Wheetsin

I wore a knit dress - the simple kind that has the ties at the waist. Hopefully you know what I'm talking about. I wanted something I could just put on over my head and wouldn't have to risk rubbing staples, bending or leaning to get on, etc. I also wore crocs b/c I could just slip in and out of them. I made sure to bring a headband & hair tie because the first thing that will drive me nuts is my hair hanging in my face.

Right - and please don't take this as argumentative so much as perhaps something to reflect on. I don't do argument, but I will do perception. You seem like maybe you're in a bit of apples-to-oranges mode. A million people telling you that you don't need the band, and one person telling you that no bread makes her depressed -- totally different perspectives, totally different products. Make sense? It's the difference between -- 1. A bunch of people told me I don't need it, but I didn't listen. 2. One person told me she was depressed because she couldn't eat bread or big portions, so I postponed my surgery. So as I see it, it's still a matter of one person changing your mind. "Every soul" you spoke with before, you were able to shrug off. "Just one person" is all it took for you to postpone. So it really seems like - as I said before - if just one person's anecdotes are enough to make you change your mind, perhaps it's not the best decision. I'm not saying don't do it. I'm not saying it's a bad idea. I have no place or interest in saying either. All I'm saying is - no matter how many people give you an opinion, if just one person can say something compelling enough to make you postpone your surgery, esp. since what she said was not a matter of life or death ("I almost died from this" would be vastly different from "I'm sad because I can't eat bread"), then maybe some more reflection, thought, and processing will do you good prior to making a decision one way or another.

I feel that way, but since the core of my job is to make my teammates better at theirs -- I'd expect to feel that way. :confused:

Actually I think that any scale weight, consistent or not, is too subjective to be a primary matter of fat loss and that things like measurements, fat analysis, FFM, etc. are what people should truly focus on. scales are great if you're able to take them with a grain of salt, and not ground your behaviors off of their displays. :confused:

My first reaction to the question asked was, "Nope, because then I'd have 2 or 3 pounds to lose all over again!" :confused:

BTW if the 500 is for your deductible, you'll get that back as soon as your company recovers the money from the at-fault's driver -- that's not money you pay out and never see again.

We just went through the insurance process in April after someone hit my husband head-on. My husband had a lot of pain, and some significant injuries, but his perspective was - it was an accident, money doesn't make the pain go away, so all he cared about was recovering his actual expenses. I can't give any advice on how to fight for more money. Have you tried contacting her other than fax? Be assertive, but not aggressive. Maybe a request to speak with her manager is in order. Maybe a call to the 1800 line of the company, via a service rep. That's how we were able to get our initial communication going. At one point commuication stopped so I called our rep, just for advice, and she said take it as far as you have to go.

Robyn, I'd have to bow to you any day! Besides, for all I know Dr. Hoehn's scale will show that I've lost like 9 lbs. :confused: Going to see you next Thu?

When you go out to eat at an Italian restaurant what do you usually eat? Not much of an Italian fan, but probably some kind of chicken dish and salad. Or Pasta, which I can still do if I go slow and chew it to nothing. When you got out to eat at a Chinese restaurant what do you usually eat? The only Chinese I eat are PF's and Bo Ling's. At PF's I will get lettuce wraps, which is usually plenty. I may stray and get the occasional Chang's Spicy Chicken, or if I'm in rare form, Kung Pao Chicken. I give the rice to my companions. At Bo Ling's it's the General's chicken, every time, with vegetable friend rice that I take home for hubby. When you go out to a Seafood restaurant what do you usually eat? Seared ahi.

I've only had superficial bloodclots (thanks to friggin' BCPs), and in really unusual places (inner thigh, top of my foot, etc.) but my mother has been hospitalized more than once for DVT in her legs. Neither of us have ever seen them as raised veins. In my case I could clearly see the effected part of the vein, but the vein never bulged or anything. In mom's case it never bulged, but she'd get an angry red area on her leg exactly over the vein. Not to mention we've both always been able to tell where it is just by feeling the skin - it gets really hot - so hot you don't have to actually touch the skin, you can feel the heat radiating off. And you can always tell by the pain. People who haven't had them don't realize - blood clots hurt! A lot! When mom had hers, she could barely even crawl, let alone walk. Even though mine were superficial, and tiny in comparison, the slightest pressure was close to unbearable.

Let's see... your issues were bread & huge portions, right? If you maybe had to give up bread, but were able to get completely full on a very small portion, would it be worth losing the weight to you? If yes, continue to inquire about the band. If no, continue being obese. If one person's story is enough to make you doubt your decision, then maybe it's not the right decision for you - at least not now. Honestly - if you're still considering the band, it sounds like you're ready to spend some time with the psychologist, and I mean more than once, and I mean regardless of what stage of the process you're in. My advice would be "Don't wait until it's official pre-op visit." I hate seeing stories of emotional eaters who have one obligatory psych visit, and then wonder why their efforts are so difficult.

I'll just say what I know, to the best of my memory. I'm absolutely not saying anything is wrong, or that your medical care staff aren't doing their jobs perfectly well. This means nothing other than sharing an experience a family member went through. A family member had a surgical procedure performed on her abdomen. Her wound became infected and had to be re-opened. She ended getting a Pseudomonas infection, and she had bluish-green drainage that looked *exactly* like your picture. When she called her doctor to complain during the initial onset of the secondary infection, as soon as she said "bluish green drainage" she was told to come straight in, that it could be bad news.

NSV means something you consider to be a victory that's not coming from the numbers on a scale. Things like compliments, getting into smaller clothes, easier mobility, getting off meds, etc. They're related to your weightloss in a broad sense. SV would be something directly related to what your scale says, more like reaching a goal weight or weightloss milestone, or finally crossing out of the 200s and into the 100s.

I've had a few bouts of acid reflux (pre-banding) and that sounds very much like what I went through. In my case I think certain foods, and eating too much too close to bedtime caused my problems. It did help me to prop a few extra pillows under me so that I slept with my head inclined. I'd bolt upright in bed with a feeling that I'd just caught myself throwing up, and doing anything to clear my throat, cough, whatever would bring the taste up. I started keeping some strong mints on my nightstand so if it happened I could just start sucking on one - seemed to help. It didn't happen very frequently at all, MAYBE every 5 or 6 weeks, but since banding it hasn't happened once.

I should add, PB = "Productive Burp"... although in my case they're far more miserable than even the worst thing I imagined a "productive burp" could be!

The slime comes from your mouth. Honestly, not being sarcastic. And you're probably not actually vomitting (vomit by definition involves stomach acids), you're PBing. The terminology is ambiguous at best. Here's how I pesonally use the terminology, but it is by no means how others do. PB = Involuntary expulsion through the mouth of a stuck substance, aka "vomiting" (see note above). Sliming = The heavy salivation that usually occurs prior to a PB. Stuck = When something cannot pass through the stoma. A stick can lead to sliming and PB. To some people "PB" covers all three in one. To some "PB" might mean "stuck". There are not set definitions, so there's always an element of ambiguity when we describe our nasty tendencies to each other.

It's not as impressive as it sounds. Within my first week post-op I lost about 30 lbs, so figure at least 60 - 70% of that being initial Water weight. I've had two fills, 1cc each, in a 10cm band so I'm roughly 50% filled. It was "easy" for me in a sense, because my appetite never returned so I never had gain or even maintenance shortly after surgery, I was able to eat decreased portions the entire time. And keep in mind those numbers are per home scale, not per surgeon's. For all I know his shows I've lost 25 lbs. His certainly weighed me a lot heavier than any other scale on the face of the planet!

Whomever burns popcorn in the microwave, stinking up the whole floor, has to clean the microwave for a month. Same with fish, whether they burn it or not. No more suing over stupid things like, "Gee, this hot coffee actually burned me?!" I'm passing a law that says, "Sometimes accidents really are just accidents, and we don't have to waste time and money trying to prove fault so we can dig into someone's pocketbook." AND if you take someone to court and lose, you pay all legal costs associated with the entire process for BOTH sides. If someone parks way over their line, so close to you that you literally can't get your door open or in your car without having to climb through the other side of the cabin, you automatically consent to having your car towed at your expense.

I just saw this thread. I've been married 8 years, no kids, one dog. I had my surgery March 1 of this year in Shawnee, KS, so just about 3.5 months ago. According to home scale I've lost 75 pounds since surgery. Age related bandster issues... none really. Well, one - for me a big part of my decision to do this is that finally after 8 years of marriage, and 6 years of decisively not wanting kids, DH & I are ready to start a family, but there's no way I'd let myself get pregnant when I was 200 lbs heavier than a healthy weight. I believed I could lose the weight, but not keep it off... and all the while I'm certainly not getting any younger. My pre-op psychologist actually asked me my top 3 reasons for doing this, and being able to carry/have a child without the risk of add'l complications that come from MO pregnany was my #2 reason. I guess that makes it an age-related band issue...

