jena

That's funny! I have PB'd once. I ate a few yellow cherries and the skin on them didn't agree with my band. I felt a burp coming on and the next thing you know, I had a lap full of cherry skins! Thank goodness no one was around. A couple of times I forgot to chew, chew, chew and the only way I can describe the food passing through the band is it is exactly the same sensation as when you swallow tortilla chip without chewing it well and it gets stuck in your throat and eventually makes its way slowly down your throat. UGH!!! I've found instead of walking around, if I lay on my water bed and kinda make waves it helps me relax and the food go down.

When I got the fill on Saturday I was really pissed off that I had to be on warm liquids. I had been eating what I wanted for a few weeks before that. When I started eating food I kept on eating too much but the band would stop me and that pissed me off. Yesterday I noticed that I'm not hungry anymore and I'm picking things to eat that won't upset my band. Since I'm not hungry I don't really care about the volume I'm eating. I have been eating on smaller dishes though because I sure hate to leave food on my plate!

I went to Roswell too. I am almost NEVER hungry like I used to be. I'm full after only a few bites. I don't even want a little snack. Yesterday I worked very late, right up to the time I usually eat dinner. Normally I would have stopped an got some fast food. I was a little hungry and I decided to stop and get a little something to tide me over until I could get home and cook dinner. So, I stopped at McDonalds and got a small vanilla cone. It's low fat and has 150 calories, 3.5g of fat and 4g of protein. That lasted me until later that night when I had a cup of spaghetti sauce. I was FULL.

As some of you know, I got my first fill last Saturday, 4 days ago. I've now got 4.6 cc's in a VG band. Now I know what restriction feels like! So my band is now talking to me loud and clear! It's teaching me some lessons that I need to learn, but if I don't listen, I'm punished! So here's what it's teaching me. Band: "Jena, stop eating so fast." Me: "I know, I know!" (While stuffing food in my face) Me: "Ugh, I don't feel so good. Why is that little piece of hamburger stuck in my throat?" (Starting to panic) Band: "I told you so. Listen to me next time!" Band: "Jena, chew your food until you can't chew it any more." Me: "I know, I know!" (While chewing my food once or twice then swallowing) Me: "Ugh! I can feel food passing slowly through my band and it HURTS!!" Band: "I told you so. Listen to me next time!" My band keeps nagging me and nagging me and it won't shut up! It's the policeman who's always on duty. There is no slipping up when you have restriction with the band. It forces you to adhere to the rules. It's only been a few days, but I'm learning to look at food and and know if I can eat it comfortably or not. I'm also learning how much I can eat. Eating one bite more than enough will cause quite a bit of discomfort! So, does anyone else have a talking band?

Yes Jim, good to see you back! Jena

My goodness sister!! You're walking your butt off. I'm so glad to hear your sister is fine and that you can get a fill so close!! I'm crossing my fingers and toes that this fill works for a long, long time. Let me know how much you have in your VG. I've got 4.6 in mine and it is working like I couldn't imagine before I got it. I'm hoping it will last a little while. Good luck!! Jena, your sister in Craptasticness

If you think about it, an American doctor not taking someone on for fills because they were banded in Mexico is just flat out STUPID!!! I'm sure part of it is because they didn't get the money from the surgery. Money talks you know. On the other hand, a fill takes about 10 minutes. If a doctor set aside one day to do Mexican banded patients, they could band at least 5 an hour. In an 8 hour day that would be 40 fills a day and at $200 a pop, that would be $8000 a day. And the doctor wouldn't be the one doing it, the nurse would. That would almost be free money. I just don't get it. It's all about ego.

It's fantastic that you both will be able to have the surgery! Get rid of that darn storage shed!!! There's one thing you absolutely have to to before scheduling the surgery. You need to plan and budget for your fills. The fills are the key! Find a place near you to get the fills. The fills will start at 6-8 weeks and you may have 2-4 more before a year is up. The fills are expensive, especially the first one. Mine cost me a total of $545 for the first one at Fill Centers USA. If you can make a return trip to the OCC, it will only cost you $100 and that's for the floro. Like I said, from everything I've been told and what they said at Fill Centers USA, the first year will be very expensive but after that you should be set. So many people get caught by surprise by the cost of the fills and aftercare, it's best to be prepared for it up front. Congratulations to you both! Jena

Yep. The insurance companies don't tell your company what they are getting, your company tells the insurance company what they want covered.

