steph_co

I didn't tell anybody IRL but my husband. This is precisely one of the reasons. I've toyed with the idea of telling my mom, but I don't know if I ever will.

I'm sorry, I know I'm not part of your group, but your title caught my eye. That's crazy! I would have lost my job if I hadn't been able to drive for 15 days! I went back to work at 4 days post-op, but I did have my husband with me. But driving was fine. I drive around for 12 hours at night off and on as a security officer. Unless you're on narcotics, driving should not be restricted. Has your doctor explained WHY the restriction?

Sounds like good restriction to me. Make sure that you're chewing any solid food to mush when you eat. Then wait a minute between bites before taking another TINY bite and chewing it to mush, too. Yes, restriction can kick in 3 weeks after the fill. I've read that happening to a lot of people. I hope my fill tomorrow is more effective than my first one was. I'd like to be where you are at. I've heard it recommended that if you PB, that you should finish the day on liquids to let things settle down.

LOL - I don't know. It tastes good to me. I don't feel like I need to cool my mouth down. For some reason my mouth can tolerate the hot stuff better than before. The hotter, the better. We went to Chili's last night and I got a 1-oz cup on the side of buffalo sauce. OMG, I was dipping my grilled chicken in it and it was SO good. I was full and couldn't eat any more, so I actually ended up downing some of the sauce alone. Haha. The urge is strong.

I would strongly recommend you get yourself to a counselor. Then you have somebody that you can bounce your thoughts off of and get professional feedback. It can help to work through your feelings and clear your head so that YOU know what would be best for you so that you have strength in your convictions and the strength to do what needs to be done. Would he be willing to go to a counselor with you? In the past, I probably would have said, "Just leave the jerk." But I'm coming to see that marriage can take a lot of work sometimes. Who knows? Maybe his problem can be corrected and you two can go on to have a happy marriage together? Sometimes guys aren't the best at communicating feelings. Maybe he's just scared that you're too good for him, hence the affair comments. If you get a counselor, they would be able to give you more input about the situation since they've probably dealt with it more. I will add this, though - I do not think abuse is "okay." If it truly is getting to the point of demoralizing your character and you've talked to him about it so he understands how what he says affects you and it continues - then yes, it may be time to move on. Make sure if you leave that you have support from friends and/or family because it can make the journey easier and safer. And as much as it sucks, you can't control what kind of crap he would end up telling your daughter about you. When she gets old enough to understand adult things, she'll figure things out. Do you really want to run the risk, though, that when she gets older (but still living at home) that he'd start emotionally/verbally abusing her?

I got LASIK a week ago, actually. :rolleyes2: I love the results already. No side effects whatsoever. At my one-day post-op, I was a strong 20/25, weak 20/20. He said my vision would only improve from there and it has. I had one of the best surgeons in the country. Anybody getting into this thread - do your research on a place before using it. Especially since this is the only post the individual has made on this board...very suspect, IMO. Besides that, I've NEVER heard of side effects for 2 months. Yikes.

I heart you, Nina. You crack me up so hard. I love reading your posts.

I don't think you need to worry too terribly much about your pouch stretching before you start getting fills. But I think if you eat to uncomfortably full or past that point, you could cause damage. Before you're all healed up, I'd say you're more in danger of causing a slip.

Eat. Haha. That's what I did. I'm kidding, though, in reality you shouldn't do that. Maybe start some healthy habits - get out and start walking. The more you exercise before your surgery, the quicker and easier your recovery will be.

