Shrinking Violets -- April 07 Bandsters

[Tater Bug 1]

Hello all! I'm going to be an April Bandster as well.. just wanted to say 'hey' and I look forward to getting to know you guys! I can't wait.. I am so excited!!

[maziemommy 8]

tatoos--off topic but, interesting ......I have only one--I can see how addicting it is though--mine has a story/significant "reason" or meaning.......

DO YOU CHOOSE "randomly" or other????? Please fill me in if it's not too personal.....what's it look like and why??????

[kity 2]

WOW...Some moments are harder than others. I am drinking my "soup" (hot Water and yellow powder) now and feel better. Am concluding day 4 of 10, so tomorrow this time, I WILL BE HALF WAY DONE. Kind of snapped today at partner...I mean out of NOWHERE, I said something so terrible, then starting crying and apologizing...truly being an ass, but she is the best. Forgave me and all is well, but I will have to be very careful and not snap again, after all she will be my care giver ater surgery.

I have a personal story w/ my tattoo. I always wanted one, so when I was 19 I told myself to wait until I was 25, just to make sure. Then 6 months from my 25th bday, I opened a book...and it jumped off the pages and said, "I am your tattoo". It was in Anne Rice's The Mummy. I went to the library that day,researched the meaning and found out it was the Eye of Horus. It is an Egyptian amulent against injury. I just think of it as my personal good luck charm...for life. It is strategically placed on my behind, never wanted my parents or students to see it. I do have my nose pierced too. I would love another tat, but will wait for something special that speaks to me.

Ok...thanks so much for all the love here. I swear, when I am freakin out and starving...I need LBT like a fix.

much love and peaceout:kiss2:

[Ms Jen 1]

My official surgery date is April 26th!!!!! I'm soooo excited, yet I'm scared too. I have so many things to look forward to, but I also have fears...fears of the unknown I suppose.

I'm afraid that I'll fail as I always have at losing weight. I'm afraid that I'll lose this weight and continue to have the same health problems that I have being fat. I'm afraid that my family won't be a good source of support (yes they're all overweight and love to eat - including my hubby). I'm afraid that this will affect my marriage - and I love this guy dearly. I'm afraid that I'll not make it out of the anesthesia, and how my kids will take that... But despite all of my fears, I know that for myself I have to do this. I'm killing myself just being so overweight... *I* am tired of being overweight, I'm tired of feeling unattractive, and I'm tired of being unhealthy.

Also, despite my fears I have so many things to look forward to. Here is a list of my goals:

1) Get rid of my high blood pressure (and the meds that go along with it!)

2) Get rid of my swollen ankles and legs (and the meds that go along with it! lol)

3) Get rid of my aching joints (and the meds that go along with it!)

4) Get rid of my GERD and hiatal hernia (and the meds that go along with it! jeez I'm on a lot of meds....)

5) Hopefully have more of a sex drive for my poor hubby (it's not as fun when some positions just hurt or make your arms tired LOL)

6) Be able to tie my shoe without that sideways bow and without having to lift my leg up on the bed and get out of breath

7) Be able to wear shirts that don't go down past my butt so that I can hide my gutt and butt! (or at least THINK that I'm hiding them)

8) Be able to try on clothes in the regular "misses" section without trying to be inconspicuous in the "plus size" section of the store.

9) Be able to try on a bra and have it actually fit all the way around me. I went shopping for a bra this weekend - Do you believe that not even Lane Bryant (for plus size women) had a bra that was a 48C??? I guess C cup there ends at a 44 which was too tight....I just wanted to cry so I'm still wearing the only bra that I have left that I've stretched enough to fit....

10) Be able to walk to the bathroom in the middle of the night without the bottoms of my feet killing me

11) Be able to sleep all night without waking up and waking up tired (I think I may have sleep apnea - I snore louder than a man LOL)

12) Be able to fit into a 12 (a 9 would be great...hell who am I kidding??? I'd settle for a 16 right about now lol)

13) To not be afraid that I'm going to die from heart disease because I have so much fat in body and my arteries...heart disease runs in my family, as does diabetes, hypertension, etc. I feel that by being fat I'm slowly killing myself. Sure I could get hit by a bus tomorrow, but I can't control THAT. I CAN control what I do to my own body.

12) To have a BMI under 25 (I'll even settle for under 30)

13) To be able to sit in a chair and actually fit.

14) To be able to go to a concert at the local convention center and fit comfortably in the seat.

15) To be able to wipe in some very specific places (or dry off, or shave my legs) without getting a cramp in my side from twisting back around.

16) To be able to clip and paint my own toenails and not depend on my daughters or the hubby to do this for me.

17) To go get a massage and not wonder if the masseuse is thinking of charging me double LOL

18) Be able to feel attractive and healthy again - for myself and for my beautiful daughters and hubby so that they can enjoy me more (even though it will technically be LESS of me!)....

Enjoyed your positive views I can't wait to bend over and tie my shoes. I never thought about it until last month that I/we tie our shoes to the side. I can't wait until I can wear clothes that don't start with X.

My band date is April 13th. :clap2:

[janiebug 0]

I am having surgery on April 17th.

Wow, I can't believe I actually figured that one out!!!

Anyways having the surgery done the same time I am having a hernia repair. My Dr. either wanted a liquid or 1400 calorie diet two weeks prior to surgery, does anyone have any other info that they were told?

Good luck to The April people!!!

Jane

[horns10 0]

Thank you all for the welcomes, sorry it's taken me this long to write back but i've been real busy as of late.

[Ms Jen 1]

Good afternoon all..... I see that I have 25 pages of posts to look through to get acquainted with everyone on here. I just had my blood work and ekg done today. All that is left before my April 10th surgery date is the psych eval. Hubby just had his and they tried to talk him out of the surgery. Told hubby he wasn't fat enough...... sheeeeeeeeeesh. Our PCP is in favor of both of us having this surgery done. You'd think he'd know what he was talking about after having been our doctor for 23 years!!

Anyway...I don't have a pre-op liquid diet.. doc wants me to lose weight, but doesn't care how. So next week I'll start the no carb route and see how I do with that. I'm really anxious to get this surgery done so I can begin my new life. Hubby has to wait at least 14 weeks for a pre-auth. I'm praying he gets approved too.

Off to start reading the 25 pages.. yikes!! Everyone have a great afternoon!!

The easiest low/no carb diet I know is don't eat any thing white corn or peas.

[TerriDoodle 6]

The easiest low/no carb diet I know is don't eat any thing white corn or peas.

Oh good, so that means I can have chocolate cake, as long as it's not white chocolate?? :pound:

This morning, as I was dressing for work, I was thinking that I CANNOT WAIT for the time when I can wear slacks without also wearing "shapewear". I HATE "shapewear".

Hey guys, guess what?? I found a local buddy that lives less than a mile from my house that was banded over a year ago! Same surgeon and everything! She's taking me under her wing and we might even join a new gym that is opening up in our neighborhood. Met her right here on LBT! Is that cool or what? BTW, she looks awesome now!!

[mdrai 3]

GGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR...

I'm online looking up interesting ideas for dh's & my 20th wedding anniversary coming up on April 4 and I thought "What about a balloon ride" and guess what????? -----

I'M TOO FAT TO GO ON ONE!

Max weight 280.

Wow.

What a wake-up, slap in the face, take a look at yourself moment.

(PS -- If anyone has any creative ideas, I'd love to hear them! The actual day is on a Weds, dh has to work (I think), we can't travel anywhere that week or weekend (Easter weekend), $ is a bit of a factor... I really want to be creative, which I usually am, but I'm completely stumped! I was trying to think in "20s"... burn a cd w/the top 20 songs from 1987, put a crisp, new $20 in his wallet, bake him 20 of his fav Cookies, give him a 20-min massage, buy tix to 20 soccer games (that's a bit much!)... you get the idea... he's a photographer & I have a sneaking suspicion he's been working on some sort of photo project for me... which is so thoughtful... and I've got nothing! I am in quite a funk right now!)

[Jennifur 0]

hello all

yes, trying to break some pre-surgery stress with lighter topics. LOL

I have a few tattoos, I have a vine around my ankle, my first one, then I added a butterfly to that and more color, then I got a dragonfly on my back and in August I got the biggest best one of all, it is a vine with lilly's on it, so it looks like the dragonfly is going in for a landing. It is huge and took 3hrs to do, I was climbing the walls but so worth it, IT is my favorite.

So how bout this, as I've said I am going on vacation next week, and since I've lost some weight wanted to get a bathingsuit that at least fit. YUCK

I will be back to very strict diet starting tomorrow. I already blew it today, but I am now cutting up celery and cucumbers and going to get my oranges this afternoon. It takes something like that to completely gross me out.

I can't wait til this time next year! Even if I am not at my goal by then I will look better than I do now.

How depressing

[panda 0]

GGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR...

I'm online looking up interesting ideas for dh's & my 20th wedding anniversary coming up on April 4 and I thought "What about a balloon ride" and guess what????? -----

I'M TOO FAT TO GO ON ONE!

Max weight 280.

Wow.

What a wake-up, slap in the face, take a look at yourself moment.

