marykb

My mouth always tastes yucky. I'm constantly taking sugar-free mints at work--especially before any in person meetings. I brush my teeth a lot at home too. I think it is ketosis. My Dr. doesn't want me eating many carbs, so I'm sure that is the problem.

I would like to get a family picture--one that I could put on a Christmas card to people I see very rarely. Right now we only use pictures of the kids because I don't want the people I see every 10 or 15 years to see how I look now. I would love to have a great picture of the whole family. Mary

I didn't have a burping problem until Friday when I got my first fill. Now I burp A LOT more than I ever did before!

I was banded on 4/8 and I noticed today, when I bent over to tie my son's shoes, that it still hurt when I bent at a certain angle. The last few nights the kids have wanted to snuggle with me too and if they lean against me in a certain spot it hurts and then aches for a few hours after. I'm hoping it gets less tender in the next month or so. Mary

So far I'm doing ok. I had surgery 4/8 and I've been losing, so I've been happy with that. Yesterday I had my first fill, which was a horrible experience, but I'm hoping that I can keep losing at least, although I know it will get slower and slower and time goes on. I just need to up the exercise, I haven't been doing too well at that. The Dr. told me yesterday to start doing some upper arm weights to prevent "bat wings". I'm starting that, so I hope it helps!

Lauraghsu, I had a similar experience. It was horrible. I had my first fill yesterday. My Dr. gave me some lidocane first--which burns, like it does,then the fill. After the lidocane, the fill itself wasn't bad. After the fill, the Dr. asked me to drink some Water. It felt like it was bubbling up in my throat. The Dr. asked me to sit in the waiting room a while and see if it got any better while I was sipping water. It seemed to be getting better after 5 minutes or so, so I went back to work. A couple of hours later, the NP called. By then, I was getting ready to call her. My jaw was clenched and I was having a lot of trouble just trying to unclench it. Plus, I had only had about 4 oz to drink in 3 hours. Plus, I had a lot of saliva. So, the NP asked me to come in for an unfill. When I got there, the NP gave me some more lidocane, which didn't burn at all this time, and then started pushing down for the port. It was really painful this time because just a few hours earlier the Dr. had done the same thing. Apparently the lidocane hadn't kicked in yet, because when she started to do the unfill it was REALLY painful! I screamed a bit too. I had asked the Dr. for a small fill since I wasn't super hungry all of the time and I was still losing. He told me that his standard 1st fill is 3 cc's and that he had very few patients that even noticed that they had it. Now I"m down to 2 cc's and on liquids for at least 2 days. I had ice on my tummy all night and am still pretty sore today. I just hope that the rest of the fills aren't anything like this one!

I didn't get a fill until yesterday and I had my surgery on 4/8. The Dr. told me, like he did last time I saw him, that it was up to me. As I was still losing weight, as long as I wasn't too hungry between meals. That is his criteria. I think as long as you aren't hungry and are losing weight, you wouldn't need a fill. Mary

I have a low thyroid and have been on medication for it for about 7 years now. The only question I was ever asked was what medication I was one. I don't have a thyroid disease, but I hope that helps.

I was banded on 4/8 and have lost 45 lbs. I haven't had a fill yet. The last Dr. visit I had he told me I didn't need one. I have another appt. on Friday, so I'll see what happens then.

That is great!

I'm having trouble getting in enough exercise. I usually walk during my lunch, or when I have some time at work. When I get home I have all kinds of kid activities, make dinner, etc, By the time we get the kids to bed, it is almost my bedtime. Lately I've had to work on some high priority presentations and have barely had time to heat up my lunch, so I haven't been walking. I've been thinking about getting up around 4:30 am, so I have about 45 mins to work out, but I'm too lazy to get up that early. I just need to make more time somewhere in my day to do it.

I'm having a lot of trouble only drinking 2 oz every 15 minutes. I start sipping and then I realize I drank more than 2 oz, or I just sip every couple of minutes and then realize I haven't drunk enough. Does anyone have a trick to pace yourself not to drink too much or too little?

My Dr. suggested filling up quarter cup measuring cups and drinking from them, but I have trouble doing that too. I especially have trouble when I'm at work. I have one of those hospital cups that are marked off by ounce, but I still don't drink enough in 15 minutes because I'm so worried about it. He told me that this is the way I'm supposed to drink from now on. I even clarified with the NP when I talked to her about it. They both told me that if I drink more, I'm going to stretch out my pouch. I don't know what is wrong with me, but I can't seem to get that right and stick to it. I'll have to see if I can do better with the medicine cups, but I can just seem spilling them all over the keyboard at work--I'm not terrible coordintated. :thumbup:

I was banded on 4/8/10, but my Dr. told me to never drink more than 2 oz in 15 mins or I would stretch out my pouch. I am really fearful when I drink 3 or 4 oz by mistake in 15 minutes that I'm stretching it out. Most of the time I drink Water, but once in awhile I'll have some Crystal Light or the 0 Calorie Vitamin Water. It is really frustrating to try and pace myself so much. Before surgery, I was drinking close to 90 oz a day. Now I'm lucky if I can get in 48 oz or so.

I was told that I could have Motrin, once in awhile, as long as I took it with milk. I would check with your Dr. if you are unsure.

I am able to eat both bread and pancakes. The pancakes weren't the real thick cakey kind and the bread was a whole grain double Fiber kind. I think it just depends on the person. Mary

I'm down over 40 and even though my current clothes are loose, the next size down is still a bit tight. I'm hoping if 5 or 10 more lbs I'll be down a size---finally! Mary

I'm so very sorry that you are going through this. I think it would be really hard to stay on track going through the stress and sorrow of a miscarriage. I hope that you are able to focus on recovering, both mentally and physically. Mary

Thanks for the info. I hope you recover quickly! Mary

I do it now, but I've never done it before. It always seemed like a chore, like a few other people mentioned. Now I do it every day and it really helps me see what kind of calories I'm eating, Protein, Fiber, etc. It also helps me see if I overdid it one day, so I can be more careful the next. If I didn't write things down, I would try to track it in my head, like I've done in the past. When I've done that, I really underestimate what I've been eating.

I spent most of the next day sleeping off and on. I had some Protein Shakes, but I barely got 8 oz. down all day. I wasn't hungry at all and it took a really long time for me to drink anything. I was also in more pain the second day. The Dr. said it was because the pain killers I was given in the hospital and the anesthetic had worn off by then I was much better the 2nd day afterwards.

I took a bite of baked Beans last night and it was super spicy! My mouth was burning, even from a tiny bite. Before surgery, I would have had a big drink of milk, but I can't drink while eating now--or for 60 mins afterwards. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do when this happens? I definitely ask first, but my definition of spicy is obviously lower than some other peoples'. Thanks, Mary

Thanks everyone! At least I have some options now. I was afraid I would just have to give up on spicy foods all together.

I have the Realize band as well. My Dr. told me that there were fewer complications with it long term.

Thanks! I didn't even think of that, but I'm sure it will be better than just sitting there with a burning mouth for an hour. :thumbup: