secretstolen

Hi everyone! I'm SecretStolen. I had the lap band surgery in 12/07 and I used to participate around here all the time. Over the years, my weight loss plateaued and I've been stagnant since. I'm basically back on board with my Protein shakes, Vitamins, and I'm getting back to measuring out small portions and making healthier choices. Plus, this place is an awesome resource and I missed it. So, just a quick intro to me, and good luck old and new bandsters alike!

I would love to come to this! I'm in Northern Virginia, but I will have to wait and see closer to the date. I'm going back to school full-time in January, so it depends on what my semester schedule looks like.

Hey everyone.. I'm having that left sided pain, too. It's also a little tender where my port is on my right side. It's not a horrible pain and it doesn't radiate to my back or anything, but I have an appointment with my surgeon this afternoon to have it checked out. I've had the pain off an on for the last couple of days and it's mostly just annoying, like a side pain you get from running. It doesn't intensify with deep breaths or stretching, either. I'm hoping it's nothing major and it's as simple as an OTC solution, but we'll see.

I have 3 tattoos - one on the small of my back (technically 2, but since it's all in one area, we'll classify it as just 1), one at the top of my back, and another on my left clavicle. None of mine have been affected by my weight loss. I figured those were areas where I would be safe if I ever did lose all my weight. As much as I really wanted to put something on my hip, I knew it would be a disaster later on in life.. :/ I will say, the more weight I lose, the more prominent my collarbones become, and the sexier my clavicle tattoo looks. Makes me giddy. :thumbup:

Hey there! Welcome to the board. :eek: I was in the same situation you're in. I would diet and lose (at the most) 50 pounds over the course of a year, but as soon as I stopped being 100% strict on myself and counting every calorie or obsessing over working out for 2 hours a day, I would begin to gain again. I could never keep it off. I finally had enough of it and decided while I was still young enough with no high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and no real health problems aside from joint pain from the weight, I would fix it. I had my surgery on 12/13/07. It's only been 7 months for me, but I'm still very happy I had the surgery. I've only lost a little over 50 pounds since then, but I'm excited because I haven't gained any of my weight back at all. I've never had that happen before. Honestly, there's nothing that's really all that hard for me. There are days when I don't feel very restricted and I want to have something I shouldn't, and those are the times when you have to use willpower. Even then it's not so bad. I don't buy foods I know I shouldn't eat, and when I'm at work, I don't keep cash or change around to hit the vending machine, and my closest friends at work know about my band, so when there's cake and take-out, I don't partake and they don't push the issue of joining in. I can only speak for myself, but it's not so bad. I will say that if you're really considering the band, do as much research on here as possible. I found this board right around the time I attended the initial conference to hear my surgeon speak to an audience. By the time I went for my first face-to-face consultation, I already knew what to expect to some degree. It also gave me the opportunity to really weigh the pros and cons of the surgery and make sure that it was something I was willing to go through. I hope you stick around! Good luck!

After my surgery, I couldn't sleep lying down either. The gas they use during surgery that gets trapped inside your body had traveled up through my back and shoulders, so it was this excruciating pain that never seemed to ease up when I was lying down. The first night after leaving the hospital, the night after the surgery, I tried to sleep lying down and I woke up every 10-15 minutes in pain. I took my pain medicine as the surgeon said, and to avoid lying down to sleep, I slept in a big comfy chair in my mom's living room. Using their ottoman for my lower half, I positioned myself to where I was still sitting up, but at an angle that was somewhat comfortable enough to sleep. I made sure to have a big thick quilt and a couple of pillows to surround myself with. I spent the next 3 nights sleeping that way. During the day, I made sure to walk as much as possible and stay hydrated and within a couple days, that pain started to go away. :thumbup: Hope yours does, too. Do you have a comfy chair you could improvise with until you're feeling a little better?

You guys with the liquid stuff are lucky! (Then again, considering how some of that stuff tastes, maybe not! Heehee!) :thumbup: After my surgery, the surgeon saw me for the second time that evening before going home and he told me that the nurses had been ordered to give me pain medication in pill form, not liquid, because he wanted me to begin attempting to swallow to make sure I could do so efficiently before being discharged the next day. That night, the nurses cut the small pain pill into fourths and when I tried the first fourth, it got stuck and I felt like I was choking. They gave me a suppository for the pain and then, after hours of sipping on Water, it was much easier in the morning when I had to try swallowing again. The surgeon saw me the next morning and said, "See. I'd rather have you do that here and have difficulty trying to swallow something the first time after surgery with nurses and medical staff around you than to do that at home and panic." Good point, Doc. Good point. For the first 2 weeks after surgery, I still used a pill cutter to break them into fourths. (I was given Percocet and because of the way it made me feel dazed and kind of out of it, once the pain started to become more manageable, I started only taking half of one pill in the morning and the other half in the evenings before going to bed at night so I could sleep.)

