NM Sunshine

DrWatson Thanks for the information on erosion. A lot of questions I had were answered. Also, I agree with you about throwing half of the stomach away. That grosses me. I have not had any of the problems; GERD, slippage and erosion. The forum is a wonderful resouce. I find answers to my questions, how to handle living with the band, what symptoms to watch out for and just plain ol good support. I return to Tiajuana Mexico for fills and figure I can fly there quickly if I need. I drive about 200 miles to the airport. Then spend 3 hours or so in air and changing planes. The MD's (he's part of the surgical team) wife picks me up at San Diego airport and takes me back. I get the fills for free for rest of my life. When WASA said sometimes 1100 in USA for fills, I was shocked:faint: BTW I can get those planes tickets for as low as $98 and can fly there and back in a day.

Before my last fill I would double up in pain. It wasn't often but a few times. Never slimed or PB until this last fill. Also I could eat a lot then, but, cannot now. That must be the difference?

INDIO Thanks for the advice. I never considered drinking something warm before I eat. I will follow your advice...thnaks

I have the very same question. Some foods like yogurt go down fine. But other foods send me to the sink, PBing, sliming or throw up. Meat seems to bother me and this morning fruit was a problem as was scrambled eggs. I think that I am not chewing enough at those times and also eating before I feel hunger pains. The problem may be a full pouch.

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f13/how-lap-band-actually-works-fills-refills-41738-new/ this should work the last one was goofed.

DrWatson posts on fills thread. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f13/how-lap-band-actually-works-fills-refills He is a wonderful resource. What were you able to get down. Only water?

Skinnydip good luck on getting your surgery date. HEY ALL Because my band now seems to have a mind of it's own, I decided to name her. I started with Skinny but now think Slim might be a more interesting name.

Green The reflux must be a #@$%^ to deal with. Seems like when I eat something solid, I can only eat a few bites, anymore and it comes back up. Yet I can eat yogurt with no problem. We're going to my daughters for xmas. She's making a big meal. Don't quite know how I will be dealing with it.

Should I buy: Amazon.com's new Kindle. It's $400. and it is a digital book reader..... Anyone out there have one.?????

Skinnydip I'm wondering how long it will tke once you get that seal of approval? Do you know which surgeon you will go to?

Dr.Watson Got that name for my band. Going to call her 'skinny'. Foofy It's cool to hear from someone who has read 'You on a Diet'. Pam & pjruby Could you have a leak in your bands??? (I think that is the same thing DrWatson said). When I had my consultation with my surgeon he showed me a band. He had me put my finger in the center of it. Then he filled it. I was shock as to how tight it became on my finger.

judy2291 They have these little mint & listerene strips at pharmacy. They disolve in mouth and are perfect for getting rid of bad breath. The problems with my band are gone. It must have been some stomach swelling. Now, it seems like my band is at the 'sweet spot' bANSTERS TALK ABOUT. I cannot eat more than 2 to 4 ounces of solid food at a meal. If I eat more I get the gurgely feeling in my throat and if I still continue to eat, I throw up. I believe what is going on now is that I am learning how to work with the band.

IndioGirl Inspiring. The mug shots....WOW looking good

AnthonyNYC I understand exactly what you say about about someone thinking they are stuck, when actually they ate too much. After getting banded and after you get fills, you do have to start with liquids and progress to soft foods then to meat and regular foods which must be small bites and chewed a lot. If you start the solids too soon you will get a Strong painful stuck feeling. On liquids you don't need to be as careful but, when you go to solid foods, it will feel painful if you eat too fast, to much and don't chew well. I think that is what sends people back to the mushies. But, if when your body is ready, you eat solids (Protein first, vegetables second and carb's third), eat them correctly and not eat too much you will feel satiated. If you eat too much, it will take a few minutes before you feel it. Then it can be painful and 'stuck' feeling. The idea is to learn how much you can eat, feel satiated and not feel pain. Another feeling I found was that when I have eaten too much, it feels 'bubbly' and burpy about halfway up, in my esophigus. That tells me to slow down and eat less the next time. So much about fanding and fills is to learn how to eat and work with your band. Dr. Watson Thanks and I think you'll think that book is dynomite for people who are interested in learning how their digestive body works..........Since my band is at the '!!!!!!!Love It' stage, it's time for me to come up with a name for it...........:huggie:

DrWatkins thanks for explaining how the band works. I'm reading a book that explains all those chemicals running around in us and their effect on hunger. The booki is called YOU: ON A DIET by Micharl Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet C. Oz., M.D. The book is humorus with wonderful cartoon illustrations and simple enough for the lay person to understand. I'm ordering several copies of the book for Xmas presents. :whoo:EVERONE, I think I am at that perfect restriction point!!!!!!! LOVE IT

It sounds like your band has slipped. Or perhaps your surgeon put the wrong size on you? The wrong size is just a guess, but the band slippage symptoms sound like what I have heard.

