swirligirl

Unfortunately this is an issue that will always have contraversy, like abortion. I believe in gay marriage. Luckily I live in the only state that has gay marriage (Go Massachusetts!!!!) and my friends, cousin, and uncle have all married in the last year. I guess I hope that one day the religious right can embrace what I belive is a Christian value of loving and respecting others. Live and let live if you will. I respect thier right to religion and faith. However, this does not give anyone the right to force thier faith on me, my body, and my right to love another person (man or woman). Homosexuals have long been persecuted for something which they do not decided. They have loving families and deserve the rights granted to heterosexuals by the government. The right to live and love with thier partner, and the legal rights to protect thier families. As for those that want to "Protect" marriage, well how respected is heterosexual marriage these days? The same men that stand up in the House and Senate demanding amendments to ban gays from marrying are the same men who get caught cheating on thier wives. My uncle has been with his partner for 22 years. Do you know of many marriages that last that long? How is allowing two people in love that have been together for 22 years to marry destroying marriage? I would think it would strengthen the institution.

Hi all, I am back after a long break from LBT. I am 30, live in MA and had my band surgery in January. I am currently down 90lbs, and still chugging along.

Hi all, Lorin I am 30 and have had my band since 1/06. I am down 90lbs, and very happy with my band. I seem to be very sensitive to fills, so I am actually only on my 3rd fill and I am going to put off my fourth fill until January (it was supposed to be the end of November). I am at really good restriction right now, and usually have to stick with a shake or maybe oatmeal in the morning. I had my surgery with Dr.Randall at Lawrence Memorial who (in my humble opinion) is just the best doctor ever. I love him, love him, love him and reccommend him to anyone considering surgery. Warning though, he is tough and doesn't really take any crap from his patients. You can't make excuses, because he expects you to succeed. Which for me is great, because I want to do this for myself and knowing that he believes in me is real motivation. Oh and he is always late.

Hey there, It just started getting chilly here in New England so I have started doing alot more soup. Which is good, because I am very sensitive to my fills and tend to stay on a mushy/liquid diet for several weeks. I have been doing something similar to this, I found it on IVillage and it is Good Houskeeping's Soup Diet (www.villageonadiet.com). I find it very filling and I spice up the soup with different things so I don't get bored. Everything from beans to kelbasi(turkey) to tofu. I am on the road for work all day, so it is really easy to fill a thermos with some soup and sip my day away knowing I am eating well. To those of you souping it up, that villageondiet website has some great ways to make the soup different...like a fish chowder version and a curry chicken. It is a great resource for soup lovers.

Hi everyone, It has been ages, but with the holidays and tons of overtime at work I was slammed. :faint: I was banded 1/16 by Dr.Randall at the Lawrence Memorial in MA. I am so thrilled with my band, down 10lbs since my pre-op testing and doing great with purees. So far no nausea or yucky upchuck incidents :clap2:, although I did test the waters with some Pad Thai the other night and did NOT go further than one little bite (it hurt...really hurt:p ) Recovery has also been great. I am so glad to be banded and ready to go forward with my weight loss goals!!!

:faint: I am turning 30 on Sunday :faint: This should just not be allowed, I am on purees and I can not drink (alcohol that is) and I get tired pretty fast so I am not going to head out to party the night away. I have decided to post-pone turning 30 until June when I hope I can better party my 20's away. heh. Otherwise, in bandland things are great. I met with my nutritionist yesterday and she has moved me up from purees to a kind of mushy/soft foods mix. I am going to get to try chicken not pureed and tuna and maybe some well cooked veggies. Very exciting . She did not weigh me, but I feel like I have lost a bit more since my Monday post-op. I am now 12 days out from surgery (1/16) and feeling really good. :clap2: Most people don't believe that I have had sugery!! Updates soon, Lorin 387/372/362/???

:faint: I am turning 30 on Sunday :faint: This should just not be allowed, I am on purees and I can not drink (alcohol that is) and I get tired pretty fast so I am not going to head out to party the night away. I have decided to post-pone turning 30 until June when I hope I can better party my 20's away. heh. Otherwise, in bandland things are great. I met with my nutritionist yesterday and she has moved me up from purees to a kind of mushy/soft foods mix. I am going to get to try chicken not pureed and tuna and maybe some well cooked veggies. Very exciting :mad: . She did not weigh me, but I feel like I have lost a bit more since my Monday post-op. I am now 12 days out from surgery (1/16) and feeling really good. :clap2: Most people don't believe that I have had sugery!! Updates soon, Lorin 387/372/362/???

:clap2: HOORAY I am all BANDED! I have to say that I love my band so far, of course I am not so far out from surgery so I am trying not to express too much love.:kiss2: So far I have lost 18lbs pre-op:biggrin1: , and 10lbs post-op :madgrin: . I will start weighing in at Curves next week when I get back to real life. I took two weeks off of work, so I have been a little out of reality. Right now I am on pureed foods:hungry: , which seemed gross when I was faced with the idea, but is actually not so bad. I puree some tuna salad, chicken salad, and tonight some yummy shrimp and it isn't all that skeevy. Sure I wanted a big piece of my roommate's pizza the other night, but I am sure one day I will get to enjoy a small slice. For now it is all about healing up my stomach and staying focused :rockon: .

:clap2: HOORAY I am all BANDED! I have to say that I love my band so far, of course I am not so far out from surgery so I am trying not to express too much love.:kiss2: So far I have lost 18lbs pre-op:biggrin1: , and 10lbs post-op :madgrin: . I will start weighing in at Curves next week when I get back to real life. I took two weeks off of work, so I have been a little out of reality. Right now I am on pureed foods:hungry: , which seemed gross when I was faced with the idea, but is actually not so bad. I puree some tuna salad, chicken salad, and tonight some yummy shrimp and it isn't all that skeevy. Sure I wanted a big piece of my roommate's pizza :mad: the other night, but I am sure one day I will get to enjoy a small slice. For now it is all about healing up my stomach and staying focused :rockon: .

:mad:This is just a rant :cross-eye because I am so frustrated,:mad: and while my family tries to understand I think only people that have gone through the anticipation of this surgery can really nod their head and "understand" how annoyed I am with this situation. So I started my 4 week liquids on Sunday. This was per the nutritionist, since I am supposed to have my surgery either last week of oct/fist week of nov. My surgeon has STILL not given me a firm date which is really frustrating since work keeps asking me when I will need time off. Oh, and I am moving to a new apartment on 12/1, so I am really pushing to get this done so that I can be downstairs from my family post-op in case I need help. Yesterday I called the nutritionist because I realized that I was only eating about 1000-1100 calories a day for the past four days and I wasn't sure if I was doing something wrong. She calls back and tells me they want me to STOP liquids now because I don't have a firm date and he is STILL not sure when I will have surgery :nervous. I can restart next monday or tuesday. What the hell? I am so damn aggrivated. I understand they are trying to work out a schedule, but dammit I need to know what is going on. There are only two nurses in my office and I need more than a few days notice if I am going to be out for a week. So now I have no date, spent alot of money on shakes :eek: and made my broth and such in preparation to not eat for 4 weeks, and the worst part is that I was HAPPY and NOT FEELING HUNGRY on my liquids. Now I have to QUIT and restart! :dead ARGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!

Thanks for listening. I know I need a little patience. I am always telling my own patients that they need to have patiences, but I am getting so much pressure from work to give them a firm time so they can staff appropriately. With only two nurses in an office and several hundred cycling infertility patients we have limited scheduling. I just think if I told my patients they were having a procedure, and then 8 weeks later still did not schedule them, they would be calling me and being very impolite. I feel like such a hound. I call the surgeons office every week and beg his assistant to find out for me. I was supposed to go in October, and that chance has past, and now I am looking at November. I can't do December because I would have to move, have surgery, and then live at home for a few weeks so that I could have help with my dog and such. I have never had any procedures done besides a simple tooth pull, so I really don't know what anesthesia will do to me or how I will recover. Like I said, I am just frustrated. I can't wait to get my band. I know that the date will come.

...is the hardest part. ARGH! I hate waiting :ermm . I know I still have some weight loss before I can schedule, and a 4 week liquid plan before I can have my surgery, but I just want to know if I got the OK! :nervous Maybe it is the slimfast talking here, but I am so anxious. I just needed to vent. Thanks

So can those of us doing pre-op diets join? I have to love 45lbs before I can be banded, so I will probably have surgery late October. I would love a challenge.

OH MY GOD! Got the call from my surgeon's office and I am AUTHORIZED! Woo hooo!!:banana They are going to schedule me for the end of September, right now he is trying to get the hospital closer to my home to allow him to perform Lap bands there instead of making me go into Boston. I am so excited! :knockedou I will be banded so soon!

My surgeon told me that there was not really a "pouch" to stretch, but what you can do by having complete disreguard for the eating guidelines is apply pressure on the band. This can cause some erosion. The constant PB can cause esophogial issues too.

Woo hoo, My surgeon's office has submitted everything to BC/BS, and now I have about a week of waiting to find out if I am approved . I know the office does not see me having any problems with approval, but it is still nerve racking.:paranoid On a fun note, I went out this week and got some comfy jammie-type pants and tanks for post-op. My brother works at Old Navy which now carries what I affectionately call "Fat girl sizes" and I got a 25% discount off some stuff. I am so hoping all goes well with insurance and I will have my band by the end of September! I am going to start a partial liquid diet next week to get myself ready for 4 weeks of liquids only. :phanvan

I have definitely gotten over the "I will never have this again" plan. It was like 2 weeks of non-stop "I should have this because I will never be able to eat it again" and then I realized just how bad I was doing. I however, do have to diet. I am looking forward to it. I am going to do partial liquids so that I can try out all kinds of protien shakes and get ready for my four week liquid plan required by my doc. I am hoping it will be motivating to get a weight loss jumpstart

Hey there, I actually HAVE to lose weigth before I can get my band. My surgeon wants me to lose between 30-40lbs and then schedule. I don't think it is a bad thing to start changing your habits for the better prior to the band. It is one of the only things that the nutritionist said to me that was worth the co-pay and the time.

Well, we shall see. I have to lose some weight before I will be scheduled (about 40lbs) so I figure this is a great way to jump start that process. Besides, I have to do 4 weeks of liquids only once I am scheduled. I am trying to make it less of a shock!

I am not married, no kids, but I do work full-time in Fertility (oi vey). I am very crafty and began knitting last year. I am nursing student and an die hard Red Sox fan!

I was on a few other boards as well and found that there were alot of people out there moderating that are VERY rude. There are also alot of people that instead of just sharing an opinion, flat out tell you that you are wrong and they are right. I would SO bust that woman on HIPPA violation. I am a nurse and wouldn't dare do such a thing. Although I can see why you would want to wait until you are treated.

Hey there, I am going to be banded in Sept. I am currently at 377, and hope to be around 350 when I bet banded. I have already started South Beaching and I think it was someone on this board that reccomended Callanetics for exercise. I got the AM/PM Callanetics VHS tape for like 3 bucks online and I LOVE IT! :banana it is low impact but a full workout. Also try the Walk Away the Pounds series, I am on the one mile (17 mins) and it is a quick efficient walk. I am acutally back to taking my dog for a stroll around the block! :Bunny ***Swirligirl*** :Bunny

I went to a support group the other night and we discussed setting up goals and non-food ways to reward yourself for reaching said goal. I have started working on a list of goals for myself, may be a nice little project for other people that are banded or soon to be banded. Starting weight 377 Goal 1: 350 - Pedicure Goal 2: 300 - Facial ( I have a gift certificate I am holding on to for this! ) Goal 3: 250 - Full body massage (another gift cert from a patient :banana ) Goal 4: 200 - All new sets of scrubs for work in normal girl sizes Goal 5: 175 - 2 new outfits that are NOT from Layne Bryant :laugh Goal 6: 160 - This is my goal weight, I am 5'9" and have a big build so I can't see myself going any lower. When I reach this, I am going to take a trip to here: http://galilea.nikmills.com/ :cheeky :Bunny I am also going to get back into hiking and joggin, which I used to enjoy. It seems like it will go so fast when I write it down, but I know that it will be hard work. Hence why I know I will have time to save for the trip. I figure all that money I have spent on junk food, restaurants, and Snacks can go in a savings account for vacation. I know there will be smaller accomplishments as I lose, the days where I will have those little NSVs, but these are for the big goals of 50lbs.

Not sure it is organized, but I am sure hoping it is motivating. I have a picture of Mallorca posted on my computer, so everyday I get to peek at where I could be looking good in a bathing suit. I am hoping with guy I am totally crazy about (right now he is just my friend).

I am 377, and I will be banded in Sept. It is encouraging to see people reaching the 200s! woooo hooo, we are going to be a thin and healthy bunch before we know it!