Wheetsin

It's suture. I had the same thing after an operation a few months ago. Quite a bit was left out, enough that it would snag my shirts. In my case it went away on its own, took about 2 months. If it bugs you, go to your surgeon's office and tell him to trim it, if you don't want to do it on your own. No reason to panic. There's nothing you could really pull loose unless you REALLY pulled, and then you'd know it.

Do a search. We have hundreds of MX and out-of-state bandsters who have discussed their travel tips, worries, suggestions, etc.

I started with a goal of 200lbs that's now closer to 210lbs. I started at 382 lbs and currently have about 45 lbs to goal. Even at my high the equipment wasn't an issue, I never had problems fitting or getting it to work properly. If you can't fit on the equipment, or aren't comfortable doing it in public, I would suggest a pool. I would also suggest exercising outside of a gym, e.g. walking trails, most highschools keep the track around their football fields open to the public, even just free weights for your around-the-house stuff. Any time you're sedintary is an opportunity to be active -- leg lifts during commercials, grips during book time, etc. It's not much, but you're going to have a really high BMR so any little bit helps that much more.

It depends on where the port is placed. Mine is right under my bra band, so unless I carry REALLY high, it's probably not going to look any different. A girlfriend's is on her side, and hers did not show.

I can't give you suggestions from the (very few) support groups I've attended because the topics weren't helpful. But from my butt: A clothing exchange. Myths about the body/weightloss/etc. A "bring your favorite band friendly food" recipe swap thing - kinda like the Protein tasting only better. Psychologist to focus on managing addiction (it that wasn't one of your topics already). A little Bandster 101 never hurt anyone, I've meet people 3 and 4 years out who are doing some really stupid things because they still don't know better. That's about it, I'm not feeling creative today.

I've never had it happen to me, but I know several people who have been through sifnificant illness/nausea since banding and all are fine. It's good that your surgeon is willing to check you out, many won't until you show symtoms of something being wrong. I've heard, through the grapevine kind of thing, that one of my surgeon's patients lost her band after a slip that was blamed on coughing. This is the only instance like that I've heard of, and I can't confirm it's true. Don't see it as a huge setback already, you don't even know if anything is wrong. Try to think positive and wait and see what the tests show. If you have slipped, it can often be fixed by a short period of unfill.

Since you said "The port area" I assume you mean sensitivity during sex in the area of the port? If so, I'm over 2 years out and this is still a reality for me. There are some things I can't do, or don't want to, because they will cause port discomfort. But all the other things I'm now able to do again more than make up for it.

This is why I hate duplicate threads. I'm going to answer your response here, because otherwise I'll just get confused. Eating mushies because you're too tight to eat anything else, and eating mushies as a surrogate for solid foods are completely different situations. When a mushy is all that will go down, then you should not force solid foods or (as you saw) you will just get sick. I can't speak for them, but I'd be 99% sure they meant as a rule -- if you can eat a piece of chicken, or mashed potatoes, go for the chicken. If chicken isn't/can't/shouldn't go down, go for something softer. Any Fluid retention could make you tighter, as could probably 20 other variables that people seem to be able to link random tightness with. Something being soup doesn't mean your band can't work. Trust me, I've PBed on soup. It doesn't have to be one extreme or another, but in this case since you yakked like 5 times yesterday, I would stick with liquids today and possibly mushies tomorrow, depending on how you're feeling. You need to give your body time to rest and get rid of the swelling. Having Protein drinks for a day doesn't mean you're breaking your nutritionist's rules of "don't use Protein Drinks for meals" or whatever. There are almost always exceptions. And as I originally answered, you do not sound like you're too tight to me. Being able to eat a pre-op size breakfast has no trace of "too tight" anywhere on it.<!-- google_ad_section_end -->

I swear I answered this...

Part-time graduate student. I'm done after summer, minus the comps.

I think out of control weight with no intervention from the parents is a form of abuse. If nothing else, it's a medical issue that the parents are not seeking medical help for. Or the equuivalent to taking a child to the doctor, but never following through with a prescription. There is the occasional, very very rare medical reason for obesity. That's where I can see this getting sticky. It's in the US too. 254 lb 7y/o may be taken from home. In the video she claims he eats scant meals, but if you look at her list, it's really the opposite. 4 eggs, cheese, ketchup and soda for Breakfast... for a 7 year old. She may very well think that's normal. Hence one root of the issue.

I'll be straight with you. It doesn't sound like you're too tight when you're eating meals that are closer to pre-op portions. Sometimes we're just tighter some days than others. Many females find that a few days before their period, or the day of, they're largely unable to eat. Yesterday could have just been a "tight day" for you. They don't have to be period-related. A few other things I'm noticing. A lot of the foods you tried to eat yesterday are foods that a lot of people have problems with. If you find you're having a "tight day" don't push it with hard foods, go with something mushy or that you know you can get down. Another - you yakked on sausage, but went on to try eggs. Yakked on eggs, but went on to try shrimp, etc. When you yak on something, that's it for the day, possibly two days if it happens at night. Yakking causes irritation and swelling in the area of the stoma. In other words, if you yak on something, you're that much tighter for a while... so stop trying to eat when you can't do it. Stick with Water and a Protein drink for the day and give your stoma & relevant areas time to heal. I'm seeing some bad habits in your post, e.g. trying to force eating even when you've already yakked several times. I think you'd go far to really learn how to listen to your body and take it easy with food. E.g. a good rule of thumb when you're learning is one bite, then wait 5 minutes. Bite after bite after bite doesn't allow the "uh oh" to register until it's too late.

Clothes on, shoes on.

The band won't do it's job until you're filled and have restriction. Until then, it's on you. Don't freak over weight gain. Gaining weight doesn't mean you're gaining fat. I gained 6 lbs since lastnight, and ate maybe 800 calories yesterday, but drink over a gallon of fluids. Of course I'm going to weigh more until those fluids work themselves out.

There's no set number of calories (e.g. 1000) that's the magic number for everyone here. I'm almost 6' tall and moderatly active. My calorie needs are probably going to be very different from yours, so what I eat has nothing to do with what you should eat. Find your BMR. There are range charts you can find online. If possible, determine your AMR. Then go for something between the two. My BMR is about 1877. When I pay attention to calories (not usually), I try to hit around 50% of my BMR, so roughly 930 calories. Half the BMR, or a threshold between your BMR and AMR (if you can determine it) is generally a good guideline for weightloss.

Vicodin should not be a problem. (It wouldn't hurt the band anyway. The concern is NSAIDS that can lead to ulceration -- on the inside, band is on the outside, Vicodin isn't an NSAID.). Some people have a very hard time with pills. If that's the case, go fir the liquid. Just about any liquid will be fine.

I did not.

I've lost over 150 lbs, have about 45 lbs left to lose - twenty-something to be in the 100s.

Being sick 2 years ago should not impact your surgery unless you're still sick. A nutritionist would not normally make a ruling on whether or not you could have surgery anyway.

I was told no deodorant, just antibacterial soap the morning of. If you're in doubt, why not just call the hospital or your admitting nurse and ask?

I'll make this as clear as I can, but it's a lot clearer in my head than it will be on "paper" -- methinks. My skin is a joke. While I don't necessarily NEED plastic surgery, it's definitely my only option for something that resembles a human body. I have 40 - 50 pounds left to lose before I'm at my target BMI. When I look in the mirror, it looks to me like there's a lot more than 50 lbs of fat left to lose. This isn't just a distorted body image thing, I really do have a huge stomach, thighs, top part of my butt, etc. I've been looking at various PS websites and a lot of the time when I see someone's "befores" I think -- wow, they're still pretty fat, I wonder why the surgeon didn't make them lose more weight first. Then they lose 11 lbs from surgery and are a sz 6. When I see some of the befores in this forum, I think -- wow, they look kind of like I do, and I'm nowhere near ready for PS yet (in my own mind), I have too much weight to lose. (That's nothing against the pictures here, it's just my frame of reference). Yet the people have their surgeries and look great. I guess I'm just surprised, because sometimes people still look pretty chubby -- like the pannus/abdomen/arms/whatever is still holding quite a bit of fat. I always thought that when I was ready for PS, I would look like a normal person who had a ton of completely flat/deflated skin litterally just hanging off me. Here's an example of what I'm talking about. I see a lot of "after weightloss, before PS" pics that look like this (I don't know if this one is before or after the WLS, but let's use it as a representative): http://www.makemeheal.com/pictures/large/3443 To me, that person's before picture looks like they still have a good bit of weight to lose, and I see a lot of pics like that. Yes, the skin is loose and you can see it hanging, but it's not the utterly flat droopiness I associate with being ready for PS. It looks like there could still be a good bit of fat under the skin (I know some fat is removed too, but that's not the point). The after picture looks great. Alternately, this is more the picture in my head of being ready for PS: http://www.makemeheal.com/pictures/large/227. You'll notice there's a huge difference in the "fullness/emptiness" of the skin. So how did you guys know when it was time for your PS? Was it a matter of reaching some number the PS gave you as a target? Was it deciding on your own that you were ready, and if so, was there a particular "look" (droopy, etc.) that told you that you were ready?

Do check the "Life at or near goal" forum. Perhaps more important than "how many make it" is "what reasons do people not make it." I'm trudging alonng. Started the year with roughly 60 lbs left to lose, currently around 45.

Not a whole lot of people active here are 3+ years out. I'm 2+ years out, if you feel that's enough experience to give you an idea of what to expect please feel free to ask some questions. Otherwise, best of luck to you.

Check to see what your surgeon's lifting/weight restrictions include. It should beincluded in their post-op/recovery info, and if it's not, just call and ask. That will help you gauge what you will need.

RE: organic sprays, the one I use is "Breath Tonic" made by Herb Pharm. Ingredients: extracts of peppermint, giner, clove in a base of grain alcohol, vegetable glycerine and distilled water. It's sugar free and non aerosol. It's not the yummiest thing around, but it really works, and tastes better once it has been in your mouth a bit. I get lots of compliments when I use it. :wink2: I picked it up at our local equivaent of Whole Foods. It was pricey (about $8 for a .47 fluid ounce spray), but so is everything there.