Hello everyone...I am being banded on April 10th. I am so excited! Seems like it's been forever to get to the countdown, but I think it'll be here before we know it!

Anyone else scheduled in April? We need to come up with a group name!

Carol

For those of you who are still on mushies.... do you eat 3 oz of mushies and stop? It seems alot more will fit!! I keep saying I'm not getting that hungry but I'm wondering if it's because I'm eating too much. I'm not eating bad stuff... everything is on the list of ok to eat. Like today for lunch I had black eyed peas... but more than 3 oz. Should I be eating ONLY 3 oz. (which is NOT alot) per meal? Then I WOULD be understanding the bandster hell.

SBG: Yes, I would call that Bandster Hell! I was allowed 4 oz., but hey, no difference really! This is why I want my fill so bad! I'm hungry and 4 oz. wasn't enough! I have since gone over the 4 oz. rule, but more because I wasn't measuring. It was like one day I was eating and next thing you know I had eaten way more than I intended and realized that nothing stopped me! My band wasn't "working" yet, so I could just eat and eat if I wanted to. Obviously I don't want to, so I quit right away!

Up until then I was just plain starving! It was awful! But I've loaded up on protein drinks just because they make me feel full and last a lot longer than 4 oz. of food. Once I get this fill, I'm hoping that 4 oz will make me feel full or that I will get some sort of message between my band and my brain telling me it's time to stop eating! They are connected right? LOL

~C

SBG - Yes you are in bandster hell. It is not fun - although I think it is a step up from liquid hell - which I truly hated! Like Turler, I increased my protein and also logged everything on TheDailyPlate.com. I noticed I was eating far too calories and not enough protein. I upped both which helped my hunger and tiredness. Good luck to you.

Turler - good luck with your fill. I am so excited and ready for mine. I'm like an impatient little kid! I'd have freaked too if they rescheduled me another week and a half...let me know how it goes. Hey - how'd you get your fill before mine? We're supposed to be doing this together. Banded 4.10 - fills the same too - I'm jealous! can't you tell.

LOL!!!

Hi kids! Okay, I got my fill!!! WOO HOO!!!! He must have been on his to way somewhere else as his very beautiful wife and darling daughter were waiting in the office for him while I was there!

It went just great! He gave me 1 cc (mL). I was so surprised! I didn't think I'd get so much for the first time! He said next time will be 0.5 cc increments until proper restriction is achieved! He had me do this weird sit up maneuver--which I thought he was teasing me about. It was funny because I didn't do it, and he was like okay...do it now! I laughed and did it and he sort of "grabbed" the port (this faux sit-up makes the port stand out). He then held on to it and had me do it again and at the very moment I did that, he put the needle in and injected the saline! I said "hey! You tricked me!" LOL It didn't hurt a bit and was over in a second. That was it. The whole appointment was less than 5 minutes!

He said if I don't feel anything (restriction) by Monday, to call him and he'll give me another fill. Likewise, if I have any problems to call him anytime and he'll unfill. Cool, huh?

Boy am I glad I got this. I don't feel different yet, but he said it should help with the hunger and of course the portion sizes too. I was so ready to be mad today (been kinda bitchy with the being hungry all the time thing), but I'm glad he saw me. Whew!

L2L: Girl all I told them was that I was only off Tues and Fri and they didn't have anything open next week so they gave me my fill a week early rather than later! YAY for me! LOL

~C

Thanks for the heads up Turler...my first fill is on June 2nd and I wish it as now...but they will only take 1 new MX patient a week, so I have to wait til 8weeks post op.....DANG I really want it now. Did ur Dr do the Flouro on your first fill? I'm guessing not since you didn't say so......I hear most do..I wonder why some do and some don't? Anyway I'm jealous.....Cindy

Colarado Chick,

Don't eat too less either, because your body will go into store fat mode. It's like a balancing act. You have to eat enought to fuel your body, but you have to exercise also.

Sometimes I weigh myself and I'm up 2-3 pounds but a few days later I will weigh myself and be 5-6 pounds down. It also depends on how much salt is in what you are eating too. Sometimes it's just Water weight.

