Brinabrina77

Hello everyone: I finally got around to cleaning out my closet. I have about 30 pairs of pants in either a size 26 or a 28 that I would like to give to someone who wants them. I know that the Goodwill takes clothes, but I would prefer to give them to someone who I know or a friend of someone I know. Also, not many people go shopping at goodwill for plus sized clothes. I would rather give them to someoen who needs them than to let them hang on a rack. Jeans: The pants are mostly denim. They are the Lane Bryant venezia brand. Some of the kjeans come from Catos. Most of the jeans are mostly boot cut and of the dark blue denim. Some of them have that slight faded thing going on the leg (they were intentionally made like that). Some of the jeans are petite some are regular in length. None of the jeans are more than 2 years old. Khakis and Slacks: I also have about 6 pairs of slacks or khakis in the 26 or 28 size also. A pair or two of capris may be thrown in the mix also. One or two of them have never been worn. Although they are not new, most are only 1 or 2 years old. I consider them in good condition. The only real noticeble defect on them is that a few of them have those little stringies at the bottom of them as a result of me being short and the bottom of my pants dragging on the ground. Jogging pants: I have 1 pair of 3X cotton sweat pants. The other 2 pair are the "swishy-swish" kind. You know..the kind that make that swishing sound when anyone walks in them. They are also the kind that have the buttons on the side that you can roll up and make shorter pants if needed. If anyone is interested, please drop me an email or a provate messge. If anyone knows of a church group or a charity who wants them, I would appreciate that also. The clothes come from a smoke free home. If anyone is interested, please let me know. Also, I think someone at one time told me that the obesity Treatment center or Palmyra had a clothing exchange. If anyone has any information about that, please let me know.

Bagweaver I has a similar kind of thing going on a month or two ago. I called Dr. Bagnato's office about to talk to him about it. Just like you, I could not even call it pain. It was just a discomfort. Sometimes after I ate, sometimes just out of the blue. When it was out the blue, I just kinda rearranged how I was sitting or kinda shifted myself to releive the discomfort and it was gone. Dr. B told me to come in for a check. When he got there he palpated my abdomen mainly to make sure one of my incisions had not herniated. It was fine. There have been other people on the board who I felt like they were describing a similar thing. One lady siad her Dr. said it was that her incisions were scarring (a natural and process after any surgery), another said her dr. said it was her band or band tubing occasionally irritating her diaphram, there were alllll kinds of answers given. Being the big science nerd that I am, i went online and googled the mess outta it. I joked with Dr. B's office that they better hurry up and see me, cuz they know that i was going to google it and by the time i came it i would have convinced myself that I had everything from band erosion to Monkey Pox. ::thumbup:: I still don't know exactly what it it/was. I still get it sometimes, but like you said, it was more like discomfort. I think Terry (the one who works in Dr. B's office) said she had the same thing also. All in all, no matter what I say in this post, remember that I am not Dr. B. If it concerns you, give him a call and see what he says. It may be soemthing, it may be nothing, but at least by discussing it with him you will get peace of mind. How are things otherwise?? :eek:

Has the rain washed everyone away? :tongue_smilie: Where is everyone? How is everyone doing? I have not heard from anyone on this board in forfrickinever!! Please don't make me get out the cattle prod. I am really heavy-handed with that thing. :ohmy:

I eat a LOT less than I used to preband. I thought that *I* was going to be the one who had to adjust to me eating much less. It turns out that my friends are even having a hard time remembering why I eat less. I was chatting with one of my friends and discussing our day. The man is built like a NewPort cigarette and eveytime I talk to him he is eating or on his way to get food. He lives in MD and I live in GA. He was doing his nightly scavenging for late night fast food and he could not find anything he really wanted. So he jokingly asked could he stop by for dinner. He knew me before I was banded. More importantly he knew how much I used to be able to eat preband. Well, I told him what I cooked for dinner ( a portion of a chicken breast and some vegetables) there was this long pause. I was like, "That's it. That's all I cooked." There was another loong pause on the phone which was probably him basking in the disbelief that I cooked and ate so little. Then it must have suddenly hit him that I had been banded. He then says, "Ohhh yeahhhh. I forgot. You pretty much have a napkin ring around your stomach now." For some reason that cracked me up. Since then, he and I refer to my band as "the napkin ring."

