MarcyLoo

And I'm right there with you Melody! I am not interested in the vigorous exercise but I'd love to be able to go on hikes with the family, so normal activities, fit in normal seats etc.

I expect to lose almost all of my excess weight: I'm, 5'2" and want to get to 170, longer term goal 150 which is still bove average but I'd be very happy there. It doens't mean I'll stop there, but would be thrilled. But I expect this from myself, not just "from the band." I do realize thaat anythign the band helps me lose is a health improvement but I'm in this for life now...so can;t imagine not continuing with WL. In the past 5 weeks I'm a sixth of the way to my goal of 150!

I'm 5'2" My personal goal is first 170 then 150....if I get below 200 though I'll be thrilled and if I go lower than 150 and am still healthy so be it. The only person at the clinic who asked me about my own goal was the nurse practitioner psychologist, who said in her opinion 150 was very reasonable. She also explained that people who have been obese for years will almost always fall above average weight because over time our bones actually become denser to accomodate carrying the extra weight...so it's not realistic to expect to get to the "average" healthy weight for average people. I hope that made sense? My surgeon never suggested a goal weight.

I was just in for my 1st fill last week and they said heartburn is a big sign of being too tight... hope you get it figured out. * hugs *

One of my favorite indulgences is going to a movie by myself and eating popcorn and a Cherry Coke. I only do it about 2-3 times a year, and I know popcorn, Cherry Coke, and snacking are off limits now that I'm banded. I haven't ctually attempted popcorn, but I imagine it'd get easily stuck but movie theatre popcorn is sooooooo high inc alories so for me I won't even go there. Anyway, today I'm taking our 3 little boys to a movie-somehting we're starting to do more often. I'd like to incorporate snacking at the theatre into my meal plan today since it'll actually be my lunchtime. I'm not at all opposed to sneaking in my own food. Ay suggestions on what to sneak? I usually eat a serving of granola with a greek yogurt for lunch, so I'm thinking maybe a baggie of dry granola, a Protein shake, and I'm kinda hoping for another food option...maybe raw veggies? I'd love to hear other suggestions!!! thanks everyone

Gika I hope they get it figured out!! They told me to schedule my 2nd fill for only 2 weeks later...an I can already tell I need more (but maybe not much more). The 1 cc they added has for sure helped but I could use a smidge more to keep me feeling full longer. I'm fairly pleased with the amount I'm eating at a sitting (about a cup to cup and a half depending on what it is) Well, with my fill I had a pretty good day. My eggs with onion and ham (about 20g protein and under 200 cal) kept me full for 4 hours. For lunch I had greek yogurt and granola, which lasted about 2 1/2. I just ate the topping off a piece of pizza and half a side salad and am way too full. I plan to not eat anything else today except maybe some hot tea. Is anyone having a lot of belching going on? It amazes me sometimes that I can belch this much...like a neverending burp pit.

Oh my Jackie that cracked me up as well!!! (and man can i relate!) I'm also married so don't date, but I did have someone hit on me the other day. I know my husband is going to have issues if men pay attention to me as I thin out (he's a suspicious duck, for no reason as I am 200% comitted to him & our marriage and always have been). In social situations, though, if people ask about my "odd" eating I plan to just explain I'm ona special diet and cannot eat certain things. I'm also very open and most people already know, and I'm not hesitant to expalin if people ask em to elaborate. That's just a very personal decision, though. Kuddos to you for being on the dating scene! Have the time of your life, girl!!!

I don't donate anymore, but I would totally suggest you ask your surgeon about this. My guess is donating is ok if you have a balanced diet, take a dialy multi vitamin, but you'll want to wait so many weeks post op to donate since your body is recovering and you need to restore blood lost form surgery.

It sounds more like phrenic nerve pain form the band itself vs acid reflux. you have a lot of swellign the first 1-2 weeks so hopefully it will settle down. You can always call your surgeon, though...

Name, real or screen~ Marcy Age~ 35 (36 next month) Weight on April1st~ about 280 Goal Weight for April 29th~ 265 Exercise Goal for April~ Begin my Kinect exercise program Dietary Goal for April~ Make sure i'm getting in t least 60 grams of protein a day Personal Goal for April~ finish with my training at work Date Banded~ March 15, 2011 Total Weight Loss Since Banding~ I' going by my total loss since starting preop diet, 21.5 pounds (12 of which were fromt he week prior to surgery)

Lost another half a pound overnight, woot! I did well last night at our bible study group (we potluck every Thursday)...the hostess made chicken enchiladas and this yummmmy corn cake stuff, but ll very fattening. I kept my portions well in check. :-) Now I must go deal with a kitten who I suspect is hallucinating. She's a spaz and always jumping at the walls and stuff when nothing is there.

Dumping syndrome is with gastric bypss, not the lab band. It has to do with the missing intestines they remove with bypass. Maybe your brochure was for WL surgery overall and not lap band specific? Whoever had loose bowels the other day, that wa sno tlikely dumping syndrome, just a fluke. Dumping syndrome usually has some other things that go with (nausea, shaking, sweating, cramps, even confusion)

Great news! I was up from 277 to 280 at my appt yesterday and sinc emy fill 24 hrs ago I'm down to 276! Yay!!! I only ate 2 meals last night at work (12 hour shift) and was very clearly not hungry for 4-5 hours at a time. I'm thrilled!!! I for sure have to chew more thoroughly after my fill, and am eating about 1 cup at a time.

Awesome! :-) I also work at a busy hospital in the Seattle area. :-) (I see you were banded here anyway)

I was told the lifespan of the band is 8 years of CONTINUOUS eating/digestion in tests (and we do not continually eat so in reality the band can be lifetime device unless it fails). There's no rule about having it replaced every 10 or even 20 years. My guess though is that in another 10 or 20 years insurance will only have beter coverage as health benefits are seen more and more. We can surely hope so! I can drink Water pretty quickly between meals, but it's common to have issues with very cold fluids. As someone said the urge to take huge bites will go away after you get stuck once or twice.

So I had my fill today! It was easy-peasie. I had thought my band was empty this whole time but it turns out it's been at 4cc's (in a 10cc band)...so I'm at a total of 5cc's now. The nurse had the doctor come in to look at my port because last night in the shower when I bent forward I felt a sharp pain that is still there...just like I thought the doc says it's a popped port stitch, but he says it'll be ok since there's 3 other stitches and scar tissue by this point all holding it down. It hurts though.

I would guess altitude could make it tight for the trip, but like a bag of unopened hcips it should go back to what it ws once you land? I'm just guessing though... Have a great trip!!

Sisterwood, I've had my gallbladder removed years ago so nothing prescribed for me...sorry I'm no help. Well, in the shower last night I bent forward and to the left and pulled something around my port. My only guess is I ripped a stitch? It's the most pain I've been in since surgery other than getting stuck. I'll bring it up when I go in for my fill today.

Oh and the other day I was at my moms house....having a cup of coffee after being awake for 2 days straight...at home I use fat free half and half and splenda. well all she had was nonfat milk or regular half and half, so I opted to treat myself to one cup of coffee with half and half. Totally my choice and IMO not sabbotaging my band/diet. We're all entitled to the occasional treat if we chose. anyhow she had the wrong screw-on lid & as I took it out of the fridge some spilled. She said to me rather rudely "why are you having half and half???" I gave her a pretty dirty look and said "because I'm having a cup of coffee." Oy.

I've only been banded for less thn a month. I've started getting really irritated with my mom & my mother-in-law (my MIL in particular). Every single time I talk to her she asks how my "diet" is going or how my weight loss is going. I always explain that I am well healed from surgery, that I have lost 20 pounds and have STILL lost 20 pounds and that my band is STILL empty so I'm not expecting to lose much more until my fill (tomorrow). I'm already kinda down that things are moving this slow and that I'm almost always hungry, so to have her/them asking so often is driving me nuts. I know it will get better, but I don't want the focus of every stinking conversation to be my band or my weight loss or my diet progress. anyone else have similar issues?

My first fill is due tomorrow, 4 weeks out. It's been miserable waiting I agree! I know there's research that shows the 1st fill happening too soon can lead to band slippage. Try to take heart in knowing this can be a slow process....huge hugs! (I feel your pain)

Ice cold fluids make me hurt and my band is empty (till tomorrow yay)....it feels like it makes mys tomach "spasm"

Pug, thanks for the protein info!! I'm having a really hard time. I'm not staying full, eating too large of portions, and starting to snack. I have my first fill tomorrow and am so looking forward to it helping me. I've lost a total of about 20 pounds since preop diet...but have gained 2 back I'm pretty sur ein water weight. I'm trying to not be too hard on myself because I know my band isn't tight enough yet, and am not going completely hog wild but I do look forward to better control. I've also got soem life stress that's crept up; husband is unhappy at his job and talking about leaving (he has a histroy of this) and work is trying to take me off training early and I'm scared poopless. My hormones are wacky too making me really easily upset. Bah.

PCOS is sooooo soooooo complicated. It took me years of research to feel like I was near expert on it ha ha. It's a syndrome vs a disease because symptoms vary so much from woman to woman. Typicalls your male hormones (like testosterone) will be high end of normal, and your estrogen and progesterone can also be slightly off. It's difficult to get a diagnosis. Many doctors are even clueless. It's also a matter of "does one have PCOS due to being overweight or are they overweight because they have PCOS?" It's like a cycle that feeds off each other with no true answer. I do know though that losing weight will help kick you out of PCOS or minimize symptoms. Then again not all women with PCOS are heavy. some typical/common symptoms: infertility (usually due to not ovulating regularily) hirtuism (excess facial hair) obesity cystic ovaries dark Patches of skin between your thighs, underarms, nape of neck acne (facial) insulin resistance and/or type 2 diabetes Of those, I have infertility, minimal hituism, obesity, dark patches of skin. I had one particular male hormone that was off the charts (DHEAS) I have three little boys, but was on medication to get pregnant with #1 and #3 (our middle child was conceived when our eldest was 3 months old, and my PCOS was likely "under control" due to recent pregnancy) OKAY, THE COOL THING ABOUT THE BAND!!! The typical diet for lapband is GREAT for PCOS management: low carb, high Protein. Low glycemic index. The diet itself will be helpful in weight loss overall. i hope that helps a bit?

Swimming is GREAT exercise, and you can do that with spinal stenosis. (but let me guess, your excuse will be that there's not a pool nearby) Cookies, chips, sour cream, chocolate milk all accumulate in your stomch. They do not just "slip thru" especially with how tight you claim your band is. Yes, they are calories. Your body needs calories, but it needs the RIGHT type of calories. In all your years of therapy, nutritional counseling, support groups, etc you should be well aware of that. You say we don't NEED to eat. ARE YOU serious? Really? PEOPLE NEED TO EAT TO SURVIVE. It's up there with breathing. One of my problems with this thread and your posts (topic starter) is that you act like you're the only obese person who has struggled for years. Yers of "failure," poor choices, etc. Almost everyone with a lap band has been there...for as many years as you. People can and do make change. You're simply UNWILLING and that's become abundantly clear thru your postings. I hope for your sake you become willing and have great success.