MADE IT 2 MY GOAL..OH YEAH

I know exactly what you are going through or have gone through...didn't look to see when this was posted. Up until last week, my band was way to tight. For almost 3 months, I fought with anything that I ate...I would eat it would get stuck and come right back up. I'd drink something, and it would come right back up. I knew that I was to tight, but I didn't want to believe it..you know what I mean. I was thinking, the tighter the better, the more I would lose but was totally wrong. I was so tight, that I ended up going to candy bars and anything with alot of sugar in it so that it would go down easier and I was able most of the time, to keep it down. I went last week (finally) to get an unfill and confessed to my doctor what I had been eating. He was really nice about what I had been doing and me not calling him sooner. He explained what I knew. I was so tight that I couldn't eat and my body wasn't getting the nutrution that it needed there for, I wasn't losing weight like I should had although I had lost 15lbs since the last fill. He removed 3ccs from my band and since the day after, I have had no problems what so ever. No throwing up, no PBing, no heartburn nothing. Now my problem is, I can eat with nothing happening and I get hungry way to often. I feel like I can't get enough to eat although I eat probably more than I should and it seems about an hour to an hour and half later, I feel hungry again. I now face the fact that I am to loose and need another fill. I want to get another fill because I want to start losing weight again. I am only a little over 30lbs from where my doctor wants me to be and 50 from where I want to be. I know that if I don't go get this fill, I will end up gaining some of the weight back. But, I just keep remembering the pain that i went through for right at 3 months when I was to tight. I had already made an appointment with the doctor for a slight fill for august 19th, but I really want to go before this and he told me that if I needed a fill before then, to give them a call and they would schedule me in for one. I am seriously thinking of calling 2morrow and getting in next week. I know that when I go in, he and I are going to have to have a serious talk about my being scared of becoming to tight again. Just wanted to share my story with you just to let you know, you are not alone in this situation. Hope all turns out or has turned out well for you!

I have a major case of sweet tooth going on right now. I know that I'm not suppose to have sweets anymore, but I am really wanting something. What do you all do when your sweet tooth starts acting up?

I had 3cc of Fluid removed from my band yesterday and after 24 hours of a liquid diet I got to eat a little bit of Breakfast this morning. After 3 months not hardly being able to eat and when I was able to eat, throwing it up, I was still worried about how I would do eating. I took it slow with small bites. By the time I was finished, I had ate 5 small pieces of Turkey Bacon and 1 fried eggs that was fried with non stick cooking spray. that added up to 195 calories for breakfast. I gave it a while to see what would happen and what do you know. I got it down just fine and it never has come up. I am so happy. I can finally eat and have no problems.

This is just a quick update on my unfill. I made a post a few nights ago stating that my band was to tight and I had to go in for a slight unfill. I was put under the fluro and had a drink some of that delicious liquid barium. It showed the barium going down and right when it hit the part where my band is, it shot right back up, not in one but two different parts with a small band like thingy holding the parts together. He knew right them, my band was way to tight. He took out 3cc and had me doing the liquid barium swallowing test again and it went through just fine. I believe I now only have about 3 or 4cc in my band at the moment. I have an appointment for August 18 to start filling it up again. This time, if I feel it is to tight, I will go back instead of waiting for 3 months. He explained that if I had come in sooner, I would not have had to have so much removed, but since I waited so long, my stomach was really irritated and needed some time to heal up. So, just like with a fill, I am now on a 24 hour liquid diet followed by a 24 hour mushy diet, then it's back to regular food. Meanwhile, I am not all that hungry, but my mind is playing tricks on me because my family is in the kitchen eating tacos so I have decided to come to the back of the house and put a little distance between that wonderful smell and myself.

I have posted before about the problems that I have been having since my last fill in April. I haven't been able to eat hardly at all and when I am able to eat, 90% of the time I end up throwing it back up. I constantly keep horrible heartburn and hardly ever have any energy (guess its from not being able to eat). I have been told by family, friends, people on here, and even my hubby that my band is to tight. Although I haven't been losing weight like I was before my last feel I haven't been gaining any either and didn't want to admit to myself that my band was to tight. Why I haven't wanted to admit to it, I have no earthly idea. I finally decided today to call the doctor and explain what was going on and has been going on since my last fill and the nurse said just the same as everyone else had been telling me all along. My band is to tight and I need to come in to have some of the Fluid taken from my band. So, I have a doctors appointment this coming Wednesday to have a slight unfill. I sure do hope that the doctor doesn't take to much out to where I am able to eat more than I should.

For the past couple of months, I have noticed that I am having bruises pop up all over my legs. I don't remember hitting them on anything, and cant figure out where they are coming from. Does anyone else have this problem since they had the lapband placed?

food becoming stuck is a normal daily routine that happens to me. I'm not sure why. Maybe I take to big of a bite/don't chew well enough/or eat something that don't agree with my band/or maybe my band is to tight. I don't know. I have an appointment with my surgeon next month, so I will find out then.

