Pix

Exercising wasn't my problem. Mine is eating right. I actually forget to eat I get so busy with my kids, oddly enough I don't forget to feed them (which makes them very happy I would think LOL). I am getting better about eating 3 meals a day, Breakfast is still my yucky point. BUT I do spend the extra to get the prepackaged salads (chef salads, green salads etc) and the prepackaged meals (the ones in the green box's in the freezer section are my all time FAVE!! (can't ever remember there names) Just start small, change where you park. Park as far out as you can manage the walk, take one flight of stairs then the elevator. Simple changes like that can add up in the end. They helped me immensely when I started working out again. Now you are hard pressed to get me to park close or take the lift. Also, I spent 65 on a cheap elliptical (that gazelle thing) and I do that for 30-60 minutes a day. Like I said, small changes will make a huge difference in the exercise area and before you know it you will have more energy for more working out.

My experiance with GNC was almost the same. The gentleman started out rude as can be well then he switched his tune really fast when I just looked at him. I am not talking a mean look just a look that said "wtf are you going on about". Not quite confused but definitely NOT happy. He changed tactics, right quick. He became a very helpful young man. I had another experiance at GNC though, not the clerks but some muscle bound wanna be idiot. Quick recap I was talking with the little gal that also works there about liquid diets and stuff (what she would recommend etc) and this group of young guys walked in and the "leader" popped off in a loud stage whisper "did you see that fat chick, she was checkin me out" ... Needless to say I was so not in the mood for shit that day I looked at the clerk said "Excuse me, someone needs to be put in his place" Walked over Asked him what he said he mumbled and hemmed and hawed. I can't remember exactly what I said but I stalked around him looking him up and down and it went something like this ... "Sorry, you have no neck your arms are to big for your body, you have chicken legs. I wasn't checking you out you were being loud and obnoxious when you walked in so I looked over, and before I forget, you might want to go see a dermatologist before that acne permanently scars your face" He skulked out with his friends in tow laughing there asses off. I walked back to the clerk and apologized and she was about to piss herself laughing. There are some days I just can't ignore ignorant comments like what he made and I get pretty confrontational. I know I shouldn't but .... LOL

Like Elkhunter said, documentation!! My insurance wont pay for skin removal unless it is medically justified (IE rashes, ulcers, etc) So get into the doctor ASAP! For two reasons 1) so you get some relief from the icky rash 1) so you are one step ahead of the insurance company!!

Make an appt for your doctor! If it is getting worse then that is cause for alarm!!

Me personally it was a very easy discussion. I can't fathom rearanging my insides for weight loss. I know for some it is an awesome tool, and they do wonderfully and stay fit and trim. But I am a pessimist by nature so the what ifs really stopped me from going much further then running the thought of bypass through my skull. I chose Lap band because God forbid something go wrong, it can be removed and taken out. Cancer does run in my family, (although only one reported case of stomach cancer) So my fear is "what if I get stomach cancer, if I have bypass I will lose what I have left" kind of thoughts. My surgeon understand this and respects it (his team push's bypass and the sleeve). For me it was a really easy choice, I was able to factor the pro's and cons for each and go from there. The list of Pros on the Bypass side was abysmally small, while the band took up the whole list. So....

The cost depends on your fill doctor or surgeon (some cases it is one in the same) It varies from place to place, but the average I have found is roughly 100-200 dollars. Some charge more if you were banded out of country (read as Mexico) because of the old school of thought about Mexico being dirty etc. But for the most part that just isn't true. Well, you have to chew your food to slurry consitancy or you have a really high chance of coughing it back up or having it get stuck. All in all, that is the only issue that I have found so far (I am not banded yet, but I have done enough research for 10 people LOL) It is a possibility, but with the lap band because we wont(don't) have the serious issues like bypass (malabsorbtion) it isn't AS bad for us IF it happens at all. Some do, some don't. Depends on the person I guess. You aren't alone, we are all here for that same reason. Loving to eat, and eating to love. You can't 'break' your band but if you do over eat on a constant level you will chance erosion, band slippage and a whole host of things. This is something you should really take up with your nutritionist and the surgeon I really don't have any, while it seems the vast majority of us are going through the SAME things, it is different for each person. My suggestion is talk to the surgeon and his team. Get to know them beyond what you would for a doctors office. and finally RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH!! If you think you know the answer keep looking until you KNOW the answer!!

The hospital I am getting it done at is a two day stay, day of surgery and you are discharged the following day. They want to monitor you for 24hrs.

Ok, the good stuff that is in a banana's mimics the chemical make up of chocolate, so if you are craving chocolate eat a banana and pay attention to that craving. It will go away. Same holds true for pears and the chemical make up of sodium. I was never a pear eater until my nutritionist pointed this out. She asked me what my "monthly comfort" foods were and I told her, salt and chocolate in the form of the almighty reeses cups and Frito's corn chips. And if I go anemic rare steak (she put me on Iron supplements .. who woulda thought they worked .. :grouphug:) So since then, a week prior I make sure I am stocked up on naners and pears. It works 99% of the time like a charm. If the produce selection is slim picking, I make sure I get canned pears, and then go shopping else where for banana's.

