Queen of Hearts

Hey Becca! You are just fabulous!:biggrin2: I enjoyed your post and when I watched your video I was so impressed!:smile: I have only had 2 fills, but the second one I had my doc got such a good strong grip on it that when he went to pull the needle out ~ OMG ~it didn't want to let go and come out! :w00t: I think it's great that you are recording this journey! You look wonderful! :smile2: Keep up the good work!:smile:

:smile: Way to go!! I am happy for you too! :smile2: I had the same problem..the scale wouldn't move and here I was starving!! There is no justice in my scale until I finally quit watching it like a hawk! :biggrin2: Nothing feels as good as stepping on that nasty machine and losing 4, 5, or *8* pounds and being able to say ~ Take that!! :w00t: Keep it up, you're doing FANTASTIC!!:smile:

Hey Jaime! :smile2:Thanks for the info! :biggrin2: I had talked to one of the girls that had gastric by pass and she said that her hair was coming out but I know they have the absorption problem. :smile: She is taking prenatal vitamins and said they were working for her. I have no idea why mine is coming out!!:smile: I am planning on calling the nutritionist on Monday and see if she has any idea??:smile2: I may not be getting enough protein?? I know the last fill I had is keeping me from eating as much as I used to and I started back up on my protein drinks because of not eating as much~:laugh: So hopefully things will pick up and grow back :thumbup:!! This is one reason why I love this forum~we can all share our experiences and hopefully be more knowledgable about everything we are going through, the good :biggrin2: and the bad!!:smile2: Thanks again!!:w00t:

:rolleyes2:Gosh, thanks! But actually you deserve every compliment I can see because of your drive and your resolution to combat this head on and I have to admit that I enjoy your posts as well! :smile: I am really happy for you since losing all these extra pounds will definitely help you battle those fires that seem to happen in CA quite often! :sad: Your hubby deserve congrats too! Send him my best as well! :smile: That's great that you have your partner helping you side by side!!:w00t: My hubby is like Jax's, he doesn't want me to get too skinny (is there such as thing??:tt2:)! :biggrin2: All the VV's are doing so great!:smile2: I can read these posts for hours and sit here imagining how many beautiful smiles are popping up when they step on the scales! :smile2: AWESOME!!:w00t: Keep up the good work~I am proud of you!!:thumbup:

:biggrin2: Hey Chrysalis! Sounds like you're going GREAT!!! I too am due for my third fill. I don't know if the doc will give it to me but we'll see!:smile2: I do the same with the diet that you do. I still enjoy a night out or even a luncheon once in a while and always bring back food! I don't remember ever being able to say that before!! :smile: Tell me this isn't a dream??!!:smile: Keep up the good work!!:w00t:

:w00t:Ok girls and guys! We are all entering our 3rd month and I know Lil Miss has been so aggressive in her program that she had mentioned putting up new pics!:biggrin2: Well I think we all have done so well that we should follow her train of thought and post more updated pics!:smile: I will probably have some made this weekend to post and I think it would be great if we all just took a few minutes to show how well we are doing and that we are conquering our errors and commanding our own destiny's again!!:w00t: I am so overwhelmed by reading how well everyone is doing!! :biggrin2: It is such a delight to go into this forum on most any topic and see such enthusiasm and positive accomplishments and everyone deserves kudos!! :smile:

:ohmy:I'm right there with you! I'm loosing my hair way too fast!! One of my girlfriends as work told me about BIOTIN as well and I just went out today and bought some. I will keep records because I can see my scalp through my already thin hair. I don't go back to the doc till May 15, and I will ask him about it and see what he has to say.:biggrin: I may end up cutting my shoulder length hair as well??!!:thumbup:

:lol:Hey Lil Miss! Way to go!! I knew you would do it! See you are an inspiration to all of us!!:biggrin: I am so happy for you! I have 10 more pounds to go before I reach my first dream goal!! Woo Hoo! I have been trying to be a good girl and not cheat..cuz I think my nutritionist has that same secret book your's does!!:biggrin2: This last fill I think has done a lot for me..don't feel the hunger like I did and I knew you were reaching for that ONE derland goal!! Great going! Happy, Happy, Happy for you!!:thumbup:

:ohmy:Oh no!! Please don't feel like you have made a mistake in getting your lapband! My digestive disease doctor told me that he would never recommend the bypass surgery! This is his own opinion and I feel he would be very knowledgeable. He is young and up to date on all the new variations available in the medical field. When I asked him about my liver problems and weight loss being one of the factors that would help it I just mentioned bypass surgery and he just about flipped. He said he has seen patients that has this surgery as far back as 1982 and now he is trying to help get them back on track! I agree with Kjeter and Jax..get to your doctor and insist he add just a bit more restriction. I myself am not losing weight as fast as I'd like but I do know the inches are rapidly coming off and I have only had 2 fills. Like my lapband doctor suggested, let's go slow and easy. Being older I agree with him because my skin does not have the elasticity that a younger woman or man would have and going slower helps me keep from getting to saggy too soon! Never feel that you have made a bad decision! You have made the right one and the most healthy choice! Please cheer up and don't get down on yourself. Talk to your doc and let him know what you are feeling! Hang in there and let us know how everything goes!:thumbup:

Thank you Lil Miss!:thumbup: Just calling it as I see it! Even your doctor said you should be proud of yourself! :frown: That just goes to show how much you are working at making a complete new YOU!:biggrin:

Hello everyone! I'm from Midwest City Oklahoma! Banded 2/8/08! Good to see all the different places you all are from!:thumbup:

Hello everyone! Well I have had 2 fills. Total of 5.6 cc in 12 AP band. My second fill was at my request since I was cheating and eating not every afternoon but enough to where my guilt came out during my visit with my doc and I told him I was a weakling and needed a tad more adjustment! :w00t: He did it with the .6cc amount and I don't have my hunger pangs hitting me like they used to! :thumbup: So those of you that feel hungry, I would definitely consult with the doc! I am in a research program and I know everything is written down on me so in order to be true to the study I couldn't let myself blow off this weakness and my doc was great with me!:biggrin: I have lost 32 pounds since I first saw the doc but the scales weren't kind to me either! I gripped to my hubby that as much as I have starved this scale should have gone down as fast as an avalanche!:biggrin2: But like Ally said earlier~my clothes were getting looser and I had to reconfigure my thinking to this positive stroke versus that nasty scale I was ready to throttle!:frown: So hang in there and gosh I wish I would have thought to measure myself when this whole process started!:eek: Maybe I'll wait till I lose another 30 pounds??

I have had 2 fills. Banded 2/8/08 with a 12 AP band. First fill was 5.0 cc Mar 6 08 and on 17 Apr 08 had .6 cc added for a total of 5.6 cc and I am feeling the pressure big time! I can only eat half of what I used to eat for breakfast and my lunch is a bit less but I make sure to eat all my protein and if full quit then. Dinners are the hardest. I have to really chew my food up but I think I'm taking too big of a bite!:frown: I have come close to losing it 3 times in one week with this new little addition! :biggrin: But am slowly adjusting to a comfortable amount of food in the evenings. My second fill was at my request because I was cheating in the evenings after work every once in a while with a hand full of chips and of course I had to have the salsa to go with them! :biggrin2: No snacking problems now and hopefully won't in the future! :thumbup:

Hey Gary!:biggrin: Thank you for the kind words! :thumbup: I am glad to hear you are getting ready for a new journey in your life! :biggrin2: When do you expect to be banded? I went to a nutritionist for 6 months and then waited 3 more months for the insurance to approve me. I had all my docs calling the coordinator to make sure she filed all my papers promptly! HA! :eek: I had to follow a 10 day pre op diet that I didn't think I could do but I only had to go on liquids for the last 3 days of the diet and I actually ate loads of Jello to have my mouth feel like it was eating food!:tt2: My great hubby measured all my food out for me that the nutritionist lined up for the diet and he's been my rock as well as many of the fine folks in this forum!:tt2: Kudos to them! :biggrin2: After my surgery I only lost about 8 pounds and I had my first fill the Mar 6 08. I had another tiny fill on the 17th of Apr. On that date my total was 31 pounds lost since I first saw my doc. I walk everyday for 30 minutes. My doc said I only had to go 3 times a week but my skin (being a wiser woman) doesn't have the elasticity the younger folks do so I just extend my walking a bit more to help myself! This band has been a godsend to me and with your back issues it may well be for you to! :frown: Keep me posted on all your advancements! You will not be sorry. Yes, we are limited on what we eat and yes it may take a while longer, but the outcome will be greater than our own expectations! Believe me I know that already!:biggrin2: Keep in touch and the best of luck to you!:w00t:

Well ladies, I am in the same boat! I have been eating chips and salsa when I get these hunger pangs and I felt so guilty that I told the old doc that a little fill my help me get over this after work craving I picked up!:biggrin2: He said I was doing real well, but since I was conscious of my downfall he agreed to a tiny fill! :thumbup: Thank goodness!:w00t: He is just the coolest doc and I am very blessed to have him!:biggrin: Rock on Dr. T. :frown:

:biggrin2:This is terrible but your comment "is this gas pain" just got a quick smile on my face! That's exactly how I felt when the nurse told me I had anesthetia working it's way out of my body! IT'S WHAT??:confused2: It didn't feel like gas pain or anesthetia either..it felt just like you described "hit by a truck" or in my case dropped on my shoulder! Very intense pain but mine went away rather quickly. My doc gave me some pain killer that had demerol as one of the ingredients, it's called MEPERIDINE/PROMETHAZINE. I can't see what the mgs are?? They work great but can knock you out.:thumbup: I only used these for a couple of days because of that and went back to work my third day after surgery. Hope you're feeling better soon!:biggrin2:

Hey Kjeter! Wow! You are cooking! How many cc's did the doc start out with on you? My first fill was 5.cc's and the second was .6 cc's. I read what the other bandsters eat (or rather don't eat) and I almost feel guilty. :biggrin: My doc just told me to limit my feedings (sounds like I'm a baby again:lol:) to a 1/2 c per meal 3 times a day! I don't know if this will help you or not but my hubby makes me an unreal egg omelette. :frown: He uses 1/4 c of the fake egg and then adds about 1 tsp of ff cheese and about a nickel size portion of sausage or sometimes hamburger. It's a tiny little omelette but it fills me up and it tastes great. I think the solid protein versus the bar protein will possibly help keep that full feeling for you??:w00t: When I first saw what he made in the beginning I laughed:lol: and told him there isn't any way that baby is going to fill me up to where I feel satisfied! :tt2: But he was going strictly by my nutritionists program and it actually did fill me up and keep me full enough to where I didn't feel the need for a mid morning snack!:thumbup: You may be surprised like I was! Hang in there and keep us posted!:eek:

Well Lil Miss you are doing so great I don't blame him for wanting to wait. You set a great example for the rest of us and I admitted to my doc I was a weakling:tongue: and asked for a bit more. That little bit has been great but I find I cannot eat like I used to!:frown: But knowing I'm tighter and the end result will be better control over my hunger is a-okay by me:biggrin2:! Since I'm in a research study group I don't want to fail the company I am helping thereby causing potential problems with the study and future bandsters. :biggrin: I haven't had any problems with my iron yet, but I don't have the monthly curse anymore and that probably helps me! I know when I first saw the pics you put on the thread to "put a face to a name" that smile of yours just jumped out at me and I knew..yep this girl has got it going on! So you just keep up the good work and I'll see about posting another picture too (course I may need instruction I am not a computer guru :eek:)! Keep smiling~you're beautiful!:w00t:

Well Malby, I don't know if it's normal, but I know that when I went in for my first fill my doc was numbing the area around my navel and this second time (17 Apr) it was up closer to the scar and mine also gets tender when I have worked out really hard or do quite a bit of walking. It's weird, because before this 30 pound loss I couldn't tell you or even feel where it was!:blushing: Also this last fill my doc had that syringe in there so well it created a vaccum and when he tried to pull the syringe out it pulled the port up along with my skin and the syringe finally POPPED out of the port!:sad: It was really something!

Well at least they will know that you definitely want the surgery and you have gone above and beyond to show this! Hang in there and the best of luck to you!! It is worth it! I waited for over 2 years!

Well Lil Miss, you deserve it! Look how much you've knocked off! You're doing fantastic!! :sad: I went in on the 17th and confessed to the doc that I was cheating..not all the time just once in a while and asked if maybe I could use a little fill for my hunger pangs! :confused2: Well he only put .6cc in my number 12 band and now we're feeling the tighten up (5.6 total)~so much so that what I was eating isn't going down as easily! Could be my own fault for not chewing enough but I wonder because when I swallow it's like mush but maybe my bites are too big?? AWK!! Such a dilemna!! Having a rough time trying to find the right foods and the right amount on my baby spoon! :wink2: Still keeping my exercise up! Went down one size in my clothes!! I'm happy about that for sure!!:blushing: You inspire me!

:eek:I felt the same way..here I am starving and the scale isn't moving!:confused:I knew something would have to give eventually! All my co-workers noticed the physical changes in me but the scale was moving slower than a snail! :sad: Then a day or so before I was to get my first fill the weight on the scale went down 7 lbs..just like it was magic! HA! :blushing: I told my hubby I need to go shopping because even though the scales only show 32 pounds my clothes look like drapes hanging off me now! :biggrin2: So my suggestion is..not to worry about the scale too much but how you fit your clothes! It's hard for me to do but when I get on that scale and see nothing happening but know my clothes are getting looser and looser I am thrilled! So hang in there..it will happen!

Dia! I had a pain right out of surgery and told my hubby that I thought that 90 pound dripping wet nurse dropped me on my neck and shoulder! It was so intense that I asked the nurse in recovery just exactly what this pain was from..she told me it was the anesthesia working it's way out of my system and could take several weeks for it to go away. When I talked to the doc he said the same thing and asked me if my pain meds didn't help. They did, they were great for all my pains which was minimal except for my shoulder. I kept heat on it and rubbed it constantly and rotated it and my neck and finally about 2 weeks later it went away. But I sure thought they dropped me from the operating table to the guerney! :confused2: I would suggest that you talk to your doctor again and let him know that you need something to help alleviate the pain. Lortab apparently isn't cutting it! Good luck and hang in there! Never hesitate to call the doc for any thing you might feel is NOT NORMAL!! That's what my doc says to me everytime I've seen him!:blushing: Let us know when you get the relief you are seeking!!:sad:

:smile:Welcome! I also have BCBS but mine is FedBlue..which I don't think is much different than yours! I too have 2 years invested in researching and waiting for the insurance to acknowledge that this type of surgery is a bonus for them. I had sleep apnea, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high tryglycerides, heart disease in the family, the metabolic syndrome, and diagnosed with non alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver. :wink2: I was just banded this past February and let me tell you what, I have had my blood pressure meds cut in half and my last visit with my liver doc was that my liver is regenerating and doesn't show the negative symptoms it had just 3 months ago! He is also weaning me off my cholesterol meds since my tests have come back so great!! All this has happened since Feb 8 of this year! I have lost 32 pounds and last Thursday went in and had a slight fill (.6cc) because I knew on some afternoons I would come home and snack on chips and salsa! I was upfront with my doc and told him that in the afternoons after work I would get a hunger pang and asked if he would tighten me up just a tad. I can really feel the restriction now and am trying to adjust to a tighter band without feeling like I'm going to puke after every meal!:blushing: This forum is most interesting and I have enjoyed reading several threads and have gained a lot of information. I hope you too will find it helpful. I wish you much luck and joy in getting banded! I was told in the 3rd week of January that I was approved and asked the coordinator, knowing I had to follow a 10 day preop diet, what is the first available date I could get my band. :sad: After waiting for 2 years and checking out the Lap Band.com site and talking to 5 different doctors, my family doc, my liver doc, my heart doc, my brain doc (I also suffer from migrains) and my Lap Band doc, I was more than ready and with any surgery a little apprehensive but knowing as much as I could about the surgery helped me get ready and after it was all said and done I feel great! I have read in this forum that there are some that had a rough time but I didn't and hopefully you won't either. When my endocrinologist told me I had maybe 10 years left and my liver doc was telling me that the next step for me would be the donor program, nothing was or could be as bad as the news I heard from these great doctors! So I extend my greates wishes for you, your surgery and your recovery! Enjoy this site, I certainly do!!:biggrin2:

Good day to all of you! Hey Lil Miss *:blushing:* how ya doing? I am guilty of the same crimes..too much time expended on work and foregoing my fun in the forum!! Man, I think we ALL need to go on a cruise! Great job with only 3 pounds??:sad: That is SUPER!!:biggrin2: I can gain 3 pounds on the weekends easily and here you were on a cruise!! Good going! I'm checking out some of the threads on those bandsters that are having issues with food! I just had a small fill and so I'm checking to see how often and how much all the other bandsters are versus my naughty episodes!! You all enjoy your day and I'll be around in here somewhere!!