DonnaB

Congratulations Kathy - I can't wait to pose for my one year Bandiversary - I hope I have as much success as you have.

Hi Jellybean, I'm glad you're feeling better. I'm 4 weeks and 4 days post-op and I just tried scrambled egg today. Even though I chewed and chewed, the first bite just sat in my chest like a hot, throbbing rock. Fortunately I'm carefully following the band rules and I didn't take a second bite. I had to walk around for a couple of minutes until the feeling passed. I ate a tiny bite of crisp bacon and it went down fine, so I tried another, smaller bite of egg and chewed, chewed, chewed and swallowed the bite a little bit at a time. It went fine after that and I was able to eat the rest of my Breakfast with no problems. Sorry to hear about your experience. This is a completely new way of eating and old habits are hard to break - trial and error is the only way we'll figure it out. That and the support of our friends! I've heard that a small sip of pineapple juice will help with a food stick. I haven't tried it myself but I've got a few little cans for 'just-in-case!' Good luck to you.

Hi Divanita, welcome to Lapbandtalk, the best WLS board in the world! Well, that's just my opinion - and pretty much everyone else who joins it! You'll see. The people here a just great about answering questions and supporting you through thick and thin. I'm in South Grand Prairie - right where 360 and I-20 cross. Some fellow local bandsters are meeting in Irving at 1:30 pm on Saturday the 22nd at Jack Astor's. I think if you check the Texas forum you'll se a thread there about the group. Feel free to join the fun! My best piece of advise about the LBT board is to try not to spend too much time on the "complications" thread. It's good to know what kinds of things CAN happen but if you spend too much time there it will only freak you out unnecessarily. The national average for complications is at or under 3% - which means the percentage of people having the surgery who have no complications is a whopping 97%. Don't stress yourself out over it. I did when I first came here, almost talked myself out of surgery and was absolutely FREAKED for no reason. I'm fine and have lost 20-some pounds at 4 weeks post-op. Good luck on your weight loss journey and congrats on your decision to improve, and most likely extend, your life.

Good luck to you amanda, and congratulations on making a step toward better health. I'm happy for you that you have no comorbidities right now, what a blessing. I waited until I had knee problems to have surgery and I'm now hoping that as I lose weight the knees will recover without surgery. Welcome to Lapbandtalk and keep us informed so we can help support you through this life changing surgery and beyond. (Petrie dish son - LOL)

I use a product called Body Fortress. You can get it at Wal-Mart for about $17 per tub and it has 20 grams of Protein per scoop. I get the vanilla flavor, mix 2 scoops (40 grams of protein) into 1 - 2 cups of fat free milk, 3 tablespoons of fat free, sugar free chocolate pudding, and 1 tablespoon of reduced fat creamy Peanut Butter. It tastes like I'm drinking a liquid Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Mmmmmmm. Unfortunately the carb count climbs up because of the add-ins so I alternate my yummy Protein Drink one day and not so palatable Isopure Icy Orange drink the next. Seems to be working for me so far. Good luck.

I'm 5'9" and am wearing a size 24 jean today and they're fitting pretty loose. I have another pair of jeans, same manufacturer but a different style, in the same size, that I can't zip. What's up with that? This kind of thing makes me absolutely crazy. I would like to get down to a size 12 but realistically I'll probably settle for a size 16. Maybe. Maybe I'll change my mind when I begin to have a new body image. OK, this is kind of a highjack, and I apologize, but this seems like the right place to post it: I went into a 'Chico's' clothing store for the first time about a week ago. I see the commercial's for Chico's on TV and I really don't think that much about the clothes in the ads but I've got some time to kill, waiting on an appointment, with nothing to do. I've just been banded so I'm not going to buy clothes right now but I thought it would be as good a way to waste 20 minutes as any. So, even knowing I'm not planning to buy anything, I stroll into the store. The clerks look up from their (I'm sure) VERY important jobs, half smile, mumble hello and go back to what they're doing. No biggy. Another lady comes in after me and you'd have thought Laura Bush or Princess-Di-back-from-the-dead had just entered the store! They both stopped what they were doing, greeted her, told her about the new arrivals, offered her a beverage (!) and pretty much fell all over themselves to help her. I thought, well, maybe they know her and know she spends a lot of money in the store. OK. Another person walked into the store and the same thing happened! Meanwhile, I'm looking at a rack of tops and I start looking at sizes, I mean, I'm in the store, I might as well check out the prices, right? After looking around I concluded that in addition to being more than a little pricey for some pretty average clothing, the largest size in the store is a 3. I swear. Even better (or worse) the smallest size they carried was a .5 ! I swear to God, they carried point five as a size. What the F? What's next? Point two five? Give me a break, please! No wonder they didn't give me the time of day - they KNEW I wasn't buying anything - and NOT because I chose not to. Point five my hind end! Now when I see those Chico's commercials I just get steamed. Sorry about the highjack - carry on! :-)

Well Butch, at least you haven't lost your sense of humor. I agree with the person who said you should have your fill done under flueroscopy. I think it would be easier on you - no bloody multi-stick BS - and safer for your band - you don't want someone to puncture your tubing, right? I'm sorry I'm not giving you useful advise but I want to tell you I'd have reacted the same way about the money. I have a temper and it kicks into high gear when I feel like someone is ripping me off. Keep working at it, you'll find someone who's willing to help you. Good luck.