Anyway, good luck with your weightloss.

Sincerely, Ms. NeNe

Thanks NeNe!

I am eating three meals per day - just really small ones! Anyway, I start regular food today. I had an egg and sausage link for Breakfast. So far so good. I think I am going to try a chicken breast for lunch to see how that goes. I am exercising about 30 minutes per day. Hopefully I see some results soon! :woot: Have a GREAT DAY!

Turler, do you feel any different now??

BTW- come and join us on the april yahoo group!!

Nope. No fluoro. My doctor puts the port in the same place on every patient no matter what so that he doesn't have to hunt for it. I believe he only does fluro if a patient is having trouble or the port is flipped or something like that. I swear it was so fast! Over and done in seconds!

I don't feel anything yet though. I keep waiting. I was worried that I would wake up today and wouldn't be able to drink or something, but I am doing fine. I haven't pushed it though. I am on call this weekend and I don't want to have my first PB during a surgery! LOL

Ummm, I didn't know you had a group! I wanna play too...how do I get there?

~C

Nope. No fluoro. My doctor puts the port in the same place on every patient no matter what so that he doesn't have to hunt for it. I believe he only does fluro if a patient is having trouble or the port is flipped or something like that. I swear it was so fast! Over and done in seconds!

I don't feel anything yet though. I keep waiting. I was worried that I would wake up today and wouldn't be able to drink or something, but I am doing fine. I haven't pushed it though. I am on call this weekend and I don't want to have my first PB during a surgery! LOL

Ummm, I didn't know you had a group! I wanna play too...how do I get there?

~C

My doctor uses the fluro to know how much Fluid to put in the band. I had to drink barium and he watched how fast it went through and then he added fluid and had me drink the barium to make sure my restriction was good. It was really neat to actually watch the restriction happen using the fluro!

That would be cool. I may ask for one at some point just for peace of mind. I am worried about stretching the upper pouch/esophageal area. It's good to look in on this stuff once in a while.

I got to see it on fluoro in the hospital after surgery, but I'd like to see it again.

~C

Hey there you all.... Sounds like everyone is doing good and moving right along. I'ts nice to hear about the fills, as mine is coming up 5/28 which will be 1 month post op for me. Still on mushies and doing ok, I did try 1 chicken wing yesterday and had no problems, but I'm not going to move on until I'm supposed to. On my f/u appt. I did tell them that I was sometimes still feeling hungry and she said to pay more attention to the amount of protein you eat, as it stays with you longer. Our program allows 4 oz at each meal also. Keep up the great work everyone!

OK, now that I'm on regular food, I'm no longer losing, but they warned me about that. Right now, my goal is to just maintain until I get my first fill on June 5th. Seems like a long time. Except for the tatter tot incident, everything's been fine going down. I did get a little stuck with a piece of hamburger I didn't chew up enough. Its so hard not to eat fast! I was raised with my brothers and I HAD to eat fast or I wouldn't get anything! Then, when we had kids, I had to eat fast so that I COULD eat, and take care of kids! Hard habit to break.

I walk about 8 miles a week, but need to start those sit-ups. My gut is still hanging over even with my loss so far.

I've plateaued on my weight loss too..looking forward to that fill!

Glad to hear your staying away from the tator tots..LOL

Hi all, I hope you don't mind if i join this thread.

Blund, I had an incident over the weekend with a piece of grapefruit (which i had no business eating), but my dr. ended removing the 1.5cc that was in my band at the time of surgery. I've been back on liquids since. I am now scheduled for my first fill in 2 weeks and I'm really nervous. The pain from the "stuck" food is something I do not ever want to feel again. I will be extra carefull with every food I try from now on.

Welcome to all you newbies, this is a great thread to be on, it's been a several days since I've visited. I have alot of post to go thru and read so I hope all is good with everyone.

Well, it's been 1 week since I started regular food, I lost 1lb the first day and after that the scale hasn't moved. My first fill is 6/9 and it can't come soon enough. Other than that everything is good.

It sounds like I'm not the only one waiting for that 1st fill....

Well I have alot of reading and catching up to do, back later.........