mini_me

oh my gosh...this statement really concerns me. i mean, really, if i am in a state such as that, believe me, i WILL take my plus sized behind to the ER. However, i pay someone 15k to do this, and in the same breath of surgery, i am coughing up blood, i would probably call my surgeon first. if he refused to call me back, i would definitely end up in the ER if my concern rose to that level. however, in the beginning...i would definitely be inclined to call the surgeon and get his take on the matter. i mean, phunk! i would much rather have him tell me on the phone that it IS band related, but don't worry unless...as opposed to going to the ER and letting some less than band-knowledgeable physician misdiagnose me. size8, you really seem too biased to provide objective info on the doc. my opinion, like my bunghole, is that you should stick to offering info as it directly relates to your experience as a patient, not as his employee. we all want to hear what you have to say, but the comment quoted above is SOOOO typical of elitist type medical office personnel that we have all encountered from time to time. ok, so luv all!

WOW, eight, you may have just opened a can of worms...eeeks, i think i am going to run for cover. and just for the record, my previous post was a reference to you sounding like you were advertising. the post was made before i read everyone else's posts on the matter... i went to a spiegel and a spivak seminar. i marked differences in personality, as their marks seem pretty similar in terms of surgical ability. spiegel's office staff did not care to talk to me, unless it was talk of delivering some money. i knew that i did not want to deal with that the rest of my life, soooo, i found spivak's office to be the exact opposite...very informative and friendly, and willing to help me, before i ever made my final decision. they have been great since banding also!!! i have never heard anything bad about spivak...i have heard plenty of complaints about spiegel. it is not that patients are SCARED to say anything BAD about spivak, and spiegel's unhappy patients arent picking on spiegel. right? i mean come on...we are all smart enough to know that if spiegel had more bad outcomes than good, that he would not be doing surgeries anymore. but it sure is odd that SOOOO many patients are unhappy...and soo unhappy that it warrants them posting negative commnets. gosh, i am tired, did any of that make sense?

i suspected that this was a mole among us...the "we" gives it up. size eight, we are happy for your success, but...

good luck and congrats!!!! breath...in with the butterflies, out with the bees!! ((ahhemmmm- am i the only one that thinks dirty thoughts when reading that the band is to be INSERTED??!! lol...i've said it before-i am sick, and i know it!!))

I HAVE GREAT NEWS!!! you know, ever since i got this band, i really have not committed myself to the necessary practices to achieve marked success...thus i have only lost 20 tiny little lbs since march. but today, i had an NSV that was not even weight related!! i completely attribute this NSV to my band, and the way that it has, indeed, modified my behavior. i go for a tweak tomorrow. i have been beating myself up, like i do before every fill because i have not lost more weight. in a moment of weakness, i bought a king size pack of reece's pb cups. got to the car, could not even weight...i mean wait...to get out of the parking lot and i had the package ripped open. i stopped to get gas, thinking i would finish the pack off while waiting on the money meter to stop rolling. would you believe that i finished the one single cup and did not want anymore? i was actually able to recognize that the single cup was enough to satisfy the madness. i tickle myself sometimes...i know, that's perverted, i shouldnt do that...AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! i am so happy!

cracker barrel sells a nice little set with a little wooden drawer thingy to store them with your other silverware. there are either four or five place settings (sp,fk,kn). the only cracker barrel i go to is the local one here, i don't know if they sell them everywhere...the set is 11.99

you would be hard pressed to find anyone who could say something bad about him. the only complaint i have ever heard about him was due to some insurance conflicts. none involved his ethic, ability, or manner as a surgeon. i was banded by him in march, i started at 207 on consult day and i am currently 187. i am very satisfied with the results and aftercare. i think the world of dr. spivak, and recently refered a friend of mine to him...she was at a seminar with him on saturday, maybe you were both there at the same time...she is having surgery this friday. good luck in your decision process.

awww, malice, i hope that hernia repair goes off well.....((winks))

:clap2: yyyiiiiiiiiiiipppppieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eee, I am scheduled for March 13, that is a Monday. I am sure it will be a beautiful, sunny day. And here is what I will do from now until the pre-op diet starts... eat each large meal like it is the last do the happy dance jump like a maniac recite the pledge of allegiance kiss my husband, who is providing the funds get on lapbandtalk.com and tell all of my new friends. talk about it to my husband until he reaches the brink of insanity. say a prayer to thank God order some pizza, thick crust BEFORE PICS.....FUN!!!!!!!!!! NOW, SMILE BIG... AND A SIDEVIEW.... AND LETS SEE THAT HONKY TONK BOODONKADUNK! OH, YEAH, Sister! That's some junk if I ever saw... call my friends and tell them talk to myself in the mirror practice drinking so much water that i puke Dr. Spivak, i am not worthy!! I have the best doctor WoooooOOOooooo HoooOOOOooOOOOoooooo! go to the movies and eat popcorn, one last time ponder taking up fencing daydream about a thin me smile for no apparent reason still smiling This is what it is like when the world loves me! daydream some more make note of the water displacement level in the bathtub, after i get in i bet laundry is even fun when your thin maybe i will take up llama-backriding wwwoooOOOooooOOOhooOOOoooOOOOoooo get my old size 5 cheerleading uniform out and imagine wearing it, on my waist, not my thigh. HAVE A PARTY!!!!!!! HUG,LOVE,SQUEEZE & KISS DH FOR PAYING $15K

i weigh with and without clothes, and on doc appt day, i make note of the weight with clothes and compare my home scales to the doc scales. doc's office is always a few lbs heavier than mine...so i like mine better. by the time i get nekkid, i am ten lbs lighter than the doc's scales...lol..not really, but usually about 5-6 lbs difference on doc scales with clothes vs. my scales no clothes

leatha, i first thought of DVT/PE also. then i started hearing of the "suspicious" person in the room before he died, toxicology reports, etc. sunta, i am the same way about these special interest sort of things. i latch on to some crazy theme and cant get enough. ((like brittney and kevin's train wreck)) i am so sad for the woman. i cannot imagine the joy of giving birth countered by the death of a child. who cares how she choses to have her image portrayed? she loves her children the same way we all do, and the last thing i think about in this situation is her 'trashy image.' i am definitley going to think of her often, and hope she finds peace somehow.

dr. spivak gave me a case by case run down of all the erosions that have occured in his patients. he told me of 4 or 5 of the last 2000 bands. all of the cases had pre-existing conditions that contributed...ie-ulcers, alcohol consumption, admitted use of medications which are not recommended for use with band, etc. i cannot remember all of the details right now. he was very forthcoming and informative. i really think highly of him.

TOM?? are you there? are you ok?

well, i am keeping mine secret by defining my "diet" using general bandster rules. i tell my friends that my recipe for a good diet is eating my proteins first, the veggies, then carbs if i am still hungry. i am staying away from breads and any foods that i can eat with a spoon, as well as sugar. i also tell them that i am significantly reducing my portions. i have used this diet explanation for each and every occasion where someone has noticed my eating habits, and noone has suspected a thing. i have a few valued friends who know, and they keep me posted on the 'office' gossip concerning my diet. there are two girls who have adopted my eating habits, and they have managed to lose more weight than me. i have found it very easy to explain my way out of it. also, in my experience, people tend to think of everything in terms of themselves. so when someone notices that i am eating very little and i tell them that part of my new diet is portion control, it is easy to grab onto one of their remarks about how they could never JUST eat THAT much, and i run with it! i tell them sure they can. i tell them that i took the first week to eat tiny amounts every 1 1/2 hours throughout the day to shrink my stomach. i explain my uninformed biology of the stomach shrinking and how smaller portions make you feel fuller once your stomach is full. i even have my friends convinced that if you do not drink with your meals that the food will stay in their stomach longer and make the fuller for longer periods of time. despite their knowledge of WW practices, etc, they see me losing weight and adopt my practice--AND IT IS WORKING FOR THOSE WHO USE IT!! so,do not fear...it will not be as hard as you think. best of luck to you!! solicit a response from wheetsin, she always has REALLY good advice.

