Wenjea

The people in Cle Elum are sooo nice. We had a trailer wheel lock up last year coming over the pass on our boat trailer and we pulled into a gas station that sent us down to a car repair shop by the train tracks at the west side of town. They stopped everything they were doing, pulled off the wheel, unlocked the break, repacked it and got us back on the road in two hours. On a Saturday! I got to talking to the guys there and found out they were avid fly fishermen and one of them had a house on the river. By the end of the two hours they had invited my husband to come over and fish with them off the deck of his house. Nice people! Can't remember his name though.

Merrillee - you said something about being at Dr. Ohs on the 30th. Are you there around 10am? Should I just ask everyone in the waiting room if they are singandsew? It would be fun to meet you in person.

We always stop at the Cle Elum bakery for their cinnamon nut bread everytime we go to Eastern Washington, it might not be so fun for me anymore after the lap band. Do you drive all the way to Federal Way to see Dr Oh? Wow, you are committed! Do you notice a big difference now with your first fill?

wow! you've done great! I would be very scared of gaining it back too. Hope the medication works for you. Good luck!

Have the complications been worth it? How much have you lost? Are you afraid of what will happen if you take it out? I know I have lots of questions but I am pretty new at this and it seems you have been doing this awhile judging from the # of posts that you have.

Can we agree to disagree? I have a question for Bubble Butte. Did you have your band removed lately? I was wondering how you are doing? I thought I read that you did on the complication thread. I could be wrong and if I am I'm sorry I mixed you up with someone else. I spent a lot of time reading about the downside of banding today so I was curious. I think we need to be informed of the good, the bad, and the ugly when making a decision this big.

It seems to me if you can get a chip down you can certainly get fruit and veggies down unless she is only eating cheetos! My doctor said that one of the things you have to be ready to give up was Ice-cream. He said it goes through the band to easy and all that milk and sugar is whats going to make you fail. Obviously she wasn't ready to change anything about her eating style. I did go to the docs utube talk on what the doctors in Europe are doing now. He says down the road 10 years they are finding that the complications from the band are esculating. He said that docs in Europe were going back to gastric bypass. Does anyone have info to the contrary? I would really like to read it.

I think if the belt buckles then you should be just fine. I've sat next to guys with slim behinds and huge shoulders that totally take up more then their fair share. Are they going to make them buy an extra ticket for their shoulders? I would rather have someones soft, fat thighs rubbing against me then hard muscled shoulders digging into me anyday. I think they keep making the seats smaller just to get more money from the rest of us. Discrimination comes in many forms!

I just found out that my insurance excludes lap band but I'm going forward as a self pay. They are working at scheduling all my pre-ops so when I see Dr. Oh on the 30th I can be ready with everything else. Hopefully that means a mid-May date for the band. Then I can be a bandster like the rest of you!

Love the honesty you guys! Love the support! Love the sometimes not so gentle nudge back on track. Thanks to you all! ewe! popcorn OD . . . i can imagine . . . bet you will think twice next time. Reality is such a great teacher!

nbjen - It's almost here! I bet you are geting excited! How is the pre-surgery diet going? is this day one? Somehow I think this will be the toughest 10 days but then what do I know . . . let me know how it is going for you. singandsew - thanks for the info on the vitalady, I will definately look her up. I did my walk yesterday and am making my friend go with me today. she is about two weeks behind me in the process. Angelnurse - we are on the west side of the lake pass the Entree Gallery. Are you familiar with that area? My husbands grandfather built the cabin and it hasn't changed much at all since then except now we have a bathroom instead of an outhouse. Yea!

Treikalina - I think the saying is "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result" Lets face it guys, isn't this exactly why we decided on the lap band. I for one am so tired of gaining weight after yet another diet. For me, to not get a lap band would be insane. I appreciate the positive turn this thread has taken. I want to be able to come here for strength when I am feeling weak. We all need a soft place to land and a firm hand to set us back on course. Thanks for sharing and caring

I'm there on the 30th also at 10:00am, maybe I will run into you. Who is the vitalady? Do you like a certain brand of protein? I'm dressed for walking and plan on doing it after I drop the kids at school. NO EXCUSES!!! I thought St. Francis was great also! Absolutely no complaints. How much of your weight came off during the pre-surgery diet?

You guys are harsh! I didn't get the feeling that she was cheating as much as concerned about not losing right after surgery. I was under the impression that it is common to not lose weight until after your first fill. My question to Tara is 'Have you had your first fill yet?' We all struggle with the rules . . that's why we are obese!!! Instead of attacking lets be encouraging. If we can't come here and share our struggles then where can we go? I just want to encourage you Tara to be strong and if you are not sure you are doing something right then call your doctor's office and ask. This isn't an instant fix and we have a lot if issues to deal with besides just bad eating habits. . . like why we eat. You know that what you were doing wasn't working for you so take this chance you've been given and use it to change the rest of your life. I for one will be here to pick you up and dust you off when you fall down . . . so pick yourself up and try to do better. I believe you can!!

I feel like everyone is getting one before me! It's so hard to wait after you've made the decision to do it. I will know my date for sure on the 30th. You guys will be recovering from surgery about then so I will be keeping you in my prayers. Good luck!

wow! you've done great! Are you getting used to your new size? We go to Priest every summer and stay for about 3 weeks. The longest I've stayed up there is 5 weeks but that was when my kids were young and we had the whole summer to hang out. Now my youngest are 13 year old twins and their schedule seems to rule our life most days. I'm hoping to be up there for about 3 weeks this summer, around the end of July and beginning of August.

angelnurse - how is it going for you so far? I come through Spokane every summer on my way to Priest Lake. My In-laws have a cabin there. It will be odd this year not being able to pig out as usual but then I think how much better I will feel about being in a swimsuit all day and know it's all worth it. They found some polyps in my stomach and removed them but my colon was clear. I see the surgeon on 4/30 so i hope to get a surgery date at that appointment. I'm going to start my daily walking tomorrow so I hope it's sunny!

Cindy - I'm not there yet but I've read on this site from other bandsters about the lack of weight loss right after surgery. Let me know how things go after your fill. Sounds like you are pretty normal. I have my scoping tomorrow and after two days of liquid diet I am wondering how I will do it for a month! Yikes!! I'm in Lakewood, south of Tacoma, anyone from around here?

Tomorrow I start my liquid diet and then the clean-it-all-out drink. Friday is scoping day so pray everything looks good. You are lucky you are under 50 and didn't have to do this. I missed it by a year . . darn . . should of done this sooner. I'm having them check with my insurance but am not willing to wait six months and jump through a bunch of hoops. If I have to write a check then I will. I went to the free seminar on 2/12, Couldn't get an appt. until 3/19, getting scoped on 4/13, and see Dr. Oh for follow-up on 4/30. I'm hoping for surgery ASAP after that. I must of started at a busy time because I'm two months in and still don't have a surgery date. It's nice chatting with someone who is local and just ahead of me in all this. Looks like you are doing well with your weight loss already!

Good to hear from you Merrillee! I thought I would never hear from anyone who had Dr. Oh. I'm really hoping for a May surgery date. I have my scope stuff done this Friday and then see Dr. Oh again at the end of the month. How soon after that appointment before you had surgery? I'm very anxious to get it done. Once I decided to do it . . . I don't want to wait! Have you tried the support group that meats in St. Joseph? I haven't yet but am thinking about starting in May when my surgery date is closer. Let me know how your recovery is going. Wendy

hey thanks, I will ask my doc about the fluoro next time I see him. This place is a wealth of information!

How long before your first fill amrdmr? I don't understand the discussion about fluoroscopy. Is it something you fill your band with? What else do they use and how are they different?

what! I might gain weight!! I can't even imagine howI could gain weight on a liquid diet. I'm with you Lucy, that would really suck!

I asked my doctor how much I could expect to lose by July (my sons wedding date) and he said about 30 pounds maybe more. My BMI is 40. I have been eating and gaining since I decided to do this . . a kind of ode to food. Has anyone else experienced this need to feast before surgery?

Hi Cindy11670 - I also am going to Dr. Oh in Federal way but am behind you in the process. I have my pre-ops on Friday, April 13th. How long did it take from pre-op to surgery? I have submitted to insurance but I am having it done no matter what. I thought his price sounded reasonable. I haven't heard that much about him on this site so I'm curious how your experience was.