GoingforGoal

Typically gas pains start around day 2-3 and can last up to a week on average. Just keep walking, use a heating pad for comfort. Also, because of the pain you may feel less inclined to take deep breaths, but force the issue to avoid lung infections

Hi eat Sounds like you overexerted yourself. Just listen to your body. Once you feel any strain, stop. I'm currently recovering from cosmetic surgery and it's the same. You do something because you feel up to it but than your muscles are sore afterwards. Just take it easy and try to rest those sore spots. If you actually did anything major like ripping out stitches, slipped the band etc it's going to be acute pain, not soreness. Never hurts to share this w/ your doc but follow your instincts (which yours sound spot on)

Ditto the previous posters. But I would strongly encourage the band for us emotional/stress eaters. I too stress ate. But let me share the difference before and after the band: Before: I get stressed, I eat..and eat..and eat..and gain 5, 10, 15+ lbs at a time until the stress subsides. After: When I was banded I had suffered a severe car accident. Resulted in 3 disc herniations, sciatica, immobility and intensive rehab for 8 months. Stress and diet do NOT go together for me. I simply can't do both. But with the band, I am not able to eat huge portions. So typically I would eat a whopping amount of Cookies etc I could only have 2 with the band. Or I would eat a few bites of a normal meal (normal meaning something you give no care to how many g of fat, cals etc are in it you eat it for taste alone). I ate like that for 8 months and gained ZERO pounds. See the difference. The band has helped in several ways specific to emotional eating: 1) It prevents excessive consumption 2) it helps with weight maintenance (because youre only kidding yourself if you think you should lose whilst eating like crap) 3) having the band has given me alot of time to work with my food choices, eating habits AND learning diversions to stress eating. It has given me a sense of focus which is very hard to do when you don't have any tools to help with self control.

Everyone's ports are different. There are some people who have lost such excessive weight that when you take a pic of them their port is protruding out so much it's very evident. Again, different for everyone

Exactly. For the first time in my life I am in control of my eating. I would say I eat 90% clean and 10% is free choice. If it goes over 10% I compensate throughout the day, no biggie. Nothings off limits. But I don't over eat or try to eat only pizza, milkshakes and ribs all day long ahah.

Nothing too strict will work. People fail to remember, we are not talking about will power for a few months, a year or even a few years. We are talking 5, 10, 25, 50+ years of future eating. EYEROLL lol We haven't even entertained geriatric issues when you lose taste buds. It's very natural for elders to put sugar and salt on their foods just so they can taste their food. What are we going to do than? Food for thought lol

hahaah we all have our secret dirty addictions lol I'm not a big salty fan, however, I recently discovered Kellogs new popcorn flavored chips. It instantly subsides any cravings for salt and is quite tasty. I expect zero nutrition from this..but it's much better than eating chinese (for example) to satisfy my salty tooth. As for sweets...that's another zinger. And I love things like SF icepops, 100 cal Cookies etc. Just enough to make me feel satisfied w/out sabotaging the diet.

ahahah ^5 that was awesome lol I always appreciate someone who can laugh at themselves

Hi Well here's an interesting thought. Speaking of cheating the band...sometimes don't you think the band cheats us? (smirk). So in my post I spoke to 'tricks' I use when I need to consume healthy foods like chicken. I simply add tomato sauce for instance. Nowhere in bandland rules does it say you can't add flavor, you can't have foods that could be labeled sliders on occassion etc. But it does say, get your protein in. So on those terrible days when the band is just naturally tight I get creative. Again, like chicken with tomato sauce to help moisten it instead of risking getting stuck. There's a huge difference between cheating the band to get all your fav foods in, and than cheating the nature of the band when it prevents healthy eating. I also believe, any extremist who thinks they are going to maintaing a 100% pure diet for 10, 20, 40+ years is unrealistic. In the beginning we run high on idealism. It makes zero sense why you would go thorugh this operation simply to sabotage yourself. However, years into the band you recognize that moderation is the actual answer and can be accomodated in your normal diet. ie a handful of m&m's. Again, we are talking food choices. Not other habits like overating 2+ cups of food, drinking your meals (ie milkshakes and cookies) etc. I just want to make that clarification because "cheating" can be implied in different ways

This is one of those posts that can head south real quick. But I'm going to put my own spin on it. I don't cheat my band to cheat it. However, I bend rules to actually achieve nutrition. For instance, I too have issues w/ dry meats so I almost always eat certain meats with a sauce to moisten it and allow it to pass more easily. Technically, sauces are calories, sliders etc. But depriving myself of essential Proteins is my concern, not the added 15 calories of sauce. Also, when you are at goal weight and are maintaining, you eat a crap load of things you didn't in diet mode. Just today I had a strawberry shake. Now, If I ate this because it was an easy slider, or if I am counting that as a meal xxxxxxxxxxx wrong. However, some foods I wouldn't touch prior to goal are now more permissable in small amounts and intermittently. Noone needs to be self righteous here. We all have foods (even healthy ones) we struggle with and want to find ways to incorporate them into our diets. My only advice is to not have too long a list, introduce these foods nor methods too soon after being banded, and compensating calorie wise when you are knowingly cheating. Life, banded or not, will always be about moderation. Stick to your rules, give yourself permission to live and enjoy life, but don't make either excuses. If it doesnt work for you (ie gaining weight) it's time to nix it. Things I dont condone the most is overeating, eating knowing you will be pb (ie bulemia) etc. That's something you'll never hear me endorse

I'm the most type A person you'll ever meet lol. No regrets. Just got cosmetic surgery to complete my journey. If you'd like some more insight, email me

I drink crystal lite and sweet & low. It has no hungar or sugar craving effects on me. This comes down to personal preference

heheh yeah Im not sure whats better, the new body or 2 weeks no kids wooot wooot..(ignore the appletini in my hand) hahaha kidding

Hugs Gotcha We usually are on the same page

I am proud to say that I was able to put a sports bra on, a size small shirt (just testing to see if I would need a totally new size wardrobe) and my jeans on for the first time (although they are my larger ones adn I cant button them fully because of tummy swelling). Went to the corner store to get out of the house (literally 5 min drive), walked around and bought a few essentials and returned home. I almost felt human again lol. Recap on healing: Breasts- Funnily enough, my breast lift and implants are the least of my worries. There is a stiffness from the implants stretching the muscles but the most significant thing I am focusing on is how unusual they look. I got 550cc impants which are pretty huge (lol). They are very high on my pecs and will take months to settle in and look normal. But after putting my shirt on today, at least I didn't feel/look dysmorphic the way I was preparing for. I'm eager to see what everything looks like in 1 & 2 months but so far so good. Tummy Tuck/Lipo- ok so this reminds me of my previous 3 c-sections. Same kind of pain/restriction. The doc does complimentary lipo on the flanks but told me he really didn't need to do much. This area (lipo area) hurts the most and is the most bruised. So when standing or laying down, I feel pain here before anywhere else. But I've been up and walking since day 1 and it's getting less and less painful each day. Arm Lift- I can't say it enough. I am already 100% pleased w/ my arm lift. Although it is tight, I really can't appreciate the swelling. My arms looks exactly the way I want them as an end result. Disregard the scars which are wrapped in tegarderm and have blood from day 1 so I have no clue what they look like yet). I feel the most pain right at the elbow and the armpit where the incision starts and ends when I try to gently push up when standing up. Other than that I'm not aware of the arms. HooHaa- Ok had to add this. I asked the doc if it was possible to lift the pubis area and he said he would. I just want to say I love my new hooha. Enough said ahha From day one I took pain meds on schedule, but am now taking it no more than twice a day, but always once before going to bed for a better nights rest. I also take colace and a muscle relaxant. I do have nausea meds but only took it once the day after surgery. I no longer feel nauseous. I take the mus. relaxant to just help the pecs relax so the implants can fall into place. I don't actually feel muscle tension and/or spasms. I am surprised how mobile I am. I am nto in as much pain as I thought I would be having so much surgery done in one procedure. I thougth w/ the arm lift I would not be able to use my arms to assist, but that's not the case. Naturally I limit their use, but I can still do small things on my own. I get lots of rest, but make sure to walk periodically. I am walking straighter each day. Naturallly I check up on my LBT friends and want to share the process with those considering cosm. surgery. Although I will post pics, it will be awhile. Day 1 pics will not inspire anyone to get CS. So I will wait a month and share ALL my progress pics as to not scare anyone away lol. Hope everyone is well

Tons of missing info here...can you tell us 1) were you banded july 2012 or 2013? 2) how far along were you when miscarried? (Im not prying, its relevant in regards to how long the body needs to recover) 3) how many cc's are in your band at this time 4) What are you eating, how many cals? Need a better picture to kind of explore the possible issues causing your weight being stationary

It is not unusual to have up to 1cc missing from your last fill volume. The port system is under a vacuum and Fluid can be left behind when the doc withdraws the fluid. I would not be concerned over 0.4cc. Some docs will pull out, resinsert and pull out numerous times to get air out allowing the maximum volume of fluid to come out. But don't be alarmed unless it is a substantial amount of fluid missing. Also if the fluid is yellow/murky, you've suddenly lost restriction (or in some cases lose it over time but it's evident) than consider a leak. Seems like every doc has their own approach. Next time, have them explain why they do it that specific way. No harm in knowing their rationale

OH nonononon I have to disagree in part with Sasha First, children are perfect. Naturally it doesn't mean they won't do wrong, fail, or not listen to their parents (snicker) but nontheless, still perfect. But I wanted to comment on the other comment that nothing we do is an indication of what will/will not happen to them. Absolutely not. Modeling has everything to do with building the foundation for what your children will adopt for themselves and build off of. Examples include the obese parent who never speaks to health, feeds their children into their own obesity and than sits there and makes the child accountable for the result. Same with the uber paris thin mom who won't allow their child to ever eat a cupcake making them ocd about weight issues as early as a toddler years. Having been overweight my entire life (thanks mom and dad), I swore I would never allow my kids to become obese. Yes, this is a choice. Through teaching them through moderation, giving them awareness to nutrition and health, and promoting healthy activity my children grew up 'normal'. Don't get me wrong, I don't heckle them when there's a pinch of fat. I'm talking extremes, like the 100 lb toddler eating McDs because mom eats that way and can't ever say no to her child. My efforts yielded the opposite results that my parents got with me because I would never allow my children to suffer through obesity like I did, alone. Yes, ultimately they make their own decisions, but a life time of habitual choices typically yield better choices and not careless ones that allow them to self destruct and become obese just for kicks. Education is paramount and sharing your knowledge, even your experiences will imprint on them the true reality of obesity and how it's best to avoid it. Plesae do not respond with an extreme knee jerk response like our kids will become anorexic. I am limiting this to a paragraph to illustrate that reinforcing, supporting, educating and guiding your children will allow themto have the best futures for themselves

When I had my surgery 4 years ago, my oldest was only 6 and I felt he was too young to fully comprehend the whats and whys. Rather instead, I fully emphasized the importance of health and used myself and their father as prime examples of the complications of what poor eating renders. Fastforward 4 years I just had cosmetic surgery and my now 10 year old is a super cerebral mature kid and I just told him, I am repairing all the damage I've done to my body from being overweight. I explained things like skin elasticity plus other topics on a 10+ yo level and he got it and supported me. But the one thing you cant overlook is their natural anxiety that mommy/daddy is going into surgery. They will worry, so my focus would be more on reassurance and telling them it'll be fine. Focus on the near future like, when mommy gets home I may need your help for a few weeks can you do that? It helps ease their minds. You may even give them a task. I know lb is a one day deal, but cs Im away from the kids for 2 weeks, so I gave them small tasks to do to prepare the house for when I arrive. This was strictly to keep thier minds preoccupied not to really put them to work ahahha. I called before and immediately after surgery and now life seems to be back to normal. One of the funny things is that since you live w/ your kids they may not even appreciate all teh future wl. I remember pulling out my biggest size jeans adn said, hey kids wanna see how much I lost. I put them on (one leg) and they were floored. I was so proud, but more importantly I could see their pride. That's when I knew, it was all worth it!

No all dogs are nto cute, that thing is still giving me nightmares ahahhah

I just had a tummy tuck and am laughing at all these posts...oh gawd it hurts so bad lol

I count hot teas, ice teas, clight and water. The emphasis is fluids.

Things like BioOil, Mederma, Vit E is have not actually been proven to consisently fade scars. It effects everyone on an individual basis. My cosmetic surgeon told me that if you had an incision previously, your expected future scars should heal the same. Naturally do whatever you want to help the process, but keep expectations sensible

5.0 Gotta say I think I'm finally there

So far it's great. Despite swelling, my arms are perfect. Tummy is flat. Breasts are unusual ahhah because they are still needing to drop. Even my hoohaa was raised. I <3 the results. It'll takea good month to get a real idea of the new shape. Doc said he was REALLY pleased, said my skin was just perfect and was able to do some of his best work. Said he couldnt do much lipo as there wasntmuch to take off the sides Surprisingly even my legs look better even though nothing specific was done to them. Right now I'm just getting lots of rest adn building an appetite. Gained 10 lbs immediately from all the IV fluids and swelling lol. But I won't start tracking real weight loss until 2 weeks out. I stayed with the 550cc and am happy I did. Even though the implants havent dropped yet, I can tell they are not too big. Deep sigh of relief Taking pics day 3, 7, 14 than monthly... stay posted. And thank you to all my buds for their support