Fanny Adams

LOL! Yes, that Endone is strong stuff!! I only took 1 once on Day 2 and spent most of that day sleeping (although that could have been the aftereffects of the anaesthetic). I have the box stashed away with a mental note of "emergency use only!" Luckily, I had a pretty easy recovery and got by quite easily on a couple of the soluble panadol for the first few days.

Hehe - I see Dr Watson too, and this is exactly what he had me do on my first and second fills :biggrin: On the third one, he managed it without the pillow - yay!

That's the one that gets me too. I find it harder to read than all caps. Does anyone know HOW that happens, because I find it hard to believe that so many people are actually typing a capital at the beginning of each word. It seems more like it is some kind of software problem, but I can't think what software would do that.

I too was afraid of my first fill, for several reasons. I was afraid of being too tight, afraid of the PB'ing or sliming, afraid of not being able to eat my favourite foods. I asked my doctor to take it slowly as I wanted the time to get used to the whole idea, and in the mean time, did the best I could with will power. He was great about that and only put in 1cc instead of the usual 2cc at my first fill. By the time the 2nd fill came around I was really feeling the hunger again and was over all my fears so told him to "go hard" this time. I wanted another 2cc, he usually only does 1cc on the 2nd fill and we split the difference at 1.5cc. The third one was the charm, with another 1cc and now I'm feeling the sweet spot really well. If you're hungry for whatever reason, go for the fill, and if you are worried about it being too much, just take it gently at first. I think you'll soon find, like I did, that the fear doesn't last long and you want to really get into the swing of things once you've gotten over it.

Miss P, check your paperwork again because Dr Watson certainly gave me a list of Do's and Don'ts, as well as some brochures from the lapband people, etc. If you can't find it, call the office and have them post the stuff out to you. In the mean time, Dr Watson seems to be more liberal in his regime, that other doctors (as reported on this site). From what I've known, he believes a lot more in "listen to your body" than in imposing strict schedules for various food types. I had typed out and posted some information from the handouts he gave me and have copied it here: ""Stay on fluids until you start to feel hungry. Water, juices, yoghurt, thin soup. After a few days, these fluids will be less satisfying and you will want something more filling. Thicker soups, jellies. Make an appointment to see your GP at 5 days after surgery for removal of staples. After that time, you may need more substantial food to ease the hunger. Try very soft mushy scrambled eggs, mashed vegetables initially. Gradually over the first 4 weeks after surgery, the hunger will increase such that by about a month when you come back to start having fluid placed in the band, you will be eating an amount of food more than you had expected. Fish, chicken, pasta. Then, at one month, we start the process of placing fluid in the band, every month for three months, then less frequently for the next few months. REMEMBER In the first month, gradually increase the food and ensure you eat slowly. Avoid a situation of food getting stuck as vomiting, especially early, may tear some sutures around the band and increase the risk of SLIPPAGE and further surgery." On my last fill, he reminded me that his advice was a little contradictory to most dieticians, ie, he recommends NOT eating to a schedule, DON'T try to force breakfast if you don't want it, ONLY eat when you are sure you are hungry and stop as soon as the hunger is gone, don't try to achieve that old "full" feeling. Good luck with everything!

