donali

Update - got three panels set... The French doors (of course) are a b#*&$(W#* to install, particularly since they don't really have anything to hang on too... I need to put up more of the inner wall to help keep the door frames true before nailing/screwing them in. But hey, the first window panel is pretty solid! Maybe tomorrow I can finish setting all the panels, and get the front door in. Then Wednesday siding, and I'm almost home free.... Oh, please, please keep your fingers crossed for me!! And thanks for all the support and encouragement!!!

Penni: 4/6/04 -- 47 lbs Lisa: 5/5/04 -- 51 lbs Becky 6/03/04 -- 53 lbs Denice: 8/12/04--20 lbs Leatha 05/29/03 - 67lbs Michelle 4/6/04 -- 49.75 lbs Marie 5/26/04 -- 39 lbs Donali 1/23/03 -- 102 lbs Total Loss= 428.75 lbs

Whoo hooo!!! Girl, you rock!! I'm so proud of you... **sniff** :banana :Bunny :banana

Hi Ryan - I have heard the "shrinking of the liver" excuse as well. I don't know if I buy it - my BMI was 48 when I had my band placed, and I was never told to go on any special diet prior to my banding, nor was I required to lose any weight. I think it mostly has to do with the doc's experience, and the availability of the special trocars needed for the larger patients. If your BMI is 50 or more, I would look into this Yahoo! group: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/ExtraordinaryBandsters/ They have exclusive membership, restricted to those of 50 BMI and greater, so if you fall into that category I'm sure you will get a lot of good info on what to expect and what your options are in regards to docs/pre-surgery diets/etc. Hang in there!! You'll get this done, one way or another!!! **hugs**

My Dad used to have a motorcycle that he rode to work - I rode on the back sometimes, and always felt safe (my Dad was that kind of guy) - but... I don't know that I'd have the courage to ride one alone. I remember how heavy Dad's was - I couldn't lift it back upright by myself in highschool, and I was pretty strong (I thought!) Plus, I can't imagine hitting something just right and getting thrown across the road, like can happen with a regular bicycle. I know the tires are a lot fatter, but still... I remember Dad telling me how motocycles only had about an inch or two of traction on each tire... I guess I've had too many bicycle crashes to be convinced that I could ride a motorcycle safely... No, BF doesn't ride. There are some things he feels are worth risking his life for, but a motorcycle isn't one of them... lol

Leatha, you are doing amazingly well! And what a wonderful treat - I call this kind of activity "sneaky" exercise - something you do because of the fun an joy of it, not because it gets you moving. Whoooo hooooo!!! And line dancing looks so fun....

Damn, Ryan - you make me want to have a mo'sickle now!!

I've been doing the happy dance for you, too - here's my "verbal" happy dance for you! Babs, you have done an amazing job!! Can I tell you how jealous I am? Onederland is SOOOO elusive! Keep dancing, girl!! :banana :Bunny :banana

Thanks for all the compliments, but I am scared spitless! What the HE&*#$^ was I thinking?!?! lol I'm a little numb - the only thing that keeps me going is knowing that if I DON"T finish by 9/28, BF will have no office, and no place for his computer or boxes of books soon to arrive. That's the only thing that is powering me through the fear!! Today I finished all four window frames. I think that should be the most intense building thing, although the front and back will be a little complicated because the doors are so tall, and the awning is so short. I tried to put up my first section of inner wall and it was too tall!! Yikes! So tomorrow (or sometime soon!) I'll have to take it apart and cut it down a 1/4 inch or so and try again. Sigh. My knees hurt... I have a huge bruise on my left arm from almost losing control over the first window frame - better the huge bruise than the frame crashing through the French door windows!! Yikes!! It has been ungodly hot the past couple of days. I lost 5.5 pounds yesterday - all fluids, I'm sure. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to get me under 201!! Someday soon, I hope... Keep your fingers crossed for me... :sick This is one of those projects where I can honestly say I don't know if I need a frontal lobotomy, or a bottle in front of me... Probably both!! lol

I'm driving with manly man - not sure when we'll arrive - probably 2ish if we leave here by 9am. Dinner/price sounds fine by me. Hopefully Sweetie will think so, too. If not, he can fend for himself. See everyone Friday night, 10/8!!! I can't wait!!! :banana :Bunny :banana

Poor Alex... so glad it's over, and hoping you never have to go through that again!! **hugs**

Well, it's been a heck of a last two days. I am trembling with fear, but bit by bit I have actually started working on the construction of enclosing my porch. Big accomplishment today was completing the first of four window panels. The porch is 8'x28'. I bought four windows that are basically 4'x6', a regular front door, and french doors for the back. Still not sure how to rig up the doggie door, as the french doors will pretty much take up most of the 8 feet available, but I'm sure I'll think of something... lol So, before and pre-during pics, for you pic-hungry masses!! From top left to right: 1. Porch from street with all the construction stuff moved on there. 2. On the porch, looking towards the back yard 3. Looking at the porch from the back yard - very first framing standing there on the right-hand side behind the little tree... lol 4. On the porch, looking towards the street. 5. The first of four window frames. French door visible behind. 6. Speciman bookcase I'm building inside. Notice how the few shelves I've installed have already accumulated clutter... tsk, tsk 7. The new security screen door I installed last weekend - the new door behind it was installed the weekend before. Note the nasty original mobile home door on the right - that little nasty splash of yellow. I gotta get the dumpster and get rid of the cast off stuff. P.S. - You're all doing so well - congrats to everyone! Watch out for that reflux! And all the good advice that everyone else has already dished out!! **hugs**

*blush* Uh, I think "scarfing down pizza" basically says it all at the moment... lol Actually four pieces is a vast improvement over past pizza binges, so I'm not really complaining... I'm good!! Still within 10 pounds of my lowest low, touched for one day weeks after my unbanding. Oh where, oh where can onederland be??? When BF gets here he's promised to walk my butt off. I'm taking that promise literally. In the meantime, I'm being very butch and spending a lot of time with my power tools. I've installed a new door, a new metal security screen door, vented the dryer to the outside (instead of under the trailer, which apparently is a big no-no, but hey! That's how it was when I bought the place!), building shelves to display BF's fossils, shells and petrified wood, building shelves for our combined 200+ videos, installing window air conditioners, cleaning pond filters and relining the ponds, and - the piece de resistance - enclosing my porch. Yes, by myself. In fact, my boss called me today and insisted that I take tomorrow and Friday off to work on these innumerable projects. He said he didn't want any phone calls from BF when he arrives, complaining about the disaster area he just moved into!! lol So, wish me luck!!!

Happy, happy day!!! How wonderful to spend it on vacation!!! xxoo

DIETING MENTALITY!!! ALERT, ALERT!! WARNING, WILL ROBINSON!!! lol This "journey" is your LIFE - not a destination! Losing weight is something that happens along the way - there is no "finish line". This is just one of the many challenges living our lives bring to the table, so to speak... So be glad that your journey is long! A long, happy life is a wonderful blessing. Yuummmmm.... oatmeal Cookies.... The carb days come and go for most of us, I think. Now that I am sans band I feel it is doubly important for me to not get my panties in a bunch over my dips and rises - I know it would be waaaay too easy to start feeling hysterical, which would drive me to eat even more, even less healthily. I DO feel the need to be ever more vigilant, but NOT dieting - which is a fine line to walk, particularly for someone who has only "recently" gotten off the dieting wagon - three years of non-dieting stacked against 31 years of dieting seems "recent"... lol I worried less about the dips and rises while banded, because I knew I couldn't get too far off track - I was somewhat complacent in that regard. I kind of miss that complacent feeling, that relaxed, sure feeling, that my "phases" would not adversely affect me "in the end". At the same time, I cling to that memory of complacency, reminding myself that I will always have phases where carbs call my name, followed by more sane periods where I am deaf to their calls. I promise myself that as long as I don't panic, I can take the phases in stride, just like when I was banded. Knowing that nothing is off limits, and reminding myself that "health" is the goal, not weightloss, really does help me not go off the deep end emotionally when I'm scarfing down pizza. I got my pizza fix, I don't feel guilty, I feel no need to order in a large deep dish sausage pizza for one... lol I'm good! So, this is a long, round about way of saying... 1. Carb cravings come and go. 2. It is my belief that the cravings will "go" sooner and for a longer period of time if you satisfy them WITHOUT guilt, without thoughts of "making up for" it later. 3. Genuine focus on HEALTH (NOT weight) seems to keep my panic at bay when I push towards the rise back to the "high road" of more nutritious foods. No panic = no dieting = peace with food = stable weight. I no longer have the word "shouldn't" in my vocabulary when it comes to food. Instead I ask myself, "How healthy have you been eating lately? Is this something you really want to eat right now? Why?" Sometimes that's enough to get me to make a healthier choice, sometimes not, but at least I was acknowledging any feelings that might be driving my cravings, and giving myself an opportunity to address THEM first, in a non-food way. Let the carb rollercoaster begin!! lol

Whoo hooo!!! Congrats, Teresa!!! You're doing great!! xxoo

My appetite feelings remain the same - pre-, post-, and un-banded. What is different is how long I remain satisfied. Being banded, I remained satisfied longer on a smaller amount of food. However, even when I was banded, when I was hungry I felt like I could eat a ton. Of course, when I started eating, I was only able to eat a little bit. Or a "normal" amount - which looked like a little bit to my eyes! lol So, my appetite is the same, but now when I eat I don't have the band to stop me when I've had a "normal" amount - I have to rely on my mind now to do that. I have to rely on my mind now to eat slowly and chew well, so that my stomach has a chance to register that "full" or "satisfied" feeling before I have overeaten. It's hard. One trick is to never let yourself get too hungry - if you wait until you're starving, you're going to wolf your food, and you'll have consumed too much before your stomach has a chance to send the signal, and then you're going to walk around groaning, holding your stomach, thinking - geez, I didn't feel like this when I stopped eating!! Good thing I didn't eat even more... lol As far as habits that I picked up that are carrying over - I think meal planning is the biggest one - preparing foods for Breakfast and lunch at work ahead of time, pre-packaged, pre-portioned. It sounds corny, but it's really true that we eat more if we have more put on our plate. We just eat until it's gone. So if we put less and eat until it's gone, unless it was drastically less than we needed, chances are that's all we'll eat. Also I am much more structred about getting in my Water, which I wasn't before. And I try to remember to eat more slowly, put my fork down between bites, chew a little better. All really geared towards dragging out the whole eating experience so the stomach has time to send that "satisfied" signal.

Your band is too full if you are experiencing problems. You are already too tight if all you can do is swallow water and your own saliva - you must be able to eat enough food to meet whatever amount of calories required to keep you alive and well. If you can eat enough to do that, but emotionally you cannot stop when your pouch is full and you are constantly getting stuck or throwing up, then you are too tight. Your behaviours MUST match what the band allows - if you are unable to adjust your behaviours so that you avoid throwing up, then you are too tight, even if you can eat too much. This is a mental thing as much as a physical thing for most people. And most people are tighter in the mornings then later in the day. I would not use your morning restriction as a decision factor unless you are unable to drink warm liquids in the mornings. If you're unable to do that, then you are definitely too tight.

I cannot say for sure if it is true or not, but my personal experience is that liquids tend to be harder to contain than food, meaning if there is too much pressure in the pouch, liquids are thin enough to be pushed back up into the esophogus. The pouch is stomach muscle, which is designed to stretch. There is a difference between the normal stretching all pouches will do when you eat food, and pouch packing, which will, over time ("they" say), permanenty stretch the pouch. That is still debatable in some circles. Some people here have claimed to be told that they have "stretched" their pouch. I don't know if that is really a small slippage, or if the tissue of the stomach really has been stretched and remains at a greater capacity. For normal stomachs I have read that they "shrink" over periods of lesser consumption. Who knows for sure what is really true? If you are not experiencing discomfort, my best guess is that you are not in any danger of doing any kind of damage. I am not a medical professional, just some stranger on the internet, but that is my opinion.

Here's a smaller version of your original photo, so we can see you without scrolling:

Hi Ginny - You're beautiful. Here's a cropped photo - let's see if you can see your face any better in this avatar:

Anything that gets put into the pouch faster than it goes out will back up into your esophogus, including liquids. If you're newly out of surgery, sipping helps ensure that you are not filling your pouch faster than it is emptying, and therefore not putting any stress on the new sutures. As you become more healed, you will probably be able to drink Water in the more normal way, although many people who have reached their "sweet" spot or who are pretty tight cannot guzzle liquids like they could pre-band, or even in their early days. If you are not uncomfortable with the speed that your liquids are being taken in, then you are fine. You will know if you are drinking too fast or too much at a time - that feeling/sensation is unmistakable. I have even had water come back up if I was tighter than I expected and took a couple of big swallows of ice water.

Can you believe I have actually been working for a change? While at WORK?!?! Will wonders never cease! lol Sorry you're having a hard time of it kid. Wish I had some good advice for you. Sounds like you and Gerber have it solved for the moment... **hugs** xxoo :banana :Bunny :banana :Bunny Are you feeling any love yet??

Hi Chris - Here's the post from page one of this thread: I can't tell you all how much it means to have all this support. To quote beloved DeLarla, "I'm feeling the love." To fill in a few of the gaps in this particular post (for those of you who didn't read/remember my "gall bladder" attack post, here's some of the background missing. I had just been doing research on erosion coincidentally. Or maybe all that research CAUSED my erosion... lol THAT's it... I have not had any problems/symptoms. I had no reason to go to TJ for this follow-up, except that on Thursday, 6/3/04 I had what felt exactly like an intense gall bladder attack. I had severe pain in my back about band height, and pressure/heat radiating inside from the area around the top of my stomach. I felt like if I could just burp/fart/have a bowel movement, I would feel better. That's EXACTLY how my bad gall bladder attacks felt. None of those things happened, and I had my sister race me home from work - I didn't feel as though I could even drive. After two hours or so from the onset, the attack went away, and I have been attack-free since. Just like my old gall bladder attacks. Since I don't have a gall bladder anymore, and have never had these symptoms again since I had it out (June 1992), I was concerned. I really didn't think it had anything to do with the band (and it still may NOT - I did a bunch of googling on post-gall bladder removal attacks, and there was tons of info - I figured it was very likely that I had formed a stone in my bile duct - that could still be the reason for the attack), but decided that since I never had bothered to have my annual band check-up yet, I should go do that before I see my PCP on 6/30. I didn't want the band to be a suspect in hunting down the gall bladder attack cause. I was CERTAIN there was nothing wrong with my band - I have good restriction, no stomach pain, no reflux, no problems what-so-ever. My port has been bugging me this past week, but that's a constant come and go thing with me. It's almost funny that this attack came on WHILE I was reading articles about erosion... I almost feared the whole experience was psychosomatic, since it came on so suddenly with no obvious provocation. I thought, geez, not only can you psyche yourself into fainting off the toilet while reading vericose veins articles, you can psyche yourself into some sort of attack by reading band erosion articles! What a maroon! So. That's why I went for the endoscopy. Normal, prescribed band maintenance. With a little push from a bizarre gall bladder-like attack. Which still may have nothing to do with the band. My advice to you all (and I can only imagine how frightened you all must feel, 'cause I felt the same way when someone posted stuff like this): Do your regular band maintenance. That means once a year you should have an endscopy - that is NOT if you're having problems. It's my understanding that's a regular part of an annual band check-up. I do not hear of people doing it though, so maybe it's not? But that's what my doc said at the seminar I attended in late October, so it's been on my mind to have it done. I just hadn't gotten around to it. So thanks be to the fates, or whatever, that I had the attack, which forced me to do what I had planned on doing anyway. And I hope, and pray, and wish that I can be the 1-3% in your guys' lives, and that this doesn't happen to any of you. I think that would only be fair. And if my being the fall guy could ensure that, then I am happy to do it. You're all very welcome.

Have a great vacation!!! We'll miss you!!!