Kaiser Richmond Pre-op

[riley4183 0]

Nicole that's FABulous!! I love to hear that you are in love with your band :w00t: I think that's how we are supposed to feel! Full and happy, but on very little! So what does "full" feel like to you? Different from before I know, but 'where' do you feel it?

Christine, I think that watching the videos is SO helpful to people considering having lap-band! It totally would have helped me when I was not sure I wanted surgery yet (I knew I didn't want RNY tho, LOL) to see what went on, esp. at a Kaiser facility. I had seen some other fill vids on YouTube but they were from back east or mexico, and I just had no idea if that was going to be what I was facing. And I always wondered "what else?" so I would totally encourage you to post what you have! I don't think Dr. B would mind at all, you could always email him & ask if he wants to see the rest of his show!

Reggie, how are you doing this morning girl?? I'm praying for you to hit that "good!" point :wink2:

SO girls. Is anyone else considering plastic surgery? I am thinking that I am going to need a pannelectomy in another year . . . I have this HUGE blob of skin that hangs way down in front, it's getting closer to me knees every day! With 3 c-sections, there is no way that I could ever "tone" that away, and it's really in my way. I am putting $250 a month extra in my county retirement plan so I can borrow it out again (like pre-tax savings) if and when i do it, but have not started exploring yet. Ideas??

[Desperate1 1]

Hi Ladies,

Haven't had time to catch up on all the posts yet - there's like 3 more pages since I last checked but I wanted to say how much I enjoyed the group yesterday!

Got to meet Tina & Donna, & see Heather again! So much fun!!

Donna, thanks so much for all the info with the apnea! I will get on my doctor first thing tuesday morning.

Hey Nicole, I hit the pool yesterday & wouldn't you know it was all larger older ladies too & they didn't give a crap about my thighs - LOL I'm off to swim some more laps now.

Off to the Have a great day ladies

[swrktp 1]

I talked to Patti at group yesterday and she had plastic surgery and is 3 1/2 years out. I am going to wait and see what happens after I get to goal but the way things are shifting around I think I might need some...........I feel like I am melting............when I look at myself I look like I am melting downward..........LOL. Now imagine if I had RNY how I would look............OMG nothing but a puddle by now!!

Have a great weekend ladies......I might have to miss Tuesday due to a retirement party at work at Johnny Carrino's across the street!! I am gonna try to slip out early to come see ya all!!

[AudsMom 2]

Riley, yes it is great to love our bands, it will be even better when i get the restriction feeling that i cant eat more. Because I know i can, just because when i first had my fill i was doing 1/2 cup, but then i yanked me back down.

My feeling of full, hmmmmmm i guess its just satisfaction. My stomach isnt growling anymore, and its at the point where you didnt feel likle you ate so you could go on, but i just stop when my plate is empty.

Candra: so glad the pool experience was a good one:D Ive started wearing shorts this summer, first time in a loooong time. But im at the point where my brain is catching up with my loss, so im starting to feel better about myself, and i dont care what others think. Plus it is weird i am getting alot of attn from the ATTRACTIVE male species lol.

What are the little things everyone has notice they can do now since loosing weight????

I can sit indian style on the couch and have extra couch infront of me and im not miserably uncomfortable:D I also can sit in a booth and have SOOO MUCH SPACE lol.

[AudsMom 2]

Candra and Heather: are you ladies coming to our lunch on Tuesday? WE would love to have you both!!!

[meandmyweightloss 0]

Hey everyone!! Sorry I have been MIA......crazy few days!!!!! Yesterday was my nephews bday then my brother in law had a party last night.....fun!!! So there was this lady th ere telling my mother in law about her lap band....so I came over and listened....non of them know so I didn't say I had it...but she was telling me that she had it in Sept and she is only down 30 pds....she said thats normal.....I kept thinking wow I'm 3weeks post op and down 17pds......but I watched her eat dinner and she ate a hot dog with bun, chips, and mac salad...I mean really!!!!

Anyway...Reggie....I couldn't finish my 1/4 cup of applesauce either.....at the beggining.....but I could finish my 1/4 c of creamed Soup...I dont know maybe its the thickness of the applesauce!!!!!

Thank you girls for being able to meet at 1!!! I needed it...totally bummed I missed the meeting yesterday...how was it? What did they talk about?

So the last couple of days I have been eating a scrambled egg with a pinch of cheese....purfect!! It doesn't make me suck and it totally stays with me!!! Yesterday at lunch I ate about a 5th of a hamburger dipped in ketchup...perfect no problems!!! and then dinner I ate a very small amount of chicken breast and a few bites of Pasta salad...I know no pasta...but it was hardly any and they really didnt have much I could eat!!! Either way it was great!! I felt good...no nausea...no dizziness no starving...I was happy!!!! It was nice to finally not feel sick!!!! Oh and I had energy...not a tone but more than usual!!!! :wink2: Yah!!!

[AudsMom 2]

That girl is silly! In 36 weeks she is saying 30 lbs is normal.. Robin would KILL us, and NOT give us a fill. in her first 3 weeks she shoulda been down 10-20 right there.. who did her surgery?

Good job on the food candy you are doing great!1/5 a meat patty, is that even 1/4 c of food? ??

We are going to mikes parents today, not excited at all, sick to my stomach over the whole situation. These people not even a year ago called me a nasty bi*** and said i had a bad child hood ( my mom didnt like hearing that) and a bunch of other REALLY mean things about me.. and posted it on myspace. My husband says "Cant you be fake for one day" Im like whats the point in going if we are all going to be fake? To let them see my daughter? Why!?!?!

Sono exercise for me today, either i over did it on the bike at the gym or my party having me stand for 3 hrs straight did it, cause it feels like its all twisted up. I made a drs appt to go get it checked out again, cause i cant even stand on it, or stand straight up. And now im wearing my brace 90% of the day..... LAME

Ok girls, good luck with all the memorial day BBQs:)

BTW i love watermelon!!! Anyone know how much we can have safely??? i had more like a 1/2 cup this am with my scrambled eggs. Im no more stuffed then normal and i was in heaven the whole time i ate it.

[reggie71 0]

Hello Divas,

Ok so I am feeling a whole lot better today. Riley thanks for your prayers and good thoughts, for a moment I was feeling like what the hell have I done LOL. Well until I got on the scale this morning and it read 290.5, good grief! I know the larger you the more you loose so hope this continues. The gas continues to be a nightmare. I am walking and sipping. Riley, yes the applesauce bit is not good for me, when I ate the cream of chicken felt much better. I will try the applesauce again because one can only live on cream of chicken for so long..

candy yes 1/4 c of applesauce felt really like a bucket, so I am with you on that. It's interesting how we all having different reaction to certain foods.

Chris I hope all s well with you. Nicole congratulations on your scale moving again.

I will try and ake it on Tuesday if not I will make it to the next outing.

It's good to be back on here feeling better.

[swrktp 1]

Hey Girls

The meeting was good. She had ton some research on lap band stuff and gave out some success rules and than this funny 100 reasons to lose weight stuff. Also they gave out weight lose magazines which I really liked.......I might order that magazine. Talked about RNY and lap band and there seemed to be quite a few bandsters.........lots of clothes but nothing in 18 or 16...

Ok if I am a year out and only 30 pounds down I will be so disappointted!! That is really not the way it is suppose to work.........I am only down 12 right now and disappointted. Sizes going down but now scale so whatever. But seriously I am on no carbs at all right now...................my goal is hopefully to be at goal weight by Christmas/new years. That is another 60 pounds down, 10 per month is reasonable I think. Ahh.........these 30 pounds stories seriously worry me because it proves you have to do the work to succeed and that the band can be outsmarted.............

I just need some restriction so I don't feel like I have no band!!

I think my biggest problem has been thinking in terms of cup sizes and not calories. I think the 1200 was easier to grasp for me. Now I am realizing that the 1/4 cup is way more important than the calorie amount and if you do protiens the calories tend to be low............

I am gonna get this just this vegetarian thing is giving me some challenges..................I am learning how to do it all. I sorta wish I had more time and classes before on the vegetarian thing so I had it down by post op. But I am learning..............I think it has affected the speed of my weight loss!!

Ok I am stressing about Robin this week. I hope the 12 pounds flies or that I hit a big losing streak this week!! LOL. I am due for one.................making sure I have socks on when I go to Pinole this week!!!

[reggie71 0]

Tina, you will be fine, don't worry about the scale so much it appears ou are losing inches. One thing you can do is evaluate the amount of carbs that you are taking in, Tofu does have carbs and so does Beans. So it's either you are not getting enough Protein or you are getting more carbs than you think. Hey, I 'm no expert but it helps to look at other factors.

