the best me

So much for the low profile... Happy Birthday!!!!!! Hope this day is wonderful!!!!!

Buggers!!! Just had to give you cancellations a hard time. Ya'll have fun, and take a pic! On the NC Forum we have a thread where we post a pic each time we get together. Fun! And you can watch us shrink. LOL Anyhow, have a great time. Wish I were there to meet you!

Dang, Karen. I'm so bummed for you, but you will feel so much better when it's gone. It's too bad something so wonderful can cause that level of discomfort. You have done a great job with your weight loss and I know you will be able to maintain. Go hubby! for saying "don't ever think it wasn't worth it" THAT is cool. It's lotsa money out of pocket, but you have done so well!!! Good for you. Don't go far! I'll be looking for your update Wed.

Muuuahahahahaha!!!! Race ya to 175. By Memorial Day. Come on girl, let's do it. I took my Phentermine Wed and it sure helped. Exericse is the boost, not the diet pills, though. Lace up those sneaky peeks! Eat my dust!!!!!!!!!

Gotta love Dr Ortiz. How cool is that? So glad you are on the mend, Diane. One recommendation...Aloe Vera juice. I drink about 3 ounces at bedtime just about every night. It's very healing form top to bottom. (I think I have typed that as much as I've typed Egg Drop Soup!) but it's a good preventative for problems, in my book. I get it by the gallon at Wal-Mart. When things are irritated, for whatever reason, it really helps.

Welcome Judy! You came to the right place. Lots of great info to be read here. The Before/After pics are so inspirational! To answer, no regrets. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. There is NO way I'd be making this kind of progress without my band. Even though my progress is slow, I don't care. I'm headed down, and when I hit a plateau, I'm not gaining it all back. That's huge for me. I'm loving my 40's so far. I was dreading them at 39. I saw a fat future with no hope, and declining health to boot. Not anymore. Yay!

Yup, I had to devise a new technique for reaching into the washer. Ouch! the first time I leaned in to get the clean clothes out and bent over on my port. I also had a few bumps with my then 2yo's knees, elbows and heels, especially when changing diapers! Ouch again! It's less tender now, and I've adjusted fine to maneuvering around it. It's like learning to avoid a PB. The learning curve is different for everyone, but it doesn't take long to figure it out! LOL

Such a "guy-themed" post LOL. I love it TommyO. I'm having a good band day today, so I'm right here with ya on the "It Works!" excitement. I just updated my scale journal on my NSV thread, and the small ups and downs add up to a consistent loss over time. The scale inches lower by the week. Yay! "Don't take a knife and fork to a gunfight." Excellent advice.

Welcome Shauntil, you are so pretty!!!! Just had to post a new low this morning. This has nothing to do with a stomach bug that kept me on the sofa for 2 days with only 2 Townhouse crackers to eat, plus scoots to the potty, right? This is a healthy new low that I did with my own hard work and self-control. Ready? 183.4 I'm in totally new territory now, as opposed to losing and gaining the same 2-4 pounds. This low is lower than the 184 I saw last week when I was sick. I'm amazed, just thought I'd share. Dare I hope for the 170's?!!!!!!!! editing to add: I just updated my sig and my new BMI is 30.5. Soooo close to crossing the line to just plain ole overweight. What's that Dragonwillow said? Willpower is easy when you see the scale moving? or have I butchered that quote to death? LOL I can't WAIT to walk today and get to Curves tomorrow!

LOL and you kick yourself in the morning! That's so funny I can't slap you!

This is new info to me, and very handy. I knew about the "contrast" fluid they use for fills to check for leaks, but didn't realize it had a fix-a-flat feature, LOL How cool! This stuff is good to know!

kabeerah, when I first started surfing the boards about lapbanding, the magic number I heard was "50". If your doc has done fewer than 50 band placements, think twice. The first few band placements are proctored by Inamed-approved surgeons, then there's a learning curve up to about 50, after that, it's old hat, so to speak. There is NOTHING scientific or etched in stone about that number, that I have been able to gather, so take it for what it's worth, but 90 band surgeries is pretty good. Much of his experience may come in the way of Laporoscopic surgery in general. If this is the case, he's even more ahead of the game. It's hard to work on someones innerds with poles and pincers while looking at a TV screen...if your doc for next week has plenty of practice doing laporoscopic surgery, 90 bands is not a horrible number. IMO. Just something ELSE to think about, LOL

Hey Stacy! Welcome to LBT! Wow, I'm not the "oldest" bandster in the Charlotte group anymore, how cool! LOL Hope you can make it next Sat, I'd love to meet you in person. 100 pounds and PS. We wanna see! Great to have you here!!!!!!

She did it, see?!!!! Good one Janet. Youl ook great doll. How many pounds of difference is that?

Time to get your FIL in on the act, since he's so excited and said "we'll see what we can do". If that insinuates financial help, what kind of commitment? and let him work it out with hubby. Run numbers, know what you can pay out of pocket yourself, and go from there. You have a few conversations to have! The sooner the better...on the conversations and the band surgery! LOL Good luck.

Not with me, you aren't! Hooray! I agree completely!!! Kudos to you and Yippeee!!! Bravo!! Aftercare is a huge issue. I was banded in MX, and feel like I have the fortitude to be a good self-advocate, well-informed, able to get the medical care I need, and don't mind that my band doc is on the other side of the country. You and I sound alot alike in that regard. But I also have local after-care for fills, etc. and had that lined up before I left for surgery. You pretty much know super doc will only band you and be done. So will your frienddoc be availabel for fills, etc after your surgery? I just re-read and yes, but he's leaning on you for proper info., right? hmmmm And next week's surgeon has done 90 bands with no surgical complications, he just has uninformed patients who are not doing well with the band. Right? And will be available for aftercare, which he DOES have a clue about. I know it's hard for your frienddoc and you, but I'd be making nice with hubby and doing some of what fiveholts said. Time to talk. Maybe break it down to just the facts, put it in writing, list the Pros/Cons together with hubby and make a sensible decision, rather than an emotionally passionate one. Geez, this is a tough one. Let us know how it goes! Good luck!

