BeBe

I lost a $1,000 ring in Vegas... just slipped off my finger as I was walking. I asked the hotel about a lost and found, and they took me to a room and pulled out a box FULL of women's rings! Unfortunately, mine was not among them - but it just goes to show how often our rings slip off un-noticed.

Keep in mind that it's not all about the numbers on the scale. I was upset that I wasn't losing at all... but then my clothes seemed loose, so I went shopping for a new pair of jeans and discovered I was a size FOUR! I had been losing inches, but not pounds. It will happen at the rate your body wants to let go of it. Remember, your butt and your cellulite have been friends for years - it may be hard for them to part company. ;-)

Thanks everyone. I'm shocked, to say the least. It was totally unexpected - I already have 5 kids with only one left in the house (12 years old). I thought I was DONE!!! I'm too old to go through this at 39, right?!?! LOL! I'm taking it in stride - but it does seem to be my luck. LOL! I definitely need to get loosened up now, because I can hardly keep anything down.

Found out I'm pregnant. OY!!!

In the year and a half since being banded, I haven't had a single carbonated beverage... it's just not something I'm willing to risk. I used to be addicted to Diet Coke, but I honestly don't miss it.

I ate very little before being banded - or so I thought. All of my exes could never understand why I had weight issues and would often tell me "You eat like a bird! How can you be overweight?!?" I must have been getting a lot of calories from a bite of food here and there - all the grazing that goes on during the day... because since I've been banded, I've lost almost 70 lb. (I'm 1 lb. away from my goal weight). Yes, you will lose weight. It might be slower than other people (it's taken me almost 18 months to get here!), but it will happen.

I will be living back in San Diego in Sept. and would love to meet other bandsters...

Who do you see in Boise now?

My cycle shortened from 28 days to 24 days about 2 months after the surgery. It really sucks...

Some people look at this as "taking the easy way out" and can't support what they see as failure. They don't necessarily know how to react to admitting that your weight was something that you couldn't control on your own and you needed a "medical intervention". While she wasn't as supportive as you may have liked, at least be glad that she wasn't mean about it either.... because as others have said, there are those who have no problems insulting someone who had WLS.

How do you find places that do this? I googled it, and came up empty - but I may be looking for the wrong thing.

I did that with my first fill! I ate a chicken wing and it got stuck and I couldn't even SWALLOW! I was miserable until it came unstuck about 24 hours later. I would wait it out a little bit and see if it comes up or passes through. You can take some papaya enzymes to help. When my chicken wing went through, I was sipping on gatorade - I just kept taking the tiniest drinks and waiting a minute and taking another one. I know of someone else who ate after a fill and got something stuck so she went in for an unfill and then regretted it since the swelling went down and then she had NO restriction but was out the $$. Once it passes through (or comes up), make sure you stay on liquids until your swelling goes down.

To the person who thinks it's the low calorie diet alone (Lindsay?) - I'd just like to ask why then have I been at the same weight for almost 3 months when I'm eating less than 1,000 calories (more like 500-600) per day?!? If I'm already restricting my calories - obviously there has to be more to it. If I knew of someone in my area who did this, I would certainly give it a try. Just because you are not finding a lot of positive articles on hcg doesn't make it snake oil. I only just heard about it from reading this thread... it's still very new apparently, and the more people use it, the more data there will be on its effectiveness (if it is). It certainly couldn't hurt - so why be so negative about something that could possibly help others? Why discourage someone from doing something that might help them? How many of us were discouraged from getting the lap band? How many of us were told we should just get more exercise and eat less?!? Our bodies work in mysterious ways that doctors don't always understand (if they did, they would be able to tell me what's wrong with me! LOL!)... and just because there hasn't been enough positive results collected to satisfy you, there are plenty of intelligent women here who can do the research themselves and form their own conclusions without you trying to stuff your negative opinions down their throats. We are here to encourage and support each other - sheesh!!!!

I wonder if there was a lack of "positive statistics" to be found online when the lap band was new? Just thinking aloud here... ;-)

Ok, I just got back from my appointment, and he took .3 cc out, so right now I guess I'm at 2.7 cc. I'm trying to eat some chicken right now - we'll see how it goes. I just want to be able to start eating healthier foods. I haven't been able to eat vegetables in MONTHS... and very little meat (mainly just the fish from Jack in the Box would go down). Cross your fingers for me. Thanks!!!

I'm paying $150 for the unfill today - and any adjustments made within 2 weeks are only $50 ... which is why I was thinking of doing the complete unfill since it will only cost me an extra $50 to get it refilled in two weeks. GAH!!! Decisions, decisions. *sigh*

Ok, so I've been too tight since October. I've lived with it thinking it would loosen up as I've lost weight. I've lost weight (I'm almost at goal) but it hasn't loosened up at all. I PB all the time. So lately, I've been having what I assume is acid reflux at night. It's been going on for the last couple of weeks and it really interferes with my sleep. I made an appointment for 6 p.m. this evening for an unfill - but I'm torn as to whether or not to have a slight unfill or a complete unfill and give my band a rest for a couple of weeks. My Dr. doesn't do flouroscopy, so I do have concerns about a stretched pouch or a slipped band and no way of knowing. My gut tells me to go for the complete unfill, since I could get the re-fill within 2 weeks for only an additional $50 - but I'm scared to death about being this close to goal and gaining weight back! I'm so torn... can someone who's maybe been in my shoes give me a bit of advice? Thanks!!!

I think most of the people here had their band put in at OCC, and Dr. Ortiz is the best in the world. :-) I hope you get your port fixed and you have no further problems with your band.

I thought the band would get looser as we lost weight... which is why when I got a too-tight fill, I just waited it out. I've been "waiting it out" since October and now I'm almost at goal and still haven't loosened up AT ALL. I really needed an unfill, but didn't want to spend $150 just to have to spend another $150 to be back where I started. Now I see that it was a mistake and I should have gotten it... I'm sure I could have been at goal a long time ago if I would have been able to eat the right things - they just wouldn't stay down though.

Even though I am almost at my goal, I need the daily accountability to keep my eating habits in check. If I don't weigh every day, I could make bad choices for several days in a row and before I know it, I'd be up 5 lb. And as we all know, 5 lb. is very easy to put on - but can take MONTHS to get off (I've been trying to drop my last 6 lb. for almost 2 months and the scale hasn't budged!). If you are that strong, I envy you. Just keep in mind that it can sneak back up on you without much warning.

Thanks guys! :-)

You look awesome! I remember when I had mine - and how thrilled I was afterward, so I can imagine how elated you are with your new body. The only downside was the photos they showed me afterward... one of them was the triangular portions of my flesh after they were cut off of me and sitting on the surgical table. That photo still haunts me. LOL! Glad you're happy with the outcome!

Thank you! :-) I'm all nervous about this - it would be such a huge deal for my business (and finances!) to get on TV. LOL! And I'm totally not averse to being "pimped out" if you know anyone who may be interested in voting as well. Heh.

I've entered a couple of competitions for cake decorating, and have a profile at http://www.realitywanted.com/b r a n d i b a k e s (please remove spaces - I put them there as I don't want my profile here Googled by my customers) If you'd like to help support me, please vote. You can vote once per 24 hours, per IP address. I'd really appreciate any/all help! Thanks! BeBe

Congratulations! My 1 year bandiversary will be tomorrow - I can't believe it! You're right, it is a tool, and it DOES work. I have been very bad many times and my band has stopped me from kicking my own @$$ as I have done for years. BTW, you're lookin' AWESOME!!