Parvathi

I remember reading a thread just a few days ago where you had said you were looking forward to starting a family - betcha didn't think it'd be that fast, aye? hehe A huge congratulations to you and your hubby. Motherhood is such a wonderful thing...

A very interesting read. Thanks for sharing, Zoe.

When I was overfilled, I had the hiccups for two days straight before I went to get a bit of the fill taken out .. LOL, quite possibly the longest two days of my life. Sure did keep my coworkers amused.

.. step on the scales when good ole Aunt Flo is visiting?? LOL .. never fails, I'm feeling great, then I get on the scales and my good mood goes right out the window. Guess I'll learn one of these days. ::end vent:: This vent was sponsored by Tampax and Mother Nature

Ditto on the high school reunion thing. Mine's coming up next June and fingers crossed, I'll be well and truly at or near goal by then. Can't wait to see the looks on their faces! (and to see which ones of them were drop dead gorgeous but aren't anymore lol) Yes, quite petty, but I earned it with all I put up with in HS.

Good luck to you both, Kylie. I'm sure everything will go wonderfully and you'll come back completely relaxed from that vacation heh

How long were you out of work? A week - I have a desk job Does the band get weird if you go swimming? I started Water aerobics two weeks post op and went fine with it. Ask your doctor how long he thinks you should hold off those, as each one will have a different answer. Did you have get shaved before surgery? Only if there is hair there (on your tummy). I have a bit of light peachfuzz and didn't get shaved. Did they let you leave your underwear and socks on? For the surgery, I had to wear a hospital gown, desposible undies (hospital issued) and nothing else. Each hospital probably has their own procedure though. Did the incisions hurt more than the port? In my case, everything was sore for about a week. After that, it still hurt around the port incision a bit (for probably 3 weeks, but light pain, nothing major). Does anyone know if there's limitations once we're healed? (I mean restriction of movement or extertion). I haven't run into any yet. When I first started back to the gym afterwards, the ab stuff hurt a good bit, days after I'd done it. But I would just slack off a lil til it felt better. Nowadays, I'm fine with it. You've just got to learn to listen to your doctor and to your body. What happens if you fall or bump into something, is that reason to worry for slipage? Don't really have a clue on this one, but I've never seen falling or bumping something listed as a reason for slippage. How sensitive is the band to movement? While it's healing, it can be quite sensitive. Four months post op and I honestly, forget it's there. Has anyone been banded and not have it filled during surgery? How long before the first fill? I was not filled during surgery. I think its a very rare practice. My first fill was 6 weeks post op, but all doctors are different on this. Good luck with it all

My doc does it on a patient to patient basis, depending on your needs and how well you're doing. Mine equaled out to:- First fill - 1.0ml Second - 0.4ml Third - 0.4ml Fourth - 0.4ml Fifth - 0.2ml Sixth - 0.2ml Seventh - 0.1ml Eighth - 0.1ml Ninth - 0.1ml Tenth - 0.1ml Eleventh - 0.1ml Twelfth - 0.1ml Total - 3.2ml in a 10cc band , which for me, is my perfect restriction I was lucky in the fact that after my first two visits, my doctor agreed to let me come in once a week until we found my sweet spot. He was very intent on not overfilling me and taking things slow, but in the end, that worked out great for me.

When I hit goal weight, I plan on taking a couple of classes at a pole dancing studio across the road from my office... hehe. Won't say what I plan on doing with my new talents afterwards though *g*

LOL .. congratulations I doubt he'd even notice the scars, as he'll be concentrating on other things, but the nurse at my surgeon's office told me that the lapband procedure is very much like the surgery for acid reflux disease, leaving pretty much the same scars. She told me if I was uncomfortable telling my co workers about the surgery, that I could use that as a cover story. That said, I think I've told everybody and their Momma about my surgery lol - I'm so happy with it that I just want to share it with the world.

Hi RainAlya, Welcome to LBT and congratulations on getting approval from your insurance company I too, am a smoker. My doctor didn't tell me to quit pre op and I'd heard a few things as well, so I asked him. He told me it wasn't necessary, but that for my overall health, it'd be a good idea to quit eventually. I'd recommend asking your doctor though, as each of them will have their own opinions on smokers and surgery I'd assume.

