6th Fill yesterday

I want to say thanks to my co-pilot, Charline.  Having you along made the trip fly by and it was a great comfort to travel around Moncton with some one who knows the "lay of the land".

 I had my 6th fill yesterday and my band now has 7.5cc's.  It has been a very slow process - or so it seems.  Every time I get a fill I hope that this will be the one that gets me to the elusive sweet spot LOL.  I have not felt restriction for any length of time after fills.  I do understand that as you lose weight the band gets looser.   My weight loss has slowed down drastically over the last 2-3 months - down 1 pound since my last visit.  I know, better than a gain :-)   So, time to step up to the plate (or away from the plate as the case may be).  Yesterday's fill was only 4 weeks after my 5th fill.  I know I need to make better food choices and plan what I am going to eat - not wait until mealtime and see what I can find.  Cause I can always find something quick and easy and that usually means a poor choice.

Ann - you were such a help to me when I started this journey.  Go on that trip and have a great time!  Then come home to begin the second half of YOUR journey!  Reading your post I wonder if you have lost the majority of your weight on your own with little help from the band?  If this is the case just imagine what you could do with restriction.  Life does get stressful by times and that makes it hard to focus on you.  But... YOU are important, YOU are successful, YOU are a fighter.  These things are true or you wouldn't have been able to do what you have done.  Love you a bunch and sending LOTS of ((((hugs))))

Wow - 6 fills - I have only had 4 and the last fill was only .5cc.  So lets see,  I had 3 cc, they put 1 cc then .5 then .5 and .5 again so that is what  5.5cc.  Not a bit of wonder I am hungry all the time. 

I think more than anything exercise is one of my biggest issues - I hate it with a passion and I have to literally force myself to do it and I have to talk myself into it just about every time.  I think more and more that if I just relied on exercise more, my food choices would not be such an issue.  So I have really been trying to exercise more no matter how much I hate it.  I guess it will just have to be a necessary evil for now. 

Thanks so much for your encouragement.  I am touched that you and all the others care so much.  I am glad you are doing well and that you have the determination to keep going.  I am definitely going to come back from this trip with renewed committment to get to where I need to be and use this band the way it should be used.  More than anything I am not going to entertain any more negativity from people whose business it is not.  I will come here and soak up all the positive vibes and go forward to my goals.

Thanks for the hugs - I needed that.

Ann

Ann, The amount in your band to achieve restriction is individual. I also had a fill on Thursday. They put 2.5 in. I had a complete unfill in December. It may just be swelling, but I may be too full. I seem to have a ton of restriction. I didn't  cut my meat up small enough at supper and got so stuck. I hope I am not  in for another unfill.

2.5!  in one session?  Wow even with an unfill that seems like a lot at one go.  I sure hope you don't find that you are over restricted.   That would be no fun at all.  The most I have ever had at one time is 1 cc and that was my first fill!  I feel right now I am on the verge of restriction.  I have to be very sure I chew really well most of the time.  The problem is one cup does not come close to satifying my hunger.  I get stuck on all the things that should be good for me -  Lettuce, most raw veg, tomatoes(its the skin I can't chew enough) a lot of fruit - apples kill me with or without the skin and funnily enough bananas hurt going through the stoma - no matter how small a bite I take and how long I ma**** to death in my mouth.  Funny isn't it how everyone experiences everything different.  I am starting to kind of look forward to a fill in March.  By then perhaps I will be in good shape emotional to begin to move forward again. 
Ann

 I wish I had kept track of how many cc's I got each time. #6 was 1cc, #5 - 1/2cc, #4 - 1/2cc.  A little late , but I think I will start to keep track.  Not that it will change anything - just something else to keep track of for interest's sake.

I've hit a new low - and this is a good thing!  On my scales at home I hit 194 this am and this is the first time that number has shown itself since I started this trip!  I have been stalled for the last 2 1/2 months at either just under or over 200 (195-201) so now it feels like I might actually have broken the plateau and be on my way to losing once again.  I REEEEALY want this to work - but I know I have to do my part which is basically watch what I eat, get my fills and follow the rules.

WOW that is awesome!!!! 

I am close to the 200 mark - Not close enough to say I can get there in a month but I am closer than I have been in years and so I take heart in that. 

That is it in a nutshell isn't it,  doing your part and following the rules.  But sometimes even doing that you still plateau, get stalled whatever you want to call it.  I have managed to get some of the 7 pounds off over this last week.  I hope to have it nearly all gone by the time we leave on our trip.  It would be nice to at least be the same weight this year as I was last year this time. 

I am so happy for you to have started the move on down again and for you to be able to be on your way again.  Good for you.  You are doing something right.

Ann

 Something that gave me great inspiration were the photos you shared from your last trip.  You did so many wonderful things I couldn't believe it!  When I saw your pics I said, "I WILL do some of those things.  I went canoeing last summer and hiking with my family - for me that was a big deal.  The summer before I might have sunk the boat! LOL  So who knows what adventures lie ahead?  For both of us.  I must say I see you as a little more adventurous than myself.  I can't wait to see what new adventures await you!  I have a break from work in March but I will be sticking close to home and resting up this year.  Maybe I will spend some time planning for something special in the summer.  I hear there is a place called Maggie Falls which is a little more up my alley.  An all day 4-wheeler trip might to something to think about, hummmm... time will tell.  First 4 wheelin' and before you know it I'll be hang-gliding LOL (not really, I'm afraid of heights)  I'm sure you will have a great time and a few pounds either way shouldn't make a difference!   Enjoy!

He put in so so much because it was under fluro.  He had me swallow barium after 2 cc and I watched it go straight through. He added .5 and the barium stopped then drained out of the stoma. He said that he thought he could add more but wanted to be cautious because of what happened in my stomach that led to the total unfill.

I am having fluro the next time because of the problem they had finding my port this time:) Glad to hear it works good:)

Abby, I had a great time going to Moncton with you too. I hope we can do it again. Heck,  may go with you next time, whether I am getting a fill or not.