Betsyjane

(or at least current)

Before.....

Or at least current.....

If I didn't really get it smaller, excuse my...I'll delete and try again.

Oh. Duh. Thanks.

Rmember too that the whole point of getting the band was because we couldn't do it alone for long. So if you do screw up, no self blame! We've al been there. That's why we're all here.

Well anyway, I'm glad you guys are here.

Sorry....I don't see Advanced....

I have to tell you guys, I have thoroughly enjoyed this thread! I don't know Sandy...and I don't frequent OH....but isn't it interesting that someone will choose something like a good will support group to exercise her need for control and egotism? What a fruitless way to expend energy and live life! She is her own worst enemy. Glad there's a place here to process that sort of stuff and get past it.......

Don't sabotage yourself. I agree with everybody. First try persuading your doctor. If that doesn't work, just keep at it. Assuming that you eventually stop losing because of your hunger, then it's time to schedule a fill. But I'd work the doctor first. Fills are part of the process!

That's great! I'm trying hard to stay away from processed stuff, but as my husband says...healthy food is so inconvenient! I've started stopping by Wendys for a slald and then eating most of it over several meals. I'm so pleased to be able to eat lettuce and raw spinach!

How do you post a picture in a message?

This is a timely topic for me. My mother, who is 90, is in the hospital with a sudden onset of , well, everything. Systems are crashing and leading to heart and brain damage. Now, she and I had always talked about how she never wanted to be onlife support or be incapacitated. She has always had a Do Not Resusitate paper signed, etc, and I have power of attorney for healthcare decisions. It's always been completely clear what her wishes are. And then they come to you with that last piece of paper... I was sitting with Mom and reeling from this rapid decline, and I was to check the boxes of all the things I didn't want done....and of course some of them could save her life and the same ones could instead prolong her life in a comatose state....and it all becomes so gray area and no longer black and white. I signed the best I could according to what I know her wishes to be, but real life is just never as neatly packaged as I hope it will be. I suppose that could make a case for having lots of interventions and evaluations before an assisted suicide, but it also might delay a process long enough for there to be considerable suffering and confusion. I'd vote for keepin the process very simple in most cases...if someone meets critria, then go for it. If it is a judgement call, then do a greater evaluation. If my mother were awake and chose an assistend suicide, I wouldn't want that decision to be as bureaucratic as, say, picking her Medicare drug benefit was.....

We humanely euthanize our pets. I want the same humane assist. And I don't want to be resussitated to be on life support. And I want my body donated to a medical school and for transplants.

I know I'm a foodaholic too. I fall off the wagon...I lie to myself about what evil foods have crept in to my diet....I can look in the mirror and not see myself accurately. I figure I will always address issues, the rest of my life. But without the band, a slip up would mean rapidly regaining all my wieght and then some. With the band, I can get it together before all of that happens. It is more forgiving. Alcoholics strive to fall off the wagon with less intensity and for shorter periods of time each time. Me too. And I've made peace with "dieting". I am on a strict "diet" of healthy food and porportions at home, and order whatever I want when I'm out, allowing the band to assist with just portion control. So I have my cake and eat it too, sort of. I also know that when I have good restriction per fluoroscope, but can eat too much, I've stretched my pouch. The time I did it, I was lucky that a few days of liquids resolved it. I'm always restricted in the morning, so I needed to stop gulping breakfast too. But if that hadn't worked and I needed a slight or complete unfill to take care of it, I'd gladly do it to re-start the restriction of the band. And finally, once a month, I go down the list of rules for the bandster life and keep a 3 day food long so I can honestly see what I've allowed to creep in. I'm making peace with the work involved...Heck, befor ethe band I was a total failure at weight stuff. Now it's just hard work. I can live with that.

Never having been to OH, I haven't had the pleasure, but...sniff...you guys make me so proud of LBT.

It can also be from artificial sweeteners....

Better Than Boullion helped me. It tastes hearty.

Yeah. I added Benefiber to my morning protein shakes for awhile. In fact, I used to add my chewable vitamin, my chewable calcium, benefiber, ice, protein shake and frozen and fresh fruit...since I didn't get around to having fruit the rest of the day. Blended that sucker and sipped on it for an hour or two each morning.

Check with your doc and get a fluoro. I had that experience....sometimes I could eat everything, and in the mornings, I could eat nothing. Turns out I was gulping lots of liquid every day until noon and had a stretched pouch so the rest of the day, I could eat too much. All stemming from a too tight band. Mine was fixed by going on liquids for 3 days and then sipping in the morning. I should have also had a slight unfill, but apparently I lost just enough stomach fat in the process that my band ceased to be too tight. Doing fine ever since. Some folks have to get a complete unfill, rest the stoma, and then start refilling. My Dr. office saw the difference in size in the stoma looking at old and current fluoro pics.

I had a minor version of this problem if I don't drink enough water. Doesn't matter how many other fluids I have....I have to have plenty of water too. Same thing happened to my mother. It's worse when I'm doing protein shakes. By the by...you probably did no damage, but it ain't fun to pass a boulder!

Well, I think I'm heading into a new phase with my band. I had a plateau for so long, and now I'm losing slowly, and I had to decide if I want to stay basically where I am, which is fine!...or if I wanted to get aggressive about losing more. I think I do. I'm not calling it a diet, but I am going to be very conscious of fat/carbs, etc. Egg white omlettes without cheese....more fish more tofu for protein....raw foods instead of processed, etc. I'm going to do it for a month and see how I do and what I think. I'm still going to allow myself to just do portion control and enjoy if I'm in a good restaurant. I think it's time. Food doesn't have as great a control on me as it used to, and if I keep my sugar/sweetener addition under wraps, I should be OK. I'm sick of shakes...actually I'm sick of sweeteners.... so I'm going off them for the month and will supplement regular food with Any Whey to get extra protein. Should be an interesting month.

Hey, congrats! Who knows what normal is. Doctors differ. Spivak moves you back to normal food within a few days anmd does a fill after 3 weeks. Most other doctors have a longer process for getting back to solids.

Her hip gave out, just like the other one did 2 years ago. Oddly, most broken hips break FIRST and cause a fall, instead of the other way around. I just got back from seeing her this morning. It was her first day to get up, and the PT people got her sitting and then standing! Amazing. She's still kind of goofy but doing better. Sorry about your back! Hope an MRI will tell the story.....

It does help. I was surprised to find that I felt I had accomplished and completed when I got full and push away form the table. And that's never been true in my life. True, it's a tool and you have to do your part, but frankly, doing my part was IMPOSSIBLE without the band. Now it's just hard work. Succeeding when working hard on weight is also new for me....and feels very powerful.