Corliss

I pb'd tonite. Haven't done that for a while. Lately, at night I have no trouble eating, my band is loose. I was eating thinly sliced Kielbasa with sauerkraut. Think I probably ate a little too fast. Or the kraut turned to instant gas and filled my tummy.LOL

I love saurkraute but never could eat it with my first band even when it was functional. I ate it a good bit sans band and twice with my new one before i got a fill, but would be afraid to eat it unless i cooked it in a pressure cooker cause it is rather tough and stringy. I think it would be a set up for a pb. I hate it too cause it is low cal and very tasty with some pork ribs or roast, yummmmm!

Corliss

22 months post-op and doing pretty good. I still have 30 pounds to go. I did have to have my port sewn back down because it came loose and flipped, but no problems with the band itself.

I am at maximum restriction, meaning as full as i can get and still eat. I can't eat anything solid before about 11 am, and then I still have to be careful at lunch. By dinnertime, I'm fine, but there are things I can't eat at all, including:

-any beef unless it's ground or super super tender like fillet mignon

-plain chicken breast

- bread, unless it's toasted and in the later part of the day - I usually stick to whole wheat crackers if I want something like that.

-pasta - sometimes gets stuck, sometimes not (I usually just avoid it)

-rice sometimes yes, sometimes no (ditto)

Also, I'm really tight in the week before my monthlies, so I have to watch it then, too.

Sometimes it really sucks - especially when I have to hop up and run to the bathroom to PB in the middle of a meal - but if this is what I have to do to be thinner, I'll do it.

If you are being very careful and still having some fairly frequent pb, more than once a week, you might want to have just a fraction of a mL removed. I am on my second band and am coming up on restriction real slowly. My plan is to stop just short of the point you describe. If I get there, I am gonna get him to take me down just a hair. It can make all the difference. I can't risk loosing another band.

Good luck to ya. I need to drop another 50 myself, all of which I gained before rebanding.

Corliss

:thumbdown:

I went for my second fill yesterday. My insurance won't pay since it is not a bariatric service provided at Erlanger. That stinks but Memorial worked a deal with me for cash pay and it beats the heck out of flying back to Mexico for a fill. I need to get in touch with the MD office and see what I can work out with them. Maybe if i need another one of if this one is a tad to tight he says he should be able to do it without fluoro and that should be a good thing. I think maybe I am at a good place. Just ate some Jello and felt restriction for a bit. UMMMM wonderful feeling!

I am so ready for some serious wt loss. I didn't loose anything to amount to anything since rebanding, but honestly I have not worked real hard at it. I went through some serious depression post rebanding and prior to rebanding and just lost my momentum. I now have 5 ml in my 10 ml realize model and am sooo hoping for good but not over tight restriction. My fill doc doesn't allow even softs for 5 days so it will be a while before i can test drive it. I am hungry as a bear with a band can get today. I had made the unfortunate committment to make my killer chili for a benefit at work today, lol! I mean sheer torture cause I do love my own chili and I cook by taste. It has taken all my willpower to spit out the mouthful i took to test it. My dog loves it! (Gross I know.) We better raise a lot of money is all I have to say!

I had so hoped to be down to goal(170) by Christmas but with only a 5 lb loss so far it ain't happening. I am resetting my goal to be in ONDERLAND by Christmas instead. I like to win. Wish me luck.

Corliss

I am so ready for some serious wt loss. I didn't loose anything to amount to anything since rebanding, but honestly I have not worked real hard at it. I went through some serious depression post rebanding and prior to rebanding and just lost my momentum. I now have 5 ml in my 10 ml realize model and am sooo hoping for good but not over tight restriction. My fill doc doesn't allow even softs for 5 days so it will be a while before i can test drive it, lol! I am hungry as a bear with a band can get today but have had made the unfortunate committment to make my killer chili for a benefit at work today, lol! I mean sheer torture cause I do love my own chili and I cook by taste. It has taken all my willpower to spit out the mouthful i took to test it. My dog loves it! (Gross I know.) We better raise a lot of money is all I have to say, lol!

I had so hoped to be down to goal(170) by Christmas but with only a 5 lb loss so far it ain't happening. I am resetting my goal to be in ONDERLAND by Christmas instead. I like to win. Wish me luck.

We are going to get new family portraits made this Saturday. If they are good I will post some. I am staying a bit too busy. I am back to work full time and am teaching a psych clinical for nursing students. I love it and need the money. It's all good.

Corliss

Congradulations to you. I was banded two years ago. I know I haven't done what should be done to loose weight. I'm scheduled for a fill next week. I'm really to ashamed to go. I've lost a total of 40 pounds. I'm copuld really use some encouragement from you all.

Hey Wildchild, try not to be ashamed. If we didn't have food issues we wouldn't need a band anyhow. I know I have not lost over 5 lbs and I have had my new band for 3 months and that was all right at the very early stages. I am very greatful however as I have not gained. After I had my first band removed I gained like crazy(stomach prolapse due to hiatal hernia.) So just standing still has been well worth the cost of rebanding. I started the original band journey at 373 and got as low as 160 only to gain back up to 235 and lost down to 219 before rebanding! I went for my second fill today and am hoping to get down to some serious wt loss now. If i can get below 200 I will be sooooo thrilled.

Just be gentle with yourself and walk forward, go get that fill girl!

Corliss

Congrats!:biggrin:

I am right there with you both. I need a fill in the worse way. My eating has really picked up, but I am scared to get a fill. My mouth isn't back to normal so I am scared that I will start having PB issues. I don't want to risk it. I guess I will see if I gain weight while waiting.

I sympathize about the need for a fill. I need one so bad that I went ahead and scheduled my second one for this coming Tuesday. He can only do fills on Tuesdays and everyone has to be at memorial @ 11:45 though we usually don't get filled right away. I had to wait two hours for my first one. I hope this one is all it will take, I have a little bit of restriction, and I don't want to have a lot, but I truely need more.

Carrie, congrats on the B. Way to go!

Corliss:thumbup:

Feel Free to fart Frequently.

From the Fabulous Fans of Fervent and Frequent Flatulance, LOL!

Corliss:tt1:

you made me laugh, :smile2: but a heating pad works great to alleviate the discomfort of the shoulder gas pain. at least it did for me..:thumbup:

Works great for gastric gas, but the walking and heating pad is best for the shoulder pain. It is referred pain from your diaphragm being pushed on. If your tummy is gassy it hurts worse as it is pushing on the diaphragm too, so that is why gas-x and release seems to work. corliss

Thank you. I will slow down and drink less at one time. I don't have any physical complaints so I am not thinking it has slipped yet. Maybe I have been lucky, but will change my behavior.

Probably a good idea to change your behavior but i dont think you have to worry about a slip from drinking Water. Even if you drink way too fast, it would go through unless you are wayyyyy too tight in which case something besides water would cause the slip. You feel the gurgling when you are basically fairly tight, but not neccesarily too tight. If you were too tight for it to go through fast as you drink it, it would come up. :mad2: Relax, no need to panic.

Corliss

i had a fill yesterday. super long wait: 2 hours. hoping i feel some restriction in the next few days. i am still at around the same weight i was in june. at least i havent gained much (maybe a couple of pounds) in that time. it is frustrating. i asked if they thought i would start losing again soon and they said they were trying to protect my band which i obviously want but weight loss would be nice too.

not sure i am going to hit my 100 lbs in a year goal but hopefully it will pick up again soon. to make it worse there were all kinds of people at the office talking about how much weight they had lost and i felt like i had a big FAIL stamped on my head. :cursing: oh well. they do say that they dont feel like this slip will effect my long term success so that is good. :laugh:

Dang Punkster! You are already ahead of the numbers. You have lost what almost two lbs a week average. I am feeling sorta slow about my loss after I had been to goal before loosing my band. I am now 219 which is no loss at all since rebanding, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, the most important thing for me is to keep my band and not to gain anymore. I really want to get back to goal but even if I don't, if I just continue to maintain, I will be far better off than I will be if I loose another band to a slip. Banding is a long way from a perfect science. It sounds to me as if you are doing incredible and you are getting excellent care. You sure have no reason to feel like a failure.

Corliss

there are also NICUs or special care nurseries at East Ridge, Hutcheson, and Erlanger East. I had about 1 1/2 years experience at Erlanger's NICU.

Are you going for FNP? I want to get my master's but not exactly sure what yet: maybe Neonatal CNS.

I didn't realize they had NICUs anywhere but TCT. Yes I am working on NP, that was my whole reason for becoming a nurse but now am sort of at a stand still. I am just not sure I want to go on with it. My family would all love for me to just stop going to school. I am just not sure that physically I can hold out to do the heavy duty floor work till retirement, and wonder if I should not continue on even if I no longer have the burning desire.

Corliss

i am trying to get back into nursing because i have taken some time off. i am a neonatal nurse.

I guess TC Thompson is the only game in town for you or in the neonatologists office. That is pretty highly specialized. How long did you work in neonatal? Of course you could probably move pretty easily into Peds ICU or PACU.

I am struggling with whether or not to continue on with my masters in nursing. I have a lot of miles on me with only two years nursing experience and just didn't have the motivation last semester that took me through AS and BSN programs. I took this year off school but found myself doing clinical lab assistant work part time and that is all good, lol! Might stay in the program but change my major, who knows?

In the meantime, I am pretty much stuck on IMCU at Erlanger. Some nights I love it and some nights I want to run with my tail tucked between my legs back to Social Work, which I did for almost 30 years. I got into nursing because I wanted to become a nurse practioner, but just made it to grad school and "BAM!" no interest. I think a lot of it may be because of the problem I had loosing my band then gaining wt. It really caused me some depression.

Lots of nurses on this board but so many of us have weight issues. We see the worst effects of the disease daily in my unit at least. I hoped to use that to help me control my eating, but I don't know that it does.

Good luck on your job search.

Corliss

I am here. I started nursing school last week so I have been really busy. My weight loss has stalled. I really need some motivation.

Hi Carrie, Where are you in school? I finished in Aug. 2007. It is a rough ride, but worth it. I got my first lap band just after finishing my first summer. I went to a summers only program where we went four months each summer for three years. It was like taking a shower with a fire hose, lol! Hang it there and if I can help, give support, pointers, advice, let me know.

Corliss:thumbup:

After several month of dealing with my insurance date, I finally got my surgery date, Sept 15th. Thanks to all the wonderful information shared on this board, I am soooooo ready

Congrats Dee, great journey ahead of you! Let us know how things go.

Corliss

So many people prefer not to be bothered with evidence to the contrary of what they believe and hold dear. Like any diet the Atkins will not work if you don't do it. There are loads of people on my Low Carb lists through Yahoo that are maintaining for years after loosing 50 plus pounds with Atkins without a lap band. I personally am not one who can maintain, but lets see, I didn't maintain with weight watchers, nutri system or diet pills either. I even gained wt on the mediteranian diet as much as I loved it!

I have the band to minimize the damage that I do when I am not making good choices whether they be bandster reccomendations, OA food plan, Low Carb food plan or Weight Watchers. I find that the Atkins way of eating which is very similiar to the OA grey sheet to be really effective for wt loss. I think all of us who are in need of a band, just muddle through this the best that we can, but many would like to see ourselves as successful dieters and hold our own diets as better than someone elses, where the truth is the band is the key! Very few here would be successful in keeping it off if not for our tool.

I know of only one person on all the boards I am on who has successfully kept her wt. off after band removal, without some revision to another surgery. She is the exception. I personally have experienced a band loss and I am in touch with dozens of others who have and we all experienced wt gain with that one happy exception. Atkins can do wonders for dropping a significant amount quickly and I am all for using it if it works for you. If not, why whine and get nasty about it....if you don't want to do it then for goodness sake, don't do it, but stop the yaya!

Corliss

Funny aside-- when I tell people I'm doing low-carb, I get lectures about how unhealthy that is (seriously, I have). But when I tell people I'm doing "no sugar, no starch", they pat me on the back for my healthy decisions.

Ain't it Amazin'???? LOL!

Corliss:lol:

Corlis-

Thank you for your reply. I will make it your way AFTER I order the sugar online. I would love your sugarless cheesecake.

What is the yog butter?

When I bake I replace the fat with yogart aka solid chocolate...that is why I will make it first.

Thanks for quick response

Jolly

Most lap band folk do not adhere to this type of low carb, because it is not really neccesary to be able to loose for most. So if you are eating a normal amount of carbs the high fat will blow your calorie count up. I am a sugar junkie and very carb sensitive. I have been having a hard time getting on board loosing and rather than go get another fill right away, I had just started cutting the carbs yesterday and had not thought a thing about this candy till your post came up. I always try to put off making the treats till I am really on a roll.

Like I was telling someone on chat last night super low carb can make your blood sugar run too low, so if you do this be sure to get some veggies in. I had turnip greens for dinner cooked with olive oil and onion for seasoning along with some talapia, sauteed in butter with lemon sauce and capers. They were both wonderful though I ate them seperately.

Corliss

very tempting recipe

is it powdered or hard chocolate

Hi Jolly,

I buy the hard cooking chocalate bars.

This stuff is not low cal cause it has so much fat in it. I only eat them if I am way into low carbing. They are major good and I also do a sugarfree cheesecake with erytiritol. The erythritol is the major key ingreedient in both. Splenda will not do the trick by itself and maltotol has almost as many cals as sugar and also gives you upset stomach. You buy the Erythritol from www.netrition.com

Corliss

what is everyone doing for exercise these days? anyone going to the walk from obesity?

I am back in the gym with my personal trainer who is amazing! She is just a little midget gidget of a gal who really knows her stuff and is very supportive. We are working on leg issues right now. I would love to do the walk, when is it?

Could we get a Lap Band Talk group going? I would love to meet some of you guys.

Corliss

wow. that was long. do you have a 4ml band now? mine is 10 ml.

pioneer - i would call the office. they suggest mucinex for mucous problems.

Sorry about the length punk. I do have a 10 ml realize. I wouldn't have had another 4 ml put in.

Corliss

im with you slim. the permanency and Vitamin deficiency are reasons why i didnt have bypass although after this slip i am reconsidering that decision... [corliss]. it is supposed to be better than bypass because things dont get stuck and you dont have dumping supposedly. i dont know anyone who has had any type of weight loss surgery other than the band and they have had their surgery since i have had mine.... :blushing: i must be a pioneer.

My decsion to go with another band rather than a sleeve was because I had done so well initially actually for about 1 year and 3 months with the first band and not too bad for another year before I had more and more problems with reflux and the getting anything down and the last few months were horrible. I just remember how wonderful it was when it worked right. My wt. loss was effortless and I rarely got stuck. I never had very much fill in my 4 ml band, when others were having 3.6 I had I think maybe 2.5 at the most, can't remember exactly. Then even after getting it all pulled out when, I could eat and I had restriction. But as I said my problems were intermittent from that point on. I suspect that initially they were due to the hiatal hernia and not slippage/prolapse. I think that the slippare/prolapse probably happened the last 3 months. Looking back I will always believe I could have managed my band better after I started having problems had I been willing to drink the hot tea with honey and stay on liquids a day before eating. I don't think I allowed my inflamed pouch to heal thus contributing to the existing problems which I couldn't avoid.

The newer bands are supposed to be less likely to slip and I have been told given the scaring if the band is well placed that slippage this go around could be less likely due to the presence of scaring on my stomach which changes the surface from slick to a bit rougher. This makes sense to me.

My specific concerns about the sleeve were of course the fact that it is permanent. Once your stomach is gone, it is gone. The possibillity of leakage along a staple line is scary also. I was told that this only happens during the first week. My surgeon in Mexico Dr. Zapata has never had this particular complication. He strongly encouraged me to have the sleeve but agreed that I was a good candidate for rebanding. The other thing is that when you get old a lot of times you can have all sorts of nutritional deficits and many are a result of lack of appetite. Without the grehlin hormone one could become anorexic easily. I can't imagine it ever happening to me, but it could.

I fear being really fat again more than I fear a staple leak or loss of appetite as an elder however, so if I can't keep this band, I will definately have a sleeve if I can find the resources. It is the pits that we have to go to such lengths to be normal size and to contain our appetites. I am strongly convinced that it is more than psychological inability to balance the energy in/energy out equation. I fully believe there is a physiological reason for our inability to eat just for our needs and I know the band helps me with my lack of ability even the mental/emotional part of it. It has to be a hormonal/nuerological interface with our emotions and intellect.

My sleeved friends seem to be able to eat most anything, and one of them says she has not really experienced a loss of interest in food to the degree that the other one has. She rarely experiences a stuckage and if she does it doesn't seem to be as miserable to her as it is to most bandsters.

I could not imagine any reason for having a RNY unless you are around 600 lbs and severe diabetic, but even then i would think the sleeve would be a better option. It is just not as available. Hopefully soon most insurances will start paying for it.

Anyhow that is my essay for the day, LOL!

Corliss

I would be terrified too. That is why I didn't get RnY. The thought of not being able to change things if I needed to scared the crap out of me.

I strongly considered getting a sleeve after I lost my band. I know I don't want another slip and if I have one, I will get a sleeve if I can beg or borrow the money. So far so good with the band, not loosing any, but definately not gaining. I need a little more fill I think.

I have two friends with the sleeve and they are both doing great.

Corliss

Corliss, tell us more about your arm surgery. How long before you could go back to work and how are the scars healing? Congratulations on your successful wt loss and career and face lift!!!

Mimi

Hi MIMI, I could have probably gone back to work about 4 wks after arm surgery but i also had a hiatal hernia so I was off for 8 weeks. I do a lot of lifting on my job. The scars are red and angry looking but seem to be healing nicely. I expect them to fade really well over the next year or so. I do not have First Lady arms, mine were extremely disfigured before surgery and what i have is normal but floppy granny arms, lol. The face work is loads more dramatic. I have before pics posted also. I will post recent pics in my plastic surgery album soon. I have pics 8 wks out on there now. Just go to my profile and check them out. Thanks a lot.

Corliss

This spot is great, I am 54 and feel as thought we have a lot in common. The younger girls at my work treat me like I don't quit no what I am doing. I also worry about my husband getting laid off and being replaced by a twentysomething. I look forward to getting plastic surgery on my arms and neck, figured I can stuff everything else inside my clothes. My name is karen and I had a lapband done 5/26/2009. Losing slow and study and that is the best way. Have had only two fills since I had a problem with dehydration in july which landed me in the E.R.

Have to motivate myself to exercise more.

Hope to talk to you all again.

Wow can I relate! I am a 57 year old RN. I became a nurse at age 55 and started on a unit with experienced 25 year olds. They were sort of freaked out by me. I had my first lap band in 2005 and lost over 200 lbs. It left me badly in need of plastic work. I recently had that lap band replace (removed due to a slip) and while I was in Monterrey I had a full face lift and my arms done. I just returned to work and they are flabergasted, lol! If I was confusing to them before, I certainly am now. Some would like to think I don't know what I am doing but that is their problem, not mine!

Corliss

The fairly new nurse with 57 years life experience!:thumbdown:

The Gastric Band Institute that I go to is in Chattanooga and on Gunbarrel Rd in the Memorial Atrium. I see Ponce and they have flouro in their office. I think most people in this thread go to the Chattanooga office but I am not sure of that. His office is affliated with Memorial but not at the main hospital.

Thanks, I didn't know that. I had not heard of it being there. Corliss