loopylou

I dont know much about the surgery side of this but I have been wondering the same thing, because I already have a hangy tummy as is. And I use talc like its going out of style, A LOT of talc, I like a brand called 'curash' that you can get at Woolies (which is actually made of zinc not talc but it's great). Also DH and I would like to start trying for kiddies before the end of next year and the 'hangy-tummy-factor' has been worrying me, but its kinda absurd to have a TT just before trying to get preggers, isn't it?

Welcome Janet and Karen too Janet can you tell me more about the MID band? I dont think I have heard of it before.

1kg = 2.2lbs :cool: I was banded 1st August and have had a bit of a hard time with it. I ended up with blood clots afterwards (warning - if you can't take a deep breath pls call your surgeon, pain on breathing is normal but being unable to take a deep breath at all is dangerous!!!) So I was in hospital for an extra week. I gave up smoking 2 weeks before surgery and I just got myself a new job!!! :cross-eye So things have been quite stressfull!! I have healed up quite nicely now, however my surgeon refuses to give me a fill until I am off my anti-blood-clot medication - which could be anywhere from 2 to 6 months!!!! yes that's months!! So after losing an inital 11 pounds (5kgs) lost, I have put 3lbs back on :cool: because I have no restriction at all!! I am eating everything in sight!!! So I am a bit concerned about that. I still feel positive though, somehow :cool:, because I know that this isn't a quick fix but a long term thing. Anyway, I hope you are all recovering well and will have good restriction from the start. Dont worry if you dont though, because even when things dont go quite according to plan, they will work out, even if its in a different way to that which we expected. Licks for all my August Band-Sisters and Brothers :lick :lick :lick

I'm in Too!! The more Challenges the better I say!! And the chance to win one of your beautiful cloaks!!?! Wow, that is deliciously generous of you Nana, Thankyou!! How did you know that I love an incentive

ok! I'm in too! I have no restriction as I am only 5 weeks post-op and can not have a fill until November... so I think I will aim for a tame 11 pounds which is 5kgs. Today : 259lbs/118kgs 10 Weeks Goal : 248lbs/113kgs Sorry I dont have a current pic, it will have to wait for DH to get home from his business trip this weekend. I will post it when I get one. You prob'ly wont notice 5kgs but I am hoping it might show in my face a little... And yes, I have put back on 3 of the 11 pounds I lost during the liquid phase but I refuse to adjust ticker upwards :cross-eye

omigawd - collarbones, collarbones???? are we supposed to have collarbones? I dont think I have ever seen mine before - I think I musn't have any - I must have lost them somewhere along with my hipbones and jawline Welldone Parvathi!!! You are doing amazingly well!! Licks for you :lick :lick :lick

We were told 2-3days clear liquids, then any liquids (and I mean anything including 'soda') for the rest of the first week, then 2 weeks mushies, and 1 week soft foods. But they served us coffee, ice cream and vitamized vegies on the second day in hospital - so really I had less than 24hrs on clear liquids and no time on plain liquids and went straight to mushies. I didn't stick to that for long either though - I was eating full meals 3 weeks out.

Thanks guys, as usual you have proved a wellspring of positive and funny ideas (funny 'Haha' not funny 'weird' ). I am pleased to let you know that things have improved between my co-worker and me. It turns out that whereas I thought he was about 23-4 he is actually only 17!! And he now understands that comments about weight are not acceptable to me and I understand that he is an insecure teenager trying to fit in. He is quite immature and I did have to distance myself from him at training, because after all the initial coldness, when I was the only one in the room he knew, he clung to me for dear life!!! I now find I have the opposite problem of how to keep him away from me - how to set boundries. He wanted to visit with me in my hotel room and spoke openly about many inappropriate topics - to me and to the trainers/bosses. It was a difficult week but I feel like I am better equipt to deal with him now and will practise setting boundaries with him. We have our first working day tomorrow and I am a little apprehensive, but more comfortable than I was last week. Thanks again for all your support

I gave up smoking two weeks before my surgery - so thats....um 6 weeks ago. And that was a piece of Bl**dy cake compared to this food business. Everyone has their vices though and I know some people have a really hard time giving-up, but for me food was always my 'drug of choice', smoking doesn't even compare for me.

....erm ....not to put a downer on things but .....um, isn't this a bit like alcoholics discussing their favourite cocktails?? hmmm?

We have a politician here called Richard Face - DH likes to call him Dick

Then : Dr Who The Goodies The Famous Five The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy Blackadder Now: CSI (the original and the best only) Law & Order (SVU and sometimes Criminal Intent - Goran rocks!!!) Dr Who (New Series:D omigawd can't believe the Doctor's back!!! :banana ) Survivor (American version ONLY) Big Brother (Australian version) Australian Idol American Idol House MD Black books Human Remains Dr Phil Desperate Housewives LOST Extreme Makeover The Swan (I only watch this to be outraged!) Rockstar (INXS - GO Mig!!!) Temption Island (again - for outrage value only) Rugby League (especially when Parramatta plays! :banana Go Parra!! :banana ) Bloody hell I watch too much TV....

I figure that I can hide a scar with clothes, and look after it really well so it heals up nicely, but nothing can hide the dangling wobbly hanging bits But atm, of course, this is all still a distant dream......

I always wake up crying how embarassing!!! maybe give the nurses a 'heads up' on what they may want to expect and they can have some ....er 'soothing' meds waiting for you

I will need it - and I am going to get it done eventually.

Thanks guys! Bubbame, The trouble was he was just making comments about weight problems not 'my' weight problem - even though I was the only fat chick in the room. So, although it was hurtful I couldn't really point the finger. Thanx Eileen I will give that a try hmmmm Renebean - It was clear to everyone that I was not hitting on him as his ... er sexual orientation was blatantly obvious!! lol

Well done getting to the Gym Corinne!! Hmmm - I haven't been doing great,but OK I think for someone only 4 weeks out (not quite that even). I have done every scrap of laundry in the house, sorted out a massive pile of paperwork and last night went to the gym with DH. I couldn't lift any weights cause it hurt my tummy, but we went on the treadmills for a little while until my tummy said stop (about 15mins). So am am sort of pleased with that. We will go back again on Sunday I think and I will try for 20mins this time

Fingers and toes crossed here

Anne, I posted something very similar just the other day - the thread was something about 'multiple personalities' but I think I have blocked the rest out!!! And look, I am not going to tell you what to do, because I know that if I was you that would just p*ss me off. So I will tell you what I have found for myself. I am nearly 4 weeks out but I have eaten everything!! Coke, Pizza (a whole one!!), chips, chocolate, ice cream, hotdogs etc etc. And just over the last couple of days I have really slowed down. I have found that eating that much just bl**dy hurts!!! And I am slowly eating a bit less. I still have whatever I want I just 'listen to my body' not because thats a good thing to do but because it bl**dy hurts if I dont. I am not going to tell you to eat less, or look after your band, I say "eat what you d*mn well want and as much of it as you want. What will happen is that it will hurt, and you will keep doing it anyway, and thats ok! Your brain will catch up sooner or later and change its message from 'eating lots cures my pain, to eating lots gives me pain' and then something magical will happen and you wont want to eat as much anymore!" But while that is happening dont take any notice of rules or calories or any of that cr*p - give up guilt, and trust that if I can do it anyone can - and that means you! Our brains will simply not standby and let us continue to hurt ourselves - they will begin to reprogram us to eat more healthily. Now I would not recommend this way of eating to anyone unless they have serious 'authority issues' and have been medicating themselves with food for a long time. I am saying that this worked for me and I hope it will work for Anne too, thats all. Also I have been taking an 'chromium picolinate' suppliment that is supposed to reduce sugar cravings and I am finding that helpful too. Hang in there Darling-girl, you are NOT and loser, you are simply a person who has used food to calm and soothe yourself for so long that the thought of having it taken away is horrendously frightening. I dont blame you for cramming in every last mouthful you can get! So eat, forget rules and guilt, and be kind to yourself. lots of hugs and licks for you, :lick :lick :kiss

I had it briefly post-op and usually when I ate too much or too fast. I haven't had it in ....at least a week. I just used an over-the-counter antacid that calmed it down nicely. Now I am very careful to eat slow - I have NO restriction at all but will still feel that 'stuck' pain if I rush it.

Well done Deb!! Well done to both of you, Licks for you both!! :lick :lick

I know what you mean about the burps - man I'm a machine sometimes. Good thing DH has a sense of humour or I would be out on my ear! lol But what I have found is that if I eat r-e-a-l-l-y s-l-o-w-l-y and do lots of chewing before I swallow that hugely reduces burpies - hehehe that makes it sound like some sort of exotic pet doesn't it? Oh no, I read it out loud and now it sounds like a not-so-exotic STD!!! LOL

Today I recorded my food consumption on Fitday.com and after dinner things were looking pretty good. So why did I then go and eat more? I wasn't hungry:( . But I felt compelled to eat; I have a pain in my chest because I ate a sandwich and several biscuits on top of my dinner!!! I feel like an idiot. If it didn't start hurting I would not have stopped eating. I know that up until that point I was doing great - for someone without a fill - and I thought ‘Wow this is starting to come together’ and then ..... BOOM!!! The rebel in me kicks in and takes over. 'You are not doing the right thing again are you?' she says, and I try to throw her off the scent, but she knows, things are going well and she says 'Sh*t if we want to survive we had better stop this quick smart, conforming means disappearing, conforming means dying, conforming means belonging to sMother again - and THAT is not an option - ever again!!!' So she leads me into the kitchen and off I go eating more and more, or being distracted from my exercise, or house cleaning or whatever I am 'supposed' to be doing. I know she is scared and is trying to 'save' me but really she is killing me. How do I get her to calm down and stop fighting my good intentions? How can I create a sense of self that is so secure that I (and my Rebel) wont fear my sMother any more - or any other 'helpful' person? I know why I rebel. I rebel because my sMother has always tried to control me, using the 'sweetest' emotional blackmail. And now when someone tries to be helpful or 'sweet' or encouraging - I rebel, I fight as if I am fighting for my life. And in a way I am. I have very little sense of self. I am the sort of person who is always changing to suit the situation or company. I cant seem to hold myself steady. My weight and eating have been things that have defined me - i.e. 'I am not my sMother, because I eat like a pig and she starves herself' or 'My sMother hates me being fat, therefore if I was thin I would become just what she wants me to be - a part of her - so I must stay fat to be myself'. It’s like the fat gives me space, holds me to the ground and makes me real - not just some dream of my sMother's. I am frightened of 'floating away', when I think of being thin I think of being 'weak, exposed and insubstantial'. How can I get past this? :think My sMother now lives on the other side of the country, but still she haunts me. And my DH gets the 'death stare' if he even tries to suggest or help or even encourage my weight-loss or exercise program. If I read anyone on the forum say 'you must do...' or 'you shouldn't do...' I immediately want to do the opposite, almost automatically and compulsively. :angry I am in therapy, I just haven’t seen my therapist in a few weeks, but I have an appointment with her on Sept 6th. What can I do ‘til then? I know I am at risk of hurting my band, but that fear is not as strong as the other fear of disappearing. I have often felt as if I don’t really exist and this, I think, is an extension of this feeling. But I know that if I don’t ‘find myself’ (to use a crude and overused cliché) in a hurry I am going to fail with the band. I am probably not psychologically ready for it, but now its too late. What should I do? :tired P.S. Any advice you give me I will probably ignore :rolleyes (f*ck it! I’m damned if you do and damned if you don’t – crappy cliché #2), but perhaps if you could tell me about your own journey of ‘self discovery’ (ugh! crappy cliché alert #3) then together we can trick that part of me that baulks at taking advice.:alien

I got my period several days early and it was heavier than usual. I ended up with blood clots anyway and I am on medication for that, the surgeon told me that my periods would be heavier while I was talking it. Hope that helps.

Best of luck with new job Jess! I am starting a new job next week - I'm an 'Optical Dispenser' - well I was 5 yrs ago and will be again next week! Basically I am a glorified receptionist, I get to help people pick out their glasses and choose lenses as well as all the paperwork. But its fun. I am a bit nervous going back after 5yrs though and dont even talk to me about work clothes I also have a Bachelor of Social Sciences (Honours) with majors in Psychology and History - minors in English Lit, Linguistics and Classics. I want to do another Arts Degree and study - philosophy, anthropology, gender studies and art history. (and more english and history lol) I'm addicted! I began a PhD in Cultural Studies but chose to work full time and gave it up years ago, maybe I will go back to it one day.