NewBlew, Don't want to scare you or anything. I have Chronic Kidney Disease and on of the symptoms is a metalic taste in mouth, like an iron taste. It is caused by uremia in blood. I'm sure there are many other cause for that taste in mouth, but you may want to check it out with your doc.

I found the book at Amazon. There are two different versions of it. I choose the newest and cheapest. It's only $9

2bethin I'm going to check that book out and probably buy it. Very often I find myself wanting something. I won't be hungry or thirsty. It's sort of like a driving force to fill up something in me that is missing. Food becomes the answer. When I quit smoking it was like that. I'd go through these cravings when my favorite light up time was or when I felt stress. With the cigarettes I just turned my back on the craving. But I haven't been doing that with food. What I am doing is grabbing something low calorie rather than high calorie and I grab a lot less. But I am still giving in to the addiction. Perhaps there will be good info in that book.:hungry:

I think you are doing fantastic with your weight loss just the way you are doing it right now. I not worry at all about a few extra TBS or so, even a half cup more. You were banded on exactly the same day I was and I have only lost about 10 pounds. I'd be jumping for joy if I'd have lost 34 pds by now. BTW actually my weight loss is weirdly low. I've been unable to take anything but soup for past week and very little at that. Today my scale says I gained a pound! I'm keeping track of every single calorie next few days to try and figure out what is wrong.

There is an article on MSN today that has answers to the hair loss. Below I quote it: :hungry: <TABLE style="WIDTH: 1912pt; BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=2549 border=0><COLGROUP><COL style="WIDTH: 140pt; mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 6802" width=186><COL style="WIDTH: 140pt; mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 6838" width=187><COL style="WIDTH: 48pt" span=34 width=64><TBODY><TR style="HEIGHT: 15pt" height=20><TD class=xl63 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; WIDTH: 1912pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; HEIGHT: 15pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; mso-ignore: colspan" width=2549 colSpan=36 height=20>If you have iron or protein deficiency—common with the caloric deprivation of anyone suffering from an eating disorder—it is not unusual to experience severe hair loss. That’s because the malnutrition forces the body to conserve protein (the building block of all the body’s cells, including the hair) by shutting down hair growth. And since more hair may also be shed—without being replaced—the result can be a noticeable thinning over several months. Thyroid disease (both an overactive thyroid and an underactive one) can also show up as increased hair loss. Once the disease is controlled, hair growth can usually be restored. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Denise, thank you so much for the information. I was wondering why it was so much easier to take somthing warm rather than cold. It opens the band, great. This morning I drank 1/2 cup of tomato soup for breakfast and for lunch ate 2 tsps of yogurt. With the yogurt, I recognized a sensation of pressure in my lower esphagus or pouch and stopped. This must be all about learning how to eat & drink with band restriction. I'd never really had this before so the eating rules didn't mean much to me cause they didn't make a difference. Because I had a gurgleing feeling and froth coming up last night, I set up my bed in our 'old man' couch (it has recliner seats). In the middle of night, I felt fine so went and slept in regular bed. I cannot imagine how that poor woman who had to spend 6 months sleeping in a recliner did it. BTW got it on the oatmeal.

New Blew I'm back to crushing my meds and I have one med that actually burns my tongue.....

With my first fill, I was really dissapointed as I could eat about anything and eat a lot. I thought I'd never get to experience what others do who have a good restriction. Then along came the second fill (last tue) and I sure am experiencing the whole gamut....throwing up, sliming, pbing and restriction big time. It is like all the warnings on what and how to eat are major important now. When it happens you will know. I have a 10cc band and my 1st fill was 6.5cc, my 2ed fill 2.1cc I can certainly see how as you get good restriction those incriments get smaller and smaller with each fill. Also my surgeon told me that sometimes the body absorbs some of the fill.

Denise Last night I thought I begin into the mushie stage so I ate a piece of banana. Ate very slow and chewed until it was mush in my mouth. I must have eaten several bites when I felt very full. An hour later, I started on my chopped up pills. Got them down and a few minutes later I began sliming and then threw up the medicine. So I'm going back to chicken broth today. Think I just have to take it slower. I slept flat on bed fine.