sarahthree

i have the paraguard (copper) IUD because i wanted to avoid hormones, and i love it.. i haven't had children, had it placed when i was 22, 4 years ago, and haven't had any problems. there was some bad contractions/cramping pain at insertion, but i've always had my normal periods and don't have to worry about the weird effects of hormones -- i always had such bad reactions to the hormones in the pill, depo, etc. my best health decision, after my band surgery! s

just a simple illustration.. i like picture books! :cursing:

this 'plain' guy is such a witty one! :cursing:

hahaha.. this is the only picture i can find of that machine online. hope this random guy doesn't mind being re-posted in my orgasm post...

great thread!! you all look fantastic. i find before and afters SO motivating -- such a great part of the process... sarah

you two inspired me to get some of my own!!! LOVE it!! very happy with the purchase... sarah

i have an O *every* time, consistently, i do that ab exercise where you brace your elbows on the two elbow pads, hanging, kind of, and pull your knees up using your ab muscles. know what i'm talking about? it's CRAZY and i always have to just keep my facial expressions in check due to the dozens and dozens of people around me! what about you? anyone else experience this during this exercise or any other? maybe this is a question for the sex educator... s

isn't it exciting?? man that place has been sucking my wallet dry since i was first able to start wearing their stuff about six months ago. it feels SO good to find sexy lingerie, though, that i am able to grin and bear it when i shell out $50 for a bra... s

tell her to research the percentages of morbidly obese people who keep their weight off after dieting down to a healthy weight. then tell her to look at the serious complication rate of being obese (100%) and compare it to the serious complication rate of having bariatric surgery (0.5-1%). then tell her to mind her own biz! i'm sorry she made you feel bad. don't let that sway you; WLS is an AMAZING tool and shouldn't be something to feel guilty about. best, sarah

i don't know that i can answer your question directly -- i think it just comes down to the fact that there are other things which matter much more with regard to being "ready" for surgery than age. there are a lot of hoops that most people have to jump through on doctor's orders before surgery, and i think they are absolutely necessary and wonderful: lifestyle change classes, meetings with nutritionists and psychologists, pre-op diets, etc. etc. before i started the process, i dreaded those things, but now, in hindsight, i couldn't be more grateful for having gone through all that preparation. the two things that weren't required that i believe should be are, first, really significant past attempts at weight loss. surgery is NOT an easy way out by any stretch of the imagination, so one has to be sure from the very beginning that one tried all of one's less invasive options first. i know that dieting for most of us who are obese and morbidly obese is kind of pointless, given the statistics as far as regain is concerned, but i think the experience of losing weight on one's own give a dieter a lot of perspective. it sounds like this is already part of your experience, right? the second thing i think is imperative for a surgery candidate is reading of the boards. spend several months reading lapbandtalk.com and obesityhelp.com/forums/lapband to read about all the ups and downs of life after surgery... take in as much as possible, ask as many questions as you can come up with, etc. the people who are most lost after surgery and who struggle the most to have any sort of success, in my opinion, are those who haven't been prepared adequately by their surgeons (through classes, etc.), by their past (through weight loss attempts), and by other post-ops (through message boards)... three totally essential parts of being ready for surgery. just my 2 cents! all the best of luck to you-- sarah

i wanted to have both procedures done at the same time as well, but my surgeon refused, saying the gall bladder removal is a "dirty surgery" and can contaminate what's going on with the band. he couldn't be convinced! i ended up having my gall bladder surgery in august and my band in january, but he said he would be willing to do them a month apart -- i just couldn't finish all my pre-op appointments in time for that. best, sarah

yeah, been there! i am just glad we are doing something more sustainable now. i find i don't even care about taking progress pictures because i can just go back and look at my progress pictures at the same weight from last time... haha! congratulations on all your success so far! best, sarah

i'm from the city -- was banded january 3rd in south san francisco, and just moved a few weeks ago to the east bay. welcome to the area! :hurray:

rachel, were you at class on saturday? the girl with the cute hair, right? i think i overheard someone say your name was rachel but i'm not sure. :biggrin: