Hello Junbies ......

I haven't seen a June Band Crew thread yet so thought I would start it .

I'll be banded on June 9th in Texas. I'm getting very excited about it. I know that the band is just a "tool" to aid in my weight loss journey and it will take a lot of hard work on my part to make it successful. I've been overweight my whole life with the earliest memories being around age 4. Although no one else in my family is overweight, I am extremely fortunate to have full family support in my decision. I know that there are many people who's family doesn't offer the support they need. I would love to meet other pre-bandsters being banded in June to walk with me to the banded side of life and offer each other support.

I wish you all the best.

Melissa Lea :hippie:

Pre-bandster 240 lbs

June 9, 2006

Spivak

self-pay

Barbara - sometimes this happens to me and I think I get something stuck - maybe the broccolli casserole? I don't feel pain when something is stuck like others do but nothing will go down until it clears. I can feel the relief and the water going down when whatever is in there finally goes through. For what it is worth I wouldn't get an unfill - I would just wait it out. Once you start pbing you get swollen and it becomes a vicious cycle. When it happens to me now I sip warm water to try and relax the muscle and open the stoma and then I stay on fluids and mushies for a few days until things settle down again. If you were truly too tight I do not think you could have eaten the Mexican the night before. Hope you are better now!

Good Morning everyone! Well I am one of the lucky ones here in the Pacific Northwest who has been without power for four days now. On the bright side - we don't live where it goes below zero, we aren't flooded and our house is still standing where we left it before the storm. But we are still COLD :-) There is power around us so we can find a restaurant for a warm meal and we did finish our Christmas shopping - but we are still COLD :-) Anyway, that's my weekend!

Barbara465,

Hope you are better by now. I am feeling restriction in spurts. Maybe new fills take time to "get even" all the way around the band? Maybe your margarita loosened the band. Maybe the fun of the luncheon tightened your band (there is good tension too).

When I am out with others, I always drink a hot drink before I eat anything. I haven't had a bad spell since doing that. (Hot tea is such a treat for me)

I'm still struggling with my back, but the l.5 pounds I lost on Wednesday are still gone so that's a big NSV.

Lucy,

Warm thoughts and prayers for speedy repair on the power lines!

Barbara --I hope that you get to feeling better soon after you episode of PBing. I'm with Lucy --give this a few more days before the unfill. But again, I can't remeber your exact departure date.

Lucy --sorry your so cold but glad to hear that you can get a warm meal up the road from where you live. hang in there.

Melissa Lea

Well last night I could still not drink warm water or keep a sip of a protein drink down. That started another 2 hours of Pbing and sliming. I got up this morning and tried to have a sip of warm water. It still wasn't good. I went to the surgicenter and got a .3 unfill. The barium was going through, but I've seen that before when I'm in trouble. We leave on Saturday and I didn't want to take a chance of not getting this taken care of. I'll just start over in January and see where I'm at.

I did lose another 4 lbs since 12/5 so I'm losing weight. I had a major PB episode on 12/11 and was on liquids and mushies until 12/15 when we had Mexican. It was still mushies so nothing really solid. I didn't eat enough really on Saturday to cause this episode. I barely took a bite of anything. I think that when I lost saline to 1.4 and doc put in 2.0 of omnipaque that was in effect a .6 fill. My stomach can't tolerate those fills, even if the total amount in the band is less than before.

I'm sipping some hot broth now. Its a little better and I'm sure by the end of the week I should be fine. I guess I'll be able to eat too much on the cruise, but I will try to be real careful. I just couldn't ruin my vacation and the others travelling with me.

barbara465-i think you did the right thing by getting an unfill. you don't want to spend your cruise miserable. you are doing great! enjoy yourself, your time away, and your weight loss!

Good luck on your cruise Barbara465. I understand the worry about being miserable on vacation - Not worth it! Have a wonderful time and tell us all about it when you get back.

Barbara you did the right thing. Hope you get to feeling better soon.

Melissa Lea

Enjoy and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday Season.

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a

holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas

spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave

immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum

balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can and quickly. You

can't find it any other time of year but now. So drink

up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every

sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an

"eggnog-aholic" or something. It's a treat. Enjoy

it!!!! Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you

think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the

whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand-alone. Pour

it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes.

Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made

with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why

bother? It's like buying a sports car with an

automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an

effort to control your eating. The whole point of

going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's

food for free. Lots of it. Hello???

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between

now and New Year's. You can do that in January when

you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long

naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet

table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that

vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a

buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the

shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them

and don't budge. Have as many as you can before

becoming the center of attention. They're like a

beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind,

you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple, pumpkin and mincemeat -- have

a slice of each. Or, if you don't like mincemeat, have

two apples and one pumpkin.

Always have three. When else do you get to have more

than one dessert?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded

with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it

at all cost. I mean, have some standards.

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you

leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't

been paying attention. Reread tips: Start over, but

hurry, January is just around the corner.

Remember this motto to live by:

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave

with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive

and well preserved body. But rather to skid in

sideways, chocolate in hand, body thoroughly used up,

totally worn out and screaming "WOO-HOO what a

ride!"

wow I need to hang out with you guys more often, I though all the PBing etc.. was because I was not "doing it right"

I have been posting on a WLS page that is mostly RNY folks and very new bandsters.

I cant tell you how great it is to read your posts. The sudden tightness is such a strange thing how can you explain that to anyone? I really get worried when I cant figure out why I am so tight and why it just goes away sometimes.

Thanks so much- as usual I need to remember to stick with my June team for some real support.

Paula

I've forgotten how to upload pics. Anyone out there have any pointers?

Sandra

<center>

<a href="http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o230/Sbyers1/IMG_0498.jpg" target="_blank">

<img src="<A href="http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o230/Sbyers1/th_IMG_0498.jpg"></a">http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o230/Sbyers1/th_IMG_0498.jpg"></a>

</center>

Pinky --I haven't figured out how to upload pics on this site. Barb4 can tell you as she has uploaded many pics.

Melissa Lea

OK in photobucket use the one that says for URL link. When you select the picture and put your cursor over that line it will say "copied". Now go to your message and do CTRL V and it will copy it. That should work. Let me know if it doesn't.

24 hours later and I feel great. I'm still hungry, but I'm taking it easy after the last few days. I have gone to mushies as I don't see any reason to stay on liquids. I just wonder why I can't recover from these things. Also they make you feel so stupid and say you just irritated your esphogus, but as soon as they take some out I'm better. I would think my throat would still be inflamed if that was the issue. Crazy, crazy, band.

I will have to exercise some tough self control now on the cruise. I'm sure I'll enjoy more food than I should. Oh well, its tough being banded. :girl_hug:

Glad to hear that you are feeling better Barbara. I'm sure you will do just fine with your eating on the cruise. You will have to post some pics when you get back.

Melissa Lea