Fanny Adams

It's like you said in the Sexist thread, Watcher. Discrimination is more than just mean comments about your weight, just as sexism is more than making a comment about a woman's appearance. To be honest, I can't really think of a time when I've even heard a mean comment about my weight, let alone could really attribute discriminatory treatment to it. Then again, I'm 46 and didnt' start gaining weight until after I was 30, so I didn't get the mean treatment in school that some people suffered. I'm sure that happens here as much as anywhere. I have heard people being mean to others with weight problems, so I know we're not saints about it. The closest I've come to actual discrimination in terms of work or service, has been when I've worked on minesites. I was asked once at an interview if I felt I could handle the physical demands of the job - long hours, extremely hot climate, often a lot of walking/climbing many flights of stairs in the heat. I felt it was a "fair enough" question, as the conditions on site can be tough and some of the physical demands were right at my outer limit of ability, at my heaviest. I answered the question honestly (saying I know it would be tough at times, but I would be able to cope) and got the job anyway. At my latest site, I had problems with store-issued uniforms, as they didn't carry my size pants in their usual stock. It was embarrassing to have to give the store guys my size so they could order them in, but it was done, no other questions asked. I've never felt that "I'm invisible" feeling in a shop, then again, I've never really looked for it and I don't like being accosted by store attendants anyway, so wouldn't have noticed their attention being missing. I really can't say that I've witnessed a lot of true discrimination either. One of the few jobs that I can imagine it occurring in, would be women applying for jobs as a front office receptionist. A lot of male-run companies want eye candy on the front desk, but I've seen a lot of heavy women in the same companies in the back offices. I live in Perth, Western Australia, in case you were wondering.

HA! Your comments are the main reason I keep coming back to read! you crack me up! :tongue2:

*does Cat Stevens imitation* This thread will never die, this thread will NEVER DIIIIIIIIIEEEEE!!!

My doc says "be very careful for the next 2 days", but doesn't insist on liquids or mushies. For the first 3 fills, I went back to mushies for the rest of the day, then fine the next day. For fill 4, I did liquids for the rest of the day, mushies on day 2 and then back to normal. On the last fill, I PB'd on thick Soups that afternoon, was really ill all night, spent the next day on clears and never managed to get past thick liquids for the next 10 days, till I had half the fill removed. I think the injunction is mostly to make sure you are REALLY careful after a fill, as you never quite know what the restriction is going to be until you try it. I was shocked at PB'ing on the same soups that I had used on in my post-op phase without problem.

I considered that option but find baby food to taste gross. I tended to cook up a big pot of something mushie then put it all into 200ml containers and freeze it. With 2 or three different options in the freezer, dinner was just a matter of a quick microwave and voila!

In the 10cc and 14cc bands, I think that's pretty normal. I'm not sure about the older style 4cc bands. Mine is a 10cc and I started out with 2cc in it. Re not being hungry, my doc's advice is "if you're not hungry, don't eat!" It's amazing to feel that hunger daemon let go and to experience actually feeling "NOT hungry", isn't it?

Well done, Nena! That's awesome! Don't be in a hurry to get fills. If you're losing weight, you must be doing something right and banding doesn't have to mean living on a teaspoon a day! Go with the flow while it's working for you and leave the fills till the weight loss stops and the hunger starts to take control again. You'll appreciate them when you need them. Some people NEVER need a fill - who knows, you may be one of those lucky ones! Meantime, why fill the band up and risk making yourself uncomfortable when it is working? (If it ain't broke, don't fix it!)

Sorry but if that costume offends you so much, then yeah, you are a little on the conservative side, especially given the girl apparently didn't even bare the midriff but wore a shirt beneath the tie up.

I have many of the things already mentioned but my favourite is a huge zip lock back of pre-cooked, semi-peeled jumbo prawns in my freezer (you guys call em shrimp). When I can't think of anything else for dinner, I'll grab 4-6 of those and chuck em in a non-stick wok with whatever veges I have on hand and different flavoured sauces - instant stirfry.

If your doctor has approved you for "normal" foods, my advice is this: Stay away from the Protein drinks, Soups and slider foods and eat more lean meat and fresh green vegetables. The soft foods and liquids are very important in the healing phase, as you don't want your stomach to be churning a lot to digest more solid food, but once you have healed, they are the antithesis of what banding is supposed to do for you. Liquids and soft foods will slide right through your band, especially in the early stages before you've had fills and start to get restriction. You will find yourself being very hungry, because the food isn't sitting in your pouch, slowly trickling through over a period of hours, as it should. When you eat lean meats and fresh vegetables, you need to be very careful, cut it up into tiny pieces (pencil eraser size!) and chew every mouthful to absolute mush or liquid - no lumps! This type of food still has enough fibre and solidity to sit in your pouch and give you that "full" feeling, but if chewed fine enough will slowly trickle through, making the feeling last. Don't worry so much about portions at this point. You haven't got full restriction yet, so 1/4 - 1/2 cup measures might not satisfy you. Allow yourself to go up to 1 cup at each meal if you need it, but eat slowly and chew thoroughly. As restriction kicks in with each fill, the portion sizes will naturally come down. In my opinion, the worst thing you can do for yourself AFTER healing, is to prolong the liquid/mushie stages too long, which leave you hungry and fighting the urge to snack and get you into the habit of opting for slider foods. It actually takes quite a lot of lean meat and veges to go over a 1000-1200 cal a day limit, but it is very easy to do on soft slider foods. If you fill yourself with good nutritious food, you won't have to fight hunger so much and you will have more willpower available to fight head hunger and bad temptations. It is a self-fulfilling approach - eat soft and easy foods and you will get hungrier and eat more, eat the more "difficult" foods and you will be less hungry and more able to make the right choices. Disclaimer: Every doctor has different ideas about how long you should spend at the liquid/mushie/soft/normal food stages. 2 weeks is quite quick to be given open rein again. Introduce every new food very carefully, make sure you really concentrate on tiny bites and chewing - you do NOT want to be PB'ing at this stage in your healing.

Crossing all crossable bits for ya, Damo! Hope it all works out - good luck!

You're doing brilliantly Cherry! Is that 40kg just since the op in Jan, or does it include a lengthy pre-op time. Impressive either way! My 32kg is counting from the start of my pre-op on 1st Dec, with the op on the 10th Dec. You're kicking my butt! Go girl!

I know what you mean. At my heaviest, I was still squeezing into my Aus size 22/24's (US 18/20's) but that was because everything I owned in those sizes was stretch fitted elastic material and I pushed it up the the boundaries. I should have been wearing at least a size or two larger. I've only just stopped wearing most of them, but some I can still get away with, without looking too baggy. I've really noticed the difference in my work clothes, as they are heavy denim/cotton with no stretch in them at all. I was forced to go up to a 127cm waist (dunno what that is in "sizes", maybe a 28/30 Aus, 24/26 US?) in pants because I couldn't stretch the smaller ones. I'm now down to a 107cm waist but really should be wearing the 102cms as these are too big (but it's my second set in 6 months, so will work with them till these fall off). I've gone shopping for new clothes and a LOT depends on the material and the cut. I'm about an 18 Aus (14 US) in dress pants but my old 16 Aus (12 US) jeans are also loose as anything. At the same time, I can still get away with my 22 elastic waist pants. Topwise, I've gone from a 3XL in workshirts to an XL.

Well done for doing the smart thing and having some taken out. PB'ing regularly is a great way to cause slips! I had the same problem after my last fill but only battled with it for 10 days before I made the decision to get half of the last fill removed. I do feel less restriction now but at least I'm not chucking up all the time - that was HORRIBLE!! I would have had it out sooner, but I work on the mines and was stuck at work - had it removed the day I got home! I lost 3.5kg in those 10 days, which is gratifying on the scale but too fast for my liking. My weight loss did stall for the next 3-4 weeks, but I think it was because the 3.5kg wasn't lost fat, but just being dehydrated, so that as I re-hydrated afterwards, the continuing fat loss was disguised by the Water regain. I'm now back to losing at my 1-1.5lb per week, which is a rate I'm comfortable with. It will be a while before I go for another fill - I did NOT like that too tight feeling one little bit.

