DeLarla

I don't think pain with any bite is normal. Like Lianna said, everything should be a consistency that can pretty much be sipped through a straw. Peanut Butter & crepes certainly can't get through a straw. I've heard people putting Wendy's chili in the blender and calling that a mushy. I don't agree that Chili is something we should eat so soon in the game, regardless of how mushy. The object is to go really easy on your stomach with soft, bland foods till your band is completely healed (that's just my opinion though.) The band demands you take tiny sips at first, tiny bites, tiny swallows. Everything must be completely mushy before swallowing. If you follow these rules and still feel pain, you should let your doctor know.

Because Inamed wants all the bands to inspect, so they must be concerned with defective products.

Cha cha cha! This board certainly has its share of beautiful people, doesn't it? NICE!

If anyone is willing to do the research to find the exact name and address of the correct department of the FDA, I'll be more than happy to lodge a complaint on behalf of anyone who has lost their bands due to erosion. The FDA is huge, and a complaint sent to the wrong department could sit around for months. Anyone interested, please PM me the information. If I decided to lodge a complaint, it will be kept confidential and not be made public for the entire board. Fair?

I know one person who has her band in her underwear drawer. Billy said Inamed needs them to do research. I'm irked that I can't keep it. Let them figure out their problems on their own, not with my band. I'm writing Inamed now asking for a refund. Thanks for the fire in my belly to get 'er done.

I just remembered that I started a thread called, "Why are you Fat" a long time ago. I was frustrated, like you, because it seemed to me that I was the ONLY one suffering from compulsion and obsessive overeating. It's really interesting to learn that we are all overweight for different reasons. You might want to check out that thread and find the people with similar problems and ask how they cope. Good luck to you.

If you click on my name and read "all posts by DeLarla" you'll see that I suffer from the same struggles. I'm severely addicted to food, and I'm overly compulsive and USED TO eat till past being full. I just lost my band due to restriction, and now I'm trying harder than ever to fight the demons. This time I'm not taking one approach, but I'm using every single resource available at once, from talking on the phone to reading books to looking into local support groups. I promise, you aren't alone.

One of my original incisions formed a very annoying kiloid. During band removal, Dr. Billy was nice enough to remove the kiloid, though there's a chance it will come back bigger. The rest of my incisions are flat. Today at work I realized how my bra really irritates that area below and between the boobies. I wonder if my bra caused that original kiloid to form from rubbing against it? Looks like I have a medical reason for not wearing a bra. Just don't ask why I carry one in my purse. Did anyone else get kiloids? Thanks.

I'm down 1 pound past my lowest! Today for the first time, my wedding ring slipped and the diamond ended up on the palm-side of my hand. I'll have another please (pound of fat gone, that is.)

They are all priceless! It makes me so happy to see all the fur love

Penni, these are all my insane thoughts. Like Alex, there's nothing I can say here. If you were closer, I'd kick your ass, but then you'd have to kick mine right back.

Very cute! Too bad I just stocked up on panties, but those are cute!

I still have phatom restriction, probably has something to do with my old hernia? But I feel it sliding away little by little. I'm hungry now, and a 400 calorie lunch doesn't sound so appealing. Penni, fight it! Run, Forest, Run!

Tonight marks one week since band removal and Day 2 of mushies. I realize I'm still really swollen, but I have the best and most comfortable restriction ever. If there was only a way for medical science to clone the exact structure of my stomach like it is this very minute, life would be sweet! I have that same tight, full sensation in my upper belly, but nothing uncomfortable, no feeling of a PB coming on, nothing choking me, no slime. Just beautiful, glorious restriction that should last for ever and ever and ever and ever. It's so peaceful and pleasing that I just had to share, because tomorrow the swelling will have gone down some and my ghost band will eventually fade away.

I'm going to start a separate thread just for weight loss. This way I'm not stepping on Debbydoos great NSV thread. But I'm still in this challenge! I say we have to list our NSV each Monday, how's that?