I have always had a very hard time telling hunger pangs from nicotine cravings. In pre-banding days, I would feel "an urge for something" and try having a cigarette - if the feeling went away, I had picked correctly, if it stayed, it meant I had been feeling hungry, not hanging for a cig, so I would try eating instead. Alternatively, I might try eating something the first time and again, if the urge went away, I had picked correctly, if not, I tried having a cig... My doctor asked me to try to give up smoking for the operation, so I did 4 weeks on the Patches - 2 pre-op and 2 post-op. I posted at the time about how easy it seemed to be. The patches really seemed to control my appetite - better than any "diet" pill I had ever tried, and I've tried a few!! Anyway, I went back to smoking after the 2 week post-op period but have since discovered that the band seems to be working to control my cigarette cravings!! I have smoked ALL my life (since a very young child - you don't want to know how young!!) but I have never been a very heavy smoker. In the past, I would buy a carton of cigs a fortnight - 8 pkts @ 25 per pack = 200 cigs, making an average of 100 cigs a week or 15 per day. Occasionally, I wouldn't quite make it to the end of the fortnight and would buy a top up packet on the last day, before buying a new carton. Just recently, I bought my carton as usual on Thursday, the day I fly up to work for my 8 day shift. Two weeks later, I have been home and am flying back up again and went to buy another carton. Before I did, I checked my cig stash and was amazed to discover that I still had 2.5 packs left! Instead of 8-9 packs, I had only consumed 5 & half! I had made no conscious effort to cut down, just thought I was smoking as usual, ie have one when I felt like it. I obviously just hadn't felt like it quite as often! Whoohoo - what a great side effect! I'm even contemplating MAKING the effort to cut down further, possibly even quit, which no longer seems the impossibility I've always viewed it as... Any other smokers out there had similar experiences?

I had one of those "moments of clarity" the other day and thought I would share. I used to share my house with my uncle (who is also very overweight) and cousin (who is only slightly overweight). One of our staple meals was the good old spaghetti bolognaise, which I always saw as a very low cal, low fat meal. I used high grade minced meat (very low fat), never added oil in the cooking and had myself convinced that this was one of our "healthier meals". I would cook up a huge pot, my cousin would eat a "normal" plateful and my uncle and I would pile our plates high, then go back and polish off the remainder for "seconds". They have since moved out to their own houses and I cooked up a batch for myself just last week. The recipe I use doesn't make it easy to cut down the quantity, so I figured I'd just put the leftovers into containers and freeze them for instant on-hand meals over the next little while. I ate one cup of meat sauce/pasta mix for dinner that night and 1/2 to 1 cup for lunch the next day, then put all the rest into 1 cup servings and froze it. The epiphany came when I saw how many one-cup servings were in that huge pot!! Even after taking 2 band-sized meals out, I had EIGHT cups left over!! I had to go out and buy more small plastic containers to fit it all. There was a total of 10 cups of food in that pot! I think my cousin would have eaten about 2 cups worth, and my uncle and I would have polished off 4 cups each in one sitting! What's worse, is that quite often, I would have made an even larger pot, if we were all feeling particularly hungry, and that would likely have made 12-14 cups - and we ate it all! NO WONDER we are fat!! Have any of you had a moment like that, when you finally fully realised how screwed up were your previous perceptions of "normal sized servings"?

A size 16 in the UK is the equivalent of a US size 12. That being said, I think she could affort to lose 20lb or so. I don't like the stick thin look but for a beauty queen, she is a little overweight. For her height, she should probably be a UK14 (US 10) at most and would probably look better as a UK12 (US 8). I'm quite a bit shorter and I'd be happy at a UK12 but at her age I was a UK 10, which is a US 6. I was very curvy still at that size, not a stick figure at all. I think the US 4/2/0 sizes are too thin for most women, but a US12 is big for a young beauty queen. International size conversions: Clothing sizes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Josh, you look fabulous, doing really well, but I have to tell you this - you need a smaller suit!! :huh2: Isn't that great?

Wow, some of you have much more aggressive doc's than mine. I have a 10cc band, and had 2cc put in at the time of the op. My doc put in another 1cc at my first fill (4 weeks post-op), but that was at my own request, as I was really scared about getting too tight and having problems - normally he would have put in 2cc. At my 2nd fill (8wks), I was feeling a little bit more comfortable with the whole idea and said let's go hard this time, but he only wanted to add another 1cc, I wanted the 2cc to make up for what I'd turned down previously. We split the difference at 1.5cc. On my third fill (12wks), we went for another 1cc - for a total of 5.5cc. I feel pretty good about my current restriction - it could be tighter but I am feeling it work and not struggling with hunger and not having any tightness problems, so I'm ok with it right now. Doc doesn't want me to come back before 20wks post-op, unless I'm absolutely desperate. I'll see how I go :huh2:

The liquid/mushie stage is hell but you'll get there, batkitty! I've found I haven't had any trouble with any type of food, as long as I pay attention while I'm eating, cut really small bites and chew chew chew. The only two times I've gotten stuck (both since the last fill), have been when I was talking 100 miles an hour while eating and just didn't pay attention to the chewing. I WON'T be doing that again, let me tell you! Hurt like HELL!! Good luck with it all!

I still enjoy steak but I go for the very small, extra tender, fillet cuts, rather than a big old t-bone, as in past days. You need to be careful to chew thoroughly, but shouldn't have problems if you aren't too tight. And I LOVE me some marinated BBQ skinless chicken thighs!! (Had that for dinner last night :huh2:)

I do a 3 hour flight every week, to and from my work, and I've never really noticed any difference before or after the flight. Then again, I'm not so tight that the slightest little change shows up straight away. It might only be a problem for those who are right on the cusp of too full, pushing them over. If you're not flying until May, I don't think flying then would be affected by a fill now. You'll have plenty of time to work out if you are too tight before then.

Swap your breakfast of oats and yoghurt for some high protein. Did you know that a poached egg and slice of fatfree bacon is lower in calories (and fat!) than cereal and skim milk or oats? You will feel much better for it - more energy and will feel fuller for longer.

12 pound in a month is EXCELLENT progress!! You have to remember that it won't always be like those first few honeymoon weeks. Most of that loss was probably mostly water anyway and 12 pounds of fat lost is nothing to sneeze at! Congratulations!

You know, one of the main things I love about this band is the attitude change to little stalls. In the past, a week without the scales moving meant giving up in disgust, followed by a major blowout causing me to regain any pounds lost. This time round, I feel differently about it and am reasonably happy to move from losing to plateauing and back again, knowing that if I keep things up, it will all come off eventually. Congratulations on finding your new motivation - enjoy the next ride down!

My suggestion would be to go see your doctor. If you are so tight you can't eat anything without throwing up, that very unhealthy! It may also have put your body into starvation mode, so that it is hanging on to every calorie and gram of fat, because it doesn't know when it might get the next one. Sounds to me like you need a slight unfill, to get back to a more normal eating pattern, but don't take my word for it - see your doctor!!

It's "lose". :cursing::tt1:

Well said Sue. While this thread is amusing in that train-wreck way, it was also excessively hypocritical in piling scorn on the DSers whilst complaining about them scorning LBers... oh the irony.

I can't see any reason why it wouldn't be. I used Nicobate to quit smoking for 2 weeks leading up to my surgery and 2 weeks post-surgery, at my doctor's behest. Why would you think that the lapband would make a difference to using Nicobate??

ROFL! Go Pixie!! :thumbup:

OMG!!! I love you, Jachut!!! I've been looking my whole life for someone in Aus that does this and never found a good bathing suit yet. *bookmarks the site forever and ever* *edits* On second thoughts, I'm not sure if I should be thanking you - I'm just about to spend a FORTUNE on bathers and bras!! Nah... I don't mean that... THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

ACK!! I make it over the line to vote in the 31-40 band and it's before the end of March, but the poll is closed!! *cries*

Breathe, Christasha, breathe!! :shades_smile: You are doing fabulously. I count my pre-op too - I lost it, it counts!! I have found myself rationalising my slow loss over the last month by saying "ooh slow loss is healthier, better for my skin, easier to live with" and so on, but in reality it was just an excuse to be a lazy slackarse and not do any exercise. I kicked myself in the pants 4 nights ago, when I came back to site and have been at the gym every night. Fingers crossed that I see a difference on the scale when I get home on Friday!! I'm gonna vote in that 31-40lb range before the end of March, if it kills me!!

I know how you feel but take comfort in the numbers you have racked up so far - 50lb is nothing to sneeze at!! I'd be STOKED if I could claim that.