Wheetsin

Doesn't sound like what I consider a PB, but remember that definitions here seem to vary - no real "agreement" on what means what. When I PB, something comes forcefully up. I don't consider the excessive salivation a PB, so if you just opened your mouth and let the slime drain out, I'd say you were just sliming. If you actually had involuntary spasms that brought slime up from inside, then I'd say you had a PB. When I PB, I wretch -- you know -- make that charming noise, like I'm vomiting, only it's really nothingl ike vomiting... just sounds like it. :eek: So I guess my question would be - did the slime just "fall" out of your mouth, like a mouthful of water would, or did your body bring it up and out of your mouth, expelling it, like with a cough, burp, or wretch?

A little update. Ugh. This travelling thing might become a bit of an issue with my band. Like I posted earlier, I got a stick on soup yesterday. Not major, but I felt it. I was fine at an Italian dinner (chicken) yesterday night. This morning I had no problems with three spoons of cottage cheese, but took a bite of a crispy granola bar and had a minor stick. At a working lunch today I had to excuse myself from my meeting to go PB the only bite of food I'd taken -- a small piece of grilled chicken that I'd lubed up with some FF dressing. That was around 12:45. Around 1 our car service showed up and we left for the airport. About 1:10 I started feeling wonky again... and about 10 minutes later I had to excuse myself to the co-worker I was sharing a car with, and ask the driver to pull over (on the busy interstate) because I felt like I might get sick. Walked out onto the grassy shoulder, hunched over... false alarm, a couple of wretches and it went away without having to come back up... but I'm sure everyone got a kick out of seeing the fat girl hopping out of a limo and "puking" on the shoulder of I-65 while the driver in a red turban got a wad of paper towels ready. On the flight home I got an apple juice, only intending to take a few sips. First sip took about 12 minutes to gurgle through, so I gave up on that. Gurgling a thin liquid is unheard of for me. Right after my last fill I gurgled on Protein drinks, but they're thick, they're not watered down apple juice. I had a really hard time eating during my last trip, too, and actually PBed twice within 3 days of getting home... which considering I'd only PBed one or two other times at that point... was pretty significant. Ooh, and something else just dawned on me. Tomorrow should be TOM. That could be a piece of the equation too. Do you guys notice being tighter with TOM?

Holli - I just got your VM and don't want to call back this late. I didn't realize my phone was dead until several calls I was supposed to get never came... went to call those people, and - dead phone. I'm going to be at work/travelling back home tomorrow, but will get in touch at some point. This week I'm in Aurora, IL. (ORN = Chicago O'Hare, MDW = Chicago Midway). I'm on a virtual team. Most of the people on the team are physically located in Aurora, including my boss. But the co-worker who I most freuquently share projects with, and the particular responsibilities that I own for my team, are based in Tampa. So most of the time I'm there, with maybe 3 - 5 trips to Aurora a year. Robyn - I'll do anything except a pedicure. I can't stand someone else touching my feet so I have to do my own. Any other beauty thing - I'm in... I need all the help I can get! When we all get to goal, we'll have to submit eachother and be on a special multi-person episode of What Not to Wear... a special "WLS" episode, where they do several people at the same time. Free $5000 wardrobe? Heck yeah! This isn't a celebration thing, but something else we could do, just to get together away from food -- don't think this is too dorky, but I've been wanting to go to one of the places like "The Kiln" where you buy a piece of pottery, like a plate or vase, then glaze/decorate it any way you want, and they fire it for you. Is that something you guys would be interested in doing any time? If we wanted to do a dinner, we could go somewhere where you really don't get that much food, like Melting Pot. It's a little pricey for what it is (I think like $120 for 2) BUT you can get half off coupons through 96.5, and the meal for two would be more than enough for three or four of us... so it would end up being like $15 each. It takes so long for the food to do its thing that most of your time is spent talking and the emphasis is on the company, not the meal. When we go with friends, we count on a 3 hour meal. Too bad you guys don't live closer. We just petitioned our developer (he still owns the rights to set neighborhood compliance codes) for permission to install a pool. He'll probably deny it (he's an @ss) ,but if not -- POOL PARTY AT MY PLACE! I got stuck today on Soup. I got a container of the Campbell's soup to go since I'm in a suite and have a microwave, and about 3 sips in... ouchie! Gurgle. Gurgle. Burp. Gurgle. Burp. About 10 mins later and I'm all better. Who gets stuck on a chunk free soup, but can eat calamari and chicken for dinner? Me! Now - enough babbling.

I was too busy to be hungryin the last few nights before my surgery, so we just had some BLTs on my last night real food was allowed. S'ok though... so far the only food I've given up is scrambled eggs, and who cares... I didn't really like them anyway. I eat the same things, except for the price of one meal I get about three.

Just saying hi. MISSED my 5am flight out like a dumbass, so I had to scramble around to find another flight. Had to rearrange everything b/c the only flight I could find brought me into MDW instead of ORN, so had to find a new car service too. The only flight I could find in was on Southwest, which I hate, so I went from a first class seat (woohoo, work spares no travel expense) on AA to Southwest's cattle call. Finally got here, checked in, soaked in the hot tub for about an hour, swam for about an hour, and now I'm just so nice and relaxed after a terribly hectic morning. Ahhhhhh... Robyn - have you tried a really moist dark meat chicken? I'm wondering if it's just white meat that hurts you, or any chicken. How about other poultries? I can do whitefish without any problems. So far I can do all seafood, but shrimp takes a while to get chewed up. Either scrambled eggs hurt me, or I just can't eat in the morning. Don't know yet since I'm not a big Breakfast person.

I am going to be in the Aurora/Naperville area next week. Need to have dinner with a fairly large group, at a fairly nice restaurant. Can anyone suggset a nice place with a band-friendly menu? TIA! :confused:

I might be having a bit of this. I'm not sure yet. Normally I wash my hair every morning. This week there have been two mornings when I didn't. On the following day, when I did, I noticed a lot more hair coming out on my hands than normal, esp. when I'm working the conditioner in. There are a few possibilities. Either I'm losing hair, and only noticing it sometimes, or I'm just having two days' worthof shedding because I didn't wash the day before. I'm not too concerned, yet... as it is now I PAY sometime to thin my hair out, so getting it free isn't a bad thing.

I've had 3 and never any burning. Sometimes I get a weird "pop" feeling when the needle is pulled out of the port, but never burning. DO you think it could have been b/c you were watching it? And as for diet post-fill -- wowzer, we're supposed to do mushies for the rest of the day, or something like that, then resume normal eating.

