Hollie519

I used to burp quite frequently. I have noticed that the more solid food I eat, the less I burp. After about 6 month, I stopped having gas problems. If I eat thing, like artificial chocolate, it gives me gas and its painful. I do also have a problem with the hard hiccups. Like when i'm hungry, it hurts. Its kind of like my bottom stomach thinks my pouch has food in it and its trying to make it come down. i'm sure the reason is different but its all I could think of. Just pay close attention to the types of food that you eat and when it is cause you to burp. I have never burped so long in my life before i got this surgery. If you are out, close your lips and cover your mouth with a napkin and just push slowly. it makes it less noticable.

I suffer from anxiety. No way could i just go. I think it got worse when I started driving. Driving made me realize that I had to worry. God wasn't going to make my wheel automatically turn if I was going to fast or what not. I was always ignorant for not realizing that things could happen to me. I used to be one of those people who didn't think bad things would happen to them and it would always happen to someone else. If I were to just pick up and leave one day, I would stress about money and probably have a heart attack. I can never get my mind around if I am making excuses or if it is really is like i say. Sometimes I feel like i have an answer for everything but who knows if its right or not.

Oh my gosh! I was just telling someone that. I am 18 but I feel 30. I think a lot of my resentment toward my boyfriend comes from the past I have yet to deal with. I have finally said out loud, "I am not fat anymore but I still hate myself". And it is so true. I broke down yesterday and I think he realizes that he needs to take on more of the responsibilities so I can have more time to take care of myself. And college will be a blast. i never studied a day in my life during high school and I graduated with honors. I DO NOT CHEAT EITHER! I just do the homework and it kind of just sticks. I mean i know i will study because college is harder, but I have very good memory. Thanks so much for the input. It helps me look at my situation from a different perspective.

Some people just do not understand the struggles that people have with food and dieting. My boyfriend was against it but only because he is afraid of the comlications. He is very supportive. My cousin also had the surgery, and did not tell my aunt for 2 months. My aunt used to be heavy but lost the weight using weight watchers. She thinks that weight watchers is a miracle and anyone could do it. So, I am sure you can see why my cousin decided not to tell her mom. She now knows and has seen my cousin and my results and approves. Some people just think surgery is too extreme. I have to say, when i had first learned about the bypass, I did not approve. After I sat through the lap band seminar, I was sold. The surgery is so minor and the complications are also. Not all people understand how desperate someone in our situation is. I tried every diet known to man with little results. I just did not have that "STOP EATING!" thing in my head. I continuously over indulged myself but rarely with junk food. So the lap band is a tool that has successfully worked for me. i'm sure once your family sees the changes in you and your body, they will be more supportive.

I am in a teen study, and i meet with the same doctors everytime. I have never seen a student of any kind while i am in the office. We are treated the same as the normal patients except for a few things we have to do every visit. Dr. Horgan has been a great support system for me. Just my opinion.

