karen_karen

hi i had to get my port put back in place due to excerise my stitches actually popped out. so my doctor had to go back in and what he did was take mesh and somehow made it stick in place its not suppose to happen again. he attached the port to my muscle and yes it hurt alittle bit but for the most part wasnt to bad. i took pain meds because my friend came for a week and stayed with me and she thought i was in so much pain made me take the meds and sleep. i remember waking up in the hospital and not feeling any pain or anything just a bit dizzy. i got out of the bed got dressed and left because i was so pissed off the doctor only gave me .2 cc for a fill(LOL) i did all this and still didnt get a fill. since my port flipped i havent had a fill since october. (but no worried i finally got a fill last week) but you shouldnt have anything to worry about it doesnt hurt as bad as i thought it was going to and i was scared as well i went and got my friend to fly out here to take care of me for a week and my kids since my husband is in iraq. and truthfully after the second or third day i was pretty back to my old self besides me not being able to bend down as well as i was use too. its a simple procedure and it really doesnt hurt

LOL TIME FOR SOME NEW CLOTHES GIRL!!! KEEP IT UP

gratz on taking your first step.... its a hard journey but its such a rewarding one. i got banded in austin texas by dr. mark sherrod. i have never heard anything negative about him and everyone speaks highly of him and he has been a great supporter for me as a doctor. he is supposely the "go to guy" for surgeries. i really dont know anything about any of the other doctors out there but i would highly recommend dr. sherrod he does truely care about his patients well being and never gotten upset with all the questions i ask him or any concerns i have. if you liike to know more info jut hit me up and ill be more then happy to give you any info.

one other thing what worked for me was i worked my ass of for like 10 days straight i mean crazy cardio and reistance i was at the gym for about one and half hours to two hours a day straight and then i would go and take a 3 day or maybe 4 day break depending on what day of the week i started to break at and my body would catch up to all the excerise and i would lose about 5 lbs like that which really sucks those ten days. and on the break days i ate a good but reduced calories maybe about 1000 calories or so but when i work out i can eat all the way up to 1500 to 2000 calories a day.

you know i was right where you are i can can tell you its frustrating. sadly the only thing i figured or can figure out is when you start losing weight you have to do more excerise to burn the same amount you did when you were bigger i know that sounds stupid but when i weighed 230 lbs i was doing about 45 minutes of cardio a day and a personal trainer and i lost good about 10 lbs a month then i keep doing the same and when i got down to about 199 or so i realized in order for me to burn 3000 calories i had to do about and hour and 5 minutes of cardio five days a week in addition to what i did with my trainer which is insane. one thing i did get that helped me when i started with my excerise routine was i got the body bugg and its an awesome tool through 24 hour fitness and it tells you how many calories you burn throughout the day and you can log your food and see the deficit and so forth. yes its very frustrating and truthfully i dont understand why its like that i know your feeling and i do want to give up but doing cardio and resistance is in my life now and i dont think i could do without it anymore. i know this sounds insane and you prob wont want to do this buy try to up your cardio by like 15 minutes another idea maybe you want to try if you havent already is when you do any cardio go for about 4 or 5 minutes and a average speed your use too and then go has fast as you can for one minute. then back to what you normally do. it will kick your ass but it seems like it does help and those calories burn keep adding up so much faster that way. good luck and dont give up.

ironic but i just had surgery for my port flipping this last week. i have the regular band. i found out that this is not a common problem and most people dont ever see this issue come up.

it really is more of a choice you make then your doctor. seriously you have to understand both ways the reason why gastric is better in that way is because you cant eat sugar. and you really will lose weight way way quicker. so its a quick fix in my opinion. lapband is more of a lifestyle change well both are changes but gastric gives you no choice you will lose the weight. lap band you have to be mentally ready for it. because you have to make good food choices and change your eating habits all it will control is how much you eat. also you have to be ready to excerise. gastric you will lose no matter what the first year but what happens afterwards? you lose the weight but you havent actually learned to eat the correct way and in like 5 years are you going to be back to the same weight you were when you first started? lap band is alittle more of a hassle but to me its a good hassle. yes you have to get fills and yes you have to work on losing as in eating the right way and also excerising. the band is not a miracle its a choice and will help you along the way to making a better lifestyle change. also think about in 4 or 5 years with the gastric you gain weight what can you do about it? if you are banded you can get a fill and work on it again. its like having a diet there anytime you need it and you can just go get a fill.

i didnt tell many people only the few that are close and understand why i want to do this . and i can tell you im happier this way. most people (skinny people) dont understand and always think that its the easy way out. and even on tuesday when i went in for surgery to get my port fixed i can see in the nurses and techs that had to ask me questions about my lapband that they really truely didnt understand it and i know they were judging me. first question out of there mouth is always how is it working out for you? basically trying to find out if i did lose any weight or not. and when i tell them im 75 lbs down they say oh wow you did lose weight from it and blah blah blah. i know they look at me differently and i understand that they dont understand what the band is and not very educated with the whole idea. so for me i feel better that people dont know i am banded.

you have to put everything in consideration when you see a 30 lb weightloss in one week. think about how they are eating lot better and they are kinda detoxing there bodies of all the crap foods and sodas in there body. they basically poop all the crap they had stored in there and make there liver healthier. also when they are sweating they are pretty much detoxing their bodies of all the harmful crap in there. to me it makes me wonder how much crap and how unhealthy could they have been to be able to drop that much weight in one week.

i dont know if you would be able to tell. right now im going through the process of having surgery for a flipped port and i never knew it til my doctor tried to give me a fill twice once with an ultrasound machine and the other time with pictures of my xray to help him guide the needle and that didnt help. so now im due for surgery on tuesday to have my port reposition. only way to find out is when you go for your next fill and the doctor cant get to your port. and i can say its painful when he tries and tries my stomach still looks like a pin cushing and the last time he tried was a month ago. lol. the reasoning that doctor said that my stiches came out was because i do alot of excerise and when you get smaller it can break the stitches.

sadly some insurance companies dont what to handle the post treatment since it can get pretty costly..

well i see so many adds for that thing well now i know its all fake lol.. your choice you worked hard for the body you have now.

hey i have one suggestion that might help you out try out the bodybugg at www.bodybugg.com its the cheapest at the 24 hourfitness gym if you have one over there. this will help let you know how many calories you take in vs how many calories you burn throughout the day so there isnt very much guessing and you know when you can splurge or if you need to cut back alittle. i have had one for months now and its great. karen

yes i do work out i work out alot some people say maybe way to much for what most do but i like it because it makes me feel good about myself that i am accomplishing new lifestyle changes and that is what this surgery means to me. i work out about 5 days a week for about an hour to an hour and half a day. i work out about 3 days with a personal trainer and we do resilence training along with core and balance. which has helped me tremendously. and i also do about 45 minutes to an hour of cardio a day. i do everything from running to the eliptical and even on my laziest days i do the bike which isnt much but hey im still moving and that still counts alittle lol. when i weighed 250 lbs i use to be able to do 45 minutes of cardio and burn about 3000 calories a day but now since i am smaller my body dont burn as many calories a day like it use to since it dont have to work harder to keep me going everyday. so i have to do more cardio to compensate. here is a website that might be interesting to you its a 20 minute cardio work out that you can do that is comparable to 40 minute cardio work out. Sizzle calories: Workouts: self.com also if you are commited to working out and if you really want to do this i suggest the bodybugg i dont know if you ever watch biggest losers but those arm bands they wear around there arms are bodybuggs and they are the best thing you can buy for yourself in helping you lose weight. the reason why i say that is it calculates how many calories you burn throughout the day so you know how much you need to eat or how much you dont need to eat. it really does take the guess work out of calories in and calories out. also you can even look at that if you dont know why you are not losing any weight. plus it keeps you motivated to reaching your goal everyday. the website to learn about that is www.bodybugg.com the best place to buy one is prob going to be 24 hourfitness if you are already a memeber of the gym you can get one at a discounted price if not you will pay more for one. good luck in your journey wish you well karen

i been banded in july and i went into for my third fill about 3 weeks ago and the doctor couldnt get to my port had my xray done and everything looked good so i went back this monday and he still couldnt get to my port which means that my port flipped he wants me to have surgery to correct this but im not sure if i can? im looking for people out there that as had surgery because of a port flipped and need to know how hard is it really to your body. my doctor is around 4 hours away so if i do this which supposely takes a morning for everything then i would have to drive back home which is about a 4 hour drive maybe 5 depending on the traffic. i have two kids a 3 year old and a 5 year old and i would leave them with my mother when i do this but i will need to pick them up after the surgery and drive home. my doctor dont feel comfortable with me driving home so advise me to get someone to come with me. but sadly i havent told anyone about this surgery i did and that asking them to drive me 4 or 5 hours each way to do this is just not reasonable. my husband is currently in iraq so he is not an option either. so i guess what im looking for is, is it possible to be able to drive home after surgery and will i be able to take care of my kids afterwards? the doctor says its an easy procedure but the more i think about it the more im thinking about not doing it. my kids come first and if i have to stop my weight loss then i guess then that will have to do.

i dont think she told you right maybe she meant 6cc total where you are going up only 2 instead. usually they pull the old one out to make sure you have what your suppose to and then add more to make sure its the right amount.

not sure but i heard that dr. wade in dallas does it for 10500 but im not sure what is included or if he does have it for that price if nothing else wont hurt to call to find out.

i dont want to be rude or anything but why are you eating so much? the purpose of the band teach you to eat correctly and also help you with restriction granted you have no restriction but why eat pizza when you know its not healthy? why not learn to adapt with the healthier foods now instead of later? truthfully i am 6 months post op and i can still eat anything in site if i wanted to and i never really had any restriction at all ever was eating solids since a week after but i learned to control my eating and learn to eat healthier foods. sure from time to time i mess up. but what im not understanding is why sabatoge your journey at the beginning? remember the band is not a miracle band it is something to help you along the way you still have to make the changes in your life to succeed. as in excerising and eating healthy.

i felt the same way i totally understand what your going through i dont know why it happens i tried a anti nausating pill prescription and it made it worse. all i can say is it will pass there wasnt any way for me to get rid of it. i think it might be that our body took that way to get use to the band. just to let you know it took me about a month to get over it but after a month it will be gone. i know that is not the answer you wanted to hear but i didnt know any other way to get rid of it i just slept alot to get passed it.

i have a suggestion that might help... one thing i have found out is excerise is the key and burning calories and intaking less calories you burn is a big factor. you should really think about the bodybugg at www.bodybugg.com its a wonderful device that actually shows how many calories you burn and also you can input your food intake to see what your deficit is. i have been using it for about 3 months and love it i usually intake about 1200 calories and burn about 2700 to 3000 calories a day (depending what im doing) you can also get one at 24 hour fitness gym which is great because they will sit there and teach you exactly how to use it. so if you have a 24 hour fitness try it out. i dont know if you ever watched biggest loser but those little armbands they wear well thats the bodybugg. good luck on your journey... i do understand what you are saying i see now that i could have lost the weight without the band but the band gave me the motivation to do so. i know if i didnt get the band i wouldnt have excerised or watched what im eating. i dont have much a fill never really had about 4cc in a 14cc band which is really low and since i learned to excerise and watch what i eat i havent felt the need to get an adjustment. im hungry alot and i think that has to do with excerising more excerise you do the more energy you burn the more your body needs food kinda so i learned to leave the crap foods and just eat the good kinds of food. no matter which way you take its hard and you do need as much motivation as you can. good luck on your journey again and may you succeed... remember if you are down and feel like its not working think about what can you do to make it better? or what are you going to do about it?

