Carrie_C

I'll have to pick up one of those!!

Oh, ok, thanks for clearing that up! Because I'm sure not a dentist! LOL!

I was always hungry too before being banded. And I constantly craved sweets and fast food. Now I am almost never hungry and don't have those cravings anymore. You will love it!

Are you calling me dentist or the OP? I'm confused.

I have seen those videos on youtube. I watched them before my surgery. But I am skeptical. He is just trying to sell his surgery and of course he is going to talk negative about the band. I just wonder if those "patients" are really patients and not actors he hired. I love my band, and I can't imagine my life without it. I think some people who have trouble bring it on themselves by not following the rules and still eating junk. I know there are some people who do exactly as they are supposed to and still have problems, but I think other people think the band is going to do all the work for them. By the way, I also think you could have managed to eat some healthier foods other than chocolate, ice cream, and cheetos. There are softer healthier foods other than those.

I've never been able to find mine either. I get impatient. Especially when I know clitorial stimuation will work everytime. Why waste time trying to find something that may not even be there when I can have fun with what is there? :thumbup:

I think she's a troll because she has not even responded to what anyone has said. If she were for real, she would have posted something back.

I read that it could take up to 2 weeks after a fill before you "feel" it. I have felt restriction since surgery, and especially since my 2nd fill, but it takes others longer, and some people have to have more fills to feel a difference.

Troll?????

This is very tame compared to the converstions my coworkers and I have at work!

Kraft makes fat free and low fat cheese. I usually eat the low fat. It is good. I read somewhere once that the only fat free and low fat foods you should eat are dairy products. Anything else that is fat free is usually loaded with sugar and salt to compensate for taste.

I can understand how you feel, I was TERRIFIED before surgery. But it is one of the best things I have ever done for myself. I had surgery on May 22, and my weightloss has been a lot slower compared to other people who had it done at the same time, but it is so great to see the scales move down each week instead of up. The pros for me are having more energy, not feeling like the fattest person in the room anymore, being able to fit into clothes I haven't been able to wear in forever, and of course improved health. Some of the cons for me are not being able to eat as much as I want (which is actually a good thing, but I still sometimes miss big meals), the cost of everything, followups and fills, and the coinsurance I had to pay up front, the recovery (I had a rough few days after surgey), and of course the scars. (I know they will fade eventually). But the pros definitely outway the cons. I wouldn't want to go back to my life before I got the band. It is not a cure all by any means. You have to be dedicated to totally changing your lifestyle. Good luck!

I don't have a problem with it. To me, them posting in other forums and giving advice is no different than people who haven't even had Lap Band surgery yet posting on the help sites. To keep them out would be like keeping people out who haven't even had their surgery yet.

I haven't lost 60% yet, but during the first few weeks after surgery, I did eat things with sugar and fat. I did it to keep from getting dizzy and weak. But I think the reason doctors stress that is so we will develop healthy eating habits. For some people, if they start out eating full sugar and fat foods, that may make them keep eating like that, and that wouldn't be good. But if you can tell yourself it is just temporary, I don't see a problem with it for the first few weeks after surgery. I do eat sugar free now. I don't have a problem with artificial sweetners. Some people do, and it is a personal choice. As far as low fat, I don't eat low fat or fat free salad dressing and things like that, because they are actually worse for you than the full fat. They often are loaded with soduim and sugar. So you have to be careful with low fat and fat free. I would suggest start reading labels to know exactly what you are getting. I do eat lean meats, mostly fish and chicken, but I will eat beef on occasion. I do sometimes drink tea sweetened with sugar, but I never drink a full glass of it. I mostly drink water.

I was banded by Dr Paynter, who works with Ponce. I had to have my surgery done at Memorial because of my insurance. I haven't had any problems.

I have only PB'd twice, but I slime all the time. I know it's probably because I still have a problem with eating fast. I have gotten better, but it is a hard habit to break.

It sounds like they need a letter from your PCP stating medical neccesity. Call the number on the back of your card and ask.

This is getting way too personal.

I read somewhere that being obese is equivalant to smoking one pack of cigareetes a day.

I think it would be best if you waited a little while in order to let your body heal. I know people said they smoke with no problem, but you really shouldn't because it doesn't allow tissue to heal. It can also make your pain meds less affective. This is especially true for cigarettes because the nicotine binds with the same receptors in the brain that the pain meds do, so the nicotine and meds are competing against each other, so to speak, for the same receptors. So that is why the meds don't work as well. Smoking anything also restricts blood vessels, and this makes circulation poor. Your body needs good circulation, so that the oxygen in your blood can heal you after surgery. If there isn't enough circulation, then there isn't enough blood and oxygen. This can cause damage. Just my advice.

It doesn't mention surgery, so maybe there is hope. The way I read it, it sounds like what they are talking about is stuff like Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, diet pills, etc. But I would call them and ask.

I'm glad you ask this question, because I would really like to know too! Mine is awful. But I had it when I was thinner as well, so I am guessing I will still have it when I get to goal. I plan on having lipo to remove it if it is still there.

"Now I want a standing fill in front of a fluroscopy!" It's really neat because you get to actually see your band and watch the barum go through.

"In the real world, such a person is a big tub of lard that people are disgusted by, discriminate against, and who is damaging their body every day by carrying around that much weight." My thoughts exactly.

