enterprise01

Sunshine -- You'll be there before you know it. The hope of plastic surgery is one of the things that has kept me motivated. OK everyone, I'm having boyfriend problems. When we met 12 years ago, I weighed 125 lbs. He's seen me gain and lose several times over the years. This time around he's complaining about my weight loss. He says he can feel my ribs and my back bone and he doesn't like that. This weekend he said that he wants his soft round girl back. And he's very upset that I'm going to have plastic surgery. In fact, he's so upset that he's been talking in his sleep. Last night, it was as if he was having a conversation with someone else and he said, "I just don't what she wants anymore." I'm assuming he was talking about me. I tell him everyday how much I love him and want and need him. I reassure him constantly that I'm happy with him and am not interested in any other men. I'm not going to leave him, period. How can I make him feel more secure? I just hate that he thinks I'm not happy with him and that I may leave him because it's so very far from the truth.

I exercise at night after 9 p.m. Sometimes it's as late as midnight or 1 a.m. Years ago when I was younger and in much better shape, I tried working out in the morning for about a 6 month period. Many days I got very nauseous while working out. And I always fell asleep at my desk by 2 p.m. I'm just not a morning person in any way, shape, or form. Nowadays, I get up at 10 a.m., work until 8 p.m., come home and eat dinner, get back on the computer to do more work, workout for an hour somewhere between 9 p.m. and midnight, get back on the computer and do more work, and then go to bed at 2 or 3 a.m. It's certainly not an ideal schedule, but I'm sticking with what works for me. By the way, exercise has never given me more energy. In fact, it zaps what little energy I do have. I suffer from some severe thyroid problems, so I think that's why exercise does not affect me like it does others. In general, it makes me feel awful and the only reason I do it is to burn more calories.

My boyfriend can now wrap his arms around my waist and each hand can easily grasp the opposite elbow. That's an awesome feeling. Just love those little NSVs.

White meat chicken gives me a problem if it's dry, but dark meat is always fine. Hard boiled eggs are also a problem for me. Now matter how much I chew, I just can't break them down enough to pass through the band. Surprisingly, I eat a lot of beef jerky, which is as dry as dry can be, and it goes down fine. There's just something about that white meat chicken that makes it stick.

A couple of months ago, my mother read something about this in the Atlanta newspaper and emailed me the links to me. I was very skeptical, so I did a search of court records on a few of the doctors that perform the procedure here in Houston. They all had several malpractice cases against them. And one doctor had pending criminal charges for assault. If the results are so atrocious that the DA's office is willing to file a criminal case against the doctor, then that's about as serious as it gets (well, other than death). I'm not saying that the procedure itself is bad. I really don't know. It may have been that these doctors weren't experienced or perhaps weren't ethical or performed it on patients that were less than ideal candidates. Just make sure you do tons of research before having anything like this done.

The show will be on channel 13. The idea of being on TV absolutely horrifies me, and the thought on being on TV for plastic surgery of all things makes it even worse. But saving a couple thousand dollars will be worth it. You may be right about the carrot thing. I'm hoping he won't turn me down if I only lose 7 or 8 pounds. I'm walking a minimum of 4 miles a day and am trying to work up to 6 miles. I'm keeping my calories below 500 and am eating mostly Protein. I'm drinking 4 cups of Water, 4 cups of Crystal Light, and 4 cups of diet ice tea a day. I've been on a mild diuretic for several months now for hormonal problems. I'm going to do some prescription diet pills for the next 2 weeks and that should help tremendously. Dr. Heller isn't exactly a people person, but I believe his technical skills as a surgeon are excellent. Wanda Chase showed me the scars from her tummy tuck and breast lift that he did and they look great. And Wanda is a nurse, so she should be a very good judge of the quality of his work. I think Dr. Heller is probably one of those people who is a little introverted and takes a while to warm up to people. There's also a slight language barrier. His English is very good, but sometimes I have trouble catching what he is saying because of the accent. But I love accents - they make English sound much more beautiful than it really is.

Thanks, Stacey. I just wanted to mention that Dr. Heller is donating 2 procedures as prizes (I think a breast lift and a tummy tuck), and you can't win these unless you attend. So please RSVP to come to the Ball.

I had my consultation with Dr. Heller today about doing the brachioplasty. He wants me to lose another 10 pounds before he will do the surgery. The great news is that he is doing a TV show with a local news channel and is considering me as a candidate for the show. If he chooses me, he will waive his surgical fee and I only have to pay for the OR and anesthesiologist. That would be about $3,000. Now here's the kick in the pants. He wants me to lose 10 lbs in 2 weeks! If I can't get the weight off in time to do the TV show, then I'll have to pay for all of it myself at a later point. That would cost me about $5,100 total. I'm just berating myself for not getting this weight off faster. Argh! I don't know if I can lose 10 lbs in 2 weeks. I may have to fast and walk about 6 miles every day without fail. Any suggestions?

His number is 713.798.6141 and he's in the O'Quinn Medical Tower (formerly St. Luke's Tower) in the Med Center. I think they told me he charges $150 for a consultation, and if possible, they bill it to your insurance. Usually if you have to pay the consultation fee out of pocket, it's applied to the cost of surgery. I'll have more details later today. Audree - How soon after surgery did you start massaging the scars? I don't want to risk stretching the scar because it hasn't healed enough.

