La_madam

Hi Heather..we all have had our share of "what if's" but I will tell you this..there was no greater " what if" then What if I do not have this surgery and I die from a heart attack before I see my kids grow old ...everything we do in life is a risk..this risk for me was so worth taking. I'm happier and healthier then I have been in years and when I'm happier and healthier, my hubby and kids are happier. This is an awesome site for support. Many of the poeple here have lots of knowledge about the band for us newbies Good Luck to you with your decision..

Sorry to hear of your first PB..they are painful I only have had it happen once and I can say I don't think it will happen again, it is something I never want to experience so I'm extra careful with the tiniest bites and I chew chew chew ....Refried Beans were a main staple for me during the mush phase...topped with chedder cheese and hot sauce and a dab of sour cream.. egg salad was also a good one for me during the mush phase..also once you hit solids..I started with dark meat chicken at first becasue it is not so dry... Good Luck to you

Ditto on what Alex said.. one reason is I don't do dresse's... the last dress I wore was my wedding dress 12 years ago and before that it was my prom dress 20 yrs ago.. You look great Rica! Congrats to you

Do like my brother does Lisa he gets on and off that damn scale 4-5 times a day..afer he eats, after he exercises, after he pees and after a bowel movement. he lives here with me , hubby and kids and has lost 72lbs on the Optifast diet in 9 weeks. his weighing all day is making me crazy since I'm doing my damdest to only weight once a week.

Who'd a thunk huh?...portless and 50 pounds lighter...you are awesome! You're doing something right regardless of your binges something you are doing is working..KEEP IT UP!!! Okay your making me want to go do my exercise now so I can hit 50 too

Is your doctor concerend that you can still drink liquids at 3.5cc's. I'm at 2cc's and if the liquid is too cold or too thick I cant drink it. I can not imagine what I would be like at 3.5..probably all closed up. 2cc's is hard enough. Does he do your fills under fluoro? Do you drink the barium so he can see your restriction? That makes a big difference for me to be able to see it for myself , to know he hit my port and to see the barium trickling down through the band... The Wellbutrin will help like the prozac did but without the weight gain, be careful, you may feel nauseas the first week or so and with the band you do not want to be throwing up. I took wellbutrin( pre band) but the nausea was so bad the first 10 days I had to stop taking it, I knew it was going to get better as it got into my system but I could not hang on for that too happen. I had no appetite what so ever..I'm glad I was able to make you feel a little better..hang in there!

Ryan you have such a way with words..thank you for sharing this post with us..I'm sure we all feel the way you do but can not express it the way you have. You're attitude and outlook are amazing. I wish you much success!

Hey Sultana don't get down..getting off the Prozac will help. I was on Paxil for a year and a half and gained 65 pounds. I weaned myself off it after my doctor told me a side affect was weight gain and that it slows down your metabolic rate ( wish he would of told me this before he prescribed it for me) Once the prozac is completely out of your system you will notice a huge difference. You are not a faliure.. losing 30 pounds the first year is better then gaining 30 pounds ...would you have lost the 30 pounds without the help of your band? I'm sure the answer is NO or you would of never gotten the band right? You're doing great! The way I see it...any weight loss is better then any weight gain! Keep it up and try not to get discouraged

Congrats on your upcoming surgery Ryan... November 16 will be here before you know it! I hope all your tests come out perfect!

50 lbs Lisa?? Way to go girl...that is so awesome..so much for your plateau. I think you broke it ! I'm jealous but so damn happy for you, if anyone deserves it, you do with all you have gone through Keep it up!!!

I believe in Angels! My son was diagnosed with cancer at 17 years old and while he was in the hospital hooked up to every machine possible and totally druged with morphine and verced he told my husband and I that he had a dream about his youngest brother (we have 5 children) he told us that something was wrong with his baby brother who was 4 at the time. He told us we had to take him to the doctor, we did not take much stock into what he was telling us becasue of al lthe drugs he was taking for his pain but for 2 days my son tried to pull out every tube he was attached to he was very agitated so the nurses told us to come to the hospital one night in the middle of the night to try and comfort him when we arrived he again told us that something was wrong with his baby brother and we had to take him to the doctor so we did to apease him and to set his mind at ease and guess what..when we took our youngest son to the doctor the next morning we were given devastating news, our youngest son also had cancer. Imagine the shock that my husband and I were in when we heard the news..our youngest son and oldest son both with cancer diagnosed 3 weeks apart..my oldest son died and my youngest is now in remission but I truly believe that my son was an Angel or an Angel spoke to my son and told him to get our attention in regards to our youngest son..without my son telling us of his dream we would of never known becasue at the same time my mother was dying so all of our attention was focused on my mom and my oldest son who were both in hospitals in ICU. Our oldest son saved my younger sons life..to this day he is considered an Angel ..a guardian angel to his younger brother. My son and mother died 10 days apart while my youngest is in remission and healthy

Chocolate is my weekness But since being banded I have not bingnedd on any..(except the 3 bites of brownie about a month ago) when the urge hits I keep blanace gold bars (triple chocolate chaos 15 grams of protein) handy they taste just like a candy bar and better for me.. Plus not to mention my brother sees a wekly nutritionalist and she told him 1 m&m has 4 calories and 1.5 grams of fat so every time I get the urge of chocolate I think of 1 m&m having 4 calories , it stops me right in my tracks~! I do understand how the first time w/ chocolate since being banded tastes becasue I did stop at McDonalds on the way home from TJ last week when I got my fill since I was on liquids only and ordered a chocolate shake and it was SOOOOO sweet to me. It made me choke the first few slurps

Hi Shawn Great job..Congratulations. Welcome aboard..this place is great!

Hi Suzy Alex explained it very well.. I waterload between meals since we can not drink during OR 1 hour after a meal I drink 24oz bottles between meals with my first one in the early A.M. at 6:30 after my 2 cups of coffee then eat Breakfast at around 8:00am and then continue the 24 oz bottles through out the day spaced between my meals and hour after meal time. I usually do good and get atleast 4-24oz bottles in a day sometimes more but never less.

Tuesday 8/24 1 cup of coffee breakfast - 2 scrambled eggs, i slice of pumpkin bread w/ butter lunch - 4 chicken mcnuggets and burger patty out of my sons cheeseburger from mcdonalds water 16 oz at 1:00 snack 1/2 balance gold bar water 24oz at 4:30 exercise - walked around Boomers amusement park, did laser tag, batting cages, bumper boats, miniature golf and go karts. Tonight will do : dinner 5:00 - can of tuna and 3 rye krisp crackers. water 24 oz at 6:30 water 24 oz at 7:30 I'm having a hungry day today

Hey before you go just think about this for a moment...you say "you don't want pain" the pain from this surgery is nothing compared to the pain you will experience when your knees go out from being to heavy or from the low back pain you will experience from being obese, or the pain you could expereince if you were to have a heart attack from too much weight and strain on your heart. That is how I looked at it and 4 months later I would do it all over again in a second. Trust me , the pain from this is so minor that all my doctor uses for pain meds agfter the surgery is a liquid tylenol, no narcotic pain med.Good luck to you with your research and your decision

224 last week to 221 this week for me! Darcy don't get discouraged...sounds like you know what you have to do..and Betty is right..sometimes thescales doesn't move but our clothes get bigger and if you are exercising more then before it could be just a little water retention in your muscles. I know that happened . Go grocery shopping and get back on track..hang in there you will get your fill soon

Monday 8/23 Last weeks weight 224 This morning 221 = 3 lbs loss for me this week. Thats the first time I have lost more then 2 pounds a week in a very long time like 3 months. It must be the weekly challenge and the new fill I just had, both have made a difference for me Good Luck to the rest of you weekly weighers!

Maurice I had my surgery in APril of this year..Two of the woemn who had surgery the same day as I did both brought their CPAP Machine. I have kept in contact with both of them for the last 4 months and happy to say neither one of them have need to use their CPAP machines since they have lost weight from surgery at about 3 months post op, I have heard many others have had the same success. Good Luck to you...

Sunday 8/22 So far so good today 6:00 am 2 cups of coffee & 20 oz of waer 7:30 - 2 scrambled egg whites / slice of Turkey ham 9:30 - 8 oz of water 11:00 - 8 oz of water 12:30 - scoop of tuna/ half of hard boiled egg 1 slice of tomato 4:45 - 24 oz of water 5:36 - Drinking another 24 oz of water will finish it before dinner ( my goal) Dinner tonight is a scoop of egg salad on w/ 3 rye krisp crackers 7:30pm will drink last 24 oz of water 8:30 pm will swim for 30 minutes Cant wait for my weigh in tomorrow morning! Lovin' this challenge Makes me so much more accountable

Have a great time Penni and take lots of pictures!

I did not worry so much about the liquid phase pre surgery. It is so different after surgery, you are bloated, swollen gassy, the liquid phase is not so bad but is hard pre surgery , since you have no bloating swelling or gas. I was not even hungry for 2 weeks after surgery due to all the gas and bloatedness & swelling. A few things I did do pre surgery was to practice the small bites and to chew my food really good and put my fork down between bites . I also did the no drinking during or 1 hour after my meals...practicing those helped me. Also I followed the protein first and carbs last rule just to get used to it. Good Luck to you

Hi Bright I was a member of Curves for a year and a half before banding , went faithfully for 5 days a week for the first 6 months then 3-4 times a week thereafter , I cant say that I was on a diet but I did chnge my eating. My experience was that I did not lose 1 pound., not many inches either. I did lose a few inches but most places I gained inches I was told it was becasue I was building muscle. A woman who is a 100 lbs overweight does not want ot hear that! After being banded I quit going and canceled my membership. I got so discouraged. Since banding I have lost 41 pounds in 4 months with my own exercise routine ( Water aerobics in my pool and I work with 5 pound weights on my arms and legs. and its free & the fact that I'm eating a whole lot less) This is just my experience though. There are many women here who love Curves and are very successful. The posts here will speak for themselves. Whatever it is you are doing seems to be working, you look fabulous! Like the saying says " If its not broken then don't fix it"

OMG Bright You dont even look like the same woman. You look beautiful in both pics but much more healthier and happier in the "after" pic. Congrats to you for a job well done! You must be so proud of yourself...Way to go!!!

No I will weigh Monday morning and I'm so anxious to see a loss since I was on liquids from Tuesday afternoon to Friday afternoon and now have great restriction w/ 2cc's.. I can feel a weight loss. I hear ya...COME ON MONDAY!!