Sarah.R

I'm 20 as well lol, theres also a teen thread and a 20's something thread on here that you might find useful, just scroll down on the left and wait til you see it. As for what you said about the diets and everything I can definetly relate, Ihavent tried every single diet there is but I have been on weight watchers too many times to count, I'm sorry to hear about your father but in a way it's a good thing that it's made you re-evaluate your life right? I know when a friends father passed away in 06 and I went to his funeral it definetly put alot of things into perspective for me, just little random things but non the less they definetly helped, if you need to talk to someone you can always message me if you want =)

Vitamin E cream, you can get it in pretty big tubs depending on what you want, it helps with skin elasticity and overall the look of the scars - or if you want you can buy bio oil. I use this and it works pretty well, I recently burnt my wrist on the oven door and started using it the same day, now it just looks like a scar I've had for years and it's only been a month. Also bio oil treats other things like stretch marks so it's good to use everywhere =) Global Availability That's the link to the bio oil website which when you click on america (or wherever your at) it'll come up with a list of stores that sell it.

*sigh* yes how sad is that, the waiting list for the royal brisbane hospital last I heard was about 4 years and that was in may this year so it could be up to 5years by now. Thankfully I'm actually being pushed through all the barriers and everything I guess, I'm being banded between now and november (who knows exactly when) and I'm on the public system

I don't mean to be rude but what is that supposed to mean? Only ugly people can be over weight? And I actually have a question for you, what size/weight were you when you were 17/18? And if you were around the same size as she is now how would you feel if someone said to you that you shouldn't have this surgery?

Yes there is a possibility that the band will erode but when you put the complications of the band next to the bypass the band is definetly the safer way to go, yes with bypass you loose alot straight away but I've heard heaps of accounts of people that have gained that weight back after a couple of years, with the band if you start gaining weight again all you need to do is get a fill. If you've chosen this then try to ignore your friends comments, they might prefer the bypass where as you have obviously chosen the band - also the fact that the bypass has a mortality rate has turned me off it completely, yes I know theres a mortality rate for the band but at 1% compaired to 11% or whatever it is for bypass I'm happy withthe choice I've made

Ok so I've read about people post banding who sometimes when they eat too fast they get a feeling like a golf ball in there throat/chest and was wondering what's up with that? I'm not banded but sometimes when I eat certain things I get a pain like I've eaten way too fast and I can't breathe and it's there for about 30 seconds or so. It's usually when I only have certain foods like if I have cold fried rice I get it where as if its hot I don't, If I eat pikelets sometimes I get it as well and I also get it when I get a hamburger from the fish and chip shop - people say you usually get that when you eat way too fast but I'm like the slowest eater and it's usually takes me half an hour to finish dinner and sometimes I still get it. Do you think this is the same thing? I know I won't be eating things like fried rice and hamburgers after banding but do the symptoms sound the same cuz if so I want to see if that's what it is before and try and stop it before I'm banded if possible. Thanks

I know what you mean, at the moment I'm on immuno supressant drugs that I have to be on for at least 5 years and on the box it says they can't be crushed or taken apart which is annoying, when I went to see the doctor that originally prescribed them to me I asked him about it, he said that after banding maybe for the first day don't take the medication but after the second day try taking them, he said that not taking them for one day won't really affect me but if I didn't take them for 4 days or so it would. Also this medication is the kind where you can't go straight off them so I'm a bit worried what will happen if they don't stay down, I'm also on prednisolone after a condition I had flaired up again in may, I'm slowly being weaned off them at the moment but also with those I can't stop taking them suddenly, my doctor said that while in hospital I may be given the injection form of the steroid which is fine with me, but I'm mainly worried about the immuno supressants. I think the day of banding I won't take any of my medication and then tell the nurses/doctors about the prednisolone and then the day after surgery I won't take them either, the other ones I take are vitamins so that won't be bad at all and hopefully by day three I'll be able to swallow them, the biggest I have at the moment is a calcium tablet about the size of my thumb which can be cut in half, it'll probably take me an hour to take all of my tablets in the morning (8 in total) but that's the price you pay after banding hey!

