Llyra

The nurse that runs the weight loss program at the local hospital and my doctor, god bless 'em, were far more excited than I when insurance approved my surgery. My feelings were a relatively calm, "One thing accomplished, on to the next step." I am pleased with my band, but I'm fairly reserved and not given to jumping with excitement. :smile:

I've been taking Cymbalta for over two years with a recent increase from 60 to 90 mg, which my doctor tells me is fairly common. Haven't noticed any difference before or after surgery in the drug's affect on me.

:thumbup::smile2:

First of all, don't expect support from these folks because they haven't got a clue. When they offer unsolicited opinions, say, "Thank you for your thoughts on the matter," then change the subject and ignore whatever they just said. Repeat as necessary.

Your new life starts with every breath you take. Weight loss is just another step on the path. If stress over finances is so severe right now that it gives you panic attacks, you might need to rethink things. This particular path through life is challenging enough without feeling like a monster is sitting on your chest. :biggrin: You could borrow the deductable from a bank and pay it back, thus helping you establish credit and allowing you to keep your $2000 savings in reserve. If you lose your job and can't make payments on the loan, you'll still have enough in savings to pay it off. You could put surgery off a little longer and get a better financial reserve built up (I know, I know, but anything worth having is worth waiting and planning for). You could bite the bullet, consider the $2000 an investment in your future and quit obsessing about it. You could ask yourself if your choice of this surgeon as the only acceptable surgeon is emotionally based and consider whether a surgeon with a less expensive program is just as good. Whatever you decide, I wish you the best of luck. Just keep in mind that this is just one more step in your life and not a whole new existence.

Hang on, honey. Withdrawal is a bitch, and though it doesn't last forever, it can feel like it does. I had a dreadful experience with anti-d withdrawal a number of years ago, but I survived, found a better medication, and life is good. It will be for you, too. Believe!

The world is full of people without a clue. Pity their ignorance and let whatever they say to you go in one ear and out the other.

Absolutely, resoundingly, categorically, undeniably YES.:biggrin:

I haven't got a clue how much fill I have. My brain doesn't retain numbers too well. :biggrin: I did get a quarter fill yesterday which seems to have gotten me back to the proper restriction. I don't keep a list of what I eat, but generally I eat nuts, vegetables, some fish and game meat, oatmeal, and a bit of junk just to keep me happy. I eat some fruit, too, but somehow don't enjoy it as much as I used to. My exercise consists of caring for three horses and teaching belly dance. I also increase my walking by parking farther away at stores, etc. and taking stairs instead of elevators. I bought a new pair of jeans this week which were 15-16 and therefore four sizes smaller than my largest pair. I wore them to the doc's office and when he saw me in the hall, he said, "Hey, Boney, you need to buy smaller jeans!" I told him I just bought those jeans! He makes me laugh, not an insignificant quality in a doctor. His wife also has a lap band and he understands the situation in a way many docs don't. I'm trying to get by with my extended (size 22 down to 12) wardrobe throughout this winter. Don't want to buy too much I won't be able to wear later. Thank goodness for skirts with elastic waists! Occasionally someone mentions my weight loss, but not as often as you might think. I'm halfway to my goal and it causes me to wonder at times if it shows, but I suspect it's just a matter of having friends who were raised to not make personal remarks. When people do mention it, they come up and quietly tell me they've noticed instead of shrieking, "OMG!" at me across the mall. :lol2: My weight has been up and down for forty years, after all. I don't feel any different emotionally except for a quiet satisfaction. I've been at ease with myself for a good while and realize I am the same person heavy as I am at a normal weight. Physically, though, I am much more comfortable and able to do things that I couldn't do when I was at my top weight. My knees don't hurt as much and I don't tire so fast. And of course I like fitting back into my smaller clothes. I like clothes, love to sew, and it's more satisfying to sew for a more shapely body. Sorry for the length of this. Next person, please!

Realizing that people you've always considered friends are willing to sabotage your efforts to lead a healthy, extended life is a real downer and you have my deepest sympathy. When a person has embarked on a new and demanding way of life and has specifically and repeatedly asked his friends to respect this new lifestyle, any attempt on their part to force feed him or tempt him with food is sabotage. No way is it "not on purpose" once they have specifically been asked to cease and desist. As you said yourself, John, they "have a problem." I think the problem is a combination of fear and envy. All too often we learn that in order to fully embrace our new lifestyle, we have to change the places we go, the activities we pursue and the people we hang out with. I wish you the best of luck, John. You deserve better friends than these.

I wish you the very best of luck, and if you go ahead with the surgery, I'll be here for you 100%. But you are showing very good sense in asking whether you have other options. Lapband surgery is a last resort and not a first or second option. Don't leap into this thinking you've found a miracle cure. By all means find a different doctor and explore the issues mentioned by btrieger above before you take the jump into surgery. Weight Watchers is a great lifestyle program- expensive, but still not as expensive as surgery and follow-up. You might well be one of the people who lose weight on WW and keep it off for years. If you haven't tried it, I recommend you sign up today. If you're mature enough to handle surgery, you're mature enough to try an option like WW first. Good luck to you, honey, whatever you decide! :thumbup:

I hit Onederland this morning: 199.5. 40.5 pounds down, 45 to go. I am in awe of y'all who've lost as much as 80 since March- you are my heros. Time for a fill. Been eating more than usual, including more sweets. It's been a nice vacation and I've enjoyed it, but now I'm ready to settle down and go the next half of the distance. March on, March Bandsters! We need a Marching song, don't we?

Put the scale in a hard to reach cabinet. Take it out once a week (for example on Monday morning), weigh yourself, then put the scale away. Accept that as your weight and don't make yourself crazy (this is 45 years of scale experience talking to you here). The hell with the doctor's scale. What does it know?:thumbup:

I've read a number of these tales now and for the life of me all I can think is, "Why do you think God gave your middle finger the ability to stick up from a fist?":biggrin:

Wow. That's an entire fifth grade basketball team.

I hauled the clothes I just shrank out of over to a friend who is also losing weight, but still not quite as far a long as I am. When she shrinks out of them, she'll pass them on to the next person, etc. until the clothes are worn out. The deal is the same as with baby clothes: you aren't allowed to give any back!

Lifestyle has LIFE as the first syllable. I eat occasional sweets even as I am losing weight, but choose the Cadillacs of sweets and not just some packaged candy bar because I'm starving. One truly excellent piece of coconut cream pie keeps me happy for weeks.

I am so close to ONEderland: one pound. So today I ate mostly junk- one of those psychological kinks by which I can undermine myself and have undermined myself in the past. However: it tasted good, I've had enough, and now it's back to the healthy stuff.

I can't speak for OA, but I've been a member of NA for fourteen years this month and I've heard these same sentiments expressed more times than I can count over the course of those years. Whether you realize it or not, that first sentence describes a 12 step group quite nicely: a place to get help from people who've been through the things similar to those you are experiencing. As for the second sentence: isn't depending on people, friendship and support a form of addiction? I'm not quibbling with you, dear, or trying to trip you up in a game of semantics. You would not be the first person to walk into a 12 step group with an absolute mind set against the idea of a higher power. What most people are really scared of is the "G" word. We don't kick atheists out of NA and we don't try to convert them, either. I knew a woman who decided to make Sean Connery her higher power. Heard of another gal who decided since she couldn't stop the wind from blowing it would be her higher power. Lots of people regard the group conscience as their higher power. Since you haven't been able to save yourself from over eating at this point, you don't have much to lose by declaring the door knob or your own dear inner bitch your higher power and working your way through the steps to get what you can out of them. What the hell- the process has worked for a bunch of us. Might work for you but you won't know until you give it a try. :biggrin:

TWINS? Oh, Sherun, that is so low. Just the thought of twin 15 year old sons is enough to slam shut the band of the most stoic parent. I also have a 17 year old daughter. Some days she is a delight. Other days... well, not so much. (all parents of teenagers gather together for a group hug and a rousing chorus of "we shall over come.")

's all right. I've been known to put my foot in my mouth a time or three. In fact, some days it feels like I only open my mouth to change feet. :thumbup:

For what it is worth, you have my deepest sympathy. My son will be 21 on Tuesday and has a couple of children of his own. I wasn't sure either of us would survive his fifteenth year, though. I've not noticed my own band ever slamming shut, but it seems like a fairly logical reaction to stress, related to having one's stomach twist in knots. Frankly, I'd be grateful for this reaction as opposed to the rection I used to have, which was to eat everything in sight while under stress. Hang in there, Mom. Many of us have survived that fifteenth year with a testosterone laden son with sanity more or less intact. It'll get better one of these days and you will have the satisfaction of watching your child pull his hair out over the antics of his own children.:thumbup:

Liability, hell. What is criminal is the refusal of a doctor to care for a person who is in pain. Don't these people take the Hypocratic oath seriously anymore?

Really interesting material on what is a controversial topic in weight loss! Thanks to everyone who is contributing and especially to Molly for bringing it up.

You might consider reading a bit more about ketosis, which results when the liver is forced to produce ketone bodies during starvation and/or great physical stress. That metallic taste in your mouth is the result of a chemical process that produces acetone in your system which is released into your breath and your urine. There is some serious discussion about whether or not the liver is stressed during ketosis. I haven't had pain or metallic taste during my six months with the band. In fact, I only ever experienced these things as a very young woman when I thought a diet of about 400 calories a day was a normal way to lose weight. At the very least, you should discuss it with your doctor. Pain and acetone breath is not normal with weight loss.