Xann77

Hi soldiers! I am late joining too but I hope you'll have me! I've been hovering around 220 for the longest time and I know I really have to comitt myself in order to make this work! My weigh in yesterday 4/17 was 222. I'll have to do my body measurements tonight!

Wow, Congrats Tricia!!! That's gotta feel soooooo good! I was at 219 as of early last week and have lost nothing this week unfortunately. It's definitely due to going away for the weekend and drinking a bunch of booze! Oh well, at least I haven't gained I suppose. Everyone is starting to notice that I've lost some weight although the scale doesn't show it really. I wonder if I've lost a few inches as they say? Anyway, it may not be possible for me to reach Onederland with you guys, but I'm sticking with ya nonetheless!!

For the past few years, I was around 16. Right now I'm wearing a size 20 -- which I HATE of course. I'd do a jig naked in the streets of NYC if I could get down to a 12. Haven't seen a 12 in about 7 years. I'm 5'8 with a medium to large build.

go right ahead and verbally kick his a** in my opinion! You have my permission! That's the most obnoxious thing in the world! You realize that you HAVE to give us the link now right? Plllllleeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaassssssseeeeeeeee

Search for my threads. You'll see about the "missing" or evaporated fill after the first fill. Evidently, it's pretty common. Happened to me -- doc put in 1.3 and I had basically NO restriction. When I went back for the second fill -- tada -- half of the saline was gone!! Well, I was all worried that I had a leak but it turned out to be fine... evidently, after surgery there's about a 50% (that's a guesstimate mind you) chance that you'll have a good amount of AIR stuck in your band -- well, the first injection of saline comes along and because saline = SALT Water and you have AIR, it EVAPORATES. Nothing to worry about too much but I would DEFINITELY make sure that when you go in for your next fill, have the doctor remove/suck all the saline out before they put more in so you can see how much you still had in there. I had .5cc's left out of 1.3 cc's fter only ONE week (I went for my 2nd fill RIGHT AWAY once I noticed there was no restriction and I'd suggest you do the same). Good luck and keep us updated about what happens at your next fill.

Don't worry -- from what I know from this site, you'd KNOW if you had a slip. You wouldn't be able to eat or drink anything and you'd be in really bad pain. My advice is that Newbies should NOT read too much about complications on this website after you get out of surgery. It's tough because you're home and have extra time on your hands and everything... but TRUST ME, you'll be fine and the likelihood of you being in the 1% of people with serious complications is very, very low. Just focus on healing guys. Don't read too much negative stuff on here or you'll get yourself all worked up!

Woo Hoo!!!!! Congrats!!!! I Know How Relieving It Is To Find Out That Nothing's Wrong!

Tammy -- first off, you're hilarious! Been reading your posts. You should just shove the DH into the fridge and be done with it :huggie::drum: I also REALLY liked the WLS poem. It's so damn true it almost made me cry. :clap2: Stacey -- how'd you get such a pretty signature? Janet -- could you please update my info to show that I'm at 2.0cc's now. After 3 fills. I see that a lot of people haven't updated their cc levels and personally, I'd really like to know where everyone is at with their fills. My fill doctor is soooooooooooooo sloooooooooow with the fills that it's really frustrating (and EXPENSIVE at $175 a pop!). And she's always like "well you should be learning how to eat and shouldn't NEED to be all that restricted." ANd I'm like, "um HELLOOOOOOO, if I knew how to eat, I wouldn't be here would I?!?!?":angry :angry I mean , I do totally get her point. Yes, we all know that you need to have SELF CONTROL in order to be a good bandster, but on the other hand, why did I spend $12,000 if I don't feel anything?? I feel like every time I go to see her, she's handing out the fills like it's a drug or something?!?! I guess she claims that it's always the "younger" women who want to be really aggressive with their fills and they are the ones that always run into problems with slippage, erosion, etc.... and I certainly don't want to be one of those! But still, what is so wrong about wanting to be restricted??? That said, after 3 visits to this woman ($350, $175 and $175) I am now at 2.0cc and definitely feeling a difference. I honestly think I could stand to be a little more restricted, but I'll hang out here for a while and see what happens :) I'm kinda proud of myself today though. I managed to drag my butt out of bed at 6:30 to go to the gym and did 30 minutes of HARD cardio!!! Woo hoo!!! I always feel SOOO much better after exercising, and yet I never want to exercise!??!?! Does this make rational sense at all?? Why oh why am I such a lazy girl~??~ Hahahah!!

You will DEFINITELY Get better. The first week was rough for me too and I was totally exhausted. I'm a little confused about the yogurt. You should be able to eat some yogurt during the first week -- I'd just add some milk to it to make it go down a little easier. Also, you should seriously be sipping on your Protein shake ALL DAY LONG. You absolutely MUST get down 60 grams of protein every day. Go out and buy yourself one of those hand-held portable blenders that you just stick into the cup -- I still use my Protein Shake and LOVE it. THere's a whole thread on here somewhere about Protein shakes and how everyone makes them differently, but I add some flax see oil (Udo's) which someone suggested on here, Water and splenda. SOmetimes some vanilla flavored coffeemate too! Yum!!! Other people add a spoonful of reduced fat Peanut Butter and love it. Either way, it sounds like you're not getting your protein in and you really really need to be doing that! I also eat a lot of cream of wheat (NOT OATMEAL! TOO THICK).. I'd take the chunks of dried fruit out of the packet and mix with water and a little milk. Yum! Don't worry, this is just the tough time. It's difficult to cause a slip so I would not worry about that right now. Just clean your incisions, baby yourself and drink the protein! good luck!

Hi Everyone!!! I'm just wondering if anyone on here lives in Manhattan or if I'm the only one? I'd really love to get a support group started or even just a once a month "band date"!

Hi, Dory's NYC office is on 12th street and 7th, right next to the 2/3/1/9 stop for 14th Street. Really convenient actually! By only issue with her is that she's a little conservative with the fills. I'd really prefer to be at 2.5 or something like that but she's basically forcing me to wait for a while. I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to get a group together! It sounds like we have 3 people, let's see if we can get anymore! We could meet at like a Starbucks or something. I'd be fine with meeting in Brooklyn too as long as it wasn't too far in.

I will note though that the makers of Splenda claim the FDA complaint is just an orchestrated ploy by sugar makers and other sugar substitute competitors in the U.S. That would definitely make sense! Think of how much money Splenda's competitors have LOST since it came on the market. Lots of people who used real sugar have moved over to Splenda because it tastes so much better than other substitutes.

Saying Goodbye to: Having NO ENERGY all the time Dreading getting ready for work in the morning because I have NOTHING to wear and end up wearing the same "fat pants" 3 times a week Not wanting to have sex with my wonderful BF because I feel gross and fat Not wanting to go out with my girlfriends for cocktails and other NYC things I used to love because (1) I feel gross and too fat, and (2) I'm wearing my "fat pants"!! :ban: Dreading taking pictures and when I do, being super focused on my fat, blubbery arms Not being able to wear 2/3rds of the clothes in my closet Not being as confident as I used to be Not feeling as pretty as I used to feel Not feeling like I'm in control of my life and can do anything! GREAT THREAD!

I had plenty of American doctors turning me down with a BMI of 35 and I was self-pay. Although I never contacted Spiegal. I ended up using Dr. Rumbaut in Mexico who was excellent and who probably cost a lot less than US doctors. The hospital in Monterrey was nicer and more modern than any I've seen in the world so I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. The only pain in the butt was finding someone to do the fills, but if you don't live near the doctor anyway, it doesn't make much difference. Good luck!

Poor Baby! Im really so very sorry for you. I bet we all are... I can't imagine how hard it is for you. Did he say what caused it?? Did he say whether there were other forms of WLS you could try? It's perfectly ok to be sad and to mourn the loss... it IS a lot like a best friend... you should feel free to baby yourself as much as you want but then get right back on the horse!

