the best me

Hey Miro, it's been about a month since you visited here...how's it going? Post an update for us! Vines, I'm still stuck too. And I don't have a leak or a poor fill doc. Humph. So I'm considering taking diet pills...maybe a 1/2 just to give my metabolism some va-voom. I don't want to go tighter, what with all this erosion stuff going around. Something has GOT to give. Maybe once a week you should up your calories by a few hundred? I know all the discussion about how eating less than 1000 a day is bad bad bad but hell, I'll try anything at this point. I'm with you on cutting way back.

OMGosh. It's actually kind of funny, if you take a second to laugh..go ahead, re-read her e-mail from my perspective and laugh! However, are you a bit concerned that she is in this state of mind, or astral plane/plain whichever? She is obviously not in the here and now, yes? Oh Penni. I'm sorry this is hard for you. Write her a letter from the CIA demanding the necklace be shipped to a PO Box for investigation into the theft of the contents of the trailer. Maybe she'll mail it and and you'll get it back? LOL

Wow Debbie, a prolapse is a slipped band, right? I'm really sorry. Can you get re-banded? Would you? Just wondering. We have had several slips and erosions around here these days so you might want to check in on LBT, if you get this. I wish you continued success. I have lost about 2 pounds since my last check in a few months ago. No bueno. I don't know what to do. I don't want another fill, I have good restriction. SIGH. BUT! I have lost about 50 pounds total from my high weight and tonight at the grocery store I walked up and down the aisle with a 38 pound bag of dog food. Wooo doggie! No wonder I felt like crap. Think what the next 50 will feel like. I'll blow away!

Wow, I got 9/10! It said I'd spot Hannibal Lector at a convention...something...that my liver is safe. Neat!

And while I'm at it (hehe) I wake up at 3:45am (after going to bed at midnight) on Friday morning for Black Friday Christmas shopping. That was fun! But I'm all whacked out still from the sleep being off. Anyhow, I go to lunch with the girls that day to Chili's and order a grilled chicken with shrimp spicy dish with rice pilaf and steamed broccoli. It was definately not saucy enough. Anyhow, I barely got through it and brought it home after excusing myself to the bathroom to spit out slime. I coughed once in the bathroom but nothing really came up, but I felt better. Later, at home, I nibble on the leftovers and PB for real this time. Go to liquids. Soup. Canned soup with so much salt I still can't get over it. I have gained this weekend like mad and I can see the puffy in my face and feel it in my feet. Canned soup is full of salt. I am now full of salt and I'm trying to flush it all out and eat well but still stay mushy because it's 3 days later and I'm still tight. I took a bite of my sister-in-laws very yummy very rich sweet potato pie (just a small one! no regrets there, I fit it into the calorie count for the day) and I feel it going down. Not painful, but tight. Same with yogurt. Tight. So, is it the salt from all the canned soup this weekend making me tight? Oh Lord, I'm praying that's it. Or I'm eroded.

I'm eroded. I just know it. I can't explain it, I can't prove it. I want the At-Home-Erosion-Detection Kit, too. I try to think positive, I try to figure out why on earth I might be thinking this way (other than the obvious board news lately), and I try to ignore it. Then my tummy hurts after I swallow a bite. The lower tummy, under the band. Maybe I have some kind of virus or worm or something. Everytime I get gas I wonder why I'm gassy. I lay down at night and listen to my bowels gurgle the Water I drink before I go to bed. I think about the hole in my stoma with the band peeking through as I swallow something and my stomach tries to push it through. I wonder if I have some espohogus problems...maybe I have gotten used to some wierd sensation in my throat. I'm going out tonight to get Aloe Vera juice again and I'm going to start taking Prilosec twice a day. I don't know what's wrong. Maybe nothing? Gatting an endo is a big deal for me. I have several options. 1)fly to TJ and get one for $250. Airfare, hotel, if needed, travel expenses such as tips and food and taxi/bus, traveling alone in TJ (unless I can get a band buddy to meet me there?), all adds up to at least $1000? Worth every penny but lots of time and money. 2) go to my PCP and get a referral for a Gastrointerologist? for an endo. Then all the explaining, the appointments, the forms, the co-pays, only to find out the endo isn't covered because I'm banded and THAT isn't a covered benefit on my plan and now I'm paying not hundreds but thousands for the hospital, anesthesiologist, etc etc. 3) pay cash to my fill doc. Then the hospital, anestheliologist, etc etc. Thousands. Mx is the cheapest way to go if I can get a good flight. And I would love to go to Kuri for my endo. If, while I'm out, he finds erosion, he can take it out then and there and be done with it. SIGH. See how this is depressing and distracting and a bad use of perfectly good energy I could be using on losing weight? Oh, and it might help if I were actually LOSING!!!!! Geez. And then on Crystal's positive thinking thread someone says "put your hand on your tummy and thank your band for being there and send it good positive white light vibes" which vibes and lights and stuff is not my thing so I'm thanking GOD for my band and start crying. ARGGH. How do I get it to end? I wait for you, Delarla, to find out if YOU are eroded and pray you are wrong. I pray you are wrong for you AND for me. Because I got those feelings too and maybe your endo could be my endo for now? No matter what I'm going to TJ in April for an endo. It's my one year and I think it's just good band health to get an endo. At this point, it's a matter of waiting or not. Thanks for this thread.

Hey Carmen, I replied to a question you had on another thread. Let me know if you can't find it and I'll direct you. Welcome to LBT! Thanks DeLarla, you sure are helpful!

That's the thing about banding, you are not supposed to starve. But during the healing phase, it can be really difficult to get enough calories in on the liquid diet. But that's temporary, and after healing, getting in 1200 calories can take work, but it can be done while eating healthily. Banded can make it very easy to get way less calories than you need if you aren't careful, which is why the starvation convesations happen. You are right, no question is ever dumb, so you are right to speak up. What I like about my band is that it makes it possible for me to follow a good diet, yes, DIET, well balanced and moderate, with success and without misery. I still have to choose well and take care what goes in my mouth. So, no, I'm not starving. Did that answer your question?

Wheetsin, your kidding, right? No, you are not. So, on page 175 of the Natural Cures book, he says "In my opinion the simplest, most complete and effective system of eliminating psychosomatic illness, traumas, and emotional issues is the procedure of Dianetics and Scientology auditing." So, Xenu and space aliens aside, I'm assuming something about Scientology applies to wellness, I just wonder what? Do you know what this auditing is he's referring to? Listen, someone out there may be a Scientologist, and your beliefs are as odd and, pardon the pun, alien to me as my Christian beliefs are to someone else. So, feel free to speak up, or PM me is you are a Scientologist and understand what this Natural Cures guy is talking about. I'm seriously interested and will treat your beliefs with the respect they deserve. I really don't want to argue religion here, I just want to know more about this specific area. Okay, thanks Wheetsin. You sure are handy.

Sigh. I know. You are right. I'm hoping I'm creating problems in my mind that aren't really there. But I really want an endoscope!!!! I'd feel so much better seeing what's inside. I'm having a hard time balancing good sense/good, responsible band care and paranoia. I'll level. Thanks for the encouragement. You really are right!!

I think that is EXCELLENT thinking. I think you would be a great asset to any gym. Teach some group weight training/free weights and do some personal training for the big bucks. Yeah...keep thinking in that direction. Wonderful!!!

I have one, but I haven't used it yet. I don't do buffets normally, but that would be the one time I would/will! I like taking home leftovers so it works out fine just to order from the menu. I always have a box to take home!

I'd like to know more about this gastric stimulator implant device thingy (to put it in techical terms). That sounds like a good Plan B for me, should I erode and lose my band. Well, that might be Plan C, and Plan B might be the VG band. I don't know of any erosions with that one. Does anyone else? Oh, and no GP of any kind for me. I'm about 50 pounds from goal. I have lost 1/2 of my excess weight so far. I have lost 20 on my own and 30 with the band. Can I just vent here for a sec? I just wish the nagging would go away. It doesn't help that my tummy has felt funny these last days. I'm hoping it's psychosomatic! LOL But I had a tough meal on Friday...too dry, too rough, it was a grilled chicken with shrimp, rice pilaf, steamed broccoli that was still pretty raw, and I should have ordered some type of side of Pasta sauce for it and I might have fared better. I PB'd twice on that meal (I tried to eat the leftovers later, duh) then I had to do liquids for the rest of the day, then I PB'd Breakfast Saturday so I REALLY did liquids after that. Today is Sunday and I have eaten mushies, very soft foods all day and seem to be doing fine. Although as I left the restaurant after lunch today, my lower stomach felt spasm-y??? for a few minutes. Don't know what's up with that but it doesn't help my erosion paranoia. Ya know? KarenB posted about a Nutcracker esophogus, and that got me to thinking. I suppose it wouldn't hurt my band to take Prilosec twice a day for a week or two. Every burp, hiccup, fart, and twitch has me concerned. SIGH.

