Kat817

My napkin now lays nicely in my lap, not tucked under the belly---but no---my boobs still catch anything that drops!!!! Most people own Dust Buster vacuums, I need a Bust Duster....... My additions to the list of what I can do.... I can ride my horses again. I can leather up on the motorcycle and not feel like the entire cow. I no longer obssess over how many pall barers it would take to carry me if I died! I seriously worried over this! I am thrilled with stepping on the Dr.'s scales. Used to be the nurse had to start the first weight at the 250 mark---now it is the 150 mark! My grandkids do not recognize old pics of me!!! I can and do go to public swimming pools with those grandkids. My belly does not rub the steering wheel! On New Years Eve, DH and I went out---and at midnight he kissed me and actually swung me around--that was a first EVER!!!! Well....not the kiss....you know! I actually get hand me down clothes---from others outgrowing them---not me! This could go on ALL day!!! I love my life! I love my band! Kat

Good point--plus you also get the nourishment---which will help your body to heal, and give you energy. I know you hate to add unwanted calories, but you seriously need to think along the lines of healing and health at this point and wait to worry about weight loss until the healing is done. Are you feeling better today? Kat

Mostly it just depends on what your Dr. is comfortable with, or what his equipment is set up with......some laproscopic equipment, the light is a separate wand---needing its own opening---other machines have it combined with other tools. There is also the persons size to consider---if it requires more stomach fat to be held back for the banding or not. The only bruising I had was from the Lovenox (blood thinner) injection given into the abdomen before and after surgery---no bruising from the surgery itself. I had my largest incision which is almost centered, just a bit left--and down about 6 inches from my breasts where my port is. Up about an inch and over about 3---is where they inserted the band. Those places were actually cut, and I had stitches. Then I had 2 poke holes that were just taped closed. One of them was up high--almost between my breasts---the other to the right side. I cannot even find those scars now! Kat

This can happen at any age, when the head flops like that! My daughters half brother (my ex's son from his second marriage) has permanent brain damage, caused by this problem. Zach was 7 years old, they were driving from NM to IL, and he was buckled into the back seat, and fell asleep. Well he was not arguing nor tormenting his 3 younger sisters, so they let him sleep. When they stopped for whatever reason they could not wake him up. Somehow the way the shoulder strap of the seatbelt come across, had pushed his head into a position he was barely getting any oxygen---and he suffered from oxygen deprivation, for long enough to cause permanent brain damage! This has been many years ago, long before they had any kind of booster seats for kids of that age----but I am sure statistics such as what happened to him, is part of what has them pushing the legality of using car seats/booster seats to an older age. I know there were times my grandkids were sleeping in the car, and we brought them on in the house asleep in the car seat and let them finish off their nap---but to put them in it any other time in the house, I cannot imagine why...... And my 44DDD are going to end up 38DDLooooooongs----which the weight of them alone will likely keep me from making my goal weight!!!! :thumbup: Kat

Morning everyone! Fills are so weird!! I have been at 1.75-2.0cc's for a year and a half, with no adjustment at all....I still have mild restriction, although admittedly much, much less than when the fill was new. But I am not hungry, so I don't mess with it. The downside to that is, I can eat too much if I take a notion to do so!!! For the most part, I can control the portion size without the hard restriction. What would have happened to me when I got so sick back a couple of weeks ago, had I been super tight I don't know, I would have had to have found a way to get unfilled. When I see my PS this week, and figure out my schedule for surgery, I will schedule the unfill--and we will see what happens! See if my being hungry comes back. Kind of afraid to mess with that. Not being hungry all the time allows me to make better decisions, it was the always feeling ravenous that made me grab and gorge without thinking...... Jenn---sending lots of love and best wishes your way for this second interview!!! Maybe things were meant to work out this way---get the job you REALLY needed! If you had still been working in the law office, you wouldn't have had the opportunity at this one! Pamela---how you feeling? Crampiness eased now? I am so excited for you to have Susanne close more often. I remember when Rick and I finally lived in the same place.....was such a relief! In all honesty though, I kept waiting for him to "change" even if it was just a little bit.....I even 'tested' him in ways to see what his reaction would be! And he was just Rick. Same thing happen when we decided to get married and make it legal---I kept waiting for him to morph into something else, and he never did---Thank heavens!!! We did long distance between here and Denver for over 2 years, seeing each other every 2 weeks. Once a month he would come here, and once a month I would go to Denver. When the mountain pass between us, often has over 12 feet of snow--some of those trips were treacherous! But worth it!!! Suzanne---sounds like you are nursing your sister back wonderfully!!! Seems like a good thing though to get off with DH today, and prep things for your pool, and have some lunch together---he needs you too I am sure!!! Hang in there---they are all lucky to have you! Michelle---how many 5 page segments did you get edited??? LOL---did your plan work? Well---I am off to put a roast in the crock pot. Didn't take my Mom to town yesterday so it is happening today. This way, dinner will be done, and I can come home and kick back! Supposed to be nice out here today too, then the wind comes back.....yuck! I have something making me crazy----my belly button itches like crazy!!! I have no idea why. I thought, maybe I didn't gt soap rinsed well in the shower last night, so I grabbed a washrag----no help. I have lotioned----no help. I put itch cream on----no help. So I am scratching and yep you guessed it-----not helping!!! Wierd! BBL~~ Kat

Sounds like it was too heavy---I would go back to clear liquids---Water consistency.....and let my stomach settle back down after this problem. I know diets differ greatly, I was not allowed pudding cups for well over 2 weeks following surgery, so I really have nothing to base a response on. Be very careful, your band needs time to seat itself, without your stomach working so hard. Hope you feel better soon. Kat

So what is it you think is stuck---the liquid---is nothing going through at all? If it is indeed closed off to all liquid passing, there will be no option before long besides it all coming up. As you swallow your saliva it will fill the pouch and the esophagus, and cause you to PB or throw it all back up. If that is not happening, then things are slowly passing through, and you might just need to take it VERY slowly, and carefully. Are you in pain? Can you provide more detail??? Kat

Glad you are home safe Judy!!!! I just spent an hour and half on the phone with a new bandster who lives in Durango. We plan on getting together later this week. Talk to all of you tomorrow! Kat

Birthday advice? Take a good picture this year---because next year you are going to look back and realize what an awesome gift you have given yourself!!!! Take a nice walk with the wife----share a snowcone or something you can have---and know this is just the start....and thanks to this surgery and weight loss, you will likely have lots more birthdays to Celebrate. A couple of years ago, my DH had open heart surgery the day before his birthday---he woke up on his birthday to a new heart valve!!! His was an awesome gift of life too!!! Happy Birthday---enjoy your special day, and welcome to bandland!!! And happy belated to you too Tulipstar! Kat

When one hits while you are on post op it can be a challenge!! Being unable to eat....but once you progress to a normal diet, it is not a big deal at all. I do not make a difference in the things I eat, simply in the quantity I eat. These days I will ignore the dinner rolls alltogether, they just do not interest me. I can eat the bread, but I have to do it very slowly, and they take up a lot of room, without being my favorite thing anyway! For Thanksgiving, I had the turkey, and dressing and potatoes, as well as a few spoons of different sides we had----I did not finish everything I put on my plate, and I was as full as I ever was after a holiday meal!!! We sat around and laughed and caught up with the family, and I did not miss the quantities of food I had put away. It simply did not seem any different to me. Easter was just here---we did a Prime Rib. I had it, and we made some twice baked potatoes---I had a couple of bites of one of them, and some veggies. The biggest difference, is I no longer focus on the food so much as the activities. I ate, and was outside hiding eggs for the kids, and playing croquet with them---then we went for a ride....I no longer just hung out around the food tables. It feels normal---I just don't eat as much by far. Kat

Yep Jane, when I go to Albq, that is where Kirtland AFB is. It is about 150 miles away. I too have some pics I plan on bringing!! I want to see everyones pictures, I hope they all plan on bringing them too!!!! I also plan on taking a bunch!!!! Laura, my bra situation is horrid! As my band size goes down, my cup size is going up---and I am at the high end of standard bra cup sizes, and I do not want to special order bras---at least not until I am finished losing, who wants to spend $60-$75 or more per bra to wear them a couple months and then they no longer fit......plus I like the pretty ones, not the Iron maiden ones----might have to look into another surgery here......dangit! TracyK---keep getting better---this has been a tough season on your family health wise girl----time for all of you to be better! Eve as you aptly named her went away when I cleaned up my temp files, and Cookies, as a habit----I do it daily---and when I come back lo and behold there was Brandy instead of Eve...... The new "landing page" threw me for a loop, but then Susan told me how to get back the page I wanted, so I am ok!!! Today Kinsey and I took a walk, and while we were walking she wanted me to tell her about being a baby. So when we come home, I sat her down here and we opened the pictures, and we were looking at her when she was oh so tiny (4 lbs). She looks at me, and I am telling her that Yes that IS me. She pats my face, and tells me "Granny, you sure do look different, I don't know how I knew you then!" Made no sense---but she was so sincere---this is the first time I have been able to convince her that the woman in the pictures of her as a baby was me. She used to get down right mad!!! Well I guess I better go finish dinner! Talk to you girls later! Kat

We notice the price of gas each time we fuel our cars, have you heard on the news what the cost of jet fuel is--Holy Smokes!! And all the new safety guidelines have to be paid for somewhere.....they do not charge you individually for each bag they have to search, or each Xray examination of your carry ons---but everything has to be paid for.....and it comes in the ticket price. I realize it is expensive, but I know it has not gone up percentage wise it doesn't seem as quickly as the cost of gasoline or diesel has. I know back a couple of years ago we flew to Vegas, and we paid $110.00 round trip, on a special. We priced them last month, and we found we could do it again with a 21 day notice for $153.00 round trip. I know 2 years ago, if I would have drove it, and taken our truck diesel would have been under $2.00 a gallon, and now it is over $4.00---so my costs to drive would have doubled---and almost as badly with the car, and gasoline. So overall while it is expensive, they are not hitting us as hard as the oil companies with the cost of fuel.... I do not have exact numbers, so I may be all washed up, but this is just my personal experience, in the cost of flying. Now are the seats smaller than they were 2 years ago? Dunno--but I am!!! Kat

Of your incisions 2 will be larger than the others. The largest is usually in the area of the port placement. The other is where they actually took the band itself through to apply it. The tools used for your surgery are all pretty much attached to the laproscopic equipment. It is not like an open surgery where they use hemostats to clamp something, or anything like that. They do not cut....so there is no need for that. The smaller holes or incisions are from tools being pushed through the skin and into your abdomen to hold tissue back---to hold your liver back out of the way etc---but they are not something small enough to actually go in through the small hole, and be left behind. Another of the holes was used to light the work area, and to inflate it with a gas to hold it open---so to speak---while they worked. Different Dr.'s place the ports in many different areas, to guess which one is your port would be an impossibility for us here. Some are high, others below the waist even! When you go for your first adjustment, you will learn which is your port----if you don't figure it out before then. In the meantime, I would relax about left behind surgical tools, there were really none used that could be left! Inflamation can make the incisions feel harder to the touch. I am so glad you are feeling good, and back to work! Good Job! Welcome to bandland and welcome to LBT!! Kat

It is rather like comparing apples to oranges. Both have their place. Personally, when out shopping, I feel the carrier or car seat is ideal. When I am pushing the cart with one hand, and picking up this and that, and unwashed veggies etc....I would prefer not to be touching the baby all at the same time. The infant is in a supportive sanitary environment, able to see my face and listen to me as I shop. When I get home, get my hands clean, and can devote my attention to the baby as opposed to comparing prices, and keeping my cart out of other shoppers ways...then I can play and cuddle all I want and enjoy the time....not being distracted, where both only get a half hearted job done. Many babies feel comforted by their carriers. It is a safe and secure place---it feels the same each time, they are settled with it. Strapping them in is similar to swaddling an infant. People recognize this in pets, and support kennel training a dog, to learn to self sooth, and have a safe space. Ironically children are similar!!! Many, many children hit the car seat and are out like lights----it is not punishment..... I realize fully that nothing, absolutely nothing can take the place of cuddling and bonding with your child, but that is not to say out in public, while attending to other chores, is the place for that bonding to take place. There is a time and place for everything, and safety is an issue. Most new carseats for infants that snap into the buckled in base, have a latching mechanism, as has been mentioned that allows them to latch onto the shopping cart. If latching is not an option then by all means it would not be safe. Newborns in the hospital with a failure to thrive issue, are not that way as newborns from lack of human contact. Many reasons cause the issue, and many do better with the human contact, others it reverses.....but they have not had time to be "neglected" in a carrier vs. cuddled in Moms arms. I just do not get this whole issue. Where I live there are many Native American Indians who use Papoose boards, flat, wooden boards, that the baby is wrapped in Navajo blankets then laced into the completely flat board, they are unable to do more than turn their heads side to side. They have used these for generations, they were the original baby backpackers! Many of the children even into school age, are still totally flat headed in the back---seriously! Do I think they feel unloved? No, that is what is normal to them! Kat

