Caribear

The tightness is common after any abdominal laparoscopic surgery, I think. I had it after I had my gallbladder removed. I quit taking my prescription pain meds after just a few days and was trying to get along with just tylenol, but ended up in urgent care because I thought the tightness was a sign of something wrong. The doctor told me that it happens because all of those abdominal structures have been "traumatized" by the surgery, but they don't have the right nerves to send a pain signal, so they just create this feeling of tightness. She scolded me and told me to take my prescription pain meds because that's what they're there for. I think the exact phrase she used was "don't try to be a hero" lol! Anyway, I hope you are feeling better very soon, and congratulations on your new beginning!

It's ok to be upset about it, I think I would be too. But I am glad that you have had some positive stuff happen to make you feel better. Just remember, as much as it doesn't seem like it now, this is just a temporary setback. The two weeks will be over before you know it. You can do this!

I have had this issue in the past - how cold is your Water? If it's too cold the powder won't mix well. Try room-temp water and see if that helps. Also a great thing to get is a Blender Bottle. It's a plastic drink bottle with a little wire whisk-like ball in it, and it makes it a lot easier to mix any kind of powder. They're also great for scrambled eggs (just have a dedicated egg bottle.) I got mine from nutrition express, but they sell them on Amazon and in most health food catalogs. Here's the Amazon link: http://www.amazon.co...28328076&sr=8-1

Congratulations!!

Excellent list! This should be required reading for anyone considering the band.

Yay! So happy for you!!

I also have medicaid in Ohio (Caresource) and am being covered - doing my 9 months now. But I also wanted to add that if your BMI is over 50, you only need one comorbidity according to my doctor and my surgeon's paperwork. Thanks for posting this, I know I was really confused about this stuff when I first started thinking about WLS.

Congratulations! I wish you a speedy recovery!

It's times like these past few days that make me question whether I can actually do this or not. The past several days have been really rough. Thursday through Sunday were high pain days, the kind of days where I really didn't want to do anything but curl up on the couch and cry. I have tramadol to take for the pain, so I went ahead and took it for the last two days. Then Sunday I woke up with a migraine so bad that I couldn't keep anything down, including water. After throwing up for six hours, I decided to go to the emergency room. I really dislike going in there for pain, but I didn't want to end up getting dehydrated and become really sick. They gave me fluids and a few shots, and I came home feeling halfway human again. Yesterday I laid on the couch for most of the day, being harassed by my three-year-old. I don't usually do that, so he just assumed that I was doing it for his own personal enjoyment and tried to use me as a jungle gym. To help me feel better, he put his praise CD on his radio and turned it up really loud so I could hear it. He danced and sang for me for a little while, but then he got bored and went to play on the computer with his dad, leaving me to listen to the music on repeat. It was very sweet of him to try and help, but let me tell you that one can only listen to the Veggie Tales cast sing "This Little Light Of Mine" before one seriously considers chucking the CD out the window. Of course, with all this pain competing for attention in my head, my healthy eating plan backslid quite a bit. We had takeout twice, and the other days were mostly high-carb convenience foods. I know that it probably didn't help me feel better, but when I'm in pain I don't care too much about healthy - it's all about what I can make with the least amount of effort. It's this very thing that makes me wonder how I will do this after being banded. I try very hard to keep fairly healthy stuff around that I can make quickly, but when that runs out I'm willing to get almost anything as long as it's not ridiculously unhealthy. And sending my boyfriend to the store to get "something good" for supper is not necessarily a good idea either. I guess next time I need to specify "good" as in "healthy," and definitely NOT pizza rolls. I guess this is something I will have to talk to my nutritionist about when I see her next week; maybe she will have some ideas that I can use for the next time. I am proud to say that I won the battle with the leftover chocolate cake in the refrigerator, though. My boyfriend ate most of it, and left the last slice for me. I was determined not to eat any more of it, so I just ignored it until it went stale and then I actually threw it away!!!

I refreeze shrimp all the time, just make sure when you defrost it not to overcook it because it can get rubbery in a hurry. So far as veggie side dishes, here's one of my favorites: 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced 1 large tomato, diced 3-4 stalks green onion 4 oz crumbled feta cheese 1 Tb. olive oil 1 Tb. lemon juice 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. dill (depending on how much you like dill) Stir all ingredients together and refrigerate for at least one hour. This makes enough for several servings. It's really yummy in the summer, and could really be a light meal. I got the idea from the Weight Loss Surgery Cookbook For Dummies. I'm still pre-band, but wanted to make sure I could fix things that would taste good and still meet my high-protein requirements. You can do this, I know you can!

Hi Jim, I know how you feel. I have around 200 to lose too. There are people on here who have lost more than that, like Cazzy, and they are great inspirations to me. I think if you believe you can do it, you can. Good luck!

I'm not banded yet, but I can tell you that two pounds is definitely not unusual for me. I have back issues that cause lots of swelling, and I can gain or lose up to five pounds overnight. Don't be too worried about it, there are so many things that can cause your weight to fluctuate that you'll drive yourself crazy trying to figure out what it is. I don't worry about it anymore unless it continues to go up and not back down. You're doing great, though!

How great that you found something you really enjoy. And awesome NSV, by the way!

I feel your pain, Gerry. But awesome job on the weight loss!

Is it just me, or are more and more food commercials starting to look more like food porn? Granted, I am probably a little bit more sensitive today because of the leftover chocolate birthday cake in the refrigerator that I have successfully been avoiding all day. But really, today's food commercials are getting a little out of hand. It seems like the two main types that are airing now are the "look how happy you can make your family and yourself by eating our food" commercials, and the "food porn" commercials. If I stop and think back, I can remember food advertising going through several different stages in recent history. The first one, which was several years ago, was the "we know how busy you are, so why not make it easy on yourself and buy our food?" movement. They basically played on the fact that most american families were two-income households, and seemed to be trying to do us a favor by taking care of the meal preparation. Never mind the fact that the food was loaded with fat, sugar, and salt. The next phase I recall is the "healthy options" movement. This is when americans started to wise up to what they were putting in their bodies, post-Super-Size-Me. Instead of featuring fries and burgers, most commercials featured salads or some sort of "fresh" options. Unfortunately, after not too long people began to realize that even their salads and other "healthy" foods were not nearly as good for you as they would have you believe. You can make anything fattening if you slather it with enough ranch dressing. The current type of food commercials running are the "happy family" commercials. Example: The Little Caesar's commercial that talks about how making your family happy is as simple as spending five measly dollars on their pizza. Another gem: Arby's new slogan. "It's Good Mood Food." This type of advertising really irritates me. I understand that the job of advertisers is to make you want to eat their food, but by exploiting the issues that so many people have with emotional eating? Really? Are they that desperate to sell me a hamburger? But the latest generation of commercials seems to be the "food porn" commercials. You've seen them, I'm sure. The announcer talks seductively about how toasty, cheesy, melty, or chocolaty their food is while Barry White-esque music plays in the background. And it seems like there are more of them every day. It does make me laugh, though, that almost every time I see one of these it is immediately followed by a Weight Watchers commercial. I realize that the purpose of these ads is simply to get you to buy what they are selling. They are not at all interested in your health, how you feel, or whether their food will actually contribute to your happiness and well-being. The motive is profit. But it is amazing how well they are able to get under your skin just enough to get you to say "oh, that does look good. Maybe I'll go there..." But I have discovered my own secret weapon against these commercials: DVR. I will record my shows, then when I am ready to watch them I will fast forward through the commercials. Now I don't have to be worried about being tempted by anything that isn't already in my refrigerator. Did I mention there was chocolate cake in my refrigerator? Shoot, now I want cake. Where's my hunger tool box...

Yup, what Shelly said. LOL!

