I am half way to my goal after 2 1/2 month cool

congrats halfway there well another 25 pounds ill be halfway well make it!!!!

I'M SHOOTING FOR THE STARS.
I had my first fill, it was a trip. I am still in total wonder. no pain, no hunger (don't know how long it will last) but I was totally nervous about it since I had my surgery, but I did it and I feel revived, its just what the Doctor ordered. yahoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey Everyone,

Just thought I'd check in and let you know that I had my first fill today too! Banded 12/17. Boy, was it an ordeal... First of all, I was nervous as to what to expect. Then when my Dr. went to give me my fill, he couldn't find my port, and he was pressing on my port area and just inserting the needle and trying to feel around for it. He did give me a shot of lidocaine before we started, so that helped. Then after 20 minutes, we finally found it. But by that time, I had been standing, then lying almost upside down just to find the port. Nothing for me to get upset about, it was just interesting. All part of the experience. He told me to stay on liquids for five days and ease back into food, and then come back in 2-3 months. He told me that I had a 2cc's in my band orginally, and now he added 2.4cc's, totaling 4.4cc's in a 10cc band. So far so good. Let's see if this jump starts my weight loss. I have lost about 26 ? lbs including the 13 pre op. My appt was in the morning, so I took the rest of the day off and met up with a friend that was at Jury Duty. I had the soup, took me a little while to eat it, but it was doable. I just need to concentrate on eating SLOWLY. I took a couple of spoonfuls back to back and felt it wanted to come up. Luckily, it didn't. SO that was my day, hope you guys had a good one.

I had a pretty usual day at work today, but I got on the gym wagon tonight and went then I came home and walked 45 mins on my treadmill. I am also happpy to say my husband has decided to diet he also walked 2x today on the treadmill and went and bought some sprite zero(giving up his pepsi)and some oranges so it will make it a little easier on me. I am a little nerevous I have to work 8-8 tomorrow when I work those hrs. I want to eat all day long so it is going to be a challenage but I am up for it. Won't be able to go to the gym though they will be closed when I get off of work but am going to try and walk on the treadmill.

Hello all you MERRY LOSERS,
i cant remember if I have written in this thread before but I think not. I am a 20 year old female from kansas. I was banded 12/18 by Dr. Stepen Malley in Kansas City, he is the most wonderful Doctor and he and his staff have helped through my journey thus far. I am down nearly 35 pounds in less than 3 months. I cant even believe it, this band has allowed me to to everything I have wanted and I have only just begun. I am hoping to eventually lose 100 more pounds along my journey. I have alot left to lose but it really does seem much smaller than before in comparison as to how quickly I have lost my 35lbs.

So far, the main problems that I have had are with my band being a little too tight and I have had some PBing. I have been filled 3 times now and I have the 10cc band and I am filled to 4.3ccs. On my second fill I was filled rather tight and I could not hold anything down including water. I was being stubborn so I didnt go back for five days to be unfilled. I lost 0 pounds and those 5 days and about 3 creeped back on. Also, my other problem I have had is what they call PBing. I think I need to learn to eat slower and I just read online that you need to wait 30 -60 seconds between bites. When I eat too quickly I will immeadiatly get this pain in my chest and alot of water in my mouth and then I start buring rather heavily and then water will come up . I dont count it as throing up but I do hear this can hurt your band. I hope not, I have tried to slow down and I have noticed I have gotten sick alot less. I try to follow most of my band rules but the one that is hard for me is the drinking 30 min before and after. I am so thristy wehn I eat.

I hope you all are doing great and let me know some of your problems. We are all together in this and we need to support each other!
Heddy

Hi everyone! I just got my second fill on 3-5. They add 1 c.c. so now I'm up to 3 c.c. Hopefully, the weight loss will go back into high gear.

I have had trouble not drinking with meals too... Which they told me is defeating the purpose of the band... This is the hardest habit for me to break! My goal is to STOP doing this no matter what!!! There idea to help stop this was to allow myself the size of a shot glass of water at the table during dinner and absolutely drink no more then that.

I'm upset at myself for indulging myself with drinking water around and during meals... It's so DUMB to do that! So anyway, I'm back on track to doing this right and I'm using the no water 15 minutes before a meal and 1 hour after. Good luck to all of you that are having a difficult time breaking this habit too!

Bad habits are hard to break, just give it time and new habits will become second nature. My bad habit is eating to fast. I had a slight stuck episode this morning.I had beans, small low-carb tortilla and chorizo with eggs, I got stuck on the tortilla ( 1st sign of problems-slight pain,excess saliva) thank goodness it went down.
I need to work harder on eating and enjoying what I eat instead of shoveling it down.
But other then that, I have continued to walk everyday. most days its 2 15 min. walks during my work break and have been doing 2 sets of 15 reps with 5 lb dumbells. Ladies keep up the good work.

Hi Everyone! It's been kind of quiet around here. I've been out of town and wanted to see how everyone is doing. I had my 2nd fill 3 weeks ago but I haven't noticed any change at all! The nurse had trouble finding my port and after searching around with the needle she said she found it... I don't think she did... My weight has stayed the EXACT same for 3 weeks! I have been exercising too. It's discouraging but I'm staying hopeful.

