lisacaron

Give your self some time to heal you did a number on your insides. My husband when through a similar thing with the stomach flu. After the 3rd heave and nothing bile I rushed him right to the Dr. and he had the Fluid removed that night and was put on IV fluid to hydrate him. He was on liquids for nearly a week after, and then went slowly through the phases back to solids as he did after surgery. After about 2 weeks he went back in and had a fill done though not at the volume he was at just yet. Which for now is good since he's going for surgery in a few weeks and we don't want to have any complications with that. Take it slow, and treat yourself gently. Go back to basics it helps.

Awesome! Congrats!!

@@ToshaLarkins What was the reason that they had to take out all the Fluid, causing you to start over again? My Dr. did not start to give fills until I was three months from surgery. I was very hungry and I had to work at staying in the range of food. It was hard to change my habits, that was the hardest part and I will admit that I am not perfect and I often fall back onto those bad habits when I allow my emotions and stress to over take me. That said, it sounds like your doc filled you up with lots of fluid fast, and you may have over shot the green zone causing food to get stuck and not really offer you the feeling of satiety that we want. Don't give up, recently I was sick with a bad flu and my husband who is also banded had a terrible stomach flu. He had to have all the fluid taken out of the band, he waited a few weeks and then went back in and had 3cc put back in the band when he was better. I had 1 cc taken out and I know I have slipped out of the green zone because of it. I have been hungry and experiencing that need to eat more often. I have been trying to keep myself in check and not over do it and gain back weight. I will go back in and have another fill to get me back to that sweet spot again. This is what I love about the band.It's adjustable to my life and my life style. When I need the space it can be made looser as in when hubby and I were sick, and when we are ready we can get back to the sweet spot and get it going again. We didn't gain our weight overnight and we won't lose it overnight. I knew going into this that it might take me 2 years to reach my ultimate goal and I was OK with that. I would rather lose slowly and permanently then to lose quickly and regain. I also would rather lose slowly for my health, losing weight too quickly has it's own set of side effects. No WLS is perfect, we all go through different trials to get where we want to be. Give it a go and don't give up on yourself. You have the tool, why not use it?

Photo's are a great motivator, when you are living in your skin every day you don't realize how much you are shrinking as it's gradual. When you take your photo's try to compare them to similar ones. If you take side photo's find a pre-WLS side photo if you take a photo from the front find one pre-WLS from the front and view them side by side and you will be able to see the transformation trust me!

When your working out, you will notice the inches move more then the numbers on the scale. Though muscle does not weigh more then fat, you can fit twice as much muscle in the spaces where you used to have fat so it seems as if it weights more. It just takes up less space in your body then the fat does. A pound is a pound is a pound. Keep doing what your doing, it's going to take time to get where you want to be and your on the right track don't lose sight of your goals that will help keep you motivated. If your not eating enough like Mikee57 was told your body will rebel and go into starvation mode. Think about it. You have put your body through major surgery. You know you wanted the surgery but your body thinks "she's dying hurry reserve fuel!!" you started restricting your calories your body starts screaming "danger danger not enough food coming in hold onto everything we got!" you started stressing your body out by asking it to exercise, and now it's really holding on for dear life. Once your body that is programed for thousands upon thousands of years to behave this way realizes this is the new "normal" for you it will let go and start burning those stores again to keep you healthy. This same sort of thing can happen at a plateau your body becomes complacent and just sits back and only burns X because you are eating only X and exercising only X. So it balances and you stall. The way to shake that up...and get things moving again? Stress the body and kick it out of balance. Eat W exercise XYZ and then it will start trying to catch up again and the weight will move and the inches will peel away. All so easy to type...not so easy to do but your on the right track don't give up you got this!

OK sadly I have been "feeling" that way lately! I know it's just my stress levels and trust me I'm working on them...but right now it's nose to the grind stone. In the middle of a new job role on a big project push...hubs going for surgery, kids in different levels of adult melt down modes, and trying to lose weight...yeah right! My conscious mind is saying you just ate your meal....and the rest of me is yelling "but I'm starving!!!"

