Smiley

I know that coughing during the night can be a sign of being too tight, but not sure about your symptoms. I did have a slight unfill in December because it hurt to even swallow milk or breath. He took out .1 cc, or what he called a drop and I was a happy little bandster after having just that tiny tiny amount removed. I then followed it up with chicken nuggets for lunch - those were the best chicken nuggets ever. Are you losing at an abnormally fast rate? I had had a fill on Tuesday in the late afternoon and at the time of the slight unfill on Friday morning, I had lost 4 pounds, which was a bit too much for 3 days. I would think excessive acid would cause heartburn as opposed to a build up of phelgm. Have you analyzed what it was you were eating, what you were doing, the size of your bites and how well you were chewing when the food got stuck? Maybe you should try liquids for a few days and then make a determination as to whether or not you need a slight unfill.

Awe - Thanks! I am hoping to turn a certain head either 4th of July weekend or later this fall. If I can get that head to turn it will make the class reunion in 2 years all the more sweeter.

When you say you are counting everything that goes in your mouth, are you also allowing yourself to go up and down in calories periodically? For example, if you stick to just 1000 calories each and every day, your body gets used to it. Some days it is okay to only eat 900 calories and other days it is okay to eat 1300 calories so that your body doesn't catch on to your routine as well. Also, based on the amount you are working out each day, you may need more than 1000 calories on a daily basis, if that is where you are trying to keep your calorie intake at. I'm not sure if two and a half weeks of plateauing each month is normal or not. My plateaus usually lasted for a couple of months at a time, but I don't really remember having them each month. Then again, everyone is different and this just may be how your body chooses to react/adjust. Just keep plugging away and the weight will come off. Even at 5-6 pounds a month you will be there in less than a year.

I finally gave in and purchased one of these last night for $3.99. I am willing myself to take one drink every morning and evening until it is gone because I spent to stinkin' much on it, but honestly I gag every time. To me it taste as if someone dissolved a vitamin in my chocolate milk. I put one scoop of high protein Slim Fast into two cups of milk and it is pretty much just like chocolate milk. Other than the Slim Fast I have not found any shakes that I like. I would suggest that you purchase individual pre-made drinks to try out first, or maybe ask people who know about the surgery if they have any that you could sample. I didn't discover the Slim Fast until a couple of months post op, so I just didn't worry about the protein during my liquid stage, but the again I only had 7 days of liquids as opposed to 21.

Great idea! I thought I was going to wreck on 435 a couple of weeks ago trying to reach for the empty milk glass I had put in the cup holder in the back seat. Think I will put some in my glove box because my purse isn't always within reach when I am driving.

You are doing great! 1 to 2 pounds a week is a healthy weight loss and I would have loved to have been losing at that rate when I was 4 months post op. Keep your head up and continue moving forward. Slow and steady wins the race!

I feel like i still can eat everything else normally, pasta, tacos, all the junk i know i honestly shouldnt but pasta and Tacos. You may feel this way, but that doesn't mean you should try out your theory. You have got to start measuring your portions and make sure that you are eating no more than a cup at a time. Follow the rules and start with the protein, then the veggies. I don't even bother putting carbs on my plate - most of the time. I think my band isnt working or its broken or slipped etc but the dr assures me that its not slipped etc, i dont know how as he dosnt have xray vision!!! There are symptoms of a slipped band that I have not heard you mention. Unless you are following all of the rules, you really should not blame the band. It is in place to help you solve your weight problem, not take full responsibility and do it for you. Are you getting in all of your water? Are you exercising? You were determined to have the band, now you have to be determined to utilize the band so as to make the transformation from a worm to a butterfly.

Yea!!! Not sure what size you were in high school, but I can guarantee you that some of your classmates that were a size 12 or smaller in high school are going to be super envious of you! I am super excited about my 20 year reunion, but I have to wait 2 more years. Good news is that I grew up in a small town so I will see at least a fourth of the people between now and then anyway.

For you and the others on the forum that are pregnant, here is a link to a blog of someone with the band that had her band baby back in November. http://www.malleysurgical.com/lap-band-suc...estimonial.html

Be as specific as you can. Here are some of the things I would put into the letter. Weight when you started the program, type/name of program, how long you followed the program, weight at the end of the program, how long the weight stayed off, how fast it went back on, issues you had with being on the program, etc. Put in personal mental thoughts about yourself and anything that friends, family or strangers have said to you. Do you have a family, what would life be like for them and you if you didn't have this weight. Has the weight limited you in participating in anything such as amusement park rides or sitting comfortably in an airplane? Do you get short of breath going up stairs or trying to keep up with your children at the park? If something were to happen and you needed to get to your children or chase them down for their safety (they get loose and ran thru a parking lot), could you run and catch up with them? How has your life changed since you put on weight? Did you used to be an outgoing person but no longer have the courage to be out in public or meet new people? Do you have any kind of skin issues such as yeast infections or raw spots between the rolls of fat? Skin on skin rubbing and raw spots are not fun to admit, but they are an issue. Use spell check and have at least one other person read the letter to make sure that it makes sense. Grammar and typo's are not acceptable in a letter such as this (hope I don't have any in this post). Well, that is about the extent of the thoughts my brain cells can produce at the moment. Good luck and let us know the results!

I am so with you on this! As I was signing on I was thinking about the fact that today was our first day of summer camp and I wore a size Medium camp shirt. Two years ago I wore a 2XL, last year an XL and this year a M. If I hadn't had the TT I probably would have gone with a large just because of desire to hide the rolls, but now that I have a flat tummy, I am going to stick with the Medium. I have no idea when I last wore a M t-shirt, but I can guarantee you I wasn't in charge of purchasing/picking out my own clothes at that time, my mom was. I don't think my girls would allow me to attempt a Small because they like a little breathing room, but you go girl! Hold off as long as you can on the pants. I have bought a bunch of 12's, but something tells me I am really going to end up in a 10 based on the denim capri's and another pair of pants I tried on and then bought in a 10 this weekend, plus the 12's that I put on for church yesterday morning and they were a tad bit big and I am still swollen. Good thing is, I know how to sew and can take them up if need be.

