marjon9

I would like to hear your thoughts. I don't mean this in an inflammatory sense directed toward you at all, but I want to add it is simply impossible for me to imagine how anyone could find that paladin's post is not disrespectful. In the world we live in today, it is totally unacceptable to discuss racist views in almost every setting. But it is not the least bit unacceptable for the highest officials of government, like the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, for example, to state publicly that gay people are immoral beings who choose to live a life filled with abominable acts. Can you imagine what it is like for a gay child to grow up surrounded by such unimaginable hatred and condemnation from the society they live in? The pain we are willing to inflict on our fellow human beings is just breathtakingly unconscionable. I've studied this issue extensively, and every gay person I've ever spoken to or read about or heard about, every one of them speaks of the time they "realized" they were gay. And this is usually quite young, long before puberty. Not a single one, and I mean not a single one, ever experienced this moment as a "choice." I know, I know, homosexuality was condemned by THE WORD OF GOD!! Whatever. Believe what you want. But even if you do believe that, how can you be willing to cause such pain to your fellow humans? Can't you just believe it a keep your mouth shut? Christians claim to be following a religion based on love, forgiveness, compassion. Yet you freely destroy lives and cause unimaginable pain and self-loathing in some of the people around you (including your friends, you brothers, your sisters, whether you know it or not) by insisting that the thing that goes to the center of their being is an "abomination." Can you imagine living in a world that gives you that message from the time you are born? Shame on you all for your ignorance and cruelty.

In my experience, your typical conservative Christian homophobe places two types of individuals into the category "Homosexual." These two types are: a. Homosexuals, and b. Anyone who does not despise homosexuals. That is what I think paladin was really driving at. From his point of view there are just too many people on this forum who so wrongfully refuse to despise homosexuals, and that therefore they are, in his mind, homosexuals.

I'm a bit suspicious because this guy's first name is Artery. A guy named Artery VanHarden should not be selling cheese pizzas. (Get it? :heh:)

I understand how you feel when this man made the comment about the all white church, but I also find that I basically agree with TOM. It's really hard to be black in America. And in some ways it's even harder now that most whites feel like they have overcome racism. Black people are surrounded by white people who seem friendly and genuinely believe they are not racist, and yet, over a lifetime, black people almost always earn less and get fewer promotions on the job, get stopped by the police while driving about 10 times more often than white people, receive inferior health care as a matter of course, etc. So the racism is institutionalized and insidious, and much less overt. I can imagine that a world like this can make a person a bit crazy, and a bit angry. I lived in Alabama for two years and the people there have made huge progress with racism, but in all fairness there is no doubt that it is even harder for blacks in the South, even today. Only forty years ago there were lynchings, blacks at the back of the bus, white-only lunch counters, etc. Some of this was found in the North but the South was worse. So, I'm not trying to suggest in any way that myfoursons is really a racist or anything of that nature. I'm just saying that I can understand why a lot of black people are angry. Perhaps it's patronizing on my part to "cut them some slack," but I admit that I find myself doing that.

Tomorrow morning is soon. There's just no other way to put it. So, good luck. In 24 hours you'll join us on the Light Side. Looking forward to hearing how it goes.

After watching George Bush and Dick Cheney all these years, I would think that you have learned a great deal about warlike personalities. And you are right, you're going to need them. I'm assembling a team right now and we are planning on heading toward British Columbia. And it's not to visit Victoria Gardens, if you see what I mean. We are going to start an avocado orchard in anticipation of the New Order.

Each doctor is different, so you really need to check with your doctor/nutritionist. Opinions from people here can't really answer your question. Having said that, I will offer an opinion. I do not believe that pickles qualify as a "liquid." If you are on a liquid post op diet, which I think everyone is for a while after surgery, I do not believe pickles fit the bill. Also, just from my own personal perspective, I would find it sort of tough to eat only pickles, even if they were allowed. Maybe you want to think about a compromise, and try Pickle Soup?

I've only been banded a couple months, but in my short experience I would say that Mark's advice above is exactly right. It's hard to get in tune with that feeling where if you take just one more bite, it will be a serious problem. It's not like that before banding. If you feel full before banding, and you take another bite, it might add a tiny bit of discomfort, but it's no big deal. Once you have the band, if you feel full, but take just one more tiny bite, it can mean hours of pain. Do any of you guys remember that Monty Python movie where the fat guy goes into the restaurant, eats 3 tons of food, and then says, "I can't eat another bite!" Then he eats a tiny after dinner mint and explodes, exposing his rib cage and beating heart? Having the band is sort of like that. If you "can't eat another bite," the don't!!

