*susan*

Personally, I would probably give the ring back. By accepting it, I would feel like I was then under some type of obligation to him. If he is not on your radar, and someone you truly aren't interested in, then no sense giving him false hope. I would just tell him thank you very much for the ring, it is truly very pretty, but I simply cannot accept this type of gift from you.

I couldn't imagine having surgery and being sent to a hotel to recover. I want to be in a hospital, where there is 24/7 nursing care available and more intense care available if needed. Mac, thanks for the recommendations. Like Daisy, my main concern is the Clear liquids stage. I am going to get all of my stuff ordered when I get home tonight. I can't believe that at this time in two weeks, I will be on the plane!!

Ha, ha, getting paid for a booty call, I like it, I like it a lot! Green, I am sending lots of hugs your way. Yeah, but I like the trashy romance novels, and I have no desire to read her version of those!! Blasphemy, Donna. I will be happy to do all your techie shopping for you! OMG, laughing so hard I almost peed!! Yeah, that was a bit much. That would stink!! :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol: Okay, anything else I missed. I have 15 pages to read. That is a lot. Summary of what has happened since my last visit: I am miserable, I am excited, I helped raise a lot of money, have my revision scheduled, my toe hurt, my toe felt better, my toe hurts again and I am not weird.

Thanks for the support everyone. I am really looking forward to leading a normal life again. I am getting more excited every day! Denise, we definitely need to help one another through this. I remember how tough the liquid stage was when I got my band. I didn't cheat, but I got pretty darn cranky towards the end. But, I know it will all be worth it. So, what does everyone do for the Clear Liquids stage? I am looking for suggestions, as I am beginning to stock up on my supplies now.

Hi Melinda, we are glad to have you join us. You will find a lot of great information and advice here, as well as make some terrific friends. Let us know how things are going, and if you have any questions, just ask. We are happy to help.

Hi Nichole, welcome to our forum. It sounds like you have made the right choice in your decision to undergo weight loss surgery. You will find a lot of great information here to help you as you progress. Also, we have a special forum just for people with PCOS, that you may want to take a look at it. It is located here: PCOS Bandsters - Lap Band Surgery and Lap Band Discussion Forum

Nancy, I truly hope this works out for you. Today, I went and saw my band doctor for the final time. He made sure that all the Fluid was removed out of my band. I was very pleased to find that he was extremely supportive of my decision. He agrees that I obviously have a band intolerance and other issues with it. He said he feels the sleeve is the obvious and best next step for me and said he hopes everything goes well for me.

Nancy, I didn't realize you had definitely decided on another surgery. I know you mentioned your daughter had RNY. I hope it all works out for you. Irene, thanks for the well wishes!

That is interesting that Inamed did the video. They did mention the band a few times and were very heavy on the risks side of the sleeve and how it was "permanent". What is wrong with permanent? I don't anticipate ever waking up one morning and thinking, "darn, I wish I wouldn't have had that sleeve because I sure would like to be fat again". I had no idea how much was involved with bypass, glad I have never even considered going that route. I guess I can understand why insurance won't cover it, but the rest of them, not so much. I can't wait to start living life again. Now, everyday I get up and wonder, am I going to be able to eat today, will it be a liquids only day, will I embarass myself at lunch with the girls, etc. That is not a way to live.

I just don't understand why insurance companies don't make wls a standard covered procedure. It seems like, in the long run, it could literally save them thousands upon thousands of dollars based on all the potential health problems it will help prevent. Things are moving along well for me. I get more excited every day. I am nervous, but I have a great deal of confidence in Dr. Aceves and his abilities. Last night, I received the email containg the "My-Emmi" video information. I watched the video and it was fairly interesting, although a great deal of it I already knew from my own research. It discussed exactly what the sleeve is and how they perform the surgery. It also covered what to expect pre-op, during the hospital stay and post-op. It went over all the risks and benefits, as well as other surgery options that are available. Nina also sent me an email with some post-op diet suggestions. She recommends I purchase all this before I have my surgery so it is ready and waiting for me upon my return. For anyone interested, I am just going to copy and paste her suggestions from the email into this post: Some ideas are: broth, chicken, Beef, Vegetable, or they have new products out (new to me) that are Chinese Soup broths in a carton that you simply heat. It would give you a bit of variety. Popsicles that are Water based, sugar free, and a variety of flavors. Ramen Noodles. While the noodles are not acceptable during the clear phase of the post op diet there is a packet of dry broth mix that many seem to like, it has a bit more kick than regular broth, I am told. Propel water, you can purchase this as bottled water or you can purchase individual packets of this product and put it in water and mix. The reason this product is good is because many are used to a high carbohydrate diet and when your body is used to many carbs, especially white carbs such as flour, Pasta, rice, potatoes, sugar; your pancreas tends to put out a bit too much insulin because of the carb load. When you remove carbs from your diet it can potentially be a drastic change and your pancreas is still putting out a bit too much insulin during the post op diet. This can cause low blood sugar, your stomach might feel nauseated, you might begin to perspire, feel like you are trembling. This does not happen to everyone but it does seem to happen more to older folks or those used to very high white carb diets. Propel water has a very small amount of sugar in it. Just enough to bring your blood sugar up but not enough to cause large blood sugar spikes. Power Aid Zero, it is a new product that is low carb but it has some electrolytes that are beneficial during the post op stage. Water, you need to get about 64oz of fluids in daily. Your broth and Popsicles count toward your 64oz of fluids daily. The key is to sip, sip, sip all day long. The first few days you may find that you cannot get your full 64oz of fluids in, try as hard as you can. You do not want to become dehydrated. If you enjoy tap water that is fine, if you don't then perhaps try bottled water and see if that goes down. Crystal Lite, Sugar Free Hawaiian Punch, pretty much any sugar free water flavorings are fine during the post op diet. Protein products, during days 1-5 you'll need a clear protein product such as Isopure clear bottled protein liquid or unjury. You can find Isopure at General Nutrition Stores or a variety of Health food stores. Unjury must be ordered on line in advance of your surgery, www.unjury.com. They have an unflavored product that is nice because when you are done with clears it is versatile and you can add it to Jello, cooking, smoothies, etc. Please note, this is a whey protein product. All whey protein products have one issue in common and that is that they don't heat easily. If you add any whey protein product to a hot liquid it will clump. The key is to add it to a cold liquid and heat slowly, then it will not turn into lumps. A good source of protein products after the clear liquid phase (you can use these with water instead of milk starting day #5, and with milk starting day #11) can be purchased reasonably at: www.netrition.com Some excellent products are: Matrix 5.0 by Syntrax http://www25.netrition.com/syntrax_matrix_page.html The more popular flavors are chocolate and Cookies & Cream. You can spice up the Chocolate with Da Vinci Sugar Free Syrups: http://www25.netrition.com/cgi/prices.cgi?manu_id=121 Another very popular protein product if you like Chocolate and Peanut Butter is Whey Gourmet, Choco/Peanut butter: http://www25.netrition.com/pvl_whey_gourmet.html I suggest the above because you'll need to consume about 60-80gms of protein after surgery. During the post op diet this can be difficult to do. Adding protein supplements can make this much easier.

