docbree

Thanks for all the good wishes and prayers! The polyps are benign! (Happy dance) . I'm so thankful!
I see my surgeon this Thursday and will see what he says about this and ramifications for surgery.

Thanks for all the good wishes and prayers! The polyps are benign! (Happy dance) . I'm so thankful!
I see my surgeon this Thursday and will see what he says about this and ramifications for surgery.

Thanks for all the good wishes and prayers! The polyps are benign! (Happy dance) . I'm so thankful!
I see my surgeon this Thursday and will see what he says about this and ramifications for surgery.

This chick, that's who! All results normal\desired\healthy! Words that have been used exactly never before! :-)

Awesome!!!

Yay!!!!

Thanks for all the good wishes and prayers! The polyps are benign! (Happy dance) . I'm so thankful!
I see my surgeon this Thursday and will see what he says about this and ramifications for surgery.

Thanks for all the good wishes and prayers! The polyps are benign! (Happy dance) . I'm so thankful!
I see my surgeon this Thursday and will see what he says about this and ramifications for surgery.

I had my band placed six months ago. Since then, I have lost somewhat over 90 pounds. I've changed the way I eat, and the way I look at life. I am so happy that the surgery was available to me. I don't know what I would've done if I had continued to live in the food. My life was miserable, and I was merely surviving.
Today, I look forward to getting outside to walk every day. I look forward to healthy food. I enjoy foods that I never would have looked twice at before. Hummus? Yes! Delicious! I never thought I would be able to turn away from fried food. But I find myself choosing healthy food over unhealthy food more and more each day.
I started the weight loss surgery process one year ago in September. One of the things that was heavy on my mind was what I had to give up. I remember being very sad on Thanksgiving thinking that I was not going to ever be able to indulge in greasy turkey skin again. Yes, I really was depressed about that. What I knew intellectually, but didn't feel in my heart yet, was that by the following Thanksgiving that would not matter. Yes, I knew it in my head. But I was still sad. I was starting a process that was going to leave behind all of my addictive behaviors.
I am not the perfect WLS patient. I still want to do things "my way". The difference is, many times now, I will simply follow directions. I still want to do it my way, but many times I am able to say, let's just try it their way.
I found myself in a food rut over the past month. I was consistently eating enough junky food that my weight-loss had stalled. My past patterns would have been to give up on myself. Slide back into disordered eating. Hide from everyone. Reach for the food over and over again.
Instead, I came here to these boards. I asked some questions. I got some advice. I tried something new. I ditched my scale for a week. I cleaned up my eating. I listened to my body. And maybe most importantly, I found help outside of these boards as well. I go to a few different support groups, not all for weight loss. I find that the phrase, "it's not what you're eating, it's what's eating you" applies to me. I am able to look inside, and uncover some of the reasons why I reach for food.
Knowing why doesn't solve my problems. But knowing why, acknowledging that, and allowing it to be the truth, helps me to deal with it. If I can identify it, I can change it. Eating my problems away never ate my problems away. It only very temporarily masked my problems from my awareness. When I would come back out of my food coma, my problems were still there, sometimes worse, and I had self blame and shame to add on top of that.
Today, my recovery from disordered eating is twofold. I am addressing the underlying reasons for why I reach for food. I am also addressing the physical reality of my disordered eating by allowing the lap band to help me remain in control of my portions.
I don't think I could do one without the other and still have success. I am grateful that I don't have to.
For any newcomers here, know that there is hope. I am living proof. I have my life back after decades of simply hanging on.

I just started the Carafate this week but I have also began to sleep in my recliner and haven't had any overnight issues, seems the reflux has even lessened. Could be because I haven't eaten much also. I will keep u posted. Doc says give it a month to see the recovery.

Thanks, @@RedDirtRoads - that is very kind of you. Getting biopsy results today and will let you know! I'm in good spirits,

Thanks, @@RedDirtRoads - that is very kind of you. Getting biopsy results today and will let you know! I'm in good spirits,

@@docbree, checking in on you . . .

I am so sorry to hear that your having all that problem, since you had the surgery in Mexico maybe you need to call your family doctor to get a prescription for nexium, Prevacid, something to help with the reflux. I had a hiatal hernia repair to and was given prevacid for it. It help I still not able to eat like I should but it will take time. I will be praying that you get better and congrats on losing 60 lbs.

@@sherripark, i'm so sorry to hear about the rough time you are having! *HUGS*
i think your attitude is awesome, really... "today I am going to take advantage of being home alone and focus on drinking and eating 3 meals + a snack or 2 in hopes that good fluids & nutrition will help my mind and body.." that's a great plan.
i've read that losing a lot of weight quickly releases a lot of hormones, so your depression could just be from that, which means temporary. however, from someone who deals with depression, please consider seeing a therapist. even short term, it helps to have someone to talk to who will be totally non-judgemental.
i agree that you do need to find someone to follow up with locally about your surgery. i would be stressed personally if i wasn't feeling well and the surgeon was in another country.
keep posting and reading on this site, you will learn a lot, and at the least, get a lot of commiseration! congrats on your weight loss, that's fabulous.

The biggest disadvantage of this high tech age is that we don't get the tone or inflection of a personal conversation. I wish you good luck and good health.

Miss Mac, Oh, this wasn't a confession of guilt or blame or looking for support, just a happy tongue in cheek "I'm living my life and I love my sleeve" kind of post. It was all definitely in moderation...one bite each of everything I listed (except the green Beans I had 3). No rice no noodles. The wine was a little experiment. Didn't really taste that great and Had no effect on me whatsoever (bummer) so I probably won't even bother with it in the near future.
Fortunately my stomach of steel has transformed into a sleeve of steel, and after the 3rd month, I've been able to tolerate anything I've tried. I'm one of the "bad sleevers" that doesn't track or count anything. I drink all day, eat when I'm hungry and always Protein first. Down 66 pounds and 4 pant sizes and I'm thrilled!

So two weeks ago was my Doctor's oldest son's 18th birthday and we went out for pizza and chocolate cake with ice cream. Yep, ate em all! So last night we went out for Thai for his other son's 16th birthday. I didn't order a thing...just got a small plate and nibbled from everyone else's orders.... Green Beans, chicken dumplings, shrimp wontons, duck curry, and spicy tofu. And a 1/2 glass of wine. And besides the usual chocolate cake and ice cream for desert, someone ordered fried banana cheesecake. Yum to all...bad doctor

We should have an update available shortly which will address these issues.

Hope the carafate helps. That sucks.

I'm not sure about the hospital part of it, but my apnea went away within a few weeks after surgery. My wife says I no longer snore, and I can sleep through the night with only one or two trips to the bathroom, depending on how much Fluid I consume near bedtime. We are both thrilled to get rid of that stupid machine!!! And for any diabetics reading this, my need for insulin and pills went away within a few weeks too! My endocrinologist was ecstatic. He even joked, "Damn! Those bastards are going to run me out of business!" Now, wouldn't that be great?!!

@@MyHeartOnMySleeve That's outstanding!!! Congratulations - I'm so happy for you!

@@vsgchick and @@Luvin_Life125 Thank you so much for your encouragement and support. It really helps to know I'm not alone. I will be thinking of both of you and wishing you well on your journeys. Please keep me posted on your progress.

@@HealthyNewMe
that wraps it up for me too in a nutshell
@@Vabeachlady
have you always been heavy???
these past 6 months, is this basically the first time you tried to lose weight???
"kindof" sounds like it might be your first successful weight loss
if thats the case, keep on doing what you are doing
"maybe" surgery isn't necessary
but if you are a professional dieter like many of us, and can't keep off the weight...........
maybe you might want to reconsider the surgery again
you did make the smart decision to have the surgery, not sure if you want to second guess your initial thought
this can be ONLY your decision
think seriously about all your options - pros and cons
good luck with your decision
kathy

I could always lose 20 pounds...I've lost hundreds and hundreds of pounds doing that. Losing and gaining, losing and gaining. Wash, rinse, repeat.
For me, sustaining that lifestyle was not possible. There was always something that happened that stopped me from continuing on the diet or exercise program.
My husband hit it on the head when we were discussing this surgery - he said, "This will force your hand to change your lifestyle and maintain it." That is so true.
If you think you can continue on doing what you're doing, that is great! Maybe you should give it another try on your own. For me, I knew one more time, wasn't going to work for me. This surgery was my solution.
Best of luck to you!