Clynn

Could be gas. Walk around for about 10 minutes and see if that helps.

It's pretty normal for me to tighten up during that time. Just be extra careful and don't be afraid to go on liquids if you have to during that time. You may want to let the doctor know whey they do your fill that this happens so they can give you a little extra wiggle room. Being too tight, even for a couple of days, is no fun and can do some serious damage.

I don't think there's really such a thing as cheating, there's just healthy and unhealthy. Those diet pills always struck me as incredibly unhealthy and ineffective as they are in the same family as speed. They may work in the short term but since you haven't really made the lifestyle changes needed to get the weight off, the weight will be more likely to come back once you get off them.

The hiccups are what's know as a soft stop. It's your body's way of telling you to stop eating or stuff will be coming back up. When I get them I take a deep breath, then lie face up on my balance ball while holding my breath so that it stretches out my stomach and diaphram. Kills them every time.

Yup that's totally normal. I had some decent restriction before my first fill and even pb'd once when I tried to eat a potsticker. Most people don't have restriction and that's normal to, but then they freak out about it so I tend to emphasize more about no restriction being normal. Consider yourself lucky since it means you won't have to police yourself quite as much to keep from gaining weight before your first fill.

I believe before the pre-op testing you're allowed water since they'll be taking blood and its near impossible to get a blood sample if you are dehydrated. Before surgery, however, it is no food or liquids after midnight the night before as it can cause an embolism during surgery which is bad times.

Getting the flu is no fun under normal circumstances but can be a dangerous situation for a banded person. The uncontrollable vomiting can cause a slip or the irritation to the stomach can cause swelling which can do some pretty serious damage to the stomach. It wasn't long ago we had a post from someone who got the flu, didn't get proper treatment right away, and consequentially had to get her band and part of her stomach removed. That being said, I've heard plenty of stories of people who get the stomach flu and the worse that happens is they are miserable for a bit. When I first got banded I went to my doctor and got some anti-vomiting medicine. It sits in my fridge just in case and should head off any serious unpleasantness if I take it early enough.

No problems here.

Wait a minute, isn't crawfish closer to shrimp than actual fish? I always have way more trouble with shrimp than fish. Approach with caution.

If you were banded by Dr Ortiz, Dr Miranda should have given you a copy of the post-op diet instructions. You should check there first for when you can start eating solid foods. Once you're on solids, start slowly with a new kind of food and chew thoroughly. If it goes down ok you should be fine, but always know where the closest bathrooms are just in case. 25 pounds in one week does seem excessive, but if you are getting enough nutrients and proteins and don't feel lethargic or sore it should be fine. It's hard to pin down a "normal" while on liquids as people's experiences will vary.

A few pb episodes with bread and suddenly it won't look so good anymore. Even without the pb'ing, to me that stuff now just tastes like cardboard. Since I can't eat as much as before I started looking for a higher quality of food or foods with a stronger taste. Bread, pasta, and tortillas are all fillers which are basically used to transport better tasting foods.

Let it out hon, you'll feel better talking about it. Besides, we aren't co-workers, distant relatives, or that person you pass in the hallways occassionally. We are members of a support forum, and if we ran out of people needing support it would get boring fast. . . um, not that I have anything against you guys or anything. I was just pointing out that . . . Nevermind. Given your post it sounds like there's plenty of frustrations in your life. The smoking is a bigger issue than losing the pre-op weight so kudos to you there. It is probably a major factor in you gaining the weight back. Some good advice I was given was to try doing something to relieve your frustration that isn't eating and that will keep your hands busy. Of course, come back here when you need to let off some steam.

I've seen this happen with MS Outlook. What happens is a part of Outlook freezes with a message in the outbox. Even though the message is sent, Outlook never registers it as sent and so sends it out again every time is does a send and receive. Don't know if that's what's happening here as I don't know what client or server they use. Emailing her may not be effective since it is an email related problem which may be making her email entirely unaccessible. If you can find her phone number you should give her a call. However, if no one's home then there's not much that can be done until the morning.

Sustainable weight loss is the jackpot. Time and time again studies have shown that slow steady weight loss is the most sustainable and the most likely to be permanent. The number I've heard thrown around with these studies is 1 to 2 lbs a month. Can't speak for anyone else but if I lose 5 or more pounds a week I get very ill very fast. Just as you shouldn't endanger your long term goals for short term gratification (taking speed or heroin will help you lose weight right quick after all), you shouldn't be down on yourself when you're doing as great as you are in a healthy manner.

If you drink water and it causes you to vomit, you have taken too big a drink. You will not stretch your pouch with water or anything unless you make a habit of eating way past your stop point.

Why do you use the word only? 10 lbs in less than a month is a spot on rate of healthy weight loss. If I lose faster than that I start to get worried about malnutrition.

I use my weight to decide whether or not it's time for a fill. If I stop losing or start gaining weight then it is time for a fill. I also keep an eye on what I do eat when I'm in the sweet spot so that I get enough. I don't go as far as counting calories because I'm far too lazy but if I start feeling bad or if I'm losing 5 or more pounds in a week, I know I'm not eating enough. If you stop losing weight and you're not eating very much, you're probably in starvation mode and should try upping the calories. There's no hard and fast rule to any of this, you just have to play it by ear.

It's what I've always hoped for when I get a fill. Pre-band I used to love cooking, now it's just meh. It's a huge change in mindset, especially if you've been obese most of your life. I have a cousin and an aunt who are just stick thin and it's how they go through life and seems the most natural thing in the world to them.

Oh man I miss that. Since I got my unfill it's like a switch has been flipped and I've gone from what you described to must eat now! Get the protein and nutrients you need but otherwise enjoy it cause the sweet spot is fickle.

By forum administrator do you mean Lori? If not, try sending your message to her as she's the closest thing I've seen to an administrator.

Do you know how your parents feel about it now? Have they had ongoing weight struggles. In other words, will they be sympathetic to what you're going through and where you're coming from? Is your relationship with them as such that you can receive their support? Do as much research as you can and present it to them. If you can show them that you're not taking this lightly they'll take you more seriously. See if you can get them to talk to someone who has been banded. Do you have a doctor who you have a history with? If so, try talking to them and seeing what they think. If you can get them on your side, it gives your arguments credibility. If they don't think you should be banded, a good doctor will point you in another direction such as a nutritionist rather than just leaving you hanging. Banding is really for those who have exhausted all their other options, so you should explore any (healthy!) suggestions first. By law, doctors are not supposed to share your confidential medical information with your parents if you don't want them to, so you can count on whatever they tell you to be private if that's what you prefer. You can always bring your parents to this forum so they can see what the situation is and ask questions. There are many factors which will dictate how your parents react to this. Though they may initially say no, keep the dialog with them open. Hopefully they'll be supportive in whatever weight loss method you choose.

If you don't want to pay the $130 for transportation, you can take the trolly down to the border for the airport, and then take a cab anywhere in TJ for $5. Do not take Yellow Cab, take one of the red city cabs. I had a bad experience with Yellow cab but the red city cabs were top notch. Don't know how much the trolly costs but if you look around San Diego's public transportation websites you'll probably find all the information you'll need. If you don't want to deal with the public transportation, the $130 for the clinic van is split between everyone riding with you for fills (surgery patients have that cost built into their surgery fee). For instance, if three people are on that ride for fills, it is $130 split three ways rather than $130 each.

I've noticed that to. I just adjusted the time zone under my profile until it showed me the correct time. Apparently, the forum thinks I live in Alaska or some such.

I remember hearing her daughter on a radio show talking about Sharon's band. She said her mother had been told she could only have it in for five years and then have to have it taken out. Since I'd never heard such a thing I assumed she was mistaken. Now I've read your post I wonder if that was accurate and why they would tell her that.

Yikes!! That's 9 hours out of the day you're not allowed to drink IF you never have a snack. Glad they never told me that I would be miserable. Since she's getting so dehydrated, it would probably be a good idea to cut that time down.