Ericalynn13

Thank you all for your great ideas, I will bring them up to my current doctor. At least he doesn't feel that my weight is some sort of disease!!!! I had one dr treat me like I was a leaper (I told her I would never be coming back to her clinic) As for the bleeding the horrible stuff started Feb 2nd, I went to the ER and they couldn't do anything until my hemogoblin (blood count?) got below a certain number, then they would transfuse me. Right now I'm at "normal" period bleeding (like EVERYONE here wants to know all this right) All of my dr's (band, pcp, gyno etc) are aware of what is going on, and all of them are checking my blood levels regularly and I've been "educated" as to when I need to take myself to the ER -- when I get light headed or feel like my blood pressure has dropped. I also carry paperwork with me at all times explaining what is happening if I were to go unconscious. My current Dr is experiementing with b/c pills to try to stop the bleeding until I loose about 100 more pounds he says then he wants to try to shrink the fibroid. I'm going to ask about the endometrial ablation. I had my band 16 months ago, and am fully healed from that experience. Actually the dr I'm with right now was suggested to me by my band doctor. As I said above this current dr is the first one of all of them that has treated me like a human being. Sometimes I wonder if I just need to know that other people have been thru this. Thank you for all your kind responses!!!

:help: Greetings. Hi, I have the lapband, and have lost 70 pounds, but am still over the 400 pound mark. I am in desperate need of a Gynecologist in the Seattle area, I have been diagnosed with a fibroid that I need removed and NO ONE can/will help me. . . all the Gyno's I have gone to say "You're too heavy, I can’t help you" I’ve seen 4? no 5 of them now. I am too "fat" for an embolism, the machines aren’t big enough . . . to "fat" for a hysterectomy. . . I’ll die from the complications . . . to "fat" for the meds to reduce the Fibroid, because my fat issue will absorb the meds and not distribute thru my body <O:p</O:pI am VERY unhappy having my period every single day:cry , I'm on month 3 of solid heavy periods and could just cry, the cramping, the pain and the HORMONES, my husband could just throttle me and he's been VERY supportive thru all of this. I've been to the ER for blood transfusion because of the blood loss, I'm on Iron because of the blood loss, this is just too much. Does anyone have any experience as an obese person with Fibroids and who did you go to for help? Thank you in advance for any information you might provide.<O:p</O:p

What pushed me to commit? I was 25 years old, my doctor told me with good authority that I would be dead by my 50th birthday, because of my health issues, at that I would be miserable for the next 25 years getting to that "death date" NOW, I know the power of the human mind and I know that no one can tell you when you will die. But the day she said that too me I was so overweight and hurt so bad I would have gladly died that moment. I just didn't want to deal with it any more. I was 486 pounds the day I went to get my band. <O:p</O:pI do want to address something you said that hit me, you will not "fail" your lapband, trust me if you could I would have done it by now. Your band does not allow you to fail, if you eat something that you shouldn't, guess what?? -- it comes back to you, once something comes back often enough you loose all emotional desire to eat that item. Yes, I do know that puking is not a "correct bandster" thing, but with my tenacity and unwillingness to be told what to do, for a few select foods puking has been the only thing that's hit home. TRUST ME pizza, when it comes back up, SUCKS and it never tastes the same again. <O:p</O:pYes, you can eat around your band, drink a million calories a day, eat ice cream like its going out of style. But you will ask yourself . .. is this what I spent my money for? You’ll say to yourself, I risked my life to go under anesthesia (which is totally safe by the way, but still a risk) I spent 1 week in pain, on pain meds, I did not go thru ALL of that to fail this. Another point you don't realize, most of us (I say 'most' because there are ALWAYS exceptions) are never hungry. I used to spend all the moments of my day planning my next meal, planning what I would eat next. I would have tomorrows breakfast planned while I was eating dinner tonight. Now I have my list of what I HAVE to eat by the end of the day, and most days I don't succeed at eating all of it (My 60g of protein, my 64 fl oz water, my meds, my 5 veggies and 3 fruits a day --- heck almighty bandsters will tell you, once you gag down all that food each day the LAST thing you want is a milk shake) <O:p</O:pI guess with all my rambling I’m just trying to say your fears are valid, because they are your fears, but I think once you get into this experience, deeper then you are you will be amazed at how many of your fears just never come to light <O:p</O:pAlso have you considered going to <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comMexico</ST1:p</st1:country-region> to have your band done? I have 2 very close friends that did not qualify for insurance to cover here in the states that were very impressed and happy. Let me know if I can answer any questions for you or help you in any way. I love my band, I wouldn’t give it back if someone offered me the world.

bump to the top. :-) I love this thread.

Also Tina, we had a thread going awhile back about 300+ pound bandsters. Since the person who starts out with a higher BMI has a very different journey then the person who starts with a very low BMI, we were using it to talk and express ourselves about the journey. I don't have time right this moment to find it for you, but when I do, I'll try to bump it up so you can see it. :-) ~ Erica

Hi, Tina, my BMI was 75.2 the day I went into surgery. The "wish center in WA state" would not even place a band in me. That man had me crying when I left, he ranted at me for almost an hour that the only surgery I could have is the bypass and I'm too obese to have the lap-band and on and on. I really REALLY disliked the way they talked to me and the way I was treated by them. I'm totally basing my statement on my personal opinion, but please, if there is any way for you, find another surgeon. My Surgeon that placed my band, Dr. Neal, had no issues with my body, my weight, my port placement or my birth control, all of which the Wish Center totally freaked out over. Like I said, just my personal experience. According to my surgeon my BMI had no bearing whatsoever on the success or risks of my surgery (except the going under part - but that was all realitive to any body size person getting put to sleep and brought back awake). Please feel free to email me if you would like to talk.

Hi I'm Erica, I was banding 9/30/05 by Dr Neal. I live in Bothell, and commute to Bellevue for work!!! I would love to meet local bandsters. Message me, tell me how your doing!

Pre-band I would consum 3 scrambled eggs, 2 johnsonville brats and 2 pieces of toast with 32 oz of Milk for Breakfast. 1 Triple Cheeseburger with X-Large Fry and 32 oz soda for lunch, refilled the soda before I left the diner. A candy bar out of the vending machine with a bag of chips if I was REALLY hungry for snack around 3. . oh' with a can of Pepsi. 1/2 of a Papa Murphy's Family size Canadian Bacon and Pinapple pizza (so what 4-6 peices) with some salad, My husband and I would split a 2 liter of soda. OH and breadsticks!! 1/4 of a half gallon of Dryers ice cream for dessert TODAY! I have 1 scrambled egg for breakfast . .. with a 20 oz Hot chocolate that takes me until 11 to finish. 8 oz of milk, A 1/2 can of tuna with mayo and 1/2 of an apple for lunch Water 1 single 2" slice of Papa Murphys Pizza for dinner ---- IF I'm LUCKY and don't feel like I'm going to gag 1/2 way thru the piece of pizza. Maybe a half cup of ice cream a few hours later, if my stomach doesn't feel too annoyed with me. ITs like I get that stuffed, over the top, WAY too much Turkey Dinner feeling from a single egg, or a 1/2 cup of ice cream. Did the band change my eating choices, no, does my band prevent me from eating an entire pizza in one setting yes -- it now takes me almost a week eating pizza lunch AND dinner to eat one pizza. And ice cream, the gallon in my refridgerator right now, has the freezer fuzz on top, so I'll be throwing it away. I once used to spend every minute of everyday figuring out what I was going to eat next, where I would stop for my next food morsel, and that I was hungry. Now eating is a chore, something that I have to force myself to do, because I know that I need the Protein and the calories for healthy weight loss.

I gave up caffeine for my surgery and never went back to it. Caffeine is a natural diaretic, it dehydrates your body. I spent the first weeks out of the hospital fighting to stay hydated to the point that I wasn't light headed, I sure as heck wasn't about to put something into my body that made me dehydrate!!!!! Then when the doc said I could go back to coffees and stuff, I figured I had already done all the withdrawls of caffeine and just haven't reintroduced it back into my system. I think they do "no alcohol" becasue of the tremdous amount of calories in it!!!!! You can easily drink your entire days calories in 3 drinks, AND don't mention the fact that it slides right past your band and doesn't give you any satisfaction of being full. Also I think alot of mixed drinks have bubbles, and I don't know about eveyone else but buddles are TOTALLY painful, I swore I would never have pop again after being banded, and 3 months post op I just had to taste what I was missing, OUCH OUCH OUCH OUCH is all I can say, I spent 2 hours praying that I could just puke the ick up. And even once the bubbles were gone, by a belching contest to beat the band, the residual pain was still there. Long post summed up, I think your body will determine what you give up, once you've spent hours begging your body to please do "Something" with whatever is causing your pain, you will gladly never consum it again. :-)

I'm looking for actually documentation (not hearsay, or my doctor said) about the minimum number of calories the human body needs to be healthy and safe. Obviously I've put way to many calories in my body that's why I've had my surgery. However I don't know if I subscribe to the "starvation theory" either. . . .heck almighty, if I was going to starve to death that would have happened during my liquid phase. What have you actually read? That I can look up and read in black and white myself, about how many calories you need to eat. This is purely a question out of my own curiosity, not meant to insight comments about rebellion or "listen to my doctor" *laughter* Thanks in advance ~ Erica

Hi, I was at 75 bmi when I had my surgery 9 weeks ago. Yes I have the band and yes it was done laporscopically, it took me 4 surgeons to find one that felt confident to do it, but it is DONE. Don't hesistate for a minute to go to another surgeon and another and another, until you get the answers you need for you.

