July 2006 Band Crew

[KariK 0]

Hi Julyers Has anyone experienced the feeling of getting tighter and tighter? It seems like ever since I've started exercising daily my band is getting tighter.. About 2 months ago I also started to follow the 'rules' and eat meat first, then veggies, then a carb maybe. I don't know if I've irritated my band or what but today I couldnt hardly drink a Protein Shake and even Water was difficult until late tonight. I'm going to stick to liquids tomorrow and maybe Monday too ... hope it fixes whatever is going on. Anyone have any ideas on whats going on with me? Do you think my exercising could have messed my band up? Do you think eating more solid foods could have irritated or slipped my band? My plan is to stay on liquids for a couple days and still exercise. Do you guys think this is wise? Thanks. ps Happy Mothers Day moms!

[ready2bthin 2]

Kari: Are you experiencing any allergies right now? I have heard that allergies, along with other physical changes (menstrual cycle) and stress can cause more restriction. I know it must be spring up there so if you are sneezing, coughing, wheezing or having allergy problems, this could be it. I don't know about exercise. I think it's wise to go ahead and go on a few days of liquids and then gently ease into a softer/chopped up texture for dinner on the 4th day, then try it for lunch and dinner the 5th and on then regular dinner on 6th. (This is my doc's after fill instructions). Please let us know!! Happy Mom's Day to you, too!!!

Susan: I thought you knew I was over here near Denton. We have a bandster dinner in Denton on the first Thursday of every month at Jason's Deli, if you are over our way. I'd love to meet you!! Of course, we could meet up another time for lunch or an iced tea or something. I would be willing to meet you between Irving and here if you are visiting your kids sometime. Just pm me if you want to do this sometime.

Okay, everyone!! Gotta run to church now!! To all the moms on here, Have a blessed Mother's Day!!

[Baylor Mom 0]

Hey everybody. I hope all you mother's had a great day. I did. Hey my hubby and I have been trying new cheeses to see which ones we like. Since that is one of the few things that I can eat. WHat kind of cheeses do you guys like? I am not talking like your basic ones like cheddar, swiss, mozarella and stuff. I am talking odd ones or specialty ones. Just curious.

I went to lunch today with my hubby, brother and my mommy and I just drank a soda. I didn't want to eat anything because I didn't want to lose it and be embarrassed. When I went to lunch with my daughter on Friday I lost it and I just hate that feeling. My tummy was kindof sore for awhile afterwards and I thought we were going to have to postpone our shopping but I got better and had a great day.

This is what I can eat: Protein Bar, Protein Drink, Cereal, cheese, sugar free fudcycles, and occasionally some 100 calories Snacks. I can't eat chicken, any bread product except a little Pasta, I hate fish, eggs, and vegetables and fruits.

I am going to the doctor on Thursdsy and I bet he will want to do an unfill which I don't want. He won't be using flora so it will be hit and miss. I hope not miss very much. I just don't want it to hurt. I am losing weight though so maybe we can leavethings the way they are. I guess we will have to wait and see. I got to go to bed now so I can get some rest. Talk to ya'll later. Hugs

[Olive 0]

Hi All!

Hope all is well...Sorry I have been too busy to post for the last month or so. I just read up on everyones progress! Looks like everyone is doing great and looking forward to our 1 year anniversaries. I know I am, however I am really feeling the pressure of making my one year goal. I had hoped to get to 150 by then. Also, I haven't lost in at least a month. I would consider a fill, but honestly, I am so tight in the AM that I can hardly drink. But of course, by night I can eat anything in larger quantities.

By the way...what happened to the journals? I can't find mine. I'm worried because that is the only place I have my weekly weights recorded!

Olive

[Leona06 0]

Karik- I get SUPER tight around the time of the month- to where I pb 1x time a day until I know the cause. The thing is- I came off of depro provera for surgery and now my body is so messed up that sometimes I get my time every 2 weeks and sometimes every 4, so I can't predict when I'm going to be tighter. Not fun! I hope you feel better soon!

