Parvathi

I had the exact thing happen to me in a shop here a few years back. Now that I can fit in their clothes, I refuse to shop there, even though they do have some nice outfits LOL. I guess it just goes down to them being young and oblivious to how rude they are *sigh* Try not to let it get to you though. *hugs*

My Mum's on Lexapro for anxiety (it works brilliantly for her, but everyone's different), but I've never heard of using it to combat reflux. Is the reflux at night or daytime? How long have you been banded for and have you had a barium swallow since the reflux started?

Thank you everyone!!! I'm going to try all the suggestions lol, til I find one that works. Jacqui, Jaz is the same with being a grot. She changed schools this year from an all girl very strict school to a coed alternative school. They don't wear uniforms and they come home absolutely filthy. The school really believes in letting a kid be a kid though, so I won't complain - she absolutely loves it. But don't worry, its not just Ewan lol. He'd probably fit in there brilliantly :couch2:

I figured since there are so many Moms here, surely someone would have a suggestion or practical advice for this. My dear beautiful daughter, bless her heart, can clear a room with her feet. If she wears anything other than bare feet, flip flops, or Crocs (those rubber clogz with holes in them), her feet take on a life of their own. After school when she gets in the car, I have to roll all the windows down. The dog doesn't even want to play with her shoes LOL. She's going away to camp week after next for a week - first time ever - and I'm really nervous that her stinky feet are going to be a source of embarassment for her. How can I get rid of this horrible smell? Cheers for any help!

I'm 5'7 and at my heighest weight (around 265), I flew. It was uncomfortable, but I was able to fit in the seat. Pity the person sitting beside me though LOL. I could have used a seatbelt extender, but was too embarassed to ask for one, so stuck my coat on my lap and acted like it was fastened. Good luck - you'll be fine :eek:

Good for you, Michelle! I've got the lifetime Jenny Craig card lol, but haven't used it. Depending on how this slipped band turns out, perhaps I'll drop by there. I can completely understand needing the accountability. When I was doing weekly dr visits, I never once gained. Soon as I slacked on that, I hit a plateau and even added a few kgs.

April, its completely normal to be nervous and have your head play a few games with you. If you weren't, then you'd be loopy lol. My band has slipped and I might have to have a revision surgery, but even now, with as fickle as the band can sometimes be, I recognize that this is the best thing I've ever done, just for me. I've managed to lose around 90 lbs (although I have put a few back on) and I feel fantastic. As for your decision on whether or not to tell family/friends/coworkers, that's one only you can make. I told my immediate family beforehand, all the gory details. The rest of the family knew I was having surgery, but didn't know what for - figured it was girlie stuff. After I started losing, when they asked, I'd tell them. I work for my husband's company, so the boss knew lol .. but I told everyone else too. There's only one other girl in our office - the rest are 20something boys (all hotties too lol). They've all been extremely supportive. For me, it was easier telling people upfront, rather than having to make excuses as to why I couldn't join in on the massive feed they were having for lunch or whatever. Best of luck to you in your upcoming surgery. You'll do fine :eek:

Kel!!!!!!! OMG I can't believe the wedding has crept up this fast! I bet you and Paul have your hands full right now. I'm so happy for you .. can't wait to see the pics. The TT and reduction results have been great so far. The swelling is completely gone, now if the scars would do the same lol. The only bit I'm really not happy with is the lil gathered bits, at the end of the scarlines (where evidently, they've gathered the skin together?) Its small though so no big deal. Are ya'll honeymooning? If so, where? One of these days David and I are going to make it up there and visit ya. We've been to Sydney a dozen times this year .. but next time we're going central coast. Hugs! and congrats on the upcoming wedding :welldoneclap: Its about damn time lol.

I stressed soooooooooo much before the TT and reduction. About the pain, about the results, about not waking up lol.. the lot. But in all honesty, healing from that, for me, was 10x easier than healing from the band, even though it was a much bigger surgery and I was out for heaps longer. I guess its just because I was healthier. I only needed morphine for a few hours after the surgery, then panadol was sufficient. Was in the hospital for 5 days, but was up walking around the next morning just fine (okay, there was a bit of pain lol, but nothing like I expected). You'll do fine :welldoneclap: And if you have any questions, feel free to yell out!

Hey Jacqui!! As far as the tt and reduction goes, I'm all healed up from that. The scars aren't *too* bad, except under the breasts. I guess because its a crease, they take longer to heal. I'm very happy with the results though. The surgeon said I could start exercising after 6 weeks. I was slack LOL .. I didn't get back into the gym until 3 weeks ago. I'm feeling the burn, but in a good way. I'd love to catch up with you ladies again some time, but the next meet up is on a day that I have to take Jasmine to horse riding school camp. By the way - OMG you're falling away to nothing lol. 86kgs?!? Well done!!

Thank you everyone, for the thoughts and advice!! It means so much. On the band side of things, I had a great night's sleep last night for the first time in a while. No reflux whatsoever. My doctor didn't tell me to do liquids only for a few weeks. I'll call her back this morning and see if that's something I should be doing. Hope not, as I had a big ole taco salad last night LOL. The hubby has taken the diagnoses pretty well, considering. He owns his own business and I work for him, so luckily, we've been able to take time off when needed. We have a great group of staff that really pick up the slack. He went through several (5) days of steroid treatment for the last attack. While he didn't see any immediate results from it, he's been working with a physiotherapist 4 times/week to regain his strength and stability. He's gone from having 35% strength in his left side to 85%, since June. Its been a long road, but we're getting there. He hates needles, so is hesitant to go for the current medications, as they block around 35% of the attacks. So for the time being, he's going to wait for 6 months, then have another series of MRI's done to see if he's had any silent attacks (or visible ones even). If he has, then he'll talk to the neurologist about treatment. There's one in the US, that's new, but seems to be blocking around 80% of attacks. Its not available here yet, but he's talked to his neurologist about getting on that when it is. Again, thank you all so much for your kind words!!

Thanks But I knew going into this that shit happens lol ... I'll just keep going. For now, they are hoping that the removing of the fill will fix the slip. If not, they'll reposition. The doc was saying that a new band came out this year that's more flexible, thus they're seeing less slips. But if it just came out this year, I'm not sure I'd be willing to give it a go yet. I'm happy to do whatever I need to do to get it back into place though, so I can catch up with you :girl_hug: Looking fantastic, by the way!! :clap2:

I couldn't tell I had slipped. I had no vomiting at all. My only weirdish symptoms were reflux (mostly at night, but some in the day as well) and lack of restriction - again, mostly at night - but I've always been a night eater, so I didn't think too much of it.

Hi Anna Good luck on your upcoming surgery. I'm Jess - from Prahran (Melbourne). I was banded 18 months ago. Lost down to 74kgs earlier this year, then had a breast reduction and tummy tuck to get rid of the excess skin. Unfortunately, my band has now slipped - just found out today. I've managed to put on a few kilos as well.. back up to 80kgs. Didn't go to the gym for a while and ended up eating crap, as I was too tight and that's all I could get down easily (bad me!). So I'm attempting to jump back on the wagon at the moment. Head hunger issues suck big time. Wish I had some good sound advice for you, but honestly, I think its something we all struggle with. One thing that helped me with it early on, is knowing how much time/money/effort I'd put into banding. That kept me eating healthy. Course, closer you get to goal, if you're like me, the more you think you can have that piece of <insert nawty food here>. I'll probably always struggle with that a bit, but even as fickle as my band has been, I still love it. Its opened up all kinds of possibilities to me.

Hi folks, Firstly, I must apologize for my absence over the past few months. I'd promised myself that I wouldn't be one of those people who reached my goals and abandoned the site. Unfortunately, life got in the way and for a bit, I did. That said, I definitely didn't forget you guys!! You've all been such a rock through this journey. A few months ago, my hubby was diagnosed with MS, after a pretty big attack that left him unable to walk for a while. We don't have any family here, so juggling work, the kid and family life just became a bit much .. thus, I didn't really get online much. I haven't had a fill since April, right after my breast reduction and tummy tuck, but I keep having to go back and get more saline taken out of the band, as I've found it getting tighter and tighter. I'll have some removed - it'll be fine for a few weeks, then BOOM - tight again. Over time though, I've also managed to put on a few kilos. Just what I needed after having half my stomach cut off LOL. This past week, I spent most nights on the couch because reflux kept me up. It had me coughing like crazy and felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest. So today I went off to the docs, figuring I just needed a bit more removed. She decided that it'd be best if I went for a barium swallow, as I haven't had one since 1 day post op. It just trickled down slowly - still alot sitting in the pouch 5 minutes afterwards. The radiologist told me the band had slipped. I don't suppose it really hit me until I was back in the doctor's office though. Guess I figured she didn't know what she was talking about .. then I nearly burst into tears :/ So we did the usual - removed all the saline for two weeks and hope it will fix itself. If it doesn't, I suppose I'll go have it fixed. I love my band, even with all of its problems. I know a slip isn't nearly as bad as an erotion, but it still hit me hard. Anyway, just wanted to report in .. guess I'm looking for some good thoughts sent this way if anyone has some extras to give out. Hope everyone is doing well .. and congrats to all the newly banded people.

Wow - I guess I've been away for a while. Not sure what's going on, but I'll be sending all kindsa good thoughts your way. Best of luck!

Nothing to see here now :Banane56: lol

I started out in a 22/24 Australian (20/22 US). I now wear a loose 14 Australian or a tight 12 Australian (12/10 US). I'll be satisfied when I can fit comfortably into ANY size 12 Aus or 10 US, instead of just some of them. I'm not really a single digit kinda girl *shrugs*. I've always been curvy and want to stay that way to some extent

Wow - thank you all so much for your kind words! I nearly cried reading this thread. I guess I just never expected to get this far - I half expected the band to be like every other failed diet program I'd tried. I'm so glad I was wrong!! Kell - I had originally set my goal weight as 70kgs .. or maybe even 65kgs. I'm at 74 right now and while I'd love my thighs to be smaller and my bum to not be so umm ... huge, lol, I do feel quite comfortable where I am. I might try to lose another few kilos over the next few months, but I'm not going to stress about it either way. You ready to meet in Canberra?? hehe FunnyDuddies - my port was never really directly under that scar for some reason. My doc doesn't use flouro, he always just feels around, finds the port and sticks the needle in. He's never had any trouble doing it before, so fingers crossed, he still won't have any lol. That said, my port does feel like it might be deeper now .. dunno, might just be me *shrugs*. The tattoo I got when I was young and dumb. I've regretted it for ages. After I had my daughter, where there were single lines previously (like the outline), they had stretched into double and triple lines. It looked really bad. My surgeon wasn't able to get rid of it all without making my boobs smaller than I wanted, or extra scarring. I'll probably have what's left of it lasered off eventually. Here's my only before picture. I was really good at hiding from cameras for many years lol. Some sneaky person snapped this while we were on a weekend getaway, about 5 months before the band and right at the peak of my highest weight (around 262 lbs). I knew I was big, but until I saw that picture, I didn't realize exactly HOW big I was:- Again, thank you all soooooooo much! You've made my day and no one's gonna wipe this smile away today hehe

Wow Diane!! Paula's right - you look like you've dropped 100 lbs. You're looking fabulous!! Surely you don't have much further to go? And your waist is getting TINY!!! Well done

Congratulations Jamie, on all that you've accomplished this past year!!! We lost exactly the same amount on our bandiversaries lol. Miss seeing your posts around. Hope the pc troubles all get straightened out soon

Warning - the pictures below contain full nudity, for purposes of showing actual plastic surgery results. Please do not look if offended by nudity (or flab or thunder thighs lol). And now that that's over with hehe.. here they are. For anyone who hasn't read about the surgery and wants to, you can do that here. The before pictures are one week pre op - the after are one week post op. I'm still quite swollen, but they tell me that will go down *shrugs*. All in all though, I'm soooooo happy with the results and love having perky boobs for the first time ever LOL.

You are doing so fantastic!! Keep up the great work I don't do lidocain before getting a fill. The first fill definitely was more uncomfortable than the later ones. I attribute this to a) the doctor becoming familiar with my port and myself becoming familiar with what a fill feels like. It does get better though Oh .. and while I'm here, just wanted to say that I've really enjoyed reading your posts since you've come here!

I can't really add anything that the others haven't already stated. You are without a doubt, a huge inspiration. I admire your strength and conviction more than you could know. If I were to lose my band, I can see me being completely negative and wanting to lay blame. I haven't for one second seen you do that. You're such a strong person! I wish you the best in your journey. You definitely deserve it!

Wow Kathy - you're looking soooooooooo fantastic!!! 182 feels great, doesn't it?!? hehe Keep up the excellent work and Happy Bandiversary!