DeLarla

Leatha, ain't it the sad truth? Lots of people believe that taking in too few calories will put the body in "starvation mode" so you can't lose weight. But they always forget to add that it's only a "temporary" starvation mode. That's why people starve to death cuz the body can only hold on to the fat for so long. If you eat fewer calories than you burn, your body will catch up, and you'll shrink. Sometimes it takes awhile to kick in.

Send the blahs my way any ol' time. I love the rain!

Sometimes you just gotta laugh, Michelle. Keeps you from crying.

Darcy, it's not like you can just pop in after being MIA without explanation. Write self a note - "must check into LBT."

Leatha, I have good reason to be concerned. Margret's borderline harassment and stalking is frightening in today's world. Why was she lurking in my profile yesterday after she already knows everything about me? How does she know everything about me? She's spying on me. She sent e-mails to my very private e-mail address. It's freaky that a complete stranger wants to know all my private information. Her e-mail said "you better be careful." What's that supposed to mean? It's damn creepy. Megan, thanks for spreading the sunshine. xo

I hate being like this, but I'm PMSy and I have a wound that's been oozing for over six months. Call me irritable. Leatha is right - LBT is home, warm, caring, safe. Sorry girls, I let the Marg Monster get the better of me. It's hard to sit, stay and heal when someone threatens you. But seriously, folks, why won't she tell me who these people are that she plans on using against me. What's she cooking up? I'm kinda scared that the girl's gonna have me whacked or somethin'. Ha ha Penni, "brilliant minds" and all... we typed the same thing same time - again!

Margret, Penni's statement about filing a class-action lawsuit was a "rhetorical statement." Please look up "rhetorical" and re-read this entire post. Now, why won't you answer my question that I've asked about 20 times now? Buehler... ANYBODY? WHY WON'T SHE TELL ME WHO THESE PEOPLE ARE?

"Lisa, This is what I'm talking about. Margret" Margret, WHAT are you talking about? You didn't even say anything. Now, who are the people YOU know that I know? Why are you afraid to answer this simple question? Can anybody help me here?

When you lay an egg, you hope it hatches. She shouldn't have laid it. Makes you wonder what Marg's motifs are. So far she posted someone else's letter, she's lurking in profiles, deleting posts, making threats, and refusing to come clean. I've told her before that the law provides for fairness of game, yet she refuses to tell me who these mutual people are that we both know - the ones she planned on using against me.

Ban the Band? Watch your mouth! Follow the above (excellent) advice and spend some time learning comprehension. If you read carefully you'll realize that I'm the LAST person on the planet that wants the band removed from the market! Margret, do a search and see how many countless times I've said, "I'd do it again in a heartbeat." Ban the Band? No F-ing way!

MARGRET, WHO ARE THE PEOPLE YOU KNOW THAT I KNOW? And what do we win? Was this a contest? By the way, please re-read what I wrote, understand the sentence, and maybe even look up the word "rhetorical" in the dictionary.

Ass? Haha, I said ass! Moderator, please spank me.

"One could argue, in fact, that it improves the industry, wouldn't you think?" Vick, you hit the nail on the head. Nobody wants the band to go away. I don't know why I waste my time on Margret since she can't comprehend the importance of aftercare, honesty, integrity, etc. I want what I paid for. How is that a bad thing?

This makes it 9 times I'm asking: Margret, you threatened me and said you "know the same people I do." Who are they? Do I need to take steps to protect myself?

Margret, I've asked you about 6 times now to come clean - you threatened me and said you "know the same people I do." Who are they? Do I need to take steps to protect myself?

Margret, I've asked you about 6 times now to come clean - you threatened me and said you "know the same people I do." Who are they? Do I need to take steps to protect myself?

In response to what Leatha wrote about "the lady I spoke with when I had my slippage said they stress over and over the aftercare aspect of the band. They tell the docs who come to the seminars, 'if you are not prepared to provide the aftercare/followup, you do not need to become a band surgeon'. So.. hmm." Just so you all know, I read this in Inamed's Literature. They DO require their band surgeons to have adequate and reliable aftercare. But when I talked to them on the phone, they say they have no control over it. As far as Margret deleting her posts, I also saw her lurking around in my profile again. Margret, why are you stalking me? I've already told you that if you have something to say, please say it here in an open forum. I'm not comfortable at all with stalking or harrassment issues. And if you spend some time actually reading the entire post instead of selecting what you feel like seeing, you'll see that nobody wants to put Inamed out of business (unless I missed something.) We simply feel that they should take some responsiblity for doctors that aren't taking care of their patients. Is that so hard to comprehend? Meanwhile, nobody said you can't speak your own opinion around her, but once again, if you "read" the posts around LBT, you'll see that we're all here to support each other. Nobody wants to hear any marketing schemes like how faboulous one doctor is regardless of how many people he hurt. You started this ugliness a long time ago but for some reason came back to stir the pot again. You know darn well that many of us have severe problems with Dr. Lopez's lack of aftercare, so for you to come here and try to belittle our experiences by saying how grand yours was is simply in poor taste and manners. Penni is not the one deleting the posts. Now explain why you keep going to my profile when you already know so much. Margret, I've asked you about 6 times now to come clean - you threatened me and said you "know the same people I do." Who are they? Do I need to take steps to protect myself?

Payback is a bitch! Zoe, is that comment about the original Numero Uno to get me back for all my junk food talk? YUM. Don't you dare go there without me! Wrong, wrong, wrong.

I like the idea of us all seeing for ourselves exactly what's going on. I'd like to take it one step further and see everyone's incisions. I didn't think much of my scars after the initial surgery. But I remember how extremely impressed I was after Dr. Kuri removed my port, and his female assistant stitched me up. Her work was impeccable compared to my other wounds. Is there a band-placement issue, or shoddy workmanship Where am I going with this? Whatever is done, it needs to be done with finesse. Do we really want to be the group of hard-ass woman that remove the band from the market and leave all our fat followers without the tool that saved our lives? Boy, Lisa's in a deep mood tonight, isn't she?

This morning, Larry from Inamed told me his mom has a band. She can't eat in the morning because she's too tight, so he recommends having something warm, like tea or coffee 20 min or so beforehand to warm up the esophogus. I always liked having the morning restriction because it kept me from eating too much. But if you want to have the protein bar, maybe try Larry's suggestion and have a cup of tea 1/2 hour before. Maybe that will help. Just a thought.

Welcome, Khadija! And Minny, I'm a Libra, too, so I can totally understand how hard it is to make a solid decision! The damn scales in our heads just gotta be perfect, don't they? I'm having a lot of problems with my band. But I'd do it all over again if I had to. I learned there's a 4% morbidity rate for gastric bypass patients, and the LapBand is under 1%. Considering my bad luck, 4% is pretty scary.

Larry admitted being really good friends with not only Lopez, but other popular band doctors as well. It's like a great big boys' club - they all seem to know each other intimately. So far I've heard both good and bad about most of the surgeons, and all from reliable sources. I take EVERYTHING in Bandland with a grain of salt. It's so hard knowing who to trust. I feel like I'm living in a spin-off from the Stepford Wives or a Stephen King novel. Is this all real?

Winkin' at Greg... but I can't get their crust recipe down! It's famous!

"I highly doubt they will tell you he is a goon." Michelle, my eggroll almost shot out of my nose with that one. Zoe, I'm in total agreement that Black and Decker would be 100% responsible if the product caused injury. But just like going to the Band doctor first, you'd have to jump through hoops with Home Depot's upper management, customer service, etc., to make sure it's the product, not the user, right? Heck, did that make an ounce of sense? If my Black and Decker electric drill hurt me, I'd go straight to Black and Decker. But if it simply stopped working, I'd go to Home Depot. All depends, I guess. This whole Black n' Decker analogy makes me laugh when I think of Rosie O'Donnel's stand-up when she refers to Madonna's "vibrator by Black n' Decker." Anyone remember that?

Mmmm, carbs. Feelin' ya, sister.