DeLarla

Betty, he's gonna let you have soup, I just know he will! And it will be really nice, and you will not gain weight from it. I lived on cream soups during my thick liquid stage, but one day I ran out. So I just put regular chicken noodle in the blender - I guess you could puree just about anything. Enjoy. The reason I don't change my avatar is cause I have the same baggy eyed, dark circled, sallow skinned 3-day-drunk look on all my pics. I'll try to take a new one this weekend.

I'm glad you are with me on this. I WILL NOT eat one of the Otis Spunkmeyer cookies in the kitchen, because then I can't have a goodie tonight. Thank God I got my band when I did, because we have a new plus-size secretary that eats ALL DAY LONG. My office is next to the kitchen, and she's in there at least 10 times every day - no lie! I've never seen anyone eat so much at the office. She stops at the market every day and brings enough stuff for a picnic... that's not the problem; I don't care what others eat, but she's constantly influencing me. Yesterday she talked me into leaving the office for an ice cream run! In the middle of the damn day! The awesome thing is that my attorney, Jon, who has the office next to me (and who is really skinny and eats very light) has been my biggest band supporter and fan since Day 1. And Jon noticed Erin's gaining weight and that she's a really bad influence. We had a serious talk this morning, and I'm going to have a serious talk with Erin about keeping her food issues on the other side of the building by her own desk. I bring my lunch every single day, but at least once a week I give in to her "hey, let's go pick up fast food." I brought my chicken today, so I don't care if it's Friday and payday, I'm not screwing up again! Two ladies here keep huge containers of goodies on their desks, and I've never once touched them till yesterday, after seeing Erin go in there 5 times. I never eat the pretzles that my firm keeps in the kitchen till after seeing Erin grab 10 handfuls yesterday. I really like the girl, but PARTY IS OVER, ERIN!

Betty, today's the big day... did you make it through the night? I think it's really important to get protein in during any post-surgical procedure since our bodies need it to heal. So let us know what your first bite (or slurp from a spoon) is.

Is anyone else having problems eating too many goodies? I don't even know where it started, but lately there's been an excuse for everything. Parties, barbeques, 3-day weekends, Halloween, birthdays... it's never going to end, so I need to work on limiting myself. I'm not losing weight any more - just keep gaining and losing the same 2 pounds. So, my challenge (for those of us having problems) is to limit myself to one "fun food" per day. I stole that term from someone on the boards who either has 2 mini candy bars, an ice cream sandwhich, a couple cookies... nothing more. And not all that stuff, just pick one per day. Stomp out junk food! Stomp out junkfood!

I met the excersize challenge for the week. Walked around the park and did an extra lap to make up for bad eating. I'm going to start a new junk food trend now, since I've been overindulging so I'm not losing.

Betty, everybody around here was given different post-surgery instructions. I only had to do clear liquids one week, then one week thick liquids, then mushies. I realize I don't have the right to give medical advice, but I don't see anything wrong with you enjoying some Cream of Chicken soup or thinned mashed potatoes at this stage considering quite a few of us were on mushies at this point, so why not call your doctor's office and ask to speak to his nurse? Tell her how hungry you are - maybe she can get a message to your doctor, who will probably just tell you to try some thick liquids. The way I see it is that your doctor probably won't do any physical testing on you to see if you're ready for the next stage. He'll just talk to you and look at your incisions, don't ya think? I got hungry about 10 days after surgery (same as your timing) so my doc let me jump to thick liquids a couple days early. That thick, warm soup was heavenly and kept me from starving. I put my cream soups in the blender, and that consistancy isn't much different than a shake anyway, right?

I did a double lap around the park during yesterday morning's walk. This challenge requires me to exercise Monday, Wednesday and Friday. So far, so good. I don't worry about weekends since I'm so active cleaning & riding my motorcycle... as long as I keep moving.

Can I have your autograph? That's really cute!