Hello Everyone: Here are some progress pics of me. I was at a conference in Orlando when i took these. I had to go shopping boefore the conference becasue i did nto have anything that fit right. I discovered that I now fir into a 22 jeans and a 2x (18/20) shirt. Ho-Lee Frickin' cow, Batman!! I was surprised. Not to mention that I am still wearing my 26/28 jeans at work. They are too big, and I need a belt to keep them above my waist, but Ihad no idea how much my sizes had changed. So if you have not gone shopping, I suggest you do. It actually helped me realize how much i have lost so far. Enough of me runnin' my mouth. Here are my progress pics. i still have a looong way to go, but I am still shocked at how far i have come.

Hello Everyone: I am going to try my best to make it for the meeting that is going to be held on saturday. I work M-F this week. If all goes well, (i.e. we don't end up working overtime on that Satruday) I look forward to meeting everyone who can attend. If I can attend, you will more than likely find me hiding near the back rows.

Am i the only one having problems posting on this forum?

BigGurlX you are a FOOL!!! You hear me?!! A. FOOL. Lmao. :hurray: I don't have anything extremely specific that I want to wear other than wearing the heck outta some cute bras and panties sets. I just know that I will be happy to have a bigger selection of clothing and a variety of stores to shop from. I am currently in a small town in GA and, as usual, it seems like all the big gurls all shop at the same 3 or 4 stores. It makes it look like we have a big girl uniformed services or something cuz all of us wear the same clothes!! I would like to be able to dress lighter in the summer. I don't really have any desire to get into bathing suits or anything, but I would like to be able to wear decent summer clothes and feel comfortable in them.

I love my surgeon. I have a grand total of 4 scars. Three of them are right across the top of my belly. The biggest one on my belly is a about an inch long. The other two are about 1/2 and 1/4 of an inch long. They look more like scratches now than scars to me. To tell you the truth, it wasn't until about a week after my surgery that I even realized that I had a an incision near my belly button (the fourth scar). If I moved funny, I felt this "pinch" near my belly. Then i was standing in the mirror one day and was like "well damn.. that explains it." I can't even see that one now because it is so small. I know that my sugeon or discharge nurse told me about where my incisions were so I could monitor them and all that but i obviously missed then mentioning the one in/near my belly button. Again, I love my surgeon. The scarring from this surgery is not bad at all. I had my surgery 2/25/08 and they are faint. You can see them, but they don't just jump out at you. I have not put anything special on my skin. I just use my regular lotion. To tell you the truth, the scars don't bother me. They are so minor. I would take them over these icky stretch marks anyday. YUCK!!! :thumbup:

How do you go about getting this newslwetter by email? I don't think that I get it. If someone has an issue can they forward it to me? I want to see Jeannie too!!! If there is a subscription fee, please let me know too. I really want to subscribe. Gracias to all. Oh yeah... :blushing: HAPPY HOLIDAYS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone!!!!! :mad2:

Mia: Girrrrrl... You are workin' that band!! You look fantabulous!!! And you know I have to do this cuz I have no home training.. :: inserts catcalls, wolf whistles, and inappropriate gestures here :: Good job, mama. Keep up the good work!!!

Jeannie: Girl. :: gives you that look :: Girl. :: gives you that look AND adds the one hand on the hip :: GIRL!!! :: smacks her teeth and gives you a stare of disbelief:: You lost eighty seven frickin pounds!!! Do you know that if I lost eighty seven frickin pounds, you couldn't tell me ANYTHING. My head would be bigger than an elephant's ass!!!!! I'd be convinced that I could rule. the. world. One slimmed down swagger of my hips at a time. Why are people so hell bent on losing 100lbs by their bandiversary? Is that some unwritten rule somewhere? Think about it. If you lost a healthy 1 lb a week..by the end of the year you should have lost 52lbs. You shot over than mark!! Now don't get me wrong, I am not downing anyone's personal goals or those who have lost 100lbs in a year...but honey..be hellaciously proud of what you have done!!! You got this far...you will reach your 100lbs mark. I mean come on. Does your band have an expiration date? :tongue: Does it say on there somewhere in really, really, small disclaimer print, that your band will expire..vanish.. *poof* ...stop working....be no more.. exactly ONE YEAR after the time of placement? Girl, puh-lease. You are like a gnat hair away from that goal. So what if you don't reach this goal in exactly a year. Do you know how many people would kill to have made it as far as you have. :: sharpens her killing knife. :: Hmm. I guess we know of one. The point is that you WILL reach this goal. I know you will. You know you will. You did not lie on the table and let a surgeon poke holes in you and let the entire anaesthesia team see you without makeup, bra-less, and pantyless just to give up after you have come so far. (I had to bring up some fun memories). I know that it is hard not to reach a personal goal...but you can not give up. Stop eating crap. Get off your ass. :: unplugs the strobe light from your dance floor :: This pity party has now ended. It leaves too big of a mess on the forum anyway. I should know. I am still cleaning up the confetti and Doritos crumbs from my recent pity party. Most importantly look at your before and after pics. Look how far you have come. And if that does not work... :: delivers a firm Jackie Chan double dragon flying leap ninja kick to your butt :: ....That should do it.

Synthrax nectar in the fuzzy navel flavor. By a freind's recommensation, I mix it with crystal light peach tea and at least 16 oz of Water. (It is too strong if i mix it with anythign less than 16 oz of water). I absolutely HATE all other Protein drinks. They either dry out my mouth, taste too much like medicine, or are just plain yucky. I also do not really care for ones that I have to add milk to. I have spent (and wasted) a fortune on finding a Protein Drink that I like and this one was it. I have never had it plain though, I always mix it with the crystal light so it ends up tasing like peach tea to me. i also liek this one becasue it does not have that "medicine store " smell to it when you open the container. You get 23g of whey protein per serving. One serving is only 90 calories. (95 if you choose to add the crystal light). I really recommend it. Warning: If you order it is costs about $25.00 and it comes in a ENORMOUS container.

Hello Everyone: The one in the green shirt is of me before surgery. The ones taken today in the black and grey striped shirt are of me minus about 55(?) lbs. I have a weigh in coming up so I will know how much I have really lost/gained. Thank ya'll for continuing to be my inspiration. ** I am sorry that I don't know how to make these pics smaller. **

Hello Everyone: I am slowly pulling myself out of the funk that I have been in for the last few weeks. I played dress up today and took a few pics with my camera phone and decided to post them here. I think I am down about 55lbs in this pic. I don't really know. I have another weigh in on Wednesday so I will know how much I have lost/gained. The one in the green shirt is of me before surgery. The ones taken today in the black and grey striped shirt are of me minus about 55(?) lbs. Thank ya'll for continuing to be my inspiration.

The main reason that I chose the lap band over gastric bypass is becasue I am in the medical field. I am a veterinarian. Most people have only seen or had procedures described to them. I am a little bit different. I have actually done surgeries on the digestive tract. No. They don't do lap bands on dogs and cats, but we do have to remove a LOT of foreign bodies in the stomachs and/or intestines of dogs and cats. What usually happens is some dog or cat eats something (a large rock, ball, toy, etc. that gets stuck in the digective tract) and we have to open them up and surgically remove it. When you remove these foreign obects you either end up cutting into the stomach and/or cutting into the intestine. I have seen these surgeries when results are fantastic and I have seen them when the results did not turn out well. So when the doctors explained what was to occur during a gastric bypass all I could think was simply.. ....Hell. To. The. No. :wub: I was not about to have someone cut into my intestine and re-route the natural flow of things and HOPE that by body adapted to it and HOPE that my body would absorb Vitamins, minerals, and vital nutrients like it was designed to and HOPE that I would not lose weight at an unnatural rate. I know how the body acts when it is nutritionally starved. I also know how the body reacts when it also suffers sudden dramatic weight loss. If you are brave, go take some disease physiology courses. When I say scared straight.... ::gives ya'll that look :: It will make CSI Miami look like Sesame street. So pretty much, like most of the other posts here, I could not see putting myself through such an invasive, virtually non-reversible surgery and HOPE that my body would respond well to it. I am aware that the lapband has its own set of complications as well, but when I actually saw the procedure being done (yes, I am that much of a nerd that I had to go online and actually watch one being done) I was surprised at how minimally invasive it was. I am a big girl. Alright, Alright...I am an obese girl. However, I still did not want to undergo some procedure that could have me lose so much weight that I looked like a drinking straw. I don't want to be shaped like a Newport cigarette. I have no desire to have the T&A Fairy come by and steal all my girly goodies away. I like being shaped like a woman. :smile2: I did this to be healthy...not skinny.