I was just wondering, does anyone know what the average weight loss is for the first year after being banded? My surgeon has told me, but it was before I have my band placed and I don't remember what he said it was. I am drawing very close to my 1 year mark and was just wondering where I fall in with the average.

In the mornings, your band is usually tight. Not sure why this is, but that's the way it is. I start to loosen up around noon and then around 6 in the evening, my band is pretty loose. I hope you get things figured out..good luck.

Hey everyone. I am so excited! If I wasn't so tired from putting insulation up all day, I could take off running. I set a goal for myself about 2 months ago saying that by my birthday, I wanted to be down to 175lbs. I have only 5 pounds to go to meet that goal. I am so proud of myself for how well I have been doing with my band. I'm not one to pat myself on the back or toot my horn, but toot toot baby and I'm giving myself a wonderful pat on the back. After this weight goal is met, I am going for 150, then down to 130. When I reach 130 I will be at my last and final goal. Hope everyone is doing well and is patting their own back while tooting their own horn. We all deserve it, whether we do it ourselves or someone else does it for us. :tongue2::thumbup:

I just wanted to stop by this morning and say good morning, while I am enjoying my first cup of caffeine free sugar substituted apple & cimminon flavored hot tea. I hope all of you are well.

I use my card when I go to shoneys to eat. Not all shoneys accept it though, but the ones that i have been to, they let me order off the childs menu anyways. Most places will let you order off the childs menu with or without your card. Don't be afraid to flash your card, so what if people hear or see you with it...at least they know you are doing something about your weight.

I'm almost a year out and I still eat salads. I just eat a little bit with fat free dressing. I have had no problems with it.

I agree with you, things should be the same. 60 here is very low.

Hey everyone! Just wanted to let you guys know a little something that happened to me Thursday. It started off a pretty normal day. Around noon Thursday, I started having some mild cramping in my stomach. I thought it was just where I had swallowed to much air drinking again and was having gas bubble pains. The pains I was having were persistent and getting worse. By around 6 that evening, I was doubled up in the fetal position on the couch crying like a baby. My husband called my surgeon and the Nurse told him to take me to the nearest ER since I was in so much pain and would not be able to make it to the hospital they use because it was 2 hours away and she thought I was having a gallblader attack. We got to the nearest ER, we waited for a half an hour, with me sitting in a wheelchair crying my eyes out and the pain getting worse and worse. After taking 3 people back that come in after I do, my husband calls the doctors office again and they tell him to take me to Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga...a longer drive but atleast they would see me, plus they have doctors and on call nurses that deal with the kind of surgery I had. About an hour later, we finally got to Memorial and about 20 minutes I was back in one of the rooms. The Doctor was a really really nice lady, and saw how much pain I was in ordered an IV for demerol (she quickly became my best friend). They did tons of blood work, an X-ray and a CT scan. When they results had finally come back, she come back in to see me. These where my following problems...I had nothing in my intestines but air...my vitiam levels were very low, and my blood sugar was at 60. OMG, I thought I was going to crap on myself. She ask if I had been eating well the last couple days. No I haven't. My band has been really tight, and I now know that it may be too tight. She explained by me not eating as I should, there was nothing behind the air in my intestines to push through and it was just building up and building up until the pain become unbearable. She then ordered a syringe of sugar water and vitiams to go into my IV and another round of Demerol because the other shot had worn off. I had been told several times, that my band was to tight that I needed to have at least a little bit taken out. But, I didn't want to do it. My not wanting to do this, lead to a 7 hour stay in an Emergency Room with really low sugar and vitiams. I have to make an appointment with my surgeon first thing Monday morning to have a little bit of my fill let out, and also let him know what happened. I am really worried that once I tell him this, I will end up having to have my band removed. I just hope that he doesn't advise that it be removed. I surely hope that my experience with this will teach everyone else, that they need to eat right and if they think their band may be a little to tight (even just a little to tight) they will meet with their surgeon and have it loosened. I DO NOT want anyone to go through the pain that I had to go through Thursday night. I slept all day yesterday and most of the morning today. I do feel alot better than what I did, but still a little tired. I guess that is expected with the major dose of pain medication that I was given. I hope all of you are doing well.

Just thought you guys would like to hear about this. OK, I weighed myself Monday morning. I had posted a few days ago about being in a rut and not losing anything for the past few weeks. I got my hair cut off yesterday evening (man, I tell you, I haven't had it this short since I was in high school). I get up this morning and the thought run through my mind wondering if I had lost anything since I got my hair cut. So, I step back on the scales and believe it or not, I had lost 2 1/2 pounds. I couldnt do anything but laugh about that. I don't know, to me I found it a little bit funny. Wouldn't it be nice if losing weight was as simple as having your hair cut off? I called my cousin (she was the one that cut it) and told her about it. She laughed at me and then ask if I wanted her to come back up to the house and me go for the bald look...lol. Just thought maybe this little short story could be a pick me up for some of you out there.

How bout trying that sunless tanning lotion. I got some last summer and I didn't streak with it a bit. I believe it was Suave. It worked really well. I have to admit, I have been laying out in the pool this summer but mostly with my back showing. Sunless tanning is a lot more safe, but laying out on a float in the sun, it is just so relaxing. Also, if you are worried bout your scars, how bout trying the spray tan. I saw on commercial the other day that you are now able to order it and do it in your own home now.

Sometimes we all need an extra push in order to lose what weight we want and need to lose. The band is exactly the push that I needed and it has worked wonderfully for me. Whoever this lady is that is giving you down the road about getting banded. Just ignore her! She isn't in your shoes and does not know what you have gone through. You may not be as heavy as some of us started out being, but if your PCP and other Doctors think you will benefit from having this done, and you also think you will benefit, that is all you need. Some ppl just want to get up in your business and put their two cents in when it isnt wanted. Man, I thought this was suppose to be a support site for ppl wanting the band and for ppl who have already gotten the band. If you ever need someone to talk to that is on your side, send me a private message.

I totally understand with you being a self pay, how worried you are. That's a lot of money to spend and then you not being sure if it's worth it or not, well that only adds to it. Luckily I am one of the lucky ones that my insurance covered all of the surgery except for $500.00. If my insurance had not paid, I would probably not have had the lapband. A few key things to remember. 1. While the band is a tool, it is not a magic tool. It will work, but you have to help it work. You have to totally change your lifestyle, from eating healthy to exercising. 2. The band will not work over night. It takes time to lose weight. Just remember, you did not gain all this weight overnight and you wont lose it overnight. Hard work and determination will pay off. 3. Never compare yourself to someone else who has the band. We all lose at different speeds. You may be one of the ones who loses fast, then again, you may be one of the ones that loses slow. If you lose slow, don't let it get you down, SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE! There's more I could say to you, but to me, those 3 are the most important ones. I wish you all the success in the world, and trust me, as long as you do as you are suppose to, you wont regret spending the first dime for your lapband.

I have the realize band and love it. I really like the fact that once I lose all of my weight, I don't have to worry bout my port showing.

For the past few days, I have been getting out in the swimming pool trying to get a little bit extra time in on exercising. I have heard that water exercising is better than regular exercising. Does anyone know if this is true or not? Also, I have hit a platue (how ever you spell it) and have stopped moving on the scales for the past 3 weeks. It is really aggrevating me because I'm not eating more than I should, I actually haven't been eating as much as I should lately, but still, no movement on the scales....at least they are going up...that's good news. Can anyone help me out with this and if anyone knows of any water exercises and cares to give me a few hints I'd greatly appreciate it.

I was told the same thing. The reason for not drinking right after or while you are eating, is because it the liquid helps to push the food from your pouch faster. so you get hungry sooner than what you would if you didn't drink. It's still hard for me not to drink right after eating. I have found that getting up right after I am finished eating and starting to clean the kitchen helps a lot. By the time I am finished cleaning, it's time for me to drink.

OK, I'm GAME SOUND LIKE FUN! My number is 86 86+747 =833

Not only was informed by my surgeon that the weight would not fall off in an instant, but I knew it already. I know that I did not gain all this weight overnight so why should I expect it to fall off overnight? I knew it would take a while to come off and I knew it would be hard to get it off and even harder to keep it off. On the 18th I will be 10 months post-op and so far i have lost 85 pounds. I believe everyone reading this will agree with me on saying that gaining weight is a lot easier and faster than losing weight. Of course a lot of us set our expectations way to high, and that (in my opinion) causes depression if they are not met. In my first 2 weeks after post-op, I lost 15 pounds like a lot of others on this site. After that first 2 weeks until like my 4th fill, I lost very slowly. I have my good weeks where I can lose between 5 and 6 pounds, then I have my average weeks that I lose only a couple pounds, then I have those weeks (like 2 or 3 in a roll) where I don't lose anything at all, but I don't gain either. I look at those weeks as like my body is getting caught up with the weight loss. I know I will eventually get to the weight and size I want to be, and if it takes me 3 yrs or just a year and a half, I don't care. I have tunnel vision when it comes to my band and weight loss. I will lose it at the pace I am suppose to lose it, no faster no slower.

Every morning for breakfast I either have oatmeal or grits. Everyone once in a while, I will have 1 scrambled egg with a side of toast and a couple pieces of bacon. Anyone have any egg reciepes or anything else to suggest I try for breakfast?