Grab some light dumbells, and move your upper body more then! Up your Fluid intake, eliminate some of the sugars and carbs if you eat them. When I plateau---and everyone does, it is not a matter of IF but of WHEN. I have to get moving to get the scale moving again. I realize with the arthritis moving is more of an issue, which will lessen some with the weight loss if you are like me, my knees are pain free finally!!! I will sit in my recliner, and raise my legs out straight, and scissor them back and forth. I used free hand held weights and would just rotate my arms, ANYTHING---just move more! If you can eat them, salads seem to help me break a stall too. I think it just takes so much for us to digest the raw veggies, it helps me....maybe I just feel full longer on less....I don't really know, but it does help! Don't give up this soon into it. Son will get married, regardless, and you will be healthier already! Hang in there, it is not unusual, nor anything to get despondent over.....it's normal! Kat

I'm sure they would never lie! I would imagine she left her lucrative law practice to be a flight attendant for the exotic travel! I really am being facetious, I know they have a difficult job at times, and to make a judgement call like that on the spur of the moment is not something I would be comfortable doing....and I cannot imagine all of them enjoy being asses in the way they handled some of these situations. When faced with an unsavory chore, often times just doing it head on is the answer. I can only imagine the confrontations some of these cases have caused. I do believe there should be a way of dealing with it without it being handled like a public service announcement. The workers now decide arbitrarily who is too big, who is dressed too provacatively, who fits certain profiling guidelines...the list goes on. While we find it intrusive and unfair, we keep wanting them to do what they do, cheaper, quicker, and safer.....something has to give and it is usually customer service----the only way to combat it---is letting them know why, and taking your $$$$ elsewhere. Kat

My FIL is well past 80----and people tend to write off his comments due to that. I do my best to ignore him, when his barbs come my way. My MIL used to be the sweetest woman--she was kind, and gave everyone the benefit of the doubt about everything---not so anymore---I think he rubbed off!!! I know he did on one of his kids anyway---glad it wasn't my DH!!!! Kat

Well you can quit being unsure------it solved my "where the hell am I?" dilemma!!! Thanks for drawing me a picture....I need that! Like I say---I have adapted to all the changes---it just takes me awhile (and a lot of help) to figure things out! Thanks Susan! Kat

Katie---whether or not you can get to 125 depends on how much you want to get there. The band will help---but ultimately YOU decide how much you want it. Eventually as your weight drops, your focus finally drifts away from food. Where as right now you are worried about not pigging out on your birthday----when YOU are in control and not the food in control---so to speak, it isn't a big deal! So you don't go out and order a big steak and loaded baked potato, and a couple of rolls, and a salad smothered in ranch, and butter drenched veggies. All in preparation for the big cake and ice cream..... Instead you go to a nice restaurant, and order the most tender filet on the menu---when it comes it is buttery and tender, and you take a couple of bites of all the extras---but you savor each little bite, eating slowly---enjoying the company you are with. And this year you are celebrating---you have lost say 50 pounds already!!!! Now when you get done with dinner, you feel like DOING something, it might be a romantic stroll through a river walk, or you spend the evening at an amusement park--or make a weekend of it and go skiing.....the point is, as the weight goes, you take interest is doing things, food isn't the focal point---activity begins to take it's place. Used to be when we had a big cookout at our place, I was all about the food, and desserts!! Now I might eat, or I might not, but you will find me playing volleyball, or pitching horseshoes---or taking some of the kids riding--I am doing, not just focusing on the eating! The closer I get to my goal, the slower the weight loss, and the more I find myself actually working to get there---but it isn't the strain it was 100 pounds ago! My body actually enjoys doing things. Can you see 125 again? I fully believe you can IF you want to badly enough. The real kicker in the deal is----when you do get to 125....it will be through some lessons learned in portion control, and diet habits, and you will lose some bad habits along the way---you will end up healthier, and the weight will stay off! Only you know if it is worth it to you or not...... Kat

Wrong, wrong, wrong!!! I love mine the most---I allowed them and enabled them to grow up, and they are even procreating!!! So.....as much as I loved those kids.........don't even get me started on how wonderful my grandkids are----OR how much I love THEM!!!! LOL Kat

I can bounce it back and forth at this point----manuevering through the new format, was disappointing. But there have been other changes over the last couple of years I didn't like and I have adjusted!!! I do think it will limit discussions-----when you only see a few of the current threads as opposed to the newest per forum. Maybe the goal is to take the site to a magazine type of thing as opposed to a general support board. Hate to see that happen, but I am old and set in my ways!!! LOL Everyone stay close, when I can no longer come back to this old format I will be lost, and hollering for help!!! Kat

Susan I flew to and from my banding without issue. That was at almost 300 pounds. I flew to be banded with my SIL who was the same size. She carried all of hers through her hips and thighs, mine was in my belly, they never said a word to either of us. I did receive a tip on here from an experienced bandster at the time (remember Penni?) she advised me if I thought I was going to need a seat belt extender, to ask for it AS YOU BOARD! When you are walking in and the attendant is greeting you, simply ask for a belt extender....she will reach out and get it from right behind her usually, hand it to you and you go on to your seat. Those in line boarding behind you cannot see what is going on, it is mere seconds, does not hold up the line. Those already boarded will be stowing bags, and settling in, not paying you any mind. If you wait and find you need it after sitting down, she will walk back up the aisle, get it, walk back down with it in full view and try to remember who needed it----with all eyes on her as you wait to take off. That being said--we flew American and as I said I was almost 300 pounds, all belly, and on the flight out I did not use an extender, the belt was fine, but I knew with fresh stitches and soreness coming home I would want it! So I ask, and it was not an issue! Simple just as I was told it would be. You have already lost a lot of weight, you should be fine! DO NOT worry about this-----plan on having a wonderful time!!!! Kat

It is quite common, I believe most surgeons use this technique--like Marimaru--the name for it escapes me. The stitches are used to simply hold it in place while adhesions-scar tissue- forms to hold it securely in place. You do not feel anything inside that way. The muscle is sore from the port placement, as well as being generally sore from the manipulation of your innards as the surgery was being done--but to say my stomach hurt from the stitches? No, I had no sensation of anything being done that way. My surgeon come into my room and had a band for us to feel and see and play with. He used the sheet on my bed as a demo of a stomach, and showed me exactly how he was going to bring the lower portion of stomach up and stitch it in particular areas to anchor it for healing. Made much more sense to me when I could "see" what was going to be done. Kat

Apples, I get the belly comment from my in laws all the time!! My SIL and I were banded together, and she carried her weight in her hips and thighs, me in my belly. Well as she lost, she shrunk down, and when she has on clothes she looks great!!!!! Unfortunately she is 60 and dressing as though she is 20----and shows lots of wrinkled skin. But ALWAYS has a comment about how carrying that belly looks so uncomfortable---and how it cannot be normal....yadda, yadda, yadda. Well I have my TT ready to be scheduled----wonder what the catty bunch will find to nag me about now???!!!! Even though every last one of that family is overweight--------my weight was always fodder for their conversations. I have just made the choice to distance myself from them. My FIL did it to me again just the other day at lunch, he ask me how I was---when I said I was good, he told me (point blank) I did not look good, didn't look like I felt very good. Hmmmmm let it bother me, but tried not to-----sometimes he is a rude old goat!!! Kat

I think you are totally right----we all bend with whatever life throws at us. And while some would love to stay home with their kids, that is not an option, while others find a way to make it work. A persons choice in parenting, leads to children becoming stronger in differing areas---we would live in a pretty dull world if we all thought the same about everything, and had the same experiences, and strengths and weaknesses. Each of us has a different view of normal---because we too were all raised by people with views of their own. Working is not a sign of not loving your children! Through the years of providing day care---I found kids to be very proud of whatever it is their parents did for a living. You know---before they turn into teens that are horrified by EVERYTHING their parents do!!!!:rolleyes2: Kat