Rockin' Robyn

I'm here too...I can't believe we are approaching 11 months..YIKES!!

That is one of the sweetest things I have ever heard:kiss2: :kiss2: .....I think I will be okay...I'm planning on drugging myself all the way through at least Monday. So I may not even be to popcicles by then, who knows. Although I'm supposed to go over to my MIL's house on Monday for my Birthday...then supposed to go to my FIL's house Tues for my Birthday...Hopefully I'll be up for a little fun by then, we'll see.

KSBandster- Are you Holli's friend that went out before support group with us before?? Was it Jenn? Where have you been girl (at support groups?) We have missed you! You are doing great with your weight loss. Keep up the great work!:biggrin1: By the way...you are welcome to go out with us ANYTIME:D

I am a PCOS gal....much better now though. Cate-how free are you on the weeknights during the week before you leave? Holli/Angela-what do you think about maybe getting together on Saturday the 15th I think it is at the Quivira S/S location? Plm is, I'm not too keen on their July menu (mostly chicken which I can't do very well.....but some other stuff on there looks good). Let me know what ya think.....

Cate- When are you leaving for NOLA again? Definitely need to plan a little some some before that:p

That's awesome Cate....isn't restriction the funniest thing.....Leading up to it, you ask yourself constantly, "do I need a fill or do I not need a fill"....or "Well I'm not eating as much as I used to, so maybe I don't need a fill"....but until you actually experience true restriction, it's my opinion that you just aren't where you COULD be. It's just one of those things you just can't explain to others....you have to experience it and actually feel that you are there. I'm so happy for you and Angela!!!:clap2: :clap2: YAY!!!! I'm still not restricted like I need to be...I of course have to wait until after surgery for yet another fill (I've lost count...I think this will be #10). I was nauseated again this am...so while I was out and about I decided maybe if I would stop and get something to eat before I Jazzercised that might help...and it did to an extent. I had the innerds of a ham, egg, and cheese croissant at Hardees (no bread). I ate about 3/4 of it, but probably could have eaten more. I just found out from my pre-op appt this morning at Heartland that I am supposed to do clear liquids all day Thursday, as well as take 3 Ducolax:embarassed: to clear my system out before the surgery...I am a little irritated because no one from the office let me know this (and now they are all gone at that conference). I'm just glad the nurse there at the hospital happened to mention..."Did your doctors office give you the special instructions on how to prep for the surgery?" I would have been soooooo irritated had I gotten there Friday and it had gotten cancelled or something because I seemingly fell through the cracks and didn't receive any "special directions". (HEAVY SIGH)......

Hi Chantay- Glad to meet you! Sorry about your insurance struggles. One of the VERY best things for you to do is to go to the support group meetings. All of us on here go and we would love to meet you. At the support group meetings there are people there like you who are just getting started all the way through those who are a year or more out. It is a very open setting to ask questions of your peers and freely ask what to expect. I am one of the few that have had many problems with my band. You name it, it has probably gone wrong. But, that is NOT the norm. I am very open about everything that has happened and am more than willing to share my experiences. However, I want you to hear that even though it has been a struggle and I get very down at times...I have lost 140 pounds, and I would never think twice about having the surgery all over again. It has been truly life changing. Dr Hoehn is a wonderful surgeon...I truly believe he is the best in KC. I live in the L.S. area so we are pretty close. Keep posting on here and let us know anytime you have questions. Also, keep us updated on your progress.

Sorry I didn't call you back until later tonight Holli-I had a jewelry party to go to. I just tried calling you and the phone just rang and rang. I'll try you tomorrow, as I have to go get my pre-op blood drawn at 0800. I've had a crappy night.....felt good after working out, then while I was at this party I had this weird nausea sweep over me. At first I thought if I would just PB it would be better...but it was different than that. I finally ended up leaving and puked in my in-laws drive way.....not PB, violent wretching.....that's what scares me. NOT PB's, but the violent type of puking.....I'm assuming it has to be this whole gallbladder thing since I hadn't eaten anything before that. Did I mention I can't wait to get this stupid thing out. I'm glad you guys are up for the social suppers. I think it sounds soooo fun. Holli...let's get our surgeries over with this Friday...then maybe arrange a chat after 4th of July to figure it out. I'm thinking maybe not next week, but the week after?? Angela, I feel like sh..t right now... but the mention of crab stuffed orange roughy still makes me hungry, nausea and all:sick !!!!

Constantly aware.....However I truly long for the day when that is no more..........maybe after I reach goal and no longer am obsessed/thinking constantly about losing weight.

Do whatever your heart is calling you to do Angela:rolleyes: LOL!!! I'm always too drugged up after my recoveries to even remember putting my clothes on! I am so drugged up usually because I wake up from anesthesia moaning/screaming in pain and they have to load me up to shut me up:cool: !!!

I think he is working me in on his lunch break at 1200 on Friday. It will be at Heartland Spine and Specialty (which I loved having my original banding there). From what I'm guessing it is outpatient like all the others and I'll come home that day. Insurance should cover it since it is "gallbladder" surgery;) . The sucker is starting to flare up though....I'm just thanking God that he is taking it out now instead of a month or two from now:sick . Okay...so I have opened my cabinets and refridgerator about 12 times in the past 12 hours....you know where you just open it up and stare mindlessly. Luckily I have closed the doors each time and not grabbed something mindless to eat...but I want to SOOOO bad. I'm going to Jazzercise at 5:30...I just took a Vicodin so it will hopefully kick in before the class starts. Today all I have had is: 4 oz piece of salmon = 14 g protein Atkins low carb shake = 18 g protein So far so good.........:clap2: What have you guys eaten today? I need more ideas. Tired of the same ole boring stuff. Angela...you sound like you have some great recipes.....We should trade off having each other over for dinner sometime. Cate, I saw you put down one day you had Lox....where do you buy the stuff and how do you serve it? Speaking of dinners....Have you guys ever heard of those "Social Suppers" places? I'm thinking of going there with my hubby on Thursday to get my mind off of things before the surgery. Would you guys ever be interested in making a night of it and going there with me? Check out there website at socialsuppers.com It's like a big kitchen where you go and have fun preparing several weeks worth of meals for your family to stick in the freezer. The way it works is you sign up and pay on line. For 8 nice meals (which you pick which ones you want on the web site) they pre-dice/cut all the ingredients...have stations where you follow their directions in adding ingredients/spices to prepare that meal...then you put what you have prepared in the containers they provide...slap a sticker with heating directions on the package as to how to cook it later...then you stick it in a cooler and move on to the next station to make another meal. They supposedly give you a menu planner to put on the outside of your fridge and you mark off what is left in your fridge for meals...and on their website, if you click on the dinner you want, it gives you nutritional information (most all of it is low carb and pretty healthy). Also, while you are preparing your meals, they serve you appetizers and wine:guess . Sounds like a fun girls night out to me:rolleyes: Pretty affordable too. We spend about $150-200/week on groceries for the family. You get 8 nice meals (with 6 servings per meal) for $140, or you can split it with a friend and get 8 nice meals (which would serve 3 per meal since you are splitting the portions) for $75ish. Whatcha think? We could do it in between now and next support group:confused: ????? Oh.....and HE BETTER NNOOOOTTTTT UNFILL ME!!!:angry

YAY! You have restriction :eek: They say take it easy after a PB with clears/liquids. However, the drs office never gave me that advice...only from what I have heard other drs offices tell there patients through posts here at LBT. I have personally never gone back to clears afterwards and haven't had too many problems. I think it depends on how violent the PB was and if it was over quickly or if there was a lot of deep/abdominal wretching. Most of mine are NOT that way....the PB comes from the food being stuck up high...very little effort and it comes right back up.

My reward for me hitting 100 pounds was my husband agreeing to wax his unibrow!!! We had a whole party where everyone had to watch...it gave me a lot of satisfaction since I have been wondering what it would look like for him to do it for 13+ years now! It didn't cost much, except we made a big deal out of it and had a party. My husband agreed to it when I first started losing weight, never thinking I would hit 100 pounds lost so quickly.....it was funny when he actually heard me say "Honey it's time for you to fulfill your end of the deal because I hit 100 pounds lost today!" LOL

And boy are you doing a fantastic job of that!! Okay guys...I'm gonna be bothering you all week this week. This is my week before hopefully what I can call my "last" surgery. Since I always put on 8-10 pounds after surgery due to them pumping you full of IV fluids plus the swelling related to the tissue trauma, I am dedicated to making the most of things this week. I guess in order to do that I have to have an action plan.....I think I'm gonna do Protein shakes for Breakfast/Lunch and then a small hard protein dinner (fish) each night. I'm gonna check in here each day and let yall know what I have had. It would be a little less depressing for me if I could make my ticker start moving again :confused: I'm also gonna jazzercise each day this week....I'm even gonna make myself go this afternoon (which I usually don't because I believe Sunday is the day of rest for me). Gotta get serious here....tired of feeling defeated, especially when I am the only one allowing myself to feel that way:think (Can you tell I have been talking with Sabopathy again:p ) So hopefully you all won't get annoyed with me....I'll just try and do it for 4 days...maybe I'll shrink my liver a bit too (ooh the perks of deprivation:speechles )

Holy Moly Cate- Every time I get on here to check the board, your ticker is changing DAILY! Boy do I miss those days:cry I'm SOOOOO jealous:biggrin1: Wow!!! Good Job Girl!

I have often wondered that too when I hear fellow bandsters in my support group talk about how much their insurance companies actually paid vs what I had to shell out being self pay......doesn't seem quite right. But when you are desperate for something as bad as I was...the thought never crossed my mind pre-op....only after hearing the stories of others.

Funny you should ask.....I am actually scheduled for my 4TH SURGERY IN 10 MONTHS next Friday!!! I was actually having an ultrasound of my abdomen last week to confirm a diagnosis of herniated tubing (where my tubing has poked up through a weakened area through my abdominal wall and is causing me a lot of pain). While the tech was performing the ultrasound, I immediately noticed a round sack with a bunch of small circles in it. I said to her "Is that my gallbladder?" She said yes...I knew immediately. I called my surgeons nurse and asked her to please ask him to take out my gall bladder along with the hernia repair (especially since it is in the same area). We are going to do both on Friday (June 30th). I'm just glad we caught it, and I didn't have to go in for this 4th surgery for a hernia repair, then a month later start having bad gall bladder attacks. Funny thing though...I never noticed any type of gall bladder pain until I knew I had gall stones in there ....Since my ultrasound last week, I have definitely noticed that the right side of my upper abdomen is soooo tender and sore. The mind is a funny thing...I'm just glad its coming out! By the way, I'm ten months out of surgery.....I am fair, fat, female, fertile...but not forty :biggrin1:

Sorry you are not feeling well. Get better soon. Also, I'm not too excited to hear this since I will be having my gall bladder taken out next Friday, along with a hernia repair. Although my hernia isn't the typical hernia.....my lap-band tubing has actually poked out (herniated) through my abdominal/muscle wall and needs to be fixed as it is getting painful. Hoping my experiences are not the same...... But anyway, hang in there. This too shall pass:) Robyn

YAY!!! DING DING DING DING DING!!!! She has restriction ladies and gentlemen!!:biggrin1: I'll be curious to see how things go in the next few weeks. It is so funny how you don't really know how to explain it until you actually experience it. Sounds like you are there though. And YES...I remember last night quite well thank you very much;)

Same as last time....See ya there :eek:

:eek: :fish: :tsk: I'm speechless...... I know I know.....Don't say it:p Angela....wanna to go the chat room for a sec pretty please??

Cynthia- I'm sorry to hear that about the films/surgery. Hopefully it will all get worked out asap. Is your boss keeping you from taking FMLA or whatever because lapband is considered an "elective" surgery? So what you are saying is you can't just take off and turn in your paperwork? What if you kept the surgery quiet and had it scheduled for a Thursday or something....then just call in sick on Thursday/Friday, and have Sat/Sun off? That would give you 4 days to recover...it would be cutting it close, but at least you could get it done and just not tell them. Just an idea, as I had massive problems with my boss in my last job not wanting me to have the surgery period because she essentially didn't think it was necessary. Also, don't fret about what we are discussing here. The whole point of this thread is for us Hoehn-ites to vent/discuss things that we have been needing to get off our chests, but don't necessarily have a forum to do it elsewhere. We have all grown much closer in doing this, and I know personally I have received so much comfort and support from these girls just when I thought I couldn't take anymore. Please feel free to post anytime. Sorry you have to work on a Saturday...yuck!! Get some rest and have a good weekend too. Love ya! Robyn

I agree with you 100%.....we know that whatever we post on here is public knowledge. However, I question the intent or even malice with which it was shared. Not to mention the professionalism of the person who shared the info with Dr. H. Then for there to be the "it's one of them" talk outside doors before seeing patients is absolutely uncalled for and ridiculous. Who cares....and why is it important to point that out before an appt with the doc anyway? If "he" truly doesn't care, like they indicated last night...then why keep bringing it up?? Yes I am "one of them"....I am one who has supported the program 150% through thick and thin....I am "one of them" that has openly advertised even on LBT for their program and even private messaged people to tell them great things and encourage them to have their surgery there....I am "one of them" (and only one of very few) that has faithfully attended practically every single support group, with one of the reasons being to help Billie out in having older bandsters there....I am "one of them" that has encouraged new bandsters to keep coming to support groups when they no longer want to go.....I am "one of them" that has a true desire to be a product of a great bariatric program because that is what I represent.....I am "one of them" that honestly wants support groups to be successful and worthwhile to all who participate, thus sharing feedback from the group that may not be easy for them to hear.... So yah, I guess they are right...I am "one of them". Unfortunately, I may not be much longer if this craziness continues. Very very sad where this is going.... I guess I'm just more disappointed than anything....Being in the healthcare field myself for 8 years, I know that ANYTIME I am training a new person that will be following me....it is a STANDARD OF CARE to first ask the patient "I have someone training with me today...do you mind if they come in and watch how I do things??" This then gives the patient the right to refuse or accept the person being privledged to their private health information. I of course, understand the frustration and the disbelief that there must have been when she walked in the room. I too, would have been to flabergasted to say anything at the time. But would have sat there extremely embarrassed, intimidated not to ask or say things that I would have otherwise, as well as feeling that my privacy was being violated. I know for a fact I wouldn't have done anything differently......However, this day needs to be used as a learning experience for everyone....not only Dr H's office, but also us as customers and patients. It's one thing to be a "patient advocate"....and offer words of encouragement and support when people ask for it. It's another for a non-qualified, non-medically trained individual to be acting as a health professional and giving out education/health materials or in any way giving out medical advice. I am saddened and disappointed they are putting themselves and their patients in this situation......we shouldn't even have to be discussing this. Just my 2 cents after all that has happened today. I'm done rambling now:rolleyes:

HI CYNTHIA!!!!! I am so glad you are on here girl! I just want to say that I am so impressed with your determination and resolve. You are going to get there.....I know it is so frustrating to have to deal with all of this....and it just plain isn't fair! Hang in there and keep your chin up. Advocate for yourself as you would for your patients. You are worth it:eek: Keep us posted on what's happening. I think most of us are on here checking the posts now at least once per day. I'll be thinking of you and praying for you. It's all going to work out...just keep telling yourself that! Girls....yes I got home just fine. I feel great this morning. Last night was one of the best nights I can remember over the past year. Laughing so much must have released some endorphins or something, because I feel great this morning. Thanks for hanging around and talking so much. I love that kind of stuff....:kiss2: Oh, and Holli...I think I need to file a claim on your car insurance for my head injury.....there is a lump there that is all swollen this morning..........Did I make you sweat a little?????:heh: :heh: Just kidding:biggrin1: !!!!! For lunch today???? Oh yeah....I guess it is lunch time....I slept in until 10:00, so I'm not really thinking food just yet. Hubby and I are going to go out to a movie this afternoon. You guys are probably headed out to your appointments. Happy restriction (or lack thereof Holli:p ) to all of you. Cate-I usually do not eat much before my fill because I don't want all that food sitting in my stomach pressing back on the band when he is filling it. Probably not scientific, but in my mind I always thought that if I went in with a full stomach, he would feel more resistance on the syringe when he was filling me and not give me as much.....probably a stupid theory, but..... Hope you guys are having a great day. Love you all!! Robyn

I had this too after my initial surgery. It got really worrisome to me, and the numbness in my upper thigh actually "hurt" sometimes. Weird that numbness could hurt, but it did. Anyway, it gradually went away on its own after about a month (I lost about 30 pounds in the first month though so I don't know if that may have helped relieve some of the pressure off of the nerve). Hang in there and hope you feel better!