HeatherA

Christine, that's exactly why I do during photos... it helps me to SEE the changes that my body is going through. Without the photos I look in the mirror and am hard pressed to see the changes. The comparison photos help me to see that progress is really being made. I may hate them, but for me it's something I feel the need to do. Plus I figure that they may help me (not that they have in the past) keep my weight off down the road. -H

Christine, I hate photos too! I have a few before pics because I wanted to see how far I'd come...or my family had snuck them of me... but not many. I'm usually behind the camera. I wonder if that will change when I get this weight off? To do my "during" photos now is pure torture and I hate every one of them! -Heather

Here are a few optional reminders for Saturday... -Please bring any clothing you'd like to share with others. I plan to donate mine to charity if no one is interested. -Please bring a BEFORE photo of yourself. Even if you are not currently banded this is something you can bring. Maybe we can make a photo album and add to it at future meetings (if anyone is game for this)... if you're interested in the photo album idea please bring a picture you can bear to part with, or a photo copy of a picture. See you SATURDAY at 2pm in the Polaris food court next to the GreatIndoors. Look for the poster and balloon!

I put together a bag of sweaters, belts (and a few scarfs in case anyone is interested) to bring on Saturday. I haven't completely outgrown much of my clothing yet, but this is a start. :-)

Im2Seksi4MyFat (great screen name!) it'd be great if you decide to come! We'd love to meet you! I don't think that's a problem at all. :-)

Turler, We'll be glad to have you! See you on Saturday!

Sheila, I can just picture it. Augggghhh I hope we never have to go through that again!

LOL! You guys have me cracking up. Yes... I forsee a life without soft pretzels. Good thing they're not a normal item in my diet. The bad thing is when you tell me (or I tell me) I can't have something I want it even worse! So what's the trick to throwing up right away? If I had walked to the bathroom earlier do you think it would have come up as easily as it did when I finally felt able to make it? As for the papaya enzime, I have some... AT HOME! LOL all I could think of was that I'm putting some in my purse for future purposes. I almost sent my daughter down the mall to GNC for more, but I was too scared for her to leave me alone.

PB is a productive burp a.k.a vomiting up the stuck food. Once it happens you feel better almost immediately. Sliming is what happens before the PB. It's very thick and sticky clear saliva that is created by your body to help get the stuck food unstuck.

I was banded on 12/18/07 and just had my first major stuck episode this afternoon.. what a wake up call. I posted about it here in all the gory details: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f100/first-stuck-slime-productive-burp-episode-51275/#post710050 Mine was not over in 15 minutes... I'm very jealous. My daughter timed it and it was an hour and 15 minutes for me. Of course I was so miserable going through it that it felt like a lot longer.

OMG I wanted to die! It was so horrible. Not only was it painful but it was so embarrassing. Warning... this is graphic and might contain too much information. Stop reading if you don't want the gory details. I was at the mall with my daughter and it was free Auntie Ann's pretzel day so of course we got one and went to sit down. I took a small bite of mine and then had a bit of her cinnamon one that I must not have chewed well, or eaten it too fast. I wasn't paying much attention and I should have been. I felt the pain in my chest but figured it was just a normal slightly stuck feeling and it seemed to subside. So I gave up on the pretzel... it was my first doughy bread bite since banding... and got some chick-fil-a nuggets and sauce for lunch. I ate half of one and chewed well, but I don't think the pretzel must have gone all the way down so the chicken just seemed to sit on it and that was all it took. I was for sure stuck. It hurt like hell in my chest and my back. I just sat there with my daughter waiting for it to pass as the pain usually does fairly quickly. This time it did not. I spent an hour and 15 minutes in the food court in misery. I couldn't talk, couldn't move and I started sliming like crazy. I have never experienced anything like it. I went through about 30 napkins as I just held them over my mouth and slimed into them. I just wanted to die of embarrassment. The pain was awful and the slime was disgusting. I kept trying to burp it up but it wasn't moving. I did eventually get hiccups but that didn't help either. I just wanted to die... have I said that already? Finally when my lower stomach started cramping I made my way across the food court to the bathroom and by the time I got there I was ready to vomit. I heaved twice and the first one was a gallon of slime, the second was well chewed chicken nugget. I felt better after that, but my stomach is very sore and I've put myself on liquids until tomorrow. I'm not sure if it was worse because I was so embarrassed, but I can imagine that I will definitely be much more careful when eating anywhere other than home. I never want to go through that again. That's my story.

I am laughing my butt off at that! I did THE SAME THING a few weeks ago when I went to renew... I just left the 200lbs on there... I wasn't near 200 the first time I got my license and I'm not now... but I will eventually be and so will you!!!!

There's a Columbus Get Together thread in this folder with all of the details, but the short of it is... we're meeting on the 9th at 2pm at Polaris in the food court seating area directly next to the Great Indoors entrance. Hope to see you there!!!

I will try to remember to print one out. It's probably a good thing so I can attach it to the fridge door when I get home :-)

Yep! 2pm is the time... look for us in the seating area directly next to the Great Indoors entrance. Special K is bring a balloon and a poster so you'll easily be able to spot us :-)

Angie, If you can make it that'd be great... we can Celebrate your impending surgery and help you take your mind off of the pre-op diet for a few hours. Are you getting excited????

The best thing my doctor told me was once I left the hospital I would have to diet until my 2nd or 3rd fill. I of course had already known that from these boards. So that's what I've been doing. I've been dieting and exercising. I was banded on 12/17/07 (a week after you) and I'm just today at the 17 pound loss post-surgery. Tuesday makes 8 weeks and that gives me an average of 2 pounds a week since surgery. That's exactly what I was told to expect from the band. I believe you too are right on at about 2 pounds a week. Don't worry what others are losing. Just make sure you are doing what you need to do to get through bandster hell. I'm sure we'd all just love to have the weight fall off like it does with GB patients, but that's not something that was ever advertised with this surgery. The upside to that, is after GB patients stop shedding the pounds they have to start doing the work to keep it off. We have a tool that will always be available to us that can be adjusted to keep us on the right track. Hang in there! You're doing just great!!!!!

Heather A Update: NAME ... Start Weight ... Goal ... Current Weight ... To Go HeatherA ........ 255.6 ..... 225 ........ 253.8 ....... 28.8

Hi Stacey, Here's the link to take you to that area of the site: Ohio - Lap Band Talk Forum - The largest forum for Lap Band Surgery Discussion and Lap Band Surgery Support See you there!

Whoooo hooooo hooooo hooooo hooooo! I am so thrilled for you. I know it's been a long road but you've done great. We'll have to go out to celebrate soon. How about dinner at City BBQ? I'm craving some green beans!

Is it the 9th yet???? I can't wait to meet you all!

Congratulations!!! You should come over to the Ohio board and meet up with some others that have had surgery at OSU.

I agree! Unless I'm truly gaining I am not moving my ticker upward. I know that those fluctuations are only temporary because I am staying the course and eating well and exercising.

WOW! 6 days into my first fill and I think I may have restriction. I'm not getting too excited because it could be gone as quickly as it's come but today I have definitely been restricted. I work in a doctors office and every so often drug reps bring us lunch when then want to chat up the doctor. Today was one of those days. I grabbed two half sandwiches (roast beef and smoked turkey) and went into my office. I immediately got rid of the bread and started pulling small bites off of the meat. It took me an hour to eat 4 ounces of meat and a small cup of SF applesauce! It also took me all day to drink 24 ounces of Water. While eating lunch I had a few minor stuck episodes where the dry meat must not have been chewed enough and caused me a few minutes of discomfort. I resorted then to dipping the meat into balsamic dressing and a little bit of honey mustard an office mate had. What really blew me away was this... I was not hungry again until dinner time at 6pm! That was a good solid 4 hours I didn't even think of food! Usually at work I have a Protein shake in the morning for a snack and would have had an applesauce sometime in the afternoon for a snack. Didn't even think of either today. I am just hopeful that this doesn't go away!!!! If it does, I've at least had a taste of what the future will bring!

I've just started having minor stuck episodes since I got my first fill. I'm taking small bites, but apparently not chewing well enough so I've gotten the pain, but not the sliming or pb'ing. I've had more episodes today as I think 6 days into my first fill I'm starting to get some restriction.