I'm still working on the drinking thing... Boy, that's a hard habit for me to break. UGH! I know that is not helping me! I'm curious if anyone else is having this problem or is everybody else being smart and sticking to this rule and having more success. Let me know! I need some help with this!!! Hope everyone else is doing GREAT! Good luck to all!

Just checking in...I too have been having trouble with the drinking thing. I'm ok at home, but when we go out to eat, I order a beverage and drink away while i eat. I had my first fill at the end of Feb, and since then I lost about 8 lbs., but gained most of it back over the spring break. This sucks! I didn't change anything, still eating the same, and exercising. I don't know what gives. If i look at the big picture, I have only lost about 28-30, including the 12 i lost pre-op. In 3 months, that sucks. I'm getting tired of this up and down thing. Congrats to all of you that have done so well...although I am jealous. I did go down one size though, and had to take a link off my watch. But that's it. My next fill is supposed to be either May or June, according to my Doc. Any suggestions?

hi all its me again checkin in havent been on in awhile with work and stuff. i had my 3rd fill march 4th i have 6 cc in a 10 cc band. im down to 230 from 294. so 64 pounds lost. im feeling this fill a little more than my last fills. alot more gets stuck if i dont chew . i watch daily calorie in take and drink my water. im losing a little slower than in the beginning but thats ok. i lose inches to so i can tell still that im shrinking. i went from a 4x scrub top down to a 2 x and a 3 x pants to a 1 x so im lookin and feeling real good. so hope all is well with everyone

It has been a while since I have checked in with my fellow bandsters. Things are going. I don't want to say well or badly, they just are going. The stress of every day life can really get me down most days but up until Easter I was doing well. My slight unfill has left me hungrier than I was before. I am eating much more than I should. On the plus side, I have only had one slight stuck incident since that has happened. I don't know which I want more. Great restriction or not being stuck....maybe somewhere in the middle.

I'm having a lot of psychological struggles since being banded. All the stuff I covered up with food is now coming out. There are days that I really wonder if this was a good idea, but deep down I know that now I am not only physically healthier, but also gaining ground mentally.

On the plus side, I am mostly all in a 16 bottom. I'm really hoping to be in 12's and 14's by the time I go see my family at the end of May. I haven't been there in probably 15 years. It will take some rededication, but it is entirely possible.

Hope everyone is doing well. I have no advice on the drinking thing. I just don't do it. I don't order anything at restaurants and if they bring me water, when the food comes I push it to the far side of the table. If I think I need a drink to wash something down, I stop, talk to my dining companions for a couple of minutes and it passes. It had really been mind over matter for me. I wish I had better advice. Sorry.

I had a interesting morning, getting ready for work. just before I walked out the door, I remembered my morning vits. well what do you know, one of the gel capsules got stuck, no problem I thought, it will go down, a little burp should do it, was I ever wrong. as I was getting on the freeway, I slimed ( thank goodness I had a napkin) saved the day, so I though a few moments later, BAM I a whammy of a slime episode, it was like Linda Blair in the exorcise. LOL! I was late for work today.

How are all the December bandsters doing??? Hope everyone is doing well and having much success now that spring is here!

Here is my April catch up... The bad news first... I've had a rough month. I've had pain in my upper left rib cage and it hurt to take deep breaths in, for a couple of weeks... Then my right side where the port area is, has started hurting for over a week and pushing out at the port. Xrays now show that my port has flipped!!! I see the Dr. on Tues. and will probably have to have a little surgery to flip it back and secure it back in place.

The good news is I had a lot of blood work done because of this pain and here is how AMAZING I have done in 4 months!
12/14/07
Cholesterol 240 - Now 180
Trig. 287 - Now 120
And all my other numbers were in the normal range too! Yawhoo!

I wasn't sure I would ever have a normal range of these conditions after more than 10 years with them being high and refusing to go on medication. I always got the Dr. to give me one more change of losing weight and trying to get healthier on my own. I'm still in shock that in 4 months and not quite 1/2 way to my goal that this would be accomplished!

I hope everyone is seeing positive results too after taking the plunge in Dec. and missing all that holiday food!!! It's certainly worth it now!!!

Girlmoose, I have noticed a small sharp pain near my port, sort of like a pince. I was worried and spoke with my Doc. and he push and prodded the whole area and told me it could be a bruised muscle. I can feel the pain when I bend over or catch myself slouching.

I got my 3nd fill .5cc's I'm now up to 3 cc's. I feeling good about it.
Dr. C is very happy with my progress. I still tend to eat to much, but as long as I continue to walk 3-5 days a week I balance out.

Heres some interesting info, I spoke to my Doc. about my concerns with how much food I actually eat and stretching my pouch. I can eat a whole tv dinner (south beach) and thats 10 Oz's of food. I was told that as long as I chew my food to basically nothing it will digest more easily and not just sit there (which could cause stretching)?

LADIES, PLEASE SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS ONE