Don't woory about Robin, hopefully she'll help you solve some of this mystery.

[swrktp 1]

Reggie your over the worst. The first week I was sorry I did it but now I am so glad. I feel so much better than I did six months ago. Night and day difference. Even if this the best it gets it was worth all the hassle. But the surgery was a bit more than I expected I am sure you get that!! LOL

I didn't like applesauce. I didn't like the cold things. No even pudding which I LOVED before surgery. It is all still sitting in my cupboard. I just plan don't like it anymore.....most of my Jello is still in the fridge and my daughter is eating that!!

But Soup. Ah soup!! I LOVE soup now. I lived on soup the first two weeks. Potatoe and broccoli soup...........every meal every day!! LOL. I am crazy I know. I sorta wish I could go back to soup again made me feel so full...........oh course I had alot of restriction back than too.................I just craved the hot, hot Soups...........I hated the cold stuff...........my tastes have changed since surgery........

Reggie every day gets better. I am almost 6 weeks and I can't believe it. I feel normal again and all my energy is back. I am getting out with friends now more than I have in 6 years................I feel like I have my life back and it only gets better from here.............

Ok well I gotta run. Clearning house!!

[swishbc 0]

Tina, when I had my fill I asked Dr. Baggs how many calories I should aim for in a day. He said somewhere at or around 1000 calories is good. I was having a lot less than that and was at a decent plateau...after that appt I tried to have higher calorie Proteins and got my intake up a little higher and have lost a decent amount in the week since my fill. I think too FEW calories is definitely NOT the way to go.

Reggie I'm glad you're feeling better! Isn't it nice when you start feeling better everyday instead of worse? Your weight loss is freaking awesome too! Good job.

[Desperate1 1]

Back from the pool - It was empty today so that was nice. It's easier to swim the laps non stop when nobody is there to get in your way. I really feel the difference! I brought my niece with me today in her size small bakini (grrr) and she use to be on a swim team a few years back but the first thing she said was "I forgot how hard this was" hahaha

Hey Nicole, Yeah, swimming was great! Glad to hear you're wearing shorts!! I can't wait to cross my legs comfortably - I carry alot of my weight in my thighs - ugh!

I don't know if this helps but in the beginning I had a hard time with my in-laws too. When we went visit or any of them came here I was just myself! take me or leave me. 17 years later, it's all good now. Just be you girl, the best you that you can be!!! You don't have to be nice but be polite & they'll come around.

I don't think i'll be able to make it Tuesday - I have to be in Marin, an hour & a half away from there, by 2:30 to pick up my nephew from school. I will see if I can make other arrangements but, as of now, i don't thinks so! I'm bummed about that because i want to meet ALL of you! Next time!!

[swrktp 1]

Yea Reggie I think your right. Robin said to write everything down and she will try to figure out where I am having problems..................

I figured out the carbs stuff. I know Beans have carbs but tofu is new to me..............hmm learn something everyday. Gonna check that part out.

My nails are all splitting and breaking and that worries me. At the support group yesterday they said that was because I was not eating enough protiens..........gonna ask Robin and Dr. Baggs this week.

I am glad that Kaiser follows up with us so much. I think that in itself keeps me focused on the goal. Knowing I have to be accountable and report back to them once a month or so...............see how stressed I am already about this week!! Good for me keeps me in line!! I can be a stubborn soul at times!! LOL

[swrktp 1]

Candra your beautiful!! Go swimming at the pool no stress!!

I also used to be on swimming team as a kid and it is hella hard work!!! I wish I had a pool I could use a few laps...............

Nicole. Maybe the in laws are trying to make things right? Maybe this is a way to open the door. I hope. I bet this is hard for Mike being in the middle. Just remember you are in a different place now your stronger now. I agree with Candra be yourself and let them accept you..........just don't start problems. But don't try to get on their good side either. Here is the thing the ball is in your court now.........if they want a relationship with the grandchild they have to come around. My guess is that will do what they have to do have a relationship with that sweet baby. Babies have a way of healing relationships. Just hold your own Nicole and it would be nice if they would apolgize and start the slate clean...........I hope it all works out. DOn't let them "mess up" your weight lose by making you stress out to much!! Girl you are totally in control on this one and don't let them make you feel like "less" than you really are!!

Love ya all and thanks for all the support!!

Edited May 24, 2009 by swrktp