piercedqt78

I used a baby measuring spoon to take my sips. 1/2 teaspoon at a time for the first few days, then I graduated to a regular medicine dosing cup. My goal was 1 oz every 10 mins, and I was able to handle that pretty well. As others have said warm is easier, try broth, jello that has not firmed up yet, I made it with gatorade and drank it warm, it gave me energy and helped get my liquids in too. I am making the same mixture for my 4 year old as she is really sick and that really seems to perk her up. Hope you feel better quick~Mandy

Alex, the girls are beautiful just like you. And I LOVE those dresses, I had to bribe my little one into a dress for the picture. I bought it at a resale shop as I know she will never actually wear it anywhere other then for that picture. She loves barbies and the color pink but says dresses are dumb, oh well. ~Mandy

I don't think there can be too many picture threads, I just thought if I linked them together we could see all of the pictures. ~Mandy

See other pictures here. http://lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=12680 Mine included. I didn't want to post the same photo twice. ~Mandy

here it is resized

Here is my DD4, this was in our card this year. My hubby's work hours didn't allow time to get a family pic taken this year. Maybe after the holidays.

My port gets really sore if I sleep on it, of course that doesn't stop me from rolling right over on top of it and snoozing away. I also have port soreness if I do too many crunches or too much lifting. I was banded on July of this year. ~Mandy

12 pictures of piles and lines of the white stuff? That would make for an interesting wall calendar for sure. ~Mandy

I am a member of another board all about Disney. We have a budget area and everyone post deals and freebies. I pass on the really good deals here. ~Mandy

I didn't know that JohnQ was bandless until just a few weeks ago. He is always so positive and ALWAYS has a word of encouragement for anyone that needs it. *I nominate him best bandsters buddy. *I would like to nominate Penni60 and LaMadam as the strongest and most supportive here. *MouseCrazy for her wonderful smile. *Me for the most tattoos *Dylansmom for the hardwork she puts into making everyone feel welcome *Delarla for the Diva of the year *Superdaddy and Jonathan for best looking men (don't know about jack as there are no pictures of him around!!!) *Nana for prettiest woman That is all I can think of at the moment, I am sure more will come to me. ~Mandy

Water Sensations are on the website, but you have to pay shipping, which stinks, but at least they are on there. ~Mandy

I am aware of thses issuses, thanks for reminding me though. My friend that had the GBP had one too many sugar free Russel Stover "turtles" and almost didn't make it home. I still pick on him about that day. I only have the reccomended serving size and only a few times per week. I don't want it to be an issuse. ~Mandy

Mandrin Mango tea? Sounds good, is that also a lipton product? I will have to look for that. Thanks guys, Mandy

What are the Lipton Green tea packets? Are they sugar free? That sounds great, I didn't see those in the drink mix isle. ~Mandy

The honey is made by HoneyTree's it is called sugar free Imitation Honey, from Meijers. 1 tbsp has 50 calories and 17 carbs, from Malitol and sorbitol, taste just like the real thing and has the same texture too, very good. The Sugar free Apple Butter is by Walden Farms, also from Meijers, has no carbs, no calories and is made with Splenda, is it a bit thicker then traditional apple butter but on warm toast is about the same, also very good. I also love Water Sensations, I got those at super Target and they are really good. They are little foil packets of liquid that flavors a 16 oz bottle of water, taste like Prople to me. Also no calories and no sugar. They come in Strawberry-Kiwi, Mixed Berry(yum!), Orange, Lemon (yum!), Peach (yum!), and Grape. There is more information at www.watersensations.com ~Mandy

I was only banded this past July so I guess I am still a newbie, but here is what my doc told me when I called with the exact same situation just 10 days ago. : " Relax, take a nice deep breath and do mushies for a few days, when you start back on food it may take upto a week for the restriction to return. The stoma has gone through some trauma and needs time to heal and recover. Give it that time and it will return to normal 99.9% of the time." I had a nasty PB on broccoli, it lasted almost 4 hours and eventually came up with major force, it took 4 days for my restriction to return to what it had been before, I needed a fill before the PB and I still need one now, I am going next week. It will be ok, think positive and positive will happen. ~Mandy

I have an instant oatmeal with some protein mixed in in the microwave as I type. It is almost 11am here but I just got up, I have a sick little one and we actually managed to sleep in today. I will usually have a yogurt (protein added) I also make a hot chocolate (sugar free) and instead of adding creamer to it, I add some vanilla protein mix, taste great and helps get the protien in each day. I have also made fruit smoothies with 2% milk or Soy milk and of course protein mix. I hate cottage cheese and I don't eat any kind of pork at all so normal breakfast foods can be hard for me. I also have/had high cholestrol, so eggs are a rare treat for me. I do keep a few eggs hard boiled in the fridge at all times as my dd and dh love them, my dd eats the whites and feeds the yolks to the cat, dh takes them to works for a late night snack when they are away from the main yard that he works in and there is no microwave or fridge. I struggle with real food in the mornings so I make really soupy oatmeal or I blend my yogurt with a small amount of 2% milk. I need a fill as by mid day I am able to eat more than I should and 2 hours later I am hungry again. I am going on the 16th for an adjustment. I guess breakfast will be protien shakes again for a while, when I am properly restricted that is all I can get down in the am. ~Mandy

