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What an amazing place this board is---you all are so thoughtful and willing to be supportive and offer encouragement. All my lapband cyberfriends really helped me through a tough spot the past two days. And the whole way through this lapband journey, THANK YOU!!! Laura---great suggestion, only problem is he's the one with the stash..lol!! UPDATE: He called yesterday and stuck his tail between his legs and kissed my ever shrinking behind. I always knew I was doing the right thing for my family but hearing all of u reiterate what I was already feeling has given me a peace about the situation. It is what it is, my parents and children must come first, that's the only way that I will be able to live with myself when they are gone. I'll be able to take a breath and say I did the best I could. If he's a part of that, beautiful, if he's not it will hurt but I've been through worse things. Thank you all again---ur the best!!

Thanks all, Kat you hit the nail on the head on more then one occasion with the things that you said. Everyone around me says that I have to make myself happy, but honestly I think that may be what's wrong with our world right now---everyone only worrying about themselves and making themselves happy without looking at the big picture and how our choices impact those around us. My dad is a fantastic person and it breaks my heart on a daily basis to see him deteriorating, but he needs me now and I only have a finite amount of time left with him. I know I'm doing the right thing, and I thought he understood that going into this relationship. I honestly think that my BF is scared and intimidated by my weight loss and afraid that he's gonna lose me so it's almost like he's striking first, leave her before she leaves me. I took all of your advice and went and joined the gym this morning, gotta put some effort into myself. Put a smile on and faced the world this morning as if nothing happened. Hurts like hell but my family does deserve the best of me. :regular_smile:

Thanks ladies for your quick responses the encouragement is much needed. The only problem is this was my "better man" he is the man I have waited my entire life for, we just "fit" if that makes sense. Well at least I've had my surgery and on my way to the new me, I might be alone but at least I'll look good while I'm sitting at home by myself:crying:

My 19 year old daughter does to the 18 to enter 21 to drink clubs, her and her girls do some serious dancing when they are partying, not the kind of dancing that is conducive to wearing 5 inch stilletto's We live in the northeast--near Philly. Baggy sweat pants, tiny tight belly shirt, with the belly button piercing showing and the boobs pushed up to oblivion:scared2:. It's a look hehe!

Several weeks after surgery once all the swelling had gone down and before my first fill I was able to pretty much eat anything, and yea I pretty much did..lol. I was kinda worried cause I thought, "what the heck did I do to myself and it's not working" For example I could eat pizza, but honestly, I think I may have had some restriction just from the band alone cause the difference was that before where I may have eaten two or three slices I was only able to eat one. After one I felt kind of uncomfortable. I did chew alot more though--was just kinda leary of screwing up the band. But I was able to take big bites like I did pre-band. Currently I am three days post fill and I can feel it, that turkey dinner full feeling after eating a cup of soup. It kinda feels now like it did right after surgery when I still had all the swelling.

Hi Angie and all, Had my first fill on Tuesday and I have restriction:thumbup: Of course that could disappear at anytime, but riding the fill wave while I can and supposed to go back in three weeks for my second fill. I was a little disappointed in myself cause I thought I had gained since my two week post op appointment but I hadn't gained and I actually lost another pound-- my DBF was like WTF 1 pound does not justify you having had this surgery, but I was content to not have gained. Angie, I think we talked about it before my 20 year reunion is in October too. Told my BF that we are going to have to invent an identity for him, like CEO of fortune 500 company and astronaut in his spare time:w00t:. He was like "Ok babe whatever you wanna do considering that who I am is not good enough" Hehe whoops just joking baby you are wonderful:lol: My first goal right now is to lose like 15-20 this month cause I have to go to Key West on business May 4th--I know that is a pretty lofty goal but I haven't been excercising up until this point and I'm joining the gym today---ugghhh don't want to but it's a necessary evil:sneaky:

Wickman- Using a spirometer is required by some physicians post-op to ensure that you are taking deep breaths to avoid pnuemonia. Sometimes after surgery when you're sore we tend to take shallow breathes which can cause fluid build up in the lungs. Hang in there, take it easy, do ur breathing treatments and you'll be feeling better before you know it.:wink_smile:

Richard Boorse, M.D. is at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown, which is about 2 and a half hours from State College. Not sure if he does fills for anyone but his patients, but you can check I also know that Dr. Tull who recently relocated to Lansdale, PA from Chicago will be doing fills at Central Montgomery Medical Center (215) 368-1122. He's new to the area so he doesn't have a big patient base in the area yet, so it might be easier to get into him for an appointment. Really nice guy, he's actually had the surgery himself. Lansdale is maybe 3 hours from state college. Good luck!!

Banded on Wednesday driving Friday. They tell you not to drive for 24 hours after anesthesia until it's out of your system, but after that wore off my doc said if I was up to it I could basically do what I wanted as long as I wasn't lifting anything. Best wishes on the 14th it will be here before you know it.

Hi Guys, Venting and giggling a little. Jumped through all of the hoops that my insurance required, got the AOK from them to proceed, had my surgery Feb. 20th. Seems simple right----wrong!!! Get home last nite and there is a letter waiting for me from Healthcare Recoveries a company that specializes in reviewing claims from accidents and injuries to see if someone else should be responsible for paying instead of my insurance company---accident or injury?? HUH? So I call the lady today and she says "we are trying to find out if the back pain you were treated for on Feb. 20th was the result of an accident." Accident?? Back pain?? What the f*ck are u talking about I had lap band surgery:scared2:!! Unless you consider the fact that I'm fat an accident, and hey I sometimes believe it was, woke up one day and saw my huge arse behind and believe that someone put it there by accident, but other then that then no, no accident here.:biggrin: Little miss insurance lady didn't know what to say to that, hehe!! Other then "Well OK mam we will notify your insurance company, and I hope your feeling better soon" Gotta love american health insurance:thumbup:

Shannon, Glad your feeling better. The underwear, undershirt battle was hilarious. I've seen that battle many mornings myself and my belly seems to be Switzerland sitting between two battling countries that continue to get further and further apart. Hang in there soon Switzerland will be getting smaller and smaller:w00t:

Rascal, Sorry you're having "one of those days". We've all been there, and that's what has brought all of us here. So big hugs your way!! Now, on a more practical note, if your surgery is in May, no reason why you can't start the weight loss part of your journey today. Think about the fact that whatever weight you start to lose now will be the less weight you need to lose once you are banded. If you aren't already, start healthy eating now, start getting in all of your Protein now, start excercising now, start the life of a bandster---pre-bandster. If you do that you will be way ahead of the game once May rolls around. It took me six months to get a date, and it was pure hell, cause I thought the band was going to make me skinny. One more cheese steak, cause once I have my band I'll be skinny, one more Chunky Monkey ice cream cause once I get my band I'll be skinny. Guess what I found out, the band is not making me skinny:crying:. The band will help me but me and my choices are the only thing that's going to make me skinny. Might as well start making the good choices now, and I believe that your "bad mornings" will come fewer and farther between. Good luck to you, and keep your head up, those shirts that are too short now will be dresses on you this time next year:thumbup:

:wink2:Hi Aus Girl What a terrible experience that must have been. I had glue and steri-strips as well, instead of stitches but thankfully it held together. Take it easy, rest and heal, and I would still call the doc so that he is aware. Feel better soon

Went for a consult with Dr. Kowalski at Temple, but decided against them. Wasn't jazzed about the program fee. Sorry thats the only info I have.

Well we shall we say "enjoyed each others company" within four days, but I wasn't that "active" of a participant. I was in the mood about 2 weeks after and was the initiator and my port hurt pretty bad the next day, working those abdominals wasn't such a great idea:lol:

Good luck Stephanie, We have all been on the same roller coaster of emotions that u are on now. Hang in there, follow the preop diet as best u can, and prepare urself for ur surgery. I'm a month out tomorrow and I feel great, I was basically back to normal about 10 days out, with an occasional twinge here and there. Congratulations on the new u:thumbup:

Well I'm 19 days post op and feeling fabulous so I decide to get a little frisky with my DBF:wub:. We've already "danced" since my surgery with no complaints so I was all for hitting the ole horizontal mambo dance floor. Well apparently I got a little TOOO frisky cause today all around my port site is soooo sore. On my way to work this morning I called him and told him that I didn't know what the heck I did, but my port site was aching. Well he reminded me of our escapades from yesterday. So just a warning to all you Victorious Valentines out there, it might be a good idea to let ur dance partner do the leading for a little while.

Marathinner, funny how the men in our lives aren't worried about us hurting ourselves as long as they are benefitting from it. DBF was grinning from ear to ear when I told him And ur right babedoe4, I could be sore for a lot worse reasons. It was all worth it though, but I just thought I'd send out a warning :sneaky:

Wheetsin, First of all...CONGRATULATIONS:Dancing_biggrin::sneaky:!! Second of all..where can I buy that t-shirt, that's the best. Maybe with one of those little LCD monitors, like on the belts, so that you can update your progress..hehe. Screw that doc, they don't always give out common sense and a personality with that medical degree:tt2:

Needtolose, I know exactly what you're talking about. In fact, I wasn't worried about the actual surgery itself at all , I was however worried about not being able to eat things that I love. It's a natural reaction because when it is all said and done I believe that most of us are food addicts. And we are taking away the choice to eat it if we want it. I always knew before that pizza wasn't good for me but I could rationalize and justify in my head why I was "entitled" to it. I'm 20 days post-op now, and no I can't sit down and eat pizza like I did before, but eating the way I did before is what got me into this mess to begin with. It's ok, go ahead be nervous, worried, etc etc, but know that you are making the best choice for you, and you may still be able to eat all of the foods you did before just in moderation. Best of luck!

So it's lunchtime and I hit the cafeteria and get an "entree portion" of mac and cheese. The chef piles the mac and cheese high and made sure to put a lot of the top crusty part on my plate. YUMMYYYY!! Sit down to eat, get about three spoonfuls in and I'm like ughhhh!! Can't eat anymore:blink:. It's so weird that a month ago I would have wolfed down that plate, and added chips and dessert to it. Well ding dang y'all I do believe this thing is workin!!:tongue:

Crystal, I'm about 5 days further out then you but my doc said that I could slowly start trying things after two weeks. Mac and cheese is soft and I smushed it up into oblivion and then chewed and chewed, not healthy by any stretch of the imagination, but sometimes ya just gotta cave:blush:

It's funny I probably felt better on day two then I did on day five. I was banded on Wednesday and was cruising right along, and then on Sunday--wham!! I couldn't stand upright and was just generally sore all over. That passed by Monday and I was back to work on Wednesday. As has been said a million times on the boards, everyone is different, and you just have to take it day by day. As the saying goes "Hope for the best but prepare for the worst"

Michelle that is hilarious, I work in a hospital and made the mistake of going to the gift shop, well lo and behold they have Ziff's Peanut Butter eggs for Easter...well GOOD LORD now I'm addicted to those bad boys, so smooth, so creamy, and again just like a milky way if you leave it in your mouth long enough it becomes a liquid--so in my head I'm sticking to the program:w00t: Boy oh boy will I ever learn???:crying: Oh and just in case anyone is wondering about the alcohol thing, I drank two mango martini's last nite and was three sheets to the wind. I'm definately going to be saving money on my bar and fast food tab.

Gibson, you crack me up--always know your posts will be entertaining:lol: For myself I stuck to the mushies for the most part for the first 12 days, but then I couldn't take it anymore, I had a mozarella stick that I chewed to oblivion. I also did something that I swore that I would NEVER do, they had chicken salad sandwiches at work the other day and I just had to have one, so I took one chewed it up and then spit it out:drool5:. The whole time thinking---"Megan you are f**kin pathetic:cursing:" So here I am 15 days out of surgery and I'm starting to test the Water with more and more things. Did you know that if you bite into a milky way and leave it in your mouth long enough it melts right down your throat:w00t:. I know it's hard and at times seems impossible, but hang in there and get right back up on the horse when u fall off.