Sure, go ahead and have that steak. While your at it call your doctor tell him you don't want the surgery anymore. Cause essentially that is what you will be saying if you give in and eat that steak. You are on the pre-op diet for a REASON. That reason is to shrink your liver, lower your BMI a bit, and make sure you WAKE UP FROM SURGERY. He did not put you on it to sit back and watch you suffer, he put you on it so you are not a MM review, or a canceled surgery. But this is your choice. GO ahead and eat that one steak, and who knows maybe tomorrow it will be that bowl of spaghetti and garlic bread. It IS your choice. I was going to say sorry if this is harsh, but I am not really. Would you rather stick it out, have a smooth operation fast recovery or no operation no recovery and live your life as you are right now?????

MM's never liked them, but dangle some Reeses Peanut Butter cups in my face and you better watch your fingers. They are my all time favorites. Especially when I need comfort food for "that" time. Actually, that is the only time I ever eat them. Which is weird cause up until this thread I never thought about it and thought I ate them all the time. THen I thought about it and realized that only once a month do I revert to comfort foods, and its a sick combination, reeses and freetos. Dunno why but that combo makes me happy... ROFL Dunno what I am gonna do after I get banded, check out some of the baked freeto's .. and look into Newmans organic peanutbutter cups I guess. Or try the fat free ones.... This is serious thought time. (ok that was sarcasm, I already have it worked out what I am going to do druing "that time" eating, lots (well as much as my tummy can take) of naners and pears. Naners for the chocolate need, and pears for the salt need. (it is a trick my nutritionist taught me and it works too!!)

I have only shopped there once, it was a pretty rotten experiance. The sales clerk was a total bitch. I left with out anything and then fired off a nasty letter to the cooperate offices about that store. It was dirty, unorganized and just plain bad. I know I shouldn't judge the whole chain by one store, but I did and do. I wont step foot in one again. Besides I have to get all my pants tailored so I can't justify there prices then tack on the price of a tailor. Walmart is my bestest friend for jeans LOL

FIrst and formost, COngrats!! That is totally awesome!!:tongue: Secondly, he must be related to the ER doc my girlfriend saw yesterday! What an asshole!! She had been trying for the last month to get her son into his doctor but he has been totally booked!! The secretary told her "I don't recommend this normally but I know he needs to be seen, take him to the er, but be prepared to wait you will be billed cat 5 (total no emergency)." She finally got seen, and the doc that came in was a total piece of shit!!! He scared her son, pissed me off to no end and wouldn't answer ANY of her questions. I wound up answering them for her in front of the doctor. He asked me where I obtained my medical degree all I said was "emt for more years then you had yours" and went back to translating doctor speak and answering the questions he wouldn't answer. I hate docs with the bedside manners of a dead fish. I wanted to kick that ass in the jimmies for how he was acting.

See, this was even mentioned by the team at the hospital, they said "we don't recommend it officially but it is a good way to help the grieving process. They said it is all part of the process and to not be shocked if we catch ourself eating everything but the kitchen sink prior to surgery. So, you are not alone in this, almost everyone will go through it or has gone through it.

It isn't the pain that gets me, it is something that has always been controlled by diet changes and the like. So for me, I felt it a unnecessary procedure if it was totally controlled by diet. On one level my doctor agreed with me, but on the other she really wanted me to have to so we could either confirm or deny the IBS diagnosis. Since my unofficial diagnosis in the 90's diet control has remained true to form, if I avoid white foods I have no issues, if I give in well then like I said, I know my bathroom more intimately then I care to know it. LOL :smile2:

(first off sorry for the long post....) Ok, back in the 90's my doctor said she would bet her license on the fact I have IBS, but since I wouldn't submit for the colonoscopy she couldn't give me a real diagnosis. I was discussing that with my coordinator friday and she said that it sounded more like a gluten allergies cause it is controlled by diet. If I avoid white foods I am fine, if I have white foods I am in massive pain and have well .. lets just say I know my bathroom intimately. Now if she was just a civ coordinator I would have discounted her opinion as just that. But since she has been a RN (with her masters degree) it has gotten me thinking. Could she be right?!?! I was talking to a friend of mine with IBS (she submited for the colonoscopy) and she said diet does help, but not on the level it does with me. Also was talking to a friend that has a true gluten allergies and we were discussing my symptoms, top and bottom everything that happens if I eat the wrong things etc. He agrees with the coordinator that maybe it is a gluten allergy and NOT IBS. I don't want to get the colonoscopy cause it just isn't necessary in my mind because this is all controlled by diet changes and eating carefully. But, I am thinking about making an appt with my allergist and having him test me for the gluten sensitivity/allergy to either confirm or deny that. Now you may be asking why this matters for Lap Band, my surgeon's personal preference is to NOT do the band on a patient with IBS/Crohns/Ulcerative Colitis. BUT since I was never "officially" diagnosed I can prolly slide in anyhow ... especially since they are leaning to the sensitivity/allergy at this point. So for everything that is going so well that is the one hitch that may or may not stop the surgery from happening. *sigh*

