Parvathi

Congratulations! heh.. my hubby pantsed me when mine first started getting too big. As mad as I was (it was in the middle of a carpark! lol), I was sooooo happy that they no longer fit. Here's to many more NSV's to come

When were you banded? March 4, 2005 What was your weight ON DAY OF SURGERY? 119 kgs/262 lbs What is your weight now? 96 kgs/211 lbs What size do you wear? Then 22/Now 16 How tall are you? 5'7

Congratulations, Esmeralda!! What a happy and joyous time for you Wishing you an uneventful pregnancy.

Depends on what pills your taking. If they're prescription, ask the chemist. Lots of pills are able to be crushed or cut in half. It's the big ones that get me. I'm able to take small Tylenol (minicaps) when I have a headache. The only other thing I take is my vitamin, which I've found in a liquid form.

Take your transition into solids slowly, to discover what you can and can't handle. I was able to eat pretty much anything once on solids, before my first few fills, but my dietician had me transition from mushies to solids over a period of a month. I do have difficulty swallowing pills, but popcorn and nuts I can still enjoy when chewed properly. The dietician encouraged me to munch on nuts, as they're a good source of Protein and quite filling. But of course, each doctor's going to have his or her own rules to follow. Just remember to chew chew chew and take it slow and you should be fine on your vacation. Enjoy it and say hi to Mickey for me

I think it varies from person to person. Mine started about 3 days after surgery and lasted for two weeks (the shoulder tip pain). It had me in tears a time or two, which isn't an easy feat (unless I'm watching a sappy romance movie lol). It will soon go away though, when all of the gas is gone and you'll be feeling fantastic.

In Australia, bikkies (or biscuits) are cookies, generally. Then again, some people here call crackers bikkies too. They've got a real knack for shortening words lol.

Mmmm ... I'd kill for a good buttermilk biscuit LOL. Luckily, its one thing my mother never taught me how to cook. She makes the best buttermilk biscuits I've ever had the fortune of eating! hehe. My great grandmother used to make good homemade apple fritters. They were unbelievable, but no one in the family has been able to reproduce them, even though we helped her cook them all the time. Almost dreading going home for Christmas, because Christmas Eve Breakfast isn't the same without biscuits and sausage gravy - can still eat the gravy of course, but those darn biscuits would be too doughy :/

My temptation yesterday, came in the form of warm, moist Krispy Kreme glazed doughnuts LOL. We don't have a Krispy Kreme here in Melbourne, but it was one of my favorite places to visit as a child, growing up in SC. They built one in Sydney last year and as my husband came back from a business trip yesterday, he was kind enough (or is that sadistic enough LOL), to pick up a dozen of these wonderful little morsels. I could smell them as he stepped off the plane. My mouth started watering. Then I realized, they don't call them doughnuts for no reason. These tempting little demons were going to get in my pouch, expand and make the big ugly elephants walk on my chest - so I passed. They're still here in the house, but I'm being oh so strong heh. I shared them with a friend last night, several of them actually, in an attempt to sabotage any diet plans she may have and save mine. Hey - can't expect me to be good all of the time *g*

Congratulations, Corrine!! Wear those 20s with pride, until you have to move on to 18s hehe

Its normal to feel much more restricted in the mornings, especially as you get closer to your ideal restriction. I'm lucky when I get my coffee down, or a Protein shake. The gurgling drove me absolutely nuts when I first started experiencing it. Now I gurgle after every meal lol - I've become used to it and so has the hubby (although he enjoys bugging me about it occasionally).

Five and a half months out and I haven't run into anything off limits We were back at it (albiet, taking it a bit slow), in a little over a week. Doctor said whenever I felt up to it would be fine. Enjoy

LOL .. add to that, don't try driving while eating a KFC Twister ...

Yeah, now when I'm there for my fills, I see Dr Baquie. Mr Crosthwaite was great though - hey, I'm still alive LOL. I didn't think it would be medically necessary either, but after I went in, they sent me for a respiratory test, then a sleep test. Found out I have sleep apnoea, pretty severely as well, which was all of the co morbidity I needed. Other than that, I was healthy as a horse - and as big as one heh.

