Great2BThin

I chose Dr. Snyder over Dr. K too. I think it's great that we live in a city with so many great choices in surgeons. Besides Dr. S and Dr. K I went to 2 other seminars and went where I felt was the best fit for me. Not everyone has to get a 'good vibe' at the same place. It's great everyone loves their dr. so much, that's a good thing, but we don't all have to love the same dr. The after care and support I have gotten at Dr. Snyder's is awesome. Two months post op my gall bladder went on the fritz and he removed that for me as well. I was very comforted going back to him since he knew my band, etc. That's not to say the aftercare is not good elsewhere, I have no experience with it to judge or know. I just know I have never regretted my decision to go with Dr. Snyder, just as those don't regret Dr. K. It's just awesome to have had the choice to make, I think we are very lucky to have the choice.

I haven't lost in almost 2 weeks but finally today I lost 2!!!! One more to make 60!!!! Oh how I hope I can hit it this weekend! I just got my 4th fill and think I am at my so called sweet spot. So happy too as I only had 3 mos of free fills after surgery and that is up in a couple days . How time flies, I can't believe it's been 3 mos since turn was up to be banded. Band fan, how's the knee doing??

Nah, I wasn't too bothered by them calling me the rash girl. I figure they'll always know who I am now. Not that they are impersonal or anything, but they are so busy sometimes. whenever I've been in with the surgeon or nurse, they focus totally on you, but I noticed once in awhile they gotta look in the file for a name. Now they know me between all my visits, lap band, gall bladder, rash, thrush and of course fills. I did bring them a bouquet of flowers yesterday and a thank you card in appreciation of them always getting me in when there's been an issue. Rash is about the same today but the stronger RX hydrocortisone is helping the intenseness of the itching. And now for the good news, I lost 2 lbs this morning!! I am one away from hitting 60!!! That makes 10 lbs in the month of August. Not as rapid as my first 2 mos after banding but a pretty good pace, I'll take it!! I joined the Halloween challenge on one of the other boards on here and hope to hit 75 by Halloween.

Oh no, I stayed far away from the mad house. Freeways were closed, people had to get there like 130 in the afternoon, parking lots were charging $80 to park in the afternoon and openly saying as it got closer to time to start the price would go up to $100. Also, you had to put in for tickets awhile ago and then be selected to go, get creditentials, etc. My sisters every day walked the outdoor mall downtown and went celebrity watching though. In my younger days I probably would've braved the crowds, now I prefer to stay away. :biggrin: ON the weight loss front, I LOST 2 LBS TODAY!! Finally have been stuck for 2 weeks, I am one pound away from 60!!! Rash is a little improved too.

A lapbander road trip, we all go in to a restaurant and request childrens menus. LOL Oh and I do miss butter!! I miss butter more than chocolate!

It's funny my quest to get to all 50 states started in elementary school. I don't even remember what grade. But we got this mimiographed (remember those with the purple ink and I loved to smell them LOL) map of the US. We had to color in the state we lived in and any states we had been to. I still have that map and said someday I will have it all colored in. Then I'll have to move on to Canadian provinces or Eurpoean countries or something. LOL I have 4 of the provinces so far. It helps being an airline brat. My dad worked for the airlines, I did and now my husband does.

Hi Indigo, I must be following you from board to board. I have eaten my way across America almost. I have this goal to get to all 50 states before the end of my 50th year. I have 5 left. Vermont, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Lousiana. I'll wait on the latter 3 til after hurricane season! may go to Vermont for a weekend soon.

The rash is a little blistery looking but not draining or anything and has these lines in it, she said it looked vascular. And skin isn't real sensitive which causes a little doubt of it being shingles unless it is in the early stages. I'm just hoping it's negative. If it is the RX is for the same stuff they advertise for herpes.

I want lobster!! with a little butter!! Maine is one of my most favorite places on earth. I just got home from a morning at the dr. and hospital trying to get to the bottom of my rash. Bottom line, they don't know. I'm being tested for Shingles as it resembles that but I don't have much pain in the rash. In the meantime I have some stronger RX hydrocortisone creme to put on it and an RX if the shingles is positive. If no improvement I am to call a dermatologist next week. They are confident it's not an infection in my incisons nor MRSA so I am relieved at that and JUST WANT TO STOP ITCHING I AM GOING INSANE!!!