We were discussing how fast/slow the weight loss was going to be. I made a simple yet true comment and she gave me the "you just sprouted 3 extra heads and two of them have horns" look. She told me to expect a "sudden" loss then it will slow down, and all I said was "I hope it isn't to fast, I would rather loose slow and steady then fast and stall". I guess she wasn't expecting it, most of her patients are bypass patients I am one of the few that are in for the lap band (she keeps pushing bypass and/or the sleeve (no thankee spankee)) and that is what they experience. I am not a bypass patient (much to her chagrin) and I don't want the sudden drop, I just want to get healthy and fit. But even after the appt was over and she put in for my mental wellness referral I think she was still shocked that I said "slow and steady wins the race while fast and furious fall short of the finish line every time" ... (yes I said that, huge fan of the tortoise and the hare) Well, anyhow I am done with my classes now, and moving on to the last 3 one on one appointments before I schedule my surgery .. I AM SOOO CLOSE I can taste it now!! :tea:

My suggestion, take a free cooking class at the local college if it is possible. I love to cook, I was a assistant chef (wanted executive damnit) for the longest time... My best advice, start cooking with small things that seem really easy and really good. (I can recommend some cook books of you want) Slow cooker meals are a BIG hit, and with the right recipes totally amazingly healthy. But if it is still not your bag of games, get the pre cooked lean meals in the freezer section of your grocery store. Hey they are there for a reason right? LOL (Personally I love LOVE the ones in the green box (damn can't remember the name) they are to die for!!

Well, if you do decide to get a tattoo ... few bits of advice first 1) Get to know your artist, look at his work. If he doesn't have books of his work, run don't walk but RUN to the nearest exit and don't look back. 2) Visit the shop a few times, get a feel for it. Is it clean, do they use new needles each and every time? 3) Last but not least, never NEVER get an impulse tattoo, think about it. Then think some more, if you even slightly doubt it, wait.. WAIT WAIT WAIT!!! I have no impulse tattoos, all of mine have been thought out to great painstaking details. My most recent work (not finished) was a brain child for 6 months before I even went to talk to my artist about it. Then it took 6 months before he and I settled on a drawing I liked (my design his art work) and would not get all messed during the weight loss. Again, do not do impulse tattoos. You might regret it in more then one way!!!! All this brought to you by the lady with 13 tattoos, wait no its 14 now ... hehehehe

That is the one thing I am not worried about, I got it covered .. almost literally. Where 3 of the 4 scars are going to be I have tattoos. My artist and I are already planning the "repair" .. and the 4th where there isn't a scar we are trying to figure out if I want to put something over it or just leave it as a "battle scar" .. LOL He said he would date it "2008" if I wanted .. ROFL

Is I can't bring myself to eat Breakfast yet .. I just can't stomach the thought of eating in the morning. On the days I do try, I wind up feeling so sick to my stomach I can't hardly eat the rest of the day. HELP! How can I work myself up to breakfast???

HAHAHAH That is what I told my super religious neighbor ... I thought she was going to die on the spot ... she ran inside saying "I am going to pray for you now" Man I really shouldn't enjoy messing with her head, but it is SOOOO much fun

Ok, I admit, the goofiest stuff entertains me and makes me happy. Now as to why I am happy, first, got my jeans back from the tailor! OMG I am soooo thrilled to not have a pair of jeans that I gotta worry about the ass gap or butt slide. Best money I have ever spent was getting my jeans tailored. Now my belts don't "slip" and cut into my skin they stay with the jeans, and when I sit I don't have to constantly pull my shirt down over my jeans cause of the gap, and slide. THen the other thing that made me very happy was I went to the store, all clearance items were on extra markdown (60%) Momma went shoppin!!!!! First off, I got an outfit that fits now, well the jeans are a bit snug, but that gives me "loosin room" so I still have pants to wear (ROFL I can't believe I said that, normally I buy them just a bit big "just in case" even now my brain is working forward not backwards .. this is awesome). Then I got me a CUTE CUTE CUTE size 12 "goal" outfit. It is SUPER cute... Nothing "OMG to much skin" but it is a cute business type thing (but with jeans) for like casual Friday (it is how I dress on a reg basis). Anyhow, that is my happy dance moment from the week. (what its only Wednesday ... dang gotta work on the last two days now .. LOL)

Well my advice from someone who has flown tons, just try (key word) to relax and enjoy it. If you are still freaking about flying them talk to your doctor about sine anti anxiety pills for the flight. Might help you sit back and just enjoy. Bring a good book, or cross word to keep you well occupied.

Now this is pre-band.... I drink 3-5 litres of Water a day. Post band it is gonna kill me not to drink that much. It is such a habit to refill my water bottle 3-5 times a day. But I am sure I will get used to it.

No matter how bad it seems always tell yourself "it could be worse" or "this to shall pass" I remember college days, it was a total pain in the arse trying to make ends meet with out help. And a second job was OUT of the question between class's studying, and work. But remember it will pay off.