argon

haha.. I think this video pops up every few weeks. I posted it when I came across it too. I was surprised no one really responded to it... but it was because they'd heard about it 300 times before. :confused: But it's good to have around for anyone new who'd like to see. It's good... I didn't think it was graphic though. Not nearly as much as I thought it would be!

Caesars are my faaaaavorite. But... I thought Clamato was more like 14 calories = 112 cals per 8oz. Vodka is about 64 cals per ounce. Yikes.

What I want is to fit into my prom dress again, and waaaaaay surpass it. It's probably a size 20 (I had to have it made for me). I want to get as small as I can, and then have it altered to fit me NICE, unlike it did when I wore it back in highschool. I was so embarrased of how I looked that night... and I only have one picture of me in it. Maybe I'll show you guys when it happens! THEN... I'm gonna go get my hair and everything done, and have some pictures taken in it ! I told my bf he's gonna have to rent a tux and do it all with me. Then maybe we'll go crash some kids' prom! Woo!

Hey Yoda, I was sleeping on my right side the day of surgery, cause I couldn't get comfortable on my back. All my incisions were on my left side, so I wasn't lying on anything. Then I surprised myself on day 3 when I woke up in the middle of the night and realized I was on my stomach. I've been sleeping like that every since. It feels more secure than being on my side, for some reason. I feel like everything's hangin out and exposed on my side. At first I had to almost lower my self onto my stomach, cause rolling onto it felt too weird, but now I'm rollin' all over the place Mandi

lol, I was confused too. June's so far away still, I thought! Angelu got a little carried away reading old posts!

This is kinda funny. Go to the website, http://www.thesurrealist.co.uk/slogan.cgi ,type in your name, then hit the "sloganize" button and see what it generates. No cheating, you gotta use the first one it comes up with, no matter how dumb! Mine is : An Army of Mandi

You should get some topical numbing cream, like EMLA... then shut your eyes and tell him to do it quick! If nothing else, you should be getting your fill BECAUSE you're not reaching that 10 lb. mark! Go get your fill on Wed. I'm sure you'll be happy you did. Good luck! :party:

Hey lins, Of course you're enough. You'll do great. You said they've seen your picture, so I wouldn't worry. I met my bf 3 years ago online, and I didn't really have any pictures, other than pretty much head shots. I sent him those, and eventually after lots of phone calls, he wanted to meet me. I was pretty scared too... so I ended up emailing him, saying "Hey, in case you didn't notice, I am fat. If you have any problem with that, don't bother replying." (more or less) Now, you might not wanna say that to just anyone! lol But I felt pretty comfortable with him already, and I just wanted to get that out of the way. I was probably about 230 lbs back then though. He emailed me and said I was being ridiculous for even thinking that... and when was I coming to meet him. So anyways, if you've got pictures available, and haven't stated in your profile that you're 'slim/slender', don't worry. Good luck and let us know what happens! Mandi

Don't get Metamucil! It 'puffs' up and gets really thick when you add the Water... you don't want things that expand in your stomach. Benefiber is 'non-bulking', so it's the best way to go. lol, you called me Aragon. Isn't that someone from Lord of The Rings? It's Argon (my name on here)... but that's what I get for choosing such a stupid name :Banane56: Glad you're feeling better. Mandi

Hi, sorry, when I said Cloe is my post, I was just meaningthat that portion was meant for Cloe. :Banane56: I'm Mandi. I really would appreciate if you could find out about fills for other patients and if other patients are welcome. That would be great, thank you. That's great that you at least stayed at the same weight! Good to hear that you're back on track. Mandi

haha! There are some pretty funny ones! (and some a little questionable! lol) I did my bf's name too, and his was "Think Once. Think Twice. Think Dan."

Hey CG1955, Very good advice/suggestions. Does Dr. Beausoleil normally not charge for fills on patients that are not his own, or is it because you help out? Are the support meetings for only HIS patients, or any surgeons? (I'm guessing 'any', but since you said you help out with the meetings, maybe you're a special case)? How many people are usually part of the meetings? When do they typically start? (cause if I were allowed to go, I'd have to make sure I had the time to make the drive there) Also, sorry to be nosey... but you said what you've lost was in 10 months.. what has the rest of the time been like? Thank you :Banane56: Cloe: I'm doing great. I feel awesome. I wouldn't even say I was ever in pain... felt like I'd been kicked in the stomach for about a week, but nothing I couldn't deal with. I never even needed my prescription that they gave me. Same with the gas pains... they only lasted for maybe a week, and towards the end of them, they weren't even a bother enough to make me take any Gas-X. Don't wanna compete, but I was in surgery at 11am and was gone by 1pm! I was awake half an hour after surgery, and harassing them to give me some damn Water, I was sooooo thirsty! Everyone there was awesome though, I can't say enough good things. I think your anxiety will soon turn to hatred of Optifast! I had a really hard time with it, but I lost 15 lbs anyways, so it was kind of worth it. lol ! Controlling my nerves: I really wasn't nervous.... more excited than anything. I was really confident in Dr. Cobourn, and once he told me that so far he's had no slips or erosions, I was at ease! (stupid Complications board, for scaring me!) Good luck with your surgery, you're gonna do great! Mandi

Good for you! Did you lose all the weight you wanted to? Are you still in Moncton? I'm curious cause there's a possibility of me moving to Miramichi, and if there was someone in Moncton who could do my fills, that would be fab! Was it Dr. Beausoleil? (think that's the right name) Congrats! Mandi

I'm a big fan of Benefiber... it's like Metamucil (that's the area you'd find it in at the store), but tasteless, and non-bulking. I'm sure that would help. Have you been using Gas-X? Maybe you've got some pent up gas too that could be causing the discomfort. And I'm sure having your period also contributes. Try some Gas-X if you're not already (make sure it's chewable), it's worth a try. If you think you're 'tight', it's probably cause you're still a little swollen from surgery. I'm only 3 weeks post-op, and I don't think I'm 'tight'. I believe you'd determine this if you had any difficulty with foods going down, or in your case, fluids (or maybe you've moved on to mushies already?) Anyways, I'd give those things a try! Good luck, and let us know if it gets better! Mandi

haha, good job and attitude

Hey MelAnne, So you're 3 days post-op? You probably haven't 'really' lost 10 pounds... no. My Dr's scale weighs me a few pounds heavier than my scale does, but as long as I use the same scale everytime, I know for myself that at least it's moving. Maybe your Dr's scale is off too, who knows.. just stick to one scale for consistancy. I don't know for you what weight would make you a size 14/16, but you're not gonna get there in a month. Are you in a race? Don't compare your self to your sister. Yeah, RNY-ers lose faster, but they come with their own whole different (and worse) potential problems. You said "Now, I sit banded. And will not loose this weight." You're only 3 days out! Don't weigh yourself everyday either! You're suppposed to think of any weight you lose before your first fill as a bonus anyways. I originally wanted the RNY too. If I had been able to, at that time, and was given the choice of the 2, I probably would have gone for the RNY. But I didn't, cause I didn't want to wait the several years it takes to get it done here. I started researching the Lapband instead, and discovered that 'maybe it wasn't so bad'. I thought I needed the malabsorbtion and restriction... that I needed to 'dump' which some RNY-ers do.. and I wanted to lose fast, fast, fast! But I realized that I DO want to eat sweet things again, without feeling sick after... (the guilt is a different story! ha!) And losing fast, nice as it would be, isn't necessary. I wasn't scared going into it... and I think I would have been, going into the RNY. Just don't be so hard on yourself. I'm sorry you feel like you were forced to get a surgery you didn't want. Good luck, Mandi

Good luck, Yoda!

Gas-X, walking and a heating pad (on the stomach, I believe) !

Ok, so, I know that alcohol can irritate the stomach, and is full of calories, but that aside, I'm sure lots of people still drink with the band. Right? I'm not talking a glass of wine or 2 at dinner... but you know, going out to a party/pub/bar or wherever you do your recreational drinking, and actually getting drunk... purposely. If someone were to do this, to the point of feeling nauseous... is there anything that can be done? What about a bad hangover with the potential for puking? Probably just some Gravol, right? I'm not a huge drinker, and I actually haven't had a drink in months, but I know that it's gonna happen again (and I'm looking forward to it!), so I just want to be prepared so that if I drink too much, and start feeling sick, I know what kind of things might help. Thanks guys, Mandi

Thanks everyone who responded... good info. It's not that often that I'll drink to the point of feeling nauseous, but I just wanted to be safe and know, just in case. MeganA - the anti-nausea suppositories - you used it when you were already drunk because you were worried about puking, or the morning after? I wondered about that, because I know that there are people who purposely mix alcohol with Gravol, for a 'high' ... I suppose if you're on your way to just going to bed and will be sleeping through it, it would be ok? Greg - thank you - I'll remember those things. I planned to stay away from carbonated mixes anyways, but maybe now I'll make a point of having citrus-y ones and eat some cheese before I go out! Sleepyjean - I won't be jumping on you! - I don't know if it's a compulsion, especially when it's not something you do everyday (drinking excessively) (in which case, it would be being an alcoholic). I think we all *could* stop after a couple drinks, and do when it's called for, but I guess when you're having fun, and your drinks taste good, things can get away from you, and before you know it, you've had too much. I'm lucky in that drinking too much doesn't always make me feel like hell. It can be fun, and you never know how you're gonna end up feeling the next day, but I suppose if i KNEW for a fact how it would end up everytime I drank, I wouldn't drink that much. So anyways... thanks again everyone. I hope some more people respond as well, cause I'd like to have as much anti-nausea ammunition as possible. Mandi

Hey Yoda! Hello from SK! My steristrips started coming off pretty quick. I did end up buying some gauze and paper-type tape, and made sure I kept my port incision covered (had several strips on there and lost most of them after about 5 days) for a while longer, cause it was the most tender, and the one I didn't want irritated. Plus, for some reason, I don't know if everyone has this, but I had a stitch hanging out (that I had to have trimmed off after 2 weeks), and I didn't want to snag it! Good luck! I've heard nothing but good things about Dr's Joffee and Yau. Mandi

Hey guys! Awesome job... I loooove looking at all your pictures! And P'nut, good job with the Photoshop stuff, I did that too a little while back! Here's mine: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=16549&highlight=photoshop Mandi

In the User CP, go to edit signature in that blank space is where you would enter your ticker info. Mine looks kind of like this : [ url=http://www.tickercentral.com] [/url ] but without all the spaces. Hope that helps!

No, OHIP won't cover anything, from what I've heard from everyone else. Sorry :|

According to that, I'm 25, but my real age is 31! I wonder if it's a way to get certain info out of us.. like how if you're on medication, what specific brand it is... and do you go to church... ? Hmmm... Thanks, it was interesting none the less. Mandi