Telecia

You know that is one thing I can't understand either. If you have to have ANY kind of treatment to correct a problem everyone who finds out for miles around will pat you on the back and wish you well/fast recovery etc.. Even the people that never noticed you beforehand. But yet when it comes to doing something so positive for your health as WLS when all other options fail they all turn into the harshest of critics and know it alls. No one ever claims to the patient after a open heart surgery "Well now you gotta change your diet and lifestyle now dont ya!?" no!! for the most part it's only doctors who will talk like that and of course they would they have the knowledge to do so. Bah its depressing sometimes now negativly based our society has grown to be. Whatever happend to the old saying " if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all Fern Britton needs support and commended on doing well with her weight loss. no matter how it was achieved not the possiblity of losing her job and heavens knows what else she is attempting to deal with right now because someone wanted to be an ***hole. rockchick you know your mom best. I personally would not blame you the slightest if you chose not to tell her. Maybe for now its best for you not to. Only you know what you can live with and what not. And if she is that much a negativity tosser save yourself the grief. You don't need that extra hassle right now. Focus on you. Later on down the road you might change your mind. You know as a parent I may not like the choices my kids make but I have to respect the ones they do make. Even if I feel they are wrong. And I wouldn't constantly gripe about it. I might voice my mind once or twice in a serious talk. But after that I'd be to afraid my kids would stop coming around/communicating. It's hard just watching them learn the hard way but when someone is convinced/set you won't change their mind. you just gotta let them do.. And I told you so's to me are just hurtfull. Congrats on your band and kudos to you for doing something to take control.

Evaporation isn't possible since the saline is enclosed in a medical grade silicon tube. But leakage certainly is possible.

I don't know if they can or cannot do it but they are. Big sign as you enter the complexes pool and every year they send out flyers too. The arguement is that the oils etc clog up the pools filters. And since you have to have a magnetic pass card to get in. They can deny you entrance I have never yet been burnt through a tshirt in my life. And have been wearing them when I swim since i was 11 years old. I don't do white period. If anyone in the house has any white clothing its cause it was a gift. LOL I have never been able to keep white clean. not even socks. My first bought with sun poisioning came at 11. When me and a girlfriend spent the day at the beach with her granparents and her grandmother made darn shure to pull us off our floating rafts to reapply sunscreen every 2 hours. It took me over a month to heal up from that. 3 weeks just to be able to wear LOSE shirts over it, my back was a horrible mess. We basicly just used our rafts in such a way from the waist down we didnt get sunburned cause it was underwater. we spent the daay catching up as we hand't seen each other for months it was also a cloudy overcast day too. suposed to be WORSE for burning. In fact every MAJOR sunburn I have ever got was while wearing *sunblock/screen* suposedly being Water proof or resistant. I just find it much better for me to keep covered.

wish I could remember the name of it. there is a spray on pain reliever for sunburn that I would use when ever I got sun poisioning. Been years though so I dunno if its still available or not. Now I don't bother with sunscreens/blocks much. I don't tan anyhow, whenever I go to the pool (they don't allow suntan/block products at all cause they mess up the filter) I just wear a tshirt. Aloe and white vinagar always helped the most though of any at home products. But I do use a SPF 30 sunscreen when in the car for very long.

I can believe that the fat holds on to estrogen. When I was more normal weight I had good periods, compared to many I have had since I went through a spell 1-2 years before i left my exhusband and the first 6 months or so after where I had periods from hell. They have always been regular in the time between flows aspect but I would have Massive cramping, huge clots and bleed so bad on 2nd & 3rd days I couldn't leave the house. Pad's & tampons had to be combined with chucks pads like hosptials use on the furniture cause the combo of tampon & pad wouldnt last more then 15-20 minutes at best. Now this was durring the time I had stoped having sex period with my ex and was severely depressed. Left the SOB and 3 months later moved in my curent BF. By the third month of having regular sex again my periods went almost back to normal. Still a bit heavy sometimes but nothing like before. No massive clots etc. by 6months together after the doctors suggestion to add Iron durring that week they were totally back to normal. Now If I forget to start my iron suppliments 2-3 days before TIM starts I still get a bit of cramping and small clots. But nothing like the nightmare they used to be. My iron levels are fine the rest of the month but durring my periods they get pretty low. I just hope that after band surgery they won't get nasty again but If they do I will live. I'd much rather have 4-5 days of inconvience then remain my size.

Personally I would stay. I would think that IF by chance something pops up after surgery your there already. And the extra care and watchfullness will be benificial. Not to mention if you get any nausea or anything come up you might need medication for or a change in meds they can do that MUCH faster while your there then if you had gone ahead home.

Weight loss will help reduce the knee pain. Besides have you asked your doctor about alternative medicines you can take besides tylenol? After surgery you will be on pain meds for a while at least. Many doctors say no to NASIDS after banding because they can tend to cause erosion of the mucus layer that protects our stomachs from our own stomach acid. Since the band makes them physically sit in one place longer then they normally would. Talking to one of my PCP's a few months ago about the chance of NASIDS causing ulcers she said there are other options like cortzone shots and a couple other medications that don't have the same side effects. But that if you lose enough weight they may be totally uneeded. She also told me 20-40 lb. loss may be enough to not need pain relief anymore but of course everyone varies.

define:Ambulatory Surgery - Google Search Surgery done in the doctor’s office or at a surgical center, and not requiring an overnight stay. Insurance and Medical Billing Glossary Surgery that can be performed in an outpatient setting and does not require an overnight stay in a hospital. Ambulatory surgery is general planned ahead of time. Maybe referred to as one-day, in-and-out, or outpatient surgery. mhcc.maryland.gov/consumerinfo/amsurg/glossary.htm

Used to be a huge tomboy when I was younger even though I did the whole 1 hour makeup thing & another hour on my hair things up till about the age of 25. But I'm weird too lol I own 1 dress that I have never worn lol. I LOVE ankle length skirts though. It's finding material/patterns that is hard for me I seriously dislike most patterns. But bright & colorfull I Love. I don't mind some ruffles and lace depends on how they are done though. A ruffle or lace at the sleeves or bottom of the skirt is great. Around my neck bugs me and just looks wrong. lol. But I love and make my own ruffled or lace hair scrunchies sometimes. My Idea of more girly dressing is things like I now own, several bell type sleeved tops, long skirts, jackets and such that 20 years ago I would called to sissylooking. lol Even if I could find a pair of jeans now I wouldn't bother with em now as I dislike heavier fabrics. And I lived in jeans when I was younger. I don't like tight clothes anymore. Couple of my favorites things to wear now. Stretchy lace black top. I love how it looks and how cool it is. Wish I could find others in other colors though. I'm not big on black really. But its going on 5 years old and still looks new! Long skirts especially with these crochet short vests I have. Or a sports bra around the house when it gets hot. I am more likely now to wear more jewelry then I did 20 years ago. And things like ankle bracelets, bangles etc. Always hated heels but did wear them before I had kids. But most likely to take em off. I have pictures of my wedding of me in my white with hot pink ankle hightop sneakers!! LOL Can't stand the whole hose/slip/layering thing with dresses. To reminicent of church on sunday growing up I guess. The one dress I own has bell sleeves and is black with a rainbow sparkle effect all over it. And is about calf length. But after 6 years in the closet It still hangs lol. Maybe that will change when I get some weight off I can have it altered to fit. I'm also a real stickler about clothes that can be washed and or natural feeling fabrics. If I can't toss it in the washer I wont buy it. If its wool or something Itchy I won't buy it either.

yep my right side is bigger then the left. It's most notable when i'm naked. hopefully after I get my band and get to my goals PS will fix it and stop or at least slow the vicious downward trek they seem to be hell bent on reaching my belly button or something. lol

yep got one too. And sometimes it does hurt but for me its the muscles under/around it tend to get really tense & knot up especially If I lay down without a pillow. BF and a hand held massager usually fixes it but it can REALLY painfull when he starts to work the kinks out but when he's done it feels sooo much better.

