DeLarla

Lauri, I'm really busy right now, but I'd be happy to write a testimonial based on my own experience when I have a minute (I won't include my complications.) Maybe if a few people gave you letters showing that we are no longer dying.... how can they say no? My sleep apnea is gone, my blood pressure within normal range, lower cholesterol, etc.

These are great! Darcy, that's a wild story! Reminds me of my high school friend, Jill. Jill's brother is Jack (how cute isn't that?) Jill called me one day cause she was really bothered over a Jerry Springer episode; some strung-out, crackhead junkie was airing the dirtiest laundry on national TV, and Jill just felt like talking about it. A couple years ago, she called me horrified. Jack was bringing his new fiance'e home to meet the family, and the woman from Jerry Springer walked right into Jill's livingroom! Now they have a child but are so dysfunctional that Jill is supporting the whole family. Nobody wanted the freaks, so the family pitched in to buy a trailer and a lot on the other side of town.

That's a handful for sure. I forgot to post the "Inlaw stories" thread, so I'll do that now.

Time for the truth girls: PENNI IS EVIL. She sent me a ton of Godiva Truffles. Duh, like my favorite food on earth. Evil, black, dark, rich chocolate, dipped in chocolate then sprinkled in chocolate. And while I'm at it, stay away from her Christmas Tree Decorating party cause it's just a ploy for her to steal your man and your children... here are pictures to prove it! That's MY man and MY furbabies!

Foxy mamma! Nice pics!

Violet, red is a sign of infection or irritation. Is the area warm to the touch? If so, don't let it go any longer. Infected ports in the early days aren't something to mess with. As far as pills are concerned, many people can't swallow them whole. You don't want to take anything that can get stuck and irritate the esophogus or stomach. I'm able to take pills now. But when my restriction was tight, I couldn't get them down. I have a supply of liquid Tylenol, just in case. And some people even take liquid Vitamins.

That's it, I'm inventing a portless remote-control band.

One more thought. Open wounds aren't as unusual as we think. Remember, any surgery can result in a problematic wound. Patients can have the same open wound for years (which is why we have a new local "open wound" center.) And they're not all related to implants. In addition, the body can reject any kind of implant, not just the band. Women reject breast implants, and anyone can reject surgically implanted foreign objects. I know a woman that had surgical pins implanted in her ankle after a fracture, and she rejected the pins. My friend had a breast reduction and had open wounds for months. So maybe I'm not too unusual.

Shoot, today I have a tiny red patch below the incision and just a little itchy as if I'm allergic to the tube. Me and my friends are keeping eagle-eyes on it. If it gets any redder or warm, I have an emergency round of antibiotics at home (thanks, Donali!) I know my own body better than any doctor, and it feels exactly like an allergy. I'm taking two Benedryl tablets right now, and my friend is going to track the time and incision to see if the redness goes away. But why have I gone 6 months with no redness or irritaton? And isn't it strange/odd/coincidental that the wound closed up for 2 days with no leaking, and during that time it got red? As if the liquid needs to come out or the tube gets pissed? Sonia, none of my posts are meant to scare anyone. I live on this board for answers. These people have saved my life. I'm actually glad to go through all these problems if it means someone else won't have to suffer one day. I don't mind being an experiment! We're all glad you're researching beforehand. It's important to know that there are risks involved. But please know that even after all I've been through, I'd be banded again in a heartbeat. As far as my problem being unusual, yes, that's true. But even so, you have to add my possible "rejection" into the list of potential problems. Maybe erosion is only 1% nationwide, but if you add up all the infections, slippages, port revisions, rejections, etc., that risk goes up. But lots of stuff can be corrected without removing the band. I didn't know who Lindsey Lohan was, so I checked her out. That's a total compliment! She's hot! I better post a new pic of me soon, cuz my avatar is that one special pic that is really cute but doesn't look like me. That's why I keep it there! And NO, I'm not kidding about my port being missing. I need to call Dr. Kuri's office and see if they know what happened to it. Maybe Inamed received it but here's why I say it's lost: Craig Arthur at Inamed needed the serial number, so he called Lopez's office since the serial number should be in my medical file. Inamed was unable to get the information from Lopez (scary, huh?) I didn't chase it any further though. Then when Kuri took out my port, I was under the impression he had to send it to Inamed. But if Kuri sent it to Inamed, then why is Craig Arthur having trouble getting the serial number? Hmmm.... I've heard "rumors" that Mexican doctors use cheaper ports, and that issue was addressed to Inamed just recently. They stand firm by Lopez. As far as I'm aware, I have an Inamed band. Even if China or Japan made a new band, how would one tell the difference between the the fake and the real one? All valid concerns. Shelly, I always get so excited when you jump in. Thanks for showing up!

I haven't farted all day. I'm meeting Greg today for the first time. I hope he farts first. HAHAHA.

Shrinking Violet, you should call your doctor and tell him about the discomfort. You might have a little infection or something. Maybe it's fine, but such misery over the port is uncommon. Sounds like the kind of thing you want to bring to your doctor's attention right away. I think everyone is always aware of their port, and there are days it's more sore than others, but you should not be so uncomfy. Trust me, I'm the Queen of Bad Ports! They removed mine because of infection. You're probably fine, but for peace of mind, see your doc. If not for you then for me?

We should meet up with this Santa fella and ask him to provide LapBands and capable band surgeons to every obese person in the world. Santa could use a band himself. Thanks Jane, that's so nice of you! Made me get all girly inside reading that. But then I laughed at the house for your MIL. "Inlaw" stories are my favorite, got any good ones? I'm going to start a new post for funny inlaw stories. This should be good.

Ladies, I'll be meeting Greg for lunch today. I'll bonk him on the head for that remark. How many bonks?

