CandySmooch

I am so sorry you don't have any support. Please don't listen to anyone else, they are only trying to bring you down for doing what is best for you. This is the reason I chose not to tell anyone except my husband & mother about my surgery. There's too much pressure and lack of support from others. My step-dad knows because my mom told him and he's always eyeing me up and down looking to see if the surgery is working and I feel horrible added pressure since I've been a very slow loser. You do what you need to do and you can find support in the right places. Best of luck!

Vinesqueen was a good friend of mine on here until I took a depressed leave of absence for a year. Does anyone have an update of her? I don't know what happened - her last blog entry on platypus was last April. The last thing I knew of her was she was diagnosed with Cushings - then I saw in her blogs that she had a brain tumor........then what? Where is she? Anyone hear from her? PLEASE PM ME or POST if you know anything!

I haven't read through this complete thread, but just wanted to let ya'll know I unexpectedly became pregnant after being banded one year with a 35lb weight loss. I kept my fill and was completely comfortable & had a beautiful pregnancy with only a 6 lb gain which is exactly what my son weighed at birth July 31, 2007. If anyone has any questions - feel free to ask!

No you don't have to have it removed. You may need an unfill, but I sailed through my pregnancy just beautifully without needing unfilled. I gained 12 lbs through it and my son weighed 1/2 of that and I have since lost the other 6 lbs and just got my first fill in almost a year. Right back on track, no big deal.

Well hello everyone. I used to be a regular poster here, but grew bored and tired of the same topics so I took a leave of absence. I think I grew bored and tired because I wasn't having as much success as everyone else. I'm back and although I've been banded for 2 years, I feel I am just beginning. I was banded in May 2005 and had struggled to lose 35 lbs in my first year. I then became pregnant with my first child in Nov. 2006 - we had a boy born July 31, 2007. Through my pregnancy with the band I was able to enjoy it to the fullest and only gained 6 lbs which is what my son weighed at birth so essentially I lost my pregnancy weight with him. Without the band I know I would have easily put on 50lbs during pregnancy - for that I am so thankful! It was such an easy pregnancy. I noticed after birth my band had loosened slightly which is understandable. I received my first fill in almost a year last week...........I've never felt this way before with any other fills and I need some help understanding. I thought I had all the answers to lapband questions.........now I wonder if this is how I should have been feeling since 2 years ago. I struggled and struggled and fought to lose the first 35 lbs - I was so distraught I left this forum after getting my Water, Protein, Fiber, excercise in for a year and still only had a measly loss. With this fill I received, I think this is how tight I should have been all along and I just didn't know it. I am now only able to eat very very small portions (which I already thought I was doing) I've had this fill for one week - out of this week I have "PB'd" 5 times but I believe it is my fault since I'm not used to having to take such tiny bites and chew chew chew. I've always been able to take "small" bites, but never ever had to worry about whether it would go down or not. Most everything I always ate went down. Now I find myself making sure to chew and tiny bites so I don't PB. I mean I've thrown up before with the band but NOW I understand the "slimes"!! I also have woken up twice in the past week with acid reflux - that has never happened before - those were also the same nights that I had ate too much and slimed a lot. Yesterday I had this to eat: and it all went down Breakfast: Protein Shake & 3 TBS of oatmeal Lunch: 1 veggie & cheese stuffed mushroom (the size circle of top of a Soup can) Dinner: 2 TBS Lean Steak & 2 TBS salad Is this too little? Is this what it means to be restricted? Is this how it should have been all along my banded journey? I really feel my band could allow me to lose some weight right now compared to the first 2 years I had to FIGHT for it.

yep my money's on gastric as how quickly she lost and how malnourished her skin and face always look

i wanted to delete this post now

her career is over now, funny how she thinks she's all that.........she will find out soon enough that she isn't. her sham of a marriage is next to go.

I think this is absolutely ridiculous!

The only thing that I have found that I absolutely cannot eat no matter if I've got good restriction at the time or not is General Tso's Chicken from the chinese restaurant - it used to be my main dish that I always got and when I tentatively tested the waters with it one night I couldn't even eat a whole one little chunk and wasted the entire meal while I sat there and picked pieces of beef and brocooli off of my boyfriends plate. I have to be careful about certain things but that seems to be the only thing I absolutely cannot tolerate.

Forgive me for not reading through all of the posts. I never have asked for a special card or discount. Although it would be nice to save money, I don't feel I should receive preferential treatement. My WLS was my choice, my decision. The restaurants were not to blame. Everyone is in control of their own actions and to put blame elsewhere is only shifting it from yourself. I think its great that some businesses do support discounts for WLS but I personally don't feel that it should be a standard and no one should complain about those who don't support it. Why should thier business take a hit on finances because of a personal choice we all made. They are there to offer food services and regardless of how much you actually eat of it you are paying for the food they provide.

Don't worry, I've been banded over a year and am still trying to get the hang of it. My band is always fickle and restriction depends on how much sleep & stress I'm under. I know that lack of sleep or stressed out makes my band cinch up, and when I'm relaxed with plenty of sleep I can eat too much. Some mornings I can eat a piece of french toast and a couple of pieces of turkey bacon and the next morning I struggle with oatmeal. I don't know about you but I just have to take each day as it comes - I was expecting a little more consistency with the band.

