stormy

Margie, That is who I go to, isnt she a trip. She cracks me up and so far she has worked really well for me. Keep in touch.

So I went and received my 4th fill. I was excited because I was hoping to have good restriction. I didnt really feel anything so at first I thought maybe I was not tight enough. I had some broth and went to bed. Then at 4 am I got thirsty so I grabbed a capri sun, drank it and went back to bed. I woke up at 8:00 am completely full of phelgm. She had warned me that citrus after a fill could cause mucous and swelling and she was not kidding. I could not even swollow my spit. I tried to drink hot water, thinking this would loosen me up, no go. I tried regular water, it was not going down either. So I called her. She had me come right in. I was disappointed to have to have some taken out. She asked me if I had something that was on the list of donts. I told her about the drink I had and she stated this is what got me. Now I feel better but I realise that everything in my house that I drink has citrus in it. What a weird thing. I never noticed before. At least I am only on clear liquids for one day and then I can go to soft. Hopefully that means I can go back to drinking what I want. I can't wait to start eating again. My mind is telling me I am hungry. I think all I really need is to chew on something. Maybe I will have some gum. HA! Anyway, watch out for this stuff after a fill if you are like me with that extra phelgm. Yuck!

I got my 4th fill today. I dont feel real tight, in fact I dont really feel anything abnormal. I thought I would feel tighter than this. I am able to drink normally. I am kinda hungry. I hope that doesnt mean I am not tight enough. I dont want to be real tight anyway. I am on liquids tonight and soft food tomorrow so I will see how that feels, maybe I will notice that I am tighter tomorrow. She took it all out just to make sure everything was ok. That was a weird feeling. I could feel my stomach not being so tight anymore but I really didnt feel it tighten back up. Very strange. I am sore around the port site. I guess that is normal, it kinda hurt and at one point, I think she said it had come out of the port cause I had to sit up and drink and I think I moved and made it come out a little so she had to have me lay down and push it more in. That was a bit scarry, but I do like the way she does it because I get a chance to drink and make sure it goes down ok. I really have not had a bad fill with her yet. The one time I was too tight, I just called her and she took just a little out, it was easy. So, we will see how I feel tomorrow. I look forward to having restriction again. Wish me luck. Stormy

Where ever you are getting your fills, please go somewhere else. That is crazy. Let me tell you what has happened with my fill dr. I went to see her today. It has been since June and I was worried that she was going to really come down on me. I explained to her that I could eat whatever I wanted and I was concerned that I had gained. She did not yell at me, she didnt come down on me. She talked to me about my choices, how I felt about my band and what my goal was. She agreed that it was obvious that I would gain weight since I did not have my tool assisting me, since I was so loose. I agreed that making decisions about when to get my fills and what I was eating was very important. I have this tool. I need to use it and ignoring my ability to eat like I was, was affecting my chances of real success. I felt very positive when I left her office. I feel like I am back on track and that she is very supportive of me making changes. If a fill dr makes you fill like crap about your progress and then gets you too tight, only to make you hate your band. That is not the dr I would want to see. I hope you dont go for the bypass, my friend got it and she is misrible and is sick alot because she dont get the vitamins she needs. I see her eating baby food to get her vitamins. Yuck. I dont know how long you have had your band but I would get a new dr and try to work with it more. We are here to support you through this, dont give up just yet.

So I go get a fill next Friday and I am a little embarrassed. It has been since June of last year and I checked the scale today, I have gained 5 pounds and I am not happy about it. I know better then to wait this long. I guess I got comfortable, figured I wasnt gaining and money was tight so I could put it off. Maybe a bit scarred too since it was too tight last time and had to get some taken out. But this is crazy. I feel like I am slipping into my old ways. I know I am not eating as much but I went a week without my exercise and I eat some chicken strips and fries and I have no idea why. That is not right. This is not what I want. Then today I got up and my right knee hurt, almost as if the 5 extra pounds was affecting it. Someone come down here and slap me please. I am going to tell the fill doctor that I have no idea why I am going the wrong way. What is freaking me out about this? My husband told me he feels the same way, that he felt like he was comfortable but he admits that he wants to keep losing. I think we have lost focus. I can hear my stomach growling even though I just ate. This is crazy. I have lost focus on what I really want and I dont want to be like this. I dont know what happened but I hope that next week with help from everyone I can stop whatever is going on. I DO want this, I DO. I feel a lot of shame in gaining. Tonight hubby and I are going to sit down, we need to take a serious look at our stress level, why are we not staying on task. It is completely unacceptable. I'm sorry I am rambling but I am frustrated and embarrassed. This has got to change.

Dont ever say you cant do something. This person is something else. She is showing that anything is possible. This makes me want to try even harder to use my body to my best ability. How sexy we all can be, no matter what our size.

My big one, of course lose at least 20 pounds this year. I would say more but I am scarred of failure. Dont want to aim too high. I wanted to see what other people have on their list, here is my top 10: 1. Lose 20 pounds by Sept 2010 2. Stop paying for storage shed, clean that puppy out! 3. Get house organized 4 Get new living room furniture (two chairs) 5. Get more exersise, more than 2 x a week 6. Save up for new bed, time for adjustable bed, yowser.. 7. Get credit cards paid off by Sept 2010 8. Refinance lapband bill 9. Find babysitter once a month for hubby time. 10.Work on journeling progress.

I was on here freaking out before my surgery. I was scarred to death. I can totally understand what you are saying. What was really bad is one of my friends kept telling me that I would die in Mexico and no one would find my body. She was freaking me out. But it was because of the people on here that I trusted that I would be ok. The information that I received and the hope and success that I have seen on here, more than made up my mind. I started out my journey at over 265 pounds. I was not getting any smaller and my hopes of ever being healthy were fading away. Since my surgery I have lost 46 pounds. I am more flexable that I have ever been and I am still continuing on the road to success. Trust the people here, I did. You will never be alone. You dont have to face this journey without having someone by your side all the way. It is scarry, I wont lie to you, there are set backs, but with support and honesty within yourself you can do it. It is a daily struggle. There is a reason this happened. Part of the journey and learning why and working our way through it. I can't tell you enough how this has changed my life. I hope that you will give it a lot of thought and if you want to get more info, watch you tube videos, just type in lapband. There are people on there tracking their experience, it is good information.

I feel you there. I drive by Wendys and I just smell that hamburger. Ahh, then I remember after I would eat it, how awful I would feel. The other day I went to my favorite restaurant and told her I wanted something that looked like a hamburger. She was so funny. She gave me a piece of lettuce with a little piece of hamburger and a pickel. I never laughed so hard. I am completely at a stand still. Not gaining or losing. I need a fill. Money is very tight right now and I am checking to see if I can come up with the $150.00 I need to get my fill. What has helped me not to gain is I am continuing to exersise. I have a pole in my living room and pole dancing is some serious work out. Sounds funny but it is so much fun. I am still trying to climb the thing. If I can lose another 30 pounds they tell me that I will have no problem hanging upside down. Trust me, that I am getting on tape! HA! You tube has a whole load of training tapes on how to pole dance or even just to plain dance. It is great work out. Do something fun, something to make you laugh, it will take the edge off. I know this is about being healthy and losing the weight but if life isnt fun and you can't laugh, then you are really going to be bumbed out.. If anyone decides they want a pole for their living room let me know, I cant help you get one. Trust me your other half will love it!! HA! Take care.

Oh, I am back. I was so sick. I dont know what it was but I got sick and was in bed for 24 hours with terrible pain. I am back now and the pain is gone. Never before have I felt anything like that. I wonder if I had food poisoning. I have never been that scarred. Thank you everyone for responding. I made an appt to see my dr to discuss my band to make sure it is ok. She said that she wont be able to see me until after Christmas but I told her that I am ok now. I am really being careful about what I eat because I am not sure what it was. Thank you everyone for responding, I guess I worry about my band and the pain was freaking me out. I really appreciate you guys being there for me. Merry Christmas everyone and thank you again.

It's getting worse. I feel pressure on the top part of my stomach. At first it felt liks acid but now it feels like pressure. When I press on the top part of my stomach it is a little painful. I had bad diarria today too, almost like acid. This is freaking me out. I ate just fine today and I can drink too. Not sure what is going on. Not sure who to call. I can't afford to go to Mexico right now. I am not sure I can afford to drive to Olympia Washington but I am about ready too. I fear band errosion. If I lay down it dont feel so bad. I tried a rolaids that didnt help. I even look kind of swollen, my scale does not say I have gained any weight. I will try to call the naturalpath tomorrow but this is freaking me out. It kinds feels like I need to go to the bathroom but then again I dont. And sometimes feels like I pulled a muscle in my stomach. Has anyone had this before. Is this a bug or is something terribly wrong?

I used to drink about 2 times a week before the band. In fact I worried that it was an issue. I could drink about 4 drinks and still be ok to walk and talk. Guess I considered this to be a heavy drinker. Now since the band I drink maybe one drink a month and that one drink has me really thinking twice about even chewing gum and trying to walk. HA! I think the band is great for getting people to stop drinking. But I will keep my one drink a month, I do love my whiskey.

My stomach seems to be upset. This morning it felt like acid upset. So I took a tums that seemed to help. So I thought that maybe it was because my stomach was empty so I ate. That helped a little but then I felt just weird. I can't explain it. I have started my cycle and I am having alot of anxiety. I just moved my mom this weekend out of her retirement home into her own place. I wonder if that is freaking me out. Has anyone had anxiety or stress suddenly and then it caused almost an acidy feeling in stomach. I would think if my band slipped or something was wrong that I would not be able to eat. I did notice that I felt a little tight this morning but I could eat a little and liquid is going down ok. I just want to make sure I am not freaking out over nothing. Should I continue to eat the tums? I can feel my port tonight and it kinda hurts, so I think I may have water retention issue. I hope it is stress but I dont want to hurt my band so any advise would be helpful. Thanks

I am not sure if anyone else has updates of how they are doing but if you have a you tube blog, please let me know. Here is mine. PS I hate my hair color, now that I have seen it on line. I am going back to being a blond. I hear they have more fun!!! HA!

Wow I got on and it kinda shocked me, I kinda dig it. I like new things. Bring on the goodies!!

I did not know that I could block people from emailing me. I am going to use this function right away. I do see that people can change their names and start a new account. Pretty unfortuate that people have to be that way. Thank you for letting me know how to do that so they can not email me again. I appreciate everyones encouragement along this long road that I have to travel. We all know how tough it is. I hope that after things settle down I will feel ok with getting more involved with telling you all what is up thanks again.

I haven't been posting lately. I guess I have felt a bit odd about talking about my struggles on here since my post about a month ago. I have found that there are several people that were banned from here and they have returned. Two have sent me emails that were not very nice talking about how I have failed with my band. Which for the record, I have not! This had made me feel very uncomfortable about expressing my concerns about fills and where I should be at this point. I have lost 46 pounds and I am at a stand still because I need a fill. But found it very hurtful when an email was sent to me telling me that I am really not working the program. I was shocked to see that both who contacted me had been banned from here, I dont know why and that is not my business. But it is hard to feel comfortable now. I am not sure where to turn now because I feel like I am being judged. Everyones journey is different. Mine has been something that I have been proud of. Yes, I have had things stuck. But I think it is unlikley that these people have not. I dont feel like this is a contest to see who the winner can be. I dont care how wonderful and how perfect you are. That is not what this is about. I have never come on here and been rude to anyone. I am not perfect. But I am trying and I dont feel like hurting other people is what makes your journey better than mine. This site has been something that I could turn to. When I felt like I did not know the answers and I could be free to post and not be judged. Unfortuately, I am not feeling that way right now and I think that is sad. Anyway, I just had to say something. Thank you

I have to throw my two cents in. I have been on the other side. I have gained weight because of having a baby, but as I was gaining, so did my husband. It was very hard for me to tell him that it was very uncomfortable for us to be sexual because of how big he had become. I was losing interest in even going there because there was no way to do it. ok TMI, but I have to be honest. I love him and I never stopped loving him but the sex almost stopped completely. I felt really bad about it but I was completely turned OFF. When I told him about the band, I expressed how this could change our whole sexual lifes and it has. It is still not great, because we still have a way to go but I think it helps to be honest about it. I feel bad that we both have let ourselves go. Somewhere we got so involved in eating that we didnt really look at what it was doing to our relationship but we never lost that one thing and that is that we are friends. If a person comes to you and says you know how I feel about your weight, maybe they just dont know how to say they are concerned. He should not have to "work" on being nice to you. I never disrespected my husband. I dont have to "work" on being nice to him. I simply came to him and expressed that I was concerned about the fact that it became more difficult to be close to him and that all I wanted to do was to be close to him and if we both lost the weight, that this would no longer be an issue. I would never go to him and tell you " you know how I feel about you being fat" That is just rude. I rememeber my dad telling my mom, "your so fat even your toes are fat". This is not the life I ever want for myself or my child. If a man makes me feel that bad, he needs to go!! The strange thing is once you get rid of them the weight just comes off, cause they make you feel that bad. I lost 45 pounds after my first husband. Anyway, that is my two cents. I hope that things work out for you, I just know how it is to be on both sides and I would say that he better not disrespect you, or your lapband buddies will come there is beat him up.... HA! Kidding. Take care and good luck. Remember you are worth loving!

I wouldnt drink water if I was stuck, lesson learned, you will just throw it up. there is no where for it to go but up and out. Yuck! The enzimes are a good way to help when you have something stuck, eat four of those and wait it out. That is what I had to do. Then make sure you never do it again. Chew, chew chew. I can't say that enough.

Oh my God. I would love to do that what a blast. Where do I sign up?

Have fun for Halloween, life is too short! ok so I am weird. Hope you laughed. Stormy

I know it sounds crazy but I got a pole. A dance pole. I love to dance and I love feeling sexy, so a took two classes that teach you how to get around that puppy and it is a lot of exersise and it is fun. It is the only thing I have ever stuck with and I can do it in the privacy of my home. Although I can't help but tell everyone about it because I just love it. http://www.youtube.com/undercovergirl2009 I get on almost every day, sometimes on my lunch hour but if not after work. Weekends too. for about 20-45 minutes my heart rate gets way up there. My son even loves it. He is funny. I tell my husband to stay away but I have to admit. I did one show for him already, he loved it. Anyway, I am now helping to sell the poles, they are movable and can go anywhere in your house. I put mine right in the living room. HA!~ Just an idea out there for ya.

I will never wait 3 years again to have my testing done. What a horror it was to go in and get photos done to end up having them call me back to get more pictures. Today I spent over and hour in there with them taking scan after scan, position after postion. No one telling me really what was going on. I finally had enough and said, what exactly are you looking for. They said they saw a spot on my right breast and they needed to see from several angles to make sure it was ok. After bursting out in tears. The radioligist (sp?) came in and stated just three more pictures just to be sure, then he came back and stated since I have had a breast reduction, he believe it to be scar tissue and that I am ok. Nothing but healthly breast tissue, his exact words. I could have hugged him. My grandmother had breast cancer when she was 40, so the fear I have is now enough to never put this off again. I did thank them for not making me wait for the findings, that would have killed me. They told me to follow up with my dr and that I will get a letter in the mail. It better be a nice letter, I dont want one of these, we made a mistake deals. UG. The whole thing made me go back to my desk at work and eat a candy bar. I have not done that in over a year and I have no excuse. It is not going to happen again. Dont need that junk, but a good shot of whiskey now we are talking. Kidding. Anyway, get your done today, dont put it off!!!

Dont be, as long as you are careful it wont happen. I was not, I ate fast and did not chew enough. I have to say, it has not happened since, lesson learned. But you need to be aware that chewing is a huge thing that you must do!