Frangipani

Val, welcome back!!! Good grief, it's been SO long, I was wondering what happened to you, but I know you have a lot of things going on, and I figured you just got really busy. I am in awe that you managed to keep up with your workouts!!! I doubt that I would be able to do the same in similar circumstances -- that takes a lot of dedication on your part for sure! Congratulations on dropping several sizes too:thumbup: :thumbup:!!!

Daddy, Why on earth are you worrying about that? By then you will have your promotion that will allow you free access to the corporate jet -- and of course you will also have that meeting scheduled down here as well. :w00t:

Hi Kat, Thanks for the very detailed info! Seeing that you have had a problem with this in the past makes me a bit less concerned that it will happen to me, since I don't have much of a problem with this, pre or post band. Thanks again, Kat :thumbup:! Dannygirl, I don't know anything about LapBand International -- sorry. Perhaps you might want to post this query in the "Doctors and Hospitals" section of this forum. Good luck!

Hi Kat, Glad to see that's there's been some improvement for you :thumbup:! Have you ever had anything like this happen before since you've been banded? Has refluxing been a problem for you in the past? I know that you said you were unfilled prior to surgery, and I'm going to try to get through my surgery without an unfill. However, I sure don't want anything like this happening, and in fact, you've almost got me wondering if I should stay on liquids for a week or two after surgery. Good luck with the Dr. this morning and keep taking good care of yourself! :tt2:

Stranger, the people who run it tell me it's really, really TUFF, hence the name. They tell me that it's a lot more challenging than many longer races, in part because of the 1000 foot elevation gain on the course. BUT a lot of people walk it too, and fun is had by all. It's a gorgeous setting and there are huge crowds of spectators to cheer the (huge crowd of) participants on. I truly doubt I will run it. I like challenges, but that's just way too, well.....Tuff.

Good grief Kat! Take good care of yourself and I hope you're feeling better very soon.

Look at you Becky! You're doing a great job this month -- as usual!!! The plastic surgeon will have a lot less work after all this exercise you've done -- maybe you should ask him for a discount :thumbup:! I did a 30 minute pilates abdominals class and a one hour Yoga class. I wanted to mention to all participating in this thread that I will not be starting a June exercise thread, since I will probably only be working out during that first week in June. So if someone wants to start a June August Bandster exercise thread -- feel free. Have a great night everyone!

I would absolutely love to find a Dr. in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area that does fills under fluoro at a reasonable cost. There are a few Dr.'s who will do fills on patients other than their own that I know of, but their prices are ridiculous -- $800 - $1,000. It's not worth it to me to pay that because I can fly to other places, and have it done much cheaper than that and the savings will more than cover my travel expenses. That said, it sure would be nice to find someone to work with in South Florida. I consider "reasonable" to be $200 - $300 for fills with fluoro. If anyone has any info, let me know!

Daddy, LOL :heart::lol:! Thanks for the offer, and you might want to wait until the dead of winter to do this -- so it will truly be a "win-win" situation. Thanks for the encouragement too -- you have been a huge help as well as a true inspiration :thumbup::biggrin:! Stranger, Yes!!! You did tell me all of this!!!! And honestly I didn't believe you :wink2:! But now I do!!! Thanks for confirming that I wasn't imagining this -- although I'm not going to get complacent, because last week Day 3 was my hardest day, by far........... You rock C to 5K buddies -- and thanks for all the encouragement!!! You're going to make a runner out of me yet! Hey why don't you guys come down to St. John next year for the 8 Tuff Miles event. Wouldn't that be fun????

Hi Dr. Schulman, Thank you for the info on buttocks augmentation. I am having some surgery in a few weeks, but it won't involve the buttocks at this time. However, I am planning to have the buttocks lift ASAP after my first surgery, so now you have me thinking about some issues (i.e., the possibility of needing augmentation along with the lift), that I hadn't thought about before. The procedure you did on your patient looks good, I like the way her skin is so smooth and youthful in the after photos. I have never really thought about PS in terms of taking years off the "backside," but you managed to do this with your patient.

Hi BBK, Glad to hear that the belly button turned out to be a fairly simple, pain-free issue to deal with. Keep the Neosporin on it and it should heal up pretty quickly -- that stuff is amazing. Have a great day -- you look marvelous darling! :wink2:

Okay Guys, I am both pleased and bewildered -- let me explain........ I did session one of week four which I figured would be the most challenging yet BUT it turned out to be one of the easiest sessions for me (including comparing it to week one). How can that be? Did I do something wrong? My only concern is that I somehow unconsciously, drastically altered my stride to make it easier on myself, but then again I was running on a track, and I ran the same distance on the three minute interval as I did last week. Has anyone else had this happen, where one of the harder sessions actually turns out to be a little easier than the week before? Weird -- huh?

Jody, I hate the temporary weight gain from the TOM, but since I usually drop 3-5 pounds after, it always works out in the end! You're doing great, keep up the good work!!!:scared2::thumbup::thumbup: I got another Couch to 5K session in tonight. Have a great night everyone!!!

Hi, I updated a few others as well, but double-check my math everyone :scared2:! Name: Frangipani Weight loss from day of surgery: 101 lbs Total weight loss: 107 lbs Name: Candle Weight loss from day of surgery: 102 lbs Total weight loss: 116 lbs Name: Salsa Weight loss from day of surgery: 100 lbs Total weight loss: 100 lbs Name: Pammycakes Weight loss from day of surgery: 94 lbs Total weight loss: 96 lbs Name: Ceradad Weight loss from day of surgery: 85 Total weight loss: 105 Name: KarenG. Weight loss from day of surgery: 85 Total weight loss: 85 Name: NanaRenan Weight loss from day of surgery: 52 Total weight loss: 72 Name: TexasBecky Weight loss from day of surgery: 102 Total weight loss: 112 Name: SPEBSQSAlady Weight loss from day of surgery: 57.8 Total weight loss: 57.8 Name: Brandottie01 Weight loss from day of surgery: 23 lbs Total weight loss: Name: Bergdorfblonde Weight loss from day of surgery: 32 lbs Total weight loss: 32 lbs Name: Gometros Weight loss from day of surgery: 52.9 lbs Total weight loss: 74.9 Name: Pizzicato66 Weight loss from day of surgery: 75.5 Total weight loss: 87.5 Name: Valstar Weight loss from day of surgery: 52 lbs Total weight loss: 57 lbs Name:Gweniper weight loss from day of surgery: 50 total weight loss: 84 Name: purplegirl1818 weightloss from day of surgery: 73.5lbs total weight loss: 90.5lbs Name: LessNLess weightloss from day of surgery: 59.7lbs total weight loss: 65.7lbs Name: JudiM weightloss from day of surgery: 62lbs total weight loss: ?? Name: hf2havefun Weight loss from day of surgery: 35 lbs Total weight loss: 50 lbs Name: Nikki S Weight loss from day of surgery: 102 Total weight loss: 102

Hey Candle, Thanks for the well wishes :thumbup:! You'll be the lucky one with all of this because it sounds like if you wait just a little longer, insurance will kick in for at least part of this, which makes me totally green with envy :scared2:!

I wish Candle, BUT in some ways we have it worse here. Our antiquated power system is highly inefficient and therefore our electric bills are ridiculously high -- and this despite the fact that they can only manage to keep the power on about 85-90% of the time!!!! Also gas here is nearly $4.50 a gallon for regular. Grrrrr.......... So we are definitely feeling the pain here too.

Hi again Dr. Schulman, As you might be able to tell, I'm a lady with a lot of questions -- always! Regarding the buttocks lift, is it usually the case that the patient would benefit from some sort of augmentation after a lift? I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this augmentation concept, because my backside has always been WAY more than ample -- and even though it has gone south as of late, its pretty hard to imagine that I will need to have anything more added to it.

Hi Kat, How wonderful to see your rapid progress!!! That's very encouraging for those of us about to take the plunge. You sound SO well, just 8 short days after surgery, and it's great to hear how pleased you are with the results!!!:thumbup: :smile::huh2:

Congratulations to all who have joined the 100 pounds plus club! Can I join you ? Isn't the Band wonderful? When I started this whole thing I really wasn't sure if I was ever going to lose 100 pounds!!! This is the best club ever!!!!:thumbup:

Dr. Schulman, Since I imagine that this is a question that comes up often, I pasted it in here from another thread. (However, if for some reason you don't want it here just let me know and I can delete it or have it deleted.) Thanks again for all of your help! It's really great to have a place where we can have our questions answered by a professional. Quote: Originally Posted by Frangipani Hi Dr. Schulman, I have a question for you, when you are doing a breast lift with silicone implants, is there a particular type of incision that you find yourself using more frequently than others? If so, what would that be? When performing breast lift with implants in a weight loss patient, I almost always use an anchor incision. Yes, this is a more extensive incision, but most weight loss patients require more extensive "remodeling" of their breast tissue. In other patients (not weight loss) I am usually able to do the surgery with just an incision around the nipple-areola-comlex. There is an occassional weight loss patient that will do ok with the smaller incision, but in my experience, this often leaves them "undercorrected." __________________ Matthew Schulman, M.D. Board Certified Plastic Surgeon Specializing in body contouring after weight loss Attending Plastic Surgeon, The Mount Sinai Hospital, NY Professor of Plastic Surgery, Mount Sinai School of Medicine Member American Society of Plastic Surgeons Member American Society of Bariatric Plastic Surgeons Sign up for FREE email newsletter www.madisonavenueplasticsurgery.com

Me too Stranger, where do we get to sign up for that? It sure beats the hell out of the Podcasts -- huh?:sad: Stranger, WAY TO GO!!!!:frown: Wow!!! Major, major kudos to you for training in those conditions. Tonight will be my first 5 minute run, but I do it in the early evening, and the temps aren't nearly as bad here, it's just the summer humidity that can get to you sometimes.

Hi Teresa, Yes, I am on St. Thomas! Oh Boy Candle, now you're talking because that gets me into my favorite part of the country for hiking!!! Within about a 3 hour radius of Vegas, you have the North Rim of the Grand Canyon (WAY more spectacular than South Rim, in my opinion), Zion National Park AND Bryce National Park. In fact, that whole area is an absolute hiker's paradise. I just love, love, love it out that way!!!! We could do a little Vegas, catch some shows, etc, and then those who are interested can do some hiking too. What do think???? I'm would be happy to be the tour guide for the National Parks, as I have spent a lot of time on the trails out there. Again though, August in the desert is a NO GO -- we should wait until October, November, somewhere in through there. The weather definitely foils us August Bandsters unless we want to go to a little farther North, and/or out of the hurricane belt.

Thank you so much BBK -- you're such a sweetie!!!! :sad::smile::frown:

Thank you for the info, Dr. Schulman!

Thank you so much Candle, LuLuc & Lessnless!!! :frown::smile: