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

Hello I haven't posted here in almost a year,I looked in but thats all. I just came from the Drs. had to have some fill removed. I was waking up in the middle of the night to find that I threw up in my sleep. It was going on for a few months , but I was afraid to tell the Dr. because I thought he would remove my band and I would rather change my sheets every night than have that happen. I was forced to go to the Drs.by my family and after an upper GI all I needed was an unfill. Now I feel great!

Ms Cathy - this is one of the benefits to continue to stay in touch with other March Bandsters - to see what happens as time goes along. I haven't had a fill in awhile and hoping to do that in late May.

I kind of test my pouch and restriction with different food density things that I think should fill me up and keep me going without any problems. This week found that 2 hard boiled eggs is right between enough and too much - hard Protein and low calorie value - and the eggs seem to keep me filled well for awhile. Whereas a cup or Pasta or a cup of softer foods seem to be going down too easy and not keeping me satisfied very long.

For now, I had to just tough it out on restriction needing adjusted because I didn't want to be tight going into my Breast Reduction surgery this coming Thursday. After that, I hope to get to a higher level of exercise and intensity, maybe even jogging, and then go a little tighter on fill restriction but we'll see. I'd like to be at about another -5 but end of May/June to stay on track with my own personal weight loss goals for this year.

After May/June, I think I should be able to be back to full level of exercise to keep upping my intensity of things.

Hi there to my Shrinking Shamrock buddies out there. Well I did another "shrinking" thing yesterday - had about 1000 grams removed during Breast Reduction surgery. I think the pain is definitely tolerable here in the first 24 hrs with some pain meds and can't tell you yet if the results look okay with all the bandages but I had alot of confidence in my surgeon.

Anyway, it will be fun to update my Ticker to put another -2 lbs down!

P.S. Great NSV to share --- no super size gown needed at the hospital - just the ordinary size they'd give to anyone to wear.

Edited April 23, 201016 yr by SpecialK

Glad to hear you are doing well since your BR surgery. You have done so well with your weight loss!

What made you decide to have the BR? Does that lift them at the same time? Mine look like deflated tube socks at this point, but I am afraid of surgery.

Congrats to you and a speedy recovery!

Christine

Special K you look great in your Easter picture!

So beautiful!

Christine

Hope you are feeling well special K.

I'm with christine and my boobs look like worn out tube socks. I won't do sugery on mine either just not worth it to me.

I have a dr appt on tuesday to get a date set for the revision on my tummy tuck. Sure not looking forward to another surgery but I really hate how my clothes fit. I'm really thin around my hips and then I have this ugly bulge where my waist is. I'm in style with the teens and wear my clothes on my hips.

Interesting turn of things here post BR surgery -- feeling more restriction on my eating - some PBing after eating a much smaller quantity of food than I could eat just a week ago. I'd say there is some swelling in the chest area that is affecting things. Anyway, good to cut back quantity of eating in any way I can. Haven't gotten on the scale yet to get weighed because I figured the body will do some ups and downs with fluids for a couple days post op.

After my tummy tuck I was much more restristed I went a few months with being too tight and finally had to go get some fill taken out. He took .75 out and I went back for 2 fills after that. I still am about .25 cc's less than I was before my tummy tuck surgery 10 months out. I think I am about where I need to be with fills for now.

Keep us posted on how things are going.

A week post op now and doing great. Yes, a breast reduction does reduce their size and lift them up to be in the right position they started out in life... pointing forward now down to the floor...lol.

I would highly recommend this surgery as it was a short stay in the hospital for outpatient surgery - got there at 11am and was on my way home by 4:30 pm. Really only took a minimal number of pain pills in the first 3 days and by day 4 was on Aleve/Advil only. Able to drive and do most things around my house. I'm very good about pushing, pulling, lifting things though and intend to follow the doctors orders on restriction for as long as she says.

Still feeling a good amount of restriction on eating but I got sloppy and was eating ice cream and other easy to eat things while I was recuperating because they are the foods my sister loves -- it was too easy to slip into the mode of eating a little because she was. The house is cleared out of "bad or slider" foods now so I'm feeling much more in control.

I still have a long way to go so I cannot lose sight of the goal to get to the end. I could be the last crazy Shrinking Shamrock posting on here in a year or two more years but I want to keep going.

I am finding that I can get some size 16 things on but then my arm hanging skin holds me back on some of the sleeves in those. On others, it it is cut pretty straight, it is the excess tummy skin that is holding me back -- can't stand having a blouse with bulges showing so I guess I will just keep buying a size larger to keep me looking okay or watch what styles I choose.

I am still Thrift Store shopping on the hope that I don't want to spend too much money on clothes when I know I have another 3-4 sizes to go down through still. Crazy -- maybe finish at a size 12 or 10? Who knows.

Hi All,

I haven't posted for awhile either and have to admit I haven't even lurked around here the last few months, but took time to check out a few posts today. I had foot surgery on my right foot in October and on my left foot in February so I haven't been able to exercise. I was off work 7 weeks for the first foot and gained 15 lbs during that time. It was my own fault, bad eating, and no exercise, NOT GOOD. Second foot in February, I was off work 11 weeks and just went back for a fill a couple of months ago, and that in turn made me too tight, so I went back last week for an unfill. During my fill he only put 1/2 cc in and when I went for the unfill he took out 1/3 cc and I felt instant relief, that was about a week ago and now I'm having pb's again, so back on liquids yesterday and today in hopes that takes care of things. I wouldn't think that little bit of extra in my band would cause this much trouble. :thumbup: Good thing is since my fill I've lost 12 lbs of the 15 lbs that I had gained, so I'm happy about that even though it wasn't pleasant.

Well, just wanted to check in and see how you all are doing and let you know what was going on here on my end.

Hi there Thin2bme (Teri) - sorry to hear about the foot stuff - hope you are healing now and can get back to your level of working out and exercise you want and need.So here we are at 2 years out and we are still learning how to manage our eating... clearly a lifetime commitment -- it is interesting how a lifetime now seems like 2 years and going -- I don't think our pre-surgery excitement could have prepared us for what Lifetime Commitment really means, at least not for me. Its 1 Day at a time. Thanks for visiting and posting.

Thanks for the well wishes Special, I appreciate it. I'm still not exercising due to my last foot surgery, but right now that's the least of my worries. I'm so tired of getting stuck and pb'g with this latest fill, it is really bringing me down. It will be 2 weeks tomorrow since the unfill and I had a really rough week last week, the weekend was better but had another episode last nite. I have an idea that I'm so swollen from 2 or 3 weeks worth of pb's that I need to go back to basics longer than 1 day, so going to try liquids a couple of days and introduce refried beans and mashed potatoes and gravy into the mix on Thursday. If things aren't better by next Monday, I'm calling for another unfill. :scared2: I hate getting another unfill because that will put me right back where I was before or maybe even have less in my band than before I went for the fill a couple of months ago but I can't live like this. I hesitated before I went in for the fill in the first place, it had been over a year since I had one and I knew I had been eating more but if I had known it would cause this much trouble I would not have gone in for the fill in the first place. Sorry for the rant, but I had to get it out and knew this was the place to do it.

Oh forgot to say, I lost 3.6 lbs this week, liking the weight loss but not the way it's happening!!

Well, it's Thursday, I felt to crappy yesterday I went ahead and called the doctor. They took an x-ray and the band looks good so he took out 2 cc's of fluid from my band to give me some relief. He wants me on liquids thru today, and soft foods thru the weekend. He told me no solids til Monday. Even though I've had quite a bit taken out, my pouch doesn't seem to be emptying very quickly and that concerns me, I'm also getting gas and experiencing stomach aches. The only good thing is I haven't had anything come back up since the unfill, guess this will just take time. :biggrin:

Update - Well, I'm happy to tell you all that I am feeling MUCH better today. I have not had anything come back up since my unfill on Wednesday and my stomach has settled down today, thank goodness. Now, my appetite is coming back and I have to wait til May 27 to go back to get another fill, so I'll have to be extremely careful of what I eat between now and then so I don't gain back anything. I'm just so thankful that now I'm keeping stuff down and feel almost human again. All of this with just 1/2 cc fill a couple of months ago, I sure hope since he's taken out 2 1/3 cc's in the last 2 weeks that he can put an least 1 1/2 cc back in when I go back 2 weeks from now. I'm going on a month long vacation June 4 and don't want to risk gaining a bunch of weight while I'm gone just because my band isn't tight enough. I know it sounds crazy going from one extreme to the other, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE my band and really depend on it, but you guys know that. :w00t: