donali

Okay - sorry I am such a slug about my website. It's got to be THE most uninspiring site ever!! But I posted two new pictures from Mom's and my trip to the Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon at the beginning of May. My side view looks amazingly wide, but I'm blaming that on the fact that my tshirt is waaaay too big. The little dog is Mitzi Sue, my Mom's pom. My poms have gone to that big kennel in the sky. :think I am a big 18/small 20 in the new photos. 5'6", 209.

Shaneal - WHO is your doc, and didn't they give you a post-op diet? Even the Inamed handbook has patients on liquids ONLY for a couple of weeks after surgery, then mushies, and then real food. The restriction on diet isn't because you might be unable to tolerate solid food - it is to keep your stomach as still as possible while it is healing. You want those sutures well healed and the band well-seated before you start eating real food. Just like a knee with a cut in it - if you keep flexing the knee, and breaking open the cut, it will take longer and longer for the cut to heal. Same with your stomach. A band that is not well seated is more likely to slip farther down the road.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who wasn't up to a walking tour of Europe the day after my surgery... DeLarla, you are going to be even more surprised at the things you won't eat now that you have to actually CHEW and TASTE them!!! I was like you - if it could be eaten, it was fair game!! Now, though, I really don't like certain tastes or textures when they actually have to be chewed (and therefore tasted!!) BLECH!!! And some things taste okay, but are just too much work. Like subsandwiches and burgers. And some things just aren't the same if they can't be eaten the old way - a big bite of hamburger patty just isn't the same as a big bite of a full fledged burger - the taste and texture is missing. Same with pizza. If I just eat the topping off, it's just not the same as a great big mouthful of warm, soft deep dish bread with sauce and melted cheeze... So, it's not that some of us are "saints" for what we've given up (or greatly reduced) - it's just that eating these things don't give the same pleasure as before, so we're not as drawn to them. I am lucky that has kind of applied to french fries, chips, and baked goods for me. Now if I could just get it to migrate to chocolate, Oreos and Cheetos....

NO DRINKING WITH MEALS!! That is the number 1 piece of advice. After chew thoroughly, eat slowly, and eat "real" food and not soft foods (once you're out of the mushy stage). Okay, that makes it like #4 piece of advice. lol But seriously - drinking with meals is probably one of the most common culprits for bandsters who are struggling with not losing. That and making non-nutritional food choices, and slipping into soft foods syndrome. Let your band help you - don't defeat the band by "washing the food through" the band - even just a little bit... It's a hard habit to break. Of course, it is always YOUR choice. But you asked for thoughts, and those are mine.

Hi Francesca - Anything you can suck through a straw is fair game. I practically lived on blended chili thinned with a little tomato juice. You should also be able to have yoghurt, I believe. Nothing chunky, just smooth stuff. Also refried Beans thinned with a little tomato juice and taco sauce is fabulous. You can blend up just about anything and thin it down with tomato juice, milk, or Water (whatever goes best with what you're blending).

Marsha - I doubt you have done anything to your band. It sounds as though you are one of those people who has a very sensitive and finicky stomach, and you are going to have to be very, very, very careful after your adjustments to give your stomach time to settle down. Sounds like it just took some time for your stomach to get over the trauma of being squeezed. In addition to the initial tightness caused by the trauma of a fill, the restriction we feel will vary from day to day. It is never good to take the band for granted because it hasn't given us any problems - whenever I do that, I am reminded in a hurry that YES, I am banded, YES, I have restriction, and YES, I ALWAYS have to chew well and eat slowly!! When you go for your next fill, be sure to stay on liquids for a week - the tighter you go, the more likely your stomach will react poorly (like with your first fill), and take things super slow.

There is not enough love or laughter in the world, so I'm trying to spread a little. Happy Friday, everyone!!! _______________________ NEW DRUGS FOR WOMEN D A M N I T O L Take 2 and the rest of the world can go to hell for up to 8 full hours. ST. M O M M A'S W O R T Plant extract that treats mom's depression by rendering preschoolers unconscious for up to two days E M P T Y N E S T R O G E N Suppository that eliminates melancholy and loneliness by reminding you of how awful they were as teenagers and how you couldn't wait till they moved out. P E P T O B I M B O liquid silicone for single women. Two full cups swallowed before an evening out increases breast size, decreases intelligence, and improves flirting. D U M B E R O L When taken with Peptobimbo, can cause dangerously low IQ, resulting in enjoyment of country music and pickup trucks. F L I P I T O R Increases life expectancy of commuters by controlling road rage and the urge to flip off other drivers. M E N I C I L L I N Potent anti-boy-otic for older women. Increases resistance to such lethal lines as, "You make me want to be a better person . Can we go to bed now?" B U Y A G R A Injectable stimulant taken prior to shopping. Increases potency, duration, and credit limit of spending spree. Extra Strength B U Y-O N E-A L When combined with Buyagra, can cause an indiscriminate buying frenzy so severe the victim may even come home with a Donnie Osmond CD or a book by Dr. Laura. J A C K A S S P I R I N Relieves headache caused by a man who can't remember your birthday, anniversary or phone number. A N T I-T A L K S I D E N T! A spray carried in a purse or wallet to be used on anyone too eager to share their life stories with total strangers in elevators or on airplanes. S E X C E D R I N More effective than Excedrin in treating the, "Not now, dear, I have a headache," syndrome. N A G A M E T When administered to a husband, provides the same irritation level as nagging him all weekend, saving the wife the time and trouble of doing it herself. ________________________________

No last minute advice, just lots of congrats, and looking forward to seeing you on the other side. Breathe, breathe!

Whooo hooo!!!! Congrats!!!

Hi Francesca!! Welcome! Was DeLarla as funny in person as she is in writing? That girl keeps us laughing! Yes, as the swelling from the surgery goes down it is normal to feel hungry. However, you are still healing, so even though you may be hungry, and feeling fine, please, please, please stick to your liquid/mush diet for the amount of time your doc recommends. The restriction from going to solid food too soon is NOT because you may not be able to tolerate it, but because the stomach needs to rest until it is healed. Eating solid foods too early makes the stomach work, which can weaken the placement and cause problems much, much later on. Think of a cut across your knee - if you keep bending your knee, the cut will keep pulling open, and take longer and longer to heal. If you immobilize the knee as much as possible, it will heal much faster and cleaner. Hang in there!

The port site is the most painful and long lasting pain of it all for most of us. I don't think I felt 100% for at least 3 weeks, maybe four. And my port is a constant annoyance. Nothing unbearable, but I almost always know it's there unless I'm lying down still. I think most people are able to forget their port is even there, but mine for some reason is cantankerous.

See you on the other side!!!

Sending all my good thoughts and best wishes to you and your family, Jennye. Hang in there. I know the physcial/speech therapy can really do wonders, so it would not be unusual for your Mom to bounce right back. *hugs*

Like, I could top YOUR story?!?! lol It must have been my Dad's, and being a packrat I grabbed stuff out of the throw-away pile when he died. That must have been in there. Now, before everyone starts feeling all bummed, he was a great guy who loved to laugh, and I'm sure he was cracking a big wide grin thinking about what his cumberbund had come to... lol

1/23/03 I just had steri-strips - no stiches.

Pre-band, one time my DBF and I were at KFC (a European one) and they didn't have just a regular meal with biscuit, mashed potatoes, 3 pieces of white meat, coleslaw... I don't remember what all I thought should be in there, but they didn't have it grouped that way. So I ordered it all seperate, and it came out to be like $10... It was like I just kept ordering food, and he just looked at me... I felt really guilty, then, 'cause he was paying, but geeezzzz! I just wanted my FULL meal!!! lol

I have been thinking about you, girl!!! How fabulous that you are doing and feeling so well!!! Whoo HOOO!!! Plus, you're gorgeous, so you've got it all happening. Congrats again on your anniversary, and don't be such a stranger!! We miss you!!

