*susan*

Good morning and welcome! You have definitely come to the right place for advice and support. You have questions?? Ask away, we love to help others as much as possible.

Go to "User CP" at the top left of your screen. From there, you will see "edit avatar". Click that. You can then select one of the preloaded avatars they have, or select "custom avatar" and either insert a web url or upload it from your computer. When done, select save and it should be where you want it to be.

Hi David and welcome to LBT! I am so glad you found us. I am wondering about all the "risks" you are talking about? There really aren't that many. And, think about all the risks involved if you don't get the band and lose weight, in my opinion, those far outweight any risks associated with the band. After you get the band, you will be sore for a few days. That is to be expected. I reccommend getting a heating pad and gas-x prior to the surgery. I placed the heating pad on my tummy and found it really was very soothing and helped a lot. The most important thing the first few weeks after surgery is that you follow your doctors instructions to a t! After about two weeks, once your swelling has gone down, you will find that you are getting hungry again and soon will probably be able to eat close to what you did preband. That will be the hardest part of your journey, in my opinion. It will be important to remember that the time between your surgery and first fill is for healing, not losing weight. Once you start getting fills and feeling proper restriction, the weight will start coming off and you will love your band. Best of luck to you.

Carlene, I am so sorry for you. She was a beautiful lab. I am a lab lover too, I have a chocolate lab named Max. They are such wonderful companions. She was lucky to have lived with someone as loving and caring as you. I am sure it was a hard decision, but you made the best decision for her and it was done out of pure love.

Wow, there are a lot of us on myspace. I think I have added or sent requests to everyone. :clap2:

Port revision surgery is a breeze. Mine flipped a couple of months ago and I had to have revision surgery. I was in and out in under 30 minutes and got a fill during that time as well. I went home within an hour after the surgery, felt great and went back to work the next day. The recovery is minimal and there is very little pain involved. I didn't even take tylenol. As for why they flip, no one knows. It just happens sometimes, thats all.

Hi and welcome to LBT. As for questions, ask away, we are here to help. Have you found a doctor yet? Just wondering, with your BMI being fairly low.

Hi and welcome to LBT. As for thinking about all the what if's and what could go wrong if you have the surgery, thing about all the what if's and what could go wrong if you don't have the surgery. I am so sorry to hear about your family members. Hopefully, by having this surgery, you and your family will not have to face a similiar situation.

Hi and welcome to LBT! I am glad you found us. If there is anything I can do to help, ask away.

I got my band in April, but did not get restriction and start losing weight until after I was filled at the end of June. Since then, I have lost almost 40 pounds. I drink a protein shake for breakfast every morning as it is all I can get down as well. It has not hindered my progress at all.

I know what you mean. I think it might help if they were to set up some scheduled chat times.

Wow, it sounds like you were very lucky. My last car accident, I had a similiar sounding soreness, and it was prior to being banded. It turned out I had bruised a couple of ribs. I would go to my doctor to be checked out just to be safe.

I sent you a request Vickie.

I also have PCOS and consider my experience with the band to be very successful. However, eating burgers, cookies and ice cream is not the way to go. I do not diet or count carbs or anything else with the band. When my band tells me I am full, I quit eating. What I believe is important here is making healthier choices. To be successful, you do have to be committed to doing that. Once you decide to do that, even with PCOS, you will be successful and lose weight with the band.

I agree with Yoda, you are doing very well. The band is not like other weight loss surgeries. It is designed for you to lose 1-2 pounds a week, so based on 11 pounds in 7 weeks, you are averaging 1.57 pounds per week, which is great. It is not slow at all and it is healthier to lose at that rate. I average between 1-2 per week and am thrilled with it.

rharriet62, wow, you have really gone down in sizes, that is awesome! One of my favorite new things to do is go shopping for clothes in my own closet. I am finding gifts that were given to me that I never wore because they were to small and I felt guilty giving them away, old favorites I haven't worn in years, etc.

On average, I would say it takes me about 30-35 minutes to eat my meal. I ended up buying a plate warmer on ebay because I got tired of eating cold food. It was definitely worth the $5.00 investment.

