jayres14

You have no obligation to tell anyone anything. But think of this, you are a walking testament of the band. You did it!! You made it work!! No one can take that from you!! Not even negative comments, which actually have no grounds considering you did it wonderfully. I am not saying you owe these women anything, but you never know, you could lead someone to a decision that could save their life in the long run. To me, the band is not just for cosmetics, it is for health and life. Either choice you make is the right one, good luck to you!!

I didn't tell anyone but immediate family before the surgery. I was not going to tell anyone after the surgery but I started telling a few people and all I got was support. No one had anything negative to say. Now that could be because I am sometimes perceived as a b***h and they are too afraid to! HAHAHA!!! Really though, it is a personal decision to tell others, I don't broadcast my band, but if someone compliments me on my weight loss and asks what I am doing, I tell them. I also make sure they know this is the hardest thing I have ever had to do for my health and that I am proud of the decision i made for myself and my family. There may be a few certain people in your life that you really don't want to tell, in my case, my mother-in-law. I don't tell her for HER sake!! She is not the nicest person and I would hate to have to cuss out my husband's mother!! :lol:

Georgia, I feel you at the foot long sub comment!! i could too, easily!!!

Slm, I hope 5.5 is a magical number for us 10cc banders. I have another fill appt tomorrow and I am getting another .5cc fill to make 5.5. I feel like I am almost to the green, hopefully tomorrow will put me there!! Fingers crossed!!

My port is right under my sternum and I can feel some pressure on it during intimacy. Any time I am in a position to be scrunched up, it feels weird. I don't think there is any particular place that would not cause discomfort during intimacy since it has to be so close to the outside of the skin.

I thought at one time I read someone had a port near their arm pit, maybe a little lower then the actual pit. I wonder if anyone has a placement there?

So my port is located right under my sternum. I read that some people's is on top of the sternum but mine is under it. I think it is in a good place b/c it is in a natural indention below the sternum, attached to the abs and will not show much when I lose a lot of weight. It think it is in a bad place b/c my girls are rather large and require a heavy duty under wire bra. The under wire often presses on it when I am lounging in bed or in the recliner. Any time I lean against something, I can feel it being pressed on. I have always been a stomach sleeper but can no longer sleep that way because of the port. I can feel it pulling when I try to sleep on my stomach or sides and now I have to hug a pillow as I sleep to keep the pressure off of it. It has been two months since my surgery so everything has healed. I can't ever seem to go an hour without touching it or feeling it under the skin. I am not too sure I can go the rest of this journey with the port distraction. I am having a great experience with the band itself, not getting stuck anymore and almost at the green zone. It is the port that I can not get used to. If things do not get better for me in that area, I my have to have a port replacement/movement surgery. I know this is mostly mental, me being aware of a foreign object inside my body, but it is really starting to get to me. I would like to know where everyone's port is located and how much they like or dislike it. Thanks!!

40 pounds is a lot!! I am proud of you!! Imagine how much harder back surgery recovery would be with 40 extra pounds to haul around! I want you to think about this, if you lost a ton of weight at once, your skin is not equipped with the elasticity to bounce back and shrink up at that same fast pace. Then you are stuck with wings under your arms and a saggy pouch hanging farther down your abdomen than you belly actually was. You would end up having to have surgery to remove the skin and I hear it is rather painful and full of complications. Take pride in your accomplishments so far and remember that this is a life long journey, just be healthy!!

I am no Doctor, but if that situation had happened to me all the sudden, I would definitely go check to see if it slipped. Better safe than sorry!

If you are not already, you should eat sugar free fudge pops. They taste great and the cold helps with the swelling. Also, they are great to eat after your fills for reducing the swelling.

I sometimes fill this way if I eat too soon before bed. I remember reading on this forum someone saying it is a good idea to clean out your pouch right before bed, as in drink a good amount of Water to flush it out. You won't get hungry before falling asleep so it is okay to flush it all down. Hope that helps!

Thanks, I will make sure to let him know first, I just really need an adjustment! Even more now that I have lost a few pounds and my body is changing.

I need to go to a chiropractor again but I am really nervous about him pushing, popping and twisting me around for fear of band slippage, port pain (it is just below my sternum), or the tube getting disconnected. Anyone have sound advice about this?

You are never too young to do something for your health!! Being 31 and banded in July, I wouldn't change it for the world. It is a whole new lifestyle and it is a lot of hard work, but the benifits are well worth it. Good luck with what you choose to do, you only have one life, you don't get to trade this one in for a new one. You might as well be happy every day of it!!

I think everyone that posted here covered almost everything that every one of us want to do! I must admit, reading all of the posts made me tear up because I related to all of you.

Here's my list:

I want to be able to stand up for longer than 5 minutes without feeling like my ankles are going to collapse.

I want to be able to carry my handicapped son from the car to the house without being so out of breath that I need to stop for a long "breather"

I want to be able to take my kids to the park or the dogs for a walk without hurting all over.

I want to look forward to doing outdoor activities of any kind and not dread them because I'm too fat.

I want to feel comfortable around my husband and feel sexy around him

I want to wear shorts and tank tops in the summer instead of pants (I live in Hell! [Texas])

What I want to do more than anything is just...live.

Your list made me cry, especially the part about carrying your handicapped son. I have a daughter with autism and I did this for her, because I want to be the best mommy she deserves, not a lazy, boring mommy. When this journey gets hard, when I have to pass up dessert, when I have to go on liquids for two days after a fill, I just look at my daughter and realize I can do anything for her! Congrats to both of us, to everyone doing the hard work to make our "skinny" list some true!!

Omg, sounds like an experience I went through back in July! Only that I felt fine til I go home and my doctor is an hour an a half away so I had to suffer with the chest pain and feeling like I had to puke all night and went back the next day. Boy when I got it out I instantly felt better! I just got another fill, that fill in July was my second one but I had pre Fluid or whatever in my band when I got it in, and in July I think I was at 7cc's in a 10cc band, I got the whole 1cc fill out, so last month I got a half of a cc and this week I got another half cc so I'm back at 7cc's I guess, I'm not sure if it's too tight but it's hard to get anything down, I could get watery liquids down sorta ok but it'll feel stuck and I'm been waking up in the middle of the nigt choking. I don't but my chest kinda hurts I'm going to try. To wait it out though because I think it's cause my stomach is just still swollen(got half a fill on Wednesday) because later in the night the suck feeling goes away if I drink a lot and lay down o.O it's weird and kind of annoying.

That is awful! I felt horrible waiting only three minutes, he took the one cc out and I felt better. I couldn't imagine feeling like that an entire night. After this over fill experience, I ate a lot of fudge pops, like six that night. I really believe that helped bring the swelling down. I had read from successful banders on here that they were a great liquid to eat after fills and they were so right! The cold kept my stomach from swelling so much after the crazy fill. When I went on soft foods the next night, I didn't get stuck and haven't since (its only been since Wednesday but it is an improvement from last time.) I still don't think I am at my green zone restriction. I probably need a .5 cc fill but i'll get that in two weeks. My surgeon said the more weight you lose, the more fills you need b/c you lose the weight everywhere, including your stomach.

Good luck to us both on the journey, it is definitely harder than any diet I've ever done in my life but totally worth it.

I want to wear sexy lingerie for my hubby and feel comfortable in it!!

I want to wear sexy lingerie for my hubby and feel comfortable in it!!

I want to share my story today b/c it was definitely a weird experience. I went in for my third fill having 2 cc put in each time. So today, my surgeon fills me from 4 cc to 6 cc (10 cc band). He warned me it would probably be too tight, that we would see. So after the fill, he gave me the bottled Water to drink before I left. I took my first sip and I could feel it funnel but no big deal, so I took another sip/gulp. OMG!!! It wouldn't go down!! I paced the floor as my mouth was watering, my chest felt like it would explode, and my eyeballs felt like they were floating!! I have been stuck before but this was multiplied by ten!! I felt like I could puke at any second, right there on the floor!! After about three minutes thinking it would pass, and painfully discovering it wouldn't, I called the surgeon back in. He had me lay on the table and he pulled 1 cc back out. As soon as he started pulling it out, i could actually feel the water go through. He then had me sit up with that needle still sticking out of my chest and drink more water. this time the water went through with no problem. It was crazy!! Talk about restriction!! More like a no passing zone!! So the next fill I go for will only be a .5 cc. I hope this fill will get me to the green, I have never experienced it before and am excited to hit that heavenly place!

Thank you ALL for your advice it is helping me greatly and I appreciate each and every post good or bad. I had my 3rd fill today and I'm at 5 cc's now so lets see how it goes. 2days liquids and 2 days mushies before returning to solid foods. I hope I will feel restriction again. My Dr. said it's normal and my band didn't slip. So happy about that! Again thanks all .

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I got my third fill today and am now up to 5 cc. He had initially put in 2 cc to make it 6 and I couldn't get any Water down. It was a very creepy, painful feeling. Hopefully now we will both get the green we have been desperately needed!! Good luck to us both!

