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Hi! I have about 7.5 cc's in my 10 cc band and still have VERY LITTLE restriction! I don't understand. Could there be something wrong with my band? I haven't had ANY complications at all. I had the band put in last September but have only managed to lose 40 lbs. He takes the fluid out and measures each time I get a fill so it's in there. I'm not sure what to do/think. Any advice would be much appreciated! Thanks!

Ok, so I'm back from another hospital stay (since Tuesday)...Monday, when I went to the Primary Care DR to get my sore throat checked out he told me it was Thrush...OK..fine. So, then he told me that I needed to get the Pneumonia Vaccine. I asked three times if that was a good idea while I was already TRYING to get better...and he assured me that there would be NO problem. Tuesday at 3 I was in the ER--again. I ended up having a reaction to the vaccine. High fever, chest pain, HUGE lymph nodes under my arm, and cellulitis in my shoulder where they put the injection. Added to that my lower right lung was still "not expanding". ..which can also cause fever, chest pain, tachychardia..etc. They gave me a bag of Vancomycin--not sure I even want to know WHY---but I had a reaction to that too--which caused my arm to be that much more inflamed and SORE!!! Cry cry cry--sob sob--cry! Another CT scan with contrast...more blood cultures and blood work every 6 hours. Sniff Sniff--cry. My husband has been SO incredible--I think I scared him to death. I'm pretty good about pain, pretty matter-of-fact and grit your teeth and do it kind of person--but I cried more in the last two days---my arm was SORER than I can even describe--having someone lightly brush my shoulder would send me into sobs. He was completely in shock of all the crying, and didn't know whether to hurt the people that hurt me or what to do--certainly couldn't hug me!!! :oD Yesterday after my 10 laps around the hospital I called my LapBand surgeon to let them know everything that has been going on. The nurse was SOOO sweet that I cried some more--and then she said words that were sweeter than honey..."if you want and feel hungry--start trying some "soft foods" like refried beans, mashed potatos, scrambled eggs" I was in complete shock...like a prisoner let out on parole early! :crying:) AWESOME!!! Today they finally let me come home...my little girl had made the SWEETEST "Welcome Home Mommy" party---she made EVERYTHING..chocolate cake, banner, carefully colored and snipped up confetti, streamers. SOOO sweet. My sister canceled her flight home on Wednesday and is able to stay until Sunday morning! It is SUCH sweet relief to know that my little girl is relaxed, getting supper, getting baths, and having so much fun thru all of this. I know that all of this is NOT TYPICAL lap band surgery stuff---I was up 20 minutes after recovery walking to the bathroom feeling fine. My LB is something that I think of from time to time but haven't really had a chance to let it sink in that I'm ON THE OTHER SIDE--(Not the other side that I thought I might end up on!) :target:) My scars are hardly showing--I can feel that something is different in my tummy and I am getting excited to think about taking off with diet and excercise!! It's starting to sink in now!!! I can't wait!!

And the scale reads 359 pounds! I lost 4 pounds this week and it feels great! Let me start off with I didn't start the workout routine that I had planned but still did change up my walking pattern. I have increased my pace even more on the walking now completing 3 miles in 47 minutes down from the 52 minutes it was taking me. It's really helped too I think. I still plan to add a workout routine into my schedule just didn't happen yet. LOL I had my 3rd fill/adjustment appointment with the doctor this last Monday and it has helps some to keep me full a little longer then what I had been. Before this fill I would start to get hungry about 2 to 3 hours after eating. Now I am going from just about meal time to meal time without getting hungry. What does that do you say? Well it keeps me from snacking as well as keeps me from over eating at meal time because I don't have the hunger. Granted I still cannot eat like I used to and I do feel a little more restriction then I had before the fill but it's still work. I still have to make better food choices and still have to get out and exercise on a regular basis. A friend ask me the other day what do I eat. Well it's pretty simple actually. For breakfast I have 1 egg usually with a spring of cheese on it and a couple of slices of bacon. Sometimes I will switch out the bacon for sausage or ham. Then I will have a banana or a yogurt when I get to work. That rounds off breakfast. Then for lunch it's usually leftovers from dinners which 9 times out of 10 is a meat (chicken, beef, pork, or fish) and a vegi that is usually steamed. Once in a great while I will allow myself to have a carb meal meaning spaghetti, pizza, or something along those lines. We don't buy bread, rice, or potatoes to have with our meals. Those are high carb low dietary value and so we have cut them out of our diet. Granted if we go out to eat and fries is the side I will have them but again it's not a daily part of my diet and we just don't go out that often at all to eat. For drinks I am pretty much a Crystal Lite person. Ocean Spray and Koolaid both have drink mixes like Crystal Lite now so I drink those also which means I am drinking no sugar added drinks. It's mostly water but a little flavoring goes a long way and has helped me drink more liquids throughout my day. Ok well I have got the rest of my morning going so here are the totals for the week!!! This week 4 pounds lost Current Weight - 359 lbs Loss Since Surgery - 83 lbs (29 weeks) Total Weight Loss - 126 lbs

Congratulations!! I will have my surgery on 10/13 and can't wait to see what my results will be in 1 year! Good luck to you.

Hi everyone, I'm hoping I can get some good advice here. I was banded on 8/14; went for my first fill on 9/24 (3 cc's in 10 cc band). Today I am still very hungry and feeling very little restriction. I called my doc's office to schedule another fill. I was told that I could not get another fill until after November 19th (90 days post op). The first appt. available was 12/4! :biggrin: Does this sound right at all? In reading the boards, it seems most docs will give another fill if the patient requires it. I'm getting a little discouraged, although I am down 30 pounds since surgery date. Any advice would be appreciated. ML sw 295 cw 270 (?? - haven't weighed in 3 weeks; don't want to get discouraged)

Ok so this Vitamin supplement I found seems like it has everything but the kitchen sink. I know I have to do Calcium and probably Iron but this is looking good for a multi..what do you all think? It's a liquid so I don't have to swallow a bunch of stuff. I can post the link to it if anyone is interested. Supplement Facts Serving Size 1 Fluid Ounce (30 mL) Vitamin A (500% [5,000 IU] as retinol palmitate and 50% [5,000 IU] as beta carotene) 10,000 Vitamin C (as calcium ascorbate) 500 Vitamin D (as ergocalciferol) 400 Vitamin E (as d-alpha tocopheryl acetate) 200 IU Vitamin K (as phytonadione) 80 mcg 100% Thiamin (as thiamine mononitrate) 25 mg 1667% Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) 25 mg 1471% Niacin (as nicotinic acid/niacinamide) 20 mg 100% Vitamin B6 (as pyridoxine HCl) 50 mg 2500% Folic Acid 400 mcg 100% Vitamin B12 (as cyanocobalamin) 200 mcg 3333% Biotin (as d-biotin) 300 mcg 100% Pantothenic Acid (as d-calcium pantothenate) 125 mg 1250% Calcium (as ascorbate/pantothenate) 100 mg 10% Iron 1 mg 5% Iodine (as potassium iodide) 150 mcg 100% Magnesium (as magnesium gluconate) 40 mg 10% Zinc (as zinc gluconate) 15 mg 100% Selenium (as L-selenomethione) 70 mcg 100% Copper (from sodium copper chlorophyllin) 2 mg 100% Manganese (as manganese sulfate) 4 mg 200% Chromium (as polynicotinate) 120 mcg 100% Molybdenum (as sodium molybdenate) 75 mcg 100% Sodium 15 mg <1% Potassium (as potassium gluconate) 50 Green Food/Spirulina Blend Spirulina (microalgae); Alfalfa (leaf, stem); Barley Grass (grass); Dandelion (leaf); Wheat Grass (grass); Melissa (leaf); Lemon Grass (grass); Nettle (leaf); Blessed Thistle (stem, leaf, flower); Chlorella (broken-cell microalgae); Plantain (leaf); Blue Green Algae (microalgae); Cilantro (leaf) 500 mg Amino Acids (from Spirulina, Chlorella, Blue Green Algae) Glutamine; Asparagine; Leucine: Alanine; Arginine; Lysine; Threonine; Valine; Glycine; Isoleucine: Serine; Proline; Phenylalanine; Tyrosine; Histidine; Methionine; Tryptophan; Cysteine 225 mg Garden Veggies™ juice powder Blend: Parsley; Kale; Spinach; Wheat Grass; Brussels Sprout; Asparagus; Broccoli; Cauliflower; Beet; Carrot; Cabbage; Garlic 100 mg Orchard Fruits™ Juice Powder Blend: Plum; Cranberry; Blueberry; Strawberry; Blackberry; Bilberry; Cherry; Apricot; Papaya; Orange; Grape; pineapple 100 mg Organic Mushroom Defense Blend: Contains all growth phases (mycelium, primordium, Sclerotium and fruit body) of Cordyceps; Reishi; Shiitake; Hiratake; Maitake; Yamabushitake; Himematsutake; Kawaratake; Chaga; Zhu Ling; Agarikon; Mesima 100 mg Omega 3/6/9 Fatty Acid Blend Flax Seed Powder (dry, cold-pressed); Sunflower Seed Powder (dry, cold-pressed); (providing Alpha-Linolenic Acid [ALA], Oleic Acid [OA] and Linoleic Acid [LA] 100 mg Citrus Bioflavonoid Complex (from lemon, orange and grapefruit) 60 mg Siberian Eleuthero (root) 50 mg Inositol 50 mg Choline (as choline bitartrate) 30 mg Hesperidin (from citrus bioflavonoid complex) 30 Betaine HCl 25 mg PABA (para aminobenzoic acid) 25 mg Rutin 25 mg RNA (from spirulina/chlorella) Directions: shake well. As a dietary supplement, take 2 tablespoons or 1 capful (about 30 mL or 1 ounce) daily. Best when taken with food or immediately after a meal. Can be consumed alone or mixed into beverages such as Water, orange juice or smoothies.

Dude With Bagpipes Plays 'Thunderstruck' by ACDC I suddenly feel the need to purchase a kilt, and a flame throwing set of bagpipes! http://www.ebaumswor...rIHKiiGzG8Ls.01

Hello New Friends! I need some support and hope to make some new friends here. I had a Lapband down in Mexico in 2004 by Dr Kuri and lost 150 lbs then maintained that for about a decade. I started at 536lbs and got down to just under 400lbs which my surgeon said was a success. I never hit my goal weight of 300lbs but I was happy. After several gallstones and trips to the ER my doctor in Portland said I needed to have my gallbladder removed. The gallbladder surgeon in Portland offered to remove the 10 year old Lapband which was causing me trouble so I did it without even considering other options. At that point it was taking me 1.5 hours to eat half of a small meal and I had zero restriction. So his offer was a welcome relief. I thought I was doing fine. I knew I had gained a little but not 80 pounds. That scared me because it had only been a few months. I was getting to the point of having a hard time walking, and I had developed neuropathy in my feet. I also had a couple weight related injuries and then my knee got real bad. This was a real low point in my life. I visited a friend in Texas who had the sleeve and I didnt even recognize him! I was shocked at how much he had lost. So that was the start of my sleeve journey. When I got back to Portland I started off talking to Puget Sound Bariatrics in Washington and Legacy Emanual in Portland but both surgeons needed me to lose 30-40 pounds before they said they could operate on me for the sleeve. They said I had to be under 500lbs. One surgeon suggested I try a low carb diet. I didnt know what he was talking about! Thus I began learning about low carb eating. During the last 2 years I have been learning about the weight loss industry. Ive read The Obesity Code by Dr Jason Fung who is a doctor that helps cure diabetes, a supposedly incurable disease. Reading his book educated me on all the "great advice" weve been getting all these years about how to lose weight, advice that was pretty much worthless to people with obesity. Dr Jung examines all the recommendations passed down thru the years and then explains why they dont work, its a real education that answers a lot of questions. He also explains how foods we eat turn to glucose that is stored in our liver for the first few hours after we eat a meal. Then as our bodies use up the glucose and our insulin levels drop our bodies are able to access the stored body fat for the energy our bodies need. This is what causes weigh loss. Thats why intermittent fasting works so well. I learned about intermittent fasting and have found that to be fairly easy to implement into my lifestyle. I hired a personal trainer and spent a year in the gym doing water aerobics - inbetween injuries and weightloss restarts. I bought a few weeks worth of Adkins meals and then figured out how to use those concepts with regular food and even some fast foods. Ive learned about portion control and how important that is. Ive learned about carbs in food including veggies. I had no idea there were carbs in lettuce! Or that a banana contains 55 grams of carbs! I spent 2 weeks getting my body into ketosis which required frequent emergency trips to the bathroom for explosive diareah....no fun. Ive tracked all my meals and had to get honest with myself about late night snacking, the scale doesnt lie. But overall I havent maintained much weight loss. I admit Ive had some depression these last few months since my dad died, but Im moving forward now... A few months ago I was surfing the web and started hearing about guys bigger, older, and taller than me having the sleeve surgery with great success. Yet the 3 surgeons I dealt with in the Pacific Northwest all said I had to be under 500 lbs...BUT WHY??? I soon discovered it was because they dont have the equipment to handle patients over 500 pounds and they didnt want to lose me as a patient so they told me to lose weight instead. Seems crooked to me. Ive needlessly suffered for years now. If I had known better I could have had this surgery 3 years ago. Im now scheduled for January 26 with Dr Rodriguez down in Juarez. Im a snowbird this year so Im moving down to El Paso for the winter, surgery and recovery. The one mistake I made when I first got my lapband was I didnt make it the sole priortiy of my life. This time around my sole focus for the next two years will be losing weight and getting my health back. Im now looking forward to leaving Oregon for a few months and getting really focused on my health. Being in a sunny location will help me feel better and keep me motivated as I begin losing weight again. Today I discovered this forum and read some good stuff. I need your support and hope I can provide you some too! Thanks for reading, Free Stanley