My band is named Pandora, as sometimes she is kind and allows me to eat and sometimes she is a mean, biting b**ch. I never know how something is going to work out until I am several bites into it. Like broccoli, sometimes I can eat it and sometimes it causes major PB's, thanks to Pandora. ~Mandy

With most insurance companies, you have the original submission and then 2 appeals, sometimes 3. When that is exhausted you can then take it to an outside review, at the insurance companies expense. I was ready to go that route and I got my husbands Union involved, also the employer. The insurance company sang a different tune when the Union called and questioned why I was not being covered. Some co-morbidies that most people don't think about are irregular periods, migraines, joint pain, reflux, shortness of breath. I fought a major company and won, if you have any questions feel free to pm me or send me an email. ~Mandy

I had surgery on a thursday and came home on friday afternoon. I am a stay at home mom so I guess I was technically back at work right away. I could have returned to a "Real" job on monday with no problem, but I was not allowed to drive for 10 days, something about not being able to quickly turn and look over my shoulder. I had gas pains in my shoulder and the chewable gas-x really helped. I also did a heating pad on my shoulder/ middle back on and off for a few days. I took a grand total of 4 doses of my liquid tylenol 3, all of them at bed time so that I could rest better. I did sleep in a recliner for the first few nights as I am a rough sleeper and I didn't want to be rolling over on my incision. I have a really good pre-op shopping list that has helped a few people be a bit better prepared. Hope it helps. ~Mandy lab-band shopping list heating pad flexible ice pack liquid tylenol (they make adult strength) chewable or liquid gas-x a few books or movies comfy clothes (loose waisted shorts or jumpers) squishy pillow for car ride (guard against seatbelt) a sports bra (doc said no underwire for a few days) protien shakes flavored Water make sure you have a good blender I bought a drink mixer for the protien mix (cost $10 at walmart) broth or stuff to make broth sugarfree popsicles and Jello sugar free gum (ask your doctor) sugar free breathmints (ask your doctor) *Ask at your pre-op for the pain med prescription so you can have it all ready to go when you get home, our walgreens has to order liquid pain meds and it takes 3 days to get them.

I would think that you could get around the paper work and filing fees as they are not responding to your calls and have not schedualed surgery for you yet. I would call and tell them they have 3 business days to get you a date or you will be going somewhere else and not paying the fee as you feel you are not recieving proper care. Demand to speak with the office manager as they need to be aware of the situation. Also express your concern about after care and getting in to see the doctor for follow-up care, if they make an excuse let them know that the excuse is just not acceptable. They can't charge you a fee if they are not working to get you in or at least keeping you in the loop of happenings with your surgery and care. As I said before, speak with the office manager, they can make a lot happen very quickly. ~Mandy

I was told that fills would not be covered. My doc does them under flouro and list it as a diagnostic test with injection and it was covered 100%. It depends on how it is billed and also how the policy is written. ~Mandy

I would be nervous that this is how an emergency would also be handled. Is it also this hard to get in for fills, check-ups or emergency visits? I would ask for the office manager and if you don't get a good reasonable answer then I would look for another doctor, you are approved and you can change doctors without having to be reapproved 99% of the time. If you have to pay a yearly deducable and it is paid I would push hard for it to be sooner then later. If there is no deductable or it is not paid, then you could wait until Jan to have the surgery. Let us know how it turnes out either way. Also you can get a list of band surgeons that are in your area at www.inamed.com maybe this will help? ~Mandy

Instead of a true scavanger hunt, make them read and solve clues to figure out what it is. Or make a video of someone in the family unwrapping the box and jumping up and down all excited about getting a new tv, but then explain that they were only doing the "work" of unwrapping it for grandma and grandpa. Wrap the video and have them unwrap that and watch it? This is a hard one to surprise people with. For the firefighter, maybe a build-a-bear in a firefighter suit? We have a firend that recieved a very old fire hose nozzel as a gift and he really treasures it. Check Ebay? ~Mandy

I do great with the chicken at Outback and the Lobster tails too. They do have a shrimp dish that is also quite good. It comes in a sauce with pasta, I just ask them to leave off the pasta as that gives me problems. I also avoid rice and bread when eating out. I usually have mashed potatos and chicken or a hamburger patty with blu cheese and no bun. I order a water and ask for extra lemon, I add a splenda and have a light lemonade that I get a to go cup so I can take it with me. I can't do fries at all and I have PB'd broccli more times than I care to admit. It's weird, I can eat it at home but never out, go figure. I LOVE mixed veggies, (californai blend? I believe it is called) yellow squash, broccoli, carrots and sugar peas. That is my favorite, I over steam it at home and it goes down really well, but out to eat it is almost always mashed taters for me. ~Mandy