babsyintx

Dear Everso, There really isnt any secrets I am afraid to say. I beleive that regular exercise was a component that attributed to steady weight loss. I exercised 3x per week during ongoing weight loss. Stick to eating lots of Protein and drinking lots of Water. Right now I feel like a bloated pig from all the water retention due to the surgery I had. My legs are really swollen.!!! Babs in TX

Estela, Now its my turn to give you a kick in the arse!!! LOL. I understand the need for comfort food when you are in pain. The first 10 days post op, I have not been very hungry even though I had an partial unfill and have little restriction at the moment. But the hunger is coming back with a rage and I am fighting the monster. I feel my pain from the PS justifies my poor eating decisions! LOL. Last night I had chips with turkey chili, then I had some more chips with cheese and sour cream. I am trying to stay away from the sweets though. The Protein in the turkey chili was good for me though, so I am not going to beat myself up too badly. Stick to the solid protein and you will do just fine. Make sure you have a chicken breast in your pocket at all times! Ya hearing me????Allow yourself some treats like sugar free pudding, some popcorn etc... PUt together a meal plan that will allow you to maintain your present weight. Dont be looking to lose right now. But you do need to make healthy food choices. I went out to dinner and had some soup and a huge salad with hard boiled eggs croutons and real salad dressing. In the past, I would have been sticking to the balsamic vinegar and the ff dressing. Now, I need the energy boost, so I am not beeing too hard on myself. Just stay away from the donuts OK???? Hugs, Babs in TX

Hi Started at 334. Now I weigh 180 ish. I probably should weigh less, but I have become slightly complacent and just had plastic surgery and a band partial unfill during surgery. Life is good!!! Babs in TX 334/180 -154

HI, My docs office said that it was OK to stop taking the pain meds. Actually, the pain isnt so bad and it reminds me of my limitations. The problem with the morphine and vicodin type drugs is that for me at least, I get completely zonked. My docs office said it was OK if I went out for an hour somewhere outside of the house as long as I was sitting down for 90% of the time. I need some bicycle compression pants, so I am gonna ask my husband to take me to Walmart and I can ride around in one of the carts. Never did that before. Thanks eveyone. IT really depends on what time of the day you talk to me. Sometimes I am feeling better than other times. Also, it wont hurt me to get outside and get some fresh air. I am looking forward to this. Babs in TX

Hi Estela, I decided today that I will not take any more pain meds. So I have not had any today. No, I am not being a martyr. I just dont want to live in plastic bubble either. I hate that and dont like being groggy. Thanks for the warm wishes. I was following your PS journey, but I just didnt have much to say cause its hard to express how it feels unless it is happening to you. I feel a lot better today that I am no longer groggy. I did not have lipo, but the thighplasty is very painful with lots of groin stitches, and stitches in your butt, thighs and everywhere else. Yuch! And it does not look pretty at all! I am just a little lonely in the daytime!!! Babs in TX

Hi Everyone, I am up and trying to move a little today. I am still not at the stage where I consider myself lucky to be able to have plastic surgery. THe pain is excruciating and I cannot yet appreciate the rewards of a flat tummy and thighs without hanging skin.THis is my 9th day post op and I did not really figure how little I really would be able to do for myself for at least two weeks. Day 1-7 were pure agony. I lived in a chair, got up to go to the bathroom only and to wash up. Felt like a grunge cause I couldnt shower for a week. I had some of my stitches removed on Wednesday, new steristrips put on and then my docs office uses a special superglue over all of the wounds to help them heal and keep them sealed. I was very fortunate to have my drain tubes taken out after only 7 days, but there was not that much drainage. You have to keep a log everyday. It did not hurt as much as everyone warned me it would pulling them suckas out and there is a great sense of relief not having stuff hanging out of your body. Lapband surgery was a piece of cake compared to having a full abdominoplasty and medial thighplasty at the same time. I still have dissolvable stitiches everywhere including down to my knees. I must wear a compression garment 24 hours a day from breast to hips and spandex bicycle pants from hips to ankles. Needless to say, it is not very comfortable! LLOL I am getting my sense of humoour back, but I know that this has been a huge burden for my family (especially my husband). My 3 1/2 year old started having nightmares waking up at night saying he has boo boos and he is in pain. I feel pretty terrible, so when they come home everyday from daycare, I pretend everything is OK and try to make everything seem normal. My doc says I must be chairbound for at least 5 more days. He thinks I am doing too much. Says that there is an area between my bellybutton and groin that is not healing as well as it should be cause I am up too much. I am gonna try to behave. Gosh, I miss the ole Barbara. I know, I am moaning, but I have been alone all day all week since I have no one to help me during the day. I hope all you guys are doing well.Send me some hugs. I really need them!!! Babs in TX

Hi Everyone, I am punch happy from all the drugs I am presently on. Thighs are the worst and the Jackson Pratt bulbs sticking out on each side of my tummy. I am not eating much, but I am taking Vitamins and drinking Water. The tummy looks really good. The thighs are covered up most of the time with ace bandages but I dont see any hanging skin. The groin really burns from all the stitches, but I am surviving. I am going to take a snooze. WIll try to touch base tonite. Thanks for all the loving!!! Babs in TX 334/180 -154 Dunno what I really weigh. Not eating much, but gained water weight at the hospital and look like the Michelin woman....

Hi Guys, Quick message. I just came home today from the hospital (saturday). Thanks to Michelle/Lisa for calling on me to see how I was doing. The stomach is not as painful as the thighs. Also it is impossible to see the results of the thighs cause I am wrapped up like mummy woman. I cried when I saw my new belly button. My doc did a great job and even with the swelling, hip to hip stiches and the goopy belly button I have a FLAT tummy. I am getting dizzy and need to lie down, so I'll give you more information tomorrow if I can. Hugs to everyone~ Babs in TX

Hi Kelly, I am in Fort Worth. I dont necessarily need somone to come to the hospital, just a voice for me!!! I looked on mapquest and you are very far away!!!! Babs in TX

Hi Everyone, Been gone for a while. I moved into temporary housing while they build our new house. My plastic surgery is scheduled this Wednesday. I am getting a little freaked out. I am having my medial thighplasty, tummy tuck and my eyes fixed as well as a mole removed. I will be in the hospital one or two days depending how I am doing. I have managed to stay cigarette free for 3 months, but I did gain about 10 pounds from my all time low which I have not been able to get off. I am having an unfill. I have been having some reflux problems late at night for no apparent reason. I do have restriction, it is not a slippage, but I would feel better with less restriction after the surgery. I dont want to worry about reflux in addition to healing etc. I missed you guys. I wont be coming to Vegas in September since I dont know how I will be doing by then. Does anyone want to be my angel? Let me know and I will send the hospital information. Babs in TX 334/189/170

Hi Vera, Sorry to hear that you are adding another surgery to the list! But if it will make you feel better, then its a great thing. Hugs, Babs in TX

Gosh, I wrote this long email this morning and for some reason it didnt post. I believe I have the craziest parents! LOL Lisa's mother and my father would make a good team. My mother was anorexic and Obsessive compulsive and my father was an alcoholic who was a sorry person indeed. Some examples of household events: My father once through a frozen turkey at my mother and it flew through the ground floor kitchen window apartment and almost killed a neighbors dog that was being walked by his owner outside the window. My father made us put socks in our mouths and taped them shut while he watched TV. Said we talked too much during his shows. Good ole dad went on a drinking spree, came home in the middle of the night and insisted that some other man had shaved in the bathroom and left hair on the sink. Forgot it was him and terrorized us for hours. He then went on to shave my brothers hair off. Stuck my face in dog poo cause it was my fault that the dog pooped in the house after walking him. Kept a rifle under the sofa in the living room and claimed he understood why fathers exterminated their families suggesting that we were all brats and did not deserve to live We were coerced into switching price tags in the store by my father to get things for a cheaper price We returned items for full price! We owned a recycled car every month. My father would fix and then sell them. He sold our pet chihuahuas Peppy and Lulu cause they wouldnt breed. Actually he traded them for a tv. We cried for weeks. My mother smoked 3 packs a day and weighed 82 pounds. You could bounce quarters off our beds and eat off our floors. All she did was clean and cook. She was not permitted to leave the house at all without my father. This went on for 15 years. I was around for 13 of those. I cant remember one good moment. Some of it is funny in retrospect. Babs in TX

Analise, Dr. Richard Carter in Arlington is my doctor/surgeon. he has done more than 700 lapbands and operates out of the Medical Center of Arlington. He is by far the best lapband doc in North Texas. I do know all of the other surgeons that were mentioned personally. I am very active in the lapband community. Email me if you have any other questions. Babs in TX 334/180 -154 new goal: 170 or less...

Parvathi, Sometimes when I order I make a comment about not being that hungry or I order an appetizer. I am at the point where I dont care what they think...... Babs in TX

Hi Alatina, What a great offer!!! I think it is location rather than the building that might be a deterrent. I have only been to ND one time a long time ago. It could be a great retreat though...... But I wanna have room service!!! LOL Babs in TX

Hi Nita, You are so right about plus size clothing having a greater amount of flexibility and them not being reliable as a weight gauge. Now in a size 14 though, I can feel the difference when I gain 3-5 pounds whereas in a size 28, you could go a long way and play mind games while the pounds creeped up on ya. I did better when I weighed everyday with weight loss, but I also got depressed when I plateaued. I have been on a plateau for a while though and my body does not seem to want to go below 180. It seems happy in the mid 180's range and it is a struggle just to keep it there. Babs in TX

Hi Everyone, I have been in total lurker mode for the last month or so. There are so many new folks posting here that I cant keep up! LOL. Well, I havent weighed myself in over a month. First it was because I was fearful how much I gained after I quit smoking and from my recent vacation to Cancun. Now its just because I dont want the scale running my life. I used to be totally obsessed with it, weighing several times a day to see if I had lost an ounce. I am now using my clothes as a gauge of whether I am somewhat in the same range as I was before. I am guessing that I must be somewhere close to my lowest since most of the size 14 clothes I have are still fitting me. At one point, I am sure that I was getting in the upper end of the spectrum since my pants felt a little tighter. Then I went back to 1200 calories or less a day and it seems that I am dropping the weight again. I decided as long as I fit the clothes I am wearing, stick to the bandster guidelines, I should be able to maintain my present weight. I am no longer obsessed with daily weighing, but I am cautious about what I eat. I recently read an article in one of the womans magazines that said that daily weighers actually do better when dieting than people who dont. Whaddya think? P.S. My PS is now scheduled for August 3rd at 7:30 am. I decided that I am not going to do the breast augmentation now and I will only do the TT and thighplasty. Babs in TX

Recently I bought some Victoria secret bras that were on sale. They were in bright colors (one Aqua and the other purple). Because I have lost a lot of weight, the padded bras are better for hiding the sagging. My three year old son was lying on my chest watching TV. He starts to grab my boobs cause he feels the cushioning. He thinks the padded bras are pillows just for him. So one morning, I was getting dressed. My three year old is staring at the purple bra on the bed, looks at my deflated boobs (cause I;m nekked) and says "Mommy, look over there! There are your purple boobies! So now he likes to look and see what color boobies I am wearing every day! Babs in TX

Hi, Two years out, had a slight regain when I quit smoking 7 weeks ago. I gained 10 lbs and now I am starting to lose it again. So, if ya stick with the program and eat Protein and veggies, you should continue to do well. Babs in TX

Hi Everyone, Sorry I didnt get back to all my buddies here!!! To answer some questions: Lisa: Nope, I dont have anyone to take care of me. Anybody out there that will take care of me for a week for a free ticket, food and company, I'm game. I just got back from my doctor and based on the total amount of money I have to cough cough cough up to have the boobs the deductable for my insurance and the difference I have to pay for the upgrade from panniculectomy to full abdominoplasty, I am having second thoughts about the expense.!! Out of pocket even with insurance paying is about 10K If I cut out the boobs, I can keep things in the 3-5k range. Carol: So good to hear from you. I am glad you are having plastic surgery as well. Esmerelda: Insurance almost never pays for boobs unless they are so big they are causing pain. They may cover reduction, but surely wont cover an increase if they think it is for cosmetic reasons. Very hard to prove, so I gave up after the first turndown. Chances are you will need maxopexy (skin removal and lift) coupled with saline implants. This costs more than just a breast augmentation or just implants. My boobs dont really sag too much unless I bend down and then they hang to the floor man!! There is excess skin and there is no mass when ya grab them. So its more work than just putting in an implant. They need to cut around the outside, take out the excess skin, then put the implant in. Hope this information helps!!! Anyway, thanks everyone for the well wishes. I will take before and after pics and let yall see whats been done to me.!!! Babs in TX

