LeighaMason

What I have learned as "The rules of a good bandster" 1) Be as nice to yourself as you are to others. No pointing fingers or being judgmental. (Per BetsyB) 2) Be accountable for your actions. Journal your food and exercise. 3) Reach out for support when you need it. 4) B!tch (and moan)when you need to, then get back to doing something productive. (Per my mother in law) 5) When you mess up, start over. Tomorrow is a new day! I hope this helps you, I wish I was close enough to recommend a fill Dr., I use one in Dallas but I think that is too far for you. A good fill Dr. who works with you is so important for this to work. Remember if the band worked by itself it wouldn't have the port for adjustments, they would just put it in and be done.

Phil, I know you have heard the Republican response to that, "I deserve better health care coverage than you because I work harder than you do. People who work hard, get ahead and deserve to pay less taxes and have more perks."

I have lost the ability to eat in public. With the gurgling, burping, need to walk around so I can take another bite its getting embarrassing. When your 15 year old son starts saying things like "good one, Mom" you know your in trouble.

Welcome to Bander-land. We are glad your here, remember any time you have questions someone here has the answer or at least a smart Aleck comment to make you feel better.

Way to go! I am so impressed. As your fellow bandsters we know how much work you have done to get to where you are. Good job.

I told my husband yesterday that if I ever have to have my band removed for any reason I will have the sleeve surgery. I will never go back to having my big stomach that was always screaming that it was hungry.

So I was watching the health care debate and I am so glad McCain didn't win the presidency. When it was his turn to speak instead of offering his ideas to improve the bill he spends the time listing his grievances of how it was formed. Yes, John we know your grievances, come on with some ideas to make things better that is why we are here, not to whine about the past.

OK I am not an approval seeker, I have never been one who is worried what others think. So why do I care what the scale says? I usually lose a pound every 4 days, so today, the 4th day I get on the scale and it is 158.0. Same as 4 days ago, if it said 157.9 then in my mind I lost a pound, and I was successful. But instead I am sorely disappointed over .1 of a pound. I stand on it 4 different ways trying to get it to say 157.9. How crazy is that? What the hell? Why do I care what this piece of metal and glass thinks? I bought 2 new pair of size 10 jeans yesterday, I have been working out and I feel so much better, do these things make me happy? Yes, but then I step on the scale and that overrides the size successes? WHAT? I am beginning to question my sanity! Anybody know what this scale obsession is about? (Or is it just me?!?):smile2:

Do what is in your heart. If you are not ready, wait. If you are ready but just scared, look closely at what you are scared of. Are you scared of the actual surgery or are you scared of losing weight (or scared that you might not lose weight)?

I am proud for you. Congratulations. I like your positive attitude.

I got a fill last Thursday, and I did the usual 2 days liquid and 2 days mushies. I ate yesterday but I had to eat super slow. I was busy at work so I had a protein shake for breakfast, resorted to my tuna, mayo, 6 cracker lunch (I use this when I can not stop what I am doing to make something better). Then last night I had a slice of chicken (breast meat) and only ate half, a small baked red potato, and peas. This morning I was running late (again!) and I had a shake for breakfast, then I had brought a piece of white fish, runny mashed potatoes, and green beans for lunch. But when I tried to eat I got the "stop or else!" signal after about 10 bites. I mean you could put all this food in a 1/8 measuring cup. Then I had slight pain and gurgling for 10 minutes. Now I need to eat but I don't know if I should or if I should have a shake? So in your opinion is it the green beans that I am not tolerating or am I too tight and it is solid food in general? Do I need a small unfill or wait it out? I can drink water and shakes fine (just with some sound effects thrown in for entertainment value).

Patty, Have you ever looked into intelligent design theory instead of the young earth theory? It still fits with Christianity and it is compatible with science as well.

First, and by far the worst, is the assumption that if the sun is shrinking today, as might be detected over a period of years, then it has always been shrinking! The second error is the unwarranted assumption that the rate of shrinkage reported by Eddy and Boornazian is an established fact. Far from it! Their conclusion was published as an abstract to further scientific discussion, not as a polished paper. Creationists nevertheless pounced upon it as though it were the Holy Grail. Before long, serious flaws in its methodology turned up and the data has since been discredited; the full text of their study was never published. It is instructive to note how creationist authors became fixated on that one point even though several studies at the time (or shortly thereafter) drew completely different conclusions. (I obviously shortened the article for space saving.) Copyright © 1995 Dave E. Matson. Copies of this paper may be made and sold by Edward T. Babinski, the National Center for Science Education, and all other groups who are battling the attempts by "scientific" creationists to adversely affect the quality of science education. All others are welcome to make and distribute copies provided that they are given away free of charge. If we have to stick to pier reviewed published papers on Climate Change lets do the same on Creationism.

Maybe you brain needed time to adjust to your new body. Sometimes when things in my life are changing too rapidly for my brain to accept it, I find myself putting it aside, then when I am ready to face it again I do. Sometimes this can be a week or 6 months. Don't be sad, you only regained 15 lbs, that means you are still down 35! If you hadn't had the band would you have been down the 50 at all? Or would you be like me and had the annual 10-15 added to where you started. You said you feel lost so here is a map that I would use to get back on track. I would start journaling what I am eating so that I could take an objective look at it (I will lie to myself on occasion), start doing some exercising so that when you get the fill you will be ready to start dropping that weight (even if its just walking around the block). And check in with us. Everyone here has been though most of these things or will go through them. Come on we can do it together...

Thank you for your post. I am a firm believer that people who are considering the lap band need to hear all sides of the story, not just the rosy, I lost 100 and I couldn't be happier side. I knew I was risking death when I had the surgery but I felt it was worth the risk. Please express our condolences to the family. By the way, I have a lot of respect for the way you express your grief, I have seen posts like this in the past where the family was mad at the Doctors, Hospitals, etc instead being disappointed at the of the situation. My heart goes out to you..

Don't you just love a number that ends in 9? I always feel like I really did something when I go from XX0 to XX9. I have no idea why that pound is more important to me than any other. Congratulations.

Is DR 1 and DR 2 in the same practice? Have you gone for a second opinion (from a Bariatric surgeon)? At this point I would feel pot committed. You have spent so much, what if a good surgeon could just adjust the band correctly and everything would be fine? Dr Kim in Colleyville did my surgery and I think he is technically very good. Also I don't think he is just a "puppy mill" type. (You know the type, only interested in the money and just runs everyone through like cattle.) It probably wouldn't cost much to go see him and let him look. Plus if the band was placed wrong in his opinion it might help with recovering some of your money. Good luck, I'm sorry your having so much trouble.

Congratulations, I know you are so excited. I hope everything goes well for you.

I am with you on the fast eating thing, its my worst habit. I got a fill last Thursday and I have to eat so slow, I actually get bored before I get full. I need to go in there now and try and eat the rest of my dinner so I have enough calories and Protein for the day. Can you take your lunch? I know its not fun but I think its important. My husband cooks for us and on Sunday, he will cook 3 or 4 meats so that when we get home at night all we have to do is make the veggies. You could pack a lunch at night so you have it the next day. Boil a dozen eggs on Sunday as well. If you have a desk job you can eat a boiled egg without causing too much drama getting it ready. I have to cut this up into fingernail sized pieces or it gets stuck. I do the worst when I am not prepaired. When I wait too long to eat and then I do eat, I am STARVING! and I am STARVING! for the rest of the day. (This is where the shakes come in). Besides you have lost 25 lbs! Thats great. Just keep trying, it will all be good.

My opinion (remember I am a car salesman not a health care professional) is that you are relying on sliders. I feel that Cereal with milk becomes a slider, yogurt is a slider, the breaded prawns could go either way on the slider scale. All this stuff leaves your pouch too soon. Can you eat eggs? Try 2 fried eggs (I keep boiled eggs in case I am in a hurry) for breakfast with a sausage link or a piece of bacon. Then I am usually full until lunch. Then I will have a piece of fish (I have a kitchen at work) with a veggie (usually canned) at lunch. If I am busy I will open a can of tuna and add mayo and have 6 crackers. This usually holds me over till 3 or 4 then I will have a shake. I use the EAS low carb one (its ready mixed, plus only 110 calories for 17g Protein. Then for dinner, a slice of chicken (or other grilled, baked or slow cooker meat), peas (or other green veggie) and a baked potato (I shouldn't have the potato but it makes me full). The lady who does my fill is also banded and she says that being too tight is worse for weight loss than being too loose. She says if you cant eat regular food you will be overly hungry and will resort to sliders without realizing it. I hope you don't feel like I am preaching to you, I hope this helps.

I drink 2- 1/2 cups of black coffee every morning. I can't drink fast first thing so I only get 1/2 a cup at a time or it gets cold. (I gave up beer for gods sake! Isn't that enough?!? You can't have my coffee too!)

Please tell us exactly what you ate today. Thanks, Leigha

You mean diet? Oh, I haven't even thought of trying that! I was just going to go straight to surgery, spending thousands of dollars and putting myself through tons of pain for no reason. Oh thanks so much for the suggestion, you saved me so much hassle........

Put some Worcestershire sauce in it, it always makes it taste "meaty" to me.

As long as I could eat good solid food I wouldn't do an unfill. If I started counting on just sliders and shakes then I would. You probably still have swelling in your stomach. I would give it 2 weeks to go down. Small meals are fine you probably just want to make sure your getting your protein. If not I would supplement with protein shakes.