kombimel

Congratulations! Well done.

I suspect they are drinking liquids to wash the food through. No matter how big their pouch is, if its getting flushed they can keep stuffing more in.

Exactly! It's not like she goes shopping and buys the groceries and carries them into the house - that would mean she would have to get out of bed! Can't have that, can we?

I have not seen the update but by your reactions, it's obviously not a success. Take her away from her enabler and see how much she loses Another thing - Penny - by sitting in bed with your laptop in front of you, you are reading all of the comments people are making about you, not only here but on the page for the show. How sad.

Congratulations! It is a lovely feeling to not be excluded from shopping somewhere nice.

Well it has been quite a few years since I have been here, but I think the time is right. I was banded in 2008 and got down to 100kgs. Stayed there for about 6 months then just slowly started creeping up again. I would go in for a fill, go back about 6 weeks later, and no difference or an increase in weight. So late last year (2012) I had a hernia that my surgeon had to repair and I said to him this band isn't working. I had also just been diagnosed with Hashimotos disease (thyroid) so he said to me, get your thyroid under control and we can either do a sleeve or a bypass. Due to being unable to take a lot of time off work for recovery, I chose to have the bypass done and the band removed at the same time. This was done on Tuesday 3rd December. Everything went well with the surgery and it was discovered that the port had completely come away from the band. The most disheartening moment? Getting on the scales in the hospital!! With all of the fluids from the drip, my weight had gone to 129kgs! 2 weeks Pre op Optifast 125.9kgs Pre op admission to hospital 120.5kgs Home from hospital Saturday 7th December 126.8kgs This morning 116kgs Tomorrow is my first visit back to the dietician and I see my surgeon in the new year. I was extremely lucky that this surgery was classed as a redo and I did not have to pay my surgeon another $5K.

Yes it is on Foxtel - on TLC channel - and that other show "My Weight is Killing Me". Fat Doctors is the UK one isn't it? I like that one too.

When people see you all of the time they don't notice as much as someone who has not seen you for a while. Keep at it - the best feeling is when you see someone do a double take because they don't recognise you at first glance

Great show - we even get it here in Australia. I agree with everyone about how this episode made me feel angry that she was wasting such an opportunity. I wonder if they will follow up with Penny in the next season?

I lost a lot of hair around the 6 month mark post surgery. My vitamins etc were all good so that wasn't it. I had it cut shorter (not too short) and have been using Nioxin shampoo and conditioner and treatment. It has grown back but I never had any patches of baldness, it was just very thin all over.

Aaww that's a bit sad that she has felt she has to remove herself from her family. It is a tough time with everyone enjoying Christmas dinner around us when all we can have is liquids but hopefully she will realise that each day is a closer step to a healthier new life for her. In a year's time she will look back and it will just be a faded memory. Please let her know there is support out there - even if it is a message board like here, or yourself.

Another update -currently I am 84.5kgs. Very happy with the way things have gone. Loose skin is not attractive and if I lose another 15kgs I will get something done about it. Hopefully that will be by the end of this year.

Just an update - Everything going well. Current weight is 104.5kg. Very happy

Well so far I have had 2 fills and they have been bulk billed and my dieticians visits were covered as well. I am not sure how many dieticians visits though... I am sure there is a limited number or it could be just the first year. :thumbs_up:

I had my 3 week weigh in on Wednesday with the dietician. I have lost another 2.2kgs which makes it 7.6kgs so far. I will get my first fill in just under 3 weeks time. Lita, I know its still early days for me but I have not PB'd either. I am eating very normal foods and just making sure I chew really well and limiting myself to a cup of food too. I had the surgery on the Wednesday and went back to work on the Monday. So far - so good :thumbup:

I gave up milk years ago when it used to give me gallstone attacks. I dont drink coffee or tea and I didn't eat cereal for breakfast so I didn't miss it at all. I persisted on the Optifast as it was only a week. I wasn't keen on milk before the surgery but now that I am on "Up and Go" and "Sustagen" that milky taste just wont leave... are we allowed to suck on a sugar free sweet or something? I see the dietician on Wednesday but this mucus feeling is getting me down.:confused2:

I went to the dietician this afternoon for my first follow up. Very happy so far.. when I started Optifast a week before surgery I was 125kgs, pre-surgery weigh in was 122.7kgs and today (1 week) is 119.6kgs. I don't remember the last time I was less than 120kgs. :tongue2:

Luscious, do you put anything on the wound to help it heal? If its not very big, have you tried rubbing pawpaw ointment on it? I had a wound that almost stopped me getting banded. I had a spot, looked like a pimple, an inch under my belly button. I went to my GP and he just said "Its an infected hair, it will go away." That was October. It oozed a little bit every day and after 4 months, I went back, got another referral to see my surgeon and my GP said let the surgeon have a look. So I turn up at the surgeon to get my lapband date, he looks at this spot, and says "That goes really deep. I am going to operate on that and have a look at what it is. See you for day surgery Monday (25 Feb)." This was Wednesday! So he goes in and finds a stitch sinus on mesh that had been put in for an umbilical hernia 7 or 8 years earlier. It had been infected for years and had finally worked its way to the surface. So after a couple of days, this wound ruptures with a huge amount of Fluid gushing out - it was horrendous. I get put on antibiotics that made me vomit (Erythumicin or something) A couple of days later, the surgery site opens completly and I have this massive hole that looks like another belly button. I take myself off to the hospital and they put this awful bag thing over the hole - it looks a bit like a colostomy bag and it hangs off my stomach collecting the fluid that is just constantly oozing out. I see the surgeon 2 days later and he packs it with seaweed dressing. I then have to have a community nurse come to my house every morning to pack it before I went to work. It was 6 cm deep! After 3 weeks of daily packing, all of a sudden, the wound closes as it had to heal from the inside up. Very nervewracking because if it had not healed my surgery date would have been put back later than my original 7th May. Once it had scabbed over, I rubbed paw paw ointment on it. I find it heals burns and cuts so well. The red jar that you can get from both chemists and supermarkets is the best. Sorry if I have grossed anyone out, but our bodies can do some pretty amazing things. :tt1: Mel

Congratulations Josh. You are an inspiration to a newbie like me. Thank you for posting your pics. :tt1:

Thank you for the welcome Fanny :biggrin2:

Hi fellow Aussies! I was banded Wednesday 7 May and so far so good (gee I hope they are not famous last words :biggrin:) Only a little bit of discomfort, might take some panadol a bit later. I am expecting to go back to work on Monday. I know I lost 3kgs on Optifast (I cheated and only did it for a week) but I dont own scales (just yet - getting them for Mothers day) so I'll update that little fact when I know more. :thumbup:

Greetings. I was banded yesterday, feeling OK for now and I hope it stays that way. I have enjoyed reading lots of suggestions and hints before my surgery, it helped me enormously. Thank you.

I had my surgery yesterday by Dr Tim Wright at Warners Bay Private. I went to his seminar in December 2006. He will only do it if you have private hospital health cover so I joined in January 2007. That meant I had to wait 12 months but because I attended that seminar I was locked in at $4200. I think it is now $5200. I paid $300 to my anaesthist for the pre visit and I paid $50 for the one night in hospital. I am pretty sure it covers all of my fills but I think I have to pay for my dietician visits.