starting a new thread for anyone who has or is considering surgery thru the Brigham/Falkner program.

~Mel

surgery 11/13/07 Dr Vernon

-35lbs

Hi tinywishes and thanks for starting this thread!

Exercise! I get SOOO fatigued. My legs feel like noodles

after taking a mild walk. I am eating mostly protein now and plenty of liquids. Have potassium rich vegetables also. Still fatigued, and wasn't that way pre-band.

Will it ever perk up?

Luv2teech...you are really looking forward to the meetings! They are not until the 13th and the 21st if I read right. I am one, although I am type A, who waits until the day before to make my final decision..I am leaning towards the Brigh this month mainly because of the traffic I encountered going in to Faulkner around Sox/Fenway Park time. Have to leave so much earlier, whereas the time is made up for in that short distance to the Brigh. The Faulkner was a great open group(although I didn't say much in my newby stage of the process).

My first fill will be in a week so I know there will be something to 'share' common to others... Meanwhile I congregate on the May Bandsters board lately where we talk about gas,food, gas, lack of food,gas,first fills, gas, PB-ing, gas.....newby comiseration!

Hope all are having a great weekend..Jay, Viv, IBelieve,Thinking et al.

Love your craft blog, Heidi.

Singing~thanks for checking out my blog! :-)

Good luck on your 1st fill!

Well, i made it through the day & ate healthy food! :-)

Singing~thanks for checking out my blog! :-)

Good luck on your 1st fill!

Well, i made it through the day & ate healthy food! :-)

Great job, Heidi! One day at a time.....you can do this!!

Jay,

Sorry I missed you at the office today. Wasn't able to get there early as I hoped. The support group meetings are both the same week this month--the 14th and 15th. Which one do you guys intend to go to? I know it's two weeks off, but I like to have my life all planned. :rolleyes2:

I had a fill today and already feel better than the last time I had a fill---except he had a hard time accessing my port today. (I knew the port has felt funky during my ab workouts! He said something about it being "tilted" today and he's never said that before. I thought it should be pretty much staying where it should be after this much time has passed?!) So I was pushy with him and wouldn't let him give me more than a .5CC fill after the last nightmare. I told him I'd rather come back in 4 weeks than come back again this week because I'm overfilled again. I had a shake when I got home and already notice the difference, but not uncomfortably as I did last time. I love that funky feeling you get when you hear it finally passing through---that bottom of the tub draining kind of thing! I finally have it again!!!

I also asked him about taking Ibuprofen because I have something wrong with my knee. He told me it's ok as long as it's not part of my regular routine---that I should split it and take it with food to be sure it passes ok.

Such an interesting appointment. He wasn't any more personable, but certainly more interested in my "excess skin" again. I can't help but wonder if maybe he gets a cut of the money from the PS if he refers me. (ha, ha, ha--pun intended!) He once again confirmed that insurance won't cover it---like suddenly I had more?!---and that it might not really be something I will need. We'll see. In the meantime, I started my summer camp again and am saving my nickels just in case....

Hope everyone is well. Tiny, I still owe you a birthday drink or 2!!!!

Luv I so hope this fill works for you bc youve had such a hard time with them

I made a challenge with my sister to lose 1lb a week for a wedding and now my coworkers want in. We are extending the work one until labor day...havent worked out what exactly the criteria is yet but I need some motivation!

**MEETINGS MONDAY JULY 13TH AT THE FAULKNER. TUESDAY JULY 21ST IS THE BRIGHAM**

Luv I so hope this fill works for you bc youve had such a hard time with them

I made a challenge with my sister to lose 1lb a week for a wedding and now my coworkers want in. We are extending the work one until labor day...havent worked out what exactly the criteria is yet but I need some motivation!

**MEETINGS MONDAY JULY 13TH AT THE FAULKNER. TUESDAY JULY 21ST IS THE BRIGHAM**

Good challenge! So far so good. Had yogurt for dinner and some mashed potatoes. No issues. The dates were definitely the same week on the flyer posted at the Faulkner today. If anyone is headed in, check them out. I've tried to call, but never get a straight answer!!! Seems to be ok AND am already PMS'ing so it won't get tighter....