Hello Everyone: If ya'll have not heard from me (or any Bandit) for a while ya'll are good about putting out the APBs on them. Well, I am probably going to be not posting for a while. I hope that I will have to sense to at least come in and read thes forums, but good sense and I are not always the best of neighbors. Anyway, I am goign through some personal things right now in my life (what's new, right?). So I am taking some time to think. Honestly, I am pretty sure that I am going to take the time to throw a pity party for myself that is going to rival Mardi Gras. There will be alot of crying and a lot of "why me's?" There will be a lot of blues music and I am sure that "In the arms of an angel" by sarah mclaughlin will be on repeat. You know that I have no sense of privacy and I normally don't have any kind of problem telling every part of my personal business to ya'll, but even I am am tired of my "Plight of a Fat Girl/I'm such a good person so why am I still miserable/and what did i do to not deserev to find the happiness that everyone else has" saga. It's just that even as crazy as I am (and ya'll know that I don't have a bit of sense) certain things eventually catch up to me and I have no choice but to sit down, cry about it, and wallow in self pity until I put on my big girl panties and get the hell over it. I am trying to cheer myself up by telling me that is should be happy that my big girl panties are now 2 sizes too big now. That unfortunately did not work. The mother of it all... ...the absolute honkin' chonkin' gigantic godzilla size sucky mother of it all is that before I got banded I would sit and drown my troubles in food. Now I can't even do that cuz I'll just puke my guts out. Dammit, I just suddenly realized that this means there won't even be food at my pity party. Crap. I don't know if I should laugh or cry becasue of this. bleep. bleep. bleepity bleep bleeeeeeep !!!!!!!!!!!!!! So adios for a while. Probably a week..or two..or four..or eight until I post again. Thank ya'll again for being such a good source of inspiration. Thanks for listening to me ramble for a bit as well. ::pops the champagne :: Let the pity party begin. :tt1:

Hello everyone: I can not beleive i am saying this, but i actually found a protien drink that i like. Most of the ones that i have tried have tasted like booty. okay, i don't know what booty tastes like..but I am assuming that if booty had a flavor then protien drinks would be a good representation of the taste. ICK :smile:!!! Anyway, i bought nectar in the Fuzzy Navel flavor by Syntrax. It is actually good. Like some people recommended, i mix it with crystal light peach tea and it tastes like the peach tea or like an orange drink (not orange jouce). I can actually see myself drinking it. I actually have been drinking it. Now the thing is that if you order it you will get a trough of it. it comes in a 2lb container. The pictures online make it look small, but that thing is HUGE. Now again, this is what *I* can tolerate. I have wasted so much money on Protein drinks. I have every intention of drinking them or in most cases forcing myself to drink them, but I usually ended up throwing them away becasue they taste so NASTY. But I have actually been drinking Fuzzy Navel. If you decide to order it, I would recommend mixing it with 16 ounces of Water. Mix the water and crystal light first. Don't put in ice old water or it does not mix as well. Then add your Nectar and then your ice. Each scoop gives you 23g of protein in the form of whey isolate. I have a trough of the stuff. If anyone wants to get a sample of it, let me know. I live in Albany, but I am harldy home becasue of my funky work schedule. Let me know and we can figure out a way for you to get your sample. You will just have to buy your own crystal light peach tea. Just let me know if anyone wants to try it. No, i am not a rep for Nectar. i am just excited as all get out that I, miss hater of ALL Protein Drinks, found one that I like.

