Wheetsin

There are a few comfort factors to keep in mind when you read the board. Messageboards more and more are migrating away from information and into support. Many of the people who come here are looking for help. Most people looking for help have some kind of a problem they're dealing with. E.g. the sampling of issues here is greatly magnified over the sampling of issues across the banded population. Band problems cause a sort of small scale mass hysteria, especially among researchers and newly banded folks. The posts about complications tend to be more dramatic in and of themselves (the way they're posted, the visual panic, etc.), but also bring a lot more traffic (hysteria). A thread about "OH SWEET GUMBY MY BAND HAS SLIPPED HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" is, by nature, going to bring a lot more hits (and therefore a lot more visibility) than "5 yrs, no problems yet" will. More hits = you're more likely to see it.

:clap2: I once had a semi driver jack-knife his truck across the road to block me, climb out of his cab, and come at me with a crowbar. He was literally feet from my car when some construction workers tackled him to the ground. It took 8 men to hold him down, and he drew blood on at least 2 of them. Wishing I had a gun never came to mind. But I'm $^%&*#$ lucky he didn't have one. :biggrin1:

Just to the right of center abdomen, 2 or 3 inches down from my bra band. Or, just a bit down and to the right of the band. I can't see them from where I am now, so I'm not sure which picture to point you to, but in this post you can see the location of my port (this was right after a fill, so you can see where the needle was inserted) in relation to the band. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/211518-post151.html

There's no way to answer that. I wish we could. Everyone can eat different things, and in different amounts. For most people who fit the profile of a good candidate, the band will work. For some it won't.

Faith, do you want some clothes? Most of mine are packed away in storage, or I've sent them out to other bandsters, but I still have 3 or 4 bags of them at home that haven't made it to storage yet. I'd be happy to get rid of them. PM me with your size/style and I'll see what I have, if you're interested.

Aye, your surgeon should not fill you. If he tries to, decline or you're probably going to be too tight. Trust me, you don't want to be there, it's not fun, and it's not good for you. I too was able to get restriction from the band itself, without fill. I went for my first fill appt, and was told no. I came back a month later and got .5 cc. That was around 10 - 12 weeks out. It was several more weeks before I got my second fill of .5 cc. After that, the body changes were enough that I could move up to 1 cc at a time.

Erosion isn't the band itself eroding, the band keeps its integrity. Erosion refers to the organ being eroded into. Think of a tight string tied around a hot dog. Over time you may find that the string has actually cut into the hot dog. This will give you ap icture of what erosion refers to (loosely, I'm not saying that's the exact process of what happens).

The topic is a little outside the scope of LBT for its own forum, but here are some tips that I've learned: If you can commit to paying it off every month, get a Discover card. Charge everything you would have to buy anyway - groceries, gas, clothing, etc. If you're on a budget, the money for those items will be set aside anyway, and now you're getting the cash back bonus. We did this during a year we knew we would have some very large purchases. We had the cash, but used the card, then promptly paid it off. At the end of the year we got a LOT of money back, "free." But don't do this if you can't or won't pay the full balance every month. The minute you start accruing interest or late charges, it's no longer "free." Consolidate down your phones. We had a standard land line, plus ell phone, plus long distance carrier. Total for this was about $85 (land line) + $100 average long distance per month + $80 (unlimited mins cell phone plan) = $265. We fired the long distance provider, cancelled our regular land line service and added digital phone to our digital package, which costs about $40/month and has free local long distance and VERY cheap international rates. Then cut the cell phone to a rollover plan @ $43. So we went from $265 to about $85. That's like -- two new pairs of shoes EVERY month! :whoo: I have a hard time saving money. The money is there, but if I have it, I will spend it. So I have about 50 - 60% of my salary automatically deposited into a liquid savings account. Since I never "see" the money (e.g. it doesn't hit my checking account), I don't miss it, and every few months when I check the account balance, WOW, it's amazing how fast it adds up. The amount you can save doesn't matter, it's the process -- kick it over automatically so you never have it, in a manner of speaking. When we hit a certain amount, I will rol it over into one of my retirement plans. If we need something expensive (major purchases, vacations, etc.) this is where the money comes from. I pretty much quit carrying cash, minus $20 or so in case I want a drink, need to pay a toll, etc. If I have cash I spend it, and have a hard time accounting for where it went. People tend to focus on large savings accounts, even when they have credit debt. What good does 10k sitting there at maybe .25% do you, when you have 5k in credit debt at 25%? Pay that sucker off.

My hospital stay was about 4 hours. I had surgery on a Wed, went shopping (leaned on the cart) Friday, out of town car trip Sat, worked Mon.

Just my experience - I sipped for a handful of days. I actually did the math at one point and if I had followed my surgeon's instructions, it would have been physically impossible to get in the amount of plain water & protein they were telling me to get in. Even if I had stayed up 24hrs, I couldn't have done it. So I called, and that's when I found out about the RnY guidelines, and was told "as tolerated" for everything except food - they wanted me to be very stringent about following the food rules. The nurse (good lady) actually giggled - oh hon, you're one of the only ones who has paid any attention to that. After the first handful, I started taking normal drinks, but would hold it in my mouth and swallow it in a few swallows. Larger than a sip, not quite a full swallow. I would see how it felt. I'd say within a month I was drinking normal. TO date I still don't gulp the way I used to, but I can drink in a normal way.

Wait until your esophagus has been trying to unstick something for four hours, and then tell me that cold soup is truly bandster hell. :heh: When were you banded? I had much the same questions when I was fresh out, and then I ralized that the instructions I had been given were really for RnY patients. Of course follow your surgeon's orders, etc. - but if you aren't restricted, I'd think you could go a little faster than sip. Try small drinks and see how you feel. Unless you're extremely restricted, already have food in the pouch, etc. watery liquids tend to go right through, like a funnel.

Yesterday I'm in a fabric store, pushing a shopping cart. In this weird series of events involving the cart's very grippy wheels, my heeled sandals that pointed my toes downward at just the right angle, and not paying attention, I managed to tear off the tip of my baby toe. At first I thought I had just stubbed it, but then the blood came. So I see a bathroom and walk toward it and get yelled at by an elder employee - "You can't go in there! That's just for us!" So I tell her that I've hurt my foot and just need to stick my foot in the sink for a second, and use some paper towels. She looks at my foot and says "Oh no, no no. That's a bad idea. We don't want anyone getting AIDS." lol So - can YOU go get me a paper towel? And she says no, she has to watch the cash registers. So I walked over to the $$$$ decorator fabric that was closest to me, grabbed all the free swatches out of the envelope, and wiped my toe, shoe, and made a makeshift bandage. She says, "I can't believe you did that, that's like $30 in fabric right there!" Ok, free therapy rant over. :confused:

I let the mgr know later that night. (She said, "Oh, you must be the one that used the fabric samples!") Her reply was basically that the employee was right (or adhering to policy, I think it was) by refusing to let me use the bathroom, but that she should have at least grabbed me some toilet paper or something. Ya think? She was going to instruct her people on the location of the 1st aid kit, blah blah.. and she did offer me a "guest accomodation" of 40% off one item. Which is also printable from their website, so BF woohoo. I don't complain lightly. I complained once to Hobby Lobby over the way I was treated (UGH will have to tell that story sometime) when I refunded something. Once to a "How's my driving?" number after the semi truck driver literally came at me with a crowbar. Once to Volvo service because they charged us $180 to tighten a bolt, and charged over $400 to put on new brake pads that they weren't authorized to put on. (They sent me a box of Cookies, exactly what my fat pre-op ass needed). Once to a Subway when some thug making my sandwich refused to put gloves on. And honestly - that may be it.

I posted some furniture on Craigslist today. I want it gone, yesterday, and there's no way I could ship it (if I used smtg like ebay). It's virtually new furniture, at about 30% the retail cost. In my message I listed the exact items I had. Here are the responses I've gotten so far: Let's say that hypothetically I listed two chairs, two lamps, and an armoire: #1 - Do you have a couch that matches the chairs? Can I get it too for free? #2 - Do the lamps come with lightbulbs? #3 - I'm looking for a riding lawnmower, got one? #4 - Your chairs look leather, do they come in green too? #5 - I will give you $2 for everything but only if you let me pick it up tonight.

I've not heard the lap-band discouraged, but I can understand why it would be from a medical perspective. The lap-band requires you to meet it at least halfway, probably more like 75%. Some of the other WLS do not. But this is not due to complications. I believe AGB has one of the lower complication rates of all WLS. As for suggestions on how to handle... I would ask: What are the complications and their rates, that makes it so unattractive? Are those rates based on national numbers, or that surgeon's own? if the surgeon needed to lose (enter amount of weight you have to lose), which would they choose and why? How does that compare to other WLS? Yes, AGB recipients have gone to RnY. RnY have also had to get the AGB to help control their weightgain. That one definitely swings both ways. But it's not COMMON.

My scores:

Small world :biggrin1:

I never got nauseous, but when I was newly banded, for several months, I would have pain when I ate. Not band pain, abdominal pain. I was told "nothing to worry about." It went away, and actualyl forgot about it until reading your post and trying to remember if I was ever nauseous.

I believe the first gastric band procedure was performed in the mid 80s. The first LAP-BAND brand procedure, probably early 90s.

Mine did not.

I fix human performance problems.

I know that when I ask for honest opinions I really want them - so cheers. In the "arms up" picture, I see a very noticeable difference in size. It looks like they're even at the top, but the left one is much larger & lower than the right. (Your left, not picture left). The difference is enough that - if it were me - I would revisit with the surgeon. In the "arms down" picture, they look like they're the same size, but with uneven nipples (location, not size). IMO that's not so much an issue because none of us are completely symmetrical. This is why I don't have a tattoo. I'd get it, and then scrutinize it and be dismayed by uneven lines, imperfect circles, etc.

No need to look at online products, there are tons of great, healthy, DIY options. Quick to boot! Plus, you want substance, not just something you down. The substance is what will sit in the pouch and create the "full" sensation. drinks, etc. have their place, but you want actual food - preferably hard Proteins - whenever you can get it. If you're going to use a supplement, use a solid bar whenver possible (see above reason). I don't remember the brand of my favorite one, but Snickers makes one that's ok. Here are some I use when I'm travelling. Starkist tuna pouches, and if you prefer not to eat plain tuna, use condiment pack mayo. You could do relish, too. Just squeeze into the tuna pouch, stir and enjoy. There are also tuna salad kits that come with little spoons. Buy some turkey pepperoni and microwave it on paper towels/plates until it's crunchy. 2 - 3 min depending on the microwave. When they're dry, they'll be as crispy as chips, and will go nicely into a sandwich baggy. Jerky! I have an easier time with the more moist kinds (flavored ones, e.g. terriyaki, seem to be more moist). Our Green Acres carries a buffalo Jerky that is very low fat/carb, but all jerky will be fine if you aren't counting carbs. If you are, then just watch the carb count. String cheese... dont' want it out of the fridge for too long though. Unless the packaged ones don't need to be refrigerated (not sure, never looked, would think they do need to be). Breakstone brand makes single serving cottage cheeses. Same with refrigeration.

I can do anything except the little pieces. Give it a try. I like over medium with some cheese sprinkled on top. Mmm.

Hello and welcome! :wave: