ljv52

Julie, I'm so very sorry to hear about your illness. I was ill last summer for two months and it is no fun. I will be praying for you. Nice that you have a lap top available and that you feel well enough to use it. Just concentrate on getting well and try not to worry too much about everything (and everyone) else. Becky, glad your kitchen is almost done. My mom was a caregiver like you are. Sounds like you do a great job. I leave for Vegas in the morning, can't wait to get to some warm weather. It was really snowy and cold here today. Martyh, Phyll gave you great advice, just try to relax and take it one day at a time. Check in here for support, these ladies are all fabulous. Long, now I know who to blame for this weather! I didn't realize you were buying sandals, so stop for goodness sake. LOL. Hope you all have a wonder Easter and wish me luck on my Vegas trip. Linda

The drink can make me nauseous and I was having a gagging reflex, so the doctor gave me pills to take instead of the liquid. They still taste pretty bad, and you still have to drink a lot of water but it's a good option if you can't tolerate the drink taste. Good luck.

Hi, I had my first fill on 3/11 and I've had worse gas since that fill. I'm taking Ultra Gas x and it's not even touching it or helping in any way. I'm not eating foods that should cause me gas either. My doc had trouble finding my port and ending up poking about 12 - 13 tries before he found the port, so I was thinking this might have been the cause for the gas, but if you experienced it too it probably isn't. I hope someone can respond and let us know. Thanks for posting this problem. Linda

Hi everyone, I had my first fill March 11 and my doc had a tough time finding my port as well. I had about 12 pokes before he finally sent me to x-ray and my port was fine and he found it and got the fill done with relatively little trouble (still more than one poke however). The original 12 pokes were terribly painful (and I am NOT a baby, I am usually very tough). I am dreading my next fill on April 22, although he assured me he would not have this problem this next time. I had not eaten since the night before (my appt. was 9:00 a.m.) so that didn't have anything to do with my problems. Most of my fat is in my belly, however, so maybe that is part of the problem. The day after the incident, I had terrible pain in my abs, like I had right after surgery. I'm sure it was from tightening those muscles during each attempt. I'm just glad to hear I'm not the only one with this problem. Also, Healthy4life, before I'd have any surgery, I'd demand an x-ray to make sure my port indeed has flipped. Linda

Apples, great recipes, I printed them and hope to make them soon. I'm heading out Monday to Vegas to visit DS and DIL and see their new house. I was hoping to work on my tan, but checking the weather it doesn't look great - low 70s -- oh well, won't be much time for that anyway I suppose. Have a great weekend everyone. Linda

Hi everyone, Julie, I hope you are feeling better and if you aren't I hope you've called the doctor again. Ellen, thank you for your kind words. Yes, I've lost the 50 lbs. since I began the preop liquid diet on Jan. 13. I have been very strict with myself and was also cleared to start exercising just one week after surgery. I really believe the exercise is the biggest key as well as eating by the band rules, ie. protein and veggies. I've had very few carbs (other than fruit) since my surgery. I hope everyone has a better day tomorrow. Charlene, hope your DIL and new grandson are doing well. Linda

MsKelly, so glad to hear from you and so sorry about your dad. I'm sure he will be fine and will be much better after the stent is put in. It's very hard to deal with these types of situations. It's so easy to turn to our comfort food as it's always been there for us in the past. Try to make better choices tomorrow, and don't worry about what you ate today. Make each day a fresh start and try to have foods on hand that are healthy for you rather than the vending machine choices. I know in the past when I would have a bad day and go off my diet and eat bad things it could lead to just more days of eating bad things. Then I'd be even more disgusted with myself. Try not to do that, because that's just negativity in our lives -- try to remain positive if you can (and I know it's hard). I will be keeping you and your dad in my thoughts and prayers. Take care of yourself and know we are thinking of you. Linda

Wow, Janet, those pics are great! Looks like you had a fabulous time! That last picture (07 v. 09) says it all -- what a difference! Ellen, glad no one was hurt, what a terrible situation. Julie, hope your winter weather ends and you can enjoy some sunshine soon! Linda

