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The next one is Wednesday 10/14 at 6:30pm at the meeting room next to Dr. Bonnor's office. November's meeting is on 11/11 and December's is on 12/16. Hope to see you there!

Got my Sleeve on the 16th. everything went really well, no pain. still a little gas. so far have only drank Water, Gatorade g2 and Syntrax nectar fuzzy navel. Haven't had any problems drinking anything, have to take slow sips on the Protein, seems like that gets caught up in the gas still. Think I may try broths or Soup sometime later this week. my doc want me on liquids, everything strained for 2 weeks then on to pureed. Oh, no hunger at all yet. haven't got on the scale, think I'm gonna wait till my 2 week followup visit. lost 15 lbs on the pre-op liquid diet (10 days)

10 days postop is still super early. You probably did a bit too much, and might have needed to "eat" or drink.

I am also 10 days out today. Ironic because I started at 225 and I weighed 212 on the scale today too. Lol! Sent from my SM-G950U using BariatricPal mobile app

Band-RNY revision age 49 5'4" Starting weight: 260 Surgery weight: 244, Current weight 140.2 Pre-op-16lbs (size 18/20) M1-16lbs (size 18) M2-15.6lbs (size 16/18) M3-10lbs (size 16) M4-11.4lbs (size 14) M5-10.8lbs (size 12) M6-8.4 (size 8/10) M7-6.4 (size 8...165.4 lbs) M8-11.6 (size 6...153.8) M9-5.6 (size 4/6...148.2) M10-5.8 (size 4....142.4)

I'm banded (10/04/04)and live in Mesquite. What do you need to know!

Minimeme: My friend had a chicken farm and sold the eggs to a commerical company. We would go out to the farm to help her gather eggs and get them cleaned & weighed to be ready for pickup. They were picked up every 10 days, taken to the plant for processing. By the time they hit the grocery stores, they are anywhere from 3-5 weeks old. Fresh yard eggs are so much better. They taste really good and I am so fortunate to have fresh eggs often. If anyone reading this posting has the opportunity to buy fresh yard eggs from a local person, you won't be sorry.

becky!!!!! girl, we have been going through this together...banded same date. and have ran into each other several times with similar experiences. in my opinion, you are not getting enough solid foods. I WOULD BE LOOKING FOR food ALL THE TIME IF I ATE THAT...but that is just me. i was tight, where i was eating like that, and i was miserable. you didn't have anything solid until dinner. now, i know that some people on here do the same thing, and if that works for you great, but those liquid calories in Soups and instant breakfast, and yogurt add up really quick. i think the instant breakfast has like 90 cal, yogurt usually the same, they do have Protein, but mixed with milk you get more calories than protein. but again, i am not perfect. this is a typical day for me: breakfast---around 10..nothing before.. 3/4 slimfast high Protein Bar (190 calories and 15 grams of protein for the whole thing). 3/4 of a 1/2 of a tuna sandwich for lunch..on wheat, with some fritos in the sandwich ( i know weird). for dinner, 4 bites of solid meat, hamburger steak, real steak, chicken...whatever, 2 bites of veggies, and if i have room, starch. ...that is typical, definately not the rule though. for instance last night, i forgot to eat cuz i wasn't hungry, then i had sugar drop, got the shakes, inhaled some tuna salad on chips, threw it all back up because i didn't chew very well..then had nothing else for dinner. so i had nothing for bk, 1/8 of a nacho bell grande taco bell (weakness), and then nothing for dinner....know what i did??? pigged out on ice cream snickers right before bed... that's what i get for not eating. you are eating healthier than i am, but i think you would get less calories with more solid Proteins. my doc has a rule....he doesn't like for us to have milk..EVER...i don't like milk..so no problem for me, and he doesn't want us drinking our food. period. i thought the only way that i could lose weight was to be super tight, but i was wrong. and i feel a lot better now that i'm eating. i lost 4 lbs since last week!!!!

I too got a fill today and I can sip Water. Sip broth but if I take a big drink it hurts. I don't want an unfill if I can help it. Guess I will see how the next few days go. I'm now at 7cc in a 10 cc band. I'm a little worried about eating food. But if I can't then unfill a little will have to happen. Had my surg in mid dec of 2012. Anyone have any suggestions for me??? Sent from my iPad using LapBandTalk

My insurance paid 90% and my 10% came out to about $3500 after a negotiated price from $40,000 to $35,000. That 40 grand was a lot higher than I expected but I love my surgeon and the hospital so I wouldn't change a thing.

I am experiencing the same thing. I was sleeved on 8-16-10 and have lost $22 lbs (including pre-op). It's been 2 weeks I am on mushy foods and the scale has been wicked. Does not want to move. I am so disappointed at this time and get horrible thoughts too. What if the weight does not come off.