Hi Everyone, Today is my two year bandiversary!!!! I was hoping to be at goal today but I had a very long plateau and a slight weight gain due to the fact that I quit smoking in preparation of plastic surgery in August. So now I have six weeks to get to the 170's!!! There are lots of things I want to share, but many of been said by other tenured bandsters here on this board. The most important change in my life is that I can do most anything!!! I fly airplanes regularly, go to theme parks and do all the coasters, go to Water parks, play with my kids and chase them around and I have lots of energy!!! Plastic surgery is the last part of my journey and then I need to maintain my losses. The one thing I have found is that if you really want to gain weight with the band, it is quite easy to do so. No matter how long you are banded, you have to stick to the plan. meat and fish first, then veggies and last carbs if there is any room left. And exercise is so important. No matter how big you are, it is possible to get exercise if you really want to do it. NO EXCUSES!!! LOL SO today for my second bandiversary, I am going to see my plastic surgeon to finalize all of the details of the procedures that he will be doing tag team with another plastic surgeon. I am having an abdominoplasty, medial thighplasty, breast augmentation with implants to help my saggy boobs! I am excited, but also nervous. It is anticipated that my surgeon will remove about 14 lbs of excess from my stomach and thighs. Yucchhh! But hopefully the results will be worth the pain!! I am scheduled for transformation on august 3rd. I changed the date from June 15th cause I am moving, packing and in the process of building a new house, so the June date didnt work. I want to thank everyone who has offered me great advice over the last two years!!!! Babs in TX 334/18-/170 -154 6/23/03 :rolleyes :laugh :rambo

Hi Alex, I was thinking that too, but you said it more eloquently. I think with the passage of time long term bandsters become accustomed to the restriction and the signal to stop is a more vague feeling. I am still eating far less than I had before. I also believe as we get further out we know how much we can tolerate and push to the limits. Afterall, we all have an incurable disease here and I still love food as much as I did before. Nothing has changed there! Babs in TX

Hi nancy, I noticed you mentioned the smartbandsters poll. I was trying to say that I can eat 6-8 oz of solid Protein. If you add all the other stuff I can eat with it, it would be far more than a cup of food or even a cup and a half. It is true that I am not making wise decisions, not exercising as much, but I simply dont feel full for a long time when I eat. I think I need to do liquids for a while, get rid of all the trigger carbs and start all over again. I have 6 weeks til my plastic surgery!!! Babs in TX

Hi Megan, Yeah, I wished I could get more fill, but I fear the radiologist may be right. I have 2.50 in my band now. The last time I got up to 2.6, I refluxed one time and had it taken back to 2.0 by my doctor. (not intentionally). I think I am walking the fine line between too much and too little. I dont know if more fill will help me or just trying to go back to the basics. I do have some restriction since I get full with about 6-8 oz of food. I just wish it were less. I see some bandsters that get full on half a chicken nugget. Last year, I could go all day without food and not be hungry. Now I wake up and want to eat Honey Nut Cheerios! Babs in TX

Hi Everyone, I went to see if I could get another fill today. I have been gaining weight since I quit smoking and I cant seem to get back on track. I explained to the radiologist how hungry I am and that I am snacking between meals, eating more etc. He looked at my present level of restriction on the flouro machine after I swallowed barium and said if he closed me up anymore, I would not be able to swallow. I guess I dont understand. i dont have pouch dilatation, I dont have a slipped band, I dont have leakage, I dont barf and PB very often (maybe 3x per year). I can eat bread both toasted and untoasted, any kind of meat or vegetable and I dont get full til I have eaten at least 5-8 oz or more of food. So whats the deal? Where did my satiety go? Last year, I ate 4-6 oz and I was full. Or is it just me not listening to the signals? To prove a point, before my fill appointment, I brought a small Wendys Chili and a 3 pieces chicken nugget and 2 packages of crackers with me so I could eat it all in 5 minutes and show them how much I can eat. I ate it in the waiting room and then found out that my radiiologist was not there for the appointment and had to wait an hour to see another one. I had a lengthy discussion with the radiologist, but I am sure the guy thought I was crazy. He did compare my restriction after my previous fill with my present restriction . He said that I had more now than before , but he was absolutely sure based on the flouroscopy and barium swallow that I did not need another. I grabbed the thick barium and proceeded to guzzle it to show him that I wasnt upchucking or refluxing anything I drank or ate. Altogether, I drank 6 oz or more quickly of very thick barium the consistency of yogurt. He watched it, said it was going through slowly, it was sitting in my pouch comfortably and said everything looked normal. I explained that I quit smoking. He thinks that this is the only reason for the gain. I guess I will have to find low calorie oral fiaxations!!! LOL Anyway, he sent me on my merry way. So back to basics for me. My plastic surgery is scheduled for August 3rd 2005. I am going to attempt to lose the weight I have gained before surgery. I was really hoping to be in the 170's now, but quitting smoking was more important for my overall health. I am a little depressed and frustrated. It seems I am maxed out at fill, not at goal and slowly gaining weight. This is not making me feel too good.... Any ideas? Babs in TX