Wheetsin

What kind of pain are you feeling? It's not uncommon - at all - for the pain from gas to hurt very noticeably and for a while - days if not weeks - after surgery. Is it general soreness that is just persistent? More info please.

"Purposely binging" and "PBing" aren't the same thing. Assuming your band being too tight was resulting in PBs. Do you mean you would induce a gag reflex to get the PB over with?

Are you (or should I say WERE you??) a caffeine drinker? If you've changed your caffeine intake, that could be the cause of your headaches. Caffeine could also be the cause if you have diarrhea, headaches, nausea, lethargy (physical and mental), cramping, etc. Kind of makes you wonder why the heck we'd ever ingest it, huh?? This withdrawl, and a withdrawl from sugar, are sometimes called the "induction flu" by people following low carb diets. They will describe the same symptoms as a normal flu. It can set in anywhere from a few days to a few weeks in. There you go, that's about the totality of what I learned while on Atkins for a year. :heh:

Now that it's done I'll tell ya. I've seen every reaction from "oh, feels weird" to passing out. And I've heard stories of everything from "feel nothing" to "worse than childbirth".

Yeah. Eww. I think I've heard you say you don't have the money for a therapist right now. Does your school have a counselor on campus? sausmas.bmp

There are two measurements when sizing the band: capacity and length. For example, I have a 10cm/4cc band. 10cm is the length of the band, and 4cc is the capacity. If you have a 14cc band, that means it is designed to hold 14cc of saline. Aww shuckls, thanks! And - I think that's the first time I've been described as doing ANYTHING silently! LOL!

At what hierarchical level are you talking? I think most scientists would consider different species to be different "kinds" of organisms. Otherwise we wouldn't have different species, we'd stop at genus. From News Scientist, 2003: So yes, scientists actually *have* changed one kind of organism into another. Almost 4 years ago.

Have you noticed a particular time the pain comes, or preceding activity? Is that where your port is?

I know it's not a fun situation, but *if* the surgeon were to take the option away for you, it would be for good cause and your own personal well-being, not because they're mean or trying to hold you back. Afterall, we know it takes a really good reason for a surgeon to pass on a paycheck. I can't answer your question, but I know others have talked about bulemia. Hopefully they will see this thread and share.

I don't smoke, but my parents did and both quit cold turkey with the help of a medication called Zyban (Bupropion hydrochloride). With the exception of an annual cigar my father has to kick off the fly fishing season, they've both been smoke free for about 8 or 9 years now. I don't remember a whole lot, but I know it's not a "forever" medication, they quit taking it not that long into the process. I can't say it's a great or the best tool, but they were lifelong smokers and it worked for them and they haven't looked back since.

First, what sizes do you need in tops and/or bottoms? And second is be terribly patient with me. Most of my 28s+ I (embarassed to admit) actually rented a storage unit to house until I could get rid of them. I was eager to reclaim my closets and didn't want them laying around, nor did I want to just dump them. I should still have a few things around the house, I *think*, but not many. I'll look tonight/this weekend and see what's accessible. If everything is in storage, it will take some time b/c I have - seriously - like 30 or more 40g containers full of clothing. Umm, on second thought I'm a liar. I'm leaving this weekend for a trip and won't be back until Thursday, so I will look next weekend. What I find, I'll post pics of and you can yea or nea.

I did that once and my husband got the wrong idea. He started grinning and mumbling something about "get the baby oil" and I'm like - "No! Booties!!!" Catfish, no problem! That's what we're here for.

I did the exact same thing, and my pre-op diet was only 2 days. It was hard to get around the habit. I'd be sitting at my desk, thinking about what to make for dinner, which of course was making me hungry, then *bam* *duh* What am I thinking??? I'm having broth for dinner! Then 10 minutes later, I'm again thinking about what to make for dinner... And I craved bacon... and I don't really like bacon... And since banding, I crave chocolate chip Cookies... which I could easily pass on pre-op. And I don't even like chocolate.

A friend of mine gained weight (intentionally) during her supervised diet and was denied because, in different speak, they did not believe she showed the potential to be successful with weightloss efforts.

Yep, same here. I don't watch that much tv period, and skip right through all the commercials. For the most part. Do you find that you try to, or are annoyed that you can't, fast forward through live tv? Or rewind the radio? I HATE that. HARD adjustment to make.

I would hope you have a little sumpin' sumpin' over a woman + 3". You're becoming my hero.

Laurend, that's a part of what helped my decision. Not that I was considering RNY, but I was considering "band vs. nothing". I came across that memorials page while looking up surgeons in my area. As unfortunate as that list is, it gave me that much more affirmation that I was making a safe choice.

Clear liquids for 2 days, thick liquids for 2 or 3 days, mushies for maybe a week, soft foods for a week or two. Something like that. I really can't remember. :rolleyes

No nutrition for four weeks is not healthy weight loss. It's your body eating itself to survive. It's also not weightloss you're going to sustain, so don't think of it as "closer to goal". Call your surgeon. I don't want to see your little green "online" dot when I refresh, because you better be off of here and on the phone.

Oh, and RARELY do I order appetizers. THey're not good nutritional choices. Appetizers are generally fried foods covered with sauces or full of fatty things. I order a regular entree, and get at least 3 more meals out of it, plus my husband gets his choice of pickings. I tend to order things that come in "pieces" (e.g. grilled chicken tenderloins or a breast, versus a quarter) or things that will reheat well (which, IMO, doesn't really include meat).

A trick I use is to ask for a box when I order my food. I just tell them "go ahead and bring it, I know I'll need it." Then I will "eyeball" what I think it will take to get me to the point of no longer hungry. And I box up the rest. That keeps me from "picking" at my food, which I'm REALLY bad about, especially if there's a lot of conversation. And it keeps me from eating "just because"... because that means I'd have to pull the box out, cut another portion off, etc. If it's not something you care to take home, then ask for an extra napkin and when you get to where you're no longer hungry, put the extra napkin over the food and push it down. You'd have to be damn hungry to be willing to scrape the napkin out of your food to eat another bite. Follow your surgeon's guidelines, by all means, but I consider "2 oz" to be just that. A guideline. My surgeon advised meals between 2 and 4 ounces, but is also the first one to state that you know what you can handle. I don't know when you had surgery or how adjusted you are to whatever your level of restriction is, but listen to your body. For me, sometimes I only need an ounce. Sometimes I need 6 oz.

Do you mean the ones where it's set like a 50s style sitcom? Man, I've not seen most of these. I need to watch more tv. :speechles

Ask your primary surgeon if he would accept you after treatment by the closer surgeon. Most medical professionals are rational. If he will not, then surely there's another surgeon in between who would...?

It's hard with addictive personality because you can't just flip that "off" switch in your mind that keeps bringing the distress to the forefront (though that's certainly true beyond addictive personality!). First of all, don't feel bad. Never feel bad because of your emotions. Emotions are what they are, and that is a savage beast that very few ever truly tame. Emotions are the workings of things in your brain and your body, not signs of weakness, or failure, or something to receed your pride. Being stressed does not mean you aren't a happy person, it means simply that you're dealing with some things beyond the normal load. I'm not a parent, so I can't directly relate to having a child quit school, but I am a child, and I once quit school. And I once was "quitted" because of academic suspension. And I know what my parents went through. And I know that they gave me the freedom to make my own mistakes and learn from them. When I was ready to go back to school I did, and I rocked, and have been going to school ever since. And even though I can now look back on what I did as a "mistake", I'd still do it again. I'd still do the worst relationship of my life again. Why? Because as bad or toxic as these mistakes may have been for me, I learned from them, and that knowledge and experience is going to be priceless. So from all that I guess my advice is - let her make her own mistakes. I know, easier said than done... but a good course of action in many situations (caveat being I don't know the whole story). "Go do something" isn't always the answer, so give your crafty hands a break before you get carpal tunnel from your glue gun. What works for me is to spend some time thinking about the issues I'm facing... and I don't mean thinking about how mad they're making me, or how endless they seem. I spend time thinking about WHY they're bothering me as much as they are, and WHAT that means to me. From that I can usually find a solution. Or least a cause. And if I know the cause, I know what change it's in my power to effect. Remember that food never solved our problems, any more than a band-aid could fix a gaping wound, even though both might make you feel better. I'm not teaching anything by saying that, it's not some new discovery, and I know that. But it's still a good thing to keep in the back of your mind. Do you have anything you can participate in that would allow you to clear your mind and focus completely on something else? Part of the problem with "go do something" is that... ok... you go do something... and now instead of sitting there dwelling on the problems, you're now sitting there doing something dwelling on the problems. Do you have any interests or hobbies that can "clean your slate", so to speak, even just for an hour or so? (For me, as much as I'm not into "gaming", computer games focused on strategy work for me, because I can easily divery my attention to that. Reading also works for me.) Even though that's just a temporary break, and not a solution, it's amazing how different things can sometimes look once you're "away" from them for a while.

Bear with me: Full document also available online, Lenny Flank, ©1995.