My response to that is, if you don't want to "accept" gay marriage, the don't. How are you affected if someone else decides that they want to get married? No one is asking you NOT to get married. Why is it your business what someone else does? If someone else wants to get married and you don't want to accept it, then don't. As for overturning ROE, that is not the issue. The issue is that conservative Christians believe they have a right to control what someone else does. No "liberal" is telling you that you have to have an abortion. You have no right to tell a pregnant woman what choice she MUST make in this area. I, for one, hate abortion. I hope there is never another one on this earth. But I am not so arrogant to believe that I have a right to make that decision for someone else. As for the evolution, school is the place where people learn about science. No one is stopping you from teaching your kids anything you want about your religious beliefs, but it does not belong in school.

The thing about that band that can be frustrating is that results vary so much from person to person. Not only results, but other things as well. Some people are ready to go back to work the day after surgery. Some people need two weeks. Some people find that their surgery incisions heal in days, others take weeks. Some people can't eat steak or chicken, others had no problem, etc. etc. As for weight loss results, the answer is the same here too, each person is different. There is just no other answer to your question. Some of this is based on the actions of the person (do they stay on the bandster program or do they eat chips and ice cream; do they exercise or not). But some of it is just different for people who act the same way in relation to their band. Some people who eat right lose slowly, others who eat right lose quickly. So, try not to get hung up on the results one person has over another. All you can do is focus on yourself and do the best you can. Also, keep in mind that if your doctor's predictions are correct, you will have fabulous results over the next year. Even if you only lose a pound a week, that's 100 pounds in two years. How likely is it that you would do that without the band? If you did that from diet and exercise, everyone would think you were the miracle kid. And with the band, it is likely to stay off. And the band is reversible, and relatively complication-free compared to bypass. So, all you can do is just do the best you can, think long term, and try not to worry about other people's results. Everyone is different with the band.

I agree that liberals are intelerant of conservative Christians. I am liberal and I am intolerant of conservative Christians. But the difference I see is this. Conservative Christians want to tell other people that the way they are living is sinful and wrong. Liberals just want to tell conservative Christians to mind their own business. There is a big difference there. I don't feel any need at all to make conservative Christians think the way I do, or change the way they are in any way. Conservative Christians don't take that approach. They want to legislate their own beliefs and force other people to be the way they are. They feel that because they think homosexuality is a sin, that society in general should legislate to reject homosexuality. The military should reject gay people, the Constitution should be amended to forbid marriage of gay people, etc., etc. In RESPONSE to this, liberals say to conservate Christians, shut up and mind your own business. As a liberal, I want to say to conservative Christians: If you don't support homosexuality, then don't be gay (Ted Haggard comes to mind, but that's a different issue). If you don't support abortion, don't have one. If you want to pray in school, do it, why does somebody else have to do it also just because you want to? What business is it of yours how somebody else lives? There is a big difference between liberals and conservative Christians. Conservative Christians want to force the rest of the world to live by their beliefs. Liberals just want everyone to mind their own business. I don't know a single liberal person who feels the need to force conservative Christians, through legislation and Constitutional amendments, to change and live by the values of a liberal.

I don't know the answer to the question. I wish I did. I lost over 30 pounds in a matter of weeks after surgery, and then, just stopped. I still eat less than half what I used to, but just no more weight loss. It's true, I don't exercise much, but that was also true when I lost 30 pounds right after surgery. I may be on a plateau, whatever that is. I really don't know. I work so much it's hard to get into a regular exercise program. I know I "must," but I don't know how to do it. I don't really have a choice to work less. I'm really happy to have lost the 30 pounds. I feel much better already. But I want to keep it going.

Only your doc can answer about this but you are correct to check. Warm to the touch is often a sign of infection. But there is no point in speculating or worrying until you know the facts. Just be assertive with the doc. This is something that should be checked out asap. If no response from the doc I'd even consider going to the emergency room. I don't mean to worry you but if it is an infection it could get worse pretty quickly.

