j_war06

Great job! I'll tell you with my experience in the "fat and trendy" department, you should wear that dress with confidence! Reward yourself and tell yourself you feel gorgeous (not just pretty) that night, and every time you try on clothes you think are still too big for. If you wear it with confidence, then it wont matter what everyone else thinks. BTW, wouldnt you rather have your "droopy" arms instead of the ones from before? This night is gonna be special to YOU, therefore YOU have to feel special right? You are great! Hang in there. I will be praying for you and your children through your child's surgery, I know thats a hard thing to go through. Just remember God loves you and he doesnt do anything in your life without a reason.

Thanks jqpublic. I needed that, it made me smile a bit, and it didnt hurt. Maybe I can sleep now that we FINALLY have electricty (a month later). I still feel a little crappy, but maybe I can get to feeling better, but damn it Im having an awesome 21 party lol. Sometimes being older than everyone else SUCKS!

Yes, but I think I am going to change it to 125. I am not really worried about that number because I will know when I feel healthy enough to stop losing. This is based on BMI charts and my body-type (which is small)

My doc asked me if I was doing okay and I told her yea (this was about a week or so after surgery) and I said yes that I had been off for about 3 weeks to that day and she said to try without and call if I needed the meds. I cant believe I let mylsef get into this state. Needing meds to even have the ability to be happy. I guess I will call Monday. I just wish I could have been thin to begin with, but I suppose there MUST be a reason I have to go through this. Ill tell u this storm (Rita) has really played a toll on my emotions. Im starting to feel a little better, maybe after I get a shot of shopping tomorro Ill feel better, but right now I just feel horrible. My gpa died a year and a half ago and this bday is so special to me and hes not gonna be there and I always thot he would be and I just...ok ok this is why Im on meds. Ill talk to my doc, I think I may have a few other probs besides chronic depression. Im WAY toooo emotional these days.

I cant take Welbutrin anymore, I tried 2 or 3 anti-depressants before I found Welbutrin and I had bad reactions to them, I have taken so much medication over the years that I has already messed my tummy up and I get incredibly sick. I dunno, I need some help, I need something special.

I am SO glad I had this surgery, but Im losing everything that was important to me. I finally realized that my 18th b-day is coming up (on 24th) and I have NOTHING special planned. I feel like such a loser. I cant have a party because no one will come because a.)they dont know me NEmore and b.)they cant have their alcohol. I am having a family party and I am going shopping 2morro, but I do that every year. Im going to be 18 and I dont even have anyone to go out and celebrate (teenage fun) with. My ex and I (when we were dating) were going to go out to a couple of clubs and stuff, but now hes gone out of my life (by my choice). Now I feel horrible because I have nothing special to do. I want to go out and have a great time, but none of my other few friends are old enuff to go out. I just dont know what to do. I dont know why I let myself get so fat in the first place, I feel like crap right now, not to mention I havent taken my meds since I had surgery because my doc said no more pills unless crushed and my med can not be crushed. I am allergic to the other medications that are out there, so I have had to learn to "deal" and Im not doing a very good job. I need a little support and ideas to make this special. God, I just want to be normal for once. I just dont want to spend another b-day hanging with my mom, when Im turning 18, a legal adult. I want to be a teenager, and now my times up. in 10 days I will be an adult and face more adult decisions and its hard when I havent even had options as a teenager. I am just having a pity party and need some help please!!!!!!!!???????????????

Great date ladies, you have picked a very lucky day because......THATS MY B-DAY!!!! I am going to get my belly-button pierced and I MIGHT decide to get a tattoo!!!! Goodluck.

1. Bread-Nope, once a week I eat a piece of toasted wheat toast 2. Pasta-Yes, well cooked 3. Pop (coke?)-NO!!! not at all 4. Tortillas- Corn only 5. Salad- OH YES 6. Steak-Yes, Small well chewed bites (and its still hard to eat sometimes) 7. Roast- No, too greasy for me 8. Cereal-Yes 9. Hamburger-Yes, but without the top bun and very few veggies 10. Pizza-Yes, but not much (kinda too greasy) 11. Apples-Yes 12. Chips-Yes 13. Cheese-YES 14. Shrimp-Yes, been eating boiled, broiled, and grilled shrimp like crazy 15. Pop corn-No 16. Pretzels-Havent tried In reality you have to kinda taste test somethings to see if they are comfy for YOU to eat. I have a problem with grilled chicken breast, but some people live by it. My best advice is if your doctor says you cant have it, then dont eat it.

I wore loose pajama bottoms, matching cotton shirt, and Pink SPARKLY house shoes! I was comfy

I just dont like Lane Bryant, I am young and all of their clothes are made for women in their mid-20s and up. I am the Pear-Shape and can not for the life of me find a top small enough to fit me in that store. Also, because of my HUGE rear I hate stretchy pants (which is all they offer) because the grain is off and it makes a mess of my entire body. I just stick with Old Navy because of their great fashions for my age. Lane Bryant is taking advantage of plus-sized women with their prices. Another thing is they dont sell my size bra, because of my shape I have a smaller bust (36A- and the smallest they sell is like a full C. Their tops hang off of me like a curtain and their bottoms grab the fat on my rear and thighs like a magnet or second skin and you can see every little dimple in my fat. Old Navy's stretch jeans are still thick enough you can not see through them and do not have a large amount of elastic in them so that it actually gives my rear a nice round shape instead of that of a fat rectangle. lol

Well, I can not have oatmeal, the doctor doesnt recommend it. I have plenty of food because I am living in Houston, but its mostly canned raviolois and spaghetti Os. I chew and chew until I give myself a TMJ attack, but its just hard when ppl are offering you food and you feel SOOOO ungrateful NOT to eat it, you know? I think I can do better this week in Houston because Mom will have a lil more free time to take me to an actual restaurant where I can order good food, and not fried foods. The fried foods really hurt the worst! But I am just getting tired of being sick. Thank you for offering to send help, but what I really need is some quick easy (microwave) food ideas, like if you know a good frozen dinner or something like that. I have to start losing weight again.

Lane Bryant lost me as a customer also. I am great at spotting deals and well-made clothing due to extensive training through the 4-H program. These people at Lane Bryant tried to sell me a slinky tank top and sheer cover for $75 total. I can make the same ensemble for about $25 and 24hours and it would look great. I think they are ripping off plus-sized women, their jeans look AWFUL on my rear and make me look even bigger. Their cuts and patterns and sewing patterns are horrible, not to mention the fact that they come a part and shrink in the washer and dryer. Their jeans have a cotton/polyester knit to make them stretchy and it causes them to shrink, and even become SHORTER!!!! I no longer shop there. Instead, I shop online at oldnavy.com for plus and extended sized clothing, dont try to find it all in stores, but online they have a GREAT selection of better priced plus-sized clothing. P.S Old Navy has great Dress clothing

I was told I would never have Acid Reflux again after surgery, and havent had it over a month and thank God everyday. Being obese my entire life I have had acid reflux since I was about 4 or 5 years old. I used to puke almost everyday, and even now with my poorer eating (due to Rita) I still am not having any problems except for hiccuping and pain from the bad foods. No more vomiting, yucky throat feeling, sore throats, tummy aches, and/or burping back my food!!! YAY! I think I have PBs on a regular basis (once, again, because of Rita) and Ill tell yall I will take that ANY DAY over acid reflux. Oh yeah, I am happy to report that I have been off all my meds since 2 days before surgery, and hope to never take any that is not liquid or chewable every again. Well, mainly because I cant, the doctor said not to. I was on SOOO many pills a day due to the fact I have a lot of different disorders that have been so much better since my surgery. No more Welbutrin (well, I might change to another anti, just because I do still have REALLY BAD days), no more Darvecet or any other pain killers for my knees, no more anti-inflammatories (Thank GOD) and NO MORE PRILOSEC!!!!!

Okay, I know I havent been banded long, but as far as I can tell from the diet is that you can not have carbonation. Fact:hard liquor is non-carbonated and therefore margarita mix is non-carbonated, I drank a margarita the other night (small) and was fine, actually felt more relazed. I honestly think that as long as you dont drink things that are carbonated for a long time then you will be fine. Oh, also if you drink too much you may get a sloshy feeling, like your one big swimming pool lol. Just remember a glass of wine relaxes the mind, body and soul, where as glasses of wine embarasses the mind, body, and soul's pride and ego. Have fun and carefully experiment.

Sandy, I had surgery on August 26, and the insurance refused to pay and the company refused to change their exclusion. I am going to continue to fight them to pay, but all in all we ended up taking out a loan from the bank and its not too bad, its just not morally right that the world makes fun of me for being fat and feels sorry for me and even offers to help, until it comes down to actually helping, then they say, "I'm sorry we dont cover that."

Thanks ya'll, the hardest part is finding something to eat that I can actually eat. I have cried almost every night from eating things I shouldnt, but when thats the only food you have thats what ya gotta eat I guess. Even though we have evacuated, its still hard to find stuff to eat that is good for the band. It hurts to eat this kind of food, but it hurts worse NOT to eat anything. All of the MREs have pasta in them or fried foods so that they will get done quickly and be filling. The filling part is the hardest, everyone cooks SO MUCH FOOD, to have nothing, they sure find a lot of something to fry up lol. I dont know what to do, it hurts so bad and I have not lost a pound since my last fill (2 days before the hurricane). Im not too depressed, its just, it HURTS lol. For example a meat market in town finally got a shipment of meat in, so our neighbor went and bought steaks for everyone, by the second bite I almost had tears. With this state of stress, and my mother's lack of hormone pills, I cant complain to my parents because my dad just gets upset and my mom redefines upset. Mom begins screaming and yelling that I am ungrateful and a pre-madonna and that I will eat what is served if I am hungry enough. Then if I am hungry and hurting (I get horrible cases of the hiccups) she says that I can wait, but I cant and find something like string cheese to curb the pain until the meal is ready. I understand that they are stressed, but I am in pain as I am typing and I dont know how to approach the subject.

