Leena

I had my surgery and was able to keep my IUD in. I had the mirena IUD that releases hormones. My doctor did put me on anti-clotting injections for a week and I also had the compression cuffs on my legs for about 12 hours post-op. Ask your dr. about these things.

Just a bit of advice, it may be a good idea to get banded 2 weeks apart, instead of just a week. I know a week out I was still not 100%. On day 9 I made it to the outlet mall and that was draining. I'm sure you're going to want to be there for one another so spacing them out by two weeks will make supporting one another easier. I don't know your support system but it is something to consider.

The pre-op jitters are completely normal. I had second thoughts in the OR holding area, surgery is scarry. I have a huge fear of the denists, so much so that I have to get nitrious oxide to just be able to unclench my jaw there and not cry hysterically. Yes,once they tech forgot to turn on the nitrious part and gave me pure oxygen. Something just didn't feel right and I was freaking out, crying, begging to just be able to go home, etc. And having surgery scares me too, even more than the dentist. So I was put on a beta blocker and it calmed me down somewhat. Hang in there. It helps to make a list of reasons why you want the surgery and just look at when those last minute jitters hit. I cancled my consult with my surgeon about 4 times, technically just kept on rescheduling it. Anyway the list helped me finally go through with the appointment. Hang in there -Leena

I did a modified/partial liquid diet: 2 slimfast shakes a day and one meal of whatever (trying to keep it healthy). Anyway in a month I was able to loose 17 pounds eating that way. All liquid pre-banding is difficult, but throwing in a meal of real solid food makes the shakes a bit better. Anyway I suggest finding a shake you like, not loath, pre-op.

I know I wasn't allowed to work out until my Dr gave me the clearance, one month post-op. And even then I skipped my abs because I was still sore when I tried crunches. Please ask your dr. if it's okay. That being said, most gyms give you an introduction session when you join. Basically it's a trainer who shows you how to use each machine and can chalk out a plan of action in the gym for you. Personally 2 weeks out I was not working out. I'd go for a walk around the block, or at the mall, grocery store, etc, but that was it.

Could you just have your parents file their taxes after your surgery? The official deadline isn't unitl April anyway. Just a thought because then it wouldn't make a huge difference for your surgery, especially if your dr includes aftercare in the price.

I don't like pancakes, never have. But since banding I have been able to eat thin crust pizza. Only one small slice at a time, ie it can be a slice from a medium pizza from domminos plain. After that one slice I am full and couldn't even imagine eating another slice. I only eat pizza once a month now anyway so it's not going to kill me. Thick crust is impossible for me to eat as are breads, rice and even potatos

My snoring stopped post-op. It came as such a big shock to DH that a week post-op he woke me up, by shaking me in the middle of the night and screaming. He thought I was dead. Anyway now I only snore if I'm congested, which is pretty normal.

I went on liquids yesterday and am planning on staying on them until this extreme restriction goes away. I can't see paying $250 for an unfill and then a week later paying again for a fill. I had better stalk up on shakes. How I'm going to miss my Boco burgers :tt2:

I;m looking back through my calander of weightloss and have noticed that I tend to loose a lot more weight during the PMS time. Pre-band this is when I would gain 5 pounds of Water weight and then loose it during time of the month. Well last night my PMS started and I noticed I was really tight (my last fill was the beginning of december-so not recent). Does this happen to anyone else? I can get liquids down with no problems I just feel really tight. Last month I didn't notice it too much. But this month I really have. So does anyone get a slight unfill for PMS time?

jachut- I can now completely understand what you're saying. I used to thnk I was "big boned". Well as it turns out I have really small bones inside. My wrist keeps on shrinking, now at about 6.5 inches, down from 8. And I have discovered my knee caps, yes sounds strange but they are tiny little things slightly larger than golf balls. Go figure. I haven't seen them in years, literally atleast 10 years. DH thought I had some sort of birth defect because he's never seen them until recently. He even started looking at my family's knee caps a few years ago to see who else was defective. It turns out my mom has small ones like me, but my dad, brother and sister all have ones as big as if not bigger than softballs. it's amazing what you'll find under all these pounds of fat.

Mehta Bariatrics has a monthly support group in New Brunswick, NJ. You can google them to get the information.

Well I don't know if it's good or bad. But I also have the small band. At the time of surgery I was 5'5" and 333 pounds, so by no means small. I can tell you that I felt a lot of restriction even without the fill , due to swelling. And then have only needed a few fills so far.

I'm at 2cc in my 4cc band, since the beginning of december. I think this is a wonderful spot for me. I could be more restricted, but I'm loosing well and like this level. Only time will tell when/if I need another fill.

