Alexandra

Hi Dawn! Welcome to LBT and good luck with everything! :biggrin1:

Brilliant and inspired!! :pound:

The point about desperation probably bears repeating. I've spoken to loads of preoperative WLS patients, and some of them are absolutely in the "enough talking already--OPERATE!!" mindset. Someone that intent on having surgery immediately probably won't think to ask questions until afterwards. And Bermy, if you look in Penni's signature you'll see that she lost her band a couple of months ago. :confused:

This is an interesting exercise, and I'll play. Sizes in women's clothes are, though, a very Fluid thing. I'll just put the sizes of my favorite brands of clothes, recognizing all along that there are other makes of clothes that in the same size would be impossible to get on. 5'10", 215 lbs top--ladies 14 or L (Tall if available) pants--XL or 16T (34" inseam if hemmed) bra--38DD panties--8

For those of us who are "wired" into the WWW, not knowing isn't an option. But for many people, research into a medical procedure is still a foreign concept. Doctors are authority figures and if they recommend something it's a done deal, and their instructions--however hazy they may be--are followed. I don't think it's dumbness or laziness, just a different mind-set. If anything it says something negative about the doctors who aren't giving their patients enough information. THAT concerns me. There are enormous numbers of people who could benefit from banding surgery and unfortunately that translates into huge dollar signs. That leads to the revolving door syndrome and a lot of patients who weren't given enough time up front. And in countries with nationalized health care, there may also be little incentive for doctors to spend a lot of time educating their patients. Some do, of course--the good ones--but some will not.

Anu, welcome, and I'm glad you introduced yourself! I have absolutely NO problems with lurkers; they are part of the reason LBT is here. Don't feel any pressure to speak up if you can't or just don't want to for whatever reason. I'm just glad to know you're getting some helpful information from the site. See you later! (Or not!) :biggrin1:

I gained steadily as I grew, pretty much all my life. At 9 I was 150, at 13 I was 212, at 20 I was 265, at 28 I was 310. Then at 28 I went on Optifast and lost 75 lbs, getting down to 235 for about a week. After that I gained steadily, but faster, for the next 8 years, topping out at 340. Then I got pregnant. :) I hovered between 310 and 350 for the next five years through two pregnancies.

Sunta, it's the sticky rice and nori that you might need to avoid. But the fish is good, and good for you!!

Thanks, Leatha!! I want to hear from everyone who has HAD an endoscopy and did NOT have erosion. Presumably there are more of y'all out there!!

Kyleigh, the good news about erosion is that it's a slow process. The stomach is healing itself as fast as the band is eroding through it, so it's not very likely there will be a hole through which gastric contents can leak out. That is, of course, a concern, but erosion is not an emergency situation that has to be dealt with immediately (I'm told by mu surgeon). I told the nurse practitioner that I am afraid I have esophagitis or an ulcer. The "E" word was there in the air, but I didn't say it. My symptoms are, essentially, a feeling that my esophagus is inflamed and I'm having nightly reflux that is robbing me of sleep. So everything feels worse because of the lack of sleep. There have also been infrequent dull aches in the middle of my chest, but that could be attributed to my allergies which were given a good workout recently. I had a LOT of congestion over the week just past. In any event, to diagnose esophagitis and/or erosion an endoscopy is necessary. It didn't take much for the nurse to tell me to go for it.

Thanks, Ali!! See my PM for more details. You're a doll!!!

I just five minutes ago got off the phone with the nurse practitioner at my surgeon's office who told me to call a gastroenterologist for an EGD (endoscopy). I'm 2+ years out from surgery and recently have been having some odd symptoms. Of course I wanted the nurse to tell me oh, yes, it's allergies, it's menopause, it's heartburn, it's whatever, but what she said was yes, we have to rule out an ulcer or erosion. So I'm going to try to schedule it for Friday. :confused: I'm nervous, I'll admit it. I hate mood-altering buzzy drugs, and of course I'm very nervous about the possible outcome. Now I just have to manage my stress over the next few days until I know more.

Oh, Jo Ann, what a hassle! I'm glad you found out what was up. I hope getting it fixed won't be too difficult. :hug:

Congratulations on that big honkin' SV!!! You GO girlie girl!!

You have traveled a long way and should be SO PROUD of yourself!!! Congratulations on taking the next step, and please do keep us posted. We want to cheer you on!!

The very worst PB I ever had was on the seaweed salad that came with some sushi. Oy vey. Sashimi--that is, just the fish--is my very favorite food and has never caused me any problems. It's the rice and fibrous vegetables that might present problems for bandsters. Graduate to sashimi and you'll be golden. :biggrin1:

Fingers crossed for a completely smooth surgery and recovery, Anthony. And I hope your back pain disappears permanently!! Please don't forget to come back and let us know how you're doing. Good luck!!

Presumably your fill doctor is also on board for other kinds of followup? Give his office a call and see what they say. If they're only seeing you for fills you may indeed have to call Dr. Kuri.

Are you talking about Horizon BCBS in New Jersey? Or Horizon in New York? Either one is pretty band-friendly, as long as you qualify medically. Where are you in the process?

From what I hear, one of the major advantages of laparascopic surgery is its greatly lowered risk of infection. And I don't know much about MRSE infection (like, what does that stand for?), but even the worst port infections I've heard about don't seem to amount to the systemic staph infections we hear about being really dangerous. Are they the same sort of thing?

The only downside to tea is the caffeine. The party line is that every ounce of a caffeinated beverage counts against your daily intake of fluids. So if you're drinking 40 ozs of tea every day, you have to drink 80 additional ounces of Water to make up for it. Personally, I don't quite buy that. But I do recognize that MOST of the fluids we take in on a daily basis should be calorie- and caffeine-free. You don't have to give up your tea habit, but don't drink it to the exclusion of other, more hydrating fluids.

You'll have a pre-op class with a nurse practitioner, I know, but I don't know if you'll be seeing the doctor again until surgery day. If you have questions, though, of course they'll be happy to speak with you.

YES, YES, YES, YES, YES. My "goal" was to lose weight, and by that measure I have reached goal. I don't care what the charts say or what my BMI is. All I care about is that I have more stamina, energy, grace, and a totally brightened future because I weigh 120 lbs less than I did three years ago. Someone else with a BMI of 30+ might feel that WLS was a big waste of time, but when someone who started at 48 gets down that far it is anything BUT a waste. Holy cow, would I do it again? YES, YES, A THOUSAND TIMES YES. :clap2: :clap2: :clap2:

Personally, I do not have an addictive personality. Or possibly I did when I was younger, but somehow outgrew it. I was able to quit both smoking and drinking cold-turkey without any withdrawals or regrets, and while I hate smoking now I am able to drink just a little without wanting to over-indulge. In my younger days I partook of both with abandon and thought I'd have trouble quitting, but was surprised to find that I wasn't addicted after all. Thank goodness, because my mother was as addictive as they come. She drank and smoked herself to death and I know people worried that I was going to do the same. But whatever gene it is that malfunctioned in her didn't do so in me to the same extent. Was my overeating a re-channeling of those addictions? I honestly don't think so. I believe my metabolism is genetically skewed to make me obese, PLUS my early upbringing taught me that enough was never enough. I was taught to hoard and cornered into gluttony through forced deprivation. I can't recall ever thinking I was really addicted to any particular foodstuff, and even my attraction to ice cream waxes and wanes over time. So sure, it's possible to be addicted to food and get morbidly obese as a result. But it's also possible to NOT have an addictive personality, and still get morbidly obese. Food is food, and too much is no good.

That sure sounds like it, Wheetsin, but the question is why would this occur to you out of the blue since you're not yet banded? How very odd. I wonder if stress alone can do this? Edited to add: One occurrence does not GERD make. Gastro-esophageal Reflux Disease is, by definition, a chronic, frequently occurring condition. You may very well have had an incidence of reflux, just one, for whatever reason, and that's not anything to worry about.