wendy645

I had 165 on my license which was a lie even then, by 20 lbs. Then I had to get it re-issued when I turned 21 and only put 185. By then that was a 60 lb lie! Now at 285... yeah... I hope to be able to revert to my 16 yr old DL weight and not lie!

I use fitday.com, but if you do, be prepared to enter the nut.value of a lot of foods. It has some obscure stuff but not basics. Other than that I enjoy using it, and have since 2001. (it was a trip to go back and see my weight and diet and journals from 2001!)

Wow thanks for the replies everyone! I should have posted an introduction sooner! You're all so sweet, thank you for the welcomes and encouragement!

I've heard wonderful things about Mexico. I know, it sounds kinda seedy at first, but it's about half the cost and includes everything. Worth looking into, if nothing else! Good luck and keep us informed Oh, another thing you can do too is appeal until you're blue in the face and visit obesitylaw.com there's some program where the lapband makers pay for someone to push the appeal, and it's free to you! Also worth looking into

Yay! I'm so happy for you! And you're clever, I really enjoy reading your posts, by the way. In fact, I'd go so far as to say I kinda post-stalk you

Hi Gwen! Welcome to LBT and congrats on the banding! It must be cool to have your hubby do it with you, and the fact that you're spaced out some will help each of you take care of the other

Welcome to LBT! I'd like to say first off congratulations for taking the first step toward a healthier you! You'll not only be around longer, but have a higher quality of life, which will be important to watch that angel of yours grow up! You'll find a plethora of information here to help you make the choice and along the way. I'm new to it, too, and just got back from my first doc's appointment to talk about it, so we're in the same boat! PM me if you ever want to, OK?

Update! I went to the doc and she was impressed with me. I brought along a printout of the spreadsheet I'd created listing my attempts to lose weight since 1993. I was 10 years old :cry I listed when, what, how long, how much it cost, and what the results were. I also brought along a copy of my filled-out patient intake report for the surgery center I figure on using (I called them, even they were like... you're getting ready to go to your first appointment with your PCP and want the packet??) I plan on going to the next info session put on my said facility next week. It's an almost 3 hour drive but better than the 5-6 hour drive I took last time to go to a session on WLS! We talked about what changes to expect in lifestyle and eating habits her patients have had to made, and what success she's had with approvals before. She's going to tackle my insurance company's policy and fight for me. She set me up with a referral to the nutritionist (who I've heard is a real bimbo) and I'm to check back with her in a month as part of our "doctor suprevised WL plan". She told me to start walking as exercise. She made me giggle when she said, "Start with 3 minutes, OK?" because I usually tackle a couple miles at a time when I go walking but I'll do what she says (well, I'll log what she says, and do what I want, which'll be at least a mile) because she knows her stuff and what ins. co's want. I cried in her office a few times, which annoys me because I hate crying but this is something very emotional, so I forgave myself for it... that's big for me. She gave me a Rx for Ibuprofin 800mg to take before I go walking, because I know from experience if I don't take one an hour before walking, my back seizes up and I can't make it home. I feel so relieved that I'm taking the first steps on this long journey, and that the 3 people I've told (only one's I'm going to tell) support me completely! :whoo: <-- and I finally get to use this guy!! Now I just need to figure out what my story's going to be to everyone around me. I'm thinking something with a hiatal hernia, which I have, but I'm not sure what, exactly. I don't want to lie, just be creative with the truth. Maybe... "Oh, I'm seeing a doctor for stomach problems, and need surgery to fix my hiatal hernia. There's a problem with my stomach's absorbtion levels." Yeah... it absorbs too much!! And I did see the doc for stomach issues, I may be getting another visit from my friendly Mr. Ulcer. Plus she said, if possible, we can ask the surgeon if he can fix the hernia while he's in there, which is not uncommon around LBT. My boyfriend supports me 100%; his only concern is how much everything's going to cost. But we'll figure that out. First step taken. And I'm on cloud 9! :bounce:

very helpful post, thank you Kat!!

Bump! I go in in 2 hours!

Awww you ladies are going to give me a big head! :tea:

Oh wow, thank you! :tea: I didn't realize there were 5 pages to this thread until I hit Post Reply and saw I was at the top of page 5! I haven't seen much from the OP, I wonder how she's doing?

Wow, alysedg23, you're coming off pretty negatively to the others on this thread :tea: It's valuable to people like me who are in the research phase to see all the sides of the possible effects of the band, but you're coming off kind of snippy. I do agree that it seems like your post is fashioned in a "this is how it is and always will be for everyone" feeling. I'm sure you didn't intend that, it's just the way it came off. I also agree that criticizing anyone on this board's weight loss is cruel and crass and since you're here in this supportive environment, maybe you could try to be more supportive? It sucks that you're having such negative side effects from the band, it really does. I sincerely hope my experience in different. It is important for me and others like me to read this, though, to have an idea of possibilities. But this also means that all the success stories and tales of a short recovery period could also it into this variable "take it into consideration" view. Is there something else bothering you that you'd like to talk to us about? I've found so much support here, even when my issues didn't relate to the band at all. We're a bunch of good listeners, promise

I was wondering about all of that, too! Like, I don't want to be dishonest, but I want toput what they want to hear! I'm very good with words, I'm sure I could find a way to make dang near anything they want apply to me, short of having male gentalia or a 2nd head. :tea:

I'm glad you're on the path back to bandster normalcy! Best wishes to you.

Good for you! Yay! What's your pre-op diet? I'm sure we all fear failing, but that's what we're all here4 for, is to help each other out! Keep us posted, I can't wait to see how it goes for you!

I'm sure it's very hard, but we're here for you! Like others have said, I just wanted to chime in and remind you that the post-op diet is in place to alow your stomach to heal so the stitches don't misplace. And the hard thing about that is you might not even know for a long time if they didn't take and you band slipped! So talk to the doc. If they're adamant you stay on the post-op the next 2 weeks, do it! When you feel the need to eat regular food before you're supposed to, come on here and talk to us! Look at all the recipies on the forums and try something new. pureed doesn't have to be boring! You'll find all sorts of idas to try Keep us informed, as we'll be looking out for you!

There's a sticky at the top of this forum called fill/adjustment info, you should check it out :-) A fill is when the dr. adds saline to your port that goes through the tubing to your band to tighten it and restrict what you can eat. I'm still pre-band, too, so I'll be learning too, but check out the sticky at the top, they're great info!

I hope you got the receptionist's name!! Or at least what time and day you called so they may be able to find out who it was. That nastiness is uncalled for!

Did they put you on antibiotics? Some turn your pee orange. Let us know!

I couldn't do that, I'm lactose intolerant! I'd be so miserable!

SEVEN HUNDRED? As for me, I have a feeling that my friendships will stay the same. I have 3 best friends and 1 good one that used to be a best friend before a fight over something stupid. One BFF is my size now and would consider the band if her mom hadn't tried to force a GBP on her a couple years ago, now she's got this mental block on it. And I don't blame her; her mom's evil. But we've talked about it and she supports me. Another BFF lives across the country and is dealing with bulimia with anorexic tendencies, and is extremely wary of anything foreign in the body. She was scared for me when I got an IUD. But she wholeheartedly supports me in losing weight and becoming healthy. I'll tell her after the fact. The last BFF is my thinspiration. She's my height, but a dancer. She's also a mom of 2 with c-sections. She has a pooch but is muscular otherwise. I figure if all goes well I could strive to look like her. She is a great girl who doesn't even see my size. At all. To her I'm just her Wendy. She's moving and I'm keeping this under wraps, and I think I'm going to surprise her The former best friend has struggled with her weight for years. I'm not telling her (I don't think) but she'll support me. She always has something positive to say even when I'm feeling frumpy fat and ugly. They're pretty much the only friends I have, besides co-workers (who won't know unless I'm successful as all get out, then I'll tell the world I think LOL) Other than that, my boyfriend and mom both support me, and I'm not afraid of how either will react in the future. Chris has never been concerned about my body (well, he does love my boobies lol) size-wize, just as long as I'm healthy, which is why he supports me. And he knows that this would make me happy, which would make him happy. All in all, I think I'm alucky one :-) Of course, time will tell if I'm right. I should bookmark this reply and come back when I'm all thin and shapely and see if things have changed LOL:whoo:

Wow... I'm in the exact same boat.. I fear I'm going to miss all this water! Then again, I've used water for years as a replacement for food, so perhaps I won't feel the same attachment/need. Good luck. I'm sure you'll find what works foryou very quickly!

"End your day by privately looking directly into your eyes in the mirror and saying, 'I love you!' Do this for thirty days and watch how you transform." -- Mark Victor Hansen "It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something." -- Franklin D. Roosevelt "Some people say I have attitude - maybe I do...but I think you have to. You have to believe in yourself when no one else does - that makes you a winner right there." -- Venus Williams "Forget past mistakes. Forget failures. Forget everything except what you're going to do now and do it." -- William Durant Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams.Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do." -- Pope John XXIII "Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your oldnonsense." --Ralph Waldo Emerson "The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one." -- Elbert Hubbard, 1856-1915" What you did in the past, though it might have made you the person you are today, has absolutely no bearing on what you do in the future." "You didn't get out of shape and unhealthy overnight, and you won't get fit and healthy overnight - despite what the infomercials tell you" "A real transformation begins on the inside, not in a bottle or a package. The magic is sitting inside you, just waiting to be let out. The transformation is a learning process, one that comes from realizing you control your destiny, and that you can accomplish whatever you decide you're going to accomplish." "Make the decision, then do something - no matter how small - toward accomplishing what you want." And my favorite: "I've come too far to take orders from a cookie!" -???:clap2:

*takes a deep breath and cracks knuckles* I want to be able to go into a clothing store and not immediately look for the ugliest prints and most terrible cuts that they call a plus-size section. I want to be able to stroll over to a rack, find my size and try it on. And have it fit. My favorite store in the world is Torrid, a plus-size store. I don't want to be able to fit any of their clothes! (It seems backwards to me to not want to be able to shop at my fave store hehe) I want to be able to sit down somewhere and eat something and not feel like the people around me are judging me for it. I want to see my own pubes without shifting my belly out of the way! I want to be able to go for a hike in this beautiful landscape all around me and not avoid going because I know it'll damn near kill me as I am. I want to be able to take something out of the dryer and not have to wet the waistband with warm Water and do a tug-n-pull to stretch it so it'll fit me again. I want to be able to get into the positions for yoga and such that I know I can do because for being so fat, I am wicked flexible (my yoga instructor was jealous that I could move in ways she couldn't) but I want to see HOW flexible I can be. Currently, my hip fat pads will push against my side and thighs and I can only move so far. I want to wear something in the junior's department, dammit! I'm sick of being my age in pants sizes. This is the first year in loooooooong time that I haven't matched. When I was 9, I wore a size 9. 10, a 10. Etc this has continued through my life until recently. I wear a 26/28 now, and I'm only 24. I want to go backwards! Even though I know my boyfriend adores me and thinks I'm sexy, I want to find myself as beautiful as he finds me. There are a million more, but I have to go. heh.