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

It's time we remember to love ourselves first and others will follow.

Barbara, that is a point that is so important and true. Thank you for helping me to remember that

Brr its cold in Houston. We're not used to this weather. I'm wearing a turtleneck sweater I haven't worn in years. For us, 28 is cold.

Everyone was real quiet yesterday. I hope everyone is doing OK. Melissa let us know how your Dad did with his surgery.

I'm holding onto those 4 lbs I gained. I need to be going in the opposite direction. I think I'll do south beach for a few a few weeks to get myself on the losing side of this.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Brr its cold in Houston. We're not used to this weather. I'm wearing a turtleneck sweater I haven't worn in years. For us, 28 is cold.

Everyone was real quiet yesterday. I hope everyone is doing OK. Melissa let us know how your Dad did with his surgery.

I'm holding onto those 4 lbs I gained. I need to be going in the opposite direction. I think I'll do south beach for a few a few weeks to get myself on the losing side of this.

Have a great weekend everyone.

I hear you Barbara Iam want to get rid of the three I gained from my stress eating so I ordered a weeks worth of a Bariatric Starter Kit food plan from the Bariartic Mart.com. It had been suggested by my Dietican when I had my unfill in case I wanted to do it. It was a little costly at $100 dollars but you eat 5 times a day the 5 +1+1 Plan ( 5 Protein shakes, 1 Protein Bar and 1 lean protein meal of 4-6 oz with 1 starch and 2 vegetables for dinner.) I figure try it for week and see if it gets me back on track.

I would other wise never spend this much, I had to get two boxes of Optifast to prepare for surgery and after that cost me $160 out of pocket I vowed to never spend this amount unless it was on Designer Protein Shakes! I just really want to get back on track because I worked so hard to get down to those 62 pounds and I do not want any of that back! I want to move foward and not backward!

Good Luck to all and lets try to stay on track !

Have a great weekend-- My hubby is off Monday for Presidents Day and my son has the whole week off for MidWinter Break( Oh Joy!-lol)

P.S: Our New York Snow situation is horrible now that its stopped........ They finally plowed my street last night and blocked my Mom's car into the driveway- She gave the guy hell! My husband also was not to happy when they put the snow in his spot that took him an hour to dig out! THAT'S THE NEW YORK CITY SANITATION DEPARTMENT FOR YOU!- I guess this is what we get from living on a dead end street and having the last house on the left hand side-lol!

Love and Hugs to all,

Lisa

Hey what about me?! I am anxiously anticipating next Tuesday when I can eat real FOOD! I will post here to keep myself from getting carried away. I am actually kind of scared because I am so afraid I'll eat too fast or take a big bite and PB. I need to remember the pain of the slip! And the pain in my wallet of a new operation. I do confess to having a mini Hershey bar that someone gave me at work for Valentine's Day. The cool thing was it tasted gross. I am much more one to eat fine German chocolate-not Hershey! I haven't lost this week, but I think my body is stabilizing after the big drop from being on liquids for a month! Happy 3 day weekend all!

We're awesome! Look:

Barbara 12375: 63 lbs!

warmmorningsun: 45.8 lbs!

Pinkylee: 56.5 lbs!

barbara465: 53 lbs!

218.3 lbs!!!!!!!!!!! And I know we have more here...

keep adding it up

Updated to include more awesome-ness! Look:

Socalgal3: 57lbs!

Leceelove: 62lbs!

Barbara 12375: 63 lbs!

warmmorningsun: 45.8 lbs!

Pinkylee: 56.5 lbs!

barbara465: 53 lbs!

337.3 lbs!!!!!!!!!!!

keep adding it up Add to the total

I swear the people in the Obesity Help chat room are so dam ignorant when it comes to the LapBand!

I was just in the chatroom and some people were asking does the band stay in forever and I said yes, unless you have a terrible slippage or errode.

Then someone said you can have it taken out when you reach your goal weight and I said that is not true. She responded yes it is, and I said well I have been told that if you have your band taken out your stomach will go back to your presurgical shape. This is if you do not follow your surgeons directions.

She them claimed that you can get the band taken out after you reach your goal weight, why would you want to keep that thing in your body forever!

This woman was a person who had Gastric Bypass and she was so ignorant and I kept telling her you are so misinformed...... but was I right in doing so??

From what my doctor and Nurse Practioner have told me your band is never removed even after your at goal weigth. Also that if you ever get it permantly removed your stomach will go back to it original shape slowly from what it was before surgery.

I just had to share this with you all since ignorance is a pet peeve of mine!

Lisa

Lisa - that does seem a bit ironic and funny that the gastric bypass patient would state "why would you want that thing in you forever" when....her choice is forever

I was told that the band could be removed, either by choice or necessity. But my doctor also said that unless you have mastered your control over emotional eating, etc., removing the band would likely result in regaining weight. He said that the stomach does return to it's original shape, capacity, etc. The reason I chose the band is varied, but the biggest seller for me was that it wasn't permanent and was removable in case of necessity. However - my assumption is this thing is here for life

I will update the weight total loss with your 62 lbs, I thought it said something different. Sorry! Just noticed

Lisa - that does seem a bit ironic and funny that the gastric bypass patient would state "why would you want that thing in you forever" when....her choice is forever

I was told that the band could be removed, either by choice or necessity. But my doctor also said that unless you have mastered your control over emotional eating, etc., removing the band would likely result in regaining weight. He said that the stomach does return to it's original shape, capacity, etc. The reason I chose the band is varied, but the biggest seller for me was that it wasn't permanent and was removable in case of necessity. However - my assumption is this thing is here for life

I will update the weight total loss with your 62 lbs, I thought it said something different. Sorry! Just noticed

As per Feb.8th when I was unfilled my Nurse Np weighed me at 228 which is a 62 pound weight loss. I gained 3 from stress eating when my hubby was having his Stress Test Cat Scan done on Feb. 12th, this per my home scale if this even counts! So I am only going by what my follow up visit said on Feb 8th.

Thats 290-62= 228 :clap2:

Also thanks for reassuring me that what I was told about the band was right, Iam not taking mine out unless it is neccesary!

Lisa

I saw on the news last night about a new device being tested in San Antonio. It is implanted under the skin, but it doesn't attach to the stomach. When implanted it sends signals to the brain that is full. Not sure how exactly it knows when the stomach has had enough, but it has had some preliminary good findings. It is not FDA approved yet in the US.

I figure by the time we are through losing our weight and years of living thin, we will be amazed at the new things out for weight control. Wouldn't it be great to have something that didn't alter so drastically how we eat.

I rode my bike at the beach yesterday because it is so nice and sunny here in SoCal(sorry all you people in the COLD!!) I hope I can keep my band as close to forever as possible. I know I haven't conquered my head issues and if my band came out, all the weight would come back! Xenical(Orlistat) is supposed to be over the counter now. Did anyone ever try it? I never tried Meredia or Xenical, so just wondering if it worked.

I rode my bike at the beach yesterday because it is so nice and sunny here in SoCal(sorry all you people in the COLD!!) I hope I can keep my band as close to forever as possible. I know I haven't conquered my head issues and if my band came out, all the weight would come back! Xenical(Orlistat) is supposed to be over the counter now. Did anyone ever try it? I never tried Meredia or Xenical, so just wondering if it worked.

SOCALGIRL A WARNING ABOUT XENICAL- I USED IT :

Xenical is horrible for your digestive system since it seperates the fats from the foods you eat and what happens to them .... you POOP them out! Or better yet they come out of your system as oily brown blobs !!

Its so embarrassing and you have loose stools also which can stain your clothes and the stains do not come out!

I was only able to stay on this for three weeks and I asked my doctor( I was prescribed this by my primary doc) to take me off of this it was just to dam embrassing! I was on this back in April of 2005.

***NOTICE IAM USING BROWN INK THATS WHAT MY EXPERIENCE WAS LIKE .....L0L!!

LISA

Hi all! I finally was able to get my after picture to work on here this weekend....

So the picture you see as my avatar and my profile picture is me taken on my 37th birthday on Jan 6th! In the picture I have a weigth loss of 55 pounds and you can see the difference in my face!

Now if I can only figue out how to upload and size my before pictures!--lol

I also found a really cool site for avatars called www.iconator.com( You can find alot when your up with a sick child at 3am!....lol)

I hope all have a great weekend,so far mine has been horrible since my son has that an ear infection and bad cold. At least he has off this week to get better.

I have been up at all hours of the night with him ( Hubby helps but not much-- my son mostly wants me to cuddle with).

Take care,

Lisa

Socalgal,

I tried Xenical a few years back and it does work but just like the band you quickly learn what you shouldn't even try to eat. If you eat foods high in fats they do pass through you very quickly. I always felt that the reason I lost weight while taking it was because I learned to just not eat foods with fat.

It's official! I have lost one more pound. I had hoped to see my usual 3 pound clump after a plateau, but I'll take any new number.

We meet out of town friends every two months for a dinner party and Saturday was sure fun! I got several compliments on my progress.

I'm hanging on to this band for as long as I can. Originally I wasn't so sure, but my Pt reminded me that many people have lots of implanted devices that last their entire lifetime. Emotional eating slips up on you so fast.

I have a new quick soup recipe. One can of chicken broth, one can of fat free refried beans and one can of rotel tomatoes (diced tomatoes with chilis). I added a few spices. You can add some other veggies if you like to make it a true Mexican soup (summer squash, peppers, celery)

Good luck to you Socalgal. You've done so well I know you'll make transition to solids safely.

Lisa - Way to go attacking those 3 pounds and the unfill.

Barbara465 - I'm also hoping for new breakthroughs, but please, no more surgery. Surely there will be a vaccine or pill?

Well I got your pound PinkyLee! I am now up 5 lbs from the unfill. THis upward trend has got to stop. I can eat anything. This tells me without a doubt that we, I, cannot succeed without the band. More than ever I want to make sure I don't do anything to make it come out. I would gain all my weight within a month without it.

I can't go for a fill untill March 12th. We will be out of town and I can't take a chance with a fill. I'm making an appointment and I'm going to do things differently this time. I am going on liquids as always, but I'm going to stay on them for 2 weeks. I tend to swell 6 days after a fill so I'm going to try and prevent that. I don't know if it will work, but its worth a try.

I'm going to Dr. Spiegel's support meeting tomorrow night. Hopefully I can ask some questions about fills and find out what things I can do to prevent such a reaction.

I still haven't had ice cream at home. I think I did better when I had ice cream. Now I'm finding cookies, candy, anything to snack on at night. Oh heck this weekend it wasn't even just at night. I haven't had this craving and eating out of control since banding. I wonder why now?