I am so glad you brought this up. LOL I mentioned this awhile back. I had mornings where I would get home from work and eat a tablespoon of hot sauce. I did that several mornings. I'll be sitting at work or driving in the car and all of a sudden get an INTENSE craving for hot sauce or fresh horseradish or peppers straight up. What used to be "hot enough" before the band doesn't even come close, now. I LOVE the burn, now. I have NO idea what that's about. Now that you're saying you've seen a lot of women in your support group with that problem, I may ask my NP when I go in for a fill the day after tomorrow. In fact, here's the thread I started a month ago: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f17/weird-cravings-47272/

Oh, heavens, yes. I hadn't even thought of this until you brought it up. I do tons of walking now - no problem. I haven't had to stand in one spot for too long, though, so who knows how that would be. But I would definitely have my moments when being out with DH that my feet would get tired - I'd be sick of walking, etc. OR, after a night of working (and not even walking half as much as I do now) I would get home and the plantar fasciitis would be hurting so bad. My heel would just ACHE. Like I said - I hadn't even thought about it, but my feet don't hurt at all. It's really nice. I don't mind standing around at all. I used to be able to stand for a few minutes and then if I had a choice, I'd get my rear sat down ASAP. Now I'm surprised at how long I really can stand. So, yeah - weight loss dramatically improves this aspect.

I love this thread. I went back and read through the whole thing again. Everybody is doing so fantastic. How exciting. I decided to add a few for myself: When I started this journey I was using a bra extender to make the band around my ribcage bigger and more comfortable for me. I think it added about 2 inches of breathing room. Well, that thing is long gone and about a week ago, I had to move to the second set of loops in to make the bra tighter so it stays put. It's almost loose enough to move to the final set of loops! Also, I mentioned this in the challenge thread, but it made me feel awesome, so I felt it was worth mentioning again. I measured 38.5 around my waist on 1/14 and went shopping for pants about 4 days after that. I thought 38's (men's) would be the size for me. They were too big. I had to get 36's. :girl_hug: They were a little snug when I bought them, now they are feeling very comfortable.

The Poll: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f17/how-many-incisions-39459/ I had 5.

3 more lbs, now, for me! I'm so excited. I see wombat hit it. WTG! SO close, I can almost taste it. Keep up the great work, ladies!

Lots of info in the FAQ's section: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f73/abbreviations-what-they-mean-7959/ Take smaller bites, chew, chew, chew. If it's a certain problem food that you can't get down, don't eat it.

Sounds familiar to me. I think that's why I've yo-yo'ed so much and not been able to keep weight loss off. Being skinny equals being vulnerable in my mind. I have some head issues to deal with. You might look into getting some Geneen Roth books - she talks about compulsive eating. Very interesting. I just started going through her workbook, Why Weight? It is helping me to see what my fears are that have held me back, what I get out of being fat, etc. I can deal with the issues NOW so that when I do get to "skinny," I'm not fighting myself so hard. I really wish there was something they could turn off in the brain to make this easier. But, yeah, one of the things I realized in my work was that once I got skinny, I'd be more visible. That makes me nervous. I'm a major introvert. And more cute clothes will be available to me and I've wanted them for so long that I WILL get them - they'll just make me stand out more. So, yeah...head issues. Just another thing we get to work on after getting banded.

That is such a good point. The list in the "similar threads" surprised me! I also wanted to add something that was emailed to me that I found REALLY interesting. When you are dieting alone (no exercise), when you lose a pound, you are losing .75 lb of FAT and .25 of MUSCLE. But when you EXERCISE in addition to dieting, when you lose a pound, you are losing 1.25 lb of FAT and gaining .25 of muscle - which obviously would result in inch loss. Yes, lbs are important, but inches more so because it gets you into smaller clothes quicker. :biggrin: So it's time to get moving. I'm not a huge exercise fan, either - but I make myself move. Having an ActiTrainer has helped me keep track of my activity level so I can get moving more if necessary.

I am pro-choice, but I believe that you should be able to figure out in the first trimester what your choice is. I feel that beyond that is unnecessary except in cases of mother in danger. Partial-birth abortion makes me sick. And I feel that using abortion as birth control is abuse, as well. I think better education would help the situation as a whole. But then, if education happened BEFORE the pregnancy perhaps we wouldn't have so many problems.

