Tracicat

Hello everyone!!!! My surgery was 9/28/06 and I just had my first fill today. My doc performed a blind fill.....he's good.....the whole thing lasted less than a minute. He smeared on some Lidocaine, held that little port down, inserted the needle, injected 1cc and slapped on a band-aid. I didn't even have time to feel any pain... I thought it was going to be much worse than it was. Very pleased and not bad at all. My doc had me drink a 1/2 cup of water to see if everything was alright, and I was in my car and back to work. My second fill is in four weeks. I have lost a total of 22lbs with a starting weight of 240lbs.

I don't know if anyone wants to try this, but I figured it may help chicken lovers. I love chicken so I'll be hard to not be able to eat it. I see that alot of people have problems with it. If you take any chicken part, season it with salt and pepper (helps retain moisture it the flesh, just like us humans), then sear it in olive oil (locks in moisture), and bake or sautee slowly (covered) in any kind of sauce untill the meat falls apart. It will work for even white meat (which I love). This tecnique is gauranteed to deliver the most succulent, moist, juicy meat.... just a suggestion. I hope it helps.

P.S. i STARTED WITH A WEIGHT OF 240 LBS, NOW AS OF TODAY i AM 225 LBS, CAN YOU BELEIVE IT?

Hey Everybody!!!!! I'm Officially Banded 9/28 In Langhorne, Pa!!!!! The Surgery Went Easy As A Summer Breeze, Scarring A Minimum, Soreness Bearable. The Gas Is A Witch, Let Me Tell You. I Had Found Some Gasx Melting Strips That You Put On Your Tongue......my Savior... That's All I Have To Say About That. I'm On Liquids For 10 More Days!!!!! I'm Dying. I Can't Stand All Of These Stinkin Protein Shakes, But What Are You Gonna Do??? Is There Anything Else Besides Broth????? I Guess Not Huh..... Oh Well.... Anyone Have Any Sugestions????? Thanks For Your Support--- Tracicat

HI EVERYBODY!!!!! I AM OFFICIALLY BANDED AND I AM ALMOST TWO WEEKS INTO THIS NEW WORLD!!! I got through the surgery with a breeze. Very sore at first, now I'm moving along just fine. My scarring is minimal, and I've had no other complications (except for extreme gas). I started at a weight of 240 lbs, and now I'm down to 225 WITH THIS POST OP ALL LIQUID DIET!!!!! CAN YOU BELEIVE IT!!!!!!! I'm absolutly starving!!!! My only problem is starvation. Yes, yes, yes, Ive had my share of protein shakes in all flavors..... Please anybody out there have a soup I can eat that's not just plain broth? Am I doomed to this fruit smoothie torture untill the 20th of October???? Please help!!!!!!! I appreciate it. Love you all!!! P.S The Barix Clinic in Langhorne PA is absolutley the best hospital in the world..... thanks to my wonderfull surgeon, Dr brader

I'm so glad I could help my dear friends. I know how hard it is, believe me. When all you want to do is "feel" beautiful and funny, you want to fit in be light and feel comfortable in your skin. I will share with you some of my lows. I'll go into the mall and I will tell myself "I will not compare myself to ANY other woman in this mall". "I will walk my self in this store, and try on clothes and be proud of my beauty". This never last long.... I would go through the racks and search for my size....low and behold I find one. I puff up my chest proudly walk to the fitting room like I too belong, I get into the room, and quickly the demons attack. I pull off my clothes and I gasp. "How did I let myself get like this?" "I don't blame men for overlooking me." "Who would want to lay with this mess?" The tears quickly swell up as I try to pull up the pants over my thighs. I could have sworn I got the right size... let me look. Yup, It's my size alright. O.k., I continue to stretch, pull, wheeze, suck the fabric over the mounds of flesh. I hear seams ripping.... My mom's outside the door knocking "How do you look honey? The tears roll down my face as I see a beautifull outfit turned into a monstrosity. I yell at my mom to go away, I pull my flesh out of the material, which is just as hard to get off as it is to get on, and I try to sneak out of the dressing room unnoticed. The attendant ask me if I want to make a purchase and I tell her I didn't like it very much. She knew better. I know it's hard not to be so vain and self centered. It's hard not to think about weight ALL of the time. I know you just want to get a "grip" and focus on the things in life that matter. That's what people tell you.... everyone a size 12 and under. Everybody has there cross to bear, I know and the things I tell you, I have to tell myself the same things EVERY DAY, or I will lose my ever loving mind. There are times (which is most of the time) when I don't want to anything, and hibernate in the house. I tell myself nobody wants to party or dance with a fat girl... when everybody's hooking up and I'm left standing in the middle of the floor, what will I do? Go to the bar and get drunk, that's what. So, I avoid the whole aggravation and just stay home. The point to all of this crap in my head is that I know what your feeling. I don't want you to think I'm self righteous at all... I'm not and I go through the same struggles as you. Honey the winds of change are blowing and I hope you keep in touch with your progress. You're going to do magnificent. I will let you know all about my surgery if you'd like to hear about it. Make sure you take care of your heart as well as your body......... much love tracicat

BELLA, STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT!!! I'm saying this to you, because I would have wanted someone to say this to me when I started my LB Journey 7MONTHS ago. That's from consultation to surgury date which is 9/28. I know you wont believe me, but the time has flown by. The first couple of months I pigged out and sulked because I had so much time untill my surgury, but then I decided to just live my life and put it out of my mind. I keep myself occupied by doing fun things and spending time with my buddies and my family. You know how much time they can take up. I had the bad days when I would stand in the mirror and pull at fat and BE REPULSED!!!! I stopped doing that because even though I have an abundance of fat, I also have a whole body that works, with all of it's senses, and I can walk and laugh and love. I know it's corney, but it helped me. When I start sulking, I think about all of the people who are dying of some horrible disease, and would trade places with my fat "healthy" ass in a heartbeat. After that I'm thankfull for the opportunity to better myself and make myself more healthy and celebrate by buying myself an outfit. Me and you are around the same size. I'm 5'6" and I weigh 240. Yeah, we're cubby, but it aint the end of the world IMO. I'm pretty sure you're cute so just play that up! You're date will be here before you know it. Look at it this way. You'll be able to eat all that yummy holiday food, and then at the beginning of the new year you can focus on the new life ahead. Just trying to be helpfull, even if I made no sense at all. If you ever need to talk just write...... tracicat.....good luck to you!!

Hey Betinna, I'll be at the Barix Clinic. Where was you're surgury? where in NJ are you? I'm from south Jersey!!! good to hear you're doing well

Good luck everybody who's getting banded tomorrow and the weeks to come. I have 9 days to go!!!!!!!! Can hardly wait. I know the people who were banded in the past two weeks may not be able to post their experience yet, but I'm sure they all did GREAT. I'm so happy for all of you. To finally make a decision to do something good for ourselves feels so good... I'm sure many can testify to that. Please, if there is anyone that has recently been banded I would love to hear about your experience. My process started in March of 06. It flew by really. I was discourage about the length of time in the beginning, but it was damn well worth the wait. It gave me time to really learn about my body and what it needs and the changes I needed to make for the future. I'm so ready.. I wish everyone the best... Starting weight: 240 lbs Height:5'6" Surgery date 9/28/06 Hosp. Langhorn PA

Oh thankyou MissSD, that's just the calming words I needed to hear. COME ON 9/28!!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR BANDING!!!!!!! I just went for my pre-op exams yesterday and I left feeling great....now I'm terrified. I can't take this emotional rollercoaster. I just want to get it over with. Please someone tell me I'll be o.k. I know it's all in my head, but some of the scary stuff people are reporting is blowing my mind!!! I'm 30 yrs old and I am a HUMONGUS BABY... no really... I hate needles...HATE... I get faint-ish... and all the other embarrasing stuff. I've never had anything more tragic than a mosquito bite happen to me...ever. Well, I fell out of a tree once when I was a little girl, but I only had a swollen lip. I never had bands, or catheters, or freakish swelling, or INCISIONS in my unblemished skin (will the scars go away?) Can someone slap me and reassure me of the world of even better health I will be blessed with? I know that we are blessed and loved dearly and we will all come through this wonderfully, and this is all apart of having a life...heh heh heh.....(I have a life)....o.k. now I'm excited again... (see what I mean about the emotional rollercoaster)... is there a veteran bandster that can assure me I'll be o.k.? Bless you all.. I'm so glad I'm not alone. Love you all. Surgery day 9/28/06 in Langhorne PA Starting weight 240 Goal weight 160 Thankyou for all your love and support

Lab, the best of luck to you honey. I'm anxious as heck and I'm telling you that I know everythings going to be fine...and we'll do fine... I get banded on the 28th, so you'll have to tell me all of the details about your big day!!!

I get banded on the 28th!!!!! I'm anxious as heck, and that's two weeks away!!! Would anyone be able to tell me how much weight I should lose before surgery? I presently weigh 240 lbs. Do I cut out solid food cold turkey at this point? I've never had surgery of any kind so I'm trying to soak up all the info. before my big day. What is all of this "PBing" I'm hearing about after the surgery? .....HELP

I just wanted to say hi to everyone and wish everyone good luck with thier personal goals. I'll be getting banded in two weeks!! I'm so excited and I can't wait to get this over with. If anyone has any pointers to get through this thing, I'll love you forever. One question though... what does "pbing" mean?

Best wishes and a speedy recovery.