Humming Bird

The night coughs would be a good sign that you are a bit too tight. All the other stuff makes you think things like maybe not chewing enough.......yada yada. You would be very surprised at how much better things can be if you just get a very tiny bit taken out, like .2cc. If they take out a full cc or even .5 then sometimes you feel like you need a fill too soon. I hope it gets better for you no matter what you and the doc go with.

an update on me ...... My job situation is not good at the moment and is causing me a great deal of stress. Thank goodness I have not packed on a bunch of weight because of it. My husband's job is also hanging by a thread, so I'm a bit freaked out with worry. You may see us both working the drive-thru at McDonalds soon trying to save our house we have both worked all our lives to have. depressing, very depressing. On a more positive note ................shit, I can't think of any ...... nevermind It just has to get better soon.

Melody, I had almost constant shoulder pain for months, but if I had to deal with it for as long as you have I would have gone insane. Maybe just repositioning your band will help? If you make the choice to go with the sleeve it would be understandable, but I hear you on your reservations about it. It's not simple at all.

I have not worked hard at all. For me finding my sweet spot was the key to success. When you get close a very tiny fill can put you over. I reached my sweet spot on fill number 2. Fill #3 & #4 were both just .1cc and after that I went back and had the .2 taken out (in a round about way). That took me back to my original sweet spot I had at fill #2. You may have to play around with it a bit. I think another key to success is listening to my full signal and not taking even one more tiny bite. I am the pro at leaving food on my plate, even if it is just a bite or 1/2 of what my eyes thought I could eat. With proper restriction I simply can not overeat and if I do I pay the price with pain or worse. I have not thrown up in a very long time ......proper restriction and lessons learned.

Mine is a tad bit higher than the center of my torso....centered about 1"-2" below my sternum depending on my position. The location has worked out well for me.

My port is centered about 1' - 2" below my sternum depending on my position. It has worked very well in that location for me. The surgeon should be the one choosing the location depending on how s/he does the surgery.

I don't watch carbs and have not tried watermelon since being banded that I can remember. With me it's very much a texure thing ...... I'll have to try a bit this summer. It sounds good, but as with anything I try for the first time after being banded I will have to take a bite or 2 and see how it goes. Now this thread is making me miss summer.

Both of the above posters said it well. My sweet spot is not exactly like anyone else's, but I know when I'm there. I have to stop eating after a small amount of food. I have reached a point where much of the time food just doesn't sound good. I have lost the desire to eat some types of foods. I don't usually go 5 hours without eating a tiny bit of something, but if I got another fill I would be so tight I would be on a liquid diet. My sweet spot just requires a snack now and then I guess. Sometimes it is just where you get tight enough where you can accept it and live a normal life and keep losing weight or maintain at goal. I think lifestyle and mindset go along with your own personal sweet spot. If you exercise like they do on "The Biggest Loser" you can keep your band looser. That just does not fit my lifestyle and I do not exercise like that, so in order for me to lose weight or maintain where I'm at I have to eat less food.

I had no health insurance. I did have a sleep study done 3 1/2 years prior to lap-band because I snored like a train and I had very bad fatigue. The sleep study showed no apnea. I asked the surgeon questions and told him I did not need a psych eval. and he agreed with me. When I say I had no pre-op testing I do mean zero.....nothing..... not even one drop of blood was taken. He probably does do some pre-op testing on some patients, I don't know. All I know is he did not require any for me. I did a very tiny bit of research, talked with a couple friends who had the band, had a long consult with the surgeon, paid for the surgery that same day, went on an Atkins pre-op diet for a couple weeks, got banded and had hiatal hernia repair, had a couple fills, dropped 111 pounds, stopped snoring, and all is well .... knock on wood. oh, and I spoke with the NUT for a bit on the phone and she faxed or emailed me the phases to follow after surgery .... Clear liquids, creamy liquids, soft food .... yada yada....

sounds like it's time to go bra shopping. I had to buy a couple during the weightloss and it was not a happy time in the fitting room. Now that I am close to goal I went again and got a few that boost up the saggy boobs.

I do understand what you are saying. To prove your point ........ what seminar? what basic testing? (I had no seminar and no pre-op testing)

During my big weightloss phase I was lucky that I have been a clothes hoarder over the years. I spent a great amount of time "closet shopping". I did have to buy a couple things and went to a really nice plus size consignment store for those items.

The band works so different for everyone. I don't know if it would help if all the docs followed the same rules and guidelines. I have several friends and family members that are banded and it works so different for all of us. I think it's so important to find your own methods and what works for you keeping in mind some very general things about the band. For me, the band does stop me from overeating. It has also decreased my hunger. Of course it can't stop me from eating milkshakes and candy bars, but in general my band is very much in control.

There are quite a few threads here that may help you ......maybe do a search for .... first bite syndrome

That's great news! Clothes are great motivation. Good For you!!