This is close to something that happened to my family. My parents had been friends with another couple since high school. We would spend several nights a week with each other, take vacations together, etc. All of us kids were good friends. We moved to Florida, but still my parents kept in constant touch with them and they saw each other often. One day, they stopped calling. They wouldn't return my parents phone calls either. My dad finally got her to answer one day and she started crying and told my dad they had lost all of their friends because of something her husband had done and they were afraid of losing my parents too. It turns out that one day, in the local elementary school the police were there doing a session with the kids. They were discussing the difference between "good touch" and "bad touch". Afterwords, a little girl went up to the police and started crying. She said her neighbor had "bad touched" her this week even though she knew it was bad and asked him to stop, but he wouldn't. It turns out that little girl was our friends neighbor and my parents friend had been the one who had sexually molested this six year old girl. Needless to say, he was arrested. Unfortunately, because it was his "first offense" he only served three months in one of the nearly hotel like minimum security correctional facilities. He was 65 years old and claimed since retiring he was bored and that is why he did it. He also claims he had never done anything like this before. I am ashamed to admit my parents have remained friends with this man. Yet, when we watch the news together and they hear of someone else doing the same thing, they are shocked, horrified and believe they should be shot or worse. Yet, they remain friends with someone who did this to a six year old? I don't get it. How would they have felt if he had done this to me, or one of my children? I have completely disassociated myself with him. When they come to visit my parents, my parents get upset with me because I refuse to come over and see them. Most importantly, I refuse to allow my children, especially my daughter, to be around him. At the time, I was working for a behavioral healthcare facility. I personally believed that one does not turn 65, retire, decide they are bored and molest the little girl next door. My own opinion was this was not his first time, it was just the first time he got caught. The psychiatrists where I was working at the time agreed. I am sorry, but I do not feel sorry for these people. Just because they may have had a crappy childhood, were abused or whatever does not excuse them for the choices they make and the actions they do as an adult. We need to quit allowing people to blame their actions on other people. They did it, no one held a gun to their head and forced them to do it and they need to own up to what they did, take responsibility for it and accept the punishment (hopefully a harsh one) that is given to them. Sorry, but this is just something I feel very strongly about.

Wow, I haven't seen it, but it sounds off. He is really trying to compete with some of the bad reality tv it sounds like. And this coming from a reality tv junkie!

The decision to get a fill should be made between you and your doctor after you have a talk about how things are going. There are several factors to be considered, how much you are able to eat in one sitting, how soon afterwards before you begin to feel hungry again, what your average weight loss is, and if you are able to get food down without any problems to name a few. I would ask for another appointment to meet with him without a group of people present so you can specifically discuss your case privately.

I know I am not an expert, but I am willing to help where I can. Welcome to LBT, it looks like you are doing great so far.

Honestly, I have never once regretted getting my band. If I had to do it all over again, I would in a heartbeat. I am noticing so many changes for the better. I go out and do things with my family and am not suffering from sore feet and exhaustion after only an hour or so. I have way more energy. And, I just plain feel better. It is the best thing I have ever done for me. If you have any questions at all, I will be glad to help.

Hi there Susan! I am glad you found us and are finding the information here to be helpful. I know I would have been lost without this site when I was first starting out. If there is anything I, or anyone else here, can do for you, just give us a shout.

Hi Barry and welcome to LBT! I am surprised you were eating grits so soon after the surgery. Most people are still on pure liquids at this stage. As far as sleeping, I found that sleeping in the recliner worked best for me the first four nights. If you have a recliner, you may want to try that. Also, a heating pad really does help with the soreness as well. I hope you have a speedy recovery.

Hi, I am sorry to hear that you are having such problems. When I got my first fill, I did nothing but PB for two weeks. Then, I started using a baby fork, taking really tiny bites, chewing my food to absolute mush and waiting between bites. That seemed to work. Just curious, what size band do you have and how much fill do you have in it? Is it possible that your doctor was overagressive with the fills and you really are just to filled?