brandyII

Fanny, wish you good health in this situation, know it's kind of tricky and hope you're doing better soon, brandyII.

Starrgirrl, I've started a new social group called "lap band strugglers" for those of us who are having issues with the band that aren't necessarily mechanical in nature. It's hard to get to you have to find social groups and then go to the underlined "join" section. Anyway I'm hoping something will be moved so that we have two separate lap band complications sections and am working on trying to get someone to do that. I've posted many threads on my issues and still am trying and only lost prior to surgery and gained it all back since my surgery 9 months ago so I can relate to your frustration. Anyway forum is there for you or anyone else who doesn't want to be attacked for having issues with their band. So feel free to join, thanks and good luck to you brandyII.

Peter, I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your wife Denyell and can't imagine what you must be going through right now. How unselfish of you to take the time out during your grieving to warn others of the possible signs of danger when it comes to this procedure. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family, Nancy.

Good luck, I read that last night on my daughter's computer and it was so sad. I hope you get some answers! brandyII.

I pm'd that Alex fellow and told him I thought that was too hard to find and they should divide lap band complications into two segments, one mechanical and one for struggles. Anyway hopefully he will. Right now you have to go to Forum then Lap Band Talk Community Center then Lap band Social Groups and then press where it is underlined Join. I really think it puts the group back into the closet again!!!! Nancy

I don't know if anyone actually uses social groups but it was suggested that I place my forum there and have opened one called "lap band strugglers" if anyone is interested. It's kind of an out of the way, hidden place, underground even and so I don't know if it will be used but just wanted people to know, thanks brandyII.

I think they want us to be placed somewhere discreetly but just want people to know there is a new social group called "lap band strugglers". I found it difficult to get to but maybe it's just me. I thought they listed all the groups in the front but you have to join to get in there. Anyway I thought it would be nice to have a separate thread with complications but not mechanical so maybe I'll see if that Alex fellow can change it, thanks BrandyII:smile:

Charliealso, I feel bad for you and also can relate to you in the fact that I had mine done nine months ago and gained back all the weight prior to the surgery, about 25 pounds. I don't have that issue of vomiting now that I only have 2 ccs in a 10cc band so I'm almost wondering if you have some other issue with your band. Anyway I'm sure you going to get that all checked out with your surgeon prior to removal. I'm trying to start a social group here for "lap band strugglers" but I guess you won't be joining because it will soon be gone. It's funny how prior to surgery it was going to be our life saver and afterwards you're told, it's only a "tool"! I also felt that if I knew I needed this much willpower after the surgery to lose weight and didn't have it before why would I have spent $$$! Be that as it may I'm not going to give it up yet, nine months is not two years. Anyway good luck with your surgery and get better soon, brandyII.

I've always heard that poorer people were more likely to be obese because of the fact that it's cheaper to eat unhealthy processed food as opposed to more expensive healthy foods. Poorer people are probably more likely to take public transportation too. As someone who was living on her own at age 19 I can totally relate to the situation. This is US perspective but I don't know if it played any part in the study.

The best thing about being far sighted and near sighted is you don't necessarily see your hairy toes! Maybe others do but I can still be in the dark!

I requested something from Alex about some new lap band struggle (non-mechanical) forum so we'll see what he can come up with, thanks Nancy :thumbdown:.

We're trying to get something started for people who are struggling with the band and I don't know yet if it will be a new forum or a social group but hopefully will know in the near future, Nancy:smile:

Wasa, You are so wrong about this!!!!!!!! I'm just kidding. No, you're right and I do have issues with the white stuff. I've known people who went to OA and that was the main thing they had to do was give up white carbs. I was never the eat a loaf of bread person, but I could eat a loaf of cup cakes or a loaf of anything sweet and by the way, they don't fit down a straw, so we know there are a lot of foods that still go down easily although I could put them in a straw it would take longer to eat that way and maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea! You should preach more on the white carb thing, everyone has their weak points and some are luckier that the band catches theirs but not mine! I read your whole post and it was very long but I still read the whole thing and if you could post top ten points from that book as a guideline for us including the 20 mgs of carbs. If you're going off white carbs I guess these are from whole grains and fruits? So anyway if you could write down some guideline when you get a chance and post it that would be helpful to me and to the other bandsters who have similar issues, thanks for your help, Nancy.

Laurend, thanks, I'll look into that. Nancy

You're right Jasmine, I think I have to figure out how to get a separate section for those types of issues, anyone know how?

I don't know what to say, is this pain something different? Before you had a pain lower, related to the lap band, possibly intestinal? Are you being treated for depression and taking any meds for it? I hope I'm not being too forward about the topic. We all have times where we feel really bad about almost everything! I think your experience in this hospital was very traumatic for you and can affect you in a lot of ways. It doesn't sound like your husband was there with you at the time and I don't know if that's an issue but maybe you need someone to talk to about it all. Of course I don't know you but you just seem to be in despair and as a person who has been there many times I usually try to get people to be proactive about their mental health as well as their physical health which to me is equally important. Hope things get better, brandyII.

I think I was a bit bitchy to you and I'm sorry! I know you've come really far and have information that you'd like to share too and have also had problems and I didn't mean to shut you out of this thread. I can relate to that soda story because my daughter who is getting the bypass on the 27th has been "perfect" on her liquid diet for the past 4 or 5 weeks and lost 32 pounds so far. But she has been cooking up a storm for everyone else and on Mothers Day made the family a gourmet meal which was fairly healthy until the "dessert" which I did eat but had made more portions etc... and I knew if I didn't throw them away I would eat them! So I've had to throw out food just to keep myself from eating it. I've even had to throw away Weight Watchers desserts because they're pretty much as bad as anything else if you're way too tempted. I'm hoping my metformin might help me with my cravings and I can turn this thing around. I lost 25 pounds before the surgery you'd think I could do that again! I hate not wearing my button jeans! Sometimes stress makes me work in the wrong direction and most of my stressors will be gone soon so I hope I can focus on getting back on track, thanks brandyII.

Sorry didn't mean to get so passionate about it with you. But that's how I am when it comes to me and others who are having issues with our bands. We're not having complications with our band like on that thread because we're not suffering from mechanical problems with the band. We feel like failures and we have lap band so we think of ourselves as lap band failures and a lot of people have private messaged me from the start about their issues because they were afraid to come out. It's not easy as you stated yourself it's not easy for you either but I went to an orientation, I received all the pamphlets one could get, I met with the surgeon, I went on line and watched videos and watched many programs on cable about people having the procedure etc...I did not go on any forums and did not know anyone personally who had the procedure. My problem is that I really did not know that only certain solids would remain in the band. I'm sorry if I sound like the dumbest person in the world to you but it's true. I had much higher expectations. Be that as it may, I've made my bed and I have to lie in it for now. I also have some other issues that have affected my weight loss in the past and continue to do so with band, I am now back on my diabetes meds which a doctor took me off because he assumed I'd lose weight so fast that I would be diabetes free within minutes. Everyone is different on the band, there are many factors to consider. You have to understand that it could be a bit disappointing for a lot of people who lost a great deal of weight and are starting to put it back on. I was one of the rare ones that just put it back on right after surgery, well within about 6 months put back the 25 I had lost. So anyway it's okay to give people advice but we don't want to be shot down anymore, we're already doing that to ourselves and we don't need fellow bandsters telling us to exercise more and eat less, it's been ingrained in many of us since we were children as we've been suffering with this physically, mentally and emotionally for many years. We want the band to work and we trying, we're not giving up and we need each other's support. We're not hear to fight people, we're tired of that we just need each other so that when we lose a pound and then the next week put it back on for some reason we don't feel like jumping off a bridge! Thanks brandyII

WCG, We're cool, you're obviously as passionate about weight issues as I am but being two different people we're having two different experiences. Some of us are having issues working out some kinks that we need to and need a place to "discuss, amongst ourselves". We probably need a new place on the site for us" weight gainers, plateau reachers for many months type people, don't know what we'd call it or if they'd give us an official title but Rants and Raves probably isn't the best place to be because people think they can come and attack us and that's not what we're all about. But we are like lions and if someone attacks one of our cubs, don't expect us not to bite back:thumbup:brandyII still working at it after all these months!!!!

You really shouldn't take this so personally, there are a group of us, whether we are the minority or not who deserve a safe place to discuss problems we are having with the band!!!!! If you do not have a problem you need not use this thread. It is a safe haven for people to help each, support each other as they go through various issues they've had since they were banded. You don't know what everyone's issue is, whether it is physical, mental, emotional or a plastic device. Not everyone has Cushing's Disease. We all have high expectations or we would not have been banded in the first place. We did not pay $30,000 each plus or minus a few$$$$$ to "diet" like we had failed many, many, many times before. What right do you have to legitimize one person's failure over another's? We all chose the band because we were sold a savior that was going to fix our dieting failures. No one jumped into this lightly, it was well planned out, we were all screened, we all researched and we paid a lot of money for something that has disappointed us. I've saw the Lap Band commercial twice today on TV, it showed obese people who wanted to lose weight, it did not say, hey, it's still going to be just as hard as sh&t to lose weight after the band than it was prior to being banded. Not everyone goes on forums prior to getting the lap band, no one ever told me to do that. It wasn't until after I started having problems that during my research this forum came up. If a person has "self control" in the first place they don't need a band, that's not what we were sold!!! Trust me this thread is only going to grow as people are not afraid to come out of the band closet like the lap band elitists" think they should be locked into. I still have a difficult time understanding why it upsets so many of you that people who are having problems with their lap band need a place to converse and get support!!! We're trying to get through a tough situation and work it out without revision or with revision depending on the persons' situation. I doubt any of us would ever take a revision lightly! After trusting that the lap band was going to be our saving grace do you think we'd just go and jump into another surgery? I don't think so. Most of us are trying to do the best we can by supporting each other with helpful ideas and not by acting like assh:angry:les to each other, thanks for the support brandyII:thumbdown:

KWG, good luck to you on you journey, it's not always easy but if you do ever have issues you should feel free to come here. We're not blaming the band for our problems but we are all different and for a lot of people they seem to sail through this thing but for some of us it's a lot tougher and we have added issues. Our surgeons have not been our doctors for years they're are surgeons so they don't necessarily know everything about each individual and there are things that come up that we don't expect. But if you do come across a problem or a stalemate or a weight gain that is uncontrollable for whatever reason you should have a safe place to come and talk to people about it without being considered a "band basher" which is not what we're about. Thanks brandyII:thumbup:

Taz this is why we're here and no one will ever shut us down because we want to succeed, and won't let someone who doesn't even know us tell us we're blaming a piece of plastic when that's is not it at all, good luck to you, brandyII:thumbup: