crabcake

Merry Christmas everyone! I've been off for a while and haven't been on the board.

Welcome to all you newcomers. The more the merrier!

Indio, your before and after pictures are great! You look fab girl! Congratulations!

I've been ok during the holidays...well, not too bad I guess I should say and I've finally started exercising some. I'm doing the treadmill for a half hour every day and have to say I'm enjoying it even though it is tough sometimes. I'd rather be swimming though.

I wish you all happy holidays! :hippie:

Weighed this morning & finally passed the -50 lb mark!! Woo hoo! My BMI down 10 since I started the pre-op diet. Oh, happy days!

:whoo::whoo::whoo::whoo::whoo::whoo::whoo::whoo::whoo::whoo::whoo:

That's great!!! :high5:

I've been carb free since Monday and I can really tell the difference. Oh I guess almost carb free- I had an apple last night. My cravings are gone and I am not as hungry. I really want to lose

weight in Dec. and not gain weight.

I am really tired of being on this plateau. I can't lose weight unless I eat around 800 calories per day. Once I get all the carbs out of my system, it's not all that hard.

What are you eating? Sounds like not even good carbs? (except the apple!)

We'll be on Christmas break soon. I want to lose 10 pounds by Jan 3rd. Our family time is Thanksgiving, so if I'm good about not bringing home any sweets (I usually am...it's the dh I worry about), watch my bad carbs and use the treadmill regularly, I'm hoping I'll make it. But at our age...my metabolism has never been stellar, so we'll have to see.

Hi everyone,

It is 11:30p.m. and I had my surgery this morning about 9:30. It went well. I got to come home today and was home by 4:30 p.m. after an hour's drive. I am pretty sore. It seems the port site is the most painful.

The MD gave me a prescripton for Mepergan (Demerol and Phenergan). I did not get them filled because they are pretty strong and I have some Ultraset which is non-narcotic. They seem to help quite a bit. That is what I am doing up again this late. Well looking forward to sharing my weight loss with you all and this journey unfolds.

Brenda:clap2:

Congrats Southerngal! The port was the most painful for me as well. The next few days may get a little bumpy (some folks are more fortunate than others though and have an easier recovery!), but it is soooo worth it!

Hope you're one of the lucky ones and have a pain free recovery! :gluck:

I was very bad today. I ate so many Cookies at work, that I just about made myself sick. I wish cookies got stuck.

I have to do better tomorrow. I am afraid to get on the scale. I don't know what is wrong with me these days.

Denise, there's nothing wrong w/ you that isn't wrong w/ many of the rest of us! Like some others have said, it's the sugar (hey, you know...alcohol is sugar too come to think of it! maybe that has a lot to do w/ that type of addiction as well). I agree, the more you cut out, the less you want. Unfortunately, my sugar addiction is stronger than my desire to be thin.

As for getting on the scale, maybe you should stay off of it a couple of days until you've been *good* for a while. I do that when I know I'm going to get angry w/ myself about the numbers and even though they're usually not where I want them to be, they're not as bad as I anticipated. Be kind to yourself!!!

I went for a fill yesterday...only got .25 and the nurse said I shouldn't come back for 6 weeks and even then may want to call and reschedule it. I have good restriction and have had for the past several weeks. Fortunately, it's been during Thanksgiving, our family's big get together time, and although the scales have gone up a tiny bit, they've come back down a lot quicker.

The nurse also fussed at me about exercising. I just hate it...I'm such a slug!!! I got on the treadmill the other day and it died, so I'm hoping Santa will bring me a new one as well as the desire to use it!

Even w/ the ups and downs this time of the year brings, I'm happy to say I'm finally in Onederland! I haven't been this weight in just years and years! I still have about 60 pounds to go, but am going to try and get really serious over Christmas break (I work at a college) and start the year out right.

Luvsrocks, you asked us if we'd do it again...my answer is a definite YES! Even though I still struggle, I finally feel like I am overcoming donkey's years of poor eating habits. Yes, it's a slow process, but w/ the band, I feel like I'll make it.

Happy holidays to you all and hang tough! :hippie::high5:

Hi everyone, I have been reading the forms for a couple of weeks and decided it was time for me to post. I was banded on Oct. 16, 2007, I am 69 years young. My Medicare and my secondary insurance paid for everything.

So for those of you who think you are to old for this THINK AGAIN. I live in Orange County, CA. and my doctors have no problem at all with my age, in fact I asked him if I was his oldest patient and he said he has a couple in thier 70's. I also have a heart valve problem and my cardio doctor was also all for this.