[DonnaMarie 0]

Hey everyone!

Just thought I would check in cuz it has been a little while for me. As you know, things are mad crazy for me with my upcoming nuptials on Memorial Day. Everything is finally booked and read for Vegas. My doggie is ready for her stay at the "doggie hotel" and I have someone to look in on my kitties the week I am gone.

Last Sunday our families surprized us with a Jack and Jill party. We had NO clue! It was alot of fun and I am so blessed to have TWO great families now!

As for lapband, well, the scale is FINALLY starting to move again. I had a fill on Friday and have now lost the little that I gained and a couple of pounds more so I am very happy. I also changed my ticker to include my heaviest weight. I started this weight loss journey at 330 lbs and then lost 30 before surgery and am down to 262 after surgery. It is very slow for me but I am not surprized.. I have the world's WORST metabolism and my Doc even said it may be slower for me. But hey, I have patience and I will keep trucking along!

Hope everyone is well and I will try to message everyone before my trip!

Love you guys!

DonnaMarie

[Paulax 8]

Checking in my July Crew!

I am down almost 75 pounds, feeling great, exercising and usually making the right food choices.

Some days, I can't even believe I actually went through with this surgery and that it is coming up to a year....I am greatful though. I am sure I'd be looking at another summer, worrying about the heat, the bathing suit, hiding from family and friends. This year I am looking forward to swim weather, BBQ's and feeling more confident in summer garb.

I am however fighting this urge to try to lose as much weight as I can before that anniversary. I don't know why, I guess I want to be one of those people who reach goal within their first year. But if I think about it, if I take the last 35 pounds off before Christmas, I will be fine with that. I'll try not to feel I have failed if I don't reach goal by my 1 year anniversary.

Anyone else feeling that way or is it just me?

Anyhoo, feeling awesome......just got back from the gym, so off to start my busy day.

[ericsmom 2]

Hello all - checking in...saw the dietitian today...we talked about strategies to stay on track when I'm in the hospital and the rehab center. I want to still be able to have my shakes. She said to have the knee surgeon write a prescription for my Slim Fast and then they should supply it for me for my meals at the rehab center. That is very cool! I really like them and want to stay on track by having them the once or twice a day I have them now. We also talked about how I come on here for support and how we all seem to be in the same boat lately...weight loss has slowed, but we know it's not going to come off as fast as it did in the begining. It's a lot more work now than it was in the begining and it's nice to know I'm not alone in the struggle.

I have to start taking Iron pills 3x a day starting tomorrow. She warned me about the Constipation I am bound to experience (oh - pardon the pun!!). I am not looking forward to having to stop my Naproxen either. 10 days before surgery I can't take my anti-inflammatory pain pills. I am already very uncomfortable, so by then I should be in a lot of pain. So once I have the surgery I can have all the pain medication I am allowed. I'll have an epidural for the first 48 hours and then other pain medications after that.

That's about all from here - busy at work. My exercise this weekend was to clean my spare bedroom and move all the stuff that accumulated in the room away from my excersie bike. Now maybe I'll use it more.

Have a great day tomorrow!! :eek:

[KariK 0]

Thanks Mary and Leona for writing to me. I think it might be the monthly thing because I do have PMS right now. But today all I had was a couple sips of protien shake for Breakfast, some Soup (just the liquid) for lunch maybe 1/2 a cup and it was like stuck all afternoon. And then for supper I had ice cream, not because I thought it was healthy but because I just thought it might feel good after feeling yucky from the 'burn' of the Soup. Well it felt awful because I pb'd it. Then tonight I tried to drink just plain Water and its barely going down, I just took a sip. Now I have heart burn so I chewed a tums, that helped a bit. If I don't get past this after my period I guess im going to have to go in and get a fleuro and see whats going on.

Leona, when does your restriction from your period lesson? Right after you start to flow or after its completely finished? Sorry to be so graphic lol but Im just wondering how long I should wait to call my doc. Thanks for your help :eek:

[Leona06 0]

Karik, it normally goes away about a day after it starts- but if you're having problems drinking, you might wanna call your doc- I don't want you to get dehydrated!!! hugs, I know its NOT fun to deal with that!

[ready2bthin 2]

Olive and Paula: Great to see you back and doing so well!!

Kari: Sorry you are having trouble. I am as well. I tried to eat on Sunday and ended up having it come up. Well, then yesterday, tried to eat tuna salad and the same thing happened, so I'm back to liquids again today for a couple days to try and see if I'm still too tight or I just irritated my tummy again, causing this. I know that I'm experiencing allergies, as my eyes are itchy, and I have a slightly runny nose, so maybe I've tightened up some due to that. I have a week left where I can go get an unfill again without paying anything, so I'll give it a couple days and see what happens. I don't like this at all!!! I'm grump dealing with this, cuz I like food, not drinking my meals...LOL!! I don't have the period thing going on anymore, but still have the hormone changes, so maybe that's contributed, don't know.

Well, have a good day. I'm going to try and exercise (maybe in my pool if the water's warm enough).

[KariK 0]

Sorry to hear about your allergies Mary! Ugh this irritation is driving me nuts too. But at this point I would be THRILLED if I could just drink some Water without pbing it up. I called my clinic and made an appointment for tomorrow morning. Im going to get a complete unfill and fleuro to see what the hecks going on. At this point im feeling so miserable and starving hungry I want to tell them to take this crap out of me! lol sorry but im truly bumming. Alot of support I am to you at this point lol. I'll write again and let ya'll know how it goes.

[ericsmom 2]

Kari - I didn't realize you were having such a hard time with your band! I hope you find out what is going on when you have the unfill...this tool is supposed to be the best thing you've ever did for yourself, and not be something you wished you had never done. I am sure you and your doctor will figure out where to put you at so that you are comfortable and can hold food down.

Mary - I'm experiencing allergies these days, too, but I haven't noticed a correlation between that and being too tight. I am just blowing my nose a lot!! This time of year when everything is budding is so hard on so many people! Keep us posted on how you're doing.

I seem to have the hardest time with pork chops and breads...I had a No Name Steak the other night that was awesome...so tender! That's my favorite meat. I have to be careful with chicken - I do fine with it if I remember to chew it up well.

Everyone really is doing well for being 10 months out from surgery! Keep up the good work!

[KariK 0]

Im all better. I had a complete unfill this morning and it was INSTANT relief. Im on Clear Liquids for two days and full liquids for one day after that. They did the fleuro and my band was perfectly placed with no slippage. The doc attributed my problem to probably one of two things. I either ate something that irritated my stomach or have a virus that made my stomach swell. Either way after a few days I'll be back to a normal diet. I can get my fill back in 3 weeks. Wewww was I happy that everything went so well!

They said that I did the right thing and got in there right away. They said that if you let a problem like this go on for too long it can lead to many problems and complications. So if anyone experiences what I did, make sure to get to the doc immediately! Thanks for all the support you guys. I just can't tell you how happy I am to be ok.

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[ready2bthin 2]

Kari: So glad all is well with you!! I also see that you are so close to getting into the 170's!! You can do it!! Make sure that with the liquids that you are still getting in the Protein. This is my goal today as I'm still having problems. I was able to eat some crackers and a slice of cheese yesterday without pbing. But, a diet of a Protein Shake, that and some icecream is not good nutrition. (I'm confessing here). So, today will be the protein shakes/drink (Nectar) and a mushy for dinner to see if I can eat. If not, I will call the doc and set up an unfill for Monday. At least I have had a few days of no pbing. But, I'm not really eating food. This is so frustrating. It's not like I'm dropping a bunch of weight either. (Maybe the icecream???....LOL) Okay, enough of me whining. I'll check back with ya'll later or tomorrow and fill you in.