Betsyjane

Are there any Houston area November bansters that would like to get together for a cuppa or a meal sometime?

Or buy a pair for $20 on ebay, and if it doesn't fit, put it back on ebay.....

Lana-I won't be able to go to Spivak's Tuesday. I'm up to my ears in dogs for Spring Break. I'll be in Humble Monday, but I guess I'll miss you there too. Enjoy your son's homecoming!

Call your doc if it persists. I went through exactly what you described and then it went away.....but better to check with doc.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

To borrow from Judge Judy, taking literary license.... Fat can change. Stupid is forever.

I can only tell you the range of things that happen to me.... Sometimes something gets stuck and I feel myself making very thick saliva. I think it's interesting that the body can create this stuff that I've never seen before, to help something slide down. Anyway, there is time to go to the bathroom. Or at home to grab two layers of paper towels. The first time I did it I suffered. I just sat there making this gross stuff and hurting. And sweating. And sometimes with a runny nose for some strange reason. Now, I get my paper towels, spit that slime out a few times and then sometimes that's all. If that doesn't work, then I know I'm going to hurl, but it is usually a ladylike hurl of a small amount of stuff that comes up with minimal drama. Practice makes perfect. The only other thing I get is sometimes something is stuck and it feels really minor, and, thanks to another bandster here, I know to raise my arms over my head and sometimes it will go on down. I also know NONE of this stuff happens often if I sit up straight with good posture while I eat. Go figure..... I also know that some bandsters carry paper cups in their purses for emergencies. I like paper towels because they absorb. Maybe a paper cup with a paper towel in it is the best of both worlds.

Did you get banded in Beaumont? If so, you might ask your Dr. to refer to the support group......

Hey Lizrbit---you still in Galveston or did you wander home? How are you?

I had no preop diet and no preop testing. Just went to the seminar one night and then scheduled surgery. Then liquid diet for 24 hours, mushies for a few days, and on the solids. Doing fine.

If you are eating SOLID food...not soups, and you are still hungry after 2 hours, I think you need a fill. If you are eating liquid/mushie calories, or drinking with or after a meal, your pouch won't feel full...everything will just slide right through.

Grab a few protein drinks so you can keep enough calories/protein in you, even when you don't feel like eating. Don't let yourself get malnourished. I go through times when it's not worth the hassle to eat, but I was told to keep up the calories and protein anyway, even if by shakes.....

My port is upper center. It was close to the bra line for me, but as I lose weight it is lower and very comfortable.

They're flats. Everything from Mary Janes to very cool casuals. But definitely flats. If you search Ebay for womens shoes and then put in DKNY and then on the left, click on athletic-inspired, you'll see them. I also like them because they have some elastic in the top so they just plain fit.

Northeast Bandster challenge, to those at least 3 months post-op. I dare you, and me.....to do abdominal exercises at least 3 times a week until our April meeting. As God is my witness, someday I will own a belt!

I'm happy that bread is difficult. I didn't want to eat it anyway! Go figure-I can eat tortilla chips, but bread is too difficult to be worth the trouble. Luckily, most of my cravings left when I got banded, so I'm a meat and vege girl now...er, and muscle milk shakes.

Add airfare and it's a wash. Does the Denver guy include fills in the price? My guy does a year of free fills, and then another year if you loose 50% of your excess weight during your first year.

I have averaged 2 pounds a week since I was banded, but no way is it consistent. 5 pounds here, nothing there. Weeks of minimal change, sudden drops. I thought I was doing miserably intil I divided the weeks and pound and found out that overall I was averaging 2 pounds a week! Odd, but fine with me! My latest theory is that my body waits for my skin to catch up!

Is everybody THAT old???? Here's more than you want to know.... I remember Clockwork Orange because I was in college doing a social psych experiment where we were trying to replicate the Kitty Genovese incident in NYC where she was assaulted and no one helped. Our team thought that bystanders WOULD intervene if it happened anywhere except NYC. So we staged a beating as people were coming out of a theater. Police knew....theater knew. What we didn't count on was a) they were getting out of Clockwork Orange and were sort of wired about violence, and an off duty officer was in the audience in the theater, and had his gun. A warning shot was fired---not in the air mind you---but into the ground. It ricocheted off a rock and hit me in the leg and I ended up in the hospital. Now, we had a guy hiding behind a tree filming this whole thing to present to class, so when we DID present it, clearly showing that bystanders DO intervene, the professor kept the tape to show to future classes how NOT to do a psych experiment.

PS 2.5 cc seems to me like a huge fill. Might take time to adjust to that puppy!

It's confusing for sure. Most mornings I can only drink a Protein shake, and today I had eggs and ham! Half the time I can't eat at lunch, and half the time I can. Often I am restricted just right at dinner, but sometimes I can eat a horse. Sometimes I want to binge so I chew big bites and spit. Sometimes eating solid food seems to be too difficult, unless it has sliders (gravy, etc.), which I don't consider healthy. What I DO know that is perfectly consistent for me, is that I do very well at all times of day if I face food, take several deep slow breaths, turn off any distractions, slow myself down, sit up very straight, and then eat. If I am in a trance and eating mindfully or prayfully, all goes well. Heck, I was in a trance OVEReating all day before I was banded, so it isn't really a big stretch. It's just revising the trance. It's just taking the time. It's making it an internal peaceful process about me first and food second.

I got the flu awhile back. Closed everything right up! Couldn't eat, could hardly drink. When it went away I had what felt like a bad gas pain...left side and right shoulder. Awful. It went away and I'm fine. But I feeeeeel your pain!

I buy DKNY athletic-inspired shoes on ebay for $20 each. They are really stylish, and they feel soooo good on my feet. I'm up to 8 pairs now, all slip ons...some leather and some other. I don't feel clunky at all in them, and I get compliments.

PLEASE don't have the band removed until you get a second face to face opinion. There could be lots of minor things that are easy to fix to get you going. You spent all this money and time! Go to Dr. C or somebody and have a work up. It really could be something minor. RE: Throat tightness. I get it too. I was afraid I was getting TOO full and not recognizing the signs that I should stop eating. Dr. says with some people, being full on the pouch is actually felt as a referred sensation in the throat. No biggie.

Fills are easy. The first time I went for one, I almost gave myself a coronary in the waiting room. I was so nervous about it. Here's exactly what happened.... I had to lie down on a table. She asked if I wanted a pain numbing shot and she said the shot hurts more than the fill. So I didn't get one. She pulled up my shirt and pushed the needle in. It felt like getting a shot, and once the needle was in past the skin, I felt nothing. Then she said I was done! It took mere seconds! Then I stood up against the fluoro machine and drank a tiny cup of barium, and we watched on the machine as the barium went down my throat, hit the restriction, and trickled on through to the rest of my stomach. That was it. She had me drink a bottle of water in the waiting room to make sure I could get water through it and didn't feel uncomfortable. Bah Dah boom. It's just not a big deal at all.