SpecialK

Juli - thanks for reinforcing the mindset that the connection you have to your surgeon is so important -- I know I am such a private person about how my body looks and choosing a WLS surgeon everyone told me to be absolutely sure you had a good connection to your surgeon and that definitely has paid off for me. Hearing that your choice of Dr. in Cincy was worth it for you and it wasn't a cost savings thing, really helps. I plan to get at least 2 or maybe 3 opinions on this plastics thing when I get to that stage because I want to feel sure of that decision too. Wishing you all the best on the seroma thing and hope that if you have to get a drain to get that back under control that it will be short term.

This style show was so wonderful. There were a combination of about 10-12 RNY and Lapband patients in the show and each was stunning in their story of WLS success and the journey that brought them to that decision and now to today. There was a doctor (MD) who had lost 200 lbs and he was so funny and strutting his stuff so proud with a fabulous suit and great sun glasses and the last lady in the style show had lost about 180 lbs and she had plastic surgery (tummy tuck and maybe other?) and she looked drop dead gorgeous in a red full length Jessica McClintock gown that was very fitted. If you saw her walking down the street you would have never suspected she had ever been 180 lbs overweight. So inspirational. I'll post for next year's style show as this was the 4th annual show and hopefully they do it again next year. When I get to my goal I will consider being in it!

Hi bandster friends. The Style Show of bariatric patients who have been successful in their weight loss efforts via the Mt. Carmel program will be at Tuttle Mall in Columbus, OH on April 25 at 2pm. Its usually by the Macy's store on the 1st floor. There used to be 2 Macy's stores due to Macy's taking over a 2nd chain's store but you want the Macy's that faces the back of the mall's parking lot not the one facing the I-270 outerbelt around Columbus. Take the Tuttle Crossing exit off I-270 (on the northwest side of Columbus) and you can see the mall when you are getting off the freeway heading east. They usually have a mix of Lapband and RNY patients who share their stories of why they pursued WLS and what their journey has evolved to get them to where they are today. The stories are inspirational and bring a tear to your eye. The mall stores do the patients hair, makeup and dress them in great new outfits. I think last year each person in the style show did 2 changes of clothes. Afterwards, there are a group of bandsters who will be meeting in the food Court area for coffee and just a visit time. We usually mark our location of where we are at with a Helium Balloon of somekind. Remember: April 25 2pm Tuttle Mall, Columbus, OH

Congratulations Niki! That is fabulous! I'm envious you are getting so close to goal but I know you've worked hard for each and every pound so enjoy it! Can't wait to see you in a cute little black dress post plastic surgery too!!

How is everyone doing out there? The Columbus and Mt. Carmel threads here on the board has been pretty quiet. Check in and let us know how you are doing. I am enjoying being able to get outside and do some yardwork and take some outside walks instead of depending on visits to the gym for exercise. One thing I have noticed -- I no longer need to take Advil/Aleve for knee pain on a regular or daily basis like I did before. I get sore but its on days where I've done alot of physical work like digging and bending so that is "normal". Nice to be "normal" huh!

Juli - I agree you are amazing if you are back on a spinning bike after 4 weeks post op. I am curious if you have any regrets choosing a plastic surgeon in Cincy (hour and a half away) rather than having picked someone in your hometown? Was the cost difference major savings? Did you just really connect with the surgeon you chose? I know that is really important.

WOW, did anyone notice we are now up over 300 pages on our March 2008 Master Bandsters forum thread! We sure are keeping this alive and helping each other and I'm thankful for that. No scale movement to speak of for me this week but I've worked crazy overtime again and had little time for exercise. Ugh! I have a funny story to share to pick you up. We don't always have to tell health things do we.... Well I have 2 cats and they both like to stare out the window at the birds especially those birds that hop around in the flower beds hunting for worms etc. Well those cats are stalking those birds outside the windows and their tails start winding up and they get in a stance that they are ready to pounce but know they can't get to them. So, the poor little one, she got on the kitchen counter and made a leap through the air to a shelf hanging on a wall and tackled the fairly real looking bird I had sitting on that shelf and the bird and shelf were on the floor when I came home from work last night.. So busted! Counldn't hide the evidence of what she had been up to. I knew which cat would have been brave enough to try that stunt. Never thought a bird statue kind of thing would give her ideas to fly through the air like super-cat. Ha Ha!!! Hope that brought a smile to your day. "Kids"...what are you going to do! I decided to leave the bird thing down on a side table where she can just walk up to it and I'll find something else for the wall shelf.

