honk

The bride knowing your dilema makes this so much easier (I am a big panicker and not being able to express my concerns would make me a wreck.). I also think it's ironic that you're concerned that the dress will be to big and the other's are worried about them being to small. A dress that's a little to big is better than one that's too tight. I had a coworker who wore a bridesmaid dress that was very form fitting (she was size 4/6); the dress tore up from the slit in the back. She had to sew up the rip in the bathroom!

I dont' think you specifically need a personal trainer. When I went for my first consult with the surgeon (I have PPO so dont' need a referral to a specialist) I brought a print out of all my visits to the gym. I had been going to the gym every day for a year and they ran a report of every time I checked in at the front desk. Most gym's today are all computerized and you check in with a key card. So if you have'nt joined a gym I would do so now. Personally I prefer to swim (when I was a kid I hated lap swimming; but the private gym I attend uses wayyy less chlorine.) I have a water proof MP3 player which makes swimming so much more enjoyable. Also many health insurance/and or employers offer discounts for gym memberships (my previous employer even had a very nice onsite gym that was $10 a month). Ask your insurand and your HR department if there are specific gyms at which you can get a good rate. FYI I think sign on gym fees are a rip off. In this economy I would negociate a deal where you don't pay one.

I think that is really hard. From my first consult to surgery I lost 50 pounds. I am 3 Months out from surgery and do not have restriction and have lost another 21 pounds. I lost a lot in the first month and now things have really slowed down (did I mention I don't have restriction? grrr). I swim an hour a day 7 days a week. I wonder if I am losing slower than others because I had significant weight loss pre-surgery. Based on my own situation I would'nt buy a dress and plan on loosing 40 pounds in 4 months. You might or you might not. Is your family aware of you surgery? At the very least I think you need to have a frank discussion with the person doing the alterations. If you don't want the bride to know than be very explicit with the person doing alterations such as "I am not telling people about the surgery; which means you are not allowed to discuss this with your coworkers or with the bride." You should ask for the cost of each fitting and be willing to pay for additional alterations (sometimes shops include one fitting in the price of the dress and you may need more than one fitting). I remember reading that Princess Diana had to have mulitple fittings for her wedding dress because she lost so much weight that her waist went down 3 inches.

I think you may have restriction at 3 ccs. One thing to consider is that as you loose weight you might loose around your stomach this could affect the fit of the band around your stomach. At that point you might need more fill (so the band will be tighter) to feel restriction. Remember the band is not around metal or plastic but living/swelling/contracting human tissue.

I think you need to up your calories. Are you on mushies now? If so you should really be having BMs. During this phase I was adding Unflavored Benefiber to everything (soup, protein shakes, cottage cheese, yoghurt). I bought a big container at Costco that lasted me 3 months. Check out Calories per Day Calculator - BizCalcs.com you can get an idea of how many calories it takes to just keep the "lights" on (heart, circulation, brain).

My doctor has a minimum of 2 week wait so at 20 days you should be fine.

I currently work from home so I have'nt been buying new clothes. I have lost 75 pounds since last Thanksgiving so most of my stuff is to big. I was laid off about 16 months ago and have been on a virtual contract. In general I am smaller on top than bottom. So suits that have the top and bottom as one purchase never work for me. I would look at stores that have matching separates (Right now I am a 24 bottom and a XL/1X top.). When I go on interviews for a)regular job my next contract I also dress Business. Keeping in mind I work in HR we are a little more touchy feely; I go for colored jackets with black skirt. If the skirt is really non discript you can pull off the jacket being different.

I do an hour of lap swimming everyday and the is nothing quite like a water proof MP3 player. LOVE IT. You can find them on Amazon. About $100 but since I go every day it paid for itself, at a dollar a day in just over 3 months. Personally I like lap swimming more than water aerobics. In swim cap is a must and special chlorine shampoo or your hair will be a wreck.

First fill 4 CC, second 2, third 1. After the third I had some restriction but that has pretty much subsided; now almost two weeks out.

Making faces behind your back? Seriously? He's a smart alec so he can be rude to you? Ah ya no. The idea that you do a behavior (drink) so it's okay for him to do a behavior (make faces) is a stupid argument. Personally I would rather have a snicker bar than two glasses of wine; but that's me. I don't say this lightly but I think you need some space. I think one of you needs to move out. I would however get counsel on that because there could be laws about abandonment in regards to divorce. Esp if you have children. Verbal abuse is still abuse. Life is too short to live with someone who has decided to demean you.

My answer would be if you can get a morning fill on the 23 you will probably be able to eat by noon of 25. My family has a pretty large Thanksgiving with my sisters' inlaws and my brother's step children. They don't know about my surgery and I would'nt really want to discuss it or make up reasons why I was'nt eating. I have been pondering seeing if I can get a fill on Monday or Tuesday as I don't have any restriction and Monday will be two weeks since my last fill.

FYI when you ask for copies of your medical files they may charge you for them. I was once chaged $15 for 3 photocopied pages:confused:. Just wanted to let you know so you don't feel blindsided.

I am actually a little concerned about your daughter trying to hold on to you from behind. The port area is pretty sore for about a month. If she got frightended and squeezed really hard in that area. It would really hurt. I would hate for you to have an accident because she tighted her arms, hurt you, and you were distracted which led to an accident. Yes I am a worry wart.

I did not really see much restriction until 7 cc's. Clearly you should follow your doctors rules. My doctor directs to have 24 hrs full liquids and then 24 hrs mushies so that while your stomach is reacting to tightened band you are not irritating it with solids/hard foods. I work from home so I don't have to worry about eating in public after a fill. If I was eating at work after a fill and was concerned I would probably go with mushies for the first couple days.

I was really good the day after the surgery but no way could I have cooked Thanksgiving dinner. I highly recommend getting one of those "catered meals" from the grocery store. You will need to make your order soon though. As for your reasons for not telling your children I see your point. I do not however agree. The body image thing was something I worried about with my 13 year old neice. She has clearly seen both my and my sisters' struggle with weight. Though my sister has never been as overweight as me. Luckily my neice took after he maternal grandmother and will be tall and thin. I had no intention of having this be something that everone in the family knew about and she did'nt. I don't know your children but teenagers are a lot smarter than perhaps we like to think. When you start to loose weight could they worry that you are sick or perhaps dying and not telling them? Not to sound alarmist but if my mother suddenly lost a lot of weight I may have dreamt up all kinds of stuff. When I was a senior in college my mother decided to have a lump removed from her breast. It had been there a long time and the doctor did not think it was a problem. My mother who had lost 1 parent and 3 siblings to cancer decided it had to go. She had the procedure and did not tell any of us. Later when she told me she said she did'nt want to worry me during my exams but I was really hurt.

I think they are safe for the device. Also keep in mind if you refuse the scan you will have to be hand searched; and the new regulations require it to be fingertips in rather than back of hand. Not trying to start a argument just want people to know the new rules. I would rather have the xay than have a security person touching my genitals open palm. Yes, you can ask for a same sex security person to do the search if you decide against the scan.

You'll have to ask your doctor but my doctor submitted to the insurance with my first weight in. He told me to loose 30 pounds presurgery. Though even with that weight loss I was still above 40 BMI. I know you don't want to hear it but I had to delay my surgery for 6 months because of recovering from a mini stroke. I ended up loosing 54 pounds. The more you loose presurgery the lower your eventual weight. Also the more you loose before the surgery the easlier it is on your body. Does your employer have medical expense accounts? Now that we are heading in open enrollment you might want to look into it. You fund that account with PRE Tax dollars and can use it for qualified medical expenses; such as doctors visits. Without this type of account you pay the doctor with after tax dollars (about 25% tax burdon). This could say you a lot of money if you have to pay for doctors' visits out of pocket.

