NA'ers?

[derbin247 0]

Hi Debbie, ya same with me. I am not sharing about it. My sponsor, my grandsponsor, boyfriend (who is program) and my parents know and that is it. My sponsor will hold my pain medication that way I am not in control of it. I will have two years clean this saturday on the 10th! I live in Simi Valley. I am getting excited and nervous for the surgery. I should be banded in February. Yay! So when you say you are getting back on track what do you mean... did you get another fill? How often do you fill? Do you attend any support groups? Who banded you?

[debrainwater 0]

Hello:

What I mean by getting back on track, due to the Holiday's I sort of slipped on my eating habits (Cookies, cakes, etc.) the yummy stuff. I have had 3 or 4 fills since my surgery. I have a fill scheduled for Friday. Congratulations on your up coming 2 years.....That so awesome........:thumbup:

Good luck,

Debbie

[derbin247 0]

Cool thanks! So i got my surgery date.... february 25th. my sponsor wants me to get my prescription early if possible and she will fill it for me and hold it for me. I am to get Darvocets if possible because I love me some viccoden... and then motrin. She wants to be in complete control of the meds so I am not stressing or questioning or mind effing myself on them...

[gr8fulmaria 0]

Hello fellow addicts~!~:cool:

When we say this is a world wide fellowship we aren't kidding!! :tongue2:

Had my surgery on 2/23/09 day 4 post-op.

Taking pain meds. Its been ok. I have have a lot of pain, and gas. Going to my first meeting tonight.:thumbup:

I am the chairperson, but I asked someone else to chair for me because I don't feel that it is right for me to chair being on the pain meds.

My clean date is 3/4/05. I haven't shared openly about what kind of surgery that I was having, just that I was having surgery. The people in my support group and a few others know what I had done, but I am quite sure that it will be getting out. Some people don't know how to mind there own business.:thumbup:

But it is what it is. Today is the first day I am really feeling better. I'm sure taking a shower has a lot to do with it.

I wish you all well, happy loosing:thumbup:

[KTBUGG 14]

Hello, Sure not much activity around here....I just found this thread. I am very excited to have done so. I will be celebrating 5 years on 8-2-09. I have been banded for 1 1/2 years and am doing great. Very few ppl know I had the band done. NA around here (columbus, ohio) is like high school. clicks and gossip abounding. I hope this thread gets more active

:frown:

[tskelli 1]

Hello, Sure not much activity around here....I just found this thread. I am very excited to have done so. I will be celebrating 5 years on 8-2-09. I have been banded for 1 1/2 years and am doing great. Very few ppl know I had the band done. NA around here (columbus, ohio) is like high school. clicks and gossip abounding. I hope this thread gets more active

:biggrin:

Hi there, KTBUGG! I've also been banded for about 1 1/2 years (Feb 19, 2008). I'm glad to hear you're doing great. I'm doing good as well. NA is the same here, but most people know I have the band. I guess it's a personal choice whether to share openly about it. There are a couple more addicts in my area who have the band, also. We keep in touch and keep track of each other's progress (or lack of). Glad you're here! :sad:

[TenaciousTrace 4]

Hi Everyone! My name it Tracy. I was banded in June. I too have been clean and sober for 4 1/2 years! I am loving life and loving my band. I was also afraid of the pain meds so I didn't even take them, I just used Tylenol. All is good!! Congrats to all on their sober time!

[unshackled 1]

Anyone else here a member of NA? Would love to chat with ya!

Hi I see this thread havent been used in a while. I am Ms. Tammie and I have 16 years and 5 months clean and serene. I am trying to connect with sum people on this site becauz I have fell off. Lost 80 lbs last year and have been complacent. I am 2 days back on track. I started chairing a meeting on Mondayz and decided to get key chains for my lifestly and goal (wearing a size 12). I am now a size 20/22 from a 26/28 but it has been hard keeping the exercise in.

I went to a meeting today and the reading was what can I do. I can take it 5 minutes at a time. Just for today. would like to keep this thread going.

[Karen12345 61]

Hi Miss Tammie. Glad you made it back. I had 3 1/2 years clean and was banded on 10/8/09 and then relapsed a month later. I am very active in the program and service and even was at that time. I was very excited about the morpheine that I was going to be able to get with the surgery and didn't really mention that to anyone, so I guess I had started to keep secrets. Anyway, I'm now clean 4 months (today in fact) and have lost 70 lbs so far and have had 4 fills (or 5???) and have pretty good restriction now. I have days where I want to binge and so I'm battling with not eating sugar free ice cream. I am still an addict and so the disease wants to pop out somewhere. Anyway, I just wanted to say hey and to post this just in case any other addicts wanna talk.

