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snowbird

LAP-BAND Patients
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Everything posted by snowbird

  1. snowbird

    Been thinking

    You will be able to eat regular food again. What did your surgeon tell you about a post op diet timeline? Doctors differ about when you start eating food. You will probably find, if you are like me, that you have to eat a lot slower, much less, and that you will occasionally have problems with some foods. Don't think of it as a loss; think of it as your band doing what it is supposed to do, which is to stop you from eating the way you used to. I have found that while I can't eat like I used to, I don't really miss it. And I really don't miss the weight I've lost.
  2. snowbird

    Protein Bars are full of SUGAR!

    I used to eat Quaker QSmart bars--lots of protein and little sugar. I don't know if they still make them, though.
  3. snowbird

    Is hair loss common with the band?

    I've lost hair with pregnancy and with diets prior to my banding. I think any stress to the body can cause it. Mine has grown back, although it has always been thin to begin with.
  4. snowbird

    Diet Cokes?

    I'm curious about the "no coffee" rule. Did your doctor say why? Because of the acid? Because of the diuretic effect? The no carbonated drink rule I understand, since it creates gas and burpiing in your stomach, which could cause your band to shift when it is new.
  5. snowbird

    Low Carb Potato Substitute

    Sweet potatoes are yummy and they do have beta carotene, but they are higher carb than white potatoes. As I progress on my band journey, I do eat white potatoes occasionally. However, now I have 1/2 of a potato rather than the whole one I had before.
  6. snowbird

    is this possible?

    Keep in mind that the reason you are supposed to stick with liquids isn't that you are unable to get solids down, but because you are supposed to let your band heal in place where it is stitched to your stomach. "Having problems" isn't a good indicator of when you should progress to solids. No yelling, but a bit of a lecture!
  7. snowbird

    this isnt a pretty question....

    I haven't done it, but yes, I think you have the picture right. I keep an anti-vomiting medication around all the time for emergencies. I have had Norwalk virus twice prior to being banded, and I really don't want it with the band!
  8. I'm doing fine. I think I will actually go in for an unfill next month when my husband goes in for a fill. I am 13 lb from my goal of 145, and I think I will lose a couple more pounds before we go back to Tijuana in late May. I hope I don't have a repeat of the scar tissue episode when I do; I watched that needle bend too and I was scared he would break it off in my stomach! Hope your fill takes care of things; I only needed two, but my husband has had three and isn't really that restricted yet. He is up to 7 cc in a 10 cc band.

     

    My daughter is starting a lap band romance tomorrow. Her fill nurse introduced my daughter to her (the nurse's) son, who has lost 145 lb with his band. They are headed off on their first date Saturday. This is really the first dating she's done since her band and losing 127 lb, so I think she is looking forward to it.

     

    Keep in touch and let me know how you are doing.

  9. Many lap band patients have them. My husband and I both had hiatal hernias repaired during our lap band surgery. Very easy to do, apparently.
  10. My neighbor (whom I know very slightly) DID ask what I weighed. First she asked how much I lost, then what I weighed, and then asked how much more I wanted to lose. When I told her, she commented, "If you lose THAT much more you will weigh less than me, and I will be very jealous!" I just shrugged. What can you say? It doesn't really bother me; I think it's kind of funny. It's like if she belched loudly; I just say to myself, "how rude!" and laugh. She's nearly 60 years old; I certainly can't teach her manners at this point.
  11. I would go into your doctor's office and face to face ask to discuss a payment plan you can live with. It's harder to be mean to someone face to face than it is on the phone. Since this is partly their fault, or at least they were involved in the process that resulted in mispayment, they should be willing to work this out for you. Unfortunately, doctor's offices do get stuck with unpaid bills, and so they tend to be really inflexible at first. Keep that in mind and show them you are sincere in trying to work out the problem, and I bet they will work with you.
  12. snowbird

    when are you "skinny"

    For some reason people like to give us former fatsos the "don't get too thin!!" line all the time. As if most of us are in danger of that! I think it's because they are so used to seeing us heavier that we look thinner than we are to them. My reply lately has been, "I weigh 160. Do you weigh anywhere near that much?" Of course, that only works on the people who do NOT weigh anywhere near that much. When your weight has changed drastically, you often suffer from an inability to really gauge what you look like. I still look the same in the mirror to myself as I did when I was 70 lb heavier. I thought I looked okay then (I didn't) and now I don't think I look okay (but I probably do.) So you certainly don't sound silly to me. Like others said, BMI is probably a decent indicator, although my doctor told me that since I had been heavy since childhood, my bones were probably heavier than average and I should make my goal the high end of the BMI "normal" scale.
  13. snowbird

    Headache, weak spells

    Could be some dehydration; are you drinking a lot of fluids? Here in Arizona it is absolutely essential to keep your fluid levels up, since you aren't getting as much fluid with your food anymore.
  14. snowbird

    I'm going through puberty again.

    I've got something similar going on. I feel that with my weight loss I am going through menopause again. I have been having hot flashes after being free of them for about a year. I think that the strain of surgery itself also causes some psychological pressures. It will pass. We'll get through this and come out stronger on the other side.
  15. snowbird

    Size goal vs Pound goal

    Ahh, but it's all so relative. If you had told me six months ago that I would be wearing size 8 pants I would have fainted with joy. Now I'm in 8's I feel like I still need to lose at least 15 more pounds. So dare I say size 6???? I really do think there has been an incredible size inflation over the past 20 years. When I was in my 20's I dieted down to 132 lb and wore a size 12. ONCE i fit into a size 9 dress back then. Now I can wear size 8's almost all the time, and I weigh 160. I think the clothing manufacturers have made everything way larger over the years.
  16. snowbird

    Is tylenol 3 enough after surgery?

    I got some pain pills and took one, not because I was in pain but because I was afraid I would be. I never took another; didn't need them, and didn't like the loopy side effects.
  17. I've found I can maintain my weight without trying too hard with my band, but not lose weight. That takes dedication to eating less and eating better. If I don't lose, I KNOW why I don't lose. It's because of what I am eating and how much I am eating. I can try lying to myself, but my scale won't go along with it!
  18. snowbird

    Can I lose without all the water?

    I don't think the weight loss is really the point. Your body needs water, and it is harder to get it when you are eating much less. It doesn't have to be in the form of clear water, but tea and coffee are diuretics that cause you to lose water, not gain it. You do need to keep your fluids up, or else you will not feel well, get weak, get constipated, and generally suffer a lot more than you need to. Of course, severe dehydration can kill you, but I am assuming you aren't getting to that point! If you don't like plain water, drink crystal lite or something similar without a lot of sugar. Just be sure to keep up the fluids other than tea and coffee.
  19. snowbird

    Is It Normal?

    Check the sugar content of your liquids. Trying to keep as high protein and low sugar as possible will help with the hunger pangs.
  20. snowbird

    Feeling a little too good

    If you hurt yourself you would probably feel something. I wouldn't worry about it. In the immediate post op period if I did anything too strenuous, I would know it right away.
  21. snowbird

    pre-op diet

    According to my surgeon, it's the weight loss. He requires a 5% weight loss prior to surgery, and suggests liquids if you are doing it for only a week or two, or lean cuisines for 3 weeks, or Atkins if you have time to diet longer. As long as you lose the weight, he doesn't much care how.
  22. Hi. I'm down about 15 miles west of Surprise. I think there's a few people from northern AZ, but most are from the valley.

  23. I just started laughing when I read I was too over the hill for lap band. I had my surgery in October. I never needed a pain pill, I was up walking a couple hours after surgery, and have had virtually no problems. If only I had known I should have just given up and killed myself, since I was so old my life wasn't worth improving. I would love to talk to this person in a few years and see if his/her feelings have evolved.
  24. snowbird

    Exercise doesn't equal weight loss???

    Start out slow, and don't push yourself too hard at first, but just increase very gradually. If you do it so much right off you will hate it and not want to continue. I started riding my bike last summer, just a mile at a time, and I'm up to 10 miles a day now. I have bad knees so I stop when my knees start aching, but I'm not tired at all now, unlike when I started a few months ago.
  25. snowbird

    Lapband surgery in Mexico

    Not sure we are going anywhere all that interesting, but the more the merrier.

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