Here are some recipes I use often (and one that I just made for the first time, but adore) Here's a chicken dish I made for dinner last night for the first time, it came out REALLY good! We'll be having this again! (I have a business dinner at MnS, or I'd make it again tonight... seriously). If you want to alter fat/sugar, just use fat free or change the amounts. It's really "to taste" anyway. I went full blown because - since it's really just a marinade, you aren't eating that much of it anyway. "Ken's Steak House" Italian dressing (they make the BEST dressings). You will need a little more than half a bottle. About 3 tbs orange blossom honey Juice from 1 small lime Strain the dressing to get 1 cup without the pieces. Discard the pieces and put the liquids into a bowl. Add lime juice & honey, stir well until honey is dissolved. Use this as a chicken marinade. I made it up Monday night, put it & chicken into a large ziploc, and marinated the chicken overnight. Then just cook in a pan with a small amount of cooking spray or lube of your choice until the chicken is browned & cooked. You can drizzle some of the extra marinade over the chicken while it cooks - it will carmelize very nicely and be scrumptous. For DH I made loaded mashed potatoes -- red russet mashed potatoes with sour cream, bacon, white cheddar and green onions added in at the end. For me it was sauteed zucchini. Here's another favorite chicken recipe. I just kind of made this up, so the amounts are always subject to change. Mix together: about a half cup or cup of soy sauce (I use low sodium) and an equal amount of orange juice (I use low sugar). A squeeze of honey. A few teaspoons of sesame oil. A few spoons of brown sugar. A few spoons of Thai peanut sauce. Mix together. Start browning the chicken and while you do, baste with additional peanut sauce. Right before the chicken is done, pour the sauce over it and continune to cook. The honey/OJ/brown sugar will start to carmelize eventually, and the sauce will thicken. I take my chicken and scrape off most of the sauce, then put DHs chicken over brown rice and top off with the remaining sauce and a pinch of curry. Great way to do fish (based in my belief that mayonnaise is the BEST flavor enhancer for fish!): pick any whitefish of your choice. I generally do cod or pollock. Get enough fillets to fill a 9x13 - about 8 - 10 (they can overlap). Place fillets in pan. Mix about 1/2 C mayo, 1/3 C of parmesan, 1 tbl chopped onions, 2 minced garlic cloves, tsp paprika. Smear on fish, cover and bake until almost done... I think I usually bake at 350 for about an hour. Then uncover and bake anouther 5 minutes to make sure the topping is done. Mmmmmm. I hate salmon but make this for DH & company: 8 salmon filets, 1/2 C peanut oil, 4 tbl soy sauce, 4 tbl balsamic, 3 tsp brown sugar, 2 minced garlic cloves, 1.5 tsp ground ginger, 2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, 1 tso sesame oil, 1.2 tsp kosher salt. Put salmon filets in a baking dish. In a bowl combine peanut oil, soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, garlic, pepper flakes, sesame oil & salt. Whisk together & pour over fish. Cover & let marinate 4 hours or overnight. Grill until cooked. One of my favorites, I was introduced to it on one of my trips to FL (Tampa is a common destination for my business travel). Lechon -- Cuban pork roast. I just stock up on the bottled marinade on a trip if I'm running low, but here's the homemade version: 4 cloves garlic, chopped. 2 tsp salt. 1 tsp dried oregano. 1/3 C OJ. 1/3 C dry sherry. 3 tbl lemon juice. 3 tbl lime juice. 2 tbl olive oil. 4 lbs pork shoulder, trimmed well. Mix or food process garlic, salt, oregano, juices, sherry, olive oil. Use as marinade for the pork, marinade at least 12 hours, preferrably 24. Preheat oven to 325. Put meat & marinade in a roasting pan and roast for 2.5 hours, basting frequently. (Since I can buy the marinade in a bottle, I just add it and a pork roast to the crock pot and let it crock while I'm at work).

I've never known an insurance company (I work for one) to say you can't appeal. That's weird! I hope you can figure something else out!

Oh, ladytonya, BTW -- if you are unable to change surgeons, then I can recoomend the induction phase of the Atkins diet as a way to get to try and meet your surgrey requirements. I would not be able to advocate it as a "forever" lifestyle, not practical at all, but for the vast majority of people who follow it, they do lose weight and lose it quickly. I followed for about a year, about 2 years ago, and I lost 120 lbs in less than a year. That's no guarantee that you'll see same/better/worse numbers... but just a suggsetion for a diet that might help you get there, if you do indeed need to get there on your own.

Hi ladytonya, I'm glad you decided to come out of the woods! Here's a question -- do you have other surgeons to choose from, or are you for some reason limited to this particular one? I ask because - I know my surgeon has operated on people over 400. I know of other surgeons who have. So it seems to be more like a preference or maybe some kind of clinical policy of his, that you might be able to work around by seeing someone else...? I'm 5'10 and was 382 on my surgery day. A tight size 32, which is another way of saying size 34. I'm wearing a 24 today, and almost halfway to goal, and still substantially heavier than a lot of others when they first get banded, so I can completely relate. I have a series of goals lined up, but I'm not assigning date values to them. My first goal was to get into the 2's (I did set a date to that one, and missed it by about a week). Now that I'm in the 2's, my next goal is 230. 230 because that's the weight I last felt comfortable with myself, last felt "normal"... like weight was not my biggest issue (on my, that's also a sz 18/20). I haven't weighed 230 for like 10 years. Once I reach 230, the next goal will be 199, of course, just because it's in the 1's. And then on to my "ideal" weight of 180. Some here have gotten banded weighing LESS than 180. How does that make one feel?

There is no option for me. My port is pretty much right in the middle... maybe 1/4" or so to the right side, if that much. It's about 2" below my bra.

I keep loose track of my carb count (20g or less per day), but for the most part I just eat when I'm hungry, and stop eating when I'm full. I also make sure to get 60+ gm protein. I stall when I don't meet that number. I try to keep my protein:carbs as close to 80:20 as possible -- I have mixed success. Soon I will have to start counting fat grams because that's showing up as a real weakness for me... they're so soft, and don't ever have to come back up.

Search for a thread (it may be sticky, I'd have to look) on "what to get before surgery" or something similar. It's a single/consolidated location for people to post their own must-haves, good ideas, etc.

I don't have update pics, but a verbal update. In my scar pics, especially the band/port scar, there's a small amunt of keloiding. Not out of control, but definitely not flat like the others. Since taking those pics, the left third of the keloid went down. A few weeks later I looked down one day and noticed that the right third of the keloid had gone down too. Now it's weird - I have a "normal" scar, with just the middle third of it raised up. My fingers are crossed that this, too, goes down some day.

I'm working on it! 296 this morning... I'm extremely close to a "lowest weight in 8 or 9 years" benchmark... extremely close, as in about 3 lbs away. I take off for a business trip tomorrow, maybe the extra in-flight restriction will kick me over the edge. :party: I was wearing a too-tight 32 (a.k.a. shoulda been wearing a 34) when I walked into the hospital 4.5 months ago, and today I'm wearing a sz 24 as I sit and type this message. Thanks all, for the support!

(Sorry for the quote, but I don't want to have to scroll up to reference your post… and sorry in advance for the long post…) I felt bad about getting so low that this surgery was my only option. I WANTED to lose the weight myself. When I put my mind to something, it gets done, so why not THIS particular something? That's another book... It took me almost 5 years of heavy thought and self contemplation before I was "OK" with the idea of having weightloss surgery. I spent 4 years telling myself, “MAYBE I’ll consider if, if I don’t weigh under X by X date” or “Ok, I will do it if I can’t be 40 lbs lighter this time next year, because obviously if I can’t make that little goal, I just can’t do it on my own.” I also kept thinking, especially as I was truly, seriously considering LB, “Damn, it would be a shame if one last diet could have fixed my problem… so maybe I should give it one last chance…” Here’s the thought process I had that slowly changed the way my gears were turning: Lots of people have health issues. Lots of people have borderline health issues, or are at risk for health issues. Most of those people are employing some type of medical intervention for their issues. Why is this so different? Why should I not seek the medical treatment available to help with what might otherwise turn into a significant health issue? Why is it OK for an alcoholic to receive a new liver, but not for me to get the band? Why is it OK for a smoker to seek breathing treatments, but not ok for me to seek a medical support? Eventually – I could no longer explain away the differences, and could no longer justify to myself staying fat. Don’t feel bad about the money (easy to say, my insurance covered… I know). If you need reassurance that it’s a worthwhile investment, ask your husband – “If we could spend $180000 on <debt, car, house, whatever>, or on something that will give me a really good shot at a normal, healthy weight and longer life, which would you want to spend the money on?” J I do want to interject against one thing you said. You say “I think that I am on the right path, because friends tell me I should definitely do this”. In the politest way possible, your friends have nothing to do with this, and you should not use their opinions as a way to judge whether or not this is right for YOU. It’s handy to have the support… can definitely be done without… but make sure you aren’t allowing their opinions to change your life. YOU need to be telling yourself that YOU should do this. Until then, it’s maybe not the right path. Have you researched the band, how it works, and what happens once you’re banded? I think for most people, upon finding good restriction, don’t have to contend with appetite. A majority of the significance of restriction is that you get full on a small amount of food. That’s why we get it. The possible restriction on certain foods, and negative consequences to “eating wrong” are side effects… the purpose is to cause satiety on small portions. Here’s another “setting” I put myself in when contemplating WLS: Time is going to pass. There’s nothing I can do about it, it’s one of the few truly inevitable things about life. It’s going to be “a year from now”, regardless of what I do. So in a year, I can be like this, or fatter – or I can be well on the road to a much healthier & happier me. In a year, how am I going to feel if I reflect back on this exact moment, and only feel regret for not making changes?

Robyn - how are you feeling? Healing well? Everything looking good? Holli - I wanted to ask you, the clothes you offered up a few weeks ago -- what sizes do you have? I'm borderline 24/26 (24 if I buy it ouside of LB, and a mix of 24/26 at LB). Do you have that big of a size? On another note, scale read 296.6 (don't remember what) this morning. The lowest I got to on Atkins, that I have recorded anyway, is 294. Once I'm below that mark, it will be the lowest I've been in like... 8 or 9 years... DANG that's sad.

Sorry, left work around 3 and didn't have time to check back in after leaving. It's 8:45 anyway so I assume we're off.

Holli/Robyn - are we still on for dinner? I dunno if we dropped the idea alltogether, or if we'll just have to eat sans Cate.

In no particular order... Life as a House Last of the Mohicans Donnie Darko The Life of David Gale The Professional Session 9 Dogville Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Big Fish The United States of Leland Requiem for a Dream Memento Napoleon Dynamite Le Pacte des Loups and on, and on...

Kind of the hindsight thread to what you will do when you reach goal... Here are some of things that I avoided because of my size: Going on many vacations, because they are to warm destinations and I'm so far out of my comfort level in shorts or bathing suits. I remember when Atlantis first opened, I told DH I wanted to go there, so he said, "I"ll go book tickets!" and I stopped him, because I couldn't stand the thought of going there like I was, and all that would entail. Going to many social events where I knew I would find people I hadn't seen in a while, such as reunions, because I did not want to subject myself to the judgement and disapproval of having gained weight. This includes year after year of excuses as to why I didn't accompany my husband when he went home (Europe) to visit his family - there simply aren't a lot of fat people there, I didn't want to feel like a freak, and the largest they'd seen me was about 70 lbs ago (which means nearly 150lbs lower than my surgery weight). Avoiding pictures of all kinds - especially portrait pictures, much to my mother's chagrin. She's a picture lady, if you know what I mean, and with one exception, the last portrait she has of me is the picture DH and I took to include in our engagement announcements. That was 1997. Being comfortable in the summer... it gets really hot here, and really humid, and for a whole bunch of years I've sweat my way through it in jeans or capris, and oversized tshirts because I was not comfortable showing my legs, and wouldn't dream of anything resembling a tank top. With the weight I've lost so far this has gotten better... I've moved into knee length skirts, and today have on a semi tank top, but shorts are still out of the question. That's something I'm really looking forward to next summer, if my weightloss continues... being able to go tank top & shorts... or a halter... I haven't done that comfortably for more than 10 years... and that really sucks when it's 105 w/ 90% humidity out! Going to the doctor when I've needed to. I know it sounds stupid, but facing the embarassment of getting weighed, and knowing there was little chance I'd even register on the scale, was enough to keep me from seeing the doctor on a few occasions when I probably should have. Lots of what could have been fun times, going out w/ people DH knows, joining clubs/organizations around, etc. because I didn't want to subject myself to the jdugement of being the super fat girl. And in a weird way that's hard to explain, I didn't want to subject DH to having to be seen with me... which wouldn't bother him at all, I know... ...and lots more, that hopefully will never be an issue again one of these days. :confused:

Dairy should not be blue! One of my all-time favorites was crustless pizza: 4 oz softened cream cheese 4 eggs 1/3 C heavy cream 1/4 C grated parmesan 1 tsp chives 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning or pizza seasoning 1/2 tsp wet garlic or 1/4 tsp garlic powder 2 - 4 C cheese (I use the Italian blend containing Asiago) Preheat oven to 375. Beat together cream cheese and eggs until smooth. Add cream, permesan, garlic, and Italian seasoning. Spray 9X13 pan with cooking spray or oil. Place 2 cups cheese in bottom of pan (not the 1/4 C grated parmesan) Pour egg mixture over cheese. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and spread pizza sauce over baked mixture. Add toppings of choice. Cover with remaining cheese (optional). FWIW< the lowest carb, decent tasting pizza sauce I've found is at Wal-Mart, a brand called "Mama Mia's". It comes in regular or mushroom. As for toppings, on Atkins I would use pepperoni, bacon, hamburger, ans sausage. Nowadays I use turkey pepperoni only. Bake until bubbly and brown. Let stand for 5 minutes.

I should confess. Lately my biggest issue is fat. Nuts, peanut butter, sour cream, guacamole. And big time -- cottage cheese. I truly cannot stand low fat dairy prodcuts, so my near-daiy lunch of pepperoni chips and cottage cheese consists of the full fat version. I'm working on re-weaning myself off, but cottage cheese is such a "safe" food.