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.

I think that you can qualify for SSI (disability for people who do not have enough work credits to qualify for regular Social Security disability benefits) on the basis of morbid obesity alone. If these folks were to receive WLS, theoretically they could re-enter the work force and end up saving more than the cost of the surgery. I do admit to being really annoyed at my first WLS seminar (for a different hospital than the one I chose). When the Medicaid recipients heard that there was a $300 program fee not covered by insurance, a few of them got hostile. Medicare recipients are usually responsible for $1,000 for WLS (Medicare pays 80% of what it determines is the UCR) plus the program fee. Medicare does not pay for fills.

Relax! I came home from surgery 10 pounds heavier than I was the previous morning! It took a full 8 days before I lost the 10 pounds of extra fluid. Do a search of LBT on "bandster hell" so you can know what to expect during the 4-6 weeks after surgery.

I have a secret addiction to "Ghost Hunters" and "Most Haunted". I watch entirely too much television because I am somewhat socially isolated (my best friend died suddenly of a perforated duodenum 12 months ago at age 44).

My surgeon does all of the fills, but he doesn't use fluoro. That probably saves me $100, but I'm worried that he will puncture the tubing or worse, especially since my port is tilted and he has to stick me numerous times.

The dietician with my program said that too much protein can cause kidney damage. We were told to shoot for 60 grams per day. See what your nutritionist has to say about it.

I had to take a beta blocker because the stress test I took the Friday before my Monday surgery showed some abnormalities and there wasn't enough time for me to schedule a Nuclear Scan before surgery. The cardiologist said that I could go ahead with the surgery if I began taking beta blockers. It turns out that my heart was fine but I loved the beta blocker!! My anxiety about the surgery disappeared and I felt so happy! People who have to do public speaking often take a beta blocker the day of their presentations because it relaxes you but keeps your mind sharp. They made my mood so much better that my PCP said that I could keep taking them indefinitely. Since I've lost weight they were making me slightly light-headed from low bp so I recently discontinued them.

Calunda, Perhaps there is a better plan for disabled veterans, but in general, Medicare never pays 100%. It sets an amount that they are willing to pay (UCR) which is much lower than physicians normally charge. Medicare recipients are responsible for 20% of the UCR (50% for outpatient mental health or substance abuse treatment).

The hospital where I went told me that Medicare requires an overnight stay. They were also clear about what my share would be: the $500 program fee and $990 (the usual 20%) because my supplement policy had a WLS exclusion. Phyl, I think that your program was completely irresponsible for not informing you about this. Do they have a designated person to do all of the insurance coordination? At mine, this staff member was to handle all contact with insurance companies. I had to sign an agreement to pay my share, but the amount would be billed to me after Medicare paid. Medicare does not pay for fills. My program cost included all services for the first 4 months, but after that, fills are self-pay. I pay $416 a month for my supplemental policy so I was disappointed that they would not pay for anything related to the surgery.

I never have a problem with cold foods, but vegetables, steamed or raw, give me problems.

For about 5 years I haven't been able to do meaningful (sustained aerobic) exercise because of the collaboration of the evil twin demons of severe arthritis of the knees and weak legs (due to a back problem). My plan has been to lose enough weight so that could successfully undergo knee replacement surgeries. I was sure that I could at least walk a few miles at a time with new knees. I've been concerned about losing weight without significant exercise because I know that I'm losing a lot of lean muscle tissue in addition to the fat. I have really been eager to feel better physically as a benefit of exercise. Last week I had my annual neurological eval (because of the back problem--EMG, MRI etc). It showed that my legs have become significantly weaker over the year and as a result, I cannot (ever) have knee replacement surgery because I couldn't do the necessary rehab with the leg weakness. I'm screwed. :cry Anyone else have difficulty exercising?

Wow--that is the best NSV ever--reduction/elimination of back pain! Terrific! Your experience with ESI is outrageous. Mine are done under fluoro and he hits it the first time. Since the steroids take a few days to kick in, it is common to also add a short-acting local anesthetic so you are pain-free immediately. I hope you never need one again! It must be nice to have youth on your side, but really I'm just happy that they help. A lot of people don't respond to ESI.