WASaBubbleButt

For me it is eyeballs. I can't stand eyeballs. Eyeball surgery will send me hurling like nothing other. Bone surgery is a close 2nd. Now, blood, pus, guts, and cadavers, verrry cool!

The reality may be sad but it does not change. In medicine (any aspect of medicine) you cannot save everyone. It just doesn't work and that's not how life works and it's not how business works. If you were the organ transplant coordinator and you had one liver and three people. How are you going to justify letting two go without? Sometimes you just don't have a choice. You can give it to someone who has a 65% chance of surviving six months or you could give it to someone who has an 85% chance of making it 30 years. How are YOU going to tell the person with an 85% chance of survival that the other person is someone's child? Everyone is someone's child.

Wow. I am seriously and sincerely impressed. And you are right, your health is a big huge issue now not just for you but your family.

;o) You'll have more of those as time goes on. I've had a few of those aha moments too. The good part is that the aha moments turn to fun moments as time goes on. You pull a pair of tiny little jeans out of the dryer and you think... WTH? Who do these belong to? It dawns on you that those tiny little jeans are YOURS. So those little realizations get BETTER with time, you'll see!

I had no reservations, no problems giving up any foods, none of that. In looking back I really wonder if I was in denial. I really didn't think the band would work so I had little to lose. It was quite a shock the first time I tried bread or Pasta. Forget about eating fast. It was a huge wake up call, this is it. There is no going back. So my reservations must have been all tied up with denial. I never really believed I'd have to give up foods. I had always planned on giving them up for a diet and always cheated anyway. I guess I thought I could cheat with the band. Heh.. I could not have BEEN more wrong. It is also exactly what I needed.

Check out Lands End right now. The clearance section. There are lots of business suits, jackets, everything with some really good prices. It takes time, there are about 800 (literally) sale items but if you take the time you can find good stuff. Cashmere sweaters, everything. Some of the stuff is downright fugly but much of it is quite attractive.

Yep, what Chickie wrote. Very true.

Sadly, the medical system is not a bottomless pit of dollars. There are so many dollars to cover so many procedures. There are many people like her waiting daily and dying daily. There is not enough money and not enough organs. Much as I hate Cigna with a passion (I worked for them, I KNOW how bad they are) I can't disagree with their original stance.

My family had all those issues too. Bad marriage, bitter resentments, the works. Look, my parents are dead. There will be no more bickering and fighting. You all need to get over it and enjoy the time you have left.

This is as petty as it sounds but you know, I've watched Lidia before and each time I see her I just want to reach out and buy the woman a wig. Don't get me wrong, she has some interesting things she cooks but I can't see anything but her hair. Or lack of it.

A thin person can be a caffeine addict too and still have a headache from not taking it. Caffeine withdrawal does not cause true migraines, but headaches... yes. If I take your food of choice away from you such as chips or cake, are you going to start shaking violently? Vomiting violently? Hallucinating? DTs? Nawww, I don't agree we experience the same issues as an addict. Drug addicts break laws to get more money to buy more drugs. How many MO people have you read about that break into houses to steal twinkies? Obsession and compulsion, yes. Addiction... I don't agree. I never got a great high from eating a massive quantity of food. I felt like a complete failure and was miserable because I was too full. Yet as miserable as I was I was thinking about what I was going to eat next. But nothing euphoric that would mess with my driving and that's what drug addicts and alcoholics are looking for. A euphoria that is so severe it messes with coordination and ability to drive a car.

I don't view it as an addiction as much as an obsession or compulsion. I think there is a difference. We don't go through withdrawal symptoms if we give up chips, we don't get the shakes from a lack of chemical. We might have a bit of low blood sugar but that's what the shakes come from, not withdrawal. We don't break laws to get more food, we don't do a lot of things that those with true addictions do. Again, I see it more as an obsession or compulsion but I agree with your thermostat scenario.

Sometimes it's not a lot different from any other addiction. Drugs, alcohol, any of them. Very sad. I'm glad that you are ready for a change. Sadly, we can't change the whole world. I think food addiction is a bit easier than other addictions in the sense that we don't typically fight treatment as much as others. We don't usually want to be fat, we don't want unhealthy. We seem to be more ready to deal with food issues vs. the alcohol/drug issues of others. I don't know, maybe my thinking is wrong but that's just the way it seems.

The only two issues I am aware of are the calories (it stalls my weight loss) and you'll get drunk verrrry verrrry fast. I can drink a half glass of wine and I'm giggling non stop.

I used to have oily skin, now it's mega dry. I've been banded a year so I don't think it is weather. My diet is drastically different, I'm not eating greasy pizza and burgers anymore. I have had to find ways to get more fats and oils in my diet and it helps a little.

That's not necessarily true. I have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis (my body is trying to kill my thyroid, basically) and I had no problems losing weight. I think one mistake thyroid patients make is an assumption that the weight will just come off with meds. Even though it came on much easier than it should have, when we start taking meds that just evens things out, we still have to BURN the fat that was gained so easily. May not be fair but it's true. When your labs are fine, it isn't thyroid anymore. Then it's a matter of fat needs to be burned and we can't always use thyroid as an excuse.

Chicken sandwich? As in bread? Oh my, that's probably the issue. What if you take your chicken from the sandwich and put it on a bit of lettuce with full fat dressing? When you are eating small portions a full fat dressing doesn't really matter. Or, make the sandwich like you would anyway just without bread. Like mayo? Mustard? Lettuce? Onions? Put it all on a plate and have at it. Don't deprive yourself of flavors, just carbs. If you cut out ALL white carbs you would start shrinking and yep, that means giving up the Chocolate. If you start getting in bad habits this early (eating cookies instead of solid protein) this will always be a challenge for you. Get used to good habits today, deal with the fact that means giving up large quantities of foods you are used to and lose that weight! Bread is hard for many of the most experienced bandsters to eat. Restriction takes getting used to. It's not easy and it doesn't happen overnight but giving up and reaching for cookies isn't the answer either. What are some of your foods that you do tolerate well and are weight loss friendly? Most of all, just be very careful about getting into bad habits this early. This is the time for getting used to new foods and new ways of doing things. Otherwise it will make the entire journey most difficult.

Did you doctor put you on a liver shrinking diet before surgery? Or just a low fat diet? Usually a liver shrinking diet is where you eat a low carb, low fat, adequate Protein diet. You have to burn off the glycogen in your muscles and liver and then fat comes next. Is that the kind of pre op diet you were on?

It's really common to be extra tight in the AMs and loosen up a bit as the day goes on. Have you tried warm liquids when you are tight? It helps some to open up a bit.

Actually, that isn't what I wrote at all. I did not tell you what you experienced. I wrote what it sounded like. And it does, it sounds as though you woke up at the end of surgery when you were supposed to.

This is my last moment: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f17/last-straw-stories-33153/#post440518

How exciting!!!! This really really is the first day of the rest of your life! Congrats to you!!! Post when you are feeling up to it.

Doesn't sound horrible at all. Sounds like an opportunity to go to the humane society.

High school gym floor? I would have never guessed, it's beautiful. You are beautiful, your home, your husband, and your dogs are all absolutely perfect! Looks like you are already having a primo Christmas!

Love the pooches, they are absolutely adorable!!! And Mr. Longhorn is nice looking! And I have to tell you, I think you need to update your ticker cuz there isn't a chance in the world it is correct. You look about 50lbs less! Not kidding. And is that a wooden floor in the back? Very pretty!