Ang1982

So sorry to hear about your accident and your bike. Thank goodness you are okay!

So my surgery is January 23 and now I have a cold and I am freaking out!! At my appt with the anaesthesiologist on Tuesday (my surgeon has all his patients meet with him) I mentioned I thought I might be getting a cold and he told me that as long as I don't get a bad cough it should be fine but to keep my surgeon posted. Well I am officially sick now and I haven't started coughing yet (just stuffy nose and itchy ears/throat), but my DF is just getting over a cold that had him coughing up a storm. I am so worried that I may have to postpone my surgery, which yah I know I've waited this long - no big deal right - but I also know my surgeon is away for quite a bit of February. Did anyone else have a cold? I guess I'm just looking for some reassurance. I can't take Vitamins since I'm in that "week before surgery no vitamins or anything" stage. I have been drinking lots of Orange juice though. I am going to call my doctor this morning and see what they have to say.

Eeek, that does not sound pleasant. I have not been banded yet so I can't talk about my experience but from what I've read it sounds pretty painful. Have you tried using Gas-X strips? A heating pad? Walking around? Maybe call your surgeons office and see what they suggest? Good luck, feel better soon.

Well I got engaged and now comes the crazy part of planning the wedding. Here's the thing.. both my DF (is that right?) and I have decent jobs but neither of us rake in the dough each month and we already have monthly expenses (I have car payments, etc.) so we do not have a lot of disposable income. While I am sure our families will help a bit I hate to ask. It's starting to look like one of the most expensive parts of a wedding is the reception/food. So my question is - is having a potluck/bbq type of reception and saying "bring food not gifts" or something kinda uncouth, not classy, stupid? We already have a place together and have kitchen, living room, etc stuff so wedding gifts (besides money to help save for downpayment on a house) are not a huge "in need". Opinions please! Thanks :confused:

YAY!! Congrats

I have a question for you seasoned banders... Obviously I didn't get to where I am at due to my love of excercise lol. So I have to ask ... after getting banded and losing a bit of weight is it easier? Currently I hate excercise, it is the bain of my existence and I know excercise is a key part of the banding process. Right now becoming someone thats an "excercise junkie" seems like a hard concept to wrap my brain around.

Ditch the asshole. You don't need him he's not sincere. If he wanted to be with you - he would be and he wouldn't be asking you if he should break up with her. Ignore him, you are done with him. You owe him nothing. Let the other guy take you out, give him a chance - who are you to say what he does and does not deserve. Never sell yourself short, and there's no reason why you wouldn't deserve a chance with this guy. Get rid of the scumbag and let the other guy have a chance :smile: *HUG*

This is very true. A few of my friends have had Gastric Bypass and do have to have B12 shots due to the malabsorption issues. Sounds like someone's giving out the wrong information. Unless you were B12 deficient prior to the band I'd doubt you'd need to worry afterwards...

Depending on your original starting weight I think and where you carry your weight. My girl friend had Gastric Bypass in her late twenties - she was about 330'ish before surgery , granted gastric you lose weight faster so that probably has something to do with it too, but she definitely does have some loose skin around her midsection and "bat wing arms" as well as some loose skin on her thighs. However, she is not going to have plastic surgery anytime soon. Loose skin is inevitable I think.

Heh.. cheeky That's quite the visual.. so yah, no shrimp for Justin folks!

Have a great vacation!!! Cute poem

OMGOSH CONGRATS!!!! Definitely let us know when it's going to be televised/by who! I'll download it if I have to to watch

Thanks ladies! I forgot to ask my surgeon so I will ask him what he thinks but.. how long after surgery did you have to wait before doing exercise? What would be considered a safe time frame to start doing more than just walking?

I could be wrong but I'm sure that I have heard (from more than one place) that if you consume more than approx 20g of protein in one shot (like 60 for example) it doesn't make a difference as your body does not absorb anything much more than 20 in one go. So having something with 20g vs something with 60g might not be an difference. You may want to check that out in case the 60g stuff is more costly. Might save you some money. Good luck with your band, I hope you get that full feeling soon.

