the best me

I'm on Plan A!!!! I actually purchased a little box of matching ornaments yesterday. Can you believe I'm so close to prepared? If we end up not doing an exchange, I'll hang them right on my tree! Next step, get them into a gift bag and put them in my van so I won't forget them.

It's 10am there. 1pm here on the East coast. I keep coming back to check...waiting...Oy vey!

I will, and thank you for the reminder. I am very grateful for my band. Just a thought, but not everyone here is banded. Some are pre-op, some have lost theri bands, but JohnQPublic doesn't have a band and has received lots of encouragement from the posts here. I'd encourage you to stick around if some of the things you read are helpful in your journey to good health. Best to you. I'm sorry for your dissappointment and sadness.

LMAO...Oh Karen, you are comic relief to me this afternoon! I'm sure you didn't botch it for good with this guy. I agree, call him first and meet for ice cream. AND tell him about the band. Admit your embarassment. If he's worth his salt, he'll be interested in your band, supportive, will laugh with you, and know it wasn't HE that made you so miserable! Guys can be just as sensitive. The good ones anyway. Well, except my hubby, who often doesn't "get it" but makes up for it in other areas

Teresa, while DeLarla is responsible for many a great threads on this board...pamstransky started the greatest gift thread...and it's a goodie, I agree! I'm taking your challenge. I'll post what I come up with!!

So, Magic, did you get your questions answered? Just wonderin'.

Not only that, you just fit right in!!! Welcome to 'da Club!

Awww Ladysplenda. I know how it hurts. It's a nagging soreness/discomfort/even pain and it's so uncomfortable!! Slow deep breaths, walk walk walk. And the evil Patience...I'm really sorry. keep the heating pad handy, and do like someone said...Jack?...ice it for a bit and change the sensations...make your receptors work differently or whatever he said it does, neurons...whatever. Just know that it will end. Try not to get frustrated when it comes back. (((hugs))) How's your new band?!!!

Oy, VEY!!, someone please post something!! Has anyone taked to Penni?! ((hugs)), lovely lady. Thinking of you.

Mushies are easy. Lots of food is mushy. Guacamole. Egg salad. Refrieds. sauces over well-cooked pastas. If you are careful and creative, use lots of side sauces with your foods and avoid hard chicken, beef, etc, you could do it easily. Tell the server you need a very soft foods diet and they will be helpful. Pick through your food before eating. Chew chew chew chew chew and chew some more. It's hard to predict how you will do and how you will feel, but if you aren't really able to eat, being around all that food won't matter. You will experience a whole new world of "wow, my world doesn't have to revolve around food!" It's pretty interesting to have abundance at your fingertips and not care.

If you can afford to spend the time, do it! Stay, that is. Kuri was my doc but I have not been to the infamous "Fill Day at Kuri's", which is lots of folks coming in from all over the country...chubby American girls bopping around TJ for the day...sounds like a ball!! Anyhow, I think if you got out of TJ and stayed in an airport hotel till the next day, you'd have a good idea of how your fill was doing ya. Hit the Zoo, for goodness sakes! The hotel might get you a lift to a bus stop that would take you there. If you ended up with too snug a fill, it would be a quick trip over to get that fixed, then home again. Ya know, some folks need a few weeks to adjust to a fill level. I'm a sweller, so I need a few days before I know for sure, and some folks feel no difference, then BAM! 2 weeks later they PB something they eat all the time! I'm not sure there is any contolling how you'll do and be. If you have the time, you'd save some money by staying, but only if you needed to adjust your fill. Otherwise, you could be home!!!

Yup, my understanding is that an erosion will show up on an upper GI if the erosion is so bad the barium/contrast Fluid flows around and over the band, and even then, you have to catch it at the right angle. I agree...if anyone is concerned about erosion, endoscopy is the procedure to pursue. Nothing like a good pic of the real deal...go get that visual!! Another thing, I had planned on getting an endo at my 1 year in April 2006, but "heard" somewhere on here that endos are recommended at 18-24 months, which is when you all have been finding out these things. What do you think, Michelle? My plan was to go at 18 months, sooner if I have reason for concern.

Donali, is pic #1 of yours a pic of your stoma looking down from the espohogus? From what it looks like, the band makes a stoma that's pretty tight without a fill. I had imagined some type of gaping hole through which the food passes, if you are unfilled, of course. What is really there, is a tight squeeze without a fill. It's just that it doesn't take much pressure from your upper stomach (pouch) to push the food through, since without a fill, you aren't...restricted. These pics are very helpful. I can visualize what's happening with my band, so I thank you both for posting them. And for answering questions. Penni, you may be getting out of surgery pretty soon now, if you aren't already. Praying you are well.

Nope, I'd Git 'Er DOOONE! It would be nice to recouperate in the Carribbean.

Okay, Penni, I'm staring at your pics wondering what I'm looking at...pics 16 and 17, I think...the last two on the second page of pics...is that a pic of the stoma from the bottom side looking up? So, the stoma going down looked good, right? Does the endo camera tube thingy (sorry, I don't know the technical lingo here) does the camera go all the way through the stoma so it's able to turn around inside your bottom stomach and look up? I realize you won't be reading this until you get back but wanted to ask all this. Anyone who knows, speak up? What are we seeing here?

"Banded Boys Are Hotter!!!"

Kuri uses the Pars Flaccida technique (he did on me), but like Michelle said, it lowers the risk of slippage, not erosion...it has to do with where and how they place the band...above the peritoneum, which is the sac that surrounds the body cavity, your innerds, where all your digestive systems are. I realize that's a very non-medical description, but maybe you get the idea. I hope that's close to correct. The band is silicone against soft stomach tissue. It's almost like your stomach doesn't stand a chance. I'm never getting filled again. In fact, I'm tempted to go take out what little I have...(please God, let me keep my band)

Oh Dear God. This is unimaginable. Please tell me it's a dream and we'll all wake up with happy healthy bands. Prayers tonight and tomorrow for a safe surgery. I'm so so sorry.

apple, go here to this link and check it out. if you still feel like you need a fill, you will be armed with "why" for your doc. Good luck! http://lapbandtransformation.com/Adjustments.htm

Aw doll, you look gorgeous!!!! Way to knock those socks off, girl! It's so good to see you happy. I wonder if hubby will pull his head out? Is it too late for that? Maybe so. Just take good care of little man, like I know you will, and instead of regular exercise...use your energy getting things organized at your mom's. That counts, too!!! Good job. You really look fantastic!

I'm under 190! Just baely, but there and holding ground. So, my latest NSV has to do with laundry. I am putting shirts and sweaters in the dryer! Ask my husband what big news this is. We have had a few little tiffs about how important it is for him to NOT put ANYTHING of mine in the dryer but socks and undies. NOTHING! NADA! In doubt? Hang it on the rack. Never, never, never put my clothes in the dryer. Shrunk up clothes are not a good thing for BIG girls. And when I find a sweater that fits and it costs $50, it REALLY better not go in the dryer. So, I put some shirts and 2 sweaters in the dryer. They need to shrink! They are too big!!!! Wow. Now, not all of it goes in the dryer...but one of those $50 sweaters did. Good news.

Wow, thanks for the update Teresa. Let LSasha know we are thinking of her!! Hang in there...and give us the full report when you can, okay?!! ((hugs)) from LBT!!!

I am freezing now! Okay, so I'm not in AZ but I'm in NC and it's pretty doggone chilly here. I have taken to sleeping in long warmie PJ's and I bought a cheap Hanes sweat jacket (size XL, mind you, in the regular clothes section...not the Big Girls section!!) just to wear around the house because I'm so cold!!! The sleeves stay up so I can wash dishes wearing it. My sweaters don't do that...which is why I got the jacket. Anyhow, I'm freezing, too!!!! I wonder what's up with the matabolism thing? Anyone know if this is temporary or not...AND what it means? I mean, is being cold all the time a GOOD sign or a BAD sign?

Purge away, sistah!!!! You got the right idea. Smart, smart, smart, you are!!! Great hubby, great psychologist, great thinking! You are gonna make this work...and the scales WILL show proof, in time. There is a weekly scale challenge on here somewhere...for folks with the willies when it comes to weighing, and especially for those who are obsessive and let the numbers rule the day. Might be a good idea to search that thread...I love my scale and weigh all the time but I don't tend to spaz, so it's all good. No spazzing!!!! You just got banded!!! You are doing great!

Hell IS clear liquids until Friday!! You'll do great. No worries. That's kind of funny about your uncle with the high cholesterol. Isn't that just odd? And a few folks here have had their cholesterol go higher with their weight loss. My theory is, it's only temporary. No science behind that opinion, though. happy band day is coming!! Keep us posted.