Melissa Lea

I went with doctor Spivak simply for his surgical skills and FDA trials with the band. You can go to his website (www.bandmd.com) and read his bio. His staff is great and very attentive as well. I am self pay. I used capital one. It was so easy and hassel free. Melissa Lea

Heather -- Once you get good restriction, your band will be a better tool for you. Think of it this way. When was the last time you could say that 6 months have passed and you DID NOT gain weight?? Let us know how your port revision goes. Melissa Lea

Stephanie there is also a group that meets in the Woodlands/Conroe area. I'm not sure what side of Montg. County you are on. Here is a link to their next meeting time. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=21242&page=2

The next North Houston Bandster meeting is: November 9, 2006 6:30 p.m. to ? Cafe Express 9595 Six Pines Dr., Suite 150 The Woodlands, TX 77380 All are welcome! Melissa Lea

Congrats Socalgal3. That's awesome news. A great NSV for you!! Melissa Lea

Well, I try to avoid our office kitchen as much as possible. I bring my own lunch to eat and keep it in my office cooler. BUT, the dreaded email comes out, "Goodies" in the kitchen, enjoy! I do very well as long as I do not see them. But this is a struggle for me as I LOVE sweets. At home it's never a problem because I simply do not keep them in my house. Susan --why couldn't that jar of M&M's be quarters or nickles or something like that. That would be my luck too. You did the brave thing, give them away!! Melissa Lea

Congrats! I know how wonderful the feeling is. I think the NSV motivate me more than the scaled victories. Melissa Lea

No, my port was never missed. I get all my fills under fluoro. They fill me to the level, they pull out the saline to make sure that's the level and put it right back in. He told me that for some people, the normal saline is more greatly absorbed through the body and that causes you to lose some of your fill. They changed my saline to some thicker stuff and this one still has the same level of restriction, once restriction set in. Melissa Lea

Halloween isn’t even here yet and all the goodies are being brought into the office on a daily basis. My taste buds say yes, yes, take one cookie, candy, piece of cake it will be fine. But my Brain is saying NO! NO! NO!, you already know what it taste like, save the calories for something really special, move on.<O:p</O:p <O:p</O:p Anyone else starting to feel the holiday craze in the office?? <O:p</O:p <O:p</O:p I am here to publicly commit myself to eating healthy through the holidays and continue to be the LOOZER that I am. Anyone else like to join me?<O:p</O:p <O:p</O:p Melissa Lea<O:p</O:p

Sweetie calm down. You have not failed!!! It took me 3 fills before I felt restriction. In fact, on my first 2 fills I had lost some of my fill (absorbed into my body). My third fill they changed me to a thicker saline (omnipaque ??spelling) to prevent the saline from being absorbed into my body. And just a warning, my third fill kicked in 2 weeks and 1 day after the fill. WOW!!! I heard of that happening but didn't think it would happen to me. Give this fill at least another week. If no restriction, call for another fill. Melissa Lea

Well, I am feeling a bit discouraged today. But I am right on track (according to my bandster way of losing). I haven't lost in ounce in almost 2 weeks. It seems that I will lose a couple of pounds then nothing for a couple of weeks. Go figure!! I was out of town again this past weekend and as usual happy to report no weight gain. That's a miracle in and of itself. I use to always gain weight when I went out of town. Glad to see so many of you doing great. Melissa Lea

My 2 cents worth -- I don't think that it is the Effexor (venlafaxine). The effexor does 1 or the other: decrease your appetite/decrease your weight OR increase your appetite/increase your weight. With the banding, you appetite is under control therfore we should not see the weight increase. However on a metabolic level it may cause edema. The +/- 3 lbs on the scale you may be seeing might be fluid fluctuations. You may not be getting enough calories each day. You may want to try and aim for 1200 calories and maybe even up to 1300 to 1400 calories for 2 days to get your metabolism going. If you stay in nutrient deprevation too long that will decrease your metabolism and halt weight loss, may even promote weight gain at lower calorie levels for an extended amount of time. Unfortunately, weight loss is not a perfect science and we have to work and tweak until we find the right calorie fit for our body type. I know it's Frustrating. Hang in there! Melissa Lea

I can relate about the Christmas goal. I'm hoping I can make it. However, I changed my Christmas goal to "Onderland" last week (16 lbs.). My first goal was not realisitic, rather optimistic. Right now I've been sitting on the same number on the scale for 5 days. That seems to be how my weight loss goes. Lose a couple of pounds then sit for a week or 2. I have been noticing a major difference in my body. I think I'm losing inches right now. The biggest change that I can visibly notice is my face ....It's looking thinner. I haven't been able to visually see it on the rest of my body but can feel it in my clothes. October challenge for me ......AVOID HALLOWEEN CANYD!!!!!!!!!! Melissa Lea

Yea Tricia -- You have an excellent head start. The number one reason I got the band was to perserve my health. I am one of the "lucky" ones. I didn't have an co-morbid diagnosis prior to my surgery, other than being obese. I knew it was time to take control of my weight and stop it from controlling me. Regina there is a really good christian book that you and your husband may want to read (together preferably). I can't remember the authors name (I can get it for you when I'm home). It's call "The Five Love Languages". It is truely eye opening. In essence, we communicate love to our significant other in the ways that we want our significant other to communicate love to us. And our languages for this love communication is completely different. Again, it's very eye opening and I highly recommend it to anyone that needs to improve their relationship or make a great relationship even better. Melissa Lea

The next North Houston Bandster meeting is: October 19, 2006 6:30 p.m. to ? Cafe Express 9595 Six Pines Dr., Suite 150 The Woodlands, TX 77380 All are welcome! Melissa Lea

Oh this is very beautiful. I can so relate to what you wrote but I could not put it in these words. Thanks for sharing your inner thoughts about the start of your journey. Melissa Lea

I too suffer from migrain headaches. I do sometimes get nauseated with my migrains but not very often. As soon as I have a headache that resembles what is a "typical migrain" for me, I am extremely proactive and start taking my prescription medicine to stop the migrain. I call it a day and go to bed. If you tend to have vomiting with every migrain, I would suggest that you speak with your surgeon about this. He/she can prescribe some medicine for the nausea in the form of liquid or supository (?? spelling). Melissa Lea

My port is about 3 to 4 inches below my bra line as well. I'm so happy to have it here. I do have a low profile port. When asking to receive a low profile port, Dr. Spivak said he wouldn't know if I was an initial canidiate until he could see how deep the fat layer is where he places the port. He said if it's a thick layer it's better to place the regular port deeper. Well, I do not have a lot of fat where he places the port so I knew going in I would come out with the low profile port. I also read it in my post-op report so I know it's there. I can fell my port only if I push really deep to find it. I mostly just feel scar tissue. Melissa Lea

I went through capital one healthcare finance http://www.capitalone.com/healthcarefinance/index.php?linkid=WWW_0606_MEDL_01_HOME_H1_05_G_MC1 I have excellent credit so I was given the best rate that they have. If you can pay off in 2 years I think you can have 0% interest rate. Check it out. Best wishes to you! Melissa Lea

Lisa -- The post fill diet really depends on your doc. I do not have to do liquids after a fill. I only have to do soft/mushy foods for 48 hours after a fill. Some have to do liquids for a week. They will let you know what you are suppose to do post fill tomorrow. I hope you get good restriction. Melissa Lea

Hi BandaCat -- I'm one of those people that refuse to "count" calories since being banded (June 2006). Like you, I have counted calories for decades with little success. I am working towards life style changes. I eat until I am comfortably satisified. I also do not deprive myself of pleasures from time to time. About 2 weeks ago I went on vacation. During my vacation I had a couple of cocktails, I ate a whole candy bar, and even had some light ice cream one day. I'm happy to report, I didn't gain 1 ounce on my vacation. I didn't lose either. But I allowed myself to enjoy the whole experience (per my band allowance). You have to remember that the band is a tool. You can't eat the candies, ice cream, etc. everyday. You still have to work very hard at making healthy choices and following the banded rules. The more healthy choices you make and eventually exercise you do, the weight will fall into place. Right after surgery, your goal is to heal. Once you heal the second goal is to get some good restriction (find your sweet spot). The rest, at least for me, has fallen into place. Best wishes, Melissa Lea

Good morning everyone! Well, I do believe that my fill from last week has finally kicked in this morning. I was thinking yesterday that I didn't feel much change in my restriction level. Well, this morning I had my first PB (post fills). It wasn't bad but enough to get my attention. I'm now eating my kashi bar (like a granola bar) very slowly. I'm feeling the restriction. I'm so very excited!!! I hope the restricition is here to stay awhile. Barb12, that's a cool chart that you found. That's very helpful for those counting calories. I guess I'm just one of the people that refuse to count calories anymore. That's part of my lifestyle change. I've done that for decades and it never seemed to work for me. Hummmm, we will see how it all plays out. Melissa Lea

I thought we could all use a little twisted humor today ...... Melissa Lea

Hey there! Since PB's appear to be the topic of discussion recenetly. I came across this thread that some of you may not have seen. I have only had one small PB prior to my first fill and it lasted a whole 2 minutes. Although I can somewhat relate, I can't imagine hours of pain. Reading never hurt anyone -- http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=17659 Melissa Lea

Randi L -- I am sorry to hear that you are Pb'ing often. You may want to try sipping on 100% pure pineapple juice with your meals. Pineapple contains a natural digestive enzyme, Bromelain, that is specific to breaking down proteins. This may assist you with the digestion of your foods. Remember, digestion starts in the mouth, so chew, chew, chew to get the salivary digestive enzymes cranking. Oh I forgot to mention, I have to take pills for my migraines that I get. I have sipped (2 to 3 sips) of real coke each time to dissolve my pill faster. Coke will dissolve anything. I've always had real coke with my pills, only difference is 2 to 3 sips vs. whole can. The 2 to 3 sips (emphasize small) of carbonation have not affected me. Best wishes to you. You are not alone. Melissa Lea