Just my humble opinion, but the St. George place that is 2 hours away, a fixed price, and includes 1 year aftercare and up to 15 fills sounds like the best. See my signature. I'm about 13 months out now, and you can see I've had about 6 fills, no unfills. My doctor likes to check me in about every 6-8 weeks so 15 appts in total over a year is good. I expect to see my surgeon less times and less fills in my second year now and so if I had to start self pay additional appts and fills, the second year is where it would be lesser. Again, good luck. You have to LIKE and TRUST the surgeon you choose.

I went to my hospital's bariatric style show where they have a group of about 10-12 post weight loss patients that get to be dressed in great clothes by the Mall stores, they do professional makeup and hair for them and then tell their before and after stories. It brings tears to your eyes and most importantly it brings HOPE that I can get there one day too! I have to tell you the last lady in the show was a lady who had lost 180 lbs and they had her dressed in a Jessica McClintock red floor length gown with beautiful bling jewelry and she looked incredible! Nobody would have ever guessed she had lost 180 lbs. I did hear some people behind me say she must have had some plastic surgery post weight loss because she had the flattest stomach and cutest curvy body -- not overdone on top but she just looked so beautiful. I said to my friend I was with, okay, I am trying to also lose 180 lbs and I want to go up and meet that lady afterward and tell her how her story inspired me and ask if I can take her picture and I did. She was really nice and said you'll get there! I swear I am going to print that lady's picture off and put it on my refrigerator to remind me what I could look like with this 180 lbs gone forever. I got really ambitious today and did a couple hours of yard work plus took a really long walk so when I uploaded my Bodybugg today, it says I've logged over 14000 steps today! I'm trying to keep on moving some way every day.... One more day closer to strutting my stuff someday in a red floor length gown!

April 24 aJoneen..........................0 75 pounds lost! Bandana....................... 0 92 lbs lost BrandNewLisa............0 80pounds LOST forever!!! evelas5000...................0 50 pounds Lost Desdemona...................0 Fenton...........................0 100 POUNDS LOST !! HarleyGirl....................0 85 pounds LOST! Hopeinapril................. .0 55 pounds lost! Kpodski..........................0 Lynnt1215.....................0 NurseNiki......................0 Nycm00........................ +6 OUCH Potatie............................-3 132 POUNDS LOST!! Scrappy_Friend.........+2 160 POUNDS LOST!!!! SpecialK........................-2 102 GONE forever! Sugarbean....................-3 117 POUNDS LOST !!! Sharona.........................0 stellabella......................0 75 POUNDS LOST! Tess415..........................0 Thin2bme....................-4.4 100 POUNDS LOST !! WestCoastMom............0 Wishin4...........................0 75 pounds gone!!

I also finally broke through a plateau and it was after being sick...go figure. I had dental surgery and had to be on pain medicine and antibiotics for a week followed by a bad allergy attack that had me on antihistamines and gunk to get my eyes to stop watering and nose from running and then suddenly that stubborn weight that was keeping me from my 100 lb mark went away and I'm down 2 lbs below that now. So, the long and short of it is.... hang in there for the long run, it will come off.

NdWife - nice to see you post and look forward to see you Saturday at the style show at Tuttle. KTBugg - nice to see you post too and thanks for the heads up about Clothesline Plus as a second plus size consignment option. I'm envious of you being in Size 12!You go girl!

Enjoylife -- yes, my view is post when you can and do it weekly - the idea was to hold ourselves accountable to document week to week if we were keeping our commitment to ourselves.

We haven't mentioned it on here for awhile and perhaps we have some newbies reading here but I did my first consignment gig with the Just Plus consignment store out on Brice Rd. between Livingston and Main St. and am thrilled with how this is working out. I took in about 25 items in early March and went back yesterday and found out that most of them had already sold and I had $99 to spend in their store to buy more smaller size items or they would give me the cash outright. I was able to buy 2 pairs of summer capris, 2 pairs of shorts, and 2 nice blouses for $48 total including tax and got to walk away with $50 plus a bag full of clothes for my vacation. They seem to be really fair in how they deal with you. Heads up -- it takes about 3 months lead time to get an appointment to do consigning with them because the shop is so busy but its worth it to get your items cleaned, checked for stains/rips and repair, and have it on hangers ready to go before you take it in. They don't accept alot of Blazers or Jackets as in formal work wear type things because they have found for their store they just don't sell/move off the racks quickly enough so if you have those items, you'd have to consign somewhere else. Last, my good friends that I have met through the lapband boards turned me on to the use of Thrift Stores and my favorite is GoodWill stores because they pull the Plus Sizes out onto a separate rack so that helps me find what might be possibilities faster than at other thrift stores that just put all white blouses together, all jeans together, and you have to look through all of them to find a plus size item. Either way, its a bargain well worth doing the hunting for and the quality and style are good in both consignment and thrift stores based on my experience.

I have a CPAP machine and I'm now at -100 lbs mark and I will go in for a re-evaluation at the sleep center probably some time in this year as I keep losing weight to see if they want to leave the setting where it has been. I am thinking that I personally have lost alot of weight in the Neck and upper chest area so there is no longer the pressure on my airway and diaphragm like it was when I was heavier. I am even starting to see my collar bones under the skin and have that little dimple or depression area in the middle of my neck and that was all more bloated looking pre-surgery. For now, I keep using my CPAP because I'm used to it and I don't want to go through the hassle of another sleep study right now when I am okay continuing to use it.

I finally crossed the -100 lbs milestone this week! Yea! aJoneen..........................0 75 pounds LOST! Bandana....................... 0 92 lbs lost BrandNewLisa............0 80pounds LOST forever!!! evelas5000...................-2 50 pounds Lost Desdemona...................0 Fenton...........................0 100 POUNDS LOST !! HarleyGirl....................0 85 pounds LOST! Hopeinapril................. .0 55 pounds lost! Kpodski..........................0 Lynnt1215.....................0 NurseNiki......................0 Nycm00........................ -3 Potatie............................0 120 POUNDS LOST!! Scrappy_Friend..........0 160 POUNDS LOST!!!! SpecialK........................-3 100 lost forever! Sugarbean....................-1 114 POUNDS LOST !!! Sharona.........................0 stellabella......................-1.6 75 POUNDS LOST! Tess415..........................0 Thin2bme......................+ .4 100 POUNDS LOST !! WestCoastMom............0 Wishin4...........................-2 75 pounds gone!!

Hi Bandster friends -- I finally crossed the -100 lbs milestone this week!! Yea!!

Well I hit the big milestone today at the doctor's office. Had a sinus/allergy attack and ended up begging for something to help me feel better and it dawned on me they would weigh me and I had been holding off until Friday to weigh in to see if I made my 100 lbs but there in the doctors office the official evidence I'm down 100 lbs, just by a smidge but I'm counting it! WOO HOO!!!!!!!!

