at surgery, so now with this fill I have 3 cc's. I have not been getting full since the beginning of April, so I hope this helps. He said I might not feel restriction with this one, but that I would after the next one - which is schduled for May 22nd. I hope I feel it now! I am sure hungry right now, and can only have clear liquids. That sucks, but it'll jump start my weight loss again. Even though I am unhappy about gaining 3 lbs back, he was thrilled with my weight loss so I feel motivated again. Yay!

Going down to Richmond today for my first fill . . . I had lost 23 lbs. after surgery, but have gained 3 or 4 of those back, yucko! I can eat like a horse now, and I mean ANYthing. I stated eating salads because gosh I am eating so much volume, I have to have something less dense! NOTHING has gotten stuck, made me sick, or anything like that. I did get some "sliming" with cottage cheese gulped down w/out chewing 1 time, but that was it. Now it feels like my band just fell off! I hope he gives me a lot of saline today. Christine, I didn't ever do the liquid tylenol - too much sugar. Instead I did the chewable "jr" ones made for older kids, if you get the ones made for little widdle kids you have to eat like 12 of them!

I stopped taking it when I started halluciniating, which was a Saturday - and surgery was a MOnday, so . . . 5 days? I used almost all of it. It does have a refill ya know!

Just right if it's working for you! You are walking a bit more than I did the second day, I took little baby walks - my son came along to steady me, as I was on the drugs and not too steady - but at least it got me outside, which I REALLY needed. I took about 3, 10-minute SLOW walks a day until day 4 when I felt great and did 4 miles! (POOPED after that, then got the infection & back to the hospital that night). You do have to push yourself to walk, but even just puttering around the house counts, as long as you are moving!

On day 2, I was taking the full 2 and I was taking it every 4 hours! That day HURT! By day for I was taking 1, but there is a HUGE difference between day 2 and day 4.

Christine, you are in the hurty-est day - day 2 is the worst. It will get WAY better every day after today, I promise! Nap, meds, walk, nap, meds, walk (that's what Dr. Baggs told me) Keep up on those meds and let them help you sleep! I hate meds too but I took the Lortab for 6 days, by day 4 I was taking it only at night but I did keep taking it(until I started hallucinating - really!). By Day 4 you will be bored to death and puttering around cleaning, I promise. Right now just nap-med-walk. And kiss your scale, it's a beautiful thing!! Just so there's not any confusion about this ladies, the port burns like heck. REALLY, there is a foreign object in there and your body does NOT like it. It gets steadily better, but it hurts for just about a month.