Nina2008Single

Dove sole in aluminum foil

Dove sole fillet - very soft and flavorful fish

Lemon/lime cut in very thin slices

Sesame oil (optional) or any oil/cooking spray

Rosemary springs (optional)

Salt/pepper to taste

Aluminum pieces cut in squares (size depending on the size of the fillet)

Very simple recipe, easy to make, easy to eat, easy to clean, no fishy smell in the house

Line up aluminum foil squares on your work surface, put 2-3 slices of lemon/lime in the center of foil, on top of that put 1-2 rinsed dove fillet, salt pepper to taste, drizzle oil on top of each piece of fish, add one rosemary spring and fold aluminum foil to close packets. Put packets on cookie sheet in the middle of the heated oven (425) and bake for 20 to 30 min depending on your oven. Serve fish in unopened packets. Each guest will split the packet with their own fork. Side dish suggestion – steamed rice and peas.

Help! I have had two fills and so far I have not lost any weight! I have a 10cc band which is filled to 7 cc right now and I still don't feel much restriction I am going in for my 3rd fill in a month or so and I just wanted to know if anyone has had similar experiences? Any advice?

Well Holly,

You are not alone. I had my surgery on Sept 07 2009, first fill on Oct 17 2009(5cc) and no weight lost whatsoever. It is so very exasperating. I quit eating rice and bread all together because they get stuck always (an experience I don't wish on anybody) but real restriction is a feeling that I am not familiar with yet. I am afraid to check the scale but judging from my face, I am sure that I put on weight since the fill . I feel frustrated to no end, and surprise, surprise I overeat when frustrated. It is our habits that made us fat (look at me preaching!) and we have to break them. I realized that although, in general, I am making good food decisions, getting the band and the subsequent fill gave me license to cheat myself. I have been visiting the Halloween candy bowl way too often. I haven’t taking lunch breaks instead I been eating in front of the computer (I ate a whole pastrami sandwich the other day without even realizing it or tasting it), and invoking my being very busy (period closing and getting ready for a well deserved vacation), I didn’t exercise at all in the past month. So, I decided that instead of running to Tijuana to get another fill, I will take a step back and reassess my lifestyle. We all thought and hoped that the band will be the answer to our prayers and it will be soooo effortless, but is not a miracle solution and we all have to accept that. Something you do (and I, and many others reading this board) is keeping you from progressing with your weight loss. Find it, understand it, conquer it, and success will follow. It is possible; just look at all the wonderful fellow bandsters that answered your cry of help. If they can do it, then you(we) can do it too. Hang on trudge ahead!

Footnote: By writing and publishing this post, I realized that I delivered my own pep talk and I hope nobody, Holly foremost, took it as a sermon from holier-than-thou (pun not intended) hypocrite.

I ended up taking a job that wants me to start on 10/26 so I moved my surgery date up because I won't be able to take off once I start working.

Is anyone else going in for surgery that day? I am flying in on Sunday the 18th and am staying at the Marriott! I am going alone...should I be worried??

Do not worry you will be ok. I went alone as well and I didn’t feel lonely. Everyone is very nice and you will make friends driving from the airport with the others scheduled for surgery on the same day as you. I did, I met wonderful people (Mike, his wife, Connie, her friend). I will be at the clinic on Monday as well for my first fill. If you see a tall blonde with big butt tottering on high heels, feel free to say hello…

I been reading the posts and absorbing everyone’s experience with the band, struggles and successes, goals and dreams, and I cannot help but wonder about one thing that almost no one mentions: the effect of the weight loss on the body. I have read about long journeys and short journeys in reaching the weight goal one set for oneself and the writers have been very young, young, and not so-young and I wonder who fared best. We all know that are two constants on this journey from the esthetic point of view, boobs will go south and skin will sag, degree dictated by genetics (mostly). The question remains: how bad is it? Would it be realistic to start saving for plastic surgery? I know, I know – most of us started this “trek’ for health reasons but after that goal is achieved, one cannot help but want to be “hot” as well. So, what is the reality of loosing 100 lb or more?

For the first time since being banded, I really feel like I am going to keep this weight off for life. I've always been cautiously optimistic, but the band is working..........SLOWLY but surely! My whole relationship with food has changed. I don't even miss french fries any more!

Sabrina:)

Congratulation Sabrina – I am so happy for you.

Nina

Thank you Angie - it is getting better. I am just wondering when the "padding" is gone will we be able to actual see the port under the skin? I know I am a big baby with this, but cannot help it.

Nina - I have little if any port pain. Right after my surgery, I will say that the port incision was by far the most tender. The one by my bra line didn't bother me nearly as much as I thought it would.

For me, the times I notice my port the most is when I am bathing my son and lean into it, or when I lean to the side just right. I feel it. Not a pain, just aware it is there. I am a beginner, so I still have a lot of pad to cushion the port. My son, Daniel, will "try" and use me as his personal jungle gym. (which I do not let him do.) I don't want him stepping on my port area and pulling it. I don't want to pop my stitched or tilt my port.

I don't think the "strange body" feeling will leave us, because we do have a foreign object in our bodies. However I do think be coexist well and get use to it. You are a new bandster, give your body some time to heal and get use to the port. The more time that goes by, odds are the better you will feel about it.

Questions for the veterans out there – is the feeling of having a strange body inside you ever leaving? Am I feeling the incision or am I feeling the port? I tried today to bend over and I just could not because of the pain. Is it the site of the port forever painful or I am just obsessing for the time being?

Looking forward to your answers,

Nina

Hello to all I have surgery scheduled for September 7, and am staying at the Marriott. I'm sooooooo excited.

Mizty

Mizty,

I am also staying at the Marriot and I am planning to get there on Sunday noon. I am so glad that there is another person scheduled to have surgery in the same day as I am!

See you there,

Nina

Thank you Magkai1, it really helped ease my mind especially after reading that you are an RN and the accompanying friend is also one(well, NP). I have a few friends that are RNs, MAs, or PAs and I know how they react when something is slightly off, so once again thank you.

I will be having my surgery on Sept 7. Anyone else scheduled for that day? I could use a buddy with no family on this continent (oh look at me puling at heartstrings shamelessly).

Nina, I promise to fill you in soon. My family and I are headed out on vacation and will return Thursday.

Thank you – have a fun and safe vacation.

I am getting the surgery done on 9/25/09. Today a friend and I drove across the border to visit with Dr. Ortiz. He was friendly and informative. Slightly cocky, but I like that trait in a surgeon, especially one working on me!

I wish I could get this done sooner. Oh well!

Now I need to study the pre and post-op diets so I am stocked and ready to go. I need to lose 11 pounds in the next month.

Hi Magkai1,

Could you tell me more about the center, the doctor, the drive there, anything? Everyone seems to be excited about the surgery, but besides constantly dreaming how I am going to look after dropping 100lb, I am plainly scared. I do not really know what to expect since it is a little weird to schedule surgery without meeting the doctor, his team... So please help me put my mind at ease.

Looking forward to your answer,

Nina2008single