Devana

And I tip her well.

I hear ya, green. I've been to expensive salons only several times, each time attended by a male hairdresser. I have left looking so hideous that it's made me wonder whether they hated women or just fat people. How could they have let me leave the salon looking like that? Did they not have pride in their work? I ended up cutting my own hair for many years. Not hard considering I wear it shoulder length with bangs. I'd cut each side in the mirror then get my sweetie to match it up in the back. For the last couple of years I've been seeing a friend who works out of her home. She has consistently given me nice and flattering cuts with a little bit more style than my homemade jobs. However, I get my hair cut a couple of weeks before an event where I want to look my best.

Hi Yummi, congratulations on your banding. The pain you're experiencing is referred pain from the diaphragm, which gets kind of stretched and pushed around during the surgery. Initially it can be due to gas pressing on the diaphragm, however that surely would have dissipated by now. Some people get it worse than others. I had it quite bad, it drove me nuts for almost two weeks, but my band buddy hardly had it at all. I'm wondering if it is because she had a low BMI and mine was very high. Maybe they had to shove things around in me a bit more to get the band placed. What helped with me was applying other physical stimuli to the area. I used a "thumper" massager, I sat with one of those plastic spider massagers jammed into my back just above my shoulder blade and I liberally applied a deep cold preparation to the area. As far as being disappointed in your lack of weight loss, take heart, it will happen. This is why so many threads have advised us to take our measurements before surgery, so we can still stay positive when we see those inches going down when the scales don't seem to. Hang in there, I know it's hard when you're in pain. Just keep posting and talking to us.

I was self pay, and even with the airfare it was much cheaper to get it done in Mexico. I spent months lurking on LBT and more months posting, reading and asking questions. I also had 2 phone calls lasting almost an hour each with the assisting doctor. In the end felt pretty confident about Mexico. I paid just over half of what it would have cost me if I had it done here. I ended up going down with the only friend I told my plans to and she was banded the same day. It was nice having someone there, but I would have been fine on my own if she hadn't had come.

Chelsea, welcome and I'm glad you decided to start posting. And welcome to you too, beena. I hope all three of you get your surgery dates soon!

Hi Marc. I remember your heartfelt post from last year and am sorry that you haven't been able to be banded yet. I've heard of several US surgeons who do bands for much less than the $26K that you were quoted. However, you want to be quite close to your surgeon, I guess. You may want to check out the NY thread in the US bandster support area. There must be someone who is doing the surgery for less. Good luck with it.

Hello there, Big John but not for long! Congratulations on your surgery date. A whole new life is in store for you. I guess my advice would be to keep reading all over this site. There's so much information and support available. Also, you may want to check out the August bandster thread and find people who are getting banded around the same time. These monthly threads are often the places where we find our bandster families in this big lapband community. Good luck with it all.

Holy smokes, the whole family almost. How many daughters went down? And that's an impressive weight loss. Congratulations to them. I think they're lucky to have you supporting them like this!

Hi Gwen and welcome. That's so cool, the both of you getting banded. I believe there are a few other couples who post here. At least you and your sweetie will be supportive of each other! All the best and keep us posted.

Welcome and congratulations on your surgery date. As far as being alone for your recovery goes, I know everyone is different and has different pain levels, but I think you should be alright if you do some preparation. Take a look at some of the threads telling you what you need after surgery, for example gasX petals. I would have a stock of movies waiting for you as well as whatever your doctor recommends for your post surgical diet. I was in a hotel room in Mexico and the dr brought me juices and yogourts for the first couple of days after banding. Some people have trouble with getting in and out of bed the first couple of days, so I would get yourself a stout chair to put beside the bed to hoist yourself out if you need to. There might be some other ideas out there. Good luck with it!

Hiya hon. How did the appointment go? Is step one done?

Hi Hamster and welcome. This is a great place for information and support. Have you found the Australian threads yet? You might find some bandsters close to you. Good luck with your journey.

Yikes, that sounds awful. My bandbuddy Jane had something similar with severe pain in her lower abdomen and it turned out to be a kidney stone. Her kids called me in a panic saying that the ambulance took her to the hospital with "stomach pains". I grabbed a spare huber needle and went up there not knowing what to expect. She was pretty drugged but was able to tell me that the pain was a lot lower than her band or port. Take care. I hope things stay settled over the weekend.

Green, here is a sure fire amazing sore throat cure. I've had people bring me flowers after telling them this. Put a few swallows of juice in a glass. Add about 15 to 20 drops of liquid grapefruit seed extract and about half a dropper of bee propolis tincture. Mix and sip away. Tastes very bitter. Hope you're feeling better soon. There's a nasty flu going around here on the west coast that involves vomiting and a nasty headache. Thank goodness I never get the flu.

Sheila, welcome to LBT and good luck tomorrow. A whole new life awaits you!

Whose faith? Are you saying that you have faith that one person does or does not have a soul? What makes you decide?

I don't understand. How can you tell if a human doesn't have a soul?

I've just seen some ads up here for curry flavour chips. Haven't tried them yet. Green, like you, I'm not fond of footwear. I usually wear sandals year round until the snow gets above the cork line. Our foyer is a mess year round. Any shoe organization I try just gets ignored by everyone.

Do you ever visit them? Hang in there, it will be worth the wait.

I'm so glad you had good results. No wonder you're feeling numb. Just think, it's a new beginning for you, a new life ahead.

Hi there Paragirl. You could check the "Pre-op, Post-op Q&A" threads or the "Food" threads for this information.

Welcome, and congratulations on your banding. You may want to check out the Feb bandster thread as well as the US local support threads. And congratulations on your loss so far. That's great!

I'm from Vancouver Island on the west coast. I've had my band just over a year. I've lost more slowly than I hoped, however, I'm down 70 lbs. I still have a ways to go. Do you have any idea when you'll get a date? I actually lived in Clacton-on-Sea, rather than Colchester. We went back and forth a lot.

Hi Fiona, and welcome. This is a great place for information and support while you're jumping through all the hoops and afterwards too. The best thing to do is to keep reading and ask lots of questions. Where in the UK are you from? I'm in Canada but I've lived in Colchester and Bournemouth in previous years.

Hi Kira, you have just a couple of days to go now. The places to check will be the July 2007 bandster thread I think. If you check there you may find someone getting done at the same time. All the best with it, recover well and keep us posted!