coolcrystal

It's hard to believe my 2 year bandiversary was last week. I believe on the 28th?

It has been a weird two years. I gained about 18 lbs back during the summer when I was eating a lot of Hormel Chili. Bad mistake. With all that sodium, I wouldn't lose anything. I also stopped working out. So, around December I cut the chili completely out of my diet and got a gym membership to 24 hour fitness. I have dropped that 18 lbs and a few more on top of that. I feel like I'm back on track. I don't think about the band anymore.. it's just part of my life now and I don't miss anything I use to be able to eat like Burgers and stuff like that. I do miss scrambled eggs though, but I can still eat sushi with no problems. Thank goodness.

Anyway, I think about this site a lot.. I use to be hard and heavy on it, but with losing my job after 13 years and starting anew without the same perks I had before (ie, the ability to get on line whenever I wanted), internet usage has taken a backburner.

I still feel like this surgery has been a blessing and I know that had I not gotten it done, I'd probably be 350-400 lbs now. At the rate I was going, I was gaining 5-8lbs a month.

I started off a size 28 and I can now wear some 18's and 20's are semi-baggy. Is it scary to say I wouldn't care if I lost anymore?? lol

Hope everybody is doing well...

Thank you all! And Tapshoes, I loved that long reply you made to everybody! that was so cool! I can't even see everybody's reply, so I 'm not sure how to copy others things. I use to know like a year ago, but it's been so long, I forgot. lol.

Ezma, I sent you a personal email...

And Shiny, I had thought about doing the Sleeve, but I don't think my insurance would cover it. But, I think about it all the time actually. People with sensitive tummy's like me, this might not be a good solution for them. But, again, I don't want to give up.

Slight bad news.. I went in to get my fill yesterday and they said my insurance no longer covers my visits and I have to pay full price for the fills now. I was very upset. I was expecting just the normal $15 copay. Apparently they were charging it as an office visit, but the insurance companies got wise to that and cancelled those. Sadly, they didnt' even tell me when I called or else I could have gathered the money up and transferred things and had the money...

I might call my lapband doctor and see if he'll give me a fill at his office so it will be like a real "office visit" so to speak.

It feels good being back on here. When I stay away, I feel like something is missing that I need to help me succeed with my band.

Thank you St. Louis Gal! You have always been non-judgemental and wonderful with me!

I always say that I gained weight because I was happy, cuz when I'm happy I eat! When I'm upset I can't eat. THis was even before the band I had problems eating when I was upset. So, add the band in there and it makes it even worse.

I don't know why the first 5 months I was banded I didn't go through any stressful event because I was losing like 8 -10 lbs a month and it was perfect; then that one event with my friend, and bam, it's never been the same since.

But, I'm really not going to give up, which is why I'm getting this fill today. I didn't go through all that time researching this surgery and 6 months of doctors visits and all that for nothing. I won't let this band in me be a waste of space.

Huggs,

Crystal

Hello everyone!

It has been a while since I've logged into this site, but I immediately wanted to come to my group. I have really missed all of you!

I pretty much stayed away because I have come to the realization that my band just can't work for me anymore due to my sensitive stomach.

I had gotten back on track earlier in the year and then two of my good friends died two months ago in the same day. I couldn't keep anything down for 3 days and had to get an unfill immediately. That was on May 19th. Then I found out I might get layed off from work...

According to my doctor the stomach is a muscle and with the band around it, when I get upset it tightens badly and then I have to get unfills. With the constant back and forth, I've just maintained... I can't seem to lose anymore weight because everytime I do, some stressful crap comes up and bam, UNFILL.

I'm going in today at 3:30 for a refill to get me back up to my sweetspot, but, if I get layed off in a few weeks I'll just have to get an unfill again.

When I came on to look at all the newer pictures I just wanted to cry when I see people who were banded after me already down 120 lbs or whatnot.. i feel like a failure, but I just don't know how else the band can work for me anymore. To maintain??? maintain me at still an obese weight I guess.. I refuse to live puking all the time...

Anyway, that's my update.

Huggs to you all!

Crystal

Well, and that's the sad part. I know so many bandsters that are scared to go back to their doctor for fear of rejection, lectures, and being berrated. So, they never go back.. never go in to get their fills. My doctor has never been anything but sweet to me, so I shouldn't have just assumed he'd be mean to me or lecture me; but perhaps people just feel bad about their weightgain or lack of weightloss so they won't go. When you hear of doctors who do make people feel bad, I think it scares all of us. Just the fear of not losing anything, I'm sure is self sabotaging.

Well, my doctor was very sweet. Before he remember that I had no restriction for three months at first he was like "oh, did you have a little setback?" and then when I reminded him he was like "oh yeah, that's right, I'm sorry".. After I told him that he thought I did very well and was proud of me for not gaining hardly anything. He thinks I'm right on track and doing well.

St. Louis - I actually have a fill center I go to that is separate from my doctor's office. He is the one who gave them the order to take half my fill out though.

I actually do have great restriction now, but I've been building up to it for the last three months. I had been getting .4 put in every month. This last one put me at a good restriction. And I had lost weight. It just seems like I have my cycle right at every 3 weeks now and it's such a pain. Really its a two week ordeal if you think about it. lol. Such a pain.

In 20 minutes I'm going to see my lapband doctor that I haven't seen since my big unfill back in November. It's been a little over 3 months since I've seen him.

I only just got restriction back on the 19th of February, and I've lost 4 lbs, but of course, last night I started my monthly cycle. Thus making me gain 3 lbs as it ALWAYS does. And I just want to scream, because when he weighs me, depending on which of his crappy scales I step on, it will look like I've gained weight and if I have to hear a lecture from him I just know I'm going to go off. If he asks me to "keep a food journal" I'm going to go off.

I didn't get this surgery to live my life in fear of doctors or fill people or to keep track of every morsel I put in my mouth. It's self sabotaging and I refuse to do it.

The sucky part is.. I've been busting my hump working out everyday and eating right.. I mean seriously, I even turned down the chocolate banana shake my hubby wanted to buy me this weekend! and thanks to my monthly cycle, my hard work has gone out the window on the most important day ... litterally, yesterday morning I was 3 lbs less!!

Sure, I can tell my doctor that, but how many other people who ate tamales and chips and queso say the same thing! "Oh, I'm on my cycle".. he probably hears that every damned day and it will go in ear and out the other ear.

I'm so furious right now. I wish I could cancel my appointment and wait for it to blow over, but, it's litterally in less than an hour and you have to give a full days notice to cancel or else you are charged a fee.

I'll report back in when it's over...

This line sort of disturbs me: "I am sore all over and feeling weak but the good news is my new total weight loss is 71lbs!"

I don't see how this is good news that you have lost weight due to starving and being dehydrated. It reminds me of the post somebody made that they only ate two tablespoons of food all day and were excited and somebody congratulated them.

It's not anything to Celebrate. Starving. Throwing up all the time, etc. That's not what the band is for. Sorry.

Wow, that's just amazing that a nurse would even think about talking to you like that. I'm surprised not more doctors send their folks to fill centers, like what my doctor does. Anytime there is a problem they can get me in that same day. I just can't believe a nurse would be so mean to you. I'm sorry that happened but don't get discouraged. If there is not a fill center you go to, then you might have to go to an ER. Especially before you start fainting from lack of food and Water. You could have a slip or stretched your pouch or just be too tight. They should probably do a barium swallow. All of these things are fixable with an unfill though; so you should be fine. Oh and if you are considered a slow loser, then I guess I'm SUPER slow loser. LOL. Cuz I was banded before you and you've lost more than me.

It's totally normal hun! It took me three fills to even get to a decent sweetspot to steadily lose weight. My doctor was more agressive at first though only making me wait 3 weeks in between fills, but, every doctor is different. There is nothing wrong with you. In 6 months you'll look back on your post and giggle a little bit. Because I did the same thing!

Sorry, I just re-read it, you have lost 25 lbs.. I think that sounds great~!! You are right on track.

I didn't get my restriction until the third fill, so , you probably just need more time if you don't have the proper restriction right now. They usually give you a full month to recover, making that the end of December... and this is the middle of february... It just takes time is all. How much have you lost since surgery?

Thanks everybody. You are all blessed with having thick hair. I have this stringy, fine blond hair. It does make sense what you've said. And I do need to remember the protein! How could I forget that??? Well thanks. I had my surgery in June and noticed it starting to thin out sometime in the fall. Hopefully it will stop soon! Pam

Obviously you can't see my hair.. I've always had stringy thin hair too. lol. Ponytail holders fall out of my hair. But, it was thin before the surgery. Heck, I think it's actually thicker now. I do know that I drank a lot of milk in the beginning to get my Protein in. Perhaps that helped. But, not everybody loses their hair.

Welcome to the group!!!

The best bit of advice is to just go through this forum and research as much as you can. I researched this surgery for a solid year before making my decision. I'm glad I did it too! Do you already have a date set? or are you going through the insurance process where it might take 6 months of dr. visits?

At almost a year out, I think it's finally safe to say I haven't had any hairloss. I was always too scared to say it before. LOL. I don't think all that Biotin and stuff will help though. Some might say it does, but from what I've seen and heard, it's just a waiting game. I think the hairloss stops at about 2-3 months after it starts falling out. Now, even though I didn't have hairloss, my menstrual cycle was totally jacked up. For a few months I had a period like every other week... only 8 days in between them. That scared me but my gyno said it was normal with weightloss that fast. It too got back on track.

I had a lot of these frustrations too and I think it's completely normal to have. My biggest fear was my friends and family placing expectations on me to lose a certain amount, by a certain time frame. So, I made sure to let my friends know not to do that.

My goal was to lose 80 lbs the first year.. I'm 18 pounds shy of that, and my one year anniversary is in two weeks, but you know what, I still feel successful. And trust me, I could never lose weight before! I was gaining 5-10 lbs a month easily. My life was self sabotage over and over again, each time making me gain even more weight..

I know sometimes new people will come to this site and see negative things, as any surgery will have them, but there are far more success stories, they just don't need this site anymore.. they go on living their life and leave this forum.

Best of luck!!

Kristi, you look amazing!! I wish I could be the weight of your before picture. LOL.

And, please keep in mind that many successful people drift away from this site.. go on living and just don't need the support of this forum anymore, but sadly, aren't here to tell their success story, so you won't see all the wonderful stories there are to tell. I can think of five of my friends who haven't been here in at least 6 months or more because they've reached goal and just don't need this support system anymore.

Good luck! I'm super happy with my band!

Dang girl, you look fabulous! Congrats on your weightloss!! You are a good example of how this band can work for folks! I'm very happy for ya!

How's it going since your unfill? did you get it put back in and did your pouch go back into place? I'm getting another fill on Thursday which I hope will put me at a decent sweetspot so I can start losing again. Congrats on getting to a size 8! that's awesome.

I thought it was quite enjoyable!! sorry :-( towards the end it was sort of flirty almost.. hee hee. like in those old movies where they hate each other, but then they fall inlove and get together!! :-)

Girl, you are doing awesome and have lost way more than me in half the time. lol.

I'm so glad I kept one pair of my size 28 pants and have kept up with my measurements and took a before picture to keep track of, because without those I don't know what I'd do. Sometimes when I look in the mirror I still see the 300 lb girl. But when I go to a party they call me skinny, but I'm not, but to them I am because they remember the 300 lb me. I still have far to go, but I saw a picture of me at a party a few weeks ago and I still felt disgusting. But like somebody else said, just think about how it would be if you'd never have lost weight.

Wow, you sound like you are getting a death sentence.. I can't wait for you to find out that if you do this right, you can still enjoy a lot of the same stuff you do now, just not as much of it and different food choices.. food won't be your top priority anymore.

But my last big meal that I completely stuffed myself until it made me almost want to puke was two big bowls of Pasta with meat sauce and 4 huge pieces of texas toast. when I think about eating this now I want to hurl.. man, I don't miss stuffing myself at all. That was always the worst feeling in the world, but I did it anyway!

You still have a nice life.. shoot even better because I remember sitting on my couch with a belly ache for 2 hours belching up food and now I can actually enjoy my life better. You'll be fine.

Coolcrystal

That is a good point I told my friend that it is weird now because I used to be looking for something to eat all day and spent a lot of time preparing food to eat. Now I am satisfied and do not even thing about what I am going to eat next. When it is time to eat I eat I am satisfied and I move on. It is a big difference. Sometimes I am bored because I have so much time freed up from not eating as much. It sounds weird buit it si true. I spent alot of my day eating!

That was a good point.

Rae

Yep.. in the morning I was already thinking about my dinner.. and the excitement of what was it going to be.. mcdonalds, or chinese buffet!! I probably spent 80% of my time thinking about food or the pre-dinner dinner I would eat before my husband got home. That's right. I can admit it now.. but not before. I would get home an hour before my husband every day and be hungry so I would eat a sandwhich and chips and then when he would get home I'd eat again with him!! the first dinner didn't even count in my head. It's nice just having one dinner now. lol. But, freeing up that "food" time is what opened up "me" time and working out time.

Man, I don't miss that part of the band. lol.

But, I loved Isopure Clear.. the apple melon or the fruit punch one.. I thought those tasted like candy. I only had to do those for a week though.. then I went on to mushies... so it wasn't something I worried about for a long time.

For Vitamins I still take Flinstones. LOL. It always takes me back to my kiddy days!