Mrs Husker

I seem to remember that at one time we had a list of everyone that was going to be banded in last March with their band date. I thought that TammyJ did it. Does anyone know where it went and what about putting it here? We could update it with our weight loss as our banddates approach.

Holly Crap!! Julie and qkeyt you both look great!! I plan on doing my photos on March 20. I will post them here if I can get the nerve up to do it. You both rock.

I broke through my very long plateau!!! I was so happy to be able to change my sig line. It is amazing when I realize that I am only 39 lbs from my personal goal. It is also amazing how seeing that scale go down 2 lbs can really lift ones spirits. I can’t believe it. My one year is March 20 and I had hoped to be at 170 by then, but am very happy with what I have accomplished. Without the band, and the support of each and everyone one of you, I would have never made it this far. So I want to say once again, Thank you. I can’t wait to see what next year is going to bring. I have decided to stop setting mini goals for myself. If I don’t achieve them I become depressed and down on myself. So instead of saying to myself “You dolt, you didn’t exercise last night”, I am just going to remind myself “Way to go, you exercised ___ times this week”. I like to look at the whole picture and that makes me happy!!

TammyJ-Our support group meeting was last Monday and the dr that did our surgeries was there and did a talk on complication. There were two things that she stressed, 1) Abdominal pain is not normal and 2) If you are having reflux and can’t keep anything down, get in and get seen. She had photos of surgeries that she had done on both lap and RNY patients. I found it quite interesting; others thought it was too graphic. She explained with each photo what had happened and what the symptoms where. I know that they just did a check and that everything looks fine, but I would demand that they get to the bottom of your reflux/vomiting. Janine-I am so sorry about you losing your band. I know that we have never met but I think of you as my band sister and I always loved reading your post. You have always had an encouraging word whenever someone needed it. Please stay around and keep us posted on your progress. Remember that you will always have friends here and we will all be here to support you in any way we can. You don’t even have to ask. You will be in my thoughts and prayers.

Congrats!! I remember what it was like waiting for that approval letter. What a great feeling. So, where are you having your surgery done?

Juli My calories are low. I know that I am only getting between 700-900 per day. For me this is not conducive with weight loss. I also only drink unsweetened tea. And yes my exercise has not been what it was or should be. I just have so much on my plate right now that I have let it slide. I know that that is an excuse. I can tell the difference since I started letting it slide. I don’t have the energy I did when I stuck with my exercise routine. I made a pledge to myself this morning that I will start it up tonight when I get home from work. I plan on getting my exercise sheet out and starting at the beginning. I know if I jump right back where I left off, I will not stick with it. I need to start slow and work back up to where I was a few week ago. I have soup for lunch a lot because it is convenient. I am not cooking as much at night as before so I don’t have leftovers. This weekend since I worked I didn’t do any of the cooking. I have no idea what my dh is going to cook either. Think I will give him a call and request something. If I leave it up to him it will probably be something along the lines on mac and cheese with hotdogs. I ued to like that, but just typing it makes me kind of sick. I will also ask that he make extra for lunch tomorrow. Maybe something with chicken.

What was wrong with the way your doctor did the documentation? Is there a form that you surgeons could have you doctor fill out? I had my surgery done in Omaha and don't know any from Lincoln, hope you can get this fixed. I know that you must be frustrated.

Kristin, Just wanted to check and see how you are doing? How are you doing on the liquid/mushie diet? When I went from liquids to mushies it was heaven. I have never in my life want cottage cheese as bad as I did while on liquids.

I though I was finally at my sweet spot. I am still tight in the morning and taking my meds with hot water. That took some getting used to. I am still full for up to 3 hours or more, but I can eat more then I should. I’m not talking drastic amounts, maybe a little less than 2 cups of food per sitting. Granted, I have soup everyday for lunch, not because I have to, it is just convenient, and I can eat the whole can. I am not drinking during or up to ½ to 1 hour after I eat. I still drink hot decaf green/mint tea all day long and am wondering if that might be the problem. I was thinking that if warm/hot liquids help open the band up, if I keep drinking them all day, does it keep it opened? I know that I am grasping at straws here, but I don’t think I need another fill as I am so tight in the mornings and have to be extra careful about chewing and bite size. I do eat my protein first, veggies next and am trying to stay away from starches with my dinner. I find that I also get a headache and get very sleepy if I eat too many starches or carbs in one sitting. Any advice would be welcome and helpful.

Gina, Mr Goodbar is a weakness for me also. Anytime I am at the store and I see one I feel my port and tell myself "You've had surgery". My other weakness is Lays Classic Chips. I know if they are in the house, I'm going to eat them. So I don't keep them in the house. Now, are you getting in your protein? Try having healthy snacks with you at all times or drink something when the craving hits. If push comes to shove, get some of the little bars and limit it. Or set a goal and reward yourself with one when you meet that goal. I know that food rewards should be a no-no, but sometimes it helps. I also find that if I deprive myself of something that I am craving, I go overboard and eat way too much of it. You are down 87 lbs!! You must be doing something right, Way to go and keep up the good work.

Huston, We have Restriction!!! I have to drink hot water in the morning just to get my meds down. I am hoping that by next week the scale will also have moved down. I am tried of seeing the same 2-3 lbs going up and down. Whitepants-I have had this pain for years. It is in the gallbladder area but all the test show nothing wrong with it. I believe that I have S.O.D. but don’t want to take the test to find out for sure. I have read that the test can mess with the pancreas and since I am diabetic (granted, in remission) I don’t want to mess with that. Juli-Glad to hear that your run is done. So how was it? Details girl. Today is the start of my 30 day count down to my 1 year with the band. I am hoping to hit 170 by March 20. Wish me luck.