I only took a week off. The surgeaon and nurse told me that some people return to work after 3-4 days, but he recommends at least a week. Some of the reasons he recommends a week are becuse (1) you just had surgery..outpatient surgery..but it is still surgery (2) you will be on pain meds and (3) everyoen responds differntly to anesthesia. To tell you the truth, I took a week off but I probably could hae gone back to work in 4 days. The only indication that I had even had surgery was the occasional slight "twinge" of pain i would get if i slept funny. I was given one of those big amber colored bottles of Loritab pain medication. The bottle had 300ml in it. When that week was over I still had over 200 ml of it left. Lord knows I am not looking that gift horse in the mouth. From reading what some of the other people on here write, I truly expected to be in a lot of pain. I happily was not. I stayed out a week becasue I was tired all hell. I think between lettign the affects of surgery/anesthesia wear off and the occasional dose of pain meds I would take all I did was drink my clear fluids, sleep, and pee. Actually, drink, sleep, pee and stand in front of the mirror and stare at my itty bitty incsision. I was just in disbelief that I had surgery. It took me over a month to coem to grips with the fact that I had gotten banded. But everyone is different. I say take at least a week off. You may not be in pain, but you will be at least groggy/tired.

Hello Everyone: I am not the inspiration guru by no means. Nor will I pretend to be that one friend that no matter how bad things get seems to have the enthusiasm of a blonde cheerleader during a halftime show. I am however one who believes in getting inspiration from where she can..even if it means stealing it from the famous words of other smarty pants people. :tt1: If anyone has read my posts, you will know that I have been suffering from bouts of dizziness and severe leg pain. Not to mention that i am in season 2 of "The Bold, The Black, and The Beautiful" <-- the name that I have given to the soap opera that is my life. This season will focus on familly issues and all of the Jerry Springer drama that comes with my family. I should elbow my way to the front of the room becasue I am definitely going trough some bander purgatory right now. Matter of fact, I expect the boils and locusts to arrive anytime now. Yay team Brina! LO-custs!! Woohoo!! <--daily sarcasm. Here are some words of wisdom stolen by various smarty pants people(and my comments on them) that sometimes help me through my funks. Nobody trips over mountains. It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble. Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have crossed the mountain. ~Author Unknown (ps. this also counts if those "pebbles" are M&Ms or Skittles) Fall seven times, stand up eight. ~Japanese Proverb (This even applies if you were PUSHED down. I do consider a 170lb 5'10" (who just had twins) friend inviting me to her home for a decadentt soulfood dinner a PUSH. That skinny, collar bone showing, flat stomach having, just had twins without a stretchmark, hussy. I love her, but if there was a process called REVERSE lipo suction.....she'd get two shots to the hips and one one shot to the belly.) Setbacks are like knives: They either serve us or cut us, as we grasp them by the blade or the handle. (I am not perfect and I won't always be able to grab my setback by the handle. I will try to. However, I need the occasional cut to remind me that this knife will still cut me in the end if I continue to sugar coat it and make excuses for myself. ) When confronted with a Goliath-sized problem, which way do you respond: "He's too big to hit" or like David, "He's to big to miss"? (I wave this one around when I start on one of my "pity parties" or when I launch a full out "I-can't-do" campaign). Anyway, you guys are still my number one source of inspiration. I know for a fact that I would be an absolute mess if I had not stumbled across this board. Thanks again for being my (s)heroes.

