Elisabethsew

Elisabeth is my name and I too like knowing the first names of people I share a support group with.

Denise, have you tried the 100 calorie microwave bags of popcorn? About the only food I can't tolerate is pasta. It's strange that I can eat a huge salad without difficulty but pasta will NOT stay down no matter how much I chew or what kind of pasta it is. Interestingly, I can keep rice down without difficulty. Most people can do "junk" food without any problems. My surgeon warned me about that on the first meeting. He suggests the bypass for junk food eaters and lapband for high volume eaters.

Fills don't hurt anymore than when they prick your finger for blood. It fast and esentially painless.

Here's what I had today: Breakfast: 1 cup of special K cereal with 4 oz skim milk Snack: 2 graham crackers with coffee Lunch: Deli sliced turkey on toasted rye bread with lettuce and a teaspoon of mayo. I brought home half the sandwich. Dinner: Breaded thin sliced chicken cutlet, one cup of steamed green beans, 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes. Dessert: 60 calorie jello-o pudding and tea

Congratulations on an amazing weight loss week, Tann. Losingjustme, don't feel bad. I can go up 5 pounds when my period is due as I retain a lot of water. Stick to your plan and you'll see a loss on your next weigh-in. You're doing wonderfully... chin up!

I think there might be some truth to the swelling. I can eat a huge salad with no problem. However, every single time I eat pasta (spaghetti, ziti, rotini, etc.) it comes right back up after just a few bites. I tried loading it up with tomato sauce and chewing it to death but no matter what I do, it's one of those foods I just don't seem able to tolerate.

I can relate to the stress and the lousy fill. My last one did nothing so I'm forcing myself to count ccalories and make healthy choices. I'm also on a deadline to have the first 3 chapters of my PhD dissertation done by 6/15 and I'm waaaaaaaaaay behind. It's funny the things we can and can't eat. Salads and carrots go down fine. Pasta is a no-no... no matter what kind. I can't keep it down. Hang in there! Better days are coming.

Maybe the original poster just wanted to vent or offer some wisdom based on her own experience, and is way past having her condition re-analyzed by other people, or explaining her conclusions, diagnosis, treatment plan. Maybe she didn't want any help or medical advice. Venting belongs in the rant and rave section. Offering wisdom requires sharing experiences and answering questions to help others help themselves. I am an RN and have seen too many people harmed by reading something on the internet, taking the advice posted, and suffering negative consequences because they failed to consult a professional or do research to confirm what was read. While I sympathsize with what was written by the original poster, I can't place any value in it if he/she won't answer questions or reply to a thread he/she started.

I work 12 hour night shifts so I try and weigh in on the morning after a night off to get an accurate picture of how I'm doing. I found a "new" item in the produce section of the grocery store that I love... a 3 pack of 3 individual portions of carrots and dip. It's a total of 70 calories and really feels the void when you need a snack.

July 4th Challenge Week 5 Name...................Starting…...…..Current….…......Goal….......To Go losingjusme............317....................305 ..................295.............10 tann.......................257....................245...................232.............13 juliegeraci...............232................... 232...................220.............12 Josette...................340................... 333...................315.............18 Inner_me................306....................298 ..................280.............18 Elisabethsew..........281....................273 ..................260.............13 Waterlily1072........ 278................ ...269 ..................252.............17 Libra..................... .230................. ..222...................205.............17 Lapbandit……… .… 208………....…...206……..…..... .185…… ..….21 RidinMyHDDream.. .281....................276 ..................256..............20 FaithMD................ 341.5.................328...................310.. ...........18 I'm down 2 pounds for this week! I hope the trend continues.

If you're not getting in enough calories, protein, and staying hydrated, you need to call your surgeon. Try sipping constantly throughout the day rather than sticking to a meal time. I hope you feel better soon but give the surgeon a call.

Why some injection areas bruise and other do not has to do with technique in giving thee injection as well as proximity to blood vessels. You might have hit a small vessel (capillary) and caused it to leak blood (no big deal) which caused bruising. Your surgeon did not give you complete info. Very few "stomach" surgeries require anticoagulant therapy. The decision to use it is based on how obese the patient is and the level of activity the MD expects the patient to tolderate.

I love jewelry and have a large collection but it's all the real deal and that's what I prefer. Currently, all of my money goes to PhD tuition payments so vacations and spending on unnecessary items has been on hold.

I'm old too but a brunette! LOL. I had to replace my old laptop 3 weeks ago and went to Best Buy. They have a store full of geeks. I told two of them what I wanted the computer for (I don't play action games, etc) and ended up buying a Toshiba Satellite A205-S4577 for $850.00 on sale. Before going, I did a consumer reports search and found Dell rated high for desktops but Toshiba was tops for laptops.

Hi Paula, 40 pounds down since Nov with one fill is good progress. The band works but only if you get to a place where you will work it and not against it. I find I constantly question myself as to if I'm really hungry or if I'm eating out of boredom, to alleviate stress, as a habit, etc. Recognizing what you're doing wrong allows you to do things right. Keep on posting. Group support really does help.

Congratulations to innerme and welcome back to Marcy. You're both doing wonderfully. I can relate to the fills. My last one was only 0.25 cc and my surgeon is both conservative and requires 6 weeks between fills. I don't feel any difference with this last fill so I'm working harder to limit my calories. We'll all get to the finish line... just maybe not as quickly as we would like.

Over time there is some evaporation of the saline. My surgeon is conservative and does not give large volume fills so I worked my way up to restriction. As you lose fat around the band, you'll need more fill (saline) to maintain a full feeling after eating. Some people feel restriction from the time they are banded. Most need to get fills from time to time to help control the volume of food they eat. I am finally at the point where I can eat "normal" portions of food and have averaged about 1.5 pounds lost a week.

Your prior gallbladder surgery will NOT interfere with lap banding. Some people develop adhesions after surgery but surgeons can easily work around or through that (I'm an RN). PB is productive burp. If you have an inflated band and don't chew enough or if something gets stuck, the esophagus starts to produce a lot of mucus (slime) in response to get things moving. Sometimes the food goes down and sometimes it comes up... productive. Because the food does is not in the lower part of the stomach, it does not mix with stomach acids so it differs from "traditional" vomiting.

The same thing happens to me. Clearly, the links are not working! I hope they fix this problem soon.

I work in a hospital and you are correct, the signs and symptoms of an esophageal spasm mimic those of a heart attack. All patients who have these esophageal attacks are referred to a GI specialist to rule out a GI cause. I would advise you to follow-up with one as well and hope you're feeling better now.

Drink LOTS of water and force yourself to walk as much as possible. Also, see if your MD will allow you to take something for pain... maybe a NSAID like motrin with some mylanta to ease the inflammation.

Heparin and Lovinox are injected into the stomach. It is common to get a shot before surgery and the morning after surgery but I don't understand why it would be prescribed for 2 weeks post-op. I DO have a history of blood clots... both lungs and take coumadin. I had to stop the coumadin for 5 days before surgery and went back on it 3 days after surgery. My surgeon has done close to 2000 surgeries and does not send patients without a history of blood clots home on anticoagulants. Heparin is an anticoagulant. That's why you have bruising around the injection area. It helps to prevent clots but does not break down existing clots. Because research studies are inconclusive as to the benefits of intermittant heparin therapy, many MDs advise walking ASAP after surgery and at home and opt not to prescribe it.

When was the last time you had a physical with blood work? Your tiredness could be from a number of things... anemia, iron deficiency anemia, hypoglycemia, sleep apnea, perimenopause, etc. My advice is to see your MD to get some concrete answers and a treatment plan to help.

Diabetic ketoacidosis is a serious condition and putting your body into a state of ketosis when you have kidney issues is dangerous. Like wasabubble, I would be interested in learning what toxins were causing the illness, what were the presenting symptoms, how it was diagnosed, and what the treatment plan was.

The protein shakes will help you heal and also help with the gas. Of course, getting up and moving is the best treatment for the gas. I haven't heard of many people needing heparin injections for 10 days post-op. It's used to prevent blood clots when patients are on bedrest. Once they are up walking, it's discontinued. If you're finding it painful to continue with the injections, call your surgeon and he/she will likely stop them. I assume you're taking 5,000 units every 12 hours?