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sarahthree

LAP-BAND Patients
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Posts posted by sarahthree

  1. Posted

    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

  7. Posted

    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

  8. Posted

    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

  10. Posted

    i've finally become able to really see a difference, so thought i would post some pictures here -- i always get in such a tizzy when i look and see no one else has posted new before and after pictures, so figure it was time i finally contribute!!! before pictures were between 270 and 280; the current pictures are between 180-185. i'm ten months out (although a substantial portion of my total weight loss was pre-band) and just bought my first size ten jeans!! love LOVE love my band.

    s

    b&a%20face.jpg

    b&a%20body2.jpg

  11. Posted

    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

  12. Posted

    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

  13. Posted

    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

  17. Posted

    700 isn't enough calories over a long period of time.... i would maybe argue that it's fine for maybe a couple of weeks, but keep in mind that, to get the nutrition you need, EVERY single one of those 700 calories is going to have to be high-quality, well-planned, etc. i don't know anyone who can successfully eat in that way. try upping your calories! you will still lose as long as you are burning more than you eat (so long as you haven't been eating only 700 calories a day for long enough to alter your metabolism, but i've heard that can take around 8-9 months). have you thought about maybe trying bodybugg? i just got one recently and find that it brings a lot of peace of mind as far as calculating how much i've burned and eaten each day, each week, each month, and i never end up eating too much or too little, or exercising too much or too little. maybe that could be helpful to you in resolving this...? it really sounds like you're suffering from how few calories you are taking in, and even with no appetite and really tight restriction, you should be able to find (healthy) ways to increase your calories on a daily basis. keep us posted; i hope you feel better soon!

    sarah

  20. Posted

    Sarah, quick question regarding Kaiser. My girlfriend got her referral weeks ago from her doctor but for some reason the Bariatric center isn't calling her. Did you have to wait very long before they contacted you to move forward in the program?

    julie,

    yes, i did have to wait a while, as i recall. they are SWAMPED and have waiting lists for everything; it's crazy! it never hurts to call once a week or every two weeks, though, to check on where she is on the list. she should just wait on the line instead of pressing any buttons to go through the menu options -- that way she should get a live person to talk to. hope that helps!

    best,

    sarah

  23. Posted

    spclk,

    i checked in the sixties support group and there were tons of people there, all older than you! i wouldn't worry about that at all.

    as far as liquids go, each surgeon has his or her own post-op rules, it seems, and these can vary widely. my surgeon required two days of Clear Liquids and two weeks of full liquids and purees. it wasn't a problem at all, and in fact MUCH easier than i would've imagined. don't get me wrong; i was really excited to chew! it really wasn't awful, though, to wait two weeks without solids.

    i lost about 10 pounds right after surgery, which brings my total since orientation down to about 24 pounds lost. i'm trying not to weigh myself, though, as at this point, i know it's just about healing and not about weight loss. the loss will come once i have restriction, i'm sure, but right now, i'm just focusing on my new lifestyle changes and getting back to working out and so on.

    i had no insurance problems at all. i have kaiser and all i needed was a referral, and then i was in the program. it did take about eight months to go through the pre-op classes, but they were absolutely invaluable and i kick myself now when i think about how angry i was when i learned i'd have to complete all those classes before surgery. they were SO valuable and i'm sure they will be a key to my success. i don't know much about the way programs work outside of kaiser, though; i'm sure if you post something on the general board, you can get information from other bandsters who went through your insurance company. there are all sorts of us here; this board is a priceless resource!

    best,

    sarah

  24. Posted

    spclk,

    thanks for your message. i have been doing great -- just had my two week post-op appointment and was advanced to normal (soft-ish) foods (thank god i still remember how to chew) and given permission to exercise. i have no more pain with the exception of maybe some very slight and occasional port soreness. my incisions are closing up nicely (although the big one where the port is looks, as my surgeon described it today, a bit "punky"). all in all, no problems and i'm thrilled with my decision, however early in the game it might be. i researched lapband for about a year before my surgery, so i feel pretty prepared for what comes ahead -- just hoping i'm lucky and have no major obstacles along the way.

    i don't think you should be worried about your age at all -- there are plenty of bandsters who are your age and significantly older and who do very well. have you found anyone on the age-specific support groups who might be able to ease your mind a bit? keep us all updated on how things go for you!

    best,

    sarah

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