I am with you. Though I must confess, slipping into an 8/10 dress today felt pretty good. Still can't get small jeans on.

Already posted this in the pre op category, but I think it belongs here more! I'm Nicole, I'm 19, and I'm waiting on approval for my RNY! You are probably thinking, “Wow, she’s only 19, why they heck is she getting a Gastric Bypass surgery so young?" so I just wanted to make this post to kind of give you guys an idea of why I am getting the surgery, why I think it’s the best choice for me, and what has been happening lately! So, originally I opted for the Sleeve Gastrectomy, because I liked the fact that they didn’t mess around with your intestines and all that jazz like they do with the bypass, so I went to my surgeon, and I did all of my pre-op stuff, like my nutritionist visits and psychiatrist visits,and it turns out I was diagnosed with binge-eating disorder, so I had to do a month of group therapy before she would clear me for surgery. You have to make sure you are mentally prepared before you put your body through anything, which I get. I started this whole process the first of December. After all of my tests and appointments and stuff got finished, and I had lost enough pre-op weight, they sent away to the insurance company at the beginning of May. I waited and waited until just this week when my mom was finally like we should call and see what’s up. So she called the insurance company, and it turns out that my insurance doesn’t cover sleeves, but I was a clear candidate for bariatric surgery so I would have to re-submit for the bypass or the lap-band, So I made an appointment with my surgeon and we decided to go ahead and switch to the Roux en Y. So now I have to wait for this approval and to schedule a surgery date! As for my age, and having surgery, I have a lot of medical problems that no 19 year old should ever have to deal with. I take 7 pills in the morning and 4 at night. I have high blood pressure that I am on two different types of medication for, just to maintain it, I have asthma, I have poly-cystic ovarian syndrome, which causes me not to ovulate, and my OB-GYN said I may never be able to have children. I’ve been medicated for it in the past, but bariatric surgery has been proven to take this away in most cases. Also, when I was 18, i suffered from kidney failure and was in the hospital for almost a week. It just sucks to know that your body is so unhealthy that your organs are beginning to shut down. At this point, I know if I don’t make a change I will just end up getting worse and worse. I’m going to have to work my ass off every day, and my new stomach pouch is only going to be a tool to help me get to where I need to be, not an easy way out, and everyone who thinks that is horribly wrong. It’s not going to be easy, but it’s going to be worth it. Peace & Love

Thank you for sharing that information. I am tired of feeling I have to defend myself for the choice I made of Realize vs Lapband. I guess my question is why are people who have the Lapband care and why do they continue to getting in these forms and debating the choice we made for ourselves. I am sorry but I keep seeing one person responding to the Realize band in negative tone and unless you have it how can you comment. I am VERY pleased with my Realize Band. Many are discouraged on the amount of weight they have lost but keep in mind with either band the weight loss will (or can) be slow but steady. I choose the band over RNY because I didn't want it to come off so quick that my skin would not have time to respond to what the heck was going on. As my Dr. said to me one day . . . "you banders want the band because if comes off slower but when you don't a 10 - 15lb loss a month you get upset and complain". He is correct we just have to hang in there for the long haul. Be postive and think of where you would be if you hadn't made the discussion to get band at all. This is a journey on a short road trip. Thank you for letting me vent!!!!

Today I start introducing solid food. So excited. Going to start with tuna or tilapia. 3 weeks post-op today and I have lost 19 pounds. Walking 30 minutes a day and feeling good.

Hi there. I haven't posted in a really long time -- I usually just see what everyone else is talking about. But this weight issue is something I think I can help out with. I, too, have put on a considerable amount of weight -- 40 lbs and I'm at 34 weeks. I talked to my OB about it and she told me this: how much weight you gain is not as important as how big the baby is. If the baby is right on target growth-wise, she doesn't care how much weight I gain. If I gain too much and the baby starts to get too big, then that's a problem. So far, my belly has been measuring dead-on for where I am gestation-wise, so my doctor said nothing when I gained almost 10 lbs in two weeks. She also explained weight gain like this -- a pregnant woman has little control over how much weight she will gain during pregnancy. The body is going to adjust your metabolism to gain the amount of weight it wants to. And so even if you're really counting calories and eating super-clean, your body may want to just put on additional weight for whatever reason. Of course, there are the extremes like certain celebraties who used their pregnancies as an excuse to eat nothing but donuts. Obviously, their bodies could only do one thing, which was to gain excessive weight. And so a certain amount of self-control is necessary. But craving milk, juice, fruit, and such is not a bad thing. Additionally, a friend of mine who is a raw vegan gained 60 pounds with her daughter. That really put things into perspective for me. I had a hard time believing that someone who only ate plants could even eat enough to gain 60 pounds -- but it's another example of how the body is going to do what it wants to do. Finally, there has been research that shows that women who lose a significant amount of weight and then get pregnant soon thereafter will tend to gain more than average during pregnancy. This is because the body uses the pregnancy as a way to store up what it needs. You really do not have any control over this. For me, I saw so many stories of banded women gaining 10 or 15 pounds during their entire pregnancies, and so I got it into my head that I was only going to gain 20 lbs. Well, I've doubled that. God-willing, I will be able to breastfeed and that will help with weight loss. Nevertheless, I just had to give up control on this issue and accept the fact that I was going to gain more than the average (25-35 lbs). Of course, I am 6 ft. tall and the doctor also told me that someone of my height and stature is going to gain more anyway. Hope that helps.

