Humming Bird

I had to do Atkins for 2 weeks. It works just as well as the liquid diets to shrink the liver.

I really have to drink protein shakes to get enough protein in. I choose low cal/low carb.

Hi Jen, :thumbup: Your first post? Welcome to LBT Great determination and attitude!

No way, not my friend at all. I can not eat bread, rice, or pasta at all. I can eat potato soup sometimes, but am left with most of the chunks of potato in the bowl when I'm done.

The pain is caused by pressure on the phrenic nerve. For some people it only lasts a short time. For me it lasted a couple months. Here is some info I copied from another banster's post awhile ago: Best explanation of left shoulder pain I've ever found. If you woke up with a pain in your shoulder, you'd probably think something was wrong with your shoulder, right? Maybe you slept on it the wrong way, maybe you're a weekend warrior who threw the football a few too many times. In most cases, your hunch is probably right. Pain in the shoulder usually indicates an injury or disease that affects a structure in your shoulder, such as, say, your subacromial bursa or a rotator cuff tendon. Makes sense, doesn't it? But you might be way off. Sometimes the brain gets confused, making you think that one part of the body hurts, when in fact another part of the body, far removed from the pain, is the real source of trouble. This curious (and clinically important) phenomenon is known as referred pain. For example, it's unlikely but possible that your shoulder pain is a sign of something insidious happening in your liver, gall bladder, stomach, spleen, lungs, or pericardial sac (the connective tissue bag containing the heart). Yup - conditions as diverse as liver abscesses, gallstones, gastric ulcers, splenic rupture, pneumonia, and pericarditis can all cause shoulder pain. What's up with that? Neuroscientists still don't know precisely which anatomical connections are responsible for referred pain, but the prevailing explanation seems to work pretty well. In a nutshell, referred pain happens when nerve fibers from regions of high sensory input (such as the skin) and nerve fibers from regions of normally low sensory input (such as the internal organs) happen to converge on the same levels of the spinal cord. The best known example is pain experienced during a heart attack. Nerves from damaged heart tissue convey pain signals to spinal cord levels T1-T4 on the left side, which happen to be the same levels that receive sensation from the left side of the chest and part of the left arm. The brain isn't used to receiving such strong signals from the heart, so it interprets them as pain in the chest and left arm. So what about that shoulder pain? All of organs listed above bump up against the diaphragm, the thin, dome-shaped muscle that moves up and down with every breath. The diaphragm is innervated by two phrenic nerves (left and right), which emerge from spinal cord levels C3, C4, and C5 (medical students remember these spinal cord levels using the mnemonic, "C3, 4, 5 keeps the diaphragm alive"). The phrenic nerves carry both motor and sensory impulses, so they make the diaphragm move and they convey sensation from the diaphragm to the central nervous system. Most of the time there isn't any sensation to convey from the diaphragm, at least at the conscious level. But if a nearby organ gets sick, it may irritate the diaphragm, and the sensory fibers of one of the phrenic nerves are flooded with pain signals that travel to the spinal cord (at C3-C5). It turns out that C3 and C4 don't just keep the diaphragm alive; neurons at these two spinal cord levels also receive sensation from the shoulders (via the supraclavicular nerves). So when pain neurons at C3 and C4 sound the alarm, the brain assumes (quite reasonably) that the shoulder is to blame. Usually that's a good assumption, but sometimes it's wrong. From: Anatomy Notes: Referred pain

Too funny............... I was expecting something worse too BT I signed up on facebook awhile ago, but have never used it. I went bowling again tonight. It gets me out of the house and keeps me off the streets :wink2:

This would be a good question to ask a lapband surgeon. They may have you stop taking the asprin for awhile before the surgery. A surgeon would have the best response to the questions you have though.

The feeling like you have to burp but can't does get better over time. I know it feels very strange, but you will be able to burp like normal at some point.

At that age my boobs were worth the focus :wink2:

wow! great job emjay!

You have beautiful grandchildren!

Yes, they put a fill in during my surgery. I think it helped so I didn't need as many fills to get restriction. It sounds like you are doing great.

Hi Lucy :wink2: Welcome to LBT! How do you know you're doing this for the right reasons? We all have our own personal reasons. I guess you/I just know if those reasons are "right." I just didn't want to be obese in general. The reasons were countless. I was miserable. Is it normal to have doubts that WLS will work? I think it is very normal to have doubts. My brain was already programed to think I was doomed to be fat no matter what I tried because of all the diets I had already tried. All I can tell you is that it has been working well for me.

1991 I was 26 and 155lbs size 12 dress .......... the good ol days I hope to be back in a size 12 at goal .... maybe a 9/10.

Keep an icepack up high and to the left on your belly to help the swelling go down. This is what really helped me. Very tiny sips of ice cold water and ice chips help too. This is why they say eat popsicles too.

The last time I was this size I was about 36, had braces on my teeth:biggrin:, and was a new grandmother. My mom and grandma were still alive and concerned about my weight. I'm glad they didn't see me balloon up as big as I did in the last 2 years before banding. I want to get back to the weight I was when I was in my 20s ............. not holding out hope for the same beauty tho. Can u tell I am in a mid-life crisis?

Your weightloss is great and a great attitude to match! It sounds like the band is right for you!

WOOOO HOOO! on the "normal" BMI It's happy dance time for you!:wink2:

I read quite a bit. It relaxes my mind and takes me to another place. I like romance novels the best.

It has been so worth it for me. There is no way I would have taken off this weight and kept it off without the band. As far as getting stuck and throwing up, after a couple episodes ..... lesson learned. I either ate the wrong thing or ate too fast.

It seems like it may be a good idea to send in an appeal to the insurance. Have you talked to the surgeon's office about it? With a BMI of 42 you may get approved if you push a little. I think you will find this thread interesting http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f178/i-dont-understand-110373/ A lapband Dr. comments in it and gives some really good info.

I gave up on all types of bread.

I had my surgery with Dr. K in July 09. I live in Colorado, but it is quite a drive to the Denver area so I stayed the night of surgery in a super8 that is about a block away from the surgery center. I trust Dr. K. He has been a surgeon for a very long time.

I probably am too tight and have been since September. I had steady weight loss most of that time so did not want to mess with it. I have not been back to the doc since my 2nd fill in Sept. I can not eat meat or anything real solid. In the past month I have started to eat some fish. My calorie intake is very low. I just have the feeling I will stop losing or maybe even gain if he takes any fluid out.

Denise, it must feel so great to be at 150! Great job! How tall are you? I set my goal weight at 150 and I am 5'7". When I get closer to that number I may adjust my goal...... we'll see. My weightloss has slowed down. I have an appt. with my surgeon on April 2 and am not sure what he will say. I fear he will want to take some fill out and I really don't like the idea. I want to try to take off at least a few more pounds before the 2nd.