steph_co

Nope. My gynecological medical history wasn't even asked about except when I mentioned unexplained infertility and then it was just the history of that - they never asked when was the last time I had had a pap.

*snort* Done in 5 mins. I wish. LOL I don't mean ALL the time, but sometimes when I'm in a hurry, it would be nice. I miss eating when I think of foods I'd like to stay away from (carbs...the bad ones), but once I start eating a meal, it's such a chore I wish it was over with. I'm a major food addict, so yes - I do miss using that addiction. It is a major adjustment. But with the restriction I have now, I have no choice if I don't want to be in pain.

I paid $10,850 in Denver, CO. But my surgeon is now charging $9,900.

2...with a decent amount of restriction. I'm up to 6.5cc in a 10cc band.

:eek: That sucks, Lizzie. If it were me, I honestly think I'd have a complete unfill to let the tummy calm down and not worry about restriction right now. The tummy needs to heal. I'd be scared my band could slip or erode from the irritation. I hope you get it to a level that things can heal up. That doesn't sound fun at all.

I'm noticing water being vital to weight loss, too. Have had a really bad cold the past few days and haven't felt like putting anything in (to include water) and the scale has stopped since Thursday. I'm making myself get more tonight and hopefully I can get a ~whoosh~.

Yikes. That sounds awful. I'm really sorry to hear that - I'd be freaking out. Looks like it's nearly time for your nurse to be off work. I have no idea how your nurse does your fills, but you can find a good level of restriction by drinking some water and seeing if it goes through. For instance, on my first fill she tried to up me to 5 cc and water wouldn't go through, so she backed off .5 cc and I could drink water just fine. Make sure you drink some water before you leave and wait about 5 mins or more to make SURE. That's scary. Hope you're doing better this morning and that you're on your way to being able to drink water!

Pregnancy with the Lap-band (NEW!) - Lap Band Talk Forum - The largest forum for Lap Band Surgery Discussion and Lap Band Surgery Support Lots of info regarding being pregnant and banded.

:eek: I didn't know that anybody SOLD used undergarments! Gross. I didn't even think that was legal. I'm shopping in my closet a bit, but I mostly just have stuck with one pair of jeans once I got heavy because I hated trying that stuff on. I'm saving $40 per pay period (equal to or even a bit less than what I used to spend on JUNK food) and putting it in savings....when I get down to goal, it's time to go on a shopping spree. :biggrin: In the meantime, I'll buy one size pair of jeans at a time and they are Walmart jeans. As for my work pants, I bought a new pair when I went from 42 to 36 and I'm going to try and hold off with these pants until I get to goal since I'm almost halfway there. They'll be pretty bulky once I get down to size. My uniform shirts are provided. My theory was basically that I didn't want to buy cute clothes when I got heavy because I didn't want yet one more excuse to stay big.

I guess it comes down to weighing the pros and cons. It can be a scary choice just because it's such a HUGE choice. But you know what's right for you and how to get there. I was a major sweet-eater before the band. I was also afraid I wouldn't be able to kick that habit. But once you are properly restricted and you make sure to eat your regular balanced meals (Protein first, veggies next, then fruit or multi-grains), there really isn't room for much else! And really, because I've made myself stay away from sweet stuff for the most part, I can't handle sweet stuff as well as I used to. It makes me ill if I eat too much. The NP at my Dr's office also mentioned to me that as you lose a bunch of weight, your taste buds can change which can include making sweets taste TOO sweet. It's an adjustment, but you can do this. And you will be AMAZED at what you are capable of doing when you have such a powerful ally on your side!

I am afraid people will treat me differently. There's a girl that I deal with at my work that used to be real talkative to me and since she heard from my DH that I was losing weight, when I've seen her in person, she'll barely look at me. :party: I don't get it. I was a buddy before and now I'm scum, or something. I act exactly the same, I say hi to her and she'll look right past me to my husband and say hello. I have noticed girls are a little colder to me now which is really strange because honestly, I didn't expect it. I have also noticed that guys are nicer, I wasn't expecting that, either. But I mean even the ones that know I'm married and there isn't any chance in hell of something happening between us...they want to sit and talk with me. WTH? It must be a societal thing. I lost a bunch of weight when I was in my senior year of HS, but I don't remember this kind of a change in people. Of course, I am a bit more outgoing now than I was then (I think I was scared that my own shadow would notice me), so maybe that's why. And no - I don't act any differently now than I did 45 lbs ago.

I take a chew able pineapple-flavored multi. Called Nature's Plus, or something like that. I actually LIKE taking it. I don't dread it like my other supplements.

I'll have to add that to my list of fun games that makes a person exercise. I also recommend the Wii Sports games (DH's kids played that this last summer and each and every one of them was sweating like crazy) and PS2 has a game that works with the EyeToy (little camera that goes on top and puts you into the game) that has little workouts on it that are fun...the kids went wild to that one, too. Now I'll have to look into DDR...anything to tire those kids out is just fine with me. LOL

Haha...you're the one that inspired me to get my rear into the closet to look for things that might fit. :thumbup: That's so awesome about the suede skirt...I bet it looks great. It sounds beautiful. I love different fabrics for clothing - they're so fun. Work that skirt, woman!

