Anyway - good idea Robin, we can set up our own thread and quit monopolizing my super size thread. But I can't post in here anymore 'cause I'm in MO.

Scheduled for another fill next Friday! I'm at 2 in a 4, so I'm going to see about 1/4 cc or so. I have restriction, just not enough... but don't want an overfill either.

I'm still here.....mostly lurking lately. I'm working A LOT....hubby and I have a pact to pay off our debts (including the $20,000 loan we got for my surgery) by the end of next year. Therefore, I seem to be too tired to post lately:bored !!

Doing okay....I'm pretty tight right now, but then again just depends on the day. I'm dropping about a pound a week now, sometimes two if I'm lucky. Not at all fast, but I remain optimistic since I'm in losing mode and not gaining mode. Then again, in all fairness....I'm not really trying to lose right now (meaning I'm not being good and healthy 100% of the time). So in actuality I can't complain. Need to kick my butt into gear though, as I would like to lose my last 14 pounds to get to my pre-cruise goal:p

Holli....I can't believe that happened to your friend!! Hadn't she been banded well over a year and had lost over 100 pounds???? That sucks! Is she in total disbelief? I just have a feeling that might be me someday...I've just always had that feeling from the very beginning-that I probably won't have this thing forever.....I guess because of all the junk that happened to me early on. I wonder if she PB'd a lot? Any other details?

I have been meaning to post on here lately...just haven't had a whole lot to say:biggrin1: I really wanted to go to the support group meeting this month, mostly just to see you guys and Billie, but my Dad is coming into town for this weird "surprise" visit from Houston that night.....so maybe for the December meeting???? Would like to see you guys again. Seems like it's been a while.

Anybody heard from Cynthia or Cate lately?

I've been in San Francisco since Saturday, flying out tomorrow afternoon.

Holli - that sucks about your friend. I've been having a lot of pain around my band/port area, but more muscular pain than internal pain... kind of like muscle twinges. I've wondered if it isn't some scar tissue interfering and poking into things. And you can feel a big "mass" where my band is. DH always thinks he's feeling the band. Maybe I'm more scar tissued up inside than I'd have thought. AND I've started having the same issue of discomfort during intimate moments. Just in the last few weeks. I've actually had to tell DH to stop so we could change positions because it hurt too much and felt too weird to ignore. I guess before there was still too much fat there that could cushion things!

Having a hard time eating this week. Not sure if it's because of the flight, or the weather change (I swear gumidity effects my restriction) or what, but everythign but soup feels like I'm eating chunks of lead. No PBs, but did have one close call, kind of (was in the stall spitting out the slimes, and then did my hiccup/burb combo that tells me all is well). My own fault. I had chewed food, and took a bite of something way too spicy, and sort of instinctively swallowed it to get it out of my mouth. Have to watch out for that.

Robyn, my friend did PB a lot. She had a lot more trouble with food than I did. But the fact that they said her coughing could've contributed to the slip is what freaked me out.

I am glad you are doing good. I wish I was losing a pound a week. I started this new job and gained 6 lbs! I am having trouble working in my work outs and it definitely is affecting me on the scale. I am going to set a goal for myself to have 25 lbs off by spring. I am actually starting to think about plastic surgery a lot more. My stomach is really starting to bother more than I thought it would.

Angela, can you send me information on that plastic surgeon you had been talking about.

I would love to get together with you guys...it is probably best to just email me, since I am not on here very often. Maybe we can plan something after the holidays. :biggrin1:

I still think we should plan a group trip to the PS office :grouphug: I am hating my stomach right now. As I am "settling" into my body at my lower weight, my skin seems to be sagging more and more every day. I never thought of myself as a vain person....but its just yucky. Even more so than when the skin was filled with fat I think. I would like to plan on possibly having my 3rd and 4th upper arm cut off next summer, along with a possible breast lift since they would already be in that same general vacinity. As much as I would love to have my tummy done next summer too, I just don't think I have lost enough yet to get it cut off.

Problem with the arm lift is I hear you are literally out of commission for 6 weeks because you have to lay down with your arms above your head as much as possible to prevent swelling.

Holli-If she was PB'ing a lot, that had to be more of the cause of the problem, then the cough could have just been a symptom that exacerbated the slip. That would have to be some pretty violent coughing to cause a slip I would think. Did she ever tell you how much she PB'd? I still struggle with the whole restriction thing. Example, today I PB'd on 3 bites of ice cream at lunch time.....then had 1/2 a bowl of soup, a full side salad, and 1/4 cup ice cream for dinner. I just can't seem to get it right. I know I shouldn't be PB'ing at all, but if I get my 1/4 cc removed, I'm right back at pretty much being wide open again....

Anytime you want to get together, I'm game. I'll be pretty busy actually after Christmas with the cruise and all. Just let me know.

THANKS for reminding me, I will get the PS information when we're there for Thanksgiving. I totally dropped the ball & forgot about it.

Could eat fine the first time I tried, about 2 hours after landing. Haven't had any problems since. Curse of the random restriction.

I haven't weighed since before the trip, but right before had finally gotten to where I was reliably in the 260's when I got on the scale. Took me a LONG time to get there. I wish I was losing a pound a week. Then again, I haven't really done much of any exercise in too long, so I can only blame myself. And I could probably use another fill, but to be honest I'm nervous to, and not because of the PBing, but because of all the other complications around it. I swore to myself that I wouldn't be worrying about everything, but with the weird feelings I've been getting from my band area lately, it's always in the back of my mind.

I had this kind of unofficial and unannounced goal of 250 by the end of the year. No particular reason for 250, just kind of picked it out. I'm about 15 - 18 lbs away. So at the rate I'm going, I ought to hit that goal around September 2007.

New progress pics. That skirt was a 32 from Avenue and it was TIGHT. Jeans are a 22. I look at these pictures and think -- &$%^@# I can't believe I ever let myself get like that.

Still (obviously) carrying a lot of weight between my knees and waist.

Progress_11-9[1].bmp

I had this kind of unofficial and unannounced goal of 250 by the end of the year. No particular reason for 250, just kind of picked it out. I'm about 15 - 18 lbs away. So at the rate I'm going, I ought to hit that goal around September 2007.

You are too funny:p But, I know EXACTLY what you mean:rolleyes:

WOW ANGELA:clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: Those pics are amazing!!! You're awesome!

Angela, your pictures really tell the story of your weight loss! You look great!

Hey guys... just want to say have a great holiday and Happy Turkey Day! I know you are going to be so good (as I will--ha ha ha ha ha )

A co-worker just emailed me a recipe for "Mashed Honey Roasted Sweet Potatoes". Think I may have to stop by the store on the way home and pick up the ingredients because that sounds downright YUM. I can add it to my list of things I can have one bite of.

Just got a letter in the mail yesterday that I have to do 6 month lab work and have the results faxed to Billie, complete with lab orders. I'm about 9 months post-op, so I'll probably check and see if she really wants me to do labs at 9 months and then again at 12 months, or if I can just blend them into one. Did you guys have to do 6 month labs?

I did them on my own at my doctors office prior to receiving the letter because I began feeling "weird". Everything was fine though...so I never faxed Hoehn the lab results, and they never really pursued asking for them.

Happy Turkey Day.....:hungry:(as I whisper to myself....."Just a tablespoon of everything....Just a tablespoon of everything:eek: )

Hi and a belated Happy Post-Thanksgiving to all!

I still haven't got used to the snail's pace of the dial-up I have at home and don't get the chance to post while at work at my new job now.

I'm about 2-3 pounds up from my lowest post-band weight from early October. But I've been doing NOTHING to try to lose weight either so I can't complain. In fact I'm a bit happy that I can live for short periods like this without worrying about any real weight gain. I'm a bit torn between just coasting through the rest of the holidays without a gain or loss and start afresh then or trying to kick it back into gear and lose another 8 pounds before the end of the year. (8 would put me under the next decade) But despite that short spell where I was losing 5 pounds a week after 2 months at the same relative weight) even 3 pounds seems like an impossible feat.

Too bad I wasn't so lazy/busy I got an interesting recipe pre-TDay for pumpkin pie made with Tofu to bump up the protein. Didn't get a chance to make it though.

I was asked a couple months ago to host a Holiday party for any and all area Bandsters. I'm still planning on doing it but probably won't have it until the 1st or 2nd weekend of January. Maybe I can try to make the Tofu/Pumpkin dessert then.

A great and completely decadent dessert I did have over the holidays was a pumpkin crisp. Made just like apple or cherry crisp you know "fruit" in a bottom of a pie-crustless pan covered with a crumb topping. I tried to fool myself into thinking that the lack of a pie crust cut down on the carbs and made my 3 servings in 2 days "OK" I feel like I'm in DT's over it now that I'm back home. DH is out shopping and I'd kill to eat some more but before he returned but it's at my mothers house not here. I suppose that is a blessing.

Will try to be better about posting. Especially since I haven't been to a support meeting for several months.

This is probably the first round of holidays ever that I've actually lost weight.

(Except for the holidays I spent in Europe, but I wasn't fat then, and had to walk up 184 stairs to get to the apartment, and had to leave the apartment at least twice a day, so it wasn't really a weightloss effort).

:laugh

I still try to watch my carbs, but for the most part I've fallen in to a routine of eating whatever I want, just not eating a whole lot of it.

I eat tofu ALL THE TIME. Seriously. Not in pie though. It's a great protein.

I know, first cottage cheese chocolate pudding and now tofu pumpkin pie. I think I get it from my father's side. Growing up he was always having my mom try to cook odd recipes he'd find. He was really into re-inacting different era's of American history. From the cowboys & indians to the Vietnam war. Once he had my mom make a vinegar pie that was suppose to taste like lemon. A few of my highschool friends that didn't know it was made with vinegar were fooled, but OH MY did it stink while it was cooking. Smelled like homade mayonaisse gone bad.