MacMadame

The Nike+ is only $30 though. I haven't seen anything else that does the same/similar thing for cheaper.

I don't think I'd go to a doc who charged extra. I mean, if even the USA docs don't charge for it....

Use the Couch-to-5k program! It will make you a runner, I swear!

I hang out on a board where people have had all the surgeries so I've seen all kinds of attitudes. I think the people who do the best with WLS are the driven and the goal-oriented. Or, rather, driven and goal-oriented people do quite well with WLS. So do rule followers. The people who don't do well are the ones with hidden issues that cause self-sabotage and the ones who are really good at fooling themselves. These are the ones that make excuses as to why everything they want to do is okay even when it isn't. Sometimes these are the same people. :laugh: But sometimes not. I'm always somewhat dumbfounded by the people who make no attempt to alter their eating patterns though. Some of them say "I didn't have surgery to have to diet." But it's not "dieting" IMO -- it's learning to make good choices and eat healthier. I figure I spent $17000 to have a designer stomach and I'm not going to put crap in it. That would be like putting cheap gas in a Ferrari! I also think they don't get how thin people look at food. Thin people look at bad choices as something they can chose once in a while as long as they deal with the consequences and make good choices more often. They don't look at eating this stuff as something they are *entitled* to or something that has no consequences. Of course, these are gross generalizations. YMMV.

Now, now. My hiatal hernia was repaired as part of my operation for no additional costs. :laugh: I think it's a self-pay thing because I've never heard of a self-pay patient in any country getting charged more. Who knows if you have insurance paying for it...

You can also use prilosec OTC. That's what I use.

I liked it! At first anyway. It saved my butt in the early days, letting me get in both Protein and Fluid in reasonable quantities. But I find most Protein drinks like that (the non-shake ones) "turn" on you after a while. So eventually I couldn't drink them. But by then I was onto regular food and found a Protein shake I liked so it was okay.

I've always tried to be active but how much would vary depending on my job and my weight. I think the trick is to expand your ideas of what exercise is and find something fun. I figure skated for over a decade and it's not the best cardio workout or even the best for building up muscle strength, but I loved it so I actually did it and that's the most important thing! I think the other thing is to start off slow and build up a routine. I see so many people get very gung-ho about joining the gym, going 5x a week for an hour or more at first, and the next thing you know, they are very burnt out and not going at all. I started back to the gym 1-2x a week at first, then 3-4x all for 30 min. Then for 45 min. Then 4-5x, then the next thing I knew, I was signing up for triathlons and training 7-10 hours a week! But I didn't start there.

Just came back from our camping trip. Now I'm off to the gym!

The protein starts breaking down as soon as you mix up the shake, blender or no blender. This why you shouldn't mix up your shakes ahead of time and put them in the fridge. But you can blend them just fine. Just drink them right after.

I thought they looked interesting, but then we got some and they where crap. The cheese wasn't right. A lot of this stuff, I wouldn't eat pre-surgery either. But I was never into the salty, startchy, greasy stuff. I liked sweet stuff.

Did you mean to start a new thread? This reads like a reply to another post. If you tell me the thread you meant to post in, I can move it for you.

There is definitely a need to bash a doctor who tells a patient that they slipped their band after a week because they were "allergic" to it. That doctor is either a liar or incompetent or both and people should know who he (or she) is so they don't go to them!

Just got back from my group ride. I'm too fast for the B group but too slow for the A group. I think I'm going to start a B+ group!

Tues - did a "BRIC" workout at the gym - it was spinning, then running, then ab work -- in the morning and did my normal track interval workout in the evening. Wed. - swimming for 1800 yards Thurs. - 80 min group bike ride -- about 17.5 miles.

That's way more than I started with. And now I'm training for a Half-Ironman Triathlon! I think you need to start slow and build up. My program recommends 4 days a week, 2 of cardio and 2 of strength for about 45 min to start. Lots of people start out very gung-ho and then they burn out and quit. I think it's better to start slow and build up so that you aren't dying the first week and don't want to go back.

It takes a long time for the medical profession to accept new things. I do predict that in 10 years, RnY will hardly be done and the VSG will be the most popular surgery. They change the DS all the time so I'm sure it will be different, but probably not a lot different as it seems to have settled down. I do think that the way some surgeons do it -- smaller sleeve and longer common channel -- will become the standard rather than just some variation that is not the norm. I don't actually hold out much hope for non-surgical methods or even "non-invasive" methods like that new thing where they put something in your stomach that lines it. Our bodies seem to be able to outsmart pills and other less invasive procedures.

Welcome to LapBandTalk! Be sure to check out all the surgery types while you are researching: Weight-Loss Surgeries Compared

I didn't even bother looking it up. The idea of eating pasta covered in bread does not appeal to me!

Welcome to LapBandTalk. I think there aren't a lot of experienced people reading the Intros section so, if you don't get an answer, you might want to try the "Complications" section.

Doctor sounds like an idiot. :smile:

Most of the stuff that happens to us is something any PCP or ER can treat. Even the surgery-related stuff is stuff that people with other surgery types get so any hospital with a bariatric program will know what to do. For example: -blood clots - can happen any time to anyone. The ER should know what to do and your PCP should know the signs and to send you there if you have one -leaks - can happen from any stomach surgery. Again, the PCP should know the signs and the ER should know what to do -strictures - can happen from any stomach surgery, but probably a hospital with a bariatric program would have more experience with this I had my surgery locally, with full knowledge and participation of my PCP, but when I had a problem, I was at work and not near my PCP or any hospital my surgeon practices at. So I went to an ER where I knew the hospital had a bariatric program. It helped because, even though they weren't very experienced with sleeves, they understood about blood clots, leaks, etc.

Ooh, good idea!

Hey everyone... I'm still around but it's my busy times and work and also at home with school ending.

Your kids aren't always going to be 8 and 10 and they aren't going to be happy when they find out they could have had more stuff and an easier childhood if their deadbeat dad hadn't been constantly spending money on himself instead of paying child support. ETA I'm speaking from experience here... my dad never paid child support either.