Alexandra

Emmy, have you checked out fitday.com? There's probably some sort of calculator on there that will help you come up with a number. Generally, for women, the numbers are between 1200 and 1600 calories a day for weight loss. Obviously that's just a general guideline and is probably not even helpful for you. I've been using the home version of Fitday and find it very helpful. There is one big problem, though, with its metabolism calculator, which is the same on every single one I've ever tried. Generally, these calculators take your current weight and activity level and based on that tell you how many calories a day will let you maintain your weight and how many fewer you should consume to lose weight. Well, unfortunately the current-weight number includes a whole lot of fat, which is metabolically inactive, and that skews the number upward considerably. But using an ideal weight for the same calculation results in a lower number than would be accurate. So what I do is take both numbers and split the difference, which gives me a better estimation of my daily calorie expenditure. How precise a number are you looking for? You must have heard the 1200-1600 range bandied about. Is that what you wanted to know?

Hi Angela, What is the reason for your pacing yourself at .25 cup every 15 minutes? I can see that maybe for the first couple of days, but once you're on full liquids that limitation doesn't apply to everything, does it? So what difference would it make how fast you drink your Water? Unless there's some reason that's specific to you, I don't see why you'd have to sip that way. Until my 3rd fill I could chug water just like I could pre-band, and no one ever told me not to. Drinking as slowly as you have been I'm not surprised it's hard to get it all in. But I don't think there's any reason not to just drink as you like.

Wow, Lisa. Well, I must say this clears up a lot of things in my mind. Honestly, if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck, well, you know the rest. No question, an open weeping wound for months at a time is NOT NORMAL, everyone, and it is baffling indeed that no one tested for infection. Thank goodness it's been caught and treated, FINALLY. Perhaps this is the end of your drama, and you and your little silicone friend will live happily ever after. We hope!! Dr. Billy has just gone up several notches in my esteem, too.

This is exactly what I was going to say, and almost exactly how mine went. I think we owe it to ourselves to be totally honest about our decision to have surgery and how well we understand what we're getting into. I looked at the psych eval as an opportunity FOR ME to examine my own decision as much as for the evaluator to do so. This is not just another hoop to be jumped through. It's important, for everyone.

Hi Misty, Just about any food can cause discomfort, if you eat too much of it or take too big a bite. Discomfort is different than being unable to tolerate something, and I think the latter is really rare with the band. I say I can't eat eggs, but by that I don't mean they cause me distress. In my case it just means that the first bite doesn't go down well, so any more than that and I feel it in my esophagus. That amounts to being unable to eat them; one bite isn't eating (in my book). Other things are harder to eat than they were pre-banding, but scrambled eggs are the only thing I really can't eat more than a bite or two of. Thin-crust pizza goes down OK for me, though one slice is WAY more than enough. There are certainly various kinds of discomfort, and various degrees. The trick is to learn when to STOP eating so that you escape the totally avoidable discomfort of having eaten too much--of anything.

Nope, can't feel the band at all. I'd be shocked if I ever could.

Melanie, I hope you are over this because you are going to have LOTS of times in the future where your weight loss slows or stops for a while. Get used to it. Holy cow, girl, you've lost 55 lbs!!! What on earth are you upset about??? Seriously, this is not a race. Your body is reacting to a sudden drastic drop in caloric intake, and it's taking a breather. That's a good thing! Take the time to get used to your new body, your diminishing profile, your smaller clothes, your increased energy, and so on. Don't look forward at some distant point: enjoy where you are RIGHT NOW, because it's a whole lot better than where you were only TWO MONTHS AGO. You're doing PHENOMENALLY well! Most bandsters lose less than half of what you've lost in the first two months. But comparisons are odious, all that matters is your personal progress. And it's amazing!! :D

Hi Ms. Mitchell: Before you look into individual insurance, I'd suggest you try again with Aetna. Their stance has changed somewhat on the band and if you qualify medically you have a much better chance with them than you would have had a year ago. Are you covered under one of Aetna's standard insurance plans? What were their reasons for saying no a year ago?

What wonderful images, and such great success!! Thanks so much for sharing them. You're inspiring me, you're both so beautiful! :cool: :)

Hi Emmy, Everyone is right, you have nothing to worry about. I remember starting in on solid food and finding out the hard way I was just not ready. Just because your doctor's guidelines mention some particular food on some particular day doesn't mean you will absolutely be able to handle it. Scrambled eggs in particular are a popular "mushy" food, but I know of LOTS of people who just can't do them at all. Take it slow, and listen to your banded tummy. Allow some real time between bites to see how things are sitting. Pace yourself! You're doing great. :cool:

Hi Mistybreezes! Congratulations on your banding! First thing I'll say is yep, diarrhea is perfectly normal at this stage. Liquid in, liquid out--silly but true. When you can get on thicker liquids, go ahead and go wild with soup. There a gazillion great ones out there and NOW is your time to indulge. Blend anything chunky for a couple of seconds to get the big lumps out. Between good soup and Protein drinks you shouldn't have any problem getting 1000 calories or so a day. Isn't it great when you wake up the first day you start to really feel better? The sun WILL shine again and you will heal and can then get down to the business of being banded. But for now you must just think about healing, and trying not to get too hungry. Welcome to bandland!! :cool: :)

I'll echo what everyone else has said. Scrambled eggs have been a problem for me since banding; one bite is enough to bring the pain. It's just not possible for me to masticate it enough, I guess. (That means chew.:cool: ) Don't worry, you're just learning. Stay away from eggs!

Oh, Trish, I can SO understand what you feel. For months while I was researching the band I couldn't even let myself think about it--the very idea that I might get it someday was just such a pipe dream. I remember running through all the thoughts that you've posted right here, again and again. One thing you can do right now is stop comparing yourself to other people. Your sister? Please. You can't be that because you're not HER. You're you. To be honest, the whole "goal" thing never appealed to me--my GOAL was and is to be healthier than I was. That has no number attached to it, no special size. When I look back I realize that I reached my most important goal on August 20, 2003. I just reach new ones every single day. You will too. It's easy to talk ourselves into pessimism because so many diets and programs and attempts have failed before. But BEING BANDED IS DIFFERENT! It's a completely different physical feeling than dieting. You have a physical barrier to overeating, a negative reinforcement that you learn from over time. It's not just a matter of telling yourself not to eat that cookie, it's a simpler matter of eating real food and actually feeling full. Then saying no to that cookie is a whole lot easier. It's not automatic, and god knows I have enough Cookies when I decide to partake, but it IS easier. It's a tool to give you more control over your intake. That's all. But that's so, so much. :cool:

That is fascinating, vinesqueen! Hmmmm....

Wow, what a wonderful article and how cool that your Mike is in it!! That's wonderful that he's in touch with the young man, too. That kind of support will so important to help him get through the tough times. Can we ask you to let us know from time to time how he's doing? Maybe tell him about us? In any event, please send my best wishes for a smooth surgery, and LOTS of continued success to both Mike and his protege.

Oh, Katie, what a blow for your family and especially your cousin. :cool: Here's lots of good thoughts for you and all of them that you can find the strength to support him through this scary ordeal. And congratulations on the great progress!!

This is a message from Sanmae which was posted elsewhere. I couldn't move it so I'm copying it.

Sanmae, I'm going to move your message to a new thread so people will see it. Lisa, this has gotten extremely confusing! What the heck did you do??? Can you un-do it? Or maybe we should lock this thread so it doesn't keep doing whatever it's doing...

I remember posting almost exactly the same question. As you heal your hunger will return, and if you're still on liquids it takes a lot to satisfy the hunger. But don't worry--as long as you're following the instructions with regard to texture, you can't overdo it on liquids. Quantity limitation comes LATER. Now just concentrate on healing and getting through the phases. Congratulations on your banding!

Wow, that's weird! My guess is that it's an automated web search thingy that Google uses, but they're usually not visible to the users of a forum. Maybe Google is trying to be aboveboard--what a cool thing that would be. Spiders are little programs that search the web (get it?) and are used by search engine companies to compile their indexes and search results. If you think about it, Google probably has millions of these little guys all over the web at any given moment. I'm not surprised it's here, but I am surprised we can see it.

Here's my message again, under my name this time. See, this is what I'm wondering. Is the reflux that bandsters experience actually the backflow of stomach acid and juices? Or is it just a backflow of food and drink? If what is flowing back up hasn't had any opportunity to mix with stomach acid, is the backflow going to be as harmful? I've had one or two experiences with reflux before banding, and I sure as shootin' had pain and irritation. That's not what's happening now. I'm probably just grasping at straws, but hey, I can hope.

Contemplating surgery is very scary, I know. I think the anaesthesia is the biggest risk from banding surgery, and people are aren't facing it arequick to question the need. I know my DH struggled for a long time with the thought of my taking on the risks for something that wasn't "necessary." Well, of course, it was necessary and I knew I'd be facing a serious situation at some point if I didn't get control of my weight. Deciding to have the surgery was easy once I realized that increased health problems were coming down the pike. Imagine all the people who face emergency surgery every day--people with serious health situations to begin with or who haven't had any time to prepare. If people like that can survive anaesthesia--and of course they do, thousands of times a day--then I'd be happy to take the risk when I'm in good health and can do what my doctor recommends to prepare. And indeed, recovering from the anaesthesia was the hardest part for me. Lapband surgery is, in most cases, less than an hour long. Surgical risks increase with the length of the procedure, so as surgeries go this is an easy one. Of course there are still risks, but going in with your eyes open and your wits about it will minimize them.

OK, for those of you who think snow is exotic or fun, take a gander at these babies...

I think we got about 24" locally, but what's making it harder is the wind. It's bitingly cold so even though my older daughter went outside with daddy for a while she was back in after 10 minutes. I am thrilled that he is home. He works for a deli that NEVER closes, so when we got the call at 5:00 a.m. that they were closing today it was like a message from heaven. His presence is making this a fun day, rather than a drag. The snow sure is pretty, too!

Oh, man, this is so hard! Snowbound with two little kids and what do you think of? Popcorn, brownies, Cookies, and all the other fun things to cook and eat together. AARGH!! We can't go outside or go shopping so we're limited to what's in the house. And what's in the house is all of the above. Besides, what on earth is fun to make that the kids will eat that isn't bandster poison? Ah, well, thank goodness hubby is home to share the pain. He can handle the baking chores and I'll hide myself upstairs with a book till it's all over. Or do laundry, or something.