stormy

I can understand what you are talking about. I have no restriction right now and it is alot of will power for me. I know that I need a fill. I am hoping that after my 2nd fill that I wont have to use so much will power. Try not to be upset, I think once you get restriction it will get better. What size is your band? How much fill do you have right now? I know how hard it is, dont give up. It really is worth your continuing to try and push forward. It will happen, dont give up. We will be here to support you. I would check with your dr to see if you need another fill.

well it turns out, since I did not call within the two week requirement to get a refill, I would have to repay the $325.00 to get a fill there in Olympia. So that makes up my mind for me. I can not afford that right now. So I am staying local. She charges $190.00 and since I have to pay for two, it is much better. Hubby and I go together. They can get me in on the 19th, so Christmas will be after our second fill. Hopefully we wont be too tight. We both need it. I have not weighed myself in over a week, I dont think the weight is coming off anymore, so a good fill would be nice. I am doing well on the eating part. I have completely changed my diet and I think that helps. It seems like the healthier I eat the more it costs. Food is getting expensive. Geesh.

yes there are, but some of us dont use our names as our log in. But I am a Kim too..

I could never even think about eating that much food again. That just sounds so gross to even think of eating all that. UG! I am full just reading it.

dang, I never got offered a deal like that, hahhah. Kidding. The shopping was great there. I want to go back. I spent only $100.00 and got a whole suitcase of stuff. Isnt it fun. Glad things went well. Now the fun begins. You will start shrinking.

Ok I have two choices. I can get a fill here for $190.00 and this would be blind, and I hear she is good. Or go to Olympia Washington for $150.00 and get it under Flouro and they are good too. The problem is the time off from work that I have to take to get there. I would leave here about 11:00 and get back about 4:00 so this is time off from work. I think this would be with pay. It is the time to take away from work that I worry about, we are very busy. I am almost thinking it is worth the drive to have it under x ray, I am not sure. I like the convenience of having someone here but I am not sure what to do. I was wondering what you all think. Would you all take the time to drive far for the xray? I guess I have been worried about my pouch, maybe I better do it. I just wanted to see what you all throught and what you guys do for your fills. thanks

How incredible it was to sit down to a wonderful dinner and not eat myself to sickness. I can't believe how great I feel. Not only was I able to say no, but I really had no desire to overeat. I had one plate and on each corner was a little bit of my little meals. Each from each food group. It was wonderful. I know now that when I get my fill and get more restriction that I am even going to be better. This was the best Thanksgiving I have ever had. I never realized what I was doing to my body. The band is so wonderful. Even my husband said that he liked the way he ate and was satisfied without making a pig of himself. I was happy to watch my son pig out. He was happy as a clam, it was cute. I just had to take a moment and speak out for this wonderful day and the wonderful things that the band is doing for our lives. I hope you too are having a great day. Take care.

I worry alot about stretching the pouch. I can currently eat, I feel alot but maybe it is less that what I think. I have only had one fill so I know I need another one. But sometimes I feel like I dont get that full feeling and that worries me. I am using a lot of willpower right now, thankgiving is going to be tough. I have a call in for an appt, I am just waiting for a call back. But I worry about the pouch, too bad they dont have home x ray, HA!

That is so scarry. I am sorry that happened to you. That kinda freaks me out. I get sick about three times a year and it is usually pretty bad. I got pheomonia 3 times last year, I thought I was dieing. I am scarred to think of this year if I get sick, that this would happen to me. I will definately make sure I listen to my body and if it tells me that I can't keep anything down, I am driving to my nearest dr that can do an unfill. I dont ever want to go through that. Thanks for letting us know what happened to you so we can keep advised on it. It is good information.

Support groups are very important, at least I think they are. I have attended my share. I am not sure I would go to one here in town. I kinda like being "stormy" and not being out there. For me, if I were to go to a group, it makes me nervous because I dont want to run into my clients. Although, I have not met a client yet who has had this done. But when I attended my divorce recovery group, I ran into one there and it was very uncomfortable. I loved seeing everyone at the Portland get together but the reality is, no one really knows me. My job is very hard and it gets in the way of my time with friends. I have to be very careful who I associate with because if they end up being a client, then the friendship has to end. It is very hard. If you can find a good support group, I would say go for it!

Maybe they had other issues with it but just didn't want to say anything. I myself dont have any plans to have mine taken out, when I meet my goal. This is one tool I am keeping.

It is the strangest thing. Hubby and I had our fills about 3 weeks ago and we find now that we have no restriction. I am not real happy about that, but you all said that the first fill not to expect much. I only got 1.6 CC's so I think the next one will be better. The one thing that is weird is I feel inches coming off. I look at my stomach and it is not as big as it was. It appears that my waist has changed. I measured and it has changed. That is so weird. I have lost about 6 pounds since my fill. But it seems to come on and then back on. Right now it is off. I suspect my cycle will come and it will be back in water weight. Hubby says he is experiencing the same thing. Inches vs pounds. I can tell on him because his pants fit differently. But he says that he hasn't lost anything. I think it is kinda interesting to see how all this works. I know we still have a long way to go when it comes to our eating habits. Old ways seem to creep back in. But I think the next fill is really going to help. Anyone here on their second fill? How was that different from the first? I am nervous about it. I still need to remind myself to CHEW CHEW CHEW. I dread the day I get something stuck. I am going to cry. HA!

Actually this thread was not about politics at all. It was about the sadness felt for the way things have become. But some people who stated that remaining positive is exactly right. We do have to try to remain positive that this will change. I have never been through a bad ecomony. Most of my life has been working and being able to make ends meet. I think this will be tough on everyone. I think that it is important to remember the people who can not provide for their families in this hard time. Look at how lucky we are that we can and do what we can to help those who can't. This is why I love my job, because I can honestly help someone in need. It makes me look at my life in a whole new way. The little things I worry about, like whether I can afford to get my band tightened and then I laugh, like that is going to kill me or something. Knowing me, I will find a way. I just sold something on craigslist, that is my band money. We bandsters, we stick together. Support eachother anyway that we can. That is what I love about this site. We all have to this to go through, but what I saw at the Portland Reunion was some wonderful people with bright shining smiles. It made me so happy just to be a part of this, no matter how poor I become. There are wonderful people out there, that I had never met before and without this site and being able to express concern for our futures and the positive of what we truely have. How would we ever know eachother. You guys rock. And from me, whatever I can do to support you all, I am here. Thanks again.

I sell on Ebay too and Craigslist. I actually sold some of my furniture. Rumor has it they laid off 12 people today. It is really sad. Obama I hope your ready for all this....

Have you been affected? So today they told us that the economy is getting so bad that our jobs are going to change. I am not happy about it at all. See I work at the Welfare office. I am not happy to see that more people are getting on benefits, but not just that, I am unhappy that I am again going to have to move offices. I just got things settled with my son, who has autism. I am close to his school and close to where he gets therapy and his daycare. This is going to mess everything up. I am not sure what I am going to do. The whole thing is really sad. I cried all the way home. I will no longer be able to work with the people I have worked with, I will no longer be able to do that job that I have loved for over 10 years. I have been at my job a total of 20 years and this is not the first time this has happened to me. This whole economy is a mess. How depressing.

I dont have half the problems that other people have thank goodness.

I took my meds on about day 4 of trying to crush them up and getting ill from the taste. I have had no problems with them. I take them one at a time and very slowly. Even since my fill, I still have been able to take them. My husband and I both talked to Dr O about it and he said that if you have to take a time released medication that is capsule that you just have to do it and hope that it dont hurt. He was kinda funny about it. He was so cute. He and my husband talked about his meds and my husband takes a capsule and has had no issues. Now we have only had one fill so I am not sure about future fills but we will just have to deal with it as it comes along. Really only you can make the decision of how you want to do it. Crushed or not, it really your choice. I myself could not handle the nasty awful taste. UG!

That is horrible. I am so sorry. I wonder why they make you leave it out for so long. That is awful. I am going to pray it is that port and nothing else.

Thank you for your response. Julie you are right. I had a real heart to heart with my dr today. He knows how much I want to be free of the medication and that the fact I am on it was because of a very bad situation that occured years back. Trulytangledgrl, I too am a social worker and it is very tough work, you should be very proud of the work you do. After our talk he is in agreement with my decision to raise the dose back up to 200 mg but lowering again is not completely out of the question. I agreed with alot of what you said Julie and when I told him about the forum and what you said, he agreed that in another 6 months, we should look at what I have lost in weight and consider trying again. He thinks that having the support of this forum has been a great benefit to me and thinks that the band will also help with some of the issues I have had with my self esteem. I have lost another 2 pounds this week and I feel really good about it. I was shocked to see a loss at all because I had been nibbling. I know I am PMSing and I will be bloating and that I may go back up. But I have to accept that. It is a monthly challenge I guess. I took my 200 mg last night and the body aches are starting to go away. One of the things I was having real anxiety about was my house and my job. Today I got up, cleaned one room and then went to work. I was late but I made it. They sent me to a new location to help them catch up on work and I was really worried about being there because I dont know anyone. But I got there and they knew who I was and thanked me over and over for coming. It was very nice. I felt so appreciated. I will only be there until Friday but I am going to work very hard while I am there. Thank you so much for responding. This forum is so great. With the information I get here, I can sit down and make a good decision, with the help of my lapband friends. You guys rock!!

So my dr and I had a discussion. He said maybe since I am now losing weight that we could adjust my medication. I am beginning to think this is a bad idea. Let me tell you my issues. I have something called Premenstrual dysphoric disorder or PMDD. I have also had anxiety and depression issues most of my life. With a little of PTSD, Post Traumic Stress Disorder thrown in there. I guess it sounds like I am a mess. But really I'm not. I take Zoloft, resperdal and topamax. The Zoloft is about 200 mg. The rest are only 10 mg. The dr thought since I am losing weight that we could lower the Zoloft to 150. Oh my God, let me tell you, I am a freakin mess. I can't stand the way my house is, it is a mess, I have lost complete control. I am depressed and concerned because I feel consumed by this Anxiety I am now feeling. It has only been about 5 days. I can not believe how awful this has made me feel. I can almost eat anything I want and trust me, I have been. Not to the point of over eating but forgetting sometimes to chew enough and it still goes down. I guess my first fill didn't take. I am worried about that, I am worried about my job, bills. I am mad that I can't lower this stuff and be normal. Am I doomed to be on this forever? I am now PMSing which makes the PMDD come out and I am short with my husband and freaking out about almost anything that is out of control. So I guess I must go back on my medication, back up to 200 mg. I guess it was worth a try. Has anyone lowered their meds and actually had it stick? One concern I have had is if I do get real restriction, it is going to be harder to take my meds. I tried crushing them, I can't do it, I throw it up. Anyway, thanks for letting me rant.

We heard the same things before we went and we were completely safe there. We even left the hotel and walked across the street to the store. No problems. They were very nice at the Hotel and at OCC. They knew exactly where we should and should not go. There was no way I would venture out without talking to the hotel about it. They were very nice to explain. The same thing happened to me when I went to Washington DC, someone freaked me out. Telling me it was the murder capital of the world and I was scarred to death. I went anyway, cause I had to, it was for my job. But again, I talked to the hotel I was at and they were nice and told me where I should and should not go. And also told me about traveling to places alone and what I should expect. Trust me on this one. I worried too. If you talk to the hotel and tell them your fears, they will direct you. It is safe there at the hotel and the OCC van does not take you to where you dont want to be. They know the area. The clinic is safe and they too are very aware of what is going on and where not to go. With anywhere you go, you have to know the rules of where you are. I would hope that if it was that unsafe that every person on here would be telling you not to go. But I dont see that. I think that if you keep cool, keep your eyes open and communicate with the staff involved. You should have a good trip. I know I did, we just went in Sept.

I just ordered both the protein and the myoplex. Pure laziness on my part, I could have looked around but this looks so easy. Thanks for the referral. I hope I like it.

So I went and got my first fill last Friday and at first it was tight. I got 1.6 CC's. But now I feel like I am back to where I was. Maybe a little less. I am not sure, but does that mean I need another fill? I am worried about getting too tight but it sure seems like I can eat a lot. I need to sit down and figure out how much I am eating but I have been hungry. I am just not sure how to know for sure if that is what I need to do. They did say that if in two weeks I felt like I was night right to call them back, I just dont have the time to go back there. I think I need to call that dr kitspatrick. Anyone on here use her?

I miss my Cherry Pepsi and it has only been two months. It has been hard to give it up. But you have to do it. I however, have not given up my mocha's but I have limited them to 2x per week. Thank goodness because I would not lose if I didn't. So far the loss is about 2 pounds a week. I bet if I gave them up completely it would be more. Some habits are hard to break but the pepsi had to go.

He is now being crate trained as he decided to eat my sons mattress. He seems to like it. Didnt cry or anything. I come home for lunch and let him out and he actually went potty outside on command. Well it is a start. Sunday is a day we will be going for a walk, we will see how he does. We played ball last night, he is very good at it, brings it back every time. He is not stupid, I dont think, he just wants to drive me insane. I hear that sometimes getting a tredmill is good, you can get them on it to get off some energy, the dog whisperer had that on there, it was cool. We have a pool but we tried to get him in it when it was warm and he said no way. What a weenie. Maybe next year. I am going to make his appt to get him fixed. Who knows maybe hubby start taking him out after that, he'll feel bad for him, HAHAHAH Kidding Thanks for all the info