mbsbike2002

J - Thanks for the welcome. Yep, the boy bits figure into the equation; however, a properly fitted bike, a properly adjusted seat, and a good pair of shorts with a nice chamois do reduce the impact on that area... Of course, the problem with good bike shorts is that now the boy bits are mostly on display, and nobody really needs to see a 300 pound guy and his bits in spandex. Mostly, I just like the idea of pedalling a sofa down the road! In the end, though, I will probably sell the hybrid and buy both a recumbent and a roadie. I can ride the recumbent for the longer Randonees and the roadie for riding with one of the local cycling clubs. What a sweet doggie! Grumpy's best friend in the whole world (her boyfriend, actually) is a Wiemaraner. She loves that dog sooo much. They've been friends since she was about 2 1/2 months old. One day we took her to the park, and there was another wiemar playing with another little dog. She thought it was Luke. She came home and sulked and then acted out a little play with her toys - it was one of the cutest things ever. She beat the crap out of one of her stuffies while putting it next to a smaller stuffie - Then she took the little stuffie and put it in the far corner of the room - get away from my boyfriend you little chippie.... There are a bunch of Grumpy pics on our gallery page at http://gallery.mac.com/nbs101103#100039&bgcolor=black&view=mosaic&sel=1 JC - Man, that's just wrong that the ex took the dog... Good luck on the mountain bike search. The last time I seriously rode bikes, I had a mountain bike - bad choice since I mostly rode on the road. Nothing like trying to ride a century on a heavy bike with knobby tires. Yech... BG - It will be a very sad day when I run out of the codeine syrup. I have some prescription narcotic cough syrup that has some codeine in it, but it's not nearly as good... Thanks again to everyone for your warm welcome. You all have been such an inspiration over the past few months - I'm amazed and heartened by the progress that everyone has made increasing their miles and speed. More than a few times, I have had to do the walk of shame up a hill that I just couldn't pedal up even in the granniest of granny gears. It's frustrating, but then I think - let's see Lance or Floyd try to bike up a goddamned hill at twice their current weight. And then, I think of everyone here, and I know that soon, I will be able to pedal up my current hard hills and even harder hills and longer distances at higher speeds and weigh less and be in better shape and on and on and on... Well, off to my hourly two ounces of chicken broth. Don't want to miss out on that gourmet delight. B

Yes, that's my boxer, Grumpy. She's 14 months old, and she said she would kick the ass of the dog that bit you. She's our kid, spoiled so very rotten. She knows something is wrong with me today, and has just been lying there whimpering at me "Daddy, why don't you curl up with me"... Wish she spoke better english... B

HP and JC - thanks for the welcome! It can be a little overwhelming to be the newbie 60+ pages into a thread... Very nice roadie JC - you were holding out on us... I will stick to my recumbent dreams for now - I am not now, nor ever will be, built like a stick - and while I understand the reason why road/hybrid saddles are the way they are, my ass just doesn't buy into it... I will be getting a better saddle for my Trek when I start riding again - it's an old-fashioned leather saddle from Brooks Brooks B-17 Bicycle Saddle at Wallbike. Hopefully that will hold me over for a while. HP - I like the idea of a goal weight for a new bike - the recumbents that I'm looking at (RANS Stratus XP) has a weight limit for rider and gear of about 250 pounds. I figure I'll wait until I reach 225 to get it. B

Thanks BG - yep surgery was yesterday, and with the Q pump and the hydrocodone syrup, i am feeling no pain! Could go out and ride a hundred miles (well, except that my coordination is all messed up). I'm sure that will change in a day or so, when riding 100 feet might be more that i could possibly imagine. B

