TheGh0st

I am so excited for you. Thanks for starting the new thread. Now if only you could convince your father to give us all a small (OK Large) "friends of the family" discount. Just kidding, well if only for the fact that the flight to NY would probably negate any possible discount I could ever hope you might talk him into. What I really wish is my doc would give me some kind of referral bonus for every patient I was able to successfully get to use him. I think I could seriously increase his business and recoup my expenses given a little effort. Who knows maybe there might be a small chance at some sort of extra discount off a future surgery or a rebate on my existing one if all turns out well and I can talk him into using me in some sort of advertising material. I'm not too modest to turn it down for the right price. Wouldn't even have to cost him much if he'd waive his fee and do my inner thighs or arms for just the facility fee.

I've also started hearing some bad press on the lipo-dissolve injections. I believe Missouri even pulled the plug on it being legal to perform except in facilities conducting FDA approved studies. Something about it not being regulated well enough and about how there can be some seriously bad results if not administered properly. However, I am no doctor, nurse or medical professional in real life or otherwise. But I'd be seriously worried about trying it until it has been around longer. I've just seen too many horror stories where us overweight people seem to get the short end of the stick when it comes to possible help in our struggles. Can anyone say "Phen-Phen", just to name one?

Paulax - I don't know if there are some out there with too little skin to remove for this to be true but in my case the doc said he removed a section from along the incision line curving up in a cartoon-ish eyeball oval shape to a point a whopping 2-inches above my old belly button hole. Technically I actually have the same belly button. They just cut around the old one and punch a new hold out for it to show through. The stiches are just down inside the belly button far enough that there shouldn't be any visible scar to see. Hope that answers your question. By the way I ended up driving for the first time post surgery today and went to work for 5 hours. I actually felt I could have worked longer but as someone said take advantage of their good will now as once you start adding hours its harder to get work to understand if you need to go back to less hours. I also wanted to save some strenght for the home front as being at work makes the DH think I ought to start taking on more responsibility at home as well. I have cooked dinner and put our 4 year old to bed a few times already. No four course meals or carrying the son to bed. But boiling spaghetti in a small enough pan that it weighs less than 4 pounds and sitting next to my sons bed in a chair to read him some stories and pat his back aren't exactly taxing chores. Though I did push it a little too far tonight when I tried to help put some laundry away after dinner tonight. The DH dumped it on our over waist high bed for me so all I had to do was pick up the clothes one at a time to fold or hang. But I found that standing for longer than 5-10 minutes at a stretch is still a bit too much for me no matter how light the lifting was. My stomach started to ache like I had just done another marathon round of sit-ups. So I took my first pain pill since lunch time (about 6 hours) and laid down on the couch without finishing the laundry. My DH understood and was both happy with what help I had been able to give at the same time warning me to not push it.

Karey - For me I decided that the skin weight was some of what was keeping me from goal. Both physically and mentally. Physically for the obvious reason there was in excess of 10 pounds they removed. Mentally it was also weighing me down making me feel farther off track towards my goal than the scale was telling me. After reading some of the other PS threads, like Julies, Puddins & Chickie's (not to mention the many others) I decided that the PS now just might be the kick in my butt & self esteem that I needed to get back on track and loose those last pounds to get to whatever goal I finally settle on. Who knows maybe after all the swelling goes down I'll decide this is my goal, no matter what the scale says.

My DH is slowly coming around but he's a big "waffler" His siblings call him Mr Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda. He has NO interest in coming which suits me fine, I want to SHOP, SHOP, SHOP (and DANCE) neither of which he likes. But he is interested in going on a short road trip with one of his brothers. So he has been toying with "letting" me go in a kind of quid pro quo. I know I can go if I really want no matter what he says but some battles really aren't worth fighting if you know what I mean.

Julie, I am sorry to hear about the break up. I'm sure it will be for the best in the end but may his days be filled with misery until he comes crawling back for forgiveness and you kick his sorry @ss right back to the curb.

