Devana

Happy Birthday to you! May this be a great year for you.

:welcome2: Welcome Melissa. There's lots of information on LBT about where to get banded, especially on the Doctors and Hospitals threads. Why don't you check those out? I'm from Canada and had my surgery last June in Tijuana and paid $6500. Be sure to read all the posts about the different doctors. Choosing the cheapest isn't necessarily the best thing.

Welcome Dustmouse. I'm glad you found us. That's so cool that you're both thinking of getting banded. You may want to start a separate thread in the General Lapband Discussion area about banded couples. I know there are banded couples who belong to LBT but I don't know if they've done it at the same time. Good luck and keep posting.

Hi Trish and welcome. You may want to check out the US Local Lap Band Support threads at the bottom of the home page or the Doctors and Hospitals threads.

Marimaru........Jackassery, what a great word. Oh, I love this! -People who drive slow in the passing lane. -People who take the corners slowly then speed up to beyond the limit on the straight stretches. I heard a song once with the line "he's a hero on the straight stretch, chicken on the curves". Loved it. -People who use the term 'literally" when they mean "figuratively". -People who pronounce clique as "click" and niche as "nitch". -hair in drains. I can clean up any mess, vomit etc., but even thinking of gobs of hair in a drain makes me weak in the knees. -The way my house smells right now while my sweetie is cooking up his Chinese herbs for his bronchitis concoction. -Parents of students in my son's class who buy new flooring and horses before paying me back the money I spent to cover the cost of their child's class camping trip because they were broke. I'm such a softie. Maybe I should say sucker. -My long haired cat when he comes in soaking wet and rubs himself up against my bare legs. I'm sure I'll think of more. I'm usually pretty happy and accepting, but I've been having a bad week.

Congratulations on your beautiful little Ella, Superdaddy! And Andree, love your pictures. So who's Australian, you or your sweetie?

I believe it was Merck rather than the FDA that did the actual testing on this. They do say that they don't know how long the immunity lasts. It's been five years now and the subjects still have immunity. What, I wonder, is the definition of "long term" when referring to drug testing? Five years doesn't seem very long, especially if you want to assess any long term harmful aspects. We know Merck took a setback with the whole Vioxx thing. To their credit, the recall happened because of their own testing. Yet that drug was FDA approved and had been taken by millions of people before Merck decided that the risks outweighed the benefits. Merck stands to make billions if the HPV vaccine is made mandatory, which will certainly take the sting out of the Vioxx lawsuits they're facing.

Welcome Texasmama! Glad you found us.

I'm posting this with the utmost respect and caution because it seems to be a sensitive issue. First, let me be quite clear that I'm not necessarily anti HPV vaccination and I'm certainly not anti education. Merck's bottom line is profit. They have a huge amount to gain if the HPV vaccine is made mandatory. Long term studies have yet to be done and they're already approaching legislators to approve this. One of the best ways to speed this along is to convince the public that the vaccines are a good thing and even necessary. This bracelet campaign, I'm sure, is supposed to appear to be a totally altruistic public service. After all, how could anyone object to health education? However, it appears to me to be somewhat manipulative, a first step in creating public demand for mandatory administration for a vaccine before the long term testing done, and which may not necessarily affect ultimate cancer rates.

Welcome, lessofme. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

Congratulations, Chloe, a whole new life awaits you. I would suggest that you do lots of reading, ask lots of questions and hook up with the January bandster thread. I'm not too sure about your fluid intake as I still think in imperial measurements. Just can't get my head around the metric stuff.

Got my vote! Congratulations on finishing your first semester. Just remember, there will come a time when you can again read a novel for pleasure without guilt. Belly dancing for credit, I could live with that!

All my healing thoughts to your brother.

Welcome Minnie! It sounds like your plans are going well. Congratulations on your decision.

Pamla, hi and welcome. This is indeed a great place for support. Congratulations on your decision.

I am a bit confused how you can think of my post as "bashing". I simply quoted from the site that you supplied, and that site suggested that Merck's agenda was "widespread or even MANDATORY vaccinations". I'm certainly not pro-abstinence, however I can't help but wonder in whose best interest this bracelet campaign is in.

I read all this and it seems that the underlying intent is (as quoted from the snopes site) "Merck's immediate challenge is persuading federal and state officials to recommend and pay for widespread or mandatory vaccinations, over possible objections of sexual-abstinence and anti-vaccine groups that prefer Pap smears as a proven prevention."

Kittykoo, a big welcome and congratulations on your spectacular weight loss. I'm thinking the best thing to do is keep reading and check out some of the other threads, especially the one for bandsters that have lost 100 pounds. I'm sure you'll find others in the same situation. Good luck.

Welcome BJK! Glad you're posting. I lurked for a long while, too, before making myself known. Good luck with your navigation of the system, hope you get a date soon.

Hi there Tazzamaraz and welcome to LBT. I love Brighton. Go down to the bottom of the main page and check into the "Elsewhere local lap-band support" and you'll find UK threads there. And I know some of our UK members have been banded in Belgium. Let's hear more from you.

I bought one but haven't had it engraved yet. What are people putting on them?

Today I had a very bad headache that I couldn't get rid of and had trouble functioning with. Now, I don't normally take drugs, however, I asked someone who works with me for some Tylenol. I took them with lots of water and my headache did dissipate somewhat. Then, about 2 hours later I got the worst pain in my stomach that went right through to my back. I mentioned this to my coworker who said "Whoops, that was probably aspirin I gave you." I spent the rest of the day drinking protein drinks to try to soothe my stomach and as soon as I left work I bought some pepto bismol or something like that, it was pink. The advertising says it's supposed to coat your stomach, which is, I think, a crock but I took it anyway. Now that I'm home, I'm drinking aloe vera juice and the pain is reduced quite a bit. Does anyone know if I have done serious harm to myself? This has been pretty alarming.

Thanks for all the input everyone. I'm about to go to bed and I feel a lot better now, no more pain. I realise that I became frightened and got myself into a right snit about this as the day progressed and the pain got worse. Worrying about it won't change a thing so I'm going to sleep well tonight, call the surgeon tomorrow, drink aloe vera juice for a week and just KNOW that everything is ok.

Hello Dixie and welcome! This is a great place for making connections, asking questions and getting support. Good luck with your journey and keep posting!

Glad I read all this. Thanks for sharing you guys, I'm going to be extra careful from now on. And by the way, welcome AngieM. I'm glad you found us.