March Bandsters: MASTER THREAD

[hopeinapril 1]

Greetings!

Christine, my heart goes out to you. But, the good news is that you have lost some weight. How horrible that you can't really use the band as you need to!

My journey has been potholed at best! But, I keep plugging away. I'm near the oneunderland mark and it would be nice to have that before the new year. But, if not, by the end of January!

Oh, and Sharon, I have 9.75 in a 10cc band. You have room to move! Get another fill it you think it will jump start you!

[SpecialK 22]

Hi Christine - my heart goes out to you and I want to extend a big bandster bear hug. I have 10 cc in my 14cc band having just had .25 fill about 2 weeks ago. Restriction has definitely found me again.

If you remain band intolerant does that mean you may have to have your lapband removed? Would you be able to revise to RNY or the Sleeve? I wish you all the best. I would be beside myself too if I had what you are dealing with. My best wishes that things get better.

Kathy

[SpecialK 22]

Sharon -- we all seem to be hitting that mid-life crisis, as in mid-life stage of lapband post op. Where we want to be done with this losing thing, be skinny, pretty, or whatever and it just isn't magic for some of us. My surgeon indicated I can lose another 100 lb -- talk about a reality wake up call that I could still have that far to go. I am still getting compliments and I am still going down very slowly in some clothing sizes so I am going to keep on hanging in there. Please don't give up. Tell yourself you ARE WORTH IT. You can do this.

Post every day how you are feeling and ask for encouragement as you did with your recent post. We need to be here for the long term for those of us still working the program!

I look at it like this, at least we are hanging in there, some probably gave up long ago. I never want to go back to where I was 120+ lbs ago but knowing I maybe have 80 lbs to go before I'd have plastic surgery is still a tough mountain to climb.

[potatie 5]

Hi Special K- You are right- keep working the program. I feel that I am going to have to work the program, even after I get to goal, because I do not want to go back to where I was. I went into this knowing that this was a lifetime commitment, so I am going to have to keep reminding myself that this is a life time race not just a couple of years. So keep coming back for support. We will be here for you.

Katie K.

[hopeinapril 1]

LOL Christine a mid-band crisis. I like that! I do have a smidge of envy at times for the people who got the gastric bypass and have lost all the weight they want, but I know that was not the way for me to go. I keep plugging away and sooner or later I will get there. I love where I am now as compared to 2 years ago. 2 years ago I had given up. I was headed to 300 pounds and would have gotten there!

[wishin4 0]

Hi Everyone, I haven't posted on this thread for several months and I've just been reading what has been going on. I had a problem with horrible reflux also and my doctor removed my entire fill 5 months ago. I had a gastro-scope test to see if I had an ucler in my esophagus but it showed nothing. I don't have the reflux anymore and during this time of waiting I gained back 8 pounds. I was beating myself up over that and my husband contributed to the beating when he blurted out that he was disappointed in me. Having spent the money on the surgery and going thru what I had how could I eat stuff I know was counterproductive to my losing weight. Well, let me tell you that devastated me. To have him say that. He really has no room to talk but it still really hurt. While all this has been going on my surgeon left the practice and has now been replaced by a more experienced bariatric surgeon who, himself is a lapband patient. He told me he wants to take it slow on refilling me and he thinks I was way overfilled to begin with and that is what he thinks caused my problem. I have the small band which is 4cc and he put 1cc in it. I go back next week for another fill. I think he said he plans to put in 1/2cc. It was so comforting to hear him talk about my situation in a more positive light. My other doctor was not really helpful. He basically didn't know what was causing my reflux and said I was probably not compatible with the lapband. Now I just need to get back in the habit of eating the right way and the right things. It's like starting from square one. So many of you have now lost so much weight but there are still many in my ballpark so I am keeping positive and just have to focus on the goal. Congratulations to those of you who've had plastic surgery and to those who are still far from that, as I am, lets hang in there and not be so hard on ourselves. Lets just focus on getting back on the wagon and working this thing the way it's supposed to be worked.

[sharona 2]

((((Sharon)))) As I got out of the shower this morning I was thinking the exact same thing you said in your post....I still feel fat, fat, fat.

What will it take to get us back on track? I really wish simply wanting to do it was enough. I think you should go see your doc and maybe get a small fill. Maybe just 0.2cc will put you on the losing side of things again.

