Wheetsin

I believe it was laparoscopic. I'm not sure. I will PM you some information.

A girl I know has had it twice. Both times required surgery to fix it.

Yes. If you're only taking in liquid, you can't expect much solid to come out. :car:

Marimaru, I wear heels and the trick is the type of heel. Very very few women can wear any thin heels above pumps (3") without pain - they're just good at walking through it. Wedge heels - I could wear all day and never think twice about it. :car:

I decided not to set goals because if I didn't reach them, I didn't want to feel that I had failed. Kind of like -- expect nothing, and then you're never disappointed. I wanted to hit a size 18 because as I gained weight, that's where I last felt comfortable. I'm pretty much there now, still need the occasional 20s on bottom. From there, I would like to hit 180 because I was pretty damn yummy at 180 (I'm between 5'10 & 5'11, so 180 isn't as bad as it sounds). I did once have a target of "obese" BMI. When I was banded my BMI was close to 55. That's off most BMI charts, and well beyond "super morbidly obese". I wanted to at least be on the charts. My BMI is now about 34. I'm now "obese" and within 20 - 30 pounds of just being "overweight." I just wish I could construct a mental model for my new self. Maybe I should make that my goal.

Need to know what you're doing before we can troubleshoot why it isn't working. Can you provide a procedure for the steps you're taking?

Completely normal. The port is the sorest likely because of the fascia suturing. Try supporting your abdomen with your arm as you move - if you have a pannus, put your arm under it and carry the weight with your arm. If you carry your weight higher, support under the incision. I found that by doing thism, I could alleviate 70 - 80% of the pain while walking. Standing & sitting still hurt, but I'm going to guess it was tolerable within a week. It took me 3 days to get into my own bed and stop living in a recliner.

I love movie trivia. I'm not necessarily good at it. What comes to mind is John Cusack in Say Anything (1989).

Just curious to see if we have dominant tendencies.

Your pain could be coming from your incisions - the port area is normally the sorest since their messing with the fascia. Do you have any relief when you're sitting still? You could also be having gas pains. I had gall bladder removal last month and it took about 2 days for the gas to migrate upwards.

Of course I missed my ladies too! Had a surgery that went well itself, but indirectly lead to some complications that took a bit of time to get over. I'm about 80% now, and it feels great to be there. My mile high clubination was on a 747 over the Atlantic ocean. A huge plane less than half full, as close to pitch black as the 2 or 3 overhead lights people had on would allow. Not a very risque story, but it gets the job done! It was beautiful - we could see the aurora borealis out of the window.

I tried to edit out the last 2 because I really don't think they would surprise anyone to know about me. But I couldn't hack the smileys or having to reformat everything. So instead, just pretend they aren't there.

I don't normally post to threads like this. It always makes me feel a little awkward, like I'm bragging about myself. Hopefully it won't read that way. And I've probably already said most of this in some post or another. Things that might surprise someone… I have no idea if this is current, but at one point I was the youngest survivor of spinal meningitis. I have never been drunk nor high. I am a member of the mile high club. I had plans to be a research geneticist and pursued medical school with this intention. Then a personal & miserable experience with a professor turned me off to the experience so I left and re-enrolled as an art major. If I could change any decision in my life, that would at least tie for first choice. I've had at least 17 broken bones. Not all at the same time. I am as opinionated "in real life" as online, and as detached from the general public. However, I never see online attention as "real" attention, so I am more open with my opinions (repercussions also have something to do with this). In real life, I rarely offer up opinions, unless asked, because they usually bring attention and I abhor anything remotely resembling the spotlight (I'm a fully expressed introvert). I love learning. I have 7 university degrees and am not done, even though I don’t plan to “use” them. I am an advocate for continuing education (in the literal sense). I love learning and plan to continue self-education or taking classes "for fun" as long as I'm able. Things like reading Brian Greene are “fun” for me, even if I don’t really get it, because it’s still learning and offers a challenge. I have bought every Harry Potter book at least 10 times, but I don't think it's that good of a story. I have donated the books to local schools, shelters, and the children centers of local hospitals. This is because I will support anyone who can get millions of kids interested in reading again.

Had my gallbladder out. That went well but I had some problems getting all healthy again. I just rejoined the living yesterday.

You know Bubble, I would hope that people getting the band would have done their homework & have some idea of what to expect. Here's my story, that makes me think otherwise... (adds to it, anyway) I need to have a cholecystectomy. The surgeon who did my band will do this procedure as well. I went in for my conultation this week, and after discussing the current procedure, he said, "So how is your band going? You look good, like it's working well for you." I said, "It's doing its job perfectly, I just need to be better about getting my butt in the gym." Seems benign, no? But then he says, "Well that's not my fault. I can't do anything about that." (And I hope he truly wasn't as defensive as he sounded.) My husband was in the room with me, and when the surgeon left - while we were still waiting for the coordinator to come by and do the scheduling - he mentioned that the surgeon must get a lot of people blaming him for a lack or cessation of weightloss, because he sounded like he was being defensive. Last night I was talking with a lady I know who is banded (about 3.5 years ago) and she commented that, "I haven't really lost anything since the first year. I guess I'm just where I'm going to stay. Unless I get to the gym, or get back on track with my eating." People seem to think that healthy habits are optional. That the bandis going to hand them a goal weight, and all they have to do is content with the occasional fill or PB. It's scary.

