giveyouthemoon

Ow. I think I poked too far. Wait...no....now that feels good. How peculiar.

Pam....clearly only you and me are receiving the "special" transmissions.....do you have the decoder for todays missive?? lol!

Not as sick as me.....I was looking at all of these terribly sad pictures....then I see the family pic....and all I can think now is...."wow....Paula's husband is HOT". Go Paula!!! And I'm sorry for all the hassle ya'll have gone through. Many blessings and prayers headed your way.

DeLarla...you are clearly the leader of this rag tag race of bandsters....I shall put on my foil hat and await your next transmission. Over and out.

Hey Heather! I got my band from the same place. Dr. Cirangle did mine but I like Dr. Feng a lot...he's got a great bedside manner!! Congrats on your band and congrats on your success so far!!!

I was self pay in the US. Same thing for me, I got scheduled in very fast. I could have done it within a week but chose to wait a month just to be sure this was something I truly wanted to do.

Egad....that thought never EVEN crossed the minds of anyone near to me. Pretty much if you have a male boss and say you are having "female issues" they don't want to hear anything more.

I just told my boss I needed the time off, said it was for a minor surgery, "you know....female stuff...I'd rather not go into it" and kind of waved my hands in the direction of my uterus. He couldn't approve it fast enough and didn't want to hear. Then upon my return I told people that I'm lo carbing it. People really got on board when I told them I was dieting. I said "well, since the surgery, my doctor suggested I should lose some weight." If they press you on the "woman stuff" surgery just shrug and say "well, I'd rather not talk about it....it was just some clean up work" or something similar. You don't have to feel pressured into telling ANYONE. The trick is to seem confident in your answers and not like you're trying to cover anything up. No one has to know. No one at my work knows and I like it that way.

Well....I was self pay, but like you I have no support system. I live 1200 miles from my parents and wouldn't tell them anyway about this surgery. My bf of seven years broke up with me last year and I've no one I'm really close to in the area. I had to ask my doctor if there were issues with me doing this alone and caring for myself afterward alone. He said no. The only issue was that someone had to drive me home from the hospital (due to residual anesthesia). I paid for a plane ticket for my sister to come down for a couple days but she had to get back home to her twin boys. She got there the day I was released from the hospital. I did the rest of it all on my own. It can be done alone. However, if insurance is basing a decision on THAT (which I think is absurd), then my name is Karen and tell them I'm your best pal and I'll be there for you from start to finish. Yeppers, I'm your support network. Any other "best friends" around here? Betcha you've got a ton of us who you can honestly say are your support team. Go get 'em, tiger.

The band isn't a "magic fix". You don't get the band and the weight automatically falls off. Some people stay very dedicated the whole way, eat correctly, don't fall into mushy syndrome and they lose everything they need to. Others lose some along the way, get lax about what they eat, are happy to have something off and end up not going the distance. Every band patient begins with the POTENTIAL to lose 100% of their weight. But it is up to each person to decide how they are going to go. Good luck with your decisions!

I wanted a lower goal weight, I want 150, I've been there and I look good there. However my dr talked me out of it. He only wants me to have a BMI of 25 which is high end of "normal" (whatever "normal" means). So we agreed on 160. We'll see how I feel when I get there and if I'm still motovated then I'll probably continue on to 150.

Whoa!!!! Hot mama! That color is beautiful on you!!!! WOWOWOWOW!!

Lololololol!! Oh god I'm sorry to laugh but I guess I just know how *pitiful* I feel in full PB mode so I can ONLY imagine how awful that must have been. At least you've kept your sense of humor about it! Those dang pictures from the rides are never that attractive anyway...but DAMN...you set a new high point on that!!! lol!!!!

Yup, me too. All five are horizontal. The port scar is still sizable but the other four are becoming dots.

Avenue "denim lite" are THE most comfy jeans I've ever owned. I keep buying new pairs in a size down as I lose. They are light weight, stretchy, comfy. Since they stretch they run a tad large so it may be just the right fit in a 14 for you. I wear the "boot cut" with my fave Frye boots and it looks great. You can get them in petite, average and tall lengths too. (oh and you can buy online and return in store if you want)

As Jack said, everyone has to make their own decision for themselves. I discovered in my dr's support meetings that for a lot of people the idea of cutting and removing part of the stomach mattered not at all to them. To me that was a big, big deal. Choices. The RNY patients in the group often chide me because they say my LB decision isn't permanent, that I'm not committed. I just smile at them. Who cares what they think, really? I made my choice. I've lost 50 lbs in four months. Good choice IMHO.

1) I do drink on occasion and I find it takes FAR less alcohol to get me loopy. I drink martinis, whiskey on the rocks, red and white wine and sometimes a margarita (too much sugar!). I mean one drink and I'm feeling fine. It's crazy but I like it! 2) I can eat some salad but VERY slooooooowly and it fills me up way too much so I have to be careful if I'm having salad before my entree. 3) I get hiccups all the time. I get them when I'm not eating. I very often get them after I've eaten and something is sort of kind of stuck but I stopped eating and it's working itself out. I also get them just sitting around. I've always been prone to hiccups but it's MUCH worse now with the band.

Okay, but here's the difference.....silicone implants are in liquid form. They have to be replaced due to concerns of leakage and breakage. The band is in solid form and as such isn't held to the same replacement worries. It is an inert object to the body and as such is meant to last a very, very long time (as in longer than the human). This from my surgeon in our first consultation (I had the same question).

Visualize that movie "Norma Rae" where Sally Field is standing there with the sign over her head. Only her sign says "eat healthy". You are strong. You are a warrior. You are in command. You. Are. A. FIGHTER. Now get in there champ! And don't come back to the corner until you've won the round.

OMG that happens to me EVERY time. It's gotten to the point where I just tell the gyno "I'm stuck on the paper" and she holds it down while I peel myself off. Being fat does really suck in the whole "sweaty" department.

Wowowowowowow.....those things are WAY smaller than they appear to be in the first photo!!! I figured they were MUCH larger....I've been searching the net all night.....god I have no life. Glad we worked THAT one out! My head hurts............

Yup, big gurgles over here too. VERY embarassing. I usually just laugh, shrug and say "sorry!" I find I'm SUPER gurgly when I've eaten and something is kinda sorta semi stuck, not so much to make me PB, but enough for me to cease eating. Then as I wait it out....gurgle city in my belly.

Hey! Where in New Mexico are you going? I was just up at Angel Fire. It SNOWED!!!! It was soooo beautiful. I grew up there. Have fun in my home state!!!

Sending good vibes to you and your band and I have a feeling you just overdid it and it will all settle back in. It just will. Cuz I said so. Hang tough, girl.

I just got back from a vacation and not only did I fly, I was at my friend's codo at 9000 feet up in the New Mexico mountains. Wow did I have awesome restriction. Only PB'd once because I had to get REALLY careful. Last time this happened to me, after a day or two, the "old" level of restriction returned. Sad day. So yes it happens, your own little internal barometer...but it will go away.