Yes, I'm getting the same thing at least once a day, and it just baffles me since I'm still 30 lbs from goal. And my goal is 8 lbs over the BMI range for someone my height. When I tell people I still have 30 lbs to go, they insist I shouldn't lose another pound. Only one person has honestly said, "yeah, I can see that you might want to lose another 20." I think Jachut is right that we seem skinny compared to what we used to be. I just do my best to take all comments as compliments. And if it's truly meant as an insult, and I thank them anyway, that totally throws them off.

Sorry to hear your fellow RDs are so narrow minded and ignorant. You've done a good thing for yourself and don't let anyone make you feel bad about it. Next time someone says the lap-band is cheating or taking the easy way out or only for those with no will power, tell them that people who opt for the band are smart for recognizing that they need medical help and brave for going through the journey to reclaim their health. A so-called friend of mine just recently told me that it's all a matter of will power and I didn't really need the band. I told her to imagine that she's thirsty and then imagine telling yourself that you've had enough Water today and you don't need to drink anything more. She said that that would be awful. I pointed out to her that that was what I went through every single day before the band, except it was food, not water that my body was telling me to consume. She hasn't said another word to me about "will power." I also pointed out that I have tons of will power. After all, I get up every day (weekends included) and go to a job that is torture. I also clean out 5 litter boxes twice a day every day no matter how much I don't want to do it. But no amount of will power can overcome biology. Sorry for the ranting, but that's a sore spot for a lot of us bandsters. Welcome to the forum. You'll find lots of helpful, supportive people here.

Last night I had dinner with a business associate whom I hadn't seen in almost a year. He just raved about how good I look and asked me what I've been doing. I usually just tell casual acquaintances that I finally got motivated to stick to my diet, but for some reason I decided to tell this guy the truth. Some people are judgmental about it, so I usually lie, but this business associate is a very good hearted and open minded person, so I told him the truth. And am I ever glad I did. He told me his mother weighs over 350 lbs and he's been very worried about her mental state. He said she just feel helpless and has given up. After our dinner, he called her immediately and told her all about me and the band. He's now trying to get her to come to the U.S. (she's in Pakistan), have the surgery, and stay with him for a few months to recover. By telling the truth, I may have helped this woman reclaim her life.

Audree -- Thanks for the info. I'd love to hear about what else you've had done if you feel like sharing. My port scar is still quite red and raised and it's been 9 months, so I'm sure the arm scars will be with me for a while, too. But I agree, scars are better than bat wings. And congratulations on the weight loss. Five pounds from goal is amazing!

I had no problems with stairs, but bending over was impossible for the first 3 weeks for me. I wish I had asked my mom to come stay with me because getting dressed (especially socks and shoes) was very difficult.

Oh, you're the drain-a-phobe! You were so funny! Are you going to attend the meeting tonight? I'll be there.

That's good, Lynn. I've found that Dr. Spivak is not a conservative with the fills as Leslie is. I'm sure he'll fill you to the right amount.

Easily. The healty option may not be what I want, what I crave, or what I can handle as a banded person. The healthiest option may cause a PB. The healthiest option, especially taken repeatedly, may make me feel deprived, which will result in my losing my control and binging on food that I should have allowed myself to have in moderation in the first place.

You are so very right! For me, banded life is about learning moderation. ANY kind of food is ok in moderation, and a couple of chicken nuggets a week is moderation. And I don't know about you, but I can't handle grilled or baked chicken. It comes right back up. But a couple of nuggets won't. And 260 calories for a meal is not excessive! I do not count fat, Protein, or carbs. I only loosely count calories because that's the ultimate equation -- calories in v. calories out. I'm quite happy with my weight loss and have never once felt deprived since being banded. Try to ignore those with the holier than thou attitude. They tend to forget that we're all different.

Yes, I was there last Tuesday! I was sitting in the front and wearing a white long sleeve top with brown pants. I asked Dr. Long the questions about nipple sensation following a breast lift and about scar revision. Where were you sitting? My consultation is with Dr. Lior Heller, who also has given presentations at Dr. Spivak's office. Dr. Long seems more personable, but Wanda has used Dr. Heller so I've seen his work first hand.

Julie - Thanks for starting this thread. I'm looking forward to all your updates. With any luck, I'll be having brachioplasty by the end of the year, so I want to hear about your experiences first. Good luck with everything.

Cindi -- The consultation for the plastic surgery is on Friday, so I'll be sure to post after my appointment. I feel like I'm 8 years old and waiting from Christmas to come.

Yes, 10 lbs a month is great. I wish I could have achieved that goal, but it gets harder the closer you get to goal. Yesterday was my 9 month anniversary. I'm down exactly 70 pounds. Only 30 to go. Yay! I'm so excited about my appt with the plastic surgeon next week. I can hardly wait.

This thread is getting too hard to navigate because of the length, so we moved to a new thread. Go here: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f88/anyone-here-42401/

Exercise builds muscle, and I've been working out a lot, so that's why the scale isn't moving. Aerobic exercise primarily burns calories; it does not build muscle. Weight lifting builds muscle, but it takes a lot of serious weight lifting to gain any substantial amount. Obese people do not lack muscle. Let's face it, you have to have adequate musculature to carry around that extra 100 pounds of fat. Exercising is actually a cycle of breaking down muscle and rebuilding it. Inflammation is a part of that process and inflammation causes Fluid retention. So, yes, your clothes are fitting better and yet the scale is not moving. That's because of the fluid retention, not because you suddenly increased your muscle mass.

You look great! You should post your photos on the "official" before and after thread, so everyone will see them. Go here: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f17/before-after-pictures-pix-only-4642/