vinesqueen

Okay, I thought I was just weird, since I swear I can feel my band. You have severe heart or lung disease that makes you a poor candidate for surgery. Okay, I had severe lung disease that made me a poor candidate for any sort of surgery, or even life. I was hauled off the the ER by ambulance with a really bad asthma attack days before I was banded, which is exactly why my surgeon went through and banded me. Because I was dieing anyway.

Paula, I'm shocked SHOCKED I tell ya! But yeah, make the DH responsible for the damned dog...

Okay, has anyone had any luck yet? Has anyone taken action, or is it still in the planning stage? I know that standing up to authority figures can be really daunting, since they are the experts, right? Well, I'm the expert on my body, they aren't. They are like skilled mechanics, who know how to tune your expensive sports car, but they dont' know how you handle. So, I see a real Endo doc in two weeks to discuss my Cushings. My DH finally did the research I wanted him to do, and he's amazed at the number of symptoms I have. Hell, I'm amazed at the number of symptoms. Anyway, I'm not crying about it. I'm taking action and not accepting the way things are. So, we all paid a lot of time and money for our bands, even if insurance paid the bills, we paid them too in different currency. We have put a lot of energy into working out bands, and they still do not function for us the same as they do for the Normies or the damn Rabbits. Again I call for the Turtle Tribe to Action! To Action! Courage and Strength my beloved Tribe!

Woot! Congrats on such a great NSV!

P'nut, not all RNY is done where they cut away and remove the stomach or part of the intestines. Some RNY procedures are done where part of the stomach is walled off, sometimes by cutting it and sewing it back together so it maintains integrity. Also, the blood supply is left intact so the walled off bits will survive inside just fine. Some RNY procedures are done where they cut and remove, but not all of them. If they are cut and removed then they can't really be reversed. I wonder how many of your patients who do not lose with the band have Cushing's syndrom or Cusshing's disease, or if not some form of Cushing's, what they are calling "metabolic syndrom X." After being banded for, what, 8 months, and not losing, I went to my PCP who didn't have a clue why I wasn't losing and suggested thyroid medication, which hasn't helped with my weight loss, but I'm not completely exhausted all the time. Since that didn't do the trick I went to see an internist who diagnosed me with Cushing's. I'm currently in the beginning stages of that battery of tests. I know that I and many of my Turtle Tribe are doing everything we can to lose weight but we simply are not successful. We work really hard and see little or no results. I spent a month at 700 calories or less and lost a whopping 1.5 pounds that month, which was only slightly better than I've done at 1600, 1200 or 1000 calories a day. So Dr. P., of the people you have converted to RNY from the band, how many did you send for metabolic testing before you converted them? Did it even occur to you to do metabolic testing? If not, why not? Will you consider having people tested in the future for metabolic issues,? if not, why not? I know that Cushing's is rare, with something like 15 ot 25 out of a million people, but psudo-Cushing's is a tiny bit more common. (I'm sure that comes off sounding accusitory, which it is not, nor is it my intention to pick a fight. I understand the limitations of text, and I appoligise if it comes off with me being a jerk.)

different people feel "full" different ways. Some of us get a head signal that we are "full," while other people get a variety of "soft stop" signs such a burping, hicuping, running noses, and a whole bunch of different signals. I think just about for every bandster there is a different way for us to know. Don't every expect to have that stuffed to the gills feeling, like many people experience after gorging after a feast like Thanksgiving. But you might be surprised to learn that you no longer want that sort of feeling either. Satity is a new concept for many of us, and it takes a while for us to understand what that truely means. Cheers!

I wouldn't have had anyother WLS either. I'm really glad I didn't have any of the malaborptive things like the RNY, DS, etc., because as it turns out, I probably wouldn't have lost with any of those techniques either. I was diagnosed with Cushing's so until I get that resolved I won't be loseing much weight if any more at all. So, that's my story. I'm completely disatisfied with my weight loss. I'm almost a year out and have lost about 25-30 pounds. But I'm completely happy with my band, because I feel like I would have died from my co-morbidities.

welcome back! Wondered where you'd gotten off too...