Good challenge! So far so good. Had yogurt for dinner and some mashed potatoes. No issues. The dates were definitely the same week on the flyer posted at the Faulkner today. If anyone is headed in, check them out. I've tried to call, but never get a straight answer!!! Seems to be ok AND am already PMS'ing so it won't get tighter....

my flyer could be old....I think the person responsible for the meetings is the bariatric coordinator but now I cant find her email.

Brigham And Women's Hospital - Events Registration

It's been awhile since I've posted..I've just been so busy lately. I just returned from my second post-op with Dr. R and it went good - or he thought it did anyway. At my first appt after surgery, I had lost 17 lbs. It's been 3.5 weeks since that appt and my clothes don't fit - I'm down two sizes in pants. This morning I got on the scale and it was only down 8 lbs. I thought for sure it would be more than that. That brings my total in 7 weeks to 32 lbs. Dr. R said this was going a bit fast and so he didn't give me a fill. I was kind of bummed but I'm having issues getting all the food in as it is and he said that I didn't need a fill because I was losing and I need to eat more.

On a side note, how many of you have scales at home? I don't. I only weigh myself at his office - but I'm contemplating buying one. What do you think?

Are you feeling hungry and grit your teeth to loose? Or is it that you just don;t have any appetite? That is a good loss of weight.

I do own a scale and am addicted to weighing every morning. I also weigh in with a buddy my age(non band dieter) every Sunday over the internet. She weighs once a week.

I also weigh to see what foods cause me to retain water and have water weight gain. Even some low sodium foods cause that in the summer with me.

So here I am still waiting. It's been about 3 weeks since I last posted and now I'm getting really annoyed. I've called and left messages to Jennifer as to when I can be scheduled for surgery and not even a call back. I've called many times and just hung up, how many messages can one leave on the same thing?!?!!? I think I'm just going to start calling her everyday.

I'm glad you are all doing well.

Congrats on the weight loss ms dollaz. That's a great amount of weight to lose in 7 weeks, you should be proud, not discouraged!

I joined weight watchers and couple of weeks ago and have lost about 9 lbs. I'm struggling a little this week as i'm very stressed and guess what? I'm eating. I told myself I wouldn't join the gym until I lose 20 lbs. reason being, I tend to gain muscle quickly and the whole muscle weighs more than fat thing really discourages me when I work soo hard and lose nothing!

I had a question about fills. Does insurance cover any of them or are they all out of pocket? I can see that getting expensive especially when you have to keep going, or get overfilled etc.

Happy 4th everyone. We may actually see the sun this weekend. I almost forget what it looks like!

Just a FYI I used to e mail Dr Vernon, got better responses.

Just a FYI I used to e mail Dr Vernon, got better responses.

Has anyone ever tried e-mailing dr. robinson directly? I don't know if that is frowned upon. I guess I could and just tell him what's up?! That I'm not getting any response.

I find that if you call her around 9am - you can get her on the phone. I was trying to get an appt with the nutritionist and she would never call me back so I just emailed Sari Kalin directly and she got me an appt.

I think since Jennifer is pregnant - she is loosing her umph a little. I find calls go unreturned as well. I would just keep calling and calling and calling until she either answers or calls you back. If you have Dr. R's email - email him! I understand you may not want to throw Jennifer under the bus but there comes a point when you have to do what you have to do!

Singing..no I'm not hungry really. I'm just neurotic about the diet.

I go for my fill tomorrow.

You can bet that before I leave that office I whip out my calendar and make a date for the next office visit!

That I have learned to do after many many fruitless phone call attempts in the past.

Hey, y'all...wish me luck on my 1st fill!

I didn't know that Jennifer is pregnant.

I just made my appointment for my next "fill" (we'll see if I get one, I have enough restriction now, I believe) and I called thursday afternoon, got the voicemail, she called me back within 15 minutes, but I missed the call. I called her this morning and got and she picked up right away. I'm not sure why but I have never had a problem getting an appointment or getting her to call back. Guess I just must be lucky.