She Smiles

Me too!! I hope it all went like clockwork with her!! I'm sure the nurses are taking good care of her and giving her whatever she needs if she's in pain.

...what restriction feels like! I packed myself a small amount for lunch - three bits of chicken off a kebab, a heaped tablespoon of turkish rice and the small salad we had left over from the turkish dinner we had belatedly for my fiance's bday last night. It would have been about 1 1/2 cups of food all up maybe? And I just ate (some of) it. Really slowly. And in tiny (half teaspoon) bites. And chewed LOTS. A couple of mouthfuls I didn't do all of this (I was distracted by Dr Phil haha) and boy did it hurt. I didn't PB, but it was definitely saying "you didn't chew me enough and there is too much to fit through here lady!". I was super careful last night, as I always am when we got out to eat, but it happened a couple of time there too. I just had to sit back and let it settle for a minute or so and the could eat a little more. I think my band is finally doing its thing!! I threw half of the rice and alot of the lettuce leaves (I ate all the carrot and onion and some lettuce) in the bin! You sure wouldn't have caught me doing that 4 months ago!! Yay :clap2: Careful slow eating is what I will be doing from here on in!

Good Luck Bronnie! :clap2:

Susannah, Thats good that you have had restriction! I think though that the trick is that as you lose weight your band becomes looser and as such thats why the band needs filling, because the stomach isn't as "fatty" any more. Things for me are going well. By my fill Dr's calcualtions at the rate I am losing at the moment (around 1kg a week), I should be down to between 80 and 75 kgs for my wedding (thats a conservative estimate). Which makes me super excited! I went and tried on my wedding dress last Saturday and it fits so much better (but is about a size small now), so by July its going to be perfect! So gals I'm down in Melbourne next Friday to Sunday (16th to 18th) is anyone interested in meeting up for a coffee on Saturday the 17th in the arvo, I'd be great to put faces to the names and support, don't you think? Let me know and we'll get something organised (I don't know my way around Melbourne at all, so some one will have to suggest a location!).

Oh Susannah! I am SO sorry about your port (((hugs))) But its good that they got 1ml in there to start you on the way (is your band a 4ml band??)!! Surely the revision of your port won't be any where near as involved as the initial surgery. SURELY!! Try not to focus on it until you speak with the surgeon about it, try to focus your energies on losing more - 7kgs is an awesome effort! Bronnie, if you're on in the afternoon, that gives you a good chance to sleep in and be well rested for your surgery! Don't stress, it will all go fantastically! Hope everyone else is well!!

So I got another 0.5ml on my band today. 8ml total now. I'm hoping thats it for a while. And I loss 2kg since my last fill 2 weeks ago. Susannah, how did your fill go?

I don't sorry. I have the 10cc Adjustable Swedish.

Bronnie, I know its easier said than done, but don't be nervous! Be excited! This will be the start of the rest of your life, and you'll finally be joining the rest of us! Can't wait to hear you posting about your weight loss and milestones!! It will be happening in no time! No worries Dionne! Happy to help. I'm just over 3 months out and some times I still have to consciously tell myself to stop. Its a hard habit to over come being an onvereater, but the band sure does help. You'll find as you get more fills it will be easier and easier to know when its time to stop, your body just buts up the big STOP sign and thats it!

I think the most important thing in all of our banding journeys is to not compare our loss with other peoples, I know its hard not to, but its probably for the best. No two of us will have the same metabolism or physiology. And some of us will lose a lot immediately post op and others will lose it gradually. Its a journey and we'll all get there in the end with the right attitude and dedication, however, we will all take our own path that works best for us. I lost about 5kg in my first 2 weeks after banding (if my memory serves me correctly) but I started walking every day several days after surgery. If you really want to lose more, I'd throw some light exercise, walking would be great, into the mix. Start with 5-10 minutes a day (what ever you can handle) and work up to 45-60 minutes a day. All of that aside, 1kg is a loss, and a healthy good one too. Remember you are in the healing phase and a lot of people don't lose anything at all until after their first fill. So don't discount your loss!! You're doing great!

Dionne, For mushies, start on a consistency like pureed fruit (like you get into the pre-prepared cups, I think they are cottees of something?) or mashed potato with a fair bit of milk in it. And thicken things up as the days pass. Omelettes might not be ok until the last few days of mushies (depends what you are going to put in them), but scrambled eggs are fine. Eat slowly. Have a spoonful and rest for a minute or so. Do this until you feel full. It won't take long. Aim for 1/2 to a cup of food at one sitting. The amount you can eat typically increases as the day passes (more in the evening than in the morning), but no 2 days will be the same. You'll quickly learn to gauge when its time to stop. If in doubt stop before hand, cos eating too much hurts!! As for eating apples, you could stew some now and have that if you have a craving (put some cinnamon on top Mmmm!). But it is unlikely that you will be comfortable taking a bite of an apple and chewing it skin and all swallowing confortably ever again. I peel my apples and cut it up into small bits. Apple skin, or anything thick like that is a no go for most bandsters. As for exercise, work at what you are comfortable with. I built up to about a half hour walk for the first 6 weeks and then decided to join the gym after that. The first day I went to the gym, I could only do 3 minutes on the cross trainer and walked for half an hour (slowly!) on the treadmill. Just do what you can manage and then try each day to do a little more, 30 seconds or a minute until you are doing about 45-60 minutes a day. But at this early stage, while you are still healing, don't push yourself too hard. So I just had a lovely weekend away at the coast with my fiance cos it was his bday. Had a couple of great NSV's while there - I bought an XL t-shirt at jay jays (a NORMAL clothes shop!! woo!) and new undies from Kmart - size 14, and I'm down another bra size too :faint: I'm feeling pretty darn good today with that! How is every one, its been quiet around these parts lately!?!?

Hey Susannah :eek: The fills don't hurt as such. Its just a foreign kind of feeling - odd. But definitely not pain for me. And its seriously all over in less than 10 seconds! My surgeon likes for his patients to have liquids for 24 hours after their 2nd fill onwards. His theory is that for MOST people their band will still be relatively loose after their first fill, so going back on liquids won't benefit them all that much. I've found after each fill though that I feel rather tight for a couple of days (I get fuller quicker). I lose most of my weight each month in the few days after a fill cos I just don't want to each all that much!! I'm really hoping that my next fill will be close to it for me, and I kind of think it will be. I've felt the need to snack A LOT less since my last fill to stop from feeling hungry. Cross your fingers the 0.5 ml next Wednesday will be perfect restriction for me!! As for the water, I drink a 750ml bottle of pineapple flavoured H2GO every day. I don't buy my lunch ever any more so I figure its my one little luxury (they are $1.90 a bottle at woolies). I drink at least another 750ml of "plain" water in a day too, which is easy these days cos I just do it while I am exercising at the gym. As for exercise, I have been going to the gym 5 or 6 days a week and jogging for a half hour on the other days I can't make it there. Its been hard this last week though cos I have been at the physio every other day for my back (which isn't helping ggrrrr!). I bought a Tai-bo DVD off ebay during the week so I am going to give that go tonight too. I love doing body comabt classes but my gym doesn't do les mills classes so I haven't been to one for ages, I am hoping tai bo is similar!! Walking 30 minutes a day is a great start, we'll have you doing fun runs like Jacqui and I in no time (I ran my first 5 km at the gym on Thursday, boy was I chuffed!!). I'd have a look on ebay for the fitness gear you are looking for, you're bound to get it cheaper on there! Lastly - Hi Angel! And welcome!! Good on you for getting to your goal weight! You're an inspiration to all of us who are still getting there!

Don't feel lonely Bronnie, we're all still here baracking on for you mate! The next week is going to FLY by! and then you'll be making recommendations and telling stories like an old time bander in no time! Susannah I agree with Karen, a lot of your banding lessons will be trial and error. There are things that my dad can't eat that I can and vice versa. I have 7.5 mls in my band and at the moment he has none(he's been sick with something serious so the surgeon took it all out). We are totally different! Sure it will be good to take on board other peoples advice, but I tend to think if you can try teeny tiny bites of something new at home and see how you go, then you won't ever go with out something you actually can eat, just because you're not "supposed" to. Enjoy your first day of solids tomorrow. I'd recommend mince (beef, turkey or chicken) if you feel like meat just cos its easier to eat (especially seeing it sounds like you have a bit of restriction - good for you!). I made (well cooked) pasta salad in my first week of solids, with diced up veggies and kidney beans and a tiny bit of no fat dresssing. It was good to chew at last, but have something relatively soft to start with. Things like banana, tinned fruit, tinned fish are good things to start on too. Just think about foods that are solid but naturally soft and ease yourself in that way. Good luck!

Wow Bronnie, your op date has come up so quickly! How exciting! Dionne, yep, I started mushies 2 weeks out.

Susannah, I saw that woman on ACA too. I thought there was a lot in the story that they didn't cover, but I guess they only had a 10 minute time slot. I would have liked them to more firmly exlpain that she didn't do it all with the band - that she has had to work hard! As for your starbucks, one every fortnight or so won't hurt. Sure, you will lose faster if you each healthy all the time, but if you are anything like me, you got the band partly so you don't have to "diet" any more. While i make better food choices these days, I still have the occasional fun sized mars bar or pizza or birthday cake etc. Its all about moderation. The second you tell yourself you can't have it, its going to make you want it MORE. So treat yourself, with all the hard work you are doing, you'll deserve it once in a while!

I said exactly the same thing, and you know what... I pretty much haven't touched it! I have a tiny yougurt maybe once a week if I need a snack, but I can take or leave the rest these days!

Thats about what mine cost too Susannah, but I bought mine online from a Chemist in Sydney, I couldn't find any here and didn't even think to ask them to order it in!

So I have partly been assessing my weight loss success on how it has been noticed by people - as Jacqui said a while back, the more you lose and the smaller you get the more noticable each kilo of loss is. Last week I had to go into the city for a meeting with some colleagues and we bumped into a girl who worked with us until around October last year. I was just now chatting to one of the people who was there and she said that she had seen that girl since last week and she had mentioned to her that I was looking "amazing"! Woo me! :clap2: Thats exactly what I needed to hear today, I was having a bit of a down day. Isn't it funny how what other people see and notice about us affects us so much.....

Susannah, my advice is to wait until they are properly healed before you put anything on the incisions. Make sure they look scar-like and not still cu- like. I use Merderma gel on my surgery scars. It seems to have faded them some, but then I am only 3 months out. My Dads scars are skin coloured and you can see them but only if you know they are there. He didn't use anything on his, and is a year out from his banding, so who knows! I also use "Palmers Cocoa butter lotion for stretch marks" on my stretch marks (I have them on my hips, lower tummy and upper thighs) and I use Bio Oil (I think Jacqui recommended this??) on my tummy area too to promote the firmness here (I'm fighting an uphill battle I think). I don't know if any of it is working at all, cos I have nothing to compare it to, but I hope it is. I was looking at my tummy in the mirror today and decided I will almost certainly need a section of skin removed. Unless I get really lucky and it shrinks back some how (HIGHLY UNLIKELY!). Its starting to hang over already. This is the only thing that depresses me about my weight loss thus far, the excess skin situation, and where I will find the $ to get it removed.

Hi Susannah, I find when I am super thirsty, I can drink about 250mls of water in one go and then I am satified (did this not to long ago tonight actually!), I guess I could call it chugging - but not anything like I used to do! I've never had any issues, I just swallow it in smaller mouthfuls. I'm pretty sure that drinking water won't stretch your pouch, its likely to run straight through the stoma to your "big" stomach. I may stand corrected by some one who knows a bit more on this though! Just an update from me, I think I may have to postpone my next fill appointment (it was scheduled for the wednesday after next). I had a smaller than normal (band normal for me anyway!) breakfast and lunch today and was SOOOOOOOOOOO full all afternoon. My man can home from work and wanted an early dinner, I couldn't even face it. I had no appetite what so ever. A very strange feeling for me, because even before this fill, I still felt those hunger pangs every now and then and I was having a small snack (a few rice crackers or a petit miam yogurt) at around 10 and/or 2pm some days. There was no way I could have even thought about that today! My band seems to finally be doing its job :clap2: YAY!!!

I've been going to gym for almost 2 months now, 5 days a week, mostly doing cardio and some free weights. I've lost 8 kilos (17ish pounds) in this time. However as I lose weight I notice my butt sagging more than I would like. Now I know that I can't help much if I end up with loose skin in that area. But are there any exercises I can do to firm up my butt and hips under neath that skin (and possibly that might help avoid the skin sagging to its worst)? Just an fyi, I can't do anything even resembling squats or lunges. I have incredibly sore knees after a single set of these exercises, so I have been avoiding any kind of leg exercises (as a result for the first time in my life, I've started to look a little bottom heavy). Any kind of pressure or weight on my knees, as such, is a big no-no. Can any one help with some ideas? I'm willing to buy equipment (like a fit ball etc) if that will assist at all. Thanks in advance

Sunta, the same thing happened to me yesterday when I went to the physio for back pain I have been putting off getting looked at. What a great feeling it was when it actuall fit!!!

I never thought about that, I'm a bit of a sucker for big brother actually, mindless drivel that it is!!

Hi Dionne! Great to hear from you. Sounds like everything is going ok, everything you explained is totally normal (I'm sure the others will second that).

Thats great Jess. Hope to see you around more if that means you are losing

Cleo, the hardest thing for me was actually getting my head around the fact that my body COULD be sustained on a 5th or so of what I had been consuming before my surgery. I was an overeater and binger, and so this has taken some time to get used to, but I am getting there. I mean I FEEL full after about 1/2 - 1 cup of food now, which is the point of the band (and I knew this!) but it took a while for my food addicted head to catch up and realise that this is ok and I can put the fork down when I feel this way. I've been lucky in that I haven't had any of the issues that some bandsters have (touch wood!) with reflux and PBing and unsupportive Drs, friends and family and such. I think we all face our own challenges with the band. It is a life change, and we all make the decision to go ahead with it for our own many and varied reasons. That said, not a day goes by that I don't think to myself "I wish I had of done this sooner".