PhotoNut

Aww! She's adorable! She reminds me of a fur muff. How about Muffin, or Muffy?

HarleyNana - You wouldnt mind if we have matching boobs would you? Cause I really want mine to look like that too!

I saw my surgeon yesterday for the three week checkup. After reading about all of the erosions on this site I had some serious questions for him. He backed up what DeLarla and Michelle have said with one additional thing. He said that the proceedure used when putting the band in place can be the cause. He told me that US surgeons used to use a method where the outter stomach lining was pulled over the band and sewn to itself to prevent slippage. They still do this yes, but the difference now is they turn the snap, or fastener, on the band away from the stomach and they do not pull the stomach over the entire band. He said that they found that erosions were usually caused at the point of the fastener. It is harder and it sticks out more. He also said that only 1% of bandsters experience erosion. And, if the proceedure was done well and erosion happens anyway.. it is purely "bad luck". He said there is absolutely no reason to believe that what we do, or dont do, causes the erosion. As a side note. I asked him what happens if the band does erode? Will I be facing thousands of dollars to save my own life? The answer was.. "You were self pay, werent you? Then yes, unfortunately, you would have to pay for it." My wonderful husband reminded me that the odds of me being killed in a car wreck are about the same as having erosion problems, and I don't panic everytime I get in the car so I shouldn't panic over this. Good advice. PS My surgeon also told me that the doctors in Mexico are still using the full band wrap proceedure (I forget the technical term for it but I'll find out and add it later). He said he spoke with one of the Mexican surgeons recently at a conference and asked him what he paid for malpractice insurance. Ready for this? $200 a year. I'd say they aren't too worried about people bothering to come back on them when things go wrong. (I am only passing along this information for knowledge. I am not trying to say any surgeon is better than another, nor am I saying everyone banded in Mexico will have erosion problems.)

NJChick.. what if he.. likes that?? LOL DeLarla.. I thought about it yesterday and then I remembered Pamela and Tommy's little problem. I quickly changed my mind. I don't want people making money off my stolen pics!! *chuckles*

Heyas jennielynn.. welcome to the best group Ive ever found online! Check out the food forum. There are lots and lots of ideas there. Grats on your band, and best wishes for a speedy recovery and successful journey!

Youre very welcome and .. wow! Youre in Boise too! Dr. Cahn is my doc. Dont you just LOVE him? The name Veritas caught my eye right away. Any connectoin to the company there? *grins*

Yeah.. I dont know whether to congratulate you or um.. feel sorry for you. LOL

Soft foods can include flaky fish. Try the Gorton's fish fillets. They are only 100 calories per fillet, very low sodium and fat, and have 17 or 18 grams of Protein. I have two of those with 1/2 cup of peas and carrots. All very chewable, mushy and Dr. approved. The fillets Ive tried are Butter Garlic, Lemon Pepper and Blackend Cajun (warning..this one makes you want to drink!) and they were all soooo good. Also, tuna is very easy to eat. I mix 2 tablespoons of fat free thousand island dressing into one can of tuna. Low cal, 32 grams of protein! And yummy! Im never hungry until it's meal time. Oh, and another thought about the liquids phase. Those Protein shakes are really filling! I was lucky to be able to drink a cup before I was stuffed. I mixed my strawberry whey protein with 1 C milk, 1/2 banana, 1/2 teaspoon of Splenda and a vanilla slim fast shake, then divided it into two(+) meals. Its hard to get all your calories in but this shake really helped me.

1-31-06 (277) Feeling better today. Yesterday I actually put on make up before going to see Dr. Cahn. He reminded me not to be thinking about weight loss yet, the first six weeks is for healing. He is also going to call St. Al's and see if he can get more done for us because of this burn. I wore my jeans today for the first time since Dec 20th. Size 24s. Very baggy. I have to roll the waist band down a bit. But the 22s are still too small. Went to Walgreens alone last night. Enjoyed shopping for some new makeup. Also went to find a good kitchen calendar at Avonlee's but they didnt have any. :mad: Went to Wally World - mistake.. over did it some. Was so tired when I got home. But still.. feeling better. Today I see the wound care specialist. Cant wait to get this thing healed. Its really keeping me from so many things I want to do. Got our gym membership set up yesterday. We start on Monday. Really looking forward to that!

1-31-06 (277) Feeling better today. Yesterday I actually put on make up before going to see Dr. Cahn. He reminded me not to be thinking about weight loss yet, the first six weeks is for healing. He is also going to call St. Al's and see if he can get more done for us because of this burn. I wore my jeans today for the first time since Dec 20th. Size 24s. Very baggy. I have to roll the waist band down a bit. But the 22s are still too small. Went to Walgreens alone last night. Enjoyed shopping for some new makeup. Also went to find a good kitchen calendar at Avonlee's but they didnt have any. :nanahump: Went to Wally World - mistake.. over did it some. Was so tired when I got home. But still.. feeling better. Today I see the wound care specialist. Cant wait to get this thing healed. Its really keeping me from so many things I want to do. Got our gym membership set up yesterday. We start on Monday. Really looking forward to that!

Kim_8.. my buddie You and your girls are gorgeous. And your hubby is so handsome! What a beautiful family. And if I hear you say you look old again, Im going to kick your butt. Youre darling.. you look so young!

Oh trust me.. Ive got luggage! A mix-matched set Ive collected over the years. *grins*

Vines.. umm.. im speechless. *laughs*

Jessie.. those are some sexy boooo bees honey *winks* In case you all haven't seen it yet, I took dawg's idea and ran with it. There's a thread called "Men! What has WLS done for your assets" in the General Discussion forum you should have a peek at. *grins*

Kathy - yuppers, you are correct. Turn about's fair play! Cheri - LOL!!! tripod.. ohh hahahaha! Jachut - curses on you! that song's stuck in my head now! haha! I should have known we'd get more frank responses from the men. They are always so proud of their.. assets. Now.. about that backround check.. and what's your credit score mister??

Kim8 and I wanted to share the following PMs with you all to bring you into this conversation. Please add your thoughts. A PM from Kim8 to PhotoNut: Sus - As I sit here and read your PM and laugh about the 12 course sonic meal, I start to contemplate skinny people. Do you think we'll lose our personalities along with our weight? If it wasn't for self-depricating humor, I might be humorless - what a terrible thought!!! Oh surely I can still laugh at myself about the big zit on my chin, or my extra stomach skin, or my saggy boobs, or, or, or - yikes... will this be different! I have such a smorgasbord of things to laugh at myself about ..... (Kim listed several things but I wasnt sure she wanted to share them - although, they were pretty darn funny) and the list could go on forever.... It seems to me that some of the funniest and most fun people I know are overweight - come to think of it, I know very few skinny people who I think have a really funny personality. Maybe I just don't know enough skinny people??? So - do you think we'll lose our sparkling personalities??????????? Please say no! PhotoNuts response: Wow, your question has really hit home. I have been wondering the same thing. Part of me wants to think logically and say, but but.. we only laugh because it hurts so much.. and.. wouldn't it be nice to have people laugh and enjoy our company when it's not at the expense of our inner sorrow? But I know exactly what you mean. Some of the funniest times I can remember, the side splitting laughter, tears and gasping for air from laughing so hard, were times when me and my fat girlfriends were laughing at ourselves. You know, I dont think we ever thought it was truly funny. I think perhaps it was just a release.. to laugh was a means of letting out the pent up emotions which weren't really funny at all. When I first started coming here, i told my husband that I enjoyed reading the posts because everyone seemed so happy and funny. And he said, well of course they are.. they are all fat. (He is too by the way. He's dieting on his own along with my changes. More on that later.) It hit me that he was right. Fat people have always been classified as happy people. But they arent happy at all, are they. Jovial Santa. Round belly, big smile. Aunt Jemima. Big old fat lady, with a big smile. Your favorite gradman image. Fat lady with lots of love and warm squishy hugs. Odd how happiness was ever linked to obesity. Perhaps at one time, it was a sign of wealth.. which would in turn make you happy? I dunno really. Maybe fat people are happier than skinny people, because fat people eat and comfort their stresses and sadnesses. Skinny people have no comfort. They just (let the stress) eat away at their own bodies? My hope is that the answer is no. We wont lose our sparkling personalities. My hope is that they will be magnified when coupled with the physical ability to get out and enjoy life to the fullest. You know, this would be a great topic for the board. If you dont mind, I think we should share these last two PMs in a post and see what others have to say. Kim8 repsonded: I dunno Sus - I think I'm happy??? I have a pretty good life --- I just think that it would be so much more fun to be able to live life a little more and do the things i'm too self-conscious to do now. Also - it is depressing to go get clothes - that's the only time I'm really not happy - that and god forbid pool parties . So I don't know what the answer to this one is. I'm agreed - you want to post it? It seems like a decent discussion topic to me.

Too funny Jessie! I laughed at every one and I intend to pass this on!

*pushes her way to the front of the crowd* Oh boy, let me at this one! My first time to get out of bed involved two nurses who got me standing, (my god that hurt - I had hernia repair also - open surgery on my stomach) then.. then! they decided they had to do something else real quick, so they sat me on the edge of the bed, drugged and in pain and left me for 20 minutes! Then came back and expected me to walk?? I took one small step and said, "Put me back in bed" Then.. oh youre not going to believe this one. In the middle of the night, the Gastapo arrived and she was an army of one. "You need to learn how to get up on your own. Here's how you disconnect yourself from the oxygen monitor. Take the IV stand with you.. you MUST PEE! And when you come back and get in bed, here's how you hook yourself to the monitors again" Yeah, right nursie. And the topper? The nurse who could barely function. Ever seen a slow talking, slow blinking, unstable drunk who couldnt speak clearly or walk without stumbling over themselves? Well she was the shining example. We couldnt decide if she was drunk or what. She quickly informed us that she was a floater nurse and had never taken care of lapband patients before, so she had no idea what to do before my release. She got me up to go to the bathroom and then left me.. didnt come back for three hours! My husband rescued me. But the topper of them all? She brought me my first liquid pain medicine, and after I drank it I mentioned it tasted like cough medicine. So she ran her finger around in the cup and sucked the medicine off her finger!!! This was only part of my horrid experience there. I wont go into more here because it might make Dr. Cahn look bad and truly, he is wonderul. This was all the hospital and hospital staff that Im complaining about now. I found out today that the "drunk nurse" was fired. Seems my cup wasnt the only one she was tasting. So yeah, I can sympathize with you 100%.

| | | | |.| |.| (before) (.)(.) (after) *writes a hefty check to the PS*

OMG Ive been getting these posts in my email, and laughing so hard at the previews I could hardly get here! Does it grow back together?? ROFL!!! Too damn funny!!

Dreaming - I too was banded three weeks ago. Jan 9th, and I have lost 17 pounds too! I saw my surgeon for the first follow up meeting today and I complained that I'd only lost two pounds this week. He scolded me and told me that the first six weeks is NOT about losing weight. It's about letting your body heal and the band getting seated nicely. He told me not to even think about weight right now. Just focus on eating as directed, excercising, drinking your Water and getting fully recovered. That sounded great to me, so I've relaxed a LOT. This is a long and slow journey we are on, with a lot to be done to prepare ourselves mentally, emotionally, and physically for this huge and wonderful change we have decided to make in our lives. Cheers!

On the contrary, I have yet to eat all of the calories I'm supposed to in a day. The only thing that was a bummer was getting sick and tired of liquids that first phase. The liquids were surprisingly filling, I guess because there's so much swelling in the stomach it creates its own restriction. Now that I've moved on to mushies, I can eat more but Im still not hitting the calorie mark! And, when I do get hungry it's usually time to eat, so no problem!

Jack.. Jack.. hmm His last name wouldn't happen to be Hammer.. would it?? *grins*

Excellent, the first pass was good. Sounds like you have a doctor who cares and is really trying to help you. I'm thrilled to hear the first round of good news. I'm even more thrilled because I just know there's going to be even more before this is all settled. *hugs*

Doc - my hopes were not meant to hurt anyone's feelings or wish anyone ill will. I guess I was thinking that the doctors in Mexico use a different method or technique which would explain so many of the erosions from the same doctors down there. Like I said, it was a selfish thought. Basically I was hoping this problem was limited to one or two doctors in Mexico and not a widespread problem. Sorry if it offended anyone. Certainly didnt mean to.