julieburns

My strong recommendation would be to stay close to home and get your fill in Olympia. Not just so you can come to our party but for your own health and safety. Now first fills arn't as dangerous to get an overfill but this would establish you with Dr. Neil. Unless you have extra cash to make an emergency trip back to the OCC I urge you to consider going to Olympia.

You need to go wherever you can immediately and get checked for a slipped band or the need for an unfil.. You could have permanent damage already so I urge you to get to your clinic and get checked out. You also could have a band slipping with all the pain you are having. These are the signs of a band that has slipped, exactly what you have described. Please get yourself to where you can to get checked out ASAP...

Let's do a poll. I don't have time to set it up now, if some one else wants to please feel free otherwise I will do it tonight or tomorrow on my day off. I will include the original time 1pm and then 4pm and maybe 5pm. Stormy, would it be ok however if we do change the time to 4 or 5 with your sisters business. Yes for sure we will still come there. And also Stormy are you saying you can't make it to a 4 or 5 pm get together? Or are you just saying you can't/won't be able to go out dancing later. I want to be sure you can attend our "food" time for sure since you have so generously helped to plan the spot. so anyway I'll get a poll up and if you vote please be absolutely sure you are going to attend so it will benefit those who are for sure coming. I will keep the poll open a week or two to give plenty of time for folks to decide. I think 2 weeks before though should be the deadline which is the 25th of October. we can then also have a head count for Kim's sister to know fairly closely how many are coming so she can also have time to prepare. Look for the poll tomorrow unless someone else wants to put it up before I get time tomorrow. Cheers to all!!

Hey Trina long time no see. I am happy you feel restriction. This will really help the weight come off.

:lb13: :lb10: How awesome for you Denise....You are truly an inspiration. I wish your mom all the best for a speedy recovery and it's good to hear she's going to have some PT.

I'm so excited all of you are coming and especially the ones who are driving a fair distance for this and then staying over... :party: :party: This will be us for sure!!! Now the big question for me is also what am I going to wear??? Oh man good thing we have time to figure it out. But in 4 weeks if I really try I could be down another size....hhhhhuummmmm last minute shopping I guess!! I told my husband this AM about our lunch that has now turned out to a full blown night of partying....I will ask him if he could drive anyone of us and then pick us up to safely return us to wherever we need to go. We are all about NO drinking and driving. so I am sure he will.

My mom used to tell me..."Kill her with kindness". I have the same situation at work with more than just 1 of my coworkers. They are a bunch of gossipy young women that think the world revolves around them. I feel like the old lady outcast much of the time when they come on at 7 pm. Luckily I only have 3 hours with most of them but it can be awful. I realized just recently to consider the sources...Obviously their lives are unhappy in some way and they thrive on making others lives just as miserable. They sometimes arn't even aware what a piece of work they really are. Anyway it dawned on me that I was giving them too much power, even any at all over myself and how I feel. From that day on I have held my head up high, smiled and kept it strictly professional, and I've not allowed any comments or actions to upset me. If I start to get upset or hurt feelings I sort of click this switch in my head and focus on to whom I answer.....and it's certainly not them. We all have these type of people somewhere in our lives, they are petty, 2 faced, story tellers but they are just like us...people. When they start to get you upset just make an extra effort inside to always say something to yourself like.."consider the source" or this pooor person" or something along those lines. Say it each time you have a negative interaction with them. Soon this saying will pop into your head automatically when you see them and you won't focus on how they are trying to hurt you. It's brainwashing yourself to not allow them to hurt you. You don't need that, you are a strong woman who can let this not bother you if you choose to. :lb4:

