xavier

I have thrown up plenty and never slipped...my doc did sew my band in place though. Getting unfilled for flu season sounds ridiculous to me!

Both suggestions are right on...they want you to give up! Please dont! From where I am sitting (in maintenance and more than two years since banding) six months will seem like nothing. When you are in the middle of it though, its agony....but if you are at a normal weight and just coasting a long two years from now that six months wont matter...hang in there!

It is very commonly done but it is fraud. A physician cannot under any circumstances charge one patient a different amount than another for the same procedure for any reason.

It will all be worth it down the road...

Some docs do a slight fill during the procedure but I dont think I have heard of anyone getting one before at least four weeks after...plus it will take several fills to get to real restriction so this part is kind of a long haul where your band isnt really helping you. I tell people if they dont gain during these months they are ahead of the game..good luck!

I dont want to be the bearer of bad new but maybe since I had to self pay I am bitter...LOL! Seriously for the doc to take what insurance pays and waive the rest is fraud so I wouldnt talk about it here especially if you have links or references to who your doc is! It is illegal for a doc to charge a different amount for different patients so shhhhh!

Well it sounds like to take about ten pounds off makes the procedure easier (to get around your liver) for your surgeon and therefore less painful for you to recover from. On another note, those ten pounds will be lost for good and its the last diet you will ever be on...good luck!

Good luck to you...you are off to a great start! I started with 70 pounds to get to normal BMi and now I am just maintaining...best decision I ever made! You will get lots of help and support here...welcome!

I disagree with most of the posters here and here's why. First I would say keep everything exactly the same for at least a month or 6 weeks, you just need time to break the plateau. The thing about more calories to lose weight has no scientific basis and for those who have experienced it their weight loss was due to continued calorie deficit. They just needed more time so if they had stayed at a 1000 or gone up to 1200 they would still have lost weight but they ascribe the success to adding the extra 200. Either way, even if you add a few you will still be in a deficit and eventually it will come off. I dont think theres any reason to reduce your calories but since you are in the neigborhood of 75 -100 pounds overweight you are not in jeopardy of losing muscle by doing so..this is another myth. But I advise against going down to a calorie level unless you can live with it forever and less than 1000 seems unrealistic for a dude. Simply said keep doing exactly what you are already doing...the body does resist change.

In considering the money I think you have to take the 12 month salary of the new job and compare it to the 10 month salary of the current job. It may not actually be a raise when you look at it like that...for me I would rather have time than money but at this point retirement is in order as is childs college needs...

I know when I hit a plateau at about 60% lost I thought well maybe this is it and I felt lucky to have lost that much and never gained through the whole thing! But a fellow bander said, "Why not try a little fill?" and then the weight started going down! (about five pounds a month was my usual) I hit another plateau at around 155 pounds and my normal BMI was 145 so I got a very tiny fill and lost about 15 pounds in 4 or 5 months. I have plateaued again at about 140 and I am sooooo happy! I almost didnt dare to dream of living very comfortably in the normal range but here I am! Great blog!

Let us know how you are doing...

CBreeden, Hang in there and be nice to yourself...these first few months untill you get enough fill for your band to be working its mojo for you are THE WORST! All you can really do is be patient and good to yourself and try not to gain! You'll be laughing about this later!

There is really no way for him to know that. You may be close to the right place but if you dont feel more satisfied and some restriction...you just need more fill! I mean, if this was about diet and exercise and we could do that successfully, why would we let a doc lasso our stomachs?

I'm with B-52! Life is great and I love my band! I havent really perceived most of the posts here on this site as negative but then I just skim through them because I have been successful. Those negative posts probably stayed in my mind and weighed heavier on me when I was newer and still figuring this whole thing out and also a bit afraid to fail... That being said I try to limit negativity and negative people in my life in general...good luck to all! I agree this is a heck of a lot easier than dieting! (much less of those bad voices in my head!)

I still love and enjoy really good food. The difference is that eat such tiny portions I now refuse to eat anything that isnt exactly what I want and totally delicious! The exception is I do drink a protein shake in the morning because I am too tight for real food. Otherwise I eat tiny portions of really good food!

Liquid vs solid has no medical difference for you...just lose some weight before the procedure to make it easier for your surgeon and your recovery easier. My doc asked me to try to lose 10 preop pounds...I think I lost 8.

Mind if I ask why the B12? If you are otherwise healthy and taking in good nutrition...?

No criticism from me! This whole thing has been a crazy learning process and I am pretty sure we have all done lots of so-called bad things!I have done some things related to eating that I am not proud of and it has been a very long process to get the best use out of this band. Maybe some people just dont want to admit it or maybe (!?) some people are actually perfect! Not me. I wish you well and am sorry that it hasnt worked out for you but I doubt it is your fault!!! [quote name='thall04' timestamp='1321507320' post='1686497'] I don't know about anyone else, but I can feel every single thing that I eat, and I can tell when it goes down into my lower stomach. And I'm really not sure how I figured this out, but I figured out how to push my food down by twisting my body in certain ways and "expanding" my stomach. Please don't criticize me for this!!! I know it's my fault. Hahaha! I just did it to get out of pain. You think I would have learned after so many times.

Good to know! I might give them a try...I like the Premiers from Cosco but its easy to get tired of anything! How many grams of protein are in them?

Congrats!!! its the beginning of a lifelong adventure!

Bra-wise I have never noticed a difference but I cant seem to get my food to go down if I cross my arms (kind of under the boobs). Its funny because I will be sitting on the couch kind of slumped down after a meal and I feel kind of miserable and then I realize its the weight of my arms over my band! Weird! Well it seems like some of these crazy symptoms might help us lose weight, right? I have heard that French women tie a ribbon around their waist under their clothes when they go out to eat to make them aware of getting over full. If I wanted to lose more weight I might try those hi-waisted Spanx if I was going out to dinner! Generally me and the Spanx are officially divorced!

Flintstones chewable but I believe it is about a hundred times more valuable to get nutrition from food and the band really doesnt affect that...our choices do!

I ended up going to a different doc for fills that was closer to home. She fills you at the same time as you are drinking water and when you are bout to spew she pulls back a little and you're done. I have had two from her that both put me at perfect restriction...good luck!