ASM

Thanks for the encouraging words, now off to be way too busy again now that I can drive again.

I got a happy 3 year anniversary email today and since I haven't been on here in a very long time, I thought I would post. I honestly thought it had been longer than 3 years. Life has been such a roller coaster. I did very well for 10 months, I was down 70 lbs and doing great, then went for a fill which involves 10 hours of driving time. It was the first time the nurse did the fill instead of the Dr and by the time I was home I knew it was too much. But I hoped with time and liquid diet it wold settle down and be ok. That started a long time of frequent stuck episodes and a plateau that lasted for over a year. Then I found I had a tare in the meniscus of my right knee, while in the wait and see how it does phase with the Dr (I had been getting shots in it for 3 years then) I tore it so badly it required surgery. Over the next 6 months I gained 22 lbs and there I sit still. Currently I am recovering from having my gallbladder removed last week, been diagnosed with GERD which seems to be responding to treatment. I guess I had that and gallbladder trouble for years before the lapband and didn't know it. I must say, some of what I thought was the overfill causing stuck problems now seems to be the GERD, (which the overfill probably made worse) because since following the instructions from that Dr, I have not been stuck. Now that I can eat again without fear of getting stuck all the time, or running for the bathroom because the gallbladder was making me sick, I am going to get back with the program and take off what I gained and the other 30 lbs I still needed to lose! 130 here I come!

I have been using Centrum Chewables from WalMart for a couple of years. Long before surgery.

Borcher, It wasn't bad at all. The worst was the shot to numb it before they did the fill. That was just a pinch. The fill itself was just pressure a couple of times til the nurse got it in.

Thanks. We live in eastern Montana. The only things here are cattle and wheat. It is 150 miles to shop anywhere other than WalMart. It is almost 320 miles to the only hospital in the state that is "a center of excellence" in bariatric surgery.

I drove for 5 hours yesterday and got my first fill. Found out that I already had 2.5cc in my 10cc band. I got 2 more. They had me drink a full glass of water after, it was fine. But I woke up at the hotel this morning, tight. I managed to get my fluids down and a small serving of Cream of the West (whole grain hot wheat cereal) that was thinned down. That is it. The trip home took 6.5 hours, had such a headache I took liquid acetaminophen but then I had to stop and take a 45 minute snooze in a restaurant parking lot. Then at the next town I stopped to have coffee. Then the next town I stopped for a lady's room. Then there wasn't another town for over 3 hours. Can you tell I live a bit beyond the middle of no where? Anyway, I'm tight but I think I will be fine in a few days. And fortunately tomorrow is a holiday so I can take it easy. I do hope I can go months before I need another fill. That trip will be much worse when winter sets in, it was already slushie. The really good news was that I'm down 30 lbs since I decided to get this done, and 21 lbs since I went to my first appointment.

Thanks, everybody. I tried tylenol and a warm drink, and it is better. I will try liquids for the next few days. I have learned my lesson, nothing as distracting as my 5 month old grandson while I eat!

today I made every mistake. I ate leftover steak at lunch, while playing with my grandson, ate too much too fast and didn't chew well enough. That was at lunch it is now almost 8pm and I still hurt. I threw up but I ended up not going back to work and spent the afternoon in my recliner but it still hurts. I tried some sugar free icecream in the hope cold would help. I can drink, I can eat jello, so it must not be stuck anymore, but the pain is bad right through to my back. Any suggestions on what might help? Oh, I haven't had my first fill yet (that is Nov 9) but I seem to have good restriction anyway. I have been getting about 700 or so calories and lots of protein and water.

thanks for responding, everyday seems to be different. Usually better. Yesterday was good, everything went down easy, I ate well about 800 calories. Today not so good, I woke up feeling pressure and it just won't go away. So, I'm not eating and hardly drinking.But I'm sure it will pass and I will eat when it does. I'm just reminding myself that I had surgery less than 3 weeks ago and still healing and getting better everyday.

Today was a happy day so I thought I would share. Today I got on the scale, since my first meeting with the surgeon on Sept 30, I am down more than 18 lbs. That made me happy but then at work I was standing waiting for someone and I looked down. Know what I saw? Boobs and feet. NO BELLY! For the first time in many many years the belly didn't stick out further than the boobs. I celebrate this first victory and have been grinning all morning!

I am 17 days post op. I'm on mushies and doing pretty good. I know when I have had one bite too much, I get pressure. I had a protein shake for breakfast, but I hate them, so I only use 1/2 cup skim milk so there is less of it to get down. For lunch I had a yogurt that takes me 30 min to an hour to eat. One snack was 1/2 cup no sugar applesauce the other was SF jello, dinner was about 6 bites of refried beans with cheese, and later more of the same. I also had a protein shot with 42 g protein mixed with Crystal light. There is no way this is 800 calories, which is what I was told was the absolute minimum. But I just can't eat anymore. Any suggestions? I don't want to eat empty calories, but the nutritionist said less than 800 calories would cause me to go into starvation mode and not lose weight.

Hi everybody. Well, I am 9 days post op. It isn't going too bad. I can get down my water, I am managing about 60-70 g of protein in shakes and protein mixed in my 0 calorie powerade. But that is about all I can get down. Maybe some jello or broth but I'm not really hungery, and all the liquid fills me up. So, my question is, since I'm probably only getting about 400 calories a day should I add more calories some how, if so any suggestions? I am back at work, but so far I only last about 5 hours. I think if I could consume more caloried, I might get my strength & energy back and make it through the day.