As someone who has sewed for years making my own clothing. I've learned that not all fabrics hang well cut on the Bias. lol. I have learned to determine the best way for the cloth to hang on me period. I have learned though that I have gotten more girly as I get older. In some ways and in other ways the oposite!! I enjoy girlie/softer/silky type clothing & jewelry way more then I did when I was younger. I love ruffles & lace and soft drapy fabrics now. But now I can't stand to spend time primping to go out someplace. a shower, brush & put up the hair and clean clothes and I'm ready to go lol. but when I was in my 20's I would spend a hour on makeup/jewelry which I won't do now.

It personally doesn't bother me in the slightest. As I feel the guys who aren't affraid of reading and or posting on womens issues are the kind of guys the world needs more of!! I prefer my man to be comfortable enough in his own masculinity that he can also be comfortable with my feminity. If that makes sense.

Shopping in a actual store and not having to order stuff half blind from online. Living longer. Getting out and actually doing things without feeling like I am gonna die from heat/pain. Playing in the park or pool with my kids. Going to the mall or outdoor festivals etc without having to rent a darn wheelchair or find a electric cart. Being able to shop in all the stores I can't shop in now cause they DON'T have electric carts or large wheelchairs. NOT to have to *pace/plan* my housework on what I can achieve physically. Not having to take 20+ pills every morning.

My BMI is 68.9, I'm a 40 year old mom of 3 living with my BF of 8+ years after seperating from my ex after 13 years of a nightmare marriage. I'm really ready to get banded. Been a member here for 11 months now and that's how long I have been struggling with drs & Insurance to get approval. It's been a frustrating time cause I am so eager to start losing weight. Been overweight all my adult life. Starting my senior year in HS where I gained the first 60 lbs cause we moved out of the country and into town where I wasn't spening all my time outdoors anymore. (moved cause of my dad was diagnosis with cancer and suddenly couldnt take care of our acrage) And having to care for my dad while mom worked. Its been a downhill battle since then. Gaining and not losing after each kid and 2 miscarriges also, then a long stretch of severe depression thanks to my ex left me at a high of 650lbs. Now down to 440 and have been in the 400-450 range for the last 6 years. I'm tired of it and the scale not going any farther down, and ready to get back to a more normal life. Thank you froggi1985 for creating this group as those of us with higher BMI's tend to have our own seperate issues with things that people with lower BMI's can't really empathize with truely(Most try though here) cause they haven't been there.

Wow I can't even imagine trying to hide the #'s from mine. But then again we met online and had a long intense relationship online before we met and I made it clear from the time it started to get *more then friends* how big I was. He always said it didn't matter. But of course I figured it would when we actually met face to face(my fears talking there). But It didn't. And when we finally moved in together I lost 250lbs the first 2 years! Kept it off (6 years) too till this last couple of years when it started creeping back up slowly. Thanks to my being largely inactive cause of back and joint pain. He might not be able to quote my weight exactlyt but we do almost everything together including doctor visits and value each others inputs greatly when it comes to our doctor visits etc. We find that we tend to play off each other when it comes to talking with the doctors cause one will usually forget something that the other will ask etc.. Or think of questions the other won't. I just can't imagine the one person closest to me in the world, who sees me naked on a daily bases, to try and hide something like my weight from. I mean geeze at 440 lbs its no secret my weight is out of control. lol He just found out that *technically* he is morbidly obese, he weighs a whole 230 lbs & 5'11 but he IS NOT fat. He has a barrel type chest and I cannot see him weighing much less then he does now without his ribs showing & looking anorexic. He has a small bit around the waist he could lose. Probably more like firm up. Maybe 20lbs or so but that is all. the rest of him looks great. lol

Because of the restriction you can get to with the band when you do slip up as everyone can do sometimes as long as you don't let it go on to long. Will be way less destructive with the band. No more whole bags/boxes/whatever of chips/cookies etc. Or eating every hour. I think this one of the bigger benifits of the band if you do slip up and eat something you shouldnt of like a piece of chocolate turtle fudge cake syrupy something or whatever food. It won't make you sick, you can't eat as much as pre band if you got decent restriction going on.

