bandster_1007

ok, so this is a vague post because i don't want to be too specific. but, i have noticed in my whole 2 months as a member of this forum, that some people have modified their signatures, or have become quiet due to what some people have said on this forum.

an example that i have, and i hope that she forgives me if she knows who this is, but there is a "seasoned" bandster on this forum that had the most awesome picture in her signature. her picture was one of my MAIN inspirations to have my band. she has since removed her picture because of some things that were said. i think it is sad that it seems some of our most experienced members are purposely removing themselves from the lime light because some arrogant, "know it all" feels they have a right to persecute another person.

we are all adults on this forum..for the most part. we all deal with our own problem in real life. this is supposed to be a place of haven and sanctity where we can come and not feel as if we are being persecuted. we are all individuals and i think we all have a right to our own opinion, but some people can just be down right asses about their opinion and it turns into a mud throwing competition instead of a healthy debate.

i think it is sad. we deal with enough crap in our lives as it is. we have enough persecution being fat people. why would we intentionally say things to sway or hurt another person because we are offended? so what if that person is more successful for you, if it bothers you then you need to work on your on insecurities. so what if someone posts something that is very personal and graphic (i'm guilty), who are you to tell that person that they shouldn't do that? so what if someone chastises (spelling) another for eating solid right after surgery, that person more than likely knew that they were breaking the rules, and they should know that posting it here will get a response.

all i'm saying is bring it on, i can handle it. if i post something and you feel a need to express your opinion, then do it. however, do not be so arrogant to think that your way is right and i should change based on your post (i'm not talking about bandster rules in this paragraph).

we are all people, and we all have our own opinions, if you are offended, then do not read. if you have your feeling hurt easily then do not post something that YOU KNOW will get a response that you can't handle. it's time for people to put their big girl panties on, or big boy undies, and grow up.

i just cannot believe that some people are so arrogant and obnoxious to think that they have a right to tell anyone what the should or should not do (again..not talking about the bandster rules).

if you have been successfull YOU SHOULD SHOW IT AND BE PROUD. don't let some cynical, self doubting, prude, tell you that you shouldn't because it makes people feel bad. that is crap. absolute crap.

...and i want that oldie to put her picture back damn it. it was inspiration and now it is gone, because some idiot felt the need to tell that person that they were offended...ridiculous...

inthecitygirl----yes, laura is right. the magnesium citrate does it's job, but once it kicks in, it is not pretty. i would not recommend doing it to late in the evening. and do not drink it if you have plans to go anywhere for the rest of the day. i was able to control it, but you still have to go very frequently.

I'll throw my half a cent worth in here too on Constipation. I have struggled with it in the past but recently have been regular (daily) for the 8 months prior to getting banded. Mostly due to drinking more Water and eating lots of fiber.

Now, I haven't had a movement in 7 days since my banding. I tried now and it hurt so much, I had some blood. . .not nice.

I called and scheduled a colon cleanse at a holistic spa (RN administered) for this week. I read all the threads about how it is quackery, etc. but what I never saw was it was dangerous if administered properly. I got have a movement. . .I must, I must, I must?:-)))))

the magnesium citrate that you can buy at the drug store works (it comes in a little glass bottle..i like (not really, but you know) the cherry flavored). you drink it and i promise you will go. just shake it real well a few times to get the carbonation out, and it is a sickly sweet taste. but..it works. i drank that yesterday, and i did a saline enema, and i am taking rx Miralax.< /p>

i only know what my doctor said about the fiber supplements. that is his opinion. my doc also doesn't think we should eat popcorn..so there you go.

i have endometriosis, too, but i have not been "checked" for it in several years. my last period only lasted 4 hours, so it may be that the endometriosis has attached to the colon.

i may need to get that checked.

this is a particularly horrible situation for me because i had missed so much work from Migraines and then my surgery, that my work is threatening to lay me off at the beginning of the year (despite the fact that i filed fmla), so to be stuck at home on the pot really sucks. my boss said that "shit happens"..haha.. and she understands, but who knows.... they have a business to run, and my colon needs to stop running so i can help.

my family doctor said that this blockage, as far as the pain, resembles a ruptured appendix. it is nasty. hurts to walk, etc. but i have to say i have lost about 14 inches in my abdomen over the last 24 hours.

by the way laura...i absolutely love your quote....

thank you so much for your input anyways. doctor's are so different you know. my doctor says "take milk of magnesia", but then you "hear" or "read" about dependency on laxatives. i think that i haven't been eating any fruit or vegetables, and i need desperately to have those for fiber.

i will talk to my doctor tomorrow though, maybe i misunderstood on the fiber thing. especially if other people can take it with no problems.

my doctor doesn't let us take benefiber, or any other fiber supplement. is my doc the only one that thinks that? he says it can swell our pouch.

i'm know i need fiber, but i'm not sure how else to get it.

i guess you could call it a "complication". i read about Constipation before i had the band. well, i have been going what i would consider pretty regularly---daily. i have had a couple of moments where i thought that going to the bathroom resembled labor to the extent of making it productive, but it was productive.

ok, i woke up this saturday with a sharp pain on my left side. i almost went to er, but i have had something like this happen before and after all the poking and prodding, i had a bowel impaction. so..i didn't go to er. instead, i stayed home, drank lots of Water, and took a lot of ex lax. then on Monday morning- i looked 8 months pregnant.

i am not exaggerating, when i went out someone actually asked me when i was due. yes, i am heavy, and my abdomen has been somewhat distended since surgery, BUT, i did not look pregnant like i did monday. and i didn't look pregnant at all prior to surgery.

so i go to my doctor, and i have a freakin' bowel blockage. one that is so bad the gas in my belly cannot get through and was building up in my belly. my doc wanted to do x-rays, etc., but i talked her out of it and came home and drank magnesium citrate and did an enema.

i'm 25 years old, i don't think this is normal. i thought last night that i was finished "cleaning out", but my belly was still sticking out. so, i planned to go to work this morning. i could still feel the pain in my left side, so i just thought that i would work on that the next week or two with Miralax.

well, over night i HURT SO BAD. i felt like i did post op. rolling around in the bed and moaning. then, when i get up this morning, the "cleaning out" just began. i'm stuck at home sitting on the porcelain god every 5 minutes.

at least my belly is going down and my pain is going away.

has anyone else had this problem? if they venture to share. if you haven't watch out. it hurts like hell when it gets blocked.

i know this is gross and costipation is an issue with banders, but what should i do to prevent this from happening again? my doc suggests that i go sit and "try" for 15 minutes after i eat every meal. what? who does that 3 times a day!! besides that, she is not my band doctor and she doesn't understand that my food intake is less.

any thoughts would be appreciated.

state ur worth!!! congratulations on your weight loss!! 10 lbs! wow, bet you are more ready for that christmas function than anything.

i go for my second fill on Wednesday and i haven't lost anything yet (by the time you count the gain before the first fill). so, i'm still waiting! hopefully i will be singing a different tune in january. but, i do admit that i have not been exercising, and i need to start doing this soon. this is just as important as a good fill, i just haven't been very motivated.

my son's schools has very traditional uniforms. they must always have a belt, tucked in shirts, white socks (which i would prefer navy..), etc. their hair must never touch their ears, etc. i like it. i personally also like the new "beatles" style haircuts..guess they aren't new. but my son just has to wear his normal ole' boy cut.

i think uniforms cut down on a lot of teasing, but still teasing will happen (obviously with the heavier kids and the shirt tails....perhaps they just need a better size)...i don't know....

If any teacher attempted to paddle my child I'd be in the school paddling the teacher. Not saying I disagree with spankings, but that would be MY job as a parent, not the teacher's job.

at my son's schools if it comes to paddling, they call the parent to come up to the school to do the paddling. luckily, i haven't had to do that.

Ridiculous school rules?

When I was in school....

• You couldn't wear pants to school if you were a girl.
  
• You couldn't wear what we called "coulots" (coulottes? Koo-lots?---anyway, they were skirt which were split into two legs down the middle...maybe they call them "skorts" now)
  
• Couldn't wear open toes sandles (Oh the SEX of it!)
  
• Couldn't wear patent leather shoes (boys could look up and see your undies reflected) (Oh the SEX of it!)
  
• Dresses? Kneel on the floor girl! Not more than 2" off the floor or you are sent home to change.
  
• Boys hair...can't be below their earlobe...
  
• Bangs....only ABOVE the eyebrows

It's a wonder we survived.

Now my 17 year old nephew is in an alternative school where you cannot wear the colors blue or red....at ALL. Now we're talking about a blue polo shirt with white stripes....typical Izod fare....nope. Verbotten!

What have we come to?

haha..the rules that you had, my son's school still has. very old fashioned.

I should put a disclaimer on here about those. For weight loss and good nutrition, those mini warm delights should NOT be eaten on a regular basis. But they're excellent for TOM cravings.

I also removed the picture as I decided that was just cruel.... SORRY!

i was just joking..i watch tv and there is way more of it on there. i thought your picture was an excellent way of showing us what you are talking about...i'm still on the lookout for those things.. i want one.

I told my 7yr old and sometimes she acts like she has the band.

haha, that is too funny. it's amazing how kids imitate us. i haven't had my son do that... but he does say, "mom can we go to mcdonald's, they have liquids". he seems to be stuck in that part of it, maybe because i make such a big deal out of only having liquids, he hasn't even noticed that i eat dinner with them.

i do think that our schools have ridiculous rules, but i think they have been FORCED to make such drastic rules due to being sued, etc. that is what our world has come to, people sue their own moms.

private schools have just as crazy rules, based on other premises. for example, my son is in a private school. he is not allowed to touch a girl-EVER, not even on the playground. they cannot even play tag. it can result in a paddling or suspension. i think that is crazy.

also, i heard once of a kindergartener being expelled because she made a toy gun out of lego's and started pointing it around the room saying "pow" "pow". i don't know how true that story was, but it is among the many that i have heard happen now.

ooooohhhh..that is bad....ooohhhh i'm in bandland and get tempted by a food advertisement...wow..i didn't even know they had those.

lmao

i like the 100 calorie carrot cakes, but rarely have just one. i have expressed many times my problems with sugar after surgery. it has been my biggest and hardest problem. all the sudden i want vanilla ice cream with fudge chips and cookie dough, sugar Cookies, and fudgsicles.

before..i rarely ate any of the above. i finally stopped fighting the cravings and would just eat them. now, i'm losing my want for them.

i'm getting more restricted and i'm amazed at how much my cravings are subsiding.

----by the way, my strategy was not the best, and i gained back all of my post op loss, so i'm not recommending it, but it seems to be working for me. if i can have it, i don't want it...if i can't, WATCH OUT..

i have a six year old son, who is already a little obsessive about eating healthy and exercising. a lot of this could be from my being heavy. his dad is very active and fit, and he is always telling him that he has to eat healthy and exercise.

well, my son knew that i was having surgery and that my stomach was going to be sore, but he didn't know the details. and then, one night--i believe it was after my fill, and he said, "i'm so sorry that you had to have surgery mama, i sure wish you could eat". that was when i explained to him that i had surgery to help me lose weight, and that it was hard and it was painful, but i did it for my health. and i told him that i had gotten into a really bad habit of making bad decisions with my food and not exercising. i told him that is why it is so important to eat healthy and to stay active, because if you don't you may end up having to have surgeryto help you lose weight. he understood. now he tells me that he can't wait for me to lose weight -because he hears me say that. i actually felt much better being honest with him. and maybe it will play some role in helping him when he is older (he's already a "big" kid, not fat..but big, he 6 years old and he is 4'2" and weighs 73 lbs.

she only told me about the 500 cc's because i asked if i only had room for 3.5 cc's left. if i actually have the apl though i still have 8.5 cc's. haha, i'm getting clarification on that one. so, i asked if that was all it could hold, and she said, no it can hold a lot more, and i asked how much..so she told me. she didn't volunteer it, i asked. she said it was in "some study".

i thought it was an interested tidbit of knowledge. i sure hope i don't need 500 cc's. haha, that is A LOT of fills.

i've been banded for about 7 weeks now, and i am just now getting past the crankiness. dh is a real jokester and he said this to me (i was joking with him also). i have been really honest about my mood and we were laughing about it, now that i'm in a good mood, and dh said he was beginning to wonder if the stuck a stick up my ass instead of a band around my stomach. haha..so true, that is how i have been acting.

i was soooo hard. i wanted to eat, and i was pissed that i couldn't, and i couldn't cope.

i think this is very normal.

oh my lord...mud flaps......that is the funniest description.

age contributing to the depression (of the girls)...well, i'm 25. so, wth am i going to look like when i'm 60. i'll need to wrap up in saran wrap and duct tape every day.

i'm good. i've been wondering how you were doing after your last fill. the restriction that i did feel is gone. i ate an entire crispy chicken sandwich kids meal the other day for lunch. yesterday i ate the sandwich but not the fries.

i'm finding all of a sudden this week that i am beginning to lose interest in food. it's kind of cool. used to i would have my lunch planned out for the day as soon as i got to work..i knew what type of junk i was going to cram in my face that day. now, i'm like..i don't know..i don't really care, i'll just get some chicken...maybe i will go shopping first.

ha...spending more money now, because i'm shopping more. it seems my impulsiveness has gone toward the shopping side instead of food. that's bad, but this is the perfect spending for it. i have to get control over it though, because dh wants to buy some lake land, or mountain land soon.

i went to get my hair cut last night. i have hair that falls about 5/6 inches below my bra strap. i have real fine hair, but i have a lot of it. well, i went to a new hairdresser so i'm not putting a lot of stock into it, as my hair has always been on the thinner side, but with it being long, it doesn't look thin. anyways, she said she could tell i was losing hair around my crown. GREAT!!! i haven't been eating much Protein though, i will admit that. so tomorrow, i'm going to start logging foods again.

i have noticed some loss on my coat, in the shower, etc. my hair has been my greatest asset for so long, i don't want to lose it.

my 2nd fill is wednesday. i'm surprised that they said you are on your own after your 3rd fill. if they do that to me, i'll probably call the next day to schedule a fill and then cancel if i don't need it...haha.

i don't know if dr. wellborn spent two hours talking to you at your consult or not, but he said journaling is the best way to tell if you are restricted. his rule of thumb is that you should not be able to eat more than half a sandwich, with bread. when he was talking to us, he was talking about subway. which, to me, before surgery, a 6 inch sub was pretty filling. i think he meant half of a 6 inch...not sure. but he does say that about 10 bites and you should be full. i'm sure this is only ture if you eat real dense foods and eat your Protein first.

like, if i eat Cereal or something, i'll be able to eat more than 10 bites, but if i start with chicken or fish, i get full faster.

if you are losing though, i wouldn't worry about it too much. i admire you for what you have done so far. i am still maintaining, i thought i had lost, but i was wrong, it was just fluctuations in Water weight...so 2nd fill here i come!!

APS holds 10cc's

APL holds 14cc's

Depending on which band you have - there's still plenty of room for more fill. Everyone is different. Maybe the next one will get you there?

well, that's funny, apparantly someone at my doc's office doesn't know what they are talking about. because they said, i have the apl band and that it holds 10 cc. and i joked that i must have a large stomach to need a large band, and they laughed because it doesn't have anything to do with that. also, when i got my first fill of 6.5 cc's, i was worried because i only had 3.5 cc's left, and she told me that it will hold up to 500 cc's before "exploding".

have you called wellborn to schedule another fill. suzanne told me that our bands can hold up to 500 cc's before they burst. they are called a 10 cc band. mine is an apl, so maybe that is what he was putting on everyone at that time.

remember, although the 3rd fill is the average (as they told us in the meeting) it may not be until the 6th fill or more before you feel the restriction. i think that jamie said it took her like 12.

if i were you i would call asap, especially since you told me that sometimes it takes a whole month to get in. i like dr. wellborn and their office, but i think sometimes we have to be very assertive with them, because they are busy and they do let us know.

my doc has the "rule" of taking no longer than 15 minutes to eat period. after that, we are supposed to stop eating and get up from the table.

ok, right after my fill, it took me right at 15 minutes but i was eating slow and didn't eat very much. i can see how it would take longer depending on what i was eating.

i'll try it, but if i'm still hungry they say i need a fill, but if i have a difficult stoma, i'm sure i will take longer (so far i can eat anything)

oh yeah, i just read your post again, and you, in my opinion are eating AWESOME!! I wish i had a day like that. i mean yeah, sure, the ice cream wasn't a necessity, but i bet it tasted good, and at least you did go with the sf kind. just don't do it every day. i like you, need to work on the veggies, but if you added your calories up, even with the ice cream, you might be surprised at how low they are.

for me, i really had to focus on eating 800 calories and getting my Protein. some days, i had room for empty calories like fudgsicles, etc.