Hi JoAnna, My situation was a bit different to yours, in that my doctor does the first fill at 5 weeks post op. I was on liquids for 2 weeks, then mushie foods for 4 weeks. I of course, did tend to cheat a bit. I moved myself to solids a week sooner than I was meant to. I still induldge in the occassional junk food, only, a whole lot less of it than I would have had before being banded. I reckon most of us do slip from time to time, but as long as you're staying on track and motivated 95% of the time, you should do fine. The liquids/mush stages are not fun - but its a very small step in a very big journey. I agree that being on mushie stuff for up to 12 weeks sounds a bit ridiculous, but I'm not a doctor, so I don't know his reasoning behind it. You can make it through this. Congratulations on the weightloss so far - 33 lbs in just over a month is amazing.

Once I hit the perfect restriction, there's no way I could overeat, no matter how much my head says I want to. If someone ate heaps of chocolate or milkshakes and the like though (those things go down relatively easy and are not 'solid'), that could affect them.

I don't remember any of the surgery itself. I do however remember lying on the table waiting to be rolled into the surgery room. When they finally started to take me in there, I saw the stark white walls of the room and thought - "Oh gawd .. I don't think I wanna do this!!". Within 2 minutes I was completely out LOL - which is a good thing cause otherwise I would have probably jumped off the table and ran out the door. When I woke up in recovery, I was in a bit of pain and remember thinking, "What have I done?!?" That said, those few moments of panic were well worth it. I've never been happier.

When I got the referral to my surgeon, my GP was away on holidays, so I saw one of her associates. After surgery, when it was time for my regular check up with my GP, I was scared to death to tell her about it LOL. She's a very opinionated doctor, but that's one of the reasons I trust her with my health. She said to me, pretty much what your GP said to you. It felt amazing, knowing that she was behind me on that. She's also started referring people to the surgeon I used, as I was so happy with him.

I, like many others, thought of this as a last resort and figured it probably wouldn't work, but was worth a shot. The band has far surpassed my expectations. I've lost 40 lbs since early March and am absolutely thrilled with the results. I don't get as out of breath, walking down the streets or up the stairs (still a bit winded, but hey, I'm a smoker). My sleep apnea has all but disappeared. My self confidence has sky rocketed - I can now walk down the street and not stare at the ground, but rather, look people in the eye. I don't hear those little voices in my head when I'm in public telling me how disgusting I look. I have more energy to play with my daughter. I'm not tired all day. I could go on and on. The band is the best thing I've ever done for me. Its not a cake walk. It does take work - but it makes it that lil bit easier and has made my goals reachable.

I'm not sure that I could make this journey on my own. The inspirational stories I've found here, the support, the sharing of the good, the bad and the ugly - its bloody fantastic! So a huge thanks to all of you who come here, for making my day much brighter and this journey seem much shorter.

Hey Deb, Glad to hear you had a good trip. If you're anything like my mom, I'm sure you spoiled the grandkids rotten while you were there Which ticker are you trying to use - tickerfactory.com or tickercentral.com? If its tickerfactory, after you make the ticker and you're presented with 3 options that you can copy and paste, choose the first option. Copy it in its entirity and paste it into your signature (under User CP). The other one though, I'm afraid I haven't tried, so wouldn't have a clue.

Welcome to the boards, Dr. Pleatman. There's always people around here looking for a good doctor, so you've come to the right place

I had no choice either. Mine's about 2 inches left and 2 inches up from my belly button. I reckon its a pretty good location, cause it hasn't gotten in my way at all yet Umm .. I actually typed that before I read what Jack said LOL, so it sounds like I'm copying him, but I'll just stick with "great minds think alike" hehe

Cool, Alexandra - I'll have to try some of those. Which flavor is the best?

LOL .. dont ya know you're not meant to ship it with the batteries put in, DeLarla?

When I was in high school I had a huge crush on this one guy. He told a friend of mine that I had a really pretty face and if I lost weight he'd go out with me. At the time I was like, OMG, how sweet - I'll have to lose weight (ended up bulimic several months down the road and struggled for years to overcome it). Then I grew up and took him for the jerk he really was... haven't looked back since.

Thanks Kathy - that stuff Paula found was definitely interesting. No way could I eat 3 cans of it a day LOL - I can't even eat a whole 3.5 oz can at the moment. But I do like it, cause its quick, easy and cheaper than buying a lunch out at a cafe that I won't eat even a quarter of. Karen- thanks for the advice. It sure was confusing me LOL.

*bump*ing this back up, in hopes to hear the answer as well LOL. Great question, daisydoodle!