Well I am finally back after spending 2 hours at the dr. and hospital. They are stumped on my rash. they say there appears to be no sign of infection so that's good. I saw the nurse practioner and surgeon. They then wanted me to see a dermatologist but can't get in til Wed. In the meantime they were a little concerned about shingles and didn't want it to get bad over the weekend. They sent me to the hospital lab for a blood test and prescribed the drugs in case, I am waiting to fill those. I did fill one for an RX strength hydrocortisone creme and that is helping the itch. They asked if I had chicken pox as a child and I had. They said that virus is dormant in your system and sometimes after stress can rear up, I'd say 2 surgeries in 2 mos was a little stress. So I am hoping it isn't that and gets better soon, if not I will call the dermatologist next Tues. Always something. When I got there a couple in the office commented, oh you are the rash girl. So now I have a reputation.

GeorgiaGirl, when I get the emails about replies to the thread, in that some of them are to the side, but when I open the thread on the web page they are lined up correctly. Are they lined up to the side foryou on the webpage too?? Weird.

There's an article in the current (summer) issue of Obesity Help magazine comparing the two. It came out pretty even. One difference is that the cushion area that is filled with the saline around the stomach, on the Realize it was a continuous chamber, in the AP Lap Band it was little pillows. No study yet though to see if that made a difference or not. I went with AP, liked the pillows, the website wasn't that big a deal I log my foods on dailyplate.com. But all in all it seems they are pretty equal.

Question since this is my first challenge. Does it start on Monday? If I lose before Monday do I still get to count it?? LOL There's incentive to stay off the scale til Tues!! :biggrin: Also how do I update? just copy the most recent list and change my info??

That does sound like a long time on clears only. However, there is a clear protein drink, it's called Isopure. It comes in a glass bottle and there's 20 grams per bottle. I preferred it over shakes, others don't. Its in individual taste. They sell them at GNC, also there are these big test tube looking vials that are 'protein shots', they are 3 oz. and 42 gms protein. I drink them 1 oz at a time, as there's something about the body not being able to absorb that much protein in a sitting. But they are a good source for a good strong 'hit' of protein and are clear liquid as well. Hope that helps. I know Bariatric Advantage made a protein chicken broth. I had it once as I had a sample pack, not the best. You can get tasteless protein powder and mix it in any broth as well.

Laura, Before surgery I didn't tell anyone besides my kids and husband. Since then I have when they started noticing my losses, that's family. Most friends and acquaitances have no idea nor have they asked how I am losing. In fact at 50 lbs they just started noticing. However, I still have not told my parents. They live out of state. My mom would've been real negative beforehand. And now after, I just want to surprise them when they see me next. They are talking about an October visit so we'll see. And, you are so right in that this is a positive choice for your health. I think us 'more mature' gals tend to be successful with it because we get that part so much more. We are approaching the age when all the health issues that go with the weight really start becoming more apparent. In my younger years, I was so what if I am overweight, it's not affecting my health. Little did I know how much it was affecting me, it just compounded and saved itself up to appear in my 40's. And by saying that I mean no disrespect to the younger folks. Many are very successful as well, and if they do this now and lose the weight, they will have so many more healthy years ahead of them. how I wish I did. I speak from personal experience, when I was younger to lose weight my motivation was to look good, now it's to feel good and be healthy. I've had a few health scares and it was enough for me to move on and take care of the weight once and for all.

I can't do bread. I tried a hamburger bun just the bottom part and that was a no go. Guess it's a good thing because nutritionist doesn't want me eating it anyway. But I have heard that toasted is easier to get down if you do have trouble, I've not tried that yet.

Fine on my screen too.

What are you testing? did we pass?? :tt2: Seriously, just got off the phone with the dr. office again. My rash is WORSE!! GRRRR I am to try benedryl now, I was to circle it with a pen so they can see if it's growing tomorrow. And I go in tomorrow. Dr. is in surgery all day today. It's worse than that horrible mosquito bite that just bugs the heck out of you. I feel like I am going to go insane from the itching. Anyone know what MRSA looks like? That's my big fear. One incision is much worse but a couple others seem a bit better. If it wouldn't be for that, I'd be feeling so good again. It's been 3 weeks today since Gall bladder surgery and next Thurs. will be 3 mos since banding. I want to get on with my new healthy life! At least the drive down tomorrow should be incident free, the convention is over tonight!!!!! The busiest section of the freewy in the entire state, is going to be shut down tonight during the busiest time, the evening rush, just for this convention and the fact they moved the speech to the football stadium. Glad I am not down that way today. But overall I think they've done a good job in informing people and providing alternate routes etc. And security has seemed top notch.

