SuzanneG

Speck, I would also love keeping in touch! I'm 42 and have a son and a daughter, both recently left the nest. If you PM me, I'll send you my email address. Also I tried sending the friend request, but I honestly don't know what that does for us. Anyone use that feature that can enlighten me? PS - Everyone on here is so nice. Only once did I have a bad experience. I PM'd a guy once to tell him how much his post meant to me and offered to keep in touch, he never responded. Now I won't even read his posts.:eek:

Thanks Linda. I recently got into size 10, I never thought I'd see that day again! :biggrin2: Makes me wanna kiss Dr. Brengman's whole face! jk So where in VA do you live? PM me if you would like to continue talking via email!

Ready - LOL, you remind me of my niece and you look wonderful, no wonder you love the camera! Tapshoes - You're killing me. :tongue: ROFLMAO :ohmy: I used to do that too! I'm just now starting to like, not only the camera, but how about when you see someone you haven't seen in forever? I was a very thin teen/young adult and then got fat after having kids. I'd threaten DH with his life if he flagged down an old friend in a store. I've even been known to run to another isle and hide because I was so ashamed. Now I'm always holding my head up and look forward to running into an old friend or meeting one of his coworkers, etc. kjeter - You look amazing. Geeze, I feel old now.:wink: I took new pics this morning, but forgot to bring the cord to copy them from the camera to computer. Will post on Monday. (I have dialup at home. :wink2:)

I gave caffiene up several years ago and gave soda's up in Jan when I got my band. Like FL Pete, my DH is very supportive and gave it up with me. He doesn't even order it when we go out. It sure made giving the soda up that much easier. The coffee, however, I refuse to give up. I have a 16oz decaf every single day with the most yummy sweet, creamy, French vanilla creamer from WaWa. It's fat and sugar full, but my only vice and I only have that one small serving of cream every day. I counted points for it on WW, counted calories when I was doing that, but I have steadfastly refused to give it up! Even though it's decaf, my head still thinks of coffee as a necessity for starting my day. The warm liquid also seems to help prime my band for the day. I don't know, I just feel like until I drink the coffee, nothing else is going down. Soda..... you can have it, but I'll fight you for my sweet, creamy coffee!!

Linda, My lapband journey has been amazing. Try not to worry too much about the surgery. I am the president of the Big Babies Club and I did fine. I woke up with some shoulder and chest pain (sort of felt like I couldn't breath). It was just gas, but they corrected it as soon as I said something. I took a week off work for good measure (my side kind of felt like something twisting in it when I walked), but within a few days I was back in the saddle. I have another friend that Brengman did and she had surgery at 8, left hospital at noon, and tried to get her ride home to take her to the office! She said her hair didn't even get messed up! I think since she got hers first (I had to appeal my insurance), I was expecting similar results because we were about the same age/size. I didn't do as well as her, but I'm not complaining. The one week of gas pain was well worth it! As far as risk goes, it's very minimal. Please keep in touch! I love following my fellow bandster's stories, especially the one's that live nearby. I live in southeast Spotsylvania, how about you?

Well, I play with my Wii Fit when I can, but like so many others, my life is hectic and I don't always get to it. Hopefully things will start calming down now. My son joined the Navy in Dec and recently completed a-school for Air Traffic Controller and my daughter just bought her first house and moved out last weekend. I'm an empty nester now! :wink::wink2:

B - carmel frap from Starbucks B2 - Slim Fast Carb Controll L - Slim Fast Protien Bar (the Greek Salad w/ chicken that I intended to eat, sucked) D - 2 oz Slow roasted beef, couple bites of potatoes, carrots, onions and mac salad (made with whole wheat noodles)

One thing to consider. My doc said to me, "If you can eat bread, you're not tight enough!" Sounds like, if you can eat a biscuit, maybe a fill would help?

I don't remember any restriction on caffiene preop. The reason it is restricted postop is because it contributes to dehydration, which can be a problem after surgery.

Hi Linda, Congrats on your decision and your upcoming band. My brother is calling them right now to schedule his! Brengman's pre-op isn't bad at all. Two weeks of Protein shake for Breakfast, Protein Shake for lunch and lean/green dinner. I think it's 4oz lean meat and 1 cup veggies. Post op is 1 week liquids, 1 week mushies, can't remember the rest, but it's not too bad. Who knows, maybe I'll run into you in the office! :-D

