Hi

[Mary M. Riley 0]

Hi everyone:

I am Mary from Sacramento. I was banded on 12/10/02 by Dr. Bruce Wolfe at the University of California Davis Medical Center. My insurance at the time, Healthnet, paid for the surgery, and my new insurer, Blue Shield, has been paying for my fills. My starting weight was 262, present weight 232, need to lose 60 more lbs. to get to my goal wt. Although I have had 5 fills thus far, (last fill in May put me at 3 cc's in a 4cc capacity band) I have not yet had good restriction. The first 20 lbs. came off easily with the 2 week liquid diet right after surgery. The last 10 lbs. has come off slowly, as I can still eat anything, although not as much as before, but I can and do still overeat. The good news is that I am eating less than pre-band, my attitude toward food is slowly changing (I am no longer excited by the large portion meals and restaurants I used to love), I am easily maintaining my loss and have never gained any weight, have much more energy and am exercising most days, and I do feel my band work when I eat too fast or don't chew properly. I have another fill scheduled for tomorrow, and am looking forward to this being the "one" to get me to that sweet spot and start some weight loss happening!

[leo 4]

Hi Mary, Welcome and good luck with your continued weightloss!

Wow you had 5 fills already?? Did you ask how much they filled you each time? I think just a little like .2 or .3 cc at a time. Maybe thats why you still haven't reached the sweet spot.

Your doing great, keep up the good work!

btw I didn't have any fill yet, does it hurt??

[nickyjs 3]

Hi Mary I just wanted to say congrats on the weightloss. Great effort there. Hope that this last fill you have had is it for a while at least. At least to give you a break for a bit. It's amazing the different experiences with people. I'm yet to have my first fill, having it on Friday, and am looking forward to it.

Anyway I just wanted to say hi and congrats. Oh yeah and well done on not putting on any weight! Now that is an effort in itself.