It is interesting to see sample daily meals of folks. Here's mine. Clearly some of you are describing what seems like less than 1000 calories to me and I am having trouble staying there. Maybe my next .25 cc fill will help more. Breakfast -- -Always --Coffee with 1% milk and Splenda plus Dannon Light & Fit Yogurt OR 1 packet SF oatmeal with Splenda Brown Sugar Blend (occasional)-mostly carbs so I've backed off this) OR 1 scoop Protein powder in my coffee -- nectar Cappacucino or Matrix Cookies & Cream blended into my coffee real easy for a 20g protein start to the day. A.M Snack 1 Stick String cheese - a.m. snack lunch -- Workout usually over lunch and graze to finish this the afternoon: Soup or salad with some protein in it (2-3 oz chicken breast, 1-1.5 boiled egg, 1 oz cheese) Apple/Orange/Banana - piece of fruit PM Snack Whatever lunch or fruit I haven't finished yet! OR Protein Bar (if I'm heading to work out before I'll get dinner) OR Applesauce - no sugar added dinner Varies alot late PM Snack 1% milk & frozen strawberries (shake) is a favorite OR 2 cup size of popcorn OR 80 cal SF Jello pudding cup --------------- Total trying to stay around 1200 calories and burn at least 2700 calories as tracked by my BodyBugg. I try for a 1000 calorie deficit each day which should equate to about 7000 net calorie deficit in a week or about 2 lbs but for me its usually closer to losing 1 lb a week but I'm okay with that (about 5 lbs a month right now).

Wow, its interesting to see sample daily meals of folks. Breakfast -- coffee with 1% milk and Splenda Dannon

Here is the Mt. Carmel Support group info: They are held the First Monday of the month (except for holidays) from 6-7 pm in the Mt. Carmel West Auditorium which is located in the Mt. Carmel Medical Staff Bldg which is just south of the Emergency Room entrance. Check out www.mchs.com for the site layout of the hospital. Parking is about $2.50 for the 1-2 hours of the meeting. April 25 meeting -- Annual Fashion Show at Tuttle Mall !!!! 2pm by Macy's on 1st floor back side of the mall. Look for helium balloon marking our spot. May 4 - Addiction Transference June 1 - Childhood Obesity July 6 - Vacation Planning August 3 - Community Action Raising Awareness September 14 -- Exercise September -- WALK FROM OBESITY -- Google for more info October 5 - Body Image Disturbances November 2 - Healthy Holiday Recipe Exchange & Potluck December 7 - New Years Resolutions Yes, I find attending the monthly support group meetings helpful. The research statistics are out there showing those who are connected to support groups for WLS do better than those who try to go it alone.

Scrappy -- check out OHJuli's plastics thread - she has lost over 180 lbs and just had her plastic surgery and they took off 18 lbs total skin/flab with about 14 lbs I think she said was all the belly area so if that is anything close to you, you'd be almost at goal if you take 14 lbs of skin off you where you are now. WOW! We are all proud of you for being the first March 2008 Shrinking Shamrock bandster to get this close to goal. We'll cheer you across the finish line if you promise to make room for us at the goal line.

I considered it a victory of sorts to get through Easter yesterday here at my house with a total of about 1700 calories for the day and that was really keeping an eye on what I was doing.... heaven forbid what I must have eaten at Easter in years past! I bagged up the leftover candy and took it into work today to get it out of the house. Shipped off the cheese ball, cracker, etc. to family to get them out of the house and thru away the rest of the chips and dip. I am learning it is better to let it go to waste than to waist! Ha Ha! I also kicked myself into getting down to the gym today on my lunch hour and got 40 minutes of cardio in and it was a yucky rainy evening at the end of work, and I said what the heck, go by the gym on the way home and put in a little more effort! Did about 30 minutes of weight resistance training and another 15 or so of cardio so I'm officially giving myself a gold star for starting the week out right. Now if I can keep it up one day at a time this week. Still hovering below my 100 lb milestone mark so that is why I'm doubling my efforts to hopefully tell my body and metabolism I mean business and it may just as well give up those pounds or I'm going to beat it into submission....

Mt. Carmel's Fashion Show for its bariatric patients. Come on down and support our other Mt. Carmel WLS friends! http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f56/annual-bariatric-style-show-mt-carmel-program-columbus-92046/#post1198501

Mt. Carmel Bariatric Style Show info for April 25th. Hope to see you there. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f56/annual-bariatric-style-show-mt-carmel-program-columbus-92046/#post1198501