(PS -- If anyone has any creative ideas, I'd love to hear them! The actual day is on a Weds, dh has to work (I think), we can't travel anywhere that week or weekend (Easter weekend), $ is a bit of a factor... I really want to be creative, which I usually am, but I'm completely stumped! I was trying to think in "20s"... burn a cd w/the top 20 songs from 1987, put a crisp, new $20 in his wallet, bake him 20 of his fav Cookies, give him a 20-min massage, buy tix to 20 soccer games (that's a bit much!)... you get the idea... he's a photographer & I have a sneaking suspicion he's been working on some sort of photo project for me... which is so thoughtful... and I've got nothing! I am in quite a funk right now!)

Let me tell you what I did for my hubby when we were dating....

At our 6 month mark, it was a big deal to me - my longest relatoinship without some horrible breakup in the middle - so I wanted to do something really nice, but I was a broke college kid living at home ((((THANKS AGAIN MOM!)))). So I got creative. I came up with 182 reasons why I loved him (one for each day we'd been together!!). Some sounded very similar but they were each different. I included special moments, things he said or did for me, every little thing I could think of. ((it didn't take long believe it or not)). And I typed 'em up, printed them out, cut those into smaller pieces and glued each one to it's own piece of colored construction paper, then used packing tape to ""laminate"" each card. I spent a total of 10 hours on it! I went to his parents house that day (he was working), and spread them all around his room, on his bed, pillow, dresser, floor, EVERYWHERE. I also had 2 real roses (one white, one red) and 2 artificial roses (again, one white, one red). Real ones were to signify how real my love for him was, artificial ones were to signify how my love for him would never die. White roses stand for truth, innocense - to symbolize how true my love for him was, and red - "I Love You", romantic love. ((yeah, i went nuts on this one)) LOL.

You can copy it or add some twists (i wouldn't suggest using one for each DAY you've been together, but try 20 - one big reason for each year!).

Just a suggestion. It cost me less than $10 total, but took time, effort, and thought. He cried for a long time once I got there and gave him the real roses (i'd left the artificial ones on his pillow, and a note on his door). He'd had a horrible day at work that day, so when he saw that, it meant even more to him

(((gosh, i gotta get on the ball doing something major like that again!!)))

If i think of more, i'll post them later GOOD LUCK!

[Jennifur 0]

It seems there are quite a few new April Banders the last few days -

Tracy - were you keeping track? Maybe we can post a list and dates out there. I saw they did that in the March group, and might be a way for us to know who is doing what

[TerriDoodle 6]

Jenn -- Take a look at the second post on the first page of this thread. The list is there.

[Jennifur 0]

Hey thanks Terry

I didn't realize that it was updating there and not moving to the end of the thread.

You are so WONDERFUL.

I Hope everyone is having a great day. I am going to have nacho's for dinner tonight, and tomorrow... no outside the line.

I love nacho's - they have all my favorite foods in them.

[panda 0]

Guys, I just had to share this with you all.

Since January when I had my first visit with Dr. Cywes and he first gave us a basic overview of our new diet/pre-op diet, I've lost 27 lbs!! :faint: :clap2: :faint:

Today I had to get cleared for surgery by a cardiologist, and at his office the scale said I was at 249, and I just weighed here at work (I know it's only 1 lb off from Dr. Cywes's office) and sure enough, I'm at 249!!! (it said 248, but again, it's 1 lb off, lol).

I'm OFFICIALLY under the 250 mark and I haven't even had the surgery yet (( didn't realize I'd been eating my 'pre-op' diet this whole time till last week - but it's do-able and apparently has been working!!)):hungry:

I hate to sound like I'm boasting - I know some of you are having problems losing the required pre-surgery weight your Dr.'s gave you, so i kinda feel bad about this post - and I'm not trying to boast....but I've NEVER been able to lose on my own...ever....period. No matter what I did, I couldn't do it. And now, I'm so desperate to be sure I didn't gain/that my liver would be right for surgery that i've finally be able to do it....

I have to go buy new clothes this weekend (with as much as I really can't afford it! - Thank HEAVENS for Goodwill!). Or raid my mom's closet (she's been a size or so smaller than me for a few years now).

I'm just absolutely BLOWN AWAY by this....i mean...just.....F-L-O-O-R-E-D.

Watch me get the band and not lose any more for a while, LOL.... j/k....I'm so excited for next monday (my surgery day - 6.5 days from right now!)....Thankfully I have plenty of work to keep me busy (at least for a couple of days...lol).

Anyway, I'm praying for all of you on this board, and I know we'll all do great!

Hope you're all having a great Monday!

-Panda-