Oregondaisy

I can't believe you were banded 2 weeks before me and have lost 62 lbs. I really want that fill. Can you tell me if you have any problems with food sticking, or not being able to eat certain things now that you are filled more. I hate it so much when food gets stuck, but I really want to lose weight. It scares me because if food gets stuck with barely anything in there, I am afraid I will start pbing. I haven't done that yet.

Thanks. I am going back in August. I know people think I am crazy to go in August, but I think tubing down the Salt river is a blast, and I actually like going in the summer. I think August is good because it seems like it's more cloudy and the sun isn't as hot. I know, people think I am nuts.

The CD's have several tracks to them. If I set it to the relaxation and skip the beginning, there are relaxation techniques to follow. There is one CD in the set that is made for using to fall asleep at night. I like them. I have others where the person's voice is so annoying, the last thing they would do is relax me. This lady's voice is pretty soothing. It's not the RN's voice either. This lady is a hypnotherapist.

I am sure you could get your lab work done wherever you wanted to and they would fax the results to him. I still had to have a psych eval, and an EKG and some blood work. If your regular doctor ordered this stuff and didn't put weight loss down for a diagnosis, your insurance would probably pay for it. I am getting my second fill Monday. The girl that was banded the same day as me is from Portland. We always schedule our appointments close together so we can visit in the waiting room. If you have any other questions about him, feel free. He is really nice, and all his staff are too.

Do you live in Phoenix by any chance? I clicked on your profile and it said Arizona. The only reason I am asking is because my dad lives in Mesa and I go down there all the time. It would be nice to have someone banded to be able to talk to when I am there. My dad doesn't know I am banded. I didn't want to listen to a lecture about taking the easy way out, I could do it on my own if I just had will power and how could I spend 10,000. He has no clue how many times I've tried to do it on my own and how hard it is to want to lose weight and be such a failure. Last time I was there in Feb., he wanted to eat out every night. I had food stick a lot and it was a problem around him.

What do you use to look up your calories? You were banded only a few weeks before me. How many fills have you had? I am really looking forward to getting my 2nd one Monday. I get really hungry all the time. I get full fast but it doesn't last. I eat dinner at 5:00 and by 8:00 my stomach is growling really badly and I don't want to eat that late. The same with lunch. I eat at noon and I am starving by 3:00 It's hard. Can you give me more ideas of what you like to eat? I will try the lemon pepper tuna. That even sounds better than tomato. I am so sick of not losing! I hope that fill Monday helps!

Can anyone who has had more than one fill tell me if they started losing after the second fill? I am so afraid that I will be like some of the bandsters that I have read about saying in a year they only lost 20 lbs. The first fill did absolutely nothing. I have to watch every bite or I would have gained the weight that I lost after being on the liquid diet, post surgery.

Poodles, do you mind telling me how expensive they are? I guess I can just click on your link and it will probably say. Well keep us posted when you get them and tell us how you like them. I try to eat low carb most of the time but it doesn't matter - if I am feeling emotional, I don't think of protein. I think of chocolate!

I never thought to look at the health food store for self hynosis tapes. I have such a hard time falling asleep and it's such a big problem in my life. I find it easier to listen to something like that than to let my mind race when it's time to fall asleep. I googled insomnia and there were a lot of web sites selling CD's that were really expensive. We only have one health food store in this rinky dink town I live in, but I will look there. thanks!

Northernsun, Can you give us an idea of the amounts/kinds of foods you eat? What is a normal day's eating like for you? I have read on here that in order to keep losing some people are eating less than 1,000 calories a day.

I tried those tuna sensations and I couldn't eat it without miracle whip light. I think it was tomato and basil. I thought it was GROSS. Which flavor is good? I do eat pretty much like that, but when I looked up the calories in my dinner, it was way more than I thought it was. I usually eat chicken of some sort for dinner, but I have to put something on it or it gets stuck.

:phanvanI am not trying to get anything started. I know that the RN is not a very popular bandster, but I do have to say that the CD's that she sells have been very helpful to me. I have horrible insomnia and bought some relaxation CD's that cost a whole lot more than the ones that she sells. I believe that her package has 5 or 6 for less money than I paid for one CD that I have bought online. My surgeon made me go to counseling before I could get banded. The therapist really stressed that self hypnosis is a very helpful tool along with the band to help with stress eating. I checked out several people who helped with eating and they all charged in the range of $75 per hour. Those CD's are geared towards bandsters and I love listening to them. I can be having a bad day and all I want to do is run to the Dairy Queen, and then I lay down and listen to one of them instead, and I am motivated to eat properly and follow the rules for the rest of the day. I have to say, they have saved me from overeating junk food on more than one occasion. Anyway, she may have been banned from several boards, and I know she comes across as a big no it all, but I have to say, I really do like those CD's. I hope I don't end up with another big bunch of posts against what I have said. I am just trying to say that I appreciate the fact that those CD's were available to me when I needed help. I try to fall asleep to one of them every night. I hope I am not sorry for posting this! I am not one to be a trouble maker.