While my daughter isn't overweight, she has lots of potential. She's the shortest in her class and a bit pudgy. She's quite active and loves to play, but she can put away the food as well. At 7, she's decided, bugger the kids meal when we go out and goes straight for the huge serve of whatever. I try to educate her on what's good for her vs what's bad for her. She knows meats, veggies, fruits good - breads, crisps, choccies bad. But I know her well enough to know that when faces with the option of an apple or a breakaway bar, she'll choose the breakaway no worries. I know what you mean about the lunch orders being rubbish! She's only allowed one on Fridays, but she wants the sausage roll with twisties and a fudge brownie lol. They've just introduced Sushi Fridays at her school, which she would love, but they load them with wasabi?! LOL It sucks, cause I don't want to see her go through the same struggles I went through as a child/teenager/young lady - but at the same time, I don't want to deprive her of the fun stuff.

I didn't have Professor O'Brien, because I didn't want to wait that long (he's the most popular in the practice). But from what I've been told, he's the best you can get. That said, I was extremely happy with Mr Crosthwaite. I saw several surgeons before making up my mind who I wanted to use and was quite pleased with his professionalism and honesty. I gave him a right good interview on my first consultation lol, even asking what made him want to do banding and such. You'll like the Avenue - its a nice hospital and the staff at the Clinic are fantastic Good luck!

Congratulations, Corgi I've found that I can eat meat quite well too now. I think the trick is really learning how to slow down and chew properly. Have even had a few meals out and ordered a nice steak, with no problems at all. Course, I haven't been able to finish it all, but I'm not fussed by that heh.

Excellent suggestion - thanks!!

If you end up getting that video, please let me know how it is. I've been tempted, but a bit shy LOL. That would give me good practice though, for the pole dancing class I intend to take when I hit goal hehe. As for around the house stuff, I've never found anything too exciting. The hubby and I played tennis for a while though on the weekends and even though I suck at that, it was heaps of fun and loads of exercise!

I've been so excited lately, that it seems like all I talk about to my hubby is weight loss, or weight loss related topics (exercise, new clothes, etc). A couple of days ago, I said something about "when I get to goal..." and he replied, "What are you going to obsess about when you reach your goal?" I told him I'd obsess with maintaining then. He was half joking, half serious, but upon thinking about it, I've realized he's right. For nearly 20 years, I obsessed over food, in one sense or another (whether it be the latest diet or what's for dinner). Now I seem to be obsessed with losing weight/getting to goal. Food has played such a huge role in my life. I've always lived to eat, rather than eaten to live. Has anyone out there struggled with this? Or has anyone reached goal (or close to) and not known what to concentrate on after that?

I definitely can't be that one, Kare. How awful :/ While I've done about every fad diet you can imagine, the stupidest wl scheme for me was being bulimic for a few years. Like you, I was actually quite a good size back then, just couldn't see it when I looked in the mirror. I'm so glad that whole part of my life is now over...

Hodegard, please post and let us know how it goes. I'm doing my first consultation with a surgeon next month - not close to my goal yet, but just getting all my ducks in a row, incase I need the surgery. Hope everything goes well for you.

It sounds like fills are a heap more complicated in the states than here LOL. I go into my doctor's office, have my fill and am back out in 5 mins generally. I'm not charged by the doctor, nor by his office. He doesn't do flouro - I'm not even sure what it is to be honest? But he's never missed and I've been very happy with the results thus far. I've not had to pay for an unfill either. I'm assuming that it's so different because its relatively new in the US? My surgeon has been doing it for over 7 years now and works with the group here that has done all the research for banding. From my understanding (and often, I don't understand lol), gastric bypass is pretty much unheard of here, as its just not done - banding is always the first choice.

I haven't had a revision, but last time I was on liquids, I heated up some canned minestrone soup, then zooped it up with a handblender. The Pasta in it was really filling, even though it was at a liquid consistency. Hope the hunger pains leave you soon and glad the revision went well.

I had to do 3 weeks of Optifast (shakes) prior to surgery. I'll admit I slipped up a few times, but I did lose a couple of pounds before surgery, so I was happy with that. I know 2 weeks may seem like a long time, but the reason they ask you to do that is to shrink your liver a bit. A fatty liver can cause all kinds of complications in surgery and its better safe than sorry. Good luck with it all - you'll do fine