Marimaru

I recently got a Tanita scale as a give. In the paperwork it admits to not being 100% accurate, but also says that it's a good way to measure the direction things are going... as in, is your body fat % going up, or down.

When I was 11 years old I weighed 165 lbs. I was only 11, I hadn't finished growing, so that was a bit overweight, but I wasn't fat. My dad had me on the scale every. single. morning. to weigh me, and sent me off to school with slimfast. So, back then, I FELT fat. I don't know what it's like to FEEL thin, even if I used to be not fat. I didn't feel *fat* in high school. I felt the same as I did in Junior high, but I never truly thought I was *fat*. Just needed to lose some weight. I graduated and still felt the same way until about 3 and half years ago, when I was on yet ANOTHER diet, and finally made myself see what I looked like. I had to have known it somewhere, because every time the doctor took my blood pressure I was afraid I would be told it was high. Now, I'm afraid of getting where I want to be, and staying there for a while, and then starting to gain again. I'm just not sure how my mind would handle that, lol.

I'm down 85 lbs, and you still can't tell I have a port if you look for it (I'm a size 14, for reference). I have heard some people got a visible lump as they lost weight, but I don't think that's going to happen to me at all. I can feel my port, I have always been able to, but I don't think my husband has ever felt it on accident. They do have the low profile ports they can change you to (usually this isn't given as an original port), and it's much flatter.

I see where you are coming from, but I know that, for me, I would balloon right back up, and I've had my band for 3 years (long enough that I should have better habits by now). I would say that after you get to goal, if you are still thinking about this, have all of the Fluid removed from your band, for like a year, and see how you do. If you don't have any trouble, you could probably do okay with it removed.

Eva has said she wont be back to this thread, but I want to comment on what she's said. I don't know of any country that doesn't have immigration laws. I'm also not aware of a country other than ours that doesn't enforce the immigration laws, strictly. The argument over whether what 'we' did originally when 'we' came here and took over the area is kind of moot, as anyone who had anything to do with that is dead, although people are still receiving compensation for it. But since we immigrated here 'illegally' we should let other people do it now too? I think children should learn a second language. Many other countries require it. However, they shouldn't have to learn Spanish just because a bunch of people here wont learn English. There are many, many other languages they could learn that would be useful to them on the future. I believe that if our government wants to make a dent in this, they are going to need to go after the companies who are hiring illegals, and go after them hard. If you get raided and illegal workers are found, you should be heavily fined. If it happens again, someone should go to jail. Bleah

I went through this a number of times. I'd think I was past it and then it would come back and hit me again, kind of like a wave. I don't fight that so much anymore now. In regards to eating without getting sick, test different things. It was probably the bread in the sandwich + the potato that made you slime at the mall. Bread does some people in, and potatoes do some people in (unless they are mashed and runny) and both was probably just a bad combo. Take some TIME to really learn what your limits are. If you have a dinner with various things on it, take a few bites of one item and wait a few minutes and see if it's causing you any trouble. Then try another item on your plate. It's a big pain, but it will help you narrow down the things you need to avoid. *hugs* the mourning dies down, and you aren't a freak.

I also vote for the tankini. Before my honeymoon I went out to get a new swimsuit, as my other one was too big, and I wanted something nice for my trip. It was expensive, but I went to Macy's and got a tankini that was a halter top with underwires. I'm DDD/F (jeebus), and this made a HUGE difference for me. The top was $40 or $50, and the bottom was another $30. Probably if it wasn't for my honeymoon, I would have spent the money on the top and found a cheaper bottom that went with it. Also, at Kohl's I found a cute little swim skirt to go over it (not a swimsuit bottom that is a skirt, but a coverup). I am wary of ordering online for things that have to *fit*. There's been something wrong every time.

What stage of the post op diet are you on, and what did you eat? Probably you ate something that is having trouble getting past your band, you should probably go on thin liquids until this clears up. If you aren't feeling better after getting a bunch of water in (to try and flush through whatever is there) you should call your doctor.

I've gone from up to an 11W to an 8.5. 11W was pretty rare, usually it was 10W, but still. I don't have to buy the W shoes anymore either. This was true at about 50 lbs lost, and now I'm at 85 lbs lost.

Dr. Rumbaut does take the harder cases. His website mentions the possibility of needing to convert to an open surgery if there is an issue, and I asked him what types of issues caused that (HE CALLED ME ON MY CELL PHONE AFTER I BOOKED MY SURGERY TO SEE IF I HAD ANY QUESTIONS), and he laughed and said I would not need to worry about it, as it was usually only patients nearly twice my size that might have an issue. He was very nonchalant about it. I was absolutely shocked when he called me. His assistant Doralisa had been very helpful already. He was surprised that I was already scheduled when he called me, which means he was calling me as a 'pre-patient' thing. Either way, sorry, after what WaBB said, I had to add.

If the surgery is excluded by your employer, you'll need to appeal to HR (or your mom, I guess) to try to have it paid. I have heard of people doing this before.

