jhawkchick75

You know, so far i'm doing just fine! I don't know if i'm still inflamed from the unfill, but today I was able to eat about what I did before and was not hungry. I am really hoping it stays this way. I figure i'll have some head hunger, but i'll work with that. I've also got my benefiber that can help me. I kind of wonder if I was a bit too tight b/c I don't think I was eating enough. I'm so close to goal I hope I can get there. I'm doing two 5k's this month so hopefully that will help keep me on track!

I looked them up on the Taco Bell site and you are right it is 200. The pintos and cheese are 150. I do one of each so 350 for a meal so that isn't too bad. They are really filling, especially the pintos and cheese. If you have to eat out those are good and also Wendy's chili is good too.

A lot of it depends on what you do for a living and how quick you recover. I seemed to have more pain than others - I had surgery on a Thurs and went back to work on Wed. My first day back though was a 12 hour day and that was tough. I sit at a desk all day and if I could have gotten up and taken walks it would have helped a lot. Some people go right back to work with no issues. Sorry, that didn't really give you an answer! If you do go back quickly make sure you can get up about every hour and take a quick walk.

Thanks so much! It just makes me feel better to get that unfill while i'm stressed. Would rather stay the same weight or gain a few than lose my band! On the 79 cent menu at taco bell they have a cheese roll up. All it is is a tortillia with cheese in it melted. I can to tortillias so I dip those in hot sauce and eat them. Only about 99 calories per one if I remember right. I'll get one of those and some pintos and cheese and it's a great meal. Since i've been having to eat out a lot b/c of being at the hospital i'm trying to be good.

Thanks so much! It just makes me feel better to get that unfill while i'm stressed. Would rather stay the same weight or gain a few than lose my band! On the 79 cent menu at taco bell they have a cheese roll up. All it is is a tortillia with cheese in it melted. I can to tortillias so I dip those in hot sauce and eat them. Only about 99 calories per one if I remember right. I'll get one of those and some pintos and cheese and it's a great meal. Since i've been having to eat out a lot b/c of being at the hospital i'm trying to be good.

I'm sure you are OK, but just to be safe i'd do what they say. Drink like a 1/2 cup and then even like an hour later you can do more, but I would spread it out. Good luck!!

OK, so back from the doctor with 1cc less in my band. I was inflamed and tight, but no damage was done thankfully! She was aiming to take .6 or .8 out but when she put the needle in, you could see the liquid just pop back into the syringe b/c it was so tight. It liked 2.1, so 1cc out is what I got! Told me to do like I would with a fill and just eat softer foods for the next 24 hours. Can't go back for a month, so really gotta work hard with only 2.1 cc's in there. Gonna be work but it's better than a damaged band! Go back to try to fill me back up first week of Dec. B: Protein shake - about half L: Taco Bell pintos and cheese and 1 cheese roll up - went down fine - yeah!!!! D: TBA Calories so far: 300 Thank you all so much for your thoughts during this time. It means more than you know!

jNot sure if you are still looking for aftercare but if you call OCC they will give you a list of folks in your area that will see you. At least that is what they did for me a year ago.

Everyone is different, but I had gas for the first three weeks or so, so it sounds like you are doing much better! Once I started solids it wasn't too different, but I did quit losing weight. So don't be surprised if that happens. Many folks gain some weight back during that time. Just follow the rules and try to survive until you have a couple of fills under your belt. In terms of creamy soups I am not a fan of most of them, but one I really like is the creamy tomato bisque - both healthy choice and campbells have it and I pretty much lived off that. Also, somewhere on this site is a whole thread of soup recipes. I am not a good cook so I never tried them, but they sure sounded good!

Welp, so much for the loosening up! My dad and I went to grab a quick bite tonight and I got about 5 bites of mac and cheese down and I had the most horrible pb/sliming episode i've ever had. Man, it hurt so bad! I'm calling my doctor as soon as he opens to see if I can get in and get an unfill. Not fully, but enough to get me through this. I think it is b/c besides the stuff w/ my brother I also found out today my grandpa isn't doing well and they might put him in the hospital. My grandma has altzheimers and my other grandpa has cancer so it's just stuff on stuff. They say they won't give you more than you can handle right? Ugh!