Oh my gosh I love all you ladies for all the great suggestions and ideas!! I thought I would send a quick update as to what we are hoping to do. There is a place that is a small lodge that has a couple of indoor areas that could work for reception and it has a kitchen, bathrooms and then downstairs has sleeping for about 24 people. Outside has lots of area for camping and people (like the grandparents who have an RV) to park their motorhomes. So... we are planning for a long weekend and are going to have a "wedding weekend extravaganza". The place also has a great area to hold a ceremony so that is covered. If absolutely everyone on our guest list rsvps "yes" then there will be 77 ppl including myself and my DF. To rent it for the entire weekend is like $300. Saturday afternoon will be the ceremony, followed by mingling while the photos are taken (a girl friend of mine is a prof. photographer and will give me a great deal), then we will have dinner (nothing super formal), I am going to bat my eyelashes at the grandparents/aunts and see if anyone would be willing to bring a casserole or so, get a bunch of meat/cheese, veggie trays, the DF is scottish so he wants to have some hagus there as well (ick), and he also LOVED that Taco Del Mar does catering so we may invest in a taco bar/6 layer dip from them (reasonably priced). It's not going to be a fancy mashed potatoes, roast beef dinner but it will be great. I think we will arrange our own music by doing a bunch of mixed cds. You all have given me some great ideas for decorating. Our colors will be black and red so I am going to hit up some post valentines day/christmas sales for red stuff. People can either camp out or I will see what hotel gives group discounts. Then Sunday morning I am planning for a pancake breakfast/present opening and people are welcome to stay through until Monday as we will be having a BBQ Sunday evening (this one I'm going to say people can bring stuff to if they wish). A weekend event where I can actually spend time and enjoy being with all my family and friends and it will be perfect. How often do you get to have all of your friends and family in one spot and get to visit with them? Of course this all bars on finding out if we can get the place for when we want haha. We have some inquiries in just waiting to hear back.

Getting a breast reduction about 5 years ago is one of the best decisions I ever made.Hope you get in for your PS soon!

oh hon I am so sorry *BIG HUG* I will be a self pay on Jan 23 and I couldnt even imagine losing my band but losing my band that I am penny pinching to have would be even harder

:faint:Day one preop... I'M HUNGRY! Please tell me it gets better than this. I'm pretty sure I'm actually hungry and it's not head hunger but I think that could be a part of it too. 1 day of preop in... 18 more to go.:cry

I am 25 and am not yet banded. My surgery date is January 23 with Dr.Woodhead in Delta, BC. I am very excited to start my journey and am currently on my preop diet phase.

Woohoo! Well done Juli! I can't wait to be half way there

LOL my DF saw that Taco Del Mar does catering and was VERY EXCITED about that (men *sigh*) so I looked on their website and they do like a do it yourself taco thing and a 6 layer dip so I'm going to check out the cost of that, could be an interesting thing to do along with some meat and veggies spreads lol

Wow you guys are giving me some great ideas. About possibly having it mid afternoon then just doing some fruit, veggie and meat platters. Will likely be approx 100 people. I'm going to go to costco and the superstores and findout what they charge for doing up little platters. The suggestion someone made of a small wedding cake and then a big sheet cake from Costco or something is AWESOME. Also Kat you made a good point about decorations I didn't even think about that. We haven't picked our colours yet but I have a feeling they will be like dark green and either a red or yellow - my DF is scottish descent and wants to wear a kilt with his clans colours which are green and red. So to tie into his kilt i figured probably a dark green and then maybe an accent colour like gold or yellow which are CHRISTMAS COLOURS WOO I am going to check out sales after christmas next year and see if there is anything left from this year. My sis is taking me to a wedding show today which I'm hoping might give me some ideas.

Thanks for all the great ideas everyone. We are aiming for Mid-May 2009. So still spring and I live near Vancouver BC so that gives you (maybe) and idea on climate. You all have such great ideas - but the thing is - a few of you have said you've done it for $6k'ish... we'll we need to keep in mind I'm about to be going into a $14,000 loan for my lapband surgery so extra monthly income is going to be tight lol. You guys are giving me some good ideas tho so keep 'em rollin!!

Awesome, I love it! I was waiting for someone to make something like this :eek:

Thank you so much for all the great suggestions everyone, feel free to keep them coming. I kinda thought the potluck idea was a bit cheesy but you just never know hehe. Anything to save a buck :eek: