Loving-It

I know two people who had gastric who now drink excessivily. One of them worked for years in a liquor store and never had a sip. Now after his surgery he drinks all the time. :cry There is a history of alcoholism in my family so I am aware to not go that route. I don't know what I've replaced it with yet. I think I drink Crystal Light as a replacement.

I don't see where he said that? I read that he's concerned about the contact part of the activity and with having the band. Sounds like a good question to me. You don't want a kick in belly.

I think you should do what I did and research both methods. The pros and cons of each. For myself, the cons of gastric is what convinced me to go the band route, but that might not worry you. It just depends. I do agree that with you being male, your weight loss will be faster on the band than a female, but that depends on how you are able to control what you eat. If you have a hard time with that then gastric might be the way to go. But again, you should do your research and figure out which method will be the best tool for you. Good luck in whatever you decide! :clap2: And good for you that your involved in karate. Activity is definitely key no matter what you do!

Gemini here too, June 16th. Skinny, not yet...bitch, sometimes yes, sometimes no....that's what makes me Gemini. :heh:

I'm the same age as you and I thought I'd go back sooner than I did. I had my surgery on a Friday and went back the following Wed./Thurs.? But I couldn't do full time until the following week. Just take it easy and don't rush it. For me, getting up and down out of my chair was the worst because it worked my ab area. If you can have someone drive you to and from work I'd do it. That way I was able to take my pain medication and not worry about driving and suffering the effects of being drowsy while on the road. I also had the person who drove me use their van so I stepped down rather than having to lift myself out of a car. One thing I did was during liquid was get my favorite chicken noodle Soup and strain the chunky stuff out. Then I had this delicious flavored broth. Soooo good. Crystal Light or something like that is good to have. Buy several flavors. Water alone got really fishy tasting which was a result of getting into ketosis. I was so happy I had that Crystal Light. Straws? I drank everything through a straw for the first two weeks, but that was per my doctors directions. Soup, water, Crystal Light...through the straw. GOOD LUCK!! :clap2:

Hello! Just a quick FYI that there is an article in the 7/31 issue of People Magazine covering a whole family who had the band. A banded friend of mine told me about it and I just had to go get it. It's really good. I don't want to tell too much, but it's a family of varying degrees of obesity; a mom, dad and their 3 kids. They are their own support group. :Banane56: You might be able to catch it like I did. The newest issue is dated August 7th, the one with Lance Bass announcing he's gay. This issue is the one right before it with Sandra Bullock on the cover. I got mine at CVS this afternoon.

I'm on myspace too. www.myspace.com/mari72 I also have it set to private...too many pervs. :rolleyes If you are interested if bein' muh friend, my last name is Bryant. I'll add ya, but if you get pervy with me, I'm afraid I'll have to POOF you. :Banane56:

I'm enjoying having loose undies right now. I'm not in a hurry to get rid of them, mainly because they are fairly new...but I do so enjoy wearing loose fitting drawers. :clap2: In a few months I might stitch them together and have a nice cover for my car. :rofl: :biggrin1:

A friend of mine had gastric and despite the dumping she will eat high sugar foods and drink high sugar drinks. It has not curbed her way of eating at all. Granted she's lost over 150 lbs but she's not met her goal and she is starting to gain, which is not making her feel good about herself. She had stopped taking her Vitamins and has had some episodes here lately of fainting...one time her DH called the paramedics because he couldn't wake her. It's serious but not enough to get her to stop and turn it around. I love her much and have told her I'm concerned and will kick her azz if she is not around to grow old with me. I think with either procedure you have to do a lot of work and get a grip on yourself and be responsible for what you put in your mouth. If you don't do that you will gain the weight back, no matter which method you used to lose it be it the band or gastric.

That is why my surgeon stopped doing gastric bypass too. He used to do them but his conscience got the better of him and he only does lapband. He said he hated getting phone calls at 4 AM with a patient who was being rushed to the hospital with a fever or some kind of complication due to leaks or tears. He said now that he does just the band, he sleeps much better at night. :rofl:

Yeah, I had no idea so much was involved. I watched it the night before my surgery and it actually made me feel a bit better....not a total relaxer, but it helped a bit. :rofl:

Nice of your doctor to tell you what to do. :phanvan I have my first fill scheduled for Aug. 15th. I was told two days liquid, two days mush and then take it slooooow. Congrats and good luck to ya!! :clap2:

Did you know that the lapband came to be in order to prepare morbidly obese patients to get down to a more suitable weight so that they could have gastric bypass? This is what my surgeon told me. People in Europe who were so obese they wouldn't survive the surgery would have the band put on so they could lose enough weight to have gastric. Then they were like why take it off when they are losing? Also, it's my understanding that losing weight quickly is a stress on your body. But I'm not totally confident in that. ******************************************** Changing subjects here, I had one surgeon who did a bait and switch on me back in 2002 when I first heard about the band. They had the band on their website. I called the office and told them what I wanted, which was the band. When I got to the office they told me then that they didnt' do the band there. I informed them it was on their website. When I got in with the surgeon she told me they didn't do the band, they did gastric and that is what I wanted. I informed her she was incorrect, that it was not what I wanted. She said the band was ineffective and that they didn't do them. I asked her about her website and she told me that no such information was on their site. I just about burst into tears in her office. How the heck did they think I came to find them? I was so mad. Scheister doctor.

No, I would not have rather had gastric. It was a relief to finally hear about the band because I would rather be fat forever than have gastric and suffer the side effects. Having to take vitamins and such for the rest of my life, to have to worry if I have a fever because my stomach was leaking fluid into my abdomen. I didn't want to have to deal with any of that. I am not knocking it for those who have chosen it, my best friend in the world had gastric, but it just was not an option for me.

http://lapbandtalk.com/showpost.php?p=245071&postcount=20 Not live, but it was live in May.

http://lapbandtalk.com/showpost.php?p=245071&postcount=20 I posted this link before that shows a lapband procedure, but it was live back in May, not live today.

I'm very happy so far. I have been a slacker in the exercise department but {brace yourself, lame excuse approaching} it's been hot as heck outside and I tend to faint if I get overheated. So I do my best to not get overheated. I haven't fainted in years and that's because I'm so careful. I was last weight on July 11th and had lost 23 lbs total since my banding. I am getting compliments from people who have not seen me in a while, but these are also the same few people who are looking for something to see. They know I was banded. But I can tell a difference in my clothes and when my face is turned just right, I can tell a difference in the mirror. My neck looks smaller. I'm heading to a friends this weekend with plans to swim, swim, swim, so I'm hoping to get some exercise in!

I was a terrible soda junkie. I thought I that the lack of soda would just set me off, but it hasn't been bad. In fact, a few weeks ago I was at a fast food w/DD and just out of habit, reached and took a sip of her soda. I thought I was gonna be sick. It was so sweet. ME, saying something was too sweet...didn't think that would happen but it did. I live on Water and Crystal Light. Lubs it! I don't even attempt to try to drink any diet sodas because I know that's all it will take for me to move on up to the sugary stuff.

I feel totally ripped off. Shouldn't there be a penalty for posting that a thread has juicy contents and then not delivering? :bananapartyhat: PERVY DEVIANTS UNITE!! :clap2: :clap2:

My surgeon said that you need to do the two weeks liquid and two weeks mush in order to allow scar tissue to develop over your sutures so that they don't pop and the band slip. I have photos of the band on my stomach, I've seen the sutures. A part of the stomach below the band is brought up and "attached" to create a loop over the band. Just tell yourself it's only for a few weeks and you can get through it. Have your Protein shakes, soups and lots of Water. You can do it. Just remind yourself it's not forever.

There's your problem. I know it's hard but you have to really want to do this or else you will sabatoge yourself (which it sounds like that's what you are doing). Get the junk food out of the house since you know you will eat it. Drink lots of water and talk to your doctor. You are worth the effort!! :clap2: :clap2: :clap2:

That's a good one. :biggrin1: I used to have it in my office cubicle at a job I was previously at. But it's funny, I didn't associate it with weight loss at the time.

Being nervous is normal. The time flies so fast once you get to the hospital, at least it did for me, and before you know it you'll be in recovery. :biggrin1: GOOD LUCK! I'm excited for you!!! :clap2:

This is one I came across in the past few months. I love Richard Simmons and he was on a documentary, the One Ton Man (I think that's the name) and I love what he said. Food never solved any problems, past, present or future. -Richard Simmons It's so true.

No, I didn't argue. But I was so taken aback by the comment that I'm sure I sounded defensive when I told her I was allowed to have non-boiled chicken.