Alexandra

This is not a final decision, no. The mods and site owner are still batting around the final change. As of right now, you can edit or delete your own posts for a period of 24 hours after creating them, but after that you can't. This may change, but for right now that's the way it is. The answer to your first two questions is yes, moderators still have access to anything that's been deleted from the public board. But there are concerns about whether it's appropriate to un-delete something at all when the person who did it had, at that time, every right to do it. We're looking at how to prevent these problems in future. If the changes we put in place mean that people will think a few more seconds before posting something, I don't think that's all bad. And I don't think removing the ability to completely delete threads will in any way detract from the benefits of LBT.

What a relief to hear there are no problems, Angiebell! Congratulations to you. As long as you know your band and stomach are healthy, you are good to go. Your fills "kicking in" weeks later may just be something special to you, and something you'll learn to live with/work around. I had a similar thing going on, with fills making themselves felt maybe not 6 weeks later but definitely three or four weeks. My guess is that the stomach tissue sort of retracts or thins out in response to the added pressure, and then as time passes it returns to its normal thickness, suddenly increasing your restriction. Why this should take so long to happen is anyone's guess. So just take it slow, relax, and be thankful that everything checked out OK! As long as the tool is still in place, we have something to work with. Congratulations again! :banana

Paula, I'm curious as to why you think there should be a distinction among the forums with regard to this issue. What's the difference? Remember, people, moderators can always delete threads if there's a real reason for it. All we want to do is prevent the wholesale disruption we've just seen by someone deleting threads without rhyme or reason.

Oh, MaryAnn, I'm sorry you had to go through this. The great thing is that you're whole, healthy, and have a clean slate to start again. Good luck and please stick around!!

Light dawns: At the moment the features are set so that people can edit their own posts for a period of 24 hours. The mods and site owner are still discussing how to handle this permanently, but that's how it is at the moment.

Um, I have to agree a bit with StrawartS about the dredging-up of deleted threads. We can act like adults and not do stuff like that, even though it's possible. The moderators are right now discussing what future policies should be, including whether we should have the right to restore threads that have been deleted in the past. That will depend, I think, on how easy it is to strip out the posts from the person who did the deleting in the first place, and we're waiting for technical information on that point. So for now, please be aware that we're working on formulating a policy that will a) prevent this sort of disruption in future, and respect everyone's desire to control their own words.

VQ, my heart goes out to you and I hope you enjoy your sabbatical. Please don't leave permanently; you have lots of friends here and people are walking all sorts of different journeys. I can completely understand if it's difficult, though. You're an extraordinary person. We <3 you.

Penni, :hug: :hug:

Absolutely beautiful!! :biggrin1:

Oh, Leener, I'm so sorry you got that call! They are the scariest things, these alerts. Fingers crossed for you that it's nothing and they give you a totally clean bill of health. I had what they said was an abnormal breast scan last year, requiring followups that found nothing. So I know a little about how you feel. Good luck and try not to worry yourself sick!

I am quite certain that if I were to explore plastic surgery I'd find a surgeon happy to help me. But I personally don't feel that any is necessary. Other people with the exact same skin might very well think it is. Only time will tell how you feel about the body you have after weight loss. My issues are fairly minor, I think, with my arms and boobs being the main problems. But these are easily camouflaged with clothing; the idea of surgery that will replace hanging skin with scars is not at all appealing to me. Also, I haven't lost all the weight I "should." One thing that's keeping me happily here is the idea that more weight off would just mean MORE loose skin issues. I don't want to need surgery, and if I go any further I think I'd be less happy with the way I look, not more. So it's all a balancing act, and your experience will be uniquely yours.

I wasn't talking about THIS specific situation, StrawartS, but future situations. I agree that we can't get into deciding which threads are deleteable and which aren't. That's why I think NONE should be deletable rather than ALL of them. And again, wiping the slate clean is always possible and would remain so. If someone wants THEIR posts and their very identity wiped from the board I'm sure that can be done.

I'm just curious, TBM: Do you feel proprietary about threads you start? Even if they're about movies or sports or some such? If so, why? Just musing here: I wonder if this may be side-effect of the rise of blogs and journaling on the web--maybe people who do a lot of that really DO feel this way about topics they start. I've never been into blogging or journaling online, so maybe my POV is a little different. This message board is not like a diary for me in any way. Are the lines blurring? As for the anonymity factor, I am reasonably certain there is a way for the board owner to delete all posts made by any given person, so if that's someone's concern that can always be handled with help from the administration. I'm in no way implying that anyone should be forced to keep their own words on the board forever.

