dawnslapband

hello everyone!! I was banded 8/3/06 and have about 70ish pounds off. I let myself slip for quite a while and am now after a fill and feeling the benefits agian of this wonderful band. Anyway, my family does go out to eat often and I like to go to lunch with friends. I am curious how you handle eating out? I have one of those "I had surgery" cards, but I've yet to use it. Until the past fill (the first in almost a year...tsk tsk, I know) it wasnt THAT big of an issue. But since this last fill, i can eat only a little (I think I'm finally at my optimal fill). We tend to go to salad bar buffet places (not often, but there are times we all just crave salads) and when i went this past week, I was only able to eat MAYBE one cup of soup. I paid $6 for this one cup of soup. I'm wondering if anyone uses their card, or how they handle eating out? Are you sharing? Are you eating from the child menu? I'm just curious how I can not spend so much money on such little food. Thanks for anything you can say in advance! Tootles Dawn

Hi darlene! I'm in Altoona, and had my band done over in pittsburgh at MaGee Women's hospital. There fill doc there is great! I call him Bill the fill guy! hahaha... You could always check in with him to see if he does any fills that arent done in their hospital. I don't know how they handle that. If you'd like the number, drop me a line and let me know. I dont know of any groups or such here in Altoona. I'm not even sure what doctor's do this proceedure here. Good luck! Dawn

Hello everyone! I havent been here in a long time, so I figured I would just start all over again and introduce myself. I was banded 8/3/06, with Dr. Eid in Pittsburgh. I was proudly down 80 pounds, but then my band wasnt tight enough, and well, I blew almost a year of loosing. I'm still down about 70, so it's not that bad, but it is still frustrating. I had a fill for the first time in a year on the 28th. Since then I've lost 10 pounds! The amount of food I COULD eat, was still small compared to what I ate before the band, but I see now just HOW much more I really was eating. I'm having a hard time adjusting mentally to the small amount I can eat now, but physically, I'm feeling wonderfully satisfied!!! I'm still just AMAZED at how little food can make me happy!!! Like I said, i'm re-learning the mental aspect of this, but I am feeling soooo thrilled to be back in tune with my band. I DO know that before I "fell off" the BAND wagon, that coming to these boards kept me grounded and inspired to stay with things every day. So I'm anxious to get back and get myself totally back on track and start using my tool that I worked so hard to get. This weight will come off, once I just get back to it. I'm looking forward to meeting all of the people out there who are living withthis wonderful device and maybe even some people who are close to me in PA. Tootles!!! Dawn