DeLarla

Two surgeons told me that carbonation won't hurt the Band, it just causes pain to drink it. A lot of us get a "golfball stuck in our throat" sensation when we eat. When I drink carbonation, that golfball hurts like a... well... like a golfball stuck in my neck.

One of our very sucessful bandsters switched to vodka & Cranberry Crystal Light. I realize that doesn't answer your carbonation question, but I'll be trying it cuz she's coming for a visit soon.

Paula, you ought to have dinner at my mom's house. She eats dandelion greens (picked from her front lawn) with undercooked brown rice & raw garlic with a mushy black banana (even past the brown stage) for dessert. Trust me, you won't PB cuz you won't go near the stuff.

Well, how soon after banding are you talking about? Most of us can only take small sips at a time of any liquid for a few days before actually drinking. I was able to drink liquids pretty freely after a couple days. Treat all liquids the same, slow sips in the beginning until you are sure they flow through your band without coming back up. Keep in mind that some Bands get really tight (especially after a fill.) One of my friends can't even drink milk till after lunch or she'll spit the milk back up. It's all individual, and you'll figure it out as you go along. Don't take it all at once untill you are sure. As far as the substance, I guess I'd consider that a thick liquid, but ask your doctor if that's one that could be considered clear. They usually allow thick liquids in the 2nd week. Have fun!

There's nothing wrong with sex right after surgery, just take it easy and let hubby do all the work for awhile. Save the wild stuff for when you lose weight and he won't stop chasing you. Princess, the modertors will be meeting soon to decide whether this is a suitable forum for discussing oral sex. But until then, your gag reflexes might be a little sensitive, so just go slow until you are sure.

I thought 160 was pre-printed on all the Drivers Licenses at the DMV? That's what mine has said since the 80s. My fishing license says 103. When the clerk asked my weight, I looked him dead in the eye and said, "103." He didn't even flinch when he added it to my license. I like the way it looks.

Blossom, that's the kind of hypocricy that started all the arguments in other threads. If you didn't want to participate in this topic, you wouldn't have read or RESPONDED to it. For your information, this board was prescribed to me by my Band surgeonS, who agree that it's an excellent source of therapy. "Therapy" does not mean you have to lay on a couch and talk to some person with lots of capital letters after there name, it comes in many forms - one being message boards. Where on LBT does it say that this board is for informational purposes only? From my computer, I see a whole lotta therapy going on.

Daisy, the pen is mightier than the sword... I don't air dirty laundry in public! Well, unless I'm drunk, but I'm a happy drunk so you have nothing to fear.

If you are looking for other threads, don't waste your time reading this one. Once again, if you don't like it, move to the next thread. By adding negative comments you'll only perpetuate further discord. If you re-read this thread carefully, you'll see that it's all about healing and therapy, which is the essence of any support group. This isn't about this week or last week or select individuals - please don't read between the lines because there aren't any (though you can find them in lots of other threads.) This type of thing happens around LBT from time to time and will happen again in the future; the timing was right, and the topic is open for discussion, not insults.

"Therapist have never worked for me. I'm way more analytical then most of them." Paula, bingo! Several of the therapists I've seen cock their head in amazement at me. They don't know how to handle me. My mom's therapist kicked her out of his office. We are a special breed! Are you a Libra? Alex.... can you start a new thread with the right title, then transfer all this there, then delete the bad one? Did that make sense? Would that fix the title? Is that too much work?

Alex, good point, so I changed "wars" to "cat fights." But then I looked around and didn't see any cats. Better now? Marie, I'm not feeling bad at all so I'm not sure how you got that out of my post. Thanks though. Clara, no, no, no, nobody is kicking anybody out of here, it was just a hypothetical. But I disagree - this place is the best place I've ever been for venting and crying... and tons and tons of laughing, too. And most of the tears are huge, sappy happy ones. I appreciate your knowledge and credentials, but so many of us have spent our entire lives in therapy that we are one great big shrinky-dink with lots of capital letter behind our collective screen names! Maybe you could hold weekly chats though so we have a professional passing out the virtual nerf bats?

Pea & the Pea, I stayed around the store waiting for the manager to drag the guy out by his ear, but the manager was very professional and would not let anyone see what went on behind closed doors. Damn.

Okay, I can agree with having a new band placed! I just didn't think of that. I just don't want you to give in to a Bandless life.

It's like this, a lot of therapists give you Nerf baseball bats so you can take out your agressions. Does this mean we want to beat the hell out of the people we love most? Hell yes! But do we want to kill them or hurt them? No way. It's just a form of therapy. See, now I'm taking offense that Shelly is telling us to grow up. I would have preferred if she let those of us who need this thread discuss it like adults. I don't think it's a ridiculous topic. But I'm not going to get mad at her or hit her with my Nerf bat cause she's too cute. If you don't like the the thread, move on to the next one.

Nykee, you are too funny! I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing at me! I used to worry because I never had a PB either. I thought something was wrong for months. Trust me on this one, you WILL eventually PB and you'll wish you hadn't. My first one happened out of the blue, and it was horrible. It's a painful experience that puts strain on your band. The Band is a very fickle tool and will suprise you when you least expect it. I'm still laughing at myself because I wanted to PB so bad, and now when it happens all that goes through my head is, "be careful what you wish for."

Nykee, good for you! Now you better not be puking with that fancy new band! Nice to see you here.

Most scales differ by a few pounds. Just weigh yourself at the same time and on the same scale each time. Your clothes can add a couple pounds. A pair of my old 28 jeans probably weighed 10 pounds! I weigh myself every day, but I only write my weight down once a month.

FIGHT IT BABY! I've had SIX surgeries on my port incision so far! I've had TWO ports removed myself. I'm currently portless. My doctor said he'll put a third port in me in a few months, but I won't have the money, so I'll be portless for years. Oh, and you should see how deformed my belly is! I have a huge hole that I have to pack with gauze every single day. There are pictures posted on this thread of my wound, but they might make you barf. Do like me and get a new doctor. My problems were doctor errors. Good luck to you. Buck up and be a strong little soldier! Don't let them have your band!

Kim, I hear ya! Friends make it the hardest. I'm the only fat one in my inner circle, but still, everything revolves around food. Sometimes when talking doesn't help, I bread down and cry and beg for their help. Maybe you can muster up some big, sad, tearfilled eyes, look at your closest heavy friend in the face, and ask her, "do you think we can start sharing an entre' because I'm scared to death that I might hurt my band?" Maybe she'll actually see a wet sparkle in your eyes that will inspire her to share a meal, which will benefit you both? Just remember not to point fingers at them, point them at yourself so they don't feel blamed.

SORRY, but that's damn funny! I'm honestly LOL over here!

Yes, sometimes this board gets out-of-hand and ugly. We can't always be warm and fuzzy. The whole point of LBT is for "support." Support comes in many forms, and while the best form of support is probably one-on-one weekly sessions with a highly qualified professional therapist, most of us don't have the resources, time or the qualified shrink. In the past, I have seen therapists, who encourage vigilant, candid honesty. ALL of them keep boxes of Kleenex at hand because we often cry, sometimes hysterically. NOT ONE THERAPIST has ever told me to calm down, watch my mouth, mind Ps and Qs, or be nice. That's what therapy is for - it's a forum to "let it all out." I've cried and even screamed at my therapists before and banged my hands on the arms of my chair. As long as you sit in your chair and don't throw shoes or become physical, the therapist cheers you on for letting go of all the aggression, anger, hurt and fear. After the session, after the sobbing, after the "letting go" we take some deep, cleansing breaths, and then they give you homework - usually writing or reading of some enlightening sort. Megan, may I borrow this post from you? From Megan - "This thread is EXACTLY why I love this board. I don't think everyone has to agree all the time to be a happy group. I think discussion like this actually helps everyone. [she was referring to a discussion that got ugly]. I think it's fantastic that people can post what they feel, apologize if they think they have hurt someone, and still maintain their own individual feelings about a subject. That's what makes this board unique." Things get ugly on occasion. We say things that hurt other people. We all agree that we are fat, yet we don't all agree that obesity is a disease, or that we can control our eating, or that we can overcome this, or that the sky is blue. But that is what this "SUPPORT" group is for. We have to be able to yell and kick and cry and scream. We can't be expected to hold back, bite our tongues, remain dignified, watch our manners or post only things that won't offend others. If this board goes away, or if someone kicks me out, I'll have no choice but to start another board. I simply CANNOT go on with my life without constant support and/or an avenue for venting. If I see a post with inaccurate information, I want to fight and argue till I'm blue in the face because I am passionate, and I never argue unless I know I'm right. I don't waste time debating a topic that I'm not 100% sure about. I am OFTEN accused of being a nasty bitch because people take what I say the wrong way. What you all have to understand is that I'm simply trying to figure out what the hell is wrong with me! Why am I a freak? Why do I eat till I can't breathe? Why am I so sick? But people often get damned defensive, and it turns into a fight. When I'm wrong, I apologize. But when I'm accused of something or offended or attacked, my claws come out and don't retract till I get the last word. I can't help it; it's who I am. And it's good! This is America, land of the free, home of the brave. I am free, and I am brave! And I say what's on my mind without sugarcoating my words. I am brutally honest so sometimes people think I'm mean. So, if there's a topic or a discussion that offends you, or you blush in embarrassment because something isn't tasteful, then please move on to another thread and let us vent, cry, kick, scream, and mentally throw shoes at each other! In the end, we all (I can only speak for myself) come out clean and refreshed and laughing at each other and ourselves. Boy, I feel like I should pay cash for this session, this was a good vent!

But back to Penni's original question, I don't think she was talking about certain foods, I think she's talking about the type of situations that hamper our weight loss. For me, Anger is the best diet pill. It's about the only emotion that prevents me from eating. All the other emotions - sadness, loneliness, anxiety - they all make me eat. I think this thread is the result of nonsense happening in other threads, and I feel I've been verbally attacked, too. Lucky for the board, I was so busy that I didn't have time to fight, but I "dealt with" the situation late last night via PMs so nobody else had to hear the ugliness. I might have responded to this thread a lot stronger yesterday, but I'm not in PMS mode yet. If I got this question closer to my montly cycle, I probaly would have typed it in huge red fonts! As far as hampering my weight loss, yes, yes, yes, I do allow outside forces to control my urges.... wait, Donali, I change that to "I can't help but allow outside forces" cuz I'm one sick broad! xo

When I die, please contain my ashes in an ice cream container.

But Teresa, help me out here because you are touching on points I've been trying to make all along. You have a lifetime of obesity due to hereditary reason, depo shots, etc. (which is like saying I was lonely, I was abused, it's raining, etc.) I'm not calling them excuses, I'm calling them reasons, because I have a list of my own. But suddenly you've lost an enormous amount of weight by reducing your food intake, which proves that our obesity boils down to the simple fact that we consume more food than we burn, regardless of the reason. It's chemical, therefore it's physical, and it's also mental. So we have Chemiphysimental Disorder. There, I came up with a name for it!

If I had the mental ability to simply make better choices and get more exercise, then I wouldn't have needed the Band. Like I said, there are a lot of different reasons for obesity, so I started a new thread, "Why are you fat." But still, I personally feel that anybody who goes to the drastic extreme of surgical intervetion for weight loss has got to be sick. One way or another, we aren't a well group (or we weren't before losing weight, I should say.)