riley4183

Holy cow! That's a LONG time to wait for a fill if you need one. I wonder if I can call or email Dr. Baggs if I think I need another one . . . if I lose fast so the band gets loose again, I'll need one again in a month or 6 weeks! Oh well I will try to remember to ask him at my fill next week. Thanks Pam! Rosey I'm great, thanks My scale is my friend again!!! And realloy loving my 3-mile walks into the sunrise every morning

5 months between fills? Yikes! Pam was that at your request or do they actually try to make you wait that long?!?

That's what I figured too, that she thought you had RNY - it would explain the unrealistic expectations on her part!!! I think you got the extra Robin appt. 'cause you're vegetarian, then :-) She wants to have a sit-down with me before I stop eating meat again, too. I guess that's her specialty. I just checked my appointments with Robin & Dr. Baggs next Friday online, and it still says Richmond. When I was making the appointment, he said "any day but Thursday" so I just assumed they were in Pinole on Thursdays . . . . I'll go anywhere for this fill tho, I NEED it! I'm starving right now . . . of course I have not eaten since last night, but still! I don't like hungry Oh and Nadliner, I had the same coffee withdrawel experience . . . . tried to quit cold turkey right after orientation, had horrible headaches, cold sweats, it was awful - like drug withdrawels I guess. I started right back up! Quad shot latte 2 x a day, a real addict . . . Dr. Zimmerman (Psych) told me to get some real good ground coffee from Starbuck's or Peet's or Wolf's, have them grind it "1/2 caf" and ENJOY my coffee. Once I was down to a single 1/2 caf cup a day, I was fine. I literally weaned myself off of it. But here's the thing: it really is an appetite stimulant, so they sooner you can cut down the sooner you will lose your appetatie. Weird but true! Riley

Hi Nadinerl, welcome! You're on your way! The pre-op diet worked for me bacause I really believed that it was the last diet, ever. Every 5 lbs I would lose, I would text all my friends "10 lbs gone forever, 15 lbs gone forever" of whatever - and it really is. This is the last time that you have to do it! You still have to watch what you eat after banding of course, but it is SO different. Just keep at it! Oh and I had to do all 3 things to lose .. . 1200 cals (900 sometimes), 64+ oz. of water, and excercise - walking 5-6 miles a day. Christine, yay for breaking that plateau, and WOO-HOO on your first fill!!! You will lose after that, for sure - he puts you back on clear liquids! Have a good fill! I'm so glad you are video-ing it, I need a fill video to share with the 14-week class up here :-) Tina, Nicole is right Robin is crazy!!! 1-2 lbs a week is a normal loss for lap-banders, Dr. Baggs was thrilled that I had lost almost 20 lbs. in 6 weeks and that's not much more than you have lost. I just went 3 1/2 weeks losing only 1 1/2 lbs the whole time, so 10 lbs a month woulda been fantastic!! Most people do not have restriction until their 2nd fill at least. I eat LOTS more than 1/4 cup, there is no way I could make it on 1/4 cup right now - at least not until my next fill. And I do log everything I eat, and I am consistently between 900 and 1200 calories a day - that's just what my body needs right now I guess. Jeez. I really like Robin & all, maybe she is really wanting you to lose as fast as a RNY or something. You look GREAT to me!!! Oh and I think everyone has to meet with her to get the 2nd fill, and bring a food log, so you'd have to do it anyways even if you hadn't asked questions. She's gonna FREAK when she sees my log!! You said Dr. Baggs is doing all of his fills in Pinole now??

I had Dr. Fischer for orientation too, and he was really anti-band - I never would have chosen him! I chose Dr. Baggs because he is the lap-band guy (and cause he matched my personality), but I actually met with Dr. Park first and just adored her! I went to pre-op appointments with a friend of mine who had her for RNY, and she always invited me to ask my questions about my own situation, she's really sweet OH and she's the head of surgery!!! I don't know anyone who has had her and not been thrilled. Hope that helps!

What I meant to say is, the only pain I had after day 5 was from my port. And that hurt for a long long time. But Nicole, I'm kinda worried that yours is hurting when you eat and stuff. It should get steadily better, not do flare-ups of getting worse! Damned port. Have you asked Dr. Baggs?

Oh my gosh you guys, I had so much fun yesterday!!! So good to meet you all in person finally . . .and ya know, everyone was exactly how I expected them to be from chatting for 7 months with them! Means you girls are honest. And BEAUTIFUL!!! Oh my goodness, I can't believe how darned good looking that group is! I sat there and looked around and felt like I had known all you guys for a long time - I guess I kinda have! Smallerj, I had surgery on a Monday and went back too work the following Monday - desk job, but lots of opportunities to get up and walk around all during the day. I ended up just working 5 or 6 hour days that week, I had developed a bad infection (cellulitis) at 4 days post op and was on some AWFUL antibiotics to knock that out, they worked but they made me queasy-sick so I didn't really feel like working. My recovery was very very fast and easy, but everyone has a different experience and you just don't know what yours will be until you get out on the othert side. I'd suggest that you take off 2 weeks minimum if you have the sick time. I didn't have it! I have friends who went back in 4 days, there is NO way in heck that I would have done that!!! I only had port pain after day 5, and I was SO needing to get up and do stuff - adult ADD here - that my house has never been cleaner! I was ready to go back to work, that's for sure. But I had also told everyone here (almost 200 people, I'm not shy) what I was doing, so never had to try & "hide" my little 2-oz. containers of full liquids in the fridge. Yay, scale moving again!!!:smile2: Riley

Yea I'm excited too! So Nicole, how was your first fill???

SO excited. I just looked at the menu, the lunch-sized pistachio-crusted salmon sounds devine . . . YAY! Christine, if I get lost I'm calling you, girl!

Yay! I am going with someone else but we have to eat lunch SOMEwhere, right?? I won't be able to hang out for a long time but at least I can meet you guys! I hope. Our seminar goes until 12:30, it's downtown somewhere so she said "OK" so hopefully you will see me tomorrow! I have only lost 1.2 lbs in the past 3.5 weeks, so I need some encouragement too!!

Hey all! I'm going to be in Sactremento for a Conference tomorrow!!!!! Where is this Mimi's place??

No, doesn't hurt anymore - but it did for 4 weeks solid! Then it stopped almost overnight at the end of week 4. In fact, I remember when I went in for a fill at 6 weeks I complained to Dr. Baggs & told him if I had come in at 4 weeks I would have spend the whole appointment whining about how much it hurt and stuck out, he laughed and said that's why we don't have you come in at 4 weeks! The he told me about how they "carve" out a plave for it and the body responds with a bunch of fluids, then they get re-absorbed by the body at 5 or 6 weeks and all is well.

Thanks Tina, that sure helps! I did not recognize you from your little pic on here! Wow you girls are all LOOKERS!!! Watchout, world!! I know what you mean about the faster weight loss with RNY, but there are reasons we didn't do it that way! Remember all of those things . . .but it IS hard to put up with less, my goals were to lose 40 pre-surgery then 20 right after, then settle down to a nice 1-2 lbs a week for a year. Well I lost 43 before and 30 after, I now that I have slowed down to a crawl - which WAS my PLAN - I just hate not losing at the same rate as (most of) my RNY friends! It seems that they don't have to work for every single pound like we do - but then again, they are not learning to work for them, and we are. No, I'm VERY glad I had lap-band and not RNY. I just want to lose at that rate until I'm tired of it - ha!

Rosey thanks for posting that pic! Now I can see all these wonderful girls . . .I know who Christine & Nicole are cause I've seen teir pics, who are these other beautiful ladies?? I want to meet you all! I will have to take a day off work & drive to Sacto when you are all meeting I guess. Got in a hike today between rainstorms, we have had inches & inches here in just a few days. Good for the earth, sucks for my excercise! I think I need a fill again already, for dinner I had 6 oz of steak and 2 cups of salad . . . . I'm quite full, but that's TOO much! Where is my stop signal?? This is the same issue I had before the surgery. Not good, not good at all. Gonna go walk a last mile - take care all! Riley

He "owned" it! Yay Mikey! Hiya desparate - we were desparate too! Not any more tho :-) Kaiser Richmond is like #4 in the nation for bariatric surgery success, you will do great. We love our lap-bands!! YES there is a special diet that you have to follow, and it's great and it really works, and you'll get it at orientation. DON'T lose weight before orientation! Wear heavy jeans, shoes, and don't take the change out of your pockets! And drink lots of water right before you weigh in, LOL. Your "starting" weight is the one they take at orientation. You're gonna love it! Keep coming back here :thumbup:

Query, can we ask them to just make us a group & call us "Kaiser Richmond" so folks can find us no matter what stage of the journey they are in?

Kinda bummed today, I've gained a pound back this week instead of losing the 3 I average a week . . all from not being able to excercise! I am doing better, so much so that I managed to get 2 miles in before work today, so I'm finally getting back to it, and nowe it's pouring rain! We do need it sorely, so I will accept this is God's way of telling me that I need to stay off my ankle for a few more days. I DO tend to overdo it, all or nothing - gotta get over that, this isn't a race! Except that I SO want to be in onederland . . .I have been competing with 2 other gals from my support group, both RNY, we are all between 210 and 214 and have been racing together toward onederland - you know, working out together etc. - and they have both just passed me for the first time. I hate not winning! I need to get OVER this competative thing. Nicole, been praying for your hubby, and that he gets this job and a new start in his career, so you two will have new starts together! And Candy dear, IMHO Monday morning is the very best time for surgery @ Kaiser Richmond!! happy, well-rested folks, and you will get Icy's shift! I'm praying for you too, for a super-speedy recovery and a great surgery day story to tell. "Thrive!" Riley

Yeah c'mon, already! We wanna hear

OK you girls are all at Mimi's right now, I am with you in spirit! Order some decaf black coffee for me, LOL . . . I totally, totally hear what you are saying about it being too hard to eat healthy post-band because of all of the food restrictions. We are totally lost without our salads!!! That's a big reason why I started eating (modified) salads again - well, that and because it really helps with the whole "going #2" thing. So I added in shredded lettuce, shredded cabbage, and peeled sliced cucumbers when I was about 7 weeks out - they are not allowed until 12 weeks out! I am not eating raw broccoli or carrots or anything else real hard like that, but I MUST have my raw soft veggies in a salad! I have not been stuck ever on my modofied salad foods, but I have on meat (ham and chicken), sliced (and skinned to remove seeds) strawberry, and chopped boiled agg - all foods that ARE allowed. The one thing that is REALLY off limits that I CRAVE are dry roasted subflower kernels, I love to make little "pizzas" with a sliced cucumber disk & the sunflower seeds on top! Have never been stuck on those, either. My Kaiser RNY friends are eating this stuff, and not having problems, so why not me? I dunno. Not sure if I want to tell Robin about the sunflower seeds tho . . . . anyways, I am eating about 900 cals a day and getting 60-70 grams of protein, so yay. Too much fat most days (over 30 grams is too much for me), but it helps me stay full. Also too much sodium, but BP has not been a problem since a week after surgery! And I am WAY low on carbs, I get about 50 grams on days that I eat a bunch of fruit, but only about 25 on days that I don't. No starchy white food! I avoided it on mushies, too. I hate carbs; they come back and bite me in the butt & just make me hungrier. Except fresh fruit eaten in the morning . . am I weird? Hope you all had a fantastic meeting!!! Riley

Oh I am p-o'd today, back up to 212 because I can't freakin' walk with this blasted ankle injury! I got addicted to excercise, darn it . . . . Tina, how I learned the hormone thing was from Dr. Woodbury, upo here in Santa Rosa, who comes and lectures at our big monthly support group meeting. Both RNY and the new AP Lap-Band - which they use at Kaiser - affect the production of Ghrelin, the hunger hormone, a bunch of other hormones too some that we don't even know about yet. RNY does this to a much greater extent than Lap-Band, but the new AP placement compresses the Vagus Nerve (as opposed to cutting it, which happens in RNY) to such an extent that these patients have less hunger & lose weight faster than did lap-banders of a few years ago. Google for Lap-band and Vegus nervse and ghrelin & you may fiund a bunch of stuff. Interesting!

Hi again Rosey! Hey Reggie, I was real worried about the Water too, but for some reason I had a really REALLY easy time drinking water, even right after surgery. I can chug-a-lug water now like crazy, and I could not before surgery. Probably has something to do with the hiatal hernia being repaired at same time as surgery . . anyways I was up to 40 +oz. a day the day after surgery, and back to 64+ within just a few days. I was really really thirsty! I still do lots of water, I want it more than the crystal light or other flavors, just crave water now. Weird, but great! Hang in there, Christine. Getting down in the dumps is all a part of this crazy thing . . . when they put that band on, the dolf over a part of your stomach that contains certain hormones that you body is not longer getting as much of - controls hunger, but also mood. Now your body has to re-balance with less of some hormones, so tired and moody is a part of the process. I hope it balances out real soon! These are the days that I really need my support group - fortunately, I have a meeting at least twice a week :-):drool:

Nicole, change your siggy girl! You're in one-derland now!! I can't wait! Want to be there by my daughter's wedding June 21st, it looks right now like I'll make it but I could slow down to a crawl anytime now.

Woo-hoo Reggie; May 19!! Yowza, that is CLOSE!! Are you nervous?? Isn't Liz great, she's tough only until she sees that you're going to follow the rules and suceed, then she's fantastic. Yay Christine, you are movin' that scale girl! Woot, woot! Keep it up! I started weighing every few days now, too much up-and-down what with TOM, less "movements" and the like. Riley

Good morning all! I hope you guys have a great meeting, I'm in Santa Rosa snd Sacto won't work for my lunch hour :-(but I'll be there in spirit!!!) Hiya Sing,k, stick with us we are a fun group and we really know our way around Richmond Kaiser! I hope you can go to the meeting Thursday, you will love these guys! Nicole, did you say you have a fill with Dr. Baggs on the 22nd? That's when mine is, at I think 11 . . . .if they don't switch it for you, maybe we can at least meet up! Gott go work :thumbup: see you all later, have a great, healthy day!:tt2:

What a pretty port! When I had the infection, there was a big area about 4" x 5" of bright red around my port incision, the ER doc @ Richmond drew around it in black marker so they would be able to see if it receded with the IV antibiotics, it was shaped weird and when I went into the bathroom and looked at it in the mirror, it looked exactly like lips & tongue from the Rolling Stones Forty Licks album, so I went back out to the ER hallway where my bed was and lifted up my shirt & asked the doc if he was a stones fan . . . fortunately he was and he got it right away so they didn't think i was a total loony case (although that was 4 days post-op and i was hitting the vicodin pretty hard at that point). it was hilarious! funnest ER visit I ever had, I tell ya! They say that, ideally, perfect restriction means that you can drink water easily AND 1) you are not hungry for at least 4 hours after a meal; 2) you can eat 1/2 cup comfortably, but do not feel like you need more; 3) you are satisfied enough that you are not obsessing about food, and 4) you are losing at a rate of 2 lbs. a week (little more for some, little less for others), assuming you are also exercising at least 30 minutes a day. You are not supposed to actually "feel" the band all the time, although some patients want to feel it more than others. I feel like I have had that ever since my surgery EXCEPT for about 2 weeks before my first fill, when I was definately hungrier, could eat more and was not satisfied. Oh and I gained back 3 lbs. then too! That SUCKED. I was very, very discouraged at that point. Of course it was getting to be "that time" too, which NEVER helps, either my mood OR my scale! But I tell you what, my situation right now is 100% better tha it was at this time last year, 75 lbs. heavier and with lots of unhealthy habits. Love this band!:smile2: Riley