Jachut

what I'm really enjoying is feeling like I look "right" in any situation. I'm no stunning beauty, I'm getting older, weight loss has had some rather unfortunate effects on my face, sigh, but despite all that, I feel like I always look my best, even dressed down in gym pants! I dont miss that feeling of getting all done up, feeling a million bucks and deflating when I catch sight of myself in a mirror (I used to think ugh, look at that fat chick, and it was ME!) the rest of my night would be ruined. You know, I also enjoy being able to race out of the house to take the kids to school sans shower, sans make up etc and STILL feel OK. And running, I love my running.

I find any liquid/solid food quite difficult to eat - easy to slime on if I'm not careful. Thicker cereal like muesli is better, with a little milk and contrary to how liquids are supposed to wash solids through, I stay full for HOURS. Soup is the same, I have to eat it carefully but it holds me for ages.

surgery caused me to go all fuzzy, lol

What I think is that no way would I listen to a nurse who doesnt know you and isnt authorised to prescribe medication telling me not to take my blood pressure meds. Blood pressure is not a static thing, it being lower might have to do with the fact that you have been lying quite inactive for a while after surgery and are well rested and non stressed or it could be a complete fluke. Also you have been on medication to lower your blood pressure, that effect will continue for a while, it isnt going to suddenly shoot sky high because you miss a pill or two. Coming off blood pressure medication is not a given with weight loss, for some people their bp remains high and they need to be medicated for life, thin people have bp problems as well as fat people and its not always related to your weight. Your body does not change significantly in a day or two, surgery or not, it will take months of improved health practices to have a reliable result. I'm not a nurse and even I know these things, they're common sense! Seriously, that's a seriously stupid thing for her to say, and I would not stop taking my medication just becuase she says so, see your doctor. Hopefully this WILL happen for you!

I'd work the smaller arm more, assuming its your dominant arm that's bigger? If its fat, it might even up, often it comes off unevenly. Look, at the very worst case scenario, you could have lipo on one arm. They do that with breasts sometimes.

OMG, my BMI has dropped to 30. I'm too skinny. I look like a skeleton!. My bum is huge but OMG, you can see a collarbone! Nooooo, that means I'm anorexic! Seriously though, espeically with a Protein first diet,people's nutritions suffers a bit after banding and their immune function with it. You do need your 2 fruit and five veg a day and a varied diet, and its pretty stupid to fill your stomach up with starbucks coffees or even Protein Shakes every morning rather than say, fruit and wholegrains and then wonder why you keep getting colds. Bandsters really have to eat carefully to get good all round nutrition, there's more to that than just protein. And even the most careful eaters probably dont manage it that well.

a very low carb liquid diet such as Optifast will shrink the liver by depeleting it of glycogen. But above all relax - most obese people have somewhat enlarged and fatty livers and my doc's information says that the liver is a problem in less than 1% of cases. Its worth taking the precaution of course, but dont worry too much about not being able to have the surgery.

Salads - garden salad with avocado and tuna or salmon and salad seeds sprinkled over it. Soups - current fave, zucchini and leek with a dollop of natural yogurt (this isnt really high protein though) and Doug just made a really good pea and ham soup, delicious. You can add lentils to any soup for protein. I also eat loads of nuts - walnuts are great for Omega 3's, raw almonds and macadamias. I make a lot of smoothies to get my fruit in (banana and berries, yum) and I use yogurt, skim milk and chuck an egg in for protein, but if you're a protein powder user you can use that instead.

I'm not sure if starbucks is the same here, its probably aussified I'm just a cappucino or latte gal, skinny milk. To me, that's 1/3 espresso coffee 2/3 steamed skim milk with foam (for a cappucino) without for a latte. I dont have sugar. I dont like all those confectionary coffee things and walking around slurping on a huge paper cup is about as attractive as chewing gum in public - I loathe it. So I only buy coffee if I'm going to sit down and drink it, in a proper cup (or a glass for a latte). Which means I mostly avoid Starbucks and Gloria Jeans becuase of their paper cups. We can get loads better coffee than that here.

I've got an online friend who's heading back in after a TT for what she called "the ken doll procedure" becuase she says she looks like a ken doll, lol. But no, no correction was made during her tummy tuck. This is in australia - but wherever it happens, I'd call that bad surgery. Its all part of the same part of the body, how as a surgeon could you distinguish that that's a separate procedure (and thus another set of anaesthetists, hosptial bed, insurance excess etc to pay for?). What's the point of a nice smooth tummy if the rest of you flaps in the breeze?

Are you sure you're not actually sick with a stomach bug?

It was required for me too - although I cant say I learned anything I didnt know from my own research. When i went to my DH's one though, i did learn a few interesting facts - I learned that the reason many dont get past 60% weight lost is that people who have been formerly obese simply cannot eat the way normal people can, they will NEVER be able to eat the same calories and maintain weight - it seems personally I can, but then I've never been morbidly obese. Also those of my my clinic's patients who indulge in a glass of wine a couple of times a week (regular moderate drinkers in other words) lose weight BETTER than those who dont drink at all. Interesting huh? But all that info is in the printed stuff he gives prospective patients. In hindsight though, seminars in a way are damaging - for instance I've never had the kind of restriction they talk about, i've never beena ble to eat half a cup of food and be satisifed for four hours, etc. I've still lost weight but if I placed too much faith in the "shoulds" of banding then I'd have had a lot of self doubt. Luckily I just do my own thing.

I've had a caesarean so mine's a little droopy, lol. Not worth surgery though, just kind of when my DH keeps cutting out newspaper ads for laser hair removal (he's kidding me, wants me to go the full brazillian) I know that I appreciate a bit of foliage for camouflage in the area.

Both arms dont get the same amount of exercise, nearly everyone's dominant arm is bigger. But 4 inches is a fair bit, you might find it evens out as you lose more weight. I have two different sized boobs, but its evened out a lot since they deflated.

This is what I dont understand. What's it got to do with him? That's his opinion only - dont be disappointed, whether he thinks you need it or not is irreleveant, its the PS you choose whose opinion matters. Although I agree, a PS at the info session would be a great idea! The difference is, I was just reading all DH's literature, he's being banded tomorrow. It says very clearly the goal is to get you to lose 1/2 to 2/3 of your excess weight and solve your obesity related health problems, not turn you into a supermodel. Still, I have the same doc and he has actually been very supportive on that score, I had no health problems in the first place and a BMI of 35 but he agreed to band me and he's been happy to continue with fills past a 50% weight loss, he hasnt stood in my way of getting right down to a low/normal BMI. He'd refer me along to a PS too if I asked (not that I need to ask him, I'd just go to my GP for that). But the point is there's quite a large gap between the expectations we go in there with and the outcomes the doctor is aiming for. So when they say "you dont need a tummy tuck", I'd take that with a grain of salt. That's in his opinion only! If you want one and have skin there to be removed, that's your business and your decision.

exactly - fertility can improve quite quickly for some people, if you've not been bothered with birth control, you might be in for a surprise.

pizza - hmmm, I dont really like it. I can eat the topping and a bit of the base, but I dont usually bother. Steak, actually I havent ever tried it since I've been banded, its just not something I eat. I dont really like it and with 3 kids to eat, a meal of steak is not very economical. I can eat roast lamb or roast beef though and I can eat lamb loin chops and cutlets so I imagine I can eat steak. Ground beef I eat plenty of, with no problems.

I think it would be hard to get a really good long lasting lift result without decreasing size. I know what you mean with shoulder ratio though, I'm the same,narrow shouldered and wide hipped and I am really thinking a little more breast when I have a lift will balance me out nicely. But really large breasts make you look fatter than you are. Unless you dress to reveal them, then everything hangs from them and makes you look big all through the middle too. I've two girlfriends that had reductions and both looked amazingly (and flatteringly) slimmer as a result.

I just dont want to go under the knife and spend that much money for a result I might be disappointed in, you know? I want to do it once and do it properly. The thing that puts me off the most I guess is my sister is a breast care consultant, looks after women who have lost a breast to cancer, who are going through cancer treatment, etc and she's like do NOT do it!!!!! Do NOT get implants! If I do, I wont be telling my family - I can cover that one under the guise of they look so much better because they've been lifted. I dont make a habit of getting round in plunging to the waist numbers, lol, and they dont actually get to see my boobs, so I hope they dont have to know. Coz I'll get major grief for it.

I did go through a stage where my periods got very disturbed, terrible PMS and cramping with horrid bowel upsets. It seems that weight loss (or aging, dont know which) has sparked off endometriosis in me - both my sisters suffer horribly and I had escaped it but have now been officially diagnosed with a mild case, but its caught up with me now. Period time will now find me howling on the toilet, argh. Its honestly like childbirth, only involving number two's. My period itself - still normal, light, over in 2 days and regular as clockwork.

I'm really not sure on this one. I'm getting a lift, that much is determned, I'm not at all unsure about having PS to fix a part of my body that's really suffered. But I *may* need an implant to fill out the stretched out skin on the tops of breasts, I've lost ALL the volume there. It sounds impossible, but I"m a DD but look flat chested. I have this looooong expanse of bony chest, the curve of my rib cage actually sticks out further than my breasts. I'm not sure I will get the result i want just by a lift - I'm getting several opinions on this. Because truth is I dont want implants - I fear the health consequences, I dont want further surgeries down the line. What an I going to do at 60, get a new set of plastic tits or let what will be utterly destroyed hang on my chest when the old ones have to come out? It really worries me. And I dont like fake boobs to be honest, I dont want that melons on my chest look. I just want back the boobs I used to have. But to fix the emptiness of the skin, the advice I've had so far is that Id need round implants, not the more natural teardrop shaped ones. I also dont want bigger boobs than I have because I think big boobs just make you look fatter again. I dont really like big boobs. But I look down at my breasts, yeah, I have a bra on and they sit puddled in there, like two old deflated sacks of skin, its REALLY ugly. I cant even show off my cleavage because its so loose and flaccid. So I dont know, but I'll probably get implants if necessary.

Lol, no doubt some people liked them, but no, they didnt do well on the market here. Nor did the Hershey's range (which tastes like that awful compound cooking chocolate) or Oreos. It was all out here on the market probably 10 years ago I think and gone again within months. Lemon coconut slice mmmmmmm - a layer of crushed biscuit, butter and condensed milk base, topped by a sugary/lemon/coconut icing. About a zillion calories.

Seriously, I doubt it. What a doctor calls a "loose skin problem" and what you or I might call a loose skin problem varies though - same as all my lap band literature says "we do not want to get you to some theoretical ideal weight, we just want to solve your obesity related problems. Doctors are happy with 60% of excess weight lost - many of us most definitely are NOT. I had lap band surgery determined to get to a "theoretical ideal weight" regardless of what my doctor thought. There I am in my avatar in a bikini. Its a good photo. No, I dont have a "loose skin problem" but I do have loose skin. My body is NOT what it would have been had I never gotten obese. My stomach is loose and old looking, I've had 3 babies as well as being bigger. My bum is jiggly and saggy, and I do have teeny tiny bat wings. If I had lots of $$$$ I would fix them for sure, despite how hard a surgery a lower body lift is. But I dont "stand out" from the crowd, I simply look a little fatter than I really am. And in my case, the problem rally doesnt justify the extensive scarring. My boobs though, disaster. Those are being fixed. I had less than 100lb to lose as well. My fill doc thought I had already had a tummy tuck, and when I said I hadnt (lying on the table having a fill) he actually pulled my jeans out to peer down!! If he think THAT's the result of a tummy tuck, he's nuts, I most definitely do not have a smooth, tight stomach! So it will probably be there, but it can be mild and easy enough to live with.

well slippage and erosion are pretty rare - but all the information I got from my surgeon and from research indicates that they have no way of knowing whether this piece of silicone will last a lifetime. Its thought to be most likely the balloon part will fail at some point in time. I knew that going in, so if/when it does happen, I dont see the point in moaning about it. I also knew that it *might not* work well for me and that slippage/erosions are possibilities. I didnt just sweep all that under the carpet only to bitch and moan if it happens. Nothing is guaranteed. No evil will have been done to me, I will not have been misled, I will have taken a chance on something that is likely to work but not guaranteed. So why would I go round bitching about it and playing humbug, telling all and sundry its a big con and it wont work for them? That's what a hater is, in my humble opinion.