Melody2006

I was banded on 7/15/08 and the cut over my port was closed with invisible stitches liquid. Well, looks like the left end didn't go shut and its had a scab on it. At my 1 week appt the surgeon saw it and said thats ok, it's just scabbed. Well an hour ago the scab fell off and an inch long clear string is hanging out. All I can figure is that I have internal stitches maybe around the port and it's hanging out. Its 2 am and I can't sleep. I called the on call doctor and he said the surgeon is out of town and it definitely isn't right, but don't cut it and cover it with a bandage so it doesn't get snagged, and call the surgeons office in the AM and another on call doctor will know what to do. That this was definitely not life threatening. Well, I figured that much. But I can't sleep because now I'm freaked that the stitches holding my port down are coming unraveled and thats whats sticking out and now they will have to go in and fix it. Anyone experience anything like this? :smile:

I have PTC disease but I have a vp brain shunt to manage my ptc symptoms. It was great to loose all the weight, sure. But since my shunt was non-programmable it stripped all the Fluid off my brain and caused me to have ANOTHER brain shunt replacement. Well, least now I have a programmable shunt. So the weight loss made a huge difference in my spinal fluid levels. So much so it cost me another brain surgery. So yes, you will need less meds. Count on it as the weight drops off.

I was banded July 15, 2008. I got down to my goal weight of 135, but loosing all the weight set off my brain shunt and caused me to have to have a brain shunt revision on July 4, 2010. I gained 20 pounds back from eating ice cream and crap after my brain surgery this year because I was in stress and pitty mode. I was doing it for about 3 months solid and I saw the weight creep on pretty fast and it freaked me out. Now yesterday a person that got banded the same day as I did and by the same doctor had to have emergency surgery to have her lap band removed. This is the 2nd person I know directly I've seen this happen to. It just ate into the wall of her stomach. She thinks maybe it was from letting her band be too tight from fills for too long. I went back to the dietitian and explained that I was at goal, but gained 20 back and I need to get back to goal. He said that this far out your body has adjusted to eating 900-1200 calories a day so no dieting in the world is going to get the weight off now. I need to exercise it off in addition to diet and that he see's the re-bound effect like this quite often. Now what if I had a slip or had to have my band removed. No way could I eat 900 calories a day on my own. If I'm struggling now with the band, what if I lost the band? I'm having port revision surgery on Dec. 8th because my port is flipped sideways and has been for about 6 months now and looks like a babys fist sticking out of my gut near my waist band. They are giving me a low profile port. I'm nervous because I've seen everyone around me that I know personally who's had lapband either have a port revision, a removal from erosion, or lost only 30 pounds or less after a year or a year plus. Everyone says be grateful I came this far and quit being hung up on the numbers and forget about getting back to 135. I'm just in panic mode thinking if I loose this band, I'm back to being fat for sure because I'm struggling now.

Sam's club sells a huge container for a good price. Best deal on it I've ever found.

I did BOTH the seasonal and the H1N1 vaccine. I received the nasal mist H1N1. I had absolutely NO side effects. I did the seasonal early October, and the H1N1 2 weeks ago. I work in a hospital in the PEDS department.

So far I'm down 113 pounds. My ultimate goal is 135. I did get down to 138, but then started blowing off good eating habits and food journaling so I shot back up to 147. I had to get back in control. I question if my ultimate goal weight is too low with my left over skin, but I was 138, so I know for me that's only an excuse. I'm not that flabby. I food journaled every bite and sip on livestrong.com (it's free) and I say that helped me the MOST. I didn't exercise past always keeping a pedometer on me 24/7 and walking 10,000 steps a day or more. I have some loose skin, but not much at all. I ate 1,200 - 1,500 calories a day. 1,400 being my goal calories for the day. I keep playing around with these last few pounds and I have to kick it into high gear before the end of this year so I can see goal 2009! I really didn't have any real plateaus until now, but now is because I got lazy and had to many "off" days. My own fault. I know food journaling is a pain, but it did the job and on livestrong.com it's easy, FREE and convenient and I'm wearing size 8's because of it !!

I love those things. A week ago I was at a chinese dinner and on the way out I handed a spoonful to a friend. I didn't have any but I was so tempted. Now I feel guilty for encouraging the friend to have some.

If I was in your situation I'd go with the sleeve over gastric.

Over 110 pounds and I only have 3 ccs in a 10cc band. I had to diet and food journal.

$595 for your first fill?!? Heck no. Call that place listed above and get yourself a $95 fill even if you have to drive a ways to get that price.

I have a 10cc band. It was left empty when placed. I've had 3 fills at 1cc each. I have 3ccs total and I'm about at goal weight. I can't do breads well so I know I have restriction. I would not tolerate another fill. I feel I have enough restriction. 3ccs in a 10cc band and food journaling (thedailyplate.com) has gotten me to goal.

I've been doing the daily plate for almost a year now and it's just second nature. So quick and easy. I think I would have been a failure (lost only 20-30 pounds at most and cry about it constantly here) with out it. I'm not saying I never take a day off from doing it, but I do it 97% of the time.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one going threw some of these issues. I'm so close to my self made goal weight (140 is correct for my height, I just wanted to give myself 5 pounds leeway so I could always be a correct BMI). Now that I'm so close to goal I find myself looking in the mirror and I don't recognize myself. I see a picture of me someone has taken, I don't recognize myself. I now realize how much I look like my mother. I stare and stare at myself in mirrors. Even in full length mirrors in the store. It's so odd. I have very few clothes (all medium sized basic summer tops for now and hand me down jeans) because I won't go try on clothes because I still have that mindset where when I was fat I hated trying on clothes. When my mom pushes me to try stuff on in stores I flat out refuse. I can't get past it for some reason. When I'm in the store I still find myself cruising threw the plus sized section because that's what I was so used to for so long. I feel sort of out of place now. I'm not sure if I'm punishing myself for not loosing these last few pounds, or my weight loss just happened so fast I'm still in shock. Anyone else going threw this phase?

Another The Daily Plate on LIVESTRONG.COM - Calorie Counter, Weight Loss, Food Calorie Counter, Nutrition Facts | LIVESTRONG.COM user here. I'm Melody23 there if anyone wants to add me. I'm a gold member there (I find it very worth the cost) but I used it as a free member for a long time before I went gold, and I think sticking to using it has kept me on track and got me to goal.

July 15th was the 1 year mark for me. I'm so close to goal. 140 was the normal BMI range for my height of 5'3. I thought if I got down to 135, that would give me 5 pounds to play around with. So I'm right about at goal. :thumbup:

I wear scrubs to my hospital job so during my major loss period I just started saftey pinning my pants and wearing Tshirts under the scrub tops. It got so bad I had 3 saftey pins in the waist band of all my pants and one co-worker joked she was going to take a collection up for new scrubs for me. I guess I was just too scared to buy a bunch of new stuff. I still don't have much and keep telling myself I won't buy all new till I reach goal. 3 more pounds to goal. I did buy all new bras (TJ Maxx and Marshalls) and all new panties. I had to. I lost so much in that area. And replacing ALL your stuff is expensive. If you have a TJ Maxx or a Marshalls in your area I highly suggest going there. Also Burlington Coat Factory and JC Penny Outlet. I'm lucky to have all 4 not that far from me. I'd be broke if I didn't. :thumbup:

It's never too late to dust yourself off and get back to basics. I'm now back to being better about my food journaling and I have 7 pounds left to loose. I went to a new primary doctor the other day to get established with my new insurance. She never knew me as fat. I did tell the whole truth about the lap band and loosing over 100 pounds the last year, etc. She gave me the exercise lecture even though I am now a healthy BMI. I do walk 5 miles or more a day I told her. Guess they have to lecture on something. It never ends. I was sort of looking forward to being off the hook with the whole fat lecture this time around. It's starting to hit me that summer is almost over and I still have 7 pounds left to loose. And I really could use to tone it all up now. Walking alone just isn't going to do it. I have to face that. I did buy a new outdoor bike I really wanted, but I've only used it twice. Still makes me sad.

It's never too late to dust yourself off and get back to basics. I'm now back to being better about my food journaling and I have 7 pounds left to loose. I went to a new primary doctor the other day to get established with my new insurance. She never knew me as fat. I did tell the whole truth about the lap band and loosing over 100 pounds the last year, etc. She gave me the exercise lecture even though I am now a healthy BMI. I do walk 5 miles or more a day I told her. Guess they have to lecture on something. It never ends. I was sort of looking forward to being off the hook with the whole fat lecture this time around. It's starting to hit me that summer is almost over and I still have 7 pounds left to loose. And I really could use to tone it all up now. Walking alone just isn't going to do it. I have to face that. I did buy a new outdoor bike I really wanted, but I've only used it twice. Still makes me sad.

When I was a teen my step mom really pushed douching on us. She was against us using tampons, but insisted we douche. Must just be her generation. When I turned 18 and got out on my own, no more douching and I use tampons. The horror of it all! Needless to say I'm std free and I have had less than 5 yeast infections my entire life. Only when I had to use high doses of antibiotics do I ever get one. Eat yogurt and fruit, avoid douching. Trust me.

I'm now past my 1 year mark (7/16/09) for my lapband placement. I'm up a few pounds. I now have 9 pounds left to loose instead of 5. I guess I've gotten routine and lazy about loosing this last 9 pounds. I don't food journal as religiously as I used to. But I always start with the intent to do it. I still mostly make healthy food choices. I've got to get back to being as strict as I used to be about it and I could loose these last 9 pounds.

I'm now past my 1 year mark (7/16/09) for my lapband placement. I'm up a few pounds. I now have 9 pounds left to loose instead of 5. I guess I've gotten routine and lazy about loosing this last 9 pounds. I don't food journal as religiously as I used to. But I always start with the intent to do it. I still mostly make healthy food choices. I've got to get back to being as strict as I used to be about it and I could loose these last 9 pounds.