tiggergramma

I spent 18 years as a veterinary nurse/technician/hospital manager; the first 17 of which I absolutely loved! Now I am a medical transcriptionist. I work at home in my sweats, which is much nicer than commuting!

I save lives. (love to day that)!!
I work in the transfusion services in a trauma center, providing blood and blood products to patients in critical condition.... Love my job! Stressful as hell but very rewarding when we learn a baby was saved because of us!!!!!!

Train conductor
IM MY OWN MOTIVATION

I spent 18 years as a veterinary nurse/technician/hospital manager; the first 17 of which I absolutely loved! Now I am a medical transcriptionist. I work at home in my sweats, which is much nicer than commuting!

Don't feel guilty because you are suffering. Do go to the ER and find out what is going on, get treated for your dehydration and see if they can do anything either fluoroscopically or with CT to see why you have so much swelling. And, when you feel better and your doctor is back, go after his partner hammer and tongs. Your surgeon should have left someone to cover his patients while he is away, and if that someone is not his partner, who is it?

I don't know what your experience has been, but I don't know why you are associating tightness with pain or discomfort. There isn't anything uncomfortable about the tightness I feel, and as I stated before, I find it reassuring to have the restriction I went through the surgery to get! The only discomfort I get now is when the muscle the port is sewn into gets angry about the pilates I'm doing, and even THAT is a good pain!

My band is tighter after a workout and I was wondering if anyone else experienced the same thing. I am lucky to get down an entire Protein Shake sometimes. I walk on a underwater treadmill at about 3.2 mph for about 40 minutes. I asked my doctor about it and she said "The band has a mind of it's own sometimes for sure. Mind your band!" LOL LOL So I mind my band, because it's definitely in charge! LOL LOL

I spent 18 years as a veterinary nurse/technician/hospital manager; the first 17 of which I absolutely loved! Now I am a medical transcriptionist. I work at home in my sweats, which is much nicer than commuting!

I spent 18 years as a veterinary nurse/technician/hospital manager; the first 17 of which I absolutely loved! Now I am a medical transcriptionist. I work at home in my sweats, which is much nicer than commuting!

Wow. That would have left me cold. I really felt like I was losing my mind by the time I saw the one I did. I was very anxious about failing this and he knew what questions to ask to make me understand where my anxiety was coming from. That helped.

I is smart, I is beautiful, and I is loved! *The Help
I went through an agonizing divorce after putting up with the bastard cheating on me with my cousin for 2 years. Was I hiding inside this fat woman? Hell yes. I also have several very ugly issues with my mother (how stereotypical is THAT?) and probably hid that hurt in the pizza and Pasta as well.
However! I found a man who loves me for me, regardless of the hurt and the hate and the fat...it finally occurred to me that he has created a safe zone in my life and I will be just fine if I lose the sad girl who weighed 110 pounds! So, when I talked to a friend who had the surgery, and saw how successful she was losing, I felt like I had been given a gift...here was something I could do for myself and get back to living life the way I want to live it, not the way that sad, pathetic waif thought was okay.
I was killing myself with food. I chose life and I intend to make it happy and healthy for a very long time to come!

Our local TJs actually has decent pricing, and they have a lot of brands that are Earth-friendly or organic. However, since they refused to work with the public to get the government to require GMO food labeling, I won't be going back to shop with them.

normally i write about alittle (silly) success story.
today, i got a really good success story.
last night i saw clay aiken in a christmas concert. LOVED IT
the parking deck is next to the concert hall and its 5 levels.
we parked on the 4th level.
i am writing to let you know that i walked
DOWN and after the show UP 4 flights of stairs.
did you read that? me who couldnt walk 10 feet without dying and gasping for air was going down and then up stairs...
yes it hurt that last little bit but i kept going.
5 months ago, there would not have been a chance in hell that i could have done that but you know what, i can now
wanted to share.
thanks for reading.

