Jenfs5

Thanks guys. It does seem to be the really cold water that goes down the slowest. the problem is I really only like to drink my water really cold...LOL. I dont seem to have a problem drinking my crystal light drinks, they are cold from the fridge but have no ice in them so I guess they are not as cold as my water. I would just drink more of them but they seem to make me very gassy so I just tend to drink them on my way home from work (at 9pm) and then after I am home too. I guess I will just play around with it some more and see what happens.....

I kind of know what you mean. I have had 3 fills so far. when I got my last fill I did feel some restriction but now I dont. The only thing that worries me is that at my last fill my Dr said I did not have as much in there as he had put in and that I might have a leak. So now I dont know if I have lost the restricion or lost the fill...LOL. I guess I will find out at my next fill.

congratulations. I am almost there myself and I cant wait, I need to lose one more pound.

Way to go JayTee, you are doing awesome. Keep up the good work.

Jen, sorry about your ordeal. Sounds very unpleasant, but I am glad they found out what it was sooner rather than later. I just wanted to give you a word of advice regarding the medication Reglan, since you are going on vacation. Please be careful if you are doing any driving or "operating heavy machinery"...LOL. No but seriously I used to take Reglan for my "reflux". It would make me increadibly sleepy. I even fell asleep at the dinner table on a cruise once becaue I took it before I went to dinner. Maybe you will already know if or how it affects you, but I just wanted to offer a word of caution. Oh and have a great vacation :thumbup:

IF you are really concerned about it and have not had your surgery yet, one thing you can do that may help is to wash your entire abdomen with a special antibiotic cleanser. It is called Hibicleanse (I think I spelled that right). You can get it at the pharmacy, it is on the shelf but you may want to ask them where it is. This is hospital grade stuff so It is pretty strong, and it will stain your washcloth pink...LOL. I am a MRSA carrier in my nose and I used the Hibicleanse and then had ointment for my nose prior to surgery.

You are soooo close Blackhole. You will definately get there. I too hit a plateau when I first started eating real food. And then I hit another one and I finally broke this last one. I was bouncing back and forth from 200.5 to 202 for about 2 weeks before I finally got it to move under 200. On my last plateau before this one I lost 5 pounds in one week and then nothing for 3 weeks. So it just takes time, effort and lots of patience..LOL. As I have never been a fast loser I know that I will definately need to be very patient, but dang it can be so frustrating when you hit those plateaus.... Know what I mean?

Thanks guys. And Paxie dont give up you will get there. I bounced back and forth from 200.5 to 202 for about two weeks before I finally got it below 200. Now I just have to make sure to never see the 200 pound mark again.

Paxie, I definately understand about the eating too fast. I really have to watch out for that one too. I never leave myself enough time to actually sit down and eat, especially in the morning so I am usually trying to gobble something down really fast. But I have been trying to get better at it. Now most of the time I do at least sit down for maybe 10-15 min to eat...LOL Oh well. Now to share my good news.......... I am finally in Onderland.:biggrin::thumbup: Today was the the third day that it has been under 200, I am soooo excited. Now just 3 more pounds to lose and I will be just overweight ...

Well guys I finally did it. Yesterday the scale finally said 199.5 and today it said 199.0. YAY. I am so excited about I am finally in Onderland. How are you guys doing?

My port definately moves around. For example when I am lying down it is under and slightly to my right of my port incision. But when I am standing it moves all the way up to just under my rib cage. At first I did not know what I was feeling when I was walking (with my hand, not actually moving around inside my abdomen). IF I put my hand over it It moves back and forth as I am walking. I just thought maybe it was some of the tubing that connects the band to the port because it was not where he went in for my fills. So I ran into my doc at the hospital one day and asked him about it. He felt on it and then told me to come into the office the next day. So I went in and when I was laying down he said that it was my port. But then he had me stand up and felt on it and sent me to have a CT scan just to be sure. And sure enough it is just my port. He said that it may have moved some but it also has to do with the way the muscles are when lying down versus standing up. He did mention that as I lose more weight I may want to have it moved because it may stick out when I am standing. But I will worry about that if it happens... But you should see your doc just to be sure everything is OK

I might have a leak in mine too, but mine is not a vanguard band. At my last fill the doc said that I did not have the amt of saline in there that he had put and that if at the next fill it has gone down again then I would have to do the dye test to see if there is a leak. But I am not worried about it until I know if there is a leak.

When you first start the solid foods it is kind of hard to keep it minimal since you have no or very little saline in your band. I know that I just tried hard to eat smaller protions and watch what I was eating. And then after I got my first fill I felt very hungry. So I went back early for the 2nd fill. After that one it did get better. Sometimes I think I still eat too much at one time, but I also know that I am not at my sweet spot yet either. So just rmemeber that it does take a while and often multiple fills to get to where you are really restricted in the amt of food you can eat. Hope that helps.

Hi guys. I got my post card today for the meeting on July 11th. I am not sure if I will be able to make it for this one though. We have someone off at work and I may not be able to punch out for 2 hours to go. I tried to get a part timer to cover the 2nd half of my shift but he cant do it. So now I am trying to get a day shift person to trade with me. Lets hope it works so I can attend. I really want to go this time since we are supposed to be talking about food and different recipes. Well anyway, how is everyone doing? I have finally gotten my scale to move this week. I am sooo close to being in Onederland I can practically taste it. And if I had Dr Zarif's scale to get on I think I am there already...my scale is usually 2-3 pounds heavier than his. But I will really be happy when I see it on MY scale... Keep in touch..........

Yeah me too Steph. But I am not even going to worry about it until after my next appointment. We will see then if I still have 4.5 cc's in my band then everything is fine. He keeps asking me when I went to the waterpark and rode waterslides did I bump it (port area) or anything. I keep telling him no because I dont remember bumping it on anything. The only thing I can think that may have jarred it or anything is one day when I fainted. And no that was not band related so dont worry...LOL. Did involve Dr Zarif though. I had him cut out two boils and when I had to remove the packing I passed out. Was kind of funny in retrospect...LOL

My doctor and I discussed it, but that is also because I have an autoimmune thing that makes me prone to clotting. I do have a history of DVT and my rheumatologist wanted me to be on lovenox for a week post op. But in the end I did not get the filter, nor did I have to do a week of lovenox. I just had 3 shots while I was in the hospital. Of course I never quit taking my aspirin either though, even prior to surgery. I have never heard of the requirement of being over a certain age or BMI to get a filter though and 10 days on Lovenox seems awfully long for this procedure, but I guess that is why I am not the doctor. There are so many different opinions on pre and post op dieting that I guess it stands to reason that there will be diff opinions by the surgeons on this matter too...LOL. Good Luck either way you chose.

I think I got mine at Target. But I did not take them, they were horrible...LOL. Now I take Citrical petites (also can be found at target).

Well I went for my fill today. I was supposed to have had 3.5 cc's in my band from my last 2 fills, but there was only 2.5 cc's in it. So he filled me up to 4.5 cc's. He said if when I go back in 6 weeks it is less than that I may have a leak and we will have to do a "leak" test. That is where they put contrast into the band while under flouroscopy and watch it for any leaks. why me??? LOL. It was really weird b/c after he did my fill and i had to drink my Water it made this really funny noise as it was going thru the band. I asked him is that always going to do that? So then I took another drink and it did it again. I told him that if it kept doing this it was going to be awfully embarassing...LOL. But by the time I got up and moved around and got to work it had stopped making that weird sound. It sounded like a cross between a burp and a clogged sink gurgling. I was kind of bummed because I had not lost any weight since I had been in to see him to get my cat scan. Oh well at least I did not gain either. IT was exactly the same, kinda weird especially since it measures you in .2 lb increments. Keep in touch guys!

TwinkieMama I am with you. I do burp sometimes, but for me it is mostly the other end. Can anyone who experienced this please tell me it will go away???? :smile: Or is there something I can do or avoid eating to make it go away. It can be rather embarrassing and uncomfortable too.

Hi guys. Steph sorry you did not get a reminder postcard. I dont think I got mine until the Friday before the meeting. I think it is because Kim is not in the office in the summer. Lucky her, I guess she stays home with the kids in the summer. She was not at the support meeting and I dont think she has been at any of the recent intrest meetings either. I too ate mostly "broth" from canned Soups instead of just chicken or vegetable broth. I still have 2 of the 3 containers of broth I had bought in my cabinet...LOL. Oh and congrats on your fast weight loss. I have always been a slow loser in the past and it looks like even with the band I am still just plodding along. Oh well as long as it goes down and stays down I will be happy. Blackhole, glad to hear that you have dropped that weight so fast. And you are soooo lucky that you are not having gas pain. I think it took me at least 4 days before I really felt better from the gas. Good luck on that liquid diet. The 2 weeks will be over before you know it. Keep us posted.

Hey everyone, sorry I have been MIA for a while. Life just gets in the way...LOL. Lili: Wow, I am sorry to hear about Lisa. Even though she had to have her band taken out, if that is what it will take to maker her heathly again than of course it was the best decision. As far as how and when she got it. Well since the gastro intestinal tract goes from mouth to anus and when they put the band in they stitch it to your stomach. I would guess that might be a good chance of when it happened. Best wishes to her and I hope she gets well enough to come home soon. JayTee: Wow your new pic is great, you can really see the weight loss in your face (and the rest of your body when you look at the rest of the pics..LOL) Congrats and keep up the great work. It is kinda funny that you came to Baltimore. That is where I am from originally, but now I live on the eastern shore of MD. But I have been to Louisville a few times too. My brother lived down there after he got out of the service and now his ex wife and kids live over in scottsburg IN.... LOL Small world huh? KMCD: Sorry to hear about the loss in the family. It is good that you have a partner that has been so helpful. I go for another fill this Wed. I found out at my last support group meeting that I was right and I have been eating too much. So now I cant wait for a fill so hopefully I cannot. And my doctor stopped by the lab (where I work in the hospital) today to see how I was after I had the Cat Scan. He told me that yeah my port had moved way up and that at my appt on Wed we can talk about moving it back down. I told him ok but I did not want him to cut me again...LOL. It is prob my own fault that it moved. Prob from me climbing all those stairs and getting on all those waterslides 8 days post op..... :smile:

Well I am sorry to say that I missed you both at the support group meeting... maybe you can make it to the next one. Blackhole: I am glad to hear things went well for you. I dont want to say "I told you so" but well Dr Zarif is great...LOL. You actually had your surgery on my 3 month bandiversary. As for the weighing more when I came home than when I went in I dont think so. But I did weigh the same on Sat after I had come home as the day I went in on Thursday. After that is when it started dropping. But I have read on here that many people do come home heavier and it is prob from the fluids and swelling. Just give it a few days and I am sure you will start to drop. Keep us posted on your progress. I go in for a fill on Wed (22nd) and boy do I need it. My scale has not moved in over a week...that part can be frustrating but oh well I will just keep plugging along.

Welcome Jennifer. I think that makes like 4 or 5 Jennifers on this thread now...LOL At least we have a popluar name :thumbup:

Sorry this is a little gross but... What about gas at the other end? I seem to be very gassy most of the time. In fact after I eat and then I stand up to go back to work it kinda feels like my lower stomach is full of bricks from the gas pressure. Anyone got any suggestions on what I can do to not have this or how long it lasted for some of you? I have tried taking a gas X pill just before I eat and it does not seem to do anything... so I would love any suggestions.

Welcome Blakhole Steph is right AGH was great... and no I am not just saying that because I work there...LOL. Every room is a private room there which as a patient I definately loved. And Dr Zarif is great. I think he has just the best bedside manner. He even is great if I just walk up to him at any time in the hospital and have a question for him. If he sees me sometimes he will stop and say hi and ask how things are going. I personally dont know many doctors who will do that. As for pain control, well they just kept giving me pain meds when I asked for them while I was in the hospital and then for home I just took what Dr zarif prescribed for me. Unfortunately since I am allergic to codeine he could not give me a liquid and I had to cut these big horse pills up into a bunch of pieces. So since that part was a big pain I did not end up taking many pain meds. I really did not need them that much anyway. The most pain was from the gas pressure and that goes away on its own after while. If you have any questions feel free to ask. And if you are nervous dont forget to come to the support group meeting on Tuesday the 14th, that is just 2 days before your surgery so you may find it to be very helpful.