Shiloh

Ariana Huffington was on Larry King last night discussing Ann Coulter's remarks and she said something that I agreed with and expressed herself beautifully. AH is a very bright and articulate woman unlike AC! She felt that the news stations had a responsiblity to effectively ban her from talk shows since she doesn't usually have the correct facts as pointed out by Tom and others and that she only speaks for shock value.She shouldn't be given a forum on legit shows like Chris Matthews, MSNBC and Fox. Apparently, she hasn't been on CNN since 2005. Ariana also talked about the people at that conference where she called Edwards a faggot... they at first were shocked but then applauded her. They may have criticized her remark but not her. She somehow gets excused as a person when others wouldn't. She should not be allowed a forum on shows other than Sean Hannity who is great fan of hers and even didn't think that her remarks about the NJ 9/11 widows who were "harpies" were out of line. Bill O'Reilly was the only FOX talk show host to blast her about her remarks on his radio show and on the air. He is a bright guy who I share very little with politically but respect his educational background and he tends to call many things "fairly". I agree with Carlene and actually have evil thoughts about what could be done to her. She isn't just mean spirited but seems to take so much pleasure "hurting others" by her nasty mouth. I would never buy a book of hers or bother to "listen" to her unless she is being held accountable for her words in a news piece. She engenders such hatred among people and is no better than Louis Farrakan or the Pres. of Iran who "spew vomit from their mouths". Glad to see her name here. I rarely post but needed to vent about that SB. Her soul mate is the "real" Mel Gibson and perhaps OJ is her "dream" date! Thanks for the opportunity to express something on "paper" to get rid of some of my anger towards AC. I have found her objectionable since she first was on TV spewing...

My DH is part of the Pharmaceutical industry so my take on these things and his medical degree influences what we do medically. I also get flu shots annually and recently got a Pneumonia shot. He is a very conservative guy and he didn't permit many things that are now routine when I was pregnant. Apparently, if your daughter isn't sexually active until after age 21 there is less of a chance of HPV according to some GYN's. In the world we live in today I think that most kids will be sexually active prior to that age. I was... STD's are also on the rise and many girls have herpes without any symptoms and are exposed to this even with the use of condoms and safe sex practices. My oldest daughter never tested positively for HPV yet I did a few years ago even though I have been married for 36 years to the same man! I had to have a few very invasive cervical tests too 5 years ago but I was okay. It can scare the shit out of you when your PAP is "abnormal". Carlene, I am sorry about your daughter and her friend. It seems that now they don't do the LEEP procedure for HPV because of the potential of fertility problems. Every one of my manicurists, hairdressers etc. have all been exposed and talk about HPV and the various treatments. Lots of my friends daughters also were exposed but never said anything to me until I told them about my daughter. It's really wonderful to have something like this available for our pre teens. Carlene, I don't know enough about Texas politics to know all the other decisions that the Gov. has made that were not good decisions. I hear you though... I had a neighbor that called me after a mailing that I did for Leukemia. She told me ( sort of yelled at me) that she supports nothing if they test on animals. I had to restrain myself and not tell her that I hoped she never developed any diseases of the heart, liver, cancer etc that were able to be treated thanks to animal testing of new drugs from the pharmaceutical industry. BTW, Pizer is laying off many thousands of workers due to poor clinical trials of a drug recently and was supposed to save the company now that Lipitor's patent is over and everyone else can make it. Off topic but generics are not really the same as "name brand" drugs in every instance. You are paying for compounding the ingredients in a specific order, processing conditions etc. etc. There really are many other reasons to have a doctor specify no substitutions for certain drugs. I gotta shut up because this is a heated topic and I have an insiders view since I know all about NDA's and the FDA and clinical trials. I promise not to say anything more except that I applaud anyone who takes control of their daughter's future health and well being.

I think what Gov. Perry, Texas has done is excellent. It should be done in all states. My daughter was diagnosed with HPV at 19 and had to have an envasive procedure called LEEP. Her fertility may be a problem when she wants children but was extremely close to having full blown cervical cancer. She has had to have many more visits with the gyn because of her "history". My GYN tests all women for HPV because it is a more sensitive test for Cervical cancer than the PAP. I get tested and I am in my late 50's. I knew a girl at college who died at age 19 from cervical cancer and it scared the hell out of me and it was in 1967! I remember giving my 3 kids the Hepatitis series of shots when they were in elem or middle school too. Preventive medicine is what it's all about and if you have a daughter is has nothing to do with morality but with keeping girls safe and healthy. I can't imagine anyone having a problem with this. It's no different than the Salk/Sabin vaccines for Polio, German measles etc. etc.

I was banded at age 56 and I will be 60 in a few months. I wear a size 8/10 but am still not at my original goal which is probably not realistic. ( the elusive 25 BMI and size 4/6) I take HRT, meds for HBP, HCholesterol, Diabetes Type II etc which all make it very difficult to lose weight. I have lost approx 70 pounds from a 40BMI to a 28BMI. I don't look overweight and just recently got a new Life Insurance policy for an additional 20 years at the "preferred" rate! Because of my age, I still have to take meds but in very low dosages and will probably have to take them for the rest of my life. I swim daily for exercise and look 45 years old...it's so much fun to fool everyone. I don't have extra skin and don't need PS. It's really genetics and your skin's elasticity regardless of your age. I have a VG band with 9.5 cc's and don't want to fill it any more presently. No refux but the occasional PB. I eat out twice a week, travel and eat in all different continents too. I drink wine and to everyone I am "normal" in my eating habits but get away with I don't eat "red meat", carbs, Pasta etc. etc. Can usually find something to eat or push around on my plate anywhere in the world. The medications and an injury 10 years ago that prevented me from the exercise I used to do daily actually got me to the co-morbidities and to research the Lap band as my only hope. I could teach nutrition but was a quantity eater of good healthy foods. I knew that I would be a "model" bandster with my "maturity" and motivation. I was thin most of my adult life until that time. In order to get to my goal I will be doing it with hard work and fewer calories like most of the world does it knowing that the weight won't come back thanks to my tool. It's lots of work and isn't a free ride. I understand from Don Mills that 70 is pretty much the cut off age for banding but I am sure that there are exceptions and some surgeons as a rule of thumb may have their own age requirements. I sometimes lurk here and at another site but don't post very frequently. I find that I am not too pre-occupied with being a banded person and don't know any others who are banded. ( except online) I am also in the "closet" to the world except family so I just go about my life and weigh myself daily and watch what I put in my mouth. I get an annual esophogram and haven't seen my team in almost a year when I will have the annual in the Spring. Good luck to all the over 50 somethings that are banded or thinking of being banded.

Yes... I have had abdominal MRI's and CAT scans too. It is "band friendly". I did inform the technician that I was banded and my port was visible as was the band in another MRI. The card to carry in your wallet from Inamed that you get when you have your intitial surgery states that it is okay for MRI's. The band doesn't set off anything used in screening at airports either even hand held wands!

I have been taking baby chewable aspirin (81mg) daily for as long as I have been banded with the blessings of Don Mills (Inamed) and my band surgeon as required by my interventional cardiologist. As long as I chew it and wash it down with Water it cannot do any harm to my band or "pouch". It is very important for my health as a post menapausal woman. Always check with your physician and with Don if you have a question that isn't answered in a way that makes sense. I personally have always been my own advocate and not one to listen to non professionals on the internet giving advice. It 's interesting to learn how different Lap band surgeons have such a variance in "rules" for banded patients. My surgeon is himself banded and a very famous Australian surgeon who had banded thousands of patients. He is very unique and I am very fortunate to have him as my doctor.

I haven't made "your" recipe in many years ( we loved it) but now make a variation of this which everyone loves. Sweet and Sour Turkey Meatballs 1.5 lbs. ground turkey (not breast/white meat) 1 egg beaten 2TBS milk 1/4 cup plain bread crumbs 2 TBS grated onion salt & pepper to taste Form meatballs (not too large) brown in 1-2 TBS olive oil on all sides. Drain any fat and add to pot of sauce when the sauce is ready and cook for about 30 minutes low flame covered. Sauce 1 can Ocean Spray Whole Cranberry Sauce 1 can Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce 1 24-28 oz can/jar Marinara sauce ( I use Trader Joe's in the green can) 1/4 cup dark brown sugar (optional but it really makes it delicious) Cook the above in a cast Iron dutch oven or heavy duty sauce pan. When all the crandberries and sauce is slow boiling and everything is dissolved add the meatballs and cook on a low flame covered. (I use an imersion blender to incorporate the whole berries so it isn't lumpy). This freezes wonderfully and I cook it frequently. I can only eat about 2-3 meatballs but it is a real treat for me. Most of my friends who make this use ground meat. My family loves the taste of the turkey and it is healthier and lighter. They are basically Giada Di Laurentis' turkey meatballs which I make all the time.