Well, there IS a loophole (there always is!). Things like candy and ice cream and soda and potato chips and cheese and every other type of yummy, high calorie, dense food can go RIGHT THROUGH THE BAND. Before you get banded, you'll probably have a pre-screening where they'll explain to you that the Band won't work for you if you don't have the self-control to stop eating all the junkfood. What it WILL do is massively cut down on the amount or volume of regular food that you can eat. For example, I went out to dinner with the BF the other night and ordered the roasted chicken -- well, out came a MASSIVE hunk of meat, a baked potato and lots of veggies. Back in the day, I would've eaten a few rolls before dinner was served (no way I could have that now) and I would've eaten a VERY big portion of that delicious chicken! Now -- I barely made a dent in the chicken, had a few bits of baked potato and a few bites of salad and I was completely FULL. That's the difference. It's very easy to "eat around the Band" by eating junkfood, drinking lots of alcohol, etc. So you really DO have to have some self-control. Good luck!

You might have what happened to me -- the case of the "missing fill." If you check out some of my threads you'll see. Basically, about half of my fill from the first fill evaporated into the air that was still left in my band. That meant that even though at my first fill, she put in 1.3cc's, when she checked it again, there was only .5cc's in there! No wonder why I had ZERO restriction! Anyway, I was all worried about a leak but I have learned that it's not all that uncommon. I went back for a 3rd fill a little while ago to double check that there was no leak, and it was fine Thank God. :ban::party: Anyway, when you go in for your second fill, make SURE the doc takes everything out of your band FIRST to see how much is still in there. You may have the same issue as I did, and trust me, once she put me up to 2.0cc's, HELLO RESTRICTION!! Good luck and Don't Worry!

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday Dear Dawg, Happy Birthday to you! How old are you now, how old are you... HAHAHAHAHAH!!! :ban::party::

Sign me up! Same thing happened to me, only it was like 6 pounds! And I had only lost 17. Totally normal though. I think Vinesqueen has a great point about the colon -- I never even thought of that!

Just wanted to say Good Luck and God Bless!!! You are so lucky to be embarking on this new journey. Try not to focus too much on the short-term pain and discomfort -- think of how you'll look in one year!!!

Hello to all my fabulous bandster friends! I just wanted to report some great news! I went back to my fill doctor today to make sure that there was no leak and I'm happy to report that the BAND IS FINE!! Woo hoo!!!! :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: So, my "mysterious" loss of almost 1cc between the first and second fill is just PROOF of the fact that it evaporates sometimes. Sooooo crazy but hey, that's life! Anyway, I'm feeling really happy and super relieved and I feel like now I can focus on my weight loss and on living my life with my band and not have to worry and obsess anymore about leakage. Thanks to all of you who supported me and tried to relieve my fears. I promise you'll hear no more whining and worrying from me!!! HURRAH!!!! :clap2: :clap2:

You guys are awesome :ban: Hugs!!! DEFINITELY feeling the band nowadays... got myself a full fledged case of "first bit syndrome" but I don't mind too much. Just happy it's finally working!!! Good luck everyone!

Thought I'd grab y'all with a funny headline - but here's my question, since I got my first "real" fill last Friday , I noticed that when I first start eating meat (chicken, turkey, etc.) like I'm supposed to do, it's REALLY hard to get it down. Still haven't PB'd yet, but definitely felt the "slimes." I fought a piece of turkey today and the turkey definitely won! Gave up on the meat portion of my lunch pretty quick and moved to the veggies. Anyway, after a few bites, it starts going down kinda ok -- I don't think I'm FULL when I'm getting that first pain right? That's not supposed to be what "restricted" is, or is it? There's no way I can be full after 1 piece of turkey. Soooo, what IS that pain anyway? Is it the Turkey trying to go down through the band right away? Why doesn't it just chill out in the pouch for a little while?? What's the darn hurry?!? I really don't think I'm too restricted and I'm really happy to feel this pain (yes, I know that's sick on a certain level -- ha ha). Able to drink lots of liquids and eat Cereal in the mornings. Just really hard to get those first few bites of meat down at every meal.. Anyone else have the same problem??

YAY!!! I'm so happy that you're feeling better!!! I've been reading this thread and watching your progress and just wanted to give you a big, "WOO HOO!!!"

Really interesting! I'll try to do this but it's hard because I really like to eat at night! Don't want to get acid reflux though!