WASaBubbleButt

$3800 for the surgeon fee is a very fair and realistic fee. Most docs charge $5K and up.

She's a dear dear friend of mine, she used to be my employer so I've known her for a long time. She was banded six weeks after I was. She has the same doc as me. Same instructions, same everything. She eats her 800 calories in the right foods and then adds another couple of thousand calories in crap food. With the band, if it goes through a straw it will likely go through you band. Ice cream, chocolate... all that stuff will go right through. I thought I was a carb addict, my addiction is nothing in comparison to hers. She doesn't eat the right foods, she doesn't eat a solid Protein before eating the crap (meaning she makes sure the crap will go right through), she won't chew well so she gets stuck all the time and claims she can't tolerate a fill. I was really honest with her the other day and told her that I don't think she should get a fill either (even though she seriously needs one) because I don't think she can give up her "quantity" of food yet. She became upset and told me that wasn't true. I didn't push it, I just dropped it. A couple of weeks later she said she thought it through and I might be right yet she hasn't done anything about getting a fill. She just plain isn't ready. I lost weight by busting my butt. I kept calories at 600 daily and did hard cardio at least one hour a day. I still do the cardio, now it's just habit. I'm maintaining but I think I want to lose another 10 or so, so I need to get my butt in gear again.

It's all over the boards and I think it's on the FAQs section too. I have started saving links to posts where I explain things and now instead of retyping it all I just copy what I already wrote.

Mine were extra crispy KFC... many final meals. I'd eat the crispy stuff and give the meat to my dogs. I just don't know how I got so darn fat!

Oh, I fully agree with you. I just don't like the shock value because it reminds me of the heifer days. I don't always like reality, damnit!

It gets me in trouble. And on a regular basis, I might add.

What about when someone who hasn't seen you in a long time and they mention how great you look? Is it the numbers that annoy you or the mere mention? One thing that bothers me about real time is when someone stands back in absolute shock and tells me how great I look. I understand their intent but it also tells me I was obviously a heifer a year ago. HA! Sometimes people just can't win!

I think we share the same MIL. Mine tells me I am fat f'ing white uneducated trash because I only have five years of college. HER children are all MDs. Skank!

You are right, it's likely to not be pretty. Mine sure isn't. But you can hide 90% of excess skin with clothing (or 100% with surgery HA!) but you can only hide about 10% of excess fat. Bottom line is in the end it will be worth all the extra skin!

I think the staff member that was let go from Simpson's office (the one I just couldn't stand and that's why I didn't go to Simpson) is working for your guy now.

Dr. Ortiz from Mexico is who trained Terry Simpson. He's done about 4000 bands and he charges around $8500 or so. You want to find someone who has a total of about 250 bands and no less. I don't know how many De Barros has done.

Yeah, learn from MY experience vs. your own. Allllll those final meals? The foods you are unsure if you will be able to eat again? You still have to lose it and when the final 20 pounds come you'll swear at yourself for gaining them. Fact is, you'll be able to eat 95% of what you do today, just in smaller quantities. Don't forget that.

Just had to agree with everything you write!

Oral/hand gratification.... a lovely combination!

It EASILY takes a good three weeks to recover from a sinus infection. They are one of the most annoying infections to treat.

Oh hell! If any of us were sensible we'd have started the pre op sooner than necessary. Go for it, put the damn ticker up. It keeps you honest, it prevents you from gaining during the dreaded "waiting" period.

Face it, your ma' in law is a bitch from hell.

[Ticker removed coz it's just too depressing until I get my band] BTW, while I understand... that is just WRONG! We ALL started out with a humiliating ticker. I swear to you, nobody notices the high ticker, we ALL notice the weight loss. Every bloody pound is from sheer effort banded or not, we KNOW that. Okay, three posts in a row. I'm at my limit. Okay, I'm not. But it's nice to write anyway.

Pregnant women have an acute sense of smell. They will smell the mayo on their sandwich before eating it. They have a sense of smell like nobody else. It's almost animalistic. With that said, don't you think your sinus infection might be playing a role here?

BTW, I voted for #3.

I have had tons of complications and a very difficult journey and I wouldn't trade the journey for the world. But I have a friend that depends purely on the band and doesn't work it in the least. She hasn't lost a thing except for the few pounds when she is around me for a weekend. You'll get out what you put into the band, pure and simple.

When I PMS I am known to have a jar of Chocolate frosting (frozen) for breakfast. Works wonders to keep eating slow (it's frozen for goodness sakes) and it tastes ohhhh sooo good. But I limit it to once monthly.

Read this: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f109/omg-how-crazy-am-i-39650/

I chose to do high fat, low carb, low calorie. I kept my food choices in check but used full fat dressings on salads, etc. I still stayed under 600 calories daily. You do what works for you. It takes experimenting and seeing what works for you. There are no band rules, there are band guidelines. You discover what works for you. If you and you doc are happy, you are losing weight at a reasonable rate... then it works.

A slight increase in temp is normal after surgery, it's the body doing it's job. It is perfectly normal to have a very slight increase in temp after surgery. Since your thermometer is not reliable you don't even know what your temp is. Take it and call your doc and ask his opinion.