the best me

Whoa!!! No kidding? I, too, had a terrible time with post-op swelling but it's been 7 weeks now and I'm still banded! It sounds odd to me but there HAD to be something else going on medically with her for them to take her band out after 4 days. Who's your doc? Lots of folks will be interested in your stories...be prepared to spill the beans!! You will get lots of experieinced feedback here. How's your band journey coming along? Welcome to LBT!

Hey Heather, did you see this thread? http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=6942 It's about Medical ID Bracelets. Hope that helps!!

Hey Other Kathy! I like your cute new pic avatar!

Julie, if you post the link, one of our very talented Moderators (Penni) will somehow magically make it appear. She does that with all the folks who can't figure out how to do all that. Mine came up, but it was an accident! Ha! Really though, she'll get it fixed for you. Just post it there, too. I don't know anything above Washington DC. Ya'll are talking Yankee to this ole Southerner...that's okay, Julie, surely you remember Georgia enough to know I'll just smile and be so happy for you two talking directions I have no clue about! And my 40's are getting better by the pound! I just turned 40 this month, it was one of my deciding factors for getting banded. I dreaded the thought of going through this wonderful decade of my life struggling against hope about my weight. So here I go! Hey, other Kathy, I'm 7 weeks post-op too. April 8th, you? OH! You two need to look up the East Coast Bash, it's in September, I think. Check for it in the NJ forum. Or if you don't find it I'll bump it, let me know. 'Night all!

Whoa Nellie!!! You look great!! You should post those on our Before and After thread...here's the link if you haven't found it yet... http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=4642 So, welcome to LBT! So glad to have you here! And congrats on your GREAT weight loss success! Oh, and the other stuff too. I suppose a PhD and having professional grade musical talent, and owning a poodle and having a supportive hubby are all standing ovation worthy as well. Anyhow, congrats!

Thou art banished from LBT! Just kidding. Don't do it anymore. It isn't worth it. Okay the popcorn wasn't worth it but the Ultimate Cheeseburger from JITB WAS worth it!!!! Sorry. That's a toughie for me, too. Avoid Jack, you can still keep it together until surgery date. You CAN do this!!!!

My grandfather always used to say "Eat your green beans, it'll grow hair on your chest" which was odd...me and my sister would stand there preplexed because we knew he was trying to get us to eat them, why would he tell us THAT? As if we WANTED hair on our chests?! As I grew older, I found out HIS dad used to tell him that, then he told MY Dad, and he was just passing it along. Just the other day I told my daughter the same thing. hehe, he'd be proud!

Wahoooo! That is good news about a less expensive and closer fill! I like your where O where have my cc's gone song...but it makes me worry! Could you have a leak? Oh no! Are you feeling good restriction? How much more did she put in after taking out the 2.2ccs? Well, at $75, you can afford to visit a little more often for an adjustment? That's great! Keep us posted!

I did the same thing as Chicagoboy (and many others) and walked around saying, "what the hell am I doing, I must be crazy. This has got to be one of the stupidest things I have done." And wondering if I was testing fate, or teasing God, or using up my last life (like I'm a cat?), or pushing it too far, or taking advantage of God's goodness to me, or SOMETHING like that. I made it back, and the jury is still out I suppose. I didn't die during or after the surgery, I'm not at my goal weight (oh, it's only been 7 weeks!) and so far I have no slippage or erosions...who knows but I stepped forward and did it and No Regrets so far. I'm thinking it will be okay.

Thanks for the picture montage Marimaru! The two pics on the left are my heaviest (not pregnant) around 240+. Top is a few weeks after giving birth to my daughter in 1999, and the one below that with her pasty white little nakey butt is the same weight (!) without the baby excuse. My face is red from sitting there all fat in the heat, I feel as bad as I look...fat and miserable. Since then I had another child and ended up around 240 again. No surprise. I did manage to lose about 20 pounds before banding, and the Front, Side, Back views are at 223, the night before leaving for Mexico. On the right is So-Far. I was around 208 at that pic, see stats below for current weight but I look about the same at 194 as I do 208...well, maybe my big belly has gone down a little bit So glad to have these updated!!!