Actually I had a pretty serious cold whenever I went into surgery, I didnt tell my doctor because I was afraid he would rescedule, but it turns out it was great. #1 the antibiotics from the surgery viz my IV got rid of the cold, #2 I couldnt taste the medicine they gave me after surgery, and #3 (most important) I could not taste the Barium after surgery. Be in reminder though, I had a cold/sinus infection and not bronchitis or the flu so if you feel it is serious you might want to go see your regular doctor, because the worse part of the whole cold surgery thing was the fact it came back a few days later and with the sores + cough=pain and the LIQUID cold medicine was HORRIBLE, I still think its better than the Barium would have been, I am pretty happy with my decision to have the surgery with the cold.

I am not a "big-boned" person, I know that because I have seen my MRIs and X-Rays and my bones are VERY small compared to most people (even skinny ones). I can wrap my wrists together and hold my hands (and I have teeny weeny hands, have to buy childrens mittens) and I can touch my thumb to my index finger when wrapping them around my wrists. I am very interested to see what my body frame really would look like though. They used to have to COOLESTTTT program on DiscoveryHealth.com, but I can not seem to find it again. On it you could type in your weight and put in your body-type and then personalize to pretty close to the way you look and then track your weight loss, and it would show you how you look at different weights, it was really cool.

Hi ya'll, I have finally been able to gain access to a computer since hurricane Rita ravaged my small town. I am happy to say that I made it through my first fill on September 20 (althouth he put my port in a new place compared to his previous patients' ports locations and forgot, yeah, ouch he poked me 5 times before he remembered), but I am sad to say that our house was damaged by the hurricane along with the rest of my town. I have missed talking to ya'll a lot. I am also happy to say that I have lost about 20lbs (that I know, I havent been on my scales in over a week) and have went from a loose size 20 to a loose size 18 AND my shirts are beginning to get a little bigger also. I am extremely excited despite being displaced by the hurricane, although I know SO MANY PEOPLE are WAY worse off than I am. I am currently living in Houston with my mom, while my dad is living in Louisiana. They had to seperate so that they could work their jobs and its killing my mother being away from her husband, and I can understand. The worse part of all this is that she can not get her hormone pills filled here because she has to use her doctor in Beaumont and they can not take anyone right now because of the hurricane and because she is too lazy to go! Shes driving me crazy, 2 women (especially related ones) definately CAN NOT live in the same house 24/7, much less the little travel trailer that we have to rent to live in down here. I am incredibly bored lol! There really isnt much of anything to do, but Im getting along. I just thought that I would check in with yall and see how everyone else was doing?

Dr. Spiegel in Texas did mine. He has done it on patients as young as 13.

Hi, after all these problems I am finally banded (3 weeks post-op). I dumped my bf of 3 years over the summer because he was being a jerk. I think I know why now. The reality of me getting this band overwhelmed him and he calls me every now and then and brags about all these girls wanting to date him and stuff. This bothers me a little, but not nearly as badly as the thought that he was only with me because I am overweight. When I lost the first 5-6lbs that first week he acted genuinely happy, then from there on he asks and then says "oh I guess thats cool." I cant believe I dated someone like that and sometimes it bothers me just because I was his comfort zone. Also now that he is gone I have a WHOLE lot more friends than I ever had before and more self-confidence now that I have been banded and gotten rid of my loose ties. I think he knows that I have been interested in a guy from the part-time college that I attend. I am not interested in dating anyone right now, but I have been just casually going with a few guys (no-romantic way) to different places and riding in their cars and stuff and now he just wont call me (which is fine too) I just wanted to know if anyone got rid of their significant other because of their decision to get the surgery?

Mashed Potatoes are my friend. I eat atleast a serving of them once a day either for lunch or dinner. I couldnt have them however until a week AFTER my surgery. Granted I did not have to go a pre-op diet. But if your doctor recommends it I would suggest calling his office and finding out if you can have them.

I did not have to go on a pre-op diet before I had my surgery.

Dr. Spiegel did my surgery and did a great job, I was really nervous (couldnt tell though, had my game face on) Was a lil freaked out while I was awake in the operating room before the anesthesia kicked in. Really excited and nervous too, what if it doesnt work?

But the doctor said I could expect to lose more in the first month than in the following months because after I get on normal food I will lose about 6-10-15 pounds a month while this first month I should lose about 20lbs. hmmm I dunno.