donali

I still get that stuck feeling every once in a while, and have even PB'd once AFTER my band was removed!! Casper's doing his job... :eek: Welcome to the land of PBs. May it be your last.

Alex, I highly recommend the Cacique brand bra, "Flaunt" style for those of us who have the volume but not necessarily the placement... These are super-duper heavy duty bras - I almost feel "saddled-up" when I'm wearing them, but I do NOT have to constantly adjust them. I got mine at Lane Bryant - pretty pricey (for me), but their website had them buy one, get one half-price a few weeks ago. I paid $34 apiece for mine at the walk-in store. Thanks to everyone else for your kind comments and support. :eek: I look REALLY great in the pitch dark... lol :eek:

Hi Nancy - To post a photo in a thread: Reply to an existing thread, or create a new post. BEFORE you submit your text, scroll down to where is says "Attach file:". Click on the "Browse" button, and go to where your photo is located on your hard drive. Then you can submit. If you submit before attaching the file, you will have to create a new post to attach the photo. A note on size - I find that keeping the photo about 2 inches wide makes it fit nicely in the screen. .jpg extensions are generally smaller than .bmp extensions, so if you can use jpg's they'll load faster. For your avatar, you need to resize a photo to no bigger than 50x50 pixels. Microsoft provides a photo editor in their Microsoft Office folder which allows you to change the size of the photos by inches or pixels, as well as allowing you to crop them. Once you have the 50x50 pixel photo, go to "user cp" (button at the top of the screen - first one on the right half of the screen). Choose "edit options" and scroll all the way down. At the bottom you will see a place to upload your avatar. Good luck, have fun!

Sandy, thanks for posting your story. I don't even want to know who the doc in question is... :sick Your story just highlights why some of us are so on alert for people trolling for docs - this board isn't like that, and we want to keep it that way. I think it's great that the docs have their own boards - but I also know that it is unlikely that people having problems could post to those boards without being censored in some way, or jumped on by the happy clam patients. I'm a member of a LOT of boards, and I see this happen over and over again. I have no interest in reading bashing posts about anyone or anything - but I AM interested in reading the truth, good and bad. I agree that it is the rare doc (if any) who has NOTHING but happy patients. I'm sorry you've felt persecuted from so many boards. I am SO thrilled for you on your success!! I loved my band, too. We love success stories over here, and can't get enough of them! So please stay and share in the support of the wonderful people here.

Congrats!! Welcome to bandland!!

Thanks, everyone, for not running from your computer screen screaming "MY EYES ARE BURNING!!! MY EYES ARE BURNING!!!" LOL Michelle, you definitely don't want my boobs - without the bra, they are pitiful. They almost look okay if I raise my hands over my head and reach as high as humanly possible, but it's hard to walk around much like that... lol The extra skin on them is getting sad, too... So thank goodness the bra hides all that and gives extra volume! And as far as my stomach being "flat" - thank goodness for pants and low light levels. heheh I have a nice overhang that pants cover up. Pretty frightening to see in high cut panties. And NO NO NO - I will NOT post pictures of that!! :eek: :eek: :eek: lol Although I certainly can't claim I'm holding out on principle, after the other shots I've posted. But I've got to look some of you in the eye in October, and I'm not sure I could do that if I show any less discretion than I already have...

Certain autoimmune disorders are contraindications, as well, as it affects healing. Here's a list put out by http://www.lap-band-surgery.org/LAP-BAND-Contraindications.cfm : LAP BAND Contraindications The LAP BAND System is not right for you if: You have an inflammatory disease or condition of the gastrointestinal tract, such as ulcers, severe esophagitis, or Crohn's disease. You have severe heart or lung disease that makes you a poor candidate for surgery. You have some other disease that makes you a poor candidate for surgery. You have a problem that could cause bleeding in the esophagus or stomach. That might include esophageal or gastric varices (a dilated vein). It might also be something such as congenital or acquired intestinal telangiectasia (dilation of a small blood vessel). You have portal hypertension. Your esophagus, stomach, or intestine is not normal (congenital or acquired). For instance you might have a narrowed opening. You have/experience an intra-operative gastric injury, such as a gastric perforation at or near the location of the intended band placement. You have cirrhosis. You have chronic pancreatitis. You are pregnant. (If you become pregnant after the LAP BAND System has been placed, the band may need to be deflated. The same is true if you need more nutrition for any other reason, such as becoming seriously ill. In rare cases, removal may be needed.) You are addicted to alcohol or drugs. You are under 18 years of age. You have an infection anywhere in your body or one that could contaminate the surgical area. You are on chronic, long-term steroid treatment. You cannot or do not want to follow the dietary rules that come with this procedure. You might be allergic to materials in the device. You cannot tolerate pain from an implanted device. You or someone in you family has an autoimmune connective tissue disease. That might be a disease such as systemic lupus erythematosus or scleroderma. The same is true if you have symptoms of one of these diseases.