My brother and his wife were worried sick and skeptical when I told them my plans to get banded. So was my sister, parents, and anyone else who knew, but they supported my decision anyway and here I am. so here's what they are saying/doing now... My sister: went with me to MX to get banded. She's waiting on the money and planning to get banded herself, even planning on seeing Dr Kuri in Mx. My brother: supportive, just got back from his check-up last week and his cholesterol is over 300, blood pressure is high, thyroid is low, and doc said to quit smoking and drinking beer (he drinks several after work daily) and he needs to lose at least 50 pounds. Unchecked wieght issues are a problem, yes? His wife: found out that HER sister-in-law was getting banded on the same day I was. So now she's looking into it...she has LOTS to lose, maybe 150 pounds? My cousin: called me from California to see how I was doing post-surgery and told me she was proud of me for doing something about it. My Dad: has Medicare and wants me to find out how much out-of-pocket it would take for him to get banded! My Mom: 66 years old and maintaining her petite and curvey figure by buying Jenny Craig food every month. But it works and she weighs 134 and looks great. She still thinks I should be able to eat like she does and lose weight without the band. Oh well. the Band is NOT for everyone. You can't MAKE your hubby get banded, change his eating, get healthy, stop Biggie-sizing, any of that. Don't be his Food Police. Just do what YOU need to do. He will realize things on his own over time. Maybe he can do it without the Band, maybe he will decide someday that one of the Gastric Bypass operations are better suited for him. Don't walk his journey for him. Don't worry yourself to pieces for him. Let his journey take him along. One of these days he'll show up at the doc's office like my brother did and find out the bad news about his health. And I promise, my brother KNEW he needed to quit smoking, drinking, lose weight, and lower his cholesterol and blood pressure. This was NOT new news, but it IS a new day. The same will happen to your hubby. The best thing you and do is concern yourself with YOU, and just love him, don't judge him.

What a great idea, I like the peach but it tastes almost thick, even though it's not. Watering it down is great idea. Yummy, Propel!

Oh my gosh, someone puleeeze put these side by side so I can STARE at them for hours. Isa, you look gorgeous!!!

Welcome Ruthie! I have the same feelings a decade later. I just turned 40 this month and found this ray of HOPE! I, too, cried when I realized this was possible. SO tired of being fat. So now I am 7 weeks post-op and down 16 pounds and counting! (I think I might be stepping off my plateau...2 days ago I weighed 207, a new low, then yesterday, still 207, whew! and today, 206.8. wow!) It can happen and it will! You will find the ways to make it work and this little band friend makes all the difference in the world when you do it right. It isn't always easy, but it works. There are several ladies on the board who suffer with PCOS. Let me find a link to a thread where you'll have some nice reading... http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=6988 Okay, Lynn has two threads going with the same title and I saw that you replied to one, but there are 9 replies on the other thread, the link posted above, so go there and post again about your PCOS. I'm sure you will get good support. Lynn is a smart gal and so is burnsun, and I know there are others. So, who is your doc? How much weight are you looking to lose? So I guess you are a June Bandster and you should put your name on the ajune list, there's a thread going around...okay, I'll post a link... http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=6949&highlight=June There. You are all set! Welcome to LBT! Hope to see more (oh, LESS!) of you soon.

Welcoma Corsha! Nice name! And congratulations on your band. We have lots of Texans here, so they'll be by to say Howdy soon. So nice to have you!

I lose from top to bottom...face/neck first, then sholders, including bust but after nursing 2 children and weight fluctuations, my bra is the only thing holding it all up anyway, so now the girls just sit in my bra and don't spill over as much. humph. I anticipate the waist, tummy, butt and legs to start shrinking here after a while, but it's definately a top to bottom thing for me. You will definately lose some in the bust. Maybe not as much as you wish, but even if your cup size doesn't go down, your number will, like from a 38 to 36 or 34. I'm still a 40 though. sigh.

Okay, Leo. This is a great graph and I wish you would update it since you are now just 14 pounds from your goal weight. What a great Bandster you are!! It's inspiring to see the steady progress, despite plateaus. I also fished around in your profile and found many an old pic that you REALLY need to post on the Sticky Before and After Photos Thread for all to see. Puleeeeze!!! You are a computer savvy guy, just make a montage of pics, I know you can do it in a jiffy. You look so great!

Here's my pasty white chubby belly with pretty nice-looking scars at 7 weeks

Thanks Jayme. I don't know if Dallasdoll likes what you say but I do! Your post has helped me. tonight I ate a Bandster meal. We grilled country style pork ribs (I know, high fat) so I ate about 4 ounces dipped in extra BBQ sauce, avoided the fat and chewed well. I also had lima beans/corn (1/4 cup) and some Pasta salad (1/3 cup) and I was FULL!! I haven't had or wanted a morsel since eating that. And I was Full=not hungry. I was NOT stuffed to the gills and uncomfortable. And I don't feel as though I have NO restriction when I eat this way, but I sure feel the no restriction when I eat Fritos, hello!!! It is a learning process, and some days it simply feels like a diet, you know? But really, it's learning something new. The necessary chewing I had to learn quickly and most days it feels like old hand, no problems. I like what you said about eating a Bandster portion, even if it means eating it 5 times a day for now, until I get it. I guess my problem is, i have gotten into the habit of eating many small meals, so that translates into snacking all day, not actually having a meal. If everytime I ate I ate a bandster meal, by the end of the day, you bet I'd be eating less. And feeling full/not hungry. thanks for the help. come on Dallasdoll, and everyone else, we can do this!!!

Doll, I'm experiencing just a tad of your frustration. We'll get it figured out...

the pain meds wear off a little...welcome to bandland chicagoboy!! wahoooo!!

hey garner. I had my Band surgery in Mexico on April 8. My fill doc is Dr Gonzalez in Winston Salem. I haven't been yet although it's getting time. I'll be glad to give you whatever info you need/want. Judy's group has a few that have seen Dr G for fills, if I have read correctly. I hate it, but I have a hard time getting around in the Yahoo boards so I just give up and come back here. PM me if you'd like, but I'm happy to post anything here, just ask! Welcome!

I registered and read and was tempted to copy and paste...but I imagined a room of lawyers at the NYT bringing up LBT on the projector screen, looking at my copy/paste post and preparing papers to get info from Alex B the board owner so they could track me down and sue the pants off me for theft of intellectual property. As if, but the thought of it was a bit daunting. So here's MY intellectual property. Mr Zimmerman pays 30k cash for his band because his insurance won't cover it and he's afraid he'll die from sleep apnea. He weighs 290, forgot his height. So he has the surgery on Fri and returns to work on Monday and 6 weeks later he's back for his first fill after losing 25 pounds. Inamed makes the band and makes alot of money since the bariatric market is a multi-billion dollar market. Band placement has less risk and is a less invasive than other bariatric surgeries. Most people lose about 1/2 their desired weight (?). Oh I'm sure I forgot lots of stuff but that's it in a nutshell. If you want a well-written version, you'll have to sign on and register. It's much more infromative and entertaining and accurate and thorough, I'm sure.

hehe, I can't believe you have a grown spud-boy guy at home. That's amazing. Okay, now that you have emerged from the wookwork, you REALLY need to post a pic of the new har-doo (spoken in my best Steel Magnolias beauty shop accent). I'll bet it looks fantastic! "Anelle! I'm drippin'!" "Oh Bud! I'm a chain!" "yes, and I'll bet he moves the dishes before he pees in the sink!" "Very good, Anelle! Spoken like a true smart-ass!" "he's a zit on the butt of humanity" Oh no, time to watch Steel Magnolias again!

Wow, a new job AND a raise AND more wieght loss than I managed to give you credit for! What a day!!!!!! Sorry 'bout the math, I divided back-erds, it happens. So that means I'm dividing ME back-erds, right? Cool! I'm losing an average of 2.2, not .43. (that's 16 pounds in 7 weeks) Big difference! Way Cool Trish!