Melody, so sorry this crap is going on. I agree, the weight should be coming off with all you are doing and it just doesn't seem right. With this last gain are your ankles swollen? Of course I'm no doc, but it sure sounds like you are retaining water. Maybe a dieuretic / water pill would help you? ( the OTC ones don't work well, Rx would be better) just a thought.......

IMHO it sounds like your doc may have used a band that was too large, but he is the expert and must have seen something during surgery that made him use a large one. I think it will still work out fine for you, but it may just take longer and more fills for you to get to your sweet spot/green zone. I can only go from my own experience, but once I reached my sweet spot the band has really done the work like he told you. I don't have to diet or try to control my portions. I don't have to obcess over calories or anything else. The only things I have to do is pay attention to my full signal, chew everything well (not to liquid or mush), and stay away from foods that give me trouble (bread, steak, rice.....) You can get to the point where you do not have to weigh or measure anything. If you are still feeling like you can eat too much and you get hungry too fast, you are not in that green zone yet. As you get closer, a very tiny fill could put you in the red zone (too tight). You may just have to be patient with the process and diet for a bit, but I really think you will get to that point where the band does do much of the work for you.

This is why I am just going to maintain at the higher side of a "normal" BMI. Believe me, my saggyness is worse than yours. I am also dealing with age (my son is older than you) and sun damaged skin. I can tell you that the loose skin does get a bit better with time and your youth should help you a bit. You have done well so far with the weightloss, so try to stay focused on the positive. If your husband thinks you are hot then you ARE HOT!! When you are spooning in bed it is a very different feeling for both of you than when you are picking yourself apart in a full length mirror. When you fit in smaller jeans it is very different as well. Try to stay positive and continue with the great job you are doing. I think the emotional part can be very rough at times, but at the end of the journey you will have your head in a better place more often than not.

It really helped me to accept the fact that this is a very long road/journey. You have really just started that long walk down the road. 2 pounds a week adds up to 104 pounds in 1 year. That should be great weightloss in anyone's book. Sometimes when people lose weight at a very fast pace (like you mentioned with bypass) they tend to lose a great amount of hair. I lost quite a bit with the band and would have been very upset if I had lost more. Sometimes if the loss is too rapid people look very sickly, and it is because they are malnurished. So far you have done great and you need to give yourself credit and continue on this long journey with positive thoughts about your choice. Just think, one year from now you will be posting how you have dropped 100+ pounds! I don't even think it will take a year for you to be posting that.

I guess it would depend on how you think of the words. restriction = like when a teenager is in trouble and grounded, they are on restriction....... negative restriction = like you are limited with the amount or type of food you can have......negative or positive depending on attitude restriction = the tightness of the band ....... negative or positive depending on attitude I tend to think of the word "restriction" as simply the physical tightness of the band. I don't think of it as being restricted or grounded from eating, though that is really part of it. For me "sweet spot" means I can feel satisfied on small amounts of food and lose weight without constant real hunger (or in my case maintain the weight I'v already lost). Sorry, I guess that doesn't really help you find a better word. It's all mindset I guess. One word that has gotten on my nerves all along has been the word "meal." I have not eaten a "meal" since July 2009. Most toddlers eat bigger "meals" than I do. How in the world can I call 1/2 c of solid food a "meal." It feels more like a "snack." I just can't wrap my mind around it and consider it a "meal."

I reached my sweet spot with my 2nd fill. They had also put in a fill at surgery. Just go very slow with the liquids and very slow moving through the creamy, mushie, and so on. I was VERY tight with my "sweet spot fill" for about 2 weeks. I think most people know within a week or 2. If you can do liquids and stay hydrated it's worth riding it out at least a week.

Great NSV !! ....and thanks for the laugh

"All great achievements require time." — Maya Angelou I agree that stress can cause issues with weight. Sometimes there are things in life that cause us stress and we have little control over them. It is at those times we need to take control and get our minds in the game. Sometimes our body just needs to adjust to all the changes and it will stop losing weight. Hang in there and keep your mind on what you need to do for yourself. Best wishes to you.

I agree with those who said wait until you are at goal to even think about doing anything with the girls. At that time it is YOUR personal choice, not the nurse's or anyone else's. I went from a 42DD to a 36C after 111 pounds lost.

I try not to watch other people eat now. If I see someone take a big bite and swallow it without chewing it almost causes me pain .... very strange. I didn't notice other people's weight much before I got the band, but now I do. It makes me feel a bit guilty. Like someone else said, who am I to judge. If someone is obese looking I think, "the band would really help them." If someone is normal weight I think, "I wonder what size they wear?" If someone is very thin/tiny I think, "there is no way I will ever wear a size that tiny." I don't like noticing how other people eat or sizing them up. I think these thoughts will pass and I will start seeing others the way I used to more.