Rockin' Robyn

I too can still eat pizza, but only ONE small piece of pizza (about a 1/10 of a large pizza). I too used to eat about 6-7 pieces of deep dish pizza at one setting, so I am always amazed when I feel like I am about to explode after eating one small piece. Like others have said, I can only eat the very thin crust that is baked and is extra crispy, almost like a cracker thin crust (I never used to like pizza this way before, but at least I can eat one piece once in a while if I submit to eating this way:rolleyes: ). I also have to take it very slow, and cut each bite into eraser size bites. I can eat whatever toppings on it if I eat it like this.

I too am from the KC area, and am a nurse. You have to remember that KU is a 'Teaching facility'. Having worked at another nearby teaching hospital in town, I have witnessed many many questionable things-due mainly to two things: 1) They are always looking to cut costs because they do not typically draw the "paying customers" if you know what I mean, AND....2) A lot of the care they provide are from residents (Yes they are technically doctors, but not allowed to practice on their own yet). This creates a lot of unethical practice, questionable methods, and sometimes downright dangerous things are 'allowed' to occur unsupervised/unbenownced to their superiors. My suggestion would be that you AT LEAST call the operator at KU and simply ask to speak to the 'infection control department'. They are the ones that are going to WANT to know about this, believe me. Then, you need to make a report with the patient advocate office. They are the ones that investigate/look into patient complaints throughout the facility. I would totally recommend you to Dr. Hoehn in KC, as he is absolutely wonderful. But I think I have heard that he like so many others, doesn't perform fills on patients who have had their bands placed elsewhere. Good Luck to you, and please DO NOT let this go. Not only for the safety of yourself, but for the safety of another one of the patients out there who may not know any better and ends up with a huge infection, or even worse.

OKAY GIRLS!!! Let's do this thing! Let's just take it one day at a time and see how it goes. You must COMMIT to coming on here daily and logging EVERY SINGLE BITE you put in your mouth, as well as the Water you are drinking (water....what's that??), as well as the activity you had for the day. I'll start....this is going to be reallllllly hard for me:think , but here goes.....HONESTY, remember HONESTY.....aka accountability amongst friends;) BREAKFAST: 1 egg, 2 pieces Canadian Bacon LUNCH: 1/4 cup mashed potatoes, 1/4 cup fajita vegetables, 1/4 cup flank steak (came home and crashed) SNACK: vanilla ice cream cone from McDonalds about 15 pringles when I got home and raided the cabinets about 1/4 cup whole cashews DINNER: 1/2 cup chili topped with melted cheese and dollup of sour cream lots of tortilla chips! (I would estimate 2 "normal" servings, maybe 20 chips) WATER: NONE.....MAYBE 2, 8 oz servings of tea EXERCISE: Probably on my feet for a total of 2 hours out of the 10. There...I did it, and now I feel incredibly motivated to be better tomorrow so I don't feel like such a big toe. THINGS I DID WELL: I actually ate Breakfast which I usually dont.....did okay for 50% of the day. WAYS TO IMPROVE TOMORROW: Don't crash at the end of the day!! No snacking....drink more fluids throughout the day....exercise.

I am speechless:eek: !!! I have not checked the board in a couple weeks and WOW!!!!! 10 MORE MEMBERS OF THE 100 POUND CLUB!!!!! You all are amazing!!! Keep up the great work!:biggrin1:

We have a good friend who has a handy-man/remodeling business. I had never seen his work until recently when they bought a house up the street from us. They have gutted the whole house and he has remodeled every nook and cranny and it looks amazing. He has put in hardwood, tile, granite, slate, put in EVERY single light fixture, electrical, plus painting. I am closer with his wife, but he is a great guy. I have her cell phone, but I'll call her tomorrow and then pass the number along to you via PM.

It's about a half mile from Town Center Plaza...close to the Sprint Campus. Let's see I think that is like 119th and Metcalf area?? I'll look it up on-line.

