Wheetsin

I'm the Queen if excuses because I don't enjoy exercising, and I'm extraordinarily reticient to do that which I do not enjoy. But if you have a drive to exercise, you can find a way. I've been known to run up & down the stairs in our house (talk about boring, but it works). There doesn't have to be a lot of pomp & circumstance around working out, just moving can get it done. If it's terribly cold out, do laps around a room in your house, or jog around the garage. Situps, jumping jacks, etc. can all be done in very little floor space. I've gone months with no change no the scale, but lost sizes. I've gone months with no change period, only to lose 15 lbs "overnight." Our bodies do some weird things at times. A week? Pshaw, that's nothing. Keep your head up, and keep doing what you know you need to be doing, and you'll see results. If you go long without results, it's time to examine what you're doing. As I've said about myself many times... I can't really bitch about not losing much weight when I know I'm not exercising like I need to be. Maybe my food is where it needs to be, but at this point, that's only half of it.

Everyone send me lots of presents.

Many, many, many possibilities including, but not limited to: 1. "Less than I used to" doesn't mean "the right amount to lose weight." Maybe I ate 6,000 calroies pre-op. Maybe I eat 4,000 now. That's a LOT less than I used to, but still not enough that I can expect to lose weight. 2. Expecting loss every single week will eventually lead to disappointment. 3. Maybe you've lost fat, but haven't lost weight. You CAN lose fat and gain weight. Happens all the time, to just about everyone. 4. Etc., etc., etc.

Oh - hell job! I interviewed for a position, and during the interview they told me their intention would be to move the spot into a director job once it was approved, but that they were posting it as a subordinate position until the director opening was approved. Took the job, moved into the director spot 3 weeks later, and became responsible for managing 8 female managers and indirectly their 30 or so female associates. For the simple fact that I came in and was "promoted over our heads", I was instantly a target. Keep in mind this was a social service industry, which is a festering petri dish for the angry & co-dependent. These people could be beyond mean when they wanted to. It was absolutely miserable. I was... probably 23 or so, and some of these women were in their 50s, and every single one of them acted like a child. The most asinine behavior you can imagine... seriously on par with 4th grade name-calling. Best thing about it - IU was the boss, so I didn't have to deal with too much (just the stuff behind my back), and the two other people there, the Exec Dir and Pres, were men. To this day I'm still friends with the Exec Dir.

I hate working with women. This is part of why I do my best to not make friends out of co-workers. My current situation works very well for me. I'm on a virtual team. My boss and 13 out of the 14 people on my team are in other states. I sit in an office full of people that I will never work with or interact with - I really just kind of sit here and take up space. Out of the 300ish people in my office, I know maybe 20 of them. There's one other person here who is on my team and reports to the same VP, but we have different managers and very different responsibilities. We've never had a project together. She & I get along well, which is nice, because as long as we trust each other to have the other's back we can pretty much do whatever we want. At least 2 or 3 days a week I'm working from home, so there goes what little connections I have to the office. It's spoling me though. I've certainly worked jobs where I didn't care for the people I had to interact with daily, and it's no fun.

No beating yourself up, it's not hypocritical unless you're also saying, "Guys should be attracted to me right away!" And that's the thing for me. Generally speaking just the physical appearance of a fat guy is not going to attract me, but at the same time, I would never expect a guy to be attracted to me on sight, and would never be mad if someone told me they aren't attracted to fat girls.

Telecia - my husband is from Sweden. That kind of music is ALL he listens to (and he's a hardcore audiophile). Well, 98% of what he listens to.

Oh gotcha. I was just responding to the statement that there is no metal in/on the band -- which there is. I have no clue if it was anything to do with my band that set off the detector for me. All I know is that the wand picked up right on the area of my port incision, and I did not have an underwire bra on, and at the time band surgery was the only surgery I'd had (hence no other implants, screws, pins, etc. that could have done it). That would seem to indicate it's possible. But at the same time, it only happened that one time, and I've taken many flights since surgery. Titanium... fluke... who knows. <!-- google_ad_section_end --><!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

Yes, that 23.5 degree tilt of our rotational axis is definitely special!! Pagans make up all the cool stuff. Happy Yule to all of you out there.

Actually the reservoir in the port is titanium. I believe the connection point between the band and port also has a titanium element.

Arbonne as in the $$$ facial care stuff I tried about a year ago? They make protein powders?

Complication rates are very low. And keep in mind that your wife experienced a surigcal complication, not a band complication. It would seem she fell into the very unfortunate and small percentage of people who experieence coplications. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

I fly VERY frequently and in all of my post-op flights, I have set off the metal detector once. I actually assumed it was a bobby pin in my hair, but after I removed the pins, I still set it off. So they took me aside and wanded me, and it picked up right on my port spot. It actually confused me at first because I didn't have an underwire bra on, so I couldn't figure out what would be causing it. Finally it dawned on me and I told them I had an implant. After that the lady just asked me to point to the area of the implant, wanded it, it went off again, and she let me go. I've never had it happen any other time, even when going through that same gate. Oh, she did ask me why I hadn't volunteered the information of an implant before going through the gate. I told her for one, I usually forget I have it. For two, the metal would be such a small amount, I never thought it would trigger (fillings don't trigger, staples didn't trigger, etc.). She seemed fine with that. I still don't make it a practice to announce I have an implant before going through the scanner. If it's ever an issue, I will just explain it again. I mean, they're welcomes to look at my scar or feel the port if there are any doubts.

If you know you will be moving, start looking now. Call the surgeons in your destination city and see if any of them would be willing to manage fills. There are also places like Fill Centers (never beent o one, but hear about them a lot) where all they do is provide aftercare - perhaps see if there's a place like that. You could also hit our regional forums and post to your target state, asking if anyone knows of a surgeon who would take on someone already banded.

Wasa isn't referring to your personal property taxes. Maybe this will help:

Follow the post-op diet your surgeon provided. If your surgeon did not provide one, call them and tell them to provide you with one. The band usually can't do its job until it is able to restrict, and it usually can't restrict unless it is filled. Hence, unless you have will power and the ability to mediate your eating, you're probably not going to lose much fat until you have restriction. You may well lose weight, but it's probably going to come back once you're able to rehydrate. In other words, you can't just have surgery and expect weightloss immediately after unless YOU are owning that weightloss 100%. That may come with other surgeries, but not the band. Since yu didn't research before hand, you're going to have to learn a lot in a short time. Best of luck on your journey.

Yeah, few docs want to be the filler for someone else's procedure - that can be a sticky web to get woven into. Maybe post in your local area's forum and see if anyone there knows of a doc who will take on others' patients. The ER would be hit or miss. For one, considering wait times to get in, let alone the wait of someone getting your doctor on the phone, or locating someone who has experience accessing ports, and balancing that against a ~3.5ish hour drive, you're probably looking at a quicker resolution from your surgeon. I know 2 bandsters who have had to seek unfills from ERs, and let's just say they didn't rave about the experience. I once needed an unfill from a doctor who hadn't done fills/unfills before, and it's not fun, and left me concerned about what exactly he might have done with that needle.

My surgeon is in Shawnee Mission. He impressed me, and I have been a repeat customer. His office workers - not so much, they actually managed to push a few people away from the practice. Their website is Welcome to the Bariatric Center of Kansas City, Providing surgical solutions to obesity. Dr. Malley is in the KC area. I have never been to him, met him, etc. but I know three people who were banded by him and they all rave about him AND his office staff. He is the one with the commercials on TV. Those are the only two in the area I can provide any personal or secondary information on. Try this page. I have no idea if they still do, it's been a very long time since I was there, but at one point Obesity Help - Weight Loss, Surgery, Support Groups, Forums, Surgical Procedures maintained a feedback directory of surgeons by state.

Umm... probably around 4 - 5 days. I had my surgery on a Wednesday. Slept most of that day and Thursday. Friday I was home most of the day but went to the store that evening to walk around - took it easy, walked with a cart, etc. Saturday we went about an hour out of town to visit my parents. Hubby drove, we took it easy. Sunday I felt pretty good. Monday I resumed working (I can work from home).

Nope, that's where volume comes in.

Recovery time - depends on how you define "recovered." Qualify that a bit and I will better know what timeframe to put. Weight at surgery - 382 lbs. Non-smoker.