So, I'm a grad student in counselling psych and I found an interesting stat that I think might be relevant: For whatever reason, it turns out that bariatric patients seem to have a slightly higher suicide rate than those in the general populous, and my guess is that the weight loss, for some, doesn't always cure the underlying depression. I bring this statistic up because ultimately I think our happiness depends less on our weight, and more on how we view ourselves *outside* of this thing that has defined us for so many years (who are we when we are no longer the fat chick?). Some of us are still going to be depressed when all the weight is gone and all that's left is a beautiful, skinny person with no more fat to blame for our sadness. Your post echoes a sadness that I have felt before, and it runs much more deeply than we think it does.
I think as we shed the pounds we also need to shed some of the hidden beliefs we have about ourselves: Instead of recognizing achievement (even small victories like eating less dessert or staying the same weight over a big holiday) a lot of us spend more time thinking about what we *could* have done, rather than what we did do. It's so much easier to get down on ourselves than to have to face our fear of failure by admitting that we *can* be successful (and hey, if I get down on myself I don't have to be as upset when others do, right? Cause deep down I know I deserve the poor self-talk and negative things I'm saying about myself...right?! No). Weight has always defined many of us. It has always been a source of woe (or sometimes comfort). So, I ask you this: Who will you be when the weight is gone? Will you be just as hard on yourself, or will you be ready to admit that you have the tools, drive, and skills necessary to be successful? And further, will you be able to admit that you *deserve* to be successful and happy in your new body? You are so much more than the pounds you lose (all of us are), and while it's important to Celebrate success and feel pride in our achievements, I think it's important that we allow our self-consciousness, self-doubt, and fear erode away with each pound.

When I am feeling dismayed at slowing the loss down, I stroll through either the sugar or rice aisle at the grocery store and look at all the 5 pound bags I used to carry around. Makes me feel great and not care one bit that other people haven't noticed yet! (I felt bad enough being where I was, I can't spend any more time doing that, now I try not to spend too much time feeling bad about where I am today!)

hmmm...my doctor is really down-to-earth and honest with me about my responsibility to making this work. He is not strict, but is happy to give guidelines. At least 3 of his staff are also banded and I find them to be even more helpful than he is when I have questions about actually working with the band...after all, he is not banded and hasn't actually lived it! I have sometimes wondered if it is the doctors people are going to, or if people don't like what they hear... Good topic!

hmmm...my doctor is really down-to-earth and honest with me about my responsibility to making this work. He is not strict, but is happy to give guidelines. At least 3 of his staff are also banded and I find them to be even more helpful than he is when I have questions about actually working with the band...after all, he is not banded and hasn't actually lived it! I have sometimes wondered if it is the doctors people are going to, or if people don't like what they hear... Good topic!

I LOST WEIGHT OVER HOLIDAY WEEKEND, FIRST TIME EVER!

I get that message almost daily. As long as I am eating balanced, I'm not worried about it. I average about 1050-1100 calories, some days 975, some days 1200. I have been at a plateau for almost 2 weeks, but now seem to be moving again. No clue what started or stopped it! It does seem to make a little bit of difference what my extra calories are though...if those higher calories are mashed potatoes or chocolate or wine, I will gain. If the extra calories are Proteins or veggies, I will maintain or lose. (this is very early in my journey, so I have no idea if this will remain true, but it seems right instinctively.)

I spent 18 years as a veterinary nurse/technician/hospital manager; the first 17 of which I absolutely loved! Now I am a medical transcriptionist. I work at home in my sweats, which is much nicer than commuting!

I spent 18 years as a veterinary nurse/technician/hospital manager; the first 17 of which I absolutely loved! Now I am a medical transcriptionist. I work at home in my sweats, which is much nicer than commuting!

I loved this... Someone sent me the email because I don't like my photo being taken! I'm happy they forwarded it onto me.
For the last 5 years or so I've put a lot of weight on and for that reason I hate the way that I look. I don't like people taking my photo. I have 2 gorgeous kids and there is only a coupe of photo's of me with them. After reading this I have a few more photo's now. I'm considering lap band surgery and have an appt to see a surgeon in 2 weeks. Fingers crossed my surgeon approves me and I can make up for all the photo's I should have taken. It's definitely worth a read.
http://www.ivillage.com.au/the-mum-stays-in-the-picture/154242

Not drinking enough fluids actually makes my band tighter. Worse than that is that it makes stools like cement. Without enough fluids, the colon cannot do its' job, which makes passing stools painful and can cause hemorrhoids. I used to get enough (barely, I was always chronically dehydrated before surgery) Fluid from foods so this wasn't an issue, but now, since I'm not eating much, I really pay if I don't choke down the liquids!

You can also try one of the teas on the market, they can be a little more gentle than laxative pills. The worst part of pushing too hard is that you may develop hemorrhoids, and those are miserable!

Can you call your insurance and ask if the fills are covered as part of the procedure? (I think this is what you are asking?)