Lets just say by the time my parents were done in the principal's office, she was unemployed. Too bad it didn't look like Virgin Mary or something, you could have pulled up that piece and sold it on eBay for thousands of dollars!! Oh, drunk dialing seldom turns out good.

Hanbe, in answer to your question as to why some posts are moderated, and others are not, there is really a very simple answer. Moderators are not everywhere at once. We don't read every thread that gets posted because we trust our members to post according to LBT rules. However, every member has the option to report a post if they feel something is inappropriate. That is how the moderators were made aware of this thread, another member reported it, bringing it to our attention.

Lulu, most definitely, if you don't have to work, and it is not bringing you happiness or anything else to your life, then definitely, leave. We only live once, lets make the best of it while we are here! Beth, I have a few people that I would love to introduce you to (ex-hubby, ex-best friend that is now married to ex-hubby, Mrs. Steininga - third grade teacher that stuck her pointy nails in my arm and made me bleed because I accidentally pulled a leaf off her plant).

I would like to step in to reinforce what Coltonwade has said. Doddie, I responded to your question in the suggestions forum, but did not realize this was the thread you were reffering to at the time. As Mindy already pointed out, one of our rules is that you must report from first hand experience. The incident that was reported in this thread was not from the posters experience, it was based upon what she heard from someone else. As it was quite an "inflammatory" post, we, per our rules, deleted the post. As advised upon when you join LBT, of which you agreed to: We don't intend to censor messages based on the opinions expressed within posts, but we will enforce the policies outlined both here and on the Forum. We reserve the right to remove, modify or move posts at our discretion and without explanation. We apologize if this has made any of you unhappy. We strive to not over-moderate the forums, and welcome everyone to post on LBT, seek advice and offer advice. However, as with any forum you would join, there are some rules that we simply must enforce. You are welcome to discuss the topics in question with one another via pm, but not publicly. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to send me a pm. Thank you.

It is okay to be scared. Most people are when approaching any type of surgery. What you need to focus on is how this surgery can change your life. Think about how much better you will feel, how much healthier you will be, just in general how much better your whole quality of life will be. The surgery itself is really a breeze. You will be fine.

Hi Jennav, welcome to LBT. Is your partner willing to go with you to the seminar? When I first started researching lapband surgery, my husband was dead set against it. When I went to the seminar, I convinced him to go with me. After he listened to everything the doctors had to say, had an opportunity to speak with people who were already banded, and got to speak with the doctor, his whole tune changed and he ended up supporting me 100%.

Hi and welcome. Let us know how the insurance approval process goes and when you get a date. In the meantime, look around the forums, learn as much as you can and feel free to ask any questions. We are happy to help!

Good Monday Morning All!! Tap, my dream is to be able to sit at my computer and work out of my home. I would love 50/50, jump all over that!! Denise, I am wondering the same thing, what to do when on clears only. We can definitely whine to each other. I start my pre-op liquid diet on the 26th of this month.

Doddie, what posts are you referring to. As a general rule, we do not delete any posts, unless they are clearly spam. If someone posts the same thing in multiple threads, we will delete those, with the exception of the one that is in the appropriate forum, and then notify the member. PM me if you have any questions.

Don't worry, you will be fine. I also had mine at the time of the surgery. Just let the nurse know when you are in pre-op.

Hi and welcome. As far as how long it takes from the referral to surgery date, that depends. If you have insurance, most of them require you jump through several hoops. If you are private pay, things go much quicker. I was private pay and had my surgery about three weeks after my initial visit with my surgeon.

Hi kath, and welcome. You will find answers to most of your questions on our various forums. When you first get banded, you will be focused on healing, not losing weight. At first, you may feel like you have restriction, but that is just your tummy swelling from the surgery. Once that swelling goes down, you will mostly likely regain your hunger. Most people don't lose much during this phase, and many do gain. But, again, at this point, the focus is on healing. The band is designed to work with a proper fill. Once you are healed and start getting fills, you will find the restriction you are looking for and begin to start your weight loss then.

Hi there, and welcome to LBT! We are glad you have joined us and look forward to getting to know you better.

That is odd, I have heard of many people who lost there hair from chemo, and when it came back, it was curly. I wonder what causes that? As for the evil MIL, well, I am with Beth. I would have kicked her to the curb in a hurry. My first husband was the biggest mama's boy ever, it drove me nuts.