Gummiebear
LAP-BAND Patients-
Content Count
316 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Gallery
Blogs
Store
WLS Magazine
Podcasts
Everything posted by Gummiebear
-
I think my browser has a virus because I cant look anyhing up on my PC. But I can look up sites on my favorites. So I thought I would ask some of you guys since you may know. I have been having pain where my Gal bladder is. Should I be concerned about that? Sometimes it gets hard to breath when its really hurting. I am not sure what the symptoms of gal stones or a bad gal bladder are and I cant look them up. Can gal stones come on then stop hurting or does it just get worse? I know some banded people have trouble with thier Gal Bladders after surgery. If I press on that area it hurts also. Any info would help Thx alot. -Gummie
-
I had a fill a few weeks ago. I felt rather alot of tightness in my back and chest about a week after. Occassionally I am still having the tightness. I have never really had this problem before. I did call the doctor but at the time it had went away. Now its back. I wonder if I need to Relearn how to eat because in the Whole time I have had my band (2006)I have never had any problems eating whatever I wanted and I have never had to do the whole drink slowly thing. I can swollow everything just fine. Foods like onions and peppers I could eat before now give me gas. Its just I feel alot of pressure in my throat/chest/back. One thing my doctor mentioned that that maybe I am having espogeal spasms.. I really dont know much about that. I wonder if it sounds like that could be my issue. or maybe I am just finally at some kind of max resitriction and need to eat better or maybe I am a tad too tight? Any input would be great.
-
I went to the doctors the other day and they told me we would have to start watching my port because it seems the stitches never held and my port is just floating around on its own. I didnt ever get much scar tissue either I guess. Anyone else ever had that happen? I have had my band for 2 years BTW. Also, some of my Fluid has depleated over time, I am not sure how much really but I have less in there then I did 10 months ago when I last went for a fill. She didnt specify how much. I am not sure if thats typical because I was always told that you didnt lose fluid and now I am hearing that you can lose some over time.. IDK..
-
I wonder how many people have actually seen thier surg since you have had your surgery. The place I went to get my Band I have only got to see him once before my surgery and at my operation. I have never seen him again since. Is that typical? I feel like sometimes my doctors office is an assembly line for surgeries and the pt care afterword is not really all that great.
-
Ok is it just me or is this crazy. Our schools policy is that if you are in 2 fights in one year (even walking home from school) and even if your just defending yourself and didnt start the fight you are out for 90 days. Basically the kid is going to have to repeat thier grade level. And this isnt just for older kids it applies to little kids. My son is the smart brainy type so basically het gets picked on a bit and he was in one fight already this year where he was defending himself and was suspended. Then apparently yesterday a kid pushed him over the side of the over pass by the freeway when he was walking home from school and he didnt fight back but there's still a chance he could be suspended for 90 days. This is rediculous!!! Kids who are the victoms are being punished. And what do they want these kids who get picked on to do...Stand there and get the tar beat out of them so they dont get kicked out of school.
-
I was kinda suprised yesterday when my doctor told me that my walking 30 minuets or so a day was not enough. They told me they want me walking everyday for 60 minuets at least. I really do not like to exercize so its not suprise that I am not excited about kicking it up an extra 30 minuets. But I will do what I have to do. I just didnt realize the exercise recommendations were so much. It used to be that when I was walking only a few days a week they were happy with me, maybe that was because I was just getting started.
-
I have Lupus and sometimes when it acts up I have arthitis in parts of my body or sometimes my entire body. Today its in my knees and I dont feel like I can walk hardly at all. Plus I have been sleeping almost all day long this last week because I get really tierd. So I havent been getting much exercize at all. I wonder if I should try to suck it up and gimp my way through my walks or if that it anti-productive really. I am sure alot of people have arthitis and try to exercize anyway. Am I being a wimp? lol
-
Rant on: I fell on a hot wheel this morning and I am certain I need stitches but when I asked the nurse at our hospital just to look at it and tell me her opinion she wouldnt give me a clear answer but said if I wanted I could go to the clinic at 9 oclock. So she pretty much blew me off because it was shift change and she didnt want to do anything. I wont go to our clinic though because I dont like the doctors and we live in a small town so there is no where else to go. I wonder if anyone knows would it be too bad if I just left it and didnt stitch it up.The wound is on my Knee and its about 2 inches long the skin is flapping like an acordian. I dont think a butterfly bandage will hold ths in place either because of location. I hate most nurses and doctors they are such (insert bad word) They never treat patients the way they should not in my part of the country anyway. My friend went in to our doctors because her tooth broke right in half down to the root and they treated her like she was just out to score some drugs. Thats how they treat everyone around here. They also do not respect the Hippa laws because they do stuff like shout patients weight across the room for everyone to hear. How rude is that. Anyway :Rant off. PS if any of you are doctors or nurses I dont mean to offend any of you because I dont know u and am only speaking of people I have had experience with.
-
In our area they say it does. The rule is One hour before school and one hour after school u can not get into any trouble even off school property.