The surgery was a breeze, had to spend the night, a requirement of Medicare. I was up and about the next day, no pain at all, actually the only minor pain was from the 5 small incisions.

I have lost about 25 lbs. am getting my first fill Nov. 28. I don't really feel any restriction, so I think I am going mostly on "will power"

I don't thing age is a factor at all.

Good luck to all of you.

Jill:)

WOW!!! :whoo: That's great! I'm glad you posted Jill. You'll inspire someone else to get banded. Congratulations on your weight loss! :clap2:

Ok, my DH won a cruise (it's not as cool as you'd think...we've already spent 3 times as much as the tickets cost just on the little extras!). I have NO clothes. I wasn't planning on buying any until I reached 'the size'! Now I look at clothes online and I'm looking at at least $500 worth of clothes just for this itty bitty cruise!

Neither one of us is terribly excited about this (although, I'd happily go if I could just show up in my jeans and dirty t-shirt, book and dh in tow!). We're just not the cruise kind of folks if you know what I mean!

Well, to top it off, I've picked out enough clothes for the 4 days (4 days!!!!), but when I took my measurements to make sure I was ordering the right size, it's a whole lot bigger than what I've been buying lately. I've been wearing an 18 from Orvis (in case you haven't realized it yet, I NEVER go out shopping in retail stores - yuck!), but I'm ordering clothes from the Woman Within (what a STUPID name! my woman within wears a size 8!!!) which I think used to be Lane Bryant.

My question is...has anyone purchased clothes from WW? Do they run large, or true to size? I seriously don't want to buy these things in the first place, but I definitely don't want to have to return them. The cruise is Dec 13-16. I'd love to just forget the whole thing!!!

Oh, we looked into giving the tickets away...you can give one away, but not two!!! What do they really care????? If someone WANTS to go on the cruise, they'd probably spend more on board than those of us who don't want to!!!

Oh, please...would I be stupid to just cancel the whole thing and tell them to keep the change???

Thanks girls. Not everyone would understand my dilemma!

Crabcake

Here is another interesting fact I have learned in talking with my Uncle over the weekend (he was in the airforce & merchant marines and is well traveled and he didn't know about the Canadian custom of removing your shoes) - Did you know that in Europe that people don't go out to breakfast like we do here - they don't have Denny's Ihops etc - I asked a girl on my lucky 7 group who is from Ireland - and she too said they don't - they don't eat the same kind of breakfast that we do i gather they eat more bread for breakfast... rolls sandwichs etc...

Just a bit of triva.....

Yeah, my brother-in-law who is retired AF said in a lot of places in Europe that he went to they served muesli...not like the boxed Cereal, but big containers of granola and raisins and nuts and oats, etc and that you just take a bit of this and that and mix your own. I thought that was cool. Of course some places in Europe let you take your dogs into restaurants which I think is super cool :eek:...it's not like the dog's in the kitchen or anything! And the Brits eat kippers, which are dried fish I believe, for breakfast. Interesting the habits different cultures have. In my next life I'd like to be a cultural anthropologist for at least one of my careers! :bandit

Here in the South, we like to take off as much as we can 'cause it's so bleepin' hot a lot of the time! I'm a firm believer of letting ''the merchandise gallop!" (I think that's from the movie Pete and Tillie btw. )

Green

And I just love your sense of humor - you have me rolling on the floor with you "comments"

I think we have another bad habit in common to - that goes with our coffee:bounce:

I was telling my Uncle this weekend about the Canadian custom of taking your shoes off - he is now prepared to come to Canada and not make a fool of himself as a "dumb - dirty" American :biggrin1:

ok, i'll be the dumb-dirty American...what's w/ taking off your bras and shoes w/ your coffee? :eek:

I have got to tell someone and so I am telling my over 50 sisters. I went to see my doc today and hopped on her scale (I don't have one at home) and discovered that I have lost another 5 lbs. This is a big deal for me because I had already reached goal and then had had to have a defill because of acid reflux. And then I had the face lift, and now I have a bad, bad cold, and also will likely need a root canal ASAP, and thus have not had the chance to either excercise or get a refill. This means that this further weight loss has been due to my new&improved eating habits/my medical problems. I now weigh 142.5 lbs - I haven't weighed that for decades, eh!!

Well, I must say that I am sorry. This sure has been an all about me kinda post but the truth is that I have been bowled over by this news. :bounce:

I am leaving now. Good-bye nice people. :eek:

You deserve something nice to happen to you! You've had (and are still having!) a rough time lately. Congrats!!! :whoo:

If any of your colleagues decides to help themselves to your "T" they are going to get quite a surprise! :faint:

I was lucky enough to do mine on a Sunday and drop it off Monday morning for that very reason! The nurse asked me 'do you work?' and when I told her yes, she said 'well, you'd hate for the boss to get into this!'

