September Bandsters

[lifelongband 0]

Well everyone, I tried so hard this last week. I lost 7 pounds!!! WOOHOO! I am so excited!! What a great birthday present!!! I am now at 101 pounds until goal!! WOOT!

I went to the 2nd hand store and bought jeans over the weekend and I am down from a 30/32 to a 20 or 22 depending on the brand.

So, this week I have had a SV and a NSV!

[lifelongband 0]

For some reason it isn't updating my signature when I do this.

[kareyquilts 1]

April: Welcome back! We've all been wondering how you were doing. So glad that your band is okay. I think that everyone with the band does soul searching, before and after getting it. Your weight loss is really good, especially with all the complications that you've had. Personally, I'm thinking that I'm going to try and stop obsessing about my weight and get on with my life. Living all the band rules and exercising, but just trying to put it all into perspective. I wish you the best. Glad you're back!

Mimin: You look freaky fantastic! I hope you can enjoy your sucess. Way to go!

[TamifromAL 1]

Hi ya'll,

Has anyone else been having trouble with LBT? I keep getting error messages. I guess they don't have all the bugs worked out with the new format.

The scale was kind to me after my Mother's Day indulgence, and I was still at 173 on Monday, which was down 1 lb. for the week. My 16-year old daughter has been wanting to walk in the evenings, and of course I want to support her fitness efforts, so in addition to my spinning classes, I've been doing some power walking in the evenings. Of course, I'm getting nothing *else* done in my life these days *except* the exercise.

Lisa, I admire your running. I actually tried it the other day, but the ol' knees reminded me that I was practically crippled with knee issues a few months ago, and we *don't* want to go there again. I also keep a fairly moderate fill level, but it's my own choice. The fill nurse at my doc's office is pretty lenient, and offered me .5 at my last fill, but I declined, and asked for .25. That's been perfect for me. I can still eat solid foods, even a little bread occasionally, but am able to keep my hunger under control.

Karey, let us know what you think of the Body Bugg. I've heard really good things about those. My daughter just got a pair of the Nike Plus shoes. You put in this little device, which sends a signal to her iPod Nano, and tells her # of steps, calories burned, and let's her design fitness routines which it monitors on her computer. Pretty cool.

Sandy, congrats on the 3# drop! And, yes, my blog is visible. If you go to my LBT profile, there's a link there to my OH profile. If you have trouble finding it, let me know.

Mim, you're gorgeous *and* a computer whiz? Dang, what a combination! Congrats on being "normal"! Unfortunately, no matter how much weight I lose, I will always be slightly *abnormal*.

April!!! It's good to hear from you! I'm so glad to hear your problem resolved itself, and that you've got your band in gear again. Don't stay away so long!

Lifelongband, 7 lbs. in one week??!!! That's awesome, congratulations. You're really moving along.

I had a really nice NSV this week. I was crossing the street, and a couple of guys drove by in a hot sports car, and one of them yelled out the window, "Lookin' good!". Made my day/week/month!

Tami

[lifelongband 0]

Tami: I sometimes get a big one. I am normally about 10 pounds a month. Which if you look at the numbers of 8 months out from surgery and I am down 80 pounds. I am just 4 days away from my 8 month "bandiversary".

Thank you very much

[MimIN 19]

Here are the numbers this week, we have a couple to add for the week if they make it in. We are now in our 9th week with 7 to go and 58.1lbs down!

TamifromAL - 185/0/-3/-1/-3/-2/+2/-3/-1

MimIN – 180/+14/0 /-17/-4/-1/-1/-1/-2

Cassandra – 228.2/-3.6

Gonnabethin – 185/-0.5/0/0/0/-2/?/?

LindaN – 208/-1/0/-1/-2/-0/-3/?/?

BJean – 177/-1/-1/0/0/0/+2/?

Kareyquilts - 189/-2/0/-4/0/0/?

Lisalee - 189/0/0/-4/-1/-1/0/-1

Sandranoelle - 260/+2/-4/-1/+2/-1/-3

Tanya67 - 231/-2/-2/-2/-3/-2

[MimIN 19]

Welcome back April! I am so glad to hear all worked out!!

Karey: I am enjoying shopping that is for sure! I seem to spend every free moment shopping (not that much really since I sold my soul to server ops!) my pocket book is suffering but I'm having fun with it!

Tami: The only thing normal about me is the bmi, lol. I am an 'odd duck' or so I've been told;)

It's fun to get those kind of compliments from men! Initially they made me very uncomfortable but now I kind of like them.

Lifelong: Congrats on you 7lb week! That is amazing, keep up the great work!!

[valgal1968 0]

Welcome back April, we have missed you and I have had you on my mind lately. Glad your back.

[April 0]

Welcome back April, we have missed you and I have had you on my mind lately. Glad your back.

Thank you Valgal, It's nice to be back!

[BJean 16]

Hi ya'll. I've been out of town all last week. I haven't had a chance to even weigh yet. I will weigh on Monday and post that for last week and this one. We have done so much eating out in nice restaurants as well as some snacking in our room so I have probably not lost anything. I just hope I haven't gained. I am due (past due) for a fill. I need to lose some lbs before the middle of June. I have to get some serious resolve going again!

You're all sounding great. And that picture of Mim knocked my hosery off. Wow! Way to go girl!!!

April, glad you're back. I've forgotten what your symptoms were. I have had some pain in the area of the band and wondered if I've just eaten too much or what. Do you mind telling us again what your symptoms were? thanks.

[lifelongband 0]

I just wanted you guys to know, if you ever look at profiles for pics. I added a new one. I kind of wish it saved the old one too. I also added one as my avatar.

BJean: I hope your weigh in on Monday goes well for you. It must have been nice getting away for a while.

[April 0]

Hey BJean,

How you been? Sure, I'd tell my story a million times if I can help prevent anyone from slipping their band.

MY SYMPTOMS FROM BAND SLIPPAGE

:sick HEARTBURN (really bad all the time)

:sick EXCESSIVE BURPING

:sick EXCESSIVE GURGLING

:sick PAIN WHEN EATING (my pain was under my breast bone and a sharp pain in the side as if someone kicked me)

:sick COULD ONLY EAT A COUPLE OF BITES BUT WAS STILL HUNGRY

:sick PRODUCTIVE BURP or PB (I only PB'd 2 times)

of course there are other symptoms that I did not experience, so you know everyone is different.

BJean I hope this helps. I believe I slipped my band because I had too much saline in my band. And I (totally my fault so please don't think I'm passing the blame) I was ill-informed. The symptoms and signs that I was looking for were not the symptoms that I had. I believe I did not PB until after my band slipped, I think I PB'd because my band slipped. I was unaware of the pain being a warning sign, I thought it was something stuck and it will pass soon. I thought the burping and gurgling came with the band. I thought the only being able to eat a few bites was the "sweet spot". And as for the heartburn, I had it regularly before the band so I thought it normal to experience a bit of it.

I think if you just went out-of-town and ate irregularly and have a bit of pain it's probably normal so don't freak out thinking your band slipped. But I would go on liquids or mushies for a couple of days to see if you feel better. And if you still feel funny or have concerns, call your Doc. to have them do a barium swallow. From my experience I tend to err on the side of caution these days.

[BJean 16]

lifelongband: You've done so well. You sound and look great. And yes, getting away was very nice because there has been so much going on here at home. I hated the idea of being gone and not being able to get stuff done, but it helped me realize that everything will get done in time. No need to insist on having it all done immediately. Life is short, right?

April that helped a lot. I have had the pain at my breastbone, as you said you did. But no intense pain in my side or anywhere else. After my last fill, I definitely could only eat a bite or two before I got that very uncomfortable feeling and if I went ahead and ate another bite or two, I would definitely go ahead and PB. After that I didn't want to eat, but in a pretty short period of time I would get ravenous. That happened several times. After a week or two it seemed to relax a bit and allow me to eat more. Now I get that feeling after a couple of bites, but I just slow way down, wait a few minutes and when it eases up I take very small bites and go very slow and then I can eat more of a normal size meal. (although not nearly as much as I used to) I'm not PBing anymore and I don't feel hungry all the time like I did. I'm thinking the last fill was a teench too much. I would think that I would still be having lots of trouble if the band had slipped. That pain I was having may have just been from trying to eat too much.

When I was going through the worst of that (over a week ago) the bad part was the fact that I was so hungry that I started eating things like chocolate and some ice cream about an hour after my meals. No problem with getting sweet stuff down. So now I think I've decided that being overfilled is worse than not having enough. I loved it when I could only eat a bite or two and no more because it felt good to eat so much less. But the hunger thing took over and actually has caused me to not lose and maybe even gain!

I am still trying to become friends with this whole process. I know there's a sweet spot somewhere that will keep the hunger at bay and help me lose more weight but not trigger PBs. I loved reading where Tami (I think it was) said that she rubs her port affectionately and gets on with the job of exercising and eating right.

I hope I'm right and haven't had my band slip. If I get the breastbone area pain again I will do as you suggested and talk to the doc.

I sure appreciate you taking the time to tell me about your symptoms. Thanks!

[kareyquilts 1]

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Okay, I'm not very good at resizing images, etc. This will give you some idea. When I look at these pictures I guess I see that I have come a long ways in 7.5 months. I just want to keep making progress. This is my little girl, Felicity. She just turned 8 (I was 45 when we adopted her). Isn't she a cutey! Well, someday, I send that final after picture.

[MimIN 19]

I had a wild weekend in Kalamazoo MI visiting with old friends and over endulged in food and spirits (I think I am still hung over!) but managed to squeek out 2lbs, I am sure it will all catch up with me next week.

I am going to post this pic as an NSV, I would NEVER have done this pre-band no matter how much I had to drink...