ALuv82

Haha, thanks. It's nice to be able to tell my story and entertain at the same time. You're doing great too--93 pounds is amazing!

I've been a bad girl who has not been checking in--shame on me. Well, I'm 262.5 today (evne though it's not Fri anymore) and I was 265.5 last week. I got a fill on Tues, so hopefully I can keep it up :smile:.

Are you being treated for your hypertension? It is important to have your blood pressure under control before surgery. High blood pressure can cause strokes, heart attacks, pulmonary thromboembolisms... It can also effect blood flow to your organs. Most anesthetics signfficantly decrease blood pressure, however high blood pressure can be exasperated at times during surgery such as during induction when they're placing the tube down your throat or during particularly "painful" points of the procedure. I would make sure to get your hypertension treated. Hopefully once you start losing weight you will no longer need the meds, but it's important to have it under control at the time of surgery.

I know my goal is too ambitious, but I signed up for another labor day challenge a while ago and set the goal for a 3 lb a week loss. I haven't been keeping up with that goal, but it seems silly to set a different one. I'll just do my best and see how close I come. Bunny's name --------Target loss lbs. --- Start weight 7/13 --- Current weight --- Target Weight 9/7 Band_Groupie ------------ 15lbs -------------- 203 --------------- 203 ----------------- 188 soon2befit ---------------- 25lbs ---------------- ? ----------------- ? ----------------- ? hopeful41411 ------------ 20lbs -------------- 253.8 ------------- 253.8 -------------- 233.8 smilan--------------------- 20lbs ----------------- 222--------------- 222----------------? trobison------------------- 15lbs ----------------221 --------------- 221 ---------------206 myturn2bhappy ---------- 15lbs ----------------- ? ---------------- 279 --------------- ? WannaBe1/2TheWoman - 20lbs ---------------- ? ----------------- ? ----------------- ? Butterfly64 ---------------- 15lbs ---------------231 ---------------- ? ---------------- 216 MrsMitch ------------------- 20lbs ---------------- ? ----------------- ? ----------------- ? doodlebug11---------------15lbs -----------------? ------------------?--------------------? TerriLynne--------------------?---------------------?-------------------?--------------------? txdj------------ -------------16lbs------------------?-------------------?-------------------? size6------------------------11lbs-----------------(-)19lbs--------(-)19lbs--------(-)30lbs 1want2bthin_____________15lbs_____________202lbs____________202lbs____ ______187lbs ALuv82_____________15lbs_____________265lbs____________264lbs____ ______235lbs

I was also banded and North Shore LIJ Syosset, but by Dr. Geiss. My surgery was 4/27. It's good to hear from some other people in the area.

I wouldn't worry about the fills--they hurt less than taking blood. I've heard some doctors use lidocaine to numb you first. My doc doesn't and I'm eternally grateful as lidocaine STINGS. You're better off without it. It's a quick poke through the skin, then sometimes they have to move the needle around a little to hit the right spot. Then they inject you. Every doctor does it a little differnt. Some use fluroscopy, some have you drink while they're filling, and some just inject. It;s really not a big deal. Even today when things didn't go smoothly, I was laughing the whole time.

Sounds like you're too tight and you're not eating enough. You're metabolism has probably come to a stall. You need to eat to lose weight. That tightness in your chest is restriction. I had to be unfilled when that feeling got to be too much. Plus you should be eating 3 times a day. Two meals isn't enough.

I had my second fill today—woohoo for more restriction! Not that I was doing too bad with the restriction I had. I can definitely see the difference between how much I can eat now versus how much I used to be able to eat. It’s a world of change. But it’s still not quite to the sweet spot. I can eat more than the recommended portions and I have had no trouble with any food I’ve tried. I can eat bagels, pizza, pasta, rice—no problems. Although when I eat bagels or rolls or anything, I do scoop out the insides. I doubt it would give me trouble even if I ate the whole thing though. I’m almost three months out and I have yet to get stuck or to PB. I would describe the point I’ve been at to be the perfect point if I was at goal and was trying to maintain. It’s like eating like a normal sized person. But sadly, I’m not a normal sized person yet, so I still need a bit more help. So, I went in for my fill. Originally I was scheduled to go in for a fill a week and a half ago but my boss had to go sail away on his boat and I had to change my schedule around to cover for him. So I had to reschedule my appointment. Grr. I tried to move it to my new day off last week but they were already booked so I had to wait till today. I have to tell you, it was an eventful visit. I got to the office and checked in. After about 10 minutes my name was called. The person doing my adjustment today was the new PA. I went in and told her how I was feeling and what I was able to eat and we decided on just a small, 1cc fill. I laid back, she prepped the area over my port and then stuck me with the big needle. It didn’t go in right away so she adjusted the needle around a little trying to get it in the port. She was right there, I could feel it—not a bad feeling, I could just tell that she was hitting the port. But the needle just wouldn’t go in. So she went to find the more experienced PA to help her out. I was left lying on the table with the needle and syringe sticking straight out of me for a few minutes before the two PAs came back. The older PA came over to try and maneuver the needle. She quickly realized the reason the needle wouldn’t go into my port. You see, apparently, my post was angled so that the rubber surface that the needle goes into was angled up towards my head. She said that it was common for the ports to be like that sometimes and that often as you lose weight they will change angles so that they may be more or less tilted. Anyhow, the young PA I guess didn’t realize what a steep angle my port was at and she went straight in. She wound up hitting one of these 4 little divots in the plastic part of the port and the needle was STUCK. They couldn’t get it out. I was told that they may need some forceps to get it out so I was left alone in the exam room once again with a big needle and syringe sticking out of my stomach. I put my hands behind my bed, closed my eyes and decided to take a mini-nap. A few minutes later, the two PAs came back with a surgeon (not one I knew) and he started cracking jokes which I responded to in kind. H came right over to me, gripped the needle and syringe and yanked. Out it came, large, bent needle and all. So, crisis avoided, they re-prepped me and this time the second PA did the adjustment which went smoothly this time around. I got my 1cc and was on my way. I have to say, though, that I’m glad it happened to me. Well, I mean, not “I’m glad it happened to me,” but “I’m glad it happened to me.” The older PA said that it happened to her a few years ago and the person that the needle was stuck in was having their first adjustment—they didn’t come back for another one for 6 months. For me, as a vet I have absolutely no needle phobia, don’t mind being stuck, and understand that no matter how much experience we have, sometimes you have to stick a person (or animal as the case may be) more than once. Personally, I kind of found it amusing more than anything—a little excitement in an otherwise boring day. Plus, I’m sure it was a very nerve wracking experience for the poor PA who was just starting out. At least if it wasn’t going to go smoothly, it was with someone who was able to have a sense of humor about it and not freak out. And hopefully she’ll learn from it so that it doesn’t happen to someone else or if it does, she’ll recognize it and be able to deal with it calmly. And now all I have to do is eat my liquids and mushies for the next 3-4 days and the wait and see if I’ve reached that elusive sweet spot. I can’t wait to see if this fill took. Toodles for now. PS—Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince rocked my socks—even if I did keep thinking “that’s not how it happened in the book.”

267 this week. That's down 2. It was a struggle since it was that time of month for me. I've been starving all week. Not that I wasn't hungry before. I can't wait for a fill but sadly I have 2 more weeks to go. I was supposed to get filled this coming Tues but my work schedule got switched around and I couldn't get off so I had to reschedule and they didn't have anything until the 15th which I also worked. So 7/16 is the day. I can't wait for some restriction.

The blues hit us all sometimes and the anxiety is perfectly normal. I went through the whole gamut of emotions prior to my surgery, No matter how much you kow you're making the right decision, there's a part of the "before" life that worked well for us, or we wouldn' have been there. It's normal to be scared to know you're going to HAVE to change, even if that change is for the better. Embrace your emotions, but don't let it get you down for too long. Concentrate on all the great new things this will bring to your life.

So another month has passed and I'm back for another weigh-in. I'm down to 269# as of today. That means I officially have double digits until my goal (170) and my BMI is 39.7--I'm not morbidly obese anymore...woohoo!!! I've also made it back to the gym after my unfortunate back spasm-y deal a couple of weeks ago. I ran 30 minutes today starting at a 4.0 and working my way up to a 5.1, then I worked out with my trainer for an hour. I can do ab workouts again. I don't know if I'm excited about that or not. I have a feeling I will have some very sore ab muscles in the morning. Oh well, it's just the price I have to pay to get skinny. I also have an updated album posted with some progreess pictures for anyone interested... 2 months later Anyhoo, with out any further ado, here are my updated stats... Before Weight: 313.4# Chest: 52.5” Waist: 51.5” Hips: 59.5” Thigh: 29.5” Calf: 20” Arm: 21.5” Last month Weight: 281.0# Chest: 51” Waist: 45” Hips: 58” Thigh: 29.25” Calf: 19.75” Arm: 20” Now Weight: 269# Chest: 50" Waist: 45” Hips: 58” Thigh: 28” Calf: 18.25” Arm: 19”

I had an interesting reaction to something someone said the other day. I saw one of my neighbors and she was complementing me on my weight-loss, which was nice to hear, but then she said something about how I must feel so much better. I just shrugged, but for some reason I felt myself getting defensive, especially when she seemed incredulous at my non-committal reply. I don’t know why it bugged me so much. My first thought was that I was annoyed because everyone just assumes that because you’re fat you must feel like crap all the time. Well the truth is, I don’t and I didn’t. I have an active job and I was working out regularly long before the surgery or the weight-loss. Other than very mild sleep apnea and occasionally getting a muscle spasm thing-y in my lower back (which I suffered from all last week--40 pounds lighter than the last time I had it) I’m healthy. I figured that the assumption that losing 40 pounds should somehow make me feel like new irked me. In hind site, maybe the reason it bugged me so much is because a part of me had similar assumptions. Not so much about how I feel physically, but about how I feel mentally. Losing 40 pounds should feel better. I should feel better--about my weight, about my life…but I don’t. I know I’m not even a third of the way there yet and I know that losing the weight isn’t going to fix my life, but what if I never reach goal? What if I just lose the average 50 something percent of my excess weight? Will I feel any different then? And what if I do reach goal? Will that feel different? Or will I have only gotten rid of the symptom of my unhappiness and not the cause. Will it all be the same only in a different body? That’s a scary thought but a very real possibility. I know that in large part, I use my weight as a defense mechanism. If I go to party or a bar, or any other social situation, and I’m ignored, well then it’s because everyone else is superficial and judgmental, or insert adjective that makes it not my fault here. See, the thing is people can’t reject me if they don’t know me and my fat makes it easy for people to not get to know me. By being overweight, I have an excuse not to get close to people—not to really let anyone in. I hate to be one of those people who blame all their problems on their mother, but I do think she’s a large part of why I feel this way. You see, she’s manic depressive and throughout my life she has suffered through some major suicidal periods. Even when I was still just a kid she would tell me how she wanted to kill herself and how she had nothing in her life worth living for. It was this huge burden to have on my shoulders and in the long run I wound up resenting her for it. Now I think one of my biggest fears is to be like her. I’m afraid to let people get close to me because I’m afraid that I will be a burden to them. I hate to even ask people for favors like picking me up from the auto shop when I have to drop my car off for an oil change, let alone burdening them with the big stuff. So I don’t. I keep people at a distance so that I can’t hurt them like my mother hurt me. I keep them at a distance so that they never wind up resenting me like I resent her. And the thing is, losing weight is not going to change that. It’s not going to make me feel better about opening myself up. It’s not going to suddenly make it easy for me to let people in and cure my loneliness. So when people ask me if I feel better, maybe it just bothers me because a part of me knows that the healing I need to do, isn’t coping with diabetes or hypertension, or any other problem that can be solved by simply losing weight. And since everyone who’s ever tried to lose any substantial amount of weight knows how un-simple it is, it’s hard to imagine what it’s going to take for me to “feel better.” And what if I never do?

Alright, so I didn't have many co-morbidities when I started this journey, but one problem I did have was dysmenseria (an irregular period) I'm used to this, have seen my gynecologist about it and have been treated for it in the past with birth control pills, however I haven't been on them in a while. The longest I ever went without my period is 6 months. This has all been directly related to my weight and usually when I watch my diet, my period comes back pretty quickly. I am since and there is 0% chance that I'm pregnant, don't worry about that. I got my period 1 week before surgery. It's now been two months since and have yet to get it again. I was wondering if any of the other women out there have had a disruption in their cycle post op and if so, how long it lasted. The first month post-op without my period I kind of expected since I was just starting solid food again. Again, this is a known condition that I've seen my doctor for in the past. I'm not worried, just curious. I expected my cycle to go back to normal by now.

I'll join you, only I'd be jogging, not walking. Don't worry, my jog pace isn't that fast--it'll probably take me just as long to get to 50 miles.

well, exercise has never been by problem. I actually work on increasing my speed rather than my time. So I started out at a 3.5 and every 10 minutes I increased by 0.1 for a full hour so that I finished at a 4.0 I would do that 2-3 times then start at 3.6 and do the same thing so that I worked my way up to a 4.1. The point is to do what your comfortable with. When I can finish the full hour at my current speed while feeling tired but not like I'm going to puke, I up the speed by another 0.1. If you're going for time, and you can manage 50 seconds without feeling horrible then go up to 55 the next time, then 60. But if once you get to 60 you're just barely able to eek it out, then stick there for a few ork-outs until you're more comfortable. You want to push yourself to get better, but you don't want to push so hard that you feel like you're going to pass out or you're having chest pain or anything. Just take it day by day and see how you feel.