Wow!!! Granted mind was a TT, but I had my drains in for 2 weeks and 1 day before the drainage had decreased enough to have them out. Even now each week when I go in he removes the fluid that has built up, not because he has to but because it does make the clothes look better and me feel more comfortable. When I go back this week I am going to volunteer to come in every other day for the next week if it will help get the swelling down sooner. I bought some basic clothes before I went back to work that were tight 12's. After the pants I bought yesterday and some more that I tried on today, I am thinking I should have been a little more conservative because some of the 10's are looking pretty good even though I am still swollen in the nether regions. The swelling has just got to go down there soon so that I can finally say I have a flat stomach.

Yea - glad you found us. The nice part about this forum is that you can find support 24/7 as opposed to just once a month or so. Congrats on your band and your cancer free news!

I am thinking you are probably just irritated, but then again I am not a medical professional. Do you still have much fill in your band? I am looking at going to Honduras later this year and was worried about getting sick there as some people in our group did last time. My fill guy said that unless I really have some major gut wrenching vomiting and such that I will not be in danger of my band slipping because it as been long enough that my band should be well secured with scar tissue. Maybe you should go on liquids for at least 24 hours and then try mushy foods for 24 hours and then soft foods for another 24. Just focus on getting enough nutrition for the baby and if you have problems moving to mushy foods like the oatmeal and mashed potatoes, I would get into the doctor immediately and find out the problem.

It will definitely be worth it, but 4 weeks to the day later my butt is still kind of sore. I told my 7 year old nephew this weekend that if he did anything remotely close to the love pat that he likes to do when he walks up beside me, that he would probably come up missing his hand. He thought it was funny, but when his mother chimed in that I was being serious he took heed and still has both of his hands attached in the proper places. I finally sent an e-mail out to my co-workers today telling them that I had a bilateral brachioplasty and an abdominoplasty. One person said she did not know what those words meant, nor could she pronounce them, but she was glad I was okay and back to work. Some people were asking and others were just staring without saying anything, so I finally broke my silence. Most of them still do not know about the lap band. My inner thighs will definitely be my next step and I am thinking about having the "girls" reduced and uplifted at the same time as I think they look way too big in comparison with the rest of me. Rest and get to feeling better soon!

Just as I finished typing the above post the timer on my oven went off letting me know my apple pie was done. Good thing I am giving the big pie away and just keeping a small dish with a single bottom crust and apples for a taste test. I would be mortified to give away a pie that didn't taste good.

He told my parents it was about 8 pounds. As of Thursday morning I was down 6.5 pounds from the day of surgery. But, as of this morning I was only down 2.5. I still have a lot of swelling, but then again it is amazing how eating ice cream 4 out of 5 days can really set you back. I am now off of my ice cream kick and getting my rear back in gear. I am going to ask my plastic surgeon tomorrow when I can start to exercise again.

I am pretty sure my doctor would have done both boobs and arms at the same time. Sometimes they do an incision in the armpit for the boob job, so that would be a good question to ask as it might save you some cutting and you could kill two birds with the same incision so to speak. The only thing he would not do was arms, tummy and thighs at the same time because he said you need one of those 3 to help you move from a sitting to a standing position, which does make sense, even though I really really really wanted to do all 3 at once.

I have had really good luck using this card. I have only come across one restaurant in the KC area in which the waitress said I couldn't use it, but it wa a BBQ place, so I was super okay with ordering a regular entree and then eating the leftovers another 3 times. Burnt ends, cheesy corn and baked beans may not be a good bandster meal, but sometimes I am okay with breaking the rules. I have had some servers say they don't know if I am allowed to use it or not, but that they won't be preventing me from ordering off of the children's menu, and the good news is that I can usually get at least 2 meals from a children's meal. Smorgasboards a.k.a. Gorgatoriums have been willing to charge me the children's rate as well.

Something tells me there may be "Stages Of Eating With A Lap Band" cookbook in someone's future.

I think he did lipo on the arms, but I'm not 100% sure. I would guess the arms only would be somewhere around $5,000. I wouldn't think you would need an overnight stay in the hospital for that, and you might even be able to get them done at a surgery center, which would possibly be cheaper than the hospital. Definitely go for a consult and ask as the consultations are free.

At the moment you can have them! I am wearing my compression sleeves and they are driving me crazy. Luckily I will be leaving the house in about 30 minutes and will be taking them off. The binder around my middle doesn't bother me, but I hate hate hate these compression sleeves. Oh the things we will do to look good. He also took the tape off of the TT scar, so once I get some new batteries for my camera I will take a tasteful shot of that scar and post it.

I don't know about you all, but I have found that I eat out more after being banded. What I mean by this is that a regular meal at a restaurant will usually turn in to 3 or 4 meals for me. So, not only do get to eat it fresh and hot with my friends, but I also eat on it about 2 or 3 more times as leftovers.

I stayed right here in Kansas City and had my surgery at Menorah Medical Center. The Baptist girl had surgery with the Catholic doctor at the Jewish hospital. There has got to be a joke in there somewhere.

I hadn't thought about the sports drink. I will look into getting the small bottles of Gatorade as I am not a huge fan of any sport drink, unless it is fruit punch flavored. I did have to drink 32 ounces of Gatorade before my plastic surgery, so I can probably handle a small amount of Gatorade each day just to make sure I am staying hydrated. Thanks for the suggestion!