Finally an opportunity to share about my muscular upper body! When it was still hot and I was wearing tank tops, I'd always stare at my upper shoulder in the rearview mirror of my hubby's motorcycle (when I rode on the back.) I have this amazingly muscular and sexy shoulder/clavical bone when we're on the freeway. It's just like a rock hard woman's body, when we're on the freeway... See, when we're on the freeway doing 65 into blasting wind, the wind blows so hard that it dimples my upper arm in, and that makes it look like this sculpted piece of art. So I stare and admire my rock hard upper body, till we come to a stop and it all sloops back down. So I totally relate to my whole bod flapping in the wind all slurpy.

Ya know, it sounds lame, and we've all heard it a hundred times, but you gotta drink your Water. I spend my morning and afternoon drinking water so I can slack off in the afternoon. But if I don't get a lot of water in during the day, I'm starving at night. My first and only fill was 1.8 cc, but I think that's a lot for a first fill. The only reason my doctor went so high is because after he filled me, he removed my port due to infection. So he gave me a little extra knowing that I may never have another fill again (at least until I have surgery to replace the port.) This "fill" issue makes my mind think of much broader things... for example, each one of us is completely different, and each one of us gained our weight for different reasons and over different periods of time. I wonder if our past has anything to do with how the band and fills react around our bellies. I, for one, was a huge binge eater, so I would stretch my stomach out till the point of being sick every single day. I wonder if the stomach becomes more elastic --- might sound really stupid, but something has to account for why some of us get restricted while others don't, doesn't it?

Michelle, I'm with you. The last thing I felt like doing after surgery was eating. All that bloat and gas and disgustingness! It was a solid 2 weeks before I had the urge to eat mushy foods. But during my liquid phase, I put Cream of Chicken soup in the blender. That was so nice, tastey and warm going down... really comforting and satisfying.

If you can get your insurance to cover the band, it will be worth the extra effort creating a diet history. Besides, how are they going to prove if your facts and numbers aren't exactly the same as the experiences you had? Write a story, I'll vouch for you!

Debbie, how tall are you? I'm no pro, especially since I've only had one fill, but 217 doesn't seem that heavy to me. Maybe you are losing slowly because you don't have much to lose? Then again, I'm a giant at 5'10", so if I weighed 217, I'd look HOT! Maybe this next fill will do it for you. There's a lot you have to consider, like what type of band you have (how much saline it holds) or the possibility that you have a leak, so never give up hope. Your turn will come.

Maybe they accidentally banded your shoulder? Sorry, but I felt like responding but didn't have anything intelligent to say. I only had the shoulder pain after the surgery, and a heating pad was my cure. We should start a freak thread for all these unexplained problems - a place for my port problems to call home.

Rica, it's hard reading this because so far you've been so strong for me, so when I see you in pain, it just doesn't seem fair. Remember that your dad helped make you the strong woman you are today; with today's treatments and options, dad will be around a long time, so so it's time for you to be brave and face this enemy with all you've got. Take a deep breathe, reflect on all the love, and then start reading everything you can get your hands on so you can help dad and your family every way you can.

Denise, happy LAST DAY OF THE REST OF YOUR OLD LIFE. We look forward to seeing the new you in a few days. Good luck to you for a speedy recovery.

I'm gonna take this on a different spin and say congradulations to you. He probably did you the world's biggest favor, because now that the initial shock is over you can begin healing physically, emotionally, spiritually, and band-ularly all at once. Good luck to you during your fresh start. It might seem horrible now, but keep asking yourself where you'd be in five years if you were still with him. If there was no hope for your relationship, then you'd have wasted five years being unhappy, when instead this should be a time of celebration and success. Take it easy on yourself and enjoy your new life.

I'm looking at your picture, Babs... I put one up on my corkboard at work with Vera and Penni and Sachi wearing that boa. You don't even look like an overweight women. I don't care what society or doctors say, our bodies know what they are doing when we're eating right. If you are really staying under 1200 calories a day, I don't think you need another fill. I've only had one fill so far, but I never want to be somebody that relies on fills when the weightloss slows down. I realize the band was designed to hold saline that gives us restriction, but like we've heard a thousand times, it's only a tool. If you still have willpower to stick under 1200 calories, then use what God gave you. My problem is that I'm almost into this journey six months, yet I haven't corrected all my bad eating habits. I have some good band days. And I have tons and tons of "good" meals (lunch doesn't seem to be a problem, and I rarely snack at work like I used to do all day long.) But I still have times that I mini-binge at night. I still often make poor choices. But for me, it's progress, not perfection. I don't think you should worry about any numbers. You're weight loss simply has to slow down considering you don't weigh much anymore. Nice to see your smiling face... Chris says hi to everyone.

