Alexandra

Mya, I'm really sorry to hear you've made this decision. But you obviously have the right to whatever action you choose. One thing: the "counselor" is no counselor at all. She is out to do only one thing, and that is get business for the medical practice. Please don't fool yourself into thinking that she has any personal concern for you. If there was anyone there giving actual medical advice of any value, you would not be their patient for banding. Period.

I just found out that the AP bands are going to be released for use in the U.S. in June 2007. Sometime around then I'm having a new band installed (my first one, the oldest, small kind slipped) and I'm thrilled I'm getting the state of the art!!

So I met with my marvelous doctor this morning, and he gave me a green light for having a new band installed. It's just a matter of scheduling and insurance now, and he is confident the latter won't be a problem. YAY!! He talked a bit about the newest sort of band, the AP band, which is going to be released to the public in June. It's an improvement on the VG band, being even larger and constructed in such a way that no rigid material comes in contact with the stomach. So that's what I'm going to have. Can't wait!! During this time of unbandedness I've been thinking about the various options, of course. My husband would prefer that I go it alone, because even though he completely sympathizes with my desire to not gain weight, he misses having me to cook for. :fish: But I've seen my old habits and desires come roaring back with a vengeance the last couple of weeks, and have no illusions about my being able to tame the demon even short-term without my silicone angel there to help. Sure, I wish that the last couple of years of behavioral therapy had worked to change everything about my relationship with food, but without the negative reinforcement I'm just nowhere. Even if it has to be removed again at some point in the future, I'll take that as it comes. It's given me a new lease on life. THIS time maybe I'll have a new perspective on learning how to change my behavior from the inside, but for the time being I'm just hugely relieved to know that a new band is in the works for me.

How weird! We're looking at the same page, and I see the old one. I saw that girl, though; who d'ya think that is?

I'm soooo confused! Now it looks to me like the OLD skin, but a few minutes ago I saw the new one. I suppose it will all come clear in time.

Phyllis, I wouldn't say you're in the "gaining stage" but rather you're in the "mind over matter" stage. There does come a point in the banded life where we find that the band alone isn't enough to motivate us to eat right. So that's the time to remember what it was that led you to banding in the first place. Why did you want to lose weight? How did you feel as the weight started to come off? Is candy worth the loss of those feelings? Believe me, you are NOT alone. I know exactly how you feel and I daresay most everyone else does, too. You can conquer this short-term battle with sugar. If you've never tried going cold turkey, give that a whirl. Sugar is addictive, and I know for me once I have that first taste in a day the rest of the day is a downward spiral. Try to avoid it if you can, and see where it takes you! In the meantime, know that your band is there and waiting for you to get your head back in the game. And we're here for you too!

Hey Mya, there's NOTHING about plastic surgery for someone of your size that says "failure." It's not weight that you need to deal with, it's just an unfortunate distribution of your tissues. Hell, it's people like you--perfect weight, lumps in the wrong places--for whom plastic surgery was invented. If you lose weight there is absolutely no guarantee that it will come off your thighs, as opposed to your breasts or muscles or ankles, say. And to see threads here about Betencourt, just scroll down to the bottom of this page. You'll see a couple, I think, under Similar Threads.

I can't run at all, never could, but on the bike or elliptical I can actually get somewhere. Walking is something I can do anywhere so when I'm at the gym I stick to the cool machines. Yesterday I did about 5 miles on the bike (20 minutes) and almost 3 miles on the elliptical (30 minutes). Whew! This is by no means daily, though; if I'm lucky it's 3 times a week.

OK, at that height and weight your CURRENT body-mass index is 18.9. So you want to model, that's great. A lap-band is not going to help you. Hell, it might even be visible on you. For sure the port will be. If you want to have surgery to remove cottage cheese from your tushie, you want liposuction. Why not explore that, or body contouring, or some of the other procedures out there for that purpose? You really don't want something that will compromise your ability to eat, since you really don't need to lose any more weight. Please reconsider.