All IMO... If a parent is going to stay home, I don't think it should automatically be the mother. Some fathers are much better parents than mothers. Some mothers make a lot more money and have much better benefits than fathers. Some mothers love what they do, while the father is indifferent. You get the idea. If either parent wants to stay at home with their children, go for it. It's the right thing for some people, and not the right thing for others. Whatever you can afford, that fits with your personal values, and that you're comfortable with - have at it. Children raised in daycares turn into exceptional adults every day, as do children raised by stay at home parents.

There are too many individual factors that contribute to weightloss rates to answer "why do some people lose so quickly?" Motivation, individual metabolism, lifestyle, genetic disposition, psychological disposition, luck of the draw... and on... and on... and one of the biggest - how much weight you need to lose. I could say I lost 200# in my first year, but that wouldn't mean you should expect to do the same, especially if I had 600 lbs to lose and you had 50. Almost every piece of literature will gauge progress on a percentage of excess weight lost, and not pounds lost. There's no way I could post everything I've eaten. And I didn't journal it on a public site, so no easy links. As for your other questions: Did you stop eating after 6 or 7? Maybe - if I wasn't hungry after then, but there were many occasions I know I ate considerably later than that. What excercise routine did you do? No set routine. I tried the set routines and they bored me too much. Did you drink alcohol? Sometimes, if I wanted a drink. For me, "I want a drink" means one drink every couple of months. Not a big drinker. Cut sugar? I did in the beginning, didn't worry about it so much later on. How many fills? I didn't keep track of the number of fills. I think what's more important is fill level. I'm at 2.75 in a 4. (IMO it doesn't matter if it took me one fill to get there or 20, what matters is that 2.75/4 is a good place for me). I'm reticent to answer questions like this because often we'll see follow-ups of "I tried what so and so did and it didn't work" -- and it's SO important to go into this understanding that you may be the fasest loser, and you may be the slowest (probably you will be somewhere in between), and that it's all one big learning curve toward figuring out what works for you and what doesn't. There are no "givens" when it comes to what works.

Not sure what you're needing to know out of this. If you want recommendations on how to find the people, I would recommend starting a thread with a desired age in the title (e.g. "Looking for people over 50") but of course you may or may not see that met in the responses. If you want recommendations on band sites specifically for people over 50, I don't know of any off-hand, but perhaps the Yahoo groups might be of some help. See this thread in our feedback & help forum. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f5/how-get-ticker-your-signature-16218/

What would concern me about this is that they're taking everything word of mouth, and insurance companies don't work word of mouth, they work paperwork. So I wonder exactly what they submitted to your insurance company considereding they didn't even have one piece of medical record that had your weight or confirmed BMI on it. Are you sure you're approved through insurance for the surgery? They may have just meant you're approved for a consultation, or for the seminar maybe if they consider it an office visit or something. To me, it would be completely unheard of to be approved for surgery with no medical records or documentation at all, just anecdotal informatuon submitted via the patient online. Definitely be cautious with this.

I'm not LDS but if you live in Liberty, we're within 10 minutes of each other and I'm relatively familiar with the area surgeons, and 1.5 yrs familiar with the band itself, so feel free to ask any questions you might have.

This is definitely important. I've always known it was important and advocated for it, always, but I'm really starting to see just how important it is. For a long time, I thought this was largely a numbers game, with a few variables thrown in. That's what the science, books, articles, research, and definitely the logic tells you -- consume under your BMR and you will lose weight, pending the anamolies such as plateaus that we're occasionally plagued with. But I think it's way more complicated than that. Long story short - and MHO - the band will do so much. Follow the dietary rules and it will give you some amount of weightloss on its own. After time, regardless of the calories game, it will not give you any more and at that point, you may very well not lose any more unless you step up and begin to try and meet it in the middle.

Make sure you're taking a daily. Potassium is the culprit for me. Other elements can be a cause, too. Also, don't go out and start takings lots of supplements. I've seen people do this reactively - bad thing. Take what you need and what's within safe guidelines, nothing more. Bad, bad things can come out of "harmlessly" taking too many Vitamins, potassium supplements, etc.

Thanks for the replies! Band surgery wasn't bad for me at all. I went home about 4 hours after the actual procedure, and 15 mins into recovery room I was asking to be discharged. No gas problems at all. My biggest discomfort was, aside from the actual port incision, that I was allergic to the adhesive they placed over my staples. I hear so many mixed reports on post-GB removal. I spoke with a woman last night who swore that even just yogurt send her running to the toilet within 10 minutes. BTW, came across this looking at more information:

Ugh, I hate WalMart. I've found that sometimes it's a necessary evil in that it's the only "24 hour service!" place within 20 minutes that sells things you sometimes need without warning (outside of what the gas station would carry). I enjoy Target. Their Archer Farms home brand (grocery side) has some great choices, especially in Ethnic selections. Just don't wear any combination of khaki and red when you shop there.

Goal is entirely possible. The long term averages incorporate a variety of issues. A lot of people have the surgery thinking the band itself will lose the weight for them, and never do their part. These people will probably never see goal, because there's only so much that portion control is going to do on its own. There are also people who learn to eat around the band, and several other very real scenarios that will likely prevent people from hitting goal.