Kathy, I've been observing lent for most of my adult life and I'm a Pagan. This year I've decided to give up something weird. I've decided that I'm going to try to let go of the whole Cushing's thing. Let go as in "let god." I am going to work on giving up stressing over my health. I don't know if it is a vise or not, but that is what I'm going to work on. I typically give up one of my favorite pleasures. I've given up coffee several times, gave up TV, stuff like that. One year I gave up chocolate, and I gained 18 pounds. So, I'll never give up chocolate again, since the Gods want me to have chocolate, obviously.

There is no such thing as a pathetic NSV. No such critter. Now kindly repost your NSV with PRIDE because you deserve to be proud of the hard work you have done.

Excellent work New Sho! So, have you had your body fat measurements taken yet? I'm serious Dahlik! I'm going to hound you on this till you get it done. But only because I care. When I had a job I used to work out with a personal trainer, who looked F-A-B!!!! She was a size 12. Not a size 8, not a size 4, but a size 12 and she looked amazing. She weighed 160 pound, and looked amazing. But best of all, she was in amazing shape, being a professional workout person. Technically speaking, her BMI was more than 25, but she would sink in the swimming pool.

Well, for us, the biggest change is ... I don't know. There are so many I can't even say what is the biggest. Let's see. I didnt' leave him, which is what it was coming too. I couldn't stay and watch him kill himself, powerless to stop it. It was too painful. We actually have a love live again. Not just a sex life, but a love life. We both fit comfortably in a queen sized bed again. When he was able to lie down without suffocating from his weight, he would take up the entire bed by himself. He is energetic! This last week he swapped our bedroom for my craftroom. I can hardly wait to go visit so I can see it.

Amanda, this is the first time I've heard that. We have many successful bandsters on this board with thyroid issues and are very happy with their bands. Aren't allergies considered auto-immune? Was it really rejected? Or did you have other issues? I thought that the band was made from innert materials, which means that there is no reaction. Sorry, just trying to understand.

My DH has been banded for just over 2 and a half years. So far, he has officially lost 196 pounds. (he just hit 400! Woot!)

Well, many people find the carbonation in soda PAINFUL, not just painful. I would think that would be reason enough to not have it. (food should not be painful) Some people can drink soda and beer just fine without any pain, others cannot tollerate it at all. Dody, not all doctors agree on the carbonation arguement.

Hi Vera, I've purposely avoided this thread until now. I'm so very sorry for your loss, and you and your sister have my deepest sympathy. This is ssuch a heart break for your family, and I wish I was able to do something to add comfort, but I always feel so useless in times like this. I wish I could do something more for you than offer words accross cyberspace. Please know that I've been keeping you and your family in my thoughts since you posted this thread. I'm so sorry.

So sorry you feel that way Dody, I'm sure no one is ignoring you on purpose. I don't reply to every thread partly because I simply don't have time to read every thread. I also don't read thread in lots of the forums because I don't feel like I have anything to offer there. I recall a couple of converstation that I was involved with you Dody, I know that you were asking GeezerSue questions about her band loss, and her subsequent DS convertion; and one where you were asking questions about the experiences of older bandsters. I sure don't view this similar to the culture of high school, probably because I'm not invisible here, I refuse to be invisible any where anymore. I just metaphorically open my big mouth and tell people what I think. In my classes I am frequently the only person in class with questions. I will have converstation with my professors in class, and not think anything about it, but I know that most people I go to school cannot even think of questioning an authority figure. But mostly, I approach most of the threads here in a thoughtful manner. I'm a bug for grammer and punctuation too. I'm dyslexic, so my spelling sucks. My DH teases me about my spelling mistakes, or makes jokes about how such and such a word was spelled and I simply cannot understand the joke. :confused: I too don't see most of the fighting, I don't recognize the perceived insults for the most part. Sure the outright stuff I see, but I don't expect to be insulted, so I'm not looking for it. I know that some folks are used to different boards where flame wars are the norm, and some folks are just naturally on the defensive, so they take every precived insult when none was intended. oh and one other thing that gets my nose out of joint is when people dont use any punctuation or capitalization they will post several paragraphs and not use one singel punctuation mark i can never read their posts because i cant make head nor tail of what they are trying to say this is really difficult for me to type because i have had to go back and erase every single punctuation mark and capitalization it just drives me crazy and i cant understand what they are trying to say drives me nuts that i cant read their posts maybe because im dyslexic and i use punctuation differently from other people i don't know it just drives me crazy

Wow, all i can say is wow. I know now that part of my weight has to do with my Cushing's. I don't care what my doctor said, it is NOT normal to gain 25 pounds in one month,

Wow, thanks Nykee

We need to keep in mind that this guy is one of her best buds, and we dont want to hurt the guy, or cause financial ruin. Anything involving Kiddy Porn is OUT OF BOUNDS. Even the mear alligation could destroy his reputation, and we dont want to hurt the guy. One thing we did after my boss went on vacation was to tape pennies over every flat surface in his office, put them in between reports, everywhere. He thought he would be safe because he locked his office before he went on vacation. He never imagined that I would crawl up and over his wall by removing the drop celing tiles. Yeah, at 240 pound I scaled his walls... Another guy had his office turned into a bathroom. They installed, but not plumbed, a toilet, sink, TP holder, and a vanity mirror. They put up dry wall to cut his office in half, so the front part of his office really did look like a half-bath.

Welcome to the Banded Gentry

I'm so proud of you for posting this! It has taken a lot of courage on your part to come as far as you have. And it has taken a lot of courage to post your story. This is not an easy thing, espcially when we are used to failure. Many people dont' lose anything before their first fill appointment. I actually gained 5 pounds before I could get my first fill. It happens, so don't you worry about it. But for your band to work, you need to get a fill. So, you take that courage and strength of character you've already demonstrated, and go get that fill! Like Capt'n Jack says "Courage! Strenght!"

Woot! Excellent work! It's amazing once your head starts working the band too!

Young lady, you march down to that office today and get an unfill! I'm Serious! Being too tight can put your band and your stomach at risk! Being too tight is miserable, and you don't deserve to be miserable. it can be really difficult to stick to the bandster rules when you are a full time student. We have weird schedules and getting to the gym can be nigh on impossible at times. And then we have 5 months, a 30 pound loss. Even if we assume there are 5 weeks a month (there are only 4.3) you still have lost more than 25 pounds. You have been banded roughly 20 weeks. 30 pounds in 20 weeks! You are averaging 1.5 pounds a week, spot on average. It's possible that you are just on a plateau, but you didn't post your personal rate of loss. Your mini-goal is to lose 50 pounds in 7 months. This means that you have to consistantly lose more than 7 pounds a month. Which is more than 1.5 pounds a week. Is it possible that you have this slightly unrealistic goal adding to your stress? Laura honey, I know it is so difficult to look at those "measily" 30 pounds, espeically when the rabbits are passing you so fast that you are choking on their dust. There is so much resentment that you can't lose like that. I know for me that my non-weight loss hammers home all those feelings of being a failure, yet again. So, your plan of action, as defined by a Turtle: Get that unfill. Get a Pedicure and Manicure, (or maybe a facial) because you need it to help with the stress (and you need to do something to be extra kind to yourself. Start eating more solid foods, cause you have fallen into the soft foods danger zone. Check in with us. If that unfill isn't enough, have another unfill and then a deep conditioning treatment for your hair.

The guy who got his tattoo before me needed to take several breaks, as did the woman who was before him. I think it says something when the tattoo artist remarks on one's pain threshold...