SALEMKITTY

I live in Berwyn near the Metra tracks. I have been banded since June 2nd. I have not had a fill yet mostly due to finances. My husband is out of work so I am hoping he will get a job soon so I can get a fill. I have lost about 30 lbs which is better than nothing. I know I could do much better with a fill. I plan to get one in a few weeks regardless of my husbands job status.

I have gone through the same thing. My daughter graduated high school with honors. In her Junior & Senior year she started hanging with some other people I was not fond of. They were not bad kids but they had no ambition to go to college or work. She just turned 21 and dropped out of a very good private University in Chicago. She tried to go to community college and could not handle that either. She is dating this boy who in her case is a little younger. He seems to be a decent kid but does not go to school and has a hard time keeping a job. My husband and I have tried to talk with her. Most of the tell she tells us what we want to hear but then she does the opposite. We have learned from our mistakes and have decided we have done all we can . We cannot force her to do what we want her to do or what we think is best for her. She will have to learn on her own. Our biggest fear was that she would become pregnant which is something neither of them is prepared for. Luckily that has not happened yet. Just keep talking to her and trying to get through. Don't threaten because threats never work. I am very verbal and threatened her a lot. It only made the situation worse so I backed off.

Hi Junebies, It's been a really long time since I posted. Unfortunately I have not been doing too well. :phanvan I seem to be going back to my old habits. I have been trying to get motivated again by reading everyone's post and seeing how much weight everyone has lost. Needless to say it has motivated me once again. I need to go for a fill as I have not had my first one done yet. My husband has been out of work and I was hoping he would get a job soon so I could get one. I have decided to get a fill in a couple of weeks regardless. I think this is part of my problem. I need a fill to get some restriction. I'd like to congratulate everyone on their progress. :clap2: It is very encouraging for those of us struggling.

Dear Diane, I am so sorry to hear about your medical crisis. I don't know if I could handle one of those problems let alone several you have had to deal with. I am so amazed at how certain individuals handle so many difficult obstacles in their life and confront them in such a take charge manner. I am sure you are very scared but you sound so brave and ready to take this head on. That in itself is probably one of the most important obstacles to overcome. I wish you the very best and will pray for a speedy recovery for you. Dawn

I have a blue 2004 Jeep Liberty. The same exact blue one they show in the Jeep commercials. My husband drives a 2000 Chevy conversion van. We purchased both brand new. My husband would like to get a Chrysler 300 next. I told him it will be a long time away. I do not plan on us getting another car payment for at least 5 years.

Hi everyone, I will be 4 weeks out on Friday. So far everything is going good. No port pain, gas pain, etc. The bad part is I am beginning to get my hunger back. I have begun to eat different foods. I feel great. I have lost about 22 lbs so I am happy for that. I know the next few weeks will be a challenge trying to stick to my new eating habits. We will see how it goes. To all the future bandsters, I want to wish you all the best. Just remember, any gas pains, shoulder pains, port pains, difficulty swallowing that some of you may experience only lasts for a short period. Once the pain subsides and you begin to actively lose weight, you will be glad you made this difficult decision. Good Luck!!!!

Hi Jenny, I am so sorry to hear of your ordeal. I am glad to hear you are doing better. I am a little worried now because I am allergic to metals also. I cannot wear any jewelry except 14 karat gold or higher on chains and rings. I cannot wear earrings at all otherwise I break out. If I am leaning on a metal cabinet at work, I break out. Even my desk will cause me to break out on my wrists if I am leaning on it too much. I was talking to my boss one day and he said his sister has the same thing. He said hers was an allergy to nickel. I do not know how widely nickel is used. I will have to pay attention to my body. Please keep us updated as to your progress. I am very interested in this.

Good luck with your upcoming surgery Funny Duddies. I will be looking into this surgery next year. I will be watching for any updates after your surgery to see how all goes. Since I will be self pay too, I will probably head back to Mexico.

Hi Chicago area bandsters. I started going to University of Illinois at the end of 2004 to have my surgery done by Dr. Horgan also. I started under my husband's insurance which would have covered the surgery. He lost his job in early 2005 and so I had to pick up my insurance at work. I went to UIC all the way to December. It was a long process because Dr. Berg was trying to get my blood pressure down. It was extremely high. I then found out my insurance would not cover it. No way, no how due to an exclusion. That's when I decided to go to Mexico.

Congratulations to the new bandsters. Good luck to the future bandsters. Hang in there. It gets a lot better.

I too have UHC insurance. We had a written exclusion relating to any type of weight loss surgery even if the person is morbidly obese. I asked me boss and he asked the upper mgmt. but they said it would not be covered. They also said any surgery relating to complications with the band would not be covered. I decided to self pay. I am worried about the chance of complications related to the band.

Good luck to all those getting banded this week.:clap2: Remember, it may seem rough in the beginning for some but it gets much easier as the time passes. You will feel a lot better in a couple of weeks.

Hi Carlene, My weight gain came during the pregnancy of my first child. I gained 50+ with my first, 30 with my second and 20 with my third. In between the pregnancies I gained and lost. Unfortunately, I gained more than I lost. I think being under 130 is fantastic. I would be thrilled to be there. It is people like you who give those of us just starting the journey hope that we can succeed. As far as PS, if I am financially able to get a TT, breast lift down the road than I will. These are the 2 things I definitely think I will need to be comfortable with myself. I know I will never had that pre-pregnancy body. I can live with that. I will be happy just to feel better and fit into my clothes. My NSV is to be able to tuck my shirt into my pants without my stomach hanging out.

It appears I may be the shortest or tied for shortest. I am 4'11". I've always wished I could be 5'4" plus. In high school I weighed 103. I would be very happy to be in the 130's as I know I will never be in the low 100's again. To be honest I wouldn't want to. It's unrealistic. I would be totally satisfied to be in the 130's.

I can feel mine really good. It is to the left of my belly button. No problems, no pain so far.