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NewMechelle

LAP-BAND Patients
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Blog Entries posted by NewMechelle

  1. NewMechelle
    :confused:Just a quick overview. I was banded May 28th. I have now lost a total of 42-44 pounds (it varies a pound or two every day) I dont lose a pound for 4-6 weeks at a time (no joke)then in a week will lose 6-8 pounds, then the cycle begins again. I have had two fills. I have a total of 6cc in my band. It was two weeks ago Monday (so now 17 days) that I was last filled. He wont even see me for two more months. So at first I was so tight I thought I would die. Everything solid had a hard time going down. Even the soft pasta type stuff. Now 17 days later, I dont seem to have any restriction or if I do very little. I have to restrain myself from eating because I am really hungry shortly after meals. It's not just head hunger either. I am now fearful I am one of those people who are a bottomless pit and even the band is not going to help me from being hungry and misserable. I would have swore a week ago I had reached that sweet spot. Now I am pretty sure I have not. Is it normal to feel that full after a fill then after a week or two lose that feeling? I thought it was just the opposite, you dont feel it at first but after a few days the fill "kicks in" can I get some encouragement and education here? Thanks!!!!! and God bless you all on your journey.
  2. NewMechelle

    Almost 8 months.

    By NewMechelle,

    On the 28th, I will have been banded for 8 months. I cant believe it. It has gone so very fast. I have lost about 67 pounds. I say about because every day is different but most days I am around 191. My goal is 155. I feel better than I have in years. I am wearing 14 and 16 pants. I have lost 30 inches all over my body. I still have a way to go but so much better than I was. So much healthier. SO thankful and blessed. I love my band. Not every day, not every week has been easy but I would not trade it, I would recomend it to any one. The doc says in a few weeks, he wants me to go on a low cal low fat "rotation diet" so I can get the last 35ish pounds off. When I get there, he wants to do small fills a half a cc at a time till I can eat 4-6 small meals a day be satisfied and not starved inbetween. He said that is the key to long term loss and keeping it off. He says if I am hungry I wont keep it off, it is too hard for any one long term. Hope all is well. Hope every one else feels as blessed as I do. God bless and Good luck.:thumbup:
  3. NewMechelle
    Okay so I realize most of us are just people going thru life tryng to lose weight and do this band thing. I wont hold any one legally responsible for advice etc. I had my realize band done on the 28th of May. I still have my staples and everything. SO... I wont get my first fill for about four weeks(6 weeks post op). Am I supposed to be less hungry NOW before I get a fill at all?(Just from the band) or is it normal to be really hungry untill I start getting fills and reach that eventual "sweet spot" then once I hit that spot, will I get used to that "sweet spot" need more fills till I hit it again? Then what happens when I get as filled as my band will go? Does any one know how many cc's a realize band takes? I am doing well on the diet but man it is a struggle. I was private pay and on top of it i just feel like I went thru too much (surgery etc) to not make this a success. I am scared to death once the honey moon phase is over with this thing I will start gaining again. Any body got any good advice and answers for me? Thanks and God bless.
  4. NewMechelle
    :thumbup:You know as you get closer to your goal it is easier to get frustrated because you know you are doing the right things yet the weight loss and slowed WAY down, I am about 76 down and wanna lose about 25-30 more, i talk in "about" and "arounds" because honest to goodness I fluctuate 2-5 pounds with in a few days it makes me so darned mad. But any way the things to celebrate: I now can cross my legs. I can comfortably take a bath and shave my legs and not splash ALL the friggin water out of my tub like a whale LOL. I can shop in the regular stores again. OMG I never though I could do that again. I can wrap a towel around me and it covers me, not a beach towel mind a a regular towel!! I can sit in a movie theatre seat comfortably. When I sit down :thumbup:at a booth with my friends or family, I dont have to be scared to death I may not fit and have the shame of saying "hey can we sit over here, I like this better" I was never turned away from an amusement park ride but I was getting close to "the limit" every time I went on a coaster with my kids, I started to sweat and said "please God dont let them ask me to get off" I no longer avoid people I havent seen for a long time (at Walmart or other places) and hope I dissapear before they see me because I am ashamed of how I look. I no longer out weigh my huge hunk of a 16 year old son. Heck I am no longer neck and neck with my hunk of a sexy 6 foot 1 husband (for weight) lol I dont feel like I have been beat after I go grocery shopping. My rear end is no longer wider than most of my chairs. (you know what I am talking about over hang) and a good friend of mine pointed out to me, my necklace that used to lay high up on my neck is now almost in my clevege (lol) yes it is the little thing we have to celebrate when we start to get frustrated. I am blessed. Yes I want this last little bit off but compared to this time last year, cant even compare, any one who is struggling with the decision to band or not to band? I would do it again in a minute. God has blessed me with an awesome family, friends and now another chance for a healthy life, I was a size 22/24 today 14ish and ......losing Good luck and God bless
  7. NewMechelle
    :confused:As I move closer to my goal it all feels a little unreal. When I started my journey a year ago in May My goal was to weigh 155. I was 164.5 this morning. Last week my boss told me I was looking too skinny and I needed to start eating. Me? Need to eat? Is this a joke? Then over the weekend I had a friend tell me I looked "older" with out all the fat. Now I realize the fat did help fill out all the wrinkles but I wasnt real happy with that comment. I wouldnt go back. Wouldnt change it for nothing. In all fairness this man is a big jokester and picks on every one. He is also 515 pounds. I tried not to get my feelings hurt and just take it as a joke but I do see much more age on my face now. Honestly it is still worth it. I am more heathy now than I have been in 15 years. If I never lost anoher pound I think I would be okay. I am happy to b 93 down and still love my band. God bless to every one!!
  8. NewMechelle
    I havent blogged for a while but I read every day to see how others are doing. The last few days have been rough. I was banded may 28th. Bye Thanksgiving I had lost 63 pounds and felt like I was doing pretty good. I have gained and lost 3.5 pounds since Thanksgiving several times. This morning I weighed 197. I try not to compare myself to others but I read earlier about some one who had been banded a week before me who is down 90 plus pounds already. It makes me feel like I am really not doing well. I can say the food temptations have been awful I have not "pigged out" but i have not been great either. There are m and m's and candies, fudge and cake every where at work this time of year and it is hard to pass it up every time. I just want the rest of this weight off. I havent been drinking my protien either. I just hate to take in the extra calories even though I know it is important. I just want this weight off! I have already had four fills. am up to 8 cc's in my 14 cc band I think. I should be pretty tight but it still takes more than I would like to make me full. It makes it harder to push the food away. Just feeling sad and a little defeated. Hope every one is well. God bless.:confused:
  9. NewMechelle

    Feeling down today

    By NewMechelle,

    I have been doing pretty good, eating well, losing slow but steady, met my first big goal of losing 50 pounds excited about being around 7 pounds away from Onederland. I have been so motivated to excercise, just walking almost two miles five or six days a week. No one in the world hates it more, just about the time I get used to it and almost enjoy it.....I am walking down the steps this morning and hear a snap, like a twig snapped in half, I almost threw up, broke up in a cold sweat and hit the ground. Something in my calf either pulled or tore. I a,m so mad. I know this is not a marathon but I am trying so hard to "look good" for my 25th High School reunion the third week of November. I just kinda defeated tonight. Ate Cheetos like they were about to outlaw them lol. I just need to hope it is not damaged bad and watch me diet.If I start gaining, i will jump off of something lol. Tomorrow is another day.:biggrin:
  10. NewMechelle

    Feeling great

    By NewMechelle,

    :thumbup:well, I am 9 days post op and feel a little better every day. I still get tired easy but no pain, no problems. I am 20.5 pounds down, that includes pre surgery diet and after the band combined. I can tell any one who is about to do this, it is such a breeze compared to what i expected. I feel so blessed. I would still love to eat lots of good stuff but I can already look at my face and tell the weighyt is coming off and it is so worth it. A very dear friend of mine recently said "nothing tastes as good as skinny will feel" I think that will be my new motto. I have started eating a few soft foods, no problems. Just cheese soup stuff, all is well. I have tons more to lose and I am afraid I will start getting discouraged when the weight loss slows way down but I am going to try and start walking every day and keep the momentum going. I wish I knew people locally who have this band too. I was so absolutely terrified and even just a few days out I know I am going to be so thankful for this chance to change my life, God bless to all.
  11. NewMechelle

    Finally lost fifty

    By NewMechelle,

    Well that 49 has been teasing me forever and ever but finally today i hit it. I hit fifty lost. My first big goal. My second goal Onederland. I am 207 today. Onederland, here I come!!!
  12. NewMechelle
    I was scared to death. I am not real good with the whole pain thing so I was really unsure about getting a fill. He started and was done and I didnt even know he had started. It was awesome. I think I may have had my first glimpse of restriction. I had a head ache from being all stressed out. I tried to take meds, i even broke it in half, thinking ahead you know. WRONG. I felt like it was stuck but in my throat. Then i felt like I was having a heart attack. It was rough for a few minutes. I dont want to repeat that again. He has me on prevacid and i take two blood pressure meds and am afraid to try and take them now. I have not lost any weight in two weeks. I was a little frustrated so I hope and pray that I will have some restriction now. He gave me 4cc's today and said it was the most you could give at the first fill. from here on out, i only get two at a time if i need it. I am to go in 4-6 weeks. So I had surgery, I have had my fist fill and I am on my way to my new life. I am ready to be skinny. Well maybe not skinny but at least healthy. wish me luck. :crying:
  13. NewMechelle
    Monday I went to the doc to get my second fill. I was so scared the first time that I didnt watch. This time I did. Not the needle part but the screen as they do it under an x-ray type machine. It was really cool. I had 4cc's put in my band the first fill. He said that is the max recomended. Then Monday he put in 3 cc's to show me why it is not recomended to go past 2cc's after your initian fill. I took a drink of that radioactive barium stuff and could see it sitting at the top of my pouch, it just sat there. he told me to take another sip to see if it would push thru, nothing, then a last sip to make sure, nope, nothing went thru. it just sat there. So he took out one cc and the liquid slowly trickled thru my band to the lower portion of my stomach. It was kinda cool. I could actually see restriction. I am on liquids for a week. He said i needed to be careful and totally respect this fill once I start on mushies as i have much more restriction. I am praying i have restriction with real food. I (out of the blue) picked up 5 pounds:eek::mellow:I have been walking 1-2 miles a day, was eating well about 95% of the time and boom here comes the weight. I am hoping it is water weight, you know how us women can be. All i can do is keep excercising and see what happens once I begin real food in a week. I want this weight off yesterday!!!!!!!! I hope every one is well. I am trying not to get discouraged. I am full after a half a can of soup (the kind you heat and drink out of the can) however it doesnt last longer than an hour or so. With this level of restriction with fluids, does this mean I may have restriction (you know the kind that lasts, the sweet spot) when i start eating solid again? Could use some encouragement. God bless and thanks.:cursing:
  14. NewMechelle
    Well yesterday was my third fill. Everything went very well. I cant believe what a blessing this whole experience has been. The surgery (not bad at all) the fills (nothing to them) I have just really been blessed. I know not every one is as fortunate but I just feel very thankful. What also seems strange to me is the varrying cc's that are given from doc to doc in a fill. I now have 7.5 cc's in my band. I am really tight but I dont feel misserable. Of course I am only drinking for a week (no solids) so we will see. I have not seen any one on this sight with that much in their band. Am I a little piggy or what? My surgeon was very sweet. Very complimentary on how I am doing. Yesterday was my four month mark. I was down 43 pounds in the office ( my naked wieght before pigging out over the weekend was 49.5 loss) Any way he says I am doing great. I cant wait to get to goal (155) I am just excited about getting to Onderland right now. Hope everyone else is well. God bless. I am so thankful for for this surgeory.
  15. NewMechelle
    :confused:I have been banded for three months. I am down 46 pounds (pre-op diet plus after surgery loss) I have said before, I go three to six weeks without losing a pound then in one week I will lose about 7-8 pounds. The thing that bothers me is it seems to happen only when I have a fill. I have 6 cc's in my band. I have lost a few pounds since my last fill but not consistenly each week (which i guess my body is gonna refuse to do anyway) Here is my delima, what do I do the next time I am due for a fill? I dont want to be too tight and make myself sick but here is what I am doing now. Some times I can eat any thing at all and it not seem to bother me, other times (and no it is not only in the am like i have heard people say) I seem to get everything I eat stuck and it is crazy. A fellow lapbander friend of mine said i may have a small piece of food stuck and therefore restricting me at times. So how do I know if i am at the sweet spot and how do i know if I do or do not need a fill? I know the big thing is consistant weight loss and that aint happening. I am taking in protien every day, walking 1-2 miles almost every day and truely sticking to what I am supposed to do 95% of the time. Any feedback out there?
  16. NewMechelle
    So I went to the doctor on Monday for a fill (my second one) and while I was there he had new pictures of the things that can go wrong. Yes actual pictures, :eek:SCAREY! He had a picture of an eroded band and of slippage of a band. It made me a little queasy. SO here is my question. How does that happen? How do you get an eroded band and/ or slippage? is it from over eating? Is it from drinking with food? Is it just the luck of the draw and any of us are at risk? I guess I am a little paranoid because I was private pay and there is no way I could now afford to have a problem "fixed" I also hear of people whose band is leaking and they have to re-do that. How the heck do you know when that has happened? Thanks and God bless.:frown:
  17. NewMechelle
    well I got on the scake this morning and was 202. SOOO very close, just a few more pounds and I will be out of the two hundreds hopefully for the rest of my life. This has been an amazing journey.There is always the fear for me that (as I have before) I will lose the weight, get where I want and need to be and then in time, little by little see the weight creep back five pounds at a time. This time I have a plan. I will weigh regularly. I didnt even have a scale before. I knew I was fat I was just in denial, not having a scale allowed me to not be accountable, Also once I hit my goal, I will not allow myself to add more than five to ten pounds, regardless of cycle time, holidays whatever. Accountability is the name of the game this time. My first BIG goal was to lose fifty pounds. My second was to get under two hundred, that is three pouns away, then it is the home stretch for me. I love my band. I hope every one else is well.
  18. NewMechelle
    This is the only way I know how to do this. Kandi5911, I hope you are still out there. I dont know how to find you, dont know how to do those cool little measuring tapes at the bottom of the screen with every ones starting weight and goal weight. Heck I didnt even know I had a personal message till I accidently came accross your message. I am so sorry to respond back so late.
    Dr. Shina's number is (812)256-7431. He is extremely bright, knows his stuff, very honest open and even to the point of blunt. I have heard alot of people complain that he doesnt have much of a bedside mannor however I think he is dry but very funny if you pay attention to him. He has offices in Louisville as well if that is more convenient but his Charlstown office can give you the other numbers if needed. I would ( and obviously did)trust him with my life. Good luck and God Bless. Hopefulmechelle:smile:
  19. NewMechelle
    Okay so I know this will sound much like my last blog but I am so agitated. I have been banded 6 weeks today. At first it was awesome. Yes I would like to say I would do it again in a heart beat, am not regreting my decision and consider this a blessing, however,i lost almost thirty pounds immediately, had my first fill last week and nothing, nothing for three or four weeks, not one pound, as a matter of fact i am up and down from 27-30 total lost allthe time, back and fourth. I eat what I am supposed to, cant believe I am not 100 pounds on this diet i eat nothing lol. I drink my protein, for the love of pete what else can i do? I dont expct to wake up 125 pound next week but this is driving me nuts and i am really really getting discouraged.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Thanks for letting me vent and God Bless.:biggrin::sad::glare:
  20. NewMechelle
    As I look back at the year, I realize just how blessed I have been.For my parents who have always been loving and supportive, my husband who is my rock and made a withdrawl out of his 401k so that I may have a second chance at life(lap band surgery) My beautiful healthy children, for a home a job and most importantly to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who made all of this possible. I know without him I would have nothing and be nothing. On the 28th I will have my band for six months. This morning I am 199. Though not skinny by any stretch of the imagination, I thought I would never ever see the ONEDERLAND again. Now I vow to never be in the two hundreds again. Not just because of the way I felt but for my health. My bloodpressure meds have been cut in half. I feel better than I have in years, I had a fill last week of just one half a cc but I am now up to 8cc's in a 14 cc band. This weekend after just a few bites of my favorite foods, I was satisfied. I LOVE THIS BAND!! I love my new life. I have lost 59 pounds. Thanks to my new friends here in this support group, Thanks to my family for their love and support and thank you God for loving me enough to send your son.God bless all and Happy Thanksgiving. Mechelle:smile:
  21. NewMechelle
    :confused3: I was banded on June 28th. I came out of the gate running. I lost ten pounds pre-op and then lost twenty more the following two weeks afte surgery. I was so happy and excited. I have done everything the doc said and went one week, then two, then three with no weight loss. I told myself not to panic that everything would be okay once I started getting my fills. I got my first one five days ago. Guess what? I have not lost even a half a pound. I am on liquids starving and thinking hello, how can I not be losing weight? I am not eating anything. I am behaving and everything. I know I cant wake up one morning and drop 100 pounds from the day before. I am more realistic than that. I just dont understand why that stupid scale is not budging and why I am not losing. Any body got any suggestions? I just dont know what to do. I am trying to stay positive but when you are this hungry, not losing a thing it is really tough. I miss the food but if the weight starts falling off (even slowly) I can hang on and do this, if it doesnt I dont know how long I can remain determined and commited.God bless.
  22. NewMechelle
    :redface:Okay some times we get into a little TMI on these blogs but I dont know where else to turn for these kind of odd questions.But here I go...... Before I had my band I had IBS. I lived in the bathroom, my husband joked and would tell me to save time instead of eating I might as well just throw the food in the toilet. I would often go four or five times a day. Now after the band, I go days and days (sometimes even a week or more) without going to the bathroom. Obviously I am eating less now and I am also ttying to eat healthier (less grease) but this is crazy. Does any one have any suggestions other than starting laxitives I would rather not go there. HELP?!:confused:
  23. NewMechelle
    Well I was banded four weeks ago yesteday. The pre-op diet was tough but I was so excited and determined, I dropped ten pounds. Two weeks later I was down another 20. Realistically, I knew it wouldnt keep falling off like that. I dropped nothing, zip zero this last week. I have not had a fill yet. My doc wanted to wait till week six but when I called yesterday and said "help I am starving to death" he agreed to see me next week. So I know 30 is awesome for me not even having fills yet but this is tough.Every day every one says "well how much have you lost now" I feel like I am sooo being watched. And to top it off, I have always had huge breasts and now that 30 is off my gut it is like they have little beacons on them (breasts that is) because every one men and women look at them. I want to wake up and be down thirty more by the weekend.I dont know how to be patient and I am scared to death this is not gonna work for me, it will take 20 fills for restriction or something crazy. My biggest fear from the get go is that this will not work. I will fail yet one more time. Any body got any advice for a hungry paranoid inpatient "big Girl"?
    as always, thanks and God bless.:rolleyes2:
  24. NewMechelle
    :rolleyes:Well these last few weeks have been a roller coaster ride. I went for four weeks with out losing a pound. I was active, doing everything I was supposed to, watching my intake but eating enough. NOTHING. I was so frustrated. I refused to give up but I was ticked. So last week, i change nothing, do nothing different, ate no more or less, and i dropped eight pounds in a week. For those that get discouraged with the plautaus, heres what i am figuring out, after you drop several pounds fairly quickly, i think your body freaks out and just stops. I think your body is afraid You have stopped feeding it and just freezes, it gets used to the new wieght and just out of the blue, starts shedding again. I am only 12 pounds away from my first BIG goal which was 50 pounds. I had surgery on May 28th and I am down 38 pounds. I cant wait to get into "onederland" it has been sooooo long. I will be 199 and think I am a stick Lol. Hope this helps someone else. God Bless!:thumbup:
  25. NewMechelle
    Okay I would like to thank every one that has tried to assist me in my dingy attempts to do the ticker. I figured out how to do the ticker. I got a really cute one, loolks adorable half way almost to goal I have copied and pasted to option one block on the "update signature" area. I have copied and pasted on the option two area. I have tried hitting upload, save signature, and preview signature. Each time I do this It says invalid file. Does any one have any idea what I may be doin wrong? except for a possible shout out saying yea I got it some day lol I swear this is my last "ticker" blog.:thumbup:

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