For me I just don't know what I'm going to do. Even with my band totally unfilled I could not eat meat and hard cooked veggies (carrots, broccoli etc). After all the testing they decided it was delayed gastric emptying. After 6 months of being unfilled and gaining back 16 pounds, now I am getting fills again...I have been labeled "band intolerant".

I get a lot of pain about 1 hour after eating any food that will stick around in my stomach. So I am sticking with liquids and mushie foods (and not making the best choices...ice-cream, high calorie liquids). It's not as bad as before my un-fill, but can see it moving that direction.

So, I'm still not losing weight because I am making bad choices.....what I wouldn't give to know that I could eat a salad or a piece of chicken without being in pain for 3-4 hours after I eat. I feel like a failure. I spent so much money on this tool that I cannot use properly without being in a lot of pain.

And I am still fat....only down 53 pounds since the surgery, the other weight was the pre-surgery diet. But I am so grateful for the normal blood pressure and blood sugar (no more pills!) I could not have done it on my own....wish I could lose another 40 pounds!

So today I will do better. Today I will not chose ice-cream. Today I will start to lose more weight.

Christine

I have an appt on 12/10..I think I am just a little saddned with my lack of gusto for this now. Although I can honestly sa I have changed my eating habits completely which is a good thing....

[sharona 2]

((((Sharon)))) As I got out of the shower this morning I was thinking the exact same thing you said in your post....I still feel fat, fat, fat.

What will it take to get us back on track? I really wish simply wanting to do it was enough. I think you should go see your doc and maybe get a small fill. Maybe just 0.2cc will put you on the losing side of things again.

For me I just don't know what I'm going to do. Even with my band totally unfilled I could not eat meat and hard cooked veggies (carrots, broccoli etc). After all the testing they decided it was delayed gastric emptying. After 6 months of being unfilled and gaining back 16 pounds, now I am getting fills again...I have been labeled "band intolerant".

I get a lot of pain about 1 hour after eating any food that will stick around in my stomach. So I am sticking with liquids and mushie foods (and not making the best choices...ice-cream, high calorie liquids). It's not as bad as before my un-fill, but can see it moving that direction.

So, I'm still not losing weight because I am making bad choices.....what I wouldn't give to know that I could eat a salad or a piece of chicken without being in pain for 3-4 hours after I eat. I feel like a failure. I spent so much money on this tool that I cannot use properly without being in a lot of pain.

And I am still fat....only down 53 pounds since the surgery, the other weight was the pre-surgery diet. But I am so grateful for the normal blood pressure and blood sugar (no more pills!) I could not have done it on my own....wish I could lose another 40 pounds!

So today I will do better. Today I will not chose ice-cream. Today I will start to lose more weight.

Christine

I have an appt on 12/10..I think I am just a little saddned with my lack of gusto for this now. Although I can honestly sa I have changed my eating habits completely which is a good thing....I also went back into journaling my food intake

[SpecialK 22]

Hi ladies. Yep, still hanging in here. I am off work for a week to just relax and get things I want done and that is a relief from the extreme stress I have been under on my job. I have had a pretty good day today, ate very reasonable and unfortunately I am little hungry here but I am going to try a new approach and start limiting my food eating after 9pm. I also promised myself to get to the gym each day this week, no excuses.

Its good still hearing from hopeinapril, wishin4, sharona, etc. and hope you'll keep dropping by and letting us know how you are doing. Recently it had been mostly me, scrappy friend, potatie, nymc, and a few others I am missing compared to the big group we had originally.

I still have my green CareBear with the good luck four leaf clover and I have him in my bathroom to remind me each day to think of what I committed to. Seems silly for a 53 year old woman to have a CareBear but whatever it takes to get me motivated and keep me going is worth it.

I did set aside $2400 in my health care flexible spending account for 2010 as my way of committing to hoping I can have some plastics late in 2010 if I have done well losing weight. Maybe the breast lift or the arms - brachioplasty because I know insurance doesn't cover any of it, at least I don't think I have enough of a case of back pain from the large breasts to merit enough of a breast reduction with the breast lift and the arms they definitely won't cover under any reason, so I know those are all out of pocket costs. I want to be sure I'm far enough along though before I do that.

[nycm00 0]

Sharon...Glad to hear you have scheduled an appt for a fill. I bet it will get you back on track.

I am finally making some serious movement in the right direction. Finally below 220 again!! It just really stinks that it takes serious pain for me to make progress. If I stick to Protein drinks, and smoothies, I feel no pain, but I get hungry. If I eat real food I feel satisfied for about an hour before the pain begins and then the rest of the day I can only get in sips of liquids. It really stinks!

I am going to ask about the gastric sleeve and the bypass at my next appointment. I know it's not that I am too restricted, because there is no sliming, no need to vomit. In fact I try to make myself sick to relieve the pain and nothing comes out. It's as if the food won't go down and can't come up. Not stuck in the pouch, but the stomach beyond the pouch.

Anyway....glad to be losing again.

Christine

[hopeinapril 1]

Hi Shamrocks!

Christine - good for you getting under 220 well before your goal to be there by the end of the month!

SpecialK - good to see you again! I don't think the green carebear is a problem! Quite frankly I will use any and every method I can to get this weight off. If a green carebear motivated me or reminded me in any way, I'd get one as well!

I have struggled some the past two weeks. It has reminded me of how slippery the slope is for me. I thought I do so great by getting the Halloween candy on the 31st. Truly if there were any candy I didn't like, I would have gotten it! But, then the darn candy sat around. I didn't go hog wild, just a fun bar or a small pack of m&ms every day. I finally asked my housemate to hide the stuff. (I had to ask a few times before it disappeared!) Now, my self control seems to be gone. I seem to be hungry at night. I am up 2 pounds, which isn't bad, but it is frustrating. I am a mere 12 pounds from the oneunderland. I have a doctor's appointment this week, which means stepping on the scale. That will keep me straight for the next few days. Hopefully, my bad behavior will be behind me for now!

OK, thanks for listening!

[Busy 0]

I have been returning every once in a while to read the ups and downs of everyone. You have all been in my prayers. I am down to 215. Wish it was more but I am better than I was 1 1/2 years ago. My problem is I have gotten off the exercise habit and have a tendency to nibble at night. I keep saying I am going back to it but it has not happened yet. My positives are I am in regular clothes, I can climb the stairs at work and I can wear heels again without killing my knees. My job status has recently changed so I hope that will give me the incentive to get out and walk more. Good luck to all.

PA

[lynnt1215 1]

haven't posted in awhile. so busy.. Halloween was difficult. too much chocolate and goodies around..my willpower and choices were very poor.. Trying to get back on track...

[Sapphire904 1]

Funny how chocolate goes down way too easily! I was banded in March '08 and still struggle daily with my weight. I am down 67 pounds (hurrah) and would like to lose 40 more. I just received a fill last Thursday and am seeing a difference in my eating so far - a good thing since I haven't lost anything since August and actually gained 7 pounds. Not a lot by some standards, but a lot for a "bandster"! I also still have problems with what I see in the mirror! At times I see the difference and at others not at all! My prayers go out all of you - keep on trying and never give up!

[sharona 2]

I haven't lost much since August either. But I'm starting to learn to eat more rather than less. When I eat less I pick all day and journaling my food intake again has made me realize that I am eating far too many carbs...I have this need for potato chips:nono:...funny I never liked them prior to the band. So I've asked my husband not to buy them because before you know it the whole bag is gone by the end of the week. I happened to bump into someone at the hospital the other day I hadn't seen in a long time and it was nice to hear how weight I had lost...you get so used to where you are at and forget that I was at a size 22 and now am a size 14 petite...(sounds like an oxymoron....a bit to have petite and size 14 together):smile2: anyway....trying to give myself credit for what I've accomplished and not what I haven't accomplished. I feel good about going back to the surgeon, who by the way I bumped into the other day also and noticed he is getting a little pudgey...hummmm maybe he'll certainly undertand :w00t:

I am back to the site more frequently realizing that you all give me inspiration. Especially you potatie...you are an amazing woman. I went to the gym the other day and did a step class...completely out of sync..then went to the mat and just stretched...felt very good so I'm putting it back in my life. Hard to start thinking about yourself when you've had years of taking care of everyone else. That is a woman thing....at 59 years old you think I would have realized that by now.

Love the "midlife" band thing....absolutely right. I'll have to share that with the surgeon I'm sure he'll love it.

sharon:):redface:

Edited November 18, 2009 by sharona