L Ron Hubbard is a nutcase. Seriously. Read about him on Wikipedia or wherever you wish. Google. But I found it interesting that he is quoted as saying: "Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion." LOL Found this info on Wikipedia (Yes, I know it's written by people on the internet, but they have references to back them up): Sounds like who I'd love to follow. Haha.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er1bwzZCik0]YouTube - Bush - Machinehead[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZXhlwYOyLw]YouTube - violent femmes _ gone daddy gone[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSnLdYBdeHg]YouTube - violent femmes _ add it up[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tCL3bTFDog]YouTube - violent femmes _ blister in the sun[/ame] Yes, I'm sorry - I like angry-chick music [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v9yUVgrmPY]YouTube - Alanis Morissette - Ironic[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXCCv5ngyI0]YouTube - Alanis Morissette - All I Really Want[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR6mEu5-egA]YouTube - Alanis Morissette-You Oughta Know[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTpvjNn2BUM]YouTube - Fiona Apple-Criminal[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osWDASNgbx4]YouTube - Everclear: I Will Buy You a Knew Life[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8uamNDLEA0]YouTube - Everclear - Father Of Mine[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcBOi2k7QhQ]YouTube - Everclear- Everything to everyone [official][/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAMnjzU-6UQ]YouTube - Live - Lightning Crashes[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgiGrXpOhYg]YouTube - nothing else matters[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf4EehBhBzU]YouTube - Metallica - The Unforgiven[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRYDetbwegs]YouTube - Metallica- Enter Sandman[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOibtqWo6z4]YouTube - Metallica - Turn The Page[/ame] <---Featuring Ginger Lynn...one of my fave porn stars. Ok, probably just because of Playboy Radio. LOL [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mg1PEoQ_cq8]YouTube - Salt-N-Pepa - Let's Talk About Sex[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKaVBVikysw]YouTube - Salt N Pepa - Shoop ( Classic )[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x66RR_0Ffjc]YouTube - Natalie Imbruglia - Torn[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu4NcgQZucE]YouTube - Paula Abdul - Straight Up[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN-Qq2umKZo]YouTube - Paula Abdul Cold Hearted Snake - Hi Quality[/ame] Gees. Thanks for the flashback. LOL I wanted to listen to each and every song as I posted it here. That was fun. Of course, there are many, many, many more that I could post. I'll stop, now.

I just saw this question. Sorry it took me so long. I'm currently a 16. I got into this size when I hit about 205-210? (I can't remember, exactly) So I'm kind of expecting/hoping that when I hit my Valentine's Day goal that I'll be in 14's. I'm also a size 36 in men's pants. Haha...that probably doesn't help much, but that's what I wear for work and I wear these more than my size 16 jeans. I know in my 150's that I'm a size 10.

Click here -----> http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f17/new-band-update-realize-47058/ He compares the two bands in that thread.

Somehow this topic came up at my seminar and it was my surgeon that was doing the seminar. I think it might have been somebody asking which was better, or something. He didn't choose one over the other, he just named the pros and cons again, leaving it up to the patient. He said that usually doctors will lean towards RNY because they've done so many - it is the leading bariatric surgery in this country. He also mentioned the disaster that the original gastric band was some years ago (80's?? I have no idea) that makes some of the older surgeons gun-shy when it comes to the LapBand. Like a lot of them are taking a "wait and see" attitude when it comes to the band.

Most certainly. I had my pre-op on Oct 18th and set the date for Nov 15th. I went WILD eating all kinds of things I'd like to stay away from, now. I can't say I don't indulge now and then being post-op, but I still haven't wanted anything to do with those dang Twinkies (amongst other things).

WTG, Lauren! That's awesome. Seeing inch loss really does feel good. I feel you on the front-to-back comment you made. If something fits my waist, it doesn't fit my ass. LOL And if I find something to fit my ass, it generally leaves a gap around my waist. Oh, the joys of being curvy. Your tummy will catch up!