Hey gang! I live in a small town outside of Raleigh. I am a mother of 3 year old daughter and a 6 year old dog. I have a great husband who supports my journey. I am just getting all the testing and evualtions done in June. I am nervous and excited about surgery. My starting weight is 280 and I am 5'3. I wear a size 22/24 and would love to shop in the misses department - size 12 sounds nice. My surgeon (Dr Enoch) said I will lose 100 pounds and I am really excited about that. I would love to chat, email, private messege with anyone that is any stage of being a bandster.:w00t:

Hi Claudine! My name is Tonya, I am 32 years old, married with 2 children (13 & 6) and I live in Salisbury, NC. I was banded just two days ago in Concord, NC by Roc Bauman. I weighed 299 in January, at 5'8", and now I weigh 280. My goal is around 180 or so. I'd love to be back in a size 12!!! I'm looking so forward to being able to shop in ANY store. Can you imagine??

My surgery went well, I'm having some soreness and I feel soooo full after taking just a few sips of Water, low energy, but I know this will pass soon.

If you'd like to chat, you can message me here or you can email me @ my work address jtphotoeffects@yahoo.com. I am a wedding & portrait photographer and if you'd like to see some of my work you can at www.jtphoto-online.com

ttyl !

Tonya

Hey gang! I live in a small town outside of Raleigh. I am a mother of 3 year old daughter and a 6 year old dog. I have a great husband who supports my journey. I am just getting all the testing and evualtions done in June. I am nervous and excited about surgery. My starting weight is 280 and I am 5'3. I wear a size 22/24 and would love to shop in the misses department - size 12 sounds nice. My surgeon (Dr Enoch) said I will lose 100 pounds and I am really excited about that. I would love to chat, email, private messege with anyone that is any stage of being a bandster.

Hi,

I'm in Greensboro, just banded on March 16. I've lost 20lbs from preop to now.

You seem to be doing so well. Congratulations!!!!

Hi Claudine,

I'm located Raleigh, NC. My husband and I both were banded in Jan. Me on the 7th and he on the 16th. It has been a journery. I have lost 40lbs. I feel so much better and have been working out 3-4 days a week at Planet Fitness. I must say that the band is really just a tool to help. Patience is a must and changing old habbits is also a must. I am finally adapting to my new life style and enjoying it. I pretty much eat what I want to eat but much smaller and smarter. My husband has only had one fill as he had a complication with his port. I am on my way tomorrow for fill # 3. I could probably wait but I'm going with it. The first fill did not do much for me. The 2nd I can see a big difference. I hope the 3rd does not make it too tight.

If you are thinking about the band, I would advise you to know that having the band does require patience and not expecting that once you are healed you will have good restriction. Most will be able to eat more than expected. You can continue to loose weight if you choose the right foods and keep going into the office for your fills.

good luck with your journey. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have.

Hi,

I'm in Greenville, NC. Banded December 26, 2008. 41 lbs down. I have found it is great tool, but there is a mind set. Maybe we could help each other.

Hey NCMEDIC - I was banded Aug 1 in Raleigh and I see you were done just after Christmas. I did very well the 1 couple of months and the I got a little lazy a few months ago and didn't lose much and I need a fill. I just got a fill last Tuesday and I feel back on track. How are you doing?

Hi!

I've lost 41 lbs as of Feb. 2009. This month I don't think I lost. I had my first fill last month. I feel I can eat more iwth the fill than before. I go to weigh in Monday. How have you done? Do you feel tight early in the morning? I have tons of questions if you don't mind sharing with me

Debra

Ask away Debra..I don't mind at all:smile:

That is a good amount of weight to lose 2 months!! Good for you. It takes a while with fills. I have only had 4 since my surgery in Aug. The 3rd one was way too much and I couldn't swallow my own saliva by the time I got home. I had to go right back to get an unfill. This last fill was just a tweak at .3. I am also having a hard time staying full. I am sure I need another one soon. For some it takes a while to get to the famous sweet spot.

I am tighter in the morning but not as tight as I was with my 3rd fill. I usually do a Protein shake. I am not a big egg eater and I can't really do any oatmeal. I can usually have a Cereal bar by 10:30 if I am hungry since I have my shake at about 7:30.

I do better with weight loss when I track my food. Are you tracking your food? I use the livestrong site and use the "The daily plate". For a while I slacked off and then the weight loss stalled. Are you also exercising?

Please ask any questions that you need. I am usually on at night after dinner - helps keep me busy and not wanting to eat:tongue2:

I'm terrible about writitng down what I eat. I know this is not excuse but it's true. I stay so busy things fly by. I work 8-5 and some nights and weekend as a paramedic. It's eat as I can. I try to have things with me....water, yogurt, pudding and wendy's small chili if nothing else. I go Monday for check in. Not sure if he will fill or not. During surgery he put baseline of 3cc's and I had restriction and alll had to be taken out. I've only had one fill which was 1cc last month. I have more restriction in am and with dry meat. I feel hungry this month where febvore I wasnt so that concerns me. Not sure about weight loss bemay on only 2 to 3 pounds which is better than nothing I know. I feel i eat the same things cause I dont want pain. I tried bread and it didnt work. Chicken isbeginning to be a problem. I use a lot of can veggies. Bascially I am supose to be restricted from all breads and sugars for 6 months. I have only tried bread twice. Baked potatoe and sweet potatoe twice. Trying to figure what else is safe. That restriction in the beginning has really scared me. that was so painful. I walked all night thinking it was gas. The next morning I threw up and finally realized what it was. luckily i was still at hospital. I fine it is totally a mind set. I could totally drink a shake and be fine but I know that defeats why I did surgery. I'm diabetic andtrying to get off meds. What advise do you have that has helped you? I'll try to get online tonight and see if we can meet up. Thanks. Have a great day!

I know it is a PAIN to write or to log your food. But you have to get some sense of how much Protein, fat, carbs sodium etc you are getting. I tired the "I am going to do it in my head" bit and I stayed the same weight for over a month. I worked out everyday but had really no idea what i was eating...even thought my diet is pretty much the same or so I thought:unsure:

I will admit it is easier if you have a desk job rather then a on the go job like a medic. I would suggest planning your meals the day before and logging them into a web based program i.e. Livestrong, sparklepeople, fitday etc.

Usually before your first fill is for healing and not necessarily for weight loss. The weight loss happens after you have good restriction - which can take a while.

I know the feeling of too tight. My third fill - filled too tight headed back to the office and got some taken out. I went to California November with my husband and daughter. We were all concerned how she would do on the plane because she is 4. She did wonderfully, it was me who did horribly. On the way back, I grab a bite to eat in the LA airport. McDonald's - worst place on earth for a bandster. Got the chicken biscuit - tossed the biscuit and thought I could eat around the breading and just eat the chicken. Well, some breading must have gotten in. It swelled instantly and I was stuck...for HOURS!!! I had to board the plane with a bag in one hand and a cup in another. Couldn't swallow anything and kept throwing up. Awful! I sat in the bathroom for the entire plane ride. Before landing in Charlotte, i just give myself a good heave over the sink and up came the tiniest piece of breading - sweet relief. Needless to say, I was afraid of fills ever since. I got some courage and got a fill last week. I am fine:smile2: Still need more because I don't stay full for long. Just willpower keeps me out of the fridge and pantry. Also, being on this site helps also. Gives me something to do other then eat.

I have not had bread since June of last year. I really don't miss it as much as I thought I would. I do sweet potatoes, but I measure them out and only eat about 1/4 with my meal. I mash one small up, add 1 TBSP of brown sugar, a sliver of butter. That serves me, my daughter and hubby. I also eat fish every other day - fish is very easy and safe for me. Usually it is moist and easy to fix. Chicken, you have to be careful with it. I can't do re-heated chicken. It has to be moist and not overcooked. I still feel it going down, but I just have to take really small bites. I mean really small..I know it looks weird for a big person to take baby bites. We are so used to bitting a huge bite and barley chewing. I was so guilty of this. Getting stuck a couple of times taught me to take baby bites and chew like crazy. I am sure stuff you have heard before.

WOW...do you think I wrote enough:tongue_smilie:

I enjoyed reading it all. I have same feeling. I go to doc on Monday so I will see how it goes. I,m going to pick up a dairy of some sort this weekend and try to start writing food down. you are right, 100% panning is needed. I've joined a gym but limited on how much I can do. I had foot surgery and bone is not healed completely so doc wants me to take it easy. I do great on the sitting bike. Some is better than none. Somehow I,ve locked myself out of this site at home so I can only read at work. Working on straightening that out. Have a great weekend thanks for sharing with me

Please let me know how things go on Monday. Movement of any kind is good, but don't hurt yourself. Have a great weekend!

Hi...I am from Raleigh and just got banded April 2. Good to see there are some of you close by! I think I am doing well so far - I am just so bored with food choices. Ha any suggestions?

FoxTerp - what food stage are you on? Are you still on mushies? That was the hardest for me because I didn't want to live on mashed potatoes and beans. I couldn't bring myself to eat baby food. I today eat pretty much fish and chicken, ground turkey in Chili and spaghetti sauce.

Hi, yeah - still on the mushie stuff. I am starting to incorporate some ground meat. I am still feeling bloated from surgery. Is that normal 2 weeks out? I tried a whole wheat fish wrap sandwich the other day. I guess the feeling I got was a kinda stuck feeling but ot too bad. I just needed to taste something different!:tt1: OH, and one more question if you don't mind... can you sip on Water while you eat? That is so hard for me not to drink and eat. How about you.

BTW congrats on your weight loss...looks like your doing great!!!!

For mushies I did eggs, egg beaters, refried Beans w/salsa and cheese on top (yummy) and some creamier Soups, yogurt. I tried cottage cheese - didn't like it at all.

Bloated - yeah that is normal. I didn't feel hunger until about a month or so into it and then I was on to hard Proteins (fish and moist chicken).

I loved wrap pre banding but I can no longer eat them. Doesn't seem to want to go down without a fight and I just stopped eating them.

I just stopped putting the cup on the table when I was eating meals. It is a slow process but not drinking when eating will help the fullness last. That is once you have restriction. Right now you are probably still swollen from surgery.

I have been steadily losing since surgery until about mid March or so. I stop tracking my foods and started not to keep up with my food choices. I am back to tracking my food and watching my calories and Protein.

I think there is a food stage recipe place some where in the food section. You might find some interesting stuff there.

Good Luck and please don't hesitate to ask questions.

C.