Happy July everyone! Whhoooo Hooo independance day (from Fat), its just around the corner.

We can do this.

I just need to stop having my last big meal, 7 days a week.

uuugggh!

Hey Angie, You know we'll help.

My appointment went very good. Of course it was after 4:00 when I got on the scale, so it was 197, but who cares, I really just count the curves scale since thats the one I go on regularly and in the morning not at 4 in the afternoon. I love Dr V and the office one staff member inparticular..lol..but, the waiting..AHHHHHHHH..He is wonderful though and takes his time with you so I guess it's all ok. I do think next time Ill go a half hour earlier and maybe get to see him sooner. I'm not a problem patient TG! so I go quick.

He doesn't want to see me for 2 MONTHS! WOW I can't believe it. I'll be on a curse when the 2 months are up so I'll see him right after the cuirse..yikes...I do want to see how I'm doing I may get a slight fill before the cruise. I've lost 70% he said.

I have to take extra Vitamins double up on the daily's and add B complex other than that everthing is good.

Well I'm going to hit the sack I'm exhausted. I can't wait to see what the B Complex does for me. Have a good night.

OK Dianne, I'm jealous! How many cruises do you take each year? :tea:

Now that I'm on "real" food again. I do think my fill is helping with hunger. I'm more hungry and hungry more often in the morning, but it was 5 hours after lunch yesterday before I felt any hunger. I do think I have more capacity than I should ... is that normal?

I do have another newbie question, do you eat until full or just until satisfied?

Eat until satisfied. If you eat till full then you have the risk of that one more bite and PB trust me you don't want that!

Be sure to take AT LEAST 20 minutes to eat. That will slow down the amount you take in. I did notice in the begining that when I'd eat I would get up and when I stood up I'd feel fuller than when I was sitting. So try to get up and answer the phone or do something for a second and see if you feel any differen't. I don't notice that as much anymore now, but I sure did like it.

In May we didn't go on a cruise we went to an all inclusive place in Mexico. It was like a cruise though cause everything was included. We have been taking 1 cruise a yr for the past 5 yrs..wow..5yrs already! Our best friends got married 3 weeks after us and we are celebrating our 25th anniversary this year! We have always said that were going to do something for our 25th with them. But then Laurie finds these fantastic cruise deals so this will be our 3rd cruise with them. The first cruise we took with them was out of NJ going to Canada it was a 5 day cruise and

$ 347 each! We couldn't pass that by. I forgot what last yrs was but it was under $100 a day. Then this one is 9 days and it's also way under 100 a day. Cruises can be so reasonable!

Angie-I have an appointment in Gastonia at 12 aren't you near there? My appointment should be no more than 1/2 hour please call me on my cell and let me know if you want to meet. I'll PM you with my cell #.

Well our curves contest is ending this Saturday. I am in 4th place my team is in 3rd or 4th. I really want to be first..lol..so I'm digging up people to come and be my guest thats 5 pts. I think I can get 4. Plus I didn't know that you can go more than 1 time a day. So I may try to kill myself and go a few times more today. Thank goodness it ends on Saturday! lol I never realized how competitive I can be. Wish you guys lived closer so I could bring you as guests! Maybe I can get Loretta she's not to far from me..lol..

Have a good day.

Denika how are you doing?

Karen sound pretty normal to me - when do you see Dr V again? You know what he is going to ask you so concetrate on it now...how long are you staying satisfied? How much are you eating? hehe...do I sound like him. He is so funny...Have I said I love working there.

Dianne when you find a cruise like that again you should let us all know - don't you want us to go with you??? I could leave Curtis with my parents and Mike and I could enjoy a few days alone.

Angie how are you doing? Feeling better? Eating better?

Ok so we have a personal trainer @ work now. She is great, found out today that she was in the Firm video's...hello have ya'll seen those. She is going to put together a workout for me that I can do in 30 mins a day and she is going to make me do everyday - well the toning every other day and then cardio everyday. I can't wait. She is amazing...Super sweet also. Dianne got to meet her the other day. Cute isn't she?

Ok Dianne in onderland - Kathy just overweight now not obese anymore!!! Ya'll just excite me and keep me moving each and every day!!!! Let's go NC....hey how much weight have we lost all together? Anyone got enough time to figure that out. hehe

Yes Kim, I am doing great! I feel much better and apparently am looking good to my neighbor that hasnt seen me in over two weeks. She got home tonight and said wow you have lost some weight! So the fill is working! I have lost 7.8 pounds so far! And it hasnt been a week. I am so excited.

I have been eating very good. Followed the liquids and mushies. I think that helped in me getting that migraine. I had some yummy shrimp today, and some chicken, and then some salad with chicken at the mexican restaurant. It was rather yummy. I am feeling full again. I feel my band and I am so happy about that. Hopefully I can get exercise in there and it will start dropping again. I need to get focused and motivated! WOO HOO! I think I am getting there.

I hope all of you are doing well and enjoying your days of summer. Ours is coming to an end soon. The girls start school on the 7th of August. YAY! :huggie: Then hopefully I can get some structure to my days and get things in order. Wish me luck on that. Then I need to get a job and start getting back in the work force. I do miss it. Thanks for calling me today Dianne. It was nice chatting with you and I will PM you that stuff soon. It has been a crazy day.

Angie

Thank you to everyone who asked about me! I am doing good I guess, except that I can eat anything and everything in sight!! It seems so weird to be able to go to a restaurant and almost eat everything on my plate. It's HARD to have any control, and I hate that part!

