giveyouthemoon

I know what you mean Parvathi. I have a local larger ladies store that has EVERYTHING I need in there from underwear to great stylish clothes to shoes to accessories, to nightgowns. I LOVE that store. Dang near everything in my closet is from there and I know the day is going to come (not there yet, not by a long shot) that I won't be able to shop there anymore. That I'll have to go out into the world of the skinny people with boutique shops that aren't as easy and comfortable as this one place. It kind of scares me. But for now....girl.....YAY ON YOUR WONDERFUL NSV!!!! You've done amazing work and though it's kind of sad, it's also amazing!

I waaaaay over here in San Francisco and my surgery was done by the good doctors at Laparoscopic Associates of San Francisco. The greatest part is California Pacific Medical Center has a wing dedicated to weight loss surgery only. They have large gowns, wide wheelchairs, and a staff VERY familiar with every one of the types of surgery. It was AMAZING! And the facility is beautiful, my room looked out on to the Golden Gate Bridge, like a post card. However, this would be quite a hike from Tenessee. Oh and the cost went like this, $6500 for the surgeon, $6500 for the hospital and $1000 for the anesthesiologist. $14k total including one year of fills.

Well that's one of the great things about this site...we can be so....honest. I guess I'm surprised to hear you didn't get shaved. I also thought that was normal. In the spirit of sharing too much, I have a little bit of baby fine hair on my tummy and THAT got shaved. And yes, the nicked nipple of bobalooey is now legendary. Read and weep: http://lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=8033

Jack and JohnQPublic come to mind right away. Yes, there are a lot of women here but there are some men as well. Welcome to the LBT!!!

I told my dentist simply because he's one of the physicians responsible for my health and each health care practitioner should know everything they are dealing with.

Whew!!! So glad to hear it!! Now, go forth and be a good little bandster girl!

ebonysilk - I'm a little worried about you. You are just days from surgery and it seems you are unfamiliar with how a lapband works. I hope you know what you are getting into. What makes a lapband work is filling the inner part with saline to give restriction to the stomach. And finding the exact right level of fill is a guessing game. It usually takes several rounds of fills and often an unfill or two to get to the 'sweet spot' where you have good restriction but aren't so tight you can't eat or drink Water. Having trouble with a fill like described in this thread is the exception and not the rule. Don't let this scare you. I'm sure you are having BIG scary thoughts being days out from surgery. So what else is on your mind? Let us help walk you through it!! Oh and good luck!!

Biotin. Available at any Health food Store. If you aren't seeing hair loss in the brush or shower, then I'd suggest maybe trying a new shampoo because sometimes hair can get buildup and a change is all that is needed.

Girl, this is huge. This entails walking with your head held high and THAT is intoxicating. Heck I look every man AND woman in the eye. It makes me feel great to even get a smile from a fellow gal, like we're in it together or something. And yeah, looking a man in the eyes and getting a look back is a great confidence boost. Just don't look *too* long cuz the creepy ones will get the wrong idea. lol!!!

Girl...you are too tight. Usually a fill feels okay right at first then gets tighter as it "settles in". If you are having this much trouble right now...yeah, girl, get a bit of an unfill. Hang in there banded friend!!!!

Wow, can't believe I missed this party. Wow. So glad I found this thread because I think this type of stuff needs to be discussed. I am a woman who has spent so much of her life hiding behind a thick wall of fat thinking herself unbeautiful, unlovable. If I can lose some weight and regain a sense of my sexual self, then the lapband has been a little miracle. I dislike censorship in all it's forms. I appreciate that this has been moved and labeled and that it wasn't deleted outright. Props to the mods and owner of the site for allowing it to stay. Oh and DeLarla, you have mail. (edited to say: when I saw the label "adult content" what thread do you think I couldn't click fast enough? lol!)

This, to me, is one of the greatest things EVER. I'm fairly warm blooded and being so overweight, I was always hot and just a little movement and I was ALWAYS sweaty. I actually went to the mall the other day, usually a HUGE sweat fest for me, and I only sweat a little. My cheeks still got flushed but there wasn't Water pouring off of me. YAY! That is a HUGE NSV in my world!! And I have noticed I seem to get cold easier too. Wow. That 40 lb blanket I've thrown off sure did keep me too warm!!

Is that ALL you are having in a day? No wonder you are going nuts! Drink more! Blend some soup! Try cream of potato, it's wonderful with extra milk blended in and all those carbs will kick you RIGHT out of ketosis. Have some strained hot and sour soup! Get creative! And drink more!! Sheesh girl, you gotta take care of yourself!!! Also, for ketosis to get that deep says to me you might even be a skosh dehydrated if you can believe it. Liquids help drop the ketosis levels. And so do carbs. Have some.

