GeezerSue

Had lunch a few days ago with some friends/former co-workers. One of the five of us is underweight, one is pretty much on target, two of us are wls patients (both still overweight, but nothing like pre-op) and then there's the other one. She is the nicest, smartest woman. But she is SO deep in denial. She actually said that her weight problems are not the result of overeating, because she doesn't eat very much. I used to have lunch with this woman on a daily basis. She eats much. Really much. And, as she was explaining that she doesn't eat much, she was finishing a HUGE beef-dip sandwich and fries. This is NOT a woman of limited intelligence. She is a bright woman, a professional, has multiple degrees, and has professional siblings. (She also has a husband with food-related medical problems and some kids at normal weight and other who are obese.) But, her BMI has got to be well, well over 50. She is really big, but says she's healthy and athletic. Question: Now that YOU have had surgery or are considering it, how do you handle conversations with friends like mine? She's still in her 40's and I'd love to see her get healthy while she's relatively young. (I'll be 57 in a couple of weeks...she looks VERY young to me.) Do I pretend that she's right? Do I assume that because portion sizes are so big, she really thinks that she eats reasonable amounts of food? Do I let her think she's convincing me, when I don't believe a word of it? Right now, I just respond with, "Well, you know better than anyone else how you feel." What do y'all do? Sue

Sultana, I think you are absolutely on-target normal. This is the first time you have had to consider losing the "tool" you have utilized to deal with happiness, anger, loneliness, fear, isolation, frustration, pain, abandonment, jubilation, whatever... IMHO, I think you'd be a moron to not be a little concerned about on what terms you are going to meet life in the absence of your "tool." Sue

Bob, I don't believe that insurance companies are legally empowered to arbitrarily call a procedure "investigational or experimental" when it is neither. There is an attorney named Walter Lindsttom who writes reasonably-priced, ugly letters to remind them of where the line is drawn. AND, Don Mills at Inamed has written several friendly letters reminding insurance companies that the investigation is over, the experiment is over...it is an FDA-approved procedure. Period. Give Inamed a try and then consider Lindstrom. They've worked for others. (I think the insurance comapnies backed down and said something like, "Oh! THAT LapBand. There was a misunderstanding.") Sue *whose daughter's PS said that the appeal letter I wrote was so good that I should start a business doing just that.

I suspect that they each--in their own way--block your stoma. The bread turns into concrete and the lettuce lays down a little "mesh screen," and then your stomach tells your brain that there's a blockage and the brain starts pumping saliva just when you don't need anything else in that esophagus, and next thing you know, you're a hiccuping, barfing, spitting mess...or at least I am.

Kiwigirl, That is EXACTLY what happens when I'm in charge of the vacation. I plan like a maniac, but have three alternates "just in case." By the time I get there, I feel familiar enough with the area to try something altogether different. My family is not amused.

Two previous abdominal surgeries here...c-section and hysterectomy. So know you know where the expression "Believe half of what you read and nothing of what you hear," comes from. Sue

Reflux. It can be a dangerous thing. And it can make you cranky, cuz you get less and less sleep.

Kelly, With nine pounds gone in two weeks, I'd be a little suspicious that I had at least some dehydration going. IF that's the case with you, you might "gain" a few pounds upon rehydration. Don't panic if that happens! I'm rolling around in the ethnic glories of the holidays right now. Lasagne on one side of the family and tamales on the other. I haven't been able to eat either in over a year, so MY current weight gain has a little more to do with food than with rehydrating.:nervous Pasta, masa (the "bread" part of the tamale), enchiladas, tortillas, potatoes and salads and oranges, even celery! So...I'm off to the gym! Sue

Thanks for asking, Michelle! The reflux was gone within days, and I just stopped the meds. I'm planning on a re-fill in the near future, but a minimal one. Sue

Kiwigirl, When I have restriction, there are some foods that just routinely clog up the stoma and cause problems. They are doughy bread, Pasta, rice, raisins (or any dehydrated food that will expand once it gets in the stomach), and potatoes in any form. One restaurant serves stuffed shrimp that contains no breadcrumbs and I love it. But if I order it at the next restaurant, I spend the evening in the restroom with horrific excess salivation happening. Crabcakes can be made with or without breadcrumbs. With proper restriction, I can tell you within a minute or two which it is I just ate. So, in my case, it would not have been that I ate another forkful, but that it was a forkful of potatoes. The band is different for each of us, but when I have ANY saline in my band, those items are regularly problematic. Sue

Yup. First time LAX-MEX-MTY, business class. Next time was a direct, non-stop LAX-MTY flight, in coach and it was ever so much better because we didn't have to go through Mexico City and change planes and all. Rumbaut has a limo guy (taxi, actually) holding a sign with your name at the airport...I imagine Sanchez does the same.

Marcia, Here's something I'm learning 14 months post-op. The band is a tool. It helps, but only so much. I am thoroughly capable of having plenty of restriction and losing nothing. Most people are. So, while Larry is moving along swimmingly right now, there may come a time that weight loss just stops, because the "easy" part of is over and now it's all about making wise choices. I'm glad I got my band. it got me here. But now, in all honestly, I'm closer to where you are than to where Larry is in terms of how hard this is. (I have no saline in my band right now, and can eat a HOST of things I couldn't eat a few weeks ago. So I do eat them.) Here's what I'm working on doing: --I ask myself why I'm going to eat what I'm about to eat. --I think about whether the food in question will meet the need" (boredom, loneliness, frustration) I'm experiencing. --I decide whether to eat it or not. --I remind myself that it is, in fact, not the very last time I can have access to this food, so it's okay to not eat it all right now. --I remind myself that since I have been unable to eat certain foods for over a year, that my acting like I just escaped from Dachau is NORMAL, and WILL PASS. --I tell myself that IF I choose to eat the entire 1.75 qts of ice cream today, it is not necessary for me to eat anything else (you know, the "healthy" stuff, so I can eat what I want)...AND...that tomorrow I will probably make healthier choices. --I remind myself that I'm working on changing to healthier choices. --I try REALLY HARD to love me anyway, just the way I am right now. Sue

KiwiGirl...I don't think you should change to pounds. I think the US should have gone metric when it said it was going to do that. Right now, I still have to buy European friends US measuring cups and spoons, so that they can relate to our recipes! Story: Many years ago, I was helping neighbors from Colombia learn English. The workbook had a lesson on health. The book said, "Mary has a temperature of 104 degrees. Mary is ______." The student was expected to fill in the blank from the provided vocabulary. My neighbor came to my house and said, "Mary is dead, no?" (For the math challenged*, if your temp is 104 degrees in the US, you are sick. In the whole rest of the world, you're somewhere around the "soft ball stage" in candy making. My neighbor figured that Mary had pretty much evaporated.) Sue *I don't think my fellow banded are incapable of computing this, but I know my sister would say, "Huh?" That's why I started this thread.

North Island? A JAFA? Welcome! I was banded at 55 and will be 57 in a couple of weeks. We can do this, right? Sue

I really love having people from places which deal in the kilogram and the stone. Any system of measurement which allows me to divide my weight (in pounds) by any number greater than one is clearly superior! For any math challenged who wonder how to "compare" their stats to our friends from the EU or other locations in the former British Empire... --for kilos, divide your weight in pounds by 2.2 --for stone, divide your weight in pounds by 14 Close enough, Sue

Scotland, eh? I once read a recipe for haggis and thought to myself, "Now, if I lived where that is served, I could get skinny and stay that way." Not so, huh? Well, now I'm glad that you found us and the band...and I'm glad that there's something besides haggis to eat. Maybe I need to visit Scotland after all. Welcome! Sue

Avery, I'm glad that you are willing to travel, but would encourage you to "think bigger," in terms of travel. Close is nice, but experience is way more important, even ignoring money. If I had the choice of a doctor who had done 30 LapBands close to home, and one who had done 1400 in Mexico...oh, wait! I DID have that choice. (The fact that the more experienced doctor also cost less was a plus.) Others will help me here, but there are some experienced doctors in Louisiana and in Austin...but a couple of the doctors in Monterrey, Mexico are WAY more experienced and don't cost as much. Good luck on your search, Sue

Our "kid" had a reduction last July. First thing she said in the recovery room was, "I can breathe." BTW, she was "squeezing" into a 38DDD, but her actual measurement was 36J. Her surgeon removed about two pounds from each side, and she's a dainty D at this point and loving it. I'm planning on a boob reduction and lift (no implants) and a panni or abdominoplasty. I think I'll do that first. I may not wait to get to goal, either. (good thing, given my current progress or lack thereof.) I'm a few days short of 57 years old, I've had a c-section and a hysterectomy, with navel to pubis incisions, and I've looked like Austrian draperies for thirty years, even AT goal weight. So, I kind of feel like I get to have my tummy done just because I want to.

And, you've got the whole boobs-sticking-out-farther-than-tummy thing going, too. Way to go! Sue

Inamed has the boob implants and their stock has done quite well. I have issues with implants for cosmetic reasons, and so I didn't buy that stock. I would have made money with that one. I just figured that JNJ would eventually make make money with their band. They bought Obtech--which owns what is called the Swedish Adjustable Gastric Band--in 2002, and clinical trials were started this year. I know ZIP about CJ Medical's band.

Oops.

In practical terms, I think that right now the Inamed band would be less of a hassle to have "serviced" in the states. That's because the Obtech band is in the middle of clinical trials, so only those doctors involved in the clinical trials have any experience with that brand. My assumption is that the Obtech (Johnson & Johnson) band will be approved and then--because JNJ is a bigger company--JNJ will advertise the hell out of it and it may eventually surpass the Inamed band. (Only an assumption, but I did buy JNJ stock based on that assumption.) But, for the US-based patient, not near a border or a clinical trial site, and not rich or employed by an airline, the more managable band right now would be the Inamed, because at least a few surgeons in most major cities have experience with it. Sue Edited to add: the "Bioenterics band" mentioned on Kuri's website is the old name for Inamed band.

Heard you were looking for info on Dr. Pena. Elma's website tells all about her experiences--including some complications that could happen anywhere. With your expertise, you'll know how to interpret all of the info. http://supergramemr.homestead.com/Photo_Gallery.html Sue

Shelly--Aha! Cute. I bet you're starting to hear comments about your dimples, again, huh? Donali--Thanks! Y'all are both good faeries!

Also, is this very far? While it makes for a horrid "bandster" diet, a Peanut Butter Moo'd with an extra Protein boost can make a day's meals and really up your protein during the post-op stage. http://jambajuice.com/where/index.html?s=NJ