vicki's band

Got that right, a friend of mine's daughter had gastric bypass exactly one week before i got my band and she has lost 160 lbs and had her tummy tucked and going for the breasts in sept....I still believe I chose the right surgery for me, but man oh man i envy her progress. she has put it all behind her now and I am still stuggling. Linda, I know how you feel about the head hunger and Rain is right oh I made a funny, You know the saying, "right as rain" lol, any way, I know it is because I have felt deprived and I know it will go down without getting stuck, so I do eat things now I wouldn't before, but I must stop. Talk to you soon, vicki

Oh Rain, It is so hard. I am now up 10.5 lbs and its only been 1 week since he took out the fill. I go to bed every night and swear I am going to gain control again and eat small protien filled meals and everyday i screw up again. I can only hope that dr.h will give me back a little more restriction so I have a little help. I am keeping my eye on you and hope we will conquer this together. It seems like such a long journey....:ihih:

I have gained 7 lbs in 5 days what am I going to do, there is food everywhere....picnics, benefits, dinners, etc help.. I can't seem to get it together, and stay focused and not eat everything now that i can..should i call the doc before i gain another 50 lbs

I hear what your saying Rain, I got more public toilet water in my face than I care to think about. in the bathroom at restaurants every 10 min. yuk!!! Well, I feel like an eating machine, I am eating everything in sight. What is wrong with me, I'm like a food addict unleashed...I have to stop or I'm going to be huge again. I also had 6 cc and then 2 weeks ago, barb took out .4 and now dr. H took 2.5 and so now I only have 3 cc left. it will probably take all summer to get to 5 cc the rate dr. H fills.

You are both right, Today, we have to be our own health care advocates and I should have insisted, but it is what it is, and now I can only go forward. Let this be a lesson to you all that tight is not always better or even good. I drank my nasty protien shake this am and wish I could turn the clock back, but I can't. take it easy on your esophogus girls and if your too tight insist on getting in asap. vicki :confused: P.S. I gained 5.3 lbs since yesterday, I drank so much water, about 80 oz and never peed. I guess my body absorbed it like a sponge!

hey shar, well, I went in and he seemed shocked that all this was going on... he says why didn't i call and I said I did 2 weeks ago and he seemed perplexed. I think the guys got too much on his plate to be honest with you. so he said he wanted to go downstairs and look at the films from my barrium swallow and so i waited in the exam rm. He came back and said my esophogus was stretched and I created another pouch above the band from the food being stuck for so long, and that there was swelling and irritation to the esophogus. So then he did the unthinkable and deflated me. Oh my God, I cant believe it but he said I need to heal so he deflated me and I am suppose to drink liquids, protien shakes, soup, etc. for 10-14 days and then mushies for 2 weeks, and then see him on july 7th at 1:00. I am so scared I am going to gain weight, cause I was so starved when i left there, I have been eating all day, everything in sight and drinking water like crazy cause i was so dehydrated I can't get enough to drink..so now I know, I have no restriction at all, cause everything went right through the band,everything, I have not restiction what so ever! I am going to be fighting with myself the next several weeks, and until he decides to give me some restriction again. I know I shouldn't complain, cause I truly was miserable and I did not want to be that tight, but i thought he would tweek me and I would be able to eat and drink, but not be totally deflated. any way, I guess I do need time to heal and I am just going to have to chomp the bit and eat healthy and stay focused.:wub: thanx for all the support, and let me know how you are doing also. vicki

wow! thanx for all the support guys, I don't quite understand it myself, I was thinking maybe cause they are getting busier we old timers are being left behind, I'm not sure, but it seems to me that I was put on the back burner, and I don't care for it either. I am down to 198 and my hair is falling out and my nails and skin is dried out.:cool: I don't mind being tight, but this is crazy. I think I am dehydrated cause i can't even keep liquids down and my coumadin level is down below normal cause i can't keep my meds down. well, I am going to find out tues. what the problem is cause messing with my body like this is scary. I will keep you guys posted, and thanks again for your concern.

welcome to my world ladies, I not only get stuck once a day or even once in a while, I am stuck every single time i swallow anything including water. I am miserable and cannot weight to get deflated!!!! I just want to feel something close to human again....

thanx val, I appreciate it...

I have had to change my password every couple days, for some reason it wont accept it and that has been a real pain.

Dear Shar and Rain, thanx for asking, My appt is monday and the doc never called me back last friday. I am still experiencing terrible heart burn dispite the pepcid, I am also having stomach spasms in the morning when i drink even a sip. that gets better as the day goes on, but the heartburn gets worse. also, I have some other discomfort in my esophogus, it feels like an alien moving around in there and it hurts. I hope there is no permanent damage, I am going to go back to liquids, and see what happens. I'll keep you guys posted.:crying: P.S. has anyone else had problems with this site, logging on or finding this thread????????????????

Hey Linda, sorry to hear you have been having trouble. I just had a barrium swallow and it was so awsome to see my pouch for the first time. and a revelation as to how small it really is. I think you will find it rewarding. You looked really great when i seen you at the clinic. I also was stuck at the same wt for a couple months, and then had a fill and started losing again, I think you just need to find your "spot", try a fill next visit, and see if it jump starts your wt. loss again. good luck and hang in there. vicki :tongue:

OMG! so listen up, on friday, i still had the horrible heart burn and reflux. I could only eat a small amount of no sugar added vanilla ice cream. then, about 11 am, I feel this awful fullness in my chest, and i go in the bathroom and bend over and out comes this this black bitter, bitter, yuk. and so i'm freaking out as you can imagine and i call lisa and tell her and dr. H. is standing there and she tells him and he tells her to tell me to stay on liquids and protien shakes and pepcid and call back tues. HUH!????? I dont know what old blood looks like, but i know it wasn't vanilla ice cream coming back out. So, here i am doing fluids and pro shakes and its a holiday weekend and I am kinda worried. what the hello was that. I thought he would have told me to come right in. Anyway, I do feel better doing fluids and Ice cream. I thought I would share my story. any thoughts???

Rain, I also was noticing your stats and was wondering if yours were current. it is ironic isn't it, how close we are considering we were done 2 weeks apart! Cool, i'll keep an eye on you and see of we stay on track..good luck!:cursing:

not so much...............

wish i could, my boyfriends grandson is leaving for L.A in the morning and we are all going for dinner, ugh! hopefully i'll see you at the next..where is everyone, i don't see anyone on line anymore....

Hi guys, I went for my barrium swallow on monday and the radiologist showed me the results right there on the spot, when he told me to swallow it went onto the pouch and stayed right there. after 3 or four sips, it started to back up into my esophogus, about half way up he said stop, cause it wasn''t going anywhere, then he showed me a thin black line the size of a thread literally a piece of thread, and said that was the opening to my stomach... so barb the np took out .4 cc and i'm still tight and having heart burn. they said to give it a few days and see if the esophogitis gets better. so my next appt is the 2nd of june. my motto is "find your sweet spot, cause this sucks" lol...........

Linda, I am a gum chewer and I asked Dr. H about it and he said "they have wierd rules here" and said chew gum if you want to chew gum. so I have been since 6 weeks after surg. The gum is so small, i cant imagine it getting stuck unless your super tight anyway, cause i can swallow stuff larger than a little piece of gum. Also, you don't have to be a snorer to have apnea and you can snore and not have apnea. so the only true way to tell is a sleep study test..

this is the very first time i was asked to drink some water, cause dr H, doesn't have me drink after fills and I told Barb it was moving very slowly and she just said to call if i had any problems.....Also, I gained 3 lbs back so it was probably just water weight...I am eating now with little restriction, it seems so wierd that .5 cc could mean such a big difference between not drinking liquids and eating still more than i should be.?????? who new food would be the center of my life even after the band! vicki

Hi everyone, Well, I lost 8 lbs the first two weeks after my last fill, november. then during the holidays i gained it back so when i went in tues they said i only gained 2 oz, yes i said 2 oz, however, what they didn't know was that i had lost 8, and then ate like a pig and yadayadayada.....so, i seen Barb, and never got to see dr H. so Barb fills me up 1 cc and when i was leaving, I heard dr. H say what is going on, why am i not seeing any of my patients, andBarb said she was trying to free him up to learn the computer, that is what she told me also, but he was really irritated and so i left and came home, then I tried to eat and OMG!!!!!! I couldn't even swallow water. nothing, it was like a cork was in my esophogus! so I waited till yesterday morn,and couldn't get through to any human voice, and so i called Lisa, Hoffmans secretary and told her everything and she said she would have Barb call me back, well no call. so last night I felt like I was going to faint from lack of food and water, and I tried to take my medication which I have to take or my level drops (coumadin) and it woudn't go down and then I threw up. Not PB but vomited. so I called again this a.m and they told me to come right in and barb said she didn't get the message which does not surprise me. she deflated me by 0.5cc and she also had a hard time entering my port, even though it does stick out also. I can eat and drink now, surprized at how a litll 0.5cc's can make that much difference. Oh, and guess what they weighed me and I lost 5.3 lbs... wouldn't recommend it that way though...... nice to meet you linda and rain and Dee looks amazing. hope to make the wed meeting...talk soon .............vicki

uh oh, I also have an appt at 2:30 tomorrow.. I hope it won't be an all day affair, as it seems he has us back to back and at least two of us at the same time. Hope to meet some of you tomorrow. good luck all................vicki

congrats kathy, just don't get too excited as it will still take several months before surg. but your on your way and that is what is important. Your in for a journey that will change your life forever, in a good way. way to go.............vicki

Dear N. bflo girl, I also have eaten a cookie here and there and a french fry here and there. one of my favorite foods is chicken fingers and wings with blue cheese and i still lost 70lbs. so dont fret, as long as it is only here and there and not all the time like pre op I think we are doing well. I remember the days of full plates of fries and cookies lol... take care and keep me posted...My appt is 1/23 at 2:30

Yes! there have been two times since surgery that I did not move on the scale, the first was in Oct. did not lose for four weeks, then lost 12 the next four weeks. this month, I actually gained 6 lbs the first week and have lost that and one more for a total of 7. I don't have any real excersize program but I walk more than i have in 6 years and clean the house alot. I know it sounds silly, but i get my house done and get a work out at the same time. I get nervous when the scale doesn't move too, but then poof, all at once you will lose a chunk of weight. I am actually allowing more carbs into my diet lately, and seem to be losing, so I wonder if my body just needed a change. doesn't it seem like our whole world revolves around diet and wt. now?...hummmmm lol vicki

dear daniella, it has been 6months since my surg. and I am down 70 lbs. and not for one second do it regret having this done, not one. you will be so happy in a couple months, trust me and good luck for your new year ahead. vicki