phyllser

You haven't blown it, but you do need to get back on track! Are you eating your meat first?? It's hard to believe that you have good restriction with only 1cc in a 10 cc band. You should be able to eat your hard protein. If you can't, I suppose it's possible you're TOO tight. But you have to be able to get your meat in, THEN veggies. Get on the "I'm Here to Help" thread in the mentors' area here. You have to be able to get ongoing support and if you can't get it from your dietician, stay plugged in here. That's essential, especially considering the problems you are having.

Hi, Too crowded to go up the tram yesterday. Heck we couldn't even get past the visitor center! Parking lots were all full so they were letting one car up every time one came down the hill. Found out later that if we'd gone, once to the station there was a 3 hr wait to go up the tram. We're going to try it tomorrow. In the meantime, DD is pretty sick with asthma/cold. Little foster baby was sick before they left and diagnosed with pneumonia two days before Christmas. Second time he's made her sick in two months they've had the little guys! So... may be making trip to urgent care tomorrow, too! I'm not eating right this weekend! It scares me! Out to dinner Fri nite, Sat nite and today after church! Not good. I'm being careful, but.. still eating some wrong things... had shrimp scampi last night and ate some of the pasta, for instance.

NOPE.... DH tried to talk me out of it but toughed it out and went to the pool anyway yesterday!! So he went, too! I put on my suit, then hooded sweatshirt, then long heavy terrycloth robe over the top and rode down on my scooter... my routine for several cold mornings lately!! Legs felt like Popsicles by the time I got down there, but survived. Left sweatshirt in the locker room for later and then I had to get out the CD player because I was the only one there that knew the locker combination as only 8 of us showed up!

Yeah, DD & SIL are tired of the cold and snow in Seattle!! So today we are taking them up the Palm Springs tram!! :thumbup::biggrin::smile: Yes, there WILL be snow up there!! GS kept texting them all day yesterday that it was still snowing at home and last night, that their power went out!! They are glad they're here but worried about how he is coping "HOME ALONE"!! He's 20 yrs old!! He'll figure it out!

Well, I'm just about to get my Christmas cookies!! DD brought me some but too tired to unpack her stuff last night! They flew in to Vegas about 10a.m. and drove here. Then we went to dinner at our restaurant, opened presents and they went to bed. They are staying at a friend's trailer a few streets away. YES, it is COLD this morning!! I second that!! Too cold for the desert! Promised DD & SIL some warm weather!! They're tired of the Seattle snow! WOW!! That sounds like quite a "workout" in itself!!

What a wonderful Christmas present!! Great pictures! Our DDIL hit another home run with quilt she made us... many, many squares of things the kids/grandkids drew with fabric pens! I still haven't "read" them all! It's wonderful! I put it on my Facebook page in the Christmas album.

You're doing GREAT, Don!! Congrats!! Yeah, small plates help, small forks, spoons, too! It really bugs me to eat with a big fork now! We have 2-3 salad forks in the RV and I'm always digging through the drawer trying to find them! I guess I should just buy a couple more. If I have a bigger fork I tend to take bites that are TOO BIG!!

Did you get a picture of that??? That is so funny! I would love to see a picture! So very sorry to hear about your Dad, Mimi! Don't fret over the food issues. We will all get back on track now that the festivities are over... well, almost... New Years coming up! I am up 2 lb according to my Wii. It's frustrating, because I haven't "pigged out" at all.... CAN'T! But, just having a few treats that I don't normally have and I gain! But, like I said, back on track today! And, skipped exercise yesterday, but getting ready to go to the pool this morning even though the thermometer says its 44 outside and the wind is blowing! Have to tough it out! Oh, our dd & sil are taking off from Seattle right about now, on their way down here, so I guess my eating challenges will continue for the next week! I will have to be very diligent in making right choices!! I know we'll be doing some eating out! So sorry about your sister. I have three and I can't imagine losing one of them! Family is so precious! Reading posts of neices, grandneices, etc on Facebook yesterday and earlier this week... back in Buffalo, I said to DH yesterday.. "maybe next year we should fly to Buffalo for Christmas!" He was not enthused about that idea! But hearing about all their preparations for Christmas made me homesick.... for my childhood home. Yeah, back on the wagon for sure. I had an extra glass of wine yesterday, too, and a Christmas cookie and two pieces of fudge! Oh, and we went out for dinner with about a dozen people and I had turkey, dressing, mashed taters! Great NSV!! When I WAS back home last summer.. one of my aunts didn't speak to me, and then she was gone, so I didn't get a chance to talk to her either... My Mom told me later that Aunt Fran didn't know who I was! Has happened several times since we've been back here in the RV park, too. Folks who haven't seen me since last winter don't speak to me until I speak to them! Then they tell me they didn't recognize me! Fun, huh??!! I love it!

Thanks for the compliments, gang! I'm hoping some of the pain will ease as more weight comes off. Haven't had much back pain because I have been avoiding walking and standing for long periods. The more I try to do, the more my back/knees hurt. So it's a good news/bad news situation, I guess. Good news is I'm able to tolerate walking/standing for longer periods, but bad news is the pain... especially back pain, which hasn't been a problem before.

I haven't really checked this out re:miralax, but often when something goes from Rx to OTC, the OTC version is a lower dose than the Rx dose. MERRY CHRISTMAS, Everyone!!

Sounds very similar to my story!

There's going to be a bandster bash in Seattle next month. The website is: Mexico who was the surgeon for the FDA trials. This first group (I was not one of them) are why many of us are here today. The The Lap Band was new, not only to doctors but also to patients. These original patients had to create a game plan with dietary rules, working by trial and error to determine what worked best for the banding weight loss. This first group helped start the Yahoo Bandster groups, networked, and gathered from all over the country here once a year to network and Celebrate. The event outgrew a house six years ago, and became a larger conference to celebrate banding and to share information from doctors, psychologists, nutritionists, endocrinologists, dieticians, diabetic educators, fellow and prospective Bandsters and many others to help make our weight loss surgery successful. It looks like there are many new faces this year, so let me tell you what typically occurs at the Bash. It opens Friday, February 15th with registration between 4-6 PM. Each registrant is provided name tags, agendas and session maps, and that first night we have a no-host dinner in the hotel restaurant. Last year, we had over 250 people registered for the Splash and 70 signed up for the no-host dinner. Then more than 125 people showed up and overwhelmed the restaurant. So please, if you're coming to the no-host dinner, sign up on the hair down and ask those questions you always wanted answered. After the panel, join others at the hotel's tropical pool for hot-tubing and maybe a splash in the warm pool (bring your suit!) Saturday 7:30 A.M., hopefully you got enough sleep because this a jam-packed day of dozens of speaker sessions, vendors tables, a catered lunch and banquet dinner, fashion show with before and after clothes, raffle, auction, a Before and After Banding slide show (a real tear jerker) and entertainment and dancing. It's all included in your registration fee. Sunday morning's agenda is still in the works, but Bandster discussion groups, Plastic Surgeon Presentations and maybe some fun exercise sessions are planned. Many hours of planning and preparation have gone into the Splash This is an entirely volunteer-run, non-profit event. Now your job is to get registered and join us. Joanne Godmintz

They don't have a new date yet. They are thinking August. Did you subscribe to that site so you'll get updates?

Pre-op 5/07 12/08 - 17 Mos/-100 lb Why can't I ever get these pictures to upload!!???

Pre-op Photo/05-07 17 Mos - 100 lb! -100 lb shirt from a fellow bandster shows 10 gold stars... one for each 10 lb!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! HUGS!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful, MERRY CHRISTMAS!! HUGS!!

Hi, Chava, Those posts were actually from earlier this year. The 2009 Seattle Bash has been postponed to the summer time... I think they said July/August time frame. There is a Yahoo group... I think it's called Smartbandsters. If you subscribe to that group, there are sub groups and one of them is PNW Bandsters... for us Pacific Northwest bandsters, and there is also one for the Seattle Bash. If you can't find them, let me know and I'll try to give you more detailed help. Best of luck with your surgery! I've been toying with the idea of plastic surgery in Mexico when I reach my goal.

Hi, Went fine last night. He gave us sitting breaks during narration at the beginning of almost every song and once when he didn't, I sat down for a few seconds anyway. We sang the WHOLE book, 104 pages of musical scores! MY back hurt really bad when I got home from all the standing. And I did break out in a pretty good sweat, but I didn't get light headed this time and I made it through! Maybe when I get more weight off it will be better, but I think it's going to take getting the knees fixed, too. My pumpkin dessert turned out really good. Lined the pan with ginger snaps. Probably could've put i a little more pumpkin, but was afraid to get too much so only used 1/2 can w/4 pkgs of cheesecake pudding. That is so true for me, too. And even a food commercial on TV will make me want to eat something! Like... they're eating ________, I want some, too! Thank God for TiVo and fast forward!! Don't watch very many commercials! Hope your pipes are okay!!!!

That 5 day pouch test is pretty useful in more ways than one, isn't it! It is great how we lose our sweets cravings... had a couple of bites of sweet stuff at costco yesterday... their samplings, but just not the same as it used to be, so I passed up the rest of the sweet stuff. This is very weird, but my biggest problem at the moment is sometimes "snacking" on too many Papaya tablets at night! I usually need a few after dinner at night.. not that I've eaten too much, but even after only 3-4 oz of hard Protein.. ham last night, for instance, I feel like I need a couple of those Papayas. Then if they are within reach, they start "talking" to me just like in the old chocolate days!! True confessions of a Papaya enzyme junkie! So strange!

Thanks, gang! Yes, I am now wearing my celebratory diamond earrings! It was a big milestone and so good to get there! Next goal.... under 200 lb! That will be another biggie!!

Hi, Gang! Busy day today, but a temporary break of a couple of hours. Church this morning, then went out to lunch with friends. Get to watch a little football this afternoon, but, I'm singing in the choir now, and we're doing our Christmas musical tonight, so have to be back at the chapel by 5:15 p.m. Every year we've come here I've wanted to sing in the choir. You know what stopped me??? I was worried about having to go up a couple of steps to the platform and I was worried about having to stand up too long! So, this year I decided to give it a try. The steps are not a problem. Standing sometimes is... 3-4 hymns in a row and then the choir sings! Too long. But, I just sit down and take a break before it's time for us to sing. And after I came close to passing out when we sang at the Christmas dinner the other night, the choir director has become a little more attune to the fact that standing for a long time is a problem for some of us! So he is giving us opportunity to all sit down periodically. I don't know what happened, but my knees locked up that night, back started hurting, then my face got really hot, started sweating, etc. When things started going black and I felt light headed, I slipped out and went and sat down. It was either that or I was going to be on the floor! Might have been just anxiety because my knees and back were hurting, or maybe it was too hot in there... I don't know, but it was scary and embarrassing! So, tonight we are singing the WHOLE musical.... and I hope we will be able to sit for some of it because I will NOT last that long on my feet!

Sounds like you are all doing GREAT!! Keep up the good work! Hope you're keeping warm! I hit my -100 lb mark this week! Us old Chicks (and Roosters, Don) CAN do this!

Joann.... So sorry to hear about your dog. That's a tough one. You are doing so well since your surgery... as we all knew you would. Hi! And WELCOME! If you really have an aversion/fear of IVs, they can give you a little happy medicine before they insert it. But I think you will have to have one for the anesthetist, and because they have to have quick access to administer Rx should anything go wrong. Walking after surgery.... around the house is fine. Just so you don't sit and veg... get up and move about. You live in one of my favorite parts of the country.... Garlic Country USA! We are snowbirds... travel from WA state to CA each fall. Our oldest son is stationed in the bay area, so we usually spend one night going in each direction in Gilroy at the RV park behind the new Salvation Army store. And there is a mandatory trip to Garlic World where we buy everything garlic that we can! Last time we even stopped at the little winery near there and bought a bottle of garlic red wine! There's a funny story that goes with that... another time!