MacMadame

I didn't watch because that sort of stuff make me fidget (speeches and things), but I'm not surprised that Obama was impressive and I'm happy he's our President now. Oh I saw Michelle's dress on CNN while I was working out and it was gorgeous!

Have you asked in the Ireland forum? It's possible those other people paid with their own money, but maybe someone banded by Dr. Kennedy posts here.

And anything else risks violating the site's advertising policies.

Maybe those instructions will work for you. They don't for me!

Welcome to LapBandTalk! There is someone here looking for info on banding in the DR. Maybe you can help them out with their questions: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f18/anyone-know-anything-about-dominican-republic-85738/

Welcome to LapBandTalk! Sorry about two liquid pre-op diets. Yuck!

Welcome to LapBandTalk! Be sure to check out the Pre-op Support section. I didn't have to do a pre-op diet as I had already lost weight on my own before my surgical consult.

Welcome to LapBandTalk! Be sure to check out the Complications thread. There is a lot of info there from people who had slips.

Welcome to LapBandTalk! Wed. is close. I started freaking out when I got my surgery date, but by now I was pretty calm. How about you?

Welcome to LapBandTalk!

That's what counseling is for. You may be effected, but you can't control other people. Plus, you promised to love someone in sickness and in health and obesity is a disease. My dh is obese. He was underweight when I met him. I was obese when we met (not quite MO, but close), lost weight for the wedding (not quite to normal weight, but close) and then went up and down the entire time we were married. He just went up. And up. And up. It's really tempting to try to force him to be healthy and to lose weight now that I'm doing it. It's much more annoying that he won't do anything about it now that I'm doing something about it. But the problem is, in many ways, my problem. I've got WLS religion and he doesn't. Two years ago, I had much less issue with his weight and his weight hasn't changed (well, I think he's up another 5 lb., but still). I've changed. Which makes it my problem, not his. I just think this is just something we all have to do for ourselves and I don't think there is anything the other person could have said or done to make us see our own problems until we were ready to see. Once we are ready, then all it takes is a little nudge and anyone can give it. Before we are ready, the other person can shove with all their might and it won't move us.

I was afraid you were going to ask about the Befores & Afters. I'm not sure about that one but I can do the Photo Albums. Go to your profile page. (Click on your name at the top of the page to get there.) On the bottom right is a box called "Albums" and a link called "Add and Album". If you click on it, the directions should be pretty easy to follow. The hard part about this one is just *finding* the link to get started. Once your pictures are in your album, you should be able to post them in a message by clicking on the icon above that looks like a postcard of a mountain and pasting the url into the box that comes up. I'm going to try it now and see if it works: Okay, it doesn't. I am going to give up now. There are instructions in the Suggestions, Questions, etc. thread but, as you can see, they don't work for me. Maybe they will work for you: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f5/how-attach-picture-post-17595/

I'm not familiar enough with the surgeons out that way to know, but I think if you self-pay, most surgeons aren't going to balk at a BMI of 34.5. That's still obese.

Do you want to post them in your personal photo album or in the Before and Afters thread?

I can't answer about being stuck, but I can say that I have never heard of primrose oil helping with hair loss. Hair loss is caused by a number of things. 1) Stress to the system - like having surgery, losing a lot of weight, and being under anesthesia. If this is causing your hair loss, nothing can stop it. But Biotin can help the new hair grow in nicely. 2) Protein deficiency - I find if I go under 100 g of protein a day, my hair falls out like crazy. This is because I work out a lot and need more protein than the average bear. Try upping your protein about 20 g from wherever it is and seeing if that helps. If not, just go back down, no harm done. 3) Vitamin or mineral deficiencies. If you supplement with the right supplement (the one you are deficient in) that can help The mostly likely possibilities are: zinc, selenium, omega-3 fatty acids, silica, Coenzyme Q10, Flax Seed Oil. 4) Hormonal imbalance. This needs to be diagnosed by a doctor. Until the imbalance is fixed, the hair will continue to fall out. For your pill, you can try removing it from the capsule and just drinking it. It will probably taste horrid though.

I'm surprised you didn't get any responses to this. I'm not a SAHM and my youngest is 10 so I can't answer you, but maybe if I bump the thread up someone else will notice it and have a good answer.

My understanding is that they used to say that bandsters can't take NSAIDs because they thought it caused erosion, but then they figured out it didn't and you should be able to take them. But talk to your surgeon and your PCP about what else is out there.

I think it depends on your goals. My goal is to be able to run a 5k so I wanted to get to the point where I was running 25 min. straight and then adding on every week by 10% until I was doing the whole 3.1 k at a run. I got to this point last week. I found if I followed the program intervals, I progressed all the way through the program. Sometimes, if I felt I had more to give, I'd do an extra interval on the end, but I alway run the amount they say and walk the amount they say. If I don't do this, then I get stuck on a particular week and can't get off. I also had to do 3x a week minimum and couldn't do 2x a week like I tried in the beginning.

It's still the weekend for most of us. Being a holiday and all. And how exactly will threats do anything good? A lap band is just a tool. You can't get one and expect it to magically work. So you need to get one for the right reasons and be willing to do the work. If you are getting one because of a threat, it's unlikely you'll do the necessary work and you'll just be one of those people who has a band and doesn't lose their weight. Also, how the hell does her dh get off deciding that the lap band is the right tool for her? It's not the right one for everyone and, again, that is something that someone has to decide for themselves. Maybe this woman really needs a bypass or a sleeve or the DS more than a band. I doubt the dh has gone around doing thoughtful research to figure out which is the best surgery for his wife, even assuming he could make that determination. People have to make their own choices and they aren't always going to make the ones we think they should. Before you were ready to get WLS, would you have responded well to someone trying to make you? I know I wouldn't have. I wasn't ready and threats or bribes or even rational reasoning wouldn't have made me be ready. I had to be ready and it had to be on my time.

I think the two best surgeons in Mexico are Dr. Aceves and Dr. Rumblaut. Dr. Aceves has done more sleeves, I believe. Dr. Rumblaut has a band himself. They are both very experienced in bariatric surgery, have excellent reputations, and are capable of doing complicated revisions.

It sounds like an overuse injury. You really need to rest it or it will just get worse.

Is there some reason you don't want to do a sleep test? My surgeon doesn't require them but he's in CA.

Welcome to LapBandTalk!

Welcome to LapBandTalk! Did you know that if you don't get enough sleep, your ghrelin levels rise? This could explain how the sleep apnea caused weight gain -- since it cuts into your sleep time and you aren't as rested.

Salads compress though. :glare: There are different thoughts on when we can start having them. My surgeon's plan is very much "as tolerated" rather than setting deadlines. So he says most people tolerate salad around 2-3 months. But if you can tolerate them sooner, good for you. Other surgeons say "not before 7 months!" or some such other arbitrary deadlines. I had my first lettuce at 7 weeks out. I had my first salad soon after. But I always get them with grilled chicken on top and I make sure to eat as much chicken as I would normally. My favorite lately is something called "Strawberry Fields". It has crumbles of cheese, strawberries, nuts of some sort, as well as the chicken and the greens. I get a bit of everything in all the food groups this way and the nuts and cheese add to the Protein. Oh and my surgeon also says we can eat as many leafy greens as we want and don't even have to count them in our carbs. I still do because it's too much work to separate them out on The Daily Plate. :huh2: But I try to eat a lot of them and minimize the orange ones.