Bobalooey

I wrote this 3 years ago this month. People still tell me these observations hold true. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f17/pre-post-surgery-observations-8033/ Enjoy!

MrsFlipFlops, you may be right on the allergies or congestion as I've been sneezing with a runny nose for at least 2 of these last 3 weeks. I'll try a Mucinex tonight and try to chase it down with some solid food. Thanks, that was helpful.

To All, I was banded 3 years ago, have lost over 130 pounds with the last 10 - 20 still remaining to come off due to my own stupidity and milkshakes. Anyway, I've had 6 - 7 fills (some to remove restriction) and have been at an acceptable "sweet spot" for over a year. I can only drink liquids for Breakfast, Soups & muchies for lunch and more solid food like fish & veggies for dinner. For the last 3 weeks I've experienced more restriction than ever before for no apparent reason. Just drinking Water brings on that feeling of constipation in my chest that we all know and love and I get anxious over whether or not I'm going to PB. My question to you is: have any of you had other factors effect the tightness of the band like stress, heat, humidity, having flown in a plane, etc? Right now I can ride this out to get the remaining weight off of me but I know I can't go on like this forever. Any advice or similar experiences you could share would be helpful.

I took it for a few months when it was first released. Seperated all of the fat from the food I was eating and neatly deposited it into the lining of my pants. Most disappointing diet med I ever took and I took them all! The worst part was that you had no warning when the leak was going to occur, and with a smell that would knock the buzzard off of the shit wagon! If they start selling this stuff over the counter, I'd only buy it as a prank to play on somebody else.

TexasLady, I was banded by Dr. Spiegel at the end of June 2005. I weigh in at his office every two weeks and I'm down over 70+ pounds. You have everything to be excited about, but truly nothing to worry about. After the surgery, I remember thinking to myself, "That was it?". He has a very professional staff that are so well practiced in the procedure that you'll feel like you did nothing much more than get in line for a flu shot. A funny memory just returned to me. I remember the morning of the surgery that I (along with 20 others) were all waiting in some room on the 8th floor of the Surgical Center. It was really early so everybody was groggy, especially since most didn't sleep the night before. Around 6:30, some overly perky lady pops into the waiting room and yells out "SO...WHO'S READY FOR SOME SURGERY?". There were a few groans, but absolutely nobody gave her the rah-rah response she was looking for. I remember thinking to myself...."Yeah, yeah, blow it out your ass!" and why couldn't she just let us all sit there in our denial. This lady (believe her name was Shirley or Sheila, short red hair) was the business manager for the whole operation and she turned out to be an angel of mercy. As I was being prepped and the adrenaline was really starting to flow at the thought of being put under, she was by my side and nobody there could have calmed me down the way she did. Hers was the first face I saw when I came out of the anesthesia as she was by my side to make sure I wasn't freaked upon waking up. Dr. Felix will weird you out a little as he'll approach your gurney as you are being prepped. First he'll ask how you are doing, then he'll say "So, do you have a check for me?". I remember handing him the certified check, he read it, folded it and put it in his pocket. Then he patted me on the shoulder and moved on to his next patient. He came back later to check on me after I was revived and told me everything went flawlessly. The Anesthesiologist was an absolute magician. Usually, I can feel myself going under and since I hate the feeling of being artifically knocked out, I usually try to fight it until the drug kicks in. In the past, I've experienced a ringing in my ears while under and sense a dim color of orange the entire time I'm out. This time was different, he inserted the IV, they started wheeling me down the hallway to surgery, and the next thing I know I was waking up in recovery. I don't even remember feeling f---ed up for any of the pre/post procedures. If I hadn't looked down to see the bandages on my belly (and right nipple....another story) I'd honestly had thought that they never did the surgery. Somewhere on this site there is a thread I started on my Pre and Post-Op observations including some pictures they will give you of the device in place around your stomach. I'd be interested in hearing of your experiences after your surgery, please make it a point to get back on and share with us. Good Luck, but I assure you that you won't need it!

Nice Job! I just figured you sweated most of that off knowing the catheter was coming!!!

Click on UserCP in the upper left hand corner of this site, choose Edit Options then choose the type of Default Thread Subscription Mode you want including None which will stop all emails.

I haven't been in hiding, just lurking without much to contribute. You can't go wrong with Spiegel!

JoMama & Nancy. I'm still alive and kicking, thanks for asking. JoMama, you chose your surgeon wisely, and his support staff are all professional and will bend over backwards to make your procedure as easy as possible. On the weight loss side, I'm closing in on 70 pounds lost since June 30, 2005 and I'm feeling great. I've started some good excercise regimen. I play golf twice a week and walk with a hand cart instead of riding the electric carts. That may not sound like a big deal, but it forces me to walk over 4 miles every round and I'm so busy golfing that I don't notice the walk. The nipple, although now completely healed, scarred over where it was cut and the nipple now points north and watches me shave instead of watching me tie my shoes. I'm thinking about going back to have the other one nicked just so I can have a matched set again. At least half of me now looks like its always excited! It hasn't been a cake walk though, I've had my share of depressions, PB's, anxiety attacks over what I could have for my next meal, etc. But I'm very happy I did this. I know to have lost this much weight on my own without an assist would have been another futile attempt to conquer the beastie. I'm confident that I can reach goal and I'm satisfied with the 3 - 4 pounds a week loss. I've been able to stop taking the f---ing Wellbutrin XL completely and I'm starting to be able to sleep withing the CPAP. I really have no complaints.

PamRN, Perhaps you've installed a Spam Blocker (often embedded in some of the currently available security suites of software like Norton or McAfee) and its possible that the messages are being picked up as Spam. I only suggest this because it happened to me as well and I had to train the Spam Blocker to allow any and all mail from LapBandTalk. If this is not the case try setting up an alternate email addy for yourself like Yahoo, or AOL, MSN, HotMail, etc and switch the your settings in your profile to send mail to that new address. Good Luck.

While you are there, see if the good Dr. can do something about that enlarged font of yours!