Melissannde

what was the cause of the fever?

I don't recall burping alot in the immediate post-op period, but I might have. It's been a while. Now when I start burping I know I'm starting to get full and better think about not eating any more. I had pretty bad empty tummy pains though. They wouldn't let me sleep at night. Once I was on thicker liquids/soft foods, I would take a container of yogurt to bed with me at night. When I would wake up with my tummy hurting, I'd eat a spoonful of yogurt.. that would soothe my stomach enough that I could go back to sleep. I did that all night long. Sleep 2 hours, spoonful yogurt, sleep, yogurt, sleep. Not how bandsters are supposed to eat, but my nurses said it was OK to do to get me through the post-op discomfort. Hope you feel better soon.

I don't like the term "sweet-spot". I just eat my 3oz of Protein, 1/2 cup veggies and move away from the table. If I get hungry sooner than 3 or 4 hours on a routine basis, I know it's time for a fill. But I know what you're asking and will try to answer. It varies from person to person and from band to band. However, I've heard for the 10cc APStandard it's somewhere between 4 & 6 cc's. For the 14 CC APLarge band it's somewhere around 9cc's. There's also one called a midband I think that's only 4cc capacity. Then there's the realize bands which I know very little about. Maybe someone who's more knowledgeable will come along. But really it's very individual..and the number moves as you lose weight too. I had about 5.5 cc's in April and it was too much. Had about .2 taken out in May. Sept. 7 I had .25 put back in and it might not be enough.. As you lose weight you also lose internally so the band gets looser and needs more as you go along. Hope this helps.

This is an excellent idea. My husband and kids did Karate a few years ago and they got really good workouts from it. I don't like treadmills and weights alone much.. will do them if there's nothing else available.. but I LOVE LOVE LOVE Body Pump .. check it out at Les Mills - Group Fitness It's designed to firm & tone..not to make bodybuilders. I've seen so much improvement since I started 6 months ago.

I hope your sister does well too. Whoever does the cooking where she lives will need to be on board with the necessary changes. You (and she) might benefit from joining Bariatric recipes at Yahoo Groups. BariatricRecipes : Weight Loss Surgery Recipes It's a spasmodically active group..sometimes tons of posts, other times you'd think it was shut down it's so quiet.. but there are lots & lots of recipes in the files section. They don't usually post nutritional info, so if that's a concern (and it often is for me), plug the recipe into a recipe calculator.. I like the one at caloriecount.about.com, there are others online. Lots of other online support at yahoogroups. Check out DFWBandsters (started out just for Dallas area, now is international), SmartBandsters and SmarterBandsters. I pointed out that our rate of loss is similar so that you can see where you might be in another year.. if you stick to it, you will be at goal or mighty close.

Kelsey, Even though we're a lot different in age, we were banded about the same time, only a year apart..and are losing at about the same rate. I started March 9, 09 at 383 and by Sept 3, 09 I was down to 299.. so losing at about the same rate. I'm not sure what you mean by dieting. This isn't supposed to be a diet, it's supposed to be a lifestyle change. I do eat low fat & no fat, but that is my choice. It's not everyones. I am also confused by the term "sweet spot". I don't worry about that.. I eat my 3oz (sometimes 4oz) of Protein and 1/2 cup or 4oz of veggies and quit. I try not to eat again for 3 to 4 hours. I don't know what type of things you like, or if you like to cook..so here are some ideas. I make mini meatloafs in muffin tins. We love tex-mex here, so I put a can of drained blackbeans and a package of taco seasoning in my meatloaf. I use 90/10 ground turkey and turkey Breakfast sausage (yes, a lb of each), with 1/4 to 1/2 cup steelcut oatmeal (instead of bread) an egg or 1/4 cup egg white. Sometimes I throw in some mushrooms, onions, garlic.. a little ketchup (try to make sure it doesn't have HFCS in it). If I'm really feeling the need for flavor, I'll add a package of ranch dressing mix in there too. And maybe a cup of frozen corn. Mix it all together and fill the muffin tins and bake at 350 for 20 or 30 minutes. 1 or 2 meatloaf muffins will make a meal with some veggies. These are super easy to freeze in baggies in serving size portions so you can grab one and have it thawed and ready for supper by the time you get home. A non cooking meal that I like: a package of chicken of the sea smoked salmon, a reduced fat philadelphia mini cream cheese & 3 light wasa crackers (the ones in the purple box). Veggie or fruit of your choice. John Soules chicken fajita breast.. weigh out 2 ounces. 1/4 cup Gebhardt non fat refried Beans (this makes up the rest of the protein). 1 slice Kraft 2% pepperjack cheese. 1 or 2 tablespoons pace picante sauce. Veggie of your choice ( I love broccoli & squash..green beans, not so much..chose what you like). 5 black olives. Maybe a medium tomato. place the chicken & beans (and veggies if they need heating too) on a plate..heat about 40 seconds on high in MW. unwrap cheese and lay over the beans. heat another 10 to 20 seconds. When I have this, I eat the chicken and the refried beans together. The beans act as a lubricant to help the chicken slide down. My bariatric people say this is ok with them as long as I'm not getting hungry too soon. It's very normal to plateau a bit. Start taking your measurements .. and check them monthly. You might find that even though the scale isn't moving much.. you are losing inches. Hang in there.. dont give up. Hope this helps a little.

That was my point.. albeit I expressed myself badly... that the loss might not be 12.5 lbs. It might be 20lbs. It might be 8. I just didn't want the OP to get home and get all depressed if the numbers weren't as good on the home scale. Congrats on the loss.. whatever the number is.

Thank you.. and thanks to the original poster too..

When I fix scrambled eggs, it's usually 1 eggland's best egg and 1/4 cup egg white mixed together. I also throw in a tiny bit of mushrooms and a tiny bit of spinach and 1tbspn real bacon bits (not those baco's junk). That's usually very filling for me.

All i know about is the APStandard (10cc's) and the APLarge (14 cc's). The realize bands have other sizes I think.

unjury makes unflavored .. www dot unjury dot com. I agree with you, I never did Protein drinks as a standard thing either. I do have a little bit premixed and some powder as a stand-by for "OMG I overslept" days, but when I was on liquids, I did soups too. I really liked campbells bean w bacon.

No trader joes in my area, never heard of smart or final. I've seen Torani or DaVinci at Walmart & Sams. Actually I order my chocolate Torani from Amazon.com.

Don't want to bust your bubble, but different scales will weigh you differently. I can weigh at home.. then go directly to the gym, no eating or drinking and weigh again, wearing the same clothes and be 3 lbs different.

Kroger (Big K Koolers) makes a diet canned Lemonade. Also a diet canned tea. Nice to have something in a can to drink to pack in the ice chest with all the rest of the families Diet Cokes. Along with all the other things mentioned....I also drink coffee every morning for my daily caffeine (normal amounts are good for you.. really). I use non fat powdered milk instead of that junky coffeemate stuff ( has partially hydrogenated oils in it.. not good) and sugar/free DaVinci or Torani syrups in it. Today was chocolate & Peanut Butter. Was like drinking a reeses cup. :smile:

A warm shower or SIPPING hot tea sometimes helps me.

Syntrax Nectar, all different flavors. BUT.. use Powerade Zero or Crystal Light or something to ramp up the taste/flavor.. it's on the weak side IMO.

I'm so appropriating this for another bariatric list.

I agree, the flavored greek yogurt has too much sugar. I prefer to buy the plain and add my own fresh or frozen s/f fruit. If it's a workout day (which most days are) sometimes I'll add a small amount of Bob's Red Mill Muesli. Higher in carbs, but it's whole grain and I burn it off fairly quickly.

There's another option to Fluoro (which entails radiation). My doctor's practice is to use Ultrasound when the port can't be located by palpation. Call the scheduling clerk and ask for an appt 1 month out. If asked why you're back so early.. feign confusion.. say.. OH.. was I supposed to wait longer? Or be honest and say I didn't want to wait that long. I need help with the hunger. Can you use ultrasound or flouro to find the port? There will probably be extra charges for the use of one of those.. my doc does charge a little more when they need to use ultrasound. Good luck.

Oh.. I forgot to mention. Dermatologist said to avoid tight ponytails, braids.. anything that puts tension on the hair. Ponytails are so depressing to me now.. I used to have so much hair I couldn't close my hand around my ponytail..now it's smaller in diameter than a quarter. However, I look at other women and what I have seems to be about what they normally have.. so I'm trying to retain some perspective. There could be LOTS worse problems to have.

Ya'll need to go to your PCP and have bld work drawn. Some hair loss is normal with weight loss/surgery/trauma, it's called Telogen Effluvium (google it and do some reading). However, there CAN be other things going on. Hair loss can also be due to thyroid issues, other (non thyroid) hormonal imbalances, lack of Iron, lack of selenium, etc. I started having hair loss BEFORE my banding. I finally went to my PCP, all my bld work was normal. Got sent to a dermatologist. He has put me on Rogaine. It won't make me regrow lost hair, but will hopefully prevent more loss. I think maybe it's helping a little. I'm about to go back to the Dermatologist and ask about some prescription meds. Btw, Dermatologist said he doesn't think my hair loss is telogen effluvium, but rather post-menopausal alopecia. Good luck to all!

My husband is a medical professional. I am a retired LVN. We have a sterile huber needle on hand IN CASE OF NEEDING AN EMERGENCY UNFILL and my doctor not being accessible for some reason. I might think about doing my own fill, but won't because that sterile needle must be saved for an emergency. Fills aren't emergency.. an unfill might be.