Stress and the band!

I have been looking for info on how stress effects the band  ...I have answered my own question.  .......I am under a lot of personal stress. My two favorite people in the world are ill. My cousin has brain cancer. His mother, my favorite aunt, has Alzheimers and heart problems, she is 87 & health issues are part and parcel, I know. However, it doesn't change the losses associated. On Friday, my oldest sister called and she told me that my other sister was being placed in a special care home in Dieppe. Also she told me that  she is selling her house and moving to Moncton. My sisters are 20 & 23 years older than I am. I won't have close family at home any more. All the things that connect me to my parents are being given to my niece, which makes sense......but I am talking about emotional reaction.  I honestly feel like I am losing everything at once. I know that I am not. but that is my reaction.
Now the band......I have been "sick to my stoma" since the call on Friday. It didn't help that I would not let the tears out. This morning, in the shower, I started to cry and I balled for an hour. Today, I stuck to liquids. This afternoon I decided to indulge in a treat and my DH & I headed for DQ. It would just not go down. I tried all the technique I knew to relax and open the band....at least all the ones you can do in public ;-0  ....my band would not open up. I PB'ed a few times and up chucked twice, before giving up. I have never heard of slidders not going down!  I now know what stress does to the band!
I am going home tomorrow to help move everything. i will start dealing after that.

Sliders won't go down for me if my stoma is upset. If i'm stressed, sad, or angry, forget about it!

Keep your chin up! 

Kitty you ahve so much to deal with I am sorry you are having such a trying time. It is so hard when family is not close and really hard to have to make the decision to have someone placed in a home. I will say a prayer for you.

thanks. The decision is the right decision and it was made by my oldest sister. The sister being placed was my "hands on" parent when I was growing up it's a long story) and she has never left home. I am so worried about her. She has spent her entire life in one square block of Richibucto. But God does indeed watch over us. My late father's girlfriend, whom he dated for about 25 years, is in the room across the hall. Not only is there someone she knows, but I know if she is there,  it is a good facility. 
As long as she was home, I still had a home. I know these things happen to everyone, but all four at  together is a bit much. Going back home has always been like ....well returning to where I belong. No matter how bad life got, I would gain strength just by being there. The 4 people, that were left, are not going to be there any more. I will adjust and survive this, just like all the other lumps in life, but as I have said...the process is a bit*h!
BTW I was able to eat a couple of hours after returning home.

I am sure there is a correlating between the ability to eat and stress. Even as a non op, stress affected my eating. Depending on the amount of stress I would either eat a lot more or no t be able to eat at all for days. Even now, if I am really stressed out I get a lump feeling in my pouch area and I can not even consider eating.

I feel as you do Charline. I am the youngest in a family of 11 and an extended family of 22. Mom had to go onto a nursing home following a fall that broke her hip 2 years ago;. The house was empty and now it is no longer livable. It is going to either be torn down or it will fall down. It will not be there the next time I go home. Mom is bound and determined that she is returning to the house within the next few months. She is 84 and very disabled with RA. Taking to her as I do on the phone twice a week is so hard.

Change is inevitable, we all know that. But knowing that does not change how it makes us feel. It is painful. I live a long ways from home and like you going home centered me and renewed me. Now I will no longer be able to go home. I don't even really want to anymore. With the house gone, it is no longer home to me. The only reason I go back at all is because Mom is alive and wants to see me and I her.
 
I guess that is the price we pay for getting older. As a kid, I always thought getting older would be an adventure. Never considered the pain of loss. 

 It makes sense to me that stress would continue to effect how I feel and therefore how I eat.  A few years ago (about 12) I lost 80 pounds and weighted about 135 and it was all due to stress.  I couldn't tell you how fast I lost it, when it started or when it  stopped.  I wasn't really a diet but more a slow suicide - just didn't care if I ate.  Now, having said that there are times when I can't shove enough food into my mouth to handle the stress.  For me it depends how bad the stress is.  Only difference now is that stress (must only be moderate to high at present) seems to tighten my band - not sure if that is possible but that is how it feels.  
When we are VERY young we look forward to being older and independent.  To do whatever we want when we want to do it.  Very few of us learn from the mistakes of our parents and grandparents.  As children we don't recognize the stress, strain and pain which comes with growing older.  I too am at that point in my life where I have lost my dad, my mom is losing ground daily with both physical and mental health issues and my son has no guarantee on living from one day to the next.  I need to work at least 5 more years to secure a pension and I would rather be home with my family while I still have them.  But these are the choices we make and life goes on and hopefully we will deal with whatever comes our way as it arrives.

I started this journey for many reasons:
- to be the healthiest person I could be at my age
- so that I would be able to help those people I love the most when they need me
- so that when the time comes for me to enjoy life I will be able to do just that
- so that I will have the energy to fit in a few enjoyable time amidst the stresses - and I do
- so that when I get to my mother's age I will not look back and say "if only I had ..."

I waited 5 years almost to the day for my surgery.  I had all but given up on it when one day I got a phone call from Moncton. But today I am 72 pounds lighter with 39 pounds to goal - I will make it.

To all of you with stresses and struggles - it's life and sometimes it hurts but we will get through it one way or the other.  Stay strong and stay focussed.  There are many people here who feel your pain and frustration.  Don't ever hesitate to vent on this forum - because they will, not just listen, but they WILL HEAR YOU!!!

Love and prayers - Abby

Thanks for all your support. The move was postponed because of the weather & road conditions. I know that I will get through this,,,,your understanding and support helps a lot.