Diva, it's absolutely been true for me that I FEEL full on less food with the band. Yes, the negative reinforcement helps keep me from eating too much just because of the pain, but there's no question that this amount of food really IS enough. The trick, and there is one, is paying attention to the feeling and recognizing it for what it is. It's a different feeling than what we may have thought of as "full" before--it's not that belly-bursting, full-to-sleepiness stuffedness we might remember from Thanksgivings past. The negative reinforcement helps minimize the mindless eating that was my hallmark pre-band. And now all it takes is a little attention to realize that I'm actually full and satisfied, too.

It sure happens, Joe. For better or worse, a huge weight loss affects everything in our lives. I personally would hope that a weight loss alone couldn't spell the end of a marriage; I'd think there would have had to be other things at work. Hope you're not going through anything painful. :hug:

My all-time favorite salad dressing is the Asian carrot-ginger dressing, which tastes exactly like that served in Japanese restaurants. I don't know the brand name and unfortunately, I can no longer find it at Trader Joe's where I used to buy it. Anyone know of a good one?

Good luck, Cheri! Doesn't sound pretty, but I hope you'll be feeling much better after it's done. I wouldn't jump the gun with an unfill if you don't need it, not yet. Just try to stay alert to how you're feeling so you can get one if conditions require. Heal fast!!

Hi Lar, Welcome to LBT! Yes, you'll find that hair loss is not at all uncommon. It seems to follow about four or five months after surgery, and isn't always related to weight loss. The same thing happened to me both times I gave birth, and again with banding. But it's not too bad, and starts to grow back after a couple of months. No one has ever gone bald. Contratulations on your banding and your great weight loss!

Hi Micki, First, you can't stretch your band. What stretches is your pouch, and it's pretty unlikely you could do that without prolonged, ongoing overeating. If you find yourself eating past the point of being overfull on a regular basis, you might very well stretch your pouch and compromise the position of your band. But for most bandsters, the pouch stretches no more than it's supposed to (it's made of stomach tissue, after all) and it bounces back to its normal size as the food in it passes through the stoma. Your question about how many fills one can get is a good one with several answers. First, the port can be accessed thousands of times, so there's no mechanical limit to adjustments. HOWEVER, there is clearly a point at which adding more Fluid to the band makes the stoma too small, so no food or fluid can pass through. That's the "too tight" scenario. People are different and the same amount of fluid can render one person too loose and the next too tight. There's no such thing as "too many" fills or "too few" fills. There are only three levels: too loose, too tight, and just right. If it takes 3 or 30 adjustments to find your just right, so be it. A lot depends on how your doctor handles fills, whether they tweak by adding .1cc at a time or whether they go for good restriction right away. If you're able to eat solid foods by chewing carefully and eating slowly, and yet are not hungry after a meal for 4 or 5 hours, you probably don't need a fill. Getting too tight is not a good thing, as many of us can attest.

Yeah, I did and still am partaking of too much Easter candy. Last night, in particular, I sat myself down and really explored the way my stomach felt. Blech! It wasn't even candy I particularly liked much, but it was there and it just popped itself into my mouth (that's my story, and I'm sticking to it). Realizing that a) I didn't like it much, and it didn't make me happy, and c) eating too much of it resulted in a yucky feeling, eventually made me look at it in a new way. Tonight I'll be able to give it a pass. And in another few days it will be gone entirely. Slow down, examine, explore, decide. That's my strategy and when I use it, it works.

The Best Me, I was here when all the deleting frenzy was going on last year, of course I remember. The difference was that at the time those threads were indeed a bit, um, dramatic (as I recall) and it wasn't all that surprising that things got pulled. What I don't like is the idea that perfectly benign threads can be pulled just because someone wants to take their toys (as it were) and go home. There's no reason for that and it can be incredibly disruptive. I also think a certain amount of responsibility should be encouraged in posting. Most sites I've been on don't allow any editing of posts after some given amount of time has passed. We seem to be different in that respect, and that's fine. But I now think we allow a little too much freedom. Oh, and if I were going to try to find a pic that showed me happy with the way I looked, I'd have to dig out my mother's baby book.

Once again we were posting at the same time. But I think we're on the same page, now. sleep tight!!

I see your point, too, StrawatS. And I completely agree about LBT and its environment. But threads aren't blogs, they're conversations. To my mind, they stop being the sole property of the starter the second someone replies. We have journals that actually are more like blogs and those are and should remain the property of the person who starts them. I think it's great that we have both elements here. On that note I have to say goodnight. Talk to you tomorrow!

Awwwww, that is so sweet! Your sister must be a very special person.

MelAnne, really do try to stay on liquids for at least a week. It's really important to keep your stomach from working while you're healing; solid foods will churn the muscles that should be stable and still while the band is healing into place. Don't test it, please. Explore the world of soup! You're not on a diet so don't worry about calories at this point. Go ahead and take in whatever you need that is liquid that will help you feel satisfied. Stay away from cheese and turkey at this point; stick to Protein shakes and Soups without chunks. You will be thankful that you gave your stomach this time to heal properly. Follow your doctor's instructions and you'll be just fine!!