About a year ago, I had one of those really funky dreams that I wasn't able to shake for a couple weeks. It was eerie, almost a nightmare. In the dream, I learned that my desire and addiction to Diet Pepsi was actually making me fat. I dreamed that diet sodas and foods actually chemically cause people to be fat. The dream had all sorts of analytical data incorporated into visions of diet soda and fat. I woke up the next morning completely freaked out, thinking Diet Pepsi had sabotaged my entire life. I haven't had a diet soda since. I started drinking regular soda, but I'd never have more than one a day. Meanwhile, I have an autoimmune disease. So far, there's no known cause of my "Sarcoidosis" but I read a study that implicates Nutrisweet as the culprit. And at the risk of another hijack, my wound is looking much better. I have another whole post devoted to it, and I'll be posting a new picture tonight to show everyone how well it seems to be doing. Thank you for asking about me : )

Sorry for the quick hijack, but Ginny, did you ever get the box of clothes I mailed you?

Wow, awesome thread. My moment was about 6 months long. My insurance sent me a card with an emergency crisis number on it. One night, I called the number crying and begged them to keep me from eating. They didn't keep me from eating, but they sent me to a therapist. During my first visit, she asked why I was there. I said, "what would you say if I told you I was going home and killing myself?' She jumped towards her phone and said she had to call the authorities and asked me what my intentions were. So I told her, "I'm going to do the same thing I do every night, which is eat myself to death." She took a big sign of relief and sank back into her chair, like "oh, is that all?" I was so disgusted that I started crying and told her that my life is in her hands, and it was up to her to find me some help - pronto. She was supposed to be an eating disorder specialist, yet she'd never heard the TRUTH about compulsive overeating till she met me. She used me to study, which makes me sick considering the copayment alone was $35.00 a session. So I gave up on her and laid in bed every night, hoping each night was the last night of suffering for me. I was also on a CPAP breathing machine because my sleep apnea was so bad, that during the studies my heart stopped 40 times an hour. I went to bed every night with so much food in my stomach that it would choke me in my sleep. Sleep apnea, added to so much food in my stomach that it had to come back up my esophogus would eventually kill me, I just knew it would, but what was taking so long? So I posted a personal ad in Yahoo personals, screaming out for anyone to help me. The actual moment was when Karen H. actually stumbled upon my ad and wrote back to me. She said she knew my entire pain, and she had been banded. Within a month or so, she was in my living room telling me and hubby about her band. Within a few more weeks I was in Tijuana getting my band. Funny how angels land right when we need them the most.

Me too, I'm always looking for Zoe-isms here!

I had my band placed 5/5/04, but the port incision never healed. It became badly infected, so on 6/17/04 they surgically removed my port. During the removal surgery, they gave me my first and only fill. I'm still waiting for the incision to heal. If and when it heals, they'll need to do a 3rd surgery to give me a new port or I won't be able to get fills.

Cookies and ice cream... is that a bad thing? Betty, I'm glad you went to work, but I'm also glad you left early cuz this SuperBandWoman thing worried me. Now I don't feel like such a wimp. Then again, I'm the bad ass biker chick who got a sinus infection the first time I rode on the highway - achooo! Everyone is exercising up a storm here. Michelle, three miles is a great workout. None of us should discount something we do as "only" because we're moving while our skinny friends are watching tV.

Most of us were told not to drink anything carbonated after being banded. I was under the impression that you get bad gas pains from drinking carbonation, while others were told it could cause erosion. I'm not sure what the deal is anymore - there's a lot of conflicting information, but I just assume stay away from it. I hope one day the Band Gods will speak to us and tell us we can have carbonation... I'd love a Perrier!