travelgirl

I do apologize for not having come back sooner...but I also can't promise that I'm back. I don't like the atmosphere of this forum. Too much hatin' going on here. I had managed to get from an all time high of 285 down to 225 within the first 8 months, but then my dad died, and that sent me into a tailspin. I started eating the wrong foods (comfort eating) and started gaining back...then I did something colossally stupid. I went in for a fill because of the weight gain. That made me too tight, but I was in denial about that, so I just kept eating the wrong foods. As you well know, the wrong foods do not get stuck. Whenever I did try to eat properly, I ended up being stuck. Every. Stinking. Day....until I quit trying so hard. Eventually, I went in for an unfill with a promise to myself to re-evaluate when I'm ready to try again. This resulted in me regaining all but 15 pounds back. About two months ago, I got on the scale and it read 267. This is only 18 pounds lower than my original pre-surgery weight. Do I regret getting the band? Absolutely not. See...when I went in for pre-op testing, I found out that I'm diabetic, I had high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. I have never had to take any meds for any of those conditions because of the band. I have been to the doctor every 3 months for the past 3 years, and all 3 of those conditions are "Perfectly Controlled" through diet and exercise. Every pound I've put back on is because of a bad choice or choices that I've made. Maybe in the near future I'll be able to make the decision to re-commit myself to the bandster lifestyle and go back for a fill. Until then, I'll just keep slogging along, trying to eat better and exercise every day. Thanks for reading. I hope this finds everyone healthy and happy. :redface:

When someone is that rude or crass, just give it right back to him. Let him know just how rude he is. And make it very plain that you don't need or want his opinion, and that what you do or don't do with your life is no business of his. BUTT OUT.

It's not that I didn't bother to read it before, it wasn't ever there before. I asked the PA how long they've had that, and he said just a few months.

I don't know if anyone here will even remember me, because it's been a LONG time since I posted anything. But I wanted to come here and share what I've learned recently. I hadn't been to see my band doc in over a year. I got a fill in May of '08. It was just a small fill. I couldn't even tell you how much of a fill I had total in my band, but the last one was .25 cc. Anyway, I started out having a few problems (ok a LOT of problems) getting stuck every time I ate. I chalked it up to either eating too fast, too much or not chewing properly. But I kept trying, thinking it was just me not paying attention, and then after some time, this became my new "normal". Until recently, when I started talking on a daily basis to a friend of mine who was also banded. I would tell her every time I got stuck, and she finally said to me, You know, I think you might be too tight. Go see your surgeon. Well, of course I know best, and didn't really think I needed to, because I just needed to be more careful, right? RIGHT? I finally started listening to myself and paying attention to how often I got stuck and how severe each time was, whether I would regurgitate or not, and how long the episode lasted. In the past 13 months, I've GAINED 18 pounds, because I was eating easy foods, and making terrible choices. If I did happen to be eating "bandster" proper foods, they had to be swimming in gravy, butter or sauce in order for me to be able to choke them down. I even started waking up with a little bit of a cough in the morning. It never occurred to me that this was probably band related, even though I'd seen it talked about here several times. Anyway, I finally had enough. Decided that I was either going to have to have my band completely unfilled or at least have a partial unfill, to see if that helps. When I sat down in the office to get the unfill, there...staring me in the face was this chart: and I looked at it and knew immediately that this is exactly where I needed to be, doing exactly what I needed to do. Every single symptom listed in the red zone was happening to me. So now, with a partial unfill, maybe I can resume my weight loss journey. I just wish I hadn't been so hard-headed and waited so long, because I knew in my heart of hearts that every time I got stuck eating something, I was putting myself in danger of stretching my pouch, slipping the band, and other things too scary for me to even think about. Please take a good long look at the chart and decide for yourself where you fit on there, and don't be afraid to go see your band doc. They're there to help you. Love to all.

Anybody miss me? I've been away for awhile now... And I'm posting just to post. I can't believe this thread is still going!