Pen, Thanks for sharing, those are great ideas. Our room will have a fridge so I plan to go to the grocery store when I get there and stock up as well on some healthy choices so I can skip restaurants except for maybe dinner every night. Hope you had a good time, though. Linda

Pickle, I feel exactly like you do -- just didn't realize how crappy I felt till after surgery. Now I feel amazing -- and I can't wait to feel even more amazing as the weight keeps leaving. My dog has more room on the love seat when she sits next to me. DH and I recently went to a local auditorium and for the first time in over 15 years I had room in the seat and my arms reached the armrests!! I guess I had too much fat in my belly to reach them before. That was truly an eye opening experience. I don't know if any of you had this problem, but even on a plane I could not put my arms on the arm rests -- it was so uncomfortable! Linda

Hi Pen, Glad to hear from you. Yes, it is amazing how quickly we feel better, isn't it? I keep thinking, "why didn't I do this last year before I got banded?" Truthfully, however, the band truly has proved to be a tool to me. Although I still don't have great restriction, I do get satisfied on just my small plate of protein and veggie. I hardly ever eat any carbs (except fruit) which to me is amazing. I would have never dreamed before of eating a meal without carbs! I remember on my info from the dietician at the surgeon's office she added a handwritten note to the page that said, "carbs are NOT required, not required EVER" on the sheet. That really stuck with me (probably why she did it that way) and so when I started eating real food I quit thinking in terms of what else to eat besides protein and veggie. I did have a baked potato a week ago (first one and I used low fat sour cream on it and no butter but boy, it did taste good to me). But boy oh boy did I get full fast -- so when I say I don't feel I have great restriction, that's kinda a misnomer cause I realize if I try to eat like I used to I have great restriction. Anyway, just sharing some thoughts here, wondering if any of you feel the same way. I gave all my old clothes away a few weeks ago and have purchased some new ones. I have a new problem -- I have worn too baggy and loose clothes for so long it's taking me awhile to get used to wearing properly fitting clothes again. But, it's a good problem to have. I can't wait till my new clothes are too big. Have any of you taken measurements? My nurse thought she took mine before surgery which she didn't, so I ended up doing my measurements just a few weeks ago after I lost most the initial weight. I know I've lost lots of inches though cause there's a lot more room on the love seat for the dog to lay next to me -- she was pretty crowded before and now has lots more room. That's kind of a strange way to feel success, isn't it? Getting ready to go to Vegas for a short visit with DS on April 6. We had a credit with airlines from last summer which we had to use before June 1, so we decided to visit that week since I have Good Friday as a holiday. I'm a little worried I'll go crazy with food, but hopefully my little tool will keep me in line. It's easy at home, but eating out will probably be much harder. Hope you are all doing well and would love to hear from you -- Carolina Mom, TX -- keep us posted. Pen, love hearing from you, thanks for keeping in touch. Linda

Hi everyone. Bunco is a dice game, we play with 12 people. You throw 3 dice at a time and you are trying to get a bunco which is all three dice of the same number as the round. For instance, in round 1 you are trying to roll all 1s, round 2 all 2s, etc. up to 6 and then you start back over at 1. It's a lot of fun. Each person pays $5 to play and there are categories for winning -- the most buncos wins the most $20, first bunco wins $5, last bunco wins $5, etc. It's a fast paced game -- you play 3 tables of 4 players each. I had heard of it for years but never started playing until about 3 years ago. It's great fun. Emma, yes, I'm now a nite owl, in fact I have been working nights the past few years -- for 30+ years I worked in offices and had to be at work at 8:00 so I enjoy my new retirement fun job I have now. I also enjoy having my time in the evenings to myself. Hope everyone is doing well. We got our snow -- it was late, didn't start until about 3:00 p.m. today. We have about 4 or 5 inches on the ground but supposed to be 50 tomorrow, so hopefully it will just melt away. Linda

JoAnn, you gave Emma great advice and also thanks for the reminder of the 3500 calories per one pound, I had forgotten that. Emma, I went through about a month after surgery where I lost only 1/2 or 1 lb. per week and then one week I lost 5 lbs. and I didn't do anything different that week. After that I went back to losing about 1 or 2 lbs. per week -- it's different every week it seems. That's why I only weigh once a week -- and sometimes I think it might be better to only weigh once every two weeks as it tends to make us discouraged when we don't feel like we're losing. Niecey, you've lost 62 pounds in 6 months -- that's fantastic! Congratulations. Don't forget to give yourself credit for your other accomplishments (not just for the weight loss) For example, give yourself credit for sticking to the bandster rules, for following your doctor's orders, for getting through the surgery and give yourself credit for exercising. Also, if you've been taking your measurement periodically, you can check your measurements and see if you've lost inches instead of pounds. There's a lot more to losing weight and changing our lifestyles than just what's on that scale every week.

Hi everyone, I've been busy all week and didn't find time to check in. Took me awhile to catch up with reading everything. Welcome Emma, and another trick re portion size is to use a small plate (salad or luncheon plate) instead of the big dinner size ones. It tricks our minds when we see a small plate that is somewhat full even though it might only have 1 cup of food on it. You're doing great -- you've already lost 24 pounds -- congratulations. As JoAnn and Long said, you are in bandster hell which I only recently got out of when I had my first fill about 2 weeks ago. It will pass, but as they said, concentrate more on healing right now. All doctors are different, but my doc lifted all restrictions on me one week after my surgery so I was allowed to go back to water aerobics right away which helped me in my weight loss. Many other doctors make you wait 4 to 6 weeks however, so listen to your doctor. It's amazing how different they all are. We are supposed to get snow overnight tonight (like right now). Hopefully it won't start until I leave work (in the next hour or so). We're supposed to get 5 inches but again, supposed to be 50 tomorrow, so it will melt. I just hope our Easter is warmer than last year - it was rainy and very cold last Easter. I had my red hatters at my house for bunco last night. I made all low fat food (we do pot luck, but I made extra low fat things so I could have plenty to eat without being tempted). It went well and all my low fat food was well received. I enjoyed making it, as I too love to cook and haven't been doing it much since I got banded (except for cooking for myself). Anyway, it was fun, but as usual, I don't win much at bunco, I can't seem to get lucky in that game. Holly, yes, it's been such a struggle with the Juvenile Diabetes with both my step children. And I worry every day - my step daughter has a little 2-1/2 year old and she's a single mom and I worry about her driving the baby around in the car knowing she never takes a proper reading. I just pray that they will cure it in the next few years and I pray my little granddaughter doesn't get it. It's a very very tough disease for kids to live with. I guess Apples made it out of town before the blizzard. Long congrats on buying more size 10s -that's terrific. Julie, you poor dear, hope the water situation gets resolved and you don't have to deal with that for 2 weeks. That sounds horrible. Also hope you get rid of that snow and get on with some nice, spring weather. Phyl, I don't have Rite Aid here, but I do love the Papaya extract - and they really are delicious. I usually just take them with my chewable vitamin every day and I haven't had any heartburn or anything since I started using them (and I used to carry a huge bottle of Tums in my purse as I had heartburn constantly). It's so nice to be free from that problem now. Hope everyone has a great weekend. Linda

Just saw the latest People Magazine. They have an article in it about Catherine VanZandt who is a star on Guiding Light, who lost 90 lbs. in the year since she had lap band surgery! Her pics look great! Good for her!

Apples, i love hearing about what you are cooking, especially when you describe what you do to make them lower in fat. I broke out my Susan Powter cookbook (remember her)? She actually had some great recipes in her cookbook. My problem is that my DH refuses to eat anything that i have prepared using lower fat ingredients -- he convinces himself beforehand that it won't taste good, so then he tastes it as says he doesn't like it. It's all in his head. He could stand to lose some weight too, but oh well. So that is one of the reasons I just tell him to cook for himself. Long, so sorry you are sick, hope the bug goes away quickly -- get better soon. Julie, congrats on the weight loss, that's fantastic! I'm also impressed that you only had one bite of that cake. I have a favorite banana cake with cream cheese frosting I used to make a lot and if I made it, I'm sure I'd be too tempted. On the other hand, my neighbor did send over one half of a store bought cake last week but that didn't tempt me at all -- DH was happy to take care of that -- it's my own cooking that tempts me more. Phyl, I love your little saying -- I'm going to print one up and tape it on my desk where I'll be looking at it all the time. Sharons, glad you had a good visit with your mom and you are feeling more confident. I know I worry many days too that this won't work, that's why I come here and read everyone's blogs because it is proof that it works. We just gotta have that faith and just DO IT. It is 70 here now, but expecting thunderstorms and colder weather later in week. Hope Janet's weather is better than when she left. It would be miserable if it's rainy and cold during her cruise. Linda

Pen, congrats on your 20 lbs. too -- we are all doing great. Isn't this a fantastic new year for us? I'm loving it! Linda.

Congrats Carolina Mom on both the lbs. and inches. I never measured myself before surgery (and the nurse forgot too) so I finally took my measurements after my last fill. I have lost a lot of inches, though, so I'm disappointed I never took them before. I completely cleared out my closets (had a friend come and take it all) and have gone down almost 4 sizes - I'm short, only 5'2" and so I have a long, long, long way to go until I see size 12s. Plus, I have to admit, I did wear my clothes on the baggy side before, so truthfully, I probably have only gone down 3 real sizes -- since I was probably wearing a size too big to begin with. Does that make sense? But I like them loose when I was topping out at 245! Pen, glad your fill went better than mine. I didn't get a numbing shot so I felt the pain with each of the 15 or more "tries" the doc took to find my port. We're going to visit my son and daughter-in-law in Vegas the first week of April. We had scheduled a trip last Aug. but I was in the hospital at the time so the airlines gave us a credit. We are going in August, and I had hoped to use the credit for that trip, but found out I have to use it or lose it before June 1. Since I have a holiday (Good Friday) the first week of April, we're flying out. We'll get to see their new house (they just moved there in Oct.) and I miss them terribly, so glad we are going. But I'm worried about eating while there -- I'm worried I'll go "crazy" and eat like a maniac. I'll have to really be disciplined. We're going to stay at the Rio (we have free nights there) so at least I'll have a gym to work out in and a pool. But I am worried about the food. Have a good week everyone!! Keep in touch. Linda

Hi everyone, I probably missed Janet, but if not, have a great time! Julie, you are an inspiration to me -- you're quite a success story with your loss of 80 lbs. You just need to keep on taking care of yourself first. I know it's hard to do. I decided when I made the decision to have lap band surgery, that I needed to be selfish for the first time in my life. That's why DH is fending for himself in the kitchen and why I spend part of every day at the gym doing my exercise and water aerobics. I couldn't do what Apples does, at least not yet. Maybe after a year I'll be more up to it, but I can't even imagine trying to cook like she does. I'm impressed by all of you ladies who are still cooking for your families! Long, congrats on the size 10! That's fantastic. I wish I were tall, I'm only 5'2, so it'll be a long, long time before I see size 10. Have a good Sunday everyone! Linda

Pen, How was your fill? Hope it was okay, and no problems. I'm doing fine, lost another 2 pounds this week so now at 48. Very happy with my results, but I do work very hard at it -- doing lost of exercise 5 times a week (I work on the weekends so I can't exercise Sat./Sun. but it's nice to have those two days off from the gym anyway). Let me know how you're doing. Tx, I feel more restriction when I eat, but can eat just fine in the morning. But it is nice to have that restriction feeling again when eating. I've had a couple of instances where I feel a tightness while I'm eating, but I just stop for a few mins. and it goes away. I'm so afraid of pb'ing (I never have, but read about it a lot) and just don't want to hurt my band in any way. I have to remember to eat slowly and chew, chew, chew. Would love to hear from everyone -- Carolina Mom, how are you doing? Hope everyone has a great weekend. Linda

Hi Janet, I'm here, fine, just been busy lately, going to the gym, water aerobics. Had an eye dr. appt. yesterday in Des Moines, had a red hat luncheon today and back to work tomorrow. We had a plumber here today, dealing with a leak in one of our showers. The plumber thinks that the contractor "forgot" to put in a bladder (liner) under the shower before he tiled. Great. So, we may have to tear up that shower. We'll see. We will be going to L.V. first week of April to visit DS. We had a credit on an airline we had to cancel when I was in hospital last summer, and have to use it before June 1, so decided to go visit and see DS's new house. Looking forward to it. We've had some nice warm weather here, grass is getting green. Keeping fingers crossed that spring is actually here to stay. Hope everyone has a great Fri. and weekend. Linda

Hi everyone, just checking in. Missed you all, we've been busy, busy these past few days. Long and PJ, I had a very negative mother too -- I chose to live far away from her and almost everytime I talked to her on the phone I would cry when I hung up (and I'm pretty tough and not usually a crier). Visits were tough -- she would visit me when I was a single mom and would especially criticize me on how I was raising my son. My baby sister on the other hand (I was the oldest girl) had a completely different relationship with her. My mom never criticized her, thought everything she did was wonderful, etc. This was especially hard to take as I excelled in my life too. My son grew up and has been very successful, so she wasn't right about that. I loved her dearly, but never, never got any kind of praise from her. I mentioned here before that when I lost 100 lbs. earlier in life she kept telling me I was anorexic (I was not). All I ever wanted from her was to be told she was proud of me. She got lung cancer in 2003 and died 6 months later. I visited often those last 6 months and was always a devoted daughter as was my sister. I just still don't understand why she treated me so differently. Sometimes it still bothers me, but I just have to remember that just because she said it doesn't make it true, as was the case with my son. I was always just the opposite of my mother - constantly praised my son and step kids on all their accomplishments and successes and we share very close relationships. The only conclusion I can come up with was that God gave us those mothers because we needed them, for whatever reason. He only gives us what we can handle, as we all know. Don't expect them to change, cause that isn't going to happen. Janet, have fun on your cruise. If you have a few too many treats, go out on the dance floor for a little late night aerobics. Linda

Hi Everyone, had a lot of reading to do to catch up with all of you. Long, God Bless you and your DH, what an ordeal and so glad your DH is okay. What a scare. I hope he's doing okay and will keep him in my prayers. Also congrats on the 113 lbs. That's just fantastic! Janet, you are such a great role model - thank you again for sharing about the mini muffins -- that's why we all love you so much -- because you admit it when your head hunger gets to you and give us the strength to follow in your footsteps. Ellen, welcome back and I look forward to getting to know you. Feeling better since my fill ordeal, I did water aerobics Thurs. night and that seemed to help the ab pain go away. It's so nice to have some restriction, so it was definitely worth all the trouble. Well, it's late and I gotta get up and work in the morning, so will say goodnight. Hope everyone has a great Sunday! Linda

Hi everyone, Well, I've been very sore today -- kinda like after surgery - like I've done a bazillion sit ups. I guess when he was poking around he poked around my abs tissue? It's kind of weird, I didn't expect to be so sore today. Janet, thanks for letting me know it happened to you too and especially for letting me know it was okay for your next fill. At least I have better restriction -- I feel so much less hungry so it was worth it as today I've hardly felt the need for food. Gotta run and go to water aerobics. Will check in later. Linda

Hi everyone. Went in for my fill this morning. He couldn't find my port. He kept poking and poking and it did hurt when he was poking around with that needle. Finally, he sent me down and did it under fluro -- but even then he had a tough time. He reassured me my port is fine (I could see it on the x-ray) but for some reason he just had a really tough time in locating it when he had the needle in his hand. He promised he won't have any problems next time (which will be on my b-day so hopefully not). All in all, it wasn't bad, but I do have a bruse where I was poked and about 10 little holes where I was stabbed with the needle. I had a little burning pain for about an hour after the fill but seems to be going away now. Always seems like if there's a problem, it'll be a problem for me. LOL. I love my surgeon -- he's a good guy - I know he felt terrible. I lived to talk about it. Anyway, he put 3 cc's in a 10 cc band, so hopefully that will give me some restriction. I've been pretty hungry the past couple of weeks and really had to rely on sheer will power not to eat too much. Janet I had a repetitive dream before our trip to Hawaii in December -- probably had it 3 or 4 times -- I was always trying to get to the airport and was running late and then would get there at the last minute only to realize I didn't have my suitcase or any clothes to take with me! It's amazing what our minds do to us. Holly, thanks for the note -- you'll be there before you know it -- I can't believe I'm doing as well as I have. I keep waiting for it to end, but so far so good. Keeping my fingers crossed. Hope everyone has a good evening. Linda