Yea yea I know I rarely post in this blog but I've decided I'm gonna be better about doing it more. Thing is im getting down about the whole lapband thing. I want it so badly But everything has gone against it so far. See my insurance Indiana Medicaide assigned me to a doctor 2 years ago. It's the doctor who runs the city clinic. So thats where I have been going for the last 2 years. At first I loved it!! the doctor I saw my first 4-5 visits was awesome!! He listened to my concerns, was helpfull in helping me obtain what I needed at the time and genuinely cared. But then suddenly he was gone. And since it has been a different person evertime I have an appointment. 2-3 months will go by and theres another switch in doctors. MOST make you feel like your on a conveyer belt. They are plenty quick to refill my longterm perscriptions, but don't want to change anything. Ignore many of my concerns. I have even been blatently been told that since my appointment was down for a med refill they WOULDN'T address anyother concerns. heck they can't even get my med refills right. And they have a no phone policy where they won't handle anything over the phone. Thankfully my pharmacist has been persistent enough to get them to fix the messed up med refill percriptions. But not without a huge week or so long hassle. The most recent line of doctors will not address my sleep apnea, I'm having nosebleeds and infections because I don't have a humidifier. The last one even had the nerve after telling her I had Already tried humidifying my bedroom to the point of having wet walls once. That all I needed to do was run a humidifier. :tt2: They will perscribe 4-5 different things for inflamation of my knees but refuse to try to do anything about debilitating back pain, my sleep apnea or the fact that I am suposed to be on meds for my thyroid. First time I brought up the lap band the lady I saw that day was postive about it and thought the idea was great. But didn't make the referal I need to go see the surgeon for a assessment. So next visit I asked and got told I was stupid for wanting a surgery to lose weight. :thumbup: She would not approve it. I'n march I was seen in the ER for chest pain. Was in ICU for a day cause they figured I would need a heart cath. Turns out the cardioligist said no it can be fixed with meds. But there WAS a change in my ekg's he was concerned about. Gave me 3 new perscriptions, 2 pills and nitro patch. So I now have a cardio I am suposed to be seeing regularly. But the clinic WON'T supply or return calls for the referal # I need so insurance will pay for the visits. And I don't have 300$ (Cause they do egk and other tests sometimes durring the office visits) to pay for the appointments. :confused2: Anyhow after explaining the whole thing to the cardios office manager she said they would keep trying and that I should call my insurance case worker. I get a letter in the mail that in 2 days I will be Without a doctor cause they are dropping my insurance carrier!?!? WTF?!? how can a clinic for people who have little or no insurance stop taking medicaid?!? I suspect thats a made up line. Especially since we drove by there last night and theres a sign saying medicaid/medicare welcome. Also my brother law goes there and hes on medicaid too. Anyhow my boyfriend recently started seeing a doctor here in town that he really likes. And He hasn't met his medicaid quota yet!! Yea!! So I make the call to get it changed over. State says it takes 3-5 buisness days so I wait 5 days and call them. Nope not changed over in the computer yet. that they only do the changes on the 1st and 15th of the month. Call back on the 2nd. WTF?!?! we can buy things online, do banking, transfer funds and all sorts of other things online now that take a blink of the eye almost to do. Why does it take 15 days to show a change in the computer!?!?! So I'm waiting. here it is the 6th and because my daughter had surgery 2 days ago. My nephew just had a baby, our van had serious mechanical problems. A broken toe. And my screwed up sleep schedual I now have to wait till monday to call the dr's office again to see if the changes have been made. AND maybe get an appointment made. So that's where I am at with the whole band thing. I don't know yet if the new doctor will help with it or not. Even if he won't I gotta have a real doctor. and seeing all the tests/referalls my boyfriend has from him so far. At least I know hes the type that wan't to get to the bottom of things. He even ordered a couple of tests that my BF didn't really need yet but he wanted to know the data. So I'm depressed about the whole thing. Having trouble sleeping lately. My #'s are good for my sleep apnea AHI 2.9 so It's not that. But I either sleep for 5 hours and can't sleep anymore, can't get to sleep in the first place.. Or sleep for a 14 hour stretch. (when I take Melatonin to get to sleep). Worried about my daughter. She had her tonsils/adinoids removed on wensday. So I'm watching her closely. She's doing great though so I shouldn't be so worried. But shes had a couple of minor freak out moments. lol like the first time she looked at her throat. its all yellow. Where they lazered it all out. then was an episode of black stools. Which was to be expected but if it happens again gotta call the doc. minor small spells of dizzyness or nausea. Having to be on a mushy diet is frustrating her. lol For me I think its good practice. Todays freak out moment was when she realized her uvula(sp?) Was twice it's normal size. We had a leak of our furnace/AC the other day and maitenence left a blower in our hallway to help dry out the carpet. I hit it wensday and I think my middle toe is broke at least its seriously bruised. It not really painfull so It may not be broke. But it looks bad. And I can still move it. So last night I bought myself a new pair of slippers. Being dibetic I knew I should't run around in my socks but I did it anyhow. I can't wear typical womens slip on backless slippers. They seem to scrunch my toes. And get painfull, despite the fact I keep my nails trimmed well. so I gave my old pairs to my daughter. Got a pair that look like mocasins but are soft material with nice real rubber soles. Another thing i gotta do monday is start seeing a podiatrist. Just about all shoes hurt me anymore. In some way. And I can't afford to be buying shoes over and over. Besides maybe there could be something more to help with the neuropathy I have. Have to see.

Yea yea I know I rarely post in this blog but I've decided I'm gonna be better about doing it more. Thing is im getting down about the whole lapband thing. I want it so badly But everything has gone against it so far. See my insurance Indiana Medicaide assigned me to a doctor 2 years ago. It's the doctor who runs the city clinic. So thats where I have been going for the last 2 years. At first I loved it!! the doctor I saw my first 4-5 visits was awesome!! He listened to my concerns, was helpfull in helping me obtain what I needed at the time and genuinely cared. But then suddenly he was gone. And since it has been a different person evertime I have an appointment. 2-3 months will go by and theres another switch in doctors. MOST make you feel like your on a conveyer belt. They are plenty quick to refill my longterm perscriptions, but don't want to change anything. Ignore many of my concerns. I have even been blatently been told that since my appointment was down for a med refill they WOULDN'T address anyother concerns. heck they can't even get my med refills right. And they have a no phone policy where they won't handle anything over the phone. Thankfully my pharmacist has been persistent enough to get them to fix the messed up med refill percriptions. But not without a huge week or so long hassle. The most recent line of doctors will not address my sleep apnea, I'm having nosebleeds and infections because I don't have a humidifier. The last one even had the nerve after telling her I had Already tried humidifying my bedroom to the point of having wet walls once. That all I needed to do was run a humidifier. :thumbup: They will perscribe 4-5 different things for inflamation of my knees but refuse to try to do anything about debilitating back pain, my sleep apnea or the fact that I am suposed to be on meds for my thyroid. First time I brought up the lap band the lady I saw that day was postive about it and thought the idea was great. But didn't make the referal I need to go see the surgeon for a assessment. So next visit I asked and got told I was stupid for wanting a surgery to lose weight. :crying: She would not approve it. I'n march I was seen in the ER for chest pain. Was in ICU for a day cause they figured I would need a heart cath. Turns out the cardioligist said no it can be fixed with meds. But there WAS a change in my ekg's he was concerned about. Gave me 3 new perscriptions, 2 pills and nitro patch. So I now have a cardio I am suposed to be seeing regularly. But the clinic WON'T supply or return calls for the referal # I need so insurance will pay for the visits. And I don't have 300$ (Cause they do egk and other tests sometimes durring the office visits) to pay for the appointments. :confused2: Anyhow after explaining the whole thing to the cardios office manager she said they would keep trying and that I should call my insurance case worker. I get a letter in the mail that in 2 days I will be Without a doctor cause they are dropping my insurance carrier!?!? WTF?!? how can a clinic for people who have little or no insurance stop taking medicaid?!? I suspect thats a made up line. Especially since we drove by there last night and theres a sign saying medicaid/medicare welcome. Also my brother law goes there and hes on medicaid too. Anyhow my boyfriend recently started seeing a doctor here in town that he really likes. And He hasn't met his medicaid quota yet!! Yea!! So I make the call to get it changed over. State says it takes 3-5 buisness days so I wait 5 days and call them. Nope not changed over in the computer yet. that they only do the changes on the 1st and 15th of the month. Call back on the 2nd. WTF?!?! we can buy things online, do banking, transfer funds and all sorts of other things online now that take a blink of the eye almost to do. Why does it take 15 days to show a change in the computer!?!?! So I'm waiting. here it is the 6th and because my daughter had surgery 2 days ago. My nephew just had a baby, our van had serious mechanical problems. A broken toe. And my screwed up sleep schedual I now have to wait till monday to call the dr's office again to see if the changes have been made. AND maybe get an appointment made. So that's where I am at with the whole band thing. I don't know yet if the new doctor will help with it or not. Even if he won't I gotta have a real doctor. and seeing all the tests/referalls my boyfriend has from him so far. At least I know hes the type that wan't to get to the bottom of things. He even ordered a couple of tests that my BF didn't really need yet but he wanted to know the data. So I'm depressed about the whole thing. Having trouble sleeping lately. My #'s are good for my sleep apnea AHI 2.9 so It's not that. But I either sleep for 5 hours and can't sleep anymore, can't get to sleep in the first place.. Or sleep for a 14 hour stretch. (when I take Melatonin to get to sleep). Worried about my daughter. She had her tonsils/adinoids removed on wensday. So I'm watching her closely. She's doing great though so I shouldn't be so worried. But shes had a couple of minor freak out moments. lol like the first time she looked at her throat. its all yellow. Where they lazered it all out. then was an episode of black stools. Which was to be expected but if it happens again gotta call the doc. minor small spells of dizzyness or nausea. Having to be on a mushy diet is frustrating her. lol For me I think its good practice. Todays freak out moment was when she realized her uvula(sp?) Was twice it's normal size. We had a leak of our furnace/AC the other day and maitenence left a blower in our hallway to help dry out the carpet. I hit it wensday and I think my middle toe is broke at least its seriously bruised. It not really painfull so It may not be broke. But it looks bad. And I can still move it. So last night I bought myself a new pair of slippers. Being dibetic I knew I should't run around in my socks but I did it anyhow. I can't wear typical womens slip on backless slippers. They seem to scrunch my toes. And get painfull, despite the fact I keep my nails trimmed well. so I gave my old pairs to my daughter. Got a pair that look like mocasins but are soft material with nice real rubber soles. Another thing i gotta do monday is start seeing a podiatrist. Just about all shoes hurt me anymore. In some way. And I can't afford to be buying shoes over and over. Besides maybe there could be something more to help with the neuropathy I have. Have to see.

LOL I would tend to think that the exact oposite would be true. Most of us didn't/don't eat a healthy balanced diet before looking into the band. So there are holes in our nutrition that would be filled by following good band eating rules. Therefore getting sick Less? But again anone who is still obese knows how it is for everything wrong with us to be blamed on our weight even when it may not. Bleh I think I broke my toe 2 days ago.(Stubed it bad enough the whole things dark purple, and hurts a bit) Must be cause I want to be banded!! That's it. It's a conspiracy I tell you!!! It has to be!! :thumbup::tongue2::thumbup:

my MIL Used to be this way. Never seemed to have anything nice to say to anyone. Except her oldest daughter who was perfect. I put up with it for like 6 years till I finally just lost my temper with her and actually called her names. Which as soon as I calmed down I REALLY regreted calling her a bitter old shrew. lol But I swallowed my pride and went back to her 2-3 days later and told her that I was only gonna to discuss the matter this once. I did not apoligize and I told her I wasn't going to apoligize for blowing up but I was sorry for calling her names. But I was really tired of her passing judgement on people she really didn't even know. It wasn't right and made her really look bad. Not the people she was putting down. And told her that from now on when she started getting all negative I would either ignore it or leave. And that I really didn't think she would want us to stop visiting as often since she truely loved spending time with her grandchildren. But I had to put my foot down. She never totally stoped her negative attitude, but she did make efforts to improve it and stoped trashing our friends in front of us. It made spending time with her MUCH more plesant. If I was to do it over again I would have had a MUCH calmer heart to heart talk with her and let her know how much it bugged me. But be firm in saying that didn't want it to affect the ammount of time we spent together. But that I would ignore the comments or just not come over as much if she didn't calm down. Thing is you CAN'T make her change her opinions. Even if she got to know the people and realized they weren't bad, she would just pick something else to gripe about it. Most likely. You also might find if you talk about it. She might have a reason for being so negative about alcohol in her past that has lead her to be so unreasonable in her thinking. You never know.. I think its similar to what we tell our kids about bullies. She's after a response. For whatever reason she feels she has to provoke a emotional response from you with her comments. If you take that away she will either realize its not working and stop/work on it. Or change to another method of getting the response.

lol it just goes to show you how many people can be truely clueless. And speak without thinking. lol It's people like that I wish I had a stack of "Here's your sign!" cards/stickers.

I gotta say I wish they would get tougher on the repeat offenders. I have a brother thats an alcholic/multiple drug user and I watched him get arrested dozens of times for drug & alchol related issues. Only to get a fine and more probation and let go. He finally got jailed for more then just a few days over ... get this.. CHILD SUPPORT!!! I had an uncle who was a Habitual DUI offender years ago. Taking away his liscence didn't do a darn thing and he got caught multiple times driving without it. I really wished that they could have gotten both some real help instead of numerious fines & probations. That might work for some. But for the really hardcore addicts they really need a better solution.

I agree I would push to find out why exactly the first one refused. Especially since its a pretty common thing for them to fix a hiatal hernia durring or before or after the band surgery. I would also discuss it with the second surgeon just to make sure all your bases are covered. It's possible if the first one won't tell you why he refused he might tell the second surgeon. Or a reason might be stated in your records? You never know and it certainly won't hurt to ask. As for keeping the gastro? If he/she is in your corner could be a good resource for you. Sort of like a 3rd opion of sorts. If your concerned that he didn't call you back after the weekend of taking your files home. Call his office and ask about it. Could be a case of since there was nothing else wrong he didn't think to get back to you. I know I often get *We will call with your results* replies from my doctors who after waiting a week or two I will call them and they usually say "Oh nothing found wrong in the tests so we didn't call". And it's one of those "duh" moments where you wanna reach though the phone and smack em for telling you they'd call and then leaving you hanging over it. But I certainly would press the first doc for why he wouldn't do it.

Also caffiene is a stimulant. If you have any blood pressure issues it can increase your heartbeats per minute and help you retain Water at the same time adding to the chance of dehydration thus rasing your blood pressure. Caffiene is notorius for making you urinate more at the same time which is it can cause dehydration. At least this is how my cardioligist explained it. Most likely many doctors say no caffiene right before/after surgery because: 1. you just had surgery or will be soon and recovery is already hard on the body. You dont really want to add MORE withdrawl symptoms to an already hard process of surgery & recovery. 2. your probably NOT going to want to or be able to consume as many fluids as you did before surgery till the swelling subsides, so the dehydration/diuretic effect may be worse then before. Good hydration also helps with the healing process. Being dehydrated can cause headaches/dizzyness and all sort of other messed up feelings you dont want to add to your recovery pains. You can ask your doctor about decafinated coffee if you just cant live without it. I know my cardioligist said no to decafinated also. But thats just his opion. He said some are ok with decafinated some aren't. Personally I would try to get that addiction broke and over with BEFORE surgery just to make it easier on you if you have to do a pre-op liquid diet. So as to not add the withdrawl symptoms to everything else. I find the coffee one the hardest of all so far. I gave up sodas for the most part (only when out and don't have better options) And don't miss it all. Now most of the time if i have to get a soda it just don't taste right. Coffee I haven't been able to lose yet. I still have 2-32 oz mugs a day. But its down from 4-6 mugs per day at least. Soon I'm gonna switch to decaf which I KNOW is gonna be hard. But I don't wanna have to give up everything at once. lol since somewhere along the line I'm gonna give up ciggarettes too. I am actually looking forward to getting rid of all these addictions before surgery. And starting over with a *clean slate* of sorts. Then maybe afterwards I can be able to enjoy a normal cup instead of huge mugs, every so often without feeling like i have to have it constantly.