Yes! This is very important. Your esophagus is inflamed which will lead to more PB's. It becomes a viscious cycle! Since you just got a fill last week you need to slooooow things down girl. Go mushies at least for a few days. Also...eating with a fill is a WHOLE other experience. What worked before doesn't work now. Go slow, try new food. See what works and what doesn't. Sounds to me like you have good restriction. Once you get those white flour refined carbs out of your diet you'll watch the pounds drop off!

Ask your doctor specifically if you have to do liquids pre-op. Did you get a pre-surgery packet of information? It would be in there or else call the office and check. Not all doctors require it. Mine didn't. I chose to do it for three days prior to "get the hang of it" going into surgery. Just check with the doc to be sure! And good luck on your upcoming band!! Whoo hooo!!

puddinpie if you let the potential "rough stuff" manage your life, you'd never do anything fun. Like drive a car....or swim....or go to baseball games. You get the picture? Yeah, I'm here to testify...a PB is NO FUN. *however*...it's something that is under my control. So while it sucks, I know better now how to prevent them. I've had two really bad ones and one medium bad one. It's been now a week and half since my last one and now I recognize the first "pinch" and I stop. Put food down. Wait. A PB is not a reason to avoid getting an amazing little band! I've lost 40 lbs since June. It's AAAAALLLL good!!

Margo, if my drs gave me money back I think I'd pass out! My doctors know how to take it, but give it back? Nah. I think that's a great sign of an honest practice! Yay you!! (I say stash the $300 to buy you some new smaller size clothes!!)

Go here for reference and brace yourself. http://lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=9465

Those things are EVIL! For my surgery my sister came to visit, knowing full well I couldn't eat and she bought those. I was like "feh! She'll just eat them and that's that." No, she left have a container in my freezer. You know if you hold a Dib in your mouth long enough...they turn to liquid? Yeah they do....and the cooool was nice on my healing tummy. They go down TOO easy. Rattin' smattin' Dibs.

Landry's Dad, do you have a fill yet? I didn't have any sort of PB until I got a fill. I had a couple "oh that didn't go down quite right" but I was so open and able to eat everything before my fill. After the fill I got too over confident and WHOA BABY. Had two really bad PB's in two days (the kind that ended in barfing. NOT good.) You know what, be glad you haven't had one. But I will agree that I learned a HELL of a lot from PB'ing. Now I stop *right away* when I get that little pinch feeling so that I don't get to the "I'll never eat again" feeling. It's bad. Real bad.

My band is named Katrinka. I got this from Jack calling his band a "little silicone fist". I visualize her like a little Russian ballerina. Delicate, powerful. And when I PB'd a week ago, petulant and stamping her little foot "nyet!" lol. Okay, I'm a writer so of course I had to give her a whole story. I also mourn food. I wish when I was bored I could just eat. It was always a great way to pass the time. I wish when I was sad I could eat and eat lots. For some reason that oh so full feeling always gave me comfort. But I cannot and some days I reel in desperation. But I've learned that this is a day by day process. Today it may go easy, tomorrow the roughest thing I've known. I learn. And slowly I'm breaking that bond I had to food. It was a friend for a lot of years, but it was a bad friend. It made me feel good for a few moments then turned on me and made me feel bad, very bad. And you know what, I deserve a better friend than that. And her name is Katrinka.

My doctor didn't require liquids before surgery either but I did it for three days prior to get into the flow. If your doctor told you to do liquids THEN LISTEN TO YOUR DOCTOR!! He may see something in your test results that lead him to believe this is important. Liquids only is rough duty but you have to gut it out, literally. Make sure you are always sipping on something. Just keep the liquids going nonstop, it's the only way to survive. Strained hot and sour Soup, egg drop soup and other strained or blended creamy Soups will be more hearty and stick with you longer. This is your life we are talking about here. You are about to have surgery...meaning you are going to allow someone who is damn near a stranger to open you up and place a foreign object in your body. This is not a walk in the park. This is big stuff! You gotta ask yourself if you are really willing to do this because having the band isn't an easy fix. It takes WORK. If you don't want to work for it then might I suggest RNY. Because my doctors told me that the key difference between a band and RNY is the level of effort the banded person has to apply to make it work. It's time to step back and take stock. If it's too hard now I can promise it's not going to get easier later. The six weeks I was on liquids after banding were *tough* but I did them because I want my band to work. Okay, I'm done with my tough love for today.

Well for one....reduced pay. For two, no guarantee your job will be there when you come back. For three....scads of paperwork.

cissy, my company has the exact same policy, just five consecutive days off. I ended up taking seven work days off. But I have a very understanding boss and he let me book the five sick days all in one lump and then book the other two at a later time. Just ask, if your boss is understanding this shouldn't be a problem.

WHOOOOOO HOOOOOO!!! Does a huge happy dance for you!!! Congrats on your amazing success!