steph_co

I am SO sick of this attitude. I haven't told anybody, so I haven't personally had to deal with it. But with every ache and pain and adjustment I have to make, I see flash in my mind, "THE EASY WAY?!?!!!!!" LOL This is NOT freaking easy. I don't care who says that. Until they've been through it themselves, they have NO right to call it "easy." Holy moly. Who in their right minds could seriously think that going under general anesthesia to get your belly cut into is EASY? It just makes me laugh. I know - mini rant. I'm not really angry, I'm just AMAZED that people can assume this is easy!!! As for everybody else - I'm really glad you are getting support from them. :scared: THAT is what makes it easi-ER. I think that's really great that your students are showing support without even realizing how much it means.

You're probably in recovery right now! I'm so excited for you! I'll keep you in my thoughts to heal quickly!

Glad to hear you're doing so well, Phil. Keep up the good work. That's a great attitude to have, Longhorn. I'd like my success to be more about a size than my weight, but we'll see how that goes.

Total cost was $10,850 and that covered all my pre-op stuff. They didn't even request any type of payment from me whatsoever at my consultation and that included talking to the nutritionist, the doctor, the psych-eval, the doctor's assistant... And I went to their nutrition class with no extra cost. Not a cent came out of my bank account until the day of surgery. Of course, I also didn't have to do a lot of that pre-op stuff like EKGs, pulmonary or sleep studies, etc. That may be more BMI-related or a doctor's preference based on his estimated risk for each patient. I'd say it probably evens out compared to Longhorn because I WILL be paying for fills. Honestly, I don't know how much because I don't care what it costs - it's worth it to me.

I got into the operating room at 9:47am, they called DH at 10:30am to tell him I was out, he finally got in to see me about 11:30am and we left at 2pm. It hasn't been bad - I was banded 2 days ago and I walked over 1 mile today (just keep on top of those pain meds!).

Yay! Have fun! I'm jealous.

I asked the same question in our monthly support group. Come on over - we're all right around the same time as you (actually - I was banded on the 15th, too!). http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f99/water-45363/

I agree - this has been an excellent thread. DH was SO happy to hear about this. We'll be paying for a CPA that is familiar with small-business/self-employed people this year rather than going to H&R Block because it's cheaper. I think I might actually get a refund this year!! Chiquita - I had the same thoughts as you about the whole "last meal" thing and enjoying that last big one. But you know, honestly, I'm looking forward to eating LESS than I have in years past and being satiated. That'll be so nice. And really, it's best to do it THIS holidays so that you are most likely to be around for NEXT holidays (AND slimmer!!) and beyond. You are making a great choice for you and your family. I have NO regrets doing this before Thanksgiving/Christmas (just banded 11/15).

OMG, ain't that the truth! I got a little cocky today because I was feeling pretty good this morning about 4am (my sleep schedule is all screwy, now) and the last time I had taken Vicodin was 8pm the night before. So I skipped the Vicodin, only took some Tylenol. Went for the walk two times around the block, then went to the recycle center, Rite-Aid, and Target with DH. OOOOOooooohhhh, did I regret that. I probably would have been fine on Vicodin. All that walking and getting in/out of the vehicle without the strong pain meds, I just about died. LOL I took 2 Vicodin when I got home and passed out for 4 hours! Yeah, it was nice when it HAD lessened. LOL Then I got full of myself. haha I'll be staying ahead of the pain meds if I know I'm going somewhere, or before going to bed!! Thank you, Princess. That makes me feel a bit better. I'm drinking my 3rd 11-oz Slim Fast and aside from that, I've only had sips of juice or Water today.

Yes, you can check blades in your bag. And actually, both times that I worked for TSA, blender blades were not a problem (go figure) in carry-on. As long as you have the whole appliance so it doesn't look fishy. But especially checking it, you'd be fine. The only things not allowed in checked luggage were HAZMAT and undeclared firearms...and of course the things that would be illegal to even posess anyway - like bombs.

I made myself drink a Slim-Fast this morning and then I went for a walk two times around the block. Phew.

I had surgery this past Thursday. So I'm two days past. Ugh...I don't know what it is, but I keep getting this pain like a burp that just can't come out. It's not constant - it's like it comes in waves and just gets stuck. What is that??? It makes me not want to put anything else in there. I know it's bad for me, but all I want to do is just sleep or stay lying down. I went for a walk around the block yesterday (holding my tummy) and that felt okay. I just want to go to sleep and wake up when it's no longer hurting - it's exhausting. How long before the port site stops hurting? That's really the only pain that bothers me - the rest I can deal with.

How soon after surgery were you able to get your 64 oz of Water a day? I'm really sucking at this. I sip, sip, and then my stomach hurts. I'm getting my fluids by way of the about 8 oz of chicken broth I'm drinking right now, the stuff I take with the vicodin (watery applesauce or pudding), sips of Protein shake, and sips of water now and then. I'm getting NOwhere NEAR 64 oz. Sheesh. I just don't feel like taking anything in - it's hard! And how about your protein? I haven't gotten 60-80 mg today, either. This will get easier as the days go by, right? If there's anything I wish I had, it's a belly bra. LOL It hurts less to walk around if I support my tummy. Anybody else have this problem?

Congrats on the date, WTW! How exciting. I know I was freaked out beforehand...you'll get through it with us all there by your side. We've all been there (or very shortly will be), so we understand. Hugs.

That's great, Wendy! Good luck to your son!

Glad to hear things went well for your DH... I look forward to hearing how yours goes!

Ugh...I meant SAD about the fatso comment. Not worth it go back and edit. LOL

Oh, my. I think I would have gotten a little strong-armed about the hitting the dogs thing. Letting them know that I wasn't going to let the dogs go with them if they were going to keep hitting them. THEN if grandma got upset over that, I would have asked if she wanted to deal with ME, or animal control/the police. That's animal cruelty. That's really said about the fatso comment. Don't worry, Linda - karma has a way of coming back and biting people. YES, even when they're only 12. It's sad that the adult figures in their lives allow them to think this is okay.

LOL! That SO crossed my mind! haha Basically you'll have to give a "job interview" to whomever you go to. Go with a list of questions. As to if they've ever dealt with somebody that has had bariatric surgery, or simply if they've dealt with somebody with compulsive eating disorder. Any other issues you may want to bring up. You ARE interviewing them in order to possibly "employ" them. Did your surgeon have an in-house social worker or psychologist? If so, they could also give you more questions to ask. If you don't like a particular person, then don't "hire" them. You deserve to be happy with this person, in particular.

Erm. Is it giving you an error message when you try to put it all in there? I'm trying to figure out what the problem could be. I've seen the following problems when I've altered my signature - "no more than 10 lines allowed," "no more than 1,000 characters allowed." Are you getting one of those?

Wendy - I totally get what you're saying and HONESTLY, I have no problem with you not liking it - YOU'RE in the group...you should get a say. But the high school stuff from other people is getting really old. This is not the first time I've seen it. Oh, well. Not much you can do about angry people that aren't happy unless they're being passive-aggressive.

If signatures make you so hormonal and angry, you have the option to not show them. Go to UserCP>Edit Options and uncheck the box for "Show Signatures." Then you don't have to discard a whole person because you find one part of their "persona" annoying. I'm going to guess you do this a lot in life.

I try to stay away from RnR. It can get ugly there. Don't worry about it, Tishbite. Seriously. Just because they've been here longer doesn't mean their opinion is more valid than yours. And I'm fed up with that way of thinking..."I've been on THIS board longer than you, so your opinion doesn't count." WTF is up with that? I've been on message boards since 2003. Just because I haven't been on THIS board doesn't mean I don't have a lick of sense when it comes to board etiquette. I made my pic and my November graphic lettering smaller before anybody said anything to me because I understand how it could bother some people. So, yeah - I get it. But if you have something to say to somebody, why not just say it? I've seen a lot of cattiness in the RnR and it was pretty disheartening before I got the band to see how some of the oldies could tear apart some of the newbies, or less actives of the board. It's very unfortunate that we can't just be nice. Did your momma not teach you any manners? It's like some people think just because they're hiding behind a computer that it's now socially acceptable to gossip and backstab. Give me a break.

Wow, Ghost - look at you! NICE results you got!

Guys just like to fix things. He thinks he's being helpful. Don't take it personal. Sometimes they say things that seem kind of blunt and can seem rude to a woman. Maybe he thought you were complaining about "just" 1-2 lbs/wk. LOL Take it with a grain of salt and ignore him.