Banded in KS

Hi All! Last night was my most traumatic event with my band to date! I hope ever. :faint: I have no idea how this even happened. I ate quite a bit for lunch and didn't feel a thing. However, dinner was a different story. We were having grilled salmon at about 7:00. I ate about 2 ounces and again...didn't feel any of it. Then, one particular chunk must have snuck down my throat because I started to feel like it was not going down well. At first, I just thought it would take a few minutes and it would pass since everything I had before that was fine. (Oh... how optimistic of me.) Well, once the pain intensified and about 10 minutes passed...the sliming began. :phanvan So, in between the sliming I thought I would try the papaya enzyme to see if that would be enough to make the stuck salmon go away. I chewed up about 8 tablets in between slimes and waited. The pain just got worse and then I started frothing pink papaya and salmon flavored slime!!!! I thought it couldn't get worse. It was time for the meat tenderizer. I mixed some up and managed to down about two teaspoons. I was gagging so bad. :speechles I thought for sure this would clear it all up ...OMG, was I wrong. I just started hurting more. The pain was really starting to get to me. :think Then I started bringing up pink colored papaya salmon and meat tenderizer flavored frothy slime!!!! I paced and waited and spit. When I thought it couldn't get worse, I started having a sneezing fit. So, if you can imagine me in my tiny bathroom... pacing back and forth...sneeze, sneeze, slime.. ..sneeze, sneeze, slime. At this point, the only other thing I could think to try was some hot tea. That was disastrous. All it did was at to the pain and it all came back up. I figured my stomach was probably so swollen at this point that nothing was going to fix it. :help: It was time to call for help. I called Dr. Hoehn's service to see how was on call. Dr. Hitchcock was... so I had him paged. He said that it should be better after a couple of hours, but since it had already been over 2 hours, I probably needed to go to the ER. Ok, to sum up this long story, the ER doc took 5 cc's out of my band. He was going to take it all, but I stopped him. It was instant relief. The whole thing was over by 10:30. Anyway, today I am trying to be careful on liquids and soft foods. My throat is sooo sore. I am still baffled though. I have eaten salmon so many times and had no problem. I hope you all had a better night than I did. :nervous

I haven't had time to check this out yet, but a friend told me about this site today. It may have some good ideas. lowcarbluxury.com http://lowcarbluxury.com/lowcarb-recipes.html (recipes)

Hi Robyn... hope you are having a good vacation! Enjoy yourself. Cate, I am glad to see you are safe in NOLA. Take care and come see us soon.

Ok, since I can't be there at the next sg meeting... maybe we can "discuss" and come up with some good topics/questions for you all to bring up with Dr. Sabapathy next Thursday. I, for one, would like him to explain this emotional roller coaster that I am on. Are there stages to this journey? Is rebellion one of them? Does it get easier? Is it normal to get angry at times with the band? Anyone else got any good ones. I am sure I will be able to come up with some more...give me time.

Hey, Jennifer... is that a new ticker? It's cute.

Angela, I am about 20 minutes south (on 435) of Nebraska Furniture Mart. Tomorrow I am getting my hair done and will be gone from about 6:15 to 7:30. After that or on Thursday would be good for me.

Hi doinit4me! I have to say something in Angela's defense. Please just try to remember in this medium it is very easy to misunderstand. Without seeing someone's body language, hearing their tone or knowing their personality...it is very easy to get offended. Btw, I also have been curious of Dr. Malley's program. Is he very busy? Does he do anything other than the lap-band?

Robyn, I hope you have a chance to "check in". The 6th sounds good to me. Also, I have to say... the whole "irp on demand" thing is fascinating to me. Do you think it is just because of irping frequency? I like "irping" much more than PB. My episodes have never been so simple to call them a productive burp. I have never like that term.

Angela, I think the amount of PB's varies hugely from person to person. I know some people PB a ton more than I do. Also, I think Robyn's 1 year anniversary is August 5th. We were just talking about it last week when we met for coffee. Is that right, Robyn? We really should celebrate. You have done so well, R!!!! Sorry for my ignorance, Angela, but what kind of issues do you have from spinal meningitis?

Robyn, I am so jealous. I wish I could skip the "whole period of misery". I am always in pain. I have been lucky though and only had a handful of times that I have been stuck or slimed or PB'd. I would say I have only had about 6 incidents in the 15 months I have been banded. I do think the whole "I am too tight/I am too loose" thing is driving me batty though. Ok guys...I have to tell you how proud I am of my daughter. She had a hernia repair surgery this morning and she was sooooo brave! I, however, have discovered that I get nausea from just being in a hospital. I was fine until we went to join my daughter in recovery. The blood started rushing to my head and I was shaking and I thought I was going to pass out. It was very unsettling when my daughter was sitting there groggy...poor baby. She even told me at one point to go outside if I was feeling sick. I wonder if it wasn't the smell. Does anyone else have problems with hospitals in general? Also, I was so nervous yesterday that I found myself grazing on junk food all day. It was horrible but I didn't know what else to do. Hopefully there will never be a next time, but I hope if there is... I can deal with it a little better.

Hi All! I have had a busy couple of days! :faint: I am so ready for the weekend. Robyn, I am totally ready, willing and able to celebrate your one year bandiversary with you. I think it will be a blast! :high5: Angela, I actually called you on Tuesday when we were trying to figure out if we were going to meet or not. But give me a call if you want to come take a look at my clothes. I am very willing to part with them. :biggrin1: Babe...you come up with some of the best ideas. I am totally up for a $5000 free wardrobe! I am up for 'The Kiln' idea too. There is a Clay Cafe here in Olathe, too. I think they are along the same lines as The Kiln. I have always wanted to go to the melting pot. I have never been there. I think it would be a ton of fun. It was obvious from our night at Chili's that we can talk for hours! :eek: Hey guys ... have you ever heard of the store J.Jill on the plaza? I have never been in there before this week... let alone thought I ever would. A friend of mine is organizing a fashion show and she wanted me to be one of the models. I was trying to convince her that I would never fit into those skinny girl clothes in that store. She got me to meet her over there and try clothes on with her. I was in shock!!!!!! Not only did they have stuff that fit me... I fit into a size 14 pair of jeans and they were not the biggest size in the store!!! :faint: We had a lot of fun trying on the different outfits. Maybe we should all go shopping together... we won't even have to buy stuff... just try it all on. Angela, you may have two things working against you. Traveling does affect a lot of people. Also, the week before my period I have 3-4 days of being significantly tighter. Before I had my un-fills, I could hardly eat during those days. Also, if you had a PB or two... your stomach/pouch is probably irritated and swollen on top of your fluctuating hormones and traveling. That is the only reason I could see having trouble with clear fluids. Just be careful, hon. If you have trouble with getting fluids for very long...be sure to call the office. You can become dehydrated really quickly. My friend who had trouble over the july 4th weekend had this problem...being swollen to the point where she could only get down hot tea for about two or three days. Dr. Hoehn gave her the option of going to the ER for fluids. Just be careful and take care. Everyone... how are you planning on staying cool this weekend? :confused:

Does anyone else have trouble eating white fish? I can eat salmon no problem, but for some reason white fish hurts. Just wondering...

Angela, My old clothes range from size 28 down to 18/20. I am not sure what is left in the boxes, but I think it might be worth looking through. Robyn, do you remember what was left after you went through the boxes? :nervous I think they still fill two BIG boxes. Do you want to set a date to get together? BTW, you are doing awesome!!! It's not sad that you are hitting your lowest weight in a lot of years... IT IS REASON TO CELEBRATE! That is what we all hope for with our bands--Way to go A!!! :clap2: Thanks for the recipes. I am going to try the pizza this weekend... can't wait. :hungry:

Sorry we didn't get together tonight girls, but it was probably for the best. It was raining something wicked here most of the evening. Cate, I hope you had a grand time with your friends this evening. I wanted to wish you luck on your journey. I am sure you will check in often to let us know how you are doing. See ya when you come back to KC! Everyone else...I am going out of town on the 27th and will miss the support group meeting with Sabapathy. So take good notes for me. Robyn, I am so glad you are back. Tell us all about your lovely family reunion. (wink)

I was not sure what we were doing. I am open. Just let me know. Angela, do you have my phone number(s)/contact info?

Ok, Angela... can you share your favorite low-carb recipes with us? I need some variety. I am with you on low-fat products. I can do low-fat cottage cheese, but not any other kind of low-fat cheese. It is just nasty.

Cute hair cut Cate!!! Ok, ladies... if you want to detox on carbs with me...here we go! I am starting tomorrow and doing less than 20g of carbs/day. It is tough. Be sure to remember to count your vitamins, calcium chews and drinks. It takes about 4 days for the withdrawls to go away. I am going to keep my tylenol handy. I had another idea. I tend to be a little competitive, so I thought we could do an exercise challenge. I need something to motivate me to get back into it. I have never joined one of the challenges on LBT but I trust you ladies and am wondering if anyone is interested. Do we all just offer to donate something to the "prize pool"? ...and how do you determine who wins? Anyone interested?

Cynthia, I am so sorry you are struggling. One thing I know from this journey (with my band) is that there are times when we all want to give up. It is hard to change a lifetime of poor eating habits and self-defeating attitudes. You, however, can take pride in the fact that DESPITE the fact that your band has never worked for you...YOU HAVE STILL LOST WEIGHT! You are smaller and healthier than you were and you did it all on your own!!!! :clap2: You should be proud of yourself and you definitely have bragging rights for that. So, try to keep on trucking. Maybe you will feel better by taking control of this situation with the insurance appeal. Maybe you can seek out people who have fought with an insurance company and won. Find out how they did it. Keep on top of Dr. H and Billie to be proactive. But keep on truckin' girl! You can make it through this!!! :scared:

I was around size 12/14 at 155-165 lbs.. (I have wide hips--gotta love it!) That is kind of where I am headed. Not too far to go, but unless I hit 159 I will still be "slightly overweight" on the BMI calculator.

Chipotle is evil. We must stay away. (At least for a while.) Yep. He is a teacher. I will check with him and see if he knows anything or who to talk to. One thought--right now might be a good time to check in with the school districts. I know during the summer is when they go in and redo parts of the schools, change out equipment, etc...

Hey guys. I just checked and my BMI is 28.8 (Slightly Overweight). In order to get to a BMI of 24.9 (Healthy), I need to lose 25 more lbs. That sounds like a lot from where I am now. I just don't know if this should still be my goal or if should not get hung up on these numbers. What are your goals? (Scale, sizes and overall health-wise.)

Cate, I agree with Angela. Take your time with your friends. It is no biggee. We can keep in touch and see you on one of your visits back to KC. Holy Cow Angela!!!! You Rock! We definitely need to Celebrate your 100 lb. mark. I know you can do it! I am starting a carb detox again on Monday. I have been soooo bad with carbs lately. Anyone want to join me? We can go through the withdrawl headaches together... what fun.

I didn't really measure the one time I tried the meat tenderizer. I had a couple of tablespoons of water and I just dumped some in, mixed it up and then psyched myself up to take a swallow. It was totally disgusting, but worked instantly!!! It was amazing. The pain was gone just like that. It is at least worth a try once.

Good luck with your appeal Cynthia! I definitely think that Dr. Hoehn needs to send them a strongly worded letter detailing all the possible complications that can arise from a misplaced band. Cate, the only thing that I would think your strapless bra may do is irritated the area around your port. It shouldn't make it budge or move or flip or anything. They secure it really well. Angela, I am with you on the painful PB's! When I get something stuck...it is soooooo painful. I hate it. Have you tried the meat tenderizer or the papaya enzyme pills yet?

Angela, Great topic for discussion. When I finished with my bachelors I decided not to walk because I was kind of sick of school and just did not want to think about it anymore. I also thought it was kind of goofy to walk with hundreds of people I didn't know or go to class with. Anyway, I TOTALLY REGRET IT NOW!!!! I wish I would have done it. I was a big over-achiever in school (as I suspect you were). I think there is something about that mind-set where we expect ourselves to achieve certain things/goals...therefore they become just another thing checked off our list and not the HUGE accomplishments they are. We should celebrate all our successes in life and share them with the people who care about us and share our pride. Maybe if we let ourselves do this more, we won't dwell on the failures or shortcomings that crop up along the way. I wonder if this could be related to food issues in any way??? Oh, here's a thought...if you don't want to walk...maybe you can allow your parents to throw you an "open house". Something low-key so you don't feel any pressure but still allows them to brag about their incredibly smart daughter. They get to show everyone how proud of you they are!!! That means a lot to a parent. (trust me...) Congratulations on your master's Angela!!!!! :clap2::hail: :clap2::banana :clap2::grouphug: :clap2: I know you have more school ahead...but take a minute, pause, smell the roses and think of all the hundreds/thousands of minutes of class time you have finished, papers you have written, tests you have taken and hours you have poured over the computer. You deserve it! :dance: