mbanja

I went to Dr. Huacuz too. He was excellent!! Hot too! It didn't hurt having eyecandy for a doctor while I recovered! I payed $7k too!

Oh faith that is a good idea. I never thought about doing that. Thanks!!

I know you are probably trying to please your family by buying the junk food, but have you thought about trading it for healthy snacks? Apples, other fruit, dried fruit and trail mix. Little trail mix packages with chocolate mixed in. I love the yogurt drops in trail mix. Instead of buying the candy bars go to Sam's club and buy the individual packs of trail mix and nuts to give the kids. I know it would be disappointing to them but they would probably eat it anyway and love it. Nobody said you have to sit and suffer watching your family eat junk. This could be a major turn to get your family on track eating good foods and helping them learn good eating habits. Plus it will help you out loads!!!

I didn't worry about my scars. My opinion was "Hell scares vs. being fat? I'll take the scars!" I did have foot surgery a while back and I think I remember my doc telling me to wait until the skin grew back with no scabs and you had fresh scar tissue before using mederma. I think it was because the medicine in maderma causes the wound to heal slower, making it more apt to healing invisible. The slower it heals the fainter it will be. I don't see a problem with antibiotic ointment but I think cream has the same effect. I know cortizone cream does. I think it might be too so for you. I think your main focus should be wait until they are completely closed and all the scabs are off before using it. This is just my opinion. If it really bothers you talk to your doc and see what he says.

I love Zyban. I took that and about a month later I could not stand the taste of a cig!

I am not trying to say go for it, but if the craving just overcomes you, try just getting egg drop soup. Get the chinese food take out and let your husband order for you so you won't be tempted to get anything heavy. I love chinese too. I have found though after being banded, I do not crave the rice anymore. I used to get shrip fried rice, but I have found that now I order a main dish like Sweet and sour chicken or mongolian beef and just eat the meat, most of the time the rice is left untouched. Some of the things I used to love before banding, don't get me as excited after being banded. I love yeast rolls with sweet honey butter, I could eat like 10, but now I have a bite or two of one and I done with them. Hopefully your food tastes will change and you will not crave the higher calorie items once you are banded. Best of luck.

LOL thanks littlelove!!!

I have never been a Brit fan but I really do feel sorry for her! I had a baby 9mos ago and went/and still going thru postpartum depression. I truely think that that is what she has. I went crazy after my baby. My doc finally found a good antidepressant and it has worked wonders for me. This is the only explaination I can give for her behavior. I mean shaving your head? That to me sounds like severe depression. I have heard postpartum can struck anywhere up to a year after birth. If left untreated it can get really bad. Since she can afford to have other people take care of her baby maybe no one caught it and it has just gotten outta hand? I don't know.

OJ has alot of acid in it. Maybe the acid irritated you new stomach?

Joyce, I think it would be a great bonding experience for you and her to go thru it together and be each others support. Maybe you could do yours first, and let her see how you have to adapt to banded life so she knows first hand right infront of her face the sacrifices she will have to make. I am 26 and just reconnected with my dad about a year ago. He is Morbidly obese and has high blood pressure and diabetes. I research lap band and other bariatric sugeries and decided to choose the band. I am a self pay cause my ins wouldn't cover it cause I didn't have any health related issues-YET! I made arangements to go to MX as it is cheaper than the US, then told my dad I was considering it. He flipped out when he found out it was in MX. I then showed him where it would be done, the reviews, the before and after pix of patients, and told him all my mental issues. He came around. I quietly snuck off to MX got it done and came home. I talked to him one day afterward and he "said so now when do you think you are going to get this done" I said," I already did!" Well he laughed and said I should have know. His main concern was not the procedure, it was the sanitation Issues of the MX hospital. He didn't want me to get staff or some other infection. He is wonderful and supportive, he makes sure I take my vitamins and get my protien. In a way he is kinda making up for not being in my life when I was a kid, thru no fault of his own (my mother took me away from him.) Anyways, If he is anything like my dad and sees that this is something that will make his daughter's quality of life better, I am sure he will be supportive. Even if he is not at first, you could always go my route and sneek off to do it. At least I semi prepared my dad! LOL!

Tomato sauce tip. If you make your own disreguard, but if you like store bought, I use the Hunts brand that comes in the can. I think it is garlic and herb. I like it cause it doesn't have any added sugar and it is the only one that doesn't. All the jar brands have added sugar and I don't like my tomato sauce sweet.</p>

<p><p>Oh and you can make lasagna and inplace of the noodles use thin strips of eggplant. I make mine with fresh spinach too, and instead of ricotta I use low fat cottage cheese mix with egg and pepper. Frozen spinach looks nasty and just turns my stomach, fresh looks so much prettier. I do a layer of sauce a layer of thinly sliced (longways) eggplant, a layer of cottage cheese mixture,a layer of fresh spinach, a layer of ground beef mixed with sauce, a layer of mozzarella shredded chees, and keep repeating then top it with mozz and bake. It is outstanding and you never miss the pasta.</p></p>

Fried!!!! LOL! Seriously though I sometimes saute it like squash its good like that too.

I second the frozen coolwhip!!! I think it is better than icecream. It is so rich and creamy frozen. It really satisfies!! Also, I have found the weight watchers carrot cake individual snack cakes are the bomb. I tried the chocolate ones too, their aren't as good as the carrot cake. Also, all the smartones frozen desserts. I like them cause they are prepackaged and you don't go overboard, unless you make yourself 2 or 3 of them. I don't remember how many calories are in the carrot snack cakes but I do know they are only 1 weight watchers point. They sometimes satisfy me more than the chocolate explosion whatever its called smartones frozen desserts. Oh and a smere of Peanut butter on a quaker caramel popcorn cake hits the spot too!

Just a side note, I love love love ranch dressing. I can't justify vinegarette cause it is so oily. I have started just using balamic vinegar with no oil and find that that is really satisfying. Also store bought vinegarettes that are light just means they don't have as much oil as the regular. But if you like them keep in mind that it is olive oil which is a healthy fat and alot better for you than creamy dressings.

I do fine with salad, just watch out for heavy dressings cause the have alotta fat and calories.

I love pepperoni in all its processed goodness!!!

Bgrand, port revesion is where you have to have a problem port corrected. If it flips and needs to be turned back around or if you have someother problem with the port, the doc goes in a fixes it.

<p>Mandi, just like you said, everyone is different. I know for me the sliming only last until the stuck food comes up. It is really not bad, for me it is just really thick saliva, which your stomach naturally produces to lubricate food that it feels is stuck. My PB's aren't a surprise. I know it is comming and I can go to the bathroom. I usually only get stuck when I am rushing and sometimes I drink a sip or two of water just to get the stuff in my stomach moving so I can PB it or to help it pass. I have read another thread on here saying that some people keep pineapple juice on hand cause it really helps lubricate the stuck food so it can pass or come up. You won't know how your body reacts until it happens to you. You may never have a PB if you follow the bandster guidelines (eating slowly and chew chew chew.) PB is really not something to stress about, it will be fine! Keep some baggies on hand in your purse if it makes you feel better. Keep drinking your water, except with meals and don't stress over this PB stuff. Once you have one, if you ever do, you will see that you got worked up over nothing. If you do get something stuck I would suggest not gulping any liquid but just take a few small sips if you feel it will help you, cause if you take a big swig of liquid it might projectile out when you got to PB.</p>

It took my first fill three weeks to kick in. Give it some time. Noone can really explain why it takes some people so long for a fill to kick in, it just does. It doesn't make since to me why it takes so long, hopefully you will get restriction soon. Best wishes!

Yeah, I had forgotten all about the chocolate calcium chews. They are yummy! I'll have to get some. I do notice since being banded that my sweet craving has dwendled just a bit. I have found those weight watchers carrot cake snack cakesare awsome, I reward myself with those. The carrot cake is the best, the chocolate ones are not that great to curb my sweet cravings cause they taste like diet chocolate, but the carrot cake ones do the trick.

I miss beer!! I have resorted to drinking margharitas but I know those are loaded with calories. I sometimes wish I was a good liquor shooter, but I know if I tried shots I would puke everywhere. I love wine, but my "wine drunk, beer drunk, and liquor drunk" are all different and sometimes I want to feel "beer drunk!" LOL.

It does kinda sound like you have a leak. I mean if you lost all the saline in your band, that would be my first thought. I have found that most places don't use the thicker solution cause (duh!) it would not be very productive money wise for them to do it. You could try calling around to fill doctors to find one that does use it. Not one in my area does, I have already called! They gave me loads of excuses but I think it boils down to money. If the thicker solution takes longer to leach out you wouldn't be in their office as frequently. That is just my pessimistive perspective. LOL, I've really gotta work on my pessimism.

Well, I guess if you could compare organs and metabolisms and find that yours is the same as others, your question would makes sense. Some people may weigh as much as you and have the same situations, but who knows they may have more or less fat around their stomach. Not in reference to the external fat, but the actual internal fat pad that is on your stomach itself. If someone else has more of a fat pad, they might not need as much of a fill because the small fill creating pressure on the fat pad would equal the same amount of pressure on someone with more fill and less fat pad. Am I making sense. What I am trying to say is visible fat is not the only fat we have. You also have fat internally. That is the main reason for the pre op diet. To shrink your liver if it is fatty. I hope this helps. Wendell and Wasabubblebut could probably explain it alot better than me. Sorry!

Redgirl, when I read your first post, that is exactly what I was thinking. Maybe he is just trying to secure you as a patient and reap all the money he can from you. Maybe by hiding it, you won't want to go to another doctor, etc. Who knows, in this day it is hard to understand and interpret people's motives.