I am taking the generic of wellbutrin XL, which is quite a bit larger than the name brand, but I don't have any trouble. You people who are cutting your XL drugs in half need to talk to your doctors. The coating on these drugs help them dissolve slower, and if you are cutting them in half, you are rendering that useless... many of the drugs have a non XL form, you would take it 2 times a day instead of only once, but you could crush/cut the pills without a problem.

Have you done anything strenuous? After my surgery, whenever my abdomen moved in a way it hadn't since surgery, I would get sore. The port is usually kind of nestled in the muscles there, and they have to get used to moving with it there, and sometimes you can pull against the stitches too. I would take some tylenol, and see if it lasts. You might take some gas x too, just in case your doc is right about that.

I think there is a very big gap between the cost of living, and the wages being paid. I have a friend trying to get a job here in Southern California and they want to pay him $10 to be an admin assistant. I made little more than that when I lived in a single apartment by myself, and I was still living paycheck to paycheck. You are either living in a crappy neighborhood, or you're driving insane distances to get to work, the rent is still high in the crappy neighborhood, or your gas bill is killing you. There needs to be a medium between "I'm not paying that much for that!" and "I need to make more money!". We wouldn't need to make so much more money if things didn't cost so much. As example, the cost of gas; yes, we are very lucky in that we've paid less that many countries for a good long time, but the prices were not raised because they necessarily needed to be, the gas companies are making a higher percentage of profit than ever. That, and executives don't need to be making what they're making and getting the bonuses that they are getting. If we cut that down, we could raise the rates of the low end jobs, and more people would be able to afford those jobs. Sorry if that goes around in circles, I was thinking as I typed it out.

It really depends on your doctor. My doctor didn't give me any preop diet instructions, or anything like that. But if your doctor gave you preop diet instructions and you gained weight, it's possible they will want to reschedule the surgery. Many times the preop diet is given, because they want you to shrink your liver, which makes the surgery easier for them, and less risky for you.

Depending on your diet and exercise habits, you may get past this with a little patience. You've lost a lot of weight in a little time, and your body is saying "whoa, what the heck just happened?!". If you aren't taking measurements, you should, because likely you are still changing shape. If you aren't exercising, you should probably start, and if you feel like you are eating too much, and your doctor agrees, get a fill.

I had my surgery with Doctor Rumbaut and absolutely loved him. The hospital was incredibly high class as well. The other thing about him, is that he HAS a lapband, so even if you aren't going to him for aftercare, he can still answer questions or you from a standpoint of experience and medical knowledge. You should look into the trial. Make sure they don't make you sign something that says that because it is a trial that if something goes wrong they aren't responsible...

I would rather my money was taken out of my paycheck and I had the same healthcare everyone else has, if I could say, like green, "our healthcare is great!". Insurance companies will use anything they can to not pay for something, or to drop coverage on an actually sick person. My mother in law's insurance is trying to drop her on a technicality, and she has cancer. I firmly believe that if she were healthy and just paying her premiums every month, they'd make no issue of it.

I've lost 85 lbs, and I have 55 to go. It's taken me 3 years to get this far, and my skin is okay... my lower tummy sags a little (the panni), and my thighs are kind of icky, but, when I'm on a long plateau, my skin takes some time to work on going back where it belongs. My arms are way better than I thought they would be, and when I get to goal, or have been there a while my tummy skin will *probably* be where it's supposed to be, but also probably decently 'squishy' and I will probably want at least a mini tummy tuck on it, as well as some work on my thighs, and definitely a breast lift. The breasts will be lifted even if no other work is done.

I agree that you should go ahead and buy it if you want it, however, if in May of next year you aren't fitting in it yet, don't start beating yourself up for being 'too slow' or something.

I have never heard that rule. I don't chomp ice often because it bothers my teeth, but on a good day when it doesn't bug my teeth I'll chomp ice if I got it with a beverage or something. It's never caused me an issue...

My mom tells me that smoking various flavored tobaccos out of hookahs is very popular with the upper-middle class middle aged group. I don't see how smoking from a hookah would be any different than smoking any other way as far as health concerns go, and it shouldn't affect the band. As for what you smoke, that's up to you, lol.

Like Jachut said, if the person was a friend who never showed romantic interest before, and then started to, I probably would give them another chance. Even if the were only an acquaintance, but they were cordial, probably I would. But if they were ever rude to me, or anything like that, I wouldn't.

Brandy, I second the idea of email, or even a chat client. My husband and I work together, and honestly, if we are having a problem, we can work out the really hard parts on chat (like yahoo, or aim), that way we can get what we want across without having to *say* it. I am a TOTAL crybaby. I'll cry when we are chatting even, so chatting makes it much easier for me sometimes, but he and I make a point to talk about EVERYTHING under the sun. He tells me if he's not satisfied with how often I do (or don't) initiate sex, or if he feels I'm being distant, etc... even over chat. Chat or email can seem impersonal, but it kind of feels anonymous, even though it totally isn't, if that makes any sense...

Well.... I'm 25, so 15 year olds don't pay much attention to me, lol, but I often get told I look younger. I imagine it's the same with you? I think it depends on the person, as I've seen people complaining that they think they look older, but, even if you have more lines in your face, probably you look healthier as you lose weight, which makes you look younger.