I think it's important to understand that everyone uses the band slightly different. There are some people on this board whose band is so tight they can't eat most solid proteins. I don't intend to live like that. You will need to determine how much "help" you want from the band and go from there.

My understanding is that the actual number of deaths due to Lap Band SURGERY is pretty low. My guess is that the Urband Legends of people dying during the surgery is 10 times the number of people that actually do. I think it is important to remember that sometimes things happen in surgery or any medical procedure really that nobody expects. We don't stop having these procedures because of the fear. Woman die, even in America, in childbirth but it's so rare that it's news when it happens. My mother had both hips replaced (she was 70 the first time and 78 the second); yet Red Sox great Carl Yastrzemski's son died at 43 from hip replacement surgery. If your doctor thinks you are healthy enough to undergo surgery that's the important thing. You can't worry about arbitrary comments from people who don't understand the surgery or may have an agenda against you or the surgery.

I totally get what you mean about feeling full but not satisfied. For me it's about wanting something sweet like having dessert. Which is funny because prebanding I did'nt not really have dessert after eating to full. I think is does help to have a couple grapes so that I think that I've had a treat/dessert.

You know it's funny more than half off the food ads on TV actually gross me out. Even presurgery when I would read a menu that said " smothered in sauce/gravy/whatever" it really grossed me out. Especially when fod advertisers want to sound homesy or folksey the wording they use just does'nt make the food sound appealing. One thing to consider is if you see a food ad from a chain restaurant most of them list the nutritional values on their websites. I looked up Chili's Burger Bites with Fries meal and it has 1,000 cal wit 90 g of fat. I never ate them again (and this was preband). So if you see an ad check out the calorie content that will probably heal you of wanting to eat it.

I would speak to your doctor's office and see how much time you need to have between fills. Mine is also two weeks. While they are often booked weeks in advance; I call and ask if they have any cancellations. I work from home so my calendar is flexible. I would keep cut up chicken breast in the fridge so you can have a solid Protein snack. I often have a a large gap between lunch and dinner (since I go to the gym between them); I keep Premier RTD Protein shakes in the fridge (160 cal 30 g of protein). If you don't have BP issues my nurse recommended dill pickles for a crunchy snack because they have very little calories. I feel you pain. Presurgery I was on my own diet and was loosing more than I am with the band prerestriction. Frustrating.

You need a copy of the eval which you have a right to. Get it and call the insurance company and ask for your case manager and find out what the problem was.

If you have access to Costco they have a nice Ready To Drink Premier Chocolate protein shake 160 cal for 30 g protein. I like Gold Standard Brand (Vitamin Shoppe) Double chocolate Whey Protein Powder. I find Vitamin Shoppe prices wayyyy better than GNC (they also will take it back if you don't like it). Since you can have dairy then you can make the shakes with fat free milk which makes them taste much better. I also got a Hamilton Beech single serving blender ($15 at Walmart/Kmart) and added ice cubes and milk cubes to give the shakes more of a frappe feel (frappe is New England for ice cream based milk shake). If you run searches on this site you will find recipes for things to add to the shakes (like fat/sugar free pudding powder). I have also had the Muscle Milk Light Chocolate which was okay (do not get the Regular version much to high in calories.) FYI I also add splendra to the home made shakes (If I am at 800 cal a day I can have fake sugar). I find the Isopure RTD fruit drinks to be horrible.

I was'nt really "hungry" except perhaps the last day of each stage. The bigger issue was the borecom of my food options. Clear broth/stock is boring (let's face it). My last 2 days of clears I strained soup and drank the liquid. My mother said she did'nt mind eating the solids but I kind of felt bad (I told her she could have her own regular soup but she refused to let me through the solids from mine away.) I was also so happy to move to full liquids, again I was bored with what I was eating. By the end of two weeks I def. had more of an appetite than I'd had originally.