March Bandsters: MASTER THREAD

[enjoylife 1]

NOW onto another note, I just experienced the fill from HELL!!! I went on Friday, August 22nd. Everything seemed fine until later that evening. Everything came up. Nothing stayed down. I thought if I just relaxed that maybe the swelling would go down and I would be ok. HA! That was a joke. That's what I get for dissolving Funions in my mouth on the day of a fill. I had a handful - but my band was not having it. I threw up from Friday to Monday afternoon. I could not even take in Water. I sucked ice cubes to stay hydrated and I threw that up!!! By the time I got to my surgeon's office I had lost 14.4 lbs. Let me tell you; that was no way to lose weight. He says I won't gain it all back because some of it was fat loss because I took in no calories. Whatever! I was so glad to be able to drink water again I damn near jumped in my bottle of Aquafina. I may go back at a later date to have .5 cc put pack in - but I am in no rush. I may wait a month. Tomorrow I will try solids again. I'm hoping to be able to finally enjoy eating something again. Well that's my drama - I hope no one else goes through anything like this.

[lynnt1215 1]

NOW onto another note, I just experienced the fill from HELL!!! I went on Friday, August 22nd. Everything seemed fine until later that evening. Everything came up. Nothing stayed down. I thought if I just relaxed that maybe the swelling would go down and I would be ok. HA! That was a joke. That's what I get for dissolving Funions in my mouth on the day of a fill. I had a handful - but my band was not having it. I threw up from Friday to Monday afternoon. I could not even take in Water. I sucked ice cubes to stay hydrated and I threw that up!!! By the time I got to my surgeon's office I had lost 14.4 lbs. Let me tell you; that was no way to lose weight. He says I won't gain it all back because some of it was fat loss because I took in no calories. Whatever! I was so glad to be able to drink Water again I damn near jumped in my bottle of Aquafina. I may go back at a later date to have .5 cc put pack in - but I am in no rush. I may wait a month. Tomorrow I will try solids again. I'm hoping to be able to finally enjoy eating something again. Well that's my drama - I hope no one else goes through anything like this.

Wow, 14+ pounds over the weekend, I would not want to go through that after a fill, glad you are feeling better

Plastic surgery - definitely in my future, I never thought of asking a DR about pre-payment for surgery, that I will have to look into.

I have no full lentgth mirrors at home and have no true idea of what I look like now. But had a rude awakening while here at the beach. My condo has a big mirror and I can't help but look into it. I am pleased with the new curves I have, but the excess skin is discouraging. I know I do nont have too much elasticity left in my skin, so exercise will help, but not be a cure!!!!:w00t:

[Tess415 1]

Wow Diva... I am glad you are ok. I don't know if I could have gone all weekend like that myself! I just had a fill last week and thank god its been good, today is first day on regular food, I had a small salad from Bob Evans and it went down slowly but no PB'ing!!!

[SpecialK 22]

Tess415 - you need to update your signature line to say 60 lbs now gone according to your ticker. Congratulations, I'm hoping to get to that number by end of September maybe.

[nycm00 0]

Hey guys, back from my hellish trip to LA. MIL is still in a vegatative state, but stable so far. It is good to be home.

I will most likely have some plasitc surgery in my future. Probably a tummy tuck...don't know that I would do much more than that. Maybe a reduction, since the girls are in rough shape already. I have an incisional hernia on my right side at my c-section scar. The more weight I lose, the more pronounced it becomes. I had asked about having it fixed when they did the lap band, but was talked ito leaving it, so that some of the Tummy Tuck would be covered because of the hernia involvement. At the time I thougth...there is no way I am doing a tummy tuck, now it seems like it would be a good thing if I could afford it.

Amanda, sorry you are having a hard time with the self image thing. I have been so overeight for so long, I cannot imagine ever being trim enough to go below a size 18, but I think it's in the future...since some 18's are swimming on me now.

I will always know where I came from and that is what matters. Even if I did not lose another pound...I am down 51 pounds! I walked through an amusement park yesterday carrying my 28 pound daughter on my shoulders for a while. I can't believe I was carrying almost twice that around constantly for years. No wonder my feet were aching and swollen. Sure people still look at me and think..."fat chick", but I know I'm not as fat as I was a few months ago. I look better and younger, and best yet, I am healthier.

Christine

[enjoylife 1]

Christine, You are absolutely right to Celebrate. I am seeing some flab, but Iwas also able to take my daughter to Disney World and walk all over four parks and fit into the rides!!!!. So celebrate your lost sixty-pounds,

[hopeinapril 1]

Hey Shamrocks!

I have heard that you should wait for plastic surgery. The doctors I have spoken with say it takes time for your skin to catch up to your weight loss. Now, having said that, I truly do not expect to have tight skin when I get to my goal. Also, I think this is where the slow losers (me!) have an advantage.....they say that your skin will catch up better with the slow losers. Of course, that is one of the few advantages.

I went to the doc today and got a small fill. I forgot to ask him how much. but, even if he only put .5 cc in, I would have 7.5 cc in my 9 cc band. I have a very real fear that I will never reach my "sweet spot". I really don't want to have the experience of PBing or not even being able to drink Water, but it is even more scary to me to think that I will never hit the sweet spot.

All in all, this is a good journey. I am back down to the weight I was at the beginning of last year and despite any bumps in the road, I am determined to keep walking down this road.

[Lattedah 18]

Hello, Shamrocks! I haven't been posting on LBT for a very long time due to life and work craziness! But, I always check in to see what the Shamrocks are up to and to hear about everyone's progress. I thought I would just send a quick note to say "Hi, Shamrocks" and to say that though it's been an interesting road with a lot of hills and valleys, I still feel so incredibly lucky to have the band and although sometimes slower than I would like, I AM loosing weight and feeling so much better than I have in years!

You're all very inspiring to me and although I don't drop in as much as I would like, I just wanted you to all know that. Especially, my pal, Chica, who keeps me in touch.

Thank you.

[westcoastmom 3]

Hello all. I have been enjoying reading everyone's posts, but just not posting for a while. I can't believe the summer is almost gone and kids are just about back at school - sometimes here in Seattle you miss the sun if you don't pay close enough attention.

Although I read the ups and downs that everyone has in their journey with the band, it seems the one constant here has been that everyone really feels like this has been the best decision. Or at the very least, they are happy with the band and how it is working for them. I hesitate to post at times, because I am not sure I feel the same way. Which is just strange to say given that I have lost so much and am close to a comfortable weight.

I seem to have struggled with this decision from the moment I got the band. I just have not gotten comfortable with having something in me that might slip or erode (ofcourse I knew about this before I did it). I also have never gotten to the point where I have tried to get close to restriction. I hear people at support group being so casual about carrying bags in their cars in case they get sick or knowing where all the public restrooms for a quick retreat that I sometimes wonder if I would be trading one form of eating issue for another.

I guess when it comes down to it, I made this decision to try to get to a more "normal" state and all these other feelings about the band feel "not so normal" to me. It is such an inner struggle of knowing how much better off I am with almost 60 pounds gone, but still having the fear of all these other things.

I think I also thought I would just suddenly feel so much better physically and that just hasn't been the case. I have struggled with some things that I never did before losing weight. My Iron has also been at a really low level for the past 2 months which has left me very run down.

Ofcourse reading this post myself makes me sound like I am mentally struggling as well! Sorry for a depressing post! I have to say that luckily that has not been an issue. I have been fortunate to be fairly even keeled throughout many life struggles - pre and post band. And having two fun red-head makes that pretty easy too.

I have actually been OK with the slower losing in the past month or two. I guess I know that I have been doing it without fills for the most part which in a small way helps me feel like I might be able to figure out a way to maintain a healthy lifestyle if I can't find a way to make this work.

Thanks for listening!

[tarrn13 1]

westcoastmon, I just read your post and don't usually post on this board but wanted to note what you said, alot of what you wrote resonated with me, I have lost very slowly and the thought of carrying around barf bags and knowing where every bathroom here in seattle is scared me so I've opted to be less filled and use it as a tool vs wondering if I too was trading 1 form of eating for another. My issue is now I have about 25 left to lose and am almost feeling scared to do so, I don't know if I want to see what's under this last little bit, or is it more what if I don't like what I find at the end of it all, it was easy to dream about being thin when it was unattainable but now it is and I admit I find myself doing some self sabatoge (i know that is spelled incorrectly) so maybe now for me it's more about something besides the weight, I don't know. I am also getting used to no longer being invisible to men, store clerks, people on the street, normal world is certainly a different world. I'm happy with the decision to do this at the end of the day, there are just things I didn't think of before doing it that I would have to deal with. Anyway I too am not going for the downer post, I just was a little relieved knowing that someone is having some of the same feelings as myself.

[SpecialK 22]

To those struggling, I value HONESTY here -- where you are at is what is true for you. I'm not too proud to say I will go and get counseling if I feel I need it if I get to plateaus where I'm doubting my decision. At almost 6 months now, I definitely am not carrying around 'barf bags' nor am I tracking where every restroom is just in case. I agree that its a dangerous mindset to get comfortable with the idea of PBing if you overdo things.

[westcoastmom 3]

Tarrn - thanks for sharing & I hope you can enjoy your new "visibility"!

SpecialK (and anyone else who might read my original post) - I am sorry if it came across like my self-reflection was putting judgement on you or others. When I mentioned comments from support group, this is an outside group run by our medical group. (And I do really like their openness, honesty, and experience.) I really believe the is a personal journey and I know everyone has to decide what will work for them.

It has been strange to me to have this inner struggle. I didn't even drop or change one class in my years at school/college. I seem to always research and know what I want. It surprised me that this has been one time where that just did not happen. And I can say that I do feel successful so far and feel good that I have not let these questions about the decision affect my overal outcome.

I was just more curious if others had these fears, concerns or feelings.

[tarrn13 1]

SpecialK, did you capitalize honesty because you only want to hear positive wonderful rose coloured glasses type things, what myself and westcoastmom posted were honest, for us and our journey, sorry if it does not fit in with what you think it should. Also, don't stand in judgement of me, if I feel I need counseling, I'll get it, but the way you wrote your post weather you meant it to be or not sounded a little like you were up in the holier than thou group. my post was specifically a response to 1 person so maybe next time I'll just PM them less I offend anyone on the board's feelings.

[nycm00 0]

I can't tell you the number of times I have questioned my decision. I can honestly say that I have not let go of the whole "I wish I could have done this on my own" feeelings. I tried for years and years, I needed to get healthy for my kids (if nothing else). I bothers me to no end that my 7 yr old DS knows if I am stressed I can't eat or eat too quickly I will be running for the bathroom for a PB. For me the relationship with the band is love/hate. Love losing the weight, but not some of the side effects.

As time has gone by I am learning to use the band and my restriction level right now is comfortable. I work in the medical field and have been obese for all of my adult life. It is scary to not be invisable anymore....and I'm not even halfway to my goal which is still in the overweight catagory. PS, I did not even realise I was invisable before....ouch!

The wonderful thing about the band is you can have it removed. Not sure if WCM ever got a fill...know you did not for a long time, but not sure where you are now as far as fills go. After time at goal, have all the fill removed, see how you feel. See how you are able to manage the weight and if you feel you really need to, have to band removed. This is a huge decision...as big as getting the band, but no one knows if it is right except you.

Funny, I have read and re-read Special K's post and don't see an attack or judgement. I see a respect for your honesty and a statement that for her the answer to many of the doubts is to seek couseling. I too agree that life with the band should not be about getting comfortable with PBing.

WCM, I have missed you and appreciate your post. I am always self reflecing all over the place, so feel free anytime.

Taryn, sorry you felt attacked. I hope the remainder of your journey is smooth.

Christine

[HarleyGirl 1]

While I haven't questioned my decision to get the band, I can certainly understand the standpoint of those who do. It is a huge change....physically and mentally.

For me, the fact that I just feel so much better balances out the inconveniences of my band. I'm pushing 50, so I really had come to terms with the fact that I couldn't "do it by myself".....although, really I am doing it by myself. I could still be eating ice cream, milk shakes and hershey bars....but I have chosen not to. Indeed, the band makes it easier....but I'm still making the final choice.

I hope you are all able to make peace with your band and your decision.

For the record, I do have decent restriction.....I've had a couple of PBs but both times I know what I did wrong....the band didn't cause the problem, I did.....