[Llyra 3]

I am happy to see this thread has been reactivated. My name is Llyra and I have thirteen years of clean time. My banding was done on March 3 of this year and I have lost 26 pounds with approximately 60 more to go. Until I got the second fill, I was afraid I was in line to be one of the lap band failures- the weight simply was not coming off. The second fill helped immensely as has a gradual adjustment to a new way of eating. I teach belly dance, garden and maintain two horses so exercise is not as big a problem for me as for some, though I do tend to spend too much time on the couch if I am feeling low.

After six years of not attending meetings, I returned to the rooms in October. The catalyst was the death of a friend in a motorcycle accident. I saw so many old faces at his funeral and realized I missed them. Didn't expect to be recognized after so many years and a 75 pound weight gain, but I was welcomed back with open arms.

[augustwestny 0]

22 years clean - 3 days banded!! Can't wait to get a fill and get on solid food again. Used pain meds three times day after, once on second day, and none since. I hate having a permission slip to use - slippery slope. Some pain, but I have a healthy fear. Hopeful about weight loss.

[Llyra 3]

Good for you, August, on all counts. When I had surgery many years ago, I was concerned about the use of pain pills. A very wise nurse who was also AA told me firmly that even addicts and alcoholics had the right and need to be pain-free after surgery, and that if pain pills were used properly, there was no danger inherent in the use. When the pain quit, so did I.

[Pandoracat 2]

I am an addict, my name is Roni. Clean date 3/5/05. Band date 4/18/12. Glad to meet you all here!

I considered this surgery for a few years even before I got clean. My sponsor who has food issues wanted me to at least do 6th and 7th step before I considered the surgery. After 7, I began to lose weight. I lost 70# (most of my 'recovery weight') but stalled and yo-yoedhovered around a 50-60# loss. That took a few years. I am grateful that I did that, it helped me take a good look at my addictive eating patterns and the exact nature of them. Then I had the surgery. I told my closest support group what I was considering (during the pre op stuff) and then when I decided to go through with it. I didnt want random people to think I was looking for 'instant gratification' or judge me. (yes people pleasing is a defect I still struggle with) I did talk about an upcoming surgery and the pain meds.

What I did for the pain meds (as an ICU nurse I also believe that I deserve to be pain free post op and that being pain free minimizes the risks of complications), was have the pharmacy hold them and dispense no more than a days worth at a time to me or my designated family member. I evaluated my motives and pain level and why I had it (ie gas pain is not relieved by roxicet) each time I took a dose, and ya know what- I guess having 7 years clean helped in this area- Tylenol actually worked! I only used it maybe for 6 doses.

As far as back to work, I had also had a gastric plication where they fold up and suture your stomach into a sleeve (without removing tissue) so I took the ideal 4 weeks off work. They would have allowed 2, but given my job and that I lift people in comas and many that are dying from morbid obesity (therefore many > 300#) or the disease of addiction, I would need to be on light duty for 2 weeks. They stated the 4 would guarantee the healing and reduce the risk of hernias. I actually asked if I could return around the 2 week marker because I felt pretty good, and the APN said no. And just for today, I take suggestions, lol.

It is awesome to meet you all on here and look forward to participating in this forum!!

[debrainwater 0]

Good morning, Everyone!

Well, it sure has been a long time since I visited this web-site! I was banded over 4 1/2 years ago and I am currently batteling the urge to over eat (well not anymore). I started off at 225 lbs, dropped down to 153lbs. and then balooned up to 173lbs. I went in to get a fill and it didn't do anything, I could still eat anything I wanted. And, recently my medical Dr. put me on an anti-depressant to help with the raging hormons (don't you just love getting older?). So that did not help with the weight loss, actually I gained. I realized that I am at a point were I needed to do something different, so I joined WW (weight watchers) to help with my eating habits. They told me in the begining that I would need to do something more than just the lab-band, well, my way worked for about 3 1/2 years. Not anymore, I decided to do something different and it's working, I have lost 10lbs in a week.

I am also a "GRATEFUL" recovering addict who just celebrated 7 years on 5/23/05!

Keep up the great work!

Debbie

[Pandoracat 2]

Congratulations, Debbie!! On your 7+ year of miracles and doing something different with food!

Keep coming back! Keep us posted!