Hi Dawn, Congratulations on your band date! I had surgery in Monterrey with Dr. Rumbaut too - he's great and you won't regret your choice of surgeon. When you're in Mexico spend as much time as you can spare in the Hampton Inn Hotel lobby. You'll see lot's of people - mostly women - who are there having surgery with Dr. Rumbaut too. Just make eye contact and give a little nod, believe me, you'll be making friends who are at the same stage of the game as you in no time. I met several people there, two of whom I'm still in contact with. They're my bandsisters! One of the people I met, NOT having surgery with Dr. Rumbaut was a disaster! She was one of those people who doesn't do any research - or at least doesn't think things through (you could just tell - too much make-up, overdressed with too many ruffles, too much jewelery, too much hairspray and back-combing, and feet STUFFED into high heels at least two sizes too small!). She had no idea she was supposed to be on a pre-op diet. She was planning on going to a famous 'Cabrito' restaurant and having the 'all meat extravaganza' deluxe dinner on the night before surgery! When she was talking about HER pre-op experience she told me how surprised she was with the dirty conditions of her pre-op doctor's office - there wasn't even a seat on the toilet where she was told to provide a urine sample! I didn't even have to GIVE a urine sample! I felt really, really badly for her - Botoxed eyebrows, Colligen mouth and all! I didn't see her after that day so I don't know how she made out. I hope she didn't suffer too much after having her 'last supper' - yep, she went and ate a big meal after several people said they were on a liquid diet the night before surgery. Go figure. You don't have to worry about ANYTHING like that. Your pre-op doctor is very professional, even though he does the X-ray himself, and Dr. Rumbaut is ALL CLASS. And on the subject of bathrooms - lol - you HAVE to check out the bathroom at Dr. Rumbaut's office! I know it shouldn't be funny but it is! You'll see what I mean when you get there. Dr. Rumbaut's staff is great, the hospital is great, the whole experience whas just wonderful. Even my post-op pain and gas was MINIMAL. In fact, if I decide to have plastic surgery post-weight-loss, I'm going back to Monterrey. Dr. Rumbaut's wife and his daughter had plastic surgery with the PS he recommends to his patients. I can't think of a better recommendation than that. Take a deep breath. Relax. You're going to be fine, in fact, you're going to be GREAT! Remember, Dr. Rumbaut has a less than 1% complication rate. Less than 1%. That's awesome. Breath in, breath out. Dream about buying cute clothes. Breath in, breath out. Dream of going to a tropical resort on vacation. Breath in, breath out. Dream of everything you 'can't' or won't do now because of your weight. Repeat. Repeat again if necessary. Feel free to PM me if you want.

Hey Lisa, My mother lives out in Blue Diamond - not too far from the Silverton. I grew up in Las Vegas. Where about are you located? My husband and I were thinking about visiting my mom this summer and now I'm wondering if we should plan on being in Las Vegas on the 26th. Hmmmmm. I'm terrified of motercycles - I know, what a weenie! - but I'm up for a Slumber Party! After all, how will I know if I want to host Slumber Parties until I've been to one? Actually, I don't think I network enough to be a Slumber hostess. But I can dream, right? I'd love to meet up with people from LBT. This has been a great experience.

You're going to love Dr. Rumbaut, but don't take my word for it, do a Search for Rumbaut. You won't see anything bad about him. I don't think there's even one post that has anything negative to say about Dr. Rumbaut or the San Jose Hospital in Monterrey. Good luck, this is gonna be great!

Congratulations on overcoming the problems you faced and on your return to sanity via the lapband. Keep up with us so we'll know how you're doing.

Hi Cookinjillie! Welcome to LBT. My best advise is to spend hours here on LBT. The people here have seen it ALL. Spend as little time as you can manage in the Complication's Forum. It's a good idea to know what to expect if you have complications from your surgery but if you spend too much time in that forum you'll only give yourself an anxiety attack. I know cause that's exactly what I did! LOL Seriously, this website was my best resource for questions and information and most of all SUPPORT. I talked myself into and out of surgery several times during my research phase. The people here gave me the courage to take that leap of faith and I'm so glad I did. For the first time in my life I feel like I'm in control of the food instead of the other way around. Another great website is www.FitDay.com I never logged my food consumption before because I thought it would be too much work and too much looking for calories/fat/nutrition info for each thing that I ate every day. It was just too much trouble. FitDay does all the work for you and it's FREE! There is a downloadable version which is much better and only costs $20 but you should definitely try out the free version first to see if you like it and will use it and second because if you use the free version they give you discount on the downloadable version. The biggest problem with the free version is that the custom food feature doesn't retain the 'portions' you input which means you have to change that part every time. Kind of a pain. The downloadable keeps everything you plug in and has a lot more reports and gives you more oportunities to track your food consumption by different categories. Graphs and pie charts, trends, moods. All kinds of stuff. It's pretty great. Enough about FitDay - I'm becoming obssessed with it - but in a good way! LOL Best advise: follow your doctor's orders to a T. If he give's you leeway, always go the conservative route. DO at least a week of liquid diet before surgery no matter what anyone says (your surgery will go easier and your recovery time will be better). Give yourself time to heal before you start obssessing on your weight loss - advise I can't seem to take myself!. If I think of anything else I'll post again. Good luck on your weight loss journey and congrats on your surgery date.

I understand NSAIDs contrubute to errosion. That's enough to keep me away from my Exedrin Migraine. :huggie: GeezerSue - my doc says Aspirin is a definite no-no. Go with Acetamenaphine (sp?)

I didn't actually PB but I got The Golfball when I took a post-op antibiotic capsule and hadn't let it soak in Water long enough to soften up. It hurt like heck and I don't want to have to experience that again. Sadly, I'm sure it will happen. I've had a couple of close calls here on the mushies stage but if I slow down, take smaller bites and PAY ATTENTION it's much, much better. maryb - I'm eating cottage cheese right now! No problems so far. If you like cottage cheese, wait awhile and give it another try. I didn't realize how good the Protein to carbohydrate ratio is on cottage cheese. I think I like it better just for knowing that! lol

Since, to my horror, I discovered the seatbelt wouldn't fit around me, whenever I fly I tell the flight attendant as I'm entering the plane that I'll need an extension, my seat number, and that it's embarrassing to me so could she please either give me one here or bring one to my seat without making me ask for it again? They've always been very nice about it and usually they give me the extension right there (possibly because I'm so open about my embarrassment, not to mention their's for me). Remember, they're trying to load the plane as quickly as possible and everyone behind me is stacking up waiting to get on the plane! If they don't give me an extension right there, they always bring it to my seat discretely as soon as they can. Usually after the take-off instructions where they use belt extensions to give the demonstration. It's embarrassing to me to do this but because the people behind you can't hear what you're saying due to all the jetway noise and because the people in front of you have already moved on to make their way to their seats, the only people to hear me are the flight attendant and myself. I've suffered with the embarrassment of obesity for over a decade, and while inside I'm still mortified, I can handle it with one or two flight attendants, I'm sure they've seen other obese people and they'll forget about me before the plane takes off. Besides, it's much better than pushing the call button and asking for an extender while everyone around you has settled and is waiting for the plane to taxi while you struggle with your belt. Here's a tip: stand right in the doorway to have your conversation with the flight attendant, the people behind you can't crowd you or try to pass you while you have the discussion. I can't believe how painful it was to admit this here publicly. The only reason I did is because it might be helpful to others. Those of you who have shared much more painful stories here on LBT are, IMO, incredibly brave or have much thicker skin than I do.

Dody, I hate to be part of a 'gang-up' on you but you've done it to me too. I actually kind of cringe when I see you've posted because I'm always afraid it's going to be negative. If you don't stop snapping at people, nobody's going to want to play with you and the sandbox is going to get pretty lonely. If you don't want to offend people but you still are, maybe it's time to preview your posts or figure out how to say what you mean without it sounding like an attack. Just a suggestion, meant in the nicest way possible.

shellysms, Your Mexican lapband doctor can probably give you a list of local doctors who will give you fills. My Mexican doctor did. Who did your band? Good luck on your search.

Excellent news! I love it when I see positive posts. Makes me feel . . . well, positive! Thanks for the lift! I'm always interested when I see people getting an unfill and still feel restriction, or an unfill, and partial refill with the same or better restriction. I always wonder if it has to do with the excess stomach tissue folding on itself at the stoma. Maybe it folded differently and took up more space, maybe it just got irritated and slightly swollen. Who knows. One of the great mysteries I'll likely never know the reason for! Ramble, ramble. Sorry Alex - CONGRATS on your good news!

