TexasFire

You're sweet! Thank you very much! It's finally getting long again. I cut it super-short for a trial two years ago. MISTAKE! Even when I'm thin, I have these cheeks...runs in the family, as you see in little Emma! Short hair on me was BAD BAD BAD! LOL

HA! You have the same center as me...cool. I agree that she got "fill happy". I've thrown up a couple times, too. But it IS starting to ease up, but I have to sip Water with meat. My Protein shake in the morning is sometimes tough to get down, also...I'm tighter in the mornings some days. I'm trying to make sure I get in enough calories. It's getting easier. How many days has it been since your fill?

o2bthin - Thank you about the baby! That is my neice, Miss Emma. She is the light of my life...so adorable and full of personality! But then my sis is a real "card", so it's no wonder. LOL ja9va - The salmon burgers are in the frozen section in a white bag with blue lettering. You will love them! They have turkey burgers too...I'm going to try those tonight on the grill.

That sounds awesome!

I never knew about this thread! I'd love to join and hope this will keep me accountable, as well. My goal for August is an hour a day...1860 minutes.

I want to share another great food I discovered today. I was at Costco and looking at these "Salmon Burgers". I LOVE salmon, but was leary of them. Just my luck, they were doing a demo on them, and they are fantastic! They are already seasoned and take just a few minutes in the oven, and I bet they would be great on the grill, too. They are not little, so one burger could easily make two meals. If you like salmon, you will love these!

On my first fill, the NUT said my stoma was about the size of a pencil. I don't know how to relate it after the second fill. I have pictures of the barium going through my stoma during the fill, and it is really small! I can't even phathom a third fill right now. But I think I'm getting used to this one, at least. I really have to concentrate on small bites and chewing till my jaw aches. I can feel everything that I eat or drink...every swallow. But it's not uncomfortable at all now, just weird. I'm still having problems getting very much in, but the juice helped today and I'm trying to grab stuff here and there throughout the day...mostly grapes, cherries, a plum. It's getting easier to manage this fill, for sure.

OH CRAP! I saw the posting earlier, so I just bought a bottle of St. John's Wart and took the first one not five minutes ago. Do you know WHY it is on your no-no list?

I'm amazed at the 5cc fills, but like we say...every doc is so different. I know there is NO WAY I could tolerate a fill that large. This second one was only 1cc and has me in turmoil. lo2us - That is a good idea on the juice. I have never really bought it because of the sugar content, but I'm going to get some tomorrow. I drink a protein shake every morning for breakfast, but since I'm excercising a lot more, I could add a second protein drink before or after excercise according to the instructions, so I will do that on the days I excercise. I'm doing the same thing you did...sticking it out with this very tight fill. I need to stop whining about it! LOL I guess I just like to inform everyone in case they run into a similar issue, but I don't want them to think the sky is falling! Good night, all...and have a fantastic rest of the week!

Wow! That IS an aggressive fill! Let us know how you are doing with it! Naw...you're not a baby. It's scary when you don't know what to expect.

I was just able to get in two slices of sandwich pepperoni and two ounces of salmon...so that is the good news. The pepperoni was okay as long as I went slow...the salmon went down as long as I also took a sip of water with it. It is just too dry to make it through my band. I had some cherries and then added everything to my calorie counter, and I was only at 271 for the day and it was 5:30pm. That is not enough, but we aren't supposed to eat if we aren't hungry, right? So I waited a bit and fixed a bowl of rice chex...haven't had that since before surgery, and I love them. I now feel like I am going to explode. One, because I wasn't hungry, and two, because the cereal itself must be swelling in my stomach. And I'm still at only 391 calories and it's 6:15pm. I have been trying to up my calories to 800 to 1000 so my metabolism would kick-start again (and it did), but I will never get there today...no way. This second fill is kicking my butt.

I'm just the opposite. My band locked down a few days after my fill and I'm still waiting for it to loosen up some. My fill was eight days ago. I'm waiting it out as long as I can....no unfill for me!

