coolcrystal

Here's the thing, it almost seems to be better for these folks NOT to win American Idol! Think about it, other than Kelly Clarkson, no other American Idol winner has really taken off and been successful.. Then look at Clay Aiken, Daughtry, Elliot Yamin, and many more that were just in the top 10 but didn't "win".. heck, Josiah Leming got signed too.. and he didn't even make the top 24 this year, but he got recognized on the show and got quite a following. It seems that the people who do win aren't as successful... Me and my husband usually say "I like so and so, I hope they don't win". HA HA.

I have that throaty pain too sometimes. I know what you're talking about. It's not like this really bad severe pain, just like this light light dull pain. Not sure what it is.. I just live with it. I think I get it mostly when I'm hungry. And it's not that painful that I can't deal with it either.

Ya'll should try Fiber One cereal. Half cup of that and bam.. I'm good.

Yeah, I know what you mean.. how about "how much have you lost now?" I get asked this at least 3 times a day. Or people have to tell me about their attempts at losing weight all the time now. "I've been walking" and "I got back on the SB diet". It's like they are trying to compete with me. I dunno.. it's weird. People who know treat you so much different that's for sure. I also get asked "what can I eat" too, but only when going out with another couple or going over to somebody's house ..

The Richardson fill center off Coit is awesome. The staff there is really good, if that's where you are going.

Wear like a big sweater with two shirts under it and some heavy jeans and boots. Heavy necklace and earrings... Just something light adds almost 2 pounds... something heavy should do the trick.

Gibson, I felt the same way. I didn't come on here for almost a week because I was too depressed. I wasn't losing any weight for almost two weeks. I would go up two pounds, down two pounds. It was so depressing and I thought I was going to fail at this. But, I think its BS that your doc wants to make you wait 8 weeks. WHAT??? I've heard of 6 weeks, which I think is still too steep, but 8?? You are definitely going through bandster hell right now and as soon as you get your fill you will snap out of it and be like, "oh, that's all I needed". As soon as I got my fill on Tuesday everything changed. As soon as I saw the weight starting to come off again I changed my way of thinking about this whole thing and when Losingjusme told me that "now isn't time to lose weight, it's for healing" I should have just listened to her wise words, but I wanted to see that stupid scale drop. She kept saying "it will come" and after getting the fill I feel so much better and you will too sweety!

Nah, I'm definitely no superwoman.. My doctor just told me to work out a lot before my surgery because I would heal faster.. so even the day before surgery I was doing crunches and treadmill. I think that's what helped me to recover more. Also, my surgeon did really well with my stitches and incisions. Those suckers never hurt me. I did have the distended bloated belly from the gas, but walking A LOT helped that. The day of surgery I was outside walking around. I might have pushed it a little too hard, but hearing that you could have blood clots and die was enough to scare me. LOL. I know all about USPS (or UPS). My husband worked there three years ago and you're right, they could care less about their employees and what they've been through. Its such a physical job and dangerous. One time he was loading a truck and the truck pulled off and he fell backwards and busted up some ribs. They didn't give a crap about him. He finally quit that job. So, I can totally understand why you'd take off that time. I have a desk job and so I just sit my butt down at work. Oh, and that dog didn't jump on my belly.. LOL. We just played tug-of-war and catch and I pinned him down. LOL. It took me about 2 weeks before I'd even let my cat lay on my belly.

Honestly, I haven't PB'ed yet. When you have the right restriction.. not too tight.. not too open, I don't think it's normal to have PB's. Mine is opened enough for me to be able to eat pork tenderloin, tuna, and chicken, but tight enough for me to lose weight. I did slime once the day after I was banded and drank too fast. My mouth just watered and it's like how you describe.. when you Water in your mouth and feel like you have to throw up, but it passed quickly. I wish we called it "watering" instead of "sliming".

That's good that you are thinking like a bandster before even being banded. That's what I did. I started researching it two years ago and joined this group about 4-5 months before getting banded. I wanted to get informed about it as much as I could so I could be prepared for whatever would happen! and know what to expect and that meant the world to me.. a month before being banded i started practicing chewing up stuff several times.. and taking smaller bites... i tried thinking like a bandster. i even tried baby foods out and different shakes and different isopure clear protein drink flavors out... i wanted to be prepared and i was! So, now you will be ready when it does come. I wish you all the best. OH, and whatever you do, never ask what a PB is.. lol. It's a productive burp which means food comes up, not like throw up, but just stuff that you shouldn't have swallowed or couldn't go down. that's a question that gets asked A LOT... find that list with all the abbreviations and that will tell you a lot of the slang. good luck!!!!!!!!!

Seriously though, MY ass is the biggest on this forum.. girl, it sticks out big time.. From the front I look pretty thin, then when I turn to the side. BAM thats when you can tell. lol. My small victory was reached yesterday... I could fit into my old bodice that I use to wear to scarborough faire and faire starts next weekend. When I was able to lace it up and it fit me, I took a naughty pic of me in it and txted it to my hubby at work. Now I know what I'll be wearing for opening day! That dang pirate bodice!!

I don't see why anybody would need to take off more than 5 days for this surgery. I was able to walk on a treadmill, go to the movies, roughplay with a dog and more on day 5 and I'm a wimp. Two weeks seems like a long time off, unless you work for like UPS or have some other physical job, then I could understand taking off that long. I got lucky, since my work covered the surgery, I just got to take sick time off and didn't have to cut into vacation time. I think its BS that your boss is treating you this way, what is this 1890???

OMG!!!! that's my doctor! Dr. Fox!!! WOW.. we have the same doctor. He really is amazing... he knows what he's doing. He's one of the best..

Enya - Watermark cd - I use to make out with my ex on the floor to that cd for hours... playing it over and over again. The soundtrack to "Last of the Mohicans".. big time passion right there.. Somebody already listed these, but Dave Mathews band (Crash) always gets me horny and Prince's purple rain album and movie.. lol. I love that scene where he has the black pants on with the mask.. ha ha.. And Depeche Mode's "Somebody" song.. great making love song.. oh and Journey.. anything by Journey just gets me going big time.. Oh and some Billy Joel.. OLD Billy Joel.. not that goofy 80's crap he did. Oh and finally, Scorpions... remember that song Holiday? Damn.. the guitar on that gets me big time in the mood... "Let me take you far away, you'd like a Holiday..".. or "Still loving you" also a good song by them..

In Dallas my surgeon charges self-payers 15k, but that includes a year of fills for free and a year of doctor visits to see him for free. It also includes every aspect of the surgery including anestesia. Some people need 5-10 fills the first year depending on the band you get and how big you are and all that. One of my friends only needed 4 fills to lose all her weight, but she was a very low BMI'er to begin with and my other one needed 10 (but she was almost 400 pounds) and she's still losing, but she got a bigger 14cc band so hers had to be tightened more often. So, if I were you, I'd find a doctor that offers a great deal like this.

I like the SF jello chocolate pudding. That's my "naughty" snack I have about once every two days to end temptations of chocolate shakes...

OH cool! which doc are you using? there are some really goods one in the DFW area! Also, my friend told me about the pillow thing, but I never really had any major port pain so I never did that. I did however sleep with a pillow over my tummy at night when I slept. It just made me feel more protected right there. If I slept on my side, I had the pillow going longways and held onto it. It was very comfortable.

The gurgle feeling is like when you take a turkey baster and you suck the juice up out of the dish and then swish it back on the turkey.. that's the only way I can explain it. It didn't hurt, its just like you could feel the vibration of the band being emptied and then refilled. I must say that the lady at my fill center is fricking awesome. it was so quick and painless.. over in like 15 seconds. I didn't get a pillow under my back.. I think they do that when they can't find the port very well and need it to stick out more. I was also wondering if the closer the port gets to the skin if it hurts more.. it seems like it would be the opposite, but it sort of makes sense.

For me, bandster hell was when I had no fill yet and could eat more than I could the first two weeks I was banded and I fell into a state of depression because I wasn't losing any weight. My husband kindly told me that I wasn't gaining either. THough I would go up two pounds and then down two pounds.. up and down during those two weeks. It was awful. I have finally gotten out of that plateau since being filled though. Stupidly, despite how many times Losingjusme told me that that time was for healing and not losing, I still got upset over it when I shouldn't have.

Have you been able get rid of your gas some how? like I belched A LOT and walked around to get rid of gas as well as take gasx.

I'm confused brandyII, you referred to yourself twice as if you were talking to yourself?? is there another user named brandyII that I don't 'see?

When ports flip it often makes me wonder if the doctor didn't sew it correctly. Two weeks before my surgery I asked my doctor about this and he said that he sews it a different way than most doctors do and he's never had one of his patients have a port flip before. Then the day of my surgery he had just gotten back from a bariactrics conference and I asked him what he learned and he said that they were asking surgeons to start sewing the port differently.. then he smiled briefly and said, "the way I've been doing it for a few years now". Also, which band do you have? the realize band? or allergan.. i think the realize band is like self anchoring.

I had mine done on Tuesday and I'm still feeling about 85% of the restriction. It's still working for me. I'm sure the restriction will fade away for me sometime next week and then my second fill is scheduled for the 9th. Did yours feel gurgly inside when they pulled the starter fill out? it's such a cool feeling.

Mandi - nobody on this site should judge you, period! If it was easy none of us would have gotten the band in the first place. Somebody might say "just stop eating that food" or "work out more", but they aren't you and we all have our own struggles we are working through to make this band work for us. There is nothing I can really say to inspire you, other than, there comes a moment of clarity for all of us that we just say "this is it, I'm gonna do it" and we do it. I think it comes at different stages for all of us. shoot, who knows where I'll be in 6 months. I might fall off the bandwagon and be eating carbs all the time and mcdonalds Breakfast sandwhiches again. So I'm the last person that will preach to you. But I will pray that you find that one moment of clarity, that moment where you say "ok, i'm doing it now". And the last thing I wanted to say to you is though you don't think your 27 pounds is a lot, that's almost 5 pounds a month which is more than a pound a week! That is a healthy amount to lose. Perhaps a fill can also help if you haven't gotten one in a while. I wish you all the best. Big hugs!:thumbup:

Yeah, totally go. they need to do a fluro on you it sounds like.. maybe a slip or erosion or something? If you haven't had a fill in 6 months could it be the fill causing this? that sounds weird. Please keep us updated on what the doctors say!