Jesse Kilgore

Hola, quick update.
Its been since Oct 5th since my last fill and I have lost about 30 pounds. Im back to 199-200 and been stuck here since the weather really went cold on me and I cant go running.
I hope to get to 189 lbs as my goal weight which isnt far away now. My wife keeps telling me that Im losing too much and that I wont lok right "skinny" and that my thick baseball player legs and footballer butt is going away and she donest like it... I guess I better start lifting again rather then just losing weight.
So, my goal is 189 then back up to 200 but with muscle.. guess Ill check bak when i hit my goal weight in about 11 pounds.
-jes

Hola, quick update.
Its been since Oct 5th since my last fill and I have lost about 30 pounds. Im back to 199-200 and been stuck here since the weather really went cold on me and I cant go running.
I hope to get to 189 lbs as my goal weight which isnt far away now. My wife keeps telling me that Im losing too much and that I wont lok right "skinny" and that my thick baseball player legs and footballer butt is going away and she donest like it... I guess I better start lifting again rather then just losing weight.
So, my goal is 189 then back up to 200 but with muscle.. guess Ill check bak when i hit my goal weight in about 11 pounds.
-jes

I’m down to 11 pounds to hit my goal and it’s been stale for the last 37 days. Just so happens I stopped running in that time as well because it’s cold as a MoFo for me in the AM! hahah
I’m in no rush to shed these last few pounds and hit my goal. Mar 1st Ill start working out again and they will drop fast, even if I need to get another fill. No big.
I have found that maintaining 200 is much easier than I thought it would be. I’ve been at 200 for what seems like months without trying too much which makes me think the last 11 to 189 is going to be pretty easy (knock on wood) when I start trying again.

I have always heard that fluids during or after eating is "cheating" because it makes the food you eat slip thru the band faster and in effect defeats the band. I don’t think this is true because if I eat too much solids and drink too much I will still slim and puke.

Try not to be too discouraged by negative posts. People tend to post more often when they're struggling than when they're doing fine. It's just the nature of a support site like this.
I was banded on 9/19/07 (with the old 4mm Lap-Band) and lost 100% of my excess weight (90 lbs) in one year. I had some ups and downs, many of them due to user error, but I loved my band. I loved the adjustability of it, the early and prolonged satiety it gave me, and also its appetite reduction feature.
I had a band slip at 21 months post-op that was resolved with a complete unfill and 6-week rest period. We don't know why it slipped because I hadn't been having any problems, so it could've been related to poor surgical technique by my original surgeon or plain old dumb luck. Then when I started getting gradual fills again, my port flipped (maybe due to a failed suture) and my new surgeon had so much trouble accessing it that we decided on surgery to reposition it. Unfortunately my work schedule delayed that surgery for several months and I regained about 20 lbs, but as soon as I got enough fill back in there. I was able to lose the 20 lbs.
I lived happily with my band until December 2011, when I started having reflux. It got worse despite taking omeprazole, so I had another complete unfill, an upper GI study that showed esophageal dilation, and an EGD that showed esophageal damage from decades of "silent" reflux (long pre-dating my band). Since my band was probably aggravating it, my surgeon and gastro doc decided that we needed to remove my band. My band was removed in April 2012 and I had VSG surgery in August 2012. Since then I've lost the 30 lbs I had regained because of losing my band, but I'm having more problems adjusting to life with my sleeve than I ever did adjusting to my band.
Weight regain is a possibility for every obese person, no matter what (if any) WLS procedure they have, because obesity is a chronic, incurable disease affected not just by our conscious eating behavior but other factors not within our individual control (like hormonal, neurological, inflammatory and other problems). Weight management is a lifetime project, but I promise you, all that work is soooo worth it!
Jean

With my first few fills I didn’t feel much restriction at all. I was worried it wasn’t working and that the doctor was trying to get money out of me (150.00 per fill out of pocket). After time I learned that it takes a while for you and your doctor to find that “sweet spot” where you can still eat and drink while losing weight.
I went “hard core” at a few fills so the Dr. would put more in so I would have more restriction and every time I would foam, vomit and PB all over again until I got used to the new fill. Once I went three days without any real Fluid and had to schedule an appointment to get Fluid taken out. Won’t do that EVER again!! lol
Ohh and I Don’t know if this is true for others but I have learned that right after my fill I have to eat only Soup for a few days to a week while I wait for my swelling to go down. Then I start to slowly introduce solids again.
Once you find that sweet spot you will know it.

I physically CAN'T drink while eating - I will throw it all up. I've learned the hard way, especially with soda (yes, I KNOW I'm not sposed to drink it but I occasionally have sips of my hubbys). If I eat food and then drink a sip of anything, I'm immediately in the bathroom. So it's never really been a problem for me. But, when I go out to Mexican or something spicy, I sure do miss a swig of water!
Just drink a big glass before you eat (I can drink right up till the time I eat) and get it out of the way. Good luck to u!
Marci