I was on liquids for 3 weeks this is part of a post I put on another thread, I think you'll be amazed at how easy it is to find Protein. Cream of chicken Soup made with milk or chicken broth, ran it thru the blender and strained it, I made this up 2-3 cans at a time, strained it and put it in my refrigerator, so I could just pour a cup and microwave. Slim-Fast High Protein, chocolate was my favorite. All the Campbells Condensed Soups can be thinned down enough to strain. I did a lot of the bean one (Beans are high in protein). EGGNOG -- OH MY GOSH, I Love that stuff. But you want to watch its high caloric value. MILK, lots of milk, chocolate, white, strawberry you name it. (8+g of protein per 8 ounces) HOT COCOA was my salvation, bought the sugar free mix and made it with Milk to get the protein, I added flavors to that too. JAMBA juice --- I watched what I choose, tending to stay to the peachy ones, and asked them to "blend the hell out of it". My doctor also suggested Orange Julius drinks. Both of which you can ask to have protein added to. I didn't do many of the mixes, but greatly disliked the Myoplex stuff, YUCK. Carnation instant Breakfast worked too, but it didn't have enough Protein for my liking. Best Luck, welcome to an awesome journey. :-) ~ Erica

Hi, I am 8 weeks post-op and here is what I know . . . or think I know for that matter. *laughter* First let me tell you I was 480 pounds 5'8" tall the day of my surgery. Quote: <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=alt2 style="BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset">DO YOU HAVE TO HAVE ANOTHER SURGERY TO HAVE ALL THE EXTRA FAT REMOVED? </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> Fat no, Skin yes, I have abused my body to the point that it will never recover from the streched out skin, one of my dearest friends who only had 120'ish pounds to loose with her band just had 16 pounds of skin and tissue removed from her mid-body lift. I will definitly have more surgeries to have excess skin removed. But this is DEFINITELY a personal choice. Quote: <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=alt2 style="BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset">WHAT OR HOW DO YOU FIGURE ON MEALS OR food INTAKE ON A DAILY BASES? DO YOU OR ARE YOU GIVEN A STRUCTURED PLAIN TO GO BY? </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> </FONT></FONT></FONT>I had a very strict diet of specific types of food for 6-weeks post-op. Now I am on a non-restricted diet, which means I can consume anything I want, as long as my body will allow me too. And TRUST ME you will know without a doubt when you have eaten something that your body doesn't like, and that something is totally different for every single bander. Quote: <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=alt2 style="BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset">IS THERE A WEIGHT THAT THEY WON'T OPERATE ON ? </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> </FONT></FONT></FONT>Being 480 pounds with a BMI of 80+ I had a hard time finding a surgeon that would place the band in me. I got excuses of "we don't know where we would put the port" "I just don't place bands in people as obese as you" "I'll have to poke the heck out of you to find the port and I just don't want to" and the list goes on. Finally I found a doc that was more then willing to and has succussfully placed my band. Also I know for a fact that most will not place the band if you BMI is less then 30 -- because then you are actually underweight. Quote: <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=alt2 style="BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset">WELL THAT'S ENOUGH FOR NOW. I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM ANYONE, THAT COULD HELP. I AM KIND OF NERVOUS ABOUT HAVING THIS DONE. AND I DON'T KNOW ANYONE TO TALK TO ABOUT THIS. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> This is a life changing decision!! I would never take my choice back ever!! Remember that alot of people on these boards are looking for help because they have a problem, so don't let only negative problems be a basis for your decision. Yes there are side effects and problems with any choice you make. However, I just think had I continued on my eating as I was, I would have cleared 500 pounds for Thanksgiving instead of celebrating being under 450 pounds! You'll find that most of us talk, and will answer any questions but also remember that we can NEVER take the place of your doctor. Have no fear in rejecting doctors you don't like. I went to 3 .. . 4 . .. I can't remember before I found my surgeon. I knew what I was looking for and just kept going until I found him! Thanks ~ Erica