ribearty

DMTJET, Jackie is right. Weight Watchers ice cream and treats are good and full of fiber. The fudgesicle is one point and has 5 grams of fiber in it. I too was afraid of solids etc. Friday was the first day I could eat red meat, salad, bread. Last night my DH and I went out to eat. I ate bread, filet mignon, vegetables and salad without any problem. I was glad. I am guessing as the fills get tighter this may not be the case. Have to wait and see. I know I am ready for my next one. I was told by people who had the band that the first one does not last very long. I know when I had it I had restriction for about 4 days then I felt as I had before. After I get my fill, I am on liquids for three days, mushies for a day and on day 5-10 I can eat anything except red meat, bread, rice, salad, and fibrous vegetables. Congrats to Jackie, Jeannie, CeCe and everyone else on your great weight losses. I am plugging along. Exercising but not movement on scale. It will come. I just finished 10 days of medicine that I think were contributing to this nonmovement.

Here's what you do when you want something to eat that you shouldn't eat. Just imagine that your surgeon is watching you and ask yourself, "would I eat this in front of him?" If the answer is no, then you know you shouldn't eat it. Hope everyone is doing well. Saw the Cardinals lose to the Cubs. It was chilly 65 at game time. Supposed to be in the 90s next week.

Marci, thank you for the fill information. It was quite informative. Two weeks until Fill #2 for me. I already have 4ccs in so I wonder what I will be up to after the next fill.

Brandy, of course, you'll make it. You could take out the shoulder pads. I've done that on a few of my clothes and it looks fine. You and I and probably a lot others have the same weight goal in mind. It seems far away but it isn't that far. I just keep reminding myself how I felt prior to surgery and just keep plugging away. I have made a lot more progress in the past 2 months than I have in years.

If you are throwing up after a fill, I would contact my doctor. I know with my doctor the first three days (1st day is day of fill) he has you on liquids. Days 1 and 2 are clear 3 is full liquids. Day 4 mushies and days 5-10 are food with no pork, red meat, bread, rice, salad and fibrous vegetables. Shrimp is mentioned that people with bands may have problems with for the rest of their life. It is chewy. I have not even tried this food. My doctor has a poster in his office and it says if you are having problems with keeping food down or water not staying down or problems when you lie flat that this is not normal and indicates a problem. I would have it checked out. Good luck and I hope you start feeling better. If you are throwing up that could cause problems down the road with your surgery.

Phyllis -- Take a linefrom the movie Network. I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more. Kathy -- Congrats to you, your husband and family on a full time job. Brandy -- you are doing great with your weight loss. Have to go exercise. Had to take the pets to the vet this morning. My dog is day to day week to week. I thought we were going to have to put him down today. They took blood again to see where his renal values are. Two weeks ago he was in the vet and after 4 days of fluids they changed a little. We'll see. He is older and it hurts. I am asking everyone to please be careful driving when it has rained. The other night my nephew hit a low spot on the road where water was. His car hydroplaned and he crashed into one of the overpass poles . He needed to be removed from his car with the jaws of life after removing his car door and half of his steering wheel. He was wearing his seat belt. He will be OK. He had surgery and lost his spleen. His stomach and colon were shifted to the other side of his body and had herniated into his diaphragm. To top it off after the accident someone took his school laptop, his books and his Nintendo Wii. Talk about low. So please be careful. Thanks.

I'm sorry to hear that your fill was delayed. Definitely keep bothering them so you get taken care of. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. But I did enjoy the restaurant story. I got a good chuckle out of it. You made my day.

Thank you to all who congratulated me. I appreciate it and can't wait for more buddies to join. Also good luck to those getting their first fill. I can't believe that it has been a week since I got mine. Three more weeks to go before the next one.

I normally don't toot my own horn, but have to in this intsance. I finally hit onederland. I haven't been there for over six years. My goal was to be there by Labor Day and I made it. I have lost over 28 pounds Now only 64 pounds to goal.

I had my surgery performed on 7/20/07 by Dr. Van Wagner of Heart of America Bariatrics Heart of America Bariatrics, LLC I did my surgery outpatient. To date, I have lost 28.8 pounds. I reached my goal of onederland by Labor Day. I had my first fill last week. Dr. Wagner was very pleased with my weight loss so far.

I live in St. Louis County, and was banded on 7/20/207 by Dr. Van Wagner. To date I have lost 28.3 pounds. I had my first fill last week and he was very pleased with my weight loss. Hope to hear from some others who live in the Metro St. Louis area.

The drinking before and after has to do with keeping the food in the pouch so you feel full longer. The band is made to allow liquids to pass through. If you drink while eating all the food will go through and you never get the full feeling. This is what my doctor calls "cheating the band". My doctor is 1/2 hour before during and 1/2 hour after. My meal should take 1/2 hour to eat. Another person I work with can't drink 15 minutes before but she has to want an hour and 15 minutes after eating until she can drink anything. Each person's doctor has different criteria or restrictions on this as well as what you can eat prior to surgery and how soon after. My doctor requires 64 oz. a day with 32 oz. having to be straight water.

I got two pleasant surprises. My work does jeans days and my jeans are too big so I thought I could wear a jean skirt longer if it were bigger than pants since you only really have to worry about the waist. I took two sizes into the dressing room and the smaller size fit perfectly. I am also down another 2 pounds as well. I am still having pain in my right side so am going to get that checked out since I see the doctor on Wednesday for my first fill.

I have had that tightness and I think it is because I don't chew as well as I should and eat faster than I should. My doctor only allows 3 meals a day no snacks. I have noticed too that if I drink or eat too fast sometimes I get hiccups. I am ready for a fill. I have felt that this past week my appetite has returned. I am still having pain at my port incision and attachment area so want to make sure it is healed before he sticks a needle in that area. Only 11 days till my first fill. Monday will be one month post surgery.

Does anyone still experience pain where their port incision is or where their port is attached to their stomach? I am still having pain at times and am wondering if anyone else is. It doesn't last long but it hits a few times a day. Please let me know. Thanks. My surgery date was 7/20.

I have been the same way. I lost 24 in less than a month and then nothng for awhile. It bothers me but also I know that i have never in my life lost 24 pounds in less than a month before. I figure it is my body trying to stablize some from the shock. Also, think about it you wouldn't want to continue at that rate because it isn't healthy. Right now, we all should not be so hung about the scale but are we following the diet correctly so we can heal properly and really lose the weight once we are healed.

I don't think you're neurotic at all. It just shows how committed you are to losing weight and getting your health back. By doing what you're doing, it makes you aware of everything and that definitely increases your chances of success. Good job. Keep it up.:whoo:

<br /> <br /> Bending causes me pain. I can bend sometimes without pain at the waist and then others times it hurts. Does anyone else have this problem? Last week, I squatted and got up and felt bad pain dropped down and got back up and it was tender for a couple of days. I also went back to work on 7/24 after surgery on 7/20. Just a little too soon.

I think 3 months seems a long time. I am getting my first fill on 8/29 and my surgery was 7/20. A friend of mine told me the first fill does not last more than a few days. She explained it as a pleated skirt and when you put in the liquid it gets some of the folds out of the pleat but not all of them. My doctor does a fill a month so I will have to wait another month. I'd rather get them a little slow than to overdo it and damage my surgery. I just need to eat slower, chew more and not bend so much. I still am having pain from that so I hope I don't have a bad surprise when I go in for my first fill. Hope everyone is doing well with the heat. It is 100 degrees here in St. Louis.:faint:

Ingredients 1 fudgsicle sugar-free or low sugar 1 1/2 tsp of Peanut Butter 1 Tablespoon of fat free whipped topping Blend all together for a treat. Serves 1.

If you want to use something very soothing for that and other problems, Arbonne has some diaper rash creme that is awesome. All of their products are wonderful. They are all botanically based no artificial smells, additives and great for sensitive skin. I use the anti aging skin care and when I tell people my age I always get told I do not look that old. I then tell them what I use. Have to give credit where it's due.

My doctor states in the paperwork he give you that this feeling may occur in the second week. I know at that time if I drank too much or too fast I would get that feeling. Now I am on mushy food and find that if I either eat too fast or too big of bites it comes. I just need to slow down. Trying to get too much done in a short amount of time. This Friday I get to eat anything with the exception of bread, red meat, pork, salads, fibrous vegetables and rice. I can eat those at 2 months post surgery but if I eat one I am to eat one and see how my body handles it because if you eat more than one of them at a time it would be hard to know what would be the problem. At the present time I have to skin all vegetables and fruits because the skin is too hard for your body to process and you can't chew it up enough.

SD chick, my doctor prescribed Mylanta so you might ask about that. It helped. Also as Lynette said move it helps get rid of it.

Jeanie, that was awesome. I made it through the game. They were good seats. A couple of foul balls came close so I was worried about someone landing on top of me for a ball. We wound up winning which made it even better. As far as swimming, I would be very careful. Unless it was my own pool I wouldn't even think about getting in one before a month. I think that is just aksing for an infection. Most body piercers want you to wait a month before getting piercings wet and surgery is a lot deeper than a piercing. Just my opinion.