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FDATrialGuineaPig

LAP-BAND Patients
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Everything posted by FDATrialGuineaPig

  1. FDATrialGuineaPig

    Real-time Hi!

    Back atcha!
  2. FDATrialGuineaPig

    My pics -69 lbs loss in 7 months

    WOW LEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You look fantabulous!!!!!!!!
  3. Megan, Yep, it does, it really does! Your lower stomach will shrink in time and soon you'll notice a new harmony with fullness. I distinctly remember that frustration though. I would feel in pain from pressure but no SATISFYING sense of full. My theory is that with time we learn to chew well enough to allow just enough to drop into the bottom stomach to give us both the pressure of being full enough food in the bigger stomach to give us the warm fuzzies of satisfaction. So, yes, in time they do learn to communicate better .
  4. FDATrialGuineaPig

    Definitely not the easy way out.....

    Sue can I use that as my signature line?
  5. FDATrialGuineaPig

    opinions please

    Sue is right. And what you think was good chewing with your previous restriction might be nothing compared to how much you really are going to have to chew! If you think about it logically split pea soup is pretty thick. If you're getting that down, then you're fine. It just means you are going to have to superchew things to the consistancy of puree. I think it's around this time that I began to realize how disgusting a lot of processed and junk food really tasted! Chewing is SO unconscious, it's perhaps the hardest behavior to relearn. To this *day* if I let myself get to hungry I cannot control not chewing well enough and I end up throwing it up. It's such a biological function. Your band sounds perfect to me .
  6. FDATrialGuineaPig

    Have to have surgery and scared

    Believe it or not Susannah the surgery is the easy part. It's all the mental and physical adjustments you deal with afterward that are the true hassle. I've always compared it to childbirth. The drama, pain and high of the hospital are nothing compared to the shock of the day to day changes of your new life. But looking at it purely objectively this surgery is a piece of cake compared to other surgeries I've had! Good luck!
  7. FDATrialGuineaPig

    Breakfast?

    Since rededicating myself to eating Breakfast (usually it was just a few cups of coffee), I now eat about 2 cubes of cantelope and about a tablespoon of cottage cheese. Sometimes I mix it up a little and have 2 strawberries instead of cantelope (or 2 cubes of honeydew melon). But really, cantelope is my favorite. Then I stop, because I'm stuffed. Since adding more food to my day via breakfast I've actually lost a few more pounds. I didn't realize (or care maybe?) how important it really was. I don't have much variety--I love cottage cheese and fruit and pretty much stick to that combo daily.
  8. FDATrialGuineaPig

    Selling Lapband on EBAY!!!!

    Icky! I sure hope my webpage wasn't linked to from there...
  9. FDATrialGuineaPig

    Hi from chilly Maine

    Welcome Kim and good luck with your process!! 7 kids--whew!
  10. FDATrialGuineaPig

    Slow Loss At the Beginning

    I had a superslow start. I lost around 10 lbs the first month then gained it back plus around another 6 waiting for my fill!!! (My doctor refused to fill me until 3 months postop--an entirely different vent altogether). In spite of the rough start I found my way and was successful. 10 lbs is great!!!! Just wait until you get a good fill!!
  11. FDATrialGuineaPig

    Hi, guys!

    Ahhhh....Geezersue. My world is complete once again .
  12. FDATrialGuineaPig

    Frustration

    Good luck Baily!
  13. FDATrialGuineaPig

    Fear of losing the weightloss battle??

    Okay I have had TWO plateaus that lasted six MONTHS. But you know what--the weight loss always picked up again as long as I tried as best as I could (meaning imperfectly but with effort) to stay with the program. I never thought I'd see under 200. I went up and down from 201-209 for months. Then suddenly...it started dropping again. This is a LONG PROCESS and looking back I see how valuable all of the time was. For my body and my mental adjustments. There is nothing wrong with stalling. Maintaining weight is the biggest battle any of us face with losses. As long as we're moving in the right direction, we're fine .
  14. FDATrialGuineaPig

    5 months - celebrating 80 pounds lost!

    Great job Mary!
  15. FDATrialGuineaPig

    ouch (a comment on appearance)

    Quakergirl, post your pic and let *us* be the judge of his remark!! Don't let it get to you--people usually have underlying motivation for the things they say. The important thing is how you feel about yourself. And can I say--wow--amazing weight loss!!
  16. FDATrialGuineaPig

    Gaining!

    Bambam I didn't experience any restriction until 2.5ccs. Once you get more saline I think you'll notice a huge difference. Please don't give up, your journey has just begun!
  17. FDATrialGuineaPig

    Tummy tuck with a waist port?

    I had a tummy tuck with an abdominal port with no problems .
  18. FDATrialGuineaPig

    Howza bot U -- Geezer Sue

    HERE you are Sue. I was having geezer withdrawals!!!!! But now that I've read your words my addiction is soothed...
  19. FDATrialGuineaPig

    starting to freak a little

    Christi, I have lost 148 lbs but it has taken me ALL THREE YEARS to get here. The band is NOT an overnight solution but when your use it properly it is very effective and very permanent. It has only been approved in the US for 2 years so it is still very new, and a great deal of people here posting are still very new to banding. In my opinion their weight loss has been stellar! Sometimes it's people's expectations that need tweaking more than their eating choices! Hang in there and learn all you can. You should be comfortable with your decision before you go through with it. Good luck!
  20. FDATrialGuineaPig

    Oh man do I need help......

    JC, your weight loss is stellar and you just need a fill. You may stall or actually (gasp) gain a couple of pounds before it happens. But please don't fret. The body actually likes thinking it's getting a bunch of calories again...sets you up for another nice drop after your fill. Relax--you're normal and your tummy is almost completely healed now. I could eat pretty much preop about 2 weeks after my surgery and it stressed me out. I wished someone would have told me back then that I was NORMAL!
  21. FDATrialGuineaPig

    Having weird thoughts post op

    My immediate postop thought: Are you sure they did anything? Month 2: Why did I bother? I'm not losing ANYTHING. Month 3: My doctor refuses to fill me...maybe this is why the band won't work. Month 4: Now that I've gone to Mexico and had a fill, holy crap, this thing really works! It wasn't a myth! Month 5: I might really make it to goal. Month 6: This is staring to become the BEST decision I've ever made for myself. Now, here I am, 3 years later.... This was the best decision I ever made for myself.
  22. FDATrialGuineaPig

    2 stories of complications with the band

    Unfortunately this a very real possibility. A friend of mine is having his band installed soon and his doctor was VERY straightforward with him about this complication. The doctor said it's because occasionally someone has a stomach that is just too thick and the band has only been approved at one size in the US. My friend, obviously is praying that he isn't one of those people! However he's come to terms with the possibility and is still going through with the surgery in spite of it. Inamed needs to get on the ball and get different size bands approved!
  23. I always find it interesting when they tout how unsuccessful the Lapband is yet they ignore the statistic that at 5 years the average weight loss with the RNY is 50% of excess weight loss. Yep, 50%. There are plenty of RNYers who are thrilled with the band as a choice but for their own reasons decided against is. Not a biggie. But there are others out there who are poorly educated and refuse to acnknowledge that they have no real information about banding, only hearsay and conjecture. It's a very american attitude to sway towards the solution offering instant gratification. Myself, I prefer to look 5, 10, 15 years down the road at where I could end up with either surgery. I personally chose the less invasive route that was not going to compromise my absorption over the long term and that is ADJUSTABLE. The majority of RNYers screaming that loudly are either preop, newly postop or under 2 years postop (really--take a good look at who is spewing this stuff). The FACTS are you can gain ALL YOUR WEIGHT back with ANY bariatric surgery if you're motivated enough. There are groups on yahoogroups with several thousand people who are struggling with this post-RNY issue. Groups like OSSG-hungry come to mind. With all of the surgeries permanent behavioral changes are neccessary to sustain success. There is no magical solution. And honestly? I think for some people it makes them angry to have struggled so hard to come to terms with the RNY--the risks, the extremeness of it, and then to learn about banding. It's a much safer mental place to be in to convince yourself it "doesn't work". Therefore you don't have to acknowledge that you could have made a different decision. Insurances are coming around to covering banding, but for goodness sakes it was only just approved by the FDA two years ago! It's a relatively new procedure and it takes time to convince insurance companies to cover it. How quickly people forget that roughly five years ago it was almost impossible to ge them to cover bypasses. Use your common sense and do your own research. And most importantly--when you read an OPINION take into the consideration where the poster is in their journey and that they may have personal biases. Oh--and by the way I was very successful with the band .
  24. FDATrialGuineaPig

    Story of Band Sabotage

    Actually I don't feel sad for him at all. He certainly doesn't sound devastated by it...deep down he knows exactly what he is doing. I am glad for him that he got the band. This is part of the beauty of it all...you can go at your own pace both physically and mentally. Think of if he'd had a more drastic procedure--he wouldn't neccessarily be more or less compliant and he could really hurt himself in the long run. At very least with the band he a. stopped gaining weight and actually lost 5 lbs b. his band is now anchored really REALLY well c. he can choose at anytime to get a fill and further his journey--there is no window of opportunity he's missing out on d. he can be bolstered and given courage by the success of those around him Some people are really REALLY afraid to give up food. All of us go through this in varying degrees but I think it's important to have compassion for people who take a little longer to get there. He is making a CHOICE and for whatever reason, it is his. But he is NOT a failure!
  25. FDATrialGuineaPig

    This is weird!

    I have to say that I think part of my obesity problem in general was that my "full" switch is broken. I've noticed that it takes a good 10 minutes AFTER I've eaten to determine if I'm full. If I don't eat slowly and wait for it, I will certainly overstuff myself which leads to (for me) shoulder pain. I was told the pain I experience is from irritating my diaphram and that you get referred shoulder pain from this. The only reassurance I can offer is that eventually you DO learn a "new" full and you end up learning how to not cause yourself pain getting there. The bottom line is that it shouldn't affect whether or not you succeed with banding .

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