Banded at Northwest Weight Loss (Everett)

ShellMarr · August 3, 2007

Hi ShellMarr - Would love to meet up with you and other bandsters at the support meeting, but I'll be on vacation . I hope to have my surgery scheduled by next week (if Aetna plays nice...) and be on the table the first week of September. Trust me, we'll see each other!

Sept 10th then if your not too loopy on your pain meds post surgery! hehehe :biggrin1:

PineNut · August 4, 2007

Well, I was looking, but didn't see you. Me and Kristen came in almost last (we were a few late) and made our way to the back corner. I was scoping out everyone- I liked Linda when I had my appointment with her, but he public speach was a bit ....dry....

I was in the South End group and then went over to the Bothell one.

How is your sister doing too? I went in last week for a bit (.2 cc) of an unfil. I was having more problems with swallowing and eating. TOO TIGHT. I was up to 6cc and now am at 5.8 and doing good. I have had a couple sliming issues, but no food has come back up. I am down 28 ponds! You and I are still losing parallel to each other. I like that the tickers can show our progress!

I don't know about the 13th or 10th for meetings. It is such a long way. And now I am not too confident that Esther can do my fills in Puyallup since I ended up with 5!!! pokes for my unfil. 2 in the exam room, 2 under the fluoroscope (pretty cool) and then a final one my Dr Montgomery under the scope. Jeeze, talk about pincushion. Esther said it was good I had been in Everett since she probably would not have been able to find it in Puyallup. My port is a bit tilted, although Jessie and Audrey have done fine. Hmmmm.

ShellMarr · August 10, 2007

PineNut:

Oh, I can't beleive I did not see you!!

Yeah....Linda is a sweetie... I enjoyed her talk... I have such a hard time hearing Jessie, but that might have been where I was sitting... I was right in the middle last time for that very reason.

My Sister is doing well.... she got her 1st fill last Thurs also and is going in again Tues for her 2nd fill. I went back on Monday and got my 2nd one... I now have a total of 5cc in a 10cc band.

Congrats on your 28 pounds!! I'm down 24.5 as of this morning...WWoohhoo!!

Ekkk 5 pokes!! Really!?!?! Ester did both my fills and my sisters too and she went right too them....no problems. Audry is doing my sisters on Tues. So, you think you found your sweet spot??

Cherrybomb · August 17, 2007

Had my first fill yesterday. I received 3 cc's in my 14 cc's band. I didn't feel much restriction on my soft foods, but maybe it will be different when I have "real food" today.

ShellMarr · December 10, 2007

I'll be at the support group meeting tonight if anyone wants to sit with me!! I'll be there by 6:30pm to pee and then weigh in...hehehe:whoo:

Anndallei · January 7, 2008

I had my surgery on September 13, 2005 with Dr. Wakins. He was co-owner of the practice but left in 2007 when he moved back to Ohio where he plans to help open other clinics like NWLS.

Dr. Watkins was a great doctor and I hate that he is gone...but I have full faith in all the other doctors a NWLS. I've lost about 95 pounds thus far. I have another 90 to go and am slowly working my way there. I love my band and would not change a thing about it. Having the surgery was one of the best decisions I've ever made!

Jesse is the person that usually does my fills (I've had many as you can see by the stats in my signature.)

If you'd like to learn more about my experience with the lap band, just type in my screen name and you can read some of my posts.

Good luck to you all...it's a wonderful journey!

pam

toni_o · January 21, 2008

dr michaelson did my surgery on 1/15. it was easy and i'm doing well 5 days post-op. looking forward to mushies!

i'm really impressed by the quality of care there...they could probably change their name from nwwlsurgery to nwwlspa!

dawnc27wa · January 21, 2008

Hello everyone from NWWLS. I am updating my posts...it has been a while since I have been on here. (Holidays and all) I was reading and it looks like everybody is doing really well. I have been thinking about getting another fill but not really sure. Sometimes I feel like I am too tight and then other times I feel like I can eat a TON. Any similar experiences out there??

I've had 4 fills since surgery in May of last year. But my scale hasn't moved in over a month?? Thanks for any input.

Dawn :lol:

Anndallei · January 22, 2008

I am almost too embarrased to post this! I'm still kicking myself for being so stupid!!! The positive is, this is a good wake up call for me and I'm sure as heck going to learn from it.

I had a doctor appt. with Jesse at NWWLS last week. I've had MANY fills and was looking to get another because I was eating too much. When I told her that, she suggested we do a fluro to see what's going on. She was NOT happy (nor was I) with what she saw...the fluro showed stretching of the pouch and my esophagus because my band was way too tight. The liquid was going through as slow as mollasses!

She said I may have to have surgery to correct it or, with a little luck, both will go back to normal shape with a restricted diet. She took all the Fluid out of my band. I go back in three weeks to see Dr. Montgomery and have another fluro to see if I'm "normal" once again. I'm staying very positive about this...I'm very hopeful.

I'm drinking 4 Medifast and eating one small meal (1/2 to 1 cup) for the next three weeks. Today is day 6. I've lost six pounds already. I go back to the doctor on Feb. 6th. The restricted eating is going great...not too hard to do. Glad to be losing weight again after a year of not losing!

