donali

I think your decision may be influenced where you live. If you live in the states, know it may be difficult to find aftercare as the mid-band is not FDA approved here.

:clap2: :clap2: :clap2: Can I slap you now?? Good DAWG!!! *fwap* I'm just practising! lol You two must be the MOST amazing couple - I love how your minds work. I wonder if part of the problem (original topic - WHY does it seem as though some people do everything possible to sabotage their success by continuing to eat all the non-nutritious foods that got them obese in the first place, and then whine and complain that they're not losing weight???) (I think I got that right! P'Nut??) Anyway, I wonder if part of the problem is that some people do not really realize that the lapband has NO malabsorption portion to its toolbox. Since some docs seem to treat their lapband patients the same as their RnY patients, perhaps it was never really explained to them that 1 slice pizza post banding = 1 slice pizza pre-banding. Which isn't true for the WLS that have a malabsorption portion. I still agree that malabsorption or no, a steady diet of fast food and sugar, no matter WHAT kind of WLS you may have had, will NOT help you meet your weightloss goals. After 2 years even the RnY cannot save you from yourself in that regard.

!!!FABULOUS!!!! We're SO proud, and so glad to have you here!! xxoo

Whoo hooo!! Congrats, Roni! Absolutely perfect! Tricia - yes, Adobe Photoshop is easier, but most people don't have that. I believe anyone using Windows has the programs that I walked Roni through default loaded. I would hazard a guess that most people who forked out the bucks for Photoshop don't need instructions on how to resize a pic...

Oh, yeah... Changes do not have to be drastic to be effective. We do NOT have to change everything at one time. In fact, trying to make multiple changes at time time is a sure way to set yourself up for failure. Babysteps, babysteps, babysteps. We do NOT have to suffer in order to be trying our best. Suffering does NOT = success. Suffering does NOT = better.

I think you have an absolutely valid point. Howeer, support doesn't have to end with a hug and reassurance that one will do better tomorrow. After the hug, you can offer loving, helpful suggestions on how to DO better tomorrow - things that help you do better. Then you can hug them again. :eek: One of the things I learned in my emotional eating counseling was that thinking negatively about one's self wasn't constructive. Sometimes we prevail, somtimes not so much. But we (none of us) are completely one thing or another - we are never complete successes or complete failures - we are always a mixture of both. Progress, not perfection. How can we do better next time? The old way is always an option, but let's try a new way first. Every time we can do the new way instead of the old way is a success, and eventually we will mostly do the new way. Most of us have lived our lives punishing ourselves, degrading ourselves, and dragging ourselves down into a pit that we felt there was no climbing out of. Do not underestimate the power of those negative tapes. If we can erase those negative tapes with positive reinforcing thoughts we WILL get better. Sometimes before we can love ourselves and get better, we have to be given permission by total strangers that it's not only OKAY to do so, but necessary and encouraged. And we are worth it. We ARE loveable and worthwhile. Fat or thin. Today, tomorrow, and yesterday. This is only a part of the journey, and is transient to the better selves we are working towards. My humble thoughts... xxoo

Uh, yeah! This first - then try all my other suggestions... :eek:

Uh.... Think about eating? LOL Just kidding... Kind of.. :eek: There's shopping, walking the mall, walking the beach (nature trail, whatever), going to the movies, playing video games, reading together, playing various games together, yard work... What are you interested in or always wished you had time to do? Now's the time! Take classes, develop a new hobby... :grouphug:

No one wants to be a "cheater" - we all want to be known for our "fair play." Next time someone tells you WLS is cheating, say it would only be cheating if the game were fair and we all started at the same place. :eek:

I love these posts that make us think! :grouphug: *grin* This was Gyou, not Syou. *laughs* BUT... ...isn't any different than thinking that everyone is the same, and that we all have the same expectations and commitments. :eek: Believe me, I do this ALL the time. I think most people do. When something is just so OBVIOUS and downright darn LOGICAL, it's virtually impossible to understand how any reasonable person could do/think/feel differently. I don't know why I'm constantly amazed at this... You'd think I'd have learned MY way ISN'T the only way by now. Just because it's the best way... *laughs uproarously at self* :pray2: ((PhotoNut))

Best wishes, Sunset. They clean the band off, so it shouldn't be too gross. BUT - there won't be food and guck on it - it's on the outside of the stomach (at least it's supposed to be! lol), so they'll only have to clean blood and stuff off it. Everyone who has a band taken out should ask for it to be returned to them and send it on to the maker for their stats (or keep it for their lawsuit, whatever). Inamed always asks for the eroded bands to be returned for study...

:update: :horn: Beanie's banded!!!! Wooot wooot!!! :clap2:

(((Megan))) Boy, I still get choked up when I think about how I used to talk to myself. Megan, I had no idea you were using MY tapes... :eek: My take on all of this: 1. Fat is a SYMPTOM of something else. It may be a biological/genetic/social/physical/mental/emotional/nutritional/exercise problem, or some complicated combination of all or some of those things. FAT is the result of some thing/multiple things being out of whack. 2. The band (with a correct fill level), at best, treats only TWO of the multiple possible causes of obesity: a) insatiable physical hunger :grouphug: excess quantity It does not address the fear of change. It does not address the physcial addiction some may have to their body's chemical reaction to certain foods. It does not address the emotional reasons people eat. It does not address habit. It does not address convenience. It does not address poor planning. It does not address social pressure to eat what everyone else is eating. It does not address the need/want/desire to "fit in". Remember someone making the observation that even within WLS groups there seems to be a hierarchy? The thought that all people go into WLS with the same expectations is an example of that. Anyone know a slender person who "Just doesn't get it."? How frustrating it is to try and explain WHY we can't stop eating, WHY we choose less nutritious foods, HOW we got to be so fat? Lots of times we don't know ourselves. We feel SO different, so alone. THEN we get into a group of obese people, and we think FINALLY! People who really understand the struggle. And THEN... We find out... WE'RE STILL different!! Not everyone came into this with the same strengths, weaknesses or challenges, and thinking that we did is not better than slender people thinking everyone should be slender because THEY are. I think one of our biggest disservices is the attitude: "If I can do it, anyone can." Sometimes it's meant in a supportive way, sometimes it's meant in a derogatory way. Either way, though, it just is not true. It seems like it should be, but it's not. We are all individuals, and NO one, and I mean NO one can possibly know every single factor in an individual's obesity (or anything else, for that matter - obesity is just the topic of the day.) Even the individual themself rarely knows or understands every contributing factor to their obesity. For those who are struggling, more support would be indicated. BUT - not everyone will respond well to that support. Not everyone will seek it, or accept it. Why??? We'll probably never know. The best that we can hope for is that we will find someone else whose day to day challenges seem the most like ours, and hope they can give us a little insight to our demons, and vice versa. Not every obese person is going to have good advice for us personally - I mean something that really resonates to us. I try to read every thing I can, looking for the little nuggets that I think I could really apply to ME. I try to file all of it away for future reference, so that even if it's not something that helps me, maybe it will help someone else. There are other boards that are absolutely, positively intolerant of those who make less nutritious choices, however rarely. I know lots of people who are afraid to post on those boards, because they know they will get slammed. Here I think it is a little less intimidating to post that we're still struggling with certain demons. Almost always there are good supportive posts for those people, with hints and ideas on how to "slay the dragon" - for today, at least. Still others support by posting, "Me too. Let me know when you find the answer." Still others scratch their heads in amazement, but are kind enough to not post to that thread with their true feelings, or post tempered with humor. lol For me, banding wasn't about STOPPING my less nutritious choices, but moderating them. Prior/post banding, it is almost impossible for me to stop eating if there is still food, particularly certain kinds of food. Why don't I stay away from that kind of food altogether????? Good question. I keep thinking I can moderate. With the band that was true! Post-band is better than pre-band, but I am still not able to stop before I have consumed too many calories, whether it's nutritious or less-nutritious. I don't think there is a simple answer to why people continue to try to eat the way they did pre-band. Some people seriously weren't ready emotionally for the changes, some people don't want to make the changes, some people are going for moderation, some are learning as they go. It's cool how different we are, huh? :clap2:

Annie Lennox, Shawn Colvin, Maureen O'Connor, Suzanne Vega, Kate Bush, K.D. Lang, Tracy Chapman, Enya, Elton John, John Denver, Neil Diamond, Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, the Eurythmics, Wilson Phillips, Rockapella, Tommy Emmanuel, George Winston, William Ackerman, Mozart, Vivaldi, Verdi, Mahler, easy listening KYXY 96.5, various musicals.... So basically, new age, easy listening rock, pop, classical, light jazz, alternative... Biggest requirement - melodically/harmonically pleasing. Mostly don't do country, but do love the voices of LeAnn Rimes, Faith Hill, Anne Murray, to name a few...

*sluuuuurrrrrpppppp!!!* The sound of yet another one being sucked into the vortex... It's really just a great big experiment - how long does it take most people to get addicted to LBT?? lol You are in fine company... Now you understand why we eroded people could never seriously dream of leaving... :help:

(((Kathy))) I hope it's just pneumonia, and that all is resolved soon. So glad it's not your band!!!

Great... As if we didn't have enough problems - now there are faulty needles? A whole batch of them?!? :doh:

ROTFLMAO If only it weren't true...

Whoo hooo!!! Whoo hooo!!! Congrats!!:clap2:

LOL. See, gwe're not so bad - no gone's answered syou yet. hehehe PhotoNut and DAWG - where have syou two been all my life?!?! xxoo

Date Banded: 1/23/05 Country: MX State: Tijuana Surgeon: Dr. Juan Lopez Corvala Eroded? Yes/No?: Yes. Band removed 7/04. Port revision: 11/1/03 (I tore my port sutures and had to have surgery to reposition and reattach the port.

Whoo hoo, JQ!!! We're so proud of you!! xxoo Can't wait to read the article!

BWAHAAHAHAAA!!! to the fainting goats video!! ROTFLMAO! :faint2:

:notagree boring... Hello?? I'd like to place a collect call to the FUN Alex. Thank you. :decision: ROTFLMAO

NO ONE should "get used" to PBing - it is the number one cause of slippage, and should be avoided at all costs. If you have a fill get a slight unfill. If you don't have a fill, check with your doc - I'd want a barium swallow to double-check placement, particularly after several episodes of 2-3 hrs PBing. Yes, it is rare for a banded person to NEVER experience a PB - there is a learning curve, afterall, but it should NEVER be commonplace. Really.