Twinkles

This is the BEST decision of my life. This morning, I woke up, weighed myself as always and I FINALLY have a 1 in front of my weight rather than a 2! I was banded about 4.5 months ago (7/29/2010) and have lost 75 pounds now. I can no longer wear (or no longer have to wear) the W clothes and can actually buy clothes in the normal sections of the stores. YAY ME!!!

My belly was bruised where they gave me injectable anticoagulant shots. I had 3 of them over the course of my hospital stay and they bruised big time. My neighbor is a flight nurse and said it is very very common to have bruising if they gave you something like heparin. There was a lot going on inside, so random bruising would kind of be expected. If you are super concerned, give your Dr a call and see what he/she has to say.

PHEW..... I'm not the only one. My hair is falling out in clumps. I absolutely dread showering every day because what ends up at the bottom of the shower is devastating! I just went and had 9 inches chopped off my hair so that it doesn't look like so much is falling out, I figured I'll more than likely be bald in a few months anyways, may as well go shorter to slowly get used to it. lol Regarding Biotin... Do you all swallow them or break open the capsules? I'm terrified to swallow anything in fear of getting stuck. Protein is high enough, I take multi Vitamins but maybe I need to up those as I'm just taking kids chewables. I to have had some pretty quick weightloss. Just over 4 months out and I hit 70 pounds lost today.

Very few places actually sell it in person. I've only been able to order from Bell Plantation directly. That is probably your best bet.

We were talking in the chat room yesterday about how we can no longer view profiles from there. You used to be able to click on the member in chat and view Profile, now, that just takes you to the main forum screen. Any way to fix that?

I was banded on 7/29/10 and have been lucky to have excellent restriction since day one. My first fill wasn't until 12 weeks and I have yet to have another fill and I'm down 69 pounds. I had about 2cc's put in on surgery day and another 2cc's put in at 12 weeks. I really wish it was black and white for all of us. I've asked my Dr why it seems that I've had such good restriction when I've read about many people not having it right away. He just told me that is the way it is. I know of one person who has been banded for a good couple years, has never had a fill, excellent restriction, he has lost all his weight and has maintained goal for a year I believe. Now wouldn't that be great!

Oh... The powdered peanut butter, I believe, has been sent from heaven! It is THE BEST. I will never ever eat anything from the store again. Check out www.bellplantation.com it is some good stuff.

I've had 2 c-sections, a tubal and my gall bladder removed and I had no problem whatsoever with my lapband surgery. I was concerned too and talked to my Dr about just because I know I have mass amounts of scar tissue inside from my c-sections. My gyno, when he did my tubal, took pictures of it and said if it ever becomes a problem, it may need to be removed, so I was nervous that it would cause a problem during this surgery. However, everything was fine and there were no issues. Hope that helps ease your worries a bit! Good luck!

Here's the link to it as of a couple of days ago or if you look at the top right corner of the screen, there is a link that says Chat. http://chat.lapbandtalk.com:35555/123flashchat.swf

Um... I'm no longer able to get into the chat room. Is it still working? Last I was able to log into it was I believe Tuesday, maybe Wednesday... I do really really miss the chat room.

Thanks all for the kudos... I AM beyond pleased with the way this all has gone for me and like someone said above, I only regret I didn't do this years ago. HAHA - Cangel - I haven't seen any tiaras in the pictures, but I've seen many with tutus. lol... But I DO like the tiara idea! Now that I've actually typed that goal out, it seems all to real and now I REALLY want to make sure I accomplish it! Again, I wish all you continued success and kudos to those who have been banded and had awesome success too!!!

Thanks all!!! I wish you all the best of luck in your journeys as well!!!

I am beyond thrilled to say that 50% of the weight I've set out to lose is GONE! 62 pounds gone in 14 weeks!!! This is honestly the best decision I have EVER made for myself. I've been lucky and have had great restriction since surgery. I have yet to ever really be hungry and my outlook on food is SO different. I have made the changes and I've reaped the benefits. I jog 2-2.5 miles a day, hoping to run a 5k by the end of the year. Then my next 'big' goal is to run the Disney Princess half marathon at Disney World in 2012. More than anything I thoroughly enjoy running. YAY me!!!

Lapband is WAY EASIER than a c-section. I've had two and Lapband is a walk in the park comparatively.

Didn't know there was a July group! YAY!!! I was banded on 7/29/2010 and I'm down 60 pounds. Couldn't be more happy, love the band, everything. I'm starting to see it myself in my pics.

My employer also put in a 6 month, supervised diet qualification that I had to meet, but after I met that, I was submitted on a Wednesday and approved the following Monday. Surgery was scheduled for 10 days later. I was surprised at how quick it was.

I caved and went and bought some clothes today... I just grabbed some pants, didn't bother trying them on, but I grabbed a pair of 20's (which are currently a little big on me) and I grabbed a pair of 18's (for the future). I got home and tried them both on, the 20's, no way, no how, they are really big on me and the 18's a tad big, but would do. So, I'm going to take them both back tomorrow and exchange them for 16's. I honestly have no idea when the last time I squeezed my rear into a pair that size! lol Oh, and my neighbor yelled across the street to my hubby this afternoon and said that he's going to have to start chaining me up in the house if I keep losing weight. Tacky, yep, but did it make me smile, HELL YES!!!

I hear ya! As I gained weight, fortunately, I never threw away my jeans. I've dropped 56 pounds and 3-4 sizes, depending on clothing, so I've been safe so far. However, another size or two and I'm in baggy city. I woke up this morning and all I had in my closet were 3X shirts and I'm getting to where 1X is big on me, lol, so I tossed on a 3X and I'm really grumpy about it, I look like I'm in a tent, seriously. So, this weekend, I've definitely got to get rid of all my 'big girl' shirts and get something that actually fits. My mom wants us to go on a big shopping spree, but as of right now, I couldn't in good conscience do it, so I've got to hold her off for quite a bit longer. BUT.... as much of a pain as this whole clothing debacle is, I wouldn't change it for the world!!! :w00t:

I just went for my first fill today, my Doc, told me 48 hours on liquids. I know someone else whose Dr says 48 hours on liquids, then 48 hours on mushies.

Okay - Here is what is in a couple different places in my paperwork. In a section regarding continued diet 3+ months after surgery. Continue same portion sizes (1/2 cup, 3 meals per day, Protein rich foods first and meal variety) Eat slow Chew 20-30 times for each bite of solid food It goes on and on with the 'standard' bullet points following surgery. Then in another section, he has a weekly sample menu. At the bottom it says: *Maintain 1/2 cup total food volume per meal. Leigha, you are right about on regarding my calorie intake. In fact about 4-6 weeks after surgery, I was feeling not quite right, after I figured it out, I was only consuming about 250 calories PER DAY TOTAL. I called my Dr and nutritionist, their goal they want their patients to be at is about 800 calories per day. So, I've been trying to get more healthy higher calorie foods and I haven't been so picky regarding calories. But I track, literally, anything that passes my lips, I have yet to hit 800 calories and I'm generally around 600. I, for one, cannot figure out how to get more calories out of 3 meals that are 1/2 cups. I asked my nutritionist and she said that as long as I feel good and I'm losing, not to worry about it. Which I do feel great, better than I have in a long time. I guess the other plus to it all, even if I could eat more, there's no way I could, I'm pretty full after those 1/2 cups, lol.

Just wanted to add, this is how my Dr explained it. So, pouch size is about 1/2 cup in volume, right? If you go by weight and he tells me to eat 4 oz of food per meal, if I choose something like rice cakes, you can fit a heck of a lot by volume to equal 4 oz in that food vs if you choose something with more weight by volume, like meat. That's his reasoning by no more than 1/2 cup by volume per meal. The lighter the food, the more quantity by weight, the more likely to stretch. I will add that my Dr is VERY strict, more strict than I've heard a lot of others, but he's also got a very high success rate, so I've gotta trust him. Obviously, IMO, it all comes down to making good food choices and being smart about it. Hopefully, that makes sense, but I'll still dig through all my paperwork to get what is on his instructions.

Yep. My Dr has stressed it over and over and over again, so I've basically got the crap scared out of me regarding stretched pouches. lol I eat 1/4 to 1/2 cup for Breakfast (1/4 egg beaters with a thin slice of ham chopped up and mixed in) 1/4 cup of chicken breast and 1/4 of Beans for lunch. And usually 1/4 of steak or something with 1/4 of veggie or beans for dinner. I do drink 4oz of a bariatric Protein drink mid morning and mid afternoon, Optisource strawberry, which is 100 calories and 12 grams of protein per serving. Strictly to boost my calories and protein counts. Going for my first fill on Wednesday because I'm just now starting to feel a little hungry in between meals.

I'll have to see what the exact wording of my literature is because my Dr made it clear over and over to go 1/2 cup by volume and NOT weight. I live by those little ziplock 1/2 cup containers, that is what I use for all my meal measurements and have been fine regarding restriction.

Congratulations!!! That is so exciting! I'm 8 pounds away from my 50% mark and am very excited for it to get here too.

I was in the same boat, well, kinda still am.. I was banded on 7/29 and for the longest time, only getting about 250-300 calories. I started adding in 2 - 4oz servings of Nestle's Optisource Bariatric High Protein Drink. strawberry, they are WONDERFUL and 100 calories, 12 grams of protein per servings. With that, I'm getting about 600-700 calories per day and 60-80 grams of protein. But as the others say, it does get easier, but I still for the life of me can't figure out how to eat 800 calories in a day. However, both nutritionist and Dr's office have said that as long as I'm feeling fine, not losing hair, etc., to not really worry about it.