Good luck to all the new bandits getting done today - it's gotta be a good day for it, it's my birthday!

Hi JustaGirl, I was banded with Dr Watson in December 07. I'll send you my email in a PM, so you can contact me outside of here. I'm happy to answer any questions you have. Cheers!

I get the problem even with expensive bras. I've been up as large as a 24G (now 18F) but cheap shops like Target don't go over a DD or occasionally E cup size here (Aus). I have to buy all my bras at specialty lingerie shops and haven't paid less than $75 for one in years (some up to $125 - coz I like the pretty ones!). It's bloody disheartening when you pay through the nose like that only to have the damned wire snap or poke through after only a couple of weeks or months, sometimes only a couple of wears! I can't wait to be able to fit into cheap Target bras - under $20 for a bra would be AMAZING! I'm hoping at goal I'll get back into an E - not sure...I've lost a LOT of weight in the boobs and they droop damned low, but the cup size goes up as the back goes down, so still in an F now :smile:

Have a look through the Doctors and Hospitals - Lap Band Surgery and Lap Band Discussion Forum forum for info on doctors near you. I know there's a whole massive thread on Dr Kershenbaum (sp?) who I think does it for under $10K. There are quite a few other ads/links on the right panels that advertise under $10K for the whole package, so paying over $21K seems awfully expensive. If nothing else, Mexico would be cheaper, including the airfares and accommodation. There are a LOT of threads about choosing a Mexican doctor and many of them get excellent reports. Do some digging on this site and good luck!

Ha!! All of my F cup bras have metal underwires and I've snapped the wire in at least half of them - the other half, the underwire inevitably pokes through the fabric at either the centre or in the armpit and the wire comes out. :redface: I don't remember the last time a bra wore out because of the elastic going from age - the underwires give out on me within 6 months or so, but I can't live without underwire, the girls are just way too saggy.

Where is a "this thread is worthless without pics" emoticon when you need one?? *runs* :redface:

Poop! My birthday is tomorrow and I am working on site so I won't be able to weigh myself on my "official" scales, but I was 205 yesterday before I flew up here. So a month after this post, I've gone down a whopping 3lb :redface:

That's exactly the response I have gotten - nothing but support and well-wishes from everyone. I wish all of us could experience that - it sucks to hear other's stories about getting a hard time, especially from their family.

YAY Damo! Not long to go now, and you will be joining us in saying "This is the best thing I've ever done for myself!" :thumbup:

Gina, don't be discouraged, you're doing well! It is slow going at first but it does happen and the pounds add up over time. Having a little plateau, or even a small gain, a couple of weeks after the op is pretty standard for most people. Concentrate on learning to eat properly (tiny bites, chew, chew, chew!) at this stage - you need the habits in place when the restriction really kicks in! Just relax, stick to the plan and let it happen.

I have Dr Watson too, and I'm pretty sure he'd be concerned about this. My last fill was in early August and he only put in 0.5ml but it turned out to be too much for me. I was very uncomfortable for a couple of weeks, PBing every day and couldn't get past liquids. He took out 0.25ml of the fill and it made all the difference in the world. At the time, he made a specific point of asking if I had been waking up choking at night and to let him know immediately if that started happening. It hadn't gotten that bad and luckily the unfill did it's job, so I'm fine now but his concern really struck home. I'm really glad you emailed him - hope it all turns out for the best for you. Could you find out if there's maybe a fill doctor at Geraldton Hospital? I know they don't have much in the way of services (my niece lives in Geraldton, so I hear the stories), but it is a long drive just for a quick needle.