Tabithan

I had my port revised by Dr Alanis in Houston. He takes UHC and the hospitals he uses are also in-network. Other than long waits in the waiting room before seeing him, :laugh: I have had a VERY POSITIVE experience with him and would recommend him to anyone.

I somehow got cut off so I am putting myself back on the list.. :wink2: Name...........Start Lbs...........Current..........Goal..To Go Brandy..............198..............198...............190............ 8 janesays...........230..............230...............215...........15 leslie2lose..........220..............220...............210........... 10 LilMissDiva.........253..............250.6.............242.6.........8 misskitty84........313..............263................243..........20 SanDiegoPhotog..263.............191...............179..........12 Terilynn112.........224..............224...............200.........24 Tuger.................192...............192..............185.......... .7 twinmommie.........207..............207..............193..........14 Loveislovely.........223..............220...............208..........1 2 wowox7...............173............173...............163...........10 Bonnielass............168.............168...............159........... 9 Tabithan..............246.............246...............236...........10

Hi Music, I hear you on the holidays!!! If it is tough for us bandsters, imagine how much tougher it is for the unbanded. I am so excited for you. Your appointment is on Friday? WOW - what a great way to start the new year. Are you self-pay or will your insurance be paying? You know what, I am confident that you will be EXTREMELY successful on the band. you have taken the time to research and read people's experience, and join LBT before hand. I wish I had done this before my surgery, to set the right expectations. I think you are going in with the right expectations and right frame of mind which will likely make you more successful as a bandster. Don't be scared - you have done your research and all of us have successfully gone through the surgery. You will be under of course. When I woke up from the surgery, I had extreme nausea. It was REALLY BAD for about 3 days then started subsiding. Of course I was on anti-nausea medication. The first few weeks were really tough as well since I had to be on a post op diets of liquids for a couple of weeks and let me tell you - it was ROUGH. In fact, I cheated and didnt follow the dr's orders, which I think led me to this point. My advice for you is to follow the dr's orders. Pain for me wasnt that bad. sometimes when driving if I hit a bump it would hurt. But the pain meds really helped and I was quickly able to resume life as normal. In fact, I went back to work in about a week. My old scars have almost disappeared. Of course I have two new scars from the recent surgeries. But my old ones healed really well and shrunk over time. Your experience with scars will largely be dictated by your skin - whether you scar easily or not and of course, the size of your incisions. You will likely have 3-5 initial incisions of varying size. The incision where your port goes will be the largest incision. I would ask the surgeon where he/she intends to place the port. I am so excited for you. please let us know how the appointment goes with the surgeon. Also, I would take a list of questions to ask the surgeon - dont be shy - write them down and make sure he/she answers all your questions. And ensure that you are comfortable with the surgeon as you will be having a long-term relationship with them. Ask them about fills, how often they give them, how they are given, who gives them, size of the band, etc. Even ask them about scarring!!! I'm so excited for you to begin the WL journey!!!:wink2:

Hi Music, I must have missed it. Let me go back and look!!

Thanks JPWARD!!! Thanks for your support and encouragement. Congratulations on getting the band!! It is probably one of the best things I have ever done for myself, despite my occassionally abusing it!! :wink2: Good luck on this journey. Check in once in a while and let us know how you are doing!!

Hi Fellow Strugglers, I am a little teary-eyed so I thought I would share. I started this re-committing to my band journey on 11-24 when this thread began. At that time, I was at 255lbs, almost 2 years after banding. I wasnt losing weight but gaining slowly. I hadnt lost a lb in about a year as the initial loss was in the first few months, right after banding. Well, it has been a month since then (and 7 days) and a journey with ups and downs particularly around the holidays - In one month, hit with Thanksgiving, Christmas, three birthday parties, parties at work and now new-years.) I have posted my struggles along the way, here on LBT. Well today, I weighed myself and I weigh 243.6. In one month (and 7 days) I have lost almost 12 lbs. I cannot begin to explain how I feel right now. Almost two years at only 44 lbs, recommitt, then my body rewards me. I am so grateful, I had to post this. Thanks to everyone for picking me up when I slip, encouraging me when I am doing well and even those who just read and send warm wishes our way. What are your successes to date, since recommitting, fellow strugglers???

Tonight I had some serious head hunger after dinner - well a couple of hours after. had a half cup of honey bunches of oats Cereal and 1/4 cup milk - then did it again. Now I am pretty stuffed. I am REALLY GLAD there wasnt any junk food in the house or I would have gone CRAZY!!! That was my only saving grace!! tehehe Stayed at around 1022 calories today!! Good day. How did you do on your goals today, fellow strugglers?

