JCSeymour3

I am looking for a good surgeon who knows what they are doing, are compassionate, and have a good staff with a good follow-up program. What have you found with Dr. Machado so far?:help:

I think we all have different pains. I am a 36 year old male who is 6 feet tall and now suddenly within the past 6 months 325 pounds - BMI 42? Prior to the previous 6 months I seemed to have been on a 10 year plateau of 270-290 pounds. I have never needed to buy 2 plane seats, not get into a booth, or be unable to be in a movie theater seat - although I can be quite uncomfortable in all of these. I do remember one time that I tried to get on a ride at an amusement park, where I just barely fit and the attendants had to come over to comfrim that I could fit - horribly embarrassing! So, I imagine the pain of having been like this all my life, with as mean as kids can be, must be horrible and painful to even remember now. For me I have a different pain. I didn't gain this weight until after high school. As a senior in high school I played football, dated (and later married) the high school cheerleader/home-coming queen, weighed 170 pounds at 6 feet tall, and was used to a fair amount of female attention in most social environments - wow that was a long time ago! Some of my friends back then might have even told you I was conceited. So now after having steadily increased my weight from 170 - 200 - 270 - 300 - 325 ( I used those numbers becasue over nearly 20 years - I barely paid attention to my weight except for here and there - actually believing at 270 I could eat anything I wanted and not gain weight for the longest time - I since been proven wrong) I have a different sort of pain. I actually did this 100% to myself! I didn't have an unfair start as many lifers had starting as an overweight child, I did this as an adult with my head in the sand. I am very fortunate to still be married to my high school sweetheart and going strong with her (she is the "I weigh 135 pounds and I feel so fat" types), but being the fat/invisible guy is painful to me. I'm sure that people look at the two of us and wonder how did he get her? and no the answer is not that I have a ton of money. HAHA. So whose pain is stronger? who knows? how can use quantify an emotion/pain? I don't think you can. As a child and family psychotherapist myself, I always dismissed the possibility that "I" ate emotionally. I have only in the past week learned how wrong I was. food and overeating is at the center of most of my enjoyment - when I watch TV (I snack), when I travel to familar destinations (I plan our family trip around hitting certain restaurants), I eat late at night, and now I know how much I don't try to eat healthy when I am stressed. Sorry, as much of this was rambling and a lot about me, but it was very cathartic. This website has been very eye-opening for my both in understanding other's struggles as well as my own. Finally, I like what someone earlier in this thread said in their analogy to prison sentences - we're all in pain in our own little prison's and it sucks, but when I think about it (as a mid-BMIer at 42 - I am somewhere in the middle) I would like to only have a 6-month sentence instead of a life sentence, but I can only do my own time and it still hurts. Thanks for indulging me in my "book" of a response. It was helpful for me to process.

Can someone help me understand? I don't know what PB feels like. I am in the research phase (no lap band yet) and this PB thing freaks me out cause I hate to vomit (stomach contractions suck)? Anyway, I've noticed over the years when I get weak and go to InN'Out, I scarf my food down and a lot of it. Almost eveytime - within a few minutes of finishing eating - I get extra saliva (slime?) in the back of my throat/esophogus and then kinda spit it up (just a little bit - 1 spits worth (defintely not a vomit) - real gross, I know.... So, here's my question - Is this similar to having the band and PBing? Please let me know if this sounds similar? If not, I would love to know that PBing is NOT the same as vomiting with stomach contractions? Thanks for everyone's support, thoughts, and experiences.:help: