Alexandra

I do worry about that, indeed. My girls are handfuls now, at 6 and 9. But then I remember that my husband's family went for a LONG cross-country drive back in the late 60s in a station wagon. Two kids, 12 and 10, and two parents, one who hated to drive, no iPods, no GameBoys, no DVD/CD players, and they managed to go all over this nation for two months learning and seeing and doing. Hell, if they can do that, we can handle whatever adventures traveling throws at us.

I WAS BORN IN: New York, NY. The Big Apple. Manhattan, the city that never sleeps. AND GREW UP IN: the same I MOVED AWAY FROM HOME WHEN/BECAUSE: at 17 I went to college in upstate NY, and only lived under my mother's roof briefly after that, now and again. SINCE THEN I'VE LIVED: Manhattan (2 places); Queens (2 places in 4 years); Brooklyn (2 places in 4 years); Morris Co, NJ (3 places in 4 years)--I moved 8 times in 13 years, the last time in 1996. I ain't NEVER moving again!!! I TRAVEL AS OFTEN: Before kids travel was my #1 leisure priority. 3 months in Europe after college, Canada, Australia, Caribbean, as much as I could manage. After kids? Different story. But we'll get out there again. FARTHEST I'VE EVER BEEN FROM HOME IS: Australia in 1992. Loooong flight for 11 days, I'll tell you! BEST VACATION EVER, THAT I'D REPEAT IN A HEARTBEAT: Hmmmm.... I'd rather keep having new travel experiences, but will always love a beach vacation. Cancun in 1994 when Michael proposed to me is probably the best memory from a regular vacaion. WORST VACATION EVER, THAT WILL HAUNT ME TIL I DIE: None. All travel experiences are precious to me. But if I have to pick one it'd be last summer's week in Cape Cod, with bad weather and an ER visit on the second day because my 5 y.o. needed stitches. But I always know it could have been worse, and it's just another story for the family to laugh over later. DREAM VACATION IF TIME AND MONEY WERE NO OBJECT: Ahhh, now you're talking. I'd go on one of those around-the-world trips that go with only a few dozen people and take a year. SPECIAL PLACE I NEVER GET TIRED OF GOING BACK TO: I want to go back to Paris. I want to go back to Fair Harbor, Fire Island (NY) where I spent childhood summers. My heart is always in Manhattan. Great questions!!

Mary, I'm so sorry you're having this trouble! It's extremely rare that a body "rejects" the band--I've heard surgeons actually say that it's categorically impossible--but every once in a while there are people who seem just physically unable to tolerate it. I hope your body stops objecting and makes friends with it!! Good luck and heal quickly. :hug:

Hey, we're bandmates! I know exactly what you're talking about. I think it's just muscular twinges and twitches as things heal up and go back into place. Today is the first day I've done much more than sit at a desk and I am reallyl feeling it in my midsection. Guess getting in and out of a car (about 50 times today so far) is harder on me than I thought! All these little feelings are messages our bodies are giving us to TAKE IT SLOWLY. I for one am going to listen, and am about to retreat with a book. Feel better!

Jvalve, this is not all that uncommon. I recall feelingt that way myself sometimes. I even talked to my doctor about it on many occasions, and she was never concerned. Just try to take it easy, stand up slowly, and make sure you're getting enough fluids.

EVERYBODY CALLS ME: Alex MY PRIMARY RELATIONSHIPS INCLUDE: DH Michael (below), love of my life; DD Gillian almost 9, DD Catie, just turned 6. And stepson Peter, just turned 18. MY NON-HUMAN FAMILY CONSISTS OF: a parakeet of indeterminate gender named Ben-Sophia. My daughters have stuffed companions named Whitening and Spotty. (There are lots of other stuffies, of course, but these two have been elevated to members of the family.) I LIVE IN: Morris County, NJ OCCUPATION(S): Currently working as a health insurance broker and office manager. But my first career was as the executive director of a professional trade association, and I am thisclose to going back to that job. KEEP YOUR FINGERS CROSSED FOR ME. AVOCATION(S): None at the moment. Well, LBT, I guess. :biggrin1: But once my kids are grown and I have time for my own pursuits, it will be travel, music, and photography.

Hee hee! Yep, after surgery on Monday morning I went back to my office on Thursday. Am I nuts? (Don't answer that. ) I just can't take lying around the house, especially as I started to feel better and got a little hungry. I hate the way pain meds make my head feel, so they didn't really help. The worst part was driving to work--my 1/2 hour trip had a few potholes that made me twinge. But once at the office I was really OK. I find that working helps me keep my mind off of other things--time goes faster, I don't think about my next meal, it's all good! I did go to bed early that night, though. :biggrin1:

Thanks, Tracy!! I'm feeling better and better--that's the wonderful part of having surgery (or recovering from anything). As you heal life looks bright and shiny every day! I'm even enjoying doing the laundry. (Too bad I know THAT will pass.)

These are very wise words! The pre-fill stage is NOT so much about losing as much weight as you possibly can, but learning to moderate your intake and maintain the loss you've achieved already. I find the single best thing I can do for myself in these times is NOT TO GET TOO HUNGRY. Nibbling on things like string cheese, Protein bars, cottage cheese mid-morning and late afternoon really helps me eat sensibly at lunch and dinner. Getting too hungry is a sure path to overdoing it when there's no restriction to stop me.

Jenny, it's true that some people do go off their BP meds after losing weight, but only those people whose high pressure was caused by their excess weight. In my case, I'd always assumed my borderline-high pressure was caused by excess weight, but after losing 100 lbs it turns out that it wasn't. Why didn't I ever think that before? My (slender) mother was on meds for her bp most of her adult life. Just another preconceived notion down the tubes. Don't make any assumptions about the way things hang together. After losing weight you ARE healthier, more active, better off overall, but if that doesn't mean you can get off your BP meds it's NOT the end of the world. It just means that your condition is caused by something else.

Absolutely correct, Mandy. Skinny, Aetna has a detailed list of their requirements readily available and you should refer to that to make sure you've done your homework. Your doctor, in any event, is the one who will make the request for surgical precertification (not you), so HE is the one who should marshall ALL the paperwork and details to present to Aetna. All you can do is help get it together, keep copies of everything, and call Aetna three days after your doctor says it was submitted to make SURE it's been received.

It's a great idea to try to practice this before banding, yes. But it's VERY hard, I know! And just as important as chewing each bite is WAITING between bites. Practice putting your utensils down between bites and taking three or four slow, deep breaths before taking the next bite. That's the kind of time you need to allow as a bandster to make sure you know if you've reached the end of your capacity BEFORE taking one bite too many. Good luck!!

Julz, you shoudl think about adding some real Protein drinks to this mix. Carnation instant breakfast is NOT a high-Protein Drink. There are loads of delicious options out there, including SlimFast Optima. Good luck!!

The only thing that would be 1970s about this issue is if there were any foregone conclusion about what's "better." This is a question that every family has to explore and answer for themselves. I know for me, staying home with my kids past the first few months was NEVER an option. It just wasn't something that appealed to me, and in any event I had to work to support the family. If it had been financially feasible, my husband was open to the idea of being a SAHD, but as it turned out his income was also needed. (I changed jobs to be closer to home, and took a significant pay cut to do it.) Both of my daughters thrived--first in a family daycare setting, and then went to preschool at age 3. IMO, staying home all day with a cranky, deprived parent who would rather be working would be WAY worse than spending time in a nurturing and encouraging social environment. Any parent who criticizes the choices of others needs to get a life. We all do what's best for our own families, period.

Jennifer, you've been banded for less than three weeks. If it was so easy to screw things up, NONE of us would be here today. You've just had a bit of a wake-up call, and it's going to prove useful to you in the end. Take a deep breath, relax, and start again each new day. This time is widely known to be the hardest, before you've had a fill but after you've healed and can feel full-on hunger again. Take it easy and be good to yourself. Don't let yourself get too hungry! That way lies gorging and loss of control. Eat lots of small meals and high-Protein Snacks to keep your blood sugar steady. You'll be fine!!

Ene, for Pete's sake, you can't possibly expect to continue losing at that accelerated rate for long, right? Your body has lost TWENTY-FIVE POUNDS!! It needs to take a breather. Give it three, four, five weeks, and you'll STILL be ahead of the curve on weight loss. You're doing wonderfully and will look back in wonder that you every worried about this. Relax!!!

Rainer, I am so happy for you!! It's a wonderful feeling, isn't it? To have control over that plate in front of you and to walk out feeing victorious, not deprived. Congratulations on the new underunders!!

At the end of day 3 I am just transitioning into full liquids. Had a frozen yogurt this afternoon because I was surprisingly hungry after work. And, oh utter joy, more than two hours later I am actually still feeling FULL from that.

In my own experience, it only happened when something on the large-ish side was stuck and didn't move readily. It did not happen every time. The first thing I learned, though, was to let it OUT rather than try to suppress the excess salivation. That way lies, well, more of the same. This was your first taste of negative behavioral reinforcement. Did it teach you anything? Whatever/however you were eating just prior to that experience is something you should not try again. You may even have just taken that one bite too many. You're a real bandster!!

Hi Judyann, Unfortunately, lots of insurers still have this bizarre restriction. It's excellent grounds for appeal, and you'll find MANY bandsters have been successful in fighting this kind of restriction (myself included). First, have you determined definitively that a) bariatric surgery is covered, but lap-band surgery is specifically NOT covered? If so, what is their reason for excluding it? It used to be the case that insurers excluded banding saying it was "experimental." But it's now been FDA-approved for more than FIVE years, and it's way past that stage. If you have recourse to an independent review panel you might find they agree with you. What sort of insurance are you talking about?

Congratulations on such a great start! I'm back to work today and (almost) regretting it. Can't wait to feel as good as you do!

That is your body's natural reaction to having something irritating in your stoma. It's trying to lubricate the area to get whatever it is out. Scary, but it showing that your body is working!

The manufacturer's recommendation is to wait at least 6 weeks so everything has had a chance to heal completely. If you are hungry in the meantime, go ahead and eat! This is a long-haul journey, not a sprint, and a few extra calories during this pre-fill time is not going to mean it never works for you. Don't press for a fill too early because that could lead to problems down the line.

Chickie, you look amazing and are 100% inspiration. Congratulations!!

Hi Rain! I had Dr. Abkin again, though I know Dr. Bertha was there and they were both operating today. I hardly remember seeing the doctor, though; i'd already been given the first drug of the anaesthesia cocktail and was feeling a little loopy. And though I know I saw him afterwards, I don't remember that *at all.* Thanks so much for checking in, and I really hope to meet you someday. Say hi to Pat for me!