gottobeme

As stated above SF chocolate pudding will mask the taste the best. Unfortunately it will not get rid of that horrible taste all together! It was pretty much the only thing that made my meds tolerable.

I wonder if you were eating less than 600 calories a day if your body is not just adjusting to having had surgery but also the amount of calories your body is now getting. How long were you eating less than 600 calories a day? It sounds extreme to me, hopefully it was not for a very long period. I spent 8 months before my surgery working with the nutritionist and was on an 1100-1400 calorie diet. As a part of watching the calories I also was aware of what they were coming from, i.e., Protein, veggies, carbs, supplements. I wasn't always good about sticking to it but did loose a significant amount of weight. I'm sorry to hear you are getting conflicting information from your doctors & nutritionist but please don't get too discouraged. It is a lifelong change for us and some of us loose faster than others. My weight loss since surgery has been slower than prior to surgery but as I mentioned I lost a significant amount pre op so I feel it is normal for it to be slower now. Hang in there and if the nutritionist you were working with before is familiar with bariatric surgeries see if you are able to return to them. They will probably be more helpful than the surgeons office at this point. I know my clinic has nutritionist follow up appointments for a least 1 year post op.

I know if I try to access a group from my android it will not allow me to access it. Are you on a computer or phone? I did let admin know (months ago) and they said it was something they were working on. Still cant access my "Springers" group from my phone though.

Thank you for this post and thank you Sandman for your video link. I was banded in April and have been successful so far but I find myself falling back into old habbits. I need to get back on track. Although I have not started to put weight back on, the loss has almost come to a stop. I had lost 70 lbs on my pre-op diet and have lost 40 since surgery. Although I am fairly happy where I am, I still need to loose 30 to be at a "normal" BMI. I work in a school and being back has helped me greatly during the day. My problem is keeping myself out of the kitchen once I get home. I know many strategies for staying out, I just am not implementing them. I know I have no one to blame but myslef. Mlara - your second post above could have easily been written by me! Although my only advice is really...We know what to do, we just have to do it!...Please know that you are not the only one working your way through this right now. Hang in there!

I am 4 months post op and also have not had a fill. I expect to get one at my next visit in mid September. My PA uses a questionaire to help us decide if I need a fill or not. It helps you to figure out if you're in the green zone or not. Just like Mis73 said...it depends...great advice to base your decision on!

Congratulations on your wedding! I think you are right about air travel, stress and dehydration being factors. While in Hawaii did you travel to different altitudes (volcano's)? That may have also affected it. I was in Hawaii last summer (pre-band) and I know that my rings were generally tighter so I would think we may also be more likely to retain Water when traveling.

I was wearing a 46DD before losing weight and was just going down in inches not cup sizes when I bought new ones. After doing some gardening this spring where I was bending over a lot I noticed I had 3 boobs instead of 2! I went for a professional fitting at a store that works with post mastectomy patients, nursing mothers and hard to find sizes. I walked in wearing a 36DD and out wearing a 32F! She would only sell me one since she knows I still have more weight to loose. It was expensive but she also gave me a sports bra as a gift! The woman who did my fitting lives in the same small town as I do. I saw her last week and she could tell I had lost more weight since my fitting (about 6 weeks ago), she thinks it's about time for my next size.

I'll try this again. My previous post did not work.... It could be anything mentioned above. I dealt with vertigo during my 6 month pre op program and my weight loss docs had me see my PCP so I would pass that advice along to you. Mine turned out to be tiny crystals in my ear that move around sometimes. I am supposed to do positional "exercises" to help cure/prevent mine but when I am having vertigo episodes they just make me feel queasy and I'm afraid I will vomit.

BTW... I am a Christian! And I support marriage between two adults who love each other! And that my friends will be my last post on the subject.

I used mine for the first time last weekend. I usually just save leftovers for a later meal and have ordered a couple of times from the childrens menu with no questions asked. Last weekend I was with a group that stopped at Lamberts (home of the throwed roll) in MO. We were on a bus ride back to WI from LA so keeping leftovers was not really an option. I ordered from the childrens menu and the server started to say something, I flashed my card and he took my order no questions asked. I guess it all depends on if they have seen one before or not.

So school has been out for a few weeks (I am a special ed aide) and I miss the structure it gives me (not to mention I love what I do). Don't get me wrong I also love being able to sleep in late on my days off (I work a retail job for the summer), work in my yard when it's below 90 degrees and I hope to spend more time at the pool. My problem is that I don't have the same schedule that worked perfectly for me through the school year. It is soooo much easier to stay away from food when it is not always around. Even though my start time for my summer job is later than my school job and it is about the same distance away, I have not been able to get myself in the habit of walking to work yet this summer. I did it almost every day during the school year. I have no good reason for this. Sure I can say it is because it is too hot but the truth is it's usually not that bad before 9 a.m. or after 6 p.m. I just need to get my butt in gear and do it. I also have been pushing it and eating things that I really shouldn't. I do feel that we should not deny ourselves or it will backfire but I also know it is a lot easier for me to say NO to something and stay away from it completely than it is to have a taste and then say no to later. Does that make sense? Think of it this way, if I have ice cream at home then there is more in the freezer calling my name. If I never eat it at home in the first place it doesn't bother me as much as it does once I have that first taste. If I have it at a restraunt it's not as bad because when it is gone it is gone. My husband made some delicious cheese cake like thingies for a lock in our daughter had at church. There were some left over and I had 4 pieces over two days. Pre-Band I would have had them all within 30 min.! If I had not had the first one this time I would have been able to stay away from all 4! There is also a "Pub" mix he got as Costco that I have been eating instead of my reduced fat Triscuts. I have never been good a journaling my food but I'm thinking I need to start doing it again to help me through the summer. Thanks Springers for letting me confess and ramble!

I would also have mixed feelings in your shoes. People of very few words should not work in medicine! I guess by the same token though I have sat for hours in a doctors office waiting for my daughter to be seen because he wouldn't shut up, he kept stating the same thing over and over again but in different ways! I guess there has to be a happy medium. My thoughts are if you are hungry while on vacation eat. Don't wait to eat because it is not "time" to eat. Listen to your body and eat when it tells you to, just be sure to eat what you are supposed to and keep the serving sizes to "bandster" size servings. My first several weeks I would eat about 5X's a day but small portions. It worked with my work schedule and helped me from getting too hungry. Now that I am able to eat more at a sitting I try to keep it down to 3X's a day but sometimes I do put a snack in there, usually because I end up working late and need something to help me along the way.

I think I will look for the Werthers...I don't know if I'll be able to stop at one or two though. If not I will give them to my kids and tell them to hide them from me. They are a great help to me that way!

I have read older posts where people reccomended having one for after surgery. My clinic never mentioned anything about one though.

Thank you for your story!!! There are many people who come on this forum and are in a similar situation.They are also afraid to go back to their doctor. When I went to my WLS seminar one of the PA's told us a similar story. What I took away from his story was that they are there to help us - not to berate us. I have recently started getting a lot of compliments on my weight loss. It is no secret that I have had WLS. I do tell people though that I can still gain the weight back and keeping it off is the scary part for me. Stories like yours are great reminders that we are not alone on our journey!

If I am sitting or standing I can feel mine. I can even look at my stomach and see where it is, although someone else would not be able to. If I am laying down flat I usually can not feel or see it. I hope that info helps you.

Having anxiety and panic disorders are things your doctor should consider when treating you. I can't imagine a good doctor would reprimand you for gaining weight when you were dealing with such difficult things. They should instead praise you for taking your life back!

No fill needed today...YAY! I do eat toasted bread now. There is a local bread called Natural Ovens made in Manitowoc WI. They have a carb conscious bread that I use. I also eat reduced fat triscuts, wheat thins and pretzels. I make sure I chew them well and have not had any problems with them.

There really is no "standard" of care for us. Doctors base things on their own research/results. It is good to ask questions and as helpful as this site can be there is no substitute for your doctors care and knowledge. Ask him to explain his reasoning behind his decisions. Most likely it is based on what has worked well in his practice. If you are concerned about the 3 month of fills included with the cost of your surgery explain that to him also.

Maybe it's just me and the fact that I use and IUD (sorry TMI) but you would think doctors and their support staff would think to tell people about these things!!! I mean jeez, they don't want people getting pregnant for a year or so afterwards so you would think this should be at the top of their list of things to discuss with potential patients!

Good Luck!

Welcome JJ! Good Luck on your journey.