MeganA

I second what Kelly said. You guys are my buddies and I hope I can support you in any way I can. I feel a little like a war veteran and I have a little survivors guilt here. But I'm trying to channel that into making a renewed commitment to losing weight and being healthy. I love you guys...please, please stick around! Megan

I wasn't going to respond to this thread but something is tugging at me to write, so here I go. Most of the people who have responded to this thread are just beginning their banding journey. I think I may have a different perspective. The pre tests, evals, and the surgery are the easy part of getting the lap band. It's the stuff that comes after that sometimes feels like it might kill you. It has been said a million times on LBT, but the band is not a do-it itself miracle. It takes lots and lots of work...physical, mental, and emotional work to make it work for you. If you are severely depressed now, and unable or unwilling to try every single option ten times if necessary, you aren't ready for the band. What do you think it will be like when you get banded? All of a sudden you'll still be severely depressed, now you'll just have a whole bunch more to deal with and to beat yourself up with. My recommendation is that before you get banded, you need to work hard to get yourself into the healthiest emotional place you've ever been in. Work with ANYONE who is willing to help you. You have no idea how hard it is when you can no longer use food to stabalize your emotions and brain chemistry. Just my two cents...for whatever they are worth. Megan

I went from a 9 1/2 to 10 Wide to a 8 1/2 to 9 Regular.

Nope, Deb. I am part of the FDA trials for the Swedish Band at the U of M.

Lisa- I was starting to worry but I knew you'd surface when you were ready/able. Sorry to hear about the pain. Glad to hear you have good pain meds. To bad they actually have to kill the pain and not just be a little pick me up :-). thanks for the update... Megan

Ladysplenda- call your family doctor and get an RX for anti nausea suppositories ( I know, ewwww...but- they work!) and keep them on hand. Or, do as gentlespirit suggested and go to the ER ASAP for a shot. I once got the throw up flu and felt like i was going to throw up my band...I did throw up several times (with my head out the window rushing to the ER) and my band was fine. Good luck, and I hope everyone in your house gets well Megan

Check out my response in the Minnesota section! Megan

I had Dr. Ikramuddin for my surgery and follow up and I LOVE HIM. He is fantastic and I concider myself blessed to have him as my doctor. He has good bedside manner, is very good at explaining things, and is very sweet. Let me know if you have any other questions! Megan

Sorry! I didn't mean to make it worse. These bandsters are all from the same surgeon and were all banded around the same time, if that makes you feel any better!!! Megan

Jacqui- I'm not an expert but the signs of hunger you talk about are actually signs of low blood sugar not hunger. Hunger feels different than that...but it's hard to describe. Kind of an empty feeling. Megan

THE MADNESS MUST STOP! Newbies...the likelihood that you have slipped your band or eroded are slim to none at this point. YOU MUST CHILL. The terrible, tragic events that are happening to other people on the board are typically longer term bandsters. What you are experiencing is normal. Your stomach swelling will reduce for UP TO A YEAR so the fluctuations in restriction are perfectly normal and to be expected. Didn't mean to yell...just getting frustrated with all the worry wart-ing gonig on. Megan

Here is a good example of true hunger for me- I had a bowl of Cereal for Breakfast at about 9 a.m. about 2 p.m., I was in the grocery store and all of a sudden I was really, really hungry. So I had three samples from the friendly samply ladies...a Pasta salad, dried fruit, and a tiny piece of pizza. And I was satisfied. I kept on shopping and ate dinner about 5:30. So yeah, I get hungry. But it's a hunger that I never felt before. You'll see! Megan

I don't know what your doctor says (and of course, always refer back to him/her) but wine is fine for me. I have a couple of glasses a week but try to do so a few hours before bedtime or I might feel a little heartburn. I also have to stay away from reds because the acidity makes me have reflux pretty much instantly. I still taste at my monthly wine tasting, but always eat something right after to wash it down. Good luck! Megan

I've been banded two years and two months. I'm a slow loser- the only complication I've had is managing my expectations and celebrating how far I've come. Other than that, I get a little heartburn once in a while but like Alexandra said, it's all behavior related. If I'm a good bandster, my band is good to me. Megan

Oh no. Lisa I'm so sorry. I had always hoped that you would make it through and beat the odds. My heart is broken for you. You've had to endure so much and now you have to have it removed. Let me know if there is anything I can do. Megan

Shelly! You don't mention reflux so I'd say that your band is probably just fine. My (uneducated non medical) guess is that you are SWOLLEN from the PBs. Give yourself a day or two of liquids and I bet your restiction returns like it was. I fight this once a month. I go two or three weeks sailing right along, minding most of the band rules, and then I get my period and all hell breaks loose for two weeks while I try to eat and PB, then I get swollen so I go on liquids for a day...the next day I get cocky and I PB again and it only gets worse. So, I have to go on liquids for two days while my stomach settles down. It sucks and there are a lot of months were I manage it better. This month- not so good. I'm drinking milk for lunch and having a hard time. Of course- you should check with your doctor if you are worried or if things don't improve... As for the irregular BM's...ever since I've been banded I'm very prone to constipation- which builds up gas in my system and makes my band restrict like crazy. It's a never ending cycle. Hope this helps, fellow old-timer. Megan Megan

Here I am with my rooster Buck-Buck

Here is the latest photo of me.

I love a good MN hotdish!!! Tater tot hot dish can be tricky. I find that if I cut up the tots really little and eat with a lot of the liquid stuff it works ok. I also eat mine with a ton of ketchup. Megan

Hey bandsister! Thanks for checking in with us and giving us an update. You should be very proud of yourself. You are an inspiration! Megan

I'm sick to my stomach about this. I want to cry and scream and kick the floor out of frustration and sadness for you. I was just thinking about when all of us got together in 2004 for the first Vegas Bash. Of those in attendance... Karen-erosion Donali-erosion LaMadam- erosion Penni-erosion All of these are Mexico patients. This is staggering considering there were only about ten of us there the day I was. Penni please know that I am thinking of you and wishing you a speedy recovery- both physically and emotionally. This has got to be such a blow. I'll be thinking of you... Megan

I find this subject facinating...intuitive eating is such a foreign idea when all of your life food has been consumed to alter brain chemistry and alter moods. I don't understand how a band around my stomach has changed this. When I have good restriction food becomes an after thought. At times when I have ok restriction, like now, I tend to make good choices and only eat when I'm hungery 80% of the time. The biggest change I have made in my thinking about food is the good vs. evil dance. I no longer play that game with myself. I'm no longer a good or a bad person based on what I eat. I eat what I want...EXACTLY what I want. Sometimes I only take a few bites but I figure that if I listen to my body it will tell me what I need to eat. Sure, sometimes it tells me to eat that Chubby Hubby Ice Cream for dinner...but mostly it tells me to eat things that are good for me. I think that we spend a lot of time analytically trying to determine what we should or shouldn't eat...and after awhile we loose the ability to listen to our bodies. But then again I ate a small fry from McDonald's last night at ten o'clock and I wasn't hungery. But I think that is the first time in two years that I've done that...and it used to be a weekly occurance and it would have been a large fry and a cheeseburger and milkshake. Sometimes progress doesn't mean "never"...it just means "not as much". Megan

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051204/ap_on_he_me/fit_intuitive_eating This is exactly how I eat now that I am banded. No more guilt or "I can't" or "I shouldn't". I eat when I'm hungry and I eat EXACTLY what I want. It's a very freeing way to look at food. Sure, I have my moments when I still eat emotionally, but that is the exception now, not the rule. Anyone else eat this way now? Megan

food Porn is so true!!! This thread is so funny! Every Saturday and Sunday morning I love to watch the Food Network. I've gotten so I enjoy food by proxy...I use my imagination and try to think of how good all the different foods would taste. I've found I do this at the grocery store. Just last night I was staring into the ice cream case just imagining the taste of it on my tongue and savoring the idea of it. But then I walked away. I don't know when this shift happened in me, but it takes me forever to shop but I only end up buying three things. I suppose it's like wandering around a Mercedes lot in a rusted out Toyota and imaginging how great I'd look in one of them, yet knowing that I really don't need one. Megan

Well, isn't this interesting. I'm very glad to hear that your band looks fine. I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to see barium move in the wrong direction if you did have something wrong. I have had my eight fills under floro and I make them let me watch the video. I won't even take a drink of the barium until they move the tv screen so I can see. Of all the people who need to see what's goin' on it should be me, for pete's sake. So...good for you for being so tenacious about getting this appt. Now you should relax (I know, I know...you really aren't a "relax" kind of gal!) but take a couple of deep breaths and find some peace that your band is ok. I think it's going to make you succeed inspite of yourself! My band has felt like an ulcer at times- like when I eat it feels like the food is scratching it's way through the stoma. When this happens, I take a couple of meals off of regular food and eat mushies and I'm fine again. Let me tell you a little story about carbonation. One night I went to the movie and had popcorn and diet coke. I hardly ever drink it but couldn't resist. That night, I awoke with the worse stomach ache of my entire life. It felt like something was pressing up on my band so hard I could barely sit up. When I did, I burped so loud I scared my dogs. After that, my band was sore for THREE days. Yes, THREE! What I'm trying to say is that with a little change in your diet, I bet most of the pain you're feeling in your tummy would go away. But then what would you have to worry about? :-) Just kidding, of course. Megan