keithf

Great loss, there -- that's all post-op? I have two cpaps -- the older (non-auto) one I use for travel. One of my cousins (whose docs want him to consider WLS) should be on a cpap. Indeed, he was on one until his kids destroyed it. I'd be tempted to hand one to him and wish him luck.. .. and better parenting.

Good luck. I've a Low Rider, but I haven't ridden it much the past couple years, between moving from CA to WA (cutting the ridable year in half due to ice), carpooling, and my partner/primary-riding-buddy developing spondalosys (sp? basically, his spine grows spines into nerves.. don't want to tweak that while riding, don't we?). He's been thinking of selling his Thunderbolt. I'll be sad to see it go, and would rather see about getting him a replacement spine.

+1 on having help on standby, especially if you discover that minding the kids is distracting you from what you're supposed to be doing for your own recovery, such as not injuring yourself if they get rowdy.

A temporary restriction in liberties because he's not cooperating with your best medical interests, compared to a lifetime (however brief) of restriction because he cannot function normally? Yeah, even I would accept the former. I remember *begging* for it, and never getting it. In a way, though, I have already by electing to have surgery, which by its nature produces more and keener punishment than close observation would have. If I misbehave, I feel it. If I push it far enough .. we don't want to think of that! If I subvert it, well, fool me but I'll have to face someone who means more to me than my mother (as good as she was) did. It's tough love, redux. But, as we all know from our own experiences leading up to surgery -- you must show that you've made the effort. Not trying just allows things to get worse. Once he hit 200#, he could have been turned around, or at least slowed down. For all any of us know, he could have been one of the lucky who *could* manage their weight independently, had he himself been managed. Now we'll never know. In any event, we're just repeating ourseves now. I'm game for moving on -- I have my first potential fill tomorrow. We'll see what the surgeon says.

*I* ate in school cafeterias. So did my brothers, the older of which is *still* 8 years younger than me, so I'm rather well-versed in having to play ersatz daddy to a teenager (since his wasn't around). We ate Breakfast at the schools, including a fair amount of sugar, fat, and starch. I drank soft drinks, and not the diet ones. Lots of sweets. I even went for seconds. I didn't do sports beyond seasonal marching band (walk, stand for a few minutes, blow a horn -- it didn't do anything to curb weight gain). I ate more even in college, where my breakfast of choice was a root beer, OJ, and candy bar. Still, that didn't get me where I am today. Nor do I think it got him there. Nor am I at all persuaded about his friends being feeders. Nobody I have ever known, even from sketchy or over-full households, ever had the level of autonomy at 14 years that you suggest. Now ask yourself how long it took for the boy to reach his current state -- I doubt it took less than two years to gain 400# (possible, yes, but unlikely). So what was he doing at 11, and what the heck was his mother doing? What sort of parenting did she engage in? Again, unless this was some sudden onset, the mother would have a large amount of fault there. There is no reasonable path to his condition that doesn't imply significant neglect on his mother's part. For the record, she would have been entirely in her rights to exercise authority over where the child went and what he did there -- the law would back that up until he reached his majority.

Heavens no... Heartburn and its causes ain't funny. (Okay, maybe a little.. but only because of the irony. :thumbup:)

Ah, but what a wonderful change in problems to have, eh? :smile2: Good luck w/ the doc!

So treat this case *as* an addiction case. As a society, we all step in right away if we discover that a parent has been supplying their adolescent with alcohol, nicotene, or narcotics. And rightfully so. We also step in (moreso now than in the past) when we discover parents not seeking appropriate medical interventions for childhood illnesses. It's an addiction. I'm happy to say that. Let's treat it as such, then, in the same vein as supplying drugs, alcohol and sex to minors who cannot be expected to have the same levels of self control and maturity we expect adults to exercise.

Reflection on the past can reveal a few truths. Consider, perhaps, that these people are seeing precisely what things contributed to their own problems. For myself, I know what weight I was in high school. I know how I spent my time, and I know what I ate. I know what could have been improved, but I also know full well that it would have been worse had a good half-dozen of my relations not been trying. Were the boy only 200#, I'd be more understanding. Had the mother not taken the boy and fled, I'd be more understanding. Had the mother's response been something other than "Sorry, I was too busy to focus on the health of one I'm entrusted with", I would -- again -- be more understanding. But none of these are the case. He is 555# with only 14 years. She fled when people finally decided she had ignored an untenable situation. She claimed that she was too busy to take care of him. The mother has more than enough to answer for. If she is in fact too busy, then obviously someone else has to be appointed his guardian. If she is unwilling or unable to manage her child's health, then someone willing and able to do so must. If she did, honestly, try without fail, actively and in good faith, then perhaps she merely needs assistance. But I'm sick and tired of people claiming that an on-its-face toxic situation -- his mother's alleged care -- is in fact in the best interests of the child. We see what her care has led to. I'd rather see that child grow up to be a healthy patient of a psychiatrist, working through his resentment at being uprooted, than see that child as an early victim of heart disease. Yes, he may indeed have a significant addiction to food, but who has the responsibility to see him get the help he needs? Who has, seemingly willfully, failed to follow through on that responsibility? With luck, he'll live long enough to hate social workers.

How many 14yo kids are going around saying, "Hey, buddy, can I bum a burger?". There's a big difference between food and smokes at that age when it comes to getting it from friends. I can just see the reaction now: "My god! You look like you're starving! Doesn't your mother feed you?" .. Somehow, given his weight and the attitude of many, I think the "why are you asking me for food?" question is more likely to result, and a request for smokes and drugs more likely to be honored. I'll grant the embezzlement line -- to a point. In which case the mother also needs to be given a refresher in fiscal awareness. Leaking money is not a good thing, even in better economies than the present. Part of being a parent means cracking the whip when you have to. This kid's 14: if he's been stealing from her, she has to smack him hard -- if she doesn't, she has to bear blame (in lieu of culpability) for not rearing her child to respect the property of others. If he's simply been eating whatever she's put in front of him, she needs to be smacked for abusing another living creature, even if he has an underlying disorder. After all, who's at fault for serving someone who's obviously got a drinking problem? As a parent, she should -- is required to -- know better, and her behavior as described in the article smacks of willful disregard rather than trying to do the right thing.

Unfortunately, it looks like Buell has discontinued the Blast. That was an excellent commuter, and would handle an impromptu road trip between SF and Reno as well.

Ron Jeremy?!? You *do* realize that doesn't actually narrow things down much, of course. Aside from the fact that pretty much everyone could be a porn star (there are studios for pretty much anything and anyone), few porn stars have anything resembling .. technique. :crying:

Don't let plateaus get to you. I know they got to me when I was dietting (and contributed greatly to falling off the diet). As long as you're losing as a steady pace, even if there are bumps up and down for a few days, you're doing the right thing. Now if you want to increase the rate -- that's for you and your surgeon to discuss.

If it's the scar itself, and there's no redness or other signs of an infection, I wouldn't worry -- I've got the same, myself. Scar tissue tends to tighten a bit. You can (carefully, once it's closed and all) massage it, particularly with some silicone/dimethicone-based cream (eg, ScarZone) to help relieve the appearance.

I don't recall whether he specified, but I *think* it was a combination of both in-op and post-op events. In any event, compared to the mortality rates from obesity, I would argue that surgery is the *safest* of the two options for the people who aren't able to manage their weight independently. Yes, it's possible to die on the operating table, but if your health was such that you were already dying -- or living as if you were -- what's the additional risk when the result could be a greatly improved lifespan and the ability to enjoy it? The mortality rates are going to vary by both surgeon and patient, anyway, so seek out the surgeons at the top of the curve, and do what you can to make their work easier and more efficient (like being aggressive during pre-op). It can only improve the odds of a successful outcome.

I'm only a week further along than you, and seeing the exact same thing. I see my surgeon on the 29th, and we'll determine then whether I need a fill.

Pre-op, my steady rate (ie, discounting spikes) was about 3#/wk. Post-op, it's around 3-4#/wk. Since April, I've lost 66#, 26# of that since my surgery on 30 Jun. I'm 5'10, started at ~345# (BMI 50), and was eating around 1700cal/day for 2mo pre-op, and doing 45min walks nightly. Post-op, I'm doing about 500cal/day, with 45-75min walks about every other day (I need to increase that, but the weather's just been too damn hot and humid, and I've been having to tube-feed a sick cat). No fills yet, though I will PB if I go beyond about 4-5oz of solids.

MyDailyPlate/Livestrong.com advertises that they have an iPhone app as well as a Blackberry app. I know nothing about those apps beyond that, but I am using the website to diary the food.

One would think that a concerned and engaged parent should at a minimum be able to recognize something isn't right and seek help to deal with the problem. Education is all fine and good, but saying you're "too busy" is BS only demonstrates the level of neglect. He's 14. In most places I know that pretty much means he's unemployed and entire dependent on at least one adult for support, even if that support comes ultimately from the state. She -- practically guaranteed -- controls what money ends up in his wallet for food. She -- again, practically guaranteed -- controls what food goes into the pantry. If her son is sneaking food from the pantry, there are locks available. If she's too busy to cook consistently, she also is in the ultimate position for placing orders at restaurants. Did she even exercise the lowest level of parental control about his eating behaviors? When ordered to hand the child to a foster home, she skipped. Under any circumstance, that alone is worth jail time (as her $50k bail shows). And, of course, where was everybody else? I'm sure she felt she was trying to keep things under control, but so does a drowning man -- do you wait for him to speak clearly and coherently before diving in to assist? There's some accountability there to be scrutinzed. To be honest, I *want* that Pandora's box openned. Parental rights are cute and all, but a lot of "parents" seem to view their children as hobbies they can dabble in, or simply a potential side effect of a night in the back seat of the Oldsmobile.

Currently eating around 500 cal/day, and losing about 3#/wk, with 30-80 minutes of walking about every other day.

Agreed. I haven't had a fill yet, and I still end up PBing after about 5oz of food.

My surgeon quoted us his statistics: Out of 1000+ RNY, he's lost 4 patients. Out of 100+ lap bands, he's lost none. Long term complications: in the long term, he's seen roughly equivalent rates. Surgery *should* scare the bejeezus out of you. If you're scared, it just means you're sane. But considering the complications and fatality rates of avoiding it, an obese patient is more likely to enjoy a longer, healthier life with surgery than without. If diabetes is involved, I wouldn't consider the band: there's a significantly greater chance of reverting diabetes with the bypass surgeries. I don't have diabetes and would rather leave my anatomy otherwise intact and open to future revision should an appropriate technology arise. For those reasons, I chose the band.

Indeed.. but the easy way in just about anything is often the way that produces the least results.

I'm doing perfectly fine with about 400-600 calories, with enough energy to walk 3 miles without being wiped. Keep in mind that as long as your nutrition including Protein is kept up, your calories should come from your stored body fat. Follow your surgeon's recommendations, but don't worry about "to little" calories -- only too little nutrients. Conversely, don't feel the need to boost your food intake if your nutritional requirements are already met.

Same here.. My gas pains only subsided in the past week.