Anything is possible if you work for it. With the band you have the tool and you will and do need to do the work. There are some on here who have lost large amounts of weight very quickly with the band. It's going to come off the way you and your body allow it to. Though 30 pounds by July is not unrealistic if you are watching portions/calories and getting in some exercise.

You go girl! You remineded me I have to call my Doc. I have been eating my face off, I know it's stress but it's no excuse! I called the doc and I go in on Monday. Also going to see the endo doc for a full blood work up to be sure nothing else is slowing me down here I know it's one step at a time...but I am losing focus on "me" and it's not a selfish thing but an intentional thing. I am putting me on hold and doing everything else but what I should be. It's my old avoidance blame it on doing for everyone else and then you have an excuse to be martyr! I know I'm doing it and that's the first step right? Yes there are somethings and people that need my full attention, but it would and should never be at the cost of my own life and health. I can't help them if I am down...and I have to remember that!!! Need to be more like Liz...moral of this story for me today is share my bacon!!!!

Here is my story of Bandster Hell. My hubby and I were banded 3 days apart, as we were healing from our surgery it was not long maybe 5 days for me that I was "hungry"!!! Before surgery I was doing great on my liquid diet but by a week post op I was done with shakes and sugary stuff. I wanted food real food. My hubby, he was swollen for quite a bit after surgery and had no interest in food he would tell me how can you even thing about eating! I could cause i was HUNGRY!! To the point one day that I had to YELL at him to turn the TV off because I could smell the hot wings on the screen! (I don't even like or eat hot wings ever!) at that moment I would have eaten the TV screen The best thing I could do was to keep myself distracted and not think about or look at food. So TV was out for me cause those commercials were a killer. I would go in the other room and munch on an ice pop, or drink some extra Water or just go and take a nap. Once you move to mush foods life will get better. I was in heaven again when I bought some Wendy's chili threw it in the blender with a scoop of fat free Sour Cream!! Don't worry it won't last too long and you will do great!

I wrote this e-mail today and sent it out to a group of my co-workers who are in a Weigh to Win contest with me and on my team. 2 of us lost weight for this mid contest weigh in and 2 of us gained weight. Minimal amount of 2 pounds but still the goal is to lose and those of us that gained were feeling pretty down and beating themselves up. In putting this together in the hope to inspire and motivate my teammates I learned much about myself and I hope to follow my own advice and recommit!! Milestone #1 We have reached our first marker in this Weight to Win contest. Though it’s not about just the “contest” it’s about motivating ourselves to make some life style changes. Over the last 6 weeks we have each rallied through our personal setbacks. Though we may not all be seeing the number we want to see on the scale we have all made some very real and inspiring changes in our lives over the last 6 weeks. We have changed some if not all of our eating habits. 6 weeks is not enough time to change all our habits! So don’t be unmotivated by what has NOT changed. Look at what HAS changed! Perhaps you have cut certain items that are sure weight sabotages’ out of your diet. Things like soda, salty pretzels, donuts or cookies. Perhaps you have started a new exercise routine, and kept it going day after day or even just went out and bought a new pair of sneakers or clothes with the plan to become more active. Whatever it is, you have made changes and you should applaud yourself and each other for that! It is not easy to change things that we have spent half a life time learning, following and putting into practice so be kind and cut yourself a break, and then cut out your excuses and recommit! Psych Basics Motivation Ambition, Goals How to Get Motivated Motivation is literally the desire to do things. It's the difference between waking up before dawn to pound the pavement and lazing around the house all day. It's the crucial element in setting and attaining goals—and research shows you can influence your own levels of motivation and self-control. So figure out what you want, power through the pain period, and start being who you want to be. ACCEPTANCE AND COMMITMENT THERAPY The goals of acceptance are to change your aim from getting rid of unpleasant emotions to fully experiencing them in service of achieving your desired goals. Anyone can follow the steps, which are as follows: Practice "defusing” your judgment from your emotions. Labeling your feelings as negative and your thoughts as truths tends to extend your desire to avoid them to the circumstances and/or actions that stir them up. You need to break this link to become more capable of taking the action you need to achieve your desired goals—or to stop maladaptive behaviors like relationship sabotage or drug abuse, overeating designed to prevent you from feeling or thinking unpleasant things. Clarify your goals. You may not even be aware of some of them, so impossible might they seem because of the painful feelings that even contemplating them stirs up. I want to lose weight, but I am fat, I have always been/ will always be fat. I can’t make this goal I’m not worthy of it. WRONG! WE are worthy and we, YOU can make it happen! Commit to behaviors that will enable you to achieve your goals. You must decide that you're going to achieve your goals no matter how much pain striving toward them may cause you. I’m tired and I don’t want to go to the gym! I am depressed and need to have this candy, cookie, Pizza to make me feel better. Exercises hurts I don’t want to do it and be in pain. I don’t have time. EXCUSES. YOU CAN OVERCOME these, and it might be hard.. exercise can hurt, and you might really want that pizza, but you can suck it up and make the choice to take care of and love your body and yourself even if it’s uncomfortable right now, you will get there! Accept the impossibility of ceasing to feel unpleasant emotions. You will never, ever succeed in feeling only good. So stop trying. Seek to become strong enough to tolerate feeling bad. It might be hard today, and even harder tomorrow. You might do 1 mile today and 3 miles tomorrow, you may lift more and more, but you CAN do it! You can grow your muscles and shrink your waist! You got this!! Here is an exercise recommended to get you started: I am going to answer these in relation to losing weight, and this contest though this exercise can work for you on any goals you might want accomplish. It is a great tool for self-examination and understanding. I would like to share my thoughts with you all if you don’t mind..I put in a few examples of excuses that I might come up with on first glance and then answered them truthfully and marked them as such. Write down a goal that you've either repeatedly failed to accomplish or have never even attempted because to contemplate trying has brought up intense, unpleasant emotions. Perhaps you want to reunite with your estranged father, or read a poem in front of an audience, or ask someone out on a date. You're looking for a goal that you've been unable to achieve not because of an external obstacle (though they certainly may exist) but because of an internal one. Goal: To lose weight and keep it off Then write down underneath it all the steps you would need to take to accomplish it. You can do this in any level of detail you want. Make changes to my choices of food Stick to a stick caloric intake Commit to tracking my food and exercise on a daily basis Get up and start moving more during the day Create and stick to an exercise plan of cardio and strength training daily Get enough sleep Drink enough water Stay accountable to my goals Then write down next to those steps the unpleasant emotions they stir up. Make changes to my choices of food I get emotionally tied to certain foods. I think of holiday foods or celebrations and think that it’s OK to indulge in these things for this one time. The problem is that it’s not just that one time or that one event. Once I open the door to the food I have a harder time saying NO to it. Sometimes I will go out of my way to purchase and eat things that I know are bad for me or will sabotage me and keep me from reaching my goals. I’ll go out and buy that ice cream bar, or that bag of chocolate truffles and eat the whole dam thing! (Truth) I will have unresolved guilt about indulging and binging on that food, but then “excuse” myself from that by telling myself I had a hard day, or I deserve to “celebrate” this one time which is never just one time..and I will secretly feel badly about it. [*]Stick to a stick caloric intake I feel limited and put in a box. I don’t want to be “restricted” in what I am eating! I hate looking up every single food item and reading the labels! If I didn’t let myself get so fat I would not have to do this! (Truth) [*]Commit to tracking my food and exercise on a daily basis I don’t have the time for this! I am so busy cause I am super important that I don’t have the time to do this for myself! OK so I’m lazy and I really don’t want to know what I am putting in my mouth! I can’t face that I might possibly eat more then Shamu the whale on any given day!(Truth) [*]Get up and start moving more during the day I can’t do this because my body hurts I have a headache and I’m sick! I have to be at my desk this is my job! OK I’m lazy. I get complacent and don’t want to move Yes I even hold it longer then I should instead of getting up to use the rest room If I walk out to the hallway people might see me and judge me and think what a fat ass she has in those pants. (Truth) [*]Create and stick to an exercise plan of cardio and strength training daily I’m great at making plans! Lists, spreadsheets, trackers I can make them all up but follow them and fill them in? Ha! Nope. If I do that I’ll have to face myself. I’ll know when I miss a day and that will just prove to me again how lazy and unmotivated I am. (Truth) If I miss a day it’s over, I’ll have to start over I can’t have gaps so why bother with it at all? If I don’t create a program then I can just blame that and not myself. [*]Get enough sleep There are just so many hours in the day and I am just too busy doing important things to carve out 8 hours of sleep! People rely on me all day and I’m on the go all day I can’t unwind and find the time to get the sleep in. My mind is so wound up that I need a few hours to unwind and watch TV so I can’t get enough hours of sleep If people don’t need me to do everything for them I don’t think they love me or value me so I can’t say no to them or myself when asked to do something and that robs me of sleep. (Truth) [*]Drink enough water I don’t like water I am not always thirsty If I drink too much water I’ll have to use the restroom more often and it’s that many more times I’ll have to see people in the hall way that might judge me for how I look. (Truth) [*]Stay accountable to my goals It just so hard to stay accountable to myself. If I share then I can blame others when I don’t succeed. If I am truly accountable to myself I will have to admit that I make mistakes, and I don’t always follow through on things, and if I admit that to myself I might have to admit that to others and they will think as little of me and I think of myself. (Truth) If you want to share your thoughts…I’m here for you! They say the first step is acceptance…

I'm so happy for you!! I found that a nice ice pack right on the port site helps sooo much with the pain! You can move the bag around if you need to on other area's as well. It also helps with itching as the stitches heal up. Heating pad on your back, shoulders, help with the gas. My favorite liquid was decaf tea. It helped soothe my belly and also helped with the gas pains. Another awesome trick is ice pops they help with the inside swelling, and give you a feeling of "eating" something. When you move to mushy's (blender foods) I really enjoyed Wendy's chilli in the blender with a dab of fat free sour cream or not depending on how you like it. Feel good and hope to see you soon!

Yes I love my lapband! Thankful for it everyday!

It's not so easy to find the soft stops since they are body functions that we don't necessarily associate with eating. When I yawn I usually think not enough sleep tired..not that I'm done eating. When my nose runs I instantly think OH NO here comes a cold! However since being banded I have had just about all of things happen uncharacteristically while I was eating, and then shortly after if I kept eating I knew uh oh that was the soft stop and if I stop now I'll be nose to nose with the brick wall. If I don't take my foot off the gas, yep I've crashed into and sometimes through the brick wall and after I feel as if I have! Eating too far past those subtle signs is no fun! I've been there I know. The feeling will go away but while it's there....UGH is about all I can say. When I'm not sure of the "sign" I'll take a moment or two before taking another bite. I'll give an example, last night we were at a 30th anniversary. The food was pretty good, I made a plate a bit of this and a bit of that, and I ate slowly. As I got to the end of the meal, there was some peppered steak left, I had a bit of chicken parm, a forkful or two of zitti, and a meatball. That was a lot for me. I actually have a cold and sinus infection so when my nose started to tingle and feel like it was tissue time...I stopped for a second. You can't blow your nose with a mouthful of food ever notice that? That was my sign, it was time to stop eating. Hubby who is also banded said you don't feel well? I said no it's not that, I have had enough. He looked skeptical, and the person who made the pepper steak had to be sitting at our table! They thought I didn't like it. So one more bite to show...OK it's not your food. Then the hiccups started, I had had enough!! Later that night they had coffee and cake...ugh. Of course you have to have a bite of it right?! WHY.....so I had a bit cause my step son and his girl baked them so we had it. UGH there was that feeling!!! I had past my limit! It felt like you might feel after eating a large meal and getting on a roller coaster just that UGH feeling. Not nauseous not stuck just UGH.

Congrats!! If you need any support or just a shoulder to lean on feel free to message me any time. I can tell you this the Bariatric staff at the hospital is top notch. If you need something speak up and let them know. They will be there to make you comfortable. Give us a shout out after surgery and let is know how you are doing, and remember I'm here if you need a friend!

I'll come into the city that day too and we can all meet up!! Just let me know what date.

I know your on the Ferry, but I love boating! It's still a bit cold for me though your photo looks bright and sunny. I can't wait for the warm weather to get out there!!

