gingerjane

Nobody ever told me about the gum! Crap! I don't worry about swallowing it but I will chew it often after eating to freshen my breath if I can't brush my teeth right then. I've never had an issue in terms of feeling like I had a lot of stomach acid or anything. But, now I'll be more careful. I always chew sugar free and my dentist says it is good for my teeth but I don't want to risk stomach ulcers.

Congrats on your decision to get the band! :blushing: Trust me, it will be one of the best decisions you will ever make. I absolutely LOVE mine. This place is great for talking with everyone about it, too. Plus, you can learn a lot about band living and it's good to meet others who are going through the same thing. Let me know if you ever have any questions. Ginger

I try to stay crazy busy when I get home with projects around the house - cleaning up, reorganizing closets - anything to keep me from wanting to hit the kitchen. I also keep sugar free hawaiian punch handy because I will mix that with some Water and drink and that satisfies any sweet tooth issues. Whenever I think I'm hungry, I ride it out by telling myself "if I'm still hungry in 30 minutes, I'll have a small piece of string cheese". Sometimes I'm still hungry but oftentimes, I'm not.

WOW! Fill price is crazy! My doctor has a flat fee for the surgery and it includes 2 years of fills. It's $13,500 but includes the two years of fills. I was lucky and my insurance covered it, but I do know that the two years of fills was a big benefit for a few of my friends who were self-pay. If you are still exploring docs, Trace Curry was my surgeon. He's at Lap Band Surgery Ohio :: Lap Band Doctor Trace Curry Ohio - they call him that, too, because he plays in a band. He has a band and his wife does, too. They have offices in Columbus, Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky I believe. I can't imagine coming back from surgery without a port! WOW!

Hi Lisa! I am also always available if you have any questions. I'm not close to my goal, yet, but I've lost about 54 pounds since March with my band. I live in Cincinnati, so in the Southwest part of Ohio. Ginger

I'm not big on hot liquids, either. What I ended up doing instead of the liquid pre-op diet, was dropped ALL carbs and ate nothing but Protein for 2 weeks. My liver was good and flat at the end but the first three days were hard because you literally go through a carb detox and have headaches, etc. But, by the end, it's pretty smooth sailing. It's all worth it. Trust me. I LOVE my band!

My reasons for going with the band were simple, but the biggest one is that I'm not rerouting my plumbing in my body. It's just a band around my stomach that is helping me to control my eating. It's been a miracle for me and I love it. Plus, it can always be taken out if I need to have it removed whereas you can't undo a gastric bypass. I also feel like if I am "falling off the wagon" then the band can be adjusted. I've seen people who have had bypass and in 5 years they start gaining weight back because they've stretched out their pouch. I feel like with the band, you go get adjusted and you're back on track. It's all an individual decision but truthfully - if your gut is telling you the band, stick with your gut.

Oh - it was the worst pain. I've had two kids, had the lapband surgery and NOTHING was as bad as that pain. LABOR wasn't that bad. I literally thought "I'm going to die and I'm fine with that as long as the pain stops." I'm still waiting for them to call me back. Ugh.

I've done the Muscle Milk light and don't care for it as much as the regular chocolate and the RTD chocolate is the best I've found. I didn't care for Atkins or any of the others (the costco ones are BLECH, too!) but the MM is good. I've had vanilla and chocolate and like both. :thumbup: And Reverie, I'm not sure if you were talking about my new avatar but if so - thanks! (I just updated it this morning) Now, to see Onederland...That's my Christmas goal.

I ate some chicken pesto the night before and onion strings, but felt fine after that, but slept most of the evening after dinner because I couldn't physically stay awake. That morning, I didn't have anything but a few sips of Water. I had that pain where I couldn't breathe and the only thing that relieved it was to get sick. It was in my sternum where it meets my abdomen. I literally thought I was going to die. I've never had something that terrible. I'm not kidding. The EMTs met the plane when we landed and took me straight to the hospital. I thought I was going to pass out and was sweating. (Sorry for the TMI) I'm waiting for my band surgeon's office to call me back about a scan now.

My favorite Protein shake is Muscle Milk chocolate. It is DELISH! I usually drink them every morning because I'm a bit tight in the AM and then eat a normal (for a bandster) lunch and dinner and usually a snack in the afternoon. (I love Kashi go lean Cereal - Fiber is good for us after all the protein!) I would seriously try the muscle milk. It's YUMMY!!!!

I weigh myself every morning before I get in the shower because it helps to keep me on track for the day. If I think that I haven't lost anything for a while or that I'm off track, it helps to keep me on. If I have lost anything, it's a great motivator to stay on track. I even have a scale at work but that one measures body fat, etc. So, sometimes in the afternoon I'll hop on it, too. I know - I'm bad. A total scale freak. I just want to see ONE-DERLAND so bad one of these days. I just know it will happen. It has to, right? :thumbup:

So, I think I had a gallbladder attack this weekend and I wanted to see if any other bandsters have had this problem. I've lost about 50+ pounds so far and on Sunday I found myself with tremendous pain in my sternum and uncontrolled vomiting for about 5 hours. The hospital checked my band via x-ray and said there were no issues there. It had not slipped or anything. And I had not ate prior to the attack, so I don't think it was anything viral, either. I e-mailed my gastric surgeon and he wants to schedule a scan right away. I definitely do not one to go through another one of those attacks for fear of slipping my band. Has anyone else had this happen?

I'm worrying right now that my band is loose. I went in on the 23rd and they did not do a fill because they felt I was close to my sweet spot but I swear, I can eat more now that I was eating. It's like all of the sudden it's opened up. I've lost about 17+ lbs between my last fill and now and my next appointment isn't until September and I'm getting hungry about every three hours. I thought about calling to see if I could get it moved up, but I don't think they'll do it. I sometimes worry that I'm too dependent on it to make me stop. Do you think your doctor will give you a bit more of a fill the next time if you ask? Just say that you're not getting the same restriction?

Congrats everyone on being new bandsters!!! :biggrin: I promise, the pain goes away quickly. I was so scared when I thought about how much pain I might have after surgery and it was not nearly as bad as I thought. It does ease up and pretty soon, you'll be 5 1/2 months out and you'll be LOVING your band! Ginger

YOU...LOOK...AMAZING! And thank you for posting because I'm super inspired! I'd say we probably started out closer to the same size and I'm almost halfway there. (I'm about 5' 8 or 5' 9" - depends on who measures me) Your photos are inspiring to me because hopefully those are the results that I'm experiencing. How many sizes have you dropped? You can tell a HUGE difference - that is just so awesome! I'm also like you in terms of my hair - it's thinning, has gotten dry and I cut about 5 1/2 inches off of it, so it's shorter now. Hopefully it will grow back soon and again - I would not have traded this surgery for anything. I'd gladly do it again and again. :thumbup: Congrats again. YOU LOOK AWESOME!!!!

I just wanted to pop in here and give you some support. Trust me, it's all WORTH it. I promise. After I had mine, I did feel alone a little bit because I'm always sitting there with Protein first, etc. But, now? I feel MUCH better and I look at other people around me eating and I still can eat at restaurants, etc. I just eat a smaller portion and am AMAZED at how much others eat and how much I USED to eat. There will come a time when it will flip and you will be SO glad you did it. Especially when the pounds start melting off. :thumbup: Hang in there! (((HUGS)))

Whoo hoo!!!! :thumbup::thumbup::sad::thumbup:

I have PCOS but was not taking any Metformin because truthfully the only thing it was doing was making me sick. LOL! But, my doctor never advised against the band. They were all supportive of it - my OB/GYN, family doc and then my band doctor. He said he's given bands to plenty of PCOSers, and the weight loss helps control the symptoms of the PCOS. I have noticed recently that my periods are starting to regulate more, and aren't as bad as they were. Plus, some of my other symptoms are starting to subside. I say go for the band. I don't regret it one bit! Is my weight loss slower? Yes - but I try to stick with the band rules and eat more Protein before anything. I find that you start craving the protein once you carb detox and that also helps with the blood sugars. I figure the weight will eventually come off and it's not a race. As long as the scale is going down, that's better than up. (Although, it can get frustrating at times, but it's better than gaining)

My doc said no carbonated drinks, but what is funny is that at my last support group meeting in the office, there were a number of bandsters with sodas. LOL! But, I haven't had a sip since March 7th and honestly I don't miss it. Now, have there been times that I really REALLY wanted a Mountain Dew or a Coke? Yep - but it's like a totally forbidden fruit to me these days. I switched over to sugar free Hawaiian Punch in those little packets you add to Water and I LOVE those things. I think it's all relative. I was never a huge soda drinker to begin with. Now, my poor husband. If he was told never again, he'd jump off of a bridge. LOL!

Hey Bostonmama - I'd say that the work outs are helping. Muscle burns more calories than fat, too, so I would keep it up. It will start dropping off. Get one of those scales that tells you your body fat percentage because that's how you can tell what the shift is doing. And yea - I had one of my daughter's pre-school classmates ask me last year if I had a baby in my belly. That's when I realized that yep - I need to do something.

I had my surgery at 10:00 am and was home by 12:30. I think that if you go in with the attitude that it's going to be fine, it will be. The pain was not as bad as I was expecting, and I did use my lortab for two days. I slept most of that time because I wanted my body to heal. I would most definitely recommend sleeping. I've had my band since March and have not PB'd or anything. I think as long as you listen to your body and remember to chew and take small bites, you should be fine.

WOW! Annie - thank you for your post. Gives me hope!

Don't stress out - it will make things worse and slow your healing. Liquid diets suck. I didn't follow mine closely, either. I watched my carbs but ate mostly meat for two weeks and was a bit worried but my surgery went off without a hitch. And you know what? It was the BEST thing I've ever done. Don't let this stress you out. Just remember, after tomorrow, things will change and it will be great!

I would request a fluro for sure. One story that I remember our doctor telling us was that he had a patient who had a sister that was banded at the same time by a different doctor. His patient lost like 90 lbs and the sister only lost 20. She switched to him and she said she had no restriction, etc. Come to find out, her band wasn't "locked". When they put it on the stomach, they lock it so that when it's filled, you get restriction. Hers was not locked the entire time, so whenever they filled it, it would open up even more. I know that I can't eat a double-cheeseburger - Maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of it. Usually about a third is it. I have a feeling you're not getting good restriction. Don't let him yell at you. Stand your ground. If you're not drinking milkshakes, make that CLEAR and tell him you need a plan, not a lecture. Ginger