Sydney Susan

I've never had anything remotely like it. Even the copy cat brands (that you probably don't get) taste completely different. Main thing is its not sweet - a little salty. I use it to make gravy if i've nothing else to use. Try it - the trick is to keep it thin - it's not jam

Vegemite, banana and butter on toast. A carb feast with B12. Enough of these will give you type 2 diabetes, but you're very articulate about it.

You are a marked woman.

Like the US 20 years ago?? In what way? And keep in mind you live in Queensland... and remember that crossing the border you have to turn back the clocks one hour and ten years. I've only been in the US once - east coast and Grand Canyon (which certainly lives up to its hype) - but don't recall feeling like I'd jumped into the future. And the coffee. AWFUL! (caps intended... wrt 'she who must not be named'). What a shock that was. I only know it's fat... don't know what he'd be thinking of.... as I said earlier, we send all the crazy Aussies off shore.

Now Misty, as you well know in Australia a "squash" is a vegetable that squashes when thrown or stood on. A pumpkin, on the other hand, will squash you (when thrown), or at the least fracture your skull. Next you'll be telling me they call zuchinni something completely different.

I'd heard on the grapevine you are a "blow in" Misty, but that last post is pretty scarey. A burger without beetroot and pineapple is a travesty. Add a fried egg and it's "the chef's special".

Well you guys started it with Vegemite. The mere fact that its made from the stuff scraped off the inside of beer barrels qualifies it as an Australian national treasure.

There are times when reading this site that I feel i'm perving on an out of control self help group for "American insomniac sex and food addicts anonymous"... and any time now I'm going to get caught and punished for enjoying it. Don't you folks ever sleep??!!! But deep fried turkey! WTF! An image made all the worse because our Californian friends - who we've spent Christmas Day with a couple of times - once referred to our Christmas turkey as "a nice little bit o' chicken". They lived in Texas for quite a while, where apparently turkeys are the size of teradactyls. Oh, and they served us pumpkin pie for dessert... a bl**dy roasting vegetable for dessert on Christmas Day! And no, it's not better with cinnamon and cream.

Now Ladies (and Gent), while we all know the calorie burning effects of certain activities, I think we (you) may have strayed a little too far from the OPs question. Pooping staples was a wonderful distraction from tearing each other apart over the relative benefits and evils of bands and sleeves (the bypassers behaved impeccably, I thought), but this particular diversion down Shiny Street has the potential to offend some. So can we just get out of the bedroom and back to war please! Oh, and Sleeves rock!

Yeah, we try to ship all the crazy ones off-shore...

Congrats on your great success Newlife... and I am jealous! I started out at 105.6kg - spurred into "serious" action because I could no longer fit into size 18s! You and I must be very different shapes... Or you are perhaps a lot fitter and more muscular than me (which wouldn't be hard, frankly). At 79kg I'm only just getting into size 14s... and by no means all of them. About time I got off to the gym.... Damn.

I was always taught it was a bit of both.... Red skin in the sun like the pomegranate, but also Prisoner Of Mother England, because of our convict roots. Mind you, it was the convict descendants who called the newly arrived "10 pound Poms"** the dreaded POMMIES! It was certainly intended as an insult well into the 70s in Oz... as I know too well from personal experience. **(immigration program of the 1960s favouring UK immigrants) My mother used to insist that we children defiantly said back "Rubbishing Colonials!", but you know that never really made the grade in the schoolyard. Falling about laughing was not the effect I was after. The Queensland (state) strine (think Crocodile Dundee accent... forget the hat and knife if you would) followed quickly as a self defence mechanism. Ahhhh... the memories.

I too come from "up top"... born in Basildon, emigrated 44 years ago (practically to the day), have such a Qld strine that no end of $$$ has been unable to rid me of it! Even if I wanted to unclaim my Aussie-ness, first time I open my mouth they claim me!

I stay away from carbs - occasional wine excepted. High protein yoghurt (Chobani) or a small handful of nuts (pref almonds but I take what I can find) are what I use. Carbs of any type make me hungry more quickly and will also trigger an insulin response, and insulin builds fat reserves rather than burns them. My understanding is that these surgeries all perform better for us on a low carb diet.

One day at a time Abigal. It gets better every day and before you know it you have your "new normal" and life just ticks on.

Ewwww! That's a very long way... with a very big stapler. Although the post operative pain "down there" would at least take your mind off your incisions.

New Zealanders always punch above their weight... We've been looking for someone just like you to join this thread... At last!

Butterbean said: how did he get the stapler in there? Or out again? There is only way to the inside that doesn't involve cutting.. via the esophagus... and that's filled up with bougie paraphernalia, as I understand. It just doesn't make sense... not as I understand basic anatomy and surgical techniques. I'm not infallible of course (damn, it hurts to admit that) but I am pretty well versed in these things. As someone said earlier, not really worth debating, but a pleasant diversion from weekend housework, for me at least.

I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis in my early 20s when taking my mother to the thyroid cancer clinic - the specialist noticed my goitre and a biopsy was done. I took meds to shrink the goitre but not ongoing. Though I've always struggled with my weight my thyroid levels stayed within the normal range (which I now know is a population range, not the range any one individual can swing across without noticing any effect). When I had my son (at 37) my thyroid turned completely belly up and I've been on meds since then - I'm 53 next week. After my surgery I lost 20kg (about 44lbs I think) in 2 months and then stopped dead. Also had enormous problems concentrating and notice my hair and skin were v dry. Sure enough my thyroid function was way too low. I've increased meds and lost another 6kg in the past 4.5 months. Not quite what I was hoping for - especially as we're (sleevers) told to really use the first 6 months well, as that is our optimal weight loss period. But the weight is slowly coming off and I'm now 6kg from my goal and a BMI of 24. If you have thyroid problems keep on top of them in the months after your surgery - I waited a few months to even get blood tests done, and I'm really annoyed with myself about that.

Thanks Lissa. Shall do - just hope I can sit down In it too - most of the things I'm going to involve dinner.

I just came home from the shops with a size 14 "little black dress" for the end of year Christmas party rounds. That size will sound horrific to those from the US, but an Aussie 14 for a 53 y o, rather tall lass is really quite respectable, I think. I'm aiming for a 12, but it's nice to have got this far!

I haven't had the band but am aware that we are all put on a low carbohydrate diet by dieticians, regardless of our surgery type. This has a big impact on insulin which has an impact on the way we metabolise food. And on our hunger levels. Might you have got back into eating (or drinking) more carbs than when you first lost your weight? Or are you now eating for longer, so that in total you ingest more calories? Sometimes changes in routine can lead to other changes that we barely notice, but over time these really add up. Psyching yourself up to be a "new bander" again - and revisiting dr and nutritionist/dietician - may allow you to "reset" yourself. Good luck with it all.

Re the "dissolving staples" - which really intrigue me - I've found reference to them being used to "buttress" or "reinforce" the staple line (I presume in the same way that some docs suture or glue over their staple lines), but I've not seen any reference to them being used as a first line of defence - in place of titanium staples. Perhaps that explains reference to "tiny staples"???? I think relatively large staples are needed to go through 2 layers of stomach wall. The staples I've seen referred to are "poly glycolic", so a bio dissolvable product - not one that breaks down and is excreted via the gut. I'd love to hear if others know more - I get asked about my sleeve all the time, and like to able to pass on different/better/worse techniques I've heard of.

Why need you miss it? It's not great for weight loss, but I certainly enjoy a glass or 2 now and then.

I agree with this. Folding tissue in on itself so tightly (as must be done to stop particles lodging in the folds), in the very warm, wet and active environment of one's insides, has got to lead to some sort of fusion - perhaps reversible but perhaps not. And what happens to all those grehlin producing cells? Do they stop working or go into overdrive because they are not sensing food? The plication appealed to me initially but I couldn't find anyone doing it locally. As more questions came to mind I went back to the sleeve. While VSG alone has only been around for a relatively short timeframe, the stomach reduction part has been done for a long time for stomach cancer and as part of DS. Long studies on those ops sometimes raise concerns about malabsorption, bowel obstruction and inability to scope whole intestinal tract, but so far I haven't seen anything long term on the small stomach per se. GERD can get worse (without DS), and leaks are an issue for first couple of months but not thereafter. Incidentally staples dramatically reduce leaks and blood loss - which is why they have been embraced the world over. I think the real issue for sleevers is that we don't know if the hormonal benefits we get (reduction of grehlin and insulin) will last long term without small intestinal changes. Note that its these changes that are credited with the higher weight loss 'potential of the sleeve and bypass - food restriction (small portion size and slower eating) and low carb diet also playing a role. I've been told not to expect the hormonal effects to last and to make the most of the first 2 years, but who really knows yet?? And that issue is not a band vs sleeve issue, as those hormonal changes are either slight or absent with the band. Really, if you are uncomfortable with staples or having a large part if your stomach removed don't do it! I wouldn't. It will be there later on if you get to a place where it starts to seem to be the right thing for you.