candy444

hey did anyone else see this crap in their email? I think we have been spamed....Moderator??

Hello my friends, I know I have been away for a while. Things have been so crazy for the last few weeks. My twin sister went in to the hosipital on Dec. 12th because she had a stroke. After 2 MRI's it was determined she actually had 3 strokes. I have been in Dallas sense that time and can't bring myself to leave her to go home. It was so bad at first and I was so scared. She is 37 years old and the only precursior she had, Andy is a smoker. She had the worst headache at my house on Thanksgiving and went to the Dr. twice for that and an upper respratory infection.. The headache never really went away, the scary part of that is she is still having it on and off. The Drs still have no clue what caused this, test after test, 16 tubes of blood twice, two spinal taps, doppler, echo cardiagrams (internal and external). My biggest fear is she will have another one. So far so good, she has regained most of her ability on her left side (the stroke on the right side was the biggest one) and after physical , speach, and occupational theripies she should be able to go back to work as a phlebotomyst. (I pray) She just kept saying why did I lose 130lbs to get healthy and this happened? The test results may not come back for 2 more weeks and we may never know what caused this. I know this is long and heavy. I love and miss u guys. I didn't make my goal, but I didn't gain alot sitting in the hospital either. We are at Andy's house, (they let her come home just in time for Christmas )and I may be here awhile. I will check in when I can. Congradulations to everyone for doing so great. Candy/309 last I checked

52lbs, 9 to go. I almost fainted when I weighed this morning.

Here's my updated goal. Eleven lbs to go, woo-hoo!!!:clap2:

well here are some photos of me and my little one, before my surgery and today. I don't see much difference, maybe after 100lbs,lol.

50lbs and it shold be more. My weight keeps bouncing up and down. Only 11 more to make my Christmas goal. I am starting to think it would just be easier to just not eat. My stomach is growling and moving around right now.

My twin says yes. She has had her band now for 20 months and she just went in for a fill, she had actually gained weight for the first time when they weighed her.(just a pound or two) So far I would say she has been a great sucess at 130lbs lost and my inspiration for having my surgery. Andy has the VG band and it holds 14ccs. I guess as long as we are losing we will need to get fills untill our bands are full. I had my 2nd fill on 10-31 and I am still struggling too. More things are getting stuck, but I can still eat too much. I just keep thinking this is going to get easier, grrrr. I am also cooking for Thanksgiving, this should be fun.

Wow, everyone is doing so well. I just had my second fill on Halloween. I only got 1cc added, though he offered to give me .5 more I refused. I guess slow and steady wins the race and I didn't want to be sick. This fill was so much better than the first one. They used lidocain to numb me this time, worked great but it leaves a bruise about the size of a half dollar. While doing my fill the Dr. drew up all the fluid to see how much was there, he got about 4.5ccs. I was supposed to have 5.5 and he said thats normal, some was probly trapped down in the band and he wrote down that I have 5.5. I asked if I should be concerned that I was missing some and he advised me not to get hung up on numbers, its more about how I feel. I have been a bit obsessed with the numbers (weight, fills, ect.), I guess its a control issue. Take care everyone, Rock on.

Hi Everyone! Its been a hectic month. I had my second fill on Halloween and I'm feeling it. I have lost 49lbs so far. Twelve lbs to my first goal. You are all doing great.

You are not alone. I am still here in Threetown. I keep gaining and losing the same 3 or 4 lbs for the last week or two. Its making me crazy, I have to ignore my scales right now. My restriction is not there, my next fill is on the 31st and I am just gonna have to be strong. I know I am eating too much and I beating myself up for it. I have all these thoughts like maybe theres something wrong with my band, maybe I have a leak, or its in the wrong place. Then I tell myself that if there was something wrong the Dr. would have seen it on the fluro when he did my first fill. I just read on one of my other groups that someone who went to the same clinic as me is having major problems (tubing came lose from the band) and had to go back to get it fixed. Freaked me out a little. I can't afford to go back to get my band fixed if there was a problem. I am just ready for this darn thing to kick in and really restrict me. This is just as hard as any diet I was ever on and I am exausted to boot. I know I sound like a whiner and I am sorry. I am getting zero support from my twin right now who is very involved with her new love intrest. Thanks for listening guys.

Hello ABC's, I've been reading, but I haven't had time to write. I still have little restriction and its been a few weeks since my fill. I don't know how I am managing to lose weight, as I am still able to eat pretty much anything (not bragging). I know I am eating too much and I am too broke to schedule my next fill. Pebbles I had very similar problems after my hystrectomy. I was alone too when the fluid came flooding out of my incision. I also had to endure going in and having the incision "scrubbed". I know how it feels and I am sorry Peb. The good news is it will heal and its better you found out before it got worse. Rojo, how ya doing since your fill? Are you feeling it? My buddy is loaning me a treadmill, I just have to borrow the truck and go pick it up. I am ready to start excercising regularly and with my knees I think walking will be a good place to start. Wow Faybie, over 1000 lbs, we kick ass! Add three more for me.

Pebbles, Be strong baby. You made it this far and your doing great. You have to know this is all gonna be ok. In a year your going to look back on all this and say it was all worth it, I look and feel wonderful. Maybe even sooner.

Josie, What a pretty place to walk. Is that your husband in the pics with you? Wow your tall(I know brilliant observation). Your pictures are great and being in Texas I so envy your weather. You can envy me back when its the middle of winter there.

That is beautiful Libra. Your going to look amazing. You can do it! I understand "dress a phobia", its hanging in my closet right now.:nervous I can tell by the post we are not alone. I demand pictures from all our ABC's in our gorgeous dresses at our upcoming events. Woo-hoo, we are sexy women!!:whoo:

Peb, I will pray for Manny's safe return home. I wish this all could be resolved soon and all our men and women could come home. I know to some people 40lbs seems like alot, but when you are a super sized bandster like me the first part comes off pretty quick. Most people don't even seem to notice my loss. A few of my regular customers have made comments like, "your face looks thinner", but thats about it. People will notice at my little ones Haloween/Birthday party because I have chosen my most ambitous costume ever. Get ready for this, Marilyn Monroe. Thats right, white dress, blond wig. My Christmas goal has become my goal for Oct. 28th. Wish me luck.

Hi everyone, I can't add my "to lose" to the list. I wanted to lose 23lb by Christmas. I think I may have bid a little low, I will prob have to revise that goal. I lost another 2lbs and that means I have lost 40lbs all together.

Dear Starting Over, Sweetie are you drinking your protien shakes or smoothies? Thats how you get your 60 something grams of protien a day and that keeps up your metabolism and keeps you losing. I am also worried about your high expectations, your giving yourself 6 months to get to your goal weight, did it take you 6 months to gain it? You didn't get this band to starve yourself and crash diet, this is a lifestyle change. Please know I am here to support you and I am not being critical in anyway. I just know alot about high expectations and the stress associated with them. I have tons more weight to lose than you, but I know I have plenty of time to get there. It took me my whole life to get this big and its gonna take a while to lose it. Way to go on the first 20lbs! You rock.

Red, I did the same thing, I was 3 weeks out and as soon as the swelling went down I was eating.(and gaining) I had my first fill last Tuesday and I still don't have much restriction. If I don't tighten up pretty quick I am setting my appt for my second fill. Now I am fighting this day to day, moment to moment. I work for my Dad at the family store, and the hardest part is the kitchen. We serve food from 6am to 8pm, fried food, hamburgers, and pretty much anything else that is tempting and awful for you. I try to bring my own food and my Dad is so on my side, but I stand there and cook all day for the customers smelling all that temptation, surrounded by candy, chips, all of the bad convince food. I know this is alot of what made me fat, that and portion control, and lack of excercise. I am not made of stone and I am done beating myself up over slipping up on my diet. If I want a bite of something, I'm gonna have it. Then I can move on to my planned meals. I know diets never worked for me and its unrealistic to think I am never gonna eat another oreo or ice cream cone, but I'm not gonna eat the whole bag anymore and it can't be everyday.The good news is I lost the 4lbs I gained back during that third week and knocked off two more to go with them. It is hard to remember this is a process and the weight we lost during that post surgery, pre fill period was just a bonus. Yeah, Us!!!! So I guess my first fill helped a little, and I have heard it can take up to a week to really feel it. I'll let you know if it kicks in.

Libra, Sorry, have not been on for a few days(busy working, doing the mom thang) but I'm in for the Christmas Challenge. I can lose 23lbs by Christmas. I'm gonna get the hell outta these 3's and retire my already falling off black size 32W jeans I got for Christmas last year. Its gonna be a fight (I still have little restriction), my gift to me may be my second fill in a few weeks.

Pebbles, Those staples are still imprinted on my mind and my belly.lol. Congradulations on the 48.5.:clap2: :eek: :rofl: :confused: You should be so proud. We are rooting for ya girl. Oh, by the way how do I change my darn ticker?

Yeah Libra! I think you have the right idea, I have been weighing myself everytime I walk past that darn thing. I am down a few more 323. Maybe October will be my month to get my passport to twoterville. I'm so confident I think I'll fix my ticker. What a victory,298.5, you didn't even stop at 299.

Hey Libra, Got my first fill yesterday,owch. Poked me twice and had to palpate my port(it had tilted a bit). The scales at the Dr.s office are three lbs lighter than mine at home, but even on mine I lost a few. So I'm back on track and shooting for twoterville. I have no idea how this fill is going to be, but I'm back on liquids for a few days. I found out that I did have 2.5 ccs in my band already and he added 2. He also said I have a 10cc band, I misunderstood the Doc in mex, he was trying to tell me I had about 7ccs left in my band. Other than that I guess all is well with my band and I was worried for nothing. I also went to my first support meeting last night and it was great. Have you tried the fresh lemon in warm water thing? I did it on Saturday and didn't think it worked, then yesterday I spent the whole morning peeing and lost 3lbs in fluid. I know lemon is a natural diuretic and it might soothe your throat from all the drainage too. Feel better soon.

Pebbles, You had a football, I had a baseball. The baseball was a surprise, they were going in for the tumor the size of a honeydew in my uteris. I had a hysterectomy in Feb, He left me one ovary and took everything else. The good news is I feel so much better and you will too. The recovery time is long and boring. My little one flipped out when she found out I was having another surgery, thinking this one was going to be like that one. I was lucky and didn't suffer the nerve damage you are going thru, I'm so sorry. I have heard great things about the nerve blocking procedure and I know regular pain meds don't usually work on nerve pain. Let us know what the Dr. says, it never hurts to ask. Feel better and I am sending you positive thoughts.

Thanks for the info, I get my fill today at 2:30 pm and I wish I had read it before I ate my protein bar. I won't eat anything else before I go in. I am 4 weeks out from surgery and gaining this week so I think I am ready for this fill. I can't wait to feel some restriction and start losing again. I also feel like someone slipped me a water pill, I have been peeing all morning. Candy/329

I know, the boob thing. I tried to deny it, but my bras kept flying up at work when I would raise my arms. I had my hands in my shirt half the day pulling it back down and got caught a few times. Needless to say I went to walmart and bought new bras, when I got home they all fit. My mom was an A- at best, my older sister and my twin are both small breasted, damn genetics. Where the heck am I gonna find a 44-A? lol. Oh yeah, I just weighed and I lost 1.4lbs, back down to 329.