Hey all.

So there's a bunch of us in this group, all split up into our different banding days. I was thinking that it might be a good idea to have one master thread as we move through the month, in which all of us could post as we go, from the pioneers going on March 1st to the finalists on March 31st.

I'd love to talk about our anticipation and any worries as we approach our banding date, for people to talk about exactly what happened from the moment they walked into the hospital door until the second they walked out, about how recovery is going, about weight loss and plateaus, about non-scale victories and challenges.

I was thinking that if we all contribute to one thread, it'll form a more substantial channel for information and support. At the moment, I was thinking that we might be too spread out into individual date, and that a central thread would be a really good backbone for the group, in addition to the date-specific threads.

What do you think?

Fenton

FENTON _ Glad to see you are back. WE have all gone through those "slips" in our travels: wit or without excess stress from everywhere.

Those carbs that slide right on down are the devil.. always my demon I am dealing with too...

As I always say- we are a work in progress, with dips and turns, good and bad.. but always moving forward..

I'm going in tomorrow morning for surgery at 7:30 am. I'm really scared so say a prayer for me. I was suppose to get and EKG and didn't realize that until today when they asked where I had it done, so now I have to have that done first thing in the morning. I think that is stressing me out even more than surgery.

Scrappy...I'll be thinking of you tomorrow. You will do fine, but I totally understand your fear. Gosh I was scared when I went under for the band. I will send up a prayer for you and check for a post in a few days.

I wish you a speedy recovery!

Christine

Fenton, welcome back.

I too have been on a slippery slope. I have re-gained almost 10 pounds! YIKES! This morning the scale said 222~! OH MY!!! I will get this thing back under control.

I too have no restriction and probably never will, but I do have my slow gastric emptying thing going on which is sort of like a band without the quantity limitation. The bad stuff goes through so easily and the solid Proteins just hurt after an hour or so.

Do you know what Dr Ren's rebuttal to my coment about soft foods being higher in fat and calories was? She told me to cook some vegetables until they were nice and soft.....how nice does that sound?....?....? Yes, she certainly knows how to shut me up.

Good to see you back here. Many of us seem to have dropped off, but I really would love to see an update or two every now and then.

Christine

Well Fenton......nice to see you back here!

I've been absent of late as well....much going on in my life.

I know this is going to sound weird after just getting back from a glorious cruise....BUT my husband and I are divorcing after 23 years.

It's been a long time coming and I think we both considered the cruise a last ditch effort to reconnect....but we didn't. We fought four out of the seven nights....including a visit from the cruise police one night....gee, hardly humiliating at all.

I am PROUD to say that through the stress, I've NOT turned to food....and I've actually lost weight. Of course, the fact that the band becomes a sphincter under stress may have something to do with it. I have been very restricted some days......

I bought my first pair of size 8 jeans the other day.....NEVER been that small that I can remember.

At any rate....I'm here....I'm surviving......

SCRAPPY, you're in my thoughts....you'll sail through tomorrow with the great speed and power you've shown all along!

Scrappy - keeping you in m yprayers, Can't wait to hear how things went. I am hoping to get my tummy yuck the end of July.

Harley - sorry to hear about impending divorce. I divorced after 21 years of marriage and sounds similar to you. Kept trying and then ecided it was no longer worth the effort to work on it by myself!! Good thought for you in the process

Christine - it seems there are several of us that are struggling at this time. I had 1cc removed a few weeks ago and have had some relief.. and healing from the continual PBing I was having. Go to doctor on Friday and even though I would love to have at least part of tht 1cc replaced I am still have a few issues with certain foods. And those soft carbs just go down so easy!!

Scrappy, I'm sure that by now you'll have come through the other side, and are resting. Probably not wildly comfortable, but it's a HUGE step forward!

Harley - sometimes you have to take a cold, hard look at where you are, and make a difficult decision; I'm sure it wasn't made lightly. Hang in there! Things'll get better. The world is a different place, when viewed from size 8 jeans...

Scrappy you are in my thoughts. Let us know how you are doing. When are we going to see some pictures. I get to have my first plastics consult on 7/21/09. I am excited. I am leaving for Las Vegas on Friday. I am now one pound away from losing 150 by the time I left for Las Vegas. It still amazes me that I was able to lose 150 pounds in since my surgery date of 3/27/08.

Fenton - I'm chiming in too to say welcome back. What is your first goal? i.e. what are you going to do right today, then the next and the next.

I'm trying to up my exercise again after finding myself in a plateau that I'm sure is a combination of too much work stress, not enough time to exercise. So, I took time to marinate some boneless porkchops in a bottle of Mrs Dash Garlic & Lime marinade from Sunday night to tonight and cooked those babies on the grill, and yummy, it is good eating something good tasting very slowly.

I'm on my laptop in the hospital things went wonderfull This has been the easiest surgery I ever had. I didn't even take one pain pill and I'd say my pain level is about a 1 one a scale of 1-10.

I was talking on the phone in the recovery room. been up walkikng the halls I bet I walked a mile, it was slow but it felt good.

I have this huge binder on and 2 drains so I look really fat, and I can tell I'm swelled even my hands are. I will go home after Breakfast tomorrow.

Thanks for the prayers they must have helped!!!

Just a lurker but wanted to tell Scrappy that I am glad everything went as planned! You have made such amazing progress you can finally enjoy the payoff 100%!

Edited June 18, 200917 yr by WyominGirl

I'm on my laptop in the hospital things went wonderfull This has been the easiest surgery I ever had. I didn't even take one pain pill and I'd say my pain level is about a 1 one a scale of 1-10.

I was talking on the phone in the recovery room. been up walkikng the halls I bet I walked a mile, it was slow but it felt good.

I have this huge binder on and 2 drains so I look really fat, and I can tell I'm swelled even my hands are. I will go home after breakfast tomorrow.

Thanks for the prayers they must have helped!!!

Glad to hear from you. Sounds like things are going well. I can't wait to hear how your recovery goes.

I think the binder and the drains will be the worst of the whole procedure.. How long did it take? I have so many questions. Speedy recovery, take care

surgery was 3 hours but i bet most of that was from them sewing and gluing me together

Scrappy...so glad to hear you doing so well! Incredible! Congratulations.

Harley....I can imagine there must be some relief with the decision being made. I have been trying so hard to stay happy in my marriage for so long now I can only imagine that the relief of finally knowing where it's all going brings some relief. I can imagine the other side of that is the loss of those long ago dreams. My thoughts are with you. Congratulations on the size 8 jeans! That is an awesome place to be!

Potatie...have fun in Vegas!!

Christine

OK, OK so June 17th has come and gone and I am further from onederland than I was two and a half months ago when I was un-filled. But I am determined. I have just booked a trip to Hawaii for December. I will be under 200 pounds by then!

Christine