Erin - I emailed you

I cannot even begin to tell you why men say such mean things for no reason. I hate it when my DH says I'm such a slob - and I'm not - its just that he's extremely anal from the way he grew up in dirt, roaches, & mice so I know he has issues with cleanliness and he goes overboard because I left a bill on the table and a load of clean clothes in the dryer - I get sooo sick of it! So then I ask him why he's such an asshole? We don't see eye to eye on certain things. Regardless mean and hurtful things never solve the underlying issues, but when you can't get them to say whats really on their mind - what can you do? Just rememebr ANGER IS ONLY A SECONDARY EMOTION TO AN UNDERLYING ISSUE and its his job to be man enough to tell you - and when they're not? I don't know - I think many of us face these same issues. Keep your chin up and see how things go - I know those things hurt like hell - they do to me - they hurt me to the core - and I know I've said mean things back in retaliation to see how he likes it but really it doesn't solve anything by bringing my character down. Just know that we are here to get you through your surgery and weight loss - we will lift you up when he puts you down - till the bitter end sweetie

I bought an electronic nutrition assistant from Curves and just busted it out again to get crackin. It only allows me to track Calories, Fat, Sat. Fat, Carbs & Protein so Erin if you could give me some guidelines that you would like me to start with I will input those into my daily goals. Do you want me to start immediately with your food intake guidelines or would you like me to log 4-5 days first so you can get an idea of my diet and what I need to change?

I'm 5'5 and currently 260 - highest was 293 - mini-goal is what I weighed in high school and was pretty happy with myself at 230 and if I can make it to there then the surgery was worth it, but my ulitmate goal is 170ish - I'd be simply divine at that weight and fighting off all the boys then

Thank you so much Dr. C and Erin - I have emailed you back. We can keep most of the discussion on the board if its beneficial to others, I have no problem with that. I'm verry happy that there are still people out there who love their jobs of helping others like me I look forward to trying to jump start my weight loss. My problem is I'd like it to be slow steady weight loss not going 6 months on a plateu and then bam somehow I lost 5lbs only to platueu again. I don't really do fast foods, junk food, or sweets anymore - only if I find myself in an absolute bind. chips, I buy the multi-grain baked wheat thin crackers or baked veggie chips. I do sugar free things, like Jello & cool whip, sugar free pudding cups, no sugar added fruit bars - sugar free coffee creamer. No sodas, except on a very rare occasion. I only drink Water, propel, or crystal light, only 2-4 cups of coffee on an average week. I really don't think I have a portion control issue - I do think I eat more than the standard 1 cup of food - maybe more 1 1/2 depending on how hungry I am, but I really like the level of restriction I have although I could allow to be slightly tighter if you think that would be beneficial Erin or Dr. C. Looking forward to this. Many thanks

wow that sounds awesome but definately out of my price range! technology is so wonderful these days and if I had the money I'd totally do it - thanks for all the great information!

interesting a boddy bugg huh? i'm going to google - how expensive is it? is it a computer program? would you mind explaining a bit more? thanks

Slow loser here! I even follow the rules and excercise 3-5 times a week with still only a 33lb loss after being banded one year. Nope its not muscle gain either.

Dr. C, I just passed my one year band anniversary with a total loss of 33lbs. I have good restriction and only PB if I eat way too fast. I know my band works - I have 1.75cc in my 4cc band - when I was filled to 2cc I was only able to get soft foods and sips of liquid and even my aftercare Dr. said well at least we know it works as I had my band in MX. I follow the rules of bandsters and work out at Curves 3 times a week and yoga once or twice a week on top of that. My 33lbs loss has been anything BUT STEADY. My day of surgery I was at my highest of 293lbs - today I sit at 260, but still struggle with the same few lbs. I lost 10 right out of surgery, another 5 over the next few months getting fills until last November was my last fill and I didn't lose anything for quite awhile until just this past March when I dropped another 10 after going on South Beach diet after being fed up with not losing anymore. Now I'm struggling to maintain that loss. I don't overeat at all, I make good choices most of the time, and I'm excercising 3-5 times a week. Before you say I could be gaining muscle, I am a little but not enough to make a big difference. I'm still wearing the same size clothing as my surgery day but they just fit a lot better instead of being skin tight. I contacted my Dr.'s office and explained that I've only lost 33lbs in one year and if I needed to come in for a check up even though I don't need a fill because I have comfortable restriction. His nurse said it was all up to me to decide as this is a personal journey for everyone. I don't want to waste my money as I'm self pay for my insurance does not cover any of this. So what would you suggest in my situation? My mom is starting to think the surgery hasn't been effective that my progress should be more than what it is - I'm starting to feel like a failure, I've tried everything. Do I need a tighter fill? I like my restriction, I don't really have to worry too much about what I can and can't eat - pretty much everything goes down as long as I'm careful and take my time and I like that. And around that time of the month is when I have "perfect restriction" where some things are a struggle and I have to give up and eat Jello. I am hungry 3-5 hours after I eat a meal. Thanks for being here for us!

Thanks for helping us Dr. C!!!!!!

I'm in and will share my story shortly

My favorite bandster lunch is Olive Garden Salad, dressing on the side, one breadstick and a to go cup for my raspberry lemonade that I'll have to enjoy later or I take a sip if the breadstick needs a little help going down.