-
Ok so through-out this whole process I have never admitted to myself that I have a problem. I have moaned and groaned to myself about how my restriction isnt good and I haven't lost my last 20-25 pounds. But I came to the realization that I am choosing to be over weight. I now know the band isnt going to do all of the work for me. I choose to eat too much.. I choose to not exersize enough.. I choose to let my hubby sabatosh me.. I dont have to do any of it. I dont have to eat food because its around and I can exersize more. So I have decided today to choose to be thin. No matter how hard it is and even if my band doesnt work as well as other people, I can do it anyway. I dont need great restriction to get off my ass and move around more. So what have I been waiting for? I suppose inside I wasnt really ready but I am choosing to be ready today and tomarrow and the next day. Restriction or not
-
I do the family affair thing. I walk with my kids to school (instead of driving them) which is a mile and a half one way then I walk home. My kids are really entertaining and we have lots to talk about while were walking. Not only am I getting the exercize I need they are getting some aswell. And we have quality time together.
-
WOW I cant believe how awesome you men look. Good Job.
-
1st Step: Admiting There's a Problem
Gummiebear replied to Gummiebear's topic in LAP-BAND Surgery Forums
excuse my spelling my keyboard sucks and so does my spelling lol -
Because I dont feel restriction on with my band and I do have the 9.75 band that holds 4-5cc my doctors want me to do an upper GI this week. They said they believe I have stretched my pouch. The big problem is they also said that if I did they were going to completely unfill me for several weeks. I cant afford to get unfilled then start the whole fill process over again especially since they wont give you more than 0.4 at a time and its 200 bucks per fill. I am sure I have stretched something out because I can eat more than I should be able to. I wonder if in a weeks time until the upper GI if I can start to shrink my pouch on my own and maybe I wont have to get an unfill. I dont know if its possible to shrink anything in this amount of time or not. Whats even worse is what if I am one of those people who have slipped and dont have symptoms with it. I dont know I would do I cant afford to repair something like that. My insurance doesnt cover anything else with the band.
-
There is a branch of the Mormon church that broke off LONG ago and they do practice polygamy but LDS people (Mormons) we do not consider them a part of our church. Also Mormons Do consider themselves Christans, we believe in Christ. I know its hard for non-LDS people to not generalize us into a lump with other churches that call themselves Mormon but religion is one of those thing most people dont understand every aspect of every religion. There are just too many. As for Polygamy many other countries practice this regularly as part of thier culture. Speaking for my own feelings on the matter, I could never see myself being in a situation like this. If I were raised that way maybe I would feel different but I am way too jealous to handle anything like that. As for Polygamy in the US I think it can be a hardship for our country seeing as many of the people (not all) put there wives and children on Welfare to help keep thier families running.
-
I wonder if other people have maybe had some of these issues also. Well since I have gotton my band it seems as much weight as I have lost my husband has gained. I really dont know what to do about it either. I dont think he likes being over weight but he doesnt seem to want to do anything about it. I know its hard to lose weight on your own so I hate to say anything to him. When I was really heavy he never said anything to me about it and he always seemed attracted to me no matter how big I was. But at my largest he did have a semi-quazi affair on me and he says it was nothing to do with my size but my attitude at that time. I have chosen to forgive what occured but I cant help to wonder how much it had to do with my weight. I feel like a hippocrit wanting him to lose weight because he was always gracious about me being fat (but then was he really? IDK). I been thinking and thinking over this time and time again. He doesnt support my weight loss because he says he doesnt want me to lose anymore weight. He doesnt want my boobs smaller, he doesnt want my butt smaller. ect ect. But at the same token I am an enabler about his weight because I allow him to eat my left overs all the time and offer to buy him things at the store that he may not have thought about. I decided I am going to start throwing away my extra food and not share my plate with him anymore. I am also going to not offer to buy things at the store for him. If he wants something bad enough he will think of it himself and go buy it. So we have both made mistake. I wonder if I should even say anything to him about his weight. I know how much it hurts when someone says your fat. I have asked him if he wanted to get the lab-Band once but he says he doesnt. I am not even sure if he would qualify because I dont think hes quite even 100 pounds over weight hes prolly more like 70-80. I still have weight to lose myself so who am I to say anything right? I do worry about his health because sometimes his cholesterol gets high and mine has always been low, even when I was fatter. I am so confused about what to do and about how I feel. He has Really large people in his family so I know he has to fight his DNA a bit but maybe he has some kinda emotional issue going on. I just dont know why he continues to gain weight. He also makes comments like "Screw it I am just going to get fatter" then he does. Anyone have any ideas on what I can do.
-
Snowbird, My doctors guildlines are at least 100 pounds over weight I just assumed that it was that way for everyone but as I am learning everyone has there own rules about everything lol. Also you could be right, I dont really understand him. He says he likes girls with bigger butts and boobs but sometimes hes checken out girls that are smaller then me. Ehh men make no sense to me. I do feel like I should help him but everyone is right he has to want to help himself. I hate hearing comments about his weight from people like his co-workers telling me that I am letting him eat too much ect. It really puts me on the defensive. He is in a job where he is driving all day and its really high stress. He almost never gets to eat with the family so I am not servering him food he usually buys it when hes out working which doesnt help because thats mostly junk. He also blames his weight on our decrease in sexual relations. So I know hes thinking about his weight. He sometimes makes comments like, "You dont want to have sex with me because I am fat huh" when the truth is the last few times we have done anything hes the one whos stopped in the middle of whatever and said I cant finish because blah blah blah.....Then he will make up something lame like I didnt feel like you were into it so I didnt want to finish. So confused....whatever the issue is I hope I can get it resolved quickly and he doesnt seem to be helping me out in the communication department.
-
I am in the same boat as you are. I am a normal (average) size and I still feel like I am really fat. I am also in a size 10 but now I wish I were smaller. My mother-in-law who never has anything nice to say said I was skinny I almost fell over myself. Sometimes I feel like people are saying things like that just to be nice because they are not used to me being smaller.
-
Changing beliefs to fit behaviors
Gummiebear replied to WASaBubbleButt's topic in LAP-BAND Surgery Forums
I can believe some doctor or assistant told them they could eat whatever because thats what happened to me. Also my doctor didnt wait 6 weeks to fill me I was filled in less than 4 weeks. Anyway I hope when something like this happens to someone they can get good advice from the Lap-Band site and learn what most people are told to do. Then use some common sence and think (Hey this doesnt sound right) and ask questions. Hopefully some old timers will respond and tell them whats what. BTW at my doctors office they did a gastric bypass on someone I know. (I didnt know she was going there) Anyway they let her fall off the table during surgery. She also had a stroke and was not informed about it until much later. And she went into a coma after surgery. Then she started to bleed internally and her stomach closed off. She couldnt swallow her own spit. She had another surgery somewhere else to repair the damage. Shes doing ok now but shes suing my doctors office. There was alot more that happened but her medical bills were over a million dollars. Makes u wonder about some of the docs out there. How do u NOT tell a patient they had a stroke during surgery I dont get that and why would she fall off the table /boggles. -
OMG I cannot believe it but I think my fill just kicked it and its been what 3-4 weeks? I tried to eat something that was actually kinda mushy and I couldnt even finish what I put on my plate because I had a kinda stopping point where I knew I couldnt eat anymore and last night I had trouble with a steak. Its like a miracle rofl because i have never felt restricted before (in over a year). I know I have read that it could take up to four weeks for a fill to kick in but I dont think I believed that was possible. =)
-
My kids have me a little annoyed. When it comes to Christmas they are so greedy which can get expensive when u have 3. They all want these really expensive hand held game systems plus a few other really expensive items. I thought maybe instead of presents this year I would give them 100 bucks each which is less than when we normally spend on them but I think they do not know the value of the dollar. Then if they really wanted this item they could put thier money together and buy one and a game or two. They would have to share the system ofcourse and all agree because if one of them wants something else they wont be able to afford it. My hubby doesnt agree with this idea at all he wants to buy them whatever they want but my kids are so spoinled imo I think they should learn a lesson. I wonder if this is a good idea or maybe I am just being a grinch.
-
I wasnt always over weight, when I was younger I was actually really athletic. I think gaining all the weight I did was more of a form of protection for me because of things I experienced in my life. My mother used heroin when I was younger and she was always so out of it she didnt notice the things that were going on around her. So her boyfriend molested me and my sister for about 7 years before they broke up. Then in high school I was almost raped in a taco bell bathroom by a guy I knew from school. I kicked him in the nuts and ran for it after he ripped my clothing. But it was all tramatic for me and I think I gained weight because I didnt want to be attractive to men. I have had alot of theropy so this is why i can come to these conclusions. I also have alot of sex issues (I dont like it). Food became my love, support, and protection anyway I hope thats not TMI.
-
Changing beliefs to fit behaviors
Gummiebear replied to WASaBubbleButt's topic in LAP-BAND Surgery Forums
I dont think that is a mean post at all. personally. I dont know why there are not clear cut guidlines for everyone either. It gets confusing when alot of people are doing something else and makes u wonder if your method is ok or not. Some docs say one week on liquids post-op, others two weeks, and some do not even do pre-op liquids. I am not sure on the stats of slips but some of it I wonder if it has to do with the band being not very old and there not being alot of data yet. And some of it could be peoples diets also. I actually try to follow the advice of what most people do on the site rather then my personal doctor because these are the people who told me I could eat anything I wanted post-op as long as its not greasy. So I try to make things stricter on myself (just in case). I also find that at my doctors office depending on who I see some people are stricter than others. One person tells you that u can eat anything and another yells at you for eating something that may not have been the best choice. How confusing would that be for someone. -
Why did you choose the band over GB?
Gummiebear replied to sleepyjean's topic in LAP-BAND Surgery Forums
The plain simple truth of why I chose the band was the cost. My insurance only pays 10,000 dollars of Any kinda of weight loss surgery. It was my only affordable option. -
I have had quite a few fills but never experienced real restriction from them its just taken me a while. I know I have had some since I have lost almost 100 pounds, but I could eat Alot. I also never felt that stopping point people talk about but I have some of that now finally. Another reason its taken me so long is that I live 400 miles from my doctor so it gets really expensive to get there. So me taking over a year to get good restriction is not typical (Im sure), its just everything had to be really spaced out. GL too you.