lisacaron

Amazing!!! Love the dress and the smile you look GREAT!

@@Dragonfly8a I'm sorry that you are going through this, and I have to be harsh with you here for a minute. If you are bleeding internally to the point that you are seeing this dried coffee ground like blood you need to do a little more then just loosen the band! You need to get yourself to a Dr. and have an upper endoscopy done to make sure that there is no band erosion and/or slippage or other things like stomach ulcer and/ or the dreaded "c" word! No one wants to hear that but all those things can be possible so check it out and don't assume that it's all band related. If you have the all clear, then you need to keep that band relatively loose and allow your self to heal. You know what to eat and what not to eat by now, and you can make this work by hitting they gym and turning that 30 pounds into lean muscle. Don't mess with your health and your life over 30 pounds it's not worth it. You have done amazing so far, keep living and enjoying life and take care of yourself!! Please follow up and let us know how things are going.

@@dylanmiles23 Thanks Arlene that made me laugh! You are so right people are just AMAZING!!! I will tell you I knew a gal once who went on the Montell Williams show about her husband. Truth be told in our world we thought she was a loon...but compared to the loon's on TV she was pretty tame and that is saying ALOT!!! So happy for Jim!! You look awesome and I hope your having a grand time in FL. The weather in NY stinks...getting ready for a monsoon they are predicting tomorrow, and me with out my duck feathers! Ah well...hope everyone else had a great weekend!!

@@MattLAustin Dr.'s have their differences in where they place the port. I'm not sure why but maybe just preference. Mine is on the left side just under the rib. I can't measure between incision sites b/c as you lose weight and your body changes the site of your scar moves from where the port is sewn to the muscle under the skin. After surgery my port site was the most annoying pain, so if your not feeling it don't sweat it your Dr. will know where to find it Congrats on the surgery and welcome to Bandland!

Three cheers for fitbit their arsenal of products are great. I have had just about everyone of them and so far my favorite is the newest fitbit charge. If you are a smart phone user the flex is just as awesome though it will not count the stairs climbed, and you can only read the number of steps when you open up the app on your smartphone. The charge will do just about everything that fitbit one would do. It tracks sleep, steps, stairs climbed and has timers you can set to get yourself moving if you know that your supposed to be in the gym or someplace at a certain time. I also have the Aria scale for weight and body fat and they all sync together. I enjoy all their products. My hubby uses the flex and we like to "out step" each other every day

