leatha_g

We should be eating more than 1000 calories a day anyway..

good for you! keep up the good work!

This is to be expected. Re-read all the posts from new bandsters and you'll be reminded that this is exactly how it goes and usually by the 5th day or so the world becomes new again. Once you see those pounds begin to come off and you feel lighter on your feet you remember what you did this for. Hopefully, you did all the research necessary to know what was to come and you knew what you were getting into and you did it because you were sick and tired of being sick and tired and unhealthy. Walk, walk, walk, sip, sip, sip, take your gas-x, walk some more. Get prepared for ongoing exercise classes/routines, start thinking about the new clothes you want to buy once you've reached size x.. buy a bicycle, take up crocheting, anything to get your mind off food. Remember, this is only temporary. You'll gradually get back into solid foods and you WILL NOT die without them in the meantime. Everyone here has forged through this step and everyone thought they couldn't make it, but they did and they found that they were better off because of it. Try new things, chai tea with carb countdown is great and has lots of protein too.. atkins shakes are pretty good, EAS Advantage shakes are good.. many make up their own concoctions.. you can do it!

McKinney here too..

Beware those who don't do bands but feast on the harvest of opportunity (banded patients in need.) If these people don't know the band well, they can do more harm than good... just my 2 cents..

Wonder if this doctor knows his nurse is calling people failures? How good could this be for business or the morale of the patient?? Just prove her wrong.. you can do it!

I'll go with the inner ear theory. With my band, I tend to have ear/sinus problems, especially when my fill is fairly restrictive. I sometimes stand or get up from a lying/sitting position and can hear my blood pounding through my ears like a tumble dryer for a few minutes and get pretty dizzy too. Every time I get a new fill, I can feel it in my ears and sinuses. Go figure..

I am very sorry to hear your news. I truly hope that everyone is okay. Please keep us updated. I know how anxious you must be, being away from home. I travel for a living also. God bless you and your family..

great pics teresa! you're looking great girl! keep up the great work!

It's perfectly fine to fly. Some even fly home from Mexico the day after their surgeries. I fly for my work on an almost weekly basis, no problems.

I am SO terribly sorry to hear you lost your band. Was it due to slippage?? They were not able to replace or reposition? I truly wish you the very best, but most of all I'm glad you are feeling better..

I had a hiatal hernia upon my first banding that was NOT fixed, subsequently, I slipped and had to have the hiatal hernia fixed one year later. There is a definite correlation with hiatal hernias and slippage, I'd encourage you to have this repaired during your band surgery. Of course, your doctor probably already knows this, but I'd discuss it with him.

I LOVED my radiologist and having my fills under flouro each time. You're lucky to have this at your disposal.

LOL. thanks gals..

LOL, well exactly. The only reason the subject even came up was that I detected signs of depression in him. I had befriended him and was trying to encourage him, but he kept going on about his age and how his life sucked, etc and I mentioned clinical depression to him because he was so down on himself and his current life situation. Me, being my open and honest self, admitted to him that I had this problem and had done a good job of learning to manage it, however some people are terrible at admitting this weakness in themselves. Blaming others and 'your life' or the 'cards you were dealt' is actually a major symptom of being a victim/depression. Anyway, he told me yes, he was familiar with the problem and that his former wife's depression had seemed to effect HIS life.. (like it's contagious). Sigh... anyway, it's done. I just sort of got a slap in the face from reality once again. It's true, I am flawed. I have clinical depression/well treated and the tools to manage it well enough to live a normal daily life. I have a history of systemic lupus - unactive until this past week, with a hopefully minor sun reaction, blood clots in the past, successfully treated and the determination to take care of myself that even I can't believe sometimes. Maybe I should start an online dating service for less than perfect people. Hmmm... Sorry to hijack your thread, Paula. Thank you for your kind words and the ((hug)). I don't often moan and groan on here, but this week has just knocked the wind out of my sails. I was doing so good... and I'll pick myself up and dust myself off once again, just like I always do..

Well, his complaint with me was not my weight, it was the fact that I admitted I had been and continue to be treated for clinical depression. Apparently his former wife and girlfriend since his divorce had been too and his experiences with them were less than favorable. He was actually nice about it, but just plainly told me that he'd rather not go there again. As if all people who are treated for depression are damaged goods. Some of us have actually learned to manage our depression, but Oh well... It's just pretty apparent that even at 45 or there close, people still are searching for the perfect speciman. No health issues, no baggage from their past, no physical flaws... yea, right. Oh well... NEXT!!

Def Leppard was great in concert when I saw them in the 90's. Great band in their day. I'm finding it sad, all these older guys losing their looks and not being able to hit the notes like the used to. I guess it happens to the best of us.

I think the itching has subsided some. The doc called in some prescription cortisone lotion.. ugh. Mostly I'm just kinda depressed because I was so enjoying going out and taking care of my fish and my yard everyday. It always depresses me when this thing rears it's ugly head and I'm reminded that I'm not invincible. Mortality has a way of doing that. I'll figure out a work-around and get over it eventually. I guess that with the fact that I was shot down by a man I was kind of interested in because I'm less than perfect didn't help. Seems that men (and women, I suppose) want only healthy prospective partners, even at my age. If you have a history of depression - even treated successfully, or health issues such as I've had, men aren't interested. I guess that would depress anyone. All I know is they are missing out, but that doesn't leave me any less lonely:(.. being reminded that I'm flawed just plain sucks..

Count me in the alcoholic/codependant family. I was raised in beer joints, witnessed bar fights, got caught in the middle of fights, thought 'jail' must have been a fun place cause that's where my dad spent his time when he wasn't at the bar. My mother was such a sick codependant that she had no time for us emotionally. "Children are to be seen and not heard' was the motto we were raised by. My father was extremely moody, brooding and violent when he drank, so we all pretty much curled up in the embryo position when the 'fun' started to end. I have NO good memories of any family holiday - mostly the money was spent on jail fines or booze and they always ended with my father and his brothers fighting amongst each other. Interestingly, my dad didn't physically abuse me as much as my mother wound up doing, but he was very hard on my oldest brother who was not his birth son which hurt me just as bad as if he'd hit me. Mostly, they both held high standards for us kids. We were to do exactly as we were told, have perfect manners, not talk back and never ever dispute their word. I can't say either of them were 'crazy', but they were two extremely messed up people, both who had been abused and neglected in their own childhoods. For a long time, I tried to think they did the best they could with what they had to work with, but only since I've become an adult has it become apparent to me what a truly terrible situation we were forced to live in and that it wasn't 'normal' for lots of people to live that way. I never realized how desperately poor we were and how truly deprived we were as children. Not because we couldn't have had better, but because our parents didn't strive to make things better for us. Alcohol was the big thing in our dad's life and controlling/enabling the men in her life was our mother's main focus. We were basically just accidents - mouths to be fed, never encouraged to be our own people or ever expect anything out of our lives except to take care of ourselves and not make waves. Forget things like self esteem, group activities, no Girl Scouts, no cheerleading, no slumber parties, never draw attention to our home or ask anything 'maternal or paternal' from either of them... We merely existed - me becoming the invisible, self reliant one.. In many ways, it's to my advantage. I don't rely on anyone. I CAN take care of myself, but that can end up a very lonely situation too... Don't talk, don't trust, don't feel...no wonder you learn to 'stuff' it all inside..

Way to go Lisa!! You've done an awesome job girl! We miss you!!

:cry It is definitely hot here in the DFW area too. As a matter of fact, I've gotten myself in trouble with the sun. Since I bought my house I've been going out everyday doing a bit of yardwork, feeding my fish, etc and well, with Lupus you're not supposed to get too much sun exposure. I've never had any serious problems, but with the everyday accumulation, I've wound up sick with a reaction to the sun and now I'm MISERABLE. The reaction (itching like mad) and new sun/heat exposure just plain hurts. But, I was having such a good time... :)

Hiccups are very common with the band, in most cases it is a sign your diaphragm is being agitated - normally it's a sign of eating too fast or being full according to your band. Listen to it, it's a good sign.

You get to go straight to mushies? No Clear liquids then full liquids THEN move into mushies?? Hmm... BTW, Congrats on an uneventful surgery!! Welcome to bandland!

There's a Piggly Wiggly near my daughter's house in Denton. I'll try to think of it next time I go that way. lol..

Awww... Thanks everyone!! I'm 45 today. A couple of years ago, I did one of those online tests to predict how long I might live, based on my health, weight, etc. It said 45... lol.. Well.. thanks to the lapband and all the help and encouragement I've recieved, I'm still standing and far better off than I was at 250 and dying. Thank you all so much for the nice wishes, but more than that, for being a part of my family. Hugs everyone!! I've added a pic taken a week ago. I'm not THERE yet and this may be as far as I go, but it's a helluva long way from where I've been!!