Serena

This was tongue-in-cheek, for those who implied that children who aren't spanked are wild, unruly little heathens. I forgot that fundamentalists can't comprehend a little levity. I will continue to be horrified that some human beings deliberately hurt their offspring with the goal of teaching them to be responsible adults. I am completely demoralized by your attempts to defend this practice. I am done with this thread.

Exactly, Susan! I am so grateful to have been born into a non-violent family. No child has been hit in three generations and yet there is not a felon among us. In fact, my family members are all very accomplished despite having never been bullied or frightened by someone much larger and powerful. Go figure.

A crawling baby's brain is developmentally unable to process a connection between consequences and behavior. This is why the intelligent and informed parent will use distraction. There are many ways to discipline older children that do not involve physical violence or humiliation. It disturbs me greatly that you seem to have chosen to spank first without ever attempting to employ more respectful and less drastic measures. Children should respect their parents. How can a child respect a parent who out-weighs them by 150-200 pounds when the parent chooses to hit him. Is the message "might makes right"? What if your child hits another child? Will you hit her to teach her that hitting is wrong? As a former Childrens' Services worker I often investigated families who were woefully uneducated, disadvantaged, often substance-abusing whose only response to anything was to act on impulse, bypassing whatever miniscule intellect they might possess. It did not surprise me that they hit their children for any infraction. It does, however, surprise and distress me that an educated person would.

Because there are numerous cruelty-free ways to curtail problem behavior, it is, IMO, WRONG to spank.

It really saddens me that such a large percentage of you feel that it is perfectly okay to hit someone smaller and less powerful than you. Most parents teach their child not to hit another child, yet how can the child learn that lesson from a parent that hits? I was a social worker for Children's Services for three years and it totally demoralized me. I believe that an adult hits a child in anger because it makes them feel better. Any other rationale is merely a delusion of the unimaginative.

I haven't told a soul and I'm still very happy with that decision. When folks ask how I am losing weight I tell the truth: "I'm just eating less".

IMHO there are some frequent posters who virtually do "know it all" because of their own research. experience, and medical background. I'll name names--WASa, Wendell Edwards, FaithMD--and others that put a lot of time and effort into helping newbies avoid mistakes that would compromise their bands. It seems as though programs are shortchanging their patients by not informing them adequately . While my program did instruct us well about the rules, it did not tell us the gravity or consequences of not adhering to them 100%. That I learned from the posters named above, and I am so grateful to them. The "know-it-alls" are performing a valuable service despite being recently bashed and trashed for it. I think that they have been infinitely patient with the new and curious. They will never know, for example, how many slipped bands they have prevented with their "tough love" about following the post-op diet.

I have found through experience that I cannot eat sweets in moderation. If I white-knuckle it through 3 days, the cravings subside. If I eat something sweet, it re-activates them and I have a rough couple of days to get the sugar out of my system. I've learned that I would rather pass if I want sweets because it is not worth the 3 days of cravings. A few times I bought those 100-cal packs of Cookies, but each time I ate all 6 in one day! Not everyone needs to eliminate sweets, but I definitely do. I do eat Kroger's FF Sf creme pops, which are like popsicles filled with ice cream, which have 20 calories. I do, however, even have problems with Protein bars. I don't eat meat or fish so I don't count carbs (I love carbs). I have a minimum of 1 snack a day such as pretzels, smart-pop popcorn, or Kay's Naturals Protein chips (10 grams of protein in one ounce). I have noticed that I want sweets when I'm really hungry (I'm not good at taking along food when I'm out) and my last stop is the grocery. Other than that, I'm fine.

I used to need an epidural steroid injection every 3 months for years. I went to a chiropractor for the first time in December for spinal decompression therapy (twice a week for 12 weeks and weekly since). Finally the treatment and the weight loss came together and I have experienced a 90% reduction in pain. My worst pain was in my legs. Unfortunately they are still weak--but I feel great!

Many years ago I did a stint as a welfare caseworker and ever since I have thought that it would be a great idea for the government to pay a stipend of $1500 or $2000 to every American who undergoes voluntary tubal ligation or vasectomy. This would be offered to everyone regardless of their income or circumstances. It seems logical that very low income folks would be first in line. If you're on welfare, a windfall like that would be hard to come by any other way. Think of how this could eventually improve the gene pool. While there are exceptions, I found the hard-core "lifers" on public assistance to do whatever is easiest without any thought to the consequences. I was the birth-control zealot at the agency but found that for some people, it is too much bother to prevent a pregnancy despite the daunting task of raising another child. Money is a powerful motivator, though. Avoiding unplanned pregnancies would reduce the abortion rate. I used to speak to pregnant young teens about adoption and it is so disdained in the welfare community. If I had a dollar for every mother who said: "If she's woman enough to spread her legs, she's woman enough to raise this baby"........Imagine, considering a baby as a penance..... Please don't shriek "eugenics!" at me because I advocate paying the bonus to everyone not just the poor or the genetically challenged.

I was always 5'11 until last year when I was measured at 5'10. I know people may shrink a little as they age, and I have acquired scoliosis (curvature of the spine) which may have made me slightly shorter. I'm really hoping that my shoe size goes down. I take a 12M and so many styles stop at 11. I am very short in the rise and most tall pants have a crotch that hangs about 5-6" below mine. I hate it when my thighs touch........ I was surprised at the number of bandsters that are 5'10 and taller. I feel like I rarely see women who are like me--both tall and wide.

Babel's Outcast

I went to my chiropractor at 3 weeks, which was his recommended interval when he learned that I was being banded. As long as he/she knows about the surgery I can't imagine that it would be a problem, but you can always check it out with the nurse at the surgeon's office. I just go for lumbar decompression therapy (aka "the rack"). I was careful because it involves a wide, tight-fitting belt around the waist. I just go for Lumbar Decompression Therapy (aka "the rack").

I pay $150 for fills, but this is without fluoroscope (the doc uses a live x-ray image to guide the needle to the site). Flouro is definitely preferable but it adds about $100 to the cost. My surgeon doesn't offer fills under fluoro. I don't think that Medicare pays for fills unless some are included in your "surgical package". My hospital included all services for the 6 months following surgery. I'm from Ohio so I can't steer you to any local resources. Good luck.