Hi banded bikers - I've been lurking in this thread, well since the first post back in early May, so I figure it's time to introduce myself... About the same time as I committed to getting banded (been on the fence for over 5 years, now), I decided to take up bicycling. I wasn't sure how biking and banding would go together, and I can see from all of your posts that they go together quite well... One of my earlier bike-riding goals was to ride in the "Tour de Donut" in Katy, Texas. It's being held on my birthday this year, but I think that a couple dozen donuts, which I previously would have had no trouble eating, won't go down very well now... My ultimate bike riding goal is to ride the 2011 Paris-Brest-Paris. It covers 1,200km, and you have 90 hours to complete the ride. There's no way I can do that ride if I still weigh 300 pounds, so I must lose and use all the tools available to me including my band, more low carb, whatever-the-hell-it-takes!!! In mid-June, I bought a Trek 7700 hybrid bike. As all of us with hybrids know, it seems like the best choice for a new bike rider, but even over the few months that I rode it, I realized that it is not going to be my long-term bike. Unlike most of you, I will be joining JC and the dark side and will buy a recumbent as soon as my weight drops enough to ride the kind I want. It just seems that for extreme long distances a recumbent will be better for me than a roadie... (Not that I wouldn't want to have a nice roadie, too - but the wife will not let me have a garage full of bikes...) I will miss riding my bike for the next 6 weeks or so, but I have an indoor trainer that I can use to keep my legs moving, and as soon as I feel well enough (hopefully next week), I'll start riding the hell out of it. All of you have been such an inspiration as I started down the path to banding, and I hope that you will accept me into your merry band of travelers. Best wishes to all! B (Brandon)

Good luck with your surgery. One of Dr. Hamm's patients was next to me in the recovery room. Are you going to be at Presby Plano, or one of the other hospitals he uses? B

Thank you, losingjusme. You have been a great inspiration as I have watched this site over the years. Good luck on your continued journey! B

I posted this on the introductions forum, but I'll post again here for folks that are looking specifically in the August Surgey Results thread - so, in short, sorry for the douple-posting... Thank you to everyone for your well wishes... I did have my surgery yesterday morning. Arrived at the hospital around 8:15AM, and I was able to go directly into a pre-operative cubicle. The pre-op nurse was great. Although they are only supposed to let 2 people at a time into the cubes, she let all three of my visitors in - my wife and my parents. Surgery was scheduled for 10:30; however, my anesthesiologist was called away for an emergency in the obstetrics dept, so we were delayed until about 11:00. Dr. Cribbins came in and talked for a few minutes - introduced himself as Joe - not "Dr. Cribbins", which pleased my mom - she is in the medical field as well. Dr. Engles, the anesthesiologist came in, gave me some initial sedative in my IV and wheeled me to the OR. I remember being moved to the operating table, having my arms strapped to some arm rests, and hearing the big lie - "I'm just going to give you a little air to breathe" and the next thing I remember is about 15-20 minutes after arriving in the recovery room. Time from arrival in OR to recovery was about 1 hour, 15 minutes. In the recovery room, I had trouble keeping my O2 sat levels high enough. I think this was due to sleep apnea (it improved when I tilted my head way back) and the cough that I have had for the past few months. Eventually, they brought up a respiratory therapist who gave me an albuterol treatment to clear and open my lungs a little more. They also asked me to cough a lot to help clear out the anesthesia gas. I ended up spending about 2 hours in the recovery room, which is longer than most will spend. I also had one bout of nausea right as I was waking up - I often get nausea from anesthesia, and the nurse gave me a small amount of phenergan which is a good cure for nausea and consciousness... I decided that I would prefer not to spend the night in the hospital - Dr. Cribbins is currently about 50% of overnight, 50% for go home - so I went back to a pre-op cubicle for my last few hours in the recovery room. I had the swallow test about 4:00p, and left the hospital about 6:00p. So far, there has been little pain - more of a dull ache. Dr. Cribbins uses a Q-Pump. which provides a constant, metered dose of local anesthetic into the abdominal cavity. I'll have that in place until Friday morning. Also gave me a prescription for Loritab, which so far, I have only used once - to control pain to get to sleep last night. Today, I am eating (drinking) chicken broth every hour and walking a lot to get the CO2 out of my abdomen. I don't think I've ever prayed to be able to fart before, but right now that would be downright heavenly... My best wishes to everyone who will be banded soon. B

Hi Lori, I'm glad to hear that your surgery went well on Monday. Mine went well, too, and like you, I don't have a lot of pain, just a little soreness, espcially at the port incisiion. Good luck, and I hope our pain-free status continues and that your recover is smooth sailing. B

Thank you to everyone for your well wishes... I did have my surgery yesterday morning. Arrived at the hospital around 8:15AM, and I was able to go directly into a pre-operative cubicle. The pre-op nurse was great. Although they are only supposed to let 2 people at a time into the cubes, she let all three of my visitors in - my wife and my parents. Surgery was scheduled for 10:30; however, my anesthesiologist was called away for an emergency in the obstetrics dept, so we were delayed until about 11:00. Dr. Cribbins came in and talked for a few minutes - introduced himself as Joe - not "Dr. Cribbins", which pleased my mom - she is in the medical field as well. Dr. Engles, the anesthesiologist came in, gave me some initial sedative in my IV and wheeled me to the OR. I remember being moved to the operating table, having my arms strapped to some arm rests, and hearing the big lie - "I'm just going to give you a little air to breathe" and the next thing I remember is about 15-20 minutes after arriving in the recovery room. Time from arrival in OR to recovery was about 1 hour, 15 minutes. In the recovery room, I had trouble keeping my O2 sat levels high enough. I think this was due to sleep apnea (it improved when I tilted my head way back) and the cough that I have had for the past few months. Eventually, they brought up a respiratory therapist who gave me an albuterol treatment to clear and open my lungs a little more. They also asked me to cough a lot to help clear out the anesthesia gas. I ended up spending about 2 hours in the recovery room, which is longer than most will spend. I also had one bout of nausea right as I was waking up - I often get nausea from anesthesia, and the nurse gave me a small amount of phenergan which is a good cure for nausea and consciousness... I decided that I would prefer not to spend the night in the hospital - Dr. Cribbins is currently about 50% for overnight, 50% for go home - so I went back to a pre-op cubicle for my last few hours in the recovery room. I had the swallow test about 4:00p, and left the hospital about 6:00p. So far, there has been little pain - more of a dull ache. Dr. Cribbins uses a Q-Pump. which provides a constant, metered dose of local anesthetic into the abdominal cavity. I'll have that in place until Friday morning. Also gave me a prescription for Loritab, which so far, I have only used once - to control pain to get to sleep last night. Today, I am eating (drinking) chicken broth every hour and walking a lot to get the CO2 out of my abdomen. I don't think I've ever prayed to be able to fart before, but right now that would be downright heavenly... My best wishes to everyone who will be banded soon. And to Shelby, I think you picked one of the best surgeons in the area. He is a great technician, and his bedside manner is impeccable. His office was able to schedule me as soon as two weeks after my insurance approval came through. I had to postpone a week due to travel schedule and trying to fit in the pre-op testing and office visit. B

mbsbike2002 - Scheduled for 10:00a on Tuesday, August 14...

MissNilsa, Alexanda, and Pemy, Good luck on your surgeries tomorrow! Looks like Nana and I will be following all of you on Tuesday! B

Hi Clara Mae, Looks like we don't live too far from you - we live on Hwy 205 about half-way between FM 552 and Hwy 78. I'm not sure about the cough - today I didn't take either my decongestant or my cough suppressant, and I haven't been nearly as congested, and only coughed once or twice. I wonder if I have been having a rebound effect from the meds, which has been making the problem worse. I'll have to keep an eye on it tomorrow. If I don't feel up to surgery on Tuesday, I'll push it back. It might cost $250 for canceling so late, but at least I won't be worried about getting sick or hurting my band. Congratulations on your upcoming banding. Does Bryce use Lake Pointe? It seems like a pretty nice hospital - very new. Although my doc doesn't require a pre-op diet, I have been drinking Protein shakes for most of the past week or so, if for no other reason to get used to having that as my only food. Good luck... B