TheGh0st

OK I finally CAVED and had an unfill. Used my upcoming PS next week as the excuse. It worked WONDERS!!!! I found out I had 12.2cc in my 10cc band (I'd never asked before-hadn't wanted to know). They took out 2.5 cc's, a little more than may have been necessary but was worried about the swelling from surgery making it tight again. It has been absolutely WONDERFULL!!! I've not had one case of heartburn, gerd or reflux since the unfill last week. Now as long as I don't gain any weight I'll be even happier.

Stella - Happy Birthday! Today is my Birthday as well. I can't wait until my ticker shows I'm at or below my goal like yours. Congratulations!

Lisa - Welcome to the site. Glad you found us too and Happy Birthday, mine is today as well.

Karen - haven't heard from you. Hope everything went well. You have been in my prayers. Please update us as soon as you get a chance.

Mazie - No I don't mind you asking. Ofcourse that may have something to do with the fact I only got 3 hours sleep last night with a sick son and here I am up til past 1am waiting on laundry (and my nails to dry) before I can go to bed just to get up at 6am. Maybe after I've had a chance to get any good sleep (when that will be is anyones guess) I might feel more embarrassed. You know it wasn't until I started this thread that I'd even heard of a mons lift. If I were younger and single I might consider it. But wether it was my starting weight or not the nether regions aren't that bad for a married woman closer to 40. If I were to spend any extra money I think it would probably be on my inner thighs, they are HORRID. I feel I like the skin on my inner thighs droop so bad it almost looks like I need a mons lift. YUCK!

Lynsay - Just a quick shout out to you. I don't have any answer to your question as I am in the US but I had to say hi when I saw you were posting from Aberdeen. I graduated from the University of Aberdeen in 2002. I really miss being over there. In fact I was just viewing some webcams of Castlegate & Aberdeen Harbour this afternoon daydreaming about when I might be able to afford a visit.

Thanks Juli. I have one Spanx I plan on showing them tomorrow but I've also thought it might be good to have a second garment for washing. I also hadn't thought of the pain meds that would be a great idea.

The surgery is October 9th. One minute I'm wishing it were tomorrow and the next I panic that there isn't enough time to get the house/work ready for me to be out of commission while I recover. But hands down the "I wish it were tomorrow" voices are the loudest.:rose: I have a pre-op consultation with the surgeon tomorrow as well as an appointment with my Family Doctor to get her up to speed on what I'm doing. If anyone out there has any suggestions on what questions I should be asking the PS tomorrow I would appreciate the feedback. I'm notoriously bad about thinking of 101 questions after I've left and not a one while I'm there. These are ones I can think of so far: - How long are the drains/pain-pump left in - How long before I can walk for exercise (or other activities:eyebrows:) - How many pounds/inches can I hope for this to remove? I'm sure there are others I should be asking. :help:

I think you would be fine the first year out as it takes a while to get filled to a tighter restriction. The band might actually make it easier to last the 16 hours without eating/drinking. Though I would consider possibly getting an unfill during Ramadan for future years. Its not that banded people can't go 16 hours without getting dehydration it that we can't drink it fast enough in the remaining 8 hours to be ready for the next day's 16 hours fast. Especially when you add to it the fact that you aren't suppose to drink at the same time you eat when you are banded. (The hows/whys of drinking and eating are a whole different conversation). You probably could do it if you stayed awake the entire 8 hours each night eating a meal as soon as the sun went down waiting 1/2 hour then starting to drink until about an hour before dawn. Then eating one more meal before the sun came up. That would mean sleeping during the daytime. And though I am not Muslim, I would think that some of the reasons for the whole fasting of Ramadan is sacrifice and the continual reminder to pray and reflect on Allah everytime you have the urge to eat or drink throughout the day. If I were Muslim I would feel that sleeping though the days fast was somehow not right, maybe not a "cheat", but somehow not quite right. On the other hand flipping your days and nights to get your food and Water in during the nights is definitely a BIG sacrifice and every urge to just quit drinking and go to sleep thoughout the night could easily be your personal call to praise Allah. I hope my last comments have not offended, and apologize for any mistaken conclusions I may have made about Ramadan. It is easy for anyone to say they are Muslim, Christian, Jewish or Buddist, whereas it is not easy to faithfully walk the paths those seperate beliefs require. And I have nothing but the utmost respect for everyone with the conviction to steadfastly follow thier own faith.

