erin2796

I think we lost place but I'm going to go with T here. T- take really small bites and chew chew chew!

that does not sound like fun at all Cathy! Hopefully you are feeling better now and I think you have cured any craving I may have had for fried chicken! lol!

I had the same problem. Dr. So actually thought that my port had flipped because he could not get through the internal scar tissue because it was so thick. He said it was good for me but not for him. He had to have Dr. Acosta come in and get the needle through it was that thick. It was a lot of pressure but no pain.

The impression I have of Dr. Ortiz is that he is a very laid back and cool guy. He is however VERY passionate about what he does and helping us all change our lives. I would take his tough love and like previously stated use it as motivation to suceed. I did not lose a lot of weight before my first fill but I know that I could have made healthier food choices and now that is what I'm trying to do. It is not easy and I laugh at those people that believe this surgery is the easy way out. This is just as difficult if not more because it is a lifestyle change, not a fad diet. Good luck with you and just remember that tomorrow is a new day and keep positive and motivated.

you have to fast before your fill I believe it is 4 hours but I wasn't sure so I did not eat or drink all morning before my fill just to be safe.

Dr. Ortiz said that anything chewable is okay and actually recommended Flinstones chewable vitamins.

I have a friend that body builds and is a fitness model. She tells me that you have to track your measurements because you are losing fat and gaining muscle. A pound of fat weighs the same as a pound of muscle the difference is the amount of space it takes up. A good example of this would be if you weight a pound of steel next to a pound of feathers. The pound of steel would be a lot smaller than the pound of feathers. Keep measuring because you should see this go down as the muscle develops and forms.

I smoked prior to surgery. I quit the 2 weeks before and not a day sooner. I have been smoke free since then and I am so glad. Now is the time to do it because you have a motivational reason, what is more important the surgery or the smoking? I know they are a close two but you will not gain the weight because of the strict diet you are on for the next month pre and post op so if your going to do it again..now is the time. When I got to OCC for my surgery and they tested my lungs I was told that I have the lungs of a 40+ year old which is really bad because I'm only 29. That was additional motivation. If it helps try to stay away from people that smoke but I didn't do this I have several friends that smoke and I figured that if I couldn't be around them without smoking I would never be able to quit. Amazingly enough the same applied to the eating if I couldn't be around someone eating real food while I was on the liquid diet I was going to have a rough ride ahead. Now a friend of mine smoked also and he smoked before and after the surgery and now wishes he had quit then. It is of course a personal choice that only you can make for yourself. I chose to have this surgery because I wanted to have a long healthy life and by continuing to smoke I was only hurting myself and shortening my life span and continuing to chose to be unhealthy. Good Luck regardless of your choice. The first week will be the hardest but trust me it gets easier as time goes by. Erin

Danielle, Weight Watchers has been very successful for a lot of people that I know..It just did not work for me. I'm not sure if you have ever tried this before but if you haven't this is one thing to try. Weight Watchers allows you to eat all of the foods we enjoy in moderation by tracking your calorie, fiber, and fat intake through a points system. Good luck!

WOW! I just had one last night! thought I was safe because it was a Crystal Light slurpee... Hope I didn't hurt anything.....

My friend actually forgot her birth certificate and they let her back into the states..I wouldn't assume that would always be the case though so birth certificate and license are good. We were laughing and joking with the bordor patrol guy and he said that they keep changing the date where passports will be required so he doesn't even think it will change for next June, we shall see. They also have a card thing that you can get instead of a passport for only $50 which works for Mexico, Canada, the Carribean, Virgin Islands etc. It's a little cheaper than an actual passport. Erin

Thanks so much Julie and Karen! I definitley appreaciate you sharing your routines with me! I LOVE shrimp so maybe that is one way to go with my lunches for sure and Karen you gave so much info! I do not write down what I eat now so maybe that is part of the problem, I definitley do not think I'm getting enough protein. THANK YOU AGAIN SOOOOOOOO MUCH!!

Hi Amy, I'm pretty sure she was talking about the fluro but of course I could be wrong.

That is a great accomplishment Cathy! Way to go! =D>

I'm just curious what those losing weight quickly are eating on a typical day? I am losing weight slowly..Well actually I had gained weight before my first fill and am just now back to my original 12 lbs lost. Any advice or help would be appreciated. I want to kick my weight loss in gear and just can't seem to get it right for me so I'm hoping I can take what you guys are doing and intertwine them into something that I can manage. Thanks!

http://www.weightview.com/new/resultsshown...nutDarwinian965 Here are my results... Hope the link works. Michelle, Thanks again for a great and fun starting post! This is great for motivation and I'm actually going to order the hard copy to keep around. Erin

Hey Kim, Glad to hear that you are finally going to see a new fill doctor! Let us all know how it goes!

Dr. Miranda told me no jello but did not give a reason.

Y- Yes you CAN and WILL succeed!

Hey everyone, I just got back last night from my fill trip in TJ! My fill was a pain free experience with Dr. So. The only issue was that I had a lot of scar tissue and Dr. So could not get the needle to go through the port so at first he thought maybe the port had flipped but after calling in Dr. Acosta for backup they were able to access the port and made a small notation on my chart that it is hard to access my port. Even with all of the pushing to get access to the port I felt no pain, only pressure. Dr. So explained to me that 2cc was the MOST they would ever give on a first fill. He started out by giving me the full 2cc's, I drank some barium and he determined that 2cc was to much, he then pulled some out and I drank more barium. We did this about 3 times when he decided that 1.5cc was the perfect amount for me. It was very cool to see the barium go down on the fluro and how it passed through the band! I notice that I am full much faster and am looking forward to seeing some pounds begin to drop again! Also I have some new pictures! My new avatar is of me and my husband on the USS Midway which is docked in San Diego and turned into a musuem! If you have some free time on your next trick try to stop by and check it out! It was very cool! Erin

It is weird how that happens. I had my first fill on Friday the 8th and they put in 1.5cc's, I'm hoping to see some restriction after this fill.

Suzanna, I found the post about preparing for your fill. If you look under Dolittle's post you will find it. It tried to put the link but it didn't work out the way I planned. Erin

Hey everyone! I fly out bright and early Friday morning for my first fill and cannot for the life of me find the information packet from OCC or remember what Rene told me on the phone about fasting etc. Can anyone please tell me what it is that I need to do to prepare for my fill? How long do I need to fast for? I think I remember seeing something posted a while back so I'm going to try to find that too but also wanted to get my question out there. Thanks all! Erin

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If anyone has the opportunity to pick up Jeff Dunham's DVD Sparks of Insanity I highly recommend it! It is SOOOOOOOOO funny!