weenette

Wow Peaches, that really sucks. :car: I'm planning a trip to Panama in January and was going to go for a small defill just after Christmas. Maybe I'll just stick with the fill I've got and avoid the whole "pre-existing condition" question. Better to not be able to pig out :hungry: than to not have medical coverage...just in case. Thanks for the heads-up.

Rose, I live in Whitby and have been banded since Sept 2006. It's very easy to be nervous, but this is the best thing you can do for yourself. The pre-op and post-op diets are, in my opinion, the hardest part about this journey. If we were able to eat small portions, we wouldn't be in this predicament in the first place. Which pre-op are you on? Optifast or yogurt and cottage cheese? Being with TLBC, I was given the yogurt and cottage cheese diet, but since I don't eat cheese, I was told that I could eat 1 lean chicken breast each day (along with the yogurt). I just made sure that I cut that chicken into the smallest bites possible and ate them one at a time to make the meal last longer. Drink lots and lots of Water. I drank tea but I don't use any sweetener and only a drop of milk. I found the post-op harder than the pre-op, but everyone is different. I also believe that TLBC has modified their diets since I had my surgery, so it may be easier now. I am one of those people that is losing weight fairly slowly. I have lost 70lbs since Sept. but my level of exercise is still minimal (I'm just being lazy). I still have trouble eating small enough bites. I've just recently lost my father, and without the band I -know- that I would have put on a major amount of weight, but because I'm banded I've still managed to lose 1 or 2 pounds in the past couple of weeks. I try to think of the band as a traffic cop. Until I'm smart enough to look at a plate of food and recognize whether it has too much on it, the band will do that for me. One of my problems is when I get the signal and there's still food that I -really- love left on the plate I have trouble pushing the plate away. It's not always a pleasant experience, especially if you ignore the signals from the band. People can describe "sliming" and "getting stuck", but you really need to experience them for yourself. But hey, I was at the Canadian Bandster Bash in May and there were people there that had been banded longer than me and they'd never experienced sliming. :banana I still say that the decision to get banded was the best gift I ever gave myself. I have not regretted the decision. Not once. This procedure gave me back my life. I no longer waddle. I can get up off the toilet without having to push up off the counter. My knees and ankles don't hurt anymore. I can bound up the stairs (I'd say run, but I'm not quite there yet) where I used to lumber up and then have to rest to catch my breath. You can read all over the many boards that are online and you will find that the majority of people say the same thing. It's the best decision they ever made. If you have any specific questions, please email me and I'll be happy to answer them for you. Relax...it will all work out.

I just spoke with someone at TLBC. She assures me that receipts will be issued within the next few days. Sg_sg, let's hope that they arrive before our cutoff date given by CRA.

Well, my user name has a pretty corny beginning. When I met my husband, his hobby was (and still is) working/playing on computers. I started calling him the "computer weenie" :nerd: . Then I asked him to show me how to "tune up" my own computer (seriously, I really wanted to know how to work on a computer! It wasn't -just- a ploy to get closer to him...honest! ). Well, when he had passed on enough information that I could seriously damage other people's computers we decided that I needed a name, but I couldn't be a "weenie" too, so I became "weenette".

Thanks for the warm welcome... :yo: *waves back* I've been lurking for a few months and enjoy reading about the trials and tribulations of the numerous 'regulars'. I have to be careful not to read too many of these things at work though, you've all made me laugh out loud on more than one occasion. I got "banded" on Sept 22 2006 by Dr. Joffe at TLBC and have just recently learned the true meanings of sliming and pbing! Oh isn't THAT fun! I will try "not be a stranger", but I've never been much of a 'poster'. But hey! ya never know... Thanks again for the welcome.

I agree 110% ... GORGEOUS blue eyes. He'll be fine as the new Bond...mighty fine... :hungry: Oh, he can act too! Deb Banded Sept 22 2006 TLBC