Kelliebelly

Sorry for your loss. My thoughts are with you guys.

I am really sorry for your loss. Big hugs and my sincere apologies.

Sorry I am late I have only just seent his thread. Happy Birthday and I hope you had a great day.

Just a little cartoon to bring a smile to your face hopefully. Hugs

Hoy Crap Alexra!!!! Your transformation is amazing!!! What a huge change, you should be so proud of yourself, I am so happy for you. WTG!!! As for me I was 1 yr out the other day. I posted about it so I will just copy and paste it here - One year ago today I was wheeled into surgery at 10.45am with a very rumbly, hungry tummy for a rather simple procedure that would change my life forever. 1.5 hrs later I awoke minus hunger pains. The next time I felt a hunger pain was about 2 weeks later. I struggled a little in the beginning putting some or most of the weight back on that I had lost immediately post op. I have the 10ml VG band and finding good restriction took 7 mths. I reached optimal restriction about 5 months ago but unfortunately reflux came along with it. I was reluctant to have some fill removed as it had taken me so long to get ot that point, so I went on reflux meds and havent felt it since. This operation has changed my life in so many ways. I was fat. My DH suffered and my kids suffered. I was paranoid and self conscious. I couldnt go to a restaurant or a fun park...basically anywhere without thinking everyone was looking at me and talking about me. Alot of the time they were. People can be cruel, some would openly look and stare...nudging their friends and laughing. I felt like a freak. I hated myself, thought I wasnt worth the time of day. I ended up anti depressants and even though they helped, they also helped me pack on some more weight. The crutch for me came when my Dh told me at times he was embarresed of me. You got to be cruel to be kind type of thing. I took it badly, I cried for days and withdrew into myself. It was then I decided to start researching things I could do. I came across the lap band and researched it till I was blue in the face. I had my mind set on it....as fate would have it a few weeks later I found out I was pregnant. I put banding on the back burner and when my bub was a few weeks shy on 1 I had my band. I have overcome so many fears since losing weight, fears that I have had for life. I am healthy...I am not starving myself, I have energy, I have confidence. I am a new person. Without this band I dont know where I would be. I really dont think I could have gone any lower than where I was pre op. I love my band and I think it is the best invention since sliced bread, even though I cant eat bread anymore :clap2: . Life is good!!! Hugs to all my banded and non banded friends.

Well let me clarify why I started this thread. I am getting married for the first time in September...even though I have 4 kids lol. I am doing arse end about. Paul has been married before, he was married 16 yrs and has 3 older children. I know I love Paul, he has done so much for me, turned my life around completely. I know he completes me and life without him is unimaginable. There is some little things that irk me about him, that I have always put up with, but lately they just really test my patience. I have told him on several hundred occasions and he says he will fix it but never does. He has also become very insecure in the last month or so. He never used to be. I could get my bag and say honey I am just going out for a couple of hours blah blah. No probs. There is no way I can do that now. He likes to know where I am going. He asks me constantly if I love him etc. I know we have alot of adjusting with our new bodies and the new thinking etc that comes with it and so do our partners. We no longer are doormats or people that just put up with crap because we cant do better. (I used to feel like this). I am being petty and down right selfish I know, but when I started this thread I was having a night where I was reflecting on my life and wanted some insight into others. Thank you for sharing it with me. I know this marriage is the right thing for me, and I know I love Paul with all my heart. Things will get better.

Jess will be coming home either Friday or Saturday Aussie time, I am sure she will get on as soon as she can and update. We will be all waiting Jess to check out your hot new bod!!!!

That is one of the top reasons I went with the band. Good on you for jumping back on the bandwagon, the bandwagon will always be there waiting for you. When you fall, you can always just jump back on.

Hey Alex, I am sooo happy everything came back ok, the relief must be enormous. So, on and foward now Hugs Ps Off to buy a fluro light and conduct an experiment

Thats what really irks me big time. I am a smoker and i pray for the day they stop selling them. Thats the only way I think I will make it giving up. All these things they pull because they MAY cause problems but it has been proven time and time again beyond a doubt that smoking KILLS you but they dont ban them or remove them...WHY?? I dont get it.

Jess messaged me and let me know she is doing ok but sore, she feels like she has been hit by a truck. She hasnt seen the updated bod yet, but thought she would this arvo.

Paul and I at the restaurant tonight...its 3am here now I really should go to bed :ban:

Susan, I really dont have any pain at all now. Occasional twangs as the nerves come back and the discomfort of major swelling, other than that I feel awesome! I went out for dinner tonight and had a ball. I am back to sleeping on my side and really have no restrictions in what I can do...I am going to push the "I cant hang clothes on the line" for as long as I can though :ban:

Reading through some threads, plus with me smack bang in the middle of psychology at Uni prompts me to ask : How do you truely connect with another human being? How do you know its for life? I dont think its enough to say "I just know". What are your experiences?

Hey Jerseytammy, Thanks sooooo much for my gift. I love it...the book that came with it is great. I sat down, started reading it and couldnt put it down. It has so many awesome quotes in it. Thanks again, you are tooooo sweet. Hugs

Jules, I know exactly where you are coming from because every word I read that you have typed could have been me. My DH used to beg me to go to the work picnics/BBQs. There was no way I would go to anything like that. I didnt want his workmates seeing how fat I was. Anywhere we had to go where I didnt know people or know I wouldnt be comfortable I wouldnt go. I didnt like eating at restaurants because I thought everyone would talk about me. The anger comes from within. We are angry with ourselves for letting ourselves get this way. We are angry because we are out of control. BTW, he hasn't threatened to leave if I don't lose weight - he simply says if our son weren't around he doesn't know if he could put up with the mood swings, the lethargy, the irritability, etc. That is exactly the same for me too pre banding. The mood swings, oh boy I actually questioned my sanity several times. I thought for these mood swings to be so bad I must have something wrong in the head. I remember so many times Dh saying he felt like he had to walk on egg shells with me. He was scared coming home from work because he didnt know what mood he would find me in. It all seems down now, p lease believe me life is about to change. It may not be for the better, because you may not like things you discover on theway, then again you might...know this though, it will change. After you are banded and you start losing weight, changes start happening inside and out. Only you will decide where you want the changes to take you, but again if you are anything like me...the energy will come back, for each kg you lose the self confidence will come back, the self esteem and self worth. All of a sudden you are fun to be around again, you want to do more. Life becomes happy again. Stop and smell the roses on the way. Read this when you feel down Jules During times of stress, troubles, trials one thing good to remember is to take one day at a time. We don't need to worry about the past. It's already done. We don't need to worry about the future, it's not here yet. JUST TODAY. If we can learn to make the best of each day and in really difficult times just make it through this day.. one day at a time.. we will make it.

Oh man, that is AWESOME!!!!!!! I cant believe how well you have done in such a short time too. I wish I could just give you a hug. Inspiration plus gurly girl...

Here is a pic taken tonight going out for dinner to celebrate!!! Before and tonight Ps Delarla, if I wasnt getting married 2 weeks after the bash I would be there in a flash, definately next year

DeBanded LBTers Debanded but not down Bandless Bandsters The band has left the building

I had my PS 3 weeks ago. I had my period 2 weeks before it. My periods have always been like clockwork. Well the day after surgery they arrived and I have had them ever since. I stopped for a day a few days ago but the next day they were back. My Dr said it is the body's way of dealing with the trauma of surgery. You will get back on routine once the bleeding stops. If it doesnt stop or gets really heavy and clotty (TMI)...call your Dr because there is some tablets they can give you to stop thebleeding. Just make sure you keep an eye on your iron levels while you are bleeding so much.

Jules, I keep thinking about you. You and I seem so very similiar and have been in similiar circumstances. If you are anything like me, your whole way of thinking will change when you start to lose weight. I know people will think we should love ourselves and respect ourselves no matter what size we are. Well that is just not the case with some of us. Focus for the time being on you...this is about you. I really do think once some of your weight comes off and your self confidence and self worth comes back you will decide whether or not you are willing to settle for anything less than what you truely deserve. Hugs

Forgot to add, defending her husband would be natural. Presuming she loves this man, excuses will be made for things we do. I do know when my self esteem was at my lowest and I was in an abusive relationship (prior to Dh), I could have made a million and one excuses as to why he hit me/emotionally abused me. It didnt matter what anyone else said, I defended him. I loved him or thought I did and would put up with anything he dished out...simply because I didnt think I deserved any better. I went through this kind of thinking for half my life and it is only in the last few months that I actually am starting to believe I can expect and actually demand more.

My Dh stuck by me while I hugely fat, but a few times letting me know he didnt like it/was embaressed by the way I dressed etc because of my weight. I have to say I think alot of how our husbands feel about us when we are big are reflected on how we feel about ourselves. I hated myself, thought I was the hugest most ugliest person in the world. I pretty much went off at him anytime he did give me a compliment because I didnt believe him. I dont agree with the Ill leave you if you dont lose weight, but I do think being big and the way some of us feel about ourselves is enough to drive our partners away. I was extreme and I cant put into words or stress enough that i dont know how my Dh made it through those fat years. The self loathing, the no self esteem and vicious seemingly endless cycle of up and down dieting. Feeling good for a couple of weeks when I lost some weight, then hating myself again when I put it back on and more. I felt so out of control, and I was getting bigger and bigger. I couldnt get a grip. If I felt like this and acted the way I did, how on earth could someone be expected to unconditonally love me. He did, but man, it must have been the hardest thing for him doing it.

Wow, I just posted something similiar in my 1 yr bandaversary thread. very similiar stories. Dh and I got together after one of my starvation modes. I was thin all of 5 mins, but it was in that 5mins I met him. It took me about 6 mths to slowly work my way back up to the huge weight I was before and the poor guy didnt know what hit him. With the weight gain came all my fears and demons again. It was a terrible 4 years or so before I was banded, I dont know how we survived, but we did. I wish you all the best and I truely know how you feel. hugs

One year ago today I was wheeled into surgery at 10.45am with a very rumbly, hungry tummy for a rather simple procedure that would change my life forever. 1.5 hrs later I awoke minus hunger pains. The next time I felt a hunger pain was about 2 weeks later. I struggled a little in the beginning putting some or most of the weight back on that I had lost immediately post op. I have the 10ml VG band and finding good restriction took 7 mths. I reached optimal restriction about 5 months ago but unfortunately reflux came along with it. I was reluctant to have some fill removed as it had taken me so long to get ot that point, so I went on reflux meds and havent felt it since. This operation has changed my life in so many ways. I was fat. My DH suffered and my kids suffered. I was paranoid and self conscious. I couldnt go to a restaurant or a fun park...basically anywhere without thinking everyone was looking at me and talking about me. Alot of the time they were. People can be cruel, some would openly look and stare...nudging their friends and laughing. I felt like a freak. I hated myself, thought I wasnt worth the time of day. I ended up anti depressants and even though they helped, they also helped me pack on some more weight. The crutch for me came when my Dh told me at times he was embarresed of me. You got to be cruel to be kind type of thing. I took it badly, I cried for days and withdrew into myself. It was then I decided to start researching things I could do. I came across the lap band and researched it till I was blue in the face. I had my mind set on it....as fate would have it a few weeks later I found out I was pregnant. I put banding on the back burner and when my bub was a few weeks shy on 1 I had my band. I have overcome so many fears since losing weight, fears that I have had for life. I am healthy...I am not starving myself, I have energy, I have confidence. I am a new person. Without this band I dont know where I would be. I really dont think I could have gone any lower than where I was pre op. I love my band and I think it is the best invention since sliced bread, even though I cant eat bread anymore :clap2: . Life is good!!! Hugs to all my banded and non banded friends.