pennreporter

West LAGirl, at 6.5 ccs I didn't have any restriction. My fills went 3cc/2cc/2cc (actually the last one was 3cc by mistake). Then I've been tweaking it for the past one. One more tweak downward and I think I will be in a good spot. I had to lose 10 percent of my body weight pre-surgery. I was 218 on day of surgery. I'm at 165 now. So my weight loss hasn't been huge but I gave myself a year. I take a lot of the blame because I hate to exercise. Winter is not good for me because of being indoors. I do much better in the summertime. My average weight loss as been a pound a week, but that's not consistent. I average 12 pounds for three months when I go to nutritionist. A friend had her surgery one week after me and she's lost 10 more lbs than me, but she exercises every day. I know that's my biggest stumbling block. I've also found if I don't keep my Protein count up, I don't lose as well. So I have an app on my iphone, Lose-It, it's free. If I keep calories down around a thousand and my protein as close to 60 grams as possible, I do much better. Gawd forbid should I get a half hour of exercise...lol. So hang in there. Trisha

I have an 11 cc Realize Band. I was at 8cc, too tight. Went back and went back down to 7cc, too loose. Went back to 7.5, still not enough. Then back again and back to 8cc. It's not as tight this time as the first time, but I'm thinking 7.75 is going to be my comfort restriction. I go back to surgeon on 4/5 and will have the .25 cc taken out. But very strange that the 8cc the first time was almost unbearable and it's almost tolerable this time. But still what I can eat one day will not go down another day. So I'm very cautious and on what I eat. But through the past 6 weeks of tweaking, not much was happening on the scale...because of course when it was too loose, I hit Taco Bell more times than I should have :wink2: Well, that's little ride is over :) Good luck to all. Trisha

Well, I haven't been on here much since we started the challenge. I've had to tweak my band a few times and still need .25 removed, but that won't happen until April 5. But at least the scale is finally starting to go down again. I was too tight and then too loose and then not tight enough and now back to almost too tight again...thank goodness they only have to stick once to find the port each time...lol But I was stuck at 168-172 for about a month with the band being too tight and then when it was loosened up, well, let's say I was at Taco Bell a few times a week eating nachos...so that little adventure is over :wink2: I'm back to being almost too tight but not as bad as it was. So hopefully I'll be back on course for my challenge. Good thing is that I have my 42-mile bike ride on May 5. So whatever I lose will be a plus before the ride. Hope everyone is doing well!! Can't wait for the snow to go away here. Will be nice to be able to get outside more. Trisha:thumbup:

Well, since I have the Realize band and my daughter has the Lap-Band, I can say, in the end, I don't know that there's any difference. Mine is 1 cc bigger than hers. So that just makes a difference in the amount of fill it takes to get to restriction, and even that is dependent on the individual. I will say the only difference esthetically is that I can see where my port is. It kind of sticks out at that spot, but that may also be due to my surgeon had only done five bands at that time and my daughter's surgeon had done 4k. If I was 25 and still wearing two-piece bathing suits, it might be a concern but at 58, it's not a problem. I can't see hers at all. I can even barely feel it. Trisha

Kaninag, great link...Lol If they can't see that, they must be almost as blind as I am without contacts..lol So we're only about ten weeks away from Challenge end...the time will fly and it will be here before we know it. I actually did my stationary bike this monring and did well on journaling. If I don't journal, it's real easy to add calories with some "slider" food (chocolate, pudding) and before I know it I've added 4-500 extra calories. Good luck to all!! Trisha

welcome Rayne...are you on your pre-op liquid diet yet, or does your doctor make you do that? Not all do. We'll be saving you a place on the loser's bench. There's usually also a group for people having theirs done in each month. So if you haven't joined one yet, you may look for that. I'm part of June Journey's 2009. Good luck and welcome!! Trisha:thumbup:

wow, KLL, that's a helluva trip. I wish I could afford to take the time off for that but being single and having used up retirement to take care of my crazy parents before they passed, I will end up being the greeter at Wal-Mart and working till I drop...lol. My daughter has been banded also but she did hers a year before me. So I knew what I was getting into. But I find it incredibly interesting at how every person is different and how differently we all react to fills and fill levels. I had no restriction at 5cc (Realize band is 11ccs). And mistakenly was taken up to 8cc where I did nothing but have issues. I'm hoping this level, 7.5 is a keeper. Today is my first full meal since the fill yesterday. So we'll see...as long as it makes me feel full, I can live with that. I don't miss the bread, rice and steak. Good luck and maybe your daughter will change her mind...but it's still early and ten pounds lost is ten pounds she didn't have before. Trisha

Kll, I don't know about the bathing suit thing. At my age, I don't really care about all that...it will be just nice to not have to go through the anguish of looking for 1X or 2X bathing suits :biggrin: I've done the cross country trip from Vegas to Pennsylvania. As much as I love traveling by car, that one was not pleasant...in a Honda, pulling a trailer with three dogs who were car sick at some point or another during the adventure. Surprised I didn't burn the transmission up in the car. The Grand Canyon is great. I've been a few times...it's hot hot hot though if you hit it in the right month. What fill are you at Kll? It took 3 for me, but then I was too tight, but I stayed at 7ccs for five months. As it turned out it was actually 8cc...can't imagine why it was tight...lol. So had 1cc taken out last week. That was too much and went back and had .5 put back in. This one may do it for a while, but when you get more fill in there you really won't get hungry, or hopefully you won't. I still get head hunger but not stomach hunger. I would do it again in a heartbeat...my only downside is my insurance/surgeon is very inexperienced, so it's been kind of a learning process for us both. But he's a sweetheart and I trust him, he just hasn't done many bands and believes more in the bypass...hopefully I will change his opinion :thumbup: Your cross country trip will be great from the direction you're heading. I've done Dallas to NYC twice and it's a beautiful drive. Tennessee is great, just wished I'd had enough time to go to the Smoky Mountains. Good luck Trisha

Welcome to the newbie bandies!! You won't regret it. Banded where are you going in NY? May is a great month to be there. May is when the bike ride is, 32k riders, going through all five boroughs and bridges, plus there's the Walk for Cancer which who knows how many walkers there are for that, but the weather usually is pretty good, although last year was sucky...rained a lot. But just think all the walking you'll do will be great exercise. I don't live in the city anymore but my daughter still does, who is also a bandie (she was my guinea pig, did hers first). Good luck to all. Trisha P.S. Pulling off my snow boots now to go get on the exercise bike...part of my challenge is to ride the stationary bike every day until the weather is clear enough to ride the road bike...

Well, we have four people so far on the challenge spreadsheet....assuming we all even come close to our challenge goal, WHAT A WAY TO START THE SUMMER!!! Trisha P.S. Kll, if you're still getting hungry then your fill probably isn't enough yet, but it will get there... P.S.S. Also forgot to list to save info before you leave the spreadsheet site. I'm doing the challenge because of a 42 mile bike ride on May 2 but also I'm doing a goofy cruise at the end of September...my friends and family think I'm crazy, but I'm doing the Richard Simmons Mardi Gras cruise to lose. It's my first cruise and I'm having to do it as a single and didn't want to get stuck with a bunch of other senior citizens..(I'm older than all of you guys but not ready for an AARP cruise yet...lol) but what a concept to be able to wear a bathing suit for the first time in 15 years!!

Went back in and had PA put .5 cc back in band, but can't really tell yet if there's a difference as I always do a soft food diet on the first day. So I'll know tomorrow, but PA did say to come back in if I felt I still needed maybe a quarter, to go gradually back up on the fills. He did say that even thought I was really tight at 8cc, that taking some out and going back up to 8cc, that it might not be as tight going back up if I lose more weight before I go back to 8cc. So we'll see how the 7.5 goes. Would prefer to not go back up to that level of tightness. Trisha P.s. there's also a thread on here, the Cinco de Mayo Challenge..to see how well we can do by May 5!!

I've created a spreadsheet on google docs, just not real sure on how to link it all up. If it works and anyone has suggestions or if the original poster needs me to send it to her so she can link it up differently, just shout out. I'm so clueless sometimes on this stuff. Let me know if you're able to add your info on it. http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Am_4vTB_UwtudFkyNEthemRTNlNNb09xRlNsS0V6SHc&hl=en

I sure wish I could help you. I know in June Journeys we had one for a thanksgiving challenge but I don't know who made it up. I'd love to join in on the challenge. I'm 25 lbs from goal and have a 42 mile bike ride coming up on May 2 and I would love to do it for the first time ever at as close to goal weight as possible. It's the 5-borough bike ride in NYC, with about 32,000 bikers. Both times I've done it I've been 70+ lbs overweight. So my goal is to ride my stationery bike twice a day until the snow goes away and then get out on the real bike. So I'm there with you. Hopefully someone on here will know how to do the spreadsheet. Trisha (Poconos, PA)

I can't do bread, Pasta, rice...only crispy things like crackers, maybe a taco shell...the bread has been a good thing because that's a huge weak spot for me. Not eating rice or pasta is also a nonissue for me. Also can't do steak or dry chicken.. But I can eat popcorn...go figure. Trisha

I was banded June 1, '09. I had three fills which brought me up to what I thought was 7cc in September. My weight lost is satisfactory but the fill was extremely tight, lots of throwing up PBing, getting stuck and not so healthy food choices...ice cream goes down real well...lol. Went last Tuesday to have some of my fill removed. When he brought it out it was 8cc (out of an 11 cc band). I only wanted to have .5 cc removed but because I had been so irritated , he took a full cc out...so supposedly I'm at 7cc...well, when I was at 5cc I had absolutely no restriction at all. I'm kind of feeling like that now...can eat just about anything...so I go back in on Monday to have some more put back in, but this time the PA will be doing it. My surgeon is extremely inexperienced at the band..he does mostly bypasses... and he even admits that he was not pulling all of the Fluid out so that some was being left in the tubing and he was compensating for that...so basically he's not real sure what he's doing, but I trust him in the sense that I do think he's a good doctor, just new at the whole banding process. So I have no clue what I'll end up at come Monday, I guess it depends on how much they pull out to see how much is really in there. I know I don't want to be as tight as I was...that was a pretty tough 4.5 months.. But I'm on track with where I expected to be with weight loss, especially since exercising is not real high on my priority list, although that has to change because I have a 42 mile bike ride coming up in NYC...so my sluggy butts gotta get on the stationary bike and ride..:smile: Good luck. I don't regret having surgery done (even when PB'ing...lol) Trisha

Sheriberi, I was banded June 1. I had lost about 15 lbs pre-op, so my total is 69 lbs. The recommended weight loss is 1-2 lbs per month. So you really sound like you're on target. I gave myself a year, for a total of 90 lbs. If I'm not quite there come June 1, I will definitely not be beating myself up. I've never been on any diet plan that I could lose more than 40 pounds, which always came back on within a year, plus some more. So as long as that number keeps going down, keep patting yourself on the back. :thumbdown: Trisha

So i'm going back to the doctor on Monday. I had the 1cc removed, which I requested just .5 cc removed. Now I have absolutely no restriction, can eat anything and everything. Haven't but could..:thumbdown: So I'm going back Monday to have .5 put back in. This time it will be with the PA who supposedly does most of the fills, but has never done mine. So it will be interesting to see how much he pulls out before he puts it back in. As much as I like my surgeon, his inexperience in banding shows sometimes. But I will say after months of not being able to eat any vegetables, I paid dearly for the broccoli and cauliflower I hate on my first solid meal after the 1cc was taken out. Had gas most of the night...it wasn't pretty. Thank goodness I live alone...lol. But I really felt that .5 cc would have done the trick. This fill almost feels like I did at 5cc which was no restriction either. That's why I'm curious to see how much the PA gets back out, if it's truly at the 7cc that's supposed to be in there. Wish me luck..:thumbup: Trisha

sounds great but tuna is not my friend these days...it doesn't want to go down, or at least didn't. I just had some fill removed, so hoping things like tuna will go down. I do Greek Yogurt with some blueberries in it, very high on protein and great on calcium. Trisha

I absolutely had to eliminate my fluids during meals, at least once I got really tight. Before then it was not an issue. But after my last fill, I was having horrible issues with getting stuck. It got considerably better once I eliminated fluids before meals. The reason for none after is because the fluids will liquify your food and make it go through quicker instead of making you feel full longer. For me that's not an issue because I rarely get hungry. So I do drink a very very small amount after eating. I did have to have some fill removed because I was throwing up too much, so how much the fluids really contributed, I don't know anymore. I had way more fill than I thought or that the surgeon thought. He wasn't counting fill in the tube. So I'm still hesitant on the fluids, but I would sure like to have a glass of wine with dinner when I go out to dinner. So we'll see how it all works now that I've had 1cc removed. Trisha

Had some of my fill removed yesterday and the nurse gave the surgeon a huge needle for the numbing medication, which is really the first time that's hurt. Usually just a mild sting. I also asked him about the horse needle that he uses for the fill and he agreed that maybe, if there's a next time, he can go to a smaller needle. He's such a sweetheart but banding is a new thing for him. So I give him a lot of leeway for the learning process. He normally uses the horse needle for patients that have lots of belly fat to get through to port but I'm with 20 lbs of goal, so not much belly fat. So we'll see next time. :rolleyes2: Trisha

Well, I finally called uncle and went and had some fill taken out. When he pulled it all out, instead of 7cc I had 8 cc. My surgeon is so new at banding, that he even admitted he didn't think he had been removing all the fill from the tubing also and just compensating for how much he thought would still be there. So he took me down to 7cc to see how it goes and to give everything a break. I iniitally wanted him just to do .5 but kind of agreed with him that because of all the throwing up for so many months, to just let everything relax. So I haven't really ate anything to test it yet. I did have a very small vegetable spring roll and a little bit of eggdrop soup. So we'll see how it goes today with a real meal. Trisha

their web site bites the big one. And I'm almost 100 percent sure my doctor never goes on there. I journal through my iphone. There's a free app called I think Lose it which has a pretty extensive list of restaurants and grocery store brands, plus you can enter your own foods in

I didn't either. I had the barium test where they have you drink the yukka stuff while they watch it go down through a machine...I can't remember what the test is called, but that was like a month or so after, maybe on my next appointment after my first fill. Trisha

whoo-hoo, good for you!! I have a few more to go. I'm at 167 now but I'm 5-5. So my goal doesn't have a specific number. It's a healthy BMI and a size 10 clothing size. So I'm thinking about 150 My daughter is your height and she's struggling with the last 15 lbs for about a year but she's socializes A LOT and a new boy-toy that eats a lot. So she has a lot more outside temptations than I do. I'm trying to convince her to go in for a small fill, but like me, we're both horrible at exercizing. So she's bringing her wii fit out this weekend and we're going to play with that, but we both have a 35 mile bike ride coming up soon and have to get on the exercise bike to get the legs in shape. Again, congratulations!! Trisha