I lost 10 lbs during the classes (not as much as I wanted but still a loss). Dr says he would like to see a bit more loss but just not to gain or he will cancel my surgery. My goal is another 10 at least (I've dropped 5 more since seeing him). Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Do you feel like you are doing all the right things with your diet, but still not losing weight? Are you trying to buy all the right foods, but still struggling to see results? Maybe you are being tricked by the Healthy Food Frauds. Last week we appeared in a segment on Today Tonight Adelaide featuring Healthy Food Frauds. You can see the segment . Healthy Food Frauds are foods or drinks that sound healthy, but contain hidden fats and sugars. Food marketing is big business and food packaging is premium marketing space. Those packages need to convince you a product is going to be appealing – whether that is in the way it makes you feel, or how it nourishes your body. Think of words like natural, whole, earth, vitamin and baked - they all make a product sound as if it is going to be good for you. Unfortunately this is not always the case! As you will see in the segment, we poured a decent serve of muesli and showed it contained 10 teaspoons of sugar and four teaspoons of fat! This bowl held about one and a half cups of muesli. Whilst this may be greater than many of you would even contemplate after weight loss surgery, the sugar and fat hiding in there is surprising nonetheless. What may surprise you even more is that eating this bowl of muesli would be like sitting down and eating nine slices of bread! In researching this segment we investigated a lot more foods than were actually shown. Here are some other common Healthy Food Frauds we like to expose: - Fruit juice may contain up to 13 teaspoons of sugar in a 600ml bottle you grab at the service station or deli, including the “no added sugar” varieties. - Muesli bars may contain two teaspoons of sugar and two teaspoons of fat in a small bar. - Low fat yoghurt may contain up to 6 teaspoons of sugar per 175g tub. - Juice bar smoothies: can easily contain six teaspoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of fat. - A bottle of vitamin water can contain 7 teaspoons of sugar. - A small, 250 ml coconut water contains 3 teaspoons of sugar. - A small box of dried fruit, easy to throw in the kid’s lunchbox can contain up to six teaspoons of sugar. Check out the segment to see more Healthy Food Frauds exposed, it only takes a few minutes. Making small changes to our daily food and drink choices can make a big difference - the difference between gaining weight and losing weight. By reducing five teaspoons of fat per day, or 10 teaspoons of sugar per day (or a combination of both), you can lose about one kilogram per month. Whilst you may think this seems small, over a year that is 12 kilograms! It really adds up!

I will be banded on 7/1/10 and I like all the suggested names!!