I haven't regretted it yet. But to me the band is like dealing with your DH or SO, you love it 99.9% of the time and there's that .1% of the time that you're hating it. I figure I can deal with it. I just don't like pbing (which I've been good at avoiding lately) and some wierd side effects of running due to the band (can't swallow my spit when I run, but we're talking about at speeds of 5 MPH.

I take all of my too big clothes to the local good will. I have never bought anything there and probably won't. It's one of those smelly stores and the back sorting area is just nasty. I always wash everything before donating it, but I can tell that some people don't. I have four loads of laundry to fold that'll be going to goodwill. Where I used to live there was a great kids consignment shop called milk money. It was amazingly nice and clean inside. I've bought my sons a few things from there that were practically new. Consignment shops are another option instead of retail.

I would say cut your calories down. I tend to loose well when I'm at 600-800 calories a day, with working out-cardio 45 min to 1 hour a day. I've also never been able to eat 1.5 cups of chili, for me this would mean I'd need a fill. Also eating 4-5 oz of chicken on top of 1.5 cups of veggies would make me explode. And I'm not really tight now either. When was your last fill?

Congrats Losing. I wasn't able to part with my scale yet. I'm working on it though. This morning I hopped on it and didn't even wait for my weight to register (digital scale) and got back off. I figure I need to take some baby steps. Just curious about your tummy tuck. Are you planning to have one now and one later? I saw a plastic surgeon a month ago and asked about a TT now, for my big deflating belly flop/apron and he said if he did one now he'd have to do one later too. So I'm curious about yours since we're close to the same weight now. Georgia I love the animation. I swear if I owned a gun I would have shot quite a few scales by now. Wheet, how is it that everything you say makes complete sense.

I'm a horrible scale dancer and it has become a problem for me. I'm so emotionally invested in the number. I'm a sclae addict, with a love hate relationship with it. Plateaus are really depressing for me and I have actually destoryed (as in thrown and smashed to pieces) quite a few scales in my life. Hello, my name is Leena and I'm a scale addict. Losing I totally feel your moods with the scale. I have them too. I'm considering letting DH be in charge of the scales, yes all 3 of them. Maybe he could lock them in his office at work and only bring them home every 2 weeks. Or maybe he could record my weight daily for me so I don't have to look at the number. I HATE SCALES!

Here's another scale article: Scale, Scale, on the Floor. Who's the lightest... Posted Saturday December 22, 2007 at 02:01 PM EST in Weight Loss Solutions Do you have a dysfunctional relationship with your scale? Maybe you are asking too much of it. All it can tell you is how much you weigh - the total off all the stuff that is you. Your eyes, hair, skin, teeth, organs, muscle, bone, fat, toenails, etc. Yet, many people treat the scale as if can decide if you are a good person, if you are a good parent, friend, or partner. Sometimes we even look to the scale to determine our disposition for the entire day. Are we asking too much of the scale to have it make value judgments on our self-worth as a valid member of the human race? Uh, yes. Consider the following example: I have $100. You don't know if I have a one-hundred dollar bill, 100 one-dollar bills, or 10,000 pennies. In the same fashion, the scale only tells you the sum of the parts. It doesn't give you a break down of how much each part contributes to the total. The scale measures the total of your body weight. It doesn't tell you if you're a good or bad person, a decent wife, mother, or friend. It's a cold, lifeless, measuring tool that determines nothing about the quality and value of your life. The only power it has is the power that each of us gives it. Jonathan Ross, National Body Challenge Fitness Expert Award-Winning Fitness Expert Jonathan Ross

I thought this was a great eye-opener for me. I place so much emphasis on that crappy scale. Wednesday January 16, 2008 Asking Too Much of Your Scale? Posted Wednesday January 16, 2008 at 08:04 PM EST in Ask the Experts Your scale is good at telling you how much you weigh. But are you asking it to do too much? Are you expecting it to make you happy, lift your mood, set the tone for your day, or establish a higher sense of self worth? If you are, then you're asking too much of your scale - it can't be your friend, your enemy, your mood lifter, or your spirit crusher. All it can do is tell you the total of your weight - your skin, hair, eyeballs, bones, fat, muscle, fingernails, etc. It will never be your friend or your enemy. It is a piece of equipment, nothing more nothing less. It has no power over you except that which you give it. It’s the second week of the Challenge, and the initial rush of enthusiasm may be fading. When the daily drop in scale weight tapers off, what will you have left to make you feel good about what you are doing? Putting yourself through a workout and then expecting the scale to lift your spirits is missing the point of activity. Overemphasis on the scale will lead to more negativity and failure unless you can find a way to adopt a different mindset. Try these 4 Progress Questions to determine how you're doing: 4 Progress Questions: (a “yes” answer to two or three of these is a sure sign you’re making real progress.) 1 – Do you have increased energy, or do you feel more capable? 2 – Are your clothes fitting more losely? 3 – Are you starting to like what you see in the mirror? 4 – Are you getting people asking you if you have “lost weight,” or “gotten in shape?” (especially people who are only acquaintances and don't see you daily) If you had ample energy to get through the day, were feeling good in your clothes, moved confidently about your daily activities, and were getting compliments from others that you were getting in shape, would you really care if the scale read 100 pounds or 400 pounds when you stepped on it? (If you're thinking "yes," re-read the description in the first part and truly imagine what it would feel like to live that way, then ask yourself again and again until the answer is "no.") The source of your frustration isn't you! There's nothing wrong with you, just with how you measure fitness. Using an intense focus on the scale to determine success or failure is certain disaster. Read my previous posting on the scale: The National Body Challenge Community Jonathan Ross, National Body Challenge Fitness Expert Award-Winning Fitness Expert Jonathan Ross Make my blog one of your Favorites! The National Body Challenge Community

It is more socially acceptable for a man to be overweight. My little brother was visiting a few weekends ago, going clothes shopping for his first corporate job since DH gets discounts he came out here. Anyway he's gotten bigger, beer belly guy syndrome. So he was trying to figure out what size of pants to buy. It turned out he's about a 40, squeezing into a 38 when he lets the "gut" out. When I was measuring him it turned out that my waist measurement was an inch smaller than his at 39 inches. Apparently my family thought that was impossible, because I'm just huge. And my little brother isn't. So it is more acceptable for a guy to be bigger. My mom just told him his weight would go down some once he stopped hitting the bars with friends everynight and quit his job as a bartender and started his new corporate one. A few hours later she commented to me how I should be working out a bit more, LOL! Oh and my brother has women lined up to date him. I'd never be sooo lucky.

As for being a picky eater, there is bound to be something you like in the mushie/ puree stage. My favorite then was ground turkey pureed with applesauce. I know odd, but I liked it. I also had a lot of plain applesauce with protien powder. I bought a babyfood grinder and was able to eat just about anything I felt like grinding up. Right now it sounds like you're more of an emotional eater or social eater. The band isn't going to correct those issues, but will limit the amount of food you can eat when you eat for those reasons. As far as hunger. I wasn't "hungry" until a few days before my first fill, but eating a small meal satied the hunger. That was the last time I was actually hungry. Now I have to remind myself that it's time to eat something. As for the work issues, I'd just say you were on a portion controlled diet and working out. Technically after the initial liquid, mushie and soft stage you can eat regualr food again, just limited quanitites and some foods people can't tolerate. Personally I can't eat bread, rice or Pasta. These were the foods that made me fat in the first place and now they make me really sick, ie stuck or pbing. So I just stay away from them. And at 5 months post-op I have realized I actually like the sauces and dips for them more than I liked the actual food. Hope this helps.

Early on post-op I felt my port a lot as I was healing. Now 5 months post-op tomorrow and I can carry around my kids easily, even my 7 yr old son who happens to be 50 pounds. The other day I gave a friend of mine a piggy back ride and she happens to weigh 140 pounds. No problems with my port to report. There is no unstraining process. I've "pulled my port" before, just means that you move too quickly in the beginning and feel a tug in your port area. As long as you don't tear open your stitches you should be fine. The pain goes away fairly quickly.

I'd love to know how everyone is surving dating with the band. I'm married but bi and poly, so dh and I have agreed that I can have relationships with other women as well. I told him on our first date, btw I'm bi and really tend to date more women than men. So this is nothing new at all. Anyway, what is it with women freaking out over me having the band? I was seeing a woman, let's call her N. Anyway N our relationship was going well she's also poly and bi. Anyway she knew I was having surgery, didn't ask what type and I didn't tell her because it was only a few weeks into our relationship. Anyway she knew I was on a diet, exercising and trying to loose weight. N is also obese, not quite as big as my highest, but she's tall so carreis it better than I did. So a few weeks pass and she notices I'm loosing more weight. So I told her well I did have surgery. Then told her what kind I had. She seemed okay then. But as I got closer to her clothing size she freaked out and ended the relationship. I just don't get it. Obviously there are some nderlying issues on her side. Well, now I feel like dating while I still have 100+ pounds to loose is somewhat pointless. Any advice? Thanks, Leena