Advice from Dr. Neals office regarding my first fill

[Guest guest]

I emailed Dr. Neals assistant Peggy this morning regarding my concern

about hunger, higher calories yet still loosing weight. This was their

response.

Attn: Peggy/Kem Tillford

Kem

I wrote:

Good morning Peggy,

I have a question for Dr. Neal regarding my first upcoming fill on

Sept. 24 @ 2pm in Olympia. According to my digital scale (hopefully

somewhat accurate), I have lost 20 lbs so far. I'm mostly on solid

food now and everything is going and staying down well. No GERD at

all, no throwing up at all, all is healed up well.

Regarding the question: Over the past 2 weeks I've noticed a huge

change in the amount of calories as well as portion size getting

larger. I still seem to be loosing weight slow but sure, however the

calories have gone from an average of 1000 to 1500+ these past 2 weeks.

I seem to just be hungry more often than I was before and often 1/2

cup to 1 cup does not seem to fill me up any longer. Within an hour or

2 I'm hungry again. Now granted I am making good food choices, have

cut out junk food but the hunger and portion control are increasingly

inching up to the point I am concerned. I have heard on some of these

bandster e groups that one should get a fill when the weight loss

stops for 2 or 3 weeks, which has not happened in my case..but I'm so

concerned about possibly stretching my pouch with too much food if I

don't keep my scheduled fill appointment in 2 weeks.

I am logging everything I eat into www.fitday.com to keep track of

calories, protein, fat and weight loss. I'm getting anywhere from 60 -

100 grams of protein daily, fiber is a bit low but bowel movements are

regular (though smaller), fat % is well under 30 % daily. I'm drinking

64 oz. of water, taking Viactiv calcium supplements (1500 mg) and a

chewable multi vitamin and mineral supplement daily. So far I have not

gotten into a regular exercise routine but I have been taking an

occasional short walk trying to built up a little stamina.

So, in a nutshell I am loosing an average of about1 lb. each week but

I'm

having a real hard time with portion control staying in the 1/2 to 1

cup range

per meal and am concerned about stretching my pouch. Should I keep my

fill appointment as scheduled in 2 weeks or would you prefer to make

that decision closer to the fill day and have me to keep you updated on

weight loss progress and food intake until then? I suppose we can

always make a decision 48 hours before the fill date, but will leave

that decision to Dr. Neal as how to proceed.

Peggy at Pac Surgical wrote:

Kem,

You are doing an excellent job of monitoring your caloric intake and

portion

size. Yes, one of the so called 'indications' for a band fill is no

weight

loss, another is the feeling of being hungry most of the time. This

seems to

describe you at this point as losing a pound a week is only with very

structured meal planning on your part.

Our suggestion is to keep your appointment for the fill and keep

monitoring

your food intake. (Good job on the protein by the way!)The fill will no

doubt allow you to feel more satisfied with the smaller portions.

Let me know if this answers your question.

Thanks,

Peggy

[Guest guest]

FWIW, io agree completely! Sounds like your first fill is coming

up! :-) Sandy

>

> Kem,

>

> You are doing an excellent job of monitoring your caloric intake

and

> portion

> size. Yes, one of the so called 'indications' for a band fill is no

> weight

> loss, another is the feeling of being hungry most of the time. This

> seems to

> describe you at this point as losing a pound a week is only with

very

> structured meal planning on your part.

>

> Our suggestion is to keep your appointment for the fill and keep

> monitoring

> your food intake. (Good job on the protein by the way!)The fill

will no

> doubt allow you to feel more satisfied with the smaller portions.

>

> Let me know if this answers your question.

>

> Thanks,

> Peggy

[Guest guest]

Thanks for sharing your response from Peggy, Kem. Hey, I have an

appointment for my first fill at Dr. Neal's Olympia office on

September 24 at 1:30, so maybe we'll be able to meet. Dr. Rumbaut

did my surgery so will be doing my fill. I'm in the

same boat as you are right now as far as being able to eat too much,

but I had been doing fine by just eating the right foods.

Now I'm going through a rough time so I gained back one pound this

past week. I've never said this kind of thing online, but I think

it will help to reach out to my " bandster family " on my troubles. I

got some bad news at my job last week. Long story short -- small

city government job -- politics -- downsizing -- transfers -- so I'm

being bumped into a lower job classification. I am so depressed!

Yes, I know I'm lucky to have a job at all, but I've decided it's

time for me to find a new job.

I saw a psychologist today to start dealing with all this and he was

great. I'm pleased to say he was also supportive about the band.

He said he has done some psychological exams for lap-band patients.

He told me I'm a " gutsy lady " to take charge of my weight and fly to

Mexico for surgery. My issues are not band related right now, but I

do find myself wanting to eat junk to try to " feel better. "

It's a blessing that we booked this little cruise before all heck

broke loose at my job. We leave Thursday. I can really use a few

days relaxing at sea with my wonderful hubby and beautiful

daughters, and it will be great to visit our son at school.

Please say some prayers for me that I get a new job very soon. Job

hunting has been really tough for me and I think part of that has

been related to my weight.

Thanks, everybody. Take care.

Maureen

7/20/84

-22 pounds