Cocoabean

Oops, my last two lines got mixed up!

I don't swim in the ocean, eihter. Especially here, the Water temp is in the low to mid sixties. Too cold for my old butt! Any distraction from food is good. Go to various meetings. They can be different. I also found there were different varieties of OA. I went to one that was very "militant" for lack of a better word. I had to call my sponsor each day at a certain time with my food plan and essay answers. This did not work for me, as I was doing shift work as an air traffic controller and could not guarantee that I could be at the phone at the same time each day. That program was also for people like you for whom carbs are their addiction. I was not ready for that. They had a very strict food plan that had to be followed. They would not accept a plan set forth by a nutrtionist if it contained their "bad foods." sorry, I can't remember their term for them. Basically sugar, white four, rice, and a few other things. There was another OA variety here where you state your addiction food and go from there. Much better. But as I generally HATE making phone calls, reporting to a sponsor in general is not my thing, but I am not sure that was requred from the second program. My point? Keep searching, you will find it! So, that program and I parted ways.

Elfie! Well done. And yes, beach. September and October are our warmest months. It turns out, this weekend is a particularly warm one. Nice! 12 step programs are wonderful. If you can identify your addiction, I believe it can work well as an addtion to the band to get your eating under control. I look to LBT and this thread in particular as my support system. My surgeon has support meetings, but he is about 40 minutes from my home and his meetings don't start until 6:30pm, go for an hour and half. I am up at 5:20am for work. No way that will happen, i'd get home too far past my bedtime.

My surgeon stopped my meds just before my surgery. Now my bp runs 90/60. Mine was never way high to begin with.

Shad, I have urped on a cruise ship, no fun! You are wise to not get an aggressive fill just before you go. Elfie, you made me spit on my computer! Lauging with you, of course!! I've had the backsplash in a public toilet, never in the motorhome, wah! Karen! Good to see you! Man, if we were good at behavior modification, we'd not have needed bands. Gotta love it. I just came from the periodontist's office. Doing well. He said I am not 100% healed, no kidding? :biggrin: I don't have to go back for two whole weeks. After that, two months. Then they do an x-ray to check on the bone graft. I am thinking I am going to pass on the implant. This has been just so much fun, NOT! I haven't noticed much difference from my latest fill, perhaps a little bit more restriction. This is better than too much restriction. Anyway, we are going to the beach this weekend, yay! Butters is very much looking forward to it.

Elfie, I love your exercise routine!!! I think the idea to postpone the fill is a good one! Would be a total drag to have troubles while on vacation. I've had to postpone 2 fills due to vacations. I'd rather be a bit hungrier than stuck on a trip! Oh, and I did get stuck while we were driving in our motorhome once. Ever try urping into a moving toilet???? Yeah, that was WAY fun. I knew better than to eat a croissant!

Insurance companies do vary. You might be able to find someone here who has the same insurance as you and can give you some insight. There are people who have complications with the band. This site has a complications forum you might want to peruse. The band makers' web-sites also have information about complications. Banded life is not all moonbeams and roses. Getting food stuck is no fun. Being over-filled is no fun. An over-fill is temporary, but miserable, fixed by a trip to your doctor to adjust the fill level. Erosions occur, slippages occur. They are rare, but they happen. Getting food stuck is a constant threat. You must always be aware of what you are eating, take small bites, and chew very well. Even doing these things does not guarantee you won't get stuck. Whenever I eat in a group, I am concerned that I will get stuck and not be able to get away without causing a show. It hasn't happened yet, it's been over 2 1/2 years. There might be some foods you will never be able to eat without getting stuck. I have said good-bye to bagels and breast meat chicken. But, the pros far outweigh these cons for me. I am off blood pressure meds, my cholesterol is normal, my BMI is normal, my blood sugar is still slightly elevated, but has not proceeded to diabetes. I went from a tight size 18W to a size 10. I don't regret my decision. Keep posting and reading. There is lots of information here!

Hi and welcome! You do understand that you'll most likely need fills to reach proper restriction in the band, right? Without restriction the band doesn't do much for controlling hunger. Do you have a doctor set up for fills or will you be returning to Mexico? You might want to set up a fill location before having your surgery, just to have your ducks in a row. Some U.S. doctors will not perform fills on patients banded outside of the states.

Hi and welcome! Any surgery has risks. So does obesity. Only you can decide if the risk of surgery is worth the trade off of the advatage of having the band help you to fight off the hunger and be satisfied with less food. Find out if the bariatric surgeons have support groups where you can speak to patients who have had the procedure done. A good surgeon will not try to sell you on a surgery, but will be wanting to help you to improve your health. Go to more than one seminar. During the seminar the surgeon should tell you what the risks are. He or she should fully explain possible complications. Take notes. Write down questions. There should be a question/answer session during the seminar. Also, ask questions here. There is a lot of knowledge here. Along with lots of experience. Best wishes!