Hello everyone: I am not here to tell anyone whether or not they think that they need a medic alert (or equivalent) type of ID. That is a personal decision. If you don't feel as if you need one, then I hope that you are not being pressured into getting one or pressuring others into thinking that they don't need one. If you think that you do need one, I hope that you are not being pressured into not getting one or pressuring others into thinking that they need one. Again, your choice is your choice. However, I think that there is a bit of confusion about this whole NG thing. I am not here to sound snooty or anything, but I hate it when people in the medical field just tell people to do or don't do things without explaining why. I can say this because yes, I am a doctor...I just happen to treat patients that can't speak and tell me what's wrong. So I spend a *lot* of time explaining medicine/surgery to people. A nasogastric tube (NG tube) is a tube that medical people insert in order to reach your stomach. It is inserted through your nose, goes down through your esophagus, and enters your stomach. This is very different than an endotracheal tube (ET tube). An endotracheal tube is a tube that is inserted through the mouth, goes down the trachea (windpipe) and into the lungs. In extreme emergency cases (when something prevents the medical person from being able to place the tube through the mouth..example...there is an obstruction in the oral cavity) an ET tube can also be inserted into the trachea through a cut in the trachea(windpipe) if needed. I know that most people on here have seen/heard that in the event of an emergency in which they are unconscious and/or can not breathe that someone is bound to "put a tube down their throat". Maybe you will have to be "tubed". However, which tube used depends on what the emergency is, and whether the intent is to reach your stomach or your lungs. If you are in a car accident and you can't breathe they normally would not be putting in a NG (nasogastric) tube. They put in an endotracheal tube. This ET tube goes into your mouth and into your lungs so that it can help you breath. It does not go into your stomach at all. It would not touch your band. Please know that I am NOT saying that there won't ever be a situation in which you will have to get a NG tube put in your stomach. I hope that no one ever has to be in a situation in which an emergency NG tube has to be placed...becasue well.. that would mean that a fellow bander is really sick. I hope no one ever gets that ill. It all comes down to what YOU want to do. I just wanted to let people know that if you are being "tubed" becasue you can't breathe then most likely the doctor will be placing an Endotracheal tube NOT a Nasogastric tube. They put in a endotracheal tube through your mouth and into your LUNGS. PS: To all those wondering, I am a veterinarian. One of my greatest pet peeves (no pun intended) is for people to leave any medical office (whether it be human or animal medicine) not informed, confused, or having unanswered questions. So again, I hope that this post did not come off as me being a know-it-all or snooty.

Mia: You look absolutely fan-frickin-tastic!!! Congrats, mama. WOOHOO!!!!

Okay... Since I did not get to go to the meeting, someone has to tell me how it went. Who managed to make it? Was there a good turnout? Did someone manage to make a huge, wall sized, ginormous, Bagnato Bandits banner with the Lapband talk address on it so that we could nonchalantly (lol :thumbup:) let others know that we have a online family going? Tell me someone did. All you had to do was stand beneath the banner, point up and say, " All the cool Bandees are doing it." Peer pressure is fabulous when responsibly used. Seriously, did everyone have fun? I hope so. Someome gimme details. My crazy job schedule did not let me go :smile: but I am still planning to meet ya'll. I don't care if it takes me months to do it, I am gonna meet some of ya'll. I hope everyone had fun. Did they have sugar free jello, chicken broth, and popsicles for the new bandees? Just kidding. I would have died to see that. Remember the Phase I hell foods everybody? :: shudders :: Oh the memories. I hope everyone had a good time.

Hello everyone: I so wish that I could attend the lapband support group meeting, but you all know that I work that funky ass schedule now. I will actually be at work at at the time that the meeting is being held. Alas, do not worry. For I have the determination of a weed. (and you know once weeds enter a garden it it darn near impossible to get rid of them). NONE of you have gotten off of the hook that easily. I will at some point find a way to meet the majority of you. Until then, enjoy the peace of mind while you can. :redface:

Hello everyone: My bloodwork results informed me that i am anemic and I have low Vitamin B12. I already knew that I was anemic, but I knew that something else had to be going on. I am wondering if I have always had low B12 (b/c that can cause anemia) or if this is something new due to my new eating habits after being banded. My electrolytes are probably outta whack too becaseu the blood sample was not a fasted blood sample. When I got dizzy all the stuff was ordered STAT, so i had nto been fasted. I am now taking sublingual B12 tablets daily and I am to start taking B12 injections as well. I am also on Iron tablets. I also take an adult Multivitamin (flinstone gummies don't count. I am jsut goign to have to suck it up and take a "real" vitamin. Ick. Vitamins all taste like cherry, grape, orange, etc flavored chalk to me.) I am goign to give this treatment plan time to work and see if it releives my symptoms (dizziness and very bad muscle cramps in my inner right thigh). I also had 0.5 cc removed from my band so that I can get my nutritional needs met. I still have great restriction, but right now I need to get my body back in balance. thanks to all those who took the time to answer this post. Congrats on your successes so far.