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I have some Prilosec which I haven't taken before. I'll take one now and see if it helps. Thanks for the suggestions! Joan

"End of Summer Challenge" sounds great! I'll post a new thread at the end of the week. Thanks again for keeping our stats! Joan

29# and a drop in sizes is wonderful for being 4 months postop! Keep doing what you're doing and it the weight and inches will keep coming off. I have lost 33# since my surgery on 12-2-2010. I look and feel great, no sagging skin or hair loss, a bonus for not losing super fast. Joan

I was banded on December 2, 2010. I have lost 40# including my preop weight loss. Joan

Thanks Larry! It looks great! Are you willing to do the stats for August? Please!! Joan

To keep our stats secure we have one member enter the data each week for us on the spread sheet. No one else has access to it so it doesn't get messed up. We are happy to have anyone join our challenge! Joan

Joan checking in, no weight gain or loss. I'm blaming it on my new scale! Larry~ Happy Birthday! Have a great ukele adventure. I am glad you have met your personal goal so well! I'll be at the YMCA camp next week for the whole week. Like Amy said, we need a youtube video of you playing YMCA! My personal goal for this month was to get together w/ friends at least once a week. I have been having a great time achieving this goal. TGIF! Joan

We post under the "Post-operation lap band surgery questions and answers." Check out our Freedom Challenge for July. The new August challenge will start August 1st but I'll have a page up by the end of July. Joan

I started at 232, my goal weight is 150, and I am 191 today. I have lost 41# of the 82# of excess weight. I was banded in December 2010. I haven't lost as fast as many of my fellow December bandsters but I am steadily heading toward my goal weight. I feel and look so much better than I did before surgery. I am thankful every day for my band! Joan

Hello, If your Labor Day Challenge doesn't come together, please consider joining us in the monthly challenge that I set up. This month's challenge is titled, The Freedom Challenge. There will be an August challenge starting on August 1st. We weigh in weekly and post our weights. We also set goals for ourselves each month for weight loss, dietary, exercise and personal. A member keeps our stats for us. Best wishes, Joan

Thank you Larry!!!! Joan

Do you know anyone who has had a band placed? Do you have a band support group where you can talk with bandsters? If not, or even if you do, check out the posts and chat with people on this site. I'd say most are happy they had their band placed. I had a 6 month preop period of dieting and practicing the necessary tools for having a lap band. Like anything in life people's experiences can vary quite a bit. I am happy I had my band placed. I feel better and am hopeful that I will finally keep my excess weight off. It hasn't been without some struggles. Sometimes I have been too tight and needed to go in to have a bit of Fluid removed. That is what's great about the band, it is adjustable and each individual can have it as tight or loose as they need. I think it's important to live close enough to your band doctor so you can keep your monthly appointments the first year. Follow up is crucial and a lot of people who don't have success with their band are not going in for the recommended follow ups. I have totally changed the way I eat, I mostly eat Protein and vegetables, Protein shake for Breakfast. I still have some treats, cake, Cookies... but in much smaller amounts. I can eat 1 piece of pizza, I eat the top and the bubbled crust at the rolled end and am quite content. I eat popcorn and chips, just much less than preband. The main thing I can't eat is doughy bread. Toast is OK as well as a tiny amount of noodles and rice. Only you can decide what is best for you. Good luck on your journey! Joan

I think our personal choice to have received a band is our choice. I don't mind if people think I am crazy to have done this. I don't try to talk them into this and honor their own struggles and weight loss attempts. I have a friend who just had a face lift. Some of her other friends are judgmental about this procedure she had done. To each his own. My life, my choice, my band. Joan

Hello, I had another small deflate today, .5cc. My band total is now 5cc. I vomited a few times this week and had some night reflux. I did lose 4 # this week. I hope everyone is doing well! Joan

Hello, Joan checking in at 194.4, down 4# this week. How are you doing working towards your goals for the month? We have 2 more weighins to go. Let's make the last 2 weeks count!! Joan

I think my band feels tighter around 10-14 days after a fill. Does anyone else experience this? If so, what do you attribute it to? Joan

Wow, you've never had a fill! The band and how we each react to it is so varied. I have had multiple fills, deflates, fills... I think I am doing well. My start weight preop diet was 232 and I weighed 195 this AM. I try to get all 4 food groups in each day and to drink lots of water and tea. My body is shrinking with good tone which I am happy about especially since I am 50. I do get stuck and vomit occasionally and sometimes this is without much rhyme or reason. All my weight related ailments have disappeared. I enjoy food but not much of it. I think I am at my sweet spot now but might still be a wee bit tight. I vomited 2 days ago and had terrible stomach pains for 5 hours before I vomited. I am gonna buy some papaya enzyme to keep on hand for emergencies. Todays meals have been, a protein shake made with LF milk, a cup or so of popcorn, cottage cheese with applesauce, 1/4 of a banana, 1/2 cup of homemade chile con carne, made with diced tomatoes, lean beef and pinto beans. I would like to eat more fruits and veggies since they are so important, (I am an RN and a bit obsessive, lol) but only so much will fit and I know that protein is the most important. I know I do get adequate nutrients from my daily shake and vitamins. Check in and say hi! Joan

I had a bad experience last PM. I believe I was probably stuck but it didn't feel like it usually does when I am stuck. I had shooting/stabbing pains in my stomach from 5-10PM. At 10PM I chewed 2 pepto tabs, had a sip of Water and vomited . After I vomited the pains were gone. I wonder if I'd been stuck since lunch which was the last time I ate but it wasn't a problem until several hours later? I have had a similar experience once before. I'd like to buy some of the papaya extract or enzyme? to take should this happen again. Do you use a powder or tablet form? Thanks for your help, Joan

Did you use the papaya to help dislodge it? My usual stuck feeling is pain and pressure and it will either slip down or I felt the need to vomit and it comes up. The stabbing pain the other night makes me wonder if it was a small piece of food stuck where the pouch empties? People use it when they feel stuck, not daily. It is said to help dissolve stuck food. Thanks everyone for your feedback!! Joan

Thanks Larry! You rock!!!! Joan

Joan checking in at 198.4, down .4 from last week.

YEAH! Congratulations! You must feel and look like a new man! I am so happy for you! Joan

Thanks Larry!! It looks great!!!! Joan

I eat popcorn regularly, in fact I just ate some. Like with meals, don't drink at the same time as eating popcorn. I have eaten movie theatre popcorn, with butter, without any problem. I eat much less popcorn than I used to but still enjoy it, but like you said, not 1 week post op. Joan

I, too, have lost slower than most yet faster than I would w/out the band. Partly due to not having as much as some to lose but also "that's just how it is." I had my picture taken at my 6 month checkup and I look MUCH better, plus my BP is now normal, my carpal tunnel and plantars fascitis are gone and my knees don't hurt and swell anymore. It really is interesting to watch people eat, a favorite past time of mine, lol. They eat SO musch that it is kinda gross. Day by day we will get there! I think maintaining sounds like a great goal. Have fun! I am Italian too so I know all about the food, lol! I look like my Italian aunts and grandma body wise, not my tall, thin mother, lol. I am not meant to be really thin, will always be shapely. I know what you mean about perception and different sizes. She probably lost a lot of muscle or is shorter than you, or is lying, lol. I am doing that now w/ age now that I am 50. I think, "they look older, younger..." Congratulations on your success!!! I went in for a little defalte today, .25cc. My portions have been great but I have vomited a bit and had bad reflux last night while sleeping. I am hoping this is my sweet spot! Enjoy your 4th of July! If you'd like to join, a new challenge starts today. It is called "FreedomChallenge" and is under the post op section. Joan