I have always been proud of this board for having an amazing abilty to respect the opinions/beliefs/viewpoints/whatevers of one another. As a Christian, I have on occasion read posts that move a bit too close to personally offensive. I choose not to be personally offended and ignore and move on. It keeps the peace. It generates mutual respect. It doesn't change or compromise my personal beliefs whatsoever. I don't have to agree with another person's personal spiritual beliefs, or lack thereof? to learn and grow from that person. Everybody's got something to say. Listen or don't, but always respect. My opinion. What I thought was most interesting about the Wynonna interview was something she said about "getting it together" or "falling into place". She commented that once all these other issues in her life were dealt with, the weight would fall off. That is a huge paraphrase...but you get the idea. What I have discovered is the opposite is true for me. NONE of that stuff was ever going to come together for me until I could get the weight under control. Get the FAT factor fixed, then the rest will fall into place. It's happening slowly. I am not yet to goal, or even close enough to goal to say, fine, close enough for me. I'm still big and still have at least 50 pounds to lose to have a 24 BMI. I think the "issues" become easier to deal with as the weight comes off. I really really really want to find out if I could get this gastric pacemaker in MX, since I'm so recently paranoid...I'm talking DeLarla convinced...that my band has eroded and I will lose it. That's my Plan B. I can deal with a diet if I just have some help on the "I'm full" feeling.

Oh yay! The sender gets to pick! I'm praying for all 3 of you!!!! Seriously, warm wishes and thoughts for all of you for safe and successful surgeries. (((hugs)))

A flipped port is no biggie and doesn't have to be reapired anytime soon, really. Unless being flipped is what's causing your pain. And infected port, however, is bad bad bad. You need to get that fixed ASAP. Whether through surgery, antibiotics, both, whatever. Others may have better advice about what happens from here. So I'm not a very good person to advise you about what is next. But I did want to encourage you that all will be okay as long as you aren't infected. From my perspective, I guess I'd choose port trouble over band trouble (slippage or erosion) if I had to choose. Glad your new doc will get you fixed up. Chalk up the $300 as money wasted and move forward to great band health! Your weight loss looks great, btw. Well done!

We don't have PlayStation either. Do they make something like that to plug into the TV without the PlayStation? Any ideas or recommendations? Sounds like fun and a great workout!

Very funny...LMAO! flower, lots of folks are talking about La Madam's band erosion, and Jonathan's slip, and other band problems floating around. Just seems like it all hit at once, so it's creeping up in other threads. Do you know about the New Post button? Look for it on the blue bar above. It's the first thing I hit when I log on. It lists all the newest post in every forum. That's how I keep up. sorry if you already know about all that. The replies here are very funny though, so I'm glad you asked!!!

liquid in, liquid out, but that doesn't make you feel any better. Dr Billy will know what to do, but I hate you have to wait until Mon to see him. Use Desitin or other diaper rash cream for your sore bottom. Ouch. I feel for ya, and I know how uncomfortable you are worrying that something terrible is wrong. Go to the blue bar at the top of the page and type in "diarrhea" in the Search box...read some old threads about others experiencing the same thing. It might give you some ideas. It's a slow holiday weekend here on LBT so rather than wait for replies, search out the old ones. Good luck. It sounds like you have done the right things. On your other thread I saw you took Pepto Bismol, which I though was a great idea. Maybe try it again for a few doses longer? ((((hugs)))

What a week! Gosh, a sick littel one will wear you out! My daughter just got over pneumonia. With the right meds, it was just a few days but, man alive! WTG Super Mom! Rest up, Monday's comin' fast!

Congrats! I knew you would soon, and you did!!! WTG!

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=11486&highlight=yoga

for How to Never get sick again. What is dianetics/scientology? Well, I know about it, but what exactly does it teach, in a nutshell? Anyone?

For Acid Reflux/Heartburn/Gas/Bloating The main causes are: Candidia, parasites, nonprescription and prescription drugs, eating food that has been over processed with no living enzymes, mental and emotional stress. Natural Cures: Raw organic apple cider vinegar with mother, drink 2-4 tablespoons before each meal; digestive enzymes, specifically with betatine hydrochloric acid; probiotics, specifically acidophilus bifidus; Candida cleanse; parasite cleanse; colon cleanse; eat more organic raw fruits and vegetables; Dr. Coldwells stress-reducing techniques.

I love Wynonna. I recorded 20/20 last night so I'll get to it sometime today and watch what you all have seen. I'm dissappointed to know that Lap Band wasn't even mentioned. I wonder, too, about Ann Wilson, since her blog thingy isn't on Spotlight Health anymore. Heart and Wynonna did a Crossroads special on CMT, so I'm betting they discussed the Band. I feel certain Wy knows about it, but if her food addiction is that bad, she'd better do lots of headwork before going forward with ANY WLS. It's a very tough, very personal decision. I'm also anxoius to find out about this pacemaker. If I were to find out my band eroded, I'd probably opt for something like that. I need to find out more. Wy, you ROCK!!