Flaquita, this is absolutely normal. You're going to have a major life-changing operation; I would be more concerned if you weren't nervous. I haven't been banded yet, but have had other surgeries, and as I've said before I think the worst part is the waiting. You will do fine with the surgery. I'm sure your surgeon has done this many times before, and the anesthesiologist is there solely to make sure you don't have any problems. I have had my major freak-out moments too, but like Holly Dolly said, I could either risk the slim chance of complications with surgery or face a future where I would definitely die slowly and miserably. I watched my dad do that, and I don't want to put my family through it. And I know that God will be watching you and taking care of you as well. You'll be fine.

Yesterday Dr. Oz did another show about WLS. This one was about gastric bypass, and whether it should be available to more people (mainly diabetics.) I just happened to come across it, and my mom just happened to be over visiting me. Like I mentioned before, my mom has been very anti-WLS (for me anyway) because of what she saw on the Dr. Oz show about lap band. I was going to change the channel, but she said that she had wanted to watch it and asked me to leave it on. We watched together in silence until Dr. Oz started talking about who would currently qualify for bypass. He said that a woman of 5'4" and 200 pounds would qualify. After the segment ended, she looked at me and said "he just described me. I'm 5'4" and (a number close to 200) pounds." She was absolutely shocked that she would qualify for gastric bypass. After talking about it for a while, she finally said that it would be a good idea for me to go ahead with the lap band. I felt like a thousand pounds had been lifted off my shoulders! What a relief to finally have her start to be okay with this. Lately I've been throwing myself into this physician supervised diet as much as I can. I've been eating much more sensibly, tracking my calories, working through my emotional issues, and exercising. That last one is no minor thing for me, either. Because of the fibromyalgia and the bulging discs in my back, I haven't been able to exercise like I used to. I have been doing tai chi and yoga, but was really longing for pilates. I love pilates - it was the main contributing factor in my last large weight loss success. I love the way it makes me feel, how it improves my posture, and how quickly it trims me down. But I thought that with my issues I would never be able to do it again. Thankfully, I found a program called Classical Stretch on PBS. It is a combination of pilates, stretching, tai-chi, and ballet-like moves. I watched it for quite some time before I decided to go ahead and try it. I have been doing it every day for several days now and I have to say it does not aggravate my fibromyalgia nearly as bad as I thought it would. My back, though, is not happy, and that is my fault. Instead of going slowly, I decided to go ahead and dive right in to the moves where you are required to bend at the waist and hang your head to the floor. I should have known better. My back popped, and I have been hurting since yesterday. But I do have to say that it doesn't hurt nearly as badly as it has in the past. At least this time I can walk, and it is manageable with the prescriptions that I have. So I am soldiering on. I figure if I'm going to hurt, I might as well hurt and do something instead of just sit around and be depressed about how much I hurt. I've also been practicing amazing restraint when it comes to sweets lately. Today is my boyfriend's birthday, and I bought him a frozen cake a few days ago. I made it until today without eating any, and today I have only had one piece. Now it is sitting in the refrigerator calling to me. I have the feeling that I might have to white-knuckle it until bedtime, but I WILL NOT EAT MORE THAN ONE SLICE. I have already done a fair share of prayer and gotten out my hunger tool box. Did I mention that the cake is chocolate? Oh well, off to do some sudoku...

He did a show on lapband not too long ago. I was impressed with today's show because he did have a lady who had done the bypass and lost 100+ and now has gained it all back. They made a big deal about how surgery does not fix your emotional issues. Another big thing they discussed was whether they should lower the BMI requirements to make it available to more people with type 2 diabetes, since the surgery can decrease or resolve the need for insulin and other diabetes medications. @Bert - it's funny you say that because he made a point to say at the end of the segment that he was not promoting bypass, just trying to open it up to discussion. As for the ticker, if you've already made one, you just need to copy and paste the HTML or URL code to your signature (in your profile dashboard.)

I'm so sorry you're having such a rough time. I hate to say it, but I think this is something that only you can answer. Maybe you should sit down and write a list of pros and cons regarding both being re-banded and just having it removed. I would think that a larger band would relieve some of your discomfort, but there is still the possibility that it may not. If you have it removed, will you revise to a different WLS? If you have it replaced, do you have a backup plan if your issues don't go away? If you don't revise or re-band, are you going to do it on your own? Whatever you decide to do, I wish you the best of luck.

I have to say that I'm an information junkie. If I'm interested in something, especially if it involves making a major life decision, I have to research the heck out of it. I look for facts, opinions, and viewpoints from both ends of the spectrum. That's one of the major reasons why I love this forum so much - it has a little bit of everything in one place. But I have also been doing a lot of YouTube research. Reading someone's story is great, but there's something about actually seeing a person talk about their experiences that you just can't get from a written post. One of the channels I subscribe to is by a lady who goes by losingitwithrebecca. Recently she posted a video called "The Rules That Made Me FAT" which I think was a homework assignment from her nutritionist or therapist. In the video she lists some ideas and theories that she used to use to rationalize her eating habits before she had her band. A lot of those rules sounded awfully familiar to me. The video stuck with me so much that I finally decided to make my own list. I came up with twenty, but I'm sure there are more. It was an interesting experience. I had to be brutally honest with myself about some of the things I had told myself in the past in order to keep eating like I did. It helped me immensely, and in the interest of possibly paying it forward, here's my set of rules. Personally, I prefer to call them "The Lies That Made Me Fat." 1. If I have a feeling in my stomach, it must be hunger and I have to eat. 2. If I steal a bite off of someone else's plate, it doesn't count as actual calories. 3. If I'm eating or tasting while I cook, it doesn't count either. 4. Everything is better with bacon. Everything. 5. Everything is better with lots of cheese. 6. Liquid calories don't count. 7. I can eat more because I'm big and I burn more calories naturally anyway. 8. If it doesn't have nutritional information on the package, the calories don't count. 9. All salads are good for you, no matter what you put on them. 10. If it's a topping or sauce, the calories don't count. 11. If I don't finish all of something, it's wasteful. I should eat it so it doesn't go in the trash. 12. If my son doesn't finish his food, and it's not enough to put in the refrigerator, I should finish it so it doesn't go in the trash. 13. I can trust my body to tell me when to stop eating. 14. One can or bottle equals one serving. 15. If the "hunger" in my stomach doesn't go away, I must actually be hungry and it's ok to eat. 16. Eating at night is ok as long as I'm really hungry. 17. Being fat is better than dieting and being miserable. 18. I can eat just one piece of candy, one cookie, one slice of cake etc. 19. If it was given to me as a gift, I have to eat it because throwing it away would be rude. 20. If I'm craving something, it's ok to eat it because my body must need something in it. It's amazing how absurd a lot of these sound when I actually read them back. I have decided to post my list up on my refrigerator. Hopefully it will help keep me from accepting and rationalizing these things again, and so help me lose more weight.

@marydj: If you aren't sure you're making the right decision about having surgery, here's some advice that I have heard. Take a sheet of paper and draw two lines across it, dividing it into four boxes. In the top two boxes, write "Pros for having the surgery" and "Cons for having the surgery," and the bottom two "Pros for not having the surgery" and "Cons for not having the surgery." Then write down any pros and cons you can think of, for and against surgery. When you are done, you can look at this sheet and it might help you decide one way or the other. (I hope this makes sense!) If you have already decided on surgery, but aren't sure the lapband is the one for you, talk to your doctor about it. He or she can probably give you an idea of the surgery they would most recommend for you and why, plus answer any questions or fears you may have. Whatever your decision, I wish you good luck.

Congratulations, I'm so happy for you!

Agreed. Did they say why they denied you? If not, try to find out. Then hopefully you can fix it and appeal their denial. It's not uncommon for them to deny on the first try. After all, they want to avoid paying for any procedures that they can. Don't give up. It's not the end of the road, just a detour.

I'm so sorry. I'll definitely keep you in my prayers. <3