ErinMarie

Oh yes Apple Geniuses!! That's what they call them right?! Non profit office manager = Saint

Detective!

Detective!

Ah wishful thinking..in about 7 years hubs retires though he is partially retired from US AirForce & Air National Guard but still a working Fire Fighter for the State of NY.
I'm a Corporate Executive Project Manager; though case worker wouldn't be so far off the mark when it comes to the baby sitting and squabble squashing portion of the job

I'm in the bandster hell stage now. About a month post op, no fill at all and dr won't fill until six weeks. Once the swelling went down and my appetite came back, it really came back. I lost 23 pounds so far, right now I'm basically focusing on maintaining that until I start fills and not getting discouraged.
The good news is the weight I did lose was enough to let me wear some clothes out of my closet and feel a little better going into summer. Hoping that first fill in a couple of weeks makes a big difference.

Post surgery, most of us had no saline or very little saline injected into our bands so the opening(stoma) is wide open. The period of time between surgery and getting the right adjustment is called Bandster Hell. I think it's because we're so anxious to get our journey on it's way we feel famished all the time. Overwhelming hunger until we get the fill that gives us enough restriction/satiety to not be hungry for several hours.
Frustration, hunger, anger, disappointment are all manifested from this period. It doesn't happen to everyone, but I'd say Bandster Hell happens to most?

Thanks I downloaded that app. It took me nearly 2 hours to eat yesterday. On the plus side, I got up and cleaned while eating bc it took so long and I got bored sitting! By the time I was in my satiety stage it looked as if I hadn't even touched my food but I quit eating anyway. I don't want anything else to....ever...get stuck lol

For me...the Mantra (and secret to my success) is "Listen To Your Band"
My Dr. has this poster hanging on one of the Exam room walls, printed by the Realize Co....
In other words, once your band gets properly adjusted, it will tell you when you are eating too much, too fast, when to stop, etc.
The center where I had my surgery, they had me learning and practicing these rules weeks before I even had surgery...I asked them why more than once, and they said eventually, when the band starts to work, following these rules will be the only way you can live with the band....(or you can get less fills and eat anyway you want)
After a lifetime living with the bad Rules that made me morbidly obese....the sooner I start adapting new rules for the new lifestyle to come, the better....
and this part was not easy for me, hard to break old habits....it can be a big learning curve...
U can now say, coming up on 4 years, I do not need to remind myself anymore, it is now second nature, part of the new life...and if I should wander off the straight and narrow path, the band is always there to remind and warn me, keep me in check..........
Follow and learn your Dr,'s rules, get regular check-ups and band adjustments.....and come to this forum and see/read about others experiences....good and bad...and somewhere in the middle you will learn what is true for you......

I had no other choice. It was eat slower or get stuck more often. The pain and discomfort was enough to make me pay attention to how fast and how big I ate
You're probably swollen from eating too much, too big and too fast. Go back to liquids for 24 hours and give your esophagus and pouch a chance to heal. Until then the stoma is too small to get a lot of solid food through.

I went to work after 3 weeks, I sit at a desk for 10-12 hrs a days. Luckily I went back on a Thursday and only worked 8hrs that Thursday and Friday....I got up every 2 hours to stretch my legs and walk around because I started feeling sore by sitting sooo long. That next week I started working 10 hours. I took my 2 15 min breaks, my 30 min lunch and I also took 5min walks every 2 hours. If I sat for a long time I started getting sore...the 3rd week I was working 12 hours a day. I took my Snacks everyday, my g2 Gatorade, my Water and my Protein shakes..my only problem was I had to use the bathroom a lot, anything I ate only stayed on my stomach for an hour so it appeared I was constantly up but luckily my boss is great

Just now seeing this! I did not see that article but I have heard of mindful eating from my counselor. It's really hard to do and takes a lot of concentration for me to eat mindfully! Good article! Thanks!

I have the sleeve and I don't have any food issues really. I do choose to eat small throughout the day. I've tried lots of food and everything agrees with me so I have to be vigilant about good choices. I can tell when I need to eat but I don't generally get nauseous, I keep a ziploc with a Quest or pure Protein Bar and if I'm getting hungry and it's not meal time or I'm out and about I nibble about 1/4 of a bar And I'm good. I eat lunch and dinner like normal with my family must less quantities and cutting most of the carbs out other than fruits and veggies. I don't know if that's the kind of info you're looking for but hope it helps. By the way, I wanted the lap band about 5 yrs ago and was denied by insurance....so thankful for that!! I love the sleeve even though I was self pay. Best $20k I have spent!!

I was a year out when I found out I was preggo. I'd lost 120lbs, still had about 35 I wanted to lose. I got preggo, stopped all diet/artificial sugars, replaced my turkey stuff with "real" red meats, and lost 10lbs my first trimester! Not due to nausea or vomiting, just increased metabolism. Then I had the stomach flu during my 2nd adn lost another 5lbs (whoops) docs weren't worried. I'm 36w now and due soon - and I'm still 5lbs less than where I was when I started this pregnancy! I am thinking once I push this baby out, estimated 7lbs, plus the Water, the placenta,.... I'll be down another 10lbs probably. I'm feeling pretty good about that!

honestly, I ate what I wanted this pregnancy. I listened to my body, ate what I craved!
So, this sleeve has been great for my pregnancy! Baby is healthy, I am healthy!

To be honest, I haven't seen anyone gain ALL of their weight back. Some regain 20-25-30 pounds as I did by eating too much junk sliders but I lost it all and more. My SLEEVE still has great restriction and it is the best tool I've ever had in my life. My 100 pound weight loss would have never been successful with just WW. I tried all that before.
And if you get back to basics and follow your plan, your sleeve continues to work! I'm four years out - down 110 pounds.

Sorry, pressed send prematurely. Anyway, she has been good to me, but I hated the fact that if I was going to an event, I knew there was a real possibility that me and the other chubby girls might be able to pass as a singing group because we are all wearing the same 2 or 3 outfits. Granted, I know there are other options for plus size ladies, but LB was my safety net. I recently bought a couple of pieces there, but I am just about sized out of the store.I am pleased to report that I just bought a bunch of outfits from OLd Navy and Macy's in size 16 and XL. Not bad from 24-26 and 3XL. All my bigger stuff is in bags ready to give away. Feels good. But it feels weird not to have to shop in one or two stores (Torrid was my other fave), but I am rediscovering my style since I have options. So so long, old friend. I may miss ya a little, but I WON'T be back!

I think becoming "fat positive" and learning to love yourself "as is" actually sets us up for success with WLS. We're not going into this thinking that being fat is the root of all our problems or believing we'll just automatically love ourselves when we get down to a certain weight.
I do believe in health at any size, I just know that my genetic road map does not bode well for continued good health at my current weight. So, June 17th I'm having WLS but I'm going to incorporate all the self-love and self-care I've learned as an obese woman into my journey. At 44, it's scary to kind of "start over" but here I go!

@@Pugmadkate
Thank you for bringing up being "Fat Positive" being a confident fat girl myself that has spent the last 5 years of my life surrounding myself with body positive messages and friends, and working towards a body acceptance movement of our own I've found love in myself. I've spent the last years being told that there's nothing wrong with me, I'm just fat and So what?!.
So I guess sometimes I feel like there is a conflicts of interest, but I know in my heart that for my own health (and if I love myself that much) and well being this is right for me and my family in the long run. Just because I'm young and not suffering with complications yet doesn't mean it's not possible later down the line, and I don't want to get to that point.

Well I am still in transition of becoming the new me...but I do not miss weighing in at 397 pounds. I have no regrets at all. The only thing I wished that stayed were my boobies lol

My husband didn't want me to have surgery at all because any surgery can be dangerous. I gave him a few weeks to adjust to the idea and then approached the idea again. The bottom line is that it is my body, my choice and I expect support. My husband has risen to the occasion and has educated himself. He's still worried but is also supportive. I'm thankful for that.

Did you read the magazine article posted here today? I'll post the link below but it is so true that keeping trigger foods within arms length can only cause more bingeing.
http://www.bariatricpal.com/page/articles.html/_/mental-health/avoid-or-alter-r201

After my pregnancy, I have a serious carb/sugar craving ALL THE TIME. i had all but kicked it beforehand, but I let myself indulge as much as I wanted during pregnancy and now I'm paying the price
Sugar and carb addiction is no joke!

My name is Stephanie I am a 43 year old mother of 3 and wife to Matt for almost 25 years. I got my first band January 2011. I proceeded over the next year to go from a size 24 down to a 14. I was running and loving life. I did great and loved my band, it was honestly my saving grace. In August 2012 on a Monday , I went to lunch and began throwing up. I luckily had just had all my Fluid removed from my band so a little throwing up didn't make me overly concerned. I went home from work. By the next day I was throwing up constantly, I went to the ER as my lapband doctor was out of town. The ER said I was dehydrated and gave me IVs but no anti nausea meds. Went home and still throwing up constantly. I again on Wednesday was in the ER. I had no energy etc. But I was still able to get stuff down, although it was coming up. Thursday I went to the ER again as I had lost 22 lbs since Monday from throwing up so much. They admitted me into the hospital. They determined I didn't have the flu nor food poisoning. They think it was a different type of virus. I kept telling the docs I had a lap band and they needed to call my LB doc and get instruction before something happens. Of course they didn't. So they had me on tons of IVs and other meds trying to stop the vomiting. I finally starting feeling better late Friday night with only occasional vomiting. Well I vomited one time Saturday morning and I just knew right than that my band had slipped. They did xrays and barium swallow and yep, it slipped. My doc came back and immediately after getting of the plane, came to see me. He was so angry with the hospital. He scheduled me for surgery the very next morning. He explained I was probably going to lose my band. I went into surgery Sunday morning just knowing the life I had known for the last almost 2 years was over. But I was so sick and in so much discomfort I didn't care. But deep down I was freaking out. I came out of surgery to find out he was able to place another band. The bad part it was bigger. So I waited. I did ok keeping my weight ok with just a tough of gain. I started having fills in October and nothing. I felt no restriction. I was so stressed I began gaining weight steadily. I was no longer running, I just was discouraged and depressed. I started arguing with my doctor because I was always his prize student and now I wasn't. I quit going to the doctor and even tried to change doctors. The problem is the only other doctor is over an hour away. I tried going to him for 6 months and I was not getting anywhere. I have at this point gained about 80 of the 100 lbs I lost. I finally decided a month ago that this is stupid and I needed to fight for what I deserved. I went back to my original doctor and I confronted him. To my surprise he apologized to me and said we would get back to where I was. So here I am starting again. It was just happenstance that I got sick and lost my band. I have learned so much. What I learned that I am now trying to help other bariatric patients... skinny/healthy or fat/over weight we have to find a way to deal with stress and road blocks. So I am now back into my running and I will see my doctor again tomorrow. Hoping to get my thyroid back in check and my weight back down. I am glad to be back here also. I used to use a lot of support groups and I am reconnecting with that right now.
Sorry for the overly long story, but I needed to share to be able to move forward. I am no longer going to be a victim, but a survivor.
Hope to meet some new people!!!
Stephanie

I agree! You should get checked out. I'm getting a fill under fluoro for the first time next month because I keep getting fills and feel no change but I get stuck all the time! Looks like our babies may have kicked our bands a little too much!

I agree with all the above. Maybe an adjustment is needed. I sometimes up the calories, per my dietitian as the metabolism will slow down with the low cal diet and the picks up a bit when it gets a few extra calories then back to the lower cal food plan and the weight would start coming off. I am at a maintenance weight (still want 10 more gone, but that is my head talking) and getting used to not seeing that scale move much for the past 6 months. Keep up the good work.

I named my gurgling "mertyl"
Taking a little Fluid out helped but it still gets crazy with citrus and very acidic
Foods.