I, like most of you, have been over weight my whole life. I battled with weight right next to a thin younger sister. She is now a stuck, materialistic kind of person who doesn’t care about other people. To tell you the truth, I hate being fat and hated the years I had to grow up fat but I wouldn't have traded it for the world. I wouldn’t be the person I am today had I not been. I feel I have confidence in my personality, my brain, and my work ethic. I strive so hard to be what people wish they could be or just be someone people want to be around. This could have something to do with having a father who was a productive alcoholic. He liked to work more than he liked being with his family. At a younger age, I prided myself off the fact that no one hated me. This, I feel, has caused me a lot of emotional and mental damage. I know I did things out of lack of self worth and as ashamed as I am to say it, lack of self respect. I mean I slept with people so they would like me more. I have matured since than, so I can see the errors in my ways. I just find it’s difficult for people to understand why I did it. All I can say was I wanted people to like me, I wanted to be that girl and if I gave people what they wanted, I thought I would be. You know it turns out life isn't that way. AAHH! I just blamed so many things on being fat. I mean I had girls be so mean to me in middle school who said they were my friends and had been for previous years. A girl who said she was my best friend dared her neighbor to see how far he could get with me. He did, but I was innocent than. He had me backed in a corner... I'm sure you can imagine the rest. My own friends. How sick. I never thought what crazy people. I thought wow something must be wrong with me. Honestly even today, telling that story out loud brings me to tears. I lived with my Grandparents at the age of 7 while my parents were building the house they live in today. My Grandpa was a heavy machinery mechanic so he worked nights. He taught me to read and watched me everyday after school. He was like my father since my real one was never home. We eventually moved out and had been over at their house visiting. My cousins were there and my mom said we had to go home. I threw a baby fit and went to sit in the car. My Grandpa was standing outside and lipped Olive juice to me (cause it looks like I love you). I just gave him a dirty look because I was so mad and than we left. My grandpa died that Friday; Father’s day weekend. I have never felt so guilty about anything in my life. My Grandpa’s death has haunted me since the day he died. Even typing this right now is making me sick to my stomach. Since I had been so confident to go to middle school, and the girls were so mean, I was dreading high school. I started smoking pot over the summer. I just had such a big fear of saying something wrong that I wanted to make sure I could have an excuse. Saying oh because I was high gave me the illusion of being cool. I started getting into heavier drugs and hanging out with people who only wanted to take advantage of me. I let them. Knowingly. I just wanted so bad to be a part of a group, I was dumb. Eventually I transferred schools and started living better and made real friends. One day I had missed the bus and my mom was really mad that she had to take me to school. We had been talking about a family friend of ours that my mom had always kept on a Pedi stool even though she’s stupid as shit. She had always compared my sister and me to her and her brother. My mom than started talking about me losing weight and here are her exact words, “I just don’t think you are the kind of girl that guys look at.” Today I know my mom didn’t mean that the way it sounded. I just felt like mentally I had grown up a lot and no longer had a surface hate for myself, had good grades and was off drugs. It just felt like it was never enough. It was never going to be enough. Let’s just say my high school cycle repeated itself with the self hate and the drugs. Today, my mom is so proud of me. My whole family is. My mom had called me one day and said you need to take a new picture because when you call I see one of this fat girl. I know it was supposed to be a compliment but it hurt. I felt like if I ever gained the weight back she wouldn’t love me as much. I mean I know it’s because she wants me to be all I can but my mind just won’t take it that way. I know I still have self hate in my body. It’s deep in there but I can feel it. When I have time to think, I don’t have very happy thoughts. After losing 90 pounds I should but just don’t. I go in for a screening for counseling on September 3rd but have nothing in the meantime. I have a guy who’s like my brother to confide in, but he has been away for the past year and doesn’t have much time to talk. Oh and I do have a boyfriend but don’t tell him anything about this because he takes it personally. Stupid I know but he’s been here since before I had the surgery and is now more insecure now that I am thin. I just wish I didn’t care about what other people think.

The only reason it should be affecting you more is because you weigh less, eat less, and have a smaller stomach. Your body could have kept its tolerance to it if you never stopped to begin with.

It really discourages me to hear that people regret having the band. I know everyone's bodies are different but I really think its will power. I mean i am not saying that I have not had trouble or had cravings or even sometimes cheated the band but i do not think it is something that is worth giving up on. I am also not saying that its been a picnic for me either. The weight did not just melt off me. I have worked hard every single day. i just feel like I went through such extensive screening to have this, to make sure I was ready. I don't understand how there are people who have it, who are now deciding they are not ready. I guess out of desperasion some people have this surgery, but why?

If you let it go flat, it will get you even more drunk. Probably not a good idea. Carbonated is bad because it gives you air bubbles and can possibly stretch your pouch. I have found that if you sip, because i am a diet coke junky, and let it go slow and make sure you burp plenty, you will be ok. I have a diet soda once in a while though just to be sure.

I have drank several time. lol I try to stick to drinking clear liqour like Diabetics. I am from San Diego, lol where they know how to party. I usually get some kind of fruit juice and make one drink. That usually lasts me the whole night and keeps me on a nice straight buzz. I would not try to chance it with beer though. NO SHOTS either. Oh my gosh no shots. I took one once and when i burped some alcohol came back up with it and I was throwing up so bad. Everyone else is right, it hits you harder and much faster. Good luck

I just told my boyrfried that we need to be on a break. After posting a thread with my thoughts of my childhood, I realized i have a lot of work to do on myself. I also found myself wondering if I was just with this guy because he loved me before I had the surgery or am i clinging to him because I thought he'd be the only guy who'd ever love me. He also, is like my child. Sometimes i feel like a single parent; more often than not. I pay all the bills and make sure he is doing everything he should be. I can only take care of his stuff to an extent. I am not his mother nor his wife, so certain things i can't do. It always seemed funny to me that those things I couldn't do, never got done. There were just always certain obsitcles that I thought, when they were finished I'd be happy. I have come to realize, that no matter what gets accomplished, i am not happy. i don't know if it him or if its me. I mean, when he's gone, i miss him. i don't if its because i don't want to be alone or if it is him. We have a lot of the same views on life and have a good time with each other just sitting back and debating things. I don't know. i'm so confused. i am only 18 years old and i feel like i'm thirty. Because of the surgery, I had to do an at home program to graduate high school. So since September, I've been working full time. I will be starting college soon and i don't think i can take it. I have money anxiety that comes from my dad and I am so frequently so occupied with worrying about how things are going to be paid for. I need help. i mean he makes money, but he doens't worry about the bills or about the responsibilities that i take on that I shouldn't have to. I just want to scream, I AM ONLY 18!

HEY keep your chin up. Sometimes its hard but you will get there. About half way through my band swelled shut because it was like .5 CC's too tight. I had to be completely deflated and had to start 2 weeks of liquid diet. So it was like starting over. i got kind of depressed and off track and gained 10 pounds. After 2 fills, I was good to go. I realized that I was in a downward spiral and that I was just going to go right back where I was before. So I jumped back on the wagon and here I am. I lost that 10 pound and some more. So just have faith and know that you are the one that controls this, no matter the curve balls you are thrown. And Shauna, I do not regret getting the lap band. i regret not knowing sooner.

not really. Maybe in the beginning you might have to drive a few times to the doctor to get it but once you find your spot than its just about your check ups. good luck

I have some baggy skin but I'm only 18. I have not yet seen a doctor and am too embarassed to show a live person. I can't tell if it will retract with excersize or if I am going to have to have something done about it. Please help! I will send someone a picture but am not posting a picture of my stomach publically.

Its a long one so you don't have to read it. I, like most of you, have been over weight my whole life. I battled with weight right next to a thin younger sister. She is now a stuck, materialistic kind of person who doesn’t care about other people. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p> To tell you the truth, I hate being fat and hated the years I had to grow up fat but I wouldn't have traded it for the world. I wouldn’t be the person I am today had I not been. I feel I have confidence in my personality, my brain, and my work ethic. I strive so hard to be what people wish they could be or just be someone people want to be around. This could have something to do with having a father who was a productive alcoholic. He liked to work more than he liked being with his family. At a younger age, I prided myself off the fact that no one hated me. This, I feel, has caused me a lot of emotional and mental damage. <o:p></o:p> I know I did things out of lack of self worth and as ashamed as I am to say it, lack of self respect. I mean I slept with people so they would like me more. I have matured since than, so I can see the errors in my ways. I just find it’s difficult for people to understand why I did it. All I can say was I wanted people to like me, I wanted to be that girl and if I gave people what they wanted, I thought I would be. You know it turns out life isn't that way. <o:p></o:p> AAHH! I just blamed so many things on being fat. I mean I had girls be so mean to me in middle school who said they were my friends and had been for previous years. A girl who said she was my best friend dared her neighbor to see how far he could get with me. He did, but I was innocent than. He had me backed in a corner... I'm sure you can imagine the rest. My own friends. How sick. I never thought what crazy people. I thought wow something must be wrong with me. Honestly even today, telling that story out loud brings me to tears. <o:p></o:p> I lived with my Grandparents at the age of 7 while my parents were building the house they live in today. My Grandpa was a heavy machinery mechanic so he worked nights. He taught me to read and watched me everyday after school. He was like my father since my real one was never home. We eventually moved out and had been over at their house visiting. My cousins were there and my mom said we had to go home. I threw a baby fit and went to sit in the car. My Grandpa was standing outside and lipped Olive juice to me (cause it looks like I love you). I just gave him a dirty look because I was so mad and than we left. My grandpa died that Friday; Father’s day weekend. I have never felt so guilty about anything in my life. My Grandpa’s death has haunted me since the day he died. Even typing this right now is making me sick to my stomach. <o:p></o:p> Since I had been so confident to go to middle school, and the girls were so mean, I was dreading high school. I started smoking pot over the summer. I just had such a big fear of saying something wrong that I wanted to make sure I could have an excuse. Saying oh because I was high gave me the illusion of being cool. I started getting into heavier drugs and hanging out with people who only wanted to take advantage of me. I let them. Knowingly. I just wanted so bad to be a part of a group, I was dumb. <o:p></o:p> Eventually I transferred schools and started living better and made real friends. One day I had missed the bus and my mom was really mad that she had to take me to school. We had been talking about a family friend of ours that my mom had always kept on a Pedi stool even though she’s stupid as shit. She had always compared my sister and me to her and her brother. My mom than started talking about me losing weight and here are her exact words, “I just don’t think you are the kind of girl that guys look at.” Today I know my mom didn’t mean that the way it sounded. I just felt like mentally I had grown up a lot and no longer had a surface hate for myself, had good grades and was off drugs. It just felt like it was never enough. It was never going to be enough. Let’s just say my high school cycle repeated itself with the self hate and the drugs. <o:p></o:p> Today, my mom is so proud of me. My whole family is. My mom had called me one day and said you need to take a new picture because when you call I see one of this fat girl. I know it was supposed to be a compliment but it hurt. I felt like if I ever gained the weight back she wouldn’t love me as much. I mean I know it’s because she wants me to be all I can but my mind just won’t take it that way. <o:p></o:p> I know I still have self hate in my body. It’s deep in there but I can feel it. When I have time to think, I don’t have very happy thoughts. After losing 90 pounds I should but just don’t. I go in for a screening for counseling on September 3<SUP>rd</SUP> but have nothing in the meantime. I have a guy who’s like my brother to confide in, but he has been away for the past year and doesn’t have much time to talk. Oh and I do have a boyfriend but don’t tell him anything about this because he takes it personally. Stupid I know but he’s been here since before I had the surgery and is now more insecure now that I am thin. I just wish I didn’t care about what other people think. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Thanks for listening. I needed that. <o:p></o:p>

My boyfriend is pretty funny. He said to me one day, "Don't be offended, okay? Sometimes I feel like Shallow Hal. I look at all of our o ld pictures and I don't remember you looking like that. I mean like that big". I was happy because I know he loves me for me, but for some reason this head of mine was like, that means it doesn't count when he says your beautiful because he just means on the inside. I hate that I think that way but I have scheduled the intake process to start counseling. Thank you for your compliments.

If you don't mind going to San Diego, UCSD has a great team. Dr. Horgan was my surgeon and he is amazing. He is also known for performing a laprascopic gull blader removal on a female through the easy way out :] He is a crack up and I have had amazing results with a pretty responsive team. I had to wait six months before I had my surgery because I am in a study that was waiting for funding. So you can try your luck. Its worth it. Lapband Weight Loss Surgery at UCSD Medical Center Good luck!

oh yea thats why I usually try to say something about how peolpe are different. I just wish there were more people my age who could relate but I am one of the few. I am in a teen study to have the band FDA approved for people under 18. So hopefully there willl be more of a variety eventually. I had the surgery the same day as another girl in the study my age and she hasn't been doing to well. I try to be there for her but you can tell there is tension everytime I talk to her. So I gave up. Other girls are giving me enough dirty looks as it is.

I never knew that people i do not know could have such an impact on the way i feel about myself. You guys really really have no idea what your words mean to me. Its good to know I will never be alone. Something i always thought would happen to me. :]

When i got to the post op liquid, i started on mushie food like a week early and I was ok but every BODY is different.