Cheri, I thought that was just the sweetest thing when I read it! I read Amy's post to my 6yo daughter and Emily has been her "prayer buddy" ever since. Anytime we pray, we remember little Emily in the hospital in Florida with pneumonia, that God would heal her little body so she can go home and feel better. My Rachel will be happy to hear Emily is home now! Amy, I know you are so relieved the tide has turned and Emily is on the mend. I cannot believe what you are going through with the rotovirus in the house! Egads!!! Hang in there. In two weeks you'll be bored. Thank the Lord!!! LOL ((((hugs))))

Gorgeous! You are beautiful! Do you know how to do a side-by-side? Post the cleavage pic here, and I'll bet someone will do that. JanetC comes to mind these days! I love my camera phone, but the pics come out pretty grainy. Not like a digital, but it's fun. Look at your phone under Tools and see if you have any backgrounds. Mine has 4 or 5, one of a muscle man with the face cut out. I took my 3yo son's face pic inside that muscle man background and it was too funny. I keep finding things like that on my phone! Good job, doll. You look mahvelous!

Cool, do you travel? LOL (I'm in North Carolina, haha) I'd say wait until you are getting adequate nutrition before you expend too! many calories working that hard. Make sure you have the stamina, as well as healed incisions. Post-surgery exercise is usually walking, then brisk walking. But I hear of go-getters hopping on the eliptical after a week, or something crazy like that. Nuts, I say! haha

bups, I supppose I am thinking alot of Jonathan, whose band slipped. He PB'd lots post-surgery and had lots of swelling. He said he felt like his band was too small, and he should have had the VG band. Anyhow, noone can ever really say for certain what makes them slip. It's pretty common knowledge, though, that excessive PBing increases your risk, and too much restriction increases your risk for PBs. It's kind of A+B=C thinking. When you have lots of resstriction with no fill, you have nowhere else to go until the weight comes off and the band inevitably loosens a bit. That's all. No need for alarm, just know that you, like me, will need to be extra careful about avoiding PBs since you can't take any fill out. Eeek. Avoid PBs by chewing alot and taking small bites. PBing is a sort of "rite of passage" for bandsters, yes, but kudos to anyone who never has one! Doesn't happen much, though. You are right about that, especially when trying new foods. Just take extra care with chewing and bite size, especially when you have no fill to take out and loosen the band in a pinch. Hang in there. You are doing great!!!!

Wow. Go back to bed! Thanks for updating us. I'm really sorry about your slip! but happy it's all fixed now. Here's hoping this one stays where it is! Did they replace the band with the same size?

I found this in my file...it's at 7 weeks post-op. I'll try and get a 1 year post-op pic soon.

Excellent. Did you ever need to get the IV fluids? Your recovery is so much like mine, except my doc was in MX! so you are fortunate to have your doc nearby. All of my discomfort issues seemed to be related to post-op swelling in the band area. Once I got the IV fluids and was able to drink Egg Drop Soup, I took a huge turn for the better. And 2 fills in a year for me. No more fills for a while, either! That's the good part about having restriction from the beginning, but now you need to be super careful about slippage. Avoid PBs and uncomfortable food, no matter what your post-op diet says you ought to be eating and drinking. Let your band be your guide. Keep us posted. You are NOT an aggravation, so don't hesitate. I look for your posts because I remember all too well! (((hugs))) Beuller! LOL

P'nut, maybe move the weekly posters to the top of the list so it's easier to update everyone? Kind of like 2 lists in the same list? Might make it easier for you. This is what's great about the GFG Club. It's what you need it to be for YOU. If weighing in monthly is a better plan, fine. If you need to "go away" for a few weeks, then check back, fine. I like that flexability. Daily posters fit in well, too! Anyhow, separating out the list might keep the spots out of your eyes! LOL

Paula/Leatha...it DOES get harder this far out, and you two are much farther out than I am! I had about a 2 pound "surge" downward. I have been maintaining 185.6 for almost a week now, down from the 187's to 190's. Good, right? (Yeah, well, I got sick and ate 2 Townhouse crackers in 2 days, or something horrible like that, it helped though!) so...yesterday, I got hungry. I'm talking HUNGRY. I wanted sweets, sugar, fat, mega-calories and fast! The urge was unbearable!!!!! I did manage to over-indulge. SIGH. It's as if my body craved it so badly I couldn't stand it. This is the time when I should NOT listen to my body, but it does this everytime I hit a new low! Why? I think it's because my metabolsim is trying to maintain my current weight? It's telling me if I don't eat I might lose more? So I'd better eat? I don't know, what's the take, all you food and metabolism experts? Do you do this too? Oprah has said "if you are hungry, you are losing weight". I'm sure that's not an exact quote, but some butchering of what she meant. So this morning 8am I took a WHOLE Phentermine. I usually only take a half. I will NOT binge today. Last night at church I ate probably 2 cups of pudding. You know, the gross canned stuff from Sams? OMG it was so good. My body craved it. Goopy, thick, yummy, fat, synthetic sugar pudding. But not today, by golly. What's UP with this?!!!!