I'm so sorry to hear about your cat. As a kitty-mommy to two very old cats, 18 and 17, I feel your pain. I know I'll have to go through it in the not too distant future. They say that death is a part of life. I say it's the suckiest part of life. Grieve for your beautiful kitty and let time heal your heart.

You're only 6 days post op! Give your body some time to heal. The first 6 weeks are about healing NOT weight loss. As for being able to eat without your chest hurting, it's not the yogurt possibly causing a slip, it's ANY solid or semi-solid food while the stitches in your stomache heal up. If the stitches break because your stomach is trying to digest or because heavy or large food is trying to go down the stoma - particularly while your stomach is still swollen from surgery (which yours definitely still is) there will be nothing holding the band in position which will alow it to slip. On the upside, the chances that yogurt broke your sutures is pretty slim but you've GOT TO GIVE YOURSELF TIME TO HEAL. I don't know what your doctor recommended as far as a post-op diet, but I was on "clear liquids" for 4 days post-op, then on "full liquids" (which is blended cream soups, etc.) for 3 weeks. I've been on "mushies" for a week now and I'll still get that chest pain if I eat too fast or swallow too big a bite. I won't be able to eat "solid" food for another week at least. My advise is to slow down, this isn't a race it's a complete life-style change. Give your doctor a call to discuss post-op food stages. If your doctor doesn't give you specific food-stage information including dates - FIND A NEW DOCTOR. Give your body the time it needs to heal and you'll do fine. Keep us posted so we can be here to support you as you need it. Good luck on your band journey.

This is copied from the linked report in PhotoNut's post: (thanks Susan) "In my practice I’ve seen that many patients are better able to break their addiction to sugar and maintain weight loss with the help of sugar substitutes. This is probably because insulin is not involved. Also, the substitutes are hundreds of times sweeter than sugar, so you may use less of them. In certain cases, I think moderate use of artificial sweeteners is okay — as long as you feel well. But you should know that sugar substitutes don’t have to be artificial. There is another way! Stevia and sorbitol — natural alternatives to artificial sweeteners Other countries and diabetics have both taught us a lot about controlling insulin naturally. For many years, diabetics have used products sweetened with polyalcohol sugars like sorbitol, xylitol, malitol, and mannitol. These are natural sweeteners that do not trigger an insulin reaction. (Xylitol can be derived from birch tree pulp.) They have half the calories of sugar and are not digested by the small intestine. While most polyalcohol sugars have no side effects, sorbitol is a laxative and can cause diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, bloating and flatulence. For this reason, we recommend the herb stevia (Stevia rebaudiana) over sorbitol as a natural sweetener to our patients. Known in South America as the “sweet herb,” stevia has been used for over 400 years without ill effect. Stevia has been enormously popular in Japan, now rivaling Equal and Sweet’N Low. It’s 20 times sweeter than sugar, so a small portion of Stevia will sweeten even a strong cup of tea. We’ve known about stevia in the US since 1918, but pressure from the sugar import trade blocked its use as a commodity. Today stevia is slowly gaining steam as a sugar substitute, despite similar hurdles. The FDA has approved its use as a food supplement, but not as a food additive due to a lack of studies. Stevia can be used for anything you might use sugar in, including baking. It is naturally low in carbohydrates. You can buy stevia at most health food stores and over the web. There will always be those who have a sensitivity to a substance, but based on reports from other countries it appears to have little to no side effects. For women who want to move through their cravings for sugar without artificial chemicals, stevia is a great option." I've never seen or heard of Stevia until today. I'll check it out. The logic behind what your body perceives as food and digests vs. what your body discounts as non-food and try's, unsuccessfully, to utilize without digesting makes sense to me. That's why Stevia sounds like a better alternative - it's an herb which your body digests as a food, rather than a chemical which your body doesn't know how to deal with thus causing systemic problems. Does anyone know how Stevia is delivered? Is it granulated? Is it like crushed herbs? I'm very interested. IMHO, this whole controversy comes back to "everything in MODERATION". Moderation is essential in every aspect of life. Why would it be any different with Sugar or Splenda?

Another disappointing show. What a bummer. The previews for next week look promising. Hmmmmmm. I feel cheated.

Happy Birday Dawg! How many candles were on your cake? And why was PhotoNut too busy to post? Hmmmmmm? Hope you had a great day!

brat2often, I haven't had a fill yet so I don't really know for sure what the problem is, but from reading lots of other posts here on LBT it sounds like you need to have a little more of your fill taken out. Good luck.

I searched www.Snopes.com - a website the debunks or confirms rumors just like this one. Snopes doesn't have anything relating specifically to Splenda. I don't know if that's a confirmation or a denial. No help here I'm afraid.