jayres14

What is going on?!?! So I have had my band over a year now and it seems like every time my pouch is empty from not eating for a while, my chest starts to hurt. It hurts up on the left side and it even hurts where the band is placed (and yes, I can feel the pain in that place). When I eat something, it doesn't hurt so much, but I always seem to have a hint of discomfort . Burping also seems to help some. It is weird but I always feel like I have something stuck in the bottom of my throat, like a golf ball, even when I haven't had anything to eat. I had an US done on my thyroid and it is normal size. I have never experienced this before, I haven't had any problems with my band whatsoever until the past month or so. Now it is constent to feel the discomfort, even bending down kinda hurts me and I thought I was going to pass out last night at zumba class from being dizzy. I don't think I have a slip bc 1) I can still eat solids and stuff without any problems and 2) my doctor said i would know if it slipped b/c it would be extremely painful and I would be calling him immediately. What kinda worries me about a slip is that when he put the band in, he sews a part of the stomach in the closure of the band to help prevent it from slipping. So maybe it has moved but not totally slipped?? I guess I already know what I need to do, see my doctor, even though it will be out of pocket. Just wondering if anyone else has or had experienced this and have some insight. Thanks.

Happy Bandiversary!! My one year was this month also and I have lost about 40 pounds too. I still have about 25 more to go but like you said, I am closer than I was. Cheers to us!!

I hope my surgeon puts mine in the center under my sternum. Seems like this is the favored spot? I'm going to ask him if it matters where to put it, if not I'll ask for that position.

The only issue (for me) with having the port right below your sternum is sometimes my bra irritates it and I have to "adjust" You also have to be real careful ALWAYS when laying on your stomach on firm surfaces.

My first fill is Thursday And I'm rather nervous about having a needle stuck in my belly. Should we eat before we get a fill or just have a protien hake or oes it matter?

NO! NO! NO! Do not eat or drink ANYTHING atleast four hours before the fill!! Your pouch needs to be empty to keep anything from going wrong and to get know you are not too tight. Your stomach will swell and get irritated with the fill, which is why you have to liquids for 24 hours afterwards. The lanocane that numbs everything hurts... kinda bad. But it only lasts about 5 seconds. So count to five when he starts and you will get through. The big needle? You never feel it, I just don't look at it.

Don't fear the fill, you need it to succeed!

Mine is right below my sternum sewed to my abdominal wall. It is actually a good spot because it doesn't move around a lot and lower risk of flip!

I am so sorry this is happening to you. I would not worry at all about how much you say you are eating. Once your body is healed, you will have all the time in the world to work the weight off. Right now you need to focus on staying as comfortable as possible, given your situation. Compression garments may help with the tugging and pulling on the port site when you move.

What really bothers me about your post is your doctor! Why is he not having any blood work done?? That seems very neglegent to me on his part. He should be doing a culture to learn the specific strain of staph since it is all not the same and you may need the antibiotics since your body is obviously not fighting it off. They whole "let's see if it heals on its own" sends a red flag immediatly. What if it doesn't?? It's not worth the risk to "see" what happens.

Doctors are also humans, and although they are very eduacted, they are not perfect. I think you need to get to that office and be very assertive with them, not aggressive but fully assertive. You should demand labs on your blood at the least. This is your health and your life and nothing to be pushed aside and taken lightly. There is no reason why you should be getting the run around. If this office does not take your well being seriously, find one that will.

hmm, that's interesting. BTW, what is picilation?

Lizann, i too have been eating too many stretchy carbs. The good thing is that we stop the sabatoge and start over. I had coffee for Breakfast and am now eating egg drop Soup from the local chinese place. I will have a weightloss shake at 2 and another at 4:30 before I go to my zumba class. Tonight for dinner, i will do a Tomato Soup. I should still stay below my calorie limit and will do the same tomorrow. I will do egg salad and chicken salad on my third day and hopefull be back where i need to be. It is kinda like the 5 day pouch test, just modifyied. Maybe, just maybe, it will also get this plateau moving again!! Good luck, my dear, and we will prevail!!

What support group do you go to? I didn't know there was one. I track my calories on my fitness pal but I don't count anything else. I guess as I try to lose this last 25 pounds, that is something I need to do, count my carbs and fat too. I am in Pleasant View, north west of nashville. McDowell never gave me a strict number to follow, just to eat three meals a day with Protein, then veggies, then carbs if still hungry and no snacking. Needless to say, I don't follow the rules like that. Shame on me, I know.

So here lately I have been eating much more than I should be eating. I always seem to get this way right before Aunt Flo's visit! I totally take the blame for it, and am now going to have to pay the piper. I am going to put myself back on liquids for two day to give everything a rest and allow my pouch and band to shrink back up a little. This is going to totally suck, but not as much as seeing the scales go up for my ingnorance. I don't need another fill, I already have 7 in a 10cc band. I have good restriction when I play by the rules, I just need to give the band a chance to work for me. Everyone stumbles once in a while and I am not going to beat myself up for being naughty, especially since I will be extrememly ill the next two days anyways. I hope I don't pass out during zumba tonight!!

Does anyone else do this "reset"? This will be my second time doing it and it really worked this first time.

Good: Compliments, being told how great I look, and buying smaller clothes

Bad: Being 45 pounds lighter and still feeling like the "big girl" around other women. Never feeling like the pounds lost is enough.

Oh Littlefoot! You paint with words!! That is great stuff and I can relate! I remember looking at my high school pictures and thinking, I looked good, I can't believe I thought I was so fat! Saying to myself, oh, if I could only be there again, I would be happy and not complain. But the bitter truth is, we always find something to complain about. As soon as I lose this last bit of weight, I am pretty sure I will need a Tummy Tuck, I will have wrinkles by my eyes and need a face lift, my boobs will be too saggy and need more surgery. We always seem to find things about ourselves that need "fixin." Oh to have the luxury of full acceptance with ones self. Is that even possible?? And I agree that the less you have to lose, the harder it is.

Brush your teeth right after dinner, use a strong mouth wash too. I don't know why but when I do this, I don't want to eat anymore, i guess because the food won't taste good with a minty flavor!

Thank you for the compliment. I would not want to change anything that got me to where I am today, because I am healthy and happy now. I am just trying to find a little peace with my past, to not mentally beat myself up so much. I am not quite sure what non-starter means though. To me, my starting weight is a big deal. I am not going to feel better about myself because others on this site may have a goal at my starting weight, or a rougher road to travel. That doesn't help my personal situation. But I do understand the concept. I used to get really mad when people would complain about having trouble getting the last 20 pounds off when I was wishing I could get remotely close to that point. Now I totally understand and am in the same boat. What I am asking those that are at or close to goal is will I ever lose the shame? Do you get to the point where your attitude is, "yea, that was me, no big deal." I want that attitude but right now, it is not happening.

Have any of you been here in my shoes?

I just noticed tonight that I never uploaded a before and after pic. I am by no means an "after" yet as I still need to lose about 25-30 more pounds, but I am definitely a changed person. The issue is that as I was trying to find a before pic, (which is very few since I used to hide from a camera), I became too ashamed to put any of them on here. I didn't want to "own up to" so to speak, what I used to look like. I felt so ashamed and embarrassed looking at those pictures. I wanted to delete them all, pretend I never existed like that. I wished I could wipe everyone's memory of me and what I used to look like back then. I had so many questions running through my mind: How did I let myself get to that point? Why didn't anyone tell me how awful I looked? How was my husband not totally turned off by my appearance?

I shouldn't feel this way! I know I'm still a good person, even at my highest weight. I am not dumb enough to forget where I came from and that I was still me back then. I also know my husband loves me unconditionally, thick or thin. I am just so ashamed of how out of control and lazy I let myself become. I am trying to fix it. I made a change, I worked hard, I sacrificed, and I did what I had to do to save my life. I guess my question is: how did you make peace with yourself? How do you look at yourself way back when without activating your gag reflex? Does anyone else even feel the way I do when dipping into the past or am I alone and a little psycho tonight?

I'm gonna own up to my past and put those pics on here, maybe to help remind me how far I've come and where i never want to be again!