I was so happy to report that during my recent fill/unfill experience I had lost at least 8 pounds. I finally started eating thick soups on friday and then the last 2 days followed the recommended eating guidlines and ate only 1/3 to 1/2 cup at each sitting. Only really ate 2 times a day as I kep full most of the day. So I get on the scale this AM and guess what? You can probably figure it out due to my title of this post but I have gained back all of it except 2 pounds ( actually lost 2 pounds instead of 8)....I am thankful for that I guess in 1 week. I want to throw the scales against the wall...maybe I will. I have a scale at work and I could just weight there once a month. I know I was very dehydrated and when we starve and then eat the body goes into survival mode. I guess if there is a famine and I will survive just fine!! I'm actually not at all surprised at this yo-yo. I have taught my body to do this throughout the years of dieting. I just wish I could have kept more of it off. :lb20: :dash2: :wacko2: :dash1: :dash3: :lb1: (

Ok so now with folks staying overnight we may need to find some good places for us to get out and rip up the carpet!! I don't go out at all anymore so I am out of touch with where we would be comfortable do to this. So many places are for the teenie boppers, not that we don't have that in our hearts but you know what I mean. I do know of a great place but it's in Vancouver, really only about 20 miles from the Clackamas area though. Are people who are staying overnite thinking of going out dancing and or just continuing the party into the evening? I am so thrilled with the amount of replies os far. I can't wait to meet my fellow "Mexican" bandsters. It so neat we are all at different stages of this journey as well. Cheers for now and keep those ideas coming!!

Heidi my prayers are with you and your family during this most difficult, emotional time, no matter how "smooth" it's going. yes God will get you through this, You "can do ALL things through Christ", "Draw near to God and he will Draw near to you", and finally "This too shall pass". Jump into your relationship with Him and you won't be let down. Let Him guide you through this. It sounds like you really do have your head on your shoulders and have made good decisions so far. don't let the devil sabotage you. Many of us have been down this same path and walked through it and been the better for it. I hope this is the case with you. This is YOUR time to figure so many things out that you never even though of yet. Be patient, allow time to grieve, do good things for yourself DAILY....I think the gym is a super idea. Cherish yourself and know you made the best decision for you and your family at this time. Many hugs and much love to you. I will add you to my prayer list sweetie!!

Hi Michelle: Hope all goes well with your fill. Be careful to really asess it before you leave TJ. If it feel to tigh right away(or later that night) it probably is. What an honor if you do end up coming to our little get together, flying and all. It will be soooo much fun to finally meet all the wonderful people close to home on here. Let us know how the fill goes

You are too funny. Whomever does your fill probably won't even know about it. It was Dr. Acosta who did mine. Even the front desk folks are probably clueless!!!

It's very common since all you are having are liquids. Get yourself some kaopectate. Also start on some sort of fiber ASAP. I LOVE benefiber. It's a powder that dissolves completely in any liquid, they also have chewable tablets. If you get the powder benefiber put it in everything you drink. this should help in a day or to without the kaopectate but if you need relief sooner than bet that. Some folks find that apple juice also increases this so cut down on that.