Delete the ticker code from your avatar...it won't turn up there. Paste that code into your signature. Then make sure when you post that you have "post signature" checked as one of your options. shortgal: I understand eyes being bigger than my stomach in the worst way, now. LOL I've had it happen before, but good heavens - this is ridiculous. I got some boneless buffalo wings today (craving hot stuff all the time) and I LOVE these kind so thought I'd be able to eat at least half of them. They gave me 10, I ate 3. :| I should be happy, but I'm trying to make today a high calorie day to throw my body off when I go back onto low calories tomorrow and I can start losing again. I'll have to get my higher calories today from a Bolthouse Protein shake. It really still surprises me how little I can eat. This takes a lot of HEAD adjustment. But I am getting to like it. It makes my choices easier if I don't want to be in pain.

Name.................Start.....Current....Goal....To Go TxArcher............360.......346..........345....1 Shortgal.............198.......192.6.......192.....1/2 (now I'm aiming for 191) Trixie.................264.......248..........244.....4 tyman311...........168.......161..........150.....11 Shalee04............218........208.........206......2 Steph...............203.5......188.5......188.5....0 Yay! I'm hoping I can possibly lose another 7 lbs by Valentine's, but I won't kick myself if I don't.

I got a loan from my bank. I guess it's like a credit card, so that's what I voted. I applied with surgeryloans.com and they turned out to be the biggest assholes I have ever dealt with. I have decent credit, excellent income, and can easily make extra payments. They asked for near everything except my arm and leg and treated me like I was some kind of high-risk, or some crap. They requested proof of my hubby's income, too, even though I didn't want him on the loan because his credit sucks. I provided it and then they wanted all his info to include him on the loan. I told them to forget it and just send my stuff back. That was in November....still waiting for my ORIGINALS to be sent back that they swore they would return. Interesting that while all that was going on, I walked into my bank and got a $15,000 loan on the spot without half the headaches that Surgery Loans put me through. Make sure you shop around.

Even though my surgery was 3 hours from my home (which meant stopping every hour to get out and WALK), I would have been climbing the curtains if they had made me stay. I hate it when I don't feel well and I'm sleeping in a strange bed. Yuck. I couldn't wait to get the heck out of there and start heading home.

I hope this one does it for you, Sades. It can make so much difference, it's unbelievable. I hope they get you to that sweet spot. I'm struggling with this stupid thing. I guess while I didn't have restriction I didn't get myself used to the habit of SLOWING DOWN and chewing a ton and taking tiny, tiny bites and waiting between swallowing and taking my next bite. This sucks. LOL I am happy I have restriction, but at the same time, it is SO frustrating. We went out to dinner last night and I ordered 3 different appetizers from the menu since I knew I wouldn't be able to get much down and I wanted to get several different tastes. I ate 2 chicken hot wings (you know, those little tiny ones), 3 mozzarella sticks, and about 2 tablespoons of corn chowder. Sheesh. Even what I DID get down was a struggle and I felt the pain and impending PB feeling several times. I didn't PB, thank goodness, since I had no clue where the bathroom was. I just really have to fight my food addiction, now. It's weird to me that NOW that I have restriction, this is when the TRUE work begins. Water still takes several seconds to gurgle through and my Slim Fast shakes are interesting to drink, too. It'll be nice if this lasts because I really think this is what's going to kick me in the rear end to face my demons when it comes to food.

I bought a pair of 14 jeans from Walmart...just waiting to be able to wear them. My 16s look silly, but the 14s don't jive with my butt. Ugh. BUT, I tried on my old pair of leather pants that are 14s and good heavens...I LOVE those things. I haven't put them on since about 2000 and then I've never gotten to wear them out of the house. They fit on me, they zip, I'm able to move around and don't feel like anything's getting cut off. But they are too tight to wear out of the house, yet. I'm just THRILLED I got them on. Those things are hot. DH was panting. LOL This is a SV, but I'm finally OVERWEIGHT. I celebrated with a nice massage and a great new haircut and color. I look like a totally different person. I FINALLY got my first compliment from somebody that didn't know I was trying to lose weight. She was AMAZED at how different I look and she said she almost didn't recognize me. She said I looked FABULOUS and she bet I felt a whole lot better, too. That felt really good to hear. Nobody else but my mother and husband have said anything about how I look. :biggrin:

You can't stretch your band. Now your POUCH, yes. But I wouldn't be worried about that downing liquefied soup. The point of being on liquids is to let your stomach and the stitches heal. There's no way for anybody to tell if you've done any damage to your band without x-ray specs. But I'll say that it doesn't sound likely that you have done any. You could always call your doc and ask what they think.

Do you mean for a self-pay or for insurance? Because the wait can vary GREATLY depending on who your insurer is. But I was self-pay. I had my pre-op appointment on October 18th where I saw the nutritionist, the social worker (psych consult), the surgeon, and the nurse practitioner. I scheduled my surgery at that appointment for November 15th. Between October and November I had a nutrition class and a blood draw.

I asked my NP about this and she said that the band is designed to last your whole life. Not enough research, nor has it been used long enough to PROVE it, but that is what it was designed for. No way of knowing for sure.

LOL...heck, yes. I hear my digestive tract doing ALL of its work. It's really strange because I can feel the gurgle at my left hip bone...a couple of times I wondered if my phone was vibrating. LOL

A deck of cards = 4 oz. One of your thumbs = 1 oz.