Betsyjane

Hi folks. I never had the noises, but my Dr. puts people onto solid food really quickly, so that might be the difference. The CO2 eventually just absorbs into your tissue and dissipates. In the meantime if it hurts, don't hesitate to use whatever pain killers your Dr. recommends. No need to suffer for the cause. I found a heating pad helped too, but GaxX didn't and walking was of marginal help. Painkillers for me!

Dear heart: Your story is not unusual. Think of it as part of the journey rather than a failure. The band is there to help you lose when you do the right things, and to stabilize you when you fall off the wagon. It waits for you to get back on track, and that's a relief for lots of us. You know, I hadn't thought of this before, but since we can all be such liars to ourselves and other people about our food issues, it may not be helpful to be in a weight loss group where you have to lie. I'm guessing that's part of why you came to this site. So you could be honest. Congrats for doing that. Maybe the next thing is to begin to get an inventory of where you are. You've done well with that in your original post. Do you eat ice cream at a particular time of day? Is that the time that you might want to substitute exercise? Do sugars set you off on a binge? For me, artifical sweeteners even set me off, so I've had to just get away from sweets of any kind, other than my morning Protein shake. Do you hate to cook and need to have Lean Cuisine sitting around for those meals? I cook once a week....some meats and veges, and then during the week I pile them into a lettuce wrap, or Soup, or a salad, or simple meat and veges...all seasoned differently. And when I get sick of it, I eat out and I have one special thing I order at each restaurant that I know is a good fit. I also have a rule that I eat strictly at home, but whenever I'm out, I order whatever I want and just let the band provide portion control. Keeps life interesting. If you are lonely, you might want to do womething about that...support groups, a community center...whatever. I guess if you want a fresh start, I'd start with defining the challenges and setting up a very specific set of goals and then only tackling one at a time, forgiving yourself for each transition. We're only human, ya know. And we're in this journey for life, so in the grand scheme of things, "losing" a year to weight maintenance is no biggie, as long as you decide how to move on. We're with you, my friend.

I had Lana's number somewhere...Does anybody still have it? I thought I'd call her. If you have it could you email me at giddyyuppie@aol.com Thanks.

It's not a waste of time to lose 60 pounds! Since the average loss is 50 % of the pounds you need to lose, are you somewhere close to that? If so, then to lose more is to do better than average..... Also some peoiple get up to 7 fills before they feel that "sweet spot" of restriction, so more fills really might be necessary. You'll also want a fluoroscope done so you can make sure your pouch isn't stretched. What I do at plateaus is to go back to basics. I keep a calorie/protein/fat/carb log for 3 days and see where I might have cheated. I check my bites, my chewing, my eating without distraction slowly, etc. and see where I'm messing up. If I'm not messing up more than occasionally and I'm getting my exercise, then I figure it's time for a fill any time I can eat more than I should.

The last plateau I had was broken by eating totally different food for a few days and shaking up my system. Don't know why it worked, but I just ate whatever without thinking about it and then could go back to good food and losing.

We loved Wynn. I can't imagine going anywhere else now. I love buffets! A bite of so many different things.....yum. Anyway the buffet at Wynn has 19 different chefs manning 19 different cooking stations making their dishes or whatever you'd like...from seafood to Asian to Italian, etc. Kobe beef, Chilean Sea Bass, you name it..... Big gambler that I am, I took my $20 to the Blackjack table, lost almost all of it and then came back up and when I had my $20 back, I quit. I kept playing the same $20 the whole time we were there, and came home with it! Also saw Cirque de Soleil and the Blue Man Group. See ya tomorrow.

Just got back from las Vegas. I love buffets. Picking a bite of a bunch of different foods makes for a great meal.

The down side of living in a small town! One person starts talking about pregnancy and the employers know about it... Your first appt.....start keeping stuff, even your receipt and a business card from the doc. You can make your baby a scrap book....

How is it going without meds? I wonder if job interviewers are detecting some manic stuff and are shying away from it. Can you tell when you are getting manic and when you are on an even keel?

EAS Carb Control chocolate.

Just got back from Vegas. We fell in love with Wynn and ended up staying there. Had a great time.

Oh don't listen to her! Go 90. Pass Liberty. In DAYTON, you'll see thatyou turn right and go under the road and then left...a dog leg that putsyou on 1960. Keep going west. Pass Huffman/2100. Go over Lake Houston. And then what Barbara said...... KittyGlitter...come join us anyway! We mostly talk and don't eat much anyway. I'm off the Vegas this morning. We're going to see Cirque de Soleil Love, the one set to Beatles music, and the Blue Man Group. Other than that...who knows....we might get remarried in an Elvis chapel...ya never know. A week later and we could have seen Elton John. A week earlier and we could have seen Bette Midler. I'm just in total amazement that Dave is taking the time off work! And other than the price of the shows, I'm forever amazed at how cheap it is to do Vegas...at least for us non-gamblers. Oh, and we're doing the buffet at Bellagio. I've found that I love buffets. One tiny bite of a whole bunch of great things suits me well.

I wonder if you're sleepy from going off your meds...in addition to maybe some depression about your last year, and difficulty finding a job. Hmmm... What about looking for retail jobs where you can get a discount on maternity clothes or baby stuff...... I think I've seen a thread here in the past for pregnant bandsters....You might want to hook up with them.....

Congrats on your weight loss. Do you brush your tongue when you brush your teeth? At first, that coated tongue can be about the anaesthesia that you had during surgery. Takes awhile to flush all that stuff out. How about getting some peppermint extract and putting a drop in your water?

I read Green's post as revealing some of her own history in order to be of help about options. I'll bet you can even find parenting classes online. Not that I think you'll be a bad mother....just that you want to be the best Mom, so gathering whatever info you can will certainly help you reach your goal. How far along are you? Any morning sickness? I have no idea...can you keep the lap band filled during pregnancy?

Oh, and the pills are Bentyl to stop stomach pains and something like Protonoxin (?) to slow the acid production. Sorry-I don't have the bottle with me at the moment.

Meds for gastric reflux and excess acid in the stomach. I was trying to knock out some pretty intractible pain by taking Advil....even though my Dr. said no more Advil post banding. Got too acid-y, but I didn't think it was reflux since I didn't have any active refluxing. I just had a bile taste in my mouth all the time lately.

Hey, the GERD pills worked right away. No more sour taste. Or stopping Advil did it. Not sure which.

Hey, Jodi. I was just thinking... Since the Dad probably didn't have parenting models to learn from, and you Mom may not havbe been an ideal parent, it might make a whole lot of sense to go to parenting classes. You're probably already thinking about ways in which you'd like to parent like your parents, and ways that you don't want to. You're a good student. Seems like a class worth taking.

Have you thought about starting to have some conversations with your Mom about boundaries and joys before the baby is born. You certainly want to enjoy the baby as his/her Mom and Grandma. And you want your Mom to help. You also have to be an adult in charge of raising a baby, in charge of your own meds so you're able to raise a baby, etc. You don't want your child growing up seeing either an incompetent or upset Mom or a controlling upset Grandma. Maybe the baby coming gives you a way to start to talk some of it out. If that doesn't happen, it's possible that your Mom will end up raising your baby....You already know that with ehr actions about your pills, you've allowed yourself to react in a way that gives her control over whether you take your meds. Good luck. Thos could be some uncomfortable discussions.

Well, if you're late, we'll be there when you get there!

I could do earlier....5:30?

I don't think she WANTED you to give up your child. She was presenting an option, from her experience. Glad you're looking forward to your baby and planning for him or her. You're in for some major challenges...... Can you take bipolar meds during pregnancy? Just curious.

I agree. The most compelling argument is that the surgery is tax deductible in most cases. The other thing to think about is getting one of those financing deals lap band Drs. know about, getting the surgery now, paying 4 months of interest, and paying off the loan after the first of the year. I think both of you should sit down and figure which scenario helps the most...........

How about a week from Monday at La Villa in Atascocita?