Who's in with me!? Let's start a roster!

Me: Caryn, 28 years old (29 on the 30th this month), starting weight and size was 240, size 20. Banded Aug 11th.

Question of the day: are you married and do you have kids?

Had the stress test today and it went fine. Dr has ordered a heart cath Dec 30th. Here is what he said. There is a chance I have had a heart attack and did not know it or I might have a blocked artery or the chemo drugs did damage my heart or there is a slight chance this is a shadow they see. Since I don't have any symptoms they are stumped. We will find on the 30th. If I do have a blocked artery they will fix it and put in a stint when they do the heart cath. If that's the case, there is a good chance having the lap band pre testing might have saved my life or it might have gone undetected for years and something really bad might have happened. I'll keep you posted. Please continue to pray for me.

Merry Christmas everybody!

Blessings,

GG

Congrats on the 16 jeans, that's wonderful. I bet people are noticing now and also I bet you feel terrific! Keep it up.

Merry Christmas!

GG

LOL yeah.. most people tell me they can see it in my face, but I had one lady from church tell my Mom that she could see that my butt looked smaller! ha ha ha HEY.. that made my DAY!!

I will pray for you GG! Congrats to the NSV's recently. I had one of my own yesterday, although it sounds kinda silly. After my shower, i realized the bathsize towel wrapped around me and covered everything, no gaps!!!! I was shocked ! I'm stuggling again between the 182- 180 lbs but will stick to the plan and watch what happens in 2012. I went to my PCP for a weight check and blood work to check my kidney function this week. She didn't want me to do the band cuz it's the "easy way" out and "won't solve the primary problem of overeating". I've lost 28 lbs, dropped my BMI from 37 to 32 and she said not ONE word about the loss!!! Not even a mention about the surgery or the great BMI drop!!! This gal is 4' 8 inches and weighs about 190-I think she was mad at me!! Oh well, can't wait to show her how this band can work!! Yea ME!!!! Merry Christmas to all! Healthywoman

Well Guys and Gals. I went for my 4th fill appt on the 19th. My doctor asked if I wanted a fill and I told hime "a little". Just a little because I was feeling pretty tight before hand. He did the fill and I drank the "yuck" and watched it go down. I went home prepared to do broth two days and so forth. lunch went down ok. dinner Soup was a no go. I got choked in the middle of the night and from then til after noon the next day I could barely swallow even my own salvia. I got sick several times and was feeling bad. I have a lap band friend that I called and she insisted I call the dr and go back. I did. They took out a little more than they put in on Monday and I go back in three weeks. I still have the tight feeling. My fitness pal is showing I have lost 16 pounds and don't know why. I have lost 29. I had my NSV of going from 18W to a 16 misses and from a 2xl shirt to xl. I am so excited to start seeing a difference in my clothes.

I thought Thanksgiving would be hard but I fixed my very small plate and ate slowly, and actually cut a piece of cake and nibbled a little but didn't eat much . Wasn't as good as it use to be.

GG, I will be praying for you. I pray that all of us are good during Christmas and don't gain. Merry CHRISTmas to you all.

Well I have to say that I am loving and hating this restriction all at the same time lol. Mine has been a little too tight but I didn't want to have anything removed because it normally loosens up about two weeks after having it. My mentality was that it would be at the perfect spot come two weeks. I think I might have been right. I am about two weeks after my last fill and I am able to eat more food. I don't see me needing another fill when I go back in for my next appointment. I am down to 201.5 and it feels like the scale is teasing me! I have got to find a way to get some exercise into my daily routine. I wanted to start the new year in onederland but not sure I will make it. Either way I am still a smaller me. I hope everyone has an amazing New Year!

I am praying that it is just a shadow GG!

Hi Everybody!

Hope you had a wonderful, restful holiday. We certainly did at our home. I am very blessed and truly grateful for all my many blessings.

I've maintained my weight loss through Dec and hopefully I will start to loose again this week. I am vowing now to start walking again and watching my diet. I notice my portion sizes have decreased considerably and I am trying to do as CakeLady says, not eating unless I am hungry. The last of the pecan pie is gone and healthy eating resumes today. Who will join me and get back to our basic programs?

Tomorrow is my heart cath. It will be early, 6 or 8 am. I appreciate your prayers and thoughts and will keep you posted as soon as I can get to a computer. It's a fairly routine procedure I am told and not much risk involved. It will be good to know what's going on since I have no symptoms. My only stress again is the IV. I still have problems worrying about them getting them in on the first try but they have assured me they will give me lidocaine and so it won't be a problem. They did not have lidocaine for my stress test last week and I did OK but I did cry from stressing about it. The nurse was very sweet, got it on the first try and I was embarrassed. It just brings back all the cancer chemo treatments right to the present second and stresses me out. If it goes in OK the first time then I will be fine.

Off to clean the house. Then I'm going to walk. Happy New Year to all! This is gong to be our year of getting slim and more healthy. We can do this!

Blessings,

GG

GG,

I am praying for you. You are right, 2012 will be our year of good health! We all made good progress since August and I for one am very excited about the new year and all of the wonderful things I will be doing with this new body. I am starting out with a ski trip next week and already have a trip to NYC planned in April. By then, I should be getting pretty close to my final goal. I would love to be there to allow me to do some serious clothes shopping.

Let us know as soon as you are up to it how your test goes tomorrow.

GG you are in my prayers today! We serve an awesome God and I know he is surrounding you, your family and staff. We will be waiting to hear from you.

As for me....I wish I had not had to have any Fluid removed from my band but know I would not have made it without being dehydrated since NOTHING was going down. Looking forward to the 13th and getting a little fluid added back. I am going to really watch my intake and make sure I don't go backward. Like all just about all the bad food is out of the house. I had lunch with high school friends ( 30 years reunion). Out of the 6 of us that met 4 of us had bariatric surgery since high school. We all looked great and we are planning a NYC trip for 2013. Isn't it great to have friends from way back when....and them to be supportive. Happy New Year to each and everyone of my new friends and thank you for your support. There will be no Champange for me this year....bubbles and bands don't match. I will toast with my Water and be proud of where I am. God is so GOOD!!

We are home! I did not have a blockage, I have not had a heat attack and they did see a shadow on the stress test. PTL! He said my arteries were beautiful with not one speck on plaque in them. It's good to have something beautiful concerning my body at my age! LOL I do have slight damage to the heart muscle itself and he attributes that to the chemo drug I took in 89'. It will not get any worse and not shorten my lifespan.

Thanks you so much for the love and concern you have showed me and thank you for your prayers.

Back on the program and after this weekend, I am supposed to rest, back to exercising on Monday and back on my program.

We can do this!

Blessings,

GG

Hi guys!

GG, so glad to hear your stress test went well. It's always nice to hear that good news from the doctor. I am sure you body is thanking you for the weight you are losing and making your health a priority!

I had a doctor appt on Wednesday and the doctor did not want to give me a fill. I was down another 3 1/2 pounds and he seemed pleased with my progress. I was worried that getting a fill would be too much! Although I was a little down that I hadnt lost more my doctor asked me when the last time I lost weight over the holidays. My answer...never. So, I need to be happy even if the loss is slower than I had hoped. I've really noticed a huge difference when I eat. I have to eat so slow! Seriously one bite, then maybe 5 minutes later another bite. I am just too afraid to go any faster. It is really hard to do if I am starving!

I am starting to thing of some healthy resolutions for the new year. So far I want to be more active and of course continue with the weight loss. Anyone else have any good resolutions?

Take care!

Kristen

We are home! I did not have a blockage, I have not had a heat attack and they did see a shadow on the stress test. PTL! He said my arteries were beautiful with not one speck on plaque in them. It's good to have something beautiful concerning my body at my age! LOL I do have slight damage to the heart muscle itself and he attributes that to the chemo drug I took in 89'. It will not get any worse and not shorten my lifespan.

Thanks you so much for the love and concern you have showed me and thank you for your prayers.

Back on the program and after this weekend, I am supposed to rest, back to exercising on Monday and back on my program.

We can do this!

Blessings,

GG

PTL! That is wonderful news GG.

I've had 4 fills now. 8.5 ccs out of 14. Still no restriction. Some foods go down slowly, but never stuck and still pretty close to before I even had the surgery. I'm losing about 2 lbs a month instead of per week. I've dropped my pant size from 54 to 52, but after losing 42 lbs I still am a 3x which seems strange to me. The bottom part of my stomach has shrunk a lot but the top hasn't. Weird. And I've lost a lot of weight in my hands. They're all wrinkled now. LOL.

But I feel much better and my knees and back don't hurt much any more. Thankful for that. So I guess I still need another fill.

Happy New Year to all! I am down to 179 so lost weight over the holidays! A first in my life!! Hope everyone is staying on track. We can do this together. I will have an appt Jan 10, but don't think I need a fill as I'm feeling the "green zone". I feel like the band has become tighter over time since my last fill Dec 13. Someone else posted about not eating til they felt hungry during the day so I started paying attention to my body and I don't get hungry til 12:00pm. I've stopped eating breakfast just because its 7:00am. I do drink a small protein shake however, so my body doesn't produce the ketones. Looking forward to reading how all of you are doing since the holidays. Healthywoman

Hi GG so happy that all went and is well for!! And for an update with me........I did horrible, horrible for the new years weekend lots of food and alcohol and because of this I have a 5 pound gain. I think I am still in shock!

Thanks everyone for the well wishes. I'm feeling fine and back on the program. Lots of bruises from the heart cath but doing fine. I started walking again daily on Monday and can feel it in my calves! Had not really exercised since early Nov. There are still a few little goodies here and my hubby is eating them so I will be glad when they are gone! They do call my name. I've also started tracking my food & exercise intake again, I've got to get some more weigh off.

Like you Bobrocky, my knees and back are better but I need to do more. Glad you are still loosing, 2 lbs a month is better than gaining. I agree with you, seems like you would have gone down more size wise with all that weight you have lost. Wrinkly fingers is funny. Never thought about them loosing weight.

Ms lady, get that 5 lbs off. Maybe it's Water weight! LOL I know you can do it. Healthywoman I am so jealous of your 179. Congratulations on that and an actual loss over the holidays. Kristen, sounds like you are doing great. 3 1/2 lbs is wonderful.

Everyone give us updates on how you survived the holidays. Hopefully we are now all back on our programs and exercise and doing well. Any NSV out there? I need your encouragement to stay on my program so everyone speak up! You are my accountability group.

Does anyone track their carbs and Protein? I had not been lately and when I did today I was shocked to see my Crystal Light has 12 carbs in each serving. I've been having 3 of them a day and maybe that's why I am not loosing. I think my Dr said we need about 80 grams of protein a day. What limits do you all do?

I nearly died of embarrassment Sun after church. We went out to a deli, the only thing open, for lunch. I ordered a grilled turkey reuben thinking it would be grilled and I would eat half. It was sorta toasted, not grilled. After 2 bites I had to excuse myself to the rest room. Nothing would go down or come up so I went back out and a few minutes later had to go in there again. This time it came up and I slimed for the first time. Yuck! We were with one couple that knew I had surgery. The other one did not but they are pretty good friends so I told them why I kept leaving. No more toast for me. It just won't go down.

We can do this! Have a great week.

Blessings,

GG