Everyone has their own beliefs, everything teaches something different, and we can leave it at that. 307.2 today. At just under 3.5 months post-op that's 75 lbs down, and only 7.3 lbs away from Twoterville! And I need to do some MAJOR clothes dumping, I'm starting to really undergrow (that's the opposite of outgrow, right? Ingrow? Ungrow?) things.

Legalizing gay marriages is a must. Love is love, gender has nothing to do with it. Teach science in science classes. Keep rosaries away from ovaries. No more suspending kids because they won't say the "under god" line of the pledge, that wasn't part of the original pledge anyway. (Yeah, I'm biased with this one) I can't agree that there is separation of church and state. State bodies are infused with religion. A few simple examples - churches have been allowed into state-run prisons, not for voluntary services, but for reward - the prisoners who attend the classes get better rooms and extra benefits. The InnerChange program is just one example of such faith-based initiatives in state/government funded institution. The SS Block Grant program. The Federal Marriage Ammendment. Religious references on national currency. As of 2005 (don't think it has changed) the law still indicated that court oaths should be sworn on the "holy scriptures", aka christian bible. We're not that far removed from a time when atheists were refused the right to testify in court. Fortunately many courts are making the oath optional (in lieu of affirmation), but by and large it is still offered as an option. And on, and on... No more war on drugs, it just makes more death. Spend the money on schools, feeding/sheltering the homeless, etc. License plates should consist of cell phone numbers. I bet a lot fewer people cut you off if they know, that you know, how to get in touch with them. Anyone whose likeness has been used for an action figure can't make any more money, ever! Lower the drinking age. Seriously. Underage people drink anyway, but when they're around alcohol froma younger age they have much less tendency (something like 75% less) to get stupid drunk just because they can. Foreign countries, especially European, have had a TON of success with this. And in general - let's get better about choosing our battles, and spending a little more time thinking about what is really worth what before we act. This comes from a state employee I know who works in family services, helping people determine their public assistance eligibility: "People on food stamps have to shop at Aldi." (I didn't even know what Aldi was). Apparently they have a lot of problems with people running out of money, and when they counsel those people on their spending habits they find out they bought brand name everything, and when they look at spending reports people could get about 230% more groceries for the same amount if they bought generic.

I made mine for what I look like today, and if I can look at goal anything like my "current" model, I'll be thrilled!

I'd make it illegal to refer to your SO as "the ball and chain". I just hate that, I think it's so disrespectful. Stores are no longer allowed to sell thong underwear in the children's department. No more suing me because you're stupid. In my husband's native country, the loser of a lawsuit has to pay both parties' court costs. When this law was passed, their frivilous lawsuits (which weren't high to begin with) dropped over 60%. If you're caught drunk driving, mandatory attempted manslaughter. If you kill someone, forget a formal death penalty, we're just going to lock you up in a room with the victim's family for a while. And while we're at it, no more thousands & thousands to execute someone painlessly. Did their victim die painlessly? Companies sending me unsolicited credit cards have to give me $100. Each time. No book can be banned or burned, ever, regardless. Anyone on welfare cannot have another child until they get off of welfare and have stayed off for X amount of time.

I can feel my port if I stick my chest out and apply a good amount of pressure. For a while I couldn't feel it all. It doesn't feel like I thought it would, it feels like a little button. pretty much centered about 3" below my bra. I'm hoping that it stays hidden!

I've opted out of the gym this week but have been working harder than a bulemic on Thanksgiving! Yardwork every day after work, landscaping, weeding my planting areas, pruning, re-basing our paver patio that serves as a stair landing, etc. It's way more workout than the gym ever is, and I'm doing it for 4 - 5 hours. Or more. Last Wednesday I was planting barberry bushes by the light of the streetlamp.Most likely that has an impact. I'm also ovulating (TMI, I know) and for me it's virtually impossible for the scale to drop then, or when I'm... you know. Damn hormonies. No eating changes at all. I tend to plateau, even past weightloss efforts prove that's true for me. Maybe not plateau, but it's not uncommon for me to go a month or more with 0 loss in pounds, and then drop 20 lbs in a week. I'd prefer it to be more steady, but off is off. My first weighing after surgery was 1 week later, at my first post-op appointment. I was still on a resolve to use only my surgeon's scale, so I had DH hide my home scale from me, because if it's there, then dammit - I'm going to get on it. Again. And again. And again.