TheGh0st

Good grief I have so much I want to share but am afraid to scare you all off with a novel. So I'll try to space it out a bit over several smaller posts. Recent Weight Loss Efforts First off for those curious how I was able to drop 4-5 pounds in just a few days keep in mind with all the swelling I still have most of it was probably Water weight. But I'm happy with what I've lost no matter where it came from. Anywho this is what I've done recently... Last Wednesday I met with banded friend and we walked nearly 4 miles at a pretty good pace. We had some bad weather last night so my friend backed out last night. But I did manage to get some stationary bicycle & treadmill time in at the physical therapists office by showing up 20 minutes early for my appointment and using their equipment until it was my turn. Then this Monday I started a "Say no to Carbs - 2 day challenge" with a couple other gals here on lapbandtalk and followed the following diet. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f15/say-no-carbs-2-day-challenge-come-join-me-48654-new/ Monday/Tuesday: 2-3 Low-Carb Slimfast, 1 Protein pudding & 1/4 Cup Cashews. Wednesday/Thursday: 1-2 Low-Carb Slimfast, 1 Protein Pudding & 1 salad (2 leaves of Romain Lettuce cut up with kitchen scissors into small pieces, 2 tablespoons Asian Sesame Ginger Dressing, 1 oz crumbled Sundried Tomato Basil flavored Feta cheese & 1/4 cup mixed nuts:sesame seeds, walnut pieces & sliced almonds) Friday (Tomorrow): I plan on having the following: 1 Low-Carb Slimfast, 1 Salad, 2 oz baked Tilapia with cajun seasonings, 2 small broccoli florets, 1 inch cube of boiled potato and possibly one protein pudding or a second Low-Carb Slimfast if I just can't resist something in the evening. This Weekend: I'm planning on being out of town so I really don't know what I'm going to do diet wise. I may try to watch my carbs real close or I might just forget about counting carbs and eat whatever I want in moderation then repeat the whole process next week. My sister the little Ms. Size 0! and her Deputy Sheriff husband who both have a full time careers, 3 pre-teen boys and are working on becoming a certified personal trainers in their "spare" time are on some similare regime where for 5 days they eat practically no carbs then for two days they claim they have to cheat in order for the plan to work. In thier case they are working towards building muscle not losing weight but I got to say part of me loves the idea of any diet that requires you to cheat. But on the other hand now that I've actually gone 3 days without eating "normal" meals I actually am a bit reluctant to start eating again. I'm just a bit scared of going from one extreme to another, but I do know that I can't just live like this forever.

Thought I ought to give everyone an update about my tummy instead of my shoulder for a change, since this is what the thread was suppose to be about. :pray2: I plan on posting the docs 3 month follow up pics after my checkup with them on the 25th. I also had my hubby take some pre-surgery pics of me in jeans and a tight no-sleeve shirt I usually wore under other shirts. My plan was to have him take some after shots in the same outfit. Only I still haven't had him do that. I can tell you though that the top fits much better around the waist than it did before. The swelling is still an issue for me. I don't have any more seroma's but I can definitely tell my legs and whole body are retaining more Water than normal. A week ago I peaked at 180 (7 pounds over my pre-surgery weight). I believe a good portion of that is due to the swelling but I fear the rest can only be attributed to all the Cookies, pies, icecream, chocolate, etc. etc. I ate throughout the holidays while I was still unfilled. Happily though I can report that after finally rededicating myself to the band last week I've managed to drop nearly 5 pounds and am hoping to lose those and be at my pre-surgery weight by next week.

Kimberly "Does your right shoulder hurt, from all the left arm massaging? lol If so, how's that left arm lookin' these days? Just hoping to cheer you up. I still have not tried it ... but if I will need shoulder surgery - I'll skip it. My shoulders are bad anyway. " All kidding aside it all started about 2 weeks after I started rubbing my left arm. So I have to wonder.... The physical therapist doubts it but says it is possible. He also says to quit worrying about it and just focus on making my shoulder better now. What he doesn't get is my arms are now lopsided. Because it did work. I actually managed to shrink my left arm down by nearly 3 inches compared to my right arm. But without knowing if that contributed or caused the pains in my right shoulder I've been too afraid to work on my other arm. Seriously.... I hope with some therapy, and no surgery you will be OK. If you require surgery, You will be in my thoughts and prayers. The therapist is still convinced I need an MRI and probably a surgery. I want the MRI too but am hoping he is wrong about the surgery. Fingers crossed it is getting a bit better. Last week the pain was so bad I had to get my doc to phone a hydrocodene (SP?) order into my pharmacy. Thursday thru Saturday I was popping 2 of them every 4 hours and still in some pain and unable to lift my right arm in a "jumping jack" motion. Sunday & Monday I was able to cut back to 1 every 6-8 hours and for the last two days I've only taken one when I wake up stiff and one at night before I go to bed in the hopes I won't wake up so stiff. My Mom has had both of hers worked on, and has very limited range of motion in both, you are much healthier, active and young.. you should be just fine even with surgery. Good luck and keep us posted. Kimberly If I do need surgery, the therapist is fairly certain the tear is limited to my supraspinata muscle (sp?). It is a muscle that runs on the back side of my shoulder that seems to control a very limited variety of movement. For example I could actually do that jumping jack motion I described with absolutely no pain as long as I turned my wrist to point my thumb upwards, but if I kept my palm flat and facing the floor it wouldn't budge past about 12 inches from my side. Ofcourse now that pain in that muscle is subsiding my bicep has felt like it has been constantly siezing up on me. Sometimes it feels fine, like now, then it just spasms and won't relax for the longest time no matter what I do. I think it is just complaining about having to take up so much of the slack with the other muscle not working.

Hmmm... So where are you looking for a doc? Their are some gals that come to our support group in KC that were banded in Topeka by a group called Tallgrass. They lived in KC but chose to go to Topeka because it was a bit cheaper and they were self pay. I can't remember them having any negative things to say about the docs at Tallgrass. There is also a Yahoo group called KCBandsters where a lot of us Kansas City area people chat. We have members from as far as Wichita and Springfield that post thier. I can give you a link if you are interested.

Forward Leap - I don't want to hijack this thread but am curious who your doc was. Could you send me a Private Message, I'd love to chat some more.

Oh Yes, I remember that thread well. It was like a train wreck in slow motion. The subject of goal weights is very interesting. We can only hope now that the joyous holiday spirit has passed that this thread doesn't end up down the same path. I agree 100% one's goal weight is their OWN INDIVIDUAL DECISION and shouldn't be judged by or reflected on by anyone else (Even if they are the same height). There is no reason under the sun that one person can't look great and be healthy at their goal weight and another person of the same height may end up as satisfied and healthy at a higher or lower goal. There are many factors besides height that come into play when choosing a goal weight. I strongly believe that what looks good on a 20 year old rarely looks as good on a 40 or 50+ year old. You know I heard something interesting on TV the other night. (Don't you know everything you hear on TV is true?) They were talking about how the human intestinal tract can hold as much as 30 pounds of partly digested foods in its system. It claimed that younger non-obese people generally only carry 5-10 pounds in their intestines on average but the older or more obese you get the longer your digestive tract takes to push it through. So presuming this has any merit then why should an older person carrying around an extra 10-20 pounds of "poo" feel the need to work their tails off to get to the same weight as that 20 year old?

Thanks Becky

Thanks for the update. Hope you weren't offended by my earlier post. I wasn't trying to assume I knew what had happened in your specific case I was just trying to explain one possible way that necrosis (sp?) can occur. I am so sorry you have lost your band. I love my band as well and would be heartbroken to lose it. I think I'd walk through a field of broken glass to get a second one if I ever lost mine no matter what the cause.

Hi Tracy - How you feelin? Steve - hope to meet you soon. I was banded by another doc in town but have switched to Malley for my fills. Have you seen his life size signed Kiss Poster? I've only heard about it. Seriously though Malley is great and his staff is top notch. You should come to one of his support group meetings that they have over at the NewHope Bariatric Center. Its a great place to talk with people face to face that have already had the band. We always welcome "visitors". With or without the band. Dolphin - Where are you in KS? if you don't mind me asking. Choosing to be banded is a very personal decision but for me I have NO REGRETS. It was the best choice I ever made. Surprisingly enough I hadn't even really been thinking about WLS surgery but my primary care doc referred me to someone she said was a bariatric specialist. She thought the doc would work with me to come up with the best weight loss strategy for me wether it be diet, exercise, pills, etc. It wasn't until I got to the seminar that I realized he only did WLS surgeries. But I was sold by the end of the presentation and have never looked back. My starting weight was 255 and I've gone from a size 24/26 to a 10/12 in about 2 years. And with no health issues.

Hey there Dianne! Shoot I forgot you were a Sep 05 bandster like me. By the way, did you ever find out about the discount for those garments through NewHope's website? I finally ordered my free doorprize garment. I should get it next week. I'll have to keep you posted on what I think of it. Darlene says she wears one and loves it so I'm sure I'll like it to. Have you heard from Karen (GoingGoingGone)? Last she posted she was on her way to Mexico to see about a leak in her band. I hope she is OK. We should send an invitation to everyone that use to post on the other thread to come over here. Lately I've been posting in the Sept 2006 thread for lack of a more active place to post. I really enjoy being able to have a thread where I can talk with people that have had the band as long as we have and has experienced some of the same issues.

Oh, Yeah! That is one of the most frequent comments I've heard at my local support group. I have a friend banded in 2004 who swears she can self "adjust" her band by regulating her salt intake. If she wants to be a little tighter on a specific day she will eat salty foods the day before or alternately if she wants to feel a bit looser for a special dinner out with her husband she will cut out most if not all sodium from her diet the day before.

Don't ask me how I missed your comment about your gallbladder already having been removed. This makes me even more worried for you. If the pain is so bad it hurts to breathe I'd be beating on my doc's door telling him to run more tests. Sometimes docs really annoy me. I had gall badder troubles off and on for years before a doc ever correctly diagnosed me. They tried to say it was indigestion, a pre-ulcerous condition or even just a muscle spasm. It wasn't until I was drug down to the ER by my DH against my wishes that they finally got it diagnosed. Even then they really didn't pay me much attention and were about to send me home until I decided to quit putting a brave face on my pain and started hamming it up a bit. Making myself cry and moan with the pain rather than holding it in like I'm use to.

Love the clothing exchange idea as well. Another thing I wish you could do (but have a feeling is not really possible) Is to make it so that when you change your signature line you have the option of not applying it to your old posts. I frequently wish I could go back to an old post of mine or one of my friends and see what our sig line tickers looked like back then.

I know the smileys are just a silly little element overall. But sometimes a well placed smiley:smilewinkgrin: can make the difference between a thread being a healthy debate or a thread turning into a nasty shouting match.:eek: Thanks again for bringing them back. Hopefully the edit issues are resolved but still if I had to chose between being able to edit my post or being able to insert a well placed smiley or two I would pick the smiley everytime.

Ditto - Alex you are the best! I can never thank you enough for all the support and love I have received from this site. If it weren't for your Lapbandtalk.com I am confident I wouldn't have made it nearly as far as I have with this band. :eek: Yipee! The Smiley's are Back!!!! Thankyou Alex.

Please do NOT wait until next week to address this. You need to get in to a Doc TODAY. I repeat TODAY!!!! The symptoms sound a lot like the ones I had with my gallbladder but then again I don't like what you are saying about the lack of restriction, and how the doc thinks once you get under 200 pounds that there won't be. That's a bunch of hogwash in my non-medical opinion.... RANT AGAINST DOC - I am not a doctor, nurse or affiliated with the medical practice in any way, but I have seen the bands, held them in my hands. At one support group they even passed it around with a syringe inserted in the port so that you could but the band around your finger and fill it up to feel how it tightens. On my little finger I was easily able to fill it full enough to actually hurt my finger. There is no way that wouldn't give someone restriction. My docs office insists they could fill anyone tight enough to make it impossible to even swallow Water, no matter what there weight.... END OF RANT Sorry about the rant but it does make me worry that your pain could somehow be band related. Did your doc pulled the Fluid out of your band to see if there was as much in there as his chart says their should be? Is it possible that you band has a leak? If it did it shouldn't cause an infection like this but who knows? Please get in today even if you have to go to the ER. And keep us posted.

Sorry about the scale not moving for you Wombat. I have to say mine did move and big time. I lost nearly 4 pounds in those 2 days! Of course a most of it probably had more to do with my problems in the bathroom yesterday than the actual liquid diet itself. But I'll take it.

Yesterday's Breakdown: 56oz - Water 2 - LowCarb Slimfast (190/20/2 per can) 1 - serving Protein pudding (217/21/10) 1/4 cup - Cashews (188/5/8) (I know 2 days in a row but I really needed it this time) That brings my total to 785 Calories, 66 Protein & 22 Carbs Now I'm going to try to take small steps back up to a "normal" diet. Today & Tomorrow I plan on having 1 or 2 Slimfast, 1 salad & 1 Protein Pudding.

Hey there Sades - I'm 5'2" as well. My doc was one that tried to set goals at around half of your beginning excess weight according to some studies that showed that to be the average loss. Using my docs method from my starting weight my goal would have been 89 kg (196 lbs). I never bought into that instead I was originally shooting for the top end of the healthy BMI range or 63kg (139 lbs). Only now that I've made it down to 74 kg (163 lbs) I am starting to wonder if I really want to lose much more. I keep waivering back and forth between wanting to strive to lose those last 11kg and reach my original goal or just shooting for another 2kg and being satisfied with a goal of 72 kg (159 lbs) for now my ticker has split the difference between the two though the more I think about it the more I'm leaning towards changing it to the higher goal of 72 kg then modifying it back lower after I reach that goal if I decide I still want to lose more.

Well the problem seems to have "passed" (OK bad pun) I did decide to eat a few more cashews today, though probably only 1/8 cup. I told myself it was to help settle things down but it was probably just another cop-out to cheat. ONLY 8 more hours until I go to bed!!!! YIPEE! We can do this.

This may be a bit gross but pain pills usually give me constipation. Then I think the Water pill softened up the stool "up-stream" to the point I had diarhea trapped behind the constipation. after typing the last post I went running back to the bathroom. Had to then lay on the floor until everthing stopped spinning but I swear after this last trip I've got to be a good 5 pounds lighter than I was this morning. Just to make the visual even more disgusting. Now that I'm back to my desk again I'm sitting here eating my chocolate Protein pudding with chunky Peanut Butter mixed in. If I have to make a third trip to the restroom I think I'm going to go home. This isn't exactly the kind of thing you want to be going through at work.

Hey all. I may have to back down from the challenge today. I just went to the restroom and nearly passed out. (Dizzy, cold sweats, etc.) I'm a bit better know but still feel a bit dizzy. I don't know if it is due to the lack of food alone or a reaction to the lack of foods being taken with my meds. I've got a probable torn rotator cuff at the moment. I've started physical therepy yesterday and can't get insurance to approve an MRI to make an accurate diagnosis until I've been to therapy for 2 weeks. In the meantime I've been taking some prescrption Hydracodone (sp?) for the pain. I took one at 5:30am and another at 7:30 but haven't had any since. I also took a muscle relaxant this morning for the shoulder as well as a prescription "water" pill for some swelling issues related to my Plastic Surgery a couple months ago. It could be the combination of these drugs along with the lack of food is effecting me. I don't know but if it doesn't clear up within the hour I think I'm going to eat something. So Far today: 2 bottles of Water 1 Low Carb Slimfast

Thanks for the idea. I like to use Dance Dance Revolution at home but it would be nice to try something different for a change of pace.

Good night all. Only 24 more hours left to go. Tomorrow I'm going to shoot for (2) Slimfast and (2) puddings. NO, I repeat NO Cashews! That would give me a respectable daily total of 814/82/24.

Really is pretty good. Helps curb my cravings for sweets and icecream. You can change it up all kinds of ways. I've mixed in frozen bananas, frozen strawberries. A dash of Lime juice in the cheesecake flavor to make it more like key lime pie. A couple friends of mine also like to add instant coffee to the chocolate pudding (YUCK!) The pudding mix adds some unnecessary calories and carbs but I just can't hardly stand to not feel like I ate something solid. So the pudding helps me change a diet chore into a diet treat.