My first official R&R...Bandsters who dont know a damn thing about banding

[Daisalana 33]

I had 2 weeks of liquids, and I really wasn't hungry so it was not a big deal most the time. It was toward the end of those 2 weeks and DH and his damn pizza boxes.. It was a day old even. I was watching tv, and I wanted pizza so bad.. and I HATE pizza.. so, it was definitely a mind thing. And I sucked on a crust of a piece he already ate.

[anonemouse 1]

Well, whatever gets you through, gets you through. At least you didn't actually eat it.

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

I did 4 solid weeks of liquids post op, then 2 weeks of mushies. I confess that once during the last of the 4 weeks, I ate something off the mushy list.

It was because of LBT! I read on here that many other people didn't have to do liquids for 4 weeks. I was losing so well on the liquid diet though, that I was actually afraid to eat and stop losing.

[transformer 1]

OMG--I can't friggin' breathe! Gasp! This thread is too funny! I remember reading the post about the alcohol. I didn't get it then and I still don't get it now! Yikes!

I've been passing some of the posts by as well. I get a sharp pain in the center of my head sometimes after I read them. I'm pretty sure the sharp pain isn't caused by my band...do you think I need to see my doctor? LOL

[Terri-ific 0]

I have actually talked a fried out of having the band because I knew she did not understand that it is ONLY a tool and not the "be-all, end-all" in weight loss! There is so much work that goes into having a band, and people who say thing like it's "taking the easy was out" really p--- me off! It's certainly not something to do lightly -- if that's what they think, they need to go on a diet!

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

I did that too. My friend really wants her daughter to get banded. I talked to the daughter and told her that she would not be able to eat the things she loved to eat the most. pizza and bread. This teenager lives on pizza and bread.

[travelgirl 3]

The following is copy/pasted from another thread, poster's name shall remain anonymous... the OP was asking about port site infections:

"I have read hundreds of posts here and read that port infections are signs of erosion. I don't have a band so don't shoot the messenger but so some searches about port infections before getting a new port."

WTF????? Am I missing something? What the blue hell does a port infection have to do with band erosion???? This is the first time I've seen this mentioned ANYWHERE, so Please tell me where this poster is getting his/her information????

[anonemouse 1]

The following is copy/pasted from another thread, poster's name shall remain anonymous... the OP was asking about port site infections:

"I have read hundreds of posts here and read that port infections are signs of erosion. I don't have a band so don't shoot the messenger but so some searches about port infections before getting a new port."

WTF????? Am I missing something? What the blue hell does a port infection have to do with band erosion???? This is the first time I've seen this mentioned ANYWHERE, so Please tell me where this poster is getting his/her information????

The only thing I can think of that would be even remotely similar to what s/he was talking about is that I've heard many times that if you get a port-site infection, it can travel to your band, causing a major infection around it and making removal of the band necessary. I don't think it has anything to do with erosion, though.

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

The following is copy/pasted from another thread, poster's name shall remain anonymous... the OP was asking about port site infections:

"I have read hundreds of posts here and read that port infections are signs of erosion. I don't have a band so don't shoot the messenger but so some searches about port infections before getting a new port."

WTF????? Am I missing something? What the blue hell does a port infection have to do with band erosion???? This is the first time I've seen this mentioned ANYWHERE, so Please tell me where this poster is getting his/her information????

Gonna try this again, just deleted my last message because I went off on a tangent and didn't address your post.

When someone erodes there is a hole in their stomach. Gastric acid drains down and can cause a hole in the intestine. That causes a HUGE infection. Poop in your abdominal cavity... think what that can do.

The infection can cause the port to become infected. So if someone has mega port problems, constant pain, etc., many docs will look for erosion.

I'm going to go ahead and repost what I just wrote only cuz it makes me angry (to Lauren):

Just happened to a friend of mine. She got a band years ago. A doc in the US recently gave her an infection due to horrific sterile technique. Her port became infected, the infection traveled up her tubing to her band and she eroded.

She had her band removed, waited a few months, began to regain, went to a HORRIBLE TJ doc who did her surgery a few weeks ago, he blew it completely, tried to do a sleeve, she ended up in a TJ hospital for 3 weeks, now she's back in the hospital again in the US. She is seriously & critically ill.

You know, I begged her not to go there. I told her I would go with her to docs all over Mexico and we would find one she liked. She didn't, she went for price I guess. Now she is not doing well. She couldn't sit at her computer long enough to write out the whole story with details because she is too weak. I don't know if she will be okay or not.

Point being, yep... a port infection can lead to erosion.

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

As usual, WASa, you are a wealth of information!

[travelgirl 3]

Wow, I had no idea. I mean, I knew that a port infection could travel to the band, but I had no idea that the infection could cause an erosion. With all the scary MRSA around, it really gives a person pause when considering surgery.

[FDATrialGuineaPig 7]

I think that people who think they are above all these "stupid" questions should just ignore them.

I'd have to wonder if your arms get sore from patting yourselves on the back so voraciously though. Maybe you just end up with really toned arms?

People come to banding with all different issues and all different reasons for getting so fat in the first place. Some are truly food addicts that are like the smokers trying to get a drag through the hole that's been cut in their throat.

You don't know what it's like to be them or to struggle with whatever is they're dealing with. Congrats if losing the weight was so effortless for you. Congrats that you don't throw up daily. Congrats that you don't like being so tight that you can barely swallow. You are such a huge inspiration! To yourself.

Get over yourselves.

I ate a chicken sandwich at Chilis two weeks after I was banded. Was I supposed to? No. I was starving. I had issues. I was going crazy not eating. When I was 3 months postop and went in for my first fill I had actually GAINED 6 pounds. I thought my doctor was going to cloroform me and rip out my band right there in the office.

I struggled then and I continue to struggle NOW with my ginormous appetite. In my case its 75% physical and I refuse to beat myself up about it any longer. You know what? I LOVED being super tight. I never felt more in control of my hunger, cravings and appetite than when I was so tight that it took me 4 hours to drink a cup of coffee in the morning. By the PM I could eat a fairly normal sized meal, but really, I LOVED the feeling of being tight.

There is a huge difference in regurgitation methods. At once point all I had to was lean over a toilet and kind of "clench" and it would all come out. No noise, no violent gagging, nothing like that. I happen to know the Bandster, who was banded in 1999 and coined the term "pb". I didn't like it even then but it's served it's purpose. I've also eaten to the point of a few hard gags, some watery eyes and sniffling and gone on with my day. The real hard core vomiting is a completely different animal--it HURTS. And yeah, there is nothing wise about eating after something like that. Pbing can lead to vomiting to, but not usually.

In all fairness I very rarely vomit OR pb. But in my experience the ones who *couldn't* had a very high incidence of dilitation and reflux. I actually pb'd pretty hard the other morning and forgot how awful it could be. I was really upset and had slammed down some Breakfast. I guess my band still works when old eating habits rear their ugly head.

I'm a bit sensitive to this post because I was the annoying bandster early in my days. I got kind of crazy. My loss started in the negative. I hated myself. But people supported me, they encouraged me (well except for Jessie LOL) and finally, I did find my way.

It's presumptuous to state that people who are engaging in some of these "stupid" behaviors don't care about their health. They've been banded. They're posting. They're trying.

Get over yourselves.

[Haydee 2]

CoffeeWench: Thank you for putting into words the exact feelings that I've been having for weeks now. I couldn't have expressed myself like you did.

[StephC 0]

CoffeeWench - BRAVO!!!

Did you ever stop to think they may be new to the internet? New to LBT and still finding their way around? The first week I was on I had to ask all those "stupid" questions, pb? nsv? but I was on here to get answers since I was still in the research phase. I don't mind the questions, I feel its smarter to ask questions then to sit back dumbly.

[NanaRenan 0]

And I will after one more... the myths! OMG how stupid are the weight loss myths? If I eat 800 calories a day I won't lose weight but if I eat 1500 calories a day I will lose faster. HELLO?? Common sense wouldn't hurt. Since when does the human body count calories and use critical thinking skills deciding it will "hold on" to excess weight for fear of being normal size?

WASA, this is one we'll have to agree to disagree on.

In 2002, I did Weight Watchers for several months and lost 49 lbs. Got a little cocky, feeling good, all new clothes and half the meds.....let my mometum slip and spent the next 5 years battling to keep from putting it all back on....I lost, of course, and that's why I'm now banded, BUT....I digress.

I have my card where I weighed in as well as my journals where I recorded everything I ate. My Points range was about 31 points per day. If you look at the weeks were I was really working it and eating 25 pts or less 4 or more days....my weight loss would be .5 to 1.0 lb.

But, if you look at weeks where I ate 33-35 pts per day 4 or more days, I would lose 1.5 to 2 lbs. This was consistent across the span.

Now I don't have your medical training, but I have had my diabetes explained to me enough to understand that this has to do with being resistant to insulin and is not some inexplicable phenomenon or just a myth.

It DOES happen. I've been on here pouting for WEEKS because I was stuck. I'd lose two lbs and sit there for three weeks before I'd lose another pound or two and sit at the new number a month. SO - I increased my carb intake and I've lost two lbs each of the last two weeks.

I'm sure that the logic of what you are saying would kick in....if I consistently held myself to 1000 calories for many months, of course, I would eventually lose. BUT, my body will fight it by killing all of my appetite and switching off my metabolism. So, if you're only taking in 1000 and your metabolism 'thermostat' gets dialed back to 800 calories burned per day. Then you're still STORING 200 calories a day, right?