tammyj

Just wanted to check in and see how everyone was doing. I haven’t been home most nights to get on my computer and work is so busy I don’t have time to check in during the day.

I thought I needed a fill. At my doctors office they do all their fills under flouro and when the dr put in just .5cc, I was closed tight. So I ended up with .1cc being taken out of my original fill. She said I was too tight to begin with. I didn't understand that. I can eat whatever I want and I don’t stay full. Then it hit me, I have been staying away from what I call “hard” foods like solid chicken, beef or pork. And if I did have them, they had to have some type of sauce or gravy on it to get it to go down. I didn’t even think about it, and in the back of my mind I knew what I was doing was counter productive. At least I like to think it was in the back of my mind buried under all the other crap that seems to have taken up the rest of the space in my head. Does this make any sense to anyone? I was doing what was easy and quick instead of what was right. So I am still sitting at 174, but now have started watching what I am eating, solid, non-gravy covered, Protein first, then veggies, then carbs. You would figure by now I would have this down pact, duh.

Well, back to work.

I'm w/ you Mrs. Husker! All this time I kept thinking I needed another fill, but the problem was I was eating all the foods that just go down easier. Over time, it's easy to forget, but sticking to the basic lapband rules does make a difference on how my band works.

TGIF!!!!

Juli, Thanks for posting the link on the other thread cause I had no idea how to do it. :confused2:

Hey Tia, I'm trying to get to a size 12 w/ you! I am finally able to wear a size 14 comfortably! :thumbup:

Whitepants, I'm beginning to think all the hot sauce I was eating had something to do w/ the acid reflux problem I was having.

gkeyt, yes I am so close to goal i can taste it! I was completely unfilled and was only given 1cc at my last fill so I have really been struggling with these last few pounds. I have been teetering between 180-185lbs. I go for another fill on Monday so hopefully that will get me to goal. :thumbup:

Have a Great Weekend Everyone!!!

WOW! The 5th day of May and no May thread for us Marchies! Where is everybody?!?! :thumbup:

The weather is getting nicer so I know everyone is working out and ready to show off the new you! Last summer we were just getting started...this summer let's show them what we got!!! :smile:

Come on my fellow Marchies...check in! Let us all know what you're doing to get ready for the summer! :thumbup:

TammyJ

Is it a video? How do you do it? Is it via the internet? I want details.

That's fantastic that you're finding a great workout.

J

I have Comcast On Demand and ran across her workout on Exercise TV. Before that, I had never heard of hear. She is the trainer from the show the Biggest Loser. She does have videos and I think she has a website. I think it's just JillianMichaels.com if not you can probably google her. The workout is just 20 minutes of 60 second intervals of cardio and strength training using free weights, but it is VERY INTENSE!!! I like to FEEL like I've had a good workout and this does it for me.

WOW!!!!!! Jillian Michaels is no joke!!! Her tough girl persona is a bit annoying, but MY GOODNESS SHE WILL WORK YOUR BUTT OFF!!! If anyone is stuck in a rut and not losing try her workout for a day or 2 and that scale will move! I am drenched with sweat by the end of the workout...heck halfway through the workout! I haven't sweated so much since my Workout Express days. Funny thing is, it was the same concept...60 second intervals of cardio and strength training. Only difference is Jillian hits you with 2 minutes of cardio...I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!!!

HEY LEAH!!! YOU ARE DOING AWESOME!!! Congratulations on the 100lbs!!! We have to meet up again this summer for our walk/jogs by the lakefront!

HOWDY!!

I have a general question..have you notive since your weight loss how easy it is to get cold!! I stay cold ALL the time...:biggrin:

YES!!! I am always FREEZING! I have a small heater sitting right here by my desk and it's set on 80. Everytime a co-worker comes to talk to me they say WOW...it hot over here. FEELS GOOD TO ME THOUGH!!!

I am really surprised!!! I went in on Monday to start all over w/ my fills and was given 1cc. After 2 days of liquids, this morning was my first day of eating and after a half a piece of sausage and 3 to 4 bites of scrambled eggs I am FULL. This is really weird! :biggrin: Although it is possible I could still be a little swollen from the fill. Next fill appt. is in 12 weeks so I am really hoping this is actual restriction.

Have a Great Month Marchies!!!

I love seeing all the transformations!!!! Everyone looks awesome and I can't wait to see more so keep posting those pics!

I was completely unfilled about 3 weeks ago and I am holding on for dear life to the pounds that I have lost. After the first week I was really struggling so I cheated by going back to my diet drug of choice, phentermine, to suppress my appetite. I took phentermine on and off for over 10 years and now my body just laughs at it. It worked for a couple weeks and got me down to 180lbs, but now the pills are barely working and I wan't to eat everything in sight. I am scheduled for a fill on Monday, but will probably only get a small fill because of the problems I was having. I'm praying that I can tolerate being filled again. I need restriction BAD!!!!!! :thumbup:

Thanks so much everyone! I really do feel like a different person.

OH MY....ThickChick....I will be praying for you!!! Please keep us posted!

I LOVE MY BAND!!!!!

I'm a day early, but wanted to post my 1 year pic. I LOVE MY BAND!!!!!

OMG...Oh Juli, gkeyt, and my5grlz!!! AMAZING!!!!! YOU GUYS LOOK SO GOOD!!! :grouphug::eek::party:

What's been going on Chick??? Congrats on the weightloss!!!

Be blessed!!!:tongue:

OMG...Work It Girl!!! :tt2: I am sooooo proud of you!!! You look FANTASTIC!!!!

I'm doing much better now that I'm completely unfilled. The downfall is that I feel like I'm on a "diet" again trying to control my weight but I'm determined not to gain any back.

Take care of yourself and your band!

Hi Ladies!

Haven't been here since??? I'm so glad to see some familiar faces.Yesterday was my bandiversary and I realized that I had "let myself go". I got back into the taking care of others place that I hide in when I don't want to work at taking care of myself. :thumbup:

I need you guys!!!!

I'll have to go back and read to see where evryone is at but I just wanted to take the first step and log in before I head out the door today.

I hope everyone is going strong!!!!

First, Congratulations on hitting your 1 year mark!!!! :cursing:

It is so easy to fall of track, but luckily our band is always in place when we're ready to use it. At one point I had forgotten so many of the basic lapband rules so I just started back at the beginning by measuring my foods/counting calories and making sure I got my Protein first. You can do this, and all the Marchies are here for support. :thumbup:

So one year ago today, I was just waking up after surgery. And I felt like crap. Today, I feel great. I'm only down 45lbs since the surgery, and I feel like I could have done so much better, but at the same time, I'm soooo glad that the 45lbs is gone for good! Happy Anniversary Marchies!

HAPPY BANDIVERSARY TO YOU!!!!!!!!!!:w00t::thumbup:

TammyJ-Our support group meeting was last Monday and the dr that did our surgeries was there and did a talk on complication. There were two things that she stressed, 1) Abdominal pain is not normal and 2) If you are having reflux and can’t keep anything down, get in and get seen. She had photos of surgeries that she had done on both lap and RNY patients. I found it quite interesting; others thought it was too graphic. She explained with each photo what had happened and what the symptoms where. I know that they just did a check and that everything looks fine, but I would demand that they get to the bottom of your reflux/vomiting.

Janine-I am so sorry about you losing your band. I know that we have never met but I think of you as my band sister and I always loved reading your post. You have always had an encouraging word whenever someone needed it. Please stay around and keep us posted on your progress. Remember that you will always have friends here and we will all be here to support you in any way we can. You don’t even have to ask. You will be in my thoughts and prayers.

Thanks Mrs. Husker! I agree there has to be something wrong that they are not seeing and I won't stop until the problem is fixed. One things for sure...I still LOVE my band and I have faith in it!!!!

Thanks Janine, I'm not really having an issue of being too tight, I'm still on liquids of course, but seem to be handling them just fine. The acid reflux started even before the fill. I've been thinking about you lately and I hope things are getting better for you!

Thanks Whitepants, to answer your question. I asked the doc the same thing about only having 2cc left and he says that is does happen. I hadn't had a fill since last April and he says over time it can happen, but not necessarily from a leak, but I will make sure he checks for a leak next time. Even at 2cc I was having the acid reflux issue so going back to 2cc will probably not make a difference. As far as my eating, even when I didn't have a thing to eat after lunch I still experienced the acid reflux at night. Actually, I'm not sure if it's even acid reflux, it's more like spitting up. If I drank Water before bed, the Water would come back up at night as well. Right now I'm only on Clear Liquids from my fill on Monday and I still have the spitting up episodes at night. Yesterday, I had horrible gas pains in my lower abdomen, right under my breast and in my shoulder. The pain would go away briefly after a belch, but would come right back again. Since when does water cause gas and bloating...what gives UGH!!!!! I'm going back in tomorrow for the unfill to see if it corrects the problem.

Thanks again ladies!!!

Thanks again! I hope everything looks good and you can get filled again w/ no complications. I'm going in tomorrow morning for a complete unfill.

Thanks so much! I just needed to hear someone else say it. Just wondering did you get a fill again afterwards? How long did you wait? Did the problem re-occur? If not, what did you do differently?

TammyJ

Oh my Goodness I hope you feel better soon, make sure you dont get dehydrated!!!

maybe you should let them unfill it so you can eat and rebuild your strength then go back after a few weeks and refill...just my suggestion.

i support your decision.

Thanks girl! I am handling liquids okay today, but I'm still concerned about the spitting up at night so I think I will go back to get unfilled today. There has to something wrong and something they are not seeing!

For the past 2 weeks I've been having a problem w/ acid reflux at night and a constant gassy bloated feeling so I went to the doc yesterday to have everything checked. They did an upper GI and everything looked fine according to them. They wanted to take a little out of the band, but like a dummy I expressed that I am able to eat quite a bit...like 2 pieces of chicken or fish in one sitting, which is a lot more than I was able to eat after my last fill in April. He checked to see how much was in my band, but there was only 2cc left instead of the 2.75cc I had after my last fill. He filled me back to 2.75cc. I left the hospital, had a couple more sips of Water in the car and 15 minutes later up came the water, barium, and chunks of the food I ate that morning. I immediately called the doctor back and he said it sounds like I may have had food poisoning or something because according to him the barium should not have come back up. I went home hoping that food poisoning was the problem since they could not find anything wrong w/ my band. Last night was just the same...more spitting up. I feel horrible today...very gassy and bloated. Should I have a complete unfill to see if that corrects the problem???<!-- google_ad_section_end -->

For the past 2 weeks I've been having a problem w/ acid reflux at night and a constant gassy bloated feeling so I went to the doc yesterday to have everything checked. They did an upper GI and everything looked fine according to them. They wanted to take a little out of the band, but like a dummy I expressed that I am able to eat quite a bit...like 2 pieces of chicken or fish in one sitting, which is a lot more than I was able to eat after my last fill in April. He checked to see how much was in my band, but there was only 2cc left instead of the 2.75cc I had after my last fill. He filled me back to 2.75cc. I left the hospital, had a couple more sips of Water in the car and 15 minutes later up came the water, barium, and chunks of the food I ate that morning. I immediately called the doctor back and he said it sounds like I may have had food poisoning or something because according to him the barium should not have come back up. I went home hoping that food poisoning was the problem since they could not find anything wrong w/ my band. Last night was just the same...more spitting up. I feel horrible today...very gassy and bloated. Should I have a complete unfill to see if that corrects the problem???

reaction to my last fill......

I went in for my fill on last Friday and I always expericence brusing but not much swelling. but this time i have some swelling, do you think it's because my port is harder to get to now that I've lost so much?

It feels weird when I lay on my tummy feels like little ball in there ...

I may not be of much help because I've never experienced bruising or swelling around my port after a fill. My port is actually easier to get to now after losing weight since there's not a lot of fat around that area. If your doctor has to manipulate the port alot that may be the reason for the swelling. If you are still sore after a couple days I would call the doctor.

HI everyone, I am going to need your support like never before.

On Sunday morning I ate about 1 cup of Coco wheats then I was moving a 500 lb trundle bed down some stairs. I was using every muscle in my chest and stomach. For dinner DH got KFC. I had a piece of chicken about the size of a thimble, and about a tablespoon of coleslaw. I immediately began to slime. I could not stop the slime or the coughing and gagging. I heaved from 7pm to 5am then finally went to the ER in excruciating pain like the golf ball feeling only alot worse. My blood pressure was 215 over 70 indicating I was in severe pain.

The ER doctor on call said my lower stomach was in spasms against my pouch from heaving and with a little pepcid and a shot of demerol I would be better.

I did feel better and went home and slept all Monday. Monday night I got up and had warm tea that gurgled down. Tuesday I went to work and decided to try some applesauce I had 2 tbs, and was back to heaving, sliming and was in utter misery. I went back to the ER. I had 4 shots of demerol that made me woosey but did nothing for the pain.

They called in my Lapband doctor who gave me an immediate unfill and then a upper GI, realizing that nothing was going down and that emergency surgery was in order. He was upset that the ER doctor from the day before did not call him as soon as I came in.

I had surgery that showed 1 of my stitches had come undone and my band was tilted. But the worst problem was that the lower stomach with a main vein was logged up through the band cutting off circulation to my stomach. Essentially part of my stomach was beginning to die. He had to cut off the band which gave a good blood flow back to the vein and my stomach is fine. But I am completely devastated. I have officially lost 60 lbs, and was on the home stretch. He is not objecting to rebanding but said that often same problems will occur. I don't know if my insurance will even cover a rebanding. I no longer fit the criteria. On a good note he said my insides were totataly different then when he banded me. I had initially had fat all around my organs especially my liver and stomach. He said it was like it all melted away.

We are not sure what happened, did I strain to hard moving the bed, did I heave to much with the sliming, or did my belt loosen from not having all the fat around it(that is his idea maybe).

All I know is my little buddy is gone.

Janine, You are a trooper!!!!!!! I hope you are feeling better now and can eventually get re-banded. You've done so well and I wish you continued success. You can do this with or without the band!!!!!

Thanks Jeni, I am hoping that making some changes in my diet will fix the problem. I'm in need of a fill and able to eat quite a bit so my stomach may not be happy w/ all this excess food. We'll see what the doc says on Monday...hope my band is OK and I can get a fill.

I've just re-read your post, so let me answer your questions:

What to do about acid at night? Don't eat late, don't eat acidic foods, avoid caffiene. Drink herb tea and Water after dinner to flush the pouch. See if that helps.

As for gas:

Can you do a day or two of liquids and see how you feel? Go back to the beginning and be mindful of what you add. You may be reacting to something you eat. Dairy intolerance might be the problem, even if you weren't before banding you might be now.

HTH.

Thanks so much Juli! I just made an appt. for Monday to see what's going on. I am going to switch to full liquids for the next couple days to see if it helps.

Last night, I made it a point of not eating dinner because I didn't want to deal w/ the acid reflux last night. I only sipped on a bottle of Water before bed and it was worse than when I acually ate dinner. Could the bottle of water I drank have anything to do w/ that??? Should I not eat OR drink anything too late???

Thanks again!!!!!!!!