I've had several experiences where I've been jealous, or the object of someone else's jealousy. My sister and I were both thin growing up, then I got married, had kids and got fat, she did the first 2, but stayed slim. Finally a few years ago she gained up to 183 and joined WW and the gym and lost it back off. She's a size 10 now (used to be a 2 or 4) and she's happy with her size. I got into size 10's last week. I weigh a whopping 3 pounds more than her!!! I'm so excited and she seems to be taking it well, but I know she hates it and is worried that I will "pass her up". I'll be curious to see how she handles it as she has been smaller than me since we were in our early 20's. When I went to her office to tell her about the 10's (we work in the same building), she was chatting with a lady in her office. That lady is my mom's age and always been thin, but has been less and less friendly to me as I've lost the weight. When I told Lori that I was in a size 10, the friend said "what store did you buy it in?! In a very challenging tone. I said, Kohl's, she said "Well, I'm a size 6 now, even though I've gained 15 pounds since college and I was a size 10 then! So you can be any size you want if you shop in the right store!". She's so bitter and only seems to like people who are having a hard time with something in their life. :-( My brother, who is trying to schedule his lap-band as we speak, was really cranky toward me this past weekend and after a while, he pulled me aside and hugged me and appologized and told me that it was killing him to watch me lose this weight while he had to wait until he got some settlement money to schedule his surgery. He's the one who originally got me to go to the seminar with him. He's miserable in his body. I never talk about my weight in front of him because of that I have tried to be so careful of his feelings, but he was still feeling angry toward me for no other reason than that I had lost weight and "left him behind". I really want this surgery for him, I hope he gets it soon, scheduling person isn't being cooperative. Finally, I have an overweight friend. We've joined WW together, talked about diets, tried exercising together, you name it. I have tried to gently suggest she get the band and I cannot talk her into it. She's nice and supportive of me, but I can't imagine being in a perfect position to have it done (no hurdles for her approval, etc) and NOT wanting it. It's everything I can do not to shake her and scream in her face GET THE BAND, it'll change your life! So for me, that's my biggest concern. I want to tell everyone and share with them how they can have success too and those that actually ask me about it and then shun the idea when I tell them about it, it floors me!

Yesterday (hungry all day): b - Low Carb Slim Fast s - 1/3 cup cottage cheese and tomatoes l - WW Smart One - Orange Chicken (not that great) s - 100 cal snack bar, forgot the brand, maybe South Beach d - 2 oz Rotisserie chicken, 1 TBS Grillin Beans, 2 TBS Sweet Potatoe and few bites of salad

Yesterday: B-3oz cottage cheese and 2oz cantelope L - South Beach cranberry walnut chicken salad S1 - 100 cal chezits S2 - 3/4 cup watermellon D - 2oz of Strogenoff Hamburger Helper made with ground turkey, tsp Sour Cream. Couple bites of salad.

I planned on going back to work on Monday after my Friday surgery and ended up taking the whole week off. I have a friend who had it done and wanted to go to work on her way home from the hospital. Everyone is different, but from all the threads I've seen on the subject, a week seems to be average.

I always celebrate by shopping! :-D

Yesterday: B - Slim Fast Protein bar L - leftover parm chicken S - a spoon full of crumbs from my daughters amazing peanut butter fudge! D - cottage cheese with tomato

Don't worry too much, it's not bad at all. I have a friend who tried to go to work on her way home from the hospital! LOL It took me about a week to feel OK, but it was oh so worth it!!!!!!!!! Good luck to you and congratulations on making this change for your health!

Brenda, Congratulations. This is just the beginning of many celebrations! Well done!

Just since my last fill I can NOT eat white potatoes. Sweet potatoes, however, go down like butter.... yum!

I also really enjoy Jacqui's posts, she's my LBT idol. :-D However, I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't started exercising yet. I would love to know what that workout buzz is like, because I have never experienced it. I cannot get psyched about exercise, never have been able to. I never got to that point where I looked forward to it or freaked out if I missed. I have a sedentary job and I travel 82 miles each way to work. I get up at 4am to get ready for work and get home at almot 7pm. Not a lot of time to play with. I've had good luck so far with the band. I've lost 64 pounds and am currently a size 10 (as of yesterday!). I do plan to start exercising though. My first goal is to get going on my Wii. I just got the fit and as soon as I get my daugther moved into her own house, next weekend, I'm going to try to get on a routine with that and work my way up to where Jacqui can be proud of me!

I find I really can't eat it either. I'm with Jack on the why bother with ground beef. Having to spit those bits out is too gross for me. I use ground turkey in place of hamburger and it works perfect for me. I tend to like Hamburger Helper once in a while and I haven't found a one that wasn't good with either ground turkey or chicken. I too can eat steak if DH makes it on the grill and I tried the microwave warm up once too, YUCK. I tried filet mignon in a restaurant and it wouldn't go down. I can eat slow roasted, home cooked, roast beef when it's tender enough to melt in my mouth. Overall, I don't bother with red meat. The good news is that I'm off my cholesterol meds and still lowering my cholesterol with diet alone!

I weighed 105 when I married my high school sweetheart at 18. By 21 I had my first daughter and gained 60 pounds. I yo-yoed up and down over the years, with my ups and downs both getting higher with every diet. By the time I was banded I was 225, I'm 5' 4 1/2". I'm just a couple pounds above my sister right now. She's happy with her current size, but I want to go lower. I think I look my best at 125, but I set my goal at 135, trying to be more realistic and factor in my age. However, if I can get to 125, I surely will! Mindy, how are you doing with a complete unfill? Did you have a complication?

Hey Karen, Congrats! You looked amazing in the doctor's office a few weeks ago and your pics speak for themselves. Way to go!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was 5'4.5" and 225 and denied the first time through. I appealed and was approved. I've shared my letters with anyone who asks and so far, based on those who kept in touch, they all got approved. I would be happy to share my letters. Just PM me with your email address and I'll shoot them out to you.