I was overfeeding myself thinking my band would tell me when to stop. I thought I was eating more then I should but ignoreed it for a long time.

It's all about Portion Control. I realize now that I have to measure my food portions for each meal and stick to that. I learned the hard way, you can eat way more then you should even with the band. It seems so basic, not all that complicated to understand...that's why I feel embarrased. I should have known better...actually I do know better...I think it says more about my food addiction. Guess it will always be there, I just have to learn to keep it at bay through portion control. I can do it and I will. I've come too far to go backwards.

Good luck all, I hope my experience helps others so they don't have the same problems I'm having.

pam

toni_o · January 22, 2008

thank you for posting, dvsa (pam). i'm sorry you're having to deal with it, and i'm glad you *are* taking care of it.

lisah25 · January 22, 2008

Hello everyone from NWWLS. I am updating my posts...it has been a while since I have been on here. (Holidays and all) I was reading and it looks like everybody is doing really well. I have been thinking about getting another fill but not really sure. Sometimes I feel like I am too tight and then other times I feel like I can eat a TON. Any similar experiences out there??
I've had 4 fills since surgery in May of last year. But my scale hasn't moved in over a month?? Thanks for any input.

Dawn

I would go in. You may or may not end up getting a fill, but talking to one of them can help you decide. I let it go for a month, then another, and finally realized I hadn't lost in 9 months, and regained about 15 pounds. Got a fill, and a reminder of the guidelines, and am down 10 of those now.

PineNut · January 29, 2008

Hi all,

It has been a while since I have looked here, but I am still plucking along....a bit of a kiddie roller caoster ride, ya know? No major ups or downs, but I am on it for the run. I have recently had a bit of a scare....I went in for a fill and Jessie filled 'er up. We undid some since I couldn't get Water to go down and I thought all was well. Well, afraid not. I called the office at 11pm that night since I was going through the motions of vomiting but nothing was coming up. I was really trying not to have the convulsions of doing it, but they aren't too cooperative when you don't want to throw up! So Dr. Michaelson came on the line and told me to come in 1st thing and they would fluorscope me to see what we were dealing with. After another call in the morning to instruct me he would be out of surgery at noon, we decided to meet then. I had had a fill under the scope before, but not a standing up version. Of course I was greeted to the room with a drink...not of the frothy cocktail type, but some slick banana tinged stuff. THe 1st gulp was ok and then we looked at a big gas bubble in me pushing against my band- an indicator of too full- so he had me lie down for an unfill. Then I got round 2 of the gook, and a third for good measure since I didn't gulp enough on the 2nd round. GAAG. Everything looked better and felt better after that. Upon trying to eat solids the next day at dinner, I have discovered we are playing a whole new ballgame. THis is what restriction and 1-2 cups of food feels like. I am having to chew much more and really watch before I swallow. I have started loosing again so I am happy to put up with it.

I remain encouraged by other's tickers but I wonder if anyone, like me, has noticed many more inches lost than pounds? I know I am in clothes that I wore at about 20 pounds less than I am now that do fit. I am not happy with the new playthings that my children have decided reside under my arms! THey think it is hillarious to bat at the flaps of loose skin under my arms! Gads. I am starting to research another surgery for that!

dawnc27wa · February 1, 2008

So, I waited a little bit to see about getting another fill. I decided to go ahead and call figuring it would be probably two weeks until they could get me in. Nope...I had an appointment within three days of calling with Esther. It was okay, it happened to be on a day off so I headed up to Everett.

I told Esther what had been happening with sometimes feeling some restriction and then other times being able to eat quite a bit and she said maybe I could handle another fill at this time because it sounded like to her that I was almost at that "sweet" spot. If it proved to be too much of a fill I could always go back up the next day and she would fit me in for an unfill. She gave me 3/4 of a CC and I believe that put me at 11 CC's in a 14 CC VG Band.

It has been a week since that fill and I have GREAT restriction. I am finally eating what everyone says is the "normal" amount to eat and feel full. About 1 cup of food is all I can handle. Since my weigh in at NWWLS last week, I am down 4 lbs. I think this might be that sweet spot. :thumbup: Although I am definitely having to watch my Protein intake a lot more closely than I did before. I have no hunger cravings almost all day long so I am counter measuring with a Protein shake every day. (which I should've been doing before, but I was able to eat enough in protein)

Keep it going everyone...we're all doing great. :party:

Dawn

dogluvr · March 5, 2008

Hi I am waiting to be scheduled for surgery with Dr Montgomery at NWWLS.

LiseSeattle · March 9, 2008

I was banded by the amazing Dr Montgomery on 3/4/08 (about 5 days ago) and am doing very well...some port pain but that's about it. I even started a blog to document EVERYTHING since the surgery...brave, I know! Check it out here: Lise The Loser’s Weblog I go back in for my post-op checkup on tuesday. Hoping everything will be ok. I was self-pay and my goal is to lose about 75-100 lbs. Looking forward to meeting other banders from NWWLS.

Lise