Lucky #7 are still going strong !!!

[lindaa 1]

Janet. Good advice for Melissa. Didn't she have to talk to a psychologist before surgery? She really should b/c it sounds like she is grieving the loss of food. If she doesn't change her attitude, I'm afraid that she will sabatoge her surgery. Another thought: she may be a bit depressed from the Meds. They do a number on me--for sure. If Candice didn't come and visit after my hip surgery, I would have been a mess. Either way, I think that Melissa has some head work to do (like a lot of us!)

[cramerk 1]

Yep Linda, I think I need a 'band' more for my head than for my stomach. But that is why we had the problem to begin with.

Yep, Elyse does have a nice sized baby bump. She is due the middle of October. I just get so frustrated with her sometimes. She has a lazy streak that I just don't understand. She also seems to have little respect for other peoples 'things'. She stayed at my house while I was gone so I didn't have to board the furries. Now I have a yard full of dog poop, even though I asked her to make sure she pooper scooped before I got home. Dishes were done, but not put away. all the blankets I washed for when DD#2 comes tonight to help with the tile, etc. are now dirty and I have to spend the day doing laundry. Oh well, at least the furries are okay. I shouldn't complain.

Busy day today, need to clean, laundry and paint my bedroom. I probably won't be on LBT tomorrow since we will be busy laying laminant and tile.

You all have a great day, ttfn

[peaches9 3]

WOW, Karla.... you are such a steam roller when it comes to getting things done... whoo-hoo for your energy... it is weird though that Elysse didn't pick up on some of that energy... maybe motherhood will make her grow up a bit.

Good luck with your laminating floors..

Janet; I totally get the need to greive the loss of the food for Melissa... It is like saying goodbyb to your best friend... ( I know it is not a friend but we treat food that way when we are addicts) But she has immense support in YOU and so for that she is to be very gratefull.

I agree with Karla, I need a BAND for my HEAD... where can I buy one of those???

Any more word from Stephanie? I messaged her on FB but no word(?)

Phyl, are you still out there babe! How are you feeling? are you getting any better weather???

25 - 27 degrees Celcius for the next 14 days..... that's HOT.... plus it will be more if there is humidity...

[lindaa 1]

Candice is right, Janet. Melissa is very blessed to have you for support!

[IndioGirl55 32]

Good Evening Gang

I think we need to quit posting here and make a private site on fb - that way no one else can read our post - since now a days they are more personal - I will send you all invites - it's easy and totally private - I have one for my mentor thread - so ck your emails

[IndioGirl55 32]

I started the secret group - go ck out fb message I think - or maybe even email for your invites

Melissa may no think she's lucky LOL - I love her w/all my heart - but you guy know what a food cop I can be..

[mango24 1]

Hi Everyone,

Back from Mexico, didn't wanna come back. It was heaven! Still don't have a job. They posted at 4:40 last Thurs. that interview would be mon, tues, and Wed. I was IN MEXICO!!! Was I gonna cancel? HELL NO!!!! 3500 dollars, HELL NO!!!!

Janet- are you sure the site will be private?

[MelindaH 3]

I started the secret group - go ck out fb message I think - or maybe even email for your invites

Melissa may no think she's lucky LOL - I love her w/all my heart - but you guy know what a food cop I can be..

Hi,My name is Melinda. I am 54, and hoping for lap band surgery in October. I am trying to jump through the last medical requirement and fulffill the insurance nutritional requirement (3 month counseling and supervision). I am looking for support and new friends. In return, I hope to give support and friendship. I have been lurking on this group, lol. You all sound like a great group of ladies. I live in Eugene, OR, have been married for 26 years and we are the parents of a 24 year old daughter and 21 year old son. Both are trying to find themselves, lol. Let me know. You can email me at mhohenberger@gmail.com. I am also on Facebook as Melinda Hohenberger.

Thanks for your consideration.

Melinda

[IndioGirl55 32]

Hi,My name is Melinda. I am 54, and hoping for lap band surgery in October. I am trying to jump through the last medical requirement and fulffill the insurance nutritional requirement (3 month counseling and supervision). I am looking for support and new friends. In return, I hope to give support and friendship. I have been lurking on this group, lol. You all sound like a great group of ladies. I live in Eugene, OR, have been married for 26 years and we are the parents of a 24 year old daughter and 21 year old son. Both are trying to find themselves, lol. Let me know. You can email me at mhohenberger@gmail.com. I am also on Facebook as Melinda Hohenberger.

Thanks for your consideration.

Melinda

Hey Melinda

We use to be able to tell when pple where lurking LOL but since they changed the site we can't.. Welcome..

I was 52 when banded - the best advice I got was from the 50's thread back then in o7 - Remember the band is just a tool - it's really about the whole lifetime lifestyle change - you know those things you heard in all the diets you have been on before - but didn't pay attention too.. LOL - after we lost the weight we go back to our normal eating - (which is what got us fat in the 1st place) and slacking on exercise.

Eat healthy - follow the band rules - exercise - make the changes - the band is a great tool - but it's just that the real work is up to you -

[Twilight 2]

Hi ladies. I know it has been forever and reading here you may not get this since you are on a private FB page instead of here. I just thought I would let you all know what has been going on. Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers and phone calls when I was going through my hell. It was wonderful to hear from you and I want you to know how much I love all of you...even when I'm not here I'm thinking of you.