I have posted here several times, but I haven't told my story yet. So here I go. My father raised us to eat everything on our plates, no matter what. But I can't say that I blame him. We were poor, and we had to make due with what we had. We also got food stamps, and of course those never lasted all month. So I guess his thinking was we better eat it while we had it. But he always made sure we had enough food to eat. Then my parents divorced when I was 9. My Mom then married a mean man, who had 2 boys of his own that he was raising alone because their mother had died when they were very young. He was a mean abusive alcoholic who didn't want to keep a job. My mom worked as a cashier in a grocery store and did the best she could. But with 7 of us, food was always very limited. I remember eating plain corn flakes with no milk. (To this day, I can't even stand to look at a corn flake box). We also ate a lot of the same things all the time, like beans and potatoes. I remember we ate spaghetti so much that one day, I was so sick of it, I just started throwing up. But it seemed no matter how little money we had, there was always enough money for alcohol. My father was also an alcoholic. I didn't get to see him for about a year after the divorce. I had always been a daddy's girl, and I can still remember how miserable I was that I couldn't see him. But then he got visitation, and I got to see him every weekend. He drank a lot, but he always managed to work and he really was a good father, in spite of the alcohol. (Unlike my step father). Then when I was 10, I was sexually abused by an uncle, my mom's brother (he was also an alcoholic). It happened in the middle of the night during the summer. After all these years, I can still remember how terrified I was. Then when I was about 13, my stepdad suddenly straighened up and worked everyday. Things were pretty good after that, not perfect, but certainly much better. He still drank some, but nothing like before. I was never skinny skinny, but I managed to control my weight in my teens. I wore a size 7 for years. I was active. I exercised everyday and I took step aerobics in school, and I loved it. Even though I thought I was fat back then, I had no idea how good I actually looked. Then I turned 18 and everything changed. I met a guy that was older than me and I fell in love, head over heels in love. The type of love that is not good. Against my mother's better judgement, I moved out and in with him. We hadn't even been together 6 months. But hey, I was 18! I could do whatever I wanted! Who cares what my mother thought?! At home, we had very seldom eaten out. But suddenly I was on my own, and I was going to eat out whenever I wanted, as much as I wanted. So that's just what I did. I remember eating Burger King nearly everyday. We also went to huge buffets all the time. I had never really had a problem controling my weight, so I guess I just thought I would stay the same size. Wrong! Needless to say, my size 7's didn't fit for much longer. The guy I was with, he didn't want a fat girl. He was cheating on me all the time. He would go to strip clubs in the middle of the day. I would call his work and he wouldn't be there. Then when he got home, he would lie about where he had been. He was also very controling, telling me what I could and couldn't do. He also had a porn addiction that I didn't realize before I moved in. (Gee, you would think after 6 months you would really know someone). With all that, my self esteem went downhill fast. I looked really good when we met, I mean model material. Everyone told me so. I guess I was sort of a trophy for him. But then I started gaining weight, and I was no longer his trophy. That destructive relationship lasted about 3 years. By that time, I wan't huge, but I had gained about 30 or 40 pounds by then. Looking back, I know I could have done something about it and gotten back into my size 7's, but I felt like I was huge and that it was hopeless. I also had very low self esteem. I was diagnosed with depression, and the meds I was put on only made me put on more weight. During the next few years, I continued to struggle with my depression. Looking back, I see now that there were times that I really needed to be institutionalized. I was suicidal. I couldn't keep a job. The only reason I wasn't homeless was because I lived in a trailor that my Dad owned and I didn't have to pay any rent. I would somehow manage to work just enough to keep the utilites paid. I did really well for about a year. I worked everyday and was doing really good. I guess it was because of the meds I was on. But then I don't know what happened. My depression only got worse. I started doing risky things, shoplifting and sleeping around with numerous guys at the same time. I would party all the time. I dated one guy on and off for about 5 years, but it seems the only thing we ever did was party together and have sex. During all this time, my weight just keep getting higher and higher. I think I was in denial about it for a long time. I wouldn't look in the mirror. I would have to buy new clothes every few months because mine no longer fit. My mother was no help at all. All she ever did was put me down. Of course that didn't help with my self esteem. I did manage to lose about 40 pounds a few years later. But the only reason I lost it was because I was very poor and I didn't have money for food. I lived next to my aunt, and I would go to her house to eat dinner. That was usually the only thing I ate all day. But when I did get a job and was able to afford food, the weight only came back because I hadn't learned any healthy eating habits. I went back to eating out everyday. I met my husband about 4 years ago, and I was heavy then. But he didn't care. He loved me for who I was and didn't have a problem with my weight. He thought I was beautiful. I really think he saved my life. After I met him, my self esteem improved a great deal. I actually started to think I was attractive. I was able to keep down a job, and my depression was actually so much better. (And still is). We got married about 9 months after we met, but our relationship was anything but destructive. I know I can't blame my weight on anyone but myself. I am fat because, like everyone else, I eat too much and exercise too little. But I think just about everyone who had a bad childhood or suffered abuse has some type of problem (or has had), no matter if it's weight, drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling, whatever. (My sister never had a problem with her weight, but she has turned into an alcoholic and drug addict). But the great thing is we have all overcome our problems and now have this wonderful tool to help us! Thanks for listening!