I don't see why anyone has to know personally. The only people at the moment that know with me are my mum, all of my doctors because they first suggested it, my dad (although he hasn't asked anything about it) and my aunt because my mum needed someone to talk to. My mum was with me when my doctor first suggested it so naturally she knows everything and is actually getting annoyed with me because I keep talking about it but she's the only one in my family that I live with that I can talk to about it lol, when she told my aunt she needed someone to talk to because she was worried which was fair enough, at the time I was seriously pissed off that she told her but afterwards I was ok, it was pretty bad at first because she told my aunt at a bbq and then my aunt came up to me and whispered in my ear "your beautiful now but your going to be even more beautiful later on" so naturally I burst out crying and everyone was like whats wrong? Lol thankfully I passed it off as a headache lol. I plan on telling my 2 sister when I eventually get my date, dunno how there going to react actually, I plan on going out to dinner with them and my mum like the day before I start the shake diet and telling, I think they will be the only people I will be telling just because I know how people react, we have a family that we're friends with and theres one daughter the same age as me and I know that if she were told she would just look her nose up at me, she's bigger than I am but I think the fact that I'm getting this and she's not would make her a bit catty, also that and her older sister (who has lately started putting on the weight) will also be a bitch to me, I know for a fact she will because she said to me sister one day "I don't mean to be rude but is sarah putting on weight" uhh yeah of course thats gonna piss me off and the fact that she said that when she was actually putting on weight as well pissed me off - she still claims she's a size 12 when she is clearly a size 16 maybe almost 18 but hey if she wants to try and delude herself into thinking she's still a size 12 she can go right ahead. I'd love to tell my friends but the fact is my best friend has a loud mouth, i love her to death but the last time I told her something in confidence she told another person so I won't be telling her. I have another friend who I actually want to tell but don't know if I should, I'm pretty sure her mother got the lap band and I kinda wanna suss out what happened with her but I can't unless I actually tell her I'm getting this. As for what I'll tell people afterwards, I'll just tell that that I finally decided to do something about my weight, I'll tell them I gave up breads, pasta and rice which is completely true - that and a girl my sister knew gave those up and she was pretty big and lost about 70kgs. People really have no right to know unless you plan on telling them, it's your choice and unless you choose to tell them they have no right to know

Don't you hate when americans answer and it doesn't even apply to us here? That really annoys me. Anyway the only thing I've paid for so far is to see my surgeons nurse and to get all the facts before hand because he wouldn't band me unless I saw her (even though everything she told me I already knew) and that was only $100, don't think I can get that back on medicare which is annoying because if I have to pay that to see her and she does the fills I'm probably going to be out of pocket $100 everytime I see her. Grrrr

The only time you really get malnutrition is with the gastric bypass, with that you constantly have to take vitamins, if you get the required vitamins, nutrients in with your 3 meals a day you should have no problem what soever - it's just about making the smarter choices, are you going to go to mcdonalds and get a quarter pounder that has no salads on it and just cheese, meat and tomato sauce or are you going to have something like fish with a salad so that you get all the vitamins in? Of course your going to choose the fish and salad right? Well I hope you do lol. It is basically common sense when it comes to the band, but if you put the time and effort into it then your going to see the results

Hey more 20 year olds lol. It's weird I still go to the teen section cuz I still feel like I am one =( I'm not banded yet, but I'm on a waiting list so hopefully it'll be soon - they tell me between now and november (great time frame right?)

There is another doctor at the wesley. Dr Ian Martin. He's my surgeon, I'm not sure about the amount you would be out as the public system is paying for my surgery, but I know that he does alot of his surgeries at the pa hospital. There is also a obesity clinic on the gold coast and on weightlosssurgery.com.au there are a list of surgeons in queensland/brisbane

Ekg to check your heart and make sure it's ok for surgery - that's just normal for any surgery usually. And chest xray to make sure your lungs are fine. Personally I have had both but I also have a lung condition as well. overall the ekg is more important because they want to make sure theres no abnormalities with your heart prior to surgery. Nothing to worry about, you'll have to get blood tests as well to make sure you blood work is ok and maybe have a sleep study, but it also depends on the doctor. And with cosmetic surgery it depends on what it was, I would have thought any plastic surgeon would get an ekg but maybe not, if you had something like a nose job then of course there not going to check your lungs and what not

Alot of them are self pay, either that or I guess they get it off there parents insurance? Personally the public hospital is funding mine - they want to give me the best chance at life in 5-10 years for a transplant - like I'm going to say no to that right? I think in some situations they should lower the pricing though, I know doctors have to make the money but in some cases alot of people are more of a matter that they need it now. Holly with you do you have any family members that have diabetes? If so I would have thought that would be kind of an incentive - like say you have 15 family members that have diabetes - that's an obvious sign that you have a high chance of getting it. Maybe ask your doctor to do a blood test and check over everything - also an abg to check your blood oxygen, if you have sleep apnea or a low blood oxygen count that would definetly push you more towards the top of the line

Yes I've heard it before, but when you look on here and the amount people loose - it makes you want to make that extra incentive to prove them wrong adn show that you can loose more than that. Plus I think that only applies to people that don't excercise which is stupid

Compaired to most on here your like normal age, lately I've come across heaps of 20 year olds - thought I was the only one lol but now I see heaps of them which is definetly great because at least theres others here the same age, same situation same everything you know?

Tell them you had to get a hernia fixed, from what I've read about others it involves the same kind of surgery/scars and the same kind of post op stuff as well

Everyone is completely different - I think theres only 20% of people that can eat bread without difficulty, but some can eat it toasted but think of the pros of this - Giving up steak to be happier and healthier far outweights it I think don't you?

You know you can get bath sheets that are huge right? We have them and I love them, wrap them around and still have plenty at the ends

Yeah but what they don't mention is the fact that in america the gastric bypass, lap band and other wls are more acceptable and heaps of people are getting them. And actually australia isn't the fattest, theres a small country can't remember exactly what its called but 9 out of 10 people there are considered obese. Where did they actually get there facts from? Did they actually go around to every single house in australia and weight and ask questions to people? Cuz they sure as hell didn't come around to our house!

We don't have to put our weight on our drivers licences here in aus and I don't see what the point is, what relevance does it have to you driving the car? None what so ever. And plus you renew your licence once every what 5 years? Do people really expect you to stay that weight over the 5 years?

Hey, congrats! Somepeople go to seminars some don't it just depends, some insurances also might require you to go to a seminar before they approve your surgery. Personally I didn't have to go for a seminar, mainly because I dont have to deal with insurance and I was told I was getting the band before I even decided I wanted it - confusing I know lol. If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask as everyone on here is really nice and helpful when you've got a question or anything - as stupid as you may think the question is they're usually happy to answer it!

It depends on exactly what kind of sleep study you had done. When I was 10 I was put into hospital to do a full sleep study, probes all over my head to monitor brain waves, on the chest and one on the finger to monitor oxygen and heart. With those they have people that watch the monitor continuously all night. If you had one of those they could easily tell you the results but they won't for legal reasons - For legal reasons your doctor has to tell you, if the person doing the study told you and you take it the wrong way and end up mis diagnosing yourself then its on there heads and they don't want that - Where as if you had just a normalish sleep study where they put about 4 probes on and nasal prongs that are attached to a little machine thats on your stomach while you sleep (which they usually do in hospitals now) You won't get those results for 2 weeks. They do them with heaps of patients every night and are always busy so it's not exactly easy for them to print out the paper and tell you whats wrong.

I was reading a thread about a woman that was deciding between the lap band and the gastric bypass and I just can't get over the fact that people would actually want to choose the gastric bypass. Yes you loose the weight quicker but seeing all the complications and long term affects afterwards certainly out weight the pros. Has anyone ever been told by a friend/family member/whoever that they were going to have the gastric bypass and have you ever tried to persuade them/change there mind into maybe considering the band? I was told in October last year that I should consider the band - I have never even contemplated gb and don't think I ever would, they go on about statisics like at 3 years the amount of weight loss is the same but they never actually say what the mortality rate is at those 3 years. YOu have to be on Vitamins all the time and the fact that there is actually a death rate with gastric bypass I would have thought would turn anyone off. So what does everyone think?