Just try to remember, even though it sounds like people are judging...if I said I ate two hamburgers, I would think HAMBURGERS. I would say sliders..this way we know that it is not the amount you are eating when we are trying to help figure out the problem. So many of us..I am 55..have been fighting this weight battle longer than some of you have been alive. I wish I had had the opportunity to do this many years ago.

Now...I personally think, and it is MY opinion that that is still too much carbohydrates. try eating more Protein and solid foods... hamburger meat is almost like a soft food, so it won't keep you full as long. I know I can tell the difference on how long I stay satisfied.

62 pounds! That's wonderful!! And as for the age, better late than never. Sounds to me like you have a good system going and have met the fabulous "green zone". Hopefully i'll be there soon! Again, congrats!

Woodslass, that is GREAT information. It makes sense about the muscles contracting so much b/c they are ready to go to work. I will remember that when i begin to eat each meal. I seem to get a little stuck with the first couple of bites and now it make so much sense. It could be too that I am so hungry at meal times that I do not chew as I should. Hopefully that will change when I get to the green zone. Thank you for the time you took to give us such valuable information.

Doreenviv, I only have 4 cc in my 10 cc band too. The restriction is not there either and I am hungry a lot. I am still losing the one to two pounds weekly but that is strictly due to will power. I am not losing as much as a lot of people on here. I figure that is b/c I started at 208 and never had to do the pre op diet. I hope we both find our sweet spot soon. I have read that 10cc bandsters need 5 to 7 cc to get to the green so we still have a ways to go. Good luck to you and keep your head up. Every pound lost gets us closer to our goal than we were.

Jayrees,

I'm sorry you feel the need to make a nasty comment to me. Super Powers - yea right, that's how I got to this weight!! Many of you who are banded are much younger than I. I have been on some sort of diet since the age of 8, I am now 54. This is my last chance girl! I have extreme diabetes taking over 300 units of insulin a day! I almost lost a foot this summer due to a terrible bone infection. I have heart disease in both sides of my family, and yes I have all the indicators; high blood pressure, high trriglycerides, and high cholesterol. I paid for this surgery on my own as my blue cross insurance does not cover WLS. I have had to MAKE myself stick to the guidelines everyday because I do not want my life to end as early as my parents and grandparents. Yes, it upsets me to see people not understanding why they can't get a burger down. I wish everyone had the medical team that I have to help them through this. And NO,I wouldn't wish my personal experiences on anyone to help them with their own will power. I have no super powers, only desperation, feeling this is my last chance. I am scared to death every single day that this will not work for me.

Ummm, not a nasty comment, not sure why you are getting defensive. It just does not shock me at all that people can eat two burgers with the band. If they don't have any resistance, it is pretty easy to get them down.

I am shocked at what people are eating or trying to eat. Two hamburgers - REALLY? I am 2 1/2 months post op and I can't imagine even thinking about eating those types of foods. The band is only a tool. You must make the right food choices for it to work unless you want the type of restriction that prevents you from eating; via puking and or slimming. Is that really anyway to live? My surgeon has given me a diet plan and I follow it to a T. I eat eggs, Protein powders, skim milk,Greek yogurt, chicken, fish, veggies and a little bit of fruit, That's it. As you can see by my ticker it's a very slow process, but I intend to stick with the program for the duration. High Protein, Low fat, low carb, tons of plain Water, and low calorie. By the way my band is providing me with satiety, not restriction of food that will or will not go down. No PBing or slimming - that's my goal. I guess my surgeon looks at things differently than many, He wants me to eat normally without fear of getting stuck. I choose not to eat burgers, not because I can't, because I could,I'm not that restricted but because it's not a healthy choice for someone trying to loose weight. I'm sure I'll get blasted for not being supported enough, but I had to get this off my chest!

Not sure why you are so shocked... we ALL got overweight by making bad food choices and although we have the band now to HELP us along the way, that doesn't mean our brains have changed and we no longer have the desires and weaknesses that got us to this point in the first place. Must be nice to have such super powers...

My success with getting rid of the awful gas pain was to walk A LOT!! I would walk the driveway back and forth and every five or so minutes, I would stop and bend forward as far as comfort allowed. Some how, adding that bending motion moved things around and I was eventually passing the gas when I bended (classy, right?). Hope it helps.

I had my second fill today and my Dr said liquids for the first 24 hours and that tomorrow night I could try soft mushies. I am starving now but I am faithfully sipping my Protein Shakes. Some creamy egg salad is gonna be great tomorrow night!!