princess_n_thep

Okay, I think I have to be the gloomy gus. Lately, I have felt like I am trying to make the most of my band and really kick my weight loss in the butt for fear of losing the band because of all the erosions lately. It scares me. I WANT to keep the band for the rest of my life but I don't think it is going to happen. I think that those of us who have been banded are the "silicone breasts" for what the future holds. I personally expect to see the band being replaced by a new better engineered hi tech band and we will all do revisions. I don't see having this foreign object in my body for longer than 10 years without something going wrong with it. Defeatist attitude? Maybe. But still my honest thoughts about it.

Thank you for your interest in this study. Unfortunately, it appears that your answers do not meet the criteria to fully qualify and complete this study. LMAO, that is what it told me!!!

Hmmmm, interesting idea Kare. So I thought about it.... about 40 attempted/completed suicide calls in the last 2 years I have been on. Only 2 of them were obese. About another 2 more were "heavy". Interesting thought. Wonder what the normal is then.... I will have to check NPT (www.normalpeopletalk.com)

I had to quit 2 weeks before surgery. After that... puff puff puffing away. I know I should quit, it isn't good for me, yada yada yada. Still, I feel satisfied by them. I gave up my food, not ready to give up my filthiest of habits yet. Someday I will. As for today... light me up!

Do NOT drink. If you slime, spit it out. And the best thing for me to do is MOVE! Walk walk walk walk... then walk some more.

Okay, NOW I AM REALLY PISSED!! Where was I when you introduced him to us when we were all there???? And why am I not blissfully visiting this man in my dreams?

6-8 weeks post op for me.

I am laughing so hard I have tears in my eyes!!! Didn't you tell him your band sister was a cop???? I bet it would have worked!

I would DEFINITELY contact Lean Cuisine about this... http://www.leancuisine.com/Index/ContactUs.aspx

For those of you who are following the "jane saga". Jane turned frustration into EXERCISE! She is now a health nut and goes to the gym for "social pilates" and has made a whole new network of friends. She still isn't dating. She admits this holiday is going to be hard. But...... SHE LOOKS FANTASTIC!!! She is now down to 180 and very toned. She had been battling a saggy skin issue but it is going away with her Pilates!! "John" is still with the larger woman. He still has guilt and checks on Jane often as a friend. Jane is happy that John is happy and has said that her New Years Resolution will be to dive into the dating world, nothing serious, but casual dating. Will keep you updated.... I am completely intrigued with her attitude and strength by now.

4th week solids for me.

I had minimal pain. About a 2 on a scale of 1-10 (1 lowest, 10 highest). I did have some severe shoulder stiffness though but I have shoulder issues anyway. I was definitely groggy for a couple of days and seemed "slow" but other than that, I was fine. About a week after I noticed a bit of bloating in my stomach then it went away the same week. I fart a lot, but then again, I was windy anyway so it didn't make much difference. I did not take any pain medication other than liquid Tylenol. I am a stomach sleeper so that didn't work well for the first 2 weeks, so I was a bit grumpy from lack of good sleep. A nice pampering massage was done around week 5 too. Really nice. Comfy clothes and my heating pad were my biggest saviors that first week. I had my surgery on Wed and was back to work at a desk job on Monday. However, I wish I would have taken the full week off. Just that extra 2 days would have been more comfy. Not really "needed" but just more relaxing and pampering to me. Overall, this was easy for me. But, I am a super fast healer! Even my swelling around the band went down quick and I was STARVING for the next 3 weeks. I think that was the worst part was the hunger pangs I had and the grumble of my tummy. Everyone is different in their healing though. For me, healing was less than a week, for others it is 3 weeks. I think a lot of it has to do with your size to begin with and the stress the surgery puts on your body.

For me, weight loss has been a lot faster. Traditionally, I would lose 10 lbs, hit a plateau, get discouraged and frustrated, and gain 15 back. Now when I hit a plateau and don't lose any pounds, I am excited to see when it will end! Because I know it WILL end and I WILL lose more.

Yep, a lot of us are banded in Mexico here. Just do a search for "mexico" and a ton of info will pop up on threads associated with it.

The idea of erosion, slippage, port problems, etc scares the HELL outta me. But... I like the band because I think it is a healthier way to lose the weight. I think bypass achieves this through a starvation mode and I don't want that. Both have their side effects such as dumping v. pb , vomit v. slimes, etc etc. Also, the band was less expensive for me. But.......... on the flip side, if anything were to happen to my band, I would get DS. But unless that happens, I will stay with my band.

Make healthy choices. The band will let you have a Twinkie for dinner, you have to choose NOT to have the Twinkie and become full on the 1/2 piece of chicken breast instead.

Okay okay. So many of you are concerned for me. Let me first start by saying that I am FINE! And I appreciate that you have been concerned. So many of you are wondering why I posted this then and what I expected to get from it. So here it is: I guess I expected more people to have seriously thought about it. My mother was about 360 lbs. I begged her to have WLS. I made the appointments, she wouldn't go, I made them again, I drove to her house to take her to a seminar, she finally went, she bitched and moaned about how happy she was and how scared she was of the surgery. I forced her to go to the pre op tests. It was quite the battle to get her to do all the pre op tests on time. I made an appt and she cancelled and rescheduled. She told me she is one of the happiest people ever even as a large woman. She said she was "jolly" and liked being that way and didn't want to change. She said she enjoyed food and didn't want to give it up. She cried, whined, moaned and complained. I stood my ground about she NEEDED this. But I was selfish, I was afraid that she would die soon if she did not force herself to lose the weight. Finally, the surgery date was set. She didn't even allow me to take her to the hospital for the surgery. She was mad at me. And she was a very happy woman. Everyone loved being around her and she was the life of every party. I felt like a big jerk for pushing her into this and felt horrible for the entire 3 weeks of her recovery as she hurt and was in pain. I felt guilty. I doubted myself for pushing her into this. 2 weeks ago, and 180 lbs lighter from gastric bypass, out of the blue when I showed up at the house to drop off a piece of tupperware I borrowed, she hugged me so hard I couldn't breathe, when she stopped I felt the tears in my hair. She looked at me and with all seriousness said, "thank you for saving my life and letting me not put that gun in my mouth one more time and then having everything I have to talk myself out of it each and every time". A long talk followed. I was floored. All I wanted to do was have her live longer, my reasons for pushing for the surgery were purely selfish. I had no idea she had a gun. I had no idea it was loaded. I had no idea that at least once a week for the past 5 years of being obese she would sit in her living room and put the gun in her mouth trying to get the nerve to pull the trigger. I had no idea that thoughts of death ran through her mind. I had no idea that she had planned details to how she would fall or what she would be wearing. I had no idea of the pain. Afterall... she was "jolly". I had no idea. So it made me think.... how many of us had these thoughts? Now I wonder, how many of us had these thoughts and wouldn't even dream of admitting it online anonymously for fear that someone, anyone, would figure out who we are and our weakness. So I guess I was expecting to see more that shared the same emotions as my seemingly "jolly" family member had. So I thought just maybe, there were others.... and just maybe by putting this post and poll there, they would know that others share their experiences and their pain. For just that one person to know that they are NOT alone. There ARE others. Even someone who just voted "yes, I have attempted it" anonymously and never posted but yet gained strength through others posting their feelings and experiences such as JohnQ or pam or chichi or anyone else that shared their stories. Then just maybe..... I could help one more.

Not the results I was expecting to see, but I thank you to those that voted in this poll.

I go back to Mexico for my fills. All in all, it is just cheaper. Plus, I like to oogle at Dr. Martinez each time. Yummmmy accent!

OH MY GOSH!!! Okay, I am REALLY starting to freak out now. This is just nuts! Why are so many bandsters eroding. And all around the same time frame (around 18-24 months post op!!) This is terrible Penni, I am so sorry this has happened!

Fuelman, 500 views on this thread, 85 voted. I think some people just don't want to believe it is truly anonymous. Some may believe that by admitting it on this poll somehow may make them wierd. Who knows.

Ummmm, your NORTH hun!! Come on down to Phoenix where it is 70's!

Reasons to go to Mexico (or another country): 1. Money (surgery costs $8k-10K, all combined total) 2. Easier pre op test requirements, no psych, no full length medical screening 3. lower BMI than the states will allow 4. Insurance denied (for various reasons) 5. You need a tequila fix.

The lessons that Mr. Whipple taught you, now have shown things to think about for us too. Already, your dear friend lives on. Within your heart, you can visit him often. Within your soul, you can touch him. Within your dreams, you can visit him. Within closed eyes and concentrated mind, you can see him. I found that nobody ever truly dies, they just live on through us. There is a completely another world in remembering.

I want to thank everyone again for either anonymously voting and/or sharing their stories and thoughts on the topic. I know it is a difficult topic and can be disturbing but I feel that it is important and interesting to learn the who we are/were then and the who we are now. I know that through this thread, I have a renewed sense of amazement and admiration about the struggle with obesity and self esteem. The stories that some of you share are not that of condemnation but that of strength and success that you are still here, still fighting, and still strong. I hope you all know that even in the worst of times, you have an outlet for frustrations in your friends at LBT. For those that just kept to anonymously voting, thank you. For those of you that viewed but did not vote (about 360 of you) please remember again that NO ONE will see your vote. Please vote, you do not have to explain your vote in a thread if you do not wish to share. You can simply click a bubble and submit. Thank you again to all of you.