Donna34

Silly Willy!! You must have been so excited, or busy talking to me that you forgot you had bloodwork! They took us in there where the computers were. Remember those curtain thingys hanging between those beds? Atleast that's where they did my bloodwork. It was right after my EKG. You probably forgot because it was so painless. I couldn't believe how good she was at getting a vein! I loved Dr. Ortiz, and his whole staff. They were all very nice, everything Twigs said.... I personally, wouldn't go to a doctor that did no pre-op testing. I would want the Dr. to have enough concern for my health that he would want to see the results for himself, rather than just take my word for it. But that's just me! Donna

Well, my problems seem to have cleared up with posting. If someone did something, THANKS! Everything seems to be working properly again. Hopefully this will last! Donna

Doing good thanks! I got .08cc's. But man, I really feel TIGHT! I could feel WATER going down this morning. Hope I'm not too tight! That brings me up to 1.28 cc's. He told me to be sure and do liquids for the next 3 days, and slowly move on to puree's. We'll see how it goes! Thanks for asking! Donna

OK, I got you now! There's NO better reason to do it, than for your health! I gained 100 pounds with my first pregnancy. I gained 30 with my 2nd. I lost the 30, but I'm still struggling to get 70 off. I thought it would be easy enough, after having kids, but it WASN'T. (they are 4 & 6 and I'm still battling it) Right after Christmas, my doctor put me on high blood pressure meds. I have NEVER liked taking meds, but just knowing that I was having to take these because of my WEIGHT, really ticked me off. Diabetes also runs in my family, so I didn't want to take any chances there either. I tried Weight watchers,(3 different times) LA Weightloss, Nutrisystem, Atkins Diet, Doctors & Nurses High Energy Weight loss Clinic, The Moore Clinic, Slim-Fast, Dexatrim, counting calories, joined a gym, and worked out like a crazy woman, and LASTLY the Cambridge diet, which is a liquid diet just like Optifast. It all worked for a LITTLE while, but then I'd get discouraged, and quit, and the pounds would come back, WITH FRIENDS!! Well, now with the band, I CAN'T QUIT. The band doesn't let me. So, I know NOW when I lose a couple of pounds, THEY WON'T BE BACK! That's what makes the band worth it to me. Plus did I mention that after losing just 30 pounds, I'm off the BP meds???? YaaaaaaaaaaaY!!! Good Luck, Donna

Nope, you're not crazy, I'm just diligent. I have to log in 3 TIMES for every post I make, including this one. This is the 3rd time, let's see if it posts THIS time. Donna

Wow, slipping behind your ribs? That is unusual. Maybe it's because you've lost so much weight already. I've only lost 30 pounds, so my port is a good distance from my ribs. I'm sure if your doc wasn't alarmed by it, then it's probably no big deal. It does raise a good question though. Where is everyone's port located? Mine is about 4 inches up from my belly button, and about 4 inches to the left. Donna

I go tomorrow for my 2nd fill. Wish me luck everyone. I'm hoping that this one will find my "sweet spot!" Ready to get down to business! Donna

VERY VERY VERY WELL SPOKEN Clynn!! You always have the perfect answers! This is so true. I do agree with Clynn, and I have to say that if your weight isn't a problem for you, then NO you probably don't want the band... On the other hand if you are not bothered about your weight, (or you have never defined yourself by your weight) why are you looking into weight loss surgery? I think we are all bothered by our weight to a degree, some are bothered more than others. Apparently none of us are bothered to the point that super models are, or we wouldn't be here would we? Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to come off as a smart BUTT, I just want you to have a heart to heart with yourself, and think about the reasons YOU want to have it done. If those reasons don't outweigh, (by FAR) the inconvenience of chewing like a mad dog, or giving up a few foods, or doing a liquid diet for a couple of weeks after surgery, then you probably don't need to have it. Also, don't go into it thinking you are going to have SUPER FAST weightloss. Don't get me wrong, a lot of people DO. But some of us lose much slower. The average is 1-2 pounds a week. The doctor will tell you this himself. BUT, have you not ALWAYS been told that when it comes to weight loss, slower is better? I know I was told that REPEATEDLY. I'm fine just knowing that JUST by having this band, I won't be this size NEXT year at this time. If I did nothing, I would have most likely been BIGGER this time next year. The weight is coming off slowly, but I'm not starving myself either. If I put forth a little effort, it would probably be melting off, but I am not in a big hurry. I know that just by taking it easy, I should be weighing about 160 or less this time next year. And to ME that sounded REAL good, chicken or no chicken. Good Luck with your decision! Donna

Hmmmm, I checked everything out too. My browser is enabled for cookies, and I haven't done anything with the security settings either. Strange....Oh well, thanks CalKev for reporting me!LOL Thanks Lori, for your suggestions! We'll see if this one posts..... Donna OK, it did it AGAIN, and this time it told me to copy my post, as it wouldn't BE THERE after I signed in. So I copied it, signed in AGAIN, and pasted it, and it posted all this mumbo jumbo. Keeps saying, Sorry, you do not have permission to post to this topic. It's my own stinking TOPIC!! Guess I'll have to type all my replies into a Word document, and sign in 100 times, and copy it to the message board.

<BR><BR><BR>Hmmmm, I checked everything out too. My browser is enabled for cookies, and I haven't done anything with the security settings either. Strange....<BR>Oh well, thanks CalKev for reporting me! LOL Thanks Lori, for your suggestions!<BR>We'll see if this one posts.....<IMG style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: middle" alt="" src="http://www.lapbandforum.com/style_emoticon...ault/tongue.gif" border=0 emoid=""><BR>Donna

Just thinking about you, and wondering how everything is going since this last fill? Did this one work for you? I certainly hope so. Stop in, and let us know! Talk to you later! Donna

Somehow everytime I sign in, it says I'm logged in, but when I try to post something, or reply to a topic, it tells me I'm not allowed to do that, and asks me to sign in. SOOOO, once again I sign in and, it says I'm signed in, and the SAME thing happens again. Heck, I'll even be surprised if THIS post shows up! Am, I being censored??? SO, if anyone out there is asking me something, or expecting me to say something....sorry, I'm not avoiding you, I promise! Donna

Thanks Greg, for your report. WOW 7.6cc's! That's a lot. But it sounds like you really know your VG band, and seems that all is going well! That should be an encouragement to some of the people on here who have concerns about the VG band. The whitening sounds like a real deal! I've always wanted to have my teeth whitened. However, my front 2 teeth are capped, and I'm thinking you can't whiten them. Do you know if that is true? Or will the Zoom whitening also work on caps? Glad you had a good trip, and a great loss while gone! Thanks for sharing! Donna

I'm thinking gas too. That is EXACTLY how mine felt. It would start like a sharp pain a little bit below my right shoulder, but more prominent in the front. Then it would creep up into my neck, and you talk about a PAIN!!!! It REALLY hurts when it get's to your neck. Mine also hurt more often after I had eaten something, not always, but most of the time. Just to be sure, I'd give Dr. Ortiz a call, or if you're like me, and don't like to call, just drop him an e-mail. He'd be glad to help! Donna

LOL, yep, this is true! However I don't really tend to pay a lot of attention to the graph that predicts the future. It's not very accurate until you have really entered a LOT of figures. It's kinda slow thinking I guess. The reason I weigh myself DAILY, is sometimes I forget what I weighed 4 days ago. If those scales are not moving, I sometimes exaggerate it in my head, and think, I haven't lost a pound in a MONTH, or I haven't lost in 2 weeks, etc. It helps me to be able to go back, and SEE how much I've actually lost, and that keeps me from getting discouraged. Plus if I only weigh one day a week, say on a Friday, and the previous Friday I weighed like 217. Then suppose on Wednesday of the following week my weight drops down to 215, and maybe due to water, etc. it jumps back up to 217 by Friday, then I'm ticked off, because I think the scale never moved. I would never have known that I actually got down to 215. Plus I like to see if there's a pattern. I've always been that way. Say I might have 3 losing weeks, and plateau for a week. I want to see how frequently that plateau week comes around. Of course, there's seldom an accurate pattern. I just like to see it in writing I guess! But, I'm crazy like that! LOL I've always been a scale addict! I just can't stay away from them, that's the FIRST place I head to, when my feet hit the floor in the mornings! Donna

That's a good question, I was wondering the same thing. I used to be CRAZY about measuring myself every other day! LOL I measured, chest, hips, waist, right thigh, right calf, and halfway between the elbow, and shoulder on my right arm, oh, and the fatty part of the stomach, just under the waistline (more prominent in women). I don't know if this is the RIGHT way to do it, but I had gone to a Weight loss clinic, and they told us to do it that way, so thats just what I've always done. I'd like to know the "right" way to do it though! Donna

65 INCHES 70 POUNDS! WAY TO GO!!!!!! HOLY MOLY! I'll be so glad when I can say that!!!! And, this is all after JUST one fill????? You go girl! LOL I'm amazed! Donna

There you go! Next 4th we should be where we WANT to be! Good luck with your remaining 7.5. I've been on a week, and a half plateau, and the scales are FINALLY moving again! Yippee! Donna One thing that you might be interested in...I use this and it really encourages me! It's at www.weightcommander.com It's a downloadable program that you can try for free, for like 10 days or so. If you opt to keep it, the guy will send you a bill for 9.95. I bought it a few years back, and it's been kinda neat to have. You enter your weight everyday. It graphs your weight loss, and predicts your weight for the future, based on your rate of loss. Has lot's of diet tips, and just some fun stuff. Check it out!

UUUUUUGGGGGGHHHH! The dreaded E word! I was doing pretty good there for awhile, but lately I've been slacking! I really need to get a move on! If not, I'm gonna have saggy skin, and cellulite for DAYS. I was doing 20 minutes on my Gazelle, and 25 on my treadmill, and maybe a few reps on the Ab Lounge, until I got worried about slipping my band! :-? OK, so I'm starting back today! I think we all need these posts to help us remember to do the E thing! Thanks for posting this, and I'll try to keep you, and myself accountable! Donna

Sounds like you've got everything planned out! As with ANYtime you eat in public, make sure you know where the bathroom is, before you even take a bite! LOL I've only had one public episode, and it was on my daughter's field trip, of all places!! It was before I even got my first fill. We were like 1 mile from the bathroom! I thought I was going to DIE. I immediately took a little walk, hid behind a building, and started spitting like a rabbid dog. After, I walked a bit longer, it went down, and I was able to go back to the rest of the group. As far as eating though, I WAS DONE! I really don't think anyone even noticed though. Thank goodness! You'll be fine! Bet we won't be eating much at all the July 4th festivities! Donna

I really can't say. I do know that my doc told me that after gall bladder removal some people experience "fake attacks." They hurt, yet not as severely as the real ones, but same location and everything. I have had several of these. Totally different than heartburn. Feels like the onset of an attack, but usually subsides pretty soon. The pants not fittin gin the afternoon, as opposed to morning, is probably water retention. Do you take any kind of diuretic? If not you could try one, and see if that helps. I'm certainly not a doctor, so take any of my suggestions with a grain of salt! LOL Donna

I had my gall bladder removed a couple of years ago. Mine had developed into pancreatitus, because my doctor kept sending me home from the ER with antacids!!! I knew it was NOT heartburn. It was KILLING me! So, if you do start having symptoms, DO NOT put it off. Get it out! My outpatient gall bladder surgery, turned into a 7 day stay in the hospital, with no food. Had to let my pancreatitus clear up, before they could remove my gall bladder! It was by far worse than childbirth! I've never experienced pain like that in my LIFE! I researched it a lot, when I first started having the attacks. One easy rule to remember, (and it can also be added to) is what they call the 4 F's. FORTY, FEMALE, FERTILE, and FAT I wasn't 40 but the other 3 applied to me. I had gone on a diet, and lost 36 pounds, that's when the attacks started. So, if you start losing, and start hurting...beware. Donna

