thsisme

Happy new year everyone! I too have been at a stalemate. My surgeon tells me that he is happy with where I am. He reminded me that on average a bandster can expect to loose 40% of their excess weight. (I know the percent varies depending upon the doctor) He then went on to say that it doesn't mean that I can't lose the rest of the weight. I too have the goal to be at goal and maintaining by this next August. Good luck everyone!

There are negatives to everything. Some folks are more fortunate than others. Black bile even once a week is not something to ignore. Please encourage your brother to be seen by a physician. It could be band related or caused by something else. I have had mostly a positive experience with the band. Here are my negative experiences: I drank a glass of milk to fast and started esphogeal spasms that lasted four days in the first week of being post op. Financial impact of good quality Vitamins, food, and yes clothing. These can add up to be very expensive. Head hunger, the place where your mind is telling you that you are hungry - when you really are not. Taking the time to think about eating, from what you are going to eat to how you are going to eat it, i.e. fast, slow, is the food a slider food.... The struggle of emotional eating, wanting to eat and then holding yourself back from eating at the wrong time or even over eating during meals. Adding in exercise (I know that one does not sound so tough, but when you hate it as much as I do, you learn to modify your lifestyle to include it and not allow yourself to talk yourself out of it...) I have heard from others who can tolerate only certain foods, severe constipation, band erosion and various port problems. I have also seen where some expect the band to do everything for them and then those that have the band done to please someone else and then eat the wrong foods. I am sure there are other negative experiences out there, however, those listed above are the ones that I am aware of... I

you go! not lame at all! I love NSVs!

generally, it can take up to 4 months for the port site to heal due to the fact that the port is sutured to the abdominal wall. you will eventually be able to sleep on your stomach, just give it time to heal. good luck everyone!

spoiltmom, you look fabulous! WOW! congrats. you don't have to explain yourself or how you run your household. it really is no one's business. to bad sanction doesn't get it.

tylee, hope things are ok with you. Spoiltmom are you not getting closer to your TT date? I just went to my second PS consult and Have found the surgeon for me. I am looking at having a TT and Brachyplasty in the summer of 2012 so I can give myself time to lose any remaining weight or be stable for several months.

fabulous! Congrats on your victory!

superluli, follow your bariatric doctor's rules. You will find as time goes on that there is no one rule as to how or when to graduate to different consistency foods. This is a time for you to learn what being satisfied vs. full means/feels to you. The feeling of full as I had viewed it (stomach stretched) will never be for me again. as LB4me suggests, try different techniques that will allow you some time to think about whether or not you feel full, chew, chew and then chew some more. This is a learned technique for most of us bandsters. I am a big advocate of measuring, weighing, and keeping a food journal. It works for some and for some it does not. Starting out, it will give you a good idea of how those portions look and the journal may surprise you at the things that you eat and allow you to keep track of your carb, protein, fat intake. Fills are just apart of the tool. If you are hungry (besides around the time to eat) within and hour or two of your last meal. or if you hit a plateau (same weight for a month or longer) you may need a fill. Speak to your docotor to see what his/her view point is. You will find that there may be some foods that you will not tolerate and then you may tolerate some that others can't. It really is an individual thing. Fills are not meant to lose weight faster per se. People lose weight at different rates at different times. Congrats on your new life as a bandster!

welcome to the i hate exercise club! to this day i hate exercise! however, i do it and i have learned to make it tolerable. 1) i listen to music while i am exercising 2) i started out walking. walk at your breaks when at work, park at the end of the parking lot and walk to your destination, if you can walk to the near by stores from your house, if you go to the local park walk around the park, dance around the house, i even walked around the house. I moved every hour or so. remember you don't have to exercise all at once, get it in in spurts. 3) explore what works for you 4) set your time and days up, don't talk your self out of it, just do it 5) I get up an hour earlier to get my exercise in... congrats on being banded and facing your exercise demon.

when did you start solid foods? some folks have a brief stall while transitioning from liquids to foods. Are you tracking your intake and fluids? also, are you exercising? just some thoughts...good luck

I had BBC PPC CA. no pre-op diet required. you have to meet with the surgeon, have a nutrtition consult, EKG, Psych eval. There may be one more eval, but I can't think of it. Your surgeon's office will know. It took one week for my approval. I was obnoxious and called for the status. Also, you can request a copy of their policy on WLS criteria. Good luck!

I have been obese all of my life. I have 35 lbs to go to be within normal BMI range. after being banded i am currently down 130 lbs since august 2010. Yes, it is possible and it opens up a whole new world to be in a position of going from 318 down to 191 currently. I am currently working on learning how to eat and maintain my weight while slowly losing the rest of my poundage. keep going folks! I wish everyone great health and joy!

tylee, I think that WLS folks tend to see themselves as the heavier version of themselves....even though they know it is different. I think it is a psychological thing. If it is really bothering you and causing anxiety or discomfort, then perhaps some counseling might help. For myself, I accept that when I look in the mirror at times I still see the previous me and then there are those times that I see a picture with someone else in it and I think...WOW thats me! I look GOOD! LOL. I know that I am a much smaller person than I was, my clothing size, the scale, people all tell me that I am a much smaller person, but I don't see it unless I look really long and hard at myself in the mirror or see myself with someone else in a picture.... Zenida, I agree with Beachbunny, lately my weight has slowed down significantly, but I have begun to notice that my body is changing in inches. Amber, let us know how you fare with the doctor.

Cheri, hope that you did not think that I thought you were giving out the cards! I re-read my post and it kinda read that way which is not what I meant it to be....I just kinda like WOW some fool is handing out cards...how absolutely rude of them...not you. Dawn, how funny!

Cheri, handing out a card....??? I have to agree with Dave, it is plain tacky and I think condensending as well as perhaps mean. I don't hide the fact that I had WLS, but I don't go around selling it either. Like Dave, if people approach me, then I tell. I think the decision to tell or not is of personal nature and who knows what their/our reasons are? Some for fear of being judged or looked at as weak, others for not wanting their business hung out for the gossips. There will always be critics out there as well as those that support. Personally, I just don't care what they think. I did this for me and am glad that I did.

Dave great job! and you are so right when you write that people are watching, some very openly and some not so openly. We can educate and encourage and it is up to those that want to do something about their weight and health.

yesterday, i finished my first 1/2 marathon in just under 4 hours. this time last year could not have made it round the block! congrats to everyone on your NSVs.

Cindy congrats on a true and exciting journey! We are rooting for you! Dave and Macfaster, congrats to you too! Dave, I am feeling the pain too. weight loss is slowing down...still coming off, but sooooo slowly, however, I am ok with that too!

I am re-learning how to eat and what to eat. the group that I go to has a binder and there are support groups that have sample meals at various stages of being banded. I followed them and learned to listen and feel what my body was telling me about when to stop eating. There is no one particular way to do this process. I am not the normal skinny person, so I don't even try to convince myself that I know what they eat. I focus on a day at a time and monitor my portions while cutting back on carbs, i.e. processed breads, rice, etc....

i did not enter into surgery with the thought of "Oh, I'll just get this band placed and then I will go on a severe diet..." I chose the band because I needed help in controlling my intake of food and in the research process discovered that I would also have to practice life long behavior mod with how and what I choose to eat. The unexpected benefit for me was that along with the band placement and my own natural pysiology I have yet to experience hunger pangs...A year or so out from surgery and still no hunger pangs...will this go on forever...I have not the foggest idea. The only thing that I do know is that I eat with portion control, I exercise, I stay in touch with my center of excellence and see my surgeon when he tells me I should. Do I do the additionals? (journal, low carbs, get my Water in, weigh my food) yes I do. Since I do not feel hungry (I do hear my stomach growl if I go over 6 hours without eating) I do have a routine of when to have my meals. Am I regimented? Not really. I miss my scheduled meal times and when my stomach growls or if I feel like I need to eat then I do. Do I understand that the hunger pangs may and/or will come back? yup, I do and I plan to go and get a fill when I need to. My surgeon tells me that I can get a fill if: 1) I start feeling hunger pangs before 4 hours between meals or / and 2) hit a plateau lasting longer than 1-2 months and I do not need to wait for my next appointment to come in to recieve help or a fill. If I could have done this with just diet alone, I would have done it years ago and even up to last time that I did a major diet. Each and every time I would gain it plus some back after the diet ended. This is not an easy process for those that get fills nor for those that don't get fills. We need assistance with this process and that is where the band comes in.

First of October already! How is everyone doing? Marg congrats on those boots! My weight loss has slowed, but I am still happy as to where I am at. I have had to step up my intensity levels on both the bike and eliptical. Completed my first 5k and at the end of this month will attempt a 1/2 marathon. Went back east toured around and fell off the wagon for a few days after finding pumpkin donuts. Got over that and got back on the wagon. Hope everyone is doing well!

vickyd, what brand of firming cream did you choose? I too have the neck wrinkle thing going on and see it in my forehead. Others tell me I look younger than I did, hmmm, I think they're just being nice! LOL Anyway, to have the energy and good feelings that I have today, I will happily live with wrinkles.

Like others who have posted here...It is your choice whether or not to tell others of your band. There are no right or wrong answers! For me...I tell everyone as I am in healthcare and did not want the rumor mill to diagnose me with some traumatic disease state. I also prepared myself for those that might be negative. so far everyone has been extremely supportive from my family, folks at work and my neighbors. I have had one person mention the dreaded statement "the easy way", I took the time to educate her and she told me that she had a friend who had WLS that was not successful and we then had a long conversation about the failure of WLS too. My neighbor, came over to ask me about my weight loss and I told her. However, when I speak of the band, I also educate on the various other WLS as with all of us a choice should be made by the one who is going to have the surgery. She chose to go with GB and has been doing great! We talk over Vitamins and help each other out when the going gets tough, i.e. what types of food to eat, the balancing of carbs vs. Proteins. The one piece of advice that I have for anyone who is feeling guilty is don't.... this is your process, your journey and you can approach it in any way that you want.

Congrats and C"MON stephanie! sounds like you and your husband are working the issue and it has paid off. Keep up the good work. AND congrats! on not giving up!

Steeler I take in between 1000 to 1400 cal / day. dependent upon whether it is an exercise day or not. I do not snack inbetween meals and only have three meals/day/my surgeon's instructions. and thank you for the compliment. Thee-o thanks for the compliment! are those collar bones that I see in your new picture? I can tell the difference from your multiple head shots that you have used in the short time that you have been on this board. Oh, I enjoy reading your blog entries.... Jachut, even though I am a year out, I agree with you strongly. My surgeon and i have had a similar conversation(s) along the lines of what you have posted. I see no shame in relying/needing a fill and I know that the day will come when I will need one. As my surgeon has pointed out to me: 1) fill for a plateau 2) fill for hunger pains if less than 4 hours between meals. Human nature: behavior mod only goes so far and must be continually worked on. Without my band I again say I could not have made it this far and for the future I doubt that I could stay the way I intend to stay (which is without the added weight). This is a life long process and I am in it to stay. I still have no hunger pains and even thought the weight loss has slowed for me...I have not hit a plateau and that is why I continue to have no fill. I still go to my surgeon and stay in touch with my center of excellence as I am well aware of the pitfalls of behavior mod. Jachut, your post is not negative, but truthful and enlightening, even thought provoking for it makes us take in your words and experiences and learn from them and how we as individuals will be able to incorporate them into our lives.