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

What size do you think you might be in Socalgal! Perhaps some of us might have some sizes you would fit in too! Let us know.

Probably 16. I have 18's that are starting to fall off.

I have several pair of really nice 16 dress pant from dress barn, that I only wore for 6 weeks or so, if you want to PM me your info, I will be glad to send them to you!!!

OK guys I missed it about the red wine. Can someone fill me in please?

They say the red wine can ease your band up so it's not so tight and you can eat. Poodles tried it yesterday and it worked. (Of course we all know she is a wino!!!!!) LOL

We could all take a lesson in how to handle being banded from Barbara465. She's refused to be overfilled and stuck to the rules. Her loss is an amazing 50 (plus) pounds with less than a 2.0 fill.

So far fills don't keep me from getting hungry (except for maybe the first wk after a fill). I'm going to avoid them if I can continue to lose even if it's only a few pounds a month.

Aw shucks PinkyLee. You are so kind to me. I had .2 taken out, leaving me 1.7 of omnipaque. Instant relief. I was able to have some queso and refried beans for dinner. It felt so good to get something in my tummy.

Thanks for all the support. I felt like I gave it a try and it wasn't calming down.

**hiccup*** Pleashe forgive me if I slufrrrrr my woredsss... drinkin all that wine has me typing drunk. :love:

Don't know what that wine did, but I am feeling a whole lot better today. Drank a shake for breakfast, ate some lunch meat and cheese for lunch, and ate a hamburger patty tonight. Yummy Yummy and no pain!

I took my capsule vitamins today too. (I have not been taking them for fear of making things worse.)

My dog was put on omega-3 vitamins and it has helped her, so I figured I needed to take them too. Since I didn't want to take dog vitamins (even though I am a Poodles) I found that www.swansonvitamins.com has a liquid version with evening primrose oil in it too. Tastes like crap, but I mix that with my liquid b-complex in some shake mix and shoot it with a shake chaser. (Now I really do sound like an alkie.)

Have not sent hubby to the wine store yet, but think I may keep some on hand from now on. Wonder what pineapple juice mixed with red wine tastes like??? (yuck)

Glad everyone is doing better. Congrats Barbara on the unfill. I know how good that feels!

Hope to be in loser-land with you soon. 90 lbs and 50 lbs sure sounds great. I personally can't wait to get into size XL. I hear that is in normo stores. Still dancing with Richard in the morning. I love that frizzy haired dude.

What a difference a day makes and an unfill. They took out .2 and I feel wonderful. We checked the fill and I had it all so that was good. The fluro showed me wide open in their words, but I saw how slow it went through at first. I don't put my faith in those fluro because that doesn't tell them what is going on in the upper track. Although yesterday I didn't feel the instant relief I usually do, I was able to drink an entire bottle of water on the way home while talking to PinkyLee. I was able to drink a half bottle of water before going in so I think I must have opened up for that period of time.

I've done lots of soul searching on this topic. I was beating myself up for having to go for yet another unfill. I toughed it out for over a week thinking it would go away and things would get better. I wasn't eating solids and only getting in some liquids during certain periods of the day. I couldn't get in an entire bottle of water on any of those days. I just don't think the lapband has to be that way and I'm not going to live my life that way either. I'm working with this band and learning about my own body's reactions.

I've had IBS for years so why would I think that I wouldn't be sensitive to a band around my stomach? I don't think I'm unusual in my reactions. I just think I don't let it go. I can tolerate alot of pain so I don't think I'm too soft in that area. I try to go with the flow, but when the flow ain't working, its time for a change.

I love this band and with everything I haven't had near the amount of problems as others have had and reported. I only PB after a fill and never really get stuck. I just think my stomach and/or my esphogus gets swollen and then there are problems after a fill. They also told me yesterday that some people are more sensitive to the omnipacque so that might be contributing to this. I have less in me than I did with the saline and yet am restricted. Go figure.

They also told me yesterday that lots and lots of people had been in for unfills. Barbara12 were you the only one getting a fill?

To me the secret to all of this is to do your own thing. That is, know how your body reacts and what works for you. Living with the band can be allright and doesn't have to be "bad". I don't venture much beyond the rules of the band. I still have a healthy dose of fear and awe for the tool implanted into me.

I hope white wine works the same as red. I really don't care for red and prefer my wine on the sweeter side. I didn't dare drink any last night as I didn't have anything on my stomach. Look out tonight.

Our thoughts and prayers are with you Socialgal. Let us know how you are doing and what they did.

Randi where are you? What have you decided to do? Let us know how you are.

It's raining in Houston, but my spirits are high. I lost 8 lbs in the 3 weeks since my fill. I'm going to make my Valentine's challenge of 10 lbs.

Have a great day everyone. Keep your spirits high. When down, look in the mirror at the great accomplishments each of us has achieved.

How have I missed this thread?? I was banded on June 1, 2006. Yay I have a new home! Great to meet you all.

Welcome. This is a great thread. Pull up a chair and start reading our histories. We are one of the most popular threads on here.

Welcome aboard kynekke!

Barbara465 --glad that you are feeling better after your unfill. I hope that this will hold you for some time to give you much needed relief.

socalgal --please let us know how things are as soon as you can. Your in our thoughts and prayers today.

Today I'm feeling a bit frustrated ...the scale not moving much, still stuck between the same pound. I have confidence that it will move down (in time).

Melissa Lea

Ok guys I need some advice. I am like Barbara and VERY sensitive to fills. I will repeat my last fill story of 2 weeks ago so you know where I'm coming from.

Fill under fluro- tech said I need .6, I told her I was sensitive and back it off some. so she put in .5

went out to drink water, 3 drinks WHAMO, threw it up.:frusty:

Tech takes out .2 (now I have .3 total)

go drink water, it gurgles, but I feel like I am ok, just swollen from throwing up and the 2 sticks of the needle, she says can't let me leave with gurgling so she takes out .2 more leaving me with a grand total of .1, ok so after a couple days go by, swelling goes down, guess what, I'm wide open again. So wide open I have gained 6lbs since that fill, I am SOOOO frustrated!!!!

Ok here is the advice I need. I am going in to get another fill on Thursday, and I am going to tell them I don't care what the fluro machine says I only want X amount. But I am not sure if I should say .3 or .2, so based off of my story, what do you all think???? I want these pounds I gained back off!

On a side note: I can eat a lot more but have been trying not too, but hungary all the time.:hungry: I am however taking a prescription called Chantix to help me with the smoking, is it possible the medicine is causing the weight gain too? I just don't know what to do.....Help!!!:help:

Barb465- so glad you have relief! I learned my lesson on my last fill as well - too much is too much! Best wishes for living better now that you've had some relief...

Randi - where are you? I'm concerned. I hope that you have had some time to seek out a doctor to help you with your overfilled situation and things improve.

rroswelltx - I say go .2; it will give you some restriction and you can ad .1 later if you like. I think the overfill thing is tempting at times but in the end, do we set up a bad situation for ourselves? If we don't get in enough hard protein and food, does our body learn to maintain on lesser calories, making it harder to lose weight? Just food for thought.

Welcome Kynekke!

To everyone else - Happy Tuesday

I think I would go in with the idea of only get .1. If you gurgle with .2 then that is too much. You are probably real close to your spot so go real conservative. I've decided it's worth the extra money to me to go real slow. You also may want to rethink getting a fill this soon. I don't think the weight gain is really from you overeating and not after 2 week and not after being real tight.

Now the real cause of the weight gain. Yes it could very well be the antismoking medicine. It also could be the gratification you are seeking with food instead of cigs. Why don't you log what you are eating to be sure?

I also think it's hard to do both - weight loss and give up smoking. I commend you for trying, but I know it must be frustrating. Two big oral gratifications taken away at the same time. You might have to substitute with another oral fix. OK you guys minds out of the gutter - I was thinking singing or humming or whistling or public speaking or ....

Also might want to think of some of that hard candy that has few calories. It could be something to suck on instead of thinking of cigs. Also, I saw a suggestion to pop one of those Listerine mouth referesher sheets that disolve in your mouth. They are supposed to take away the urge to eat. I haven't tried that.