stormy

I feel you there. I drive by Wendys and I just smell that hamburger. Ahh, then I remember after I would eat it, how awful I would feel. The other day I went to my favorite restaurant and told her I wanted something that looked like a hamburger. She was so funny. She gave me a piece of lettuce with a little piece of hamburger and a pickel. I never laughed so hard. I am completely at a stand still. Not gaining or losing. I need a fill. Money is very tight right now and I am checking to see if I can come up with the $150.00 I need to get my fill. What has helped me not to gain is I am continuing to exersise. I have a pole in my living room and pole dancing is some serious work out. Sounds funny but it is so much fun. I am still trying to climb the thing. If I can lose another 30 pounds they tell me that I will have no problem hanging upside down. Trust me, that I am getting on tape! HA! You tube has a whole load of training tapes on how to pole dance or even just to plain dance. It is great work out. Do something fun, something to make you laugh, it will take the edge off. I know this is about being healthy and losing the weight but if life isnt fun and you can't laugh, then you are really going to be bumbed out.. If anyone decides they want a pole for their living room let me know, I cant help you get one. Trust me your other half will love it!! HA! Take care.

Oh, I am back. I was so sick. I dont know what it was but I got sick and was in bed for 24 hours with terrible pain. I am back now and the pain is gone. Never before have I felt anything like that. I wonder if I had food poisoning. I have never been that scarred. Thank you everyone for responding. I made an appt to see my dr to discuss my band to make sure it is ok. She said that she wont be able to see me until after Christmas but I told her that I am ok now. I am really being careful about what I eat because I am not sure what it was. Thank you everyone for responding, I guess I worry about my band and the pain was freaking me out. I really appreciate you guys being there for me. Merry Christmas everyone and thank you again.

It's getting worse. I feel pressure on the top part of my stomach. At first it felt liks acid but now it feels like pressure. When I press on the top part of my stomach it is a little painful. I had bad diarria today too, almost like acid. This is freaking me out. I ate just fine today and I can drink too. Not sure what is going on. Not sure who to call. I can't afford to go to Mexico right now. I am not sure I can afford to drive to Olympia Washington but I am about ready too. I fear band errosion. If I lay down it dont feel so bad. I tried a rolaids that didnt help. I even look kind of swollen, my scale does not say I have gained any weight. I will try to call the naturalpath tomorrow but this is freaking me out. It kinds feels like I need to go to the bathroom but then again I dont. And sometimes feels like I pulled a muscle in my stomach. Has anyone had this before. Is this a bug or is something terribly wrong?

I used to drink about 2 times a week before the band. In fact I worried that it was an issue. I could drink about 4 drinks and still be ok to walk and talk. Guess I considered this to be a heavy drinker. Now since the band I drink maybe one drink a month and that one drink has me really thinking twice about even chewing gum and trying to walk. HA! I think the band is great for getting people to stop drinking. But I will keep my one drink a month, I do love my whiskey.

My stomach seems to be upset. This morning it felt like acid upset. So I took a tums that seemed to help. So I thought that maybe it was because my stomach was empty so I ate. That helped a little but then I felt just weird. I can't explain it. I have started my cycle and I am having alot of anxiety. I just moved my mom this weekend out of her retirement home into her own place. I wonder if that is freaking me out. Has anyone had anxiety or stress suddenly and then it caused almost an acidy feeling in stomach. I would think if my band slipped or something was wrong that I would not be able to eat. I did notice that I felt a little tight this morning but I could eat a little and liquid is going down ok. I just want to make sure I am not freaking out over nothing. Should I continue to eat the tums? I can feel my port tonight and it kinda hurts, so I think I may have water retention issue. I hope it is stress but I dont want to hurt my band so any advise would be helpful. Thanks

I am not sure if anyone else has updates of how they are doing but if you have a you tube blog, please let me know. Here is mine.

PS I hate my hair color, now that I have seen it on line. I am going back to being a blond. I hear they have more fun!!! HA!

Wow I got on and it kinda shocked me, I kinda dig it. I like new things. Bring on the goodies!!

I did not know that I could block people from emailing me. I am going to use this function right away. I do see that people can change their names and start a new account. Pretty unfortuate that people have to be that way. Thank you for letting me know how to do that so they can not email me again. I appreciate everyones encouragement along this long road that I have to travel. We all know how tough it is. I hope that after things settle down I will feel ok with getting more involved with telling you all what is up thanks again.

I haven't been posting lately. I guess I have felt a bit odd about talking about my struggles on here since my post about a month ago. I have found that there are several people that were banned from here and they have returned. Two have sent me emails that were not very nice talking about how I have failed with my band. Which for the record, I have not! This had made me feel very uncomfortable about expressing my concerns about fills and where I should be at this point. I have lost 46 pounds and I am at a stand still because I need a fill. But found it very hurtful when an email was sent to me telling me that I am really not working the program. I was shocked to see that both who contacted me had been banned from here, I dont know why and that is not my business. But it is hard to feel comfortable now. I am not sure where to turn now because I feel like I am being judged. Everyones journey is different. Mine has been something that I have been proud of. Yes, I have had things stuck. But I think it is unlikley that these people have not. I dont feel like this is a contest to see who the winner can be. I dont care how wonderful and how perfect you are. That is not what this is about. I have never come on here and been rude to anyone. I am not perfect. But I am trying and I dont feel like hurting other people is what makes your journey better than mine. This site has been something that I could turn to. When I felt like I did not know the answers and I could be free to post and not be judged. Unfortuately, I am not feeling that way right now and I think that is sad. Anyway, I just had to say something. Thank you

I have to throw my two cents in. I have been on the other side. I have gained weight because of having a baby, but as I was gaining, so did my husband. It was very hard for me to tell him that it was very uncomfortable for us to be sexual because of how big he had become. I was losing interest in even going there because there was no way to do it. ok TMI, but I have to be honest. I love him and I never stopped loving him but the sex almost stopped completely. I felt really bad about it but I was completely turned OFF. When I told him about the band, I expressed how this could change our whole sexual lifes and it has. It is still not great, because we still have a way to go but I think it helps to be honest about it. I feel bad that we both have let ourselves go. Somewhere we got so involved in eating that we didnt really look at what it was doing to our relationship but we never lost that one thing and that is that we are friends. If a person comes to you and says you know how I feel about your weight, maybe they just dont know how to say they are concerned. He should not have to "work" on being nice to you. I never disrespected my husband. I dont have to "work" on being nice to him. I simply came to him and expressed that I was concerned about the fact that it became more difficult to be close to him and that all I wanted to do was to be close to him and if we both lost the weight, that this would no longer be an issue. I would never go to him and tell you " you know how I feel about you being fat" That is just rude. I rememeber my dad telling my mom, "your so fat even your toes are fat". This is not the life I ever want for myself or my child. If a man makes me feel that bad, he needs to go!! The strange thing is once you get rid of them the weight just comes off, cause they make you feel that bad. I lost 45 pounds after my first husband. Anyway, that is my two cents. I hope that things work out for you, I just know how it is to be on both sides and I would say that he better not disrespect you, or your lapband buddies will come there is beat him up.... HA! Kidding. Take care and good luck. Remember you are worth loving!

I wouldnt drink water if I was stuck, lesson learned, you will just throw it up. there is no where for it to go but up and out. Yuck! The enzimes are a good way to help when you have something stuck, eat four of those and wait it out. That is what I had to do. Then make sure you never do it again. Chew, chew chew. I can't say that enough.

Oh my God. I would love to do that what a blast. Where do I sign up?

Have fun for Halloween, life is too short! ok so I am weird. Hope you laughed. Stormy

I know it sounds crazy but I got a pole. A dance pole. I love to dance and I love feeling sexy, so a took two classes that teach you how to get around that puppy and it is a lot of exersise and it is fun. It is the only thing I have ever stuck with and I can do it in the privacy of my home. Although I can't help but tell everyone about it because I just love it.

http://www.youtube.com/undercovergirl2009

I get on almost every day, sometimes on my lunch hour but if not after work. Weekends too. for about 20-45 minutes my heart rate gets way up there. My son even loves it. He is funny. I tell my husband to stay away but I have to admit. I did one show for him already, he loved it. Anyway, I am now helping to sell the poles, they are movable and can go anywhere in your house. I put mine right in the living room. HA!~

Just an idea out there for ya.

I will never wait 3 years again to have my testing done. What a horror it was to go in and get photos done to end up having them call me back to get more pictures. Today I spent over and hour in there with them taking scan after scan, position after postion. No one telling me really what was going on. I finally had enough and said, what exactly are you looking for. They said they saw a spot on my right breast and they needed to see from several angles to make sure it was ok. After bursting out in tears. The radioligist (sp?) came in and stated just three more pictures just to be sure, then he came back and stated since I have had a breast reduction, he believe it to be scar tissue and that I am ok. Nothing but healthly breast tissue, his exact words. I could have hugged him. My grandmother had breast cancer when she was 40, so the fear I have is now enough to never put this off again. I did thank them for not making me wait for the findings, that would have killed me. They told me to follow up with my dr and that I will get a letter in the mail. It better be a nice letter, I dont want one of these, we made a mistake deals. UG. The whole thing made me go back to my desk at work and eat a candy bar. I have not done that in over a year and I have no excuse. It is not going to happen again. Dont need that junk, but a good shot of whiskey now we are talking. Kidding. Anyway, get your done today, dont put it off!!!

Dont be, as long as you are careful it wont happen. I was not, I ate fast and did not chew enough. I have to say, it has not happened since, lesson learned. But you need to be aware that chewing is a huge thing that you must do!

I have not been banded yet...just made the appointment. I have to say this horrifies me! I have enough issues with diabetes and all the meds I'm on for that.

Are you talking about the plastic inserts that they make for rings. I never thought about that. I dont think it looks as nice. I need to really get to the reality that I am not going back to being that fat. but you guys are right, I better not take the chance of losing a ring. I will talk to the dr at next fill about what is expected in weight loss on next fill and then put some of them away. My husband would kill me if I lost a $4,000 ring. That one I will get sized. Its amazing that fingers go first. I wonder if my toes will get smaller too HA!

Stormy do you have Claire's in Canada? They have these "thing ma bops" not sure what they are called.

They are used to size your rings! Thrifty and very handy. Use them keep your rings on your fingers. Sizing them only once.

Ok here is the deal. I wear rings on almost all my fingers. Of course my most important one is my wedding ring. But I like to wear the others as well. What I have noticed is now they are all loose. Some will spin and drive me crazy because I have to constantly turn them correct. I was wondering did people go and get their rings sized right away or did they just quit wearing them until they were sure the weight was gone. I know that there are some times that I will be swollen, because of that time of month but I wonder if I should be sizing them over and over as I lose or just stop wearing them all except the wedding ring, until I hit my sweet spot. What did you guys do? I have been moving them around from finger to finger, but the wedding right is staying right where it belongs. HA! Just wondering if you had any ideas?

Yes, I have a 4cc too, I have only had three fills and I dont have much in my band. I have had one little unfill and I think that has me a bit nervous to go in again. I was tight and had a hard time getting phelm down, I think I may have allergies. Not sure but it would get caught in my throat and would not go down. Didnt like that at all. I may try clariton and see if that helps. Otherwise I could use another fill for sure. I think hubby needs one too. Can't wait to see updated photo..

Hey Stormy! Thanks for the compliment. That isn't actually a very recent photo (the after shot, I mean) - - I am down about 15 lbs from that currently. My band is 4cc. Is yours 4cc? I really appreciated your post of your experience because I think that soooo many new bandsters need to know what they may potentially experience after being banded/having fills. Also, I have had so many experiences exactly like yours, and no matter how many times it happens, its always scary! I was reading that post and thinking 'yep... thats exactly how I feel.' So, thank you for that. Will truly be a huge help to other bandsters

I loved your video, you look amazing. Thanks for sharing it is very uplifting. I look forward to losing more. Keep up the good work!!

I dont update much about hubbys progress, he is kinda shy but I am very proud of him. He helps me move along. So I thought I would share his progress. He is down 55 pounds. I am very proud of him.

WOW you look incredible-- Yowser. how big is your band. That is wonderful that you have lost so much. WOW great job!!

Stormy:

Thanks for the blow by blow of your experience I really appreciated it. I have had the same thing happen to me and its exactly as you described it. I think its important for new bandsters to understand what they may potentially experience so that if it does happen, its not as frightening to them and they will understand what to do in the future.

I appreciate all the positive responses I have received, thank you everyone. For those of you that are new and had your first experience at this, I can tell you that after it happened to me, I went back on liquids for 48 hours. Usually I think it is about 24 but I wanted to be sure it was ok because it was really stuck in there. So after 48 hours, I started back with soft food and went back to eating slowing to the foods I had been eating. I have had no problems since. In fact, I talked with the dr and she said it may be ok now to get my next fill. I was a very good learning experience. I have lost another 5 pounds and feel great. I think the hard part is our body tends, when you are chewing to chew and then swallow, at least for me, it is like retraining the body to wait, chew chew chew. My body wants to chew and then swollow without even thinking that I did not chew it enough. I am working on retraining. It means that every bite, I need to really think about what I am doing. I went to lunch with some friends and they were just talking away while they were eating and you could see that they were not even thinking about the way they eat. Not me, I was really thinking about it. When we were done, one of my friends said, you didnt eat so much today, you ok? I said. I dont need to eat alot anymore. I am full and feel really good thanks. It feels good. I am happy to say that our hardwood floors are done so the pole is back up. I expect to lose another 5 pounds just getting back on that puppy! YA HOOO!!. Anyway. Keep up the good work everyone and for all newbies, Think when you bite!! I should get a shirt that says " Did you really CHEW that hamburger" HA!

I pay $177.00 on one loan and $236.00 on another loan but I got both mine and my husbands band done at same time. I think I am at 19%. I hate paying that but it was worth it. We have saved a lot in the long run, less food to buy. HA!

This may sound crazy but I was searching the internet because I need a vacation BIG TIME and I found this site. http://www.alumnicruises.org/Autism/Autism_Home.htm. It is a vacation cruise line for kids with autism to go on cruises. Looks like they have families with other disabilites also. I cant believe it. They even have a forum just like this one. I joined immediately to ask questions. Could it really be possible. I would have to save up but who cares. They even take payments!!! Never have a seen such a thing. I just thought I should share in case any of you have autism kids like me. WOW