Hey Trudy what bravery to come confess. Admitting it is the first step. I too struggled as you did until my 2nd fill last Friday. I had no restriction and fell into old eating habits. I think it is so important and way overlooked in the education of pre-banded patients how the weight loss works. Yes you lose on the pre-op diet. Yes you lose during the first 3 weeks, for goodness sakes your only on liquids. Some people even regain or stop losing once they start creamy soups or go back on real food. This is so normal. Any weight lost during the those weeks of near starvation are a great start. But then things slow down for alot of people. Not all mind you but certainly a good portion of us. It is not explained that you will have no restriction until your 2nd perhaps 3rd fill. You may have some transient what I call "teaser"restriction just when you come off the liquids and maybe a little after first fill. With the first fill many experience a delay in restriction if they are going to get it, perhaps 4-7 days and then you have some. We all get psyched up to lose alot of weight in the first 3 months and my experience and from what I have read alot of others really don't start to lose good weight untill later than we might hope for and truly want. It does not make us a failure. Having the band is what will make us winners in the long run. When we have restriction then we can truly use the tool to it's fullest potential and really lose the weight. Hang in there for this exciting time to come....it will. Now about asking your doc to give you more of a fill. DON'T DO IT!!! Let the experience of a professional make the decisions here. Have you read my horror story of the 2nd fill. I didn't even solicit a "large" or generous fill they just put it in at the OCC. Within 24 hours I could keep almost nothing down. Occasional sips of water, only in the evening. Also only in the evening I could get down some gatorade but that was it. I woke up choking at night from my own spit backing up several times. I got weaker and weaker and more dehydrated. I was ready to buy a last minute ticket for $600 bucks to go back to the OCC. Had they just called me back after several messages left . I was very fortunate to fine someone an hour from home who would take "mexican" bandsters. She unfilled me, let me go eat and rehydrate, and then I went back and got refilled, .25 cc less than what was found in the band. I lost 10 pounds in 5 days. Not the way to lose weight. I was only able to eat liquids until yesterday (1 week total) and I missed 2 days from work and it has taken it's toll on my health. Bigger is not better and it can potentially be very dangerous and at the least miserable. I was told, especially with blind fills which is what I had for the unfil, that they must do smaller more frequent fills for your own health and safety. Period. Don't talk them into something you really don't want or know what may happen with too much Trudy it's not worth it. Patience is the key here and yes it sucks but it's for your own safety. Bands that are overfilled run the risk of also causing esophageal erosion if left in too long and then you have to have the band removed!! YOu don't want that now do you? Also chronically overeating will stretch out the esophagus causing much trouble as well. Now I am not trying to scare you but just tell you my experience and what I know at this point about fills. Don't be hard on yourself for the overindulging. Just make today a new day, try to do better, drink more water and let the past go. You can do this but it might take longer than you had planned. I know it is for me.

From what I know that was just explained to me recently most times you really have no warning this is going to/or is happening. It is alot of pain, perhaps like gas that doesn't go away and as Cathy said you can't keep anything down and are quite sick. Prevention is the key here. I think the most important thing is DON'T overeat.

Oh you deserve this Lisa!! Enjoy for all of us still working on goal.

I am no help mona, but I hope you can find one. that would be great for you. I miss you!!

I am sorry this didn't just disappear overnight. I too HATE sore throats, they are the worst. Now the gag reflex thing would only make this even more terrorizing. Hang low this weekend, relax, it's the boys turn to do the weekend housework!! Oh yes and waiting on mama hand and foot. Tell them that' what the doctor's nurse prescribed!!

This german/czech girl will be one of the onlookers as well.....Oh but I do love the saeurkraut....maybe just a little taste of that!! If I am able to eat anything!!

Good question. Yes Clackamas is accessed from I-205. I do want Stormy to maybe give us ideas of what kind of food they serve and where it is. I think we do need to get something easy to find for out of towners. I had forgotten about that. Stormy? What's the name of it also?

I wondered where you were today Cathy. sorry you are sick. the only thing I can add is Cepacol or another brand sore throat spray. It sort of numbs the throat for a short while. I especially like using it at night when I don't feel like sucking on a lozenge. And really the warm salt water rinse is tried and true, doctor recommended for this too. Do it several times a day. It changes the PH of your throat to help it not hurt as much. Take care and drink lots of fluids honey. :lb18:

That sounds GREAT!! I think we have the location for sure. I am glad people are wanting to do this, I know I sure do. I really think I would just like to make the date November 8th and set it. This way we all have enough time to put it on out calendars and take care of any necessary plans so we can come... I'm excited. The only other date before thanksgiving would be October 25th and that's pretty soon or the 22nd of November but that is the weekend b-4 thanksgiving and I know alot of people will be preparing for the holiday. So let me know if this November 8th date is good for most hopefully and it's a done deal. This will happen!! Now should it be a lunch thing? That may be best like around 1:00 or so. Or if more people want dinner just give some input. If it's lunch I want it to be late enough for those that have to travel to not have to get up at the crack of dawn. My vote is for a lunch thing but if others want dinner just let us know. I am flexible either way.

:lb5: and :lb9:

My verizon did not work. I met someone who's did though. Check with Verizon and you should be able to get it to work.