Check out this link from the Mexican Press. It is in Spanish. http://www.milenio.com/monterrey/milenio/nota.asp?id=464814 It appears that this was an assaination and was verified on other wls forums.

Rule of thumb that apparently isn't the rule with some surgeons. After a fill, liquids for two days, mushy foods for two days and on day 5 begin solid foods. Your stoma and esophogus gets swollen from any fill and in order not to "hurt" your band you need to give it a chance to get back to normal. Even if you can get Water down at the time of the fill, you could still be too tight. Another Rule: If you PB, go on liquids for at least 24 hours and not resume the meal that you were eating prior to the PB. This also gives that stoma and esophogus a chance to unswell from the PB. These are rules that my surgeon's office and Inamed really want hammered into our heads. You really have to take good care of your band. It needs lots of TLC. We have a very high maintenance WLS and need to learn to live with the little implant for a very long time.

I was once filled to tight to take my night time meds. I brought the little bugger to the surgeon who told me to take a different med. Well... that just wasn't a solution because it cannot be crushed or cut in half. I can never be filled with saline that makes it difficult to take my Prometrium ( part of my HRT). It is the only med that made me PB with Water since it got stuck. I am now down to 8 pills/capsules a day from 13 and wash them down with a lot of water. When I was first banded, my surgeon's office told me to not take any meds for a few days which was okay with all the specialists. Same thing with the second band too. I also get tablets that can be split and are "scored" for that reason and made the investment in a good pill cutter and crusher from the pharmacy. You doctor is plain wrong that you will have to do this for life. Take it from more experienced bandsters. I have also used liquids when available too. Your local pharmacist can help you. My pharmacy knows that I am banded and I ask to see any new prescription and if I know it won't go down we call the doctor and get a replacement. The Pharmacist actually knows a lot more about drugs that the doctors who get all their information from the "detail people" from the Pharmaceutical companies. Good luck. Hopefully, as the weight melts off so will the number of pills that you take

I have had both Inamed LapBands. The VG 10cc band is usually filled to 3-5cc's at the time of surgery. I presently have 9.5 cc's in my VG and only PB occasionally when I try to eat steak which just doesn't work or am stressed while eating. Are you sure that you have a 10cc band and the 4cc?? Many people get confused with the length of their band and not the fill capacity. If you can't eat and it hurts no matter what band you have I recommend that you get some saline removed before you get side effects like reflux or soft food syndrome which will lead to poor eating choices and a weight gain. My surgeon will fill me beyond capacity but I am doing it the old fashioned way to get off the last 20 pounds and still be able to eat a variety of foods in different parts of the globe. BTW, I can wear size 8 jeans (J. Jill "Tried and True Fit") which are loose at the waist now. I may just stay where I am and just maintain this weight. Each surgeon seems to do fills very differently and each of our bodies react differently to fill levels. That being said, if you are in pain and it hurts when you eat time, it is time to contact your surgeon to discuss the situation. Being too tight leads to a prolapse (slipped band) which often has to be replaced. I hope that my "wisdom" of being band for 3 years with the 4cc band for 14 months and the VG band for 25 months helps you.

It's Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks who is married to the hunky Adrian Pasdar on NBC's Heros . She is gorgeous and talented and I just LOVE those girls.... This isn't to hijack this thread but to make a correction. I am OC in this area of my life.

I believe that another field should be added to this poll. Those whose bands have eroded and been replaced with a new band. I am three years out and had a 4cc band erode which was replaced by another surgeon at 14 months with the VG band at the time of the removal. My band had just begun to erode which was confirmed by an endoscopy. Usually, this occurs from a problem at the time of the original surgery when being banded. Technique is partly to blame too. EROSION has nothing to do with anything that the patient has done via "band rules" etc. How did I know I might be eroded? From reading posts here and on other Lapband sites and my own research on the net. I saw a bruise at the site of my port which is an indicator of a problem and possible erosion via an infection which travels to the port. I had left my original surgeon at 7 months out and was under the care of another team when we discovered the erosion. My surgeon was determined to re- band me so that I could stay skinny but couldn't guarantee until he opened me up and saw if there was any damage. I was lucky and hope to keep this baby as long as it is okay inside of me. I do an annual esophogram and so far so good. I hurt like hell in the port area with the first bandin 2003 and with this band (2004)I don't even realize I have a port. It doesn't interfere with any clothing either. I love this band. Hell...if the surgeon would do it, I would get banded a 3rd time if necessary. I was a volume eater of healthy foods all my life so restriction was the answer to my losing weight easily. I knew that I could be a poster child for this procedure and am very happy and love my band.