Christie, aint that the way??? Happens to me, too. Except for me, I just ponder a fill and I get "tighter than a crab's buttocks." For me, the mesh "fell" out of my mouth today. Aaahhhh...wonderful! Much better. I can now say that I am on the mend. The canker is about healed, and the pain nearly gone. Boy, I never want to go through that again. Band surgery was easier than this! Man, it sure seems like all I have done this year is complain. What a wimp! sheesh So, I am ready for some good times, yeah! I am due to head to Atlanta, GA in October for a meeting. I don't seem to travel well lately, so here's hoping! :thumbup: Edited to say: Ok, I have never traveled well, all the way back 20 years to my honeymoon, 103 degree fever, flu, blah. Had bronchitis on a cruise, had my appendix out in Florida, a cold in Hawaii. Recently, the sinus infection in New Orleans that led to the c.diff. infection. I should lock myself in my house and never leave!

Good morning all! Bob, that smiley face T-shirt pic makes me grin. There is so much contradiction in it. You've done so well. You deserve nothing but the best! Go on wit yer bad self and get the PS and be grrreat! Leigha, yay on the run! Enjoy it! If you enjoy your wine, which I know you do, it could be worth carrying a few 'extra' pounds. It's all about balance. If you can't do things you truly enjoy in life, maybe it isn't worth it. Unless the 'cost' is just too high. Does that make sense? Bluntly, maybe you should raise your goal weight a tad so that you can enjoy your wine. Loads of studies show wine is good for us. It's a trade off, a couple of pounds for a couple of glasses. Worth it to you? Crystl- Fist Bump for hurling in the bushes!!! :thumbup: (close as I could find!). I nearly did it again. We went to a fast food joint yesterday. I made a bad choice--not saying what!--and it became clear I made a bad choice. But one hell of a burp on the way home and all was right with the world....aaaaahhhhhh! And the burp was NON-productive. Yay! Eventhough my fill was the first week of the month, I am still adjusting to the new level of restriction as I have only had a few meals with solid food due to the whole tooth fiasco. You'd think I'd be down 10lbs by now, but oh noooooooooooooo! Must be the sliders I've been enjoying. I can say the canker sore has finally 'turned the corner' and is not nearly as bad. yippee!! Still minor pain from the bone graft area and the mesh that is in there to keep the gum away from the graft. The mesh comes out Thursday if I can stand leaving it in for that long. Doctor said he'd remove it Monday if I can't take it, but the longer it is in, the better for the bone graft. My mouth has now been in constant pain for one month. It all began August 19, right before we left on vacation. Happy Anniversary to me! blah! Note to all, take care of your teeth! :thumbup: Although the periodontist said this was not from lack of care. All the trouble was below the gum line.

If not on back or side, what did he say you COULD do? Stomach would put you sleeping on the incisions and twisting/pulling to get around and upright. I could not imagine that. Many do a recliner for a few nights. I was most comfy on my side with pillows hugged to my belly. The first night I had trouble getting back up into a sitting position, especially after the pain meds wore off. Hubby helped me out. After that night, I was sore, but OK.

It is not uncommon to need more than 2 fills before feeling restriction. I was on my 3rd before I felt anything. Keep following band rules and getting fills on schedule...restriction will come.

Hi Everyone, Sorry I was MIA. My snappy comeback to Christie: At least people weren't worried that I was DYING from the hiccups! I don't think anyone really noticed I was yakking into the bushes. That's my story and I am sticking to it! :thumbup: I had a horrid week. :scared2: It was a huge canker sore in my mouth. It was at the site of an injection during the oral surgery. Right at the upper inside edge of my jaw line at the back corner where the tooth was. It goes up into the roof of my mouth, near the soft palate. wah-wah. It is starting to get better now, but with the stitches and mesh put in to hold the gum away from the bone graft, added to my low pain threshold, it was all irritation enough to cause me significant pain all week. Then, work was doing end-of-year spending, where we go crazy to get rid of funds that are expiring. You have to love appropriated federal funds. If they have been appropriated for a particular fiscal year and they don't get spent, they expire, then the next year, as you didn't need those funds, your budget is reduced by that amount. There is no reward for working your budget to save taxpayers money. So, my manager spent it on things that will get used and not on crazy things, but dang, it is a ton of work and stressful keeping track of the fray to be sure we don't OVERSPEND. All while on painkillers for the oral surgery. I was reduced to tears on Thursday. The stitches were irritating my tongue, the canker sore hurt every time I swallowed or cleared my ears (this moves your soft palate!). It wasn't severe pain but constant pain. I am soooooo pitiful!

I can eat about 3" of a Subway sandwich. Sometimes the bread goes down, sometimes I use it as a handle and tear it off as I go. The choice of sandwich is up to you. It will depend on your "rules" from your surgeon/nutritionist, and your own experiences. I won't eat a meatball sub, because I tend to have a problem with hamburger. Also, it's too hard to take small bites of meatball sandwiches. Stuck food (bread or otherwise) feels like a rock sitting just under the sternum.

Ow! Christie, you made me laugh! Wah! Stacie, low BP sucks don't it? And they won't do anything for it, soy sauce, girl! Drink, drink, drink, fliuds are your friend, and be very careful when stading up! Melody, I have a black belt in karate, but don't practice now, too old, too slow, tai chi much better!

Welcome JoJo! I am in La Mesa too! This is a great place for support and questions.

Hey Melody, I fear being in a group while stuck and not being able to get away. Oh wait, that happened to me! In a jury box. After the lunch break, I was stuck, stuck, stuck, and sliming. I've told the story before. It was a high profile case here. At least I wasn't the defendant, but I sure felt like all eyes were on me! I've done more reading about the procedure I had done in my mouth. I don't think it is a canker sore. I think it is an area they cut away to use as a cover the graft area. But could be wrong. Either way, it hurts like the dickens, and I am a wimp when it comes to pain. Poor me. :thumbup:

Yes, my face deflated like a balloon. My crow's feet really show now. Not much can be done short of a face lift. Ah well!

Hey everyone! OK, here's a band story for you. As y'all know I've been eating fairly mushy stuff after my fill then my oral surgery, right? So, yesterday DH, Butters, and I took a drive up to Dana Point (a little beach town about an hour north of us) for lunch and to just get out of the house. We had lunch at a fish and chips place there. I picked the fish sandwich that I planned to deconstruct. First 'real' food in quite some time. Well, after a few bites...you guessed it, STUCK...crap So, I quit eating, burped a few times, one teeny PB, and all seemed OK. We decided to take a walk over to the beach from the marina....I felt FINE. We are walking along and all of a sudden I burp, and out comes a gusher of slime! No warning! No food! No noise! Just BAM! URP! BLOB! I had taken some napkins, just in case. Good thing I had a wad of napkins in my hand, and we happened to be walking by some bushes! Man, oh, man. What a mess! I had slime everywhere! Sheesh. I swear, when things go wrong, they go WRONG. Top it all off, my stitches came loose and were hanging down in my mouth really bugging me. When we got home I gave the biggest offender a li'l snip. Called doc today to fess up. They said it was OK and that others might come loose, also. Another one came out completely--on its own. Then a third became so loose it was hanging down my throat, so it got a little snip, too. What a relief to have most of them out! I still have a few remaining. But now, where they were hanging and being tugged all round I have a HUGE canker sore! So, my sad attempt at real food was a total flop! I am back to liquids/mushies. WAH...and yes, still GAINING! Go figure. :thumbup:

I have BCBS California HMO. For me it was a 20 minute chat about what I understand the surgery to be, as in what they were going to do, and what my expectations were. Also my medical and mental history were talked about. It was really not a big deal. A history of mental illness, or even ongoing depression (if being treated) will not disqualify you. I have seen some on here who did a questionaire, so it does vary some. Insurance paid for my visit. That is not always the case.

Angie, that is soooo cool, way to go! I had a small fill a couple of weeks ago. Then had gum surgery. Been on mushies for a while now. Not losing weight, but have also been on anitbiotics, too. So not sure what to make of it all.

I feel they do try to find every way they can to turn people down. Hoping that you will go away. I had to appeal just to see my surgeon. If you are denied, there will be instructions about the appeals process. Don't give up. It sounds as though you might have an appealable/grievable case. It will either be an appeal or a grievance. There is a difference, and I am not exactly sure what it is. I am hoping all goes well for you. You might start researching appeals just to give you something to concentrate on in the mean time. The book Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies has some good examples and there are some others online if you do a google search. Start gathering your records. If you have any Weight Watchers records or other diet attempts get those ready. It's good to have your ducks in a row. Keep us posted!!

Dottie, thanks for the good wishes. If it were me, I'd do the surgery sooner than later. I'd want it over with for one thing. Also, why go through the agony of finding your sweet spot only to lose it again? We know that yo-yo dieting isn't good for us, and this is no different. Each time we lose weight, we lose lean muscle. Why go through it a second time if you don't need to? You can go through physical therapy and getting fills back all at the same time. No matter how you do it, it is going to be torture. Why have it hanging over your head if your doctor says you are ready? There's my two cents. You will make the decision that is right for you, and we will be here to help you with support when it is over!

Yay Stacie! Getting off Obese Island is awesome. Buy something great! Melody, you are soooo right that liquid and mushie are not always low-cal. I also had the realization that due to all the pain killers I've been plugged up. So I am confident all will be right with the world as I heal up. Christie, I just wish the money were mine! Or that I at least got a finder's fee. It was in the budget at work. But since I work for the federal govt, it is my money, and your money! :-) but it did feel good to free it up for other uses. Yay me!