If you are still having significant pain for much longer the doc should definitely hear about it. Rarely does major pain from the surgery go much longer than a week. Discomfort continues, but major pain is rare after a week or so. If you are still feeling this much pain in a few days you should check with the doc. It may be normal, but you should check.

In general, I feel like I am owed an apology for anything Ron Cusano says or does. And, to drift into the parallel universe, I also love Harold & Maude. I offer, for your consideration, the Twilight Zone, where everything is not as it appears.

This is the first thread I've seen on this forum that functions simultaneously in two parallel universes. I just can't get the Twilight Zone theme out of my head!

The odds are really good that you'll be fine in two weeks. Just try to get better. If you start to get close to the date and still not better, you'll need to talk to the doc. It's funny, it seems like half the people on this forum wind up getting a cold just before surgery. I know I did. I won't try to figure out the psychology of it, but it is interesting. Anyway, with two weeks you have a very good chance of recovering well enough by then. Try and get better. Don't do any Polar Bear swims, or anything like that.

All that stuff is normal. Most people who have the lap band say to themselves at one point "why don't I just diet and exercise and do it myself. They say the lap band is just a tool and you have to do the work. So why not just do the work without the band?" Most of us have gone through that. But the fact is, it's almost impossible in this society to lose major weight through diet and exercise. There is virtually zero chance you are going to do it alone, just like all the rest of us. That's just the harsh reality. With the band you still have to work, and watch what you eat, but the band gives enough of a boost to make major weight loss actually possible. It's that helping hand that makes all the difference and helps put you over the top. Think about it for a while if you want to. At your age you can afford to do that. But at some point you will realize, like we all have, that this is probably the only real chance we have to deal with major obesity. In the meantime don't be down on yourself for having doubts and raising questions. That is totally normal. You are going about the process just right.

I'm convinced this thread was ghost written by Ron Cusano. I think Ron was starting to get bored because few people were biting on his "trolling" attempts on the other thread. As for me, I'm a liberal, atheist, gay, black whale. Will you be my friend?

As others have said it is a good idea to be open to the possibility that your preferences in food will change. I know it is hard to imagine that you will ever lose your taste for beer, steak and pizza, but it could happen, and often does. The thing to keep in mind, though, is that this is a good thing. It means that you do not need to suffer as you struggle to give up the things you really want. Often you just stop wanting them. Pizza is one of those things that may well drop from your list of "must haves." When you really think about it, the quality of the ingredients in most pizza is pretty weak. Since you eat less with the band, you really do start to focus in more on the quality items. After a while it just becomes sort of beneath your standards to eat white flour crust, processed cheese-food, reconstituted quasi sausage, and canned pizza sauce. Yes, some pizza is better than that, mainly in good Italian restaurants. And if it is made from quality ingredients, you may well still be interested in eating it, and still able to eat it. As for beer, that is a tough one if that is part of your job. You really are supposed to stay away from carbonated items if possible. I think some people find that they can have an occassional soda or beer, but I'm not sure about every day. You might want to ask you doc about that.

I went through the same process as Lap dancer. I was interested in Dr. Ortiz, but then discovered Dr. K for just about the same price. I felt that my aftercare options would be better in the U.S. and that I would be better protected in the small chance of complications. So, I went that route and it turned out great. I highly recommend Dr. K and his staff. But, of course, many many bandsters are happy with Dr. Ortiz and other Mexican doctors. I do not think that would be a bad choice at all.

I'll toss in a few comments. It seems to me that since you are seeing the doctor soon you should be fine. It does not sound like there is any infection or even drainage happening, so it does not sound like an emergency. I think you do want the incisions to heal by this time, five weeks after surgery, so it should be checked out. But a few more days should not be a problem. I was a slow healer too, but by five weeks all the incisions were closed.

I also feel like it must make some difference how big you are or whether male or female. It seems like a one-size fits all of 800 or 1200 or whatever is probably not entirely accurate.

I think the idea is that you can get constipated after surgery, so it's best to get a "running" start, if you see what I mean. Some people do it with laxatives, I guess the doctors of people on the other threads prefer the more direct approach.

I think it's good, especially blended with fruit or yogurt. It's fine straight, just a little bland. No bad taste to it at all. I only know of on line places to get it. Here's one: http://www.nextag.com/micellar/search-html As for signing up, I'm the only North American agent for signing up for Micellar Milk. I've got you down on the list now, so you are officially signed up. :heh: