Wheetsin

The girls are... shrinking... and that's a... NSV? Congratulations! My mother's genes I did not get. She's a DD, and I refer to her girls as "the shelf", because they catch everything she drops. She doesn't leave home with her Tide2Go pen!

Ok, I just saw Babs' post and didn't notice all the new posts here. You ALL Have such amazing losses! I'm betting my money on the first 6 months, as in - I'm really trying to milk it for all it's worth. Between January and October of 2004 I lost 120 lbs. on an extreme Atkins diet, basically following the rules of induction for the entire time. I "took off a weeK" when DH and I went on a cruise in January 2005 and had gained back at least 70 lbs by summer. Pre-Atkins was my heighest weight... I don't even know what I weighed because the standard scales didn't go over 350. I'd say I gained back all of that 120 except maybe 20 lbs when I was banded. Consultation weight was 370, I wasn't weighed on that scale before surgery... but looking at the gain my home scale showed I'm figuring my surgery date weight was 382. As of this morning I'm at 337 but it's also time for me to start retaining Water (up to 8lbs ) so I won't know a "real" weight for another week or two. I know from my Atkins experience that I need to lose around 60 lbs for me to see any kind of difference, even in my clothes. And then there's the "mental difference" that's hard to get past -- the little vice in your head that tells you "those pants aren't really looser, they just got stretched out" or "They aren't looser, they just never fit as tightly as you remember they did." That's why I keep a photo log! (and even then -- "well maybe I was just holding in my gut and didn't realize it"...)

Wow Babs, that's an amazing loss! How long had you been banded when you hit your low of 180? Was that recently, or have you been at/near that for a while?

Depends on your insurance company's criteria. That's really all that matters.

Well - and this is all just MVHO - I'm not sure that surgically placed willpower is the best description. The band will not keep you from making bad food choices, e.g. you will still need willpower to choose chicken over ice cream. For me, I consider the band "portion control", if anything. Focus on really listening to your body. You are going to have to eat slow, and wait between bites - you won't have much choice. Between your bites, really listed to your body. Ask if you are really hungry, or if you could go a while without eating more. A few tips I've found in my short banded time to do this: - Take only the smallest portions, just a spoon at a time. If you have "clean plate" syndrome, it's easy to see a plate full of food and think you're still hungry. If you just take very tiny portions, you can help trick your brain. Remmber - it will be much more pelasant to put more food in if you need it, than to have the extra food forcibly removed. - Buy some saucer-sized paper plates and child-sized paper bowls, and some baby spoons. Or baby tableware, if you don't like disposible dishes. Seeing 2 oz of food on a big dinner plate or a big spoon just makes you think, "Wow, I'm not eating much." Seeing the same amount of food on a very small plate gives the appearance of a much fuller plate. It's all mental, but if you're struggling, it can work. - If you're artifically hungry, drink some Water. It really will give you a feeling of satiation. If the water doesn't help, have a Protein drink - you'll need it anyway. - If you're truly hungry and need to eat more, then eat more and don't fret. For a while your body will still be healing & if it's telling you it has to have more, it does. - I'll try and word this as best as I can, but it might sound a little stupid. I feel like I have two stomachs now - a "top stomach" and a "bottom stomach". Usually my bottom stomach pisses, moans, grrs, and tells me I'm hungry according to my pre-banding perceptions. But now when I feel this hunger, I listed to my "top stomach" and it tells me I'm full. What a weird senstation that was the first week or so -- having my stomach growl like there's no tomorrow, but not feeling hungry.

Yikes, I hope you get good news!

My minigoal, which is far more ambitious than what I should be aiming for... but I can't help it because the loss represents a smaller size, in which I have lots of cute work clothes, and the date represents a huge conference I have to go to and want to wear my cute work clothes to!) Anyway, that goal is around 300 (+/- 5 or so lbs) by the middle of May. That gives me roughly 2 months to lose roughly 30 lbs. I'm keeping my fingers crossed! Shellyj - we seem to have similar stats, both with weightloss as well as weight<->size relationship. How tall are you?

If it makes you feel any better, your nurse was asking you pretty standard questions. I was asked 3 times if I had a living will. I think they do it standard, as a service (reminder) to people, but it certainly can give you a moment of - "Uh, why are you asking??" :confused:

I hadn't even thought of hummus. I make my own (mom's side is Greek), so it's extremely low-fat and extremely high in protien. Mmm, thanks for the reminder - I know what ingredients I'm buying at the store tonight. :confused: I'm not a refriend bean fan, but I did find one that's REALLY good. It's made by Rosarita and it's "Chile and Lime" flavor. Add some tabasco, jalapeno juice, and a little red sauce, and it's just downright awesome.

Umm... didn't your surgeon or dietician give you a post-op diet? That's not just for weightloss, it's also for giving your body time to heal, and introducing foods gradually so that it's not having to work "overtime". I'll be 3 weeks out on Wed. I eat as though I have restriction, even though I probably don't now that my swelling has subsided... and just by the simple act of paying to attention to whether or not I'm really hungry, I've been able to keep the portions small and keep the weight coming off. If I wanted to I'm sure I could eat a "normal" meal, but really - I'm pleasantly surprised to learn how little food it takes to truly get past "hungry". That's not "full", or "clean my plate", but just "not hungry". I would suggest focusing on your Protein and trying to cleanse your body. The more you revert to old eating habits now, the tougher it will be to go cold turkey when you get your fill. At the very least try to remove the biggest potential no-nos from your diet now, so it's easier to do it after you fill... e.g. have those two subs minus the bread. Try thinking of this as "practice" time - to get used to doing these things now, while a mess-up might not hurt as bad, instead of trying to switch your behaviors 100% cold turkey after a fill. You have to meet the band halfway.

Welcome! No connections to the UK other than several layovers in Heathrow and DH being detained there once, momentarily, because their Beagle Brigade couldn't tell the difference between drugs and a bag of granny smith apple slices. :paranoid

I looooove salad. Pre-banding, I ate it at least twice a day. I was pretty certain I'd have to give it up because - well, lettuce isn't something I'd think we'd really be able to chew much, except for maybe the really crunchy core of iceberg. It seems like when we chew it, we just mash it flatter. Do you guys just chew it really well, or do you cut it up real small first?

My mother is on coumadin and I bought her a new bracelet for the holidays. I just went to the local jewelrey store at the mall and asked to see the medic-alert bracelets in their special order catalog. There were probably 30 emblems to choose from, as well as a variety of caduceus charms you could add to bracelets you already had. On the emblems, you could get the red caduceus or have it etched on the gold if you preferred to skip the red. The bracelets didn't come in a chain she liked, but you can buy just the emblem and have them add it to any chain. She picked the emblem she liked, and a chain in the store, and they sent it out to have it made. It took about a week and a half and the total cost was around $380.

Tonight out of the blue the skin around my incisions starts itching. Maddeningly! It's *around* my incisions, but not the incisions themselves, and every single one of them has it. I tried hydrocortisone, I tried calamine, I tried a compress... nothing is helping & it's driving me mad! Not touching it makes it itch, but touching it makes it itch even more. It feels like 100 mosquito bites all in one. Ask-a-nurse says bacterial infection, but I don't think so. I think it's related to the stickies they put over my staples, but dang - those have been off for over a week, and this is the first time I've had any real issue. Plus they made sure I was latex-free (my only known sensitivity) during surgery and post-op. I will def. be calling PCP if this is still here tomorrow morning. Here's a pic looking down. The areas are about 1/4" puffed up. Here's my largest/port incision, the leasy affected one. You can see some spots on top, but most are below. Still small. Minus the 5 staple holes on the bottom, everything else is this "rash". They look almost like little cuts, but feel nothing like that. The area that has it the worst, one of my side incisions. For scale, the incision is just over an inch long.

These tips aren't band specific, but general for weightloss. - If you don't exercise regularly, start. And if you do, make some variations to your normal routine. - Drink Water. It will help your metabolism be more efective, esp. if you currently aren't drinking enough. - If you've been eating minimally, try to get in some extra nutrients - healthy ones. - Make sure you're consuming enough Protein (60+ grams/day)

Slippage wouldn't occur around your belly button, that's not where the band is and it can't slp that far down... the belly button is in the intestinal area. Perhaps it's not band-related. You could have strained a muscle, perhaps? I'm too newly banded to really speculate about what it could be. All I can advise is that if you're in enough pain to warrant pain relievers, you're doing the right thing by going to see your doctor! Best wishes with your visit!

I was approved & scheduled for surgery when I was 29 (birthday was in February). I did not have comorbidities, but I did have a high BMI. I had UHC. The process was smooth. I was still waiting for their first round of objections, but what came in the mail was notice of pre-approval.

IMO... Hypnosis and the paranormal (parapsychology) have about the same amount of credibility in the world of psychology. Just as the medical profession has its people who wonder elixirs and miracle cure bracelets, psychology has its hypnotists. People who want to be hypnotized will be hypnotized, just as people who want to astral project themselves to Venus or communicate with the dead using a crystal ball are going to do so. Dies it have any viability? Well - it seems to be able to relax people short-term. But so does 10 deep breaths.

What is VBG? Wow, I've heard of docotors deciding to do the procedure open instead of lap, but I've never heard of a doctor completely changing the procedure the patient is supposed to receive. Did you give them advanced permission to do this? Was it part of the surgeon's conditions for operating? Why do you think you're PBing so much? Are you still learning how to eat & chew? Are you over-filled?

Ok, you lured me in, but my nasty cravings have nothing to do with food. :heh:

Ok, talked to PCP today, she said I didn't need to come in but we talked for a while on the phone. It's basically "allergic contact dermatitis" -- what I thought, only in more words. What we can't figure out is why, after the plastic stuff has been off for over a week and all steristrips off for at least 3 or 4 days, I'm just now having this "delayed" reaction. She thinks maybe something (waistband, etc.) irritated it just enough to be a catalyst. She phoned me in a prescription for ablahblah blahpoopblahblah... seriously can't remember the name, I'll have to look at it when I pick it up. Some type of topical antihistamine that's supposed to be pretty strong. Everything has already started going down, itching is less, and I'm getting a "scaley" skin on top, which she says is another indication it's just an allergic reaction. I didn't think it was an infection. Damn ask-a-nurses...

There's nothing like having a goal weight that's most people's starting weight! I know that all too well!

Your second description is much more my style. I'm the "Simon Cowell" type - say it like it is. I had concerns about deception, that's just not me. And I also had concerns about it being her decision (concern #3 in one of my previous posts). I talked to DH about this tonight and we're both leaning toward telling her the money is there if she wants it, and leaving it at that. She'll see my progress, and just as I would if our roles were reversed -- she'll start thinking, "That could have been me if I'd done it..." And if she doesn't do that, and doesn't want the band, that's entirely her decision. My offer would be for *any* support she felt she needed, band or not. If she wants WW meetings, fine. If she wants Nutrissytem, whatever. If she wants to go to a "fat camp" or one of the weightloss clinics, I'll hop online and order her tickets. I don't care about the means, it's the ends. As long as it's what she independently wants. (But my suspicion is that -- let me lose another 50 lbs, and I don't think she'll be able to stand it )

The journal is a really good idea. And I think we're visiting them this Saturday. Hmmm... aaamom, I don't believe it's a selfish action. I tend to be objective in most of my actions & thoughts, to a fault. But thinking out loud... I never mentioned banding to her outside of what I was doing to me. She came to me herself with interest and questions. I did ask her once if it's something she would consider, more to gauge her thoughts of me doing it than anything else. She said, "If I could afford it, or if my insurance company would cover it, I probably would. I want to be thin again. I'm sooo tired of being fat." My mom has been MO most of my life, the only exception being 1 year that she was on WW and dropped enough to just be "overweight". I hear from her constantly how much she hates it, how much she misses her energy, how she wishes she could find the diet that would work, etc. Additionally, she's had some problems in the last few years that make being overweight even more difficult. She was diagnosed with melanoma, and it was on the bottom/side of her foot. As a result she had to lose most of her foot from her heel to just under her ankle bone, down to about 1" of the bottom of her foot. It looks like a big dog bit her and just took a chunk out of her foot (according to my very young cousins, it looks like "chinese food" - LOL). She can walk, but the added weight makes it a lot more uncomfortable, and she always says she needs to lose weight to help her get some normal mobility back. I've never suggested this to her. When she asks what my thoughts are I tell her honestly, as she knows I will, so I've told her I thought the band would help her, but only after she asked, and I said no more. Yes, my insurance paid for my surgery. Completely. Well, I paid $40. One $20 copay to the surgeon for my consultation and one $20 to the hospital. I've actually looked into having her added to my policy, for other reasons (e.g. her insurance will not pay for a prosthetic for her foot, so she could wear normal shoes... mine would cover it 100%, AND she'd get two of them), but the only way we could swing that would be to prove she lives with me and is a "dependent" -- no way to swing that.

Thanks guys! I'm glad you get where I'm coming from. This is my mom. I only get one. I can always get more money, but if she's not here I can't ever bring her back. She's 52 years young, and I want her with me for a few more decades. Dad too! I appreciate the suggestions. I thought about having my surgeon tell me the costs and paying, and just giving her the appointment scehdule or something. I have three concerns with that. One being - what if she decides this isn't for her? Do you think she'd be left feeling like I was trying to pressure her to do it? I can explain why I'm doing it until I'm blue in the face, but she's a pretty sensitive person, and has a tendency to read too much between the lines... Second concern - I know complications are unlikely, but my mother has a hard time with surgeries, which she's had far more than her fair share of. It would be her choice, but IF something went wrong -- man would I have guilt for the rest of my life... selfish, I know, but still in my mind. Third concern - I don't want to give her a red hot, screaming and shouting notice that "your diets aren't working!" She doesn't react well to "bombs", even when they're necessarily reality checks. I will have to put a lot of thought and time into gauging where she's at, mentally, with her weight and her thoughts & committments about losing it.