That's the first I have heard of that. Dr. Ortiz in Mexico makes his patients stay on liquids for 3 weeks. then 2 weeks of mushies. My dr. made me stay on liquids for 4 weeks, then 2 weeks of mushies. But I cheated on that last week of liquids and had mushies a few times. I am really sorry to hear about your son. That had to have been really scary

How in the world do you stay in the 800 caloires per day range? What are you eating? I try to eat as little as possible but I am sure I am eating more than 800 calories. There are more calories in things than I think there are, too, when I look them up. Can someone give me a day's menu that is sticking to the 800-1,000 calorie range? I am just not losing. I hope to start though, when I get my 2nd fill on Monday. It just seems like everything has a ton of calories! (except letuce)

Didn't your doctor tell you that you had to be on a liquid diet for a few weeks after getting banded? Your band has to heal on your stomach and I have never heard of anyone eating chicken this soon after banding............

There are some relaxation cd's that you can order at OH through a lady named Sandy. They are supposed to be sort of like self hynosis that deals with emotional eating. She swears they were a big help to her. She has been down to goal for 3 years. I don't know if we aren't supposed to talk about other boards here, so I hope I am not doing anything wrong. I know my therapist suggested self hypnosis to me, when I told her that I didn't know how the band was going to help me, because I would still be able to eat junk food when I am emotional.

I lived on Slim fast low carb for 4 weeks after my surgery. I had Atkins strawberry once in awhile when I got sick of chocolate. I love slim fast and the low carb has about the same amount of caloires as Atkins. Sometimes I buy Atkins just because it's on sale.

I have been looking for this thread. I haven't lost anything since the first month. But I have my 2nd fill on Monday and I have high hopes that I will start to lose again. This is frustrating!

I am sorry to hear that anyone has pain. I honestly wouldn't have known I was banded if I hadn't seen the little cuts on my tummy. I never had any pain. I don't want anyone new to think that everyone always had a lot of pain. The only pain I have is if I eat too fast and take too big of bites. Then it's painful until it goes down.

Thank you for posting that Stacy. I really hope this second one makes a huge difference for me too. I am so tired of being at a stand sill. I am like you were, feeling like I wasted my money at this point. I want to find out what everyone talks about.

I have had it twice. It's just a bacteria that you can pick up anywhere like from eating fruit that isn't washed. They gave me medication that made my mouth taste terrible. Just make sure they test you for it afterwards to make sure it's gone. I can tell immediately when it comes back because I get a terrible pain on my right side.

I don't know why I never saw this thread. I hate to admit this, but it's one of the mail reasons I wanted to get banded. My self esteem was in the toilet, and I thought if I lost weight, my self esteem would improve enough that I could sign up on that E harmony or something. I live in the middle of nowhere, and I am probably older than most of you. But that doesn't mean I want to be alone the rest of my life!

Reading these posts has helped me too. I have been really frustrated because I have had the band for 3 months now and haven't lost anything except for what I lost the first 4 weeks on the liquid diet. My dr. took a vacation and rescheduled my 2nd fill from 3-26 to 4-9 so Monday I will have my 2nd fill. I hope the heck I start losing from this one.

Northernsun, Can you share your weight loss in relation to your fills? Did you lose a lot the first few months? And I was wondering if you are on any type of hormone replacement. I am asking because at 3 months after banding, the only weight I have lost was what I lost while on the liquid diet for 4 weeks post op. I am 54 also. Someone told me that taking hormones can stop the weight loss, yet others have told me I will start to lose as soon as I get another fill. I had one so far, but I don't think it did anything.

I go for my second fill on Monday. I really want to start losing again but it's really scary to me because I already get food stuck. I have probably said that a million times already. But I didn't shell out 10 grand to only lose 22 lbs. I have never pbed or slimed either but it hurts when food gets stuck. If I take a tiny sip of water, it gets unstuck, but my banded friend said once I get my second fill the water will come back up and I will start pbing. It's scary to wonder what I won't be able to eat after another fill. I had a cheeseburger for dinner tonight. It was the first bread I have had in 3 months. But I was told after my second fill I probably won't be able to eat bread anymore, so I guess it was like a last fling.