steph_co

Dr Thomas Brown Lowry Surgical Center Denver, CO self-pay

:clap2::whoo:

In addition to what Wendell said, caffeine is a diuretic. It can make it harder for your body to hold on to fluid. Dehydration isn't good for anybody.

It sounds like emotional abuse to me, but you've already said your peace. DH would never say anything like that - in fact, he was appalled. Some people can deal with being talked to like that, some can't. I wouldn't. Everybody has different relationships, I guess.

I just wanted to say that the doctor in question is in the UK. I could have sworn they spoke english there...what language barrier?

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory makes kick-ass chocolate-covered Twinkies.

I wasn't saying that YOUR surgeon does fills before two weeks. I'm going on the indication that he would do a fill AT two weeks? Yikes. That's what had me worried. Not to mention the no post-op diet. After reading and researching, I'd be scared to death to not have a post-op diet. Even the maker of the Lap Band (Allergan) recommends a post-op diet. I'm just shocked that your doc is being so lax. Do you know how many bands total that your doc has placed? Does he have any stats on his own failure rate?

I would have gone crazy in the hospital. I don't like being there at all. I was begging to leave 2 hours after my surgery was over. So, yes - lucky on the pain (I'm so jealous); not so lucky on the hospital stay. I probably would have needed to get laid upon getting out, too! LOL

That much is obvious with your less than a day wait time after banding. LOL I think that's great, though. If I hadn't been in pain, I think it would have been about the 2nd or 3rd day. Of course, it didn't help that DH was doing his best to frustrate me.

Well, rather than just NOT talking about your body in front of her, maybe it would do her good to hear her mom say good things about her body. I know as women, there are a severe shortage of good role-models that teach girls to LOVE their body as is. Kids hear everything we say and will carry it on into their adult lives. I said something about my body in front of the little girl of a friend of mine and she repeated it to several people. OMG, I was mortified. LOL Don't feel like a bad mom. What were the negative messages YOU got growing up? It's just time to figure out a way to turn them around and use them for good instead of evil.

Exactly one week and even that was sheer torture. WTF with the 4 weeks??

This is an excellent thread to read about "issues": http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f17/why-you-fat-5223/ I honestly don't think that EVERYBODY has them. I do. But I'm willing to accept that not everybody does.

I didn't realize I had a fear to be thin until the night before my surgery at 1 o'clock in the morning! You are way further ahead than I was mentally. Be grateful for that - you can start your work now. Knowing that I have that fear has made me realize WHY I have sabotaged myself so much in the past - so now I can get a grip on it and find other things to do with my time. It's interesting that one of my hobbies used to be eating and I'm not all that interested in it right now - mostly because I know I physically cannot do that to myself anymore. I plan on going to see a counselor, but already the realization and help from the band is changing my view on the world of food. You can do this! Think of all the things you can do with your time when you're not eating. I plan on learning the guitar (getting one for Christmas) and I got a page-a-day calendar that teaches origami. Anything I could think of that would just keep me busy. I was scared of saying goodbye to food, too. But you know, I'm already thinking of new ways to cook things or make things so that they are acceptable to my new way of eating. It's making me be creative. And with all the money I'm saving from not eating out constantly, I should be able to buy that new wardrobe as I get skinny! Heck, now that I'm thinking of it, I think that's a great idea - I'm going to put about $40/week into a savings account because that's about what I'd spend eating out...then I can take that money and buy new clothes. Think of everything you'll be able to do in your new, healthy, skinny, easier to move body! It's exciting. We're all here for you! I know you can do this!

In the morning on my way home from work. I work at night 6p-6a, so my schedule is reverse from most. So I guess it would be that I get hungry at "night." LOL I drink my last protein shake about 2am and try not to drink anything else after 3am or I spend the time that I SHOULD be sleeping running to the bathroom. I start getting hunger twinges about 5am.

I had to LOL at the story about the band and you having to hand-deliver it yourself. Good heavens. I'm glad the hospital decided to cooperate. Sounds like an adventure altogether! I, too, find it easier to resist temptation. Isn't the band great?

Banded on the 15th and feeling pretty good. I still have a *little* bit of the run-down feeling, but it gets better everyday. My port site almost feels normal...it was giving me the most grief.

Yay! Good luck to everybody! I'm excited for you! Keep us updated on your progress!

Here's a post you guys can truly appreciate: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f99/beauty-only-skin-deep-45817/#post634297 I'm having a hard time not saying anything just because it's INSANE that a doctor would do that to somebody, but I am a newbie, so maybe I should shut my trap.

:faint:This boggles the mind. I read and re-read and I'm still having a tough time wrapping my brain around it. NOBODY gets a fill within the first two weeks. If their doctor gave them a fill that early, I'd say he/she deserves to be sued for malpractice! I know that some doctors fill earlier than this: but Allergan (maker of Lap Band) recommends not doing any fills before SIX WEEKS. This allows your body time to get used to the band, allows your body to heal inside the stomach and outside, and lets you adjust to new eating guidelines. I'd say eating a regular diet too soon can cause great risk for slippage! If you don't mind my asking - how many Lap Bands has your surgeon placed? I can't believe your doc didn't set you on a post-op diet. Did you even meet with a nutritionist??

LOL!! I am so right there with you on that one. Poor DH. Before I started the pre-op diet, I told him that I'd likely be insane and to not take anything I say personally. haha As for mini-goals. Well, I'm going by BMI some of the time or a number or a size. Depending on what I feel is reasonable. I'm not setting dates yet because I'm not technically in the losing phase yet. But for instance, my first goal was to get from "severely obese" to just "obese." I'm there. It was only 10 lbs. My next goal will be to get to Onederland. I'm hoping by the end of the year since I hear the first month is usually the easiest to lose the weight and I haven't weighed myself in several days. After I get to Onederland, my next goal will be to go from "obese" to "overweight," which will be 191. Don't know what date I'll put on that. We'll see what my rate of loss is. Depending on how my loss goes, I may start to set a goal size instead of weight. We'll see as it goes along. If it were me, I'd set conservative goals because you'll be more likely to reach them and then if you over-reach them by your "due date," you can feel that much better about yourself. You just have to go by what your body is able to do.

I was also told 3 meals a day, no snacking. But lots of water in between meals.

Oh, whoops. Select "complaints" in the drop-down menu. The ACLU has sued for less.

OMFG!! I am former TSA, worked with them 18 months total and the treatment you got was WAY out of line. I'm looking for a consumer complaint number or website or email for you. They stress over and over and over customer service, so what happened to you is SO WRONG. I have worked in 4 different airports (Salt Lake Int'l, Grand Junction, Telluride and Aspen), so it's not like my airport was just weird. In the future, do not even bring up the band if you beep. It may have been something else that caused you to beep, but because you drew attention to it, that's what they focused on. And, NOOOOOO, a male is to NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER wand a female. If one starts to wand you, you tell them you want a FEMALE screener, or that you need to see a screening manager NOW. There are only RARE exceptions for opposite sex wanding and those are in airports out in the boonies of Alaska, for instance where there may only BE two male screeners working the whole lane. If the wand beeps on the port, then all they have to do is pat that area. Then just say, "I have a port under my skin for medical injections." That's all they need to know. They'll be able to tell by patting OVER THE CLOTHING that it's not a knife. They do NOT need to see bare skin. OMG, who the hell trained these people? And I do want to give one more note about those medical cards that people carry. Something that you get to understand from reading SSI documents that are passed down from the CIA, FBI, whatever, is that terrorists will use whatever they can to conceal what they need to get the job done. All they would have to do then, is get a severe break to the leg (you think they wouldn't go that far? THINK AGAIN...I've seen pure craziness in security briefs that you wouldn't even imagine!), get some pins/screws/plates in there. Let it get all healed up, then strap a gun down there. Wala! "Oh, I have a card. I don't have a weapon and you don't need to search me." You gotta think like a criminal, I guess. It's a sad, scary world we live in. Here: TSA | Transportation Security Administration PLEASE complain away. I am not kidding. You may think this gets nowhere, but when it's about a specific airport, they generally get slapped on the hand. If you ever have a problem with a particular screener, then you need to get that screener's name so that you can put it in the complaint. Make sure when you do the complaint that you put in the time and date that you were there so they can pinpoint what shift it was. Somebody needs some major retraining. This kind of stuff makes me SO angry because it shone a really bad light on the GOOD people in TSA (who I happened to be one of).

Could you tell me where you found this information? I'm not being argumentative, I seriously want to know. I couldn't find anything supporting that statement. I found FDA approval for STUDIES back in 2005 which would include banding selected teens: Newswise Medical News | FDA Approval to Study Safety of Gastric Banding Surgery on Teens And then I found a hospital in California that is working on specializing in the field of teenage gastric-banding: Putting the squeeze on fat with new weight-loss surgery for teen - Lucile Packard Children's Hospital It says in that article that: I just would think that would be a big announcement - FDA approving Lap Band for teens. Heck, approval for the J&J band seemed to be big news, I just imagine I would have seen something. When I was researching the band, I remember 18 being the minimum age.

I had that feeling like I had to carry my belly around just to keep that pulling feeling away. Yes - it hurt. I want to say that around 5 days post-op, that pulling feeling subsided for the most part. I took Vicodin up until about 8 days post-op (only one when the pain was unbearable while I was working days 4-8 post-op), but mostly just because parts of my job are physical and getting in and out of a vehicle so much wasn't helping. I'm now 10 days post-op and the port site is FINALLY starting to feel "normal." It twinges a little in the morning and when I'm getting in and out of the patrol vehicle, but feels fine most of the time.