I lost 100lbs with my band with 700 Cals a day and no stalls. I worked out 5-6 times per week. I lost the weight in 9 months. This time I've lost about 35lbs in about 2 1/2 months. I guess my body doesn't know about starvation. I lost 100lbs with my band with 700 Cals a day and no stalls. I worked out 5-6 times per week. I lost the weight in 9 months. This time I've lost about 35lbs in about 2 1/2 months. I guess my body doesn't know about starvation. I lost 100 in 8 months with the band. Gained it all back. Have had the sleeve since 8/10 and not eating much of anything. I've lost 3lbs with working out 5 times a week.

Hello New Friends! I need some support and hope to make some new friends here. I had a Lapband down in Mexico in 2004 by Dr Kuri and lost 150 lbs then maintained that for about a decade. I started at 536lbs and got down to just under 400lbs which my surgeon said was a success. I never hit my goal weight of 300lbs but I was happy. After several gallstones and trips to the ER my doctor in Portland said I needed to have my gallbladder removed. The gallbladder surgeon in Portland offered to remove the 10 year old Lapband which was causing me trouble so I did it without even considering other options. At that point it was taking me 1.5 hours to eat half of a small meal and I had zero restriction. So his offer was a welcome relief. I thought I was doing fine. I knew I had gained a little but not 80 pounds. That scared me because it had only been a few months. I was getting to the point of having a hard time walking, and I had developed neuropathy in my feet. I also had a couple weight related injuries and then my knee got real bad. This was a real low point in my life. I visited a friend in Texas who had the sleeve and I didnt even recognize him! I was shocked at how much he had lost. So that was the start of my sleeve journey. When I got back to Portland I started off talking to Puget Sound Bariatrics in Washington and Legacy Emanual in Portland but both surgeons needed me to lose 30-40 pounds before they said they could operate on me for the sleeve. They said I had to be under 500lbs. One surgeon suggested I try a low carb diet. I didnt know what he was talking about! Thus I began learning about low carb eating. During the last 2 years I have been learning about the weight loss industry. Ive read The Obesity Code by Dr Jason Fung who is a doctor that helps cure diabetes, a supposedly incurable disease. Reading his book educated me on all the "great advice" weve been getting all these years about how to lose weight, advice that was pretty much worthless to people with obesity. Dr Jung examines all the recommendations passed down thru the years and then explains why they dont work, its a real education that answers a lot of questions. He also explains how foods we eat turn to glucose that is stored in our liver for the first few hours after we eat a meal. Then as our bodies use up the glucose and our insulin levels drop our bodies are able to access the stored body fat for the energy our bodies need. This is what causes weigh loss. Thats why intermittent fasting works so well. I learned about intermittent fasting and have found that to be fairly easy to implement into my lifestyle. I hired a personal trainer and spent a year in the gym doing water aerobics - inbetween injuries and weightloss restarts. I bought a few weeks worth of Adkins meals and then figured out how to use those concepts with regular food and even some fast foods. Ive learned about portion control and how important that is. Ive learned about carbs in food including veggies. I had no idea there were carbs in lettuce! Or that a banana contains 55 grams of carbs! I spent 2 weeks getting my body into ketosis which required frequent emergency trips to the bathroom for explosive diareah....no fun. Ive tracked all my meals and had to get honest with myself about late night snacking, the scale doesnt lie. But overall I havent maintained much weight loss. I admit Ive had some depression these last few months since my dad died, but Im moving forward now... A few months ago I was surfing the web and started hearing about guys bigger, older, and taller than me having the sleeve surgery with great success. Yet the 3 surgeons I dealt with in the Pacific Northwest all said I had to be under 500 lbs...BUT WHY??? I soon discovered it was because they dont have the equipment to handle patients over 500 pounds and they didnt want to lose me as a patient so they told me to lose weight instead. Seems crooked to me. Ive needlessly suffered for years now. If I had known better I could have had this surgery 3 years ago. Im now scheduled for January 26 with Dr Rodriguez down in Juarez. Im a snowbird this year so Im moving down to El Paso for the winter, surgery and recovery. The one mistake I made when I first got my lapband was I didnt make it the sole priortiy of my life. This time around my sole focus for the next two years will be losing weight and getting my health back. Im now looking forward to leaving Oregon for a few months and getting really focused on my health. Being in a sunny location will help me feel better and keep me motivated as I begin losing weight again. Today I discovered this forum and read some good stuff. I need your support and hope I can provide you some too! Thanks for reading, Free Stanley

Hey,everyone! I am about 3 1/2 weeks out and feel great. I am back to work and have lots of energy. I was advanced to stage 4/ full diet at 2 weeks, and so far there isn't any protein I haven't been able to eat as long as I go slow and chew, chew, chew. I do 60 Gm protein, 60 0z fluid a day, but I do really have to work at it. Certainly no room for carbs or junk! I walk a minimum of 10,000 steps a day, and down 19 lbs post-op for a total of about 55 lbs lost. Only problem I had was quite a lot of post op pain, particularly in the rt lower abd, and it persisted a good 3 weeks. Surg actually tested me for appendicitis, but it was fine, and he thought he may have injured a nerve down there with the trocar. I think the fact that I have absolutely NO core strength hasn't helped. I need to work on that. Other issue is I have to really fight those vitamins and calcium tabs down. I feel like I might as well just munch down a couple of sticks or chalk every morning! Glad to hear everyone is doing so well! I really believe this is the best single thing I have ever done for myself. Rebecca

Alright... time for an update. I'm 3 days out from my surgery. My surgery was done on 10/10/11 at 7:30-8 in the morning. We arrived at the hospital at 6 and went through the final registration paperwork. I was in my pre-op room by 6:15. The pre-op room consisted of getting an IV line inserted several different medicines administered as well as getting a shot for nausea in my stomach. I met with the Surgeon and the Anesthesiologist right before heading to the OR. Once in the OR, I was quickly put asleep. I woke up in the recovery room (sorry, not a clue what time) in minor discomfort and headed to my room shortly after. I spent Monday and Tuesday there and was sent home on Wednesday around noon. I have a drain installed that will be removed next week. I didn't experience very much discomfort or pain and barely used my morphine button and when I did, it was to help me sleep. While at home, I'm doing pretty well, but occasionally get some serious gas pains....they don't last long, but they are there. I have not yet weighed myself, but plan to do that on Sunday at the end of my clear liquid diet. Something else I almost forgot to mention is that I asked my Surgeon it I could see the stomach removed from me and he told me no, it is sent off to labs for testing. So then I asked if it was possible to take a picture of what was removed. He was a little surprised by that and told me that he'd see what he could do. He presented me with an 8x10 photo that contained 4 images, 1 of the stomach pre-stapled, one post stapled, one of it being removed and lastly, the excised stomach. Pretty gruesome stuff. Stay tuned........

Take a very deep breath and decide if you are truly ready for this to happen. If you are, none of the other stuff should matter at all. Take things one step, one day at a time and that is how it all becomes less overwhelming. This includes the 3 week diet. It really is not that bad and will kick start your weight loss, ensure you have a healthier liver and make things safer. I can tell you that every bit of this is worth it in the end. I am 14 months post op, down 135lbs and 10 lbs from my goal. I thank god everyday for putting the Bariatric community on this earth to help us get healthy. When you feel the stress practice breathing very deep, it can be calming. Good luck to you!

had covid test- i was scared ass hell. however when they called me i told i suffer from anxiety and panic attacks . they has me supervisor nurse and she said we will hep you. we will do the throat swab or you can have blood talk throat was fine in and out in 10 secs

An ounce can be 6-10 sips. Or more....

I liked the Nectar roadside lemonade and the lemon tea. My Bariatric Pantry sells a sample pack and you can choose the 10 flavors you want to try. I also liked the cappuccino and LOVE peanut butter cookie, which I mix with skim milk. Post surgery I've also switched to the blender bottle. The ninja put too much air for me, and it took forever to get one shake down.

Hello everyone, I am Pamela, I have been reading here for a few months but this is my first post. I have been truly inspired by many of your stories and I can't wait to be the one inspiring people with my before and after pictures and tales of success. I am pre-surgery, going for my final appointment to schedule surgery on Thursday, 3/29. I have all of my insurance qualifications submitted, etc., so all that's left is to schedule surgery and get started on the pre-surgery diet. I'm not sure how long after Thursday it will be but I'm hoping for less than 10 days - I'm ready to get rocking on this thing. I've been held up by many obstacles and I finally see the finish line. Can anyone give me any advice about the pre-surgery diet? I am full liquid for 7 days, and clear liquid for 2 days. I can't eat yogurt but it seems everything I read pushes yogurt like crazy. Any alternative suggestions?