Hi All,

Well, I made an unplanned trip to NYC on Friday to have some of fill removed. The week before my Dr. put in .2 making my fill 3.5 so on Friday she removed that amount....and instant relief! I had constant reflux and heartburn, and I was only eating watered mushies and liquids and sleeping sitting up! I just couldn't believe that after a week of that torture that I only lost .6 of a pound. Honestly, what is the matter with me???? I was eating next to nothing.

Geezer Sue, I have started the Wellbutrin, and I have no side effects (very low dose), and I am starting to feel happy again and not like throwing a pan across the room because it boils over.

Donali kindly sent me an avatar sized picture of my fat face (I do have great legs though!!); I hope that it will show up when I submit this.

Kelly, you look great! I am so elated for you! God how I wish I could lose 65 pounds in a year. It will be a year for me in late Dec. and I am only down 30 pounds. However, it took lots of fill to get me going. I'm hoping.... Thanks for sharing. I am an old head, and I like your Stones shirt!!

Thanks all for your continuing support and friendship.

Sultana, so glad that you had some fill removed. I think that you are very, very wise. Why take a chance of having slippage or erosion problems. Take care of yourself!

Thanks New Hope! Does banding that is too tight lend itself more so to slippage and erosion? I am at 3.3 cc, but I can still eat and drink (but not chug!) comfortably--although a lot less that I used to. I just keep learning things about this band!

Now that your band is not too tight...you may be able to eat solid food...and lose weight. I hope that's how it works for you.

I wouldn't want to THROW something because of a problem with it; I'd want to EAT something. Keep us posted on the Wellbutrin.

Thanks Sultana for the compliment!! I posted a thread called Update and I had the exact same problems as you. My Dr put in .2 cc's and I had to drive to 2 hours at 4:45 in the am. Couldn't go another minute. He took me down to 1cc's and I am very suprised that I am still restricted. I haven't gained any of the weight I lost. Hopefully it stays that way. I figured I would have gained the 5 lbs that I lost back from being able to drink. Take care of yourself!!!

Hi Sultana, I JUST learned this valuable information from my OB's nurse - that it can take up to 2 WEEKS for our bodies to show a weight loss or gain. So maybe your body will drop like 10 pounds in a week???

I've been very discouraged about my own weight loss lately. This morning at church I had a lady (that has lost 186 pounds with the GB) tell me that I shouldve had the GB instead of the band. I almost agreed with her.

Good luck with the Wellbutrin. It kept me awake for days!!!

Paula, I saw a friend (surgical nurse) in the preop area right before I was wheeled into surgery for my band. She'd had the GP 3 years ago and had lost a ton of weight. But she had gained a chunk back. One of my last thoughts as they wheeled me off was, "Boy, I'm glad I'm getting a band." She's asked me how much weight I've lost so far. I can tell she's thinking, "Is that all?" But I don't want to lose so fast that my skin just hangs off of me - everywhere. I'm sure I'll have a saggy tummy, but hopefully the rest will have time to reshape by not losing so drastically.

Paula -

Look at your stats!! You've lost over 20 pounsd in just 2 months! Oh My GAWD! I think that is amazing.

I can't wait to get me band next week.

GB isn't for everyone.

Marie,

Just like I said, I ALMOST agreed with her - but didnt. And exactly for the same reasons you mentioned. She has lost all of this weight since December. She weighs 155ish now - and looks 15 years older then she did before the surgery (actually she looks sick). But the saddest thing is the top of her arms are still HUGE(saggy skin thing). After she made that comment and walked away, I saw her arms... I THEN thanked God that I made the right decision. Thanks for the "lift" though.... you are wonderful!

Canoe,

Thank you for the reminder, but Ive done 20 pounds in 2 months on diet pills - MANY times - so Im not excited about this band JUST yet. Im sure I will be when I hit the -40 mark... thats something the diet pills couldnt do:)

God bless you and good luck with the surgery.

Well. I've heard many people say that they're hoping for no sagging skin due to slower weight loss, but I've had doctors say that anytime a person is over a certain age and lose a large amount of weight, it's pretty rare for the skin to shrink enough that you'd be happy with it. They say it's because of elasticity that we just don't have anymore. then, I've also heard them say if there are stretch marks, the skin will definitely not shrink there, it's already too damaged.

I'm really hating my arms. It appears I could cut 1-3lbs off each of them and it's affecting the type of clothes I can or cannot buy, which sucks. My thighs are getting droopy too, but oh well. Even if I have to cover them up, my health is still the most important reason for losing weight.

Then, I wonder if, over time, the skin my continue to adjust? It doesn't hurt to hope.

Leatha

Hey guys, please accept my apology about the"HUGE arms" thing. It sounded VERY judgmental. I said that thinking (like Leatha said) that with a slower weight loss things will have more time to "resize" .

Heck, I have the huge arms, huge hips, huge boobs... everythings huge on me, so I feel bad for stating that comment.

Paula, I don't think anyone was offended. I didn't even notice your comment. I have flabby arms and gut. So if I have to wear sleeves and untucked shirts, so be it. I'm just so glad to be on the "losing end" and feeling better.

Yea. No worries, Paula. I think we all understood what you were trying to get across. I just don't want folks to be disappointed when all our skin don't shrink back to what we think is normal. It seems like a pretty big misconception.

I'd say if you're fairly young and have a smaller BMI, you might get lucky. Those of us who had 100lbs or more to lose. I wouldn't hold my breath!

I was an "inflated balloon" for so long and now that some of the air has gone out, I'll be left w/ a lot of wrinkled skin. I guess that's one of the "perks" (LOL) of being older. But I certainly prefer this to the alternative!

HI...I have never heard the statement that it can take up to 10 days for a weight loss or gain to show up on the scales. That is very scary to me. The weight loss part would be fine but the weight gain part OUCH...All of our nurses out there is this really true?...Janie