EdmontonGal

I thought that I had felt a few funny things with my port a few months out. One time, I was carrying a laundry basket and felt a little pop. I still cannot see my port unless I lay down and push the skin around it down. I just thought that the tenderness that I had then was normal,,, until the fill attempt.

I have heard that fixing the port is no big deal and if thats what your surgeon suggests for you to move on, DO IT! All the best!!! I will when my time comes.

Hi All!

Jenny here, from Edmonton. I am a married 29 year old. I had my surgery with the weight wise clinic here in Edmonton. I was at the clinic for 16 months attending classes, meetings with a psychiatrist, nurse and dietitian. I was approved for surgery after losing 40lbs and had my band put in on January 18, 2011. I was 222lbs on surgery day. Today I weigh 175-177lbs. I am so close to 90lbs I can taste it but I am maintaining currently since November as we have our formal wedding coming up in April and I need my dress to fit!

I am happy to be finding more and more Canadians all the time. I am awfully jealous of all of the BOOBS love in the US!

I was informed that my port flipped during my third or 4th fill I believe. That was 6 months post-op. I have a Realize band. MY surgeon discussed a revision surgery with me and after he pushed the port in and up, he was able to make the fill. Since I had a decent amount of Fluid in my band at the time, he suggested that we just leave it and revisit as I progress. At my next couple of fills, he just flipped it and filled my band. Sometimes it takes an additional poke but really, I don't want to be taking time off at this point for a revision. I am lucky that he can still access it I guess. I will have the revision if I need to though. It is a day surgery with local anesthetic but I really hate the hospital! GOOD LUCK!

Arent you a gem? Already a step in the right direction.

My husband was my biggest cheer leader. He changed his eating habits along with me (for the most part, he still has a steak while I have fish or chicken on occassion). He was always the first to tell me how great I was looking and the first to tell me that my hips or my collarbones were sexy!

He has been really great about exercising with me. A walk together, a bike ride, a ski trip or weights while I am on the elliptical. He was never in to exercising before but through his own research about my band, he discovered that there is a high divorce rate with WLS patients. This must've scared him I think. lol.

Your wife is going to gain confidence and motivation as she succeeds. This isn't meant to scare you at all but her interests and hobbies will change. Growing together is a solid way to make sure your relationship remains close and as you are here, we can all tell that you want the best for her and as long as that stays the same, you will be fine!

I went in for my 3rd fill today. 5 months post-op. My last fill was in May and we discovered then that the port had "twisted". My surgeon pushed the bottom up and BINGO - after 5 tries, he got the needle in to the port and was successful with the fill. Today, well that is another story. 10 attempts, No fill, still no restriction! I am going back on July 11th to try again and discuss booking a revision surgery. I am bummed and sore to boot but hope this is only a blip in the radar! My surgeon mentioned today that he has been doing this for a long time and has never seen this before. He has over 500 band surgeries completed with 85% of patients continuing to see him for follow-up on a regular basis.

Did anyone else seem to be REALLY aware of thier port all the time? Is that normal? Since day 1, I have been very aware of it at all times. If i rub up against anything or have pants touching the site. Also, I can not lay on my stomach comfortably since the surgery. Anyone have the same thing?

70% is MENTAL. Yep, in my opinion, it's mostly up to me and my mind. There's a lot more mental work involved than I originally thought at the beginning of this journey. I have to make correct food choices, whether to exercise or not, take my Vitamins...etc.

What do I wish that I had done differently on this journey?

• Taken my measurements (waist, hips, thighs, neck, wrist, etc) pre-op. When the scale was unkind to me at a weigh-in, it would have been nice to see the measurements shrinking.

I couldn't agree more! 70% mental, maybe even 80% for me. I also missed out on my measurments for some reason. I kept thinking about it but kept putting it off too!

Thanks for posting/blogging/sharing and smiling. You are an inspiration to allot of us!

Congrats on the positive momentum with your blog that you have going on now too!