OK ladies I have to share my story with you all. I divorced in 2005. LONG before I even knew or would think about WLS. I was HUGE I was close to my highest weight ever at the time. My husband who I had been married to for nearly 20 years and with since the time I was 15 years old, had three children with was cheating on me. (can you even imagine that someone would cheat on me?! me either..but it happened.) The relationship had been going down hill for a long long time. We were not happy being together and we would fight about everything. When I think about it now, I understand how very different we were. I grew up, and my ex never really did. Even today he is still a man child! The story in it's entirety would make you laugh and make you cry and make you cheer! I could write a movie about it no doubt...and someday... The crux of it all is that when we split (I threw him out. I think Beyonce wrote that song irreplaceable about me! Yes because everything you own in a box to the left. Or a garbage bag because just about everything was mine and my doing so he was left with nothing but his underwear.) I had a flash of major insecurity jeered on by him and who would want me...and be as "good" to me...hmm...if that was his idea of good...BAD would be better was my thinking!! Still I was having what for me is a rare flash of insecurity about myself here I was this 35 (at the time) year old obese MORBIDLY obese woman divorced....(ugly word) with three kids! Who would find that attractive? Who would want me?? Well I wanted me...I forgot me for a long long time and I needed find out who I was again. So I did. I ditched the husband and took up the mantel of single working mother of three! OMG just thinking about it makes me tired...friends who were half my age at work came along and hooked me up with Yahoo personals, and got me on the internet and there I was at night in my bedroom chatting with men I had never met before! (Scandal!) I was able to be bold and myself out there on the interweb.. (lol) and when it came time for that first "visit" of the ex and my kids...I couldn't take it I was so upset. I was about to curl up and cry but instead I got dressed and I went out on OMG what...yes a date! With some random guy I had never met only chatted with online. I met him at Starbucks and though he was not my type at all...he was not a wacko...and I felt like I had achieved a victory of sorts and got over my "fear". My ex was shocked to say the least when I got home and he asked where I was because I made him WAIT for me. I was around the corner but I still made him wait a good 20 minutes for me to arrive at the house. I told him on a date and I felt AWESOME! What did he think I would actually sit home and cry over him? Nope I was done with him and the crying, and it was time to move on and reclaim my life and remember who Lisa was and what she wanted out of life. I met quite a few nice people, and enjoyed dating for what it was and it helped me to build up my confidence and self esteem again. Then I met Ken. His profile said "rescue me" I thought to myself man I feel that way too. He also was separated going through a divorce and I thought just from reading his profile we had something in common. Well I'll save all the rest of the details for that book/movie...and suffice to say that we connected and 7 years later I was married again! Something I thought I would NEVER do again!! Never say never my friends! We both got married and we were at the largest weight either of us had ever been. Fast forward a year later and Ken was told he would need a hip replacement and no Dr. would touch him at his weight for that type of surgery. So we both had labpand surgery together 3 days apart. Today we are alive and happy post hip replacement surgery and working toward our weight and fitness goals. Don't get me wrong...divorce is HARD. It sucks, it's gut wrenching and if you let it it can destroy you. I can tell you this after the fact when you look back from a good place in your life you can see where both parties were at fault and you can accept your role in it and move on and you will be happier and healthier for it. You don't have to admit that to the other party just know it for yourself. There is life after divorce, and WLS and plastics and it doesn't matter if you are fat, skinny, blonde, brunette, green eyes or brown. The key to it all and to finding happiness is finding that in yourself first and foremost. Love yourself for who you are. If you don't know who that is take the time to find who you are and define what you want from your life and in a partner and go for it!!! Before I met Ken...I sat down with myself and wrote out what I wanted in my "perfect" man. I forgot about that..until cleaning out my bedroom and getting ready for his operation I found that paper and read it...and I can tell you that it described Ken to a "T" and I wrote it long before even having met him. You are all strong wonderful people and I know that you are going to find your way through it and look back and say ah ha... All my best to you!

@@ms.lissa I'm sorry you are having such trouble. I would advise you to speak with the surgeon who performed your surgery. Ask them if any Fluid was placed in the band during the surgery. Even a primer as this could be adding pressure to the band and the swelling you have internally. Removing even that tiny bit and any air could bring some relief. Acid reflux is a cause for irritation to the stoma. Though you may only feel it as it comes up the fact that your stomach is very acidic all the time can be causing this additional swelling. Try using some ice pops to get some hydration in and reduce some of that internal swelling as well. If you consume beverages like tea or coffee cut those out as they also tend increase the acid in the stomach. The same for any type of sauces or citrus juices/fruits you may be consuming. Try to stay bland until you are feeling better. I would also ask your Dr. to recommend a Gastroenterologist to perform an upper GI or endoscopy to check the actual placement of the band and see what kind of environment is going on in your stomach. This will help the doctors to determine what type of treatment you might need to reduce the acid and allow your stomach to heal and reduce the swelling in the stoma as well. A good pro-biotic won't hurt, and you can get capsules you can open and sprinkle in Soup, or in Water. Feel better and please let us know how you are doing!!

A while back I came across this quote..and I have made it one of my life's motto's. What you allow is what will continue. So good for you for not allowing these things to ruin your day, or night or your life. We all get tied up into other people's BS now and again and that's all part of our connection, but when it becomes uncomfortable we have the right to put a stop to it I have to remind myself of that far too often!!

Try using a tiny medicine cup to sip from. More then likely you have internal swelling as indicated by @briefs199. Eating some ice pops will also help you get your fluids in and even hopefully help to calm some of the internal swelling going on. Take it slow...you just had major surgery give yourself some time heal

@@heather020813 I'm sorry your experiencing trouble with your band. As @@terrydumont46 said this could be something to do with your heart rather then just your band so please reach out to your Dr. and go in to be checked out. Better to error on the side of caution then catastrophe. Let us know how you are doing!!

TGIF Family!!!! Getting ready to head out of the office and get my acupuncture zen on!!! Hope you all have a great weekend!!!

Oh yes it has happened to me. I was in the green zone doing great and then I had a car accident. I was rear ended pretty hard by another car coming off the expressway and it messed up my back and my neck. The Dr.'s had me on all kinds of anti-inflammatory drugs and muscle relaxers. Right on the heels of that I got sick with a bad upper respiratory infection and even more medication had to be taken. All of this stress combined with the medications caused some internal swelling and it closed the stoma to my band nearly shut. One morning I woke up and could not even swallow my own saliva. I didn't wait I drove myself right to the Dr.'s office and demanded to see someone ASAP. They sent me to radiology for a barium swallow and the Fluid just sat above the band and didn't move showing a pouch dilation as well, so they had to remove all the fluid from the band. It's been a bit of a process to get back, as my surgeon and his group left the practice and the care there totally changed. Today I am back on track and feeling pretty good. Still when I have those moments of stress that band cinches pretty tight and I know I really have to take it easy. If you are too tight to keep fluids going down smoothly even Water, then I would get some fluid taken out sooner then later because you don't want to have a problem like I did and have all the fluid removed. A little out now will go a long way to keep you where you want to be. Let me know how you do!

@@heyyoeddie I will be up front and honest with you. I was worried when the changes started happening, and I gave it the benefit of the doubt. I love Dr. Geiss and his staff and slowly the changes went from personal care to the type of care one might expect at a walk in clinic where no one knows you or your medical history. Even still I gave it the benefit of the doubt and I met Dr. Barrett after waiting to see her for 2 hours, I was less then pleased if you would like more information you can personal message me. Needless to say my husband and I have left the Syosset hospital practice. We are now being cared for by Dr. Shawn Garber, who is part of NYBariatric Group. I can't expand enough upon the differences in the practice along with the personalized care we receive from Dr. Garber and his staff. Their office in Mineola is state of the art in technology, (this is not impressive to some (my husband included) I work in technology and I love that this office is full of the latest in baratric technology and health care!)

These are excellent idea's especially if you are gifting to fellow WLS friends. If it's family that wants to be supportive, I would go with the gift cards to clothing stores, and container sets, and even fitness equipment like the awesome new fitbit products love those. Lots of great idea's!!

@@SkinnyHereICome If there is no way for you to get to the Dr. sooner, I would tell you to just stick to liquids. Try having some warm liquids first to relax your esophagus and go back to Protein shakes until you can get there. The more you stress about it the tighter your band is apt to feel. I know for me once that stress feeling is triggered my band is the first thing to tighten up. Some deep breathing, warm liquids and Protein Shakes. Get yourself to your Dr. as soon as you can to take some Fluid out. Let us know how your doing and congrats on reaching your goal!!

Thanks for the chuckle!!

@@gowalking I love it!!! You will enjoy those Mink's in the city in the winter that is for SURE!!!

You know it's a sad fact that we used to have nice healthy levels of Vitamin D from being outside. In today's world we have UV protection and need UV protection from everything when we are outside. Our windshields and car windows, our office windows, sun glasses, eye glasses make up everything has some kind of UV protection. It's protecting us from the harmful ray's of the sun and yet it also prevents us from naturally converting that good old fashion sun shine into the Vitamin D our bodies need. So if you are someone like me that spends most of their day inside of something...home, car or office building you need some kind of Vitamin D supplement. Our kids today don't hazard out the door for fear of the sun I think! Or maybe because they can't open the doors since their fingers are affixed to some type of device at all times...I haven't figured that out yet...but even kids now seem to have similar differences and that is worrisome when it starts so young, what happens when they are "old" like me?? I'm pro-vitamin D. No need to overdose, but take it and get outside every once in a while and smell the roses!! Even if you have to walk to the local floral shop to do it at least you got outside

@@Anume 937 What your going through is a pretty common occurrence. We are all works in progress, and often as we learn more about ourselves through the process of WLS we change. Not just the way we look on the outside, but the way we behave and relate to the world as well. That change happens not only with food, but with the things we associate with in our lives and the way in which we relate to the people in our lives. In a relationship, especially one that is not on solid footing it's not the weight loss per se but the other issues that the weight loss and surgery may be taking the blame for to mask the truth that might just be a bit painful to reveal. There are some issues that you have both overcome already, if you have both disclosed the past to each other and that is a testament to the love and caring between you. This is where you both need to put your focus. Remember why the two of you are together in the first place and even more importantly why after an infidelity on both parts you both chose each other again and stayed together. These are the reasons and the feelings you want to reinforce in each other and then no matter how much weight you lose what color you dye your hair, or clothes you wear your significant other will know that it is because you are a secure confidant woman who is in a relationship with him and for no other reason. If however there are other thoughts going through your minds and you think of straying outside the relationship because something is missing or not working...but your not quite ready to cut ties and run and you both still want to keep the relationship together then I would defiantly consider going to marriage or couples therapy and working on it as a couple. I wish you the best of luck and hope everything works out for you!!

@@JustWatchMe Beautiful! Love the dress!!! Get out there and get those dancing shoes!!!

@@Warren L. Huberman PhD. Excellent article! I can relate with much of what you wrote. For me it is a bit of a struggle to retrain the brain and not fall back into old habits especially when/if your a person who's has strong emotional connections. There are people who learn by sight, sound, touch, and there are those of us who also learn by making an emotional connection. This is where making changes in learned behavior can cause some major road blocks and tripping points along the way. The emotional ties we have to unhealthy choices of food are not going to bring us the feelings and emotions we desire in times of stress and distress. For me it takes concentrated effort to disassociate myself from the "unhealthy" connections and focus on the reason behind them. In times of stress/distress I am seeking that peace, that sense of security in the love of family, but knowing that is simply not enough in those moments when you are overwhelmed by emotions or a stressful time. Eating a pie is not going to make it better, knowing that and seeking those feelings in another healthy avenue outlet is what is needed, and yet it is not always the easiest thing to find. The mind (brain) will return look for that thing that is the easiest form to comfort it and before you know it the pie is gone!!

@ remember that every person is different. Even if you have the same surgeon and the same bariatric group what is required of one individual may not be what is required for you. Speak to you Dr.'s office directly about your individual case, and try not to compare yourself with others. While we all have the same goal in mind which is to lose weight and be healthy the way in which we get there is very different and very personalized. Some of us might be "text book" cases but most of us are not. My husband and I have the same exact surgery the same exact surgeon, and we were banded/plicated 3 days apart, but from day one his process is much different from mine. We can "relate" to each other and work together toward our common goals but I have to walk in my shoes and he in his. The best thing to do is to get advice from the person you are having the surgery with and follow the guidelines they set out for you. While it may be similar to another, it could also vary greatly. Best of luck to you, and Congratulations!!

@@imsoglad56 that looks like it could be it!!! Thank you! I am going to have to give this a whirl this weekend!! Also the cheese cake one!! When the Holiday's come for some reason I like to cook and make special treats...but it's so much better to make the things that are in our life style program then the things I know I shouldn't be eating!!

@@LipstickLady you know you could change your screen name to The Great Queen of All She Surveys aka @@LipstickLady

@@GreenEyes604 I agree! Great idea!!