17% is crazy! Do they have any plan they can offer you like 0% financing if you pay it off in a certain number of months? I've got a loan through Chase Health Advantage for my lasik eye surgery and they gave me a loan for $7000. I only used $4400 for the surgery and they had a plan that if I pay it off in 24 months there is no interest. I'm paying $200 a month and it will be paid off early. I have an old bankruptcy - I filed but dismissed it - it's 5 years old. The older the bankruptcy is, the less it hurts your score. I do admit I make a pretty good salary and that is also a consideration. The best thing you can do to get the best loan at the lowest interest rate is to pay off all of your debt. This will increase your credit score and that's what they are looking at. It will go up when you pay your CC debt down below 50% of the credit limit. I had to work for the last 2 years to get my credit score up, pay off most of my credit cards and save money to have this done. It wasn't easy, I had to sacrifice a lot to do this. No charging on charge cards, cut down dinners out, no alcohol when eating out, cut back on my cell phone minutes, cut out all but the basic cable, got rid of my home phone (no need to have two phones), buy things on sale, buy groceries on sale, stop buying any food that I can make myself, I think you get the idea. Ask yourself when you shop "Do I want this or do I need this?" If the answer is "want" then put it back. I'm sorry I can't offer you a quick fix, but keep the goal in mind and focus on what you need to do to get there. A couple of other things I just thought of...I joined myfico.com so I can keep track of my credit report and credit score. Have you thought about getting a second job? Can you join a credit union? If you can it's easier to qualify for a loan since you would be an "owner" of the credit union and their rates are lower as well. Hugs, Jena

I may be wrong, (It would be the first time this year) but I took that to mean that is the most the pouch will hold at any one time. That's why we have to eat slowly and chew very well. You don't want to fill it up all at one time. Darlene said my pouch could hold about 2 tablespoons when looking at the floroscope. I just had my first fill on Saturday and I am really satisfied with much less food. Jena

Welcome! The whole experience at the OCC is fantastic. You can get answers to your questions by clicking the OCC in the top left corner of this page. Jena

I was just banded on Saturday and if I thought I had restriction right after getting the band, I was wrong!! THIS is restriction!! For me, it's kinda the golf ball thing, as well as when I swallow, it stops in my throat and doesn't go up or down. And that's creamy soups! I'm sure I'm swollen, but geeze, this is really something. BTW, you don't feel it in your gut, you feel it right between your breasts, where the band is.

It was nice to meet you too! How is your restriction? Mine is like WOW!

I had my first fill today and I went to the Fill Centers USA in Roswell Ga. Their instructions say clear liquids for 8 hours before the fill and nothing for 4 hours before it. Just relax and take it easy. It's not a big ordeal. Jena

If I'm cooking, I always have something to drink until about 15 minutes before I eat. Then I fix my plate and I make sure not to have any liquid anywhere near me while I eat. I usually forget to wait the hour after eating because I distract myself with the tv and computer, it usually turns out I'll have something to eat about an hour and a half after eating. Dr. Ortiz, Dr. Miranda and Darlene all said to wait 1 hour after eating to drink. Jena

except for the blankity-blank traffic, everything went great. I live about 25 miles away and it took me over an HOUR to get there! Soooo many people with no place to go and all the time in the world to get there. I took a different rout back and it only took me 30 minutes. Darlene and her son and daughter are great. Her son is an absolute doll! It was cool to see my port and my band and the chalky stuff go down. Darlene said I had a great placement and a "tiny pouch" that holds about 2 tablespoons. The needle didn't bother me - I had my blood taken so many times I could probably do it myself. However I could feel the saline being to injected and it felt weird and hurt a little. My spine hurts behind the band. Not much, but enough to be uncomfortable. I have a VG band and now I have 4.6cc's of saline in it. Darlene said it had 1cc in it to start with. She injected 3.6 cc's plus the one she removed. Of course it's tight now, but I'm hoping I'll have some restriction for the next few weeks. Jena

I'm off to Roswell this afternoon too! My appointment is 1:40. I can't wait.

The clothing exchange is a great idea, however I love shopping so much and I shopping for new and smaller clothes is a reward for me. I'm going to be taking my outgrown clothes down to Savannah to give to my sister to donate to the charity her Bakery supports. It's a place for homeless women and children and they help the women get back on their feet and get jobs. They need larger sized clothing and I have lots of it!

OMG! What a huge change! You look fantastic! Keep up the good work.

y'all are KILLING me with all this crap! It all started a little before the "incident" because I'm always talking about how everyone should be eating 25-30 grams of fiber a day and encouraging everyone to take fiber supplements. I crowned myself the Queen of Poop. So when the day the guy who was complaining about all the crap on the board, I said something like some of us are full of crap and others (him) were full of sh*t. Thus Team Craptastic was born! Paula Bee said, "Will, you are the most full of crap, although I am right behind you!!" Girlfriend, you might want to think about being behind someone who is the most full of crap! Mona is my "sister in crap", I'm christening Cathy "kittycat litter", fat2nrml is "Princess of Poo" (and she doesn't mean Winnie the) I can think of a few other names that are free for the taking... Gassy Lassie Happy Crappy N. Thugh Crapper Crappy McCrapperson Prince Pooper Feel free to steal the banner! Jena, Queen of Poop "eat your fiber"

Paula, that was a rumor put out by a vegetarian group that had always hounded Dr. Atkins. The truth is that when he was admitted to the hospital after his fall he weighed 195 pounds and was 6' tall. When he died a few weeks later, his weight ballooned up 60 pounds due to water retention and bloating. Just wanted to set the record straight. Jena

I am so happy for you and the pup! Did you buy any clothes for her/him? Did you get yourself a stylish purse to carry her/him everywhere you go? I have a friend who carried her tiny terrier everywhere with her BEFORE Paris Hilton was a gleam in her daddy's eye. She would drive through a certain McDonalds every Saturday on her rounds of errands. Once they discovered she had her tiny dog with her they would give her a plain burger and cup of water for the dog for free! The dog was so good in her purse, she could take him everywhere. If the place was dog friendly she would open the top and he would poke his little head out. So cute!! Have fun with your new baby and don't spoil it too much! Oh shoot, spoil the heck out of it! Jena

I don't know about any of the other diets, but the author apparently knows nothing about the Atkins diet. It's not a "no carb" diet. Sure, the first two weeks you are limited to a certain food list that only allows BERRIES and not oranges. Strawberries, blueberries, black berries and raspberries, AKA fruit. After the first two weeks you begin to add back "good" carbs, unprocessed carbs until you reach a point that you stop losing weight and then cut back until you do. It differs for different people. You can have meat of course, but it doesn't require you to eat a pound of bacon topped off with a steak for every meal. You can make choices like a chicken breast. You can also have non-starch veggies like salads, green beans, squash, so on and so forth. Anyway, it pisses me off to see so called writers who don't do their research. Jena

My primary care doctor is fantastic and he encouraged me to get the band. He tried everything to get my insurance to cover it to no avail. He's a part of a large practice that does everything (almost) they can give a complete physical with stress test, lung x-ray so on and so forth. I'm going in a couple of weeks for a checkup. My blood pressure has been running around 110/68 and since I'm on HBP medicine (have been since I was 14) I think it may be possible to cut down or get rid of it all together. So....all of that long story to ask your opinion on this. What do you think if I mentioned to him that it would be a good idea for the practice to have a couple of people trained to do fills? I'm not sure if they have floro but if they do it would be fantastic! Have any of you asked your PCP if they would consider having someone in the office trained to do fills? If you did, what did they say? I'll let you all know in a few weeks what he says. Jena