Yeah, Vera - what a beautiful, heart-shaped face! Darcy - wishing you all the best - just a few more days. Good for you writing the letter documenting this awful experience for your doc. Just UNACCEPTABLE!!

Whoo hoo, Alex!! Ah, it hurts SO good...

Okay, when I said they "fit"... I really should have JUST said "I can get them buttoned and zipped." They certainly don't FIT in the "wear them in public and live to tell about it" sense of the word. lol I can't believe I'm posting these pics - fat rolls, and all... (What is WRONG with me?!?! lol It's DeLarla's fault - she brought out the exhibitionist in me, and I can't stuff her back in!! )

About 3 years before I was banded I was on Meridia for a year. I lost 80 pounds. I loved it. But of course, as soon as I went off the Meridia... The weight jumped back on. One year was the longest my PCP would prescribe the drug.

Ginny - I suspect your PB incident might be more due to the mashed potatos than the chicken... I always had trouble with mashed potatos.

I have not gone to any of those chats, so can't say what they're like...

The AVERAGE projected/expected weightloss with the band is 1-2 pounds a week - that's 4-8 pounds A MONTH. So 12 pounds is FOUR POUNDS MORE than the expected average. This is not the bypass! Weightloss is usually slower and more reasonable. Yes, some people lose more much faster, but they are usually working very hard at it with diet and exercise. Whatever you can KEEP doing forever will keep your lost weight off. However, if you diet and exercise your butt off with the intention of it being short time (like all the times before) you will start gaining weight back when you revert to your "normal" way of life. The band helps you eat less without feeling hungry. Making healthy choices as to what we eat and how we exercise is completely up to us - but the changes we make need to be PERMANENT, or our weightloss will NOT be...

Good luck, Nancy!! Welcome back to restriction land!

Whoo hoo!!!! Congrats, Tina!!!

Whoo hoo! You did it, Paula!

Uhhh... No one is trying to silence you. The thread has not been locked, as Alex states in her post prior to yours. You did, in fact, post again. And yet you did not post any info, just a complaint about being shut down... Which you weren't... ????

Uhhh... Yeah, I think you've made that pretty clear, Miss Drool Rags... lol

Hey Cutie-Patootie! Sorry I didn't think to send you a smaller version of the two of you! Here you go! P.S. Love the boa!!

The bold marking is seperate from the quote marking. Choose "edit" on your post where the quote worked, and you will see the "tags" that define how the text is displayed. [ QUOTE ] (without spaces) starts the quote, and puts the lines. At the end of the quote there is [ /QUOTE ] (without spaces) which turns the quote off, and puts the upper and lower lines. If you're missing a bracket, stuff won't work. To turn on bold, it's [ B ] (without spaces) and then [ /B ] (without spaces) to turn it off. Again, if you are missing brackets, or the beginning/ending commands, you won't get the correct results. HTH.

lol... So you can see the overflowing fat at the top of the jeans??? uhhhh... we'll seee...... P.S. Kellymoos - did you get your Flaunts yet? How are they working for you?

BF doesn't know yet - he's still living in Germany. I just sent him an email about it. He left those new pants here (they still have the tags on them) - not sure why, but he was trying to cut down on his luggage. Anyway, hopefully by the time he moves in mid-September I can wear them without popping the buttons off and killing innocent bystanders... lol

Hi Alex - Maybe this is just a weird phenomonen today, but after I log in, if I select "home" I am automatically logged out again. Hopefully this is just a weird glitch for today? Hey, by the way - LOVE THIS BOARD!!! Thank you SO much for starting it!

Ahhhh... But if I DON'T use the "home" button, but click back to the beginning of the path that's listed above the new post box (i.e. LapBandTalk.com Forums >), I DON'T get logged out, and can click on the "View New Posts" again before I choose to mark everything read. Okay, I just have to change my process... Still scratching my head, but this will work, I guess!