Pammy S Lewis

what does it feel like when you have something stuck? i don't have any fill in so it hasn't happened but i THINK it may be happening right now. i have pain in my chest and keep burping and it feels like there's something stuck. haha! that's the only way i can describe it. does drinking Water help it pass?

total cash cost for me in LA with dr. jeremy korman: $16000 (includes 1 year of fills and check ups). doesn't include pre-surgical tests because my insurance covered them.

i felt horrible for about 2 weeks and kept thinking i had made a huge mistake. but i kept coming to this site and getting reassurance and it really helped. it's been a little over a month and i'm SO happy i did it. give it some time and things WILL get better.

he was really hot and smart and funny and we had a really good time! ultimately though i don't think he's right for me (he's a little too out there and unconventional for me). but damn, it was sure good practice and made me feel better about myself.

one of the reasons i got the band is that my weight made me really uncomfortable and i stopped dating years ago and never got married. so i have only lost 15 lbs so far and am not ready to dive in yet but was dabbling on an online dating site and started talking to this adorable guy. so we're supposed to meet in an hour for a drink. TERRIFIED!! first of all, i'm uncomfortable because i still feel overweight. secondly, i can't freaking get rid of this ketotis breath! also, i can't really drink alcohol so i'm probably going to get totally wasted off half a drink! oy. i want to cancel.

i felt EXACTLY the same way! i had problems after surgery for a couple of weeks and was in a lot of pain. was so worried but they realized they left some Fluid in the band and once they removed it i was fine. and i was a total carb addict and probably would have chosen bread over sex! what's so great about the band though is that i no longer even want bread and don't feel controlled by carb cravings and constant hunger from eating too many carbs. don't worry, give it a little time and you'll feel so much better in a week or so!

yeah, i researched vitamin E and found a lot of articles saying that studies done showed that it wasn't effective for scars (even though it's widely believed to be). who knows though, found it on the internet...

hi all i wanted to tell you that i ran across an article about surgical scars and the use of silicone strips to minimize them. did some research and a lot of people were saying that they helped tremendously so i bought some. i bought a brand called scaraway (there are others) on amazon and after using them for 3 days i can already tell a difference! you have to wear them most of the time for a couple of months though, which is kind of a pain. they're about $30 for the supply you need. not cheap but may be worth it for some. http://www.amazon.com/ScarAway-Professional-Silicone-Treatment-Sheets/dp/B001AJ4L1E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1303174956&sr=8-1

hi all i wanted to tell you that i ran across an article about surgical scars and the use of silicone strips to minimize them. did some research and a lot of people were saying that they helped tremendously so i bought some. i bought a brand called scaraway (there are others) on amazon and after using them for 3 days i can already tell a difference! you have to wear them most of the time for a couple of months though, which is kind of a pain. they're about $30 for the supply you need. not cheap but may be worth it for some. http://www.amazon.com/ScarAway-Professional-Silicone-Treatment-Sheets/dp/B001AJ4L1E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1303174956&sr=8-1

i'm 5 weeks post op too and have only lost 13 lbs (during the first week) and have been stalled for 4 weeks!!! everyone keeps telling me it happens to some people. i don't even need a fill because i have good restriction, so i don't know how to fix it (have been exercising and i experimented with less and also more calories and and carb combos). no clue.

yeah, same here. my dr said that the only reason they recommend no caffeine is because it stimulates hunger and because it's a diuretic and post surgery it's crucial to get a lot of liquids. but he said after a few weeks i could drink coffee if i made sure to get my water in. but yeah, no carbonation (no beer!!! AHHHH!!!! or diet coke!!!)

i bought some crystal light but try to limit myself to 1 watered down serving a day, at most. aspartame is just nasty stuff and i feel like i'm poisoning myself every time i drink it. a little bit isn't going to kill me but i certainly wouldn't drink glasses and glasses of it every day. i think if you need some flavor, herbal decaf tea is a much better substitute.

generally speaking, depression is ruminating about the past (mistakes, i should have done this instead, feeling angry or sad about decisions or relationships, etc etc). anxiety is fear of what might happen in the future. i spent years suffering from both and going back and forth between the two. it wasn't until i learned to live IN THE MOMENT right now that i was able to let go of it. you can't worry about what will happen in the future because we have absolutely no idea what will happen. you and your boyfriend may life a happy, full life together until you're 90! and then you would have wasted this time now worrying. focus on what is good now and be present now. when i find that i'm not being present, i think of this story. i couple of years ago, i went to an event that i felt like was the most important thing in my life. i really wanted a lot of photos to remember it by and i ended up spending the whole time taking pictures. afterward, i realized that i didn't even remember anything about that day because i was not present and was focused on taking the stupid pictures! that's just my little reminder of myself to live in the now and appreciate it and not to worry about the future.

i live in los angeles and paid $16k for surgery, nutrition class, first year of fills. my insurance covered the pre-surgery tests so i didn't have to pay for those.

breakfast: 1 poached egg on black Beans snack: cottage cheese with blueberry applesauce lunch: cottage cheese and chicken snack: carbmaster yogurt dinner: turkey burger and broccoli

not a dumb question, it was one of the first things i asked my dr when i met with him. after surgery, i could feel the band inside of me for the first 3 weeks and my dr said some people are able to sense that it's there (a definite minority though). it eventually went away. i can feel the port with my hand but cannot sense that there's anything inside of me there. i don't think that driving all day would be a problem once you've healed.

WOE = way of eating it's a term that came about in low carb eating

my fave that i still eat as a snack is cottage cheese with mott's no sugar added blueberry applesauce on top. SOOOOO good!! (it's not as good with regular applesauce though). here's a pic of it to help you find it in the store: http://www.google.co...1t:429,r:12,s:0

great info, thanks! yeah, i've been tracking everything on fitday and using measuring cups but was wondering if a digital scale would be better. they're pretty cheap so i'll pick one up. thanks!

good info, thanks dave!

there's a thread for scar pics you can check out http://www.lapbandtalk.com/topic/5996-scar-stages-share-yours/page__pid__1595339__st__520#entry1595339

thanks. appreciate the encouragement and info.

i think the most difficult thing about this surgery is that everyone is affected differently. some people have no problems at all and others have a lot of problems. when i was considering it, i decided that it was kind of a crapshoot and you just have to roll the dice and hope you don't have problems. i'm about a month post op and had some problems that really scared me. they left a tiny bit of fill in when they put the band in and it was way too tight. i had constant, really bad chest pain for weeks. also, it really bothered me because i felt like i could feel something inside of me. however, once they removed the fill the pain and sensation of feeling the band inside of me went away. my dr says that some people are able to tell it's there but the majority are not. on the plus side, i have never been nauseous or thrown up. also, most people do pretty well after surgery and return to work after a week, but i didn't feel normal or able to work until a full 3 weeks after. the surgery was tough for me but i also wonder if because i haven't ever had a baby if i just don't know what REAL pain is, ha! if you've been thru other surgeries and handled them well, you'll be fine. i think that your acknowledgement about worrying about things is valid. when i asked my dr if any of his patients have wanted the band out, he said only one person who was a "worrier" and didn't like the idea of having something inside of him. some people are able to have it and not really think about it and others may be preoccupied with it. i think that's something you might be able to work through though with the help of a therapist should you decide to get it done. it's a tough decision and the best advice i can give you is to do a lot of research and read people's stories on both sides. and trust your instincts! i always trust mine and am rarely wrong about major decisions. what are your instincts telling you?

i had to have some air and saline that was there when they installed it taken out and it was SO painful! so i hear you. the gave me 2 numbing shots but they didn't really help. i was crying so hard. am really afraid to get another fill and thankfully i have pretty good restriction with nothing in my band now, so hopefully i won't have to get one!!

great idea, cheri! thanks for starting this thread. i'm pam and am 45 and live in L.A. i have been a tv producer for about 15 years and i have really loved my career (mainly reality and docs: a couple of new shows on OWN, apprentice, bachelor. my favorite one was a show several years ago called "starting over," that i won an emmy for). i have suffered from depression since i was a teen and started taking antidepressants about 15 years ago. i was thin prior to that but they caused me to gain about 50 lbs, which i have never been able to lose. because of my discomfort about my weight (and because i live in LA where everyone is overly weight conscious!!) i stopped dating in my 30's and never got married. i did several years in therapy to deal with some other issues involving maternal neglect and finally ceased suffering from depression and am 90% off of antidepressants and feel great!! i knew though at my age that i wouldn't be able to lose the weight so when the fda recently lowered the bmi to 30, i decided to do it. i had to self pay and my weight is not life threatening (yet), so it was risky and expensive. am about a month post op and despite being stalled right now, i am happy with my decision to do the surgery. i also decided to do a career change because tv is extremely demanding with long hours and i can't keep doing it into my old age, so i started grad school. i am almost half way done with my masters in psychology to become a therapist. am looking forward to a new career and losing the weight so that i can feel comfortable about myself to have a relationship again. i miss men!! :-)