kacee

You sound just like my friend. She's going through the exact same thing...found out it would only cost something like $200 before the 31st, and $1200 after that. Good luck. She's going through all her tests this week and looks like she may be able to get surgery by next week.

I don't think the pain meds brought on the gas. Nearly everyone gets that, pain meds or no. Of course pain meds are notorious for giving some people terrible constipation. It didn't bother me though. But the gas...oh yeah...big time pain. I was expecting it so when it hit I just started fartin, burping, eating gas-X, holding my heating pad, and walking all over the place. That's why it pays to read everything before you go in. I anticipated the gas, and also anticipated constipation (which I didn't get, though I had supplies just in case). Being forwarned is being forarmed. You can't do too much research!

I made a huge pot of Taco Soup last Sunday. Froze about 6 big bowls of it and I've been eating it every day. I've put on 3 pounds and I know it is the sodium in the soup, plus eating a whole lot of it. Tonight I went through the refrig and freezer like a mad woman, tossing everything (all the frozen soup that was left), crackers, some old pudding cups left over from post-surgery.....everything. Then I hauled it all out to the trash. I feel much better. WHEW!

I went to my dermatologist and he said it was dermatitis brought on by stress to the body and the dermatitis causes the hair to fall out. He told me to get the super intensive (dark blue bottle) Head and Shoulders, and then a regular Head and Shoulders, wash my hair every day and alternate with the two bottles and I would see a difference within a week. I have way too much hair maintenance to wash every day, so instead I wash every three days with the super intensive stuff. I HAVE noticed a change. Hair loss can go on for MONTHS (I think WasABubbleButt said it can go on about 10 months and then let up.) I just wanted it to stop being in complete handfuls, and that has slowed down dramatically since I started with the shampoo.

I have noticed in the last month the scales are going down slower, but the inches seem to be melting off just the same. Frankly, I am not looking at the "numbers" with too much interest. I am down to a size 12 pair of pants...something I haven't been for 20 years. Also 20 years ago I would have considered "163" a pretty horrible weight to carry. I like this now. My goal is about 150 which I think is perfectly fine for my age and height, but I am not breaking any records to get there.

I didn't cheat either. You can really live to regret it.

You're not crazy. You have to get creative. I mainly lived on jello, pudding, applesauce, cottage cheese (with avacado mushed up and mixed in), and a ton of different soups, fruit smoothies, Crystal Lite, Low sodium V8. You've really got to use some imagination. And trust me, you do not want to whip up some eggs. They may LOOK soft, but believe me, my first scrambled egg experience was my first week of solids (after day 30) and it dot STUCK horribly!

My hunger kicked in sometime late the second week. When it did, I just stepped up the amount/frequency I ate, but continued eating the same things (all acceptable) within the parameters of my post op "healing diet". I had very little problem actually.

1. For Protein shakes: Dymatize Elite Protein in Mocha Cafe. Mix with 8 oz skim milk and blend with handful of ice and you have190 calories and 34 mgs of protein.</p> <p> </p> <p>2. For Protein Drink: Isopure Clear Protein Drink (about 6 flavors...all good). Pour over ice. 1 bottle is 160 calories and 40 mg protein. I keep a huge supply in my house.

Ya know....when those folks went home and thought of the wedding, that's one of the top things they remembered and it's gonna be a conversation piece in the family for the rest of their lives. I think it's GREAT!

I find the word abhorrant. However, I also think that we give words WWWWAAAAAAAAYYYYY to much power in our society. Sticks and stones was never truer.

I consder myself a very spiritual person. I believe in ESP and what we consider the "paranormal". I believe there are convergent universes and that time is all relative. I think things and people from the past and future can fold in on themselves and become part of the present. I think that when you die you go to a different plane of existence. Energy does not dissipate...it only reconstructs at another level. I absolutely believe in reincarnation. I think we are not anywhere NEAR alone in the universe, and when the little green blobs from Alpha Patootie do make themselves seen here, it's gonna really put the hurt and test on some religions. I wish mankind wasn't so freakin stilted in their capacity to reach outside themselves and embrace the possibilities of the universe.

Bubble you have such a way with words... Me, I don't care. I don't care what is or is not out there. My religion is to be the best person I can be and always strive to do better. I don't give a hairy rat's behind about the rest. I do not believe there is a god out there that was able to create the earth, the stars... the whole darn universe and he cares about worship or the smell of burning goat flesh. That seems very self centered and childish to me. Hell... what a silly concept. I don't need a devil tempting me to do wrong. I can figure that out all by myself and tempt myself. I take responsibility for the bad that I do in life as well as credit for the good. I'll say a big ol AMEN to all that!

Ridiculous school rules? When I was in school.... You couldn't wear pants to school if you were a girl. You couldn't wear what we called "coulots" (coulottes? Koo-lots?---anyway, they were skirt which were split into two legs down the middle...maybe they call them "skorts" now) Couldn't wear open toes sandles (Oh the SEX of it!) Couldn't wear patent leather shoes (boys could look up and see your undies reflected) (Oh the SEX of it!) Dresses? Kneel on the floor girl! Not more than 2" off the floor or you are sent home to change. Boys hair...can't be below their earlobe... Bangs....only ABOVE the eyebrows It's a wonder we survived. Now my 17 year old nephew is in an alternative school where you cannot wear the colors blue or red....at ALL. Now we're talking about a blue polo shirt with white stripes....typical Izod fare....nope. Verbotten! What have we come to?

Well, I for one remember getting paddled in the second grade. Mrs. Lawrence took me in the janitor's closet next to the classroom and whacked my ass. Other than the surpreme embarassment of it, I don't recall being scarred for life....no wait.....isn't that just about the time I started gaining weight? Yup. Scarred for life. I should sue the Houston Indepedent School District for my poor scarred psyche. Actually I think we Baby Boomers came out in pretty good shape considering. Of course we are known for our drinking and indiscriminate adultery, but other than that I think we did okay.

You guys come up with some great stuff. I guess you could say I am kindof an agnostic of sorts. As a teenager I balked at my organized Christian religion. I couldn't stomach watching people parade around in their finest duds to impress each other, profess their believes and then go about their lives belittling those who did not feel exactly the same way they did. I couldn't stand an organized group of people whose idea of a successful religion was sitting in a gold-leafed tower wearing velvet robes and building more gold-leafed towers. My feelings were further reinforced when I met a load of Catholics later in life and saw the damage that had been done to many of them by their organized religion (not their God, mind you). As far as I am concerned, anything in religion touched by man is suspect. That includes the Bible. Men are mortal and fallable, given to their own whims and devices and agendas. There were plenty of charlatans in the days of yore, and there are plenty of them now. Religion is a profitable business for the power hungry, always has been and always will be. I do not claim any religion for myself. Yes, I feel there is a supreme entity somewhere. He can be God or Yahweh or Alla....or dare I say it...yes....the Flying Sphagetti Monster. A rose by any other name will smell as sweet. My idea of a good religion is the simpler the better. No robes, no books, no candles and incense, no "divine conduit" who is the "one and only person" I can talk to my God through, no beads and chants and statues. Don't tell me I can't wear blue on Wednesdays because God disapproves. Don't say I have to dance a jig and recite a haiku backwards to talk to my God. My God is nature....leaves and sky and fresh air and laying in the grass on a cool day...a red sunset and a rainstorm and the myriad of miracles before our eyes. I rejoice in them and appreciate their beauty and wonder. I consider man to be the height of narcissistic to assume that his God has picked him out from any other amoeba on the planet for his "special purpose" or has decided that he alone and all his clan will get a "Get out of jail free" card and ticket to the 40 virgin club in a next life.... Pretty much everything we humans have touched has turned to crap over the span of time (mostly in the name of God, I might add)....despite ourselves, this is still a wondrous world...if we'd just get our meddling hands out of the mix.

No way! In Mid-March, 2007, I was sitting in my ENT's waiting room reading "Houston Living Magazine" waiting for an appointment to try to get a mouth guard because my snoring was so out of control. I decided at my age I wanted to start doing more traveling but I couldn't subject someone to staying in my hotel room with my horrid snoring and I was very self-conscious about it. I came across an advertisement by Dr. Felix Spiegel about the lapband. I had NEVER heard of it before. I promptly pocketed the magazine and took it home with me to read further. Within two days of intense internet research I mentioned it to my Mom to test the waters as to what she thought. She had not heard of it either, but the words out of her mouth were shocking to me, "I can't believe you haven't brought that up before now." We discussed the procedure and she said, "So when were you thinking of having it done?" and boy, that light turned green for me! Within a week I had a consult and had researched and picked a surgeon and gotten on lapbandtalk.com. I was a self-pay and my surgery was about 6 weeks after the first day I read about it. Best decision I EVER made and I don't think a THING about acting quickly on it. I did my research.

Okay, if you really want to stick your neck out...how about a t-shirt that says "Ask me about my lapband." Boy if that isn't opening the door I don't know what is! You'd probably get some response there!

A girl who works at my company came by my office about a year ago. She had been very obese since I had known her and all of a sudden she was very slim. I asked her what she did (this was pre-lapband for me) and she simply said "portion control". Well, you can't argue with that. I still wonder today if she had a band done, but I thought her answer was good.

<p><p>I fought my weight all my life. I don't ever remember NOT being on a diet, even as a small child, and I was always at the "fat table" at camp where they monitored your food intake (how mortifying). I got my band in May of this year and I can honestly say it was the best decision I ever made. I thought it was going to mean the "end" of life as I had known it and really mourned that to some extent, but I was surprised at how easy it was (for me) to modify my lifestyle without feeling like I had been "cut off" from anything.For the most part, you can eat anything you could eat before, within reason. I stear clear of sandwiches now, or pick them apart. I could probably get one down, but it would just "take a while" and frankly much of the time I haven't got the patience. Really the only thing I haven't had since surgery is a hamburger. Sounds great, but logistically it could be kindof a pain in the ass. You do find that you avoid some foods because they are just kindof a bother. But actually life on the other side of the band is very similar to your "former life"....minus the binge eating. Welcome!</p></p>

We welcome you with open arms September! You are in good company. We all take care of each other here.

I'll give you the three things that have worked single handedly for my success...however, everyone is different... this works for ME. 1. Go out to someplace like SparkPeople or FitDay and join and log ALL your food, and I mean ALL the food you put in your mouth....every day. It quickly becomes a habit and makes you VERY aware of what you consume. 2. Many people do NOT do this, but I weigh EVERY day, at the same time, in the buff, on the same scales, and I LOG it on my FitDay account, every day. I can look at my food consumption and cross-reference to my weight and see exactly why I am LOSING or NOT losing and WHY. 3. Set many many many MINI GOALS. Like, I am 163 now and I would like to be 160 by Christmas....well, that's what, three weeks away? That's what I mean by a mini-goal. Something that is ATTAINABLE in a short period of time. Don't project a goal from now to May of next year....or say something like "I want to lose 25 pounds in the next two months..." but do a three week goal, or a one month goal, or whatever. If you are a weenie about these things, make them easily attainable and when you hit your goal before your due date you will feel great about yourself!

Try gearing your consumption down now and you'll have the start of a habit by the time surgery rolls around. I think most of us went through a kindof "last dinner" thing. It's just not needed. You do need to understand that though you will be starting to take control of your eating habits after surgery, there are NO foods that are taboo. As my doctor said, This is NOT a diet. There are lots of people who eat the same things we gorge ourselves on (that got us where we are in the first place!), and they are slim and healthy. The difference is PORTION CONTROL, along with sensible habits (like...a piece of pizza is okay occasionally, but not the WHOLE pizza, and not three times a week!). We are starting to learn to eat like NORMAL people. You can have what you want occasionally...if you deprive yourself completely, you will become disenchanted and tend to "cheat". So don't feel like because you are having this procedure done you have to "make up for all lost time in the future" by ingesting every Big Mac that comes down the pike from now to surgery, and you will thank yourself for it after the fact. And yes, the more you can lose before surgery, the easier a time your surgeon has of getting that liver out of the way in order to move around and conduct his business!

<p>Nothing really as far as surgery is concerned, but something if you don't DO something about it (i.e., lose weight). I was diagnosed with moderate to severe apnea about three weeks before surgery, and even given a CPAP machine. It was so close to surgery that when surgery came I didn't use it again and have not used it since. I primarily was tested ahead of time because I was snoring so badly and so concerned about it. I have since been told that I either do not snore now at all, or just have a small "buzz" sometimes, so there has been a big improvement. However, I have not been re-tested. Sleep apnea is considered one of the primary co-morbidities for the lapband surgery, along with things like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, etc.</p>

I would think it would definitely be lowered as you lose weight. I got my CPAP 3 weeks before surgery and actually never really started using it. As the weight came off I didn't use the CPAP (I got it primarily because I was such a horrible snorer and then found I had apnea). Since then I've been on several vacations with family members who all said I am either not snoring at all or just "buzzing" a little....nothing like it use to be, so I am inclined to think that if I was re-tested they would lower my numbers.