I went back and forth between bypass and the band for a while but I had pretty much made up my mind on the band before going in for my initial consulations. The surgeon I wound up choosing only does lap-band, although I went to info meetings with other doctors that do both or only bypass. The reasons I had settled on the band are many. 1st, I had been at my job less than a year and did not feel I could afford to take several weeks off from work. Also, I didn't like the idea of having my intestines all re-routed which is very permanent and scary especially since I am young and I don't know what will happen in 10, 30 or even 60 years down the line. Who knows what 50 years of malnutrition will do to you? Also, they say there are a higher rate of resurgeries to fix complications with the band that with other WLSs, but here's the thing--that's because they CAN. If there's a complication with the band, there are options. Sometimes that option involves going back to surgery, sometimes it even invovles having the band taken out. But at least there are options. And what if I get sick and need to up my nutrition and I can't because my body not only doesn't fit much, but also doesn't absorb much? Or what if I get pregnant? My doctor told me there were higher than average rates of miscarraige in bypass patients due to malnutrition. A major part of why I wanted to have WLS in the first place is because I want to be able to live a normal life which hopefully someday means falling in love and starting a family. I would hate to go through all of this and then suffer through the unimaginable pain of something like that. Ultimately, every person is different and will need to make the decision on their own as to which WLS is best for them, but so far I do not regret or second guess my decision at all.

I am 2 months out and 45 lbs down. That includes my 1 week pre-op liquid diet. I lost 32 that first month and 13 this past month. On the liquid diet it's usually a rapid weight loss, then as you transition back to solid food a lot of people stall because their bodies have gone into starvation mode from eating 500cals a day. Overall, most of the statistics I read also stated 1-2 lbs a week. My doctor, however told me that because of my age and activity level I could expect mor2 than that --12-15 lbs a month (3-4 a week). There are a lot of factors that effect your weight loss. Don't compare yourself to other people. Just do what your doc tells you and take any loss you get.

I'm not that dar out yet--2 months since surgery but so far I have no regrets. If you really want in depth experiences, I recommend reading some blogs on this site. I have kept a pretty detailed record of everything I have been through, good and bad, and have read many in depth blogs of other LBTers. There are potential complications, of course, but the complications of being morbidly obese are far greater. Also, you need to realize that this will not be a magic pill. It's a lot of work, not the easy way out. A lot of people who are banded follow other diet plans at the same time, especially Weight Watchers. Do your research, but it sounds like you're a great candidate for banding.

That's strange. I've never heard of doing this before. I would definitely not pay anywhere but at the hospital itself. Also, pay with a verifiable form of payment like a credit card. Surgery is a lot of money and I would not take any risks with your hard earned cash.

Everyone's problem foods are different, although things like bread, pasta, and rice are typical problem foods. No matter how much you chew those tings, once you swallow they tend to just congeal back together again and can get stuck. I presonally have not had any problems with anything I've tried yet but I don't have a tone of restriction. I've never heard about peanut butter and nuts before. Those are strange ones to me.

Right now I usually eat more than 3 times day, but I have only had 1 fill. I definitely can't eat as much as before but the restriction is not what it should be. However, in the beginning I was actually over filled and I was supposed to be eating 6 times a day and could barely eat 3-4 times a day (only a protien shake or a 6 oz yorgurt at a time) and even that I had to force myself to do. I hope never to be that tight again but it will be nice to ahve some restriction where I can comfortably eat 3 times ad ay and be satisfied.

Congrats. You had your surgery just before mine--I was April 27th. I've only had 1 fill so far, my second is a week from Tues. I'm still not feeling restriction, but I've managed to lose 45 lbs since my pre-op diet. I'm glad to hear it's going well for you.

I don't think you will have any problem being rejected for surgery because of your health problems. Birth control pills are known to increase your chances of clots as is lying around for a long time. Everyone who has surgery has a chance of throwing a clot for that last reason. The Dr.'s take precautions to prevent it as it is a potential complication for anyone undergoing the procedure. You will likely get shots of lovenox (an anti-coagulant) multiple times and be intrsucted to start walking right after surgery as soon as you are awake enough. I had my surgery at 3, was in recovery at 4:30 and was up walking around the recovery wing by 6:30. Obviously you will need to discuss your health history with you doctor and they will ultimately decide what additional steps if any need to be taken to ensure your health.

OK, I'm feeling very nostalgic right now. Lions and Joe Pa and the Tavern, oh my! I miss it all. Best 4 years of life hands down. You should have eaten at Green Bowl! I loved that restaurant--make your own stir fry. They moved the creamery--it's not in the same place it used to be. Do they still have Peachy Paterno flavor? You know, I used to milk those cows that made that ice cream. Ah, the good old days. You look amazing in your pic by the way.

The only fast food places I have tried so far are pizza, chinese and Subway. The 2 times I had pizza I limited myself to 1 slice even though I was still hungry. The couple times I've had Chinese, I've gotten them to make the General Tso's Chicken sauteed so it wasn't so bad. I don't have any problem foods right now in terms of getting stuck so the bread at Subway isn't a problem, although I ask them to scoop out some of the insides anyway.