Carlene

I had a terrible, constant headache for over a week after surgery. I also attributed it to caffeine withdrawal. I used Excedrin Meltaways for the headache. They melt in your mouth like Holy Communion and work really quickly.

Okay, here goes....just shoot me if I screw this up. The docs are OB/GYN guys (see the sign?). One has Sharon Stone's "essence" on his fingers (one presumes from an OB exam), and the other has Demi Moore's. Does this help?

I think it's too early to tell. If it goes on for more than a week, or if you can't keep liquids down, you need to see your doctor. Is it convenient for you to go in for a fluoro exam?

From MSN news.... Police believe Daniel Smith arrived in the Bahamas on Sept. 9 and went directly to Doctors Hospital, a private facility in downtown Nassau. He spent the night in a room with his mother and one of her attorneys, Howard K. Stern, and was seen tending to his mother and newborn half-sister. I just think it's weird that someone's lawyer - even a celebrity's lawyer - would fly to the Bahamas and spend the night with them in their hospital room (even if it's a "suite"). Especially the OB GYN floor. Makes me wonder if this guy is married. If I were the wife of A.N.S's lawyer, I would draw the line at this. Or maybe I just don't relate to the rich and famous.

Andrea... It's more than likely a combo of irritation and congestion. Sinus season gives me fits. If I have sinus drainage at night, it clogs up my band something awful.

I truly understand. I had to do the same thing with a beloved mini-Schnauzer and still haven't gotten over it - and that was almost 15 years ago! There will always be a Schatzie size hole in my heart! I have a yellow lab who is about 12 years old - very, very sweet but getting to really be an old lady. She can hardly hear or see and moves with great difficulty. I am dreading the day.... I also have a mini-Shih Tzu named Lucy. She has issues and my friend talked me into taking her about 8 months ago. She is cute as can be - a tiny (5 pound) house mouse and I love her dearly. Get another pup right away, though maybe not the same breed. I don't know if I could ever own another Schnauzer. "My little dog---a heartbeat at my feet." -- Edith Wharton

Carol...it may be that you are trying to eat things that your band just isn't into - to paraphrase a popular book on relationships. I realize that the ideal is to be able to eat ANYTHING, just in smaller quantities. That, unfortunately, is not the reality for most people. A cup and a half of food is not too much. I would say it's just about perfect. I can eat about 6 oz of really solid Protein - prime rib or fish, for example, but I can eat about 3 times that much of chili, chunky stew, etc. I can't eat bread, cake/cookies, Pasta, rice, potatoes, fruit with skin or Fiber, many veggies, and some other stuff.

Where do I buy this? Sounds too good to be true, but I am certainly willing to give it a chance. My Irish/Italian husband misses his pasta.

The "no bread rule" is a hard one to learn, and unfortunately one that the band loves to enforce. I am almost 2 years post-op and still rebel at times. Last night I had Starbucks after dinner (grande non-fat latte), then decided (at home) that I should have a chunky chocolate chip cookie. Well....I shouldn't have. After about the third trip to the bathroom my husband said, "I'm really glad you enjoyed the coffee. I love spending $3.82 so you can throw it up a half hour later." Do you think it would have been justifiable homicide?

Doesn't everyone????? :bolt:

I don't have a WLS card of any kind. I should ask my doctor about that....why he doesn't provide them, etc. As for traveling with the band, a card will do you no good whatsoever. My mother-in-law has an artificial knee - and a card that says so. She sets off every bell and whistle for miles around every time she flies. They pull her out of line and start shaking her down. "Do you have anything in your pockets?" "Are you wearing a belt?" "Do you have on an under wire bra?" (Come on, guys...she's EIGHTY SIX YEARS OLD.) Anyway, she tells them about the knee replacement...starts pulling up her pants leg to show them the scar and simultaneously digging in her pocket for "the card". They don't care about either one. If you set off the metal detectors, you will get lots of special attention, no matter how many cards you carry. And incidentally, I fly a lot (probably 20 roundtrips per year) and my band has NEVER set off a metal detector, or a wand - even in DC. Both my (banded) husband and myself recently passed thru security at Crystal City and didn't set off the alarm, even the "inside" ones leading to the DOD offices.

How does that avoid a custody battle?

I have NEVER heard a time limit on how long you can keep the band. I plan on taking mine to the GRAVE with me. And anyone who tries to remove it sooner better bring some backup!

I like to weigh myself at home - naked - and then jump in the car and zip over to the doctor's office so I can compare my scale and his. I do this about once a month and have discovered that if I leave the top down, I can get a really nice, all over tan this way. Well...not actually all over, but my whole front part, anyway.

I hate to be the nay sayer, but my idea of Purgatory is a never-ending Tupperware party. I hate being a captive customer. I hate myself for buying over-priced stuff that I don't want/need, just so I don't look like a cheapskate wet blanket party pooper. But that's just me. There are probably lots of people who enjoy attending these things. But please...if you have friends who try and decline gracefully, let them. Please, please please. Don't say, "Oh, just come for the fun. You don't have to buy anything." We always feel like we have to buy something. It's like having your neighbor's kid knock on your door selling Girl Scout cookies...how can you say "No" and still look her/him in the eye?

I have loose skin on my arms, legs, stomach, and boobs. If I had a plastic surgery fairy godmother, I would have the arms done first, then the legs (lower body lift), then the tummy and boobs. No implants, though. I would just like to put them back where they used to be.

SURE he does. Do these people really think anyone believes that crap? I wish they would stop insulting our intelligence and just own up to it...."Do I look desperate? I married him for his money, of course." By the way, guys....there is no "h" in CARLENE. It's just like Darlene, but with a "C". Thanks....

This is certianly something that many doctors, including mine, suspect. My surgeon will no longer do fills without fluoro for this very reason. Being over-filled for a week or two is not generally thought to cause slippage, however. Being over-filled for a long time is definitely not a good idea - for lots of reasons.

I also think your age has a lot to do with it - not so much who you are attracted to, but who you choose to pursue. Up to probably age 30 most people only date the ones they find physically attractive. They can't be bothered with searching out the "inner beauty" when the outer shell screams "ugly duckling". Most single women my age (past 50) are looking for security. They might secretly drool over the guy who has a full head of hair and a 34" waistline, but if he doesn't have a decent portfolio, he's not going to make the short list. And that's just as self-serving as the old fool who buys himself a trophy wife/girlfriend.

And you will have far fewer ulcers and way more friends because you do!

Homemade chili. It was great.

It is entirely possible that you have less restriction now than two weeks ago. My doctor says that if you can eat bread, you need a fill. Well...that's what he used to say. Now he does a swallow test under fluoro. How much do you eat in the course of a meal? Are you hungry between meals? What's a typical day's menu like for you? If you can eat even close to what you did before you were banded, then you probably need another fill.

See...you proved my point for me. Those women all wanted you (or someone like you), in spite of the fact that you weren't the buffest guy around. I still think that to most men, looks are everything unless they fall in love with you BEFORE you get old, gain weight, lose your teeth, develop saggy boobs, etc. I whine all the time to my husband that I wish he had known me when I was young and pretty. I think when they have that picture of you in their mind's eye from 35 years ago, it really helps.

Here are Nolagirl's Before and After photos...