Betsyjane

Or at least no more fills until they track down and fix what ails ya! I KNOW it's bad when you aren't doing queso!!!!!!!

Hey Kitty... Look under Barbara's signature at the number of fills and unfills she's gotten. She's really sensitive to them!

Isn't life interesting. After a 2 month plateau...well, barely losing anyway...I am back to losing. I'll tell ya, in my old life, a plateau would have been followed by a huge gain! It is such a gift for me tha tmy band lets me sort things out and head forward without losing ground.

I wonder if there is any research about this. Surely it happens to others. Could part of it be that Omnipack is a bit more unforgiving? I dunno. Seems like someone should know. Have you asked that lap Dr. that posts on this site if he has any answers? I think it's Dr. C?

Good grief, Barbara. that's amazing how sensitive your system is! Can you eat after hot liquids still, or are you pretty much out of commission? Sorry to hear about your extended PBing.

Funny. I stopped in Hasta La Pasta for lunch yesterday. I remember the old days of paying $10 for lunch. They brought water, rolls, and dipping oil, and I ordered a side salad. Nibbled a bit of roll, at 2/3 of the side salad, and received a bill for $1.23..... I tipped more than that....

Yep. A rheumatologist is a must! And a Lupus support group. There's also a great book at Barnes and Nobles called, I think, The First Year with Lupus. It was so helpful to me. I sure wish Lana would get unpacked in her new house and rejoin us here! I want to hear how Weight Watchers is going!

Great post Holly! I have done so many "licking the cheese off" kinds of things in my eating history! I'm going to try eating naked in front of a mirror. I'll post again when I quit laughing.

I was just over at GNC this morning. The Isopure is 40g whey Protein and no carbs. I guess all you'd be missing is some of the vitamons they put in the shakes, but you'll be on a daily chewable Vitamin anyway.... The flavors were way out there....blue raspberry, etc. I think I might try one sometime. The Isopure will probably suffice for the protein he wants you to have..... The EAS carb control is a pretty thin chocolate shake.....Be use to get carb control.... I know. The portions seem unbelievable, don't they? Oddly, after you get the band AND get the correct fill amount, you'll find that you get full after a small amount of food. I found that my eyes and my head didn't believe it at first, so I kept thinking it just shouldn't be. Then you find yourself ordering an appetizer and you're full. Or always taking a doggie bag home....or just nibbling off someone else's plate and you're finished. It's pretty amazing. It's kind of an art and a science, though. Your band gives you some prtion control, bu toyu also learn over time to listen for those first signs of fullness so you hear it whisper before it has to shout. You really do spend time learning to live with your band, and it takes on a life of its own as it becomes your new best friend. Foods we can't eat... It really is individualized. Many of us can't eat carbs because things that can turn glue-y just plug up that little hole and then we PB and slime. But crunchy style carbs seem to go down better and don't form a dough ball. But I read that some people eat sandwiches regularly. I can't eat stringy things like frozen spinach. I used to love chicken, but beef does better for me. Shrimp is iffy but crab and lobster work. Go figure. And it depends whether you have good restriction or are waiting for a fill.... And whether you chew things well enough that just about everything will go through. It's really all about handling whatever food you eat in a way that will allow it to go through an opening the size of a pencil. While you want food to go through, you want it to eventually be "difficult" (solid) food rather than liquid food/soups/ice cream ,etc. You want to chew chew chew, and fill the little pouch so you feel full and don't want to eat. Liquid foods just go on through, giving you mucho calories and no sense of fullness. So you'll eventually settle into some version of eating Proteins first at your meals, and veges second, and then whatever you have room for...equaling somewhere between a 1/2 cup total of food, and 1.5 cups, depending on the day. Hard to believe, isn't it?

Isopure has a clear Protein drink, in different flavors. They have it at GNC, and there may be less expensive places to get it as well. I haven't tried it, being a fan of chocolate, but I've read about it a lot on this site. Might be worth buying a single bottle at GNC to see if you like it and then checking eBay or Walmart..... Powder is fine for the pre-op, but some doctors don't want the Protein Drink to be powdered post-op. I've also heard about little liquid shots of protein that you add to Water. Go to the food section of this site and search the protein drink thread. You may have to search isopure or start a thread to ask about Protein drinks with no milk.

You and me both! I used to get frustrated when I hit plateaus, but lately, I kind of get a kick out of knowing that plateaus are now just that, and not a pause on the way to regaining my weight. Nice glass ceiling....

I was self pay. I contacted Dr. Spivak (lap guy) first. He and his office have done this so many times they were able to guide me through it as they guided the insurance folks through the hoops they needed to jump through...

Welcome to the journey! You've been persistent...a great sign for your future success with the band! I live in Huffman, not in The Commons...if you've been on the road that has lots of miniature horses, you've probably been by my place. Do you know what your pre op diet will be? Will you stay in the hospital overnight or do the surgery as an outpatient? Do you have the instructions for your post op diet? Every doctor is a little different.... Maybe we can do an initial discussion about Protein drinks.... I started out with Muscle Milk because it tastes so amazingly good, but it was higher in carbs and calories. I now switch back and forth between Slim Fast Carb Control and EAS Carb Control. The EAS only has 110 calories, for, I think, 20 grams of protein. I'm usually really restricted in the mornings, so I often have a shake for Breakfast. Sometimes I add a scoop of Any whey (100% protein, no carbs, 70 calories), some fresh and frozen fruits, my chewable Vitamin, my chewable Calcium, and ice and hit the blender. That way I've gotten my fruit, pills and much of my protein worries out of the way for the day.

Hi Sherry. I've gone through a lot of the same stuff you have. One thing that helped me some was that my band was too tight so I was not bothering with solid foor, and making up for the lack of calories with ice cream. But that was only part of it. I figure I'm like an alcoholic. I'll fall off the wagon, but the first goal is for it to take less time each time to get back on the wagon! And I've really had to manipulate my surroundings. If I eat anything in front of the TV, I go into a trance and just keep eating. And if I sit in front of the TV, I'm not active so that doesn't work either. This food thing is complicated, isn't it? But we'll get there........

Welcome to the journey. We've all been where you are. Most insurance companies won't pay unless your BMI is at least 40, or at least 35 with other related health problems...so dont lose too much weight! If I were you, I'd pick a lap Dr. now so he can officially put you on whatever program your particular insurance requires for you to qualify. Some want very little info and some want a lot more. Good luck! I've sure never regretted getting my band!

Glad you got a kick out of it, Barbara. My life is usually so mundane. Nice to have a good story once in awhile. Congrats on getting back to Tai Chi!

Well, and it semed particularly interesting to me since all 3 women are avid exercisers. I just don't get it. I also think I'd have a fear that the first time I cheated with something high calorie, I'd put on volumes of weight! I do believe you can reset your metabolism to accommodate little food, but then gaining is way too easy. But these people had great energy and were staying at goal weight..... Pretty baffling.

I went to the first Spivak support group and the 3 moderators, who were at goal weight, say they eat around 600 calories a day. To me, that sounds like it's unhealthy. Does anybody know if because of our morbid obesity,we are so efficient at processing food that 600 calories will actually sustain us? Even 800 calories.....Doesn't that seem unhealthy too? Actually, I'm thinking of doing it, if someone can tell me that that makes nutritional sense....

I'd like that too....a couples night.... Well, my health is crappy. My cracked back seems to have precipitated a Lupus attack, so I have to be on the heavy duty drugs that make me gain weight AND that weaken my bones...hence my cracked back. In addition, I possibly have some dead bone, which is not a good thing at all, but comes with the territory. So I hurt, I'm grossly fatigued, can't concentrate. So what to do...Road Trip! I had cabin fever. So I offered to take my 90 year old mother down to Central Market in Houston to get fresh fish, which she loves. Now, mind you, I'm thinking I have JUST enough energy to accomplish this trip. So we drove and shopped. On the way back, at 60 mph, a belt flew off my van and I had NO steering! Luckily the highway was straight. Well, having played dodge-em cars and having wrestled my car to the side of the road, I then got the car towed to a repair place. Now our concerns were 1. getting a working car back, and 2. what to do with all the fresh fish that needed to be kept cold. So the repair guys put our fish in the back side of their coke machine, and drove us back to Central Market to wait for them to fix the car. We were there for 5 hours. Me in my health, and my 90 year old mother in hers. Meanwhile, having had a near death experience and the threat of spoiled fish, we proceeded to giggle our way through the day like a couple of drunks. A thousand dollars to the repair guy later (!), we were back on the road and then back home. :-)

Congrats! Seems like spouses just need some time to adjust and to know that they are still loved. Funny how the people who love us get sidetracked and make it all about themselves instead of our health, but such is life. Get some Better Than Boullion Soup base in the grocery store. It tastes so hearty when you are on liquids! Comes in 3 or 4 different flavors. I like ham and also turkey. Also those Imagine Soups in boxes. It's amazing how good they taste when that's all you can have! For protien shakes, I've been through sooo many. The best tasting, I think, is Muscle Milk, but it's a bit high in calories, carbs, etc. I go back anf forth now between EAS Carb Control and Slim Fast Carb Control. They are both way high in Protein and low in carbs and calories. I'm on solid foods, but I have a lot of restriction in the morning, so Breakfast is usually an EAS chocolate shake in a blender with fresh fruit, froZen smoothie fruit, ice, my chewable Centrum Vitamin, my chewable Calcium tab, and some flax seed oil. That gives me my fruit for the day, a great start on protein, and gobs of Vitamins and minerals. sugar free popsicles are a good staple to have at first just for having that hand to mouth activity and some sweetness.

Well, why don't we skip it tonight. I'm not in great health and dragging still, and everybody else seems to have flown the coop for this week. For whenever everybody gets back, anybody want to try some upscale restaurants sometime? Maybe quarterly, go someplace fancy?

I don't even think the people I know had any diagnostics done. Their fills kept disappearing so they switched to Omnipak. You might want to search this site for specific posts for Omnipak and see what you can learn....

Hey Jodie, if it does turn out that one of the problems is Bipolar...get ready. One of the first challenges will be that if the meds work, you'll feel fine and want to get off them. Seems to be hard for folks to remember that you'll be feel better because you're on the meds. It's a common challenge. The other one that happens a lot is feeling like life is a bit boring when the meds help settle life down.

I know quite a few people with leaks who have just had their fills done with Omnipak and have been fine. Might be worth a try before surgery! Omnipack is just a much thicker fill.

I haven't been to Black Eyed Pea for awhile. That, or anything, would be fine with me.