Well it's been eight days for me, and I'm still very tight. I can't eat meat very well, if at all. Chicken salad even gets stuck if I don't wait a while between bites. Fruits and veggies are mostly okay, but again taking it slow or I feel them going through the band tightly. I have a very hard time going super slow to eat. I've always been a slow eater, but this is ridiculous. I'm having a hard time changing my habits to eat super-slow. I'll keep working on it...I'm determined to NOT have an unfill.

Hey, SWEETY...I just noticed that you are a Texas Girl, too! Do you live in Texas now? What part? I'm in Ft. Worth. Those are really little fills compared to what I'm used to...you must have a different type of band than me. What kind of band do you have? I'm glad the second fill did better for you! We all want to get to that elusive "sweet spot", don't we?

OMG! (Okay, I'm sometimes easily impressed.) I just bought some Ranier Cherries at the grocery store, and I'm in HEAVEN! I've always loved cherries, but these are the bomb! If you've never tried them, go get some while they are in season! They are large, yellow with some red on them...and are the sweetest cherries I've ever tasted. YUM!

OMG! I'm sorry to hear about your port! If you find out what causes it, please let us know. This would horrify me! Keep us posted on what has to be done and timeframes and such. You are in my prayers.

YES! And extremely strange for me. I can count the number of times I've been depressed on one hand...I just don't "sweat" much in life. It hit me like a ton of bricks last week. For no reason. It is letting up now, thank goodness. I have zero tools for dealing with that.

SWEETY - Also, make sure you are eating your protein first, then veggies, and limited carbs. (I'm sure you know this, but I hear of folks who eat sugar and carbs and wonder why they don't stay full!) I drink my protein in the mornings, but not every patient or every doctor is on the protein kick. My doc says do it if I can tolerate it, but doesn't push it. I just found one that doesn't make me hurl! LOL In fact it's good.

Everyone is different. If you feel like you need one, then you probably do. Personally, I would wait at least one week before deciding on another fill, though. Restriction can occur several days after a fill...I KNOW! LOL Not fun. If you are not restricted after a week, I'd go get one, for sure.

Yes, it eased up last night, thank goodness! I was able to eat some chicken salad as long as it was very moist. Then I ate a plum, which I didn't have problems with fruit or vegetables when overtight. I felt so much better within 30 minutes of having that chicken salad. Tonight I am going to try that salmon again, so wish me luck! I'm still pretty darn tight, but at least I can eat now. And if I stay at this level, I would be just fine, I believe.

My doc said each individual is different as far as tolerance, but that beer was fine as far as the band goes. I love beer, and had really liked Michelob Ultra even before the band, so I will drink that and my favorite Crown and Coke! I haven't had beer yet, but I will. I know I will be imbibing on my vacation in Vegas come November, for sure! I'm down to 215.6! HOORAY! My weight loss had really slowed, so asked my NUT about it. Since I have almost religiously been so strict on my calories, she said to up my calories for a few days and see if it didn't "kick-start" my metabolism, and IT WORKED! I was at 600-800 per day and took it to 800-1000. I did that two days ago and today the scale showed a significant drop. I can't believe that worked!

I had my second fill five days ago, and I am experiencing what I didn't believe existed: I was okay...restricted, but okay...then two days ago, my band started locking down. Today I've had 60 calories, and 50 of them were brocolli. I ate two bites of salmon before it got stuck, and STAYED stuck for a long time. Sorry to be gross, but I was never so glad to PB! It's getting tighter and tighter. I hope it eases up soon...I really don't want to get an unfill. I'm going to go back on full liquids for a few days and see if that doesn't help. At least I'm not hungry. P.S. By the way, I have the small AP band (10cc). The first fill was 3cc's at 3 weeks post op and the second was 1cc at six weeks post op.

So how long was it before you felt okay? I had my second fill five days ago and I am tighter now than in the first couple days after the fill. I, too, can only eat about two bites before I am PB-ing, and it is worse than ever...takes longer, feels stronger. I do NOT want to get an unfill, and my doc is only four minutes away. I guess I will give up trying to eat my salmon for tonight and go make some Soup. This is not fun.

How funny, naming your band! I named my Kreepy Krawly pool cleaner "Miguel". Miguel is my pool boy! LOL I need to come up with a name for my band, too! Maybe Gunter...Gunter my personal trainer!

AWESOME! Whatever you are doing, KEEP DOING IT! :eek: