AlienBandit

I have 17 piercings and I usually have to take all my piercings out. When I was first banded I had just gotten a piercings a few weeks before so I refused to take the piercing out. The nurses kept bugging me but then I talked to my doc and he let it be ( it was an ear piercing). Other times I have had surgeries I usually have to take everything out but I have always left my nose piercing in, sometimes my nipple piercings and sometimes that one ear piercing. It depends on the surgery I am having and what my doctor says. I would ask your doc to see what he says is ok to stay in. If you explain that you just got a new piercing he might just tape the piercing and or tell you to get the clear plastic things instead of the metal in the piercing.

You should probably ask your doctor. My port used to be able to move a bit. I don't know why but my doctor was never concerned because it only moved around a bit. The first time it happened it felt like a little pop in the area. Then it hurt for a while but went away. When I saw my doc about it 4 days later he said things were fine.

All bands and doctors are different. My first band didn't mind me eating on my flight I could even eat chicken. I am flying again this week and my flight is 17 hours. No eating the whole time? Hmmmm I don't know. I am going to see how my band feels. If it gives me trouble at my first bite I am obviously not going to try to eat more. I am packing some Protein powder just in case but I am almost at the point of being too filled with my band. My doctor says that eating is possible but you should listen to your band. Also will you have a fill then? if you don't have a fill or don't have a lot in your band you might not even have any problems at all eating.

After my first band, my port never hurt at all. However when I was banded the second time my port hurt, and it never went away. I talked this over with my doc and even had an ultrasound and he said my port looked good. It was difficult to do many things even like working out and sex was a problem too. I had my port moved when I had my mini tt and since then I haven't had any pain. We are thinking my port was hurting because of its location and where it was stitched. Maybe that is something you should ask and talk to your doctor about. The band isn't supposed to make you in pain and restrict things in your life. Hopefully you can figure something out.

When I was banded the first time I waited a few weeks and then slowly drank just little amounts of alcohol like wine. I would drink it and Water at the same time ( not mixing) The second band around I drank a glass of wine a week after being banded and couldnt even drink half a glass it hit me hard. I think its better to wait a while ( guess I should take my own advice:P ) But of course ask your doctor first. My doctor says small amounts of alcohol is ok.

When it comes to alcohol it depends on what mood my band is, to what I can drink. See my doc has never said drinking was bad so I drink on occasion when going out etc. Since being banded I have become a big wine person. Maybe you can try to find a sweeter wine. I prefer a sweeter white wine which is nice with meals. If you cant find one or dont want to try, here are a few suggestions. White russian Baileys and milk Vodka and orange juice Vodka and cranberry juice grapefruit juice and vodka Pina Colada Bloody Mary martinis Whiskey sour Amaretto Sour Happy Anniversary

I live alone and told no one of my surgery so I had to find my own ways of getting out of bed. My bed isn't too high so at first i would lie at the edge of the bed. To get up I would roll on my side and slide out of bed kind of ending up on my knees that made it a bit easier to get up. Or I would put one leg under the mattress on the side so I would use my leg more then my stomach to get up. It's a challenge but you can probably find a way that is comfortable for you to get up.

Going to the bathroom always seems to be a problem for bandsters after being banded. There are tons of things you can take like fiber supplements etc. I like to use benefiber, the kind I have can be added into almost anything and it is odorless and has no flavor. It also had b Vitamin in it which is an added bonus. here is a photo of what it looks like http://alienbanditinkorea.wordpress.com/2010/12/11/presents-presents-presents-bikini-photo/ Great for when your on liquids

I have PCOS and can totally understand you. Luckily (or maybe not luckily) I found out i had pcos nearly 10 years ago when I was 16. I gained so much weight in such a short amount of time and was on tons of meds like acutane trying to help with the symptoms of pcos with no luck. Finally a doctor told me what I had but the diagnosis didn't really help much. Yes I was able to control the symptoms, but losing weight was impossible. I did weight watchers ( started when I was 11 years old!), Dr Berstein diet etc. I could lose weight but could never keep it off. Moving to Korea made things even worse because Koreans eat rice 3 times a day, they see fast food as a snack (as in go to Mcd's eat a big mac meal then go home for dinner ) because they believe rice has to be in a meal for it to be a meal. Finally I got fed up and looked into getting banded here because it is cheaper and back in Canada my bmi was never high enough to be considered for surgery ( luckily or again maybe not so luckily I was overweight but never got really obese). After being banded I lost a lot of weight at first ( 20 lbs in the first month I believe) but the rest was a struggle. After 4 months I lost about 50 lbs but then after that it stopped. Mind you I was banded oct 2009 and lost my band due to erosion Feb 2010. From February until July I had no band ( but had a balloon in my stomach instead while my stomach healed) so I didn't lose any weight. In April I went home for a visit and bought a whole new wardrobe. After being rebanded in July I have lost maybe 5 pounds yet my clothes from April just a mere 5 pounds ago and 8 months ago don't fit! Moral of this story, its hard to lose weight with PCOS but you also need to remember that though the scale might not be changing, your body is This is a slow process for us but it is also good because that gives your body time to adjust and change slowly as well. Even bandsters without PCOS sometimes have a hard time losing weight. Just don't give up hope. You can do this At least the scale isnt going up.

My port used to be to the left of my belly button. Right beside it. It used to stick out and you can see that in the photos on my blog. I didn't like that so I had my port moved. I thought it was in the same spot just under my muscles but my doc moved it even more south. I have heard of port being located near the ribs, all docs place the port in different areas. If you don't like the location and plan of having plastics you can ask for it to be moved.

I am terrible when it comes to grazing! When my apartment is set up where I don't have to walk through the kitchen I am fine, I can stay out of food that way but right now my apartment is a long rectangle so every time I want to go anywhere in my apartment I walk through the kitchen. This path then promotes me to stop and see what there is to eat etc. I used to end up eating more then I should even if I wasn't hungry. It is still hard to kick that habit but what I do is keep only fruit in plain sight so I might grab that as I walk through or keep s.f pudding or Jello in the fridge at eye level. That way if I am just looking in the fridge for no reason at all I will grab the pudding, jello or even a little cheese to nibble on. I am so close to goal and having a little trouble losing the rest of the weight so I am working hard to kick the grazing habit but I think as long as what you graze on is healthy, and high in Protein etc it should be ok. Damn you kitchen Damn you!

I did a lot of research before my mini tt and I read somewhere that dial soap is something you should use before and after the tuck. It helps prevent infections etc. I started using it 2 days before my tuck until few weeks after. I did just that and could have had my stitches removed a mere 3-4 days after surgery because I healed so fast and never had an infection or anything. Out of all of my incisions from my surgeries ( 13 incisions total) my tummy tuck was the fastest one to heal.

For me it always seems around Christmas time that I fall off the wagon badly. I have found the best way to get back on track is to revamp everything in my life top to bottom. First I start by doing the 5 day pouch test. I start on a Monday and go til Friday. This limits what kinds of food I am allowed to eat etc. While I am watching my food closely (and checking my band because when I fall off I always wonder if I need a fill etc) i go crazy with grocery shopping buying all healthy things and Proteins etc ( I do this on the Sunday before the pouch test starts) During the week I go through all my clothes and items around the house getting rid of the junk ("fat" of my apartment). To get my exercise routine back in place I set 3 alarm clocks around the apartment so I have to get up to turn them off. Of course once I am up the dogs are up that means a walk outside and by then I am so awake I might as well go to the gym. By the time the week is done, my mind set is better, I am eating good again, I know whether I should call my doc for a fill or not, my apartment is a little empty and more organized, I have a list of new clothes I must buy (always in a smaller size for more motivation) and I am back in my exercise routine. Falling off is easy, getting back on track is hard. It may take a week but that is better then nothing

Doctors don't want people to set ridiculous goals. I think that is mostly a western thing. My doc out of habit of having mostly Korean patients said I could get to 60kg if I wanted. I think that is way too low and I said I wanted to be 63-64 kg ( about 140 lbs) at 5'6 that is a good weight. I am having enough trouble getting to 63 kg never mind 60. Try to set a goal that you will be comfortable at not only what your doctor says. Just like the bmi charts are not always best to follow you might not want to completely listen to your doctor about what goal weight you will be in the end. Many people lose weight and reach their doctors goal weight and then lose some more. As long as your losing in a healthy way and your doctor approves losing more then 50% of your excess weight is ok. I started at 210 ( not my highest weight though) and want to weigh 140 I can't imagine stopping at 175 lbs! That would have been so disappointing!

The balloon is only temporary. Therefore once you have it taken out you might gain weight again unless you stick with better eating habits etc. I found it to be a huge pain. It didn't help me lose weight ( I had it between my bands) but it did help me maintain my weight ( so I am thankful for that). If anyone ever finds this and has questions feel free to ask. Also February to July 2010 on my blog has my experience with the band. The best advice I can give anyone is don't eat before flying with this thing in you. It HATES flying

My band is actually the opposite with alcohol. I never used to really have a problem while drinking but recently whenever I drink my band closes up for days! I mean not a little but a whole lot. Sometimes even drinking tea after a night of a few drinks is hard. Just like our bands and fills are different so is our tolerance for dinner foods, drinks etc. I am actually going for another unfill in a few days because my band is getting tighter over time and it is becoming unbearable to even have a sip of wine at dinner every once and a while.

I used to be almost filled with my first band and have nearly nothing for restriction. Even at 10cc in an 11cc band, I could still eat bread, pizza etc. My second band things were different. I got good restriction at 6cc in a 10cc band but now that I am 10lbs from goal I am finding I need unfills. I already went for an unfill 6 weeks after I got a fill because it was too much. I had 1cc taken out. Now I am at 5cc and still finding it to be too much. I am going to probably get another .5cc taken out. I have no idea why these happens but I have read a lot of bandsters getting unfills once they are near goal. I'll ask my doc for his input on it. p.s what band do you have that is 5cc? I have never heard of that size band.

How I react in a stuck situation depends on where I am. Since my band is a secret if I am out with friends I must do a less obvious thing to help with the situation. If I don't want to bring the food back up I try a couple of things. If I am out in public I pretend I need to cough/clear my throat, and hit my chest a little near my collar bone area. Or I move my left shoulder around ( try to not so obviously do the chicken dance) If that doesn't work i sip hot tea If I can't take it anymore, I excuse myself to the bathroom and jump around. The chicken dance really works well too. If it is hopeless after that I just give in and bring the food back up. If I am at home I usually do the chicken arm flapping. If that doesn't work I jump around. If that doesn't work I sip hot tea, if that doesn't work I raise my arms above my head. If all else fails it must come up. I dont have papaya enzymes pills here. What are they used for other then by bandsters? I can have family send some to me but need an excuse to why I want them.

If it is only 5 hours maybe you can hold off eating on the plane? I would maybe try to focus on more liquids like Water then eating. If you do think you will be hungry maybe bring some powdered Soup and just ask for hot water. Or you can buy yogurt while inside the terminal of the airport before you leave. However at 6 weeks you should be able to eat normal foods. Nuts are not that bad. Just chew chew chew a lot to make sure they are all ground up. Depending on your restriction at that time you might not be able to eat at all. I flew last year 10cc in my 11cc band and could eat during my flight but come the next morning I was a little sore ( felt like i did a major ab workout) and stuck to liquids and easier to consume foods for a day just to be safe. Lastly those scans are to only see whats outside your body I believe right? Since your port in inside of you I don't think they will see if. Even if they do if you have a medical card from surgery you can show them that or explain the situation. We don't have those machines here so I am not 100% informed on them though Safe travels

I was overfilled for 3 weeks once so I feel your pain. It came suddenly weeks and weeks after my fill. Try to stick to hot liquids. I found I could sometimes take in yogurt and ice cream so I tried to put some Protein powder it in so I wouldn't completely starve. The acid reflux was killing me. I have to take 16 tums a day and live off of mostly dairy if I could. Hopefully you can get to your doc soon. That is probably not good for your band.

My doc doesnt not require a pre-op diet but sometimes he will tell the patient they should reduce certain foods etc if he sees that their liver is fattier then normal. I had a low bmi and my liver wasnt that bad so it was no worry for me.

The band is a tool and not a magic wand. Sometimes docs dont give fills if they think the patient is good on their own. That can be a good thing a fill too soon can hurt your stomach and can cause erosion etc. If you can do well without a fill that is great. The first couple of months are supposed to be a healing period. Losing weight at first is just a bonus. I know it can be frustrating but this is a good time to get used to having the band and getting ready for a fill. You can do this!

You are at your sweet spot if you can go 3-4 hours between meals. Here are a few questions. Are you pbing at all during the day? Are you living off mostly liquids and mushies? Does food get stuck often? Are you fatigued? Do you have acid reflux during the night? If you answered no to these then that sounds like a good spot your in Are you able to stay hydrated? Are you able to eat solids? If you answered yes to those two questions then it sounds like you have a good fill. I think you should still eat a little during the day so your not starving your self. That can make you make bad food choices when you are hungry. Focus of high Protein during those meals then. However be careful, if this fill is causing you to pb often you could be over filled and you could stretch your pouch and would need a complete unfill

I'm glad I never watched a surgery online before my surgery. That freaks me right out even watching them now. I have seen some of my docs videos and I really can't stand to watch it. Don't worry though the surgery is really worth it. Just try not to watch anymore videos. Also it is not as painful as it looks.

I usually have a very busy schedule and don't have many options of different times to eat. If I am not hungry when it is my eating time then I just eat my protein minimum to make sure I don't starve and eat badly later. Usually I have 3 meals a day but breaky is always the one meal I sometimes skip ( as I am sometimes too tight to eat anything in the am)