Okay...here's my type A (take charge) personality coming out again, but somebody's gotta do it right?? How about tomorrow night at 7:30 at Cheesecake Factory in Overland Park (I can't be there until 7:15 at the earliest, Diane has to put her little one to bed, and Holli has a meeting at 6) Sooooo.....All those in favor say I .......all those opposed (make another suggestion:rolleyes: ) Love ya'll!!:kiss2:

I work at Overland Park Regional on Thursday until 7:15, so if we could meet maybe somewhere in OP that would be good for me....Also, I'll probably be a little hungry after working all day, so if we could maybe do a place that does food and drinks that would be good . How about Cheesecake Factory in OP? I'm up for anything though. Funny you mentioned this today Wheets, because I was laying in bed this morning thinking to myself "I should post today and ask if anyone wants to get together again sometime soon". :mad: I guess it's true, great minds think alike!

What a great idea! Thanks Wheets!! That's good to know.... I already have a nice black dress, but it is getting to be pretty big on me, and I of course was wanting to buy something a little more form fitting. Not to mention, I ALWAYS wore black before....now that I have lost a little weight, I have found that I am wanting to venture out and wear color again. The gown I found was actually a dark purple, floor length. Very pretty, but sleeveless :girl_hug:

I know I need to update my little exercising smiley...but she is so cute, I hate to part with her Now let me reitterate, that size 12 dress was STRETCHY material (although I didn't believe I could even get it over my head):girl_hug: ...I could never fit into even at size 16 pair of jeans at this point, as I carry all of my excess weight right now in my lower abdomen. Need a CHOP CHOP!!!!:eek:

I'm tired of being AWOL too. Gonna try to be better: Today: Breakfast: Nothing Lunch: Taco Bell side of Beans Snack: 100 calorie pudding cup 3 bite size cubes of cheese Dinner: 3 oz meatloaf, 1/4 cup mashed potatoes Water: 40 oz

Finally dropped another pound:eek: ....Went in to see Dr H. this morning for a very small fill. I'm still eating too much, and I know it...but I'm scared to death of the reflux I had before when I was portless and at or around this same fill level.....so I had him put in only 1/4 cc, with the plan of SLOWLY inching my way up if necessary. That puts me at 9.25 cc in my VG band. We'll see if there's a difference. DH and I are going on a cruise for our 14th wedding anniversary in January. Would like to drop another 19 pounds by then....I actually was trying on formal gowns at Dillards, and for the first time EVER trying on clothes didn't leave feeling depressed and disgusted. In fact, I couldn't stop looking at myself thinking...DAMN that girl looks pretty good! However, it is still such an optical illusion for me, in that I still don't recognize that person in the mirror as being myself :eek: I was actually able to snugly fit into a size 12....(I know what you all are thinking:p ) Now granted it was stretchy material, but still looked cute. It was a 180 dollar dress, or I would have totally bought it, just for the size alone!! I took several different sized things off the rack to try on, just because I truly wasn't sure what sizes I was wearing now. So it was fun to do some trial and error. But most of the stuff I was fitting into comfortably (still snug fitting though) were 18's. Still unbelievable being as a little over a year ago I was in the tent sizes at the large womens shops wearing 36's.:girl_hug: The thing that drives me nuts about all of the cute smaller clothes is that EVERY SINGLE ONE of those formal gowns were sleeveless, which look disgusting on my wretched flappy arms! I only found one that was sleeveless that had a shawl (sp?) type of thing I could maybe cover my arms up with...but I would be so conscientious (sp?) of it all night that I wouldn't enjoy myself.

Sorry to hear that Wheets:cry I totally understand, as I have been there for a while now. You will get through it though, you are strong. It's a very tough thing to get a handle on when you have been losing so quickly though, and then all of a sudden...nothing else is happening for no particular reason. Hang in there!!

Hi Girls! I'm finally back from my Grandpa's funeral in Houston, and can I just say the plane trip from HELL!!! (on the return flight). I could have drove home faster than it took me to fly. To start off, I'm waiting in the concourse on my departing flight, and a seemingly sweet little old man sits next to me, and whips out his hard-core porn magazine and starts openly reading it right next to me. The pictures were so gross, I thought I was going to puke. He was totally unscathed sitting there looking at it with kids and everyone else sitting around him!!!! I was praying the whole time for him to PLEASE not be assigned to sit next to me on the plane! Then I finally board. We sat IN THE PLANE on the runway for 45 mins leaving Houston, but they came over the speaker and promised we would make up the time in the air. Of course when I land for my connecting flight in Memphis, we were 45 mins late. AND the airline didn't even have the courtesy to let people off the plane first that they KNOW will be late for their connecting flights. So I stand there in the aisle for another 10 mins at least, waiting for people to de-board. Then, I am literally running (funny picture I know) through this huge, might I say poorly planned out airport in Memphis to get to a totally different terminal. I would say I ran at least a mile to get there. And of course I missed my flight to KC. I then go to the "rescheduling" desk, and they tell me they will not pay for an overnight stay because the delay in Houston was "weather related". Hilarious, being as the skies were crystal blue, no rain,.....NOTHING in Houston! But then they say they can re-route me through Minneapolis and onto KC, but I would have to run quickly to yet a third concourse to catch that plane. Oh, and they say my luggage most likely won't make it on the correct plane. I'm literally exhausted, emotionally from the funeral, and physically from running another mile through the airport with all my carry-on stuff. My back, legs, and arms were literally burning from pain. My back was drenched with sweat at this point. So I run again to catch the plane to Minneapolis. Barely made it, again, sat on the runway for way too long, and there was a baby screaming the entire flight (which I totally understand because I have kids, but it was still unnerving). Then we get to Minneapolis late, and again have to RUN seemingly forever to catch the plane to KC. Nothing was open at this time to grab to eat, I'm starving because I haven't eaten since breakfast because I had been on a plane (of which didn't even offer pretzels for a snack), and when I did get to the airports, I of course had no time to stop anywhere and grab anything. So, I board the plane in Minneapolis, again a crying baby....and we sit on the plane with NO AIR, no engines running or anything for over one hour. They kept coming over the speaker and giving bogus reasons as to why we weren't taking off, but the scary thing was that men in green florescent jackets, kept coming onto the plane looking confused, seemingly playing with the controls and lights in the cockpit. Finally the captain came on and said we had no auxillary power and we were waiting on a part!!! Just what I wanted to do, DIE from loss of electrical power on a plane after my long day with the airlines! We finally land in KC at 1 in the morning, no bags for me, then there are about 20 people waiting and waiting and waiting for the shuttle to come around and pick us up to take us to the parking lot (and did I mention I was standing next to this stupid young guy who was mad and throwing around the f-bomb at least 100 times in that 50 minutes while waiting on the shuttle....I was so close to slapping him!!). Evidently, the shuttle service shut down and didn't know about the late arrival. We stood there for 50 minutes, until someone finally called on a courtesy phone and complained, so they had to find someone to go get a bus to take us to the lot. Long story short, I was supposed to get back in KC at 7 pm, and I didn't get home until 2 am!!! I don't know if I will ever fly again!

YAY!!!!!! We went over 100 members. Great job guys!!!

Anybody planning on going to support group? I'm working this week.... Just curious.

Sorry;)....Don't mean to be depressing:p ....Besides you are doing awesome Cate! Look at it this way......in the seminars they say that the goal with Lapband is to lose 60% of your "excess" weight (although we all realistically aim for more). Based on what you have listed as your goal weight, 79.2 pounds lost is a 60% loss, so you're technically already a complete Lapband success at just 5 months out with already reaching a 50% loss:clap2: There....that should make you feel better:kiss2:

The suspense is building.......:clap2: We have arrived at 99 logged members of the LBT 100 pound club!! Who will be the 100th member? I can hardly believe it.....I never thought there would be so many members who have already reached 100 pounds lost!!! You all are absolutely amazing. Keep up the great work everybody, and stay tuned to see who will be the 100th member;) Here's the link to the LBT 100 pound club thread: http://lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=16050&page=11

Okay...it's somewhat depressing looking back on it:eek: , but I'm not at all complaining...I've lost a ton of weight. But now that you asked, looking on my fitday weight log, I lost about 120 pounds in the first 7 months....then I hit my big stall (at about 266 pounds). We've talked about before, that I would always lose 10-15 pounds really quick, seemingly overnight....then stall for 2-3 weeks. But now, I'm losing just 1-3 pounds, then stalling sometimes for 4-5 weeks. The somewhat depressing thing is, I just realized in the past 6 months I have only lost 30 pounds, opposed to 120 pounds in the first 7 months. That puts me at averaging 1.25 pounds lost per week now, instead of 4.28 pounds per week at first:cool: I guess that's why I live by the doctrine, and I tell this to every lapbandster that is asking, make the very most of that first 6 months...since that is when the research shows the majority of the weight comes off the quickest. All that being said, I have to consider all that took place on my body surgically over the past 6 months, as well as I'm not requiring near as many calories....Oh, and did I mention that I cheat:kiss

Robyn- Although I don't know all the specifics of what you are going through that has led you to this decision, I can share some of what I have gone through that is along the same lines. There are times where I think the very same thing...."I need a rest...I'm tired of constantly thinking about my band.. Maybe if I just got unfilled and had some time to rest I could regroup and be remotivated etc etc..." I get sick of the pain, I still grieve the loss of food being my comfort--and is now the cause of painful misery...etc etc. I have actually had several unfills in the past year, mainly because of all the surgeries I have had to undergo. But during those times where I am healing from surgery, and waiting to heal before my doctor will "refill me", I am have always been reminded all too well that I NEED my restriction. I say this because, without my fills I gain the weight back MUCH faster than I ever lost it. Once this past summer, I gained 18 pounds in 2 weeks!! (after losing over 100). While this is depressing for me to realize that I cannot go it alone without my band/restriction, it is also reassuring even after 4 surgeries related to my band, that I do in fact have it there to back me up when I am weak (and I am very weak). I can't tell you what to do or not to do (especially not knowing all the specifics of what you are going through), but know I am thinking of you and wishing you well. Most importantly, I pray you will find peace of mind in whatever decision you make. Nobody ever said it would be easy, and it definitely is not. Best wishes to you, and sending hugs your way:girl_hug:

Puddinpie-Wow, you look amazing....I wish more members of the LBT 100 pound club would post pics on this thread. What a difference! Leighhoffman-AMAZING girl! Speechless! Both of you keep up the great work!!!

Interesting that those docs would be sooo incredibly anti-band. Makes me wonder what they are basing that on? There are so many successful people on here that would beg to differ with them. I myself have lost MORE with the band than several people I know who have had GB. From my doc's support group alone I know of at least 3 others besides me who have done the same. Use that as motivation to prove them wrong:) As for drinking, I always explain to people to think of a clogged drain that drains very slowly or a toilet that doesn't flush well. If you add Water to the sink, or keep flushing the toilet...the pressure just builds, either forcing the clog through (a.k.a the food in your pouch washes through too quickly) or the sink/drain overflows (a.k.a., you throw up/PB). I know its strange, but people seem to get it when I explain it that way. Also, the EXTREME pressure that can build when you drink liquids that just SIT on top of the food you eat (because it doesn't pass right through), can be excrutiatingly painful when you are well restricted. Good Luck with your surgery;)

Wheets- I posted in the SMMC thread...but like I said, the past couple weeks, I can't feel mine anymore either. Used to be very prominent and easy to feel. Even bothered me sometimes when I hit it on something or during you know what....but now.....I don't notice bumping it anymore or it being "sore" after exersion. When I realized that, I was feeling for it a couple of weeks ago and noticed I couldn't feel it anymore. Although...I also noted that I could for the first time feel my rib cage while lying down:) . So I just made the assumption, like someone stated previously, that I have lost some of the fatty tissue UNDERNEATH the port, and it has caused it to sink down into my tummy. I never really had much fat OVER my port that I could ever feel.

Okay...gotta get back into the swing of things. It's Monday, a new week right? Here goes: Breakfast: None (slept in) AM Snack: 10 pepperoni chips with 1/4 cup queso Lunch: 3 oz baked parmesan crusted white fish PM Snack: Caramel Frapp from Starbucks Dinner: Order of Pinto Beans from Toxic Hell Water: None (can I count my 1/2 cup of coffee?) Exercise: None Puts me at 1001 calories and 39 gms Protein for the day. There...I confessed:o Better Luck tomorrow.

Yay!!!!:clap2: :clap2: :clap2: Congratulations!!!!!!!