Go Walking (Liz) Chasing a dream (Tracy) and I have held our first NYC meet and greet earlier this year. We had been posting on the site for some time, supporting and sharing our journey with each other. We found that not only did we have WLS surgery in common but that many area's of our lives overlapped and we were experiencing similar things. I was fortunate enough to have met with a couple of ladies who reached out to me privately to inquire about my surgeon. We met at a local restaurant and it was so wonderful to put faces and personalities to the words on the screen we became fast friends!! Though I live on the East End of Long Island, I work in Nassau county and my bariatric surgeon operates in Nassau county at Syosset hospital, I am originally from Queens NY, and have worked and lived in the "city" for a good portion of my life. My company also has business interests in NYC and I find myself there often. It was natural for me to reach out to my NYC friend to see if she was amenable to having a get together. I found out that she had in fact been trying to organize a meet up of other bariatric pals in NYC for some time. So we decided to get together to plan the first NYC meet and greet. We met at a cafe in NYC one Saturday afternoon in February, and we were fortunate enough to meet up with Alex himself. Liz, Tracy and my hubby Ken who is also a WLS patient as well were in attendance. The meeting was a huge success and we agreed it was something we would like to do more often, and share with others across the country and in other countries as well. I am very excited to be hosting the NYC/Long Island chapter along with Liz and Tracy. We plan to bring lots of information, on a myriad of topics related to subjects that include, Weight loss surgery, Nutrition, Exercise, Healthy Living, Life style coaching and support and many other topics. We will host meetings in NYC as well as on area's of Long Island in both Suffolk and Nassau counties for those who are interested. Our meetings will be informative, yet exciting and dynamic with an element of fun learning and overall support. I hope to see you at our next NY chapter Bartiactric Pal meet and greet. We have a tentative date of June 14th location and details to follow shortly!

My advice to those who do not have proper support from your bariatric surgeon is to find another one. I know it's not always easy to do, but they are out there and sometimes making the sacrifice to make a longer journey or travel outside of the area for the support is worth it. There are groups in my home town, and they have decent support yet I travel 30 miles to get to my Dr. and his group and his hospital and staff. I do so because they are AMAZING!! Yes it's a trip, but it's 100% worth it and every time I and my husband make the journey we never regret doing so. Search around and find an office that has the support you need and deserve, and come back here for ultimate person to person support we are a great bunch of people

Hi Shirley, You have been through a lot over the last year or so. It's not easy going through what you have and your body really does need some time and space to heal. Emotions and hormones are probably all out of balance right now and it's going to take some time to get back on solid footing again. Taking the time to work on your health is a step in the right direction. My best advice to you is to make an appointment with your lapband Dr. and go in for an assessment. Check on your fill level and get one if you need one to get motivated again. See if you can schedule some time with your nutritionist to help you get back on track with your nutrition and eating habits. They may also be able to offer advice on how to balance your hormones so your feeling a bit more in balance. If your group has a psychologist make an appointment to meet with them so they can give you some guidance and support as you move toward your weight loss goals and heal your broken heart. There is never any shame in reaching out for support, so come back here as often as you need. This is a great group for support.

Oh I am a GUM LOVER!!! I was chewing gum 3 days after my surgery! Yep I was! I took the hubby to the hospital and I was popping bubbles in the waiting room when our bariatric Dr. came out to tell him the surgery went well for the hubby. He was laughing and said that's a no-no...then he patted my shoulder and said it's OK just don't swallow it Sometimes I just need to chew it helps me think, and it's better then chewing on pen caps or pencils imagine if I swallowed one of those! (actually there were a couple of kids in elementary school that did that..and I could never understand how that happened....) I love me some gum gum gum!!

Not everyone is comfortable with giving out their information. That is something you have to decide. Your going to have critics no matter what you decide as you lose weight people will start asking you more and more how you did it and if you had surgery etc. I chose to just be open and up front about it. I don't harp on it I just do my thing, drink my shakes and eat my foods and do what I need to do for me. If someone asks I tell them truthfully and I move on. I don't expand and give huge details. If they ask and they have an interest I will expand up on it, but I'm not here to be entertainment for people. I'm here to educate and support others who might find themselves or a loved on in the same position as I was. Just to sit around telling my story to a bunch of skinny B*tches isn't for me they can watch the Real Housewives or some such drama Most of my co-workers and bosses know and no one harps on it. They all are excellent supporters, I have family and friends who all know and I don't hide it even when I go out to restaurants or other places. If I order something off menu or ask for something different sometimes they ask and I say I have a dietary restriction very rarely will anyone ask what that is..but if they do and do so nicely I will tell them. I find that people who delve deeper usually have an interest for themselves or a loved one. Those who are critics and harpies have more issues with themselves and I don't worry about placating them in any way. I don't know if that rambling helped you but the bottom line to it is that it's a personal decisions and people gonna hate whether you doing bad or good, so just do what feels right to you and don't worry about anyone else issues with it.

Try to take care of as many things as you can pre-op so that when you are home from surgery you can spend that time relaxing and healing. The best thing to have in the hospital for me was my toothbrush and toothpaste to help get the cotton mouth feeling to go away. Bring some comfy clothes to wear home from the hospital with shoes you can slip on and off so you don't have to bend. When you come home you want to some of the following things: Heating pad for gas pains you can put under your back and shoulders Decaffeinated Tea helps to sooth the stomach and helps move gas Frozen Ice Pops these will help you stay hydrated as well as sooth the internal swelling Ice packs that you can place on your port and incision sites for relief. Gas Ex or Beano Small medicine dose cups you can use these to drink and sip from so you don't gulp your Water or shakes. That's all I can think of right now...

@@JustWatchMe recently I have had a very bad cold and sinus infection this last round actually sent me to the Dr. to have 1cc removed from the band since food was sitting above the band for far too long before it would fully digest and it was starting to make me feel horrible. The postnasal is the worst, especially in the morning. It fills up the pouch above the band and irritates the stomach and can swell and plug the stoma. I really had NO choice but to see the doc. I felt 100% better after the un-fill and the plug that was in there was able to pass. Last night, I spent the night with the hubby in the ER he has the "virus" that's going around here. This one included a stomach bug with the congestion and he was vomiting so violently I called our Bariatric Dr. last night. They are so awesome I can't say enough about them. We had to drive about 30 miles to the hospital that treats us, but it was WORTH it. The PA came in and opened the office for us, they drained his band and walked us personally down to the ER where they set the hubby up on IV and anti nausea meds till he felt better and could hold down some liquids. They did a video and x-ray to be sure the band was in good position and all was well thank goodness. So for now he has no Fluid in the band, but once he's feeling better he will go back in for a fill. Getting sick stinks and with the band it can be even a little more challenging. I am so grateful that it's adjustable and can be modified to fit what ever the need is to help you recover and feel better and get back on course. My advice to you is that if you are feeling stuck get a tiny unfill that worked for me and saved me from having to go through what the hubs did last night. Feel better soon!!

Sometimes as we lose weight and our body changes the level of restriction we need in our band changes. If 3cc worked for you in the past you may now need 4 or 3.5. So give your doc a call and go back in for another fill. Recently due to some stress and being sick the level of fill I had in my band was just too much for me after months of being fine, and I had to take some Fluid out to relive the pressure of feeling stuck all the time on nothing. So it's not uncommon for restriction levels to change. Give your doc a call and let them know you need more of an adjustment.

@@parisshel Holy cow lady! Thanks for posting this. I was having some simillar issues the last few days. I had my last fill done almost 2 months ago. I got badly stuck on chicken one night, and I have been sick with flu like cough and cold which only added to the ick factor, on top of mega stress so the swelling feeling of being stuck was feeling like it was all the time. Simple things like yogurt and cottage cheese would take 30 minutes or more to clear the band. I was on liquids for about 3 days to try and reduce the swelling but nothing cleared up. Today it felt like it was getting worse so I called the doctor's office this afternoon popped in, they took me right away I have the BEST Dr. if I may say so! The PA took out 1cc, I had instant relief and feel so much better!! I love the adjustable factor to our bands! Sometimes things happen and you just need to be flexible and I love that the band can do that for us it's one of the main reasons I chose this surgery over the others as well. I almost forgot that until I read your post today and that had me right on the phone and at the Dr. for some help!