Didi, don't freak me out! Part of good, healthy band maintenance is for doctors to look at the band from the inside. That means you go under anesthesia and the doc slides a little camera (on the end of a tube) down your throat to take pics of the inside of your belly. Most docs don't require regular endoscopies (endo for short.) Most doctors get a look at your band when they do fills through the x-ray machine known as fluoroscopy. When you get a fill, they'll have you stand in front of the x-ray machine while drinking barium so they can see that the liquid flows correctly through your band. If the liquid flows over the side, that's usually a sign of erosion. Most doctors that I know don't recommend an endo unless something in the barium swallow doesn't look right. My band surgeon has been placing bands since 2001 with no cases of erosion. However, after removing my band he became worried (since he's seeing erosion over and over from the same 3 surgeons.) He told me & my hubby that he might consider doing endos on all his patients every 3 months or so, just to make sure everything's okay.

AWE, I'm crying at my desk again because I forgot to add "No crying at work" to my 2006 Resolutions! I'm just giving back to LBT what LBT gave to me. I would never have made it without Donali, Penni, Alexandra.... geeze, there's no way to even begin to list the people that held me up when I couldn't make it through another day. I'm glad to be part of this whole LBT thingy, so thanks to Alex, Mr. Mystery, for starting this family

Go easy on yourself, take it nice and slow. My physical therapist gave the best advice on Earth for stomach crunches, so I'm finally doing them properly. Lay on the floor with your legs on the bed and your butt pulled in close to the bed, then cross your arms across your chest and lift slowly, then hold. It's the best way to avoid injuries. Start with just a few reps, then gradually increase. Good luck!

Your symptoms confuse me a little. Do you have to try gulping several times before stuff goes down? I had that problem, sometimes it would stay in my throat for a minute before moving down. It has to do with the motility of your esophagus, the way your esophagus moves/pushes food down towards your stomach. In my case, I had erosion and my stomach was inflamed, plus I had some erosion on my esophagus. I could write pages on this topic, but what I'm basically trying to say is that you need to take it very, very easy by sticking exactly to your doctor's orders and staying on liquids till your mushy phase, then sticking with mushy food till the next step. Your band is a delicate tool that requires strict eating. If you force down something to big, too soon, or too fast, it could cause problems in your esophagus.

and it was awful (still is.) This was the worst surgery yet, and for some reason I always end up with a high fever and bronchial problems. The surgery took around 2 hours late Tuesday night, and we got home from Ventura last night. Dr. Billy removed my band in the emergency room, and other than being so physically ill, I'm 100% relieved that Billy took it out. I'm glad it's out of me, I'm thankful Billy was my surgeon, and I'm really worried after all the other stories I heard while staying in the hospital. The nurses were somewhat "fascinated" with me since several are obese and have been considering weight loss surgery. However, they were telling me of so many complications they see on a regular basis with both surgeries. I did meet one very thrilled and very beautiful gastric bypass patient that was thrilled, but she had it done before laproscopy and has a scar from her ribs to past her belly button. Either way, she looked amazing. After this last surgery, there's no way I'll ever even consider another weight loss surgery. My biggest regret was going to Mexico. Another regret was not fighting my insurance. But another huge regret was that I didn't have a local, EXPERIENCE, CARING surgeon. The 7 hour trip back home yesterday kicked my fever back in, and it had only been gone a few hours. So I'm home, I'm alive, I have a GREAT doctor, and I'm looking forward to fighting the fat demons solo. Like Red says in Shawshank Redemption, "Either get busy living, or get busy dying." I gotta go lay down so I can heal up and get busy living. Please, NO SYMPATHY! I feel physically disgusting, my pain is 10 out of 10, my fever won't break, and I have severe belly cramping and can't catch my breath. I've even gained 12 solid pounds of bloat, so I feel stuffy and gross. I even scared my hubby because he never saw me not talking before. I didn't talk for 2 days other than some grunts. So physically I'm bad, but mentally I'm good. Honestly, I'm gonna be really good. Thank you all so much for the calls and messages, and I'm sorry I've been too sick to talk. I'll call every one of you as soon as I get my spunk back.

I think I have some alien condition that gets me sicker than most people during surgery. I was up walking within an hour of my initial banding surgery, while others waited till the next day to get up. Maybe I'm allergic to anesthesia or something, but I always get so sick. I never had bad "pain" when I was banded, but I stayed sick and just felt super gross for 2 full weeks. I also woke up from band installation grabbing my throat gasping for air and ended up with a bronchial cold during recovery. The same exact thing happened during this removal. I still have a low fever even a week later. Penni had her band removed and was pretty out-of-it as well, yet Tizag went shopping? All I can say is, WOW. My pain was too intense to get out of bed, and they didn't even remove the cathetar till the next day so my surgeon aparantly didn't expect to see me up. Tizag, did you have holes in your stomach that needed to be repaired? I did, so maybe that's the difference? As far as removal being easier for the doctor, I'm not so sure. I know that Billy described the unbanding process as an art. He said some people never get the hang of chopstix, so some doctors never get the gift of using laproscopic tools, I suppose. Ti, why did you have your band removed? As far as your constant hunger, my doc gave me a stearn lecture on eating the right kind of food to keep you full between meals. It's true that we sleep about 8 hours straight without starving to death, so I'm just trying to make it from Breakfast to lunch, but right now I have enough swelling that I feel tight and full after a cup of food. If you eat Protein without carbs, it's supposed to keep you full longer. JD, tell Billy if you see Billy, tell him I'll arm wrestle him next time I'm there! He's a hardass and doesn't take any excuses when it comes to overeating, so I should put a pic of his face lecturing me on the fridge. I just finished my 400 calorie protein lunch. Woof. I'm glad you're seeing him. He's not very sympathetic, but he's the best surgeon I know, and he knows what he's talking about.

I'm not following your exact guidelines, but count me in. Here's what I'm doing: B: 400 calories in Protein only L: 400 calories in salad & protein D: 400 calories of whatever hubby eats Good luck. Being thin is amazing, and we all deserve it. Hard work pays off. Peace.

I'm up, I walked and sweated and even did 10 reps with my barbells (7 days post band removal, gotta start somewhere.) My NSV for today is that I'm sitting here at my computer with my legs corssed! Before my band, I'd have been sprawled out like a cow waiting to be milked, that's only if cows sprawl (city girl here.) I'm off to a 400 calorie Breakfast of mush now. Good luck to everyone, you may need it because I'm feeling mighty serious right now!

Deb, thanks for starting this challenge. I took the liberty of making a list of everyone who COMMITTED by putting their starting weight. Once you commit, the challenge becomes real. I hope you don't mind me jumping in like this, but I needed a challenge, so you're on! If I missed your name or screwed up, remember, I'm fuzzy from band removal surgery drugs. Since being debanded, I'm really afraid of gaining, so I'm taking this challenge to heart. I've rounded up half pounds since some scales don't register half pounds to make it fair to everyone. Here's what I came up with: Anwyn ~ 220 Bandedforlife ~ 211 Cissy ~ 210 DawnNH ~ 273 DeLarla ~ 243 Debbydoo ~ 181 HeatherGurl ~ 296 Jessiebear ~ 305 Justbeingme ~ 255 Kare ~ 180 Lianna ~ 214 LSasha ~ 291 Maggie63 ~ 255 Mariemaru ~ 225 RoadQueen ~ 177 Shanna ~ 189 TessL ~ 200 TommyO ~ 355 TriciaK ~ 236 Vtobon ~ 244 Since I didn't start this thread, I can't make any rules (boo hoo.) But I will send the winner, who will also be the biggest loser, a fabulous prize basket from Slumber Parties. I have lovely items from rated PG to rated XXX, so get your butt moving! If anyone else wants to send a prize to the winner, add your name to this list by cutting and pasting it into a new thread. 1/1/06 ~ 3/1/06 LBT WEIGHT LOSS CHALLENGE LIST OF FABULOUS PRIZES! 1. Gift basket from Slumber Parties by Lisa (DeLarla) 2. (You don't have to write what you'll send, just add your name saying you'll send a prize.)

Zoe, I've been trying to send you a get well card from the summer LV bash for 3 months. I think I finally threw the card away because, well, because that was 3 months ago. I might be able to fish it from the bin, so if you want it, PM your address (I got a new puter and lost all my info.) Glad to see you. KIT, damn it!