Jack

re: "Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow.” " What a GREAT quote!! Thanks!!!

yes it is possible to suffer further hiatal hernia....have your doctor do exam to determine what is causing your symptoms. Life is tough enough without unnecessary pain. It may be something else. Adequate diagnosis will lead to appropriate treatment. Please keep us posted on your progress.

re: .";Yes, it works for some people, but it doesn't for everyone. I wonder what the percentages are? "; I don't know of anything in this Vale of Tears that does work for everyone. re: "I guess some of us are just meant to be fat."; I don't believe that. That's what I did believe when I weighed 373....since I was literally going blind due to a variety of conditions resultant from Morbid Obesity, I had to make serious changes in both my beliefs and my behavior. Or die blind.

I found expanding my exploration into a wide variety of items limited only by my imagination and time on hand. Salads are limitless; meats I enjoyed a wide variety in the blenderizer form, as I was super tight at first even before first fill at 6 months. I still have some trouble with chicken if not very moist and I continue to cut into chicklet size pieces. Also, most meats get way to fibrous for me reheating in a microwave. There is an endless variety of soups that has caught my fancy....something I just never cared for preOp. The number one eating error I still make, is eating too fast without chewing properly....that leads to trouble. cheers to our new food journeys

Bandster life requires more study than "grabbing a quick bite" to succeed, IMHO. One of my first 'solids' to eat was a soft poached egg. After that, such as blenderized tuna or other meats eventually. Most fish worked well. There is a TON of reading to do on the subject, and you'll have every meal every day to find what works well for you. cheers on your journey

congratulations! down is up as far as those of us who spent much of our lives being "gravitationally enhanced"..... I used to inhale all forms of pasta in huge quantities....loved it but slowly came to realize it never actually satisfied my 'hunger'.....turned out it was the sauce that I liked and pasta was a mere vehicle for consumption thereof. I have pasta now maybe once a month or so. Same with pizza....and the thinner the crust the better. My old nemesis 'BREAD' (fresh sourdough, dark chewy kinds, or just wadded up in a dough ball) also led to many eating frenzies. Now it's rare I enjoy a whole sandwich with 2 slices....as both the sterling drivers of eating behavior ('fullness' as well as 'satiety) kick in and I just don't have the inclination to eat much of it. Chips....I actually had a small bag of Fritos the other day....first time in about 7 years. Hadn't 'quit' them, just uninterested. I grew up with Fritos as one of my main food groups. I had forgotten how greasy they are, and how salty. My tastes have mutated without much effort into healthier choices.

"Does 2 years make me an "old timer" .....well.....that's FOURTEEN in dog years!!! How much of an "old timer" do you want to feel? HAR!!!

re: "Before I was banded I weighed over 600lbs. my surgery date was April 20. 2010. On saturday March 12 2011 I weighed when I went to a local support group and weighed in at 450 lbs. So I am on the right track. " nicely done bigdaddy24....sounds like you're on the way to total rebuild yourself!!! Cheers on your journey! re: tech training: are you "Wrangler enabled"?

Consider what the fill actually is and what it does, more restriction is the normal result. How we adapt to that is learning how to manage our postBand lifestyle. Personally I LOVE being 'full' on only a bite or 2. Usually within a week or so I don't feel so full....but there IS the fact some foods require caution and decrease volume intake. Cut your bites into chicklet sized and chew thoroughly until you learn how to manage the new fill. And liquids the first few days post fill work best for me too.

Way too many variables to be able to accurately respond to this question. By August it is likely you will come to know what ~your own~sweet spot is. cheers on your journey

The entire energy curve is being strongly changed by your postOp status. Read up on the physiological effects of glyconeogenesis and glycolosis. This 'tired' phase usually passes in short order as our body slides into utilizing the energy derived from all those stored cheeseburgers around our waist lines.

cause/effect of Band/hiatal hernia is certainly an issue of debate. Consider the % of morbidly obese that have hiatal hernia without the Band lowers the level of confidence in any statistics attempting to assign relationship, IMHO. Hiatal hernia develops too, in many non-obese as one of the foibles of the aging process. It is not uncommonly linked as one of the factors associated with obesity. I don't know how difficult it would be to gather supportive research data linking the two. Personally, I believe hiatal hernia is not specifically related to your premise of "band too tight". I could be wrong, but show me the evidence.

No regrets......wait, there was that mysterious blond in college all those years ago....

"Wow, I HAVE been gone a while. I never knew. Hey Jack! " ......surgery is our friend....HAR!!!!! I've got belly beasts, don't know the tie in with being 'female'.... every day is something new & exciting... I've been getting a tiny fill in the last year.....so far the only change is I PB a lot more..... we'll see about the last damn 35#.....I'd like to make it to size 40 pants in this life time!!! Haven't worn that size since sometime around Eisenhower.....

nicely done faybie!!!! Great to hear of your success!!! cheers....and I'll talk to my 'belly beasts' involking your name that I have back-up at hand should they get too demanding!!!

Cardshark: Sorry to hear of your situation. At least you have the opportunity to do research over the next 30 days pending your own surgery. I don't know what the current statistics are about long term Band success. All I can say is 6+ years postOp, the Band saved MY life and continues to work as designed with no complications. Yes, there are days that make me wonder whether there is 'something better'. I remain a Happy Bandster at this point. Should that change, certainly I would be investigating options, just as you must. Cheers on your journey.

For me the usual 'will power' simply wasn't effective....but I discovered that introducing a concept of 'WON'T power' somehow gave me the incentive to make better choices for eating and snacking. As a 'serial/cereal snacker' my habit had long been to graze all day long in a private eating fest interrupted only periods of eating with other people at what was quaintly called 'meals'. 'WON'T power' gave me a tool to make empowered eating behavior decisions motivated by a higher degree of active and rational choice. Will power did not provide anything but continued sense of inept failure and uncontrollable eating. Perhaps only a word game, yet it helps me every day, as in :I WON'T eat that stuff the dog licked...HAR!!!

Contact your Doc at once, IMHO. And it is possible to have any variety of causes for your pain. Go get and exam and some answers. Personally I suffer better when I know what's causing my misery.

This is most encouraging to hear of various long-term Bandster experiences. I forgot to add in previous note, that my decade-long anxiety/panic attacks and various mysterious-but-not-clinically-observable physical symptoms along with generally gloomy mood are long departed. I haven't had the agorophobic-can't-go-for-a-drive-in-the-desert etc without sense of impending doom. Even though my food intake is almost always in the sub 1700 calorie range, I have cycles where I seem to eat more than I rationally think I need. Other times 1200-1500 is more than I actually want. I've noticed is I eat too little it generates being 'too hungry' the next few days. Old Habit is stubborn. On the other hand, I'm currently wearing a belt (in the middle hole) I had custom built in 1966!!! I had tucked it away for over 30 years as being too small.

something is certainly creating a bad odor here, and for sure I would check it out completely BEFORE any surgery is completed. This is not a normal practice in my area.

great to see some names from the old days I recognize! I continue "35#" from my goal weight, but remain off insulin injections (after 15 years bid) and CPAP (10 years). Haven't made my goal to size 40 pants yet but 44s work so much better than the old 56/58s. Having a grand time recently retired. Was provoked by inquiry about "what I'm doing with all my time off".....of course, I've been totally on somebody else's schedulue since starting grade school in 1951....so I'm trying to sample some of what I've missed out on all those years.... And without the Band (and BANDSTERS!!!) wouldn't have made it this far. Cheers on OUR journey!!!

Congratulations on helping us all realize vigilance and discipline is part of the Bandster Lifestyle. I'm not sure I could tolerate a talking scale. And I find a bite or 2 of turkey can do wonders for me the next day.

GipsyGirl: sorry my post was truncated the other day, I had a power failure at the wrong point. The Bandster Lifestyle is like walking a path that goes through different unexpected areas in the forest, with hard climbs at times and unexpected glimpses out over paradise! By just taking one step at a time we will progress toward our goal. Frustration is part of the exhilaration!. Learning what the crucial and sometimes minor choices are, that make every day better than the one before it. Can you identify at what point in eating a meal you become 'NOT' hungry? If so, that is a glorious victory! My observation, is that Normos eat when hungry, then stop. I never learned how to do that until postOp. Now I can do it automatically about 75% of the time. The crucial secret for me, was learning to recognize 'satiety' instead of focusing on 'not full'.

We can not pretend that food will satisfy what is non-physical hunger. We can not pretend that notions of 'full' or 'restriction' is adequate to address whether we can rationally train ourselves in perceiving why and when and what and how much we eat.

great tips....I've used them all and they WORK for ME !!!