La_madam

No I have had 4 fills including todays fill, 3 of them from Dr. Martinez and 1 from Dr. Ortiz. Dr. Martinez is very good at giving fills. I will not go to anyone else, he is painless when he access my port, Dr. Ortiz calls Dr. Martinez the master of fills, so far I have been very pleased with my fills from him, I have always felt restriction from my fills, it has never been a case of not enough, nor have I ever been too tight. You are in good hands, let him know of your fears of being overtight, I had the same fears, this is why he backed off today from 1.3 to 1cc'. I knew today was like starting over and my first fill last June was 1.1 so I felt comfortable with 1 cc today. I can all ready feel a difference just in how my liquids are going down.

Good for you,that you aretaking those stpes.. I hope it goes well and you get good news. Hey and you get to see Penni and have a great time together

Im dying here with laughter..LOL..it is so nice to know my husband is not the only man who does this LOL

I do not ever get the "full feeling" like Thanksgiving Full, I got to unbutton my pants, Im gonna puke feeling any more. It is awesome! I know when it is time for me to stop because I get an ice cream headache. I have heard others get a runny nose, a cough, tightness in the chest., it took me some time to figure it out, but once I made the coralation with the ice cream headache when I was eating I fugured it out. Congratulations to you on being banded, I wish you lots of success with your new band P.S. Iam on liquids for 3 days now since I had a fill today and that homemade chicken broth sounds delicious.

Once you start losing weight alot of the stress may go away, that is what happened to me, I used to take Xanax for anxiety on a daily basis once I was off the Paxil, now I take nothing for anxiety since the weight loss

Liquids will not be as difficult after surgery as it is before, trust me. I went through exactly what you are going through. I tried liquids for 2 days prior to surgery, not becasue of any pre op diet but because I wanted to see how it will be...well it is not even the same. After surgery, you are swollen and bloated and gassy, food is not really thought of much the first week or so, I had no desire to eat for 2 weeks, liquids was just fine for me...Not to mention something in your brain clicks, and you want to stay on liquids for however long your Dr. orders you too as hard as it may be , you do not want to jeopardize your band during the healing stage. You will be just fine

I gained 65-70 lbs with the Paxil before my lap band and am now off of it, there is no way I would ever go back on that, it has nothing to do with the ammount of food you eat, I ate the same foods that I ate before I started taking the paxil as I did when I was taking it, same ammounts too but gained all that weight. all of those meds make your metabolic rate zero( Paxil, Zoloft, Wellbutrin etc..) I went round and round with my PCP about this and all the different meds. I do not think having the band or not having the band will make a diference , weight gain is still possible, this is just my opinion on it!

Huge Congrats on your weight loss , I am happy for you andalso glad you got the tight fill taken care of, Very Smart! Do not take this the wrong way but how does your PA know this? Everyones fill level and level of restriction is so different. I may have 1cc's and have great restriction where as someone else may have 1cc and not have any restriction. You have only been banded for 3 months and have all ready had 2 fills, I do not think that is behind at all. I had 3 fills in 14 months which validates my point that everyones restriction is different.

Happy Birthday to both of you Hope you both have a great day!!

Cute Cute Hair, love the new do Lisa!~

I'm glad I did not TiVo it , looks like I did not miss a thing!

Ditto! Same for me

Well, Iam back. Everything with my check -up went fine. He wants me to come back in October for another endoscopy to re-check everything Dr Martinez was pleased with my healing progress and was alos pleased to see I had lost 5 lbs in 2 months with no fluid in my band. I did get a fill, he gave me 1cc. . I asked if he was going to fill me to where I was before I was unfilled. He said that would be too drastic of a jump, he actually put in 1.3 cc's and saw under fluoro as I was drinking the barium that it might be a little tight to start off with that much so he backed it off to 1cc. He said in 2 weeks if I did not feel like it was enough to come on back down. He said my esophagus looked great and told me I could stop taking the prilosec that I was taking for the gastritis.. I am excited to get going again with my weight loss I'm on liquids for 3 days.

You are welcome Sounds like you are headed in the right direction, with the exericise and your food choices, the only thing I would do diferent is stay clear from the liquid calories that go through the band quicker. , instead of carnation instant breakfast which is liquid eat some solid Protein ( like eggs, turkey sausage, cottage cheese) in the mornings, this will help hold hunger much better I have to remind myslef all the time, this is not a race , the weight will come off... this is a lifestlye change..a journey

Well tomorrow morning Iam headed down to TJ to see Dr. Ortiz for a check up for my bowel obstruction surgery and to be re-filled. It will be exactly 2 months since my surgery. I am so excited to be re-filled and get going again with my weight loss, it feels like a fresh start. I have been on a 2 month haitus. Luckily for me in the last 2 months I have been able to lose 5 lbs and not gain any weight, it has been a struggle, trust me! It will be very interesting if I can be filled to 2.5 'ccs like I was before I was unfilled. I do not think I will be able to not because he will not do it but I do not think I can jump to that level of restriction rgiht from the get go, I may have to start off slow, who knows but I am excited. I will post tomorrow afternoon and let you all know how is goes.

Robyn, this is the toughest time for new bandsters, I went through thesame thing, but you got to remember you have no fluid in your band, the band was designed to work best with fluid, so it is normal to feel like you can eat anything you want, it is also normal to notsee the scale move. I only lost 19 lbs the first 9 weeks. My weight did not start coming off until I got my fills. Instead of having a bagel for breakfast, try strictly portein no carbs, that will help decrease hunger and cravings for more carbs. Eat your 60 grams of protein a day, Keep your carbs to a minimum you can eat your veggies and fruits and still get your carbs, but good carbs. That old saying " just because you can doesnt mean you should" It is very normal to see a fluctuation in your weight once you go from liquids to solids, it will take a few days for your body and brain to adjust to the solids. Once you start getting your fills, you will notcie a difference in your hunger, things you are able to eat andthescale will move. Focus on protein and drinking your water...You can do this Hang in there!!

Ok, tomorrow is re-fill day and it cant come soon enough, when I am filled right, I have no desire for junk food.

I hear great things about Dr. Sanchez. I do not think you have a thing to worry about ,but as others said, pack light, maybe take along some GasX and liquid tylenol for the flight home.

Sounds like one to me Leatha

Ruthie, this liquid phase after surgery is for healing only and not weight loss, any wieght loss during the pre-fill stage is a bonus. Your band has no Fluid in it and the band works best when there is fluid in it, so do not panic, you are NOT doing anything wrong Do not weigh yourself everyday, that will help. Obsessing about the weight loss only slowed me down and I got discouraged. Now I weigh once a week and that is it!

Got to have my coffe too! My Dr. says I can have coffee

Is this after a fill or after surgery? Seems like a long time if it is just after a fill

I second that! Alex you are an amazing woman, you are an inspiration to all of us here. What a great post!!!

Let's hope this will be different and they talk about the band itself and how it works. I like the fact the word is getting out about this amazing band. I do not know who this Lisa woman is so it will be interesting to see. I'm going to have to TiVo it since I will be in Tj seeing Dr. Ortiz for acheck-up and a re-fill

The woman who is going to appear on the show, her name is Lisa, she is a patient of Dr. Gabriel.