Band_Groupie

Just get all the things you need for the hospital and for when you return home. I'm sure if you've been here awhile, so you've researched and you're ready to go. Good luck and keep us posted! -BG

I'm hoping that your Dr. has checked for a leak by now if you have never felt any restriction (take out all the saline and make sure the amount is correct that you should be up to). Sometimes it takes people to get very close to the max level before they get good restriction. The other thing I'd be sharing with my doc is exactly how much you can eat at a time of solids...if it's a lot, he might want to check for slippage (part of your stomach slips up through the band making the pouch larger). Best wishes and WELCOME to LBT!- BG

Labor Day Challenge for Bunny Bandsters! Bunny's name -----------Target loss ------ Start weight ----- Current weight --- Target Weight Sept. 7 Band_Groupie ------------ 15lbs -------------- 203 --------------- 201 ----------------- 188 soon2befit ---------------- 25lbs -------------- 261.5 ------------ 256 ----------------- 236.5 hopeful41411 ------------ 20lbs -------------- 253.8 ------------- 253.8 -------------- 233.8 smilan--------------------- 20lbs -------------- 218 --------------- 216 ----------------- 198 trobison------------------- 15lbs -------------- 221 --------------- 213 ----------------- 206 myturn2bhappy ---------- 15lbs -------------- 282 --------------- 282 ----------------- 267 WannaBe1/2TheWoman - 20lbs ------------- 230.6 ------------- 226 ----------------- 210.6 Butterfly64 ---------------- 15lbs -------------- 231 --------------- 230 ---------------- 216 MrsMitch ------------------ 20lbs -------------- 232 ---------------- 232 ---------------- 212 doodlebug11-------------- 15lbs ------------- 192.5 ------------- 191 ---------------- 177.5 size6----------------------- 11lbs ----------- (-)19lbs ---------- (-)21.4lbs ----------- (-)30lbs TerriLynne----------------- 15lbs -------------- 282.2 ------------- 282.2 -------------- 267.2 txdj ------------------------ 18lbs -------------- 183 -------------- 183 ----------------- 165 1want2bthin -------------- 15lbs -------------- 202 --------------- 202 ----------------- 187 ALuv82 -------------------- 30lbs -------------- 265 --------------- 260 ---------------- 235 tbryant1216--------------- 15lbs -------------- 260 --------------- 260 ---------------- 245

Sorry, I've been MIA for a few weeks, but I just checked everyone's postings and a few were left off again, I think they should be up to date now that I've added them back. REMINDERS: * You do NOT need to update this on a regular basis, just whenever you want to and of course by Labor Day. * Quote the LAST entry (Hit 'Quote' at the bottom of the very LAST post here) and then add or update your own information. This is important: DELETE THE BEGINNING AND END QUOTE MARKS/PERSONS ID, NUMBERS AND THE BRACKETS! What you need to delete looks like this at the beginning: (QUOTE=Band_Groupie;1267092) and this at the end: (/QUOTE) (except the brackets are the squared kind). If you don't do this the next person can't capture the updated list with your changes (and you can delete things not on the list, like these words!) Thanks all, and happy weight loss!!!:smile2: Labor Day Challenge for Bunny Bandsters! Bunny's name -----------Target loss ------ Start weight ----- Current weight --- Target Weight Sept. 7 Band_Groupie ------------ 15lbs -------------- 203 --------------- 203 ----------------- 188 soon2befit ---------------- 25lbs -------------- 261.5 ------------ 256 ----------------- 236.5 hopeful41411 ------------ 20lbs -------------- 253.8 ------------- 253.8 -------------- 233.8 smilan--------------------- 20lbs -------------- 218 --------------- 216 ----------------- 198 trobison------------------- 15lbs -------------- 221 --------------- 213 ----------------- 206 myturn2bhappy ---------- 15lbs -------------- 282 --------------- 282 ----------------- 267 WannaBe1/2TheWoman - 20lbs ------------- 230.6 ------------- 226 ----------------- 210.6 Butterfly64 ---------------- 15lbs -------------- 231 --------------- 230 ---------------- 216 MrsMitch ------------------ 20lbs -------------- 232 ---------------- 232 ---------------- 212 doodlebug11-------------- 15lbs ------------- 192.5 ------------- 191 ---------------- 177.5 size6----------------------- 11lbs ----------- (-)19lbs ---------- (-)21.4lbs ----------- (-)30lbs TerriLynne----------------- 15lbs -------------- 282.2 ------------- 282.2 -------------- 267.2 txdj ------------------------ 18lbs -------------- 183 -------------- 183 ----------------- 165 1want2bthin -------------- 15lbs -------------- 202 --------------- 202 ----------------- 187 ALuv82 -------------------- 30lbs -------------- 265 --------------- 260 ---------------- 235 tbryant1216--------------- 15lbs -------------- 260 ---------------- 260 ---------------- 245

DB- I'm back...thanks for missing me...two new blogs today on my 'comedy of errors' getting ready for the big graduation party...had me in the weeds for a couple of weeks, but everything went great...and more importantly, IT's OVER LOL!!! Lili- Hope that Lisa is back to normal by now, I've been thinking of her often. Is there anyway you can give me the link for the case report you found (I have to go back in for a colonoscopy in 4 years and I know I'll forget this by then if I don't file it with my medical stuff...if I want the doc to give me the antibiotics)? KMCD- Hope your daughter is coping with the loss and I'm sure she's thankful for all the support. Jenfs5- Hope your new fill is doing the trick! kittygirl- So sorry to hear about the infection...from the fill? Wow! I hope the new antibiotics will wipe it out and you're feeling better soon! No fun at all to be feeling weak for all this time! I hope your doc is taking more precautions to make you comfortable with future fills. Hope everyone is doing well and life stops kicking us in the rear...maybe it's to make us appreciate the good things even more. Love to all -BG

Part II... Nothing to be done, but to move on…I started prepping for the party…by Wednesday I had the garage tables all covered, skirted and set up and DS2 had all the decorations and streamers up. Oh, and being a ‘visual’ person I had all the chafing dishes out with sticky notes everywhere showing where each item would be (OK, I say ‘visual’, you say ‘anal’…just remember, I now knew I had to get as ready as possible as the quilt was still waiting). I bought all the food I could early and then Thursday I cut and pinned as many pieces for the quilt as I could. Sis arrived Friday at lunchtime and we got started on our “Quilting Bee”. Thank God for her as we always have a fun time and can get each other laughing in the midst of a crisis (OK, not life and death, but I’ve set the bar people…a quilt is expected!). I sewed, she unpinned and kept me sane (translation = make sure none of the T-shirt were upside down...whe was amazed at all the math involved and how I figured this out without a pattern...math is not my subject). By Friday night we had all the T-shirts and white canvas together. We even took a break to prep some of the food and watch the Weather Channel…Oh yeah, Mr. Murphy (Murphy's Law) was messing with me again….(or you can skip this part and just know I’m doubly cursed and I’m a huge klutz) - We’d of course been watching the weather all week and it went from bad to worse… ‘60% chance of pm thunderstorms’. - DH was trying to make more room in the fridge for all the food, so he poured me an enormous glass of red wine to finish off the bottle. I took it in to work on the quilt (on the Dining Room table) while he and Sis went to rent a movie. I was sewing along when the doorbell rang and startled me, so I quickly got up to get the door….as I was leaving I caught a pin on my clothing and the quilt followed me…at the edge of the table…yep, the red wine! It fell and hit the seat of a wooden chair from the kitchen Sis had been using and broke. My poor neighbor at the front door (he was bringing me tables for the party) must have thought I was nuts as I answered the door in hysterical laughter (what else can you do but laugh). Luckily, the only fabric that got wine on it was a bit of the black framing and backing, so no harm done when I washed it off, but there was wine all over the Dining Room and up the walls. - Sis laughed until she couldn’t breathe when she got back and heard the story and scolded me for putting the wine on the table with the quilt ‘What were you thinking?’…at that point I had no brain left ‘I wasn’t!’ We called it a night. - Saturday morning broke and it was the day of the party. I awoke at 4am with a migraine (stress and lack of sleep are a deadly combination). I couldn’t even move until about 6am and by then DH was up and helped me out…I was able to choke down a piece of bread and took my medicine (can’t take it on an empty stomach). Then I was violently vomiting, well, make that heaving hard with nothing coming up (one of my least favorite side effects of the LB, but it kept the medicine down so it was a positive). I went back up to lie in a dark room. Two hours later I was able to move again, but barely. - The weather forecast had gotten even worse as they added ‘Gale force winds and damaging hail possible.’ to the thunderstorm forecast. We watched as the red Doppler was headed straight for us. We watched the 'local on the 8's' so many times we were soon reciting it with them...everyone now...'60% chance of pm thunderstorms with GALE FORCE WINDS AND DAMAGING HAIL POSSIBLE!' - We got whatever setup and food prepped that we could and then went to frame and back the quilt. That’s when I stepped on a piece of wine glass I’d missed the night before and cut my big toe. There were blood droplets all over the carpet and we couldn’t get the bleeding to stop. I finally stuck my foot up on the table to raise it as I was still sewing… ‘Quite the picture of determination! There’s blood, sweat and tears in this quilt!’ Sis said (I’m sending her a nice restaurant gift certificate as I would have thrown it away long ago without her). - I got the framing done, batting in, and the back on. The opening on the back was only pinned together and the actual quilting stitching wasn’t done, but no one knew the difference. I was just so relieved when we hung it on the garage wall. - Our families started arriving around 1pm with the pouring rain and winds. At 5pm (party started at 6pm) we had a break in the rain and I decided to chance it and made the decision to set up outside (against the judgement of others in my family who thought I was doomed for a big storm...hey, I'm the eternal optimist remember...and I was figuring we could always ask people to grab a chair to bring in if it rained). Our families were great help in that last hour and we got all the food set up on heat or ice in the garage and everything else done outside.. The party was great. We had neighbors, family and lots of DS1’s friends. I had balloons, decorations, the DVD going in the garage where the quilt was also hung. The buffet was huge (too much food as usual, please come over for leftovers or we’ll be eating it for a month). DS1 has a sweet tooth and so besides my two tables of food we had a third table with the cake, a chocolate fountain with lots of things to dip and an ice cream sundae/cone bar. Outside we had lots of balloons and covered tables/chairs on our big drive and on the patio. We setup volleyball, baggo sets, and the football toss (that new string/rungs game). DS1’s one request was for a cotton candy machine so we had one of those too. It was all worth it when I saw DS1 watching the DVD with a group of his friends and caught him later in the evening reading all the messages his friends had been writing for him on the quilt. We were all amazed at what a hit the cotton candy machine was…he manned it many times during the night and the kids would line up for their cone of ‘candy floss’ (my 6 year old godson had 8)…DS1 was covered in sugar by the time he was done. As night fell we lit the tiki torches, candles everywhere even floating on the pone and the fire pit for s'mores. We only had a few sprinkles all night that lasted a few minutes each time, but not even bad enough to move inside, so the weather (and Murphy) was finally smiling on us and I got really lucky…it wasn’t even windy…it was the perfect evening. I didn't have time to take a single pic, but I made sure others were doing this for me, so hopefully I can post a few soon. My party outfit... I’m exhausted, but DH and I got almost everything back to normal yesterday. I have survived and am victorious! Well, everything but the stupid weight…yep, still not in Onederland…I’ve been up and down the same two or three pounds for weeks now (201.5 today...grrr). Third fill tomorrow!!!!

Sorry, I've been gone from here for 10 days, so it's a two part blog. Murphy’s Law: “If something can go wrong, it will”…seems to be the theme of my life the last few weeks. Nothing traumatic, just life picking on me again. I, however, have survived and am victorious…well, sort'a. As you know I’ve been preparing for DS1’s HS graduation party yesterday…and you’ve heard me whining about trying to make the DVD slideshow of his pics. It was going slowly, but I was learning and slowly but surely I rummaged through my half-unorganized photos and managed to sort them by year (quite the feat), scan, crop, and individually save about 500 photos. Then Muphy’s Law kicked in…it went something like this…(or you can skip this part and just know that I’m severely technologically impaired.). - My program was an older version of the one my Sis (middle one) had and trained me on…this caused some great difficulties figuring it out and a few items my program couldn’t do. - Imported a large group of photos into the slideshow program (Movie Maker)…it mixed them all up…had to move them back into chronological order and by then the originals were back in the albums or boxes in a jumbled mess. Remember, I’ve got ‘old-timers’ (as my kids say) and I can’t remember what I did 5 min. ago let alone what year a pic was taken…I’m sure I guessed some of the years wrong, but no baby pics in the teen years LOL...it was 'close enough'. - Set a group of about half the photos into a new folder after they were done, went back to the slideshow and the photos were now just big red “X’s”. After much hysterics…well…it took some undoing. - After importing about 200 photos the slideshow program decided to slow down and continued to do so as I went…by number 500 there was a 30 second delay between each click on my mouse and when finalizing the transitions it would freeze the computer every 15 min. or so…VERY slow going. Yes, I was ready to lose my mind, but I was determined to win the battle and finally, last weekend I finished…it was beautiful…13 pieces of music…500 pics…cool transitions…even a title and ending! Now, all that was left was to burn the DVD’s! Murphy’s Law again… - I read the notes from the training with Sis, and realized I now needed to import the whole thing into yet another program…problem was, I didn’t have the program. DH and I spent last Saturday downloading other programs online and trying to burn the DVD with them to no avail. - I finally admitted defeat and called Sis. Three hours later and many attempts later we figured out my older version could burn straight from there, but my problem was I didn’t have enough RAM to do this with such a big slideshow. - I’ll wrap this up by telling you that I had to save all the photos and copy them onto DS1’s new college computer we bought him for graduation (after many promises that I wouldn’t blow anything up). Then…yes…I had to REDO the whole slideshow program again from music to photo transitions. I’ll just say that I had Sis in hysterics laughing at all the things that had gone wrong…the only thing that hadn’t happened was the computer completely crashing. The only thing that saved me from chucking the whole thing was the fact that DS1’s computer is lightning fast and had the newer version of the program on it…well, that and the fact that I had a slideshow for DD’s graduation (one where all I did was scan the pics and paid to have the rest done…money WELL spent folks) so of course DS1, and everyone else was expecting one. On to the next fun part of my last week. My second big job for the party was the quilt…you know the one where I’ve been saving all my kids T-shirts from every sport/activity they’ve been in since they were a tot and made them into a quilt…I put bands of white canvas between the T-shirt squares and at the party everyone takes a sharpie and writes messages/signs the quilt there. Well, after the DVD’s were finally burned last Monday morning I got back to working on this…thought I’d have weeks to do the quilt as the DVD was only going to take a few days after the scanning part…HA HA. I had most of the shirts cut and started piecing in the canvas. I was zipping along happily and was finally thinking that I’d be able to get caught up and finally start working on the food and other parts of the party. Yep, Murphy’s Law again…(or you can skip this part and just know that I’m cursed). - The belt that drives my 53 year old Brother sewing machine broke…well, it didn’t just break…it looked like the rubber had been rotting slowly for years and now it was in pieces. Yes, I screamed...Did you hear me on Tuesday? - Many phone calls later the only tidbit of help I got from any store was a name of a store about an hour away where they might be able to fix it if I brought it in and left it for their repair guy….but that would take at least a week. - More phone calls to every friend and neighbor…do you realize that no one sews anymore? Not a single soul I could find had a portable sewing machine. - I admitted defeat and called Sis again (more sympathetic laughter) and she agrees to pick up Mom’s portable and bring it on Friday when she arrives a day early to help me with the party. On to Part II....

201 today...up 1/2 pound I think....third fill next week YAY!

I've been super busy; I’m tired and there’s no end in site. I haven't had my shower yet and I need more coffee. I'm getting ready for DS1's huge graduation party a week from Saturday and I'm running behind on things. It's been a super busy summer and I got a late start on things. The house is a wreck (I’ve been in the basement, so a tornado must have come through here…no other explanation) and I haven’t started buying the food and supplies yet. After finding out my DVD-slideshow lady is no longer in business I decided to tackle the project myself (with some tutoring from middle sister). The slideshow set to music runs in a loop in the garage where the buffet will be set up so people can view it for a short time or as long as they want while they’re getting their food (It’s almost ½ hour long…almost 500 pics). Yesterday I went downstairs right after breakfast to finish scanning pics and didn’t come up until dinnertime (never could have skipped lunch before the band!). I even forgot to drink any water until the evening…I was ‘in the zone’…gulped down three big glasses after dinner…yeah, I was up three times in the night. I do have the music all loaded, clipped and transitioned. Can’t believe I still have some pics left to scan today. It would have helped if all the photos were organized and in albums, but only about ½ are…we still have some that are just on CD’s and some that are sitting on our 5 scan discs…I hate all you scrapbookers that have every event in an album and with cute decorations too. My three sister’s/Mom keep trying to get me sucked in with all their rolling bags filled with cute scrapbook stuff, but I’m avoiding that cult like the plague. I wouldn’t be a good devotee as I can’t even seem to get my pics developed. As my neighbor friends have pointed out, I set the bar too high with DD’s HS Grad Party. Why did I have to do the slideshow in chronological order (real fun when you have pics sitting in boxes unmarked). My sister was smart…pull a pic out and scan it, who cares what order or if you even miss a year? Why did I have to make a giant quilt for friends to writ messages/autograph (I use T-shirts I’ve been saving from each of them from every sport, workplace, event they were in and put white borders around the T-shirt squares for people to write messages…framed in black and quilted). I HAVEN’T EVEN BOUGHT THE FABRIC YET FOR DS1’s!!! Stop snickering!!! I happen to hate sewing…no patience for it. So what am I doing here instead of getting busy on those pics? Well, one word…ONEDERLAND…I’m NOT there! I’ve been up and down the same 3 pounds this week and I’ve been eating like a bird…probably too little, some days maybe too much, but I don’t have time to track things right now. My next fill isn’t for another week and a half so I’m just hanging in there. This morning was the kicker though…200.5…the closest I’ve gotten yet. I was thinking ‘Comon! Give a girl a break, like I don’t have enough stress! Can’t you give a girl one measly pound?!’ I know, it’s been another WhineFest…sorry. Off to finish the DVD….if you don’t see me in a few days send a search party down to the basement computer as I’ve probably shriveled up and keeled over (Just let my friends here know I finally reached Onederland)!

Brave girl! Glad it went so well...well, except the pain. -BG

200.5 this week (Onederland is teasing me). Hang in there lingling and congrats on your weight loss!!!

Lili- SO glad the aspirations went well and it sounds like Lisa might be turning the corner. I hope that she continues to feel better! JT- WOW! I can really tell the difference...you look GREAT!!! Really, it shows in your face; you do look younger...and love those skinny earlobes too!

35 pounds is awesome! Keep up the good work! -BG

Lili, I've been thinking of you two lately and just figured you were busy. I'm so sorry to hear about Lisa's complication. I'm relieved to hear she has the care of some good docs who have figured this all out quickly and will get her the help she needs. I've never heard of anyone getting sepsis after 3 months except with a band erosion which seems to involve a lot of very site specific abdominal pain. This must be very rare as you said and I'm so sorry this happened to her. Thank you for the information as it may help someone here someday and is certainly something I'll keep in mind. Please send Lisa our well wishes and let her know we're saying prayers that she'll be turning the corner and getting better soon. Hang in there Lili. You're a strong person and she needs that. -BG

I'm so sorry to hear this! How did they finally figure it out, and were you having any symptoms/pain or fever from the infection? I hope everything goes smoothly and we'll be thinking of you. Best wishes! -BG

Yep, perfectly normal. Don't eat too much volume at one time or you can mess things up as this period is for healing. 'Bandster Hell' is where you have your band, but no restriction yet (I have a little now after my second fill). Best Wishes!-BG

The stomach swelling will take awhile to go down. My doc let us take a laxative and I was glad I did (especially after hearing others horror/pain stories), so you might call yours and ask. Sounds like you're doing great! -BG

First, contact your insurance company and get a copy of your bariatric policy (mine directed me on how to print it offline, or they'll mail or fax it to you). Make sure you meet ALL the requirements so you don't have to backtrack. Contact your surgeon's office (if you haven't already done this then sign up for a seminar or a consult with the surgeon) and ask for a sample letter from a PCP to insurance (I went to 3 hospital seminars and they each gave out a sample to give to your PCP...mine hade done this many times, so they had their own form letter and knew what to include). It should address your insurance requirements directly (ie. if you need a BMI above 40, then make sure your current weight and exact BMI are in the letter). I found that the person at my surgeon's office who deals with all the insurance companies was the most help...she knew everything I needed for my specific insurance. Send me a PM if you get stuck, and good luck! -BG

Best wishes tomorrow...you're on your way now! Let us know how you're doing when you feel up to it again. -BG

I think this varies a lot...some here were going every few weeks and were way ahead of me for awhile. My doc says 8, but the scheduling nurse lets me schedule at 6 weeks (I always make my next appt. before I leave).

JT- That's 30 lbs plain and simple...good work!

Good luck to you today and keep us posted on your progress as you feel better! -BG

Stick with it! Bandster Hell sucks...plain and simple, but it doesn't last forever and neither will your hunger with fills. Just remember this is just a part of the process and as discouraging as this phase is you will get restriction with fills to help you with your hunger. (Keep ranting here whenever you need to get it out!) -BG

*Post Deleted for Lap Band Book

CONGRATULATIONS! Read, read, read and you'll be prepared! Good luck. -BG