qtney1

Thank you, roseyposey!d

Just go by what your doctor recommends and you will be fine. The time really does fly by. Congralations on your banding! I was just done September 30th, 2010. I have to make exercise fun. I have Zumba at home and also Wii....which, has LOTS of fun things to do on it.

Mine seems to be going slow. I have lost about 30 pounds since my journey began (preop). I have only lost about 10 pounds in the 3 months I have had the band.

I think after all of the putting fluid in/taking fluid out, I have finally hit my sweet spot. I feel restriction and I feel full for several hours in between meals. It's been nice. When I went to the doctor with for the 2nd fill and they overfilled me, I had some fluid taken out. I actually had less in there than with my first fill so I was very hungry. I gained several pounds back. But, with this fill, I have lost about 5 pounds this week, which was good. I have also noticed not only are my clothes starting to feel a bit looser, my pants also seem longer......anyone else have this? Strange!!! Other than busily scurrying to get last minute Christmas stuff together, life has been pretty vanilla. How is everyone else out there doing? Any good weight loss goals met recently?

You look wonderful in both sets of pictures but I'm sure you feel FABULOUS in the new ones! Congratulations!!

Soooo, I'm getting a bit discouraged. They unfilled what they put in last time. And, I gained back the weight I lost. Of course, I realize that it is all water weight I lost and gained back, but that means I'm still at a standstill. I know my magic number should lie between 6.5 cc (where I can eat anything) and 7.5 ccs (where I can't drink anything). I yearn for the day I can feel restriction. Sometimes, I feel it and sometimes I don't. I can still eat bread and all of the things I shouldn't be able to eat and that actually makes me sad. i need to know something will get stuck if I eat it so I won't WANT it. I'm still working through the food issues, but it makes it harder when you can still have what you probably shouldn't be eating. Eeeeeek! When I try to measure out my food, I am STARVING after just the 4 ounces of protein and half a cup of veggies. How much in your band did it take to reach your "sweet spot"? What foods can't you have and how much can you eat?

So, I went in for my second fill on Monday. It was 2 months to the day of my surgery. When I stepped on the scale at the doctor's office, I was happy to learn I had dropped 4 pounds over the past two weeks without really trying. I was ultra bad on Thanksgiving, caved in, and had 2 rolls....eek! Those went down fine, so when i went to the doctor's office, with 3 cc's in my band, of course I told him I could use another fill. He filled me with another 1.25 cc's and sent me on my way. I had a few sips of water in the office that really went down okay. However, by the time I got home, I felt soooo nauscous! Luckily, since the rest of the family has the stomach bug, I had some anti nausea meds on hand that I took. I did try to eat mashed potatoes and those came back up. I had a sinking feeling I was overfilled. But, I blew it off as swelling and tried to get liquid down in small sips. It was crazy. I would take a sip of water and feel stuck for 20 minutes. Since my baby girl came down with the stomach bug really bad Monday night and Tuesday, I couldn't get away. But, after waking today with an incredibly thirsty body and not being able to even drink, I knew I had to go today. The husband stayed with the baby while I made the 40 minute trek to the doctor. He wasn't in, but his nurse practitioner was. She took me back to unfill under the big fluero machine. She first unfilled me completely. We were both shocked to find that I wasn't at 4.25 cc's...I was at 7.5 cc's! My band must have been partially filled at surgery and there was no record of it. So, she took out 1 cc, leaving me with 6.5 cc's. I can get water down now, FINALLY! And, did I mention I lost 5.5 pounds since Monday? Probably from being so dehydrated! So, I think I should be good here for awhile. I felt a little restriction before and, once I add full foods again, I'm hoping I will be at my sweet spot. Word to the wise------if you think you might be overfilled, go see your doctor ASAP! On a plus side, I'm now under 300 **applause** Have a great day, everyone!

I'm so sorry you went through all of that Debi...That is horrible! I can't imagine living that far away. The right number definitely is hard to find. I have some restriction where I'm at, but, (eeek!) I can still eat bread. I think that's a bad sign. If I stall out losing, I may ask for just a touch more in the band, but otherwise I think I am good. I really am staying full longer.

Definitely call your doctor and get your band unfilled. Same thing happened to me this week. My band actually had more in it than they thought. I was supposed to be at 4.25 cc's and was actually at 7.5 and couldn't get water down. They unfilled me a bit and it was glorius!

My second fill comes tomorrow....maybe...most likely. I currently have 3 cc's in my band. The first four days were extremely hard to get anything down without getting stuck (after my first fill). Now, I see that I can still eat breads (small bites....thanks to Thanksgiving!). I don't have anything in the way of restriction, so I really have to watch my portion sizes. I have also been doing awesome with not drinking for a half an hour after I eat. That has been so hard! I am currently down to 301.8, after being stalled for a month. Thanksgiving also went pretty well. I grabbed a salad plate and just put a small portion on it of foods. I don't think I allowed myself alot of food at all. Yesterday, I took my son and daughter to lunch with my parents. Lunch was a bowl of steak soup. I was only able to eat about half of it and my daughter ate the other half. I do find I feel tighter in the mornings. I would love to feel restriction, but it is not so bad where I'm at right now. i can tell the band is helping. While I don't feel restriction, I do find the food stays with me longer, which I love. We'll see what the doctor says tomorrow. Until next time....hopefully, I can soon report that I am under 300!

Thank you so much! They overfilled me on my second fill and had to take more liquid out today. I'm curious to see what I will be able to eat and what I won't be able to eat. I should be at my sweet spot, though....or close to

It's good to here from you Fran! Oh, do I have a story for you! I am about ready to blog about it, but long story short, they overfilled me and that SURE sparked weight loss...Haha! Don't worry, they will get restriction soon for you. How much do you have in right now?

How are you doing now? i had my second fill yesterday and am having a difficult time drinking. I hope it has loosened up for you!

Good luck on your journey, Erin! Hang in there....I found a few of my friends who weren't supportive were secretly jealous All that matters is that you and your husband are okay with it and YOU truly want it for yourself. Your story sounds a lot like mine and I wish you only the best!

congratulations! Recovery won't be horrible at all. Just remember to walk, walk, walk as you heal. I promise it will help you heal faster :-) Good luck tomorrow and welcome to the banded world!

Today was the day of my first fill. I was a little nervous, not knowing what to expect, but it was all good. I ate pretty light today. Coffee and a bagel (eeeek!) this morning. Pineapple and a piece of grilled chicken for lunch. Then, this afternoon, the fill! They brought me in, weighed me, checked my incision sites, then had me lay back on this table. The doctor explained that I would feel a sting, then said I wouldn't feel anything but maybe a bit of pressure. He cleaned of the area then I felt something like a little sting. After that, I didn't feel pressure at all. I felt, while he was putting the fluid in, a little tickle or maybe even butterflies. It was such a weird sensation! They then had me drink a small amount of water to make sure everything was going down just fine. He ended up putting 3 cc's in. I go back in another two weeks and will most likely have another fill. I am back to soft foods for 3 days, but that is okay. I'm finally on my way!

I am 6 weeks post op and had my first fill Monday. I am still hungry between meals, but I have definitely had to slow down when I eat. Rice and bread are no longer good friends of mine. Being stuck is no fun! Before my fill, I could eat anything and be fine. Yesterday, I had sushi and today I had a little of wheat bread and both got stuck. It made me feel like I was going to throw up and was really uncomfortable. After a few minutes (luckily) both went down. I made the sushi work in small bites but it was not so great because the best part of a sushi roll is all the flavors coming together! Today, I ditched the bread. Btw, I have 3 cc's in my band. When is your first fill?

I had surgery on a Thursday and went back to work on Monday. The first couple days back, I did need to take some meds for pain, but it wasn't bad. Just make sure you get up and moving starting the day after surgery and you will be fine. The more you walk (without overdoing it) the better off you are. Congratulations on being so close in the process! It's exciting!

Oh, how I love sushi! But, I may have swear it off for awhile. I am definitely getting brown rice next time and trying that!

So, I am on soft foods for the next couple of days. I decided I will try sushi...Having read that some people have trouble with it and some don't, I decided I would take smaller bites of it. My train of thought was,"Well, might as well nibble now because if it doesn't agree with me, that will be the end of that." Fast forward to opening my yummy sushi roll. I split a piece in half, eat a bite, then remind myself I need to chew better. I eat the remaining piece.....wow...weird feeling. I proceed to the half of piece of sushi piece #2. WOW!!! Oh no! I'm gonna get sick! I felt a huge wave of nausea and got the watery mouth. It last for about 5 minutes and I'm so glad I was able to hold on to everything. Getting sick in front of my coworkers was not #1 on my priority list today. I was able to finish the sushi roll....eventually. I cut it up into 1/4's and chewed it forever. The learning how to eat continues....will keep you posted!

I haven't tried EmergenC, but I am a huge believe in zinc when you don't feel good. It helps boost your immune system.