Oh, and I meant search here for threads on Betencourt Medical, not Google. Although doing both is no doubt a good idea.

Mya, at your age I'd really suggest doing something else to try to lose weight. You didn't answer the question of your height, but even if you're less than 5' tall you already have a normal BMI. Why is your goal weight so low?

20 lbs is not, in my opinion, worth running the risks of surgery. EVERY surgery has risk, and no doctor in the US would perform weight loss surgery on someone trying to get down to double-digit weight. How tall are you? Unless you are 3 feet tall this just makes no sense to me, I have to be honest. Are you seriously thinking of spending multiple thousands of dollars and running the very real risk of surgery to lose 20 lbs?

Hi Mya, You might want to do a search on Betancourt to read up on some prior posts about people's experiences there. 'Nuff said. Next, are you saying you currently weigh 117 and are having surgery to lose 20 lbs? That can't be what you mean, can it?

I wish you all the best luck for an uneventful surgery and quick recovery, Mary. Good for you for making the best decision for your health!

Oh, Deezer, that's awful! What a terrible thing. I don't blame you for being depressed and teary, but try to hang on to the good thing about all this. Once your band is removed you can HEAL and you will be healthy again. I hope your infection is quickly a thing of the past. :hug:

Yay!! That's one less thing to worry about, and one less BIG thing at that! Congratulations!!!

Marjon, would you object to a little judicious editing of the title of this thread? Usually, adult content warrants a label, and I guess there's some grounds for objection on that score.

No one is supporting the activities mentioned on the linked site, though. It seems you are objecting to the mere mention of reprehensible activities. What line is it that you want drawn?

Brandy, as I understand it there is very little risk for banding surgeries to be converted to open. The fact is the lap-band is designed to be installed laparscopically, so converting to an open surgery would make no sense. If there were a problem, the surgeon would be much more likely to not install the band at all.

Hey, anyone can ask at any time that something be removed. That doesn't mean we're going to DO it.

I didn't really know what was meant by "long layers," but then the stylist clarified and said she would keep the longest part as long as it was before the cut. That sounded OK to me and Gillian, who was concerned that it stay feminine and long-looking. So that's what I was expecting. We were both a bit taken aback, but now we're lovin' it. :biggrin1: Thanks, everyone!

Excellent post, Helen! Very well said and really, can't be said often enough. Thank you.

That does seem an odd rule if there's any pretense at all to being an open forum. We inadvertently used to allow a similar thing, by letting people delete their own posts. That's fine in principle, but if they delete their own thread-starting posts, they end up deleting the entire thread. And that's not fair to everyone else who posts in a thread. That's why here people can only delete their OWN posts, not entire threads.

I found that not saying anything before the fact was a better approach with most people. As the weight loss become apparent, that's plenty of time to figure out who to be honest with. In my experience no one judged me or gave me a hard time--the proof was right in front of them that it was the right decision for me. Personally, I think that any friend who would feel "hurt" that you didn't tell them earlier is no friend. They'd just be expressing their displeasure at having been denied some juicy gossip (and I did have one former relative who felt just that way. Phooey.) Some things are personal, and you are completely and totally allowed to keep them that way until you feel ready to discuss it. Any real friend would understand.

Heather, I can't advise on the doctor but I can tell you that until/unless you literally can't get any liquids down it's probably not an emergency. In order to keep your irritation from getting you to that point, you must stick STRICTLY to liquids. Start taking Prilosec immediately, or even better if you can get a prescription get one for Nexium or Prevacid. You have to do whatever you can to calm the area down. Stay away from coffee (brutal, I know, especially on a business trip) or anything acidic, and don't have anything at all late in the day. I really sympathize, I know how you feel. Good luck, and as SOON as you get back from your trip CALL YOUR DOCTOR!! (If there's any way you can call him today you should, even if just to talk--I don't know about that lower stomach ache and it doesn't sound good.)