i'll say it is working...look at you! you are almost to your 160 goal!! i was banded three days after you,and i am filled to 3cc's and i have only lost 19 lbs, and two of those keep sneaking up on me, like this is some kind of hide and seek game.

bad mini, bad, bad mini... i drink with all of my meals, but the more restriction i get, the less i want to drink. ((the less i drink with meal -- AAND the less i drink in general. no wonder i am losing so damned slowly!))

it is 50% of your excess body weight and the second year of fills are at his office, NOT under flouro. good luck, i don't think i will make it, but i am going to keep trying.

hey bups! i think it will be really hard to get a good idea of "normal" from others. i am currently filled to 3cc's, but i am scheduled for another fill in two weeks. (only been at 3cc's since mid august) i could eat a full sandwich, but i really have no desire for bread. ((sounds crazy right?))

i think that is common practice in our area. i used spivak and i have not seen him since surgery day. he did sit with me for a few minutes after surgery. ((very kind, gentle man)) i am filled at the surgicenter by the PA Marj(blah blah blah...cant remember her name). i did not have to go in after surgery for a follow-up, just had to make an appointment for my first fill. someone from the doc's office called me about 48 hours or so after surgery and asked some questions about Fluid intake and general "how ya doin?" type questions.

did someone say this was the BCBS board? pffffff.... yeah, right...i had to self pay also...AND I AM ANOTHER TEXAS GURL!!!

hehe...believe it or not, my husband has flown approx 1200 times and he has never had an incident. a few unruly, drunk, fun passengers, including the guy returning from vegas with million dollar jackpot check...and his buddy who painted the guys face with lipstick from other passengers when the millionaire was asleep...a few plane changes/flight cancellations following mechanical problems...a family of Hawaiians who refused to stop singing...a lot of boring seat neighbors who were more interested in their own story than anyone else was...LOTS of hits from flight attendants of the same sex ((lolololol))......but no true incidents. we estimate that he will fly approximately 5000 more times in the next twenty years. (if i had a dime for every flight he took by the end of twenty years, i would have $528...maybe i should start a piggy bank...)

hey BJean... it has really been a bit of a roller coaster...a baby roller coaster, but a roller coaster nonetheless. i went to my preop consult with a bmi of 38 and no comorbidities. i knew i was not terribly obese...yet. my maternal grandmother was 4'11@275 when she died(72), my dad's only sister was 4'11@325 when she died(55)...i can tell you of ten relatives like this off the top of my head. i am 5'1 and went to consult at 207. i was VERY unhappy with my body. diets of course did not work for me. I could always lose the weight, but it ALWAYS came back with some fatty friends. i looked at wls for over two years. i finally decided on the band, and went for consult in feb, had to wait for the income tax check to add to my savings, and was selfpaid bandster on march 13, 2006. things seemed well at first. lost a few lbs and thought i was off to a good start. then, as i was warned, i had no restriction and started yo-yo'ing a little with my weight. i was gaining the few lbs that i had lost. i have not been losing at a very fast pace. but i do lose a couple of pounds between each fill. i have only lost 19 lbs since march, but i am down from an 18/20 to 14/16. i can tell quite a difference. this last fill has really given me a level of restriction that i can feel each and every day. the scales have shifted again this week. overall, i am happy, though i do have days where i feel like i am failing. that is when i come here to lbt and get some encouragement. i had no post-op problems. it was a bit more painful than i anticipated. but the healing was fast and i felt exponentially better each day. i am glad i did this. i have not gained any of my lost weight back. i don't feel like i am 'dieting' because i eat normally. i need to exercise. i need to count calories. i need to do a lot of things before i will get to my goal weight. i am moving in that direction slowly, and one of these days, i will wake up with a burst of motivation, and this band will be here to assist. do you have the band? good luck. '

one thing i learned through all of this madness is that you don't HAVE to be crazy to get banded (not banneded) and join LBT, but it sure does help!!!

in poland, horses are revered for their strength and endurance. betchya dint no dat

i miss jack. where's jack?