I had my surgery on a Thursday and it wasn't until the following Wednesday that I was really feeling back to good. The first couple of days were the worst. I was discharged from the hospital on Friday afternoon and I spent the weekend at my mom's because she didn't want me by myself at my apartment. I took my pain meds every 4 hours like the doctor instructed and slept for what felt like forever, and by the time the following week came around, I was down to taking it twice a day - upon waking up and once in the evening before bed. Don't beat yourself up, doll! You are doing fine. You just had abdominal surgery on Friday - 2 days ago. Right now you're going to be in pain and you're going to need your meds. Just make sure you get up and walk periodically throughout the day and that you stay hydrated with fluids. You'll bounce back soon. :thumbup: Congrats on your banding! :teeth_smile:

I can eat pizza with no problem. I don't make it a regular habit, and I stay away from typical delivery places, but I really love the Kashi frozen pizzas. Because it's just me eating most nights (unless I go out with friends or something), if I fix one of the Kashi pizzas, I let it thaw until it's soft enough to slice into quarters. I put a fourth of the pizza in the oven and fix that for dinner and it is more than enough. (Plus, only having a small portion readily prepared keeps me from being tempted to eat more.) The other parts get wrapped up individually and stored in my freezer for the next time I have another craving for my favorite food.

Isn't that the best feeling ever?! I went into a Macy's just recently with a friend and we went by the dresses and just picked up some and went to try them on - just for fun. Before the band, I never would have done this, much less walked out and let my friend see how the dress looked on me. This time, though, I did - and I looked awesome! :thumbdown: I'm so happy for all of us! Yaaaaay!

Hey darlin'! Just hang in there! After my surgery, I was still in some pain up until 2 weeks after. Remember to take it easy and don't do too much bending or lifting. I promise, if you're careful, it gets better! (BTW - We are sooooooo getting together when you're on mushies and gabbing. I can't wait to see you and hear all about your surgery! I'm so proud of my J! )

Hi, everyone! I'm in Fredericksburg.

I'm reiterating what has been said by others: APPEAL. Exhaust every option to appeal their denial. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you! Good luck!

Just wondering - do any other doctors make you do anything funny to find your port? Mine always has me lie flat on the table in the room, then lift my legs a couple inches in the air which I guess contracts the muscles around the port. He says it's much easier to locate it and get the needle in on the first try. Fills are usually pretty painless, but he always numbs the area before hand, too. The only part that sucks is having to lift my legs and keep them up for a little bit, but I'd rather have 2 minutes of that than 10 minutes of pokin' around with a needle. :Banane03: gigem: I'm sorry your fill was such a bad experience. Hopefully in the future, it'll go much smoother.

Hey girlie! I'm so glad your surgery went well! LYLAS! :cool2:

Just had a recent non-scale victory yesterday.. I uploaded some pictures to my Facebook account a couple weeks ago - photos of me with friends, and a couple of me just posing and being goofy in this pink dress I was wearing. A girl I graduated with is on my Facebook friends' list. We haven't seen each other since high school. As kids, she used to tease me for being heavier than she was. As adults, I don't really keep in touch with her, but there's no bad blood or anything between us. She commented on one picture of me, "OMG! You look great! You look so tiny in this pic!" It kinda made my day. *lol*

I'm in Northern Virginia.

Hi there. I figured since it's been awhile since I've been on the board, and there's this awesome new section for banders in their 20s, I'd sorta reintroduce myself. So, I'm 24, and I was banded on December 13th, 2007. Since then, I've lost around 40+ pounds, and I'm still workin' on it. I got a little derailed around April when I moved and went through a break-up at the same time, so my focus became less on watching everything I ate and making regular trips to the gym and more on spending time with my friends and keeping my mind off being sad. Although I have continued to lose pounds even without keeping a food diary or making those daily trips to the gym, I do feel like I could have lost more if I had been more on point. So, I've whipped out the notebook I keep track of my intake with and I'm back to the gym daily as of 4 days ago. Just recently, my old high school best friend contacted me. She and I hadn't seen much of each other since graduation but we kept it touch periodically online. She contacted me to tell me that she had decided to have the lap band surgery in Mexico. I hadn't told her about my surgery, so we had a really long conversation about that. I recommended that she come to this board for information and she admitted she had already begun posting here. Since she just had her surgery and she's back home recuperating, I got thinking about my own success and what goals I want to set for myself by the end of summer. So I'm back here, because this place keeps me incredibly motivated and very informed. So, hello everyone! I'm glad to be back and I'm excited about reading up on new banders and their successes. Yay!

Hey everyone! Sorry I hadn't been around the last couple of days.. Just wanted to thank each and every one of you for your thoughts and feedback. It was nice to be able to vent about it and get other perspectives. I'm pleased to say that the reason why I haven't been around much is because I've been meeting up with (I'll refer to him as) "Lloyd Dobler" at the gym after work (and how fun is it to be on a treadmill next to him and watch him try to impress me? ). Yesterday evening as we finished working out he asked me to have dinner with him, which I did graciously. Today at work he asked me if I was interested in spending Saturday with him in Northern Virginia where we'll grab dinner, see a movie, and do some other stuff. Before leaving work he also asked me if I wanted to have coffee with him tonight. All of which I've been more than willing to do. And, because some of you wanted updates.. I met him at Starbucks this evening to get coffee and we were just sitting and talking when two of his friends walked in. They're both young women, roommates and very good friends, and they all know each other from college. One of them I have met twice before and she's hilarious. We all were talking and joking around when she said loudly to Lloyd, talking about me, "This girl is awesome! I love her! She is great and you'd better not mess this up!" It was just a really cute moment. His friends like me! Yay! A little while later, the same girl pal asked me what I was doing tomorrow. Apparently they were all going to get together just as a big group of friends to go see Cloverfield (which I've already seen), but she asked me if I wanted to come and I told her sure, as long as Lloyd was ok with me hanging out with all of his friends, which he says he is. We left a little bit after that. He walked me to my car and gave me a big hug like he always does. He was on his way to a friend's house to hang out for a couple hours so I told him, "It's getting late, you'd better go. I hope you have fun tonight. Tell [friend's name] I said hello." He smiled and then leaned in and kissed me. Then I got giggling and he was like, "Is it ok that I did that?" and I was like, "Of course!" and then he kissed me a couple more times! A few minutes later, I told him he had to go.. he couldn't keep his friend waiting.. and we left. He sent me a text message when he got to his friend's house and he says he's going to call me in the morning. Yeah. I'm kinda still blushing. Wow! Sixth date and he finally kissed me! Yay! So, everyone, thank you thank you thank you from the bottom of my spastic, nervous, worried little heart! :eek:

I debated joining a gym, too, but in the end I chose to do so because it's a huge motivator for me. Knowing that I'm paying for it every month with a contract keeps me going. I also chose to join a gym where family/friends go, which can be a blessing or a curse depending on your personality. Another thing that convinced me to join was the fact that the gym I go to has a lot of amenities that I will be able to enjoy later. Maybe right now I'm just doing cardio and weights, but I know I want to take a kick-boxing class and a spinning class as the weight's shedding off. Plus the gym I go to has a women only room where you can use cardio/weight equipment in private, which is usually empty or only occupied by one other person. It's nice to have the option of going in there if you're having a day where you feel self-conscious or just blah.

I go to a local Gold's Gym and we have one of those, too! I haven't used it yet but it was impressive. All I could think was, "Oh man, if I'm having a bad day and I feel like crap, how perfect would it be to work out in the dark?" Heehee!

Dude, I crush hard on Adam Sandler! He's so goofy and stupid sometimes, but I dig it. Billy Madison is a classic. I can't wait for You Don't Mess With the Zohan. It looks hilarious. And yeah, that little shake Billy does on the staircase in that goofy golf sweater all cut up.. total hotness. *LOL*

Yeah, he was really cool about it, and that's great. It just bothers me. That's the problem. And that's why I'm venting here.. 'cause I'd rather take the chance of looking like an over-dramatic wench on a message board than say something to my mother or my crush about it. But thank you for your insight. The friends I talked to aren't parents, so I know from a parent's point of view it's entirely different. Thanks for your advice. Every little bit helps, y'know?

Well, for one thing, my mother isn't involved in my life very much. After my father died 3 years ago, she remarried and asked me to move out so that they could have privacy. She and I see each other rarely. We talk on a semi-regular basis but it's only during work hours because she spends her afternoons, evenings, and weekends with her husband. We don't meet for lunch or go shopping or girl-talk like mothers and daughters do. So this is not an issue of, "Oh, that mother of mine! Always meddling in my life! Oh boy!" Two years ago, I was dating someone who broke up with me for a girl he met online and when I told my mother about it, she ran her mouth to my step-father. Days later in an argument with him, he used it as ammunition against me and called me derogatory names and teased me. I established from that moment on that if I spoke to my mother about anything, it would be vague and she was not to carry information to my step-father. I didn't want to run the risk of having confrontations with him or giving him fuel to add to the fire, so to speak. I'm also not close with my step-father. He and I have a volatile relationship but we somehow manage to be civil to one another to keep the peace. The fact that he approached this guy makes me angry because (1) It was not his place to say anything, (2) He is not my father, and (3) I do not share details about my social life or my dating life with him so I know that my mother is carrying tales. Since I'm not a parent, I'll ask you: Considering what I've typed, would you have done to your son or daughter what my mom did to me? It would have been one thing if my mom and my step-father had approached my crush and I in the middle of a conversation to say hello. That would have been fine. However, they chose to confront him while he was running on a treadmill, without ever having met him before, while I was nowhere in sight, and by intimidating him by saying, "Turn the treadmill off so we can have a little talk." In my opinion, that's crossing a line and being blatantly disrespectful of my wishes and my privacy.

greeneyez: Thanks! I call him "a potential Lloyd Dobler." Heehee! Kittenqutie: I haven't heard from him today. He spent time with his parents last night and we only talked for a couple of minutes around 9:30 or so. I haven't heard from him today and I'm not going to the gym today, either, so no chance of seeing him. I'm hoping he'll send me a text message tomorrow or something to initiate a conversation. Call me paranoid and stupid, but I'm still worried that my mom and step-father scared him off. I guess we'll see. As for your lap band surgery, that's awesome! Good luck with everything. You're going to do just fine. Mine, in retrospect, was a breeze and I'm so happy I had it done.