I just got the Zumba for Wii and did two of the 20 minute classes. I am in pretty decent shape so I think I gave it a mid intensity effort if the levels are low, mid, high. I went to log it on my fitness pal and there is no recognition of zumba in the program. I created a new exercise and Googled a zumba calculator. The one I went to calculated that at 175 pounds doing 40 minutes of zumba at low intensity burns 361 calories and at mid burns 417 calories. I just took the average and put 389 as my calories burned. I guess my question is: does that seem right? I did work up a sweat and was pretty well spent when finished but that seems like a lot of calories, especially when walking for 30 minutes only burns 142. If this is true to the numbers, I doubt I'll ever do any other type of exercise again. It didn't seem as if I was working hard, I guess because I was concentrating on mirroring the moves of the instructor. What are your thoughts?

Name, real or screen~ Jennifer

Goal weight for June 29th~ 168

Weight on June 1st~ 173

Age~ 31

Dietary goal for June~ count calories

Exercise goal for June~ 3 hours a week of different types

Personal goal for June~ Get in a size 12

Date banded~ 7/21/11

Total weight loss since banding/pre op diet~ 43 pounds

What is your favorite summer activity~ Swimming, because it is easy exercise!!

My port is in the same place yours is. I was banded recently by Dr. Spaw in the same group with your doc. They must like to put the port there for some reason. I'm going to ask him at my appt today. I agree with the folks that suggested leg exercIses to work the lower abs first. My husband and I are going to enlist a personal trainer as soon as I recover a little more and this is one of the first things I'm going to ask about. I'll let you know what the trainer says.

How did it go? Did you get all your answers?

Back story: I started this journey at 216 pounds in July of 2011. Ten months later I am 172.5, (i just had another fill today, 7cc in a 10cc band). I lost the first 38 pounds quickly but have only lost a pound a month since December. I knew i needed another fill, hence today's events, but I also know I need to step up in the exercise department.

Here is the dilemma: My port is located right under my sternum. It is sewed to my abdominal muscles and even ten months out, is still a little sore. If I do any exercises that require twisting and bending at the waist, my port area is sore for the next week. I talked to my surgeon about it and he said it is just part of the deal, the port is sewed and may be with some nerves, causing the sensitivity. I power walk a lot and do some weight lifting, but these are not targeting my middle, where I need the most attention. As for my question, are there any other workout routines or programs that would help my situation, working the middle area without overdoing it and causing port pain for the rest of my life? Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

That is much more helpful info for her than your previous, clarifying info. Please allow me to repair my false, encouraging, good for nothing statement:

Exercise builds muscle..... Muscle "is much more dense" than fat..... Muscle eats fat..... Muscle up + weight "stays the same" + fat down + inches down= not flabby, very good!

Good luck Aliciab, I hope your scales start moving again!

Wow, thanks for clarifying that. I hope that answered her question and offered encouragement. Oh wait.........

Exercise builds muscle..... Muscle weighs more than fat..... Muscle eats fat..... Muscle up + weight up + fat down + inches down= not flabby, very good!

My bra hits mine A LOT! It is stitched to the ab muscles right under the sternum. It is the only issue I have with the band. I can feel it constantly, in intimate situations, while exercising, just about anything physical. Small price to pay I guess to be smaller!

I have had my band since July and I have been able to eat all types of food, just in smaller portions. There is not a food that I can not eat. I have found myself being very destructive many days, eating things i know I shouldn't. I don't beat myself up very often about it though, I am human and I make mistakes. I also don't get on here asking for help and whining about not losing weight either, knowing I am not doing all I should be. The first 30 pounds fell off quick, within the first four months. It took another three months to lose the ten that has now put me at a 40 pound total loss. I have been between 178 and 175 for the past three months. I do think your body gets to a point where it just stops dropping the weight like you plan it to. I totally get how people say they have so much trouble losing that last 25 pounds. Sometimes it gets hard for me to mentally push myself to follow the strict rules when so many people tell me how great i look and how skinny i am getting, although I am 25 pounds from even having a normal BMI. Long story short, the lap band is never the reason for failure unless the equipment malfunctions. It is the person and his/her behaviors that set the success or failure rate. I WILL be a success, as long as my band stays intact, it just may take me longer. After all this is not a race and every day, I get a little stronger! Good Luck!

Yay!! and I would also like to know the brand of jeans, i need a booty addition too!! I added squats to my exercise routine but it is not happening quick enough!!