Jenny

" can be done but you have to use the band and not rely on the band, You and only YOU can decide that that tasty chocolate is not worth it and you can live with out it."

I couldnt agree more! I find, even with an empty band currently, that I make better choices and concentrate on better portions. I didn't go through major surgery to get back to my old habits! I wont have my first fill for a while and being 2 weeks post-op, just got back on the elliptical yesterday. It felt good! Your post is totally inspirational!

Thanks for sharing!

My tips would include:

1. food JOURNAL!!!!! All the time. If you miss one, jump back on the next day! They dont care if they are 100% or not. They only care what you are doing so that they can help. Dont cheat - you only cheat yourself AND from experience... When you committ to not cheating, you force yourself to be accountable and who wants to write down a 1/2 chocolate cake? So you tend to not eat things if you remind yourself that you have to put it down. ALSO - This was my hardest thing to maintain!!!! I saw no value in it until a year later when I went back and compared old habits to new and saw the huge difference, when I didnt even think there was that big of a change.

2. Dont cancel anything: meetings, modules, appointments. This is frowned upon.

3. Ask about the support groups they offer. I met some GREAT friends!

4. BUY IN! If you arent bought in to all of it, it isnt the route for you.

I am always open for questions!!! Keep it up! Its a long road but SO SO worth it!

Jen

I love chicken and fish but have never been a fan of pork and beef as an adult. I think I just had too much when I was a kid growing up on a farm. I am going to try though... not so tough during the liquids stage. I may miss my chicken but I could survive on fish! I hope!

Im 5 days post op. Today I has some blended vegetarian chili thinned with tomatoe juice and run through the bullet. I only had a 1/2 cup and ate it VERY slowly! I didnt have any negative reaction either!

Friday night (me and the Mr eat out EVERY Friday night, its our night) was the first Friday since surgery. He got a 1.2 roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy and veggies. I could have eaten those potatoes!!!! But I got a chicken noodle Soup and drained out all of the veg, noddles and chicken. The broth was so warm and salty!!! It sure hit the spot. I am not a huge protien fan and getting my intake has been really difficult. I was sick of the sweet and creamy protien shakes by day 2. The yogurt was even too sweet. So granted, the broth wasnt a great choice for protien but I needed the break! I also blended a condensed split pea soup mixed with soy milk and had a 1.2 cup at a time this morning for breakfast! 2Tbsp of skim milk powder upped the protien.

For salty and savoury over sweet folks, it is tough!

Thanks for sharing Swirl... and all others! I agree with those who appreciate the honesty from either side of the fence. I too am new to being a bandster - 3 days to be exact and was told that it may not work for me by my surgeon during my entire journey. I decided on the band as I am not concentrating on weight loss. I am concentrating on changing my lifestyle and my relationship with food so that I am not at risk of developing diabetes and the other weight related diseases that run in my family. I spent a year and a half working on this before I decided the band was the right choice for me along with a team of professionals. If I hadnt had the team, I would have thrown down the money looking for a fix and at that time, I wouldnt have been ready. I am still not 100% that the band will work for me and wont be sure for a while but I have to trust myself and the skills I have strengthened this past year to help me in this process. My band may not work, I may have hit my natural plateau or it could be a great addition to my bag of tools?! Who knows? Whatever the outcome is, it will be something that only I will have to deal with on a daily basis and hope that I can still rely on this site for the support from thsoe who have been there and done that. Some of the posts on this thread make me doubt that. Differences in opinion is a spice in life. Lets not forget that.

GOOD LUCK all!

Hi there.

I am going through the Alex and just got my surgery date of Jan 18, 2011. I started the program in Sept 09.

The program was great and I did lose 40lbs while attending! I still am in touch with my team there too and they are fantastic! I also kept in touch with some of the gals from my ee group too!

I woudl love to keep in touch and maybe call on you for a little advice now and again.

How was your surgery?

How are you doing with it all?