OnMyWay2Fit

Thanks, My problem is that since my banding, the surgeon has moved to another state. I had traveled 3 hours to him before and now he is over 6 hours away. I will look to see who I can find around my area. This is the only problem I have come across in almost three years. Keep up on the good work you are doing. Isn't it great to feel so much better than you did at 365. It changed my life.

Hello fellow bandsters.I was banded three years ago in December. I have had no regrets and very few problems till now. For some reason ,nothing but liquids want to go down. Not even a protein shake/ smoothie. This has been going on for about 5 days. HELP!!!

I had some port pain after surgery for about a month. It felt huge.I actually thought that the bulge was a hernia, because I was lifting things I wasn't supposed to too soon after surgery. Boy did I feel stupid when I found out it was the port.:cursing: As I lost the pounds, the bulge went away.:thumbup:I can only feel it now when I use the stomach muscle . When I get filled , he actually has to push down on it quite a bit to fill. It doesn't hurt. It is definitely not noticable to any one but me and maybe my husband. It feels about the size of a golf ball cut in half.

I went through the whole hair loss thing for a couple of months. Boy was it scary. I didn't think it was ever going to stop. IT DID. Now it is growing back great and it seems to be growing fast. The protein and boitin did do the trick. Protein is sooo important in this weight loss journey. The doc said I depleted my protein store . Not enough of it was also causing me to get light headed when I would stand up too fast. I guess it has something to do with the protein helping your your blood stay where its at and not want to drop when you stand too quick. ANYHOW. GET YOUR PROTEIN.

I live in a ranch style house, but when I would go to my mom's I dreaded going up her 14 steps to use the bathroom. I haven't noticed the crunch for a while so maybe its gone. I will tell you that I voluntarily push mowed my back yard and had no problem whatsoever with my knees. That is something I would have never tackled before. I wouldn't have had the energy to do it before. I wouldn't even wanted to be seen doing that before.

Try going to search and type in shopping list. That really helped me out before my surgery.The list includes things you would never think of.

I was banded 12-26-07. I have had 4 fills. I cancelled and rescheduled my next one because I think I may have gotten to that sweet spot.I had very little restriction all the way up to my last fill. At that point I had a total of 6.5cc in my 10cc band. This last time (@ 7 weeks ago) he only added .5cc(Total 7cc.) I did not know if I was going to be able to handle that last fill. It took a good 3-4 weeks before I could anything thicker than a smoothie to go down. I am actually going to ask if he will remove half of the last half he added. I am very tight in the morning which makes it hard to get in all the vitamins and nutrients in the rest of the day.I guess it is different for each person. These little problems would still not prevent me from doing it again. I have 76 good reasons to keep going as I am. GOOD LUCK to ALL!!!!:thumbs_up:

I never would have thought I could be in ONEDERLAND by my six month Bandiversary.I'M THERE. 199 today and 6 month isn't till 6/26/08. Congrats to all on all your losses. No regrets at all. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Everyone, keep up the good work.:thumbs_up::tt1::biggrin2::biggrin::thumbup::eek:

I was so excited to respond to the thread ,that I didn't even check my spelling before I submitted the reply. Really, if you are having second thoughts, go to search and type in "second thoughts" there will be dozens of responses.Those should help you out. This forum has been more help to me than anything or any one. Keep in touch and good luck. Evelyn

The pros soooooo outweigh the cons when it comes to this drastic change yoiu will go through.You sound exactly how I felt prior to my surgery. Only a few were told.Definately not his family and I did get a little support from my side.They were mostly big and I think a little jealousy was there. I did it for me though and not any of them.I didn't want to end up with their health issues in the years to come.Now they see the changes in me. I smile all the time. I don't mind getting my picture taken. I have sooo much more energy to do things with my kids.I don't hurt in the morning. I sleep better. The sleep apnea is gone. I don't think about food all day. I don't get hungry. Little things make so much of a difference. I can go on and on. Me stomach doesn't touch the steering wheel. I can sit and cross my legs like a lady. I can feel bones where I couldn't before. I can buy clothes that I like and not just what fits. Please get rid of those second thoughts . I hope you too get a chance at a new found look on life.Before is just wasn't living.

kari68, You just helped more than you know. I should have read everyones reply before my last post. I did not realize that there was a difference in restriction at different times of the day. It helps.I don't quite understand why this is so.

I have not been getting my protein like I should. The protein shakes just won't go down in the morning. Slimfast is thinner ,but I even have a hard time with that.None of these problems started till my last fill. My morning coffee even feels like it gets stuck. Later on in the day the restriction doesn't seem as bad but it hurts to even eat things like applesauce or jello. I just don't know if this is normal or if I should make an earlier appointment with my doc. I understand that this is a big metabolic change, but my first 19 weeks went by without a hitch. Why now? Am I doing something wrong?

I had my third fill 3 weeks ago. At that time, I told the doc that I thought the weight loss was slow(only 7 lbs. in the last 6 weeks). I did feel some restriction, but not too much .He added .5 to the 6.5 I already had in the 10cc band. Now even after the 3 weeks, I am having one heck of a time eating most of the time.Two spoons of mashed potatoes and I am done.About 3 oz. of yogurt and I feel like I need to PB. It hurts occasionally when my vitamins go down. I have dropped 12 pounds now in 3 weeks, but it sure hasn't been a comfortable three weeks. I don't know what to even attempt to eat, because it hurts so soon after. Then there is other times when I can eat a pack of crackers with no problem, or a bowl of popcorn with no problem. IS THIS NORMAL????? Should I wait till I go back in three weeks. Will it get easier in a week or two. Should I go back to the doc before my next scheduled visit and get some removed. Let me know what you think. This is the first problem I've run into and I will admit it scares me a little.

I was banded 12/26/07. I started losing my hair in early March. The doc said that I had depleted my protein store. ( Any extra that I had stored is gone now too). He said I needed to get more than what they recommended after surgery. When I was able to eat more regular foods I wasn't drinking protein shakes as aften and that is how it happened. About two weeks after I started back on the shakes and started taking Biotin, I noticed there wasn't as much hair loss. Now it is growing back fast and thick. My nails are growing like crazy too. Good luck . Remember protein, PROTEIN, Protein and then some more protein.

I haven't been back to the forum for awhile. It's nice to hear that all of you are doing so well. I have noticed a few things. My shadow is about the same size as my husbands (was 50% bigger last summer). I had to get my wedding rings resized because they were spinning on thinner fingers. I too notice my collar bones stick out. I had never even seen my collar bones before. I also have some decent cheek bones. The big lumps on me sides are actually my hip bones. I didn't realize how high they were. My pants always rested on the roll around what I thought was my waist. Isn't it great how the small things can make such a difference? I am not a teacher like a lot of you. I am a school bus driver .Since my surgery , a few of the teachers in our district are now thinking about it. GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF YOU IN YOUR WEIGHT LOSS AND LIFE GAIN!!!