TinaH

mbprn and cathy, thanks so much for your input. i know what you mean about taking care of others and not taking care of myself. for all my life i have worried about what and how others were feeling and not even aware of my feelings. which i was stuffing with food anyway. i have lately come to the realization of all this. i have been seeing a therapist for another reason and we have talked about this. a real ephifany. i don't thik i spelled that correctly. but you know what i mean. tired old man, i do believe that my body was hoarding what little i was eating. but thank GOD, with all the exercise that i have been doing, the metabolism is kicking in. i am 11 wks post op and have lost over 17 lbs since surgery. the dr, yesterday, was pleased with the loss. he said he reccommends between 1=2 lbs a week. for lab banders ,,,,, uh oh, this is turning into a book. sorry, will cut it short., thanks guys for all the responses. i surely appreciate it. please ,,,,,,lets do this for ourselves and help each other with our support. mbprn, i have been a prison nurse and was lately into homehealth nursing. but had to go on disability after a wreck that left me in terrible pain. but, i am doing much better. of course losing over 50 lbs in 2 yrs has been a great help. now that i have had banding, i am looking forward to much better life ahead. thanks tinah

Cathy, I think I feel your pain and frustration and know that it is hard to do. I did go to the support group last night. It is almost 100 miles away from me. Thank GOD my mom lives in the town and I could spend the night with her. My second fill was this afternoon. It did go much smoother and much less painful this time. We have been having support meetings with the gastric bypasses. How utterly discouraging with their fantastic wt losses. There was talk last night about having a separate support meeting for just lap banders. That would be so much better. I am losing slowly., Avergering a little better than a lb a week. The head hunger is really hard and must be dealt with daily. I am craving something chocolatety. But there is nothing in the house, so hopefully, I will be successful till it passes. Please email me when you get to feeling down. Maybe we can help each other out. I also am an RN/ but have been disabled for over 2 yrs. Maybe with some wt loss and I keep up the exercise, I can go back to work again. Take care, TinaH

Thanks to all who have replied with words of encourgement and support. My wt loss has been really slow. I am almost 11 weeks post op. I did use the tape measure and I am losing inches and I see that my clothing is fitting much better now and some things are just too big on me. The exercise is really working as far as inches go. I do enjoy each of your posts. It is a big encouragement to me. Learning new habits and getting rid of bad habits is a daily challenge. It does take a lot of discipline. But the pay off is better health and better self esteem is worth the effort. Thanks for listening. or should I say, reading. I go for my second fill tomorrow. The first one was real painful because my port had flipped. If you are thinking about the lap band surgery, I encourage you to take all your measurements. TinaH

Thanks for all of the input. I was banded July 8, 2006. The wt loss has been so very slow. Just lately, I have felt like a failure and have been eating sweets and too much. There are hugh emotional issues to be dealt with in most of us. I never realized just how much i turned to food to deaden my feelings. Somehow, someway, I have got to get a hugh dose of willpower, or learn to use my "tool". Why? oh why, do some of us sabatoge ourself? I have had one fill and it was a very painful experience. I am due another one on Tues. I never felt any resistance after this fill. Please tell me the symptoms of slippage and if you have any kind words to encourage me to get with it, Please respond. TinaH

Hi, I haven't posted in a while. I was banded on June 8 2006. It seems like I am going to be a very slow loser. The support group I go to is mainly gastric bypasses. It was real discouraging to go and hear about the fabulous wt losses. Has anyone else had this experience? I started walking and just last week started using the wt machines at the helath club. Does the meatbolism ever speed up? I am trying to be grateful for all the positives in my life since surgey. When I first started trying to use the treadmill, all i could huff and puff and do at 2.1 miles hour was 15 min. Now , I am up to an hour at a time. Does anyone have any suggestions to rev up the metabolism? Have a great Sunday afternoon. Hugs TinaH

Fiveholts, I hear your frustrations. All of the posts so far have been excellent. I have been close to where you are. Panic attacks and many demands. All is can say is simply this, There are many people out there who do care about you. Be good to yourself. God does care. Reach out to HIM and also to those close to you. You do have to say what you need before others can help you. I was just banded on June 8th 2006. I am excited about losing this wt and I envy you gong to Barbados. I so want to go on a cruise. But right now that is not possible/ SO , I will just be very happy for you that you can go and I hope you can enjoy. When I finally realized what was happening with my panic attacks, I was able to self talk and overcome then to a great degree. Let me hear from you if you need to talk, vent or whatever. Remember, there are many people out there who really do care. TinaH

HI, I am new to the spot. just banded on June 8 2006. What does NSV mean? TinaH

THANKS so much for the support. you are right about food demons. but, it isn't always difficult. today i went to the healthclub and walked for 62 min on the treadmill. Now, that is an accomplishment. I think it is important to notice each and every positive step that I make. I am seriously thinking about putting my scales away and just weighing when i go to the Dr. To weigh daily is too frustrating as wt fluctuates so..... This is a new journey. I have many bad habits to eliminate and good habits to develop. Taking tiny bites and chewing very well and putting the fork down between each bite is real helpful. I can do this. Thanks for your responses. Again, if you have any words of encouragement or helpful hints, I do want to hear from you. TinaH

hi, had my first fill yesterday. under flouro. the dr couldn't find the port on Wed. the 5th . it was turned sideways. i am not having too many problems except really obsessing on food. i find this annoying. please, does this feeling go away finally. the head hunger is really bad at this point. any suggestions will help. thanks.

I know that old bad habits are hard to break. I am excited thinking about the new and exciting things that are going to happen to me just because I am changing my life and my response to life. For too many yrs my response to any emotion positive or negative was to stuff. I have started to sew again and am thinking of ways to cook more healthy and lower fat. Last night I made a Salmon loaf instead of frying the patties. My daughter and 9 yr old grandson live with me and they pronounced it delicious. So there are good days ahead and I know the wt will come off. I already have so much more energy and "want to" since surgery.

Thank you for responding. Yes, Dr. Babineau was able to access and fill the band the next day under flouroscopy. I was able to see how the port was flipped on the screen. He is a super Dr. The weight is very slow coming off. Kinda discouraging. Have given up cream in coffee and eating tiny portions and walking and much more active than in many yrs. am drinking no calories in fluids. cooking no sugar and very low fat. The only thing i seem to be losing is my hair. have lost about 12 lbs since surgery. its been 1 month now post op. I know it will take time. So if you have words of encouragement, please respond. Thanks TinaH also from TX.