karingwiz

Wow Lisa You should go on the Dr. Oz show! Thanks for all your inspiration and all the best. I'm am in my 4th month and I will be aiming to have the same results as you, exercising and eating right. Karin G

Hi out there I have the larger band that holds 10ccs or is it 11ccs? Its abit of a mystery to me but that does not matter. I dont live near a fill centre so I have to travel 4 hours by car. Needless to say, that means I cant do it as often and I have to plan it. Most of the people here tend to have the smaller band (4cc) From what I can tell, the "sweet spot" seems to be between 2 and 3 cc's. If you go over that, then its too tight. Ofcourse every body is different. But I was wondering, does it make sense that those of us with the larger band need to get between 5 and 7.5 cc's to be in the same range of 50-75% full. Can you tell I am an analyst? I have had one fill and its 4ccs. I have only lost 3 pounds in 3 months (but thats better than gaining 3 pounds). Now I am going for a fill. I would like to aim for another 2ccs, bringing me to 6ccs. Is this a good idea? Karin G Banded June/2009 Started 191 pounds, now 175 pounds

Hi Shelby You look fantastic! You are my hero! I often read your comments because you know how to be a success! Its so good to hear from the mouths of those that walk the talk, so I too want to be a success story like you. I have to lose about the same amount as you have, my hero! I have lost about 13 pounds in 2.5 months. Its good and if I continue this way I will reach my goal and it does not matter if its that slow. I am in menopause afterall and boy, that sure hit me like a brick. My metabolism slowed to a crawl and I finally accepted thats the way it is, so just learn to enjoy it with less food! OK, so I have a question though about the "sweet spot" of being full. I find alot of the info confusing, I read a few books and did research on this lap band. The literature refers to "eat about a third of a cup of food" and then stop, you should be full. Well how to do fit protein, veggies/fruit and some whole grains into a third of a cup of anything? What, is it a third after you have chewed it to bits and then swallow it? A full cup of brocolli likely converts to 1/3 cup of mush. Maybe I am over analyzing. About the first week and a half after the surgery and same after my first fill on Aug 4, I feel full very fast and I am not hungry much. This is perrrrrr fect. Such a great feeling not to be the slave to food. When I get hungry I eat good stuff, sometimes not that great like a handful of pretzels, but mostly eating good stuff and probably around 1200 calories a day total including a glass of wine or 2. Thats alot less than the 2-3000 calories I was having. Then into the 2nd week or so, the restriction goes away, and I find I can eat alot more and thats dangerous with me as I find myself testing the pouch and next thing I know ate 10 potatoe wedgies and there was no protein and they were deep fried. I ate them very slowly enjoying every morsel, and waited for the full sensation or the first hiccup, as thats when I know its time to stop eating. This fullness or hiccup does not come...why not? This makes me mad, where is the lapband, its supposed to come to my rescue! Its been about 3 weeks from my first fill and yesterday I had that accident with the potatoes. And today I screwed up again. I ate a large slice of pizza, not on purpose, just because I was hungry and running late. Pizza has always been my fav food and I have been on enough diets to know its ok to have some of your fav food in moderation. Its not good to give them up entirely. I figure I should be able to eat 1/2 a slice and anyway, the hiccups will come and I will know thats enough. And I will be happy. But I end up eating the entire big slice, no restrictions. How can this be, where's the lap band? It seems the restriction is gone. Now I am upset with myself. Should I run to the nearest fill centre and go get a shot!!! Or do I just relax and say that was a bad day (or 2) and learn from it. Its ok to eat a slice once a month, or if I have a slice, no glass of wine tonight? Many people or the books refer to the sweet spot. Having the full sensation very soon after eating so you cannot possibly eat too much. Is this really something that can be sustained without a new fill every 3 weeks? I feel I need that full sensation to keep me on track and keep me good. Otherwise I could lose the weight without it. What do you think? Karin G

Hi Diana Can you advise if this lady is open on weekends or only weekdays? Also, what is the cost to go to the fill centers. I am in Ontario but its still alot cheaper to head down south than west, and travel time would be so much less. Thanks Karin

thanks for the tip, I forgot about that. I have never driven across the border but I have rented a car in mexico (I own timeshares) and it can be very expensive to get the insurance. karin

Hi I am going on vacation near Cancun in 2 weeks and I would like to know if there is a recommended fill doctor I could use there while I have free time to do this. If any bandsters are also around Cancun or the Mayan Riviera, I am in the Mayan Palace and in Playa Del Carmen and would like to meet you! Thanks, Karin G

Hi Dolittle I am thinking of flying down to San Diego or Los Angeles and driving a rental car across the border, directly to the OCC parking lot (underground) and taking the elevator up to the office. Can you provide the exact instructions for this route? Also, regardless of where I get my first fill, is it recommended to stay nearby for a day to ensure the fill is working correctly rather than going home after its done? Thanks Karin G

yes, Dr. talented and gorgeous did me too!

I am a newbie myself, its been 1 week today as I was banded on June 12 by Dr Gorgeous! Anyway, I have had this problem for many years and nobody was able to tell my why. I was taking MASSIVE amounts of psyillum fibre (1/4 cup before each meal) which ended up bulking me up so the diareah would slow down. This was not practical though and added more calories and just did not seem the way to lead your life. One night in March of 2009 I was watching Discovery Health and a person had this problem, really bad. Make a long story short, she was diagnosed with "HABBA SYNDROME". Dr. Habba found that this type of diarrhea is associated with dysfunctional gallbladder. Since I was at the point of having bleeding and going 10-12 or more times a day, I was anemic, all the time though gaining weight because I was feeling weak. I went to see a gastroenterologist and told her about this syndrome and that it can be corrected by taking a product that binds bile acids because there is too much bile in the digestive track and thats what is causing the diareah. So I asked to be given the product,, cholestyramine, and on my first dose, the diareah went away. As long as I take this before I eat (its a small package of powder you take with 1/2 c of water), I am good. This doctor Habba thinks millions of people have this issue, not that you do, but it sure solved my problems. I stopped taking it after my lap band surgery but the diareah returned with a vengence. I went back to the cholestyramine and I am all good again. Here is a web link (copy and paste to your browser) nhttp://habbasyndrome.com/_wsn/page2.html FYI

Hi Is me Karin, I am a bandster celebrating a week today (Friday) myself. I dont feel worse but since I measured myself I am 2 inches wider around the middle since my surgery and I feel very bloated all day. I dont mind this I think this is keeping me feeling full most of the time. However, since I dont like juice (it give me diareah) and I like savory things, I have been making alot of home made soup stocks and then taking some of the meat, like chicken broth, and pureying it to death until its a smooth paste, then spice it up abit and then I eat a very small amount of this and I am good for another couple hours or more. Once I ate abit too much and I felt alot of pain and gas but it went away. So, too am sore around the port site especially and it hurts to bend over. I sit at a desk and infront of a computer and I find I slouch alot but then I sit up strait right away because it hurts to slouch. I think we need to keep in mind that we have had a lapband put inside and some things were moved around so this is normal. Also, I am not taking any pain killers and we were definately given alot after surgery because at that time I had almost no pain at all. Anyway, take care and dont worry. Maybe try to walk around the block and listen to a favourite tune while you do so. Karin