susannah

Hi, Nobody is here to pay anybody out cookie. We are here to support each other. I think you are very brave to post as you have, and for being banded. I want to wish you lots of good wishes. The band will change your life. Susannah

Hey Girls, I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I do not Celebrate Christmas as I am a Jew! Lol. My nephew Marcus was born two weeks ago today. I have posted a pic of him on my My Space page in the pics section under " My Photos". MySpace.com - Susannah - 37 - Female - Melbourne, AU - www.myspace.com/shoshieboo I would love to add any of you guys as a friend if you also have a My Space page. Hugs Susannah

Hi, I hope it all went smoothly. I am sure it did under Mr Crosthwaite's expert and caring hands. Hugs Susannah

Bronnie you star!!! I am so happy for you. That is fantastic news. Life must be wonderful for you now. Good on Ya! Susannah

Hi Meg, I was banded by Mr Crosthwaite last February. He is so wonderful. I have to say that I did not cheat once on the pre op diet, but it is very hard, so don't be too hard on yourself about it. I wish you well. Shoshie

Thanks Jodie. I am going to have some blood tests done also as my Doctor thinks I may be low in iron. All the best to you and your mum. Shosh

Hi J, I got your email. Thank you so much for that. I have been sick with the MS and have started a new job, so I have had a lot on my plate. I would love to catch up again soon in the future. You will not recognize me. Susannah

Hi Meg, I was banded by Mr Crosthwaite last February. He is a warm and wonderful man, and a very professional surgeon. Good luck. Shoshie

Hi Tracey, Good luck with it. It has changed my life. Susannah

Hi Josh, Welcome. I had my band inserted in February of this year. I have lost a lot of weight and it has changed my life. Good luck with it. Susannah

Hi Girls, Hope you are all happy and doing well. I just wanted to pop in and ask a question of anybody that has been banded for a longer length of time. I find that I am sleeping a full night's sleep but I am still waking up exhausted and weak and shaky. It is making it hard to work. Look I have Multiple Sclerosis and it could be the disease slowly progressing or I had the thought that maybe I am not eating enough in general and enough meat also? Has anybody with a band for a longer period experienced exhaustion like this? If so what did you do to rectify it? I could be off base and it could be my MS. I just do not know. I would so welcome any input here as I am struggling to cope at work as I am constantly exhausted. Thank you. Shoshie

Hi Shell, I am an Avenue girl as well. I was banded by Mr Crosthwaite. When you were eating, were you eating a lot? Did that cause your band to slip? Was it overeating by much or just a little? Sorry for the 21 questions! Susannah

Cam you are an angel. Thank you for taking the time to tell me all that. It has made me feel better. You are very wise. I just wanted to pop in and say a big hello to all my mates here that I know, and a big hello to all the new girls also. I wish you all only the best, you are all so brave. Mezza i called you, but maybe you were not home. I shall try again. I hope all the Melbourne Crew can get together at some stage. For the girls whose band slipped, did your surgeons say why it happened? Eating too much, or a too tight band? That worries me, and I want to avoid that. Thanks Susannah

Hi Dazey, I think that 7ccs is probably far too much to have put in at once to be honest. My recommendation is to have some taken out. You must be able to eat comfortably. A too tight band has also been associated with possible band slippage down the track if it is constantly tight. Meanwhile I hope you are all well my banded and soon to be banded mates. I have just finished three days of IV Methyl Prednisolone Drug treatment in hospital to treat an MS relapse. I am ok and am resting at home. I just wanted to let you know that I am working on coming to terms with the changes in my body post banding. I have even been wearing some very cute underwear and matching sets to feel a bit better. Hope you are all going gangbusters with the weight loss. Best wishes to you all as always. Susannah

Hi, Thanks Jacqui. I think you are right when you say that I can't break the habit of hating myself for being a fat person. I think the counselling will help me to come to terms with the major change in my body and the resultant issues it has brought up. Would love to do a coffee with you all, maybe when Meredith comes down. We could make an afternoon of it. Bronnie thank you for your kind words. You have done so well with your loss! You must be thrilled. I agree with you about wishing I had been banded earlier. I hope you can come out for coffee with us too. Congrats on the new job also. Philli I must apologize to you in that we never got the chance to meet up. Please forgive me. As I have written I have been struggling with all the emotional type issues and have not been able to see much past that. I will return to being the happy and humourous person that I have always been soon, I am sure. Thanks girls for being on the other side of the computer screen with your wise words, and for extending the hand of friendship. Susannah

I am looking forward to seeing you again too Meredith. Looking forward to meeting your hub too. Yay for yanks! Susannah

Hi Meredith. Jacqui, Sam, Bronnie and all our other new people. I have been MIA for a while now. I have been out living my life and very happy with feeling so much better physically. I work in Day care as you know and am now able to run around the yard and climb trees with the children. Life is a lot easier when you weigh less, physically anyway. I have been struggling psychologically though. I have been feeling very anxious and sad about the whole body image issue with the physical side effects of losing a lot of weight in a relatively short period of time. I read all of your wonderful responses the last time I posted, but I can not seem to get past this emotionally at the moment. I feel that I am not deserving of love like other women because my body is not perfect and needs work.I know that it is crazy but my whole lack of self esteem is based around my body issues. I know that I am a beautiful, caring, warm, kindhearted person, but I feel like a failure because of my body issues. I have done well to lose the weight, but I just feel sad and anxious about it. I saw my doctor at the lapband clinic and just sat in her office and just sobbed for a long while. She was wonderful. Jacqui you would know her from The Avenue ( Anna Koren). She wants me to see a counsellor to talk about how I am feeling. She told me also that I am not eating enough and to slow the weight loss down. She did not want to give me a fill at this time. I will go and see a counsellor. I don't want to scare the newbies, but I never realized that all of these intense emotional issues were going to come to the surface post banding. I thought that I would be banded and lose weight and that life would be so wonderful. It is wonderful in that I feel physically fantastic.I am very grateful to have my band, and I am grateful to my wonderful surgeon Mr Gary Crosthwaite and all of the Staff at the Avenue Clinic. I am just struggling with the other issues. Meanwhile Jacqui you look incredible in your avatar! Beautiful. Sam you are incredible too. Bronnie I love your avatar pic. You are gorgeous girl! Meredith thank you so much for caring about me and thinking about me. Thank you for getting in contact with me today. It was wonderful to speak to you. You are such a good chick, and I hope you are down in Melbourne soon so that we can catch up. Newbies welcome and I wish you much success in your banding journey. Susannah

Phili, I think there may be a temporary glitch in the PM system. When it is working again send me a PM and I will get back to you. Susannah

Phili, Hi. I am in Melbourne. maybe we could meet up? . I have already met a few of the girls here before. PM me. Susannah

Hi, Thank you so much girls for all your thoughts and sentiments. I have felt very down about the state of my body over the last few weeks. But you are all right in that I have a mind and a spirit and a soul etc. The body is just the outer shell. Having said that if I had the money I would go for getting ALL of it fixed. For now I can only have a consult to get an idea of what is needed etc. Meredith thank you for those extra special kind words for me. You are an angel. Your husband is one lucky man. Jacqui and Sam you are both gorgeous women and you have both bloody blitzed this banding caper handsdown. Welcome Jo. I feel like we are sisters in a way going through all the various stages of the banding journey together. I feel lucky that you are all there behind your computer screens ready to dispense advice and give support. Bless you all. Susannah

Thanks Sam so much for that. Perfect advice I reckon. I am going to have a consult soon.I hope a man can love me even with my body flaws. I hope tomorrow is a better day for you Sam. Susannah

Hi All, Welcome to all the new girls too.I am feeling really happy about my weight loss but seriously depressed about the loose skin and my body being wrecked by all this. Will plastic surgery fix this this where I can finally feel good about myself? Is it affordable? Did anybody else have this problem? I want to feel completely good about myself. Is there hope? Chickie? Susannah

Yay!!! I bet you looked gorgeous in them too Mezza! Susie

Jacqui you look fabulous!!!! Gorgeous mate!!! Susannah

Thanks girls!!!:car: Jacqui you should get some special pics taken. You would look hot!!!!! Tara, thanks. Insub Thanks. Glad your all my banding sisters!!! Susannah