Insurance providers are businesses and businesses aren't around long if they don't make money. Most people stay with a provider fewer than 4 years. 4 years isn't enough longevity to see significant ROI for insurance companies. I used to work for an insurance company and my husband's work is affiliated with a separate one, and both see the same thing -- in any procedure where it requires some time to make up the cost (e.g. decline in medications or office visits), insurance companies just aren't seeing the "loyalty" of people sticking around long enough for them to see the savings. That's why more and more are exclusing procedures such as WLS. It's not really about making money so much as not losing money. Insurance companies make their money on investments, not premiums. Quoting myself from a previous post: Total charge = $29,076.25 Network discount = $27,402.25 Allowed amount = $1674.00 Paid by plan = 100%/$1674.00 Patient copay = $0.00 Patient responsibility = $0.00

It doesn't have to be a matter of abuse. For me, personally, it's still a matter of - what are you really teaching your kids? Hitting them, regardless of where or with what device, is physical punishment. Physical punishment doesn't teach someone why something is wrong, or what they might have done differently. It teaches them to fear the person giving the punishment. I would much rather my kids learn what is right and what is wrong, than learn to be afraid of me. My father spanked me, and it never really did much to keep me from doing it again unless he was there. And even then, I didn't refrain because I had some kind of cognitive acknowledgement that it was wrong, I refrained because I was afraid of him hitting me. For example, one time at a grocery store my father smacked me because he said I had rolled my eyes at him. I didn't even understand what "roll your eyes" meant. And I certainly hadn't done it intentionally. Going forward, I didn't have an understanding of what rolling my eyes meant, or why it was a bad thing, I pretty much was just afraid to look at him. On the flip side, I was once curious about how fire extinguishers work (after age 12, I was home alone for an hour or two before my parents got home from work) so I got the one from our kitchen and sprayed it in the living room, thinking it might just blow out air. Nope, I got a shitload of white powder all over everything. When my dad got home I told him what had happened, and he explained that I shouldn't have done what I did, and reinforced that if I was curious about something to ask, and then went on to explain how extinguishers work. No smacking. So I learned that I could ask him questions, and do "bad" things without necessarily having to automatically be afraid of getting hit -- that maybe I could do "bad" things, and something other than a hit might happen. I hope to raise my kids without having to punish them via physical force. I don't have kids yet so I can't say "I don't," just that "I don't plan to." But I can say that parents across the board could probably do well to think about what exactly it is that their actions are teaching their kids.

I can't sleep on my stomach, never has been comfortable, but I am a side sleeper and I think it was 4 or 5 days post-op until I could lay on my side. It helps to use a pillow under my stomach. Was probably 1.5 - 2 weeks before I could lay on my side with no discomfort or tweaking at all. My port is pretty much centered, about 2 - 3" below my bra.

"People of color" is stupid. We're all people of color, unless you happen to know someone with transparent skin. And... umm... if you do, eww. "Nigger" is a derrogitory word. If it weren't, people wouldn't use it in hateful ways. I mean, hearing people from the ME called "Sand African Americans" just doesn't have that ice cold puncture that the person making the statement is looking for, does it? But I understand its use among groups. I understand that black people can use it in a way that's totally different from how someone else might use it. I personally don't think it has anything to do with earning it, but I think it's a great sign of resiliency to take a once posion name and use it as your own term of endearment. I mean, how better to remove its power? And I don't think the logic of, "Well you say it, so why can't I?" works here. There's too much social weight on the word. Sure, use it if you want, as long as you're willing to accept the consequences (which will be different geographically). I personally hate racial slurs because - wow, talk about something that someone REALLY can't change. I've never understood the idea of hating someone because of how they're born, but if that's all the better someone is, then just know to keep your expectations low. And I hate "I don't see color." Bullshit. Everyone sees color. You cannot have me (pasty white) stand next to a black or hispanic person, and tell me in all seriousness that you do not see a difference in our skin color. Of course you do, or you're blind. What you let that difference mean to you, that's what matters. By the way, I hate "African American" too. Most of the black people I know have never even been to Africa, let alone are they from there. They're no more "African Americans" than I'm a "Greek American." The only people I've ever met who had a problem with calling someone "black" were white.