JulieNYC

I had glue only, and I've got to say my scars are the worst I've seen. I can't say it's attributable to the glue -- maybe I'm just a bad scarrer. It has me scared for my upcoming PS, but given that a PS is more concerned with residual scars than even the best band doc would be, I'm hoping for a better outcome. I'm nearly a year out and my port scar really hasn't faded all that much. I'm not sure I'd call it a full-blown keloid, but it's raised a little puffy. Yuck.

I'd take GasX, unless you're having acid reflux and not gas pains. If it's the former, I'd call my doc because zantac wasn't on my list of post-op approved meds, but that doesn't mean anything unless you ask.... Sorry you're in pain!

My Mom worked on the clinical trials for the vagus nerve stimulator, which is used primarily for control of epilepsy, but also has (non FDA approved) cross-references for both depression and obesity. She belives part of the undiscovered mystery of why the band is so effective is that it dampens the communication of hunger to the brain by putting pressure on the part of the vagus nerve that runs through the stomach. Makes sense to me, but I'm totally non-medical, so take it with that disclosure!

This is a cool idea for a thread. Thank you, Boo! What is your "Bandiversary" goal? To be recovered from my tummy tuck and breast lift (March 28th) enough to schedule my flight home (to actually be home is a stretch). What have you learned this past year? I've learned that it's better to head off a binge than to fight it. It's like turning a boat. You might not be able to turn on a dime, but if you plan, you can still get the boat turned. Could you share your most rewarding NSV (non-scale victory)? Flying without a seatbelt extender. Walking anywhere in the City just because and not worrying about breaking out in a sweat even in the cold. What is your biggest challenge? Learning how to not act like an adolescent in my new body. What tips would you pass on to the April 2007 newbies? Measure your food, at least some of the time. It keeps you accountable. Also, if you're not losing as quickly as you'd like, consider counting calories at least for a few days. It'll let you see where you can make adjustments to meet your goals. What is your greatest fear? Regaining the weight. I know it's not likely, but I still fear it. What goals do you have for the future? To figure out what goal weight is and reach it. To run a 10K. To run an average mile in under 10 minutes. How has your life changed? Oh my gosh, what a question! I fit into life again. I don't worry about finding the "right" seat on the bus or whether a folding chair will break under my weight. I can shop anywhere. I care about my appearance. People treat me with more respect, even just walking down the street -- it shouldn't be that way but it is. I got a new job making triple salary. Triple! Men hit on me. I'm excited about tomorrow. Has living with the band met up to your expectations? It's far exceeded my expectations. I expected to be about 250 or 275 now. Instead, I'm in the 190s. All I expected from the band was to get back to Twoterville. Actual day-to-day life, the band exceeds my expectations as well. I thought I'd have way more limitations on the types of food I'd be able to eat. If you could talk to yourself a year ago, what would you say? I'd say be kind to yourself. You're a pretty cool person and even though you don't like yourself a lot right now, you've got the potential to love yourself. I'd also say, self, since you've got this ability to talk to yourself a year ago, try to see if you can talk to yourself 5 years ago and get a band then. Don't waste time trying to find another option. You're going to exhaust them all and still wind up 350+ and banded. Save yourself the emotional and physical trauma.

I had a close friend through childhood and college who broke off the friendship very suddenly. Turned out she had a mental break. She's not the same person now. It was completely psychiatric, but it was still really hard for me to accept. The last time I talked to her (something professional), which was a few years ago, she talked about our former friendship as if it was with someone else -- not with her. It's very strange. I hope your friend is OK.

Yay, Molly!!! Dancing bananas for you! :) That's FANTASTIC that you got out with your family and did your walk/run! Keep up the great work. I know how good that must have felt. You're already a huge inspiration for your stepdaughter and it's only going to get better the more exercise you do. She's at a great age to learn from you. You made my day! Woohoo!

What is the difference in a beltline lipectomy and a lower body lift?

Maziemommy, I'm 34 -- just like you, and formerly 350+, just like you! I'm certain you'll be a BIG loser in a year. Woohoo! Yes, I'll certainly share some "honest" pics of the recovery when the time comes. I can't believe I begin the journey a week from today. CRAZY.

Oh, Betty, I'm so relieved. That's just fabulous news.

Oh Kat, that's so scary! I'm so, so thankful that Rick is OK. I know you'll baby him for a few days until he's right as rain. I'm so glad everything turned out ok. What a relief. Give him a big hug for us all -- you too. And teach him how to chew like a bandster. Betty -- I know you won't see this for a few days, but I'm really thinking about you hard today. I feel strongly that Alan is going to be OK, but I am praying hard for you and can't wait to get an update when you have a minute. Eficka, you're just flat out gorgeous. No other word for it. Margi, welcome to the thread! Your surgery is going to be great. I can't wait for April 12th to be behind you. We're all here to answer whatever questions we can for you. You're almost through the hardest part -- the waiting.

Waterlilly, the track sounds like a fabulous idea. Way to go. Tracy, my good friend Angela has a Gazelle and loves it. I've never been on one myself, but she really thinks it's fabulous.