Crabcake

Gross 'T' in that I have to keep in in the refrigerator!! Yea, I can just see my embarrasment of hauling that giant jug in. At least it is orange plastic and not clear plastic!

I'm on 3 BP meds. One was cut in half some weeks ago. Now I am to go off the second med by halving the pill for a week, then take it 1 day on and 1 day off for the second week. Then elimate it.

In the past when I went off one of the meds (because I was out of pills) my BP jumped to 200/105. It's a reaction I have to sudden stops.

Ice 'T'! Ugh! You're lucky...the bottle was clear when I did it and wouldn't you know, I saw some man I know from work sitting in the waiting room! I ran right past ('T' was in a brown paper bag of course!!!) and left it on the counter in the lab. (My name was on the bag.) I passed the Tech on my way out and told her I'd left a 'little something'!

Wow, you be careful w/ those bp meds and keep us posted on your blood work. I'd be interested to hear what the results are.

Crabcake & Indigo Girl

The doc redid the blood tests yesterday in case a mistake was made and I'm doing a 24 hour urine collection. Those should reveal if a mistake was made.

I had high blood pressure, it has dropped so doc removed some of the blood pressure meds. The blood pressure continues to drop ( about 90/60). I'm now weanning of my main med. We'll see what happens.

Crabcake,

That is one of the main reasons I got banded. To get me off these meds and to avoid diabetes and such.

When my doc weened me off my HBP meds, she told me if my bp dropped below 110, to discontinue taking another med. Are you still on bp meds? 'Cause I wouldn't be taking them right now if I were you (I'm sure your dr. told you this already, I'm just stating the obvious!).

Labs *do* make mistakes, so hopefully that's what has happened w/ you. (Aren't those 24 hour urine test fun? Wait till you have to take that jug of 'T' into the doctor's office! )

Hi All, anyone know anything about this. I was banded on 9/11/07. In late Oct. I got blood tests. It turns out that my bad cholesterol shot up from normal to 189 (very high) also triglacydes up. My creatinine is real high and my BUN is up (both are signs that my kidneys aren't cleaning my blood very well. Also my blood pressure is much lower than it should be. Went back today for more tests. My PCP seemed to imply that the lap band surgery may be part of this???? Maybe just misread him. A year ago my blood work showed me to have and ideal LDL/HDL triglacydes were low. No kidney problems.

This has me bitting my nails from worry. Anyone know anything about the surgery and the problems I have?????????????

NM, I've experienced just the opposite. I'm now off my cholesterol meds and half of my BP meds and the glucophage (controls sugar) as well. In fact, the reason I had the surgery done in the first place was to get my cholesterol, BP, and sugars straightened out. I think I'd contact my surgeon and talk to him about it. Never hurts to hear a 2nd opinion!

Too, (and this is probably an outside chance), but could your doctor be looking at old records, or even...someone else's? The reason I ask is my doctor was fussing at me one day about this and that had gone up and then she realized the tech had put my husband's results in my folder!

Good luck. I wouldn't wait on calling the surgeon. They may want to look at the blood results as well.

Hi Phyl,

Oh boy I tried to get on here too....I really missed it!!

A friend of mine told me that if I get banded I will tranfer my eating addiction to either alcholism or nymphomania.....good grief, I can't believe someone started that rumor!!!

Have you heard it?

Carol

I've read where alcoholics do that. That if you go to AA meetings, there's always a huge urn of coffee and an overflowing ashtray outside the door. I think the theory is if you have an addictive personality, you'll trade in one vice for another.

However, that said...I quit smoking so I could have this surgery. I've tried to quit many times before, but apparently didn't want to bad enough (and thankfully, now there's Chantix!). I haven't replaced my cigs w/ anything, although I still want one about once a day. I also gave up diet cokes for the surgery and haven't replaced those w/ anything either. My hubbling always said he was sure if I ever needed a transfusion they'd have to give me a liter of dc. I had the surgery May 8th and can't say any of my old vices have gotten worse and don't think I've picked up any new ones. The hubbling would be happy if I became a sex addict, but that certainly hasn't happened! :bounce:

I am so excited, it's finally here yeahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

Good luck! :clap2:

Thanks Betty, I will look in to him as well.

Does anyone know if this port is much the same as one a chemo patient must have? My mother has a port and they give her a cream to rub over her port area to numb that spot before she has her port flushed out every other month. I was just wondering if anyone has experienced any of that or is there a different needle used altogether and maybe it isn't as painful for fills/unfills as it is for the chemo??

the port's not the same, but it's the same theory (my mom had one put in for her chemo also). they've offered me something to numb the spot, but i never use it. it doesn't take that long and although it's not something i'd like to endure on a long time basis, short term, i'd have to say it doesn't hurt that much. there's an initial prick and then you feel a pushing sensation and then, they're done! it doesn't take me more than 5 minutes to get mine, not counting the time i take to talk to the nurse. i don't think i have a very high pain threshold, so i'd have to say, it wasn't bad. certainly worth the benefits though! :clap2:

I guess i shouldn't have gotten the lesser expensive model - I am cheap sometimes

Yes I forget to look at tickers and :clap2: 43 lbs :clap2:

Me too. We bought a new dishwasher about a year ago. I told my husband next time, we're going for the model above the cheapie! You really do get what you pay for. That stupid dishwasher and I fight a lot!

I like your new pic! I kept looking at it thinking 'who's that?' Finally realized it was the NEW IndioGirl! You look great!

Do you think I messed us so bad that my band is no longer in place?

Nance

Nance, I think this is pretty normal for right before your first fill. Your appetite returns after the surgery. Getting the fill will help you a lot. I wouldn't be too worried.

Enjoy your trip!

I am just such B*tch....

Congrats on 3lbs - What went wrong with your fill???

You are not!!!

My fill was fine, it's just that I didn't work as hard as I should have last month. So easy to get lazy! I'm super sensitive to the fills, so she'll only put in .5 cc's at a time. She said others have about twice as much as I have this far along. Oh well...

The wind is awful here and i don't think that helps my mood -

I have pants that fit - but it's mostly tops... We are at that inbetween weather - ready for winter (as much as we get winter) but still too warm to wear nylons heals etc heck for most 80 - 90 is summer weather not fall weather..

I have a class reunion meeting here at my house tonite and don't really feel like being around all these people and trying to play smart... Plus this is cutting into my exercise and tomorrow have another meeting w/partners in family ranches & realtor - gotta p/u grandkids - so no exercise tomorrow either.

I am 1 lb away from 40 and hope i make it to that 40 on Thursday without the benifit of exercise,...

When I lived in Los Angeles, the Santa Anas would come in periodically and it would make me sooooo irritable! It was like someone had rubbed sandpaper across my skin!

And I know just where you're coming from w/ the 'trying to play it smart' feeling...there are times when I'd just like to give whoever I'm talking to a big raspberry! There's this lady I work w/ who I sincerely believe thinks she is the effin' center of the universe! Everything is...'we're doing this this weekend' and 'my son/daughter/grandchild did this yesterday'. Even when she asks if you had a nice evening or weekend, it's usually so she'll have a good segue into what she's done. Sometimes I just want to say...who cares? Do you really think I care???? You're just NOT that interesting!!!

Ok, where did that come from? Sorry. Must have been building up! Oh, I know...it's those durn Santa Anas...they're affecting me even here in Alabama!

Not to mention I had a fill and a weigh in yesterday and it didn't go as I'd hoped it would. I shouldn't complain, afterall, I did lose 3 pounds...but on the other hand, I ONLY LOST 3 POUNDS!!! And the worst thing is, it's all my own fault.

Indio, my weight keeps bouncing from 199 up to 202+ and slowly back again. It's psychological I'm sure. You're probably the same way. My pants are hanging off my bum (which I LOVE btw!) but then my nurse asked me if I was exercising and I had to admit...I'm a SLUG!!! :eek: Really. I HATE exercise!!!

I finally broke down and changed my goal weight in my signature to 150 as opposed to 135...I mean I'd LOVE to weigh 135...but frankly...I'd LOVE to weigh 150 too! :mad:

I'll stop now. Thank you ladies for allowing me to vent!

This stupid site makes me so mad sometimes. I wrote this big long response to your "blues" and all of a sudden it all went away in to Cyberspace before I could hit the "Post" button! Grrrr!

Isn't that aggravating? I hate it! Try this...write your response in notepad or wordpad then copy and paste it into your response here. That way it won't 'magically' disappear!

But I have also had all out puking.

Oh yea! yerk!!!

green - do you think you might share a picture, even better, a before and after one???? Just nosy in Denver.

Well ladies - I am off to Mexico for two wonderful weeks. Please wish me sunshine and great times.

i am staying at a condo so I will be able to control the food better, but I love those marguaritas. Lots of walking in the sand and will try snorkeling if the Water is clear.

Hugs all,

Michelle

where in Mexico are you going? hope you have a wonderful time! i am soooo jealous! have a margarita for me too por favor! :biggrin1: