Goannabanda

Hi tarajane - glad the men's clothes were a success. I still have the ladies' bag - hoping to have a clothing exchange at the hospital sometime soon. We missed you last night at the meeting - we met the new nurse, and the speaker was awesome. I can't remember the girl's name, but she was a fairly young girl (mid 20's??) She'd been banded 4yrs, and had a full body lift, additional tummy lift and inner thigh lift. She was going back for arms and boobs soon. Her PS was a fellow down on the Mornington Penn somewhere. She looked amazing. It was great to see everyone - Mark and Rosie both asked after you. Cindy, Nat and Jenny are all looking fantasitc - they have really lost a lot of weight each. Rava - hope that your doc / hosptial can support you with additional diet info. Maybe you could suggest that they give their patients some written instructions to help them in future. Susannah - life here in Assy is great, thanks. Sorry you had to join me in the land if the unfilled - I am keen to get some restriciton back. I put on about 1kg in the last 2 weeks, not as bad as I thought as I have been eating badly (stress due to job interview / contract negotiations). I will have to work and watch now to lose it again, and not put any more back on before my refill. I am booked to go back on 11 May for a review. Bring it on!!!! blythes - you are right, it is hard to accept that this is long term. Wish we could just wake up after the surgery and be slim aready!!! LOL! Wish also that they banded my brain as well as my belly - aaaargh! And for chicke, fee and anyone else - Please don't think my silence is due to a lack of care or concern for anyone of us. I find it hard to keep up with everyone in such a large group. Sometimes I just don't have anything to add, or am not here long enough to respond to everyone. Feel free to PM me at any time if you need a hand or chat, or pop over to band2gether.net and find me there as I tend to be there most evenings, and here at LBT every couple of days or thereabouts. Hope that everyone enjoyed their ANZAC Day - we went to the march in Melbourne, to watch DH's grandad march, to remember all of our service men and women and give thanks for the things they have done to bless us with our Aussie way of life. Grampy is a veteran of the 39th Battallion, who were the first boys on the Kokoda Track. They did it really rough, and because of them that the legend of the Kokoda Track was born. We are so proud of him and all his mates for what they did for our country. Grampy went on and had a long army career, eventually becomming the RSM - and is very well known in military circles for his service in WW2 and Vietnam. Apart from that he is a classic old time Aussie - but to us, he's our precious Grampy above all else. An ANZAC Day reflection, the Ode To Rememberance: They went with songs to the battle, they were young. Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow. They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted, They fell with their faces to the foe. They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them. Lest we forget.

Lisa - something I forgot to add before. If you are hungry on liquids, try having a Protein based Soup for your main meals (eg. chicken, lamb, seafood). A protein boost by adding a generous dollop of low-fat yoghurt, sour cream into Soups / smoothies also helped me heaps. Protein shakes work well for many bandsters as a means to manage hunger, but I can't stand them. Just a reminder that ESV Bandworks meeting is on at 7pm at The Valley Private tomorrow night. I am looking forward to seeing many of us there!

Hi Lisa, Personally I would wait for soft food until you are allowed by your surgeon. You should have been given some sort of post-op meal plan / diet guidelines, whcih should be followed carefully, so as to give you band time to heal and settle in place. If you didn't get any post-op diet advice, you should talk with your surgeon about that. Your liquids should go down easily with no effort, that's the whole point, as the diet is designed to let your stomach rest, and to minimise any digestive motions that could disrupt the healing of your band. Your band has been sewn onto your stomach. It needs about 6 weeks minimum to heal and build a scar bed around your band to help hold it securely in place. The liquids and mushy foods stages help with the healing by giving your stomach a rest. For me I had 3 weeks full liquids, then 3 weeks mushies, with a gradual transition to solids by 6 weeks post op. We were advised that if we were hungry during liquids or mushies to have more, but only the allowed food texture for whatever stage you are at should be consumed. As above, you should talk with your doctor about what they require / recommend, and good luck!

Hiya Jenny, thanks for the info. Looking forward to catching up with you soon - my coffee quota has dropped considerably over the past couple of months! LOL! Anna.

Hi everyone - I have been MIA from LBT for quite a while. Good to see you all, and thanks for the new thread Susannah. Susannah - if you stay too tight for more than a few days (up to a week)after a fill, you need to talk to your doctor. You might need a slight unfill. It is fairly common to be too tight in the morning. I am in the hot drink before Breakfast brigade, and then only usually manage to eat soft things for brekky like yoghurt, porridge, wheet bix. By lunch / dinner time, you should be able to eat solid food, albeit in small portions. I am just recovering from a too tight band incident. I was in constant back / chest pain for about a week over Easter. I had 1 PB / vomit mid way through the week, and the rest of the time just killer pain. I was on liquids / mush for several days, but it din't help. It got so bad by the time I could get to the doctor that I couldn't lie or sit comfortably. I got in trouble for not getting unfilled sooner, but the timing over the holiday was not going in my favour. I went in last week and had a partial unfill - 1 ml was taken out, leaving me with 2ml in my 14ml APL. The restriction crept up to too tight quite gradually - I can't put my finger on any one incident that triggered it off. I am going back in a couple of weeks to see about a refill, not sure if it will be 0.5ml or the full 1ml to go back in, I'll have to wait and see what the doc says. I need a refill - I am eating too much for a bandster!!! Yikes! I'll try and check in here more often. I am in the process of changing jobs etc - I'll fill you all in when I have more time. Gotta go now and run some errands. See you all soon! Anna.

Bumping this for anyone who missed it. It looks like I've got a taker for the mens bag, but the ladies gear is still going for FREE!!! Come on and grab yourself a bargain!

Hi everyone, I am sorry that I missed today's get together - we had free tickets to the Garden Show - so now I am exhausted after traipsing around there all day, and also frustrated about how much work and money our yard will cost to do up... ...sigh... ...at least the exercise of doing it up will be good for me! LOL! Congratulations to those among us who trained and / or ran in this morning's Run for the Kids. Great work!. You are inspiring me to train and go in a fun run once I get a bit more weight off. That's too bad about your PB Bronnie - chicken can be either okay, or not - depends on the day and how it's cooked for me. I am going to bed - exhausted after a big weekend! Anna PS If you need some clothes to wear while you are losing, I have some great stuff to give away, both ladies and mens. Have a look at the separate thread, and send me a PM if you are interested. Cheers.

Hi Colleen, Have a great time on your trip, and happy birthday for April 9th. I don't think I'll make it to the get together to wish you well - this time of year is madness for us. I can't wait for late April when hopefully things will settle down again! Look forward to seeing you when you get back, Cheers! Anna.

I have a bag each of mens size XL / 107 and ladies size 24-26 clothing to give away to any local bandsters who'd like to come and have a look / take them off my hands. I am not keen to bother with postage, but will consider it if you are prepared to cover the costs yourself, and are in desperate need of something to wear. If you'd like to have a look - please send me a personal message (PM) by APRIL 15 2007. It's first in, best dressed (literally! LOL!). I have also advertised this at band2gether.net , and will be asking round at my local support network, so it's first in, best dressed (literally, LOL!). If I haven't got any takers by the 15th April, I'm taking the lot down to our Church's Op Shop in Chelsea. There's enough in each bag (especially the ladies' bag) to kit someone out for work & weekends as you melt down through the sizes. I've chucked out any rubbish - all the things in these bags are pretty much in new or near-new condition. Some of the ladies things are BRAND NEW, with the store tags still attached. I am too lazy to try and sell the stuff on ebay, LOL! There'll be more of the ladies clothes to come in a few more weeks. In the ladies size 24-26 bag there is, for example: several pairs of shorts several pairs of long dress pants several tops suitable for work a few t-shirts several tank tops (great for working out!) dress jacket (black) suit (plum colour) - jacket and long skirt casual jacket (camel) at least 4 lovely cotton / linen skirts for work 3 or 4 summer / party dresses satin PJ's (really warm) 2 or 3 lacy nighties In the mens size XL / 107 bag there is, for example: several short sleeve cotton shirts and t-shirts 1 or 2 Rivers long sleeved shirts double breasted dress suit, with matching tie and pocket handkerchief black cotton cargo pants Cantebury long sleeved polo / jumper Good luck, and enjoy! Cheers, Anna.

Hi everyone - just checking with you all after another couple of weeks away from LBT. Welcome Paulie and Christie - hope you enjoy hanging out here with us. Bronnie - sounds like you are doing great. And speaking of great, I just realised how fast Meredith's weight is falling off!!! Almost 30kgs since November - you are a STAR!!! Well done! Congratulations Jacqui on finally going for that fill AND on schieving your normal BMI!!! That's fantastic!!! That last 8kgs will be gone faster than you know. And good on you for doing so well with your blood tests. Hope that your low Iron levels and other issues are sorted out with supplements and a visit to the gyno. Hope that Susannah's port doesn't need to be revised. What a bummer. Keep us updated. As for your lizard friend (me), I have finally made it under 120kg!!! What a miracle! I haven't been under 120 since just after I got pregnant with my son, when I lost 6kgs due to morning sickness. Finally achieving this mini-milestone has made a BIG impact on how I feel about my banded life, and also how physically well I feel. I've dropped from size 26+ clothes to comfortable 24-26 in pants, and 22-24 skirts. My tops have gone from 24-26 to 20-22!!! Whoo hoo!! I am starting to get my face back now - I have just one chin again, and am starting to see some evidence of cheekbones lurking there somewhere!!! I was at my cousin's wedding on Saturday, and met another Avenue bandster (Jess). she is gorgeous - long blond hair, and had on an amazing beaded gown that she said she'd loaned from another bandster. She went out for lunch with some of the Melb girls recently - any one know her? She uses the Vic bandsters site, so I guess I'll drop in there some time and try and track her down. Anyway, time for me to go back to work. See some of you at the Mulgrave support meeting tonight (7pm), or else online soon. Cheers, Anna.

Welcome to the land of the restricted Meredith! I've had good restriction for a couple of months now - but still haven't got my head around the fact that only 1 wheat bix at Breakfast is enough. Or that 2 VitaWheats with salmon & cottage cheese is lunch. Or that 1/2 omlette can be dinner. If only I the restriction worked on one's head too! LOL!

Thanks faithmd - that's the best info I've read yet about this bit o' silicone inside me. Much appreciated.