Unfortunately, there is not going to be one set answer for all people - and even the "experts" argue about the best way to go about weightloss. So be suspect of anyone who claims to have all the magic answers - I'm not sure they exist. At least not in one composite body of knowledge. My suggestion is to do some www.google.com searches on the key words you're interested in: optimum weightloss nutrition, basal metabolism, etc. You will find a lot of conflicting info, so you'll have to decide what makes the most sense to you, or find someone you trust who "witnesses" for a certain way, etc. I am trying to keep my daily caloric intake at no less than my basal metabolism requirement, plus up to 200 calories more a day. I am losing, but not like you are looking to do - I have long plateaus. My average is good, but... I am not down 6-10 pounds at the end of each month. My way is working for me, but if I fixated on losing a minimum of 6 pounds each and every month I would be a very unhappy camper. Again - that's pretty much what my average is to date!! But these last six pounds have come off between March 28 and May 15, with lots of ups and downs in between.

I hope she's more than "pretty much" weaned..

Hi Janie - Nothing to be scared about. If you're not ready to move to soft foods when that day comes, you don't have to. It's alright to go slower than the food schedule - just don't go faster. You'll be feeling like your old self before you know it - honest!! When you do start soft foods just take it slow. Chances are once you're all healed and the swelling has gone down, soft foods won't do much to take away your hunger. Don't panic! This is normal! You will most likely experience some time prior to your first fill when you wonder if you really do have a band inside of you, because it may not feel like it! Once your fills start kicking in, your hunger will be toned down again, and your portions will then be smaller.

Congrats, Karen!! You are well underway!!

OMG!!! That is SOOOO me to a "T", Alexis! I know exactly what you are saying. Prior to banding, one of my greatest fears was going to one of those Chinese restaurants that serve the meals "family" style - where no matter what you order, they bring it out on a platter and everyone you are with expects YOUR platter to be passed around for them to help themselves. My, I can still feel that initial panic just describing those old days.... MY FOOOD!!!! MY FOOODDDD!!!! MINE MINEMINEMINE!!!" Now I'm like you much of the time - I want EVERYONE to share with me! Except on those occasions when I fear there won't be enough... I can feel that growling dog guarding my food raising its ugly head again. But that doesn't happen very often anymore, and usually only at the beginning. As soon as I've backed off some of that hunger, I'm like "FEED THE WORLD!!!" LOL I've told my boyfriend a million times now how much I LOVE sharing food with him. His appetite is very often small, and I adore splitting a meal with him, particularly when we eat off the same plate. There's just something so... nurturing about it, I guess, and also the bliss of knowing there is enough, and of course being in love... I just had dinner with one of my dearest friends, a naturally thin as a rail person, and now we always split an entre, and it just tastes and feels soooo good! There was enough left over today for one more person eating our portion size to have split with us. We just tossed it in the trash. Sometimes I feel so free!!!!

I think this is still the hardest part for me, 16 months post surgery. Particularly when I'm hungry. Now that I can't eat the volume I used to, it is painfully clear that I chose my portions based on how hungry I felt - add that to the "clean your plate" mentality, and it's no wonder I overate so much! These days, when I let myself get very hungry, I still initially think "super-size it!!!!", but I am much better at stopping when I am full, and either tossing the rest or saving it for another meal. Also, no matter how hungry I get, there are still some things that I wouldn't even try to eat because I know how uncomfortable it would be, and what a struggle it would be to get it down (subsandwiches, big juicy burgers w/bun, a whole loaf of still warm French bread with garlic/butter, stuff like that), so that's been a really good thing...:sick

Renata - What a perfect fairytale story!!! Ahhhh... how I love romance, and love, and romance... Congrats, congrats, congrats!!!

Movie??? Oh.... yeah.... lol I was just gonna have the popcorn & jr. mints... totally spaced the whole movie part... Don't they have some sort of place that uses popcorn w/extra butter mixed w/jr. mints as a filler? You know, like those kids rooms filled with those little plastic balls? That's what I want for Christmas...