hey gratz on getting banded!!! yeah i totally understand the motivation part my friend actually motivated me by saying if your so down and not liking what you look like what are you going to do about it? well that got my head started and i finally realized that if i fail its my fault if i succeed then its because of what i did. i too live in forth worth well actually keller. i go to 24 hour fitness off 35 over there at western blvd. so if you need some motivation ill be happy to go to the gym with you... i usually work out for about an hour a day or hour and half if your interested.. so message me if you are interested

this might be something you are interested since you do count your calories check out the bodybugg at bodybugg.com it will help you know how many calories to intake and how many you actually burn daily so you can know exactly how much you need to do and how much you should eat to have a 1000 calorie deficit

12lbs is great for a 2 week progress think about this normal healthy weightloss is 1 to 2 lbs a week about 4 to 10 lbs a month and in half that time you lost double. you should be proud. you will see it will only get harder im not trying to discourage you but the less weight you have the harder it gets and excerise will be a important key to a faster and healthier weight loss imagine it took you more then 2 weeks to put that 12 lbs on so pat yourself on the back and be proud of those 12 lbs gone.... this will not be a miracle band and you havent put the weight on in just 2 months so it will take awhile to get it off just work hard and dont get distracted.

mem thanks for your supports gratz on getting banded. truthfully i dont know if the excerises gets any easier its hard to get my butt up out of the house and go to the gym but i do find myself doing it alot more and harder like i would go slower and my heart rate would be pretty high now i have to go faster to maintain the same heart rate i did before. so i guess in a way it does get easier but you have to go faster or heavier to maintain the heartrate. i been working on running and its hard. but usually i do about 5 to 10 minutes on the treadmill running my speed is around 6 usually and i also do about 30-45 minutes on the elipitcal and that is hard too my trainer gots me doing it with no hands and every 5 minutes i have to go as fast as i can for one minute (that really puts a strain on me it takes me the whole 5 minutes to get back to a normal heart rate and then im back to doing it fast again sucks lol) but i do know that everyday it will get me closer to my goal and i keep thinking that so i can keep going. i also go in the sauna to relax and sweat my butt off. i also have a personal trainer for 3 times a week and she really works my butt there are days where i have trouble bending down to sit on the toilet. but its a good feeling since i know it will make me better. she gots me doing alot of balancing excerise and core. my problem is i have a big stomach so no matter how many crunches or situps i do wont go away without the cardio and sadly we cant choose where our bodies take the stored fat from so i keep going and hopefully soon enough it will take that damn fat away from my tummy lol...

thanks for your support guys.. and for questions i have gotten banded on july 3rd of this year. only suggestion i can help as a general suggestion is "POSITIVE PEOPLE MAKE POSITIVE OUTCOMES" my friend tells me all the time when im down and im in a plateau "what are you going to do about it" and that really gets me going to try harder because i control my eating habits and i control my life and excerise. and i am going to do something about it. other then that i can answer any questions you do have about your journey and im more then happy to help you with any question or concerns you have. also i like to congrat you guys on getting banded its a big step. i dont know about the normal part i still dont feel normal but if your talking about when will you feel back to your old self. well eveyrone is different and some are longer then others. i was in the longer range it took me about a month to get back to myself. i dont know how much cc's the doc gave you wendy but i didnt feel hungry the first few days but after that i was so hungry all the time and soups and jello didnt do anything for me i ended up eating when i wasnt suppose to not alot but i did eat normal foods like in a week (now please dont take that to heart because i know its very bad and its can be bad for you) i never had pb even from the beginning only felt something get stuck like twice and i dont really think anything got stuck really but some hot tea help my throat with that. (i think my throat was sore) good luck and thank you for your support and commments if anyone needs something that i can answer for them please let me know and i would love to help in any way i can. we all need support in some way or another...