So, my husband found this site for me last night and I've been up most of the morning reading the blogs. How nice to truly see other people struggling with the same things! My pre-op diet was supposed to be all liquids one week prior to surgery - I went in for my nutrionist/pre op appointments and they informed me it's been changed to 2 weeks. I'm on day 6 out of 14 and it's been harder than I ever imagined. I like to believe that I was totally prepared for just 7 days but when it changed to 14 it was overwhelming. The first couple of days weren't too bad - my husband bought me a magic bullet which made making smoothies/protein shakes a breeze - tried a couple of different powders and jay robb's flavors seem to taste the best to me. However as time goes by, the hunger pains have become less but the physcological (sp?) part has become horrible. Smells of food send me to tears and I'm craving things that I don't normally even care for!! I keep telling myself that this is NOT what it's going to be like after the band - I will be able to eat normal food again - but it's so hard right now!! On the upside I've lost 10 lbs in 5 days - that should be encouraging right?? The thought of soup, smoothies, or shakes for the next 8 days is enough to make me sick - any one have any suggestions for how to mix it up some??

I had surgery on 12/22and initially lost 10 lbs - now for 4 day nothing and today up 1/2 lb. I am eating all of my protien and drinking like a fish .... Has this happened to anyone and is there a happy ending???

Flew into Puerto Vallarta, beautiful city but didn't see much the 1st day. Was met by Natalia, Dr. Joya's Asst at airport. Taken immediately to the hospital, blood tests done, met Dr., surgeon's assistants and anestesiologist. I was put at ease immediately, all of the doctors were VERY nice and offered to answer any questions I had. Dr. Joya felt my abdomen and said "good, it's very soft, will make surgery very easy". Next, I was Hooked up to IV and started on fluids, this helped with the hunger a tiny bit, was still ravenous though. I had not eaten any food since 12 pm the previous day - that was over 30 hours, NO FOOD, only some sips of water and decaf coffee the next morning before plane took off. Surgery done about 2 hrs later and lasted approximately 45 minutes long. Woke up in recovery room with some mild pain in my abdomen. After recovering there for a while I was wheeled into my room. They told me surgery went well and that my liver was normal size so no complications there. I braced myself for the infamous gas pain that everyone talks about - it never came! The only pain I had was the incision pain. Now, my stomach was VERY bloated from the gas, however, I did not have any gas pain in my shoulder or anywhere. This may have been because I went to the bathroom A LOT before surgery, or, because I did not eat anything for over 24 hours before surgery. The negatives - What I did not like about the care at the hospital was that after I woke up from surgery, I COULD NOT SLEEP. I complained about 5 times to the nurses and they would give me something for pain, but that's not what I needed and that did not help me sleep. They said they would call the Dr. but I don't think they did. They then gave me two pills but the didn't work either. Basically, I was awake from 10 pm and walked the halls until FINALLY I fell asleep for 2 hours at 4 am. This really irritated me because I was sooo tired but could not fall asleep and I really wanted my body to be able to rest after surgery. The night nurses you could tell they were getting irritated as when I rang the buzzer when I tried to go to sleep and couldn't and would ask for something to go to sleep with, they came in looking like they just woke up and would be like "si, si" and then wouldn't come back again until I buzzed them the next hour. I also had a hard time peeing after surgery. That may be perhaps because they put a catheter in after I was asleep?? However, I would just have to sit on the toilet and kind of "push" my pee out. That has lasted through today.... A couple of hours before check out they brought me 2 cups of apple juice and some ice and water. I took slow slips and had no problems keeping anything down. Oh, let me describe the room in the hospital: Beautiful! Had my own private room and bathroom/shower. Hospital bed VERY comfortable. Very cute, stylish and colorful couch and chair in the room. Flat screen tv and remote. Marble floors. The entire hospital was pretty it was called The Cornerstone Hospital in PV. Check out time came and Natalie the Dr's Asst came and gave me all the paperwork, receipts, box for band etc. She drove me to the hotel, speedily checked me in and I was off to my room. (Room was VERY nice) Marble floors, open sliding glass doors and balcony and was right on the beach so I could sit outside and look at the ocean. I included some pictures of the resort and hotel below. View from room: I pretty much slept off and on that day, drank some broth, juice and water, etc. - The next day I woke up and decided to bravely go downtown to buy some souveniers. It was a 10 minute cab ride and yes, I was in a bit of pain when he was bumping over the cobblestoned streets but I made it. I walked around holding my tummy and hobbled along, at one point a stor worker said "Oh, you having a baby?" I just nodded and laughed to myself not bothering to correct him. My stomach was sooo bloated I looked about 5 mo's along and I couldn't blame anyone with the way I was holding my tummy or walking along to think that - too funny, any other time I would have been insulted! Shopped and bought some blankets, windchimes, art, and a good bottle of tequila for my husband. After about an hour I caught a cab and took a nap for 2 hours then woke up and headed for the airport. (I decided to check out a day early because even though the resort was nice, I missed my bed and I missed my AMERICAN TV, lol!). At the airport after getting out of the cab and I asked for a wheelchair as I was wore out and sore and didn't want to drag my luggage around. This turned into be a great idea as I was whisked through customs and immigration and becauase I had a first class ticket back to LAX (TOTALLY WORTH IT ON THE WAY HOME BY THE WAY - IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO UPGRADE TO 1ST CLASS, DO IT, WILL MAKE THE FLIGHT BACK HOME SO MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE!) All in all, it feels great to have had this done. Have not got on scale yet, will probably wait a few day. At home, feeling sore but good. Body healing, eating jello, broth, juice, popsicles. Oh, I keep getting an uncomfortable painful shooting feeling in my diaphragh area and it lasts for a few seconds every once in a while after I swallow something, then goes away. Hope this helps anyone thinking of going to Mexico, so far, I highly recommend Dr. Joya....

In only 3 more days I'll be out of surgery about this time and starting the rest of my journey to a smaller me!! I have so far lost 11 pounds (9 on my pre-op diet); so ready to get this done and over with!!! I need to be cleaning my house and getting ready since I reckon I won't feel much like any cleaning in about 3 days!! But don't feel like it today either!! No day is a good day! Had people over for a wienie roast last night and a hayride. One couple brought their grandkids over cause they wanted us to let them ride one of the horses - as usual it was not enough and they wanted to ride in the pasture and run the horse instead of in the small pen, and ride the other 2 horses which are real high energy horses. Then DH over- heard their grandma telling them "I don't know why they won't let you ride the other two horses, you'll just have to be satisfied with this one." Well DUH - they've rode some horse a couple of times and think they're experts (at age 7 and 10). How about we bring our grandkids (6, 8 and 12) over to your house and let them drive your truck - just around town. After all, we once let them drive our truck and they were able to keep it between the ditches for 1/4 mile. WHY OH WHY are some people so stupid? Then the 15 year old says 'this horse is trying to rub me off by going under the trees' - well, why don't you simply rein the horse around the trees. You're supposed to be the driver!! Oh yeah, according to them the horse doesn't know how to guide - well, he's been ridden hundreds of miles thru forest and up and down mountains with sheer drop-offs and we've never had a problem with him - could it be the driver????? Hubby was sure pissed when they left and so was I. Why do people think they can come to your house and do what they want with your horses and then insult you and them when they can't handle them? I told him this morning that's it - no more inexperienced riders on our horses. Especially if they won't listen. Oh well - my rant for the day!!! Had the Matrix chocolate for breakfast this morning in water. It sure tasted thin; should have had it in milk I guess. I'll stick with Unjury and a couple of the others. Signing off for today!!

It appears that my two weeks of hell since my last fill are officially over. I spent a week and a half eating and drinking nothing but warm to hot liquids. Saturday was my BFF's birthday. We grilled filet mignon and baked potatoes. I ate about 3oz of steak and about 5 bites of potato and was full. Most importantly it stayed down! I also drank about a cup of tomato soup about an hour before the dinner to help loosen up the band. The next day I did my usual routine coffee and carnation instant breakfast in the morning. At lunch I tried some bites of a chicken thigh. Major sliming and up it came! Stayed sick the rest of the day but managed to get some soup down for dinner. Yesterday was Monday and I started out with my usual coffee and carnation instant breakfast. Lunch was another carnation and a yogurt. For dinner I decided to cook for my family for the first time in 2 weeks. I cooked a roast, potatoes, carrots, and green beans. I got about an ounce of roast down and even though i chewed until there was no flavor, it got stuck! No slime or throwing up this time though! I waited for the pressure in my chest to go down then took a couple more bites of roast, a small carrot, a spoonful of green beans, and a spoonful of potato. Then, I had to go to the hospital to see my grandad who had surgery that morning. My mom wanted to go to subway since she hadnt eaten all day. This was 8:00 at night! I fell back into my old habits again..I wasn't hungry but I ordered a sandwich anyway! I picked the vegetables and meat off 1/2 of a 6 inch and ate it. No bread! Still to scared to try that! But what the heck was I thinking? I wasn't hungry but got it anyway! Anyway, woke up this morning and am so hungry I could die! I haven't been this hungry in several weeks! Also the scale hasn't moved in 3 days:sad:! It's just dissapointing after having lost a pound a day for 10 days straight! As long as it's not going up though, I guess I should be happy!:confused:

Thank you. You give me hope. I am getting banded on June 26th. 10 days to go yeah!

I was off about 10 days and then I worked 6 hour days for the rest of the first month. (got cleared to return at one week check up, but then it was the weekend. that allowed me to go back to work but still manage learning to eat and drink and walk - plus take the occasional nap

I use it daily. I still have tons of hair coming out, and its been about 19 months out for me. My hair loss seems to happen in cycles. I'm just using the Nioxin to also stimulate growth too. Nobody else can tell that I'm losing hair like crazy, so thats good. It does smell nice, but its a bit pricer. I've been considering takng biotin too......

So it's in the last stages... less than 10 hours to go... no more food or water...well I'm off to bed to see if I can get a few hours of sleep. Hope all goes fantastic and no issues... fear has finally kicked in with some excitement still happening... Night all......

I'd give up 10 points of my IQ for this weight loss. From the way some people are treating me these days, I may have given up those points, too...at least in their eyes!

The loose skin will go in due time I'm 19 months out and no longer have that issue as I did 6months out.

I'm 10 days post op and I'm HUNGRY! Is this normal? I'm on full liquids this week, I've had yogurt, apple sauce, soup, protein shakes throughout today...still hungry, so I scrambled an egg and mashed it to applesauce consistency and I'm somewhat satisfied but afraid that i may mess something up? Help?

Monday, July 6, 2009 Eating Disorders Eating disorders. Did you know that compulsive overeating is considered part of the spectrum of eating disorders? You think of Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa as eating disorders but compulsive overeating, sometimes followed by dieting, is part of the whole binge/purge syndrome. Did you know that the average girl now starts dieting at age 8? Did you know that those who very rigidly follow the healthiest diet they can find, eliminating all fat and chemicals and whatever else they are convinced is unhealthy end up with life-threatening symptoms from not getting enough nutrition? That this newly recognized disorder has been given its own name--Orthorexia? I've seen a lot of that in some of the OA meetings I've attended. Here is a website if you want more information: http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/ Here's part of their advice for preventing eating disorders: Listen to your body. Eat what you want, when you are truly hungry. Stop when you're full. And eat exactly what appeals to you. Do this instead of any diet, and you are unlikely to ever have a weight problem, let alone an eating disorder. Eat when you are truly hungry. Stop when you are full. I remember thinking I should be thinner as a teenager. It was easy to lose the weight. I was still able to eat a lot because I was very active. I still ate what I liked, which wasn't neccessarily good for me, I just ate less of it. I ate enough good stuff to still be very healthy. I got married at 19 and started gaining, but not much. Then I finished college while pregnant and each succeeding pregnancy brought bigger babies and more weight. Each time I dieted afterward. This was the start. And it just ballooned. Gain, lose, gain even more. Now my goal weight is a weight that I once thought was fat. How much of my eating disorder got started because of wanting to be pefect, physically? How much was genetic predisposition? How much was emotional issues related to living with undiagnosed, unrecognized ADHD? How much was co-dependancy issues from negating self and doing for everyone else? How much was a spiritual issue of not allowing myself to be fully loved by God? Don't know. Doesn't matter. I have an eating disorder. I am a compulsive over-eater. I am a food addict. I need to work on the physical side of the addiction hence the lap band surgery, following the food protocol and let's not forget to mention excercise. The psychological issues are things that I've been working on for a long time, learning to love myself the way I am including my ADHD for which I'd been shamed and shamed myself, and which always made me feel like a square peg in a round hole. And then there's my co-dependancy issues (think care-taking without taking care of self) which most Christian girls are well-trained in, and which having been married to an alcoholic were especially brought out in me. There are the social issues that impact body image--I held off on this surgery to make sure I wasn't doing it to look good (though there's nothing wrong with that), but because I genuinely craved better health. And there are the spiritual issues. I think contentment, mindfulness, gratitude, acceptance, and serenity are big spiritual issues. I have to learn to be content whether in want (need) or in plenty. No matter what the circumstance. And I can only be content in all circumstances through Christ who strengthens me. This blog is getting long. I'm not done exploring these topics, not by a long shot. But now I need to take care of myself and go to bed.

I had my second fill today—woohoo for more restriction! Not that I was doing too bad with the restriction I had. I can definitely see the difference between how much I can eat now versus how much I used to be able to eat. It’s a world of change. But it’s still not quite to the sweet spot. I can eat more than the recommended portions and I have had no trouble with any food I’ve tried. I can eat bagels, pizza, pasta, rice—no problems. Although when I eat bagels or rolls or anything, I do scoop out the insides. I doubt it would give me trouble even if I ate the whole thing though. I’m almost three months out and I have yet to get stuck or to PB. I would describe the point I’ve been at to be the perfect point if I was at goal and was trying to maintain. It’s like eating like a normal sized person. But sadly, I’m not a normal sized person yet, so I still need a bit more help. So, I went in for my fill. Originally I was scheduled to go in for a fill a week and a half ago but my boss had to go sail away on his boat and I had to change my schedule around to cover for him. So I had to reschedule my appointment. Grr. I tried to move it to my new day off last week but they were already booked so I had to wait till today. I have to tell you, it was an eventful visit. I got to the office and checked in. After about 10 minutes my name was called. The person doing my adjustment today was the new PA. I went in and told her how I was feeling and what I was able to eat and we decided on just a small, 1cc fill. I laid back, she prepped the area over my port and then stuck me with the big needle. It didn’t go in right away so she adjusted the needle around a little trying to get it in the port. She was right there, I could feel it—not a bad feeling, I could just tell that she was hitting the port. But the needle just wouldn’t go in. So she went to find the more experienced PA to help her out. I was left lying on the table with the needle and syringe sticking straight out of me for a few minutes before the two PAs came back. The older PA came over to try and maneuver the needle. She quickly realized the reason the needle wouldn’t go into my port. You see, apparently, my post was angled so that the rubber surface that the needle goes into was angled up towards my head. She said that it was common for the ports to be like that sometimes and that often as you lose weight they will change angles so that they may be more or less tilted. Anyhow, the young PA I guess didn’t realize what a steep angle my port was at and she went straight in. She wound up hitting one of these 4 little divots in the plastic part of the port and the needle was STUCK. They couldn’t get it out. I was told that they may need some forceps to get it out so I was left alone in the exam room once again with a big needle and syringe sticking out of my stomach. I put my hands behind my bed, closed my eyes and decided to take a mini-nap. A few minutes later, the two PAs came back with a surgeon (not one I knew) and he started cracking jokes which I responded to in kind. H came right over to me, gripped the needle and syringe and yanked. Out it came, large, bent needle and all. So, crisis avoided, they re-prepped me and this time the second PA did the adjustment which went smoothly this time around. I got my 1cc and was on my way. I have to say, though, that I’m glad it happened to me. Well, I mean, not “I’m glad it happened to me,” but “I’m glad it happened to me.” The older PA said that it happened to her a few years ago and the person that the needle was stuck in was having their first adjustment—they didn’t come back for another one for 6 months. For me, as a vet I have absolutely no needle phobia, don’t mind being stuck, and understand that no matter how much experience we have, sometimes you have to stick a person (or animal as the case may be) more than once. Personally, I kind of found it amusing more than anything—a little excitement in an otherwise boring day. Plus, I’m sure it was a very nerve wracking experience for the poor PA who was just starting out. At least if it wasn’t going to go smoothly, it was with someone who was able to have a sense of humor about it and not freak out. And hopefully she’ll learn from it so that it doesn’t happen to someone else or if it does, she’ll recognize it and be able to deal with it calmly. And now all I have to do is eat my liquids and mushies for the next 3-4 days and the wait and see if I’ve reached that elusive sweet spot. I can’t wait to see if this fill took. Toodles for now. PS—Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince rocked my socks—even if I did keep thinking “that’s not how it happened in the book.”