Update on my recovery.... I am feeling better and better. Parts of me think this has gone much easier than I expected. As I kind of expected to be completely bed ridden for the first 5 days needing nearly constant assistance just to go to the restroom. Instead I was getting up by myself and walking around the house the very first night. It was and still is MUCH easier to get up with help but I can do it without help. On the flip side I had high expectations of being one of those people that bounce back fast enough to be back to work full time by tommorrow. (12 days after surgery) After all I was back to work part time less than a week after my C-section and full time only 4 days after my gall-bladder was removed. I'm kind of the stubborn type who feels if I can sit up even if in pain I'd rather sit at work and get paid than sit at home with no pay. But my two drains are still in me and I just don't feel up to 8 hours at a desk job in my pajamas. And until the drains come out that is really all I can wear. I have been back to work for 2 hours on both Teusday and Thursday of last week, though I had someone drive me both to and from work. I do plan on going in tomorrow and driving myself but I will probably only go in for around 4 hours. I also plan on only working a half day Teusday and maybe Wednesday but am determined to have my drains out and get back to full time by Friday. I probably won't be working at full capacity for another week or even two and am counting on some help from a co-worker when it comes to things like filing and some of the running up and downstairs to the shop floor to ask the staff questions. I have also backed the pain pills down from the heavier duty oxy-codene to the slightly less potent hydra-codene and am taking only 3-4 pills a day instead of 6-8 like I was in the beginning. I could probably back down even further to just Tylenol but have been reluctant to push it too hard as I know it is much easier for pain meds to stop pain from starting than it is for them to stop pain that is already there. Right now I really don't feel any true pains with a capital "P". There are still a couple of sore bruises in my inner thighs from the lipo and the drains are uncomfortable at times when I move around the worst of it feels like I'm pulling out a pubic hair. My waist feels a strange "stiffness" that makes it hard to stand straight even if I were allowed to, there are also a few blisters that formed along the incision line that I think are a reaction to the adhesives in the steristrip and a few of them kind of sting to the touch but none of that is really the kind of pain I was expecting. I even feel a bit of a pansy for complaining about most of them. I've begun to sit a bit more upright on the couch this weekend and am even back to sitting on the computer task chair with both my legs tucked up (as if I were sitting cross legged on the floor). And I can walk up and down the stairs using both feet to go up the stairs like a "normal" albiet bow-legged person. When I started out I would go up the steps one at a time trying my best to not lift legs at the knees by standing as high as possible on the toes of my left foot, arching my right foot up equally as high to reach the next step with the toes of my right foot then pulling the other foot up to the same step before starting it all over on the next step. I might also try to get you some updated pics of the incision line in the next week but probably won't update my full waist shots for a bit longer to let the swelling start to go down some.

mommy3boys - My weigh in the morning of surgery was 172 and I'm 1/2" shorter than you, so we are pretty much the same I'd say. This surgery covered most of what you listed sans, the BL & mons lift. The thigh lipo I had wasn't as aggressive as I would have liked but I'm not complaining as it was a last minute freebie I talked him into. I actually would LOVE a full inner thigh lift but it is nearly as expensive as the extended TT I had so I don't see it in the cards. I'm just hoping I can learn to live with them. Maybe a little focused toning would help. I've heard mixed comments on that. I didn't have nor will I be having the mons lift. Don't really have a reference point to know if it was necessary but I think I can live with that area as is. The BL will be sometime next year I'm hoping. The doc wouldn't do it at the same time as the TT and even though insurance will be covering it I need to try to wait a while before taking more time off work for surgery. Maybe even try to get some family time off for a vacation first.

Shine - I bet things heat up after the band so to speak. I envy your hand holding and cuddling though. That is more my problem. The DH is fine with having sex 1 even 2 times a week (if I'd let him) but he just doesn't seem interested in me any other time of the day and even in bed foreplay is not much more than "honey, are you awake?" The sex has been MUCH better since the band but the other areas really haven't changed any. And a lot of our issues as of late have revolved around my being tired of putting up with that. In some ways I think it is a byproduct of my success with the band. I just don't feel like putting up with what I feel is second rate behaviour on my DH's part. I want it all, both in and out of the bedroom. Nume - Yeah I think he would be up for a trip together, even a marriage retreat perhaps. But it will probably have to wait until next summer when our budget and available work time off recover. I was toying with a trip to Boston around our Anniversary in March. Neither of us have been there and we've always wanted to go. One of the few things we still have in common is an interest in old architecture and cathedrals. We absolutely LOVE traveling around Europe. Unfortunately that isn't something we can afford to do often enough to be our only common thread. But we are both aware of the problem and we do sit down every once and awhile and try to brainstorm ideas of something new we might be able to share together. We just haven't figured it out yet. He like Jazz, I think it is OK and would be willing to go places with him to listen to it. But he says he can't enjoy it when he is worried about trying to remember to hold my hand or try to have a conversation with me. He just likes to listen to it alone. I've rediscovered a love for walking and being outdoors, but he hates being outside or walking. I love all things Science Fiction, he use to be into some of it and at one time even read the Lord of the Rings Trilogy to me but now has no interest whatseover in Science Fiction wether its books, movies or TV. We both use to like working in the yard, him on roses, me on my flower beds and a pond I had at our last house, but now he hates being outside for any reason. He loves reading historical books, mostly revolving around the Civil War, WWI & WWII or various politicians from the past such as Lincoln, Jackson, etc. I grew up in a house that "lived" in the past spending holidays looking at old historic battle fields, even dressing up to renact the civil war, and now I hate just about all things related to history. We are both Christians and that was a common bond for us but shortly after I got the band we decided to leave the church we had been attending for the last several years to try to find one with a larger youth group. The one we were at had no children within about 3 years of our sons age. The problem with this is we really haven't found a new church we all like since leaving that one. He found one he loves and I HATE. We also found one our 4 year old loves and we find to be somewhat luke warm to. We've fallen into a pattern of going to the one church together as a family in the mornings then he goes to the other church Sunday evenings, Teusdays & Wednesdays. Part of me hates that he goes and wishes he'd stop the other part encourages him to leave just to give me some alone time. Honestly of all the issues we have I tend to feel that our not having a good solid church home that we agree on is really the root of most of our problems, but he sees no problem with it and is happy to continue attending two different churches. OK enough rambling. Compared to so many others I shouldn't complain, I know. Things could be so much worse.

Libra here

Good luck Devin. I'm from Nebraska myself but am living in KC and was banded here 2+ years ago. It has been a godsend to me. I only wish it had been around for me years ago. You will be in my prayers. Keep us posted on your insurance approval.

Sorry about the troubles you are having with your son. I hope it works itself out. Your oldest may also surprise you when it comes to the split, I know as a child in a divided house I was actually relieved when they finally split. I almost felt the opposite of what you always hear. Like it was my fault they were staying together even though they were miserable. My DH & I seem to be doing a bit better ourselves. Different issues I know. He still hates all things band related and would be furious to know I've started the PS thread. He won't even look at the pics himself. Infact I only just told him today that they existed (not that they were online.) He just doesn't understand. Oh well. Except for the band related issues he does seem a bit better still rather distant but not as distant as before. For a while there it seemed neither one of us could have a conversation no matter how casual without one or both of us getting irritated with the other. I despise the thought of my 4 year old growing up in a house with his parents fighting in front of him so there were a couple times I just walked away, which only made him madder at first. My thoughts for the last few months were to keep my head down and just wait until this PS surgery was all said and done. Then if things weren't getting better to approach him about counseling. Don't get me wrong I didn't have any belief that the PS was going to improve things just that I didn't want to stir a hornets nest and risk it getting cancelled. That may be selfish of me but I had to do it that way for my own sake. And in some strange way the PS may actually be helping. Now that it is over with and I'm in the recovery phase some of the tension he was feeling seems to be gone like now that its over there is no point in worrying about it anymore or something. He also joined a gym this last week and has gone 3 times already. He's never really been overweight at least never like I was but he has put on a good 20-30 pounds since I was banded and is a little taken aback by the fact that I'm now the more fit one. I hope this helps his confidence a bit. Still, if we can we should probably get away to a marriage retreat or at least a couples holiday somehow next year sometime. We've grown apart a bit over the last 10 years. We know it and we want to change it, we are just having a hard time finding a new common ground.

Sweethot - My Height - 5'2-1/2" (that 1/2" is very important at my height ) Karey - Not to rush you PS is a VERY BIG Step but May is quite a way off and you are awful close to your goal already. Maybe you could have it done in Jan/Feb and still have plenty of time to be recovered by the wedding. Imagine the killer mother's dress you could wear! (Shame on me - you will look AWESOME either way)

:bump: Nume - how are you doing on the bandside of life? I see the weight is falling off you by your ticker but how about the home front? I've been with you on this thread since you started it so I know your background. Has anything come of the decisions the two of you made? Are you feeling any better about the situation? I've been praying for you on all fronts and am behind you 100 percent on everything you have been posting.