So, if you remember a couple years ago I was having problems getting stuck all the time and my PA took out all my Fluid, let me sit for a couple weeks, then did an upper GI and then a scope. I was told then that everything was fine and it was just stress that was causing all my trouble. I took that as the truth and didn't look any further. God knows how stressful my life has been with Michael the last couple of years. Add that to all my everyday stress and it made sense. I just tried to adjust to only being able to eat mushies and get by. Since there was nothing to take out of my band, my only other option was removal and I didn't want that.

So, in the last few months Jeff and I have been talking more and more about having a revision. We had put money aside for it and was planning on going to Mexico around the end of August. It had gotten to the point that anything more than Protein shakes were coming back up. I was doing alright losing weight again, hoping that would loosen things up also. I was still frustrated and counting days until I had more than 3 days in a row so I could plan my Mexico "vacation." Right before my trip to Oregon Jeff and I had decided that as soon as I got back, it was time to go...even if I had to cancel kettle corn days...it was too frustrating.

After a really nasty Migraine and the extreme vomitting that came with getting rid of it, I could no longer get anything down. I decided that it was swelling because of the migraine and needed to let it rest. After 3 days with no lessening I went to the ER in Lincoln City. There they did another barium swallow and nothing went through. He had me raise my arms, turn sideways, jump, twist, everything but stand on my head and there was nothing going through. So the ER doc called my surgeon in ND. All I wanted was hydrated enough to get home to go see him. The docs talked and didn't want me flying so had to find a surgeon in Oregon. They sent me to a hospital in Portland. The doc that was waiting to see me there said she would try to unfill me and see if that would help. Then I told her I had been unfilled for 2 years and she looked at me like I was nuts. She said she didn't understand that the ER wanted her to take it out and that she had no bariatric experience but would "try" if I wanted her to or she would call a different hospital and try to find me a bariatric surgeon. Finally by about midnight I was admitted to a hospital to be seen in the morning by a bariatric surgeon. Finally, blissful sleep after 4L of IV Fluid.< /p>

So this great looking guy comes in the morning to talk to me about my band and we discuss all the problems and my barium swallow and his discussion with my ND surgeon, ya da ya da ya da....and he says I can have surgery the next day probably. In the mean time his PA will see if they can get even a LITTLE bit of fluid out of my band so that the barium will pass and they won't have to go down and suck it out. Again, I explain that it is empty and he says they are hoping that there is a little left just enough to eek the barium through. So the PA comes back and he pulls out 1.2 cc's. I will tell you now that I went through the roof. How can you "lose" 1.2 cc's in a band? How can you pull everything out and still leave that much in? How can you tell me that my restriction is all in my head and still have 1.2cc's in there? How can the surgeon do a scope and see NOTHING wrong and still have 1.2 cc's in there? Had I known that there was fluid still in my band I would have been back there begging for it to be removed. I have been eating mushies for 2 years because I didn't think there was any other option! Yes, my blood still boils when I think about it.

So, PA comes back and says "Great news!" The partner doc is doing surgery at her surgery center downtown and has a slot that she can fit me in. I won't have to pay the hospital fees and it will save me close to 5k. On top of that it can be that day instead of the next. So off I go to the surgery center. The doc there was so nice. I have to admit that I had been on so many meds at this point that I don't really remember much about her besides how nice she was. And her surgery center was awesome. Her nurses were great. Everyone was amazing. She really wanted me to reconsider letting her reposition my band. She was pretty sure she would be able to put it back in place. All I wanted was it GONE! Sorry ladies, but after the 2 years of hell, it had to come out! She did say that most people who reposition will maintain their weight but not lose any more. I didn't want to do the fill, unfill, fight, struggle anymore. I couldn't do it. So I opted to remove it.

Surgery went fine. Jeff talked to her afterward and she said that she was pretty sure from what she saw that I had been slipped for those 2 years. She said that removing the 1.2 cc's didn't help the slip at all. She didn't want to speculate about having the 1.2 removed earlier and if it would have helped. I think she didn't want to say anything to get the other surgeon/PA in trouble.

So, now I'm without band. I still get stuck. Funny thing. I guess, from what I understand, that the pouch shape is still possibly there. That I may get stuck forever or it might go back. I don't know. I know the worst pain was from where my port was removed. That is the biggest possible complication site. I guess there is a greater chance of hernia there from now on. So, I'm still on mushies but working my way back to solids. I'm dying to have a chicken breast or some steak, or some raw veggies! Life will be good when I can eat that sort of stuff again.

I don't know about the sleeve. I have talked to Jeff about it and it is still an option. I am going to work very hard at eating like a bandster and trying to keep my weight down without. I am back in my size 12s. I would still like to get down another 10 pounds. If I stay here though, I'm happy. My double chin is gone again. My energy is back up. My depression is back under control. For now, life is good.

So, that is my saga. Dec. '07 - July '11....I loved my band while it worked. Hated it when it failed. It did what it was supposed to do. I cannot fault the band. I fault my docs. They will not get any more of my time or money. I take some of the fault for the failure because I should have pushed them harder to find out what the problem was in '09. I should have forced someone to dig deeper. I shouldn't have blamed myself. And forever I will understand how much 1.2 cc's really is!

Again, love you ladies. I hope you all are doing well. Janet, thank you for the wonderful phone call while I was recouping. It meant so much to me. Candice, I will make the trip next summer, I promise. Phyl, sorry I missed you in SD. Would have been great to see you and Earl again!

Love and hugs and best wishes on your band and journey.