My band has loosened up for me a bit, but i'm still stuck at the hospital and not eating too good. B: chips and cheese L: tortillia w/ cheese inside S: pringles 100 cal pack and a few fig newtons D: Mac and cheese w/ chicken - horrible PB!

Question for ya - on the turkey roll up is that just deli style turkey lunchmeat w/ the cream cheese on it? Sounds good might have to try that!

PB'ing is not fun, but is a part of life with the band. You should try to do it as little as possible. I guess on average i'd say I do it once every week to two weeks just depends. But I try to do it as little as possible. You chew really well and take small bites and know your body and what your band can tolerate and what it can't. I know someone that was doing that stuff, but her doctor made her stop b/c she wasn't getting enough calories. I know folks do it, but i'd check w/ your doctor first. Good luck!!

Thanks everyone!!! I usually just let ignorant comments roll off my back, but that one just set me off. Everyone has their own goals and who is anyone to say that they shouldn't be able to work towards them. Those folks need to remember that they didn't wake up one day and say...hey, I think i'll run 5, 10, or however many miles that day. They had to work up to it also and I think they forget that. That is why when I see someone overweight at the gym or in Zumba, I get so proud for them and am so glad that they are taking that next step to get healthy. Kudos to them!

Thanks so much! They got my brother to sit up today which was good, but it hurt so bad that his heart rate went through the roof and they had to put him back down immediately. I was able to get down about 5 bites of refried beans last night and a couple bites of cheese enchilada so that was good. I also had some crab cake and cottage cheese for lunch so if I'm really careful I can get stuff down. He's just in so much pain I feel so bad for him. But he's alive that is what matters.

VERTICALLY CHALLENGED PEOPLE UNITE!!!!!!!

B: None S: vanilla ice cream - bad, but it stayed down so mission accomplished! L: 1 1/2 crab cakes and some cottage cheese D: TBA: If my brother is feeling OK i'm gonna try to go home for a bit and make dinner. So tired of eating out! I have some mushrooms I really want to marinate and cook up.

I lost this week but it hasn't been in a good way - lost 1lb this week. Still can't keep stuff down so i'm on a lot of liquids and soft stuff. Going to do my best to get back on some healthier foods this week and get back to working out. Good luck to you all this week!!

Yeah, that really helped me out and made me feel prepared for the trip. Once I got there I was not nervous at all. Actually, I was able to get it done a day early and was super excited. I was like OK, lets DO THIS!!! In terms of hunger you can do the benefiber or fiber choice which comes in powder form and just put it in your liquids. Then, once I got past the liquid stage I went to the fiber choice chewables. The strawberry ones are really good. Take those around 10am and again at 3pm it helps a lot. Any other questions just ask!!

I was told to do about 1 cup at a time on the creamy soups. I highly doubt you can stretch your pouch without a fill, but I wouldn't push your luck b/c it might be possible. Just make sure you are sipping and you should be fine. If you feel full and/or get that hiccup just stop.

That is SO right on where I am right now and I like the term limbo for it. Once you get down to where you don't have a lot to lose it gets really freakin' hard to take that off. I used to get so mad at my friends who would complain that they wanted to take 10 lbs off, but now I understand how hard it was for them. These last few lbs (10 for me I think) are gonna be tough and then maintenance too, but i'm gonna keep working at it! Thanks for posting!

Threw up twice last night from stress so i'm on liquids for a while. Might try something soft for dinner if that doesn't work then i'm gonna call for an unfill for a while. Doing some Maalox too to get the inflamation down. B: Grape juice L: Protein shake S: 100 calorie pack pringles D: About 4 bites of refried beans and about 4 bites of a cheese enchilada. Also a few chips and cheese. Was able to keep this down which is good, but couldn't eat much at all. Got full really fast. S: More chips and cheese when I got off work

Congrats on your upcoming surgery! My advice is to take as much time as you can to look through old posts. That is what I did and by the time I got to surgery I was ready to go! In terms of clear liquids, I did kellogs special K water, gatorade, and I drained soups and drank the broth. They said to do the Weyler's beef and chicken stock, but I seriously couldn't stomach it they were so gross! So I took chicken noodle soup and drained it really good. Honestly I was not hardly hungry during the first 7 days, so I just slept and walked a lot and did OK. Once you get through that and can get to creamy soups it is a lot better. If I remember right there is a recipe list around here somewhere for soups - take advantage of that or you will get really bored. I wasn't given any specific directions in regards to alcohol, but I just decided to not do it until I was back on solids. After being banded your tolerance will be shot, and since you are so restricted on liquids it will be even worse, so I would really avoid alcohol. Again, the thing that helped me best is I spent seriously hours reading back months and months into posts and I also got a notebook and took notes on certain things. There are threads in here about food, what to take with you, etc...so make sure and read up. Good luck!

So, I recently joined this yahoo group where people post about running in the city I live in. Recently someone decided to go on a rant about how "real" runners shouldn't be able to be in marathons and other races because they get in his way and they don't deserve to say they did it if they can't finish it in a certain time. I had never posted on there, but felt I needed to and I thought i'd share it with you all. Also, here is a link that someone posted that really hit home for me and was inspirational. I think no matter what our goals are they are valid and no matter what we are successful! Hopefully what I wrote made sense....I am very sleep deprived and emotional these days!! http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/story/1524835.html#at My response: Thank you SO much for posting this article! I was not going to chime into these conversations but I wanted to thank you for posting this. I joined this group recently hoping to get advice and learn about events as I am new to running. I am by no means a pro - I began running as to give me a new challenge in my weight loss efforts. In the past year I have lost over 65 lbs and did my first race on my 34th birthday, the Zoo Run in September. Knowing I was not going to be competitive (and did not start this endeavor with the intentions of being) I placed myself towards the back of the pack. As I began to run there were quite a few people ahead of me that were slower and many walking, but I simply just went around them and silently applauded them for their efforts. As I was completing my first mile I could hear the announcer saying the first runner had crossed the finish line. I remember thinking, wow great for them I will never finish a race in that time, but it did not for a second bring me down. I am so proud of my accomplishment and will continue to do races as long as my old knees hold up. Everyone does races for a different reason: healthy living, competition, or heck, might just be to support the cause the run is benefiting because it hits home to them. But regardless of their reason they deserve to be there just as much as the next person. Many of you are probably blessed with an athletic body and natural running ability - my brother is the same way. He was impressed by me running and decided to start back up. He ran track and cross country in high school. He came home after that first run and said he "only" did 4 miles. Yeah, he got a dirty look from me but i'm glad he's started again and I was able to motivate him to do that. Well, unfortunately I got the other side of the family genes. But my sad little 5'2 body trotted along anyway. The elitist attitude of some is saddening to me, but I hope that the rest of you will be supportive and encouraging of those that are running that might not be as competitive. In my opinion that does not make them less successful. Sure, I hope to continue to improve my time, but never will I be the first across the finish line and I am just fine with that. I am so proud of my accomplishments and I hope to be a positive role model for my niece as she is the reason I began this weight loss journey. I'll be doing two 5ks in November and then I am going to train for a 5 mile race in St. Louis around St. Pats Day. To all of you regardless of your reasons I wish you the best and hope you achieve your goals. All I ask is when you see someone that might not be up to your abilities, please don't mock them or be annoyed by them. Understand everyone has their reasons and applaud them for that. For those that made it this far thanks for reading. Shelby Finished the Zoo Run in under 50 minutes and darn proud!!

Still at the hospital so i'm not doing very good on my food intake. Gotta kick this in the rear! I did stop and buy some healthier snacks to have at the hospital. Don't have a fridge so i'm limited, but got some fig newtons, 100 cal packs, etc... B: None L: 1 cheese roll up from Taco Bell - got stuck bad so didn't finish the 2nd one S: 100 cal pack of pringles chips D: Got some chicken and green beans for dinner and got stuck on it bad! Full on threw up at work b/c of the stress i've got going on right now. I'm on Maalox and liquids for a bit and if this doesn't change i'm getting an unfill until things calm down w/ my brother.