Fabulous! Happy 8 months!

"Lisa's case is VERY unusual." Yes, it is. Many will tell you LISA is very unsual, but that's me! Even Lopez said rejection only happens to a small percentage. Larry at Inamed told me there's a 13 year-old girl that rejected her port. She had her port removed and is doing pretty well with just the band. If this wound was closed, I wouldn't be concerned with a new port yet. I still have restriction. The only reason I want a new port now is because I want to resolve this open wound. If they move the tube, maybe it can heal. And since I'll have to go under anesthesia for the endoscopy, it's better to have everything taken care of at once. Now I just have to figure out the who, what, when, where and how$. Thanks, Whip. I honestly would not have handled this alone. I wasn't handling it very well for awhile, but I'm good now. There are people out there with bands unaware of this boards. All I have to do is post an SOS and people crawl out of the woodwork with suggestions, help, support, phone calls. I have peace of mind knowing I'm not alone. I hope one day my experience can help someone else. Then it will worth it.

Next time I lose restriction I'm buying some fresh pork rinds. I'll do anything for good restriction! Polish Fill. (I can make Pollock jokes since I are one.)

Does anybody else have a problem trusting their fickle band? One of my doctors thinks I'm rejecting my port tube, which will most likely lead to erosion - but nothing can be verified till I have an edoscopy. Naturally, I lost restriction last week, so I was sure I was dying (or badly eroded.) But then I have to remember that I've had days with little restriction in the past, and my restriction has always returned in a couple days. Well, I just ate lunch and got down 2 large eggrolls and too many cheese and crackers. Big mistake since Madam Restriction came back and now has me really tight in my ribcage. Why can't I just trust my band till it gives me a reason not to? Is this typical, or am I getting closer to the rubber room with each passing day?

Interesting concept, Zoe. I didn't start believing in myself till late in life. But since then "what is" is never good enough. There's always something better, and I feel a huge change coming on. I only finished college a few years ago and said if I ever became a paralegal I'd stick with it 5 years. It's only been 3 years but it's getting really old. Considering our legal system is supposed to be based around justice, it sure is an unfair and head-spinning game. Elizabeth, did you get your GI results yet? I hope they're good.

Getting older and losing love ones is wrong. I simply can't comprehend why we have to go through that. Maybe we should start a new post since they both deserve the respect of something better than this title?

Why did Lopez and Larry refuse "to let you bring up the past"? That's a darn good question and one I addressed adamantly. Larry put me through to Nora on a 3 way call and the first thing I asked is "why have you guys ignored me." But Larry cut me off and told me not to bring up the past, so I tried again. He then disconnected me from Nora, which made flames shoot out of my nose. He told me that he's here to help me get my problem fixed and bringing up the past won't help. I told him bringing up the past is the only way to resolving the issues that will get my problems corrected in the future. When Lopez called, he only wanted to talk about resolving my medical problem. I'm at their mercy, so I let it go because I can't afford to step on any toes with people that are helping me. I'm exhausted, and I just need to be fixed up. Damn leaky port is just a flowin' away. I always think of the positive, so I imagine the liquid is melted fat just flowing out of my body. Maybe visual imagery helped me lose all the weight! Becky, today was my regular bike group in addition to the toy run. We drove the truck to our meeting place, and it broke my heart to stay behind. I decided to stay off my motorcycle in fear it might open my closed wound. I could've went, considering the wound opened anyway. It's icy and raining here so my Angels temporarily closed the wound to trick me so I wouldn't ride... they're always watching out for me.

Nancy, Penni is the LBT wiz. You can always tell who is on-line here, and you can see exactly where they are. That's how I know she was lurking in my profile. I don't think they can change anything, but anyone lurking around my profile too many times is damn creepy.

I'm not going to be angry or upset. I simply refuse to let this bugger win, but this afternoon I felt like I had a wet diaper - only it was my shirt. Yep, sprung a leak. Oh well, being closed for over 24 hours was a start, right? And the PMS hormones have shifted from weepy to bitch so no more crying (but looking for shoes to throw.) I came home (out playing all day) embarrassed that I was so weepy and mushy earlier and feeling goofy for writing such a long post. Silly hormones. I knew you guys would all be there, and Penni, I look forward to waking up with you holding my hanny one day. Thanks girlies for being my backbone. No matter what, I'm not going to wallow in self-pity cause that won't get me anywhere. Now it's rainy and cold so I'm gonna snuggle in the big bed with my mutts. Maybe take a nap! Love you guys! Lis Oh, and it's no secret how I got Lopez to call me. I called Inamed directly. The guy that answered didn't know what to do with me cuz I was hyped up, talking a million miles a minute, half-crying, at my wit's end. He actually put me thru to Lopez's office where Nora answered, but that didn't go well. So Larry left a message on a number only Lopez answers, and Lopez called me back. They are great friends, so Larry had some pull.

Everyone was saying how beautiful he (but they say that about all babies) so I had to check him out. My goodness, the only thing missing are the halo and wings. Breathtaking. I'd never want another present as long as live.

Hey there, don't consider anything band related complaining. You have a new implant around your belly, and we've all been through it. I've been whining for 7 months here and everyone is still nice to me! Try the heating pad on your lower back for the gas pains. I put my heating pad everywhere that there wasn't an incision. It helped a lot. Nothing else helped my gas pains though - I just had to wait it out. And I started feeling a little better after a couple days, but then it got worse for a week. I asked if that was normal, and lots of people experienced the same thing. Drink your water!

Gosh, I wish I could burp. I wasn't able to burp well before the band, but aterwards I let some pretty impressive sounds out. Better a burp than a toot is what I always say. But I read the famous "Fart Page" and they said the two aren't related, so even if I could burp the alphabet I'd still be toot-tootin' the night away.