Marchies Bandiversary Month

[Jeni 85 0]

Wow!!! Can you believe we have gotten this far already.. It seems just like yesterday we were just starting our journeys with much anticipation and a little bit scared... But look at us now.. Here's to the start of our second year; Hopefully it will be as successful as our first...

Thank you to my fellow Marchies for all you support.. I know we can help each other through the rest of our journey..

Best of luck to you all and CONGRATULATIONS on all of your Success!!!:thumbup:

And HAPPY 1YR. BANDIVERSARY EVERYONE!!!!

-Jeni

[Whitepants 0]

Hello Fellow Marchies, yes, we're onto another year. In looking back I must say I've come along way from Jan. 24, 2007, when I weighed in at 297lbs. 67lbs later, I've lost more weight in one year than three yrs put together.

Well, I have another 50lbs/6mos to lose the rest. I'm still scared and nervous about this, but it'll pass like the last 67lbs. I too thank you for your support, words of wisdom and ways to deal with issues that come about. I hope I've done the same for some.

The weight came marching in off again, hurrah, hurrah... Hey, maybe this should be our theme song as we exercise.

[Janine 0]

First I have to say thank you for all the kind words. You guys are the best.

Well, a week ago I lost my lapband, strangulated stomach.

I have cried till I can't cry another tear. My emotions have been all over the place. Mostly just sad and scared as hell.

So here is where I am now that I have a clear head and have mourned my friend, my tool, my life as I have known it for 11 months: I am very determined not to gain back this weight, as of today I weigh 208 lbs, started at 271. I have given all my fat clothes away, they are gone forever. Being rebanded is not an option for me until June, as the doc said I need time to heal. But I am high risk and at this point, I have no idea if my insurance will pay. I am the first at this hospital to have had this happen. But I made an appointment with the dietitian who leads the support group, and I have a great repore with. She pulled out my original paperwork and said, "Janine look at your original goal, you said you wanted to be anything under 200", this is doable you can do this. She was very encouraging, and I have decided I am going to work my butt off then hopefully in June instead of another lapband I am going in for a Tummy Tuck. I think I can pull it off with my insurance because my stomach looks like a train wreck. 2 vertical c sections, hysterectomy, and now the slashes of this.

What is life like unbanded: Guys it is hard. But interesting enough I find myself not drinking with meals and still chewing, chewing, chewing. My appetite has come full circle to pre banded days, I really thought my stomach would have shrunk. But I am doing sparkpeople, and have loaded the house with healthy choices, I will never step foot in a buffet for the rest of my life to try to maintain my stomach size if in case it has shrunk.

Happy Anniversary you guys, you are doing great thanks for letting me loiter around.

[thickchickTEXAS 0]

CONGRATS to ALL of my MARCHIES!!!!

It truly has been a trying year for me! I'm so glad I did do thru with the surgery on March 5th.... I dont have any regrets! :thumbup:

Im blessed that there have been no complications other then the usual sliming, throwing up etc.

I went to the doctor on last Friday I was nervous to hit the scale but I did it the it read 204.5 then she told me to take my shoes off and wow I lost 1 pound and it went to 203.5!!! I was so surprised!!!

WOW my total lost is 71 pounds!!!! :thumbup::hurray:

I wish us all the best and much sucess during the remainder of the year.

I have 38 more pounds to lose to get to my personal goal of 165! :cursing::party:

May GOD bless and keep you and your family...

[thickchickTEXAS 0]

Janine..:party:

I want to encourage you to keep on keeping on!!!

I'm sorry you had complications but you have come a long way my sister and I proud of you!!!

You have my support all the way from TEXAS!!:thumbup:

:cursing: :thumbup: :hurray: ((((((((((((((( hugs to u ))))))))))))))

[gkeyt 0]

We made it, one year!

My bandiversary is on the 13th. My goal was to lose at least 1 lb per week, the low average for lap banding. I have always been a very slow loser so I did not expect to lose my whole 74 lbs in the first year. But just a few days ago I reached 52 lbs lost, so I made it to that goal. And I only have 22 lbs to go so I feel pretty great about that!

In the past year I have gone from a size 16/18 to a size 10...in another 5 lbs I think I might fit into the size 8 jeans I bought a couple weeks ago. But even better than that....

• I lost all my extra chins!
  
• My resting heart rate has dropped from 100 to 78-80!
  
• I can RUN on the treadmill now...I am up to about 17 minutes of running in a 40 minute session (the rest brisk walking). And my max heartrate is lower than when I first started doing the elliptical, slowly, 2 years ago. It is much harder to get the heart rate up and it recovers quickly.
  
• I'm about to resize my wedding ring AGAIN...it keeps falling off.
  
• I have no desire to eat 90% of the crap I used to eat on a daily basis...including all the sugary Snacks I loved. Now when I have a taste, that's all I want. No entire pint of Ben & Jerrys.
  
• I have energy all the time, and I look forward to exercising every day!

So it's been a great year. And unlike spending over a year on WW to lose 35 lbs, there has really been no suffering in this process. It's been a learning process, and I did go through the Bandster Hell phase initially, but since about my 2nd fill I've been able to rely on making sensible choices 90% of the time and eating other things in moderation, and I do not feel deprived at all. In fact, I feel richer, because I know I am caring for my body and being kind to it.

2007 was a difficult year in other ways, but my lap band has truly been a blessing to me. It has been great to find this group online and share experiences!

Janine, I hope you do stick around and let us know how things are going. Your goal is totally attainable, and with all the things you've learned since being banded, I'm sure you will get there! Your achievements already are incredible and you should be very proud of yourself. That's a great idea to just carry on as though you still have your band...I'm sure it's very hard but we have to deal with what we're dealt, I guess. Thanks for letting us know about what can happen (what rotten luck! :thumbup:) and being kind enough to share it with us. It's valuable to know that you can do everything right and still end up losing your band, you just never know. But thank god you are healthy and healing.

Everybody, happy bandiversary!

[Whitepants 0]

Janine, you will still succeed. You have a new habit of healthy eating. It states that it takes 21 consecutive days of doing something to become a habit. You have had 11 months of 21 days. You have conditioned your mind and body for your new eating life style. Yes, life style and you will conquer this too. Just keep in mind that you will not return to how you were 11 months ago. You've come too far to return.

As with using a tool, when it breaks or lost you improvise until you can get it back or replace it. And sometimes, after not having it for so long, we don't miss that tool, seeing how we still managed to get the job done without. So, treat this incident like that.

Please, do return to let us know of your progress. You are our honorary March Bandster.

ThickchickTexas and gkeyt, you're so close to your weight goal. You'll be there by June. Then it's onto maintaining. The next stage of this LapBand stage.

I was banded on the 27th of March. I would like to lose another 10lbs and I will. Wednesday, I have another appt. with my doctor. I've decided not to get another fill. I'm having issues where I'm at now. So, I'm not going to bring about more or new issues. Besides, I'm at the best yet. This should hold me till my next plateau in about 3 months. Maybe then I can handle another fill.

So, let's get moving group. We can do this.

[gkeyt 0]

Thanks, Gwen. (Feels weird to write that to another Gwen! LOL)

I am fine if I don't get to my goal until the end of the year, since I am in anesthesia school now. But I am finding myself more motivated to exercise the more I do it, so maybe it will be by summer. That would be great!

As for maintaining, that was the whole reason I got banded in the first place. I thought I might be able to lose about half of the weight without the band, if I worked hard for a very long time, but I knew maintaining is the toughest thing for me (and all of us, I'm sure). I'm hoping that the band makes that different; that's what I am banking on. :drool:

You have lost 67 lbs, that is just outstanding. In less than a year! You must be so proud of yourself! :cursing:

[thickchickTEXAS 0]

reaction to my last fill......

I went in for my fill on last Friday and I always expericence brusing but not much swelling. but this time i have some swelling, do you think it's because my port is harder to get to now that I've lost so much?

It feels weird when I lay on my tummy feels like little ball in there ...

[tammyj 15]

reaction to my last fill......

I went in for my fill on last Friday and I always expericence brusing but not much swelling. but this time i have some swelling, do you think it's because my port is harder to get to now that I've lost so much?

It feels weird when I lay on my tummy feels like little ball in there ...

I may not be of much help because I've never experienced bruising or swelling around my port after a fill. My port is actually easier to get to now after losing weight since there's not a lot of fat around that area. If your doctor has to manipulate the port alot that may be the reason for the swelling. If you are still sore after a couple days I would call the doctor.

[thickchickTEXAS 0]

Hi TammyJ!!!:smile2:

MY doctor didnt do my fill another lapband doctor did it for him. I met her before I had the surgery and she was very nice to me so i let her do the fill:redface:

IF Im still pretty swollen MOnday Ill will call my doctor and let him know.:biggrin:

But other then that Im hanging in there :cursing:

shout out to Janine:laugh:

[tammyj 15]

For the past 2 weeks I've been having a problem w/ acid reflux at night and a constant gassy bloated feeling so I went to the doc yesterday to have everything checked. They did an upper GI and everything looked fine according to them. They wanted to take a little out of the band, but like a dummy I expressed that I am able to eat quite a bit...like 2 pieces of chicken or fish in one sitting, which is a lot more than I was able to eat after my last fill in April. He checked to see how much was in my band, but there was only 2cc left instead of the 2.75cc I had after my last fill. He filled me back to 2.75cc. I left the hospital, had a couple more sips of Water in the car and 15 minutes later up came the water, barium, and chunks of the food I ate that morning. I immediately called the doctor back and he said it sounds like I may have had food poisoning or something because according to him the barium should not have come back up. I went home hoping that food poisoning was the problem since they could not find anything wrong w/ my band. Last night was just the same...more spitting up. I feel horrible today...very gassy and bloated. Should I have a complete unfill to see if that corrects the problem???

[thickchickTEXAS 0]

TammyJ

Oh my Goodness I hope you feel better soon, make sure you dont get dehydrated!!!

maybe you should let them unfill it so you can eat and rebuild your strength then go back after a few weeks and refill...just my suggestion.

i support your decision.

[tammyj 15]

TammyJ

Oh my Goodness I hope you feel better soon, make sure you dont get dehydrated!!!

maybe you should let them unfill it so you can eat and rebuild your strength then go back after a few weeks and refill...just my suggestion.

i support your decision.

Thanks girl! I am handling liquids okay today, but I'm still concerned about the spitting up at night so I think I will go back to get unfilled today. There has to something wrong and something they are not seeing!

[Janine 0]

Tammy, I would definetly get a slight unfill. Especially since historically

the band get actually tighter over the first few weeks after a fill.