Yes, if we included the whole world as an option I've always said I'd like to live about an hour's train ride outside of London. Hartley Wintney is a particularily nice little village full of antique shops, 2 pubs and a duck pond. Would make a great place to settle down. Nice quiet home with a good local and close access to the nightlife of the city without the noise or crime. Scotland was great as well but being nearer London and its airport would allow for easier access to the rest of Europe with roundtrips as low as $50 on Ryan Air or EasyJet. I miss the UK:drama:

"Trust Me" - I'm sure you're right. I'd still love to experience it once in my life, but no real interest in living it. "BTW" - PM me or drop in on the SMMC or my PS thread sometime. Though I'll warn you the PS thread has some graphic shots. I've missed the old... "Hoenators". :banplease:

NW MAMA - Glad to see you giving it another shot. We can always use more active members/posters. Ironically I think I would choose your state. I can relate to your comments as a part of me has always wanted to see just one snowfall like those you see on TV further North where they have to practically tunnell out of their houses. I grew up in Nebraska and live in the same Metro as Wheetsin now. Having 4 Distinct seasons is not as much as it is cracked up to be. Summers with weeks of 100+ weather then Winters with weeks of below Zero temps is NOT fun (OK that was Nebraska not here). I also spent 3 years in Scotland during University and from everything I here it has a climate somewhat similar to Washington State. A typical winter day still has highs in the 40's and a typical summer day tops out in the high 70's. I absolutely loved that it got just cold enough to know it was winter and just warm enough to know it was summer but without either one being too unbearable. I use to get a real laugh at the locals. When it actually hit 32 degrees everyone would run around saying it was freezing. This just after I left one of Nebraska's coldest winters with a couple days of windchills at 40 BELOW zero. Now that is FREEZING!

What a great NSV! Congratulations!

Yes FSC we are anxiously awaiting and update. Hope you are not suffering from a setback with the staff infection.

Rodeomom - I'm obviously not an expert and every person is different. But I might suggest you call around and see if there is a local PS that will give you a free consult. You could be pleasantly surprised at how close you are to your "goal". Personally I had reached a 6+ month plateau and was getting frustrated/depressed. At the same time thinking "What is wrong with you girl!?! You are a size 10!" Not that long ago I thought a size 10 was an ideal dream size and yet here I am complaining about it. I decided that having a consult with a PS might help give me the kick in the @$$ I needed by telling me a more realistic professional opinion on what my goal should be in order to have PS. To my surprise the two different PS consults I had both thought there was no reason to wait any longer. They thought based on my personal distribution of weight and frame, that I would have very good results now and that even if I were to lose another 20-25 pounds after surgery it wouldn't be enough for my skin wouldn't look "baggy" again.

Counseling?? But only as an absolute last resort for me at least. It has too many of its own issues with my dad being a psychiatrist.

:wow2: :wow2: WASA :bounce:Congratulatioins!!! I am so happy for you and can't wait to see how you look afterwards!:clap2: I think I'm actually more excited about my upcoming PS than I was about the Lapband. With the band I was all worried about whether it (or I) would work or if I'd just find new ways to gain weight. The PS is something different altogether. Now my worries are more around the recovery time and whether it will help me wrap my head around my progress of if l'll be just as messed up as I am now. OK OK for all those poised to post I said HELP not CURE my headcase. :madgrin:

I'm one of those that has started risking it even with some of the horse pills. I worry it could get stuck but am tired of the effort to break them up. Tricks for swallowing larger pills if you are so inclined are to one space them out so they don't stick together and clog things up easier, take them with warm liquids that help "loosen" the band. Tips for stomaching crushed pills. You can try chewing something with a fairly strong flavor that also leaves your mouth coated with a residue. I sometimes chew on a mint or even chewable Vitamin first. I've tried mixing the meds with honey and even frozen orange concentrate. Didn't help with some of the stronger flavored ones. What worked best was when I got a local pharmacist to sell me a small bottle of the syrup they use to mix up the liquid meds. I store it in my fridge and crush and mix my meds when needed. I was told once not all meds can be pre-crushed and dispensed as a liquid at the pharmacy as it will reduce its effective life substantially. But as long as it isn't a time release med you should be safe to crush and mix just before taking each dose.

Lynn Marie - I've got a perfectly good treadmill at home as well, and a DH who won't let me add a gym to our budget. I Don't think I've walked a combined 2 hours on my treadmill in the last 2 years since being banded. I feel guilty about it and am convinced I could have done better, faster if I had but I sure am in no position to lecture about excercising. That said - GET OFF YOUR BACKSIDE AND CALL ME!!! I'd love to have you start walking with us. I know I'm going to be laid up for a while in October with the PS and all but we could still walk the next two weeks and you could keep walking while I'm down. The one gal I walk with (Machele) she is just a couple months out and even though she is just starting this whole journey and I'm getting ready for my PS, she is one of my role models. She helps motivate me to eat right and keeps me moving. When we first started walking. She'd walk 1 lap and then sit on the sideline, then it was 2 laps & 3. Now we tend to walk around 2 miles, even 3 miles sometimes without even realizing it. Lately we've been meeting at the Great Mall of the Plains as it is indoors. Most of the time we walk but sometimes we drift in and out of shops checking out the sales. She lives in Olathe & I'm in KCK, so we've been planning on adding a 2nd day a week out at Legends or somewhere else in this neck of the woods. The great thing about walking with friends, is that they help make you accountable to going. After all it's easy to ditch exercise but harder to ditch a friend. And its fun to chat in person. I've also posted a link to a local KCBandsters online group. Not sure if you've seen it before. http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/KCBandsters/

Makes sense, alas, my DH has no interest in sleeping at an angle along with me. So I try to creat a faux ramp with multiple pillows starting around my waist and stacking slowly higher and higher towards my head. Last 2 nights haven't been as bad, as I've been baby-ing my band with mostly liquids throughout the day and NO foods or drinks after 7pm. It SUCKS because sometimes I'd kill for just a small glass of Water. But I finally decided I needed sleep more than food/drink. Still I'll be glad when I get that unfill next week.

***OFF TOPIC*** (In the off-topic debate area - How dare I!) Angela! Its good to "see" you again. How are you feeling now? I stop in on the SMMC Chicas site occasionally but none of the same gals anymore. Last weekend I actually ran into another gal banded a few months after me (about the same time as you I believe). She sells custom jewelry at local art fairs. I went up to her booth to ask where she was when the good-looking, thin, blonde says "Diane, is that you?" I was absolutely floored, she didn't even look like she could be related to the woman I remembered. I miss everyone, but I don't have any intention of going back to the monthly support groups. Do you still talk to Cate, Holli or Robyn? I wish we could all get together again sometime.

Mazie - I have to agree with Juli - I love the smiley's! And I really think you hit the nail on the head. (Would love to see a smiley for that one) I've grown to love my sis but she is pretty much the complete opposite of me in so many ways. For one she has been known to refuse to answer the door for even our mother if she hasn't finished her hair and makeup yet. Talk about drama queen! Her worst re-occuring nightmare growing up was that she would wake up without her hair, of course now after the band it's my hair that is just a bit thinner. I did have a talk with her over the phone yesterday about it and she apologized. She said that she remembered me asking something like "You don't want to see these pics do you?" in a light-hearted tone which is probably right. So she thought she was being just as light-hearted when she "joked" she didn't want to see them. She claims that though she would be weirded out about seeing her sis naked she would be very interested to see before/after bikini-clad shots. I guess I feel better about it.

I haven't had one of those moments yet where I see my reflection in a window and think boy I wish I were that thin before I realize its me. I still think the reflection looks "chunky". But I was at an art festival this weekend and saw that a fellow bandster had a booth so I went to see if I could find her. I hadn't seen her for nearly a year. When I got to her booth it was swamped but she was no where in sight so I wandered around the booths nearby killing time until the crowd thinned out so I could ask where she was. But low and behold when I went back the beautiful thin blond that didn't even look related to her, WAS HER. I was floored! We had a great talk, but what I really couldn't get over was when she told me her size and I realized she was 2 sizes LARGER than me. What is so wrong with me that I would still swear that she was thinner and wish I could get "down" to her size?

I've always been interested in going to a Dave Ramsey seminar. But haven't had a chance yet.

Peaches - Thankyou for your post. I'm doing the PS in reverse order to you. TT in 2 weeks and BR sometime next year. I wanted to do both at the same time but the doc wouldn't agree. I've been worried work would give me a hard time about even more time off for additional surgeries, my husband is already sick of my not having any vacation time left over for the family. So it's good to hear you were up and going within a week after the BR.