I found out that he wants me to wait 3 weeks to get any fill again, so I'll be like this until August 15th! I'll probably gain it all back by then!

By the way, TODAY IT IS A YEAR FOR ME! :huggie: It's very anticlimatic considering my band is EMPTY, so I didn't feel like my bandiversary was worthy of it's own thread. But regardless, a year ago today I was newly banded!! WooHoo!! :Banane27: :Banane44: :Banane10:

Congrats Denika! You have done great and will continue doing great. I guess enjoy your unfill and try not to gain if you can.

Angie

I haven't caught up on all the posts, I"m so far behind...hopefully I'll be able to read them all soon. Just wanted to check in and say the foot totally doesn't hurt anymore. Though I can only move two of my toes slightly...thats just weird not that I need to be able to wiggle toes I guess. I'll see everyone next weekend...oh and I got my hair cut...its like shoulder length. Not sure if I like it yet or not....its different for me. Shortest since I got married over 18 years ago.

Kim- I'll for sure let you know about the next cruise. I want to find one out of Charleston. That would be awesome. The Personal Trainer is cute. How cool that she's making up a work out for you!

OH I forgot to tell you all the NJ crew is starting a no ice cream for a week thing. You know me and my chocolate kisses! So I'm giving that up too. Wanna join. Darcy has been having a hard time, so we are all joining together to do something to help her and ourselves.

Angie-Thanks for that stuff. I'm hoping to hear back, so far I haven't. You sounded good yesterday. I'm so glad your neighbor noticed. That is a huge amount in less than a week! WTG! I'll call you next time I'm heading to Gastonia.

Denika-Congrats on your anniversary! Now listen, you don't have to gain ANYTHING BACK! Didn't you lose before you had a fill? You can maintain and even lose right now. I suggest you stay off the scale! This can only frustrate you right now. I'm not saying you'll gain I'm just saying that we all fluctuate and that alone can make you feel bad. So hang in there, your doing fantastic and I'm sure you;ll continue to.

Melissa-I'm glad your footsie is better. I once dropped a jar of Hellman's mayo on my foot in the grocery store, actually it fell out of the whole in the wagon. I landed up having a hairline fraction.

Today is a slowish day. I've been doing follow-up calls for the magazine. Kim, I really want SE Bariatrics to advertise! I could, we could write an article about our wonderful bands. Go talk to him again, think about it 11,000 magazines how many over weight people do you think will read it! Sorry I'm in the sales mood..lol...

Anyway have a good day I'll be back later I'm sure....

Okay, I just started reading this thread earlier today and wow is it long! It's a great thread, though. It's nice to have a place where you can just chat. Dianne, there is a Norwegian Cruise Lines ship that goes out of Charleston. It's a 7 day cruise to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Key West. That was my third cruise in 4 years and probably the worst one, although all of them have been great! We have been on two Carnival ships, one out of Tampa and one out of Port Canavarel. This Norwegian ship, the Majesty, that goes out of Charleston is one of their older ships and the room was tiny and there was nowhere to put our stuff. I wish Charleston would get a cruise terminal and have more ships come in and out of there, though, because it is a nice city to cruise from. MUCH nicer than Tampa and Port Canavarel!

Hi everyone! It sounds like everyone is on the mend.

There's not a whole lot to tell on this end. I think my work move to Harris Blvd may be sooner than later, but I still don't have a firm date yet.

My NSVs have turned permanent! :clap2: John and I have slept together 3 out of the last 4 nights and no snoring! I've also been wearing my wedding rings daily. They're tight, but not painfully so. I figure as long as I can get them on and off, I'm going to wear them.

I made some bad food choices on Tuesday, and have spent the rest of this week trying to make up for them. I never thought a small bowl of chili and 8 hush puppies could do so much damage. Of course, I never expected to be able to eat that much in one sitting again and not be full.

As I've already said 1/2 dozen times already, I cannot wait to see you all!

Happy Bandiversary Denika!!!!!

Hi,

Does anyone know how much Dr. Bradshaw in Ashville, N. C. chargeds for a fill? I am going to Dr. Gonzales in Winston Salem Monday for my first fill, he charges 325.00 and the hospital charges 200.00 for xray but will bill it as a barium swallow so insurance will probably pay on the 200.00 I was banded on May 24 and have only lost 16 lbs but I cannot exercise because of bad knees and back.

Kathryn Smith

Concord, N. C.

Banded by Dr. Joya, Mexico

Hi, Is it Tonya? Welcome! Where are you from? We have a great group here as you can see. A lot of laughs and we all help support each other when things get tough.

I'm off to bed I've been p late everyday this week. Hope you all have a good night.

Oh now that we know we have some shy people out there checking our wonderful NC thread out, if any of you are in the Ballantyne/Stonecrest area and would like to join me in a support group with a theripist who has been where we all are for 9 yrs now. Please PM me. She said If I could get 4 or 5 people together she would put together a group. I know of one other person interested that lives in this area.

Have a good night.

OHH, thank you everybody for the Happy Bandiversary wishes! I am thrilled with how much I've lost in the past year. Sure, I would have rather lost more, but around 70 is pretty good! I won't lie and say that I'm not a little frustrated right now, and I won't say that a part of me doesn't kind of ENJOY being able to eat more. But, that just shows me that my evil, terrible, dangerous habits are still in me. The band just helps me get a little control over them.

Thank you so much everybody! I love this place!