Name..........................Starting…...…..Current….…..Goal…....To Go Juliegeraci.......................238............. .........236.................228..............8 Lapbandit.......................231............... .......220………….199.............21 Waterlily........................300.............. .........281.................264.............17 Roiansmom....................299.................. .....299.................270.............29 Libra..............................248............ ...........241.................228.............13 JulieNYC.......................212................ .......199.................185.............14 Elisabethsew................. 282.......................274..................264 .............10 PeaCeJ..........................338............... ........333..................318.............15 RidinMyHDDream.........297.......................2 90 .................281...............9 Babygirl1234.................260.................. ......251.................240.............11 Leecelove70..................228.................. ......228.................200.............28 Josette...........................351............. ...........351.................335.............16 Well guys, I have been with this thread for a long time. When I joined it, I was newly banded and so, so looking forward to getting to Twoterville where I felt "at home." Today, I'm happy to share the following news with you: Crazy, huh? Wink,

Thanks to you all! I feel relieved. I'm not going to weigh for a week, just to prove a point to my therapist. No more scale obsession for me. I think I'm going to sleep great tonight. I don't know why this had been weighing on me so much, but it had. And now it's done. Never to change first digits on the scale again, unless I become a little old 99 lb lady in my 80s or 90s! Thank you all for your support and patience with me during my crazy days. And, Dawn, thank you for the poem. I'm sure that's what made the difference. Lastly, I ran 3 miles this morning. Fifteen down, 4 to go. I've got to get them in this week since next week is my PS!

I'm running out the door and can't even stop to read the posts, but I wanted to share this with you all before I left. I'll be back this afternoon to check in further. Check it out....Sorry for my pathetically poorly maintained pedicure. I was trying to wait a week so I'd have perfect toes for my surgery before changing the polish.

For me, it's within 5 minutes of eating the offensive piece of food, but I've never had an experience where I couldn't control when it came up. Meaning, I always have time to get to a bathroom, even if I have to wait in line. It's almost muscular at that point -- kind of like how you can hold it even when you really, really have to go to the bathroom. Pre-band, I worried that I would somehow spontaneously PB so quickly that I wouldn't have time to get somewhere private, or would have to run to a sink, etc. For me, it's never been like that.

I kept my promise and ran my 5 miles on the treadmill today, in lieu of my race. Now I'm headed off to the Rangers' game with a girlfriend. With all the hockey I seem to watch these days, you'd think I'd have a boyfriend! The witchy scale still said 202 this morning. Tomorrow, if it's still 202, I'm going to start writing poetry about that number since it clearly has such significance to my body. "Ode to 202, how I hate you" or something of the sort....

Amourette, I'm so thankful you are ok. I know you have a wide net of support to help you through this major anxiety and I hope you go back to work soon. Go on and face that fear sooner rather than later, and I think that will be the best course of action. When I was 9, I was traveling alone when we had mechanical failure and had to land on the belly of the plane with no landing gear. After 9/11, I couldn't force myself to fly at all for several years (which makes no sense because it was the old fear of the crash that came back and not a fear of terrorists) and to this day I can't fly without medication. OK, this probably isn't helping. I know you know this, but flying is statistically so, so safe. Even moreso on the types of big planes you fly, given your international status. It's not a rational thing to fear flying, even when you've had an incident like what I went through or what you went through. Push through the fear and go back to work. I think it'll give you the distance you need from the incident. Again, I'm so glad you're ok.

Wow. A week in bed. OK, I get it. My caretaker is a plastic surgery nurse, so I know I'll be covered there. Keeping me still for an entire week is the challenge. Wow. A WEEK in bed. Crazy!

Chapstick....

I did a double session with my trainer tonight to make up for not racing tomorrow. She kicked me in the rear! It was some serious training. I feel good though. It's been a long time since I did a full body workout in one sitting. Usually we do just upper or just lower.

My race for tomorrow morning is off. The running club hasn't officially cancelled it yet, but my team isn't running irrespective. We've got bad snow and it's supposed to sleet all night and into the morning, well past race time, so running really isn't safe. Do I sound like I'm justifying? Probably. But I'll be justifying from under my covers at 6:30 in the morning instead of in the park! I promise I'll go to the gym and run the same miles, but in dry, warm conditions....

Spydr, Thank you so much for your openness about your surgery. I'm in such a similar spot to you. I'm about the same size (or will be in a couple of weeks when I have my TT and BL) and have a similar body type, so it's really useful to me to see your pics. Thank you again. Question for you about the pain. You're 3 weeks out -- do you work outside the home? If so, are you back at work? I have a desk job and I've taken a month off, but I'm hoping not to need the whole month. With my band, I took a week off and went back on day 2 simply because I was bored. I understand you're in more pain right now than even a couple of weeks ago as the nerves reconnect. How much does the pain get in the way of your functioning? Thanks.

Derick, I'm not moving, per se, but I'm changing jobs in a couple of months, which, when you live in NYC, is kind of the same thing (in that you rarely see the same people on the streets since there are so many, so changing jobs is really changing 95% of your daily contacts). Everyone at my current job knew me at 350. Everyone at the new job will only know me at 175. Kind of cool.

Molly, Ditto to what Dawn said. I started running just a little at about 250 lbs -- like 1 out of every 5 minutes. I did the "couch to runner" program on coolrunning.com, which was the perfect thing. I doubled each step, so it took about 4 months to get to running 3 miles comfortably without stopping. Now, I run 3 miles on "easy" days and 4-5 miles on challenge days. I try not to run more than 3 times a week because I think I'm still asking too much for my poor knees at my weight. If it didn't feel so good cardio wise, I probably wouldn't run at all until I was at goal. Anyway, you'll be walking and then running in no time, particuarly since you're a former runner. Dawn, yes, please come shout at my scales for me. Thanks for that response. It was perfect -- it made me laugh and took away my jealousy completely -- my scales better watch out or Dawn's going to come beat them up! They did flicker on 201 this morning before settling back in on 202. That's usually a good sign for tomorrow. I have promised my therapist that I will be less scale obsessed the second I'm in Onederland. I'm going to keep that promise here too.

I have my hair colored and I get regular manicures now. I never did those things pre-band because I didn't want to sit in a salon (i.e. worry abouth whether the salon chair would be comfortable at my size) and look in the mirror for an hour. Now it's part of who I am. I'm working on being more social as well, but those changes are harder.