Very normal concerns or then again, maybe I'm not normal. I was banded in June and I still wonder can I do this. I'm down 57 lbs. and my big fear is still failure and gaining it back. I think it's my past dieting history talking to me and it's hard to forget all those failures. Just yesterday I was bagging up a bunch of too big clothes to take to Goodwill or possibly a clothing exchange my hosptital is talking of starting, but part of me wants to ask DH to just put them in storage for a bit. But then the more rational part of me says, STOP THAT STINKIN THINKIN!! :smile2: I paid big bucks (self pay) to have this done, I have a band in place to control my hunger and all the support in the world. I am not going back and I need to replace that thinking with more positive thoughts. Hopefully as I continue down this road the negative thoughts will become less frequent and positive ones will take over. Not sure my rambling helps but just wanted you to know, yep I think it's normal.

OkieChick, getting nervous before hand is normal. I couldn't understand it when it hit me as here I was so excited to get my date and then as it approached I started freaking out. I just told myself that I made this decision with a lot of thought and research with a clearer mind (not one freaking out before surgery) and rested in that. It's normal to get scared before any surgery I think. DeeDee, nope wasn't hungry til about the 2nd or 3rd week and I was on mushies and then solids at that point. Are you getting in some protein drinks? Beverly, you are officially in bandster he$$. My hunger did go away on my first fill for about a week. Then it was back and it went that way for about 2 or 3 fills. Now most of my hunger is in my head. I think it will depend on how aggressive your dr. is on fills. Hang in there. Okay now this is a rant: Is it too much to ask of a person to call and tell you they aren't going to make it when you make plans with them? GRRRR Tonight was a lap band support group through my dr/hospital. It took me an hour to get there. It was the 3rd time this gal and I had made plans to go to a group or class together, she cancelled the previous two at the last minute, but at least she told me. I drove an hour to meet her, and NO SHOW!!! So frustrating. I did say for the group and it was okay, but it's not a group that I will continue with as it's too far, I already go to a different one. A couple weeks ago I was to meet someone else for lunch for our 2nd try, she no showed the first and then no showed again. These are all lap band folks too. And after no showing, not even an apology or explanation or anything. Next time I said no. But I was really excited to meet some fellow banders (the gal tonight I have met before) so am so disappointed. Rant over.

I've not done a challenge before but this sounds fun. I really want to hit 75 lbs lost, currently at 57 so will make that my gaol. Name___________Start Weight __________Goal________ Lbs lost____Current Weight *****:cool2:***************************:thumbup:********:tt2:* *******:w00t:***** aJoneen.............223............213..........0......223 ahsem2bme.......................244........................225.....................0............244 Jodi_620............................196........................177.....................0............196 Leslie2Lose........................224........................209....................0.............224 livn4thm.............................235........................210.....................0.............235 Tess ................................ 304 ...................... 280 ....................0 ...........304 Caramia71.........................208........................195.....................0.............208 Luu2008.............................203........................183... .................0............203 mominlv13..........................299.8.....................275.....................0.............299.8 Long2bthin...................248..................230................0...........248

Ah, thank you Joann for the encouragement. I did go to the gym this morning, did 20 min on the bike and did the 2 weight machines that did quads, didn't do too heavy of weights though til I get clearance from my surgeon. I really liked the part about the cute tush!! Now why did that stick out over all the other benefits? maybe because it's been a long time since it's been cute!! :cursing:

I had mine out 2 mos after lap band surgery. Not sure about the genetic component as not a single person in my family, even extended has lost theirs. I'm blazing a new trail. :cursing:

I know I probably do have knee replacement in my future. I guess I am just hoping to avoid it at this point. Two surgeries already this year are enough. Plus I want to lose the weight and see how bad it is then. I had the injection series in June and that seemed to help a tad. I have another series that I will do this fall (have to wait 6 mos as well). I have an elliptical trainer at home that I do use or the recumbant bike at the gym. Also am going to work on some leg machines for the quads as that is supposed to help some as well. It just makes me so mad at myself that I let my weight get to the point that it's messed up my body. Who knows I may still have had the arthritis, my mom has it a lot but then again she's as overweight as me (or as I was). Also have a funky ankle and a couple fingers that it's starting to affect. They tested me for the bad arthritis, rhuematoid, but that was negative. PTL!!! One dr. also told me that I was on the young side for replacement that they don't like to do them so young (first time I heard 50 as young LOL) but I've since heard that's not the case anymore.

What other lapband board? Is there another place? I go to Obesity Help sometimes but find their boards harder to navigate, I get lost real easy! I have my gym clothes on this morning and plan on hitting the gym before the grocery store. Can't do much on weight machines yet but will do something cardio. Yesterday I went through all my pants in my closet and sorted through what fit and what didn't. Today I plan on going through the blouses and sweaters. Those seem to fit longer though as who doesn't like a baggy sweater? At least I do! But if it has a XX in the size or 22+ it's still gonna go!