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Just testing my signature line:)

Hey there! Welcome to the site! My name is Heather and I was banded April 8th, 2010. I started this journey at 259 with my all time highest weight being around 280 and I am at 197 right now! I was where you are and scared isn't a bad place to be. This is a MAJOR decision and you have to make it for you, not anyone else. I too am an outgoing goofball and I've been able to keep my lifestyle the same minus the all you can eat buffets! I've had a little issue with heartburn, but I'm working with my doctor on that (it runs in the family). Welcome to the family Hugs Heather

I make Cauliflower soup all the time and it's so good. Take a head of Cauliflower and chop it up into small pieces. Chop 1 carrot up into small pieces Chop 1 celery stalk into small pieces. Dump all of that into a pot and add beef broth about 1/2 up the way up the pot. Medium high heat till everything is mushy. Mash the contents with a potato masher till it looks like semi chunky mashed potatoes. Add pepper, mrs. Dash to taste. Now when you allowed..... for some extra Protein I add about 1.5 cups milk and a tbsp butter and mix it all in. It's super yummy!

I went to the doctor today and had to get unfilled for a 2 week break to get my acid reflux under control yuck.. BUT I weighed in at 198.2!! YAYYYYYY!!!! I am officially no longer obese!

ONE pound away from ONEDERLAND!! Yay!!! I'm so excited!

IMHO, Be careful with the cheats.. not so much because it will hurt your stomach physically but you will start conditioning yourself mentally that cheating is ok because it's small quantities. It only takes 250 extra calories a day to GAIN a pound a week. Remember, you didn't go through all that you already have to self sabotage yourself in the long run. This is a SLOW and steady process.. and how hard you work this process will ultimately dictate your long term success. This wasn't my opinion 2 weeks post op mind you. I was thinking the same thing.. but refused to cheat and was better for the struggle. This is a battle that we are going through. I say this 1 year and 3 months post op and 80 pounds gone. Good luck in your journey

I can so relate! I was banded in april if last year down almost 70 pounds yay and I bought easter candy this year the day after!! Ugh was I ever torqued off when I saw plus three at the dr.'s office this morning! Totally my fault and totally the reason why i got banded... I'm trying to look at this as at least it's only three pounds this year..... in the past it's been much more! Here's to tomorrow! Hugs

So I was banded back in April 2010.... losing appropriately and well... ALMOST to onederland..... the past week though has been a HUGE challenge and I know I've narrowed it down but I don't GET IT! Milk and OJ have ALWAYS been ok.. no issues.. not a care in the world. Watching the calorie content of course but for the past week I've been sliming BADLY whenever I drink milk or OJ.... I eat my normal meal then a few hours later it was a cup of oj and then milk before bed .. Anyone else had a similar issue post banding and post healing? I know my band isn't too tight because solid foods I can handle.. but this so off the wal... I went straight to H2O this am and the sliming stopped! Argh!

So I was banded back in April 2010.... losing appropriately and well... ALMOST to onederland..... the past week though has been a HUGE challenge and I know I've narrowed it down but I don't GET IT! Milk and OJ have ALWAYS been ok.. no issues.. not a care in the world. Watching the calorie content of course but for the past week I've been sliming BADLY whenever I drink milk or OJ.... I eat my normal meal then a few hours later it was a cup of oj and then milk before bed .. Anyone else had a similar issue post banding and post healing? I know my band isn't too tight because solid foods I can handle.. but this so off the wal... I went straight to H2O this am and the sliming stopped! Argh!

Yeah, I thought that too... so I warmed the milk... and nope same thing... The OJ well I even tried mixing it with vodka to see... LMAO nope.... ::sigh:: So now i'm not touching them for awhile. It's just gunna be one of those quirks I have to live with

I have a 10cc LapBand band and I'm currently at 4 ccs and have reached my sweet spot

Nothings wrong with eating the whole egg... it's just the egg yolks have a lot of cholesterol and fat in them... and are hard to get down sometimes post band... My doc had me make egg salad... it goes right down... Also, my doc kept me on Protein shakes and soup 1 week post op and then he skipped the mushies all together and had me go to soft foods... He told me that every surgeons office is different.. and just because it's their rule doesn't mean that you will destroy your efforts if you slip up on the meal plans. That said, don't go cart blanche and pig out or anything but call the office and tell them how bad the hunger pangs are and ask them if you can go to thicker soups. Good luck!

I felt similarly post op. The Protein is important though... At Wal Mart they have protein shots which is two ounces of a watery cherry flavored liquid that mixes well diluted in water! Lived on that for the first 10 days or so...They are called Pure Protein Shots and come in a tube. I'm almost 6 months post op and I'm down 50 pounds so I must be doing something right!! LOLOL Remember to be like a turtle... slow and steady wins this race!! Hugs and congratulation on being a Bandster!! WOHOO!!

From reading around online.. its seems that Sara HAD the lapband and then had it removed.... Course who knows with hollywood anymore To each their own Big Fat Deal: Un-Blind My Item

I had similar pain about 3 or 4 days post op and when I told the surgeon about it he said it was most likely from the anesthesia. One of the meds that they give you during surgery paralyzes the muscles in your body. In doing that your body can hoard lactic acid... similar to post exercise pain. It does go away, at least for me it did but it took a good week and a half or so. Best of luck to you and congratulations on your banding! Always though, ask the doc if in doubt!

I'm going to call my surgeon tomorrow but just wanted some opinions. So I was banded on 4/8/10 and I am down from 259 to currently at 226. Right on target according to my surgeon. Slow and steady weight loss. So on Wednesday I had my 3rd fill and he bumped me from 3.6 to 4.2 in a 10 cc band. For me, first fill was a breeze, second fill was a learning lesson and now with this third one it is downright painful! When I went in for the third fill I had lost 4 pounds in a month, which to me seemed inadequate but the surgeon thought was fine. So impatient me, I could still down 12-15 ounces of food before I was full so we "pumped me up" to 4.2. Now I can barely get anything down thats solid.... Protein shakes fill me up to uncomfortable. I even got stuck on PUDDING! But now it does go down. Today I was able to eat some chicken and noodles in Soup without getting stuck. I'm positive that I'm still swollen, but I also keep a nagging thought in my head that I should unfill to 3.9 or 4.0... At 3.6 I was at restriction from things like bread and such and I think I was borderline at the sweet spot. Before I go in and have an unfil, I wanted to see what you all that are at the sweet spot eat in a day. Just as an example. Are you really eating solids such as I'm thinking, or is it more soft foods. Thanks for your opinion! hugs, Heather

Still kicking.. Fill stats are below. I'm at 4 cc's and have restriction... am struggling as always with food but thats a demon we all have to battle constantly. I'm working on getting my tail into the gym and start an organized exercize schedule, but that too is a struggle for me. Anything worth doing though is always a struggle and worth it in the end. NSV was that I squeezed into a size 14 dress! Not ready yet to wear it in public but Im hoping so by the end of August! Hugs, Heather

Congratulations on your banding! :wub: My surgeon is also a wound care specialists that works with people with exceptionally difficult incision and wound healing. He was very adamate with me that i do NOTHING to the area until the scabs had completly come off... about 4 weeks post op. At that point after he said all was healed I actually had an intrernal stitch poke through which was painless but had to be snipped. Had to wait another 2 weeks. Then the only thing that he recoomended was taking a Vitamin e capsule and snipping the tip and massaging the scar. It only softens the skin and makes the appearance better. Long term he says that it will take about a year for the scars to heal to that opaque barely there white. He told me that mederma and the other topicals were a waste of moiney and time. Personally, I believe him Best of luck and many hugs! Heather

Hey everyone! Hope your all doing great wherever you are on your journey! Just wanted to give my 2 cents on something. Not meaning to tick anyone off. BE CAREFUL with the advice you get from people on these boards or on chat. By that I mean that just because one person has done something doesn't mean it's right for everyone. Case in point ... ME! Had a fill up to 4.2 and I was sooo tight. Was told by several so called "experts" to wait it out, it will loosen. One person even told me it would be a slap in the face to all us bandsters to get an unfill and that I should just suck it up. OYI! Thankfully my common sense won out and today I went to the doctor and had .2 cc taken out and OHHHHH what a difference it made!! I feel so comfortable now, and I can actually get food down. What a blessing! I just say all of this because I worry that some "experts advise" can really hurt you. Just PLEASE, remember to listen to your doctor and your body and remember that everyone's journey is different and NO ONE here is an expert :scared2: Hugs and much love, Heather

I'm almost 4 months post op.. Restriction is the point where the band is tight enough that you can physically only eat 1/4 to 1/2 cup of food at a time. If you try and eat more then that you risk having a productive burp or sliming episode. Once you are at restriction, the number of calories you can consume plummets and the reality is that you lose weight steadily. Losing weight pre restriction is about habit changes and making better food choices and being more active :smile2: Hope that Helps :bolt:

Good luck! It will be a breeze!! See you on the flip side! Woohoo!!! Hugs, Heather

What was the date of your surgery? 4/8/10 How healthy did you/do you eat? Always ate quality food, but carb rich dense European foods such as Sheppard's pie and the like. Now, it's better, but not great yet. I can't get the carbs in so by definition the foods are better but it's disorganized eating. How much do you exercise? I've always been an active person, but I don't have a "plan" in place at the gym yet, my surgeon stresses the importance of finding good restriction and making small changes working my way up to an exercise plan How much have you lost? 33 pounds officially Are you happy with your results? Yes, although I sometimes think I'm losing slowly I have to keep reminding myself that slow and steady wins the race and keeps it off for good. There is a lot less stress in the pounds I have lost meaning that I know they are gone for good and aren't coming back! Would I do this over again? At this point, yes, because everything else I have done has failed, so while this is hard anything worth doing is right? :biggrin: Hugs, Heather

Don't be embarrassed! What you are going through is normal all the way to the frustrated part. The time from banding to 1st fill is a healing time... not a weight loss time! You are on target! You rock that fill out! Hugs, Heather

I'm dealing with a similar situation! Got filled 48 hours ago and went from 3.6 to 4.2 cc in a 10 cc band. I had some restriction at 3.6 and now I couldn't even get pudding to go down today !I'm sliming like crazy!! So frustrating. Although my last fill took 2 weeks to settle down, I'm hoping the same thing today. Yesterday in the early afternoon i had some chicken that went down without issue but last night it wouldn't go! UGHH I almost think THIS is bandster hell... the post hunger was nothing compared to this! Good luck all! Hugs!

OK This is the last I'm going to say on this thread because I'm not interested in a pissing match. I stand by my OPINION, and it's just that, MY opinion. For the record I never said you did it all the time. In reply to your question about the water, yeah if you gulp and force it down and then violently hack it out you bet you could damage the pouch. The stomach doesn't heal over the band... there is always a pocket formed around the band. The stomach isn't cut. It is looped around and one or two stitches hold it over the band. So... if you have two stitches, that's 4 microscopic holes that heal over... hardly scar tissue worth mentioning, so no I don't think it is a great anchor to prevent slippage when your hacking your guts out. Intentionally or not... that's why all our post op paperwork stresses the importance of not PBing and how to prevent it. You said sticking a finger down your throat when your stuck doesn't equate to "controlling my eating habits"... uhh yeah it is... one gets stuck, one chooses to toss their Cookies, that's them actively controlling the eating behavior... If one gets stuck for hours... then one ought to call their surgeon as specified in the paperwork given post op... that is the definition of a LAP-BAND® emergency that needs to be dealt with professionally instead of fingers down ones throat. Finally, all in all, I stated MY OPINION and that's the beauty of the boards and what they are for. We are all in a common journey going down our own separate roads. You could probably get 12 answers to the same question and all of them might be right.... that said.... I will never keep my OPINION to myself when it comes to advise given that could hurt someone or cause them to think it's ok to do something that could hurt themselves in the long term. We have all fought WAY too hard in our journey's to sabotage it with new bad behaviors. Call me crazy but working in the medical field for ohh... almost two decades has me opinionated. I do wish you all the luck in the world in your journey and if our paths cross in postings in the future I hope that they are more amicable. Take care.