Good Luck on your run Juli, you the woman!!! I got my fill today. The last time I was in they thought I might have a leak as they only pulled out about .7cc. At that time she filled med to 1.1. Today they pulled back 1.7cc (guess I don't have a leak), and tried to fill me to 2.3 cc and that was too tight. I felt the berium (sp) come back up, so she backed me down to 2.1. Hope this does the trick. While I was there I asked about this pain in my side and they had no idea what it could be. Think I am going to call my PCP and see about seeing a gastroentrologist and get to the bottom of it. This is the longest "attack" that I have ever had. It started at 9:45 this morning and I still have it.

Kristin, Glad that your surgery went well. As for the pain, I took gas-x strips and walked and walked and walked. If I didn't want to go outside, I walked up and down the hallway at home. Yeah, my family thought I was nuts, but it did help. The drinking part was a tricky thing for me also at first. I didn't want to mess things. I seemed to get most of my Water in after supper. I also started my day with hot decaf tea (counts as water). This helps relax everything and makes eating in the morning easier. Now I have hot tea all day long at work and I don't have a problem getting in my 64 oz per day.

There is a support group meeting at 6:00pm on the first Monday of each month at Clarkson Hospital (UNMC) on 42 and Dewey. They also have an informational session on the third Monday. Also 6:00pm. Both sessions are held on the ground floor of the Storz Pavilion.

GregNE, Our support group is a mix. We meet on the first Monday of the month at 6:00 at UNMC on 42 and Dewey in the conference rooms under the cafeteria. We also have a yahoogroup. If you go to yahoogroups.com, type UNMC. I believe that we are the only ones that will pop up.

Thanks Whitepants, I just printed off you "recipe" and am hoping to get everything this weekend. I have been constipated since surgery and I already have a polyp problem so anything that keeps that part of my body working better is worth a shot. I am trying to end the night time snacking by knitting. I have several project that I need to finish. One is a blanket for my husband. He wanted a really big one and by the time I am done with this one it will fit on a twin bed. Trust me, that’s a heck of a lot of knitting. I am also scrapbooking. I am now working on a family trip to South Dakota that we took in ‘03. Anything to keep my hands busy. I am getting a fill today. The doctor that did my surgery will be doing it. This will only be the second time that I have seen her in person. Her assistance usually does the fills. I am planning on taking to her about my gallbladder also. I am in so much freaking pain right now that I have to keep stopping while typing and bend to the side. I have had it checked in the past and nothing comes up in the test. I want to be checked for SOD and want to see what her opinion is.

Hey Kristin, You should have had your surgery now and was just wondering how you were doing? Hope all is well.

Texas, I right there with ya. I try hard, but with the stress at work right now and the cold, cold weather, it has been rough. I want crap food. I would kill for some Lays classic potatoe chips right now. I also find that I am tight as hell in the am and could eat a cow at night. I know that at supper time I am eating over 2 cups of food. I stop myself there but I am not full. I have a fill on Friday and hope to get the ball rolling again. I am sitting here at work trying to develop a new programs around outdoor education for kids and their familys and revamping the one that we use here at the aquarium for field trips, and my mind is fried. Not only am I working on these projects, I also have WITOD (Women in the Outdoors) and Relay for Life comming up. Both of these require a lot of hours. Add to that the things my kids do (my dd is starting a cooking club and it looks like it is only going to be at my house), taekowndo (sp) on Mondays and Thursdays with bowling on Fridays, my week is shot. I am not getting home until 8 or 9 at night. And then I am bring work home to do. It really shows at home. My house if a flipping sty!! I don't have plans for this sunday and really want to get it cleaned up. I plan on cracking the whip and get the whole family involved. Well, enough bitchin', better get back to work. Take care Marchies.

You looked great Juli. I just fill like same crap, different day lately. So I decided that I am going to go back to taekwondo. I haven’t been in a few years and start again tonight. My thinking is that I need to change it up a little with the exercise routine. Mine is getting a little dull. I might even join Curves, if someone there would answer the darn phone. As for bike riding, my goal is to one day do the RAGBRAI. This one is from the west end of Iowa to the east end. It take like 5 or 6 days. I hope one day to be able to do it. Well, take care Marchies. 23 days left until the start of our 1 year bandiversary. I hope to be 170 by then.

Does anyone have any goals that they want to reach before our 1 year mark? Or even for next month? I like the idea of putting my goals out there, it helps keep me accountable. Keeping it to its own thread, it would be easier to read and you could just update your post when you reach a goal. Also keeping it to its own thread will make it easier to find and you can track your progress towards your goal. Since the edit button not working, just copy and paste your post, deleting all the happy faces, and then you can update it as you meet your goals. So, whats are your goals?

Yeah Kristin!!! Where are you getting you surgery done at?

I was just updating my goals and saw your question about how to add a ticker. This link should help. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f5/ticker-tutorial-pictures-41782/

For times like this, I have a Slimfast or protein shake ready.

You might not be getting in enough calories. If I stay under 1000 cals I don't drop anything. But If I am around or over 1200, I drop about 2 lbs a week.

My doctor wanted us to quit before surgery, but never checked. Thanks for the infor on the side effect of Chantix. Not looking forward to the extra gas (already sound like a fog horn), but I need to do this.