Maybe, with Dr. Romero's experience, you will need less fills. We will hope so anyway. Dr. Vitello (my doc) however has done a lot of fills. He seemed to be very familiar with Dr. Ortiz, and his patients as well. It would be hard to compete with the number of fills that Dr. Romero has done though. I doubt many US doc's could even come close. However, when he injected the 2cc's of saline. We watched it, and it just sit there. I drank a little more barium, and began to get sick. It still was not moving. He pulled out maybe .5cc and I was still SICK. He pulled out 1cc. Still sick, he was very gradual about taking it out. Finally I was getting SO sick that I told him it was going to come back up, and of course on the monitor it WAS backing up my esophagus. He immediately pulled all the saline out, and it was INSTANT relief. He then injected 1.7cc's. I drank more barium, STILL too tight. At 1.2cc's I felt like I would be ok, and the barium was going through slowly enough. He injected just a tiny bit more, and I immediately felt sick. He pulled it back out, and I was happy with 1.2cc's. It's funny how finicky the bands can be. I'd never gues that .5cc's could make that big a difference! I felt like he knew what he was doing, and I didn't feel like he was scrimping on the saline! LOL My cousin's doctor gives her maybe .2cc's each visit. It has taken her FOREVER to get to the sweet spot. She lost NO weight at all the first 6 months! MAYBE your VG band will be more beneficial to you than you think! Maybe the extra leeway, will be just what you need to get to that sweet spot sooner. I think there is a varied opinion on the VG bands. Some people think they are harder to adjust, and some people think they are the BEST! This is just a suggestion... When you go to TJ, plan to stay a couple of days. After your fill, go eat solids! See if you can eat,(about 1/3 of what you could eat before) and see if you have good restriction. You might want to do this in your hotel room, just in case. It makes me nervous to eat out right after a fill. MAKE sure you have good restriction before you leave TJ. They will adjust it for you the next day, if you didn't get enough on the first day. I get my next fill on the 22nd. Next Friday, so hopefully I'll have good restriction for quite awhile after that one! Donna

You're right! They do an initial purge of the band when they install it. LOL However, they say it is impossible to get ALL the air out of the band, and tube, which is understandable. So, when you go to your fill doctor, he will once again atempt to purge the air out. Still gonna be a little there, and when the saline is added, it somehow get's out, over the next couple of weeks. I'm not exactly sure how, but it does. I think there is a section about it in Dr. O's book. Maybe in the fill section, I'd have to look to be sure. To answer your second question...No, it's not a physical sensation from the band. Generally, the band causes very little sensation at all. No more than you feel in the A.M. when you take a drink or a bite of something, and you might notice a little tightness. (you may not have experienced this yet either) The reason, I know it's gone is I CAN EAT. After I had my fill, I could only eat about 1/3 of what I normally ate. Now, I'm back at the point where I can eat almost anything. Just like I felt when I started back on solids. My fill doc says most people end up coming back in about 2-6 weeks for the 2nd fill. This again is one of those YMMV instances. Maybe you won't need one for several weeks, or months. But, I'm not losing, and therefore, I WANT to get more saline! LOL You'll know when it's time. :-? I hate to get real graphic, I don't want to gross you out... I think I was really not as tight as I thougt after my first fill, because I was bloated. (PMS) When that was over, and the air being gone too....whew. I could EAT. A LOT. Be thankful you don't have to deal with that aspect! Donna

I'm sorry Judy, I'm about to die laughing! I wondered the EXACT same thing, after I got banded. Was I gonna slip my band if I strained too hard??? You will think of EVERY POSSIBLE reason to think that band is gonna slip off there in the beginning. I thought if I bent over to pick things up, it might slip. If i picked up my daughter it was gonna slip. AS far as I could see ANYTHING and EVERYTHING was gonna cause a slip. There are A LOT of banded folks out there, and I don't think there are THAT many slips. It's another one of those things that you hear about MORE often because they are posting on a board to ask questions etc. But, the thousands of other happy bandsters are out there living their lives virtually worry free! After you've eaten solids for awhile, and even had the first fill, and SEEN the band in there, you won't wonder so much about every little thing. I think the band is a lot more durable than we all think in the beginning. However, if it makes you feel better, you could try some Colace stool softener form Wal-Mart. It's the same thing you get in the hospital after you have a baby! Good Luck, Donna