I love too eat Indian/Pakistani foods as well. I have steered clear of the very hot Vindaloo's but using that 0-10 scale I think I've climbed to a 7 as well. I do sip small amounts of water while eating. It's not reccommended but for many of us it is still do-able. The problem is that it can "flush" the food through the pouch faster making you hungry sooner or if you wait until you have already started eating to take the first sip it can set on top of the food already in the pouch and feel very uncomfortable as someone else already mentioned. When it gets a bit hot I can also eat very small amounts of rice and Naan if I chew it EXTREMELY well, I chew and chew until by the time I swallow it is the consistency of a very thin paste. A possibly better alternative to any of the above is actually to try using some a little extra Raita with the dish. I find it very helpful on removing the heat from my mouth and its definitely better for the band that the water, rice or Naan breads.

Nume - Thank you for your kind words. It is good to hear from you, I haven't seen you on Lapband lately. Guess we've been frequenting different threads. But I've got to congratulate you as well. Last we spoke you hadn't been banded yet and now here you are amongst the banded and down over 25 pounds already. You ROCK! Keep up the great work and we'll be looking at your PS thread before you know it!

Cindy, I hope your ready for a novel. I'm not exactly known for my short responses.... No, I didn't get to my goal first. I originally thought my final goal would be around 135-139 and I ended up doing the PS at the 165-170 range which was still nearly 30 pounds from my goal and I knew that the surgery would probably take less than half that off. BUT, I'd reached a point in my weight loss that I was starting to doubt my original weight loss goals, it had really only been an arbitrary number picked from a combination of what would put me in a healthy BMI range for my height and a silly desire to be in the single digits for the British method of weighing in Stones and pounds (with a Stone weighing 14 pounds, making my goal 9-Stone 9-Pounds, to 9-Stone 13-pounds) this was a VERY SILLY way to set a goal. When I reached the high 160's that put me at a BMI considered "Slightly Overweight" for my height. (Gotta love that "Slightly" bit) I was starting to fit into size 10's and thinking how thin do I really need to get before I'm going to be happy with this. After all I use to think that I'd kill to be a size 10 and if I were to lose another 30-ish pounds where would that put me? Then the Band Surgeon I'd had hosted a group meeting with a local PS that was familiar with doing surgeries on Banded patients so I went, thinking I was just doing "early" research and would still need to lose another 15-20 pounds. After the group meeting I started thinking it wouldn't hurt to meet with him one on one and get his formal opinion on how much more I needed to lose and how long I'd have to maintain that loss as I'd heard most PS' won't do surgery unless you have maintained your weight for over 1-year. So I met with the PS and to my surprise he thought I'd already lost enough to start the process. He said even if I continued to lose after the surgery that there wasn't enough left on me to lose to make the remaining skin start to look baggy again. Needless to say I was in SHOCK! I was convinced he was going to tell me I needed to lose another 15 pounds minimum and I'd have to wait till next year. I also met with a 2nd PS in town familiar with band patients and he had the same opinion that I was ready now and that I only needed an extended TT not a full LBL. In summary on this issue since they both thought I was already at a good weight for PS they never really did say what weight was necessary for my size, therefore my best novice advise would be to get down to that magical "slightly-overweight" category. Not all BMI charts seem to have this terminology, I've included a link to one of the sites that does. looking at your ticker I'd guess your are much closer than you think, maybe only 20 pounds away. Now, considering it took me over 1-1/2 years to get there and your racing to it in months there is a chance the PS surgeon might want you to also wait a bit longer to show that ability to maintain the weight. who knows? BMI Calculator - the Bariatric Center of Kansas City, Providing surgical solutions to obesity But I'd agree you should definitely start looking around and researching your options now! There is nothing worse than being ready emotionally & physically for the PS but being slowed down with trying to research all your options. If I'd started researching a bit sooner I might have looked more into going to Mexico to save some money, But in the end I LOVE my doc and my results so far it was worth EVERY PENNY! Lastly, you asked about the timing. I looked back (on lapbandtalk) and found that the group seminar with the PS had been in early April and that I had just hit 168 for the first time back then (after a bout with the stomach flu but still I hit it) I think my first one on one appt wasn't until the end of May beginning of June I knew as soon as they told me my body was ready that I wanted to do it but it took a few more months to convince my husband and our budget which is why I ended up with surgery in October. Actually several family members were pushing for me to wait until the first of the year when they would have more time to help with my recovery, but once I'd convinced my husband there was no stopping me from doing it as soon as humanly possible. The only delay I put on it then was to wait until just after my, and more importantly my son's birthdays so I wouldn't be trying to bake cakes, and blow up balloons with stiches and drains in me. Overall, with PS I think once you have the $$ in place and a doctor picked out the timing is MUCH faster than with the band. The docs might have a bit of a backlog but there are none of the pre-surgery hoops to jump through like the band and the wait times are usually just a couple weeks, not months like some of the better band docs around here. Cindy, if you are still awake and reading this novel of a post I hope I answered all your questions. Feel free to ask me anything.

:spider: I am so Sorry for you. Is there no hope you can still get it scheduled for this year? Can you get on some wait list or something? I will pray for a solution. :pray: And until then know that we are hear for you. I think you are beautiful just the way you are but also can completely understand how you are feeling. Sometimes the compliments are almost harder than the criticisms. As if the people making the compliments are negating the validity of your desire/need for the PS. Keep posting and try to keep your spirits up.

Congratulations on your surgery. I am glad it has gone smoothly so far! And am blushing at the thanks. Lord knows I have failed so many times in my "banded life" but then I pick myself up and try to start all over again, and isn't that what life is really about. Picking yourself up after your failures as opposed to being so perfect they never happen? Or am I just excusing my behaviour? Who knows/cares? I'm happy for you. Keep posting. Sometimes you will be right, sometimes you will be wrong but wether you ever know it or not you WILL be an inspiration to someone else. Some of my biggest heros and inspirations have actually started this journey after me and are wonderful reminders to me of how I need to stay (or get back on) track each day.

Congratulations on such a wonderful NSV. I'm an "F" Cup and I think I cried when I finally got my stomach smaller than my chest. It felt SO GOOD! I AM PROUD OF YOU AND YOUR HARD WORK!:clap2:

Hey Chickie - The drugs must still be throwing me off a bit. I thought I was posting my pics to the PS Before & After Thread last night not your personal thread. Sorry, for the mess up. I've loved reading your PS thread and everyother post of yours I've stumbled on. You have been and are an inspiration to me throughout my band journey.

found this site Online Conversion - Women's Clothing Conversion it says an Aussie size 10 would be a US 6. Sounds like a great goal size to me!

I got to tell you I'm pretty amazed at my scar line as well, after seeing some of the others on line. I was expecting worse. Not only is it amazingly straight but it is so friggin low. I'm not sure it would have been possible for him to have gone any lower. My surgeon was Dr Dillow with Monarch Plastic Surgery in Kansas City. I don't know the exact number but his nurse said he had performed 100's of TT's & LBL's on lapband patients over the last several years. He is around 42-ish and very friendly. His price for the extended TT with the Lipo was approx 8.5K. This included the hospital & anethesia fees as well. His full LBL price was much higher at around 12.5K if I remember correctly and the arm lift price that he quoted me was 4.5K though I don't think I'll be doing that one either. The Breast Reduction will be covered by insurance and I plan on doing it sometime next year. Would like to do it in the spring to be healed in time for summer but may have to wait until fall for the time off from work. As far as the leg wraps, I think I forgot to mention but the morning of the surgery I was somehow able to "Sweet" talk him into just the smallest bit of lipo on my inner thighs for "FREE":whoo:, or at least for no additional money. Don't know if it was the fact we were both from the same small hometown or if he was just feeling genorous (sp?) that day. He only took off about 100cc's (total I think,not per thigh) I could do with a lot more I'm sure. But it was enough to supposedly remove an annoying lump on my upper inner thighs I've had since highschool and didn't involve any skin removal. At my highest weight it was like a large grapefruit had been cut in half and tucked under the skin on each side. At my current weight it looked more like a tennis ball, but still VERY noticeable. My hopes are that with that lump gone I can learn to live with my thighs as they are now. Since I doubt I could afford another 8+K in PS just for a body part you only see when wearing a swimsuit.

Off to bed for me. I only got up to take another round of meds, and see if I couldn't pass a poo, but that's a subject for another thread.

Oh, Great! I'm a knuckle biter myself (literally, pain transferrance and all) You should see the bite marks I left after my hubby pulled the pain pump lines, and they were MUCH smaller. Maybe I'll save up some pain pills and take a double dose before going in. I could always threaten to bite the doctor instead, maybe that would help.:heh: