nancyc

There was an excellent post about stress and the band posted here about a year ago. If you can find it, it will tell you why you go through these periods of tightness.

It was the drink that he has for breakfast every morning I believe. Sounded gross, but the fruit and the cucumber might make it palatable.

Dear Susan, I was really glad to see your post. I have not lost any weight for the past 5 months, and I have also been eating too much junk and soft food. I am an emotional eater as well, and do not deal with stress in functional ways. I also had issues about being overfilled, as I had two emergency defills after days of pain, vomiting and dehydration. I really don't want that to happen to me again. This Quest to lose weight and become healthier is not a race. I had a long talk with a nurse at Dr. Cockburn's clinic about this. I will have been banded for a year at the end of this month. In this time, I have lost 50 lbs. and managed to keep most of it off even during the most difficult times. It may take me another year or two to reach goal, and I am sure that life will take me through some more hard times while I am trying. Hang in. It is not a race. You do not have to keep up with all the people who are losing on a weekly basis. I am trying to change my eating habits right now without worring about losing. I have some restriction, so I have to stop eating when I have had enough, and I am trying to stay away from the soft food and Soup demons. It is a shame that more of us who are not brilliantly successful and prone to beating ourselves up do not have the courage to talk about it on this site. I have avoided this site for that very reason. I admire you for stepping up. You will do well in time, and learn different ways of coping with stress along the way. It just dosn't happen overnight, and the "diet" mentality we hear so much about on this site doesn't work for everyone. On the up side, the slower you go, the more of a chance your skin has to shrink along with you. I hope to not have to undergo a tummy tuck when I am done! Hang in there and take small steps.

Count me in too. CindyD if you want to ride down together, PM me.

Oh yes. I got travel sickness last spring after having been banded for 4 months. It really irritated the band site, so after I was over the illness, food started getting stuck on a regular basis, resulting in total closure of the band site so I couldn't even swallow my own spit. Had to have an emergency defill. The moral of the story is that if you are feeling even more restricted after the illness, get a few ccs removed and take it really easy on hard to get down foods like bread, or super chew food like meat. The dry heaves really can irritate the band site. Treat yourself well.

Hi Doddie, I actually have had a number of fills and a few defills. It seems that I have a sensitive stomach around the band area. If it gets irritated with a food stick or vomiting it swells up and I start to have problems with anything but liquids. Even though it is only three ccs, it works about half the time and I don't have to get an emergency defill. I am still losing about a pound a week if I stay away from treats, and that is fine with me. I will probably be slower than many reaching my goal, but as long as I am still losing most of the time, I am good.

Is anyone from the Kawartha area in Ontario? I would like to organize a get together lunch for anyone interested in this area. It would be in Peterborough if there is any interest. Please PM me or email me at ncasserly@hotmail.com if you are interested in getting together.

I am from Peterborough, Ontario.

I have a medic alert anklet, but I just ordered it from a US company on the web. If you google medic alert bracelet, you get tons of companies that make them. Mine says "allergic to penicillin and gastric lap band inside." It is made of stainless steel, is thin and feminine and I can't tell I'm wearing it any more. I don't have to pay yearly dues for this either. It's a good idea, and doesn't cost much. I think I paid $30 US for it. The best part is that as I lose weight, I have had to tighten it a few times just like my watchband! Nancyc

Hey Gaffer - I wholesale jewellery too, although I import from the Philippines. Private message me and we'll chat. nancyc

Big NSV tonight for me. Had to shop for business pants cuz mine are too big. I have dropped not one but TWO pants sizes!!!! I am sooooo excited about this. The scale has been moving very slowly for me, but this is the positive re-inforcement I needed. I can't wait for the day I clean my whole closet out and drop it into a donation box. This is too cool!

January has been very stressful for me, so I would like to believe that February will be calmer and more peaceful. I would like to lose 10 lbs in February, and to do that I know I will have to start execising REGULARY. I can only hope!!! NancyC

It is almost November, which will be always known to me as the month of the BIG change. I start my pre-op diet on the 15th and have surgery on the 29th. Any advice to get through the pre-op diet is welcome! I would really like to hear from any and all Canadians who are being banded in November and December. There don't seem to be many newbies on the Canadian thread. I look forward to hearing from anyone!! I also hope to get lots of support from everyone out there, as I have been afraid to tell anyone what I am doing. I have only told hubby, kids and one sister. I don't feel like trying to justify myself or my expenditure to anyone. I know I am worth it and that is what is important.

No wonder animal mothers eat their kids!!!

The growling is probably gas, which you will have for a few weeks post-op. Use gas-X. I found that I took huge gulps of fluid and had to re-learn how to swallow less each time. The pain after 20 min. is probably the "you have had too much" signal. Try sipping your fluids slowly so it takes 20 minutes to drink a glassfull. Warm fluids help reduce the restricted feeling. All this will pass in another week or so. You will have to experiment to be able to know how much to have before you are physiacally full. My body dosn't tell me I'm full till I've overfilled, so I have to pay attention to how much I take in. I also made drinks with protein powder, cuz I got really really hungry around day 7. Stick to what the doc tells you. Healing after surgery is really important. It does work, just give it some time.

Cloe, I am in rural Peterborough area and we have a Family youth crisis centre at our hospital for families in crisis. We are taking our son there after his antidepressants start to kick in. I know all about the blame stuff. He is working it on us for all he is worth too. What I need is head stuff for my weight loss and stress issues. Dr. Cobourn was online on his website last night and he told me they have counselling that can be arranged through his office if needed, so I will try that route. My husband is the same as yours. Doesn't feel any guilt. So we need to look at who owns the problem in the situation and deal with it. It is very hard to separate out all the issues when it is your child. Hang in there and enjoy one moment at a time.

HI cloe, I have been reading about your problems with your daughter with a lot of empathy. I have 2 teens and a pre-teen at home and we never know when the next bombshell will be dropped. I have been going through some pretty deep personal revelations about my inability to deal with stress without being able to eat huge quantities of food. I never realized how much I have relied on food to get me through things. I have been trying to stick to a routine of sorts. I also have tried to add a few small goals each day, such as cleaning a drawer or doing one thing for myself. Chatting with other banded people also helps. I would like to get some psych help with this, but don't know how to find a therapist who could help. I went to one once for another problem and the therapist was useless. Anyone got any ideas?

Wow, time has flown by. Surgery was surgery. Felt awful for 4-5 days after. I am fine now, although Christmas was very rough with no fill. Got my first fill last Monday, and I have lost 2.5 lbs already. Yay. This so far is harder than I thought it would be. I have discovered how messed up my head is about food. I am so stressed now with work and Tim's teen angst, I keep feelinghungry. My band will not let me eat the amounts I feel I need to eat to get through this. I never realized how bad my head hunger is. I really feel like I have no backup and I am flailing around without my life jacket. I love the idea of losing weight and being slim again, but this head stuff is really hard to start fixing. I don't even know how, and I don't know where to go for help.

Wow, time has flown by. Surgery was surgery. Felt awful for 4-5 days after. I am fine now, although Christmas was very rough with no fill. Got my first fill last Monday, and I have lost 2.5 lbs already. Yay. This so far is harder than I thought it would be. I have discovered how messed up my head is about food. I am so stressed now with work and Tim's teen angst, I keep feelinghungry. My band will not let me eat the amounts I feel I need to eat to get through this. I never realized how bad my head hunger is. I really feel like I have no backup and I am flailing around without my life jacket. I love the idea of losing weight and being slim again, but this head stuff is really hard to start fixing. I don't even know how, and I don't know where to go for help.

My goal for January is to get back on track, make my ticker true again and get my first fill. I had a rough Christmas season. Band has been wide open and I have amazed myself at the amount of crap I have choked down. Even managed to have my first few PBs from overeating. I got some raw carrot stuck and had to call the clinic from Florida because I thought I had slipped my band with all the retching to dislodge it. EEEEW. These docs are amazing. They actually call back. Won't eat raw veg again for a while. I have also realized how messed my head is when it comes to food. Sooo, no lb. goals, just want to get it together. Getting my first fill next week.

Hi Everyone and welcome. I've been lurking lately too instead of joining in. Being banded is quite a journey. It is great having so many friends in bandland.

Way to go Mookie. What a great way to start the new year!

Hi Gaffer, After your surgery you will have adhesive strips holding the small incisions closed instead of stitches. You do not want to soak these off till your incisions have closed completely which for me was 2 to 3 weeks, just like the Dr.'s office flyer described. Tell Mrs. Gaffer I'm jealous!! Happy Holidays.

Dr. C. installed the new band in me at the end of November. I am still a few weeks away from my first fill, so I can't tell you about how it works with a fill, but it is working fine for me without one. This new band also comes in two sizes, and I apparently have the smaller one. Doctor Cobourn is using this band all the time now.

I used Medicard as well. They will negociate on the interest rate, and mine is just a bit more than our line of credit (which is full). They will also allow you to decide on how long you want to take to pay, so the monthly deductions are affordable. They were very pleasant to deal with. Nancy C