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A.J. congrats on your success! You have every right to be bragging about your journey! Your journey through the band process is an inspiration to many. Isn't it great to be feeling so much better after shedding 90 lbs? Wishing you continued success.

the port site is often that last to heal and the tenderness is there for some folks for several months, but the good news it does get better. For most, the port after the tenderness has gone does not interfere with sexual activities. During the time that the port site is tender will just all you to experiment a bit more with positions that are comfortable for you and your partner.

invite him to go along the process with you...he doesn't have to lose weight or have wls, but to be with you through this time and celebrate with you as you learn a new life style and being a new you. my DH loves big, bold, beautiful bodacious gals and did not want me to have wls because he was worried about the surgery. I sat him down and told him that I was going to do this for me and not for him, but would love to have him by my side as i do this. Once we talked it out and he knew that i was doing this for my health and not because i thought he wanted me to...he jumped on board. he is my strongest supporter and advocate. he goes to the follow ups, the support meetings and even exercises with me when he can. there are many reasons why a relationship does not survive wls and then there are the many whose relationships maintain and continue to grow stronger... congrats on choosing your journey and good luck with your new life style

go see your doctor. have him/her check to see if the band might have developed a leak? in between start over as Rachel has suggested. bad things happen to good people. Good luck

Many congrats and kudos! way to go!

dlynn, congrats!

i have anthem BCBS CA. i called the customer service line and they sent me their policy. no pre-op diet other than the required psych, dietician (they will authorize up to 6 additional classes with the dietician if you need it), seminar, a few others ekg and such. they authorized me in one week.

Jess, no big deal. Isn't that one of the reasons why we got the band? so that we can adjust as we need to? They say that there is low percentage that go and lose the weight without a fill. Some will go several months and then as they lose fat or the body adjusts to the band the hunger comes back. My surgeon told me that sometimes the person may not be experiencing hunger, but has hit a plateau and will need a fill at that point in time. I think that it is fabulous that you have lost 45+ lbs with or without a fill who cares, the point being that you are losing! Congrats!

so far no hunger (physical feeling) only a few head hunger experiences. I have an AP band so no it is not only done with Realize bands (non fills). Type of food? good question. I have experiemented with food and calories,but keep it within the limits suggested by my surgeon and his team for the most part. I keep low carb moderate fats and high protein, keep a journal and when in doubt will weigh food as needed and i experiment with calories every once in awhile. /don't forget the exercise portion. portion control is most decidedly a win at least for me. banded since August of 2010.

my surgeon required no pre-op diet and only wanted liquids on the day before surgery and one week after surgery. then he progressed me onto mushies.

Reverie does have a point. Well stated reverie. As I said before it is different for everyone. However, with that said, I do respect Reverie and I always enjoy and learn from your knowledge!

A question: are you walking? Walking is the best way to get the bloat to go down. Swelling from the incisions may take anywhere between 2-6 weeks, depends upon the indvidual and how their body responds to being invaded and healing time varies.

find out what type of IV solution is running D5/NS etc. if anything with D5 in it, have the physician called and switch over to a solution without D5 in it. Also, remember when the body is stressed (surgery is considered a body stress) the sugars will go up. Also, if you are taking in fluids by mouth, look at what is in those drinks for sugar contents. I wish you the best of luck and hope that you get sent home soon.

vickyd has said it best. Practice your chewing, look at the foods that you have a choice to choose from and practice with smaller portions and balancing your meal out. Take it slow, remember we will never be full again as we once knew it to be (stomach stretched and that bloated feeling). With the socializing that you are going to be faced with, you knew that you have to start sometime so why not now as long as you stick to the types of food consistency that you are supposed to be on this will prove to be a good starting point for you. Afterwards, instead of beating yourself up (should you make a mistake in choices) but rather think back to what type of different choices you could have made and learn from the experience. I think that your thoughts of having a shake before you go so that you are not hungry when you get there is a great idea. Much like not going grocery shopping while you are hungry.

My DH and I are foodies. For the first few months as I was adjusting to being banded and learning the rules of being banded and learning what I could eat vs. what I could not tolerate and learning to make good choices as well as learning to forgive myself when I "fell off the wagon"...I am still learning and changing my behavior towards food and the types of food that I choose to eat. However, I do go to "foodie" restaraunts and enjoy the foods that I like and want. I choose smaller portions for dessert and if it is a temptation, I let my DH order it, take a bite and then go back to my choosen dessert without feelings of resentment. If I fall and make the wrong choices...I forgive myself and exercise a bit longer the next couple of days and I continue on. Whether you will be able to tolerate beef has to be seen, some bandster scan and do tolerate beef/different types of meat, some cannot, the same goes for vegetables/salads. Take your time, be aware of the changes and control that you may be faced with, but know that this is a learning process and as long as you are realistically facing your food challenges, you can participate in having great food without feeling deprived.

I don't keep track of my net carbs in my food journal, but rather the total carbs, so my count is not truely accurate as far as net carb counting goes...I try to keep between 50-70g of carbs/day.

If this type of exercise is not what you are used to doing. I would say that 5 lbs gain from building muscle is very realistic. It does vary per individual. Most people will see an initial weight gain within the first 4-5 weeks of intense training and then will drop the pounds and inches within the next 4-6 weeks. Again depending upon their body and what level of training they are participating in. When I started interval bike training sessions, I gained 5 pounds within 3 weeks and did not see weight loss / inches lost until week 6-8. From various reading, research and observations of other's trials and challenges, there is not one way that will work for any one person...You have to experiment to see what type of changes (dietary, exersising) works for your body. Some folks increase / decrease their carb intake, some their fat, and some their Protein, some their overall calorie count is increased or decreased. For myself, I have found that carbs are not my friends and exercise is to be experimented with. For my loss to continue...I have to exercise at minimum 90 minutes for at least 5 days/week of some type of vigorous exercise and then walk for the other two days of the week. I increased my fat and protein intake and keep my carb g down to approx. 60g give or take a 10g lee-way and maintain (for me) between 1,000 - 1,100 cal / day intake. Anything higher and I stop losing weight. Good luck John.

I did about 4 days post op. my stomach was swollen and angry with the band. I was placed on nothing by mouth for a day and then slowly re-introduced warm, not hot, liquids i.e. peppermint tea to assist with keeping the swelling and irritation down and then going to mushies as tolerated. I also had to elevate my head around 30 degrees or so when sleeping for about two weeks. After that I did not have any problems.

Molly, thank you once again! I'm in for 10. keeping my fingers crossed as 10 lbs loss will bring me to onderland.

Carrie, stop beating yourself up and forgive yourself for being human. This process is a life changing event and is not an easy one. As an RN you know that it takes time, and fortitude to change behaviors. Even though my challenges are slightly different than the ones that you a facing, I too have a supportive hubby. However, I do not diet with him and he eats differently than I do and i do not want him to feel that he has to go out and eat those things that I might want to, but can't or should not. We too do a lot of food events and I am learning to survive better and better with each one that i go to... I would like to suggest that you start to develop a plan on how to work your changes without your hubby being your diet/ eating buddy. Bring him in with you to be your advocate, but don't count on him to be doing the dieting thing with you...so when he falls down, you don't feel the need to go down the same road. first I am not sure what you are doing for tracking or if you are exercising, so please do not take this as preaching....I am only suggesting some starting points if you are not doing them now. start a journal for your food and exercise. if you are not doing either, start with the food journal and while you are getting used to that ...think about types of exercise that you can fit into your busy lifestyle...don't count on a buddy system at this point in time. I hate exercising, but it is necessary for me to do them and do it consistently, my hubby is not an exerciser, so I do this without him, he supports by not being grumbly when the alarm goes off at 0400 5 days / week and knows that I will get my exercise time in on the 6th day so we have to plan that in when deciding what we are doing that day. I hope this helps and if you need to talk/email, you can certainly get ahold of me through this site. I wish you well...

I've donated all of my larger sized clothing. Just finished dropping off three bags today.

These are great NSVs. Mine are two seperate ones within the last month, but hey, I'll take 'em! A few weeks ago, I sat in my car to drive to work and noticed a funny feelilng around the sides of my thighs. When I looked down, I realized that 1) I could see the sides of my seat on both sides as I sat and 2) those edges were molding to my thighs and hips. The second one happened last night. I took my DH out to eat for his B-Day. When it came to dessert time, I had a scoop of sorbet...then they brought a chocolate cake....(my down fall is chocolate)...It has been 9 months since I had a bite of chocolate....I took a bite and thought I had died and gone to heaven! However, when I opened my eyes, there was my DH with this wild panic look in his eyes...He thought that I was going to dive back into the cake and was trying to think of how he could get the cake off of the table without me diving in after it...I put my fork down and thanked him for the taste....started laughing and told him that I would not be needing anymore. He then proceeded to tell me how proud he was that I could control myself around chocolate. Nice to be able to laugh through the course rather than fight inner cravings.

there are multiple food journals on the web. I would reccommend that you google and review them and then choose the one that works best for you...All have BMI, calorie, Carb, protein, Fat counters as well as an area to log in your exercise. Live strong, my fitness pal, as well as several others are there. Some are available to be downloaded onto your cellular phone. Good luck and keep us updated.

As you get closer to your goal weight, the harder it gets to lose those lbs. Go back to your basics...are you keeping a food and exercise journal? review what your intake is and your exercise pattern. you might need to increase or possibly decrease your kcal intake or increase your exercise time, or you might have to "shake" things up a bit by changing your routine with both food and exercise. Don't beat yourself up to badly, plateaus are expected. 2 lbs in a month is better than nothing. My loss started to slow and then was doing nothing. I started with the food and kcal, then went on to change up my exercise...I'd start to lose and then nothing for weeks, so I shake things up again...I have finally started to lose again so we will see how it works out. Also, check your measurements alot of the time even though we may not be losing lbs, we do lose inches. Good luck!

Molly a july 4th challenge sounds great! By the way thank you for setting this up! I am technologically challenged on my worst days and would not know where to start. Well, it looks like I fell short of my goal by 2 lbs. oh well, gotta keep on going! everyone who has lost whether or not you met your goal congrats! To those who are struggling, lets get back on the wagon and continue on.