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Crazycoolbutterfly Your story brought tears to my eyes thank you so much for sharing. Good for you! GREAT for you! YOU did AWESOME!

Hey Stormy, congrats on your 2nd fill! I hope this give you great restriction. I love Dr. Fitzpatrick... straight, to the point and hits it on the first poke! wooo hooo

HAHAHAHAHAHAH... "yoyonomore" that's funny! and soooo true!

I'm so happy your mom made the choice to get banded! wooo hoooo... she's on her way to a healthier life. You look fantastic Michelle! Nice to see your pics! xoxoxoxo

Congrats on your upcoming surgery! It will be here before you know it. I hit my sweet spot on my 3rd fill 2.9cc's. I got my 3rd fill a little over 4 months after being banded. If you read my signature it will tell you how much weight I lost from surgery until each fill. I had to have an unfill a week ago becaue I just tightened up and couldn't keep anything down. I'm down to 2.3cc's right now and still have great restriction.. almost to the point that I might have a little more taken out because I am still not consistently getting enough down (in my opinion) Hope this helps.

Thanks so much for this information! I love the fill Dr. I ususally see but she is difficult to get in with and I love the idea that he has fluro if you need it.

Thanks so much for this information! I love the fill Dr. I ususally see but she is difficult to get in with and I love the idea that he has fluro if you need it.

Karen Thanks for your post! I had a similiar situation this week. I got really sick with the flu over Christmas. A week later and I felt better but just couldn't keep any food down, super super tight. I could "feel" that I was just to tight so I had an unfill on Friday. I had .3 cc's taken out. I thought I had 2.9cc's in my band but found out that I had 2.6 and now I have right around 2.3cc's. I feel better, I am able to get liquids down and eat small portions. When you stay in tune with your body you really can tell when something is different. The band is fickle and it's really hard to tell from one day to the next. Lisa I agree that everyone should try to have a little emergency fund set aside just in case anything comes up. Even a couple hundered dollars for an emergency unfill locally. Also.. I hope your son moves out by the summer/fall because I'm wanting to get my thighs and upper arms done!

vallerygirl Don't get discouraged! The band is not a quick fix, it does take time. I was banded 3/24/08. I weighed 276 at surgery. today I weight 186 pounds. A little over 9 months and I am down 90 pounds! If you will read my signature you will see that between banding 3/24 and my 3rd fill in august I only lost 25lbs. yikes! I was feeling like a failure and would read the board daily and hear all these wonderful stories of people losing weight like crazy and I would sit and wonder what is wrong with me?!?!?!? After my 3rd fill I hit my "sweet spot" and I also did a LOT of mental work.. lol meaning I had to have positive talks with myself several times a day about why I got the band and how I needed to take responsibility for my behavior and makes changes... everything finally came together and the weight literally begin falling off. You will hear this over and over and over and over but the band is a TOOL.. it is NOT the end all be all for losing weight. You must follow Dr's instructions and "bandster rules"... we all fall off the wagon but we will never put you down.. we are here to support you, give you encouragement and tell you that YES YOU CAN DO THIS! I have a ton of before/after pics on myspace if anyone is interested let me know . For some reason I never was able to post pics in my posting on this forum. I could also update my gallery... maybe I'll work on that.

Hey Bill I can't find you!?

Julie Big hug > and Congrats to you! You've come a looong way baby! You will never see those 65lbs again. xoxoxo

I weigh myself every morning but only record my weight loss/gain on Monday's. I just got back from being on vacation for almost 2 weeks.. the FIRST thing I did when I got home was weigh myself! lol no scales where I was. I actually dropped 4 pounds while on VACATION! A first for me. I agree with Lisa that all my "skinny" friends don't know exactly how much they weigh.. some never get on the scale... they just don't think about it. While I don't think I could ever go that far I would like to not be such a slave to the scale. This 2 weeks without getting on it really was an eye opener for me.

Thanks Lisa! I've had those drinks.. they are "chunky" I thought maybe I got a bad batch! LOL Well everyone I am walking out the door for my much needed vacation to JAMAICA!!.... woo hooo.. I'll be back dec 18th and hope I still see this thread going. I'll have some new summer pics when I return. B: coffee / protein shake L: few macadamia nuts S: 3 ritz crackers D: clam chowder soup.. blended a little.. eaten over 1.5 hrs. I plan on having a cocktail b/4 I board the plane so I was saving some calories for tonight!

Hi Arlene, nice to see you ! Mindy

Mona- I swear you aren't eating enough! I read your menu and I was like holy crap.. is that it?!?!?! Are you getting enough food?!? Lisa - I was also wondering which protein drinks you keep in your car? B: coffee & protein drink L: macadamia nuts & 12oz cream of mushroom soup with GIANT mushrooms..sooo good (eaten over an hours time) S: protein drink D: 4oz smoked pork / green beans Got lots of water in today and walked 3 miles. Please keep posting ladies.>I love to read what everyone's eating.

Oh Ramona... > > Thank you so much for posting! It does take courage to put it all out there and please know there is NO WAY you are failure!! It's just not possible! Through all of this you have always said "my time will come" and I believe that is still true. I agree 100% with you that you SHOULD be losing weight! There must be a medical reason that has yet to be discovered for you. I wish I could reach out and give you a giant hug right now. > You are a beautiful, strong and resiliant person Mona! I know there is something that is preventing this weight from falling off you, that is the only explanation. Is there any way you could e/mail Dr. Ortiz directly with a detailed status report of exactly what has been happening to you since day 1 and see if he has any suggestions, ideas, comments.. anything?!?! Then you had to deal with the additional insult to injury by paying way more for your appointment. I'm so sorry. How long will you be on liquids before you attempt to eat? Did the Dr. Have any useful suggestions for you? I hope you came home and got lots of kitty love. You are in my thoughts and I will be checking in with you. xoxoxo

Mona Hey girl, did you have your fill appointment yesterday or today? How did it go? I knwo you weren't stepping on the scale until that time and your clothes have been getting way to big for you. Did you get another fill? Curious minds want to know! xoxox

Louise Welcome to the forum! Be sure you are getting enough protein in your diet. Try protein shakes.. make sure then are not loaded with sugar and carbs (slimfast) I love the EAS shakes.. 110 calories.. 2grams carbs.. low sugar.. there are MANY on the market.. sugar will give you a temp high then a crash. Let us know how youare doing. Mindy

Ahhh.. ladies.. did no one eat today?!?! LOL B: coffee L: nuts (not me but actual cashews/almonds) D: 1 cup split pea and ham soup eaten over 1 1/2 hrs HH: (happy hour) 2 delicious spanish coffee's! S: 1/4 cup nuts 2nd dinner: 1 cup soup: thai soup.. chix broth/ground chicken/carrots and a little rice late night snack: 1 cup ice cream oooohhhh.. I got lots of food AND water in today.. honestly it felt really good to eat and kinda fuel up.. I haven't eaten enough the last few days so today felt really good. for me it really works to eat more ever week or so.. kind shakes up my body.

Where did they get their bands/who was their Dr.? What did their dr. say? Please give us more info. Welcome to the forum.!

Kristy Welcome to bandland baby! It's a great ride! we're here for you! Mindy

ME TOO!!! I talk about how much I weigh all the time! I nver did that before! NEVER! I even get on the scale infront of my boyfriend(now exboyfriend) and would show him. People at work will ask me what I'm at now and I proudly would reply... 220.. then 210.. 200.. now 194! it's great! It's becasue we talk about it so freely here and there is NO JUDGEMENT just encouragement.

HI Evette! How are you? ahhh.. I love to cook so bean soup for me is usually the following 1 package lean ground turkey.. cook it then add the following 1 can diced tomatoes 1 can caribbean chili beans.. they are well seasoned.. (I don't drain the beans, I add it "as is" ) 2 cans of broth .. either beef or chicken or veggie.. doeesn't matter.. and if I don't have it I just add water. easy peasy sometimes I throw in veggies but usally just stick with the above salt/pepper/chili flakes/garlic powder and if I have it a chili seasoning packet let it all simmer then that is my soup for the week. It's super easy, lots of protein and fiber.. if I'm having "tight" day I will even blend it a little with a hand blender. I also LOVE LOVE LOVE trader Joe's vegetarian chili w/ tofu. Sounds gross (and I'm picky about flavor) but it is super good. I love to have that on hand for quick meals. I will even add it to the above soup receipe sometimes when I need to stretch it out a little. My Food today: B: coffee / protein shake L: nuts.. macadamia, almonds, cashews about 4oz over 30 minutes S: 2-3oz smoked pork / 1/4 cup bean soup D: was super tight.... ate a couple bites of chicken and knew eating wasn't an option tonight. pb'd it 10minutes later later: had a couple bites of icecream... don't know why.. still tight.. only good thing about icecream is it tastes as good coming up as it does going down. hahaha... Stress is knocking at my door since the weekend and I really feel it. I have been xtra tight the last few days... I really do eat more than this on a normal day.

WOW! 90lbs is fantastic! I'm so excited for you.

Good morning Jeni! Welcome to the forum. I also am looking out my kitchen window at this dreary day in Ptown I've been banded over 8 months now and it was the BEST decision I ever made. Everyone here will support you and answer any questions you have. There are alot of Oregon/Washington bandsters! have a great day Mindy