Vivinthewoods

GREAT - the more the merrier! Look forward to meeting you and friend at Starbucks soon.

There is a group of bandsters here in the Woodlands, we usually meet once a month for coffee and camaraderie. I'll send you a PM with the phone # of the lady who organizes it.

Good luck and best wishes for tomorrow:thumbup:

I have only had 2 small sliming incidents, which happen while eating an egg white omelet, on both occasions, for breakfast. I now know to stick to having a protein shake in the morning, no problems since doing that. My surgeon recommends always having a shake for breakfast. When I did slime it felt as if I had swallowed golf ball!

I don't mean to be flippant, but if you get to the stage where you don't know how much you are eating or what you are eating, surly you will be having some kind of care! I know dementia can be hereditary and it can also hit anyone, but I feel I am warding it and other illnesses off by being healthier, eating healthy foods and exercising. Since losing the weight I have, I feel younger in body, mind and spirit! Good luck with your decision. Regards, Viv (age 61, but feeling 31!)

@ New Joy - I hope you are feeling well since having your procedure. I am experiencing the same thing with a lack of weight loss for the past month (and I'm exercising too), just keep playing with the same pound - lose it, gain it, lose it, gain it - so annoying! Sorry I don't have any tips, just empathy.

@ Bounser - I have always had horrid thin nails and they are still that way, but I am always digging in the garden without gloves and working on crafts, or have my hands in pots of dye, so it's not surprising my nails look awful! @ Mandze - I'm jump on the treadmill every day for about 45 mins, but I feel I should be doing more.

@ Tracy - I am happy for you - although I'm sure the news is a bit overwhelming at first! Bounser - I am so glad you wrote that! I too can feel hungry every two hours. I thought once I had restriction I would be able to go 4 + hours without eating. I don't think I need a fill as I can be tight, especially first thing in the morning, when even drinking water is hard to get down. But once I start eating it is as if the hunger switch is flicked on. I too don't eat anything from dinner at 6:00pm until my shake at 10:00a.m. So, does anyone know what is going on? Today is a special anniversary for me! It is exactly a year since I had my first appointment with my PCP. I had not been to a doctor in 17 years because I was so embarrassed about my weight! She treated me with respect and supported me when I talked about WLS. One year later I am so much more healthier; the results of my last blood test show all levels are perfectly normal, BP is great, (it was at stroke level a year ago) and I'm now 62 pounds lighter! This anniversary is as important to me (if not more so) as my surgery date. Good health and happiness to you all.

I can no longer eat in the mornings since my last fill. My surgeon said to always have a protein shake for breakfast - although I have tried several times to have an egg white, it gets stuck, so I just stick with the shake. I'm OK by lunch time. @ New Joy - Love the photos, you look super!

I had no symptoms and did not notice any change in the way I felt. I did have high blood pressure, (which is now normal) that may have been related to the lack of 'D' or it could have been related to my weight. Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium (that is why milk is fortified with D), so you need it for your bones. It helps your immune system. A lack of 'D' can increase the risk of death from cardiovascular disease, cognitive impairment in older adults and cancer. Research suggests that vitamin D could play a role in the prevention and treatment of a number of different conditions, including type1 and 2 diabetes, hypertension, glucose intolerance, and multiple sclerosis.

I too am Vitamin D deficient. I have taken 2400iu a day for the past year and my blood levels are normal on that dose. FYI - 'Nature's Bounty' make a small softgel capsule (1000iu per cap), which is easy to take when banded. My PCP recommended not to take all your Vitamin D in one go, but to spread it out - I take one cap morning, Multivitamin with D in the afternoon & last cap at night.

OK, here are a few comments that were made to me before surgery: - So-called friend: Don't you wish you could have your photo done at Glamor Shots? Same person: Don't you wish you could wear sexy underwear? My mum (although I know she did not mean to be so hurtful), while visiting mum, she would introduce me to her friends as,"This is my daughter who lives in America" and mum added, "she wasn't this size the last time I saw her". Being invited to dinner by friends of my sister, hostess said to my face, "I said to my husband, as you were coming to dinner we better put more meat in the pot". Also very hurtful was the way people would avoid making eye contact, as if to say, oh please don't let me have to talk to a fat person! And the way (at neighborhood luncheons) people would do anything to avoid sitting next to the big girl! Now I am loosing the weight there is a different attitude, but I cannot forget those remarks; I am still the same person on the inside - fat or thin! I am having a hard time letting go of those negative comments. Does anyone have any thoughts that would help me get over this? Thanks for letting me vent! Good luck to all.

Please don't worry - I'm sure you will be fine and with your health issues I'm sure your L/B surgeon will certainly help you. When I had my surgery my BMI was 36, (although I had had a higher number). No one ever mentioned my BMI. Good luck and let us know how you got on.

Thanks Stacie - Please, feel free to use it.

@ New joy - Good for you, isn't it sweet to now see some results? @ Dottie - doesn't that make you feel wonderful! All your hard work deserves some good hugging! @ All - now that most of us are feeling restriction, have you changed what you are eating? I could eat anything until that last 1cc. Now I'm tight in the morning, so only have a shake for breakfast and then not until 10:00a.m. This is weird, but the food that really makes me feel tight is yogurt!!! I would have thought that would slide on thru the band, but no. I think that 1cc really did it for me, it is a week ago today since I had the fill and I have loss 4lbs in that week!!! Life is sweet.

It was cool X 2, as this neighbor has been a bit snobby in the past and she also added, "well you are looking great". That was so unexpected and made me happy all day! BTW - love the baby ticker.

@ Mow - Congratulations on your 80lbs gone! That is awesome. Yesterday while walking my pooches, a neighbor, who I don't know well, stopped and said, "you have lost a lot of weight haven't you", I just gave my standard reply of, "I'm working on it". When others have commented and have asked how I am doing it, I tell them, "It's a combination exercise, a sensible diet and portion control". No lies, but that is a much info as I'm going to give out. Good wishes on your forthcoming wedding - looking forward to seeing a photo of you in your wedding dress. s

Hi Lauren, I think your statement (above) is the key to making the band successful, we cannot expect to eat and live the same way as before being banded. Realizing that we have to change those old ways of eating etc and commit ourselves to a new lifestyle will bring us to the best healthy and hopefully longest life we can have. :eek:

@ SteffiB - I think you have made the right decision in changing doctors. Any surgeon who can not treat you as an adult and be honest with you about your fills is not worth much in my opinion! You may have had a slow start, but with a new doc, who hopefully will be more respectful of you and will give you the fills that are right to get you to the sweet spot. Have him/her check how much fill you have in your band already. Hang in there, June is not too far away. Keep us posted.

Great! I'm pleased to hear you are comfortable again.

@ Mushsbat - My surgeon says 3 meals a day, but my PCP says 5 to 6. I follow my PCP, as I have a thyroid thing and she says to have small meals often, will keep my metabolism up. @ Karyn - Sorry to hear you have not been well and that you are having problems with tightness. I hope it settles down in the next day or so. Just after my last fill I had a drink of water, it did not go down right away and came out my nose instead!!!! Thank goodness there was no one around to see. Small sips from now on. @ Dottie - To be high-fived by your surgeon must make you feel really good. Great job with your minus 6! I'm getting sweeter, but maybe not at full sweetness yet, hard to tell as I'm sticking to the 3 days of liquid/2 of mushies post fill diet. @ New Joy - I would stay away from breads, sounds as if they are forming a dough ball and can't get thru the band, as you can eat other things I would say you are not too tight. @ Ara - It seems that the past 5 months have just been our training period and now the 'chew, chew, chew and small sips really kicks in. Take care. And now I have a funny story to tell - I was at the supermarket yesterday and as I am walking around I thought, "My jeans are really feeling baggie". I was surprised they felt so baggie, just one day after my fill - could I have lost a bunch of weight over night??? Now I am feeling really good and swaggering up and down the aisles. As I loaded the groceries into the car I am again amazed how my legs can move inside my jeans. I get home and then notice not only is my zipper undone, but also the button is too. I am so lucky my pants did not fall down in the parking lot!!!!! Once I did my pants up they felt normal again.

@ Mushsbat - I am so sorry for you, your doctor sounds as if he would be unmovable on this (my surgeon wants to see a 1 to 2 lb. loss a week!). When you have a flouro can you see the barium stop at the band, or do you see it go straight through? I think I would ask him to explain why you are still feeling so hungry if you have restriction!!! Good restriction should stop you feeling hungry. Do let us know how you do with the 6 small meals and if that helps. Take care.

Great that you got 2cc, which must give you better restriction. My fingers are crossed that this will be our month! The surgeon said to be really careful, now that I am tighter and to make sure I follow the rules, so I don't have any problems, which so far I have not. So, its back to 3 days of liquids and 2 days of mushes. I do get a tiny amount of barium with each fluoroscopy, it is just a bit more than a thimble full, so not too bad. I worry more about the amount of radiation I am accumulating this year - 2 chest x-rays, mega dental x-rays, boob scan, bone density test and about 6 fluoros! If you have a power outage just give me a call - I'm a little nuclear reactor - hot stuff!!! :thumbup:

Had my forth fill today. My surgeon always does a fluoroscopy before the fill - to see how much restriction you have prior to the injection. I was pleased when the assistant said "Oh the liquid is going straight through, you still do not have good restriction". There was a reason I had only lost 2 lbs in a month!! So, I got another 1cc - giving me a total of 7cc's. Hopefully this will bring me closer.

@ Missy, could your doctor give you a referral to another doctor for your fills? I think I would act fast and try to get a fill before your trip - the trip would be more enjoyable if you are not feeling major hunger. If you get the fill soon you will have time for any adjustment, if needed - i.e. bit tight. Just my 2 cents worth!