I've just joined the Valenties day weight loss challenge and put myself down to lose 10lbs by valentine's day. YIKES!!!!!!!!!! Wish me luck!!!:party:

Count me in too!!! Name...........Start Lbs...........Current..........Goal..To Go Brandy..............198..............198...............190........... .8 janesays............230..............230...............215..........1 5 LilMissDiva........253..............250.6...............242.6........ 8 SanDiegoPhotog ..263..............191...............179..........12 Terilynn112..........224..............224...............200.........24 Tuger.................192...............192.............185.........7 twinmommie.........207..............207..............193..........14 nymoosic.............277...............181..............169..........1 2 Tabithan .............246..............246..............236...........10

How's everyone doing on their goals today? for me, so far, so good, since yesterday!!! Back on track after my disastrous holiday!!! :party: I GAINED 1.6lbs over the holidays!!! My weight is now 246 but I refuse to change it on the TICKER - hehehe - just because I know I can lose it quickly when back on track. At least I am stopping at the 1.6lb increase rather than waiting till it is 5 or 10lbs. That's my way of self congratulating...hehehe How's everyone doing??

Hi White06, Have you considered a couple of things: a) the 5 day pouch test. Supposedly when you go on this strictly, it helps get rid of the cravings you have. The website for the 5 day pouch diet is: Surgical Weight Loss 5 Day Pouch Test :party: Planning to snack on something naughty. Rather than completely eliminating the naughty Snacks, just gradually eliminating them from your system. This would be tough for me, but it may be what you need. E.g. You deny yourself a cookie all day, but save the cookie for 8PM daily. this can be your daily "cheat" and you can plan for it in your calorie allocation. c) Finding healthy alternatives to snack on. For example, I love the Kashi bars - the crunch ones - like the pumpkin spice flavor - yum - i feel like I am having Cookies but instead I am having a healthy alternative. Or if you crave chocolate, trying the Quaker Chewy chocolate chip granola bars - they are only 100 calories, but they taste dlish. This way, when you snack, and only once a day on your naughty snack, you are not snacking on 500 calories. Try this if you need ideas, and let us know how it goes!!!!! Any other ideas from the group???? you can do it, white06!!! Tabitha

Hi Everyone, I really need to vent. I signed up at match.com yesterday and posted honest pictures of me, at my size. I have had 93 people view my profile and NOT ONE has sent me a note or a wink. And when I look at profiles, I am not a match for them from the "body type" perspectice. They want the slender, athletic, average or slightly overweight. I signed up and paid for 3 months and I am starting to wonder if all of this was a waste. Why does everything have to be about the physical????? Arrghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh - I'm so mad that these guys are not willing to see the smart, intelligent, ambitious, humorous woman I am, because they cant see outside of my shell. Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry, I had to VENT!!!!!!!!!!

Hi JBREAL, I am so glad you found us!!! I completely felt the same way. Everyone with a lapband was doing extremely well except me, and it was becoming frustrating, even being on lapbandtalk.com since I seemed like the only one not seeing the results I wanted. This thread has helped me vent and pick myself back up, with the support of fellow strugglers. So welcome - we would love to have you as a part of our group!!!! If you are having a hard time eating at least 6 0z of food in a sitting or the yogurt you mentioned, I would bring this up with the surgeon. You may need a slight unfill. I cant tell you how many stories I have read of people who were too tight and resulted in a slip. And many times, this was associated with being too tight. I really would seriously think about an unfill. Being too tight keeps us from losing weight as we cannot eat the right foods such as solid proteins and instead stay with slider high calorie foods like cookies. Please call your surgeon right away, instead of risking loss of your band!! With regards to sugar cravings, I recently discovered sugar free popsicles and fudgesicles. These are really low in calories and have helped me with my sugar and chocolate cravings. They dont always work as sometimes my cravings overpower me (I am just as fallible as everyone here) but they work MOST of the time - and this helps create good habits that will lead to our eventual success. Welcome, and please post regularly. We will try and keep you accountable, and you, keep us accountable. What are your goals for the next 1 month??

Hi Music!!! How did you do over christmas?? I did HORRIBLY - lol - I told you that I am soft on myself and tough on others...but I am BACK ON TRACK as of today, back on my goals. That's why I love this thread - helps me pick myself back up quickly!!!! :frown:

Welcome welcome, whiteo6. I am SO GLAD you found us!!! I can definitely tell you that for me, posting regularly on this thread has done one thing for me - it has allowed to get back up quickly after I fall, rather than letting that fall consume me for months resulting in weight gain. I think it has helped keep me accountable and can do so for many, many of us strugglers. I think you should eat until you are satisfied. For me, that usually equates to a cup or a cup and a half, depending on what the item is. On some items, i can only eat half a cup and be stuffed. So it really does depend. Personally, I think if you can eat a couple of cups and not feel satiety, then perhaps you should speak to your surgeon and consider a fill. Have you ever asked your nutritionist about the calorie quantity you should stay at? this really varies based on your height and weight. For me it was 1500 calories and it helps to have a number i can actually focus on, on a daily basis. How many fills have you had??? What are your goals for the next 1 month? I am so excited for you and excited to go on this journey with you. Again, welcome!!!

Hi Iseethinme!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Welcome, welcome, welcome to this group!!! I think you have taken the first step to turning this weight loss struggle around/ I absolutely agree with you on writing down everything you eat. I think we strugglers need to do that in order to understand what we are consuming and keep ourselves accountable, until it becomes easy like clockwork. Many on the thread write everything they eat on www.fitday.com. It works really well and I use it. Please tell us, what are your goals for 2009??

Hi Fellow Strugglers, Now that the new year is nearly here, I thought it might be nice if we wrote out our 3 month, 6 month, 9 month and 12 month goals for 2009. Then we can come back and use this goals to keep ourselves and each other accountable!!!! My 2009 Goals: 3 month goal - Track everything I eat on fitday.com - stay within 1500 calories a day - Work out 3 times a week - Get back up right away when I fall - Visit and post on LBT at least 4 times a week. - Lose 15 lbs (5lbs a month.) 6 month goal - Same as above - Lose a total of 30 lbs (15+15) 9 month goal - Same as above - Lose a total of 45 lbw (30 + 15) 12 month goal - same as above - maintain the 45lb loss - plan to lose an additional 15lbs to goal, in 2010 Wuhuuuu - what are your 2009 goals, fellow strugglers???:frown:

By the way, if you have to go on liquids, try this. It really helped me. Go to the grocery store (walmart does not carry it but HEB and Kroger do) and buy a Cereal called weetabix. Then, take two biscuits and add 3/4 cup non-fat milk. Then add one or two splendas. (more milk if necessary.) Then put in microwave. This liquifies it and can pass through a straw. It is delicious and filling, and a good variety in the liquid stage.

My diet post port revision was 2 days liquids (i bought progresso Soups like chicken noodle etc and focused on thr broths) then soft foods and solids as I can tolerate. My port revision was really what help me recommitt so in a way, i am grateful for it!! Lost about 10lbs in a month and a half since the revision. The bad bad is that i have additional scars that I didnt need to have (sigh). But i would rather have scars than continue being obese!! :tongue2: Yes, please set some goals and write them down on here. that's what I do to try and help me keep focused!!!

Hi Ebox!! Good luck with your surgery and please update us on how it goes. I have had a port revision procedure twice in the last month and a half - the worst part - everyone - nurses, anaesthesiologist etc, how much i have lost in the past two years - and when i say 55lbs, i can hear the surprise and disappointment in their voices. Almost as if they are saying, that's it - I coulda done that without surgery!!! Do you get that?? Those darned..... :tongue2: Well good luck with your procedure. What are your GOALS for this week???

Hi Everyone, Hoping you all had a GREAT christmas. I see that we have many newcomers. Whooowhoooo - I will go ahead and read in some detail and reply to all this PM. Right now, I am at work but wanted to check in. I went to Dallas for Christmas and it is all a blur. had a great time and ate ALL the wrong foods. Thank goodness for the restriction or I would have eaten a few cows. Then last night I figured, well, I have been doing really badly anyway, so I will have some KFC extra crispy chicken. I dont even know how I ate all that food. But I am back on track today. The holidays kicked my behind. But as we always say, the goal is not to let the failure continue - to stop it in its tracks. My goals for this week are: - Post on LBT Daily - keep my calorie intake at 1500 calories daily - drink 64 oz of Water - Work out ONE DAY this week. How did you all do with your eating this holiday?? Talk to you all this PM!!!!

Hi MUSIC, I am really tough on others (but soft of myself so I need others to be tough on me :thumbup:) so I will be tough on you. You gotta track what you eat over christmas. It helps keep you accountable and will make you question the next bite. The good, bad or ugly - gotta track it and christmas is not a good enough excuse, not to track!!!! :sad: I'm going to track mine as well, even if it comes to 3000 calories (but somone bite me if I get to 3000) Yes, I am doing well, so far. The biggest change i have noticed with my new fill is not necessarily a big quantity change (- i have started being able to eat a little more since it is about 5 days since.) the biggest change i notice is the satiety for 3-4 hours after i eat. VERY refreshing

Where's our girl, Bayougirl??? Please check in. Let us know how you are doing!!!

WEBKAT - Where are you??? Have to hold you to your goal of posting here daily. Please let us know how you are doing - good or bad. If it is good, we will celbrate with you. If you have failed the band recently or not met your goals, we will help you pick yourself back up and get back on track. Let us know. Miss your posts!!!

Hi Maggie, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome!!! Congratulations on your decision to go with the band. I am pretty sure you wont regret it!!! You are almost a bandster!! Are you on your pre-op diet? what is the doc making you do pre-op?? Yes, please join us and let us know how you are doing. We all can use the continous support and encouragement along the way!! Keep us posted. My words of wisdom -follow the doctors orders!!!! :thumbup: