Lisa99

Be careful with the DEET if you've never used it before. It makes the ends of my fingers tingle and then I get short of breath!! If you decide to go that way, you might want to try it at home before taking it on your trip.

Process engineer for an IT company

I agree that there should be a flat tax. I'm in the same bracket as you Wheetsin and it annoys the HECK out of me that people who make tons more than we do have attorneys that get them out of paying most of their rightful taxes. The other thing that gets my blood boiling is the marriage tax. Just because we're married and our salaries are combined we're taxed at a higher rate!! Grrrrr

My surgeon uses the 4cc band and the 10cc band. He decides which to use one he is in surgery and looks at the anatomy of the stomach. I have the 4cc, DH has the 10cc. As for the amount of fill they can hold, I have no clue since I'm fairly newly banded.

0 - 12 - Fat baby and stayed that way until I was about 12 (a favorite uncle used to "lovingly" call me "fat cat" when i was little...everybody thought it was funny, I didn't). 12 - 23 - was an athlete and cheerleader in school so I lost all of the baby fat and kept it off. After high school, got married and had a son. From 15 - 23 weight was 125. 23 - marriage started falling apart and within a year I weighed 175!! Divorced at 25 and my weight dropped back to 140ish. 29 - remarried to my DH, weighed about 140. He's a big guy and I found myself eating more than I ever had. We also ate out A LOT. Over the years the weight crept up. We dieted together several times and were successful but it never stayed off. 45 - Heaviest of my life at just over 200. Decided to follow in DH footsteps and get the lapband. Best decision of my life!

1 scrambled omega 3 egg with turkey sausage, onion, mushroom and tomato mixed in.

I agree with Jack completely! I had a craving for McD's FFs a few weeks ago. Gave in and bought them, ate one, chewed it to goo and it was the most revolting thing I've ever eaten. By chewing it that much the texture was awful and all I could taste was the grease. It left a film in my mouth for hours....needless to say, my french fry craving is forever gone!! :clap2: Once you're to the "normal" food stage, what I've found that stops a salty craving is to buy a small single serving bag of baked lays potato chips. By doing a small bag "in the moment" they aren't in the house to cause temptation.

Thanks, that helps a lot.

My eating habits changed radically after the band. During the week I eat nothing "processed" and don't eat dairy, wheat or sugar. I eat a lot of grilled chicken and turkey, salmon, Omega 3 eggs, Protein shakes and tuna. Also eat lots of veggies and fruits. On the weekend I eat more calories and less strictly, but I don't go overboard. It really seems to help me lose the weight to keep calories different from day to day and the weekend is for with cravings (mexican food is for weekends) Good luck,

Hi AZ, I'm so sorry you and your wife are going through this rough time. I too have a husband who travels 100%, and even though I have a career, it gets very lonely. We don't have children so I can't even imagine what it would be like to be a stay-at-home mom with a husband who travels. Since it sounds like you're comfortable financially, have you thought about giving your wife some "me" time? Maybe start with giving her a week at a spa (if she's into that kind of thing) so that she can get back in touch with the person beyond the mom and wife. You might want to follow up with having a nanny come in one day a week so your wife can get out of the house. Being a wife and a mom is a wonderful thing, but it is so important to help her remember that she was the wonderful woman that you fell in love with before she became the wife and mom...help her find that person again. Good luck in your journey

Pre-surgery: 16/18 Now: 12/14 Goal: 6

DH had it done last March. Watching him lose 80 pounds eating smaller portions of normal food made me realize that my yoyo dieting could stop if I went the same path as him.

It's like comparing apples and oranges. The stastics he quoted about complications were based on the device used in Europe in the early 1990s. It is not the band used today and the procedure has been improved....but there's always a way to spin something any way one wants.

Centrum chewables are good too. Just one per day since they are adult vitamins

I was self-pay. The doc's price was $16000 if I financed, but $15000 if I paid by cashier's check by the day of surgery.

MY Dallas-based surgeon had no issues with my starting BMI of 32.3 I had no co-morbidities, but have sleep apnea, have some back issues, have a bad knee and have a family history of heart disease and diabetes. I was self-pay and would do it again in a flash. Good luck!

Two weeks, but I could have scheduled the next week if I would have wanted to.

Only had one but the fill center we go to only does it with fleuro. I really liked being able to see what the restriction looked like.

I think the reason that you're still hungry after the Protein shake is that the shake goes right through the band. It's my understanding from my band doc that the "full receptors" of the stomach are right at the top of the stomach, so if you drink your calories the full receptors really never kick in.

Hi Christina, My stomach regularly does the same thing!! It's REALLY weird feeling and sounds strange. I got my first fill on Thursday and the fleuro showed that there was a lot of air in my stomach and that was causing all of the weird noises. It seems that when I drink I take in air as well...the doc suggested a couple of Gas-X chewables to get rid of the air, but long-term he told me I needed to learn to drink and eat without swallowing as much air. Good luck with the grumbling tummy!

I'll do that!

Hi everyone, My husband, who was banded in March 2006, has a strange occasional pain about 2" below his port and the skin above where he's experiencing the pain is numb. He describes the pain as a burning sensation, but it is only noticable if he bends over or stretches. The pain started the day after he got his last fill. Has anyone experienced this? We're guessing that the woman who did the fill hit a nerve. She was new and had to "dig around" to find the port (my husband's words...ich). He's calling the surgeon tomorrow, but I was wondering if anyone else has experienced something like this? Thanks

I had problems eating like a bandster pre-band, just seemed "weird" to be eating like that. Once I got banded I took it more seriously. I don't drink with my meals, but I was still having a problem eating a bite that was too big and not chewing well enough. Didn't cause a problem until I had a fill. First time I ate eggs post-fill I was eating too fast and got some egg stuck. It wasn't a bad one, it went down in about 30 seconds, but after that I got a drinking straw and put it on the table to remind myself just how small the opening really is...that one little trick has helped remind me to slow down, take little bites and chew well.

I haven't been banded long, but I hiccup once or twice when I've had enough.

I've had enough of the demon scales! I realized this morning that I was falling back into my old addictive ways of obsessing about my weight...this happens every time I'm on a "diet". Every day starts something like this...get up, get on the scale, if weight is up feel depressed and a failure, if the weight is down, euphoria. I know it is not logical and I know that there are fluctuations, but the lapband was about taking control of my life. It's not a diet and it's not short term, so starting today I will not let the scales rule me. I've put them on a very high shelf in the garage and will only get them out one day each month when I have to weigh and call the doc with my progress. I do have goals though: my long-term goals are to comfortably